//------------------------------// // Ch 3.21 Rebirth // Story: Our Girl Scootaloo 3 of 3 // by Cozy Mark IV //------------------------------// Our Girl Scootaloo Part 3 of 3 by Cozy Mark IV & Jan. McNeville Disclaimer: This is a non-profit fan-made work of prose. My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic is the property of Hasbro. Please support the official release Chapter Three point Twenty One: Rebirth Her dreams had been very strange lately. Strange and nonsensical. Impossibly tall figures swam in and out of her field of vision, poking and prodding her with strange tools. Her head hurt, she couldn't seem to think straight and through it all her hero lay by her side, talking to her and telling of adventures in far off lands full of ancient temples and amazing treasures. Rainbow laid the book down on the table next to her chair, her voice a bit sore from reading five chapters in a row. Looking down at the sleeping form beside her she couldn't help but smile as she gently stroked her orange fur. 'So, it's true then. She really is an orphan?' 'That's right...' Rainbow thought sadly. 'I've been an idol to her for a long time now but...' There was a pause before Dashie responded. 'But you don't want her to have survived all this just to be taken back to the orphanage.' Rainbow grimaced. 'She deserves better. I've been thinking about this for a long time now... I think it's time I stopped thinking and stepped up.' 'It'll be a lot of work. You'll be taking complete responsibility for another pony... But if it's any comfort, we'll soon have a father for her too.' Rainbow nodded remembering Dashie's letter to the Princess and her agreement to bring her father back. 'I can't say I know how that's going to work out... I only have your memories of him...' Dashie smiled. 'Don't worry. He's a good guy, and with the two of us to help him, and all three of us working together, I think we can give little Scootaloo the home she deserves.' 'I think you're right. But let's stick to the agreement okay? We don't tell her until the time is right.' ... It took her several minutes to realize she was finally awake. The fact that the ceiling didn't move or drift into something else was what finally tipped her off. With a groan she tried to sit up and rub the sleep from her eyes, but her body felt weak and sluggish, and it took all her will just to bring her right hoof up to her face. When she could see properly again she noticed that her body was... wrong. She was smaller than she should be, as though she had somehow shrunk or aged backwards a year or two. Her hoof was her own, but it was thin, her usually sleek muscles atrophied away and she found herself breathing faster as she struggled to make sense of it all. 'What in the world happened to me?!' The room in which she found herself also looked... off. The ceiling was far too high, the walls were painted like some kind of hospital, and numerous strange machines with blinking lights surrounded the bed she found herself in. She was really beginning to panic when a strangely familiar snore caught her attention and made her look to the left. Reclining and apparently asleep in a thickly padded chair on her left was none other than Rainbow Dash. “Rainbow!” At the shout, Rainbow startled awake and leapt to her hooves, promptly falling out of the chair in a heap. A moment later, she had wiped the sleep from her eyes and was hugging Scootaloo fiercely as the little foal returned her embrace. “Hey, squirt! Good to see you're finally awake.” Scootaloo felt herself relax as Rainbow hugged her and her heart gradually slowed back to normal. “Rainbow, I am so glad to see you! I...” she trailed off as a thought hit her. “Uh, where are we, anyway?” Rainbow laid her back down on the pillow as she chuckled to herself. “That's a long story, but I promise I'll tell you all about it soon. How do you feel?” Scootaloo thought about it and blushed at the answer she gave. “Really weak and kind of woozy... What happened to me? The last thing I remember is flying after you into the storm to try to save you, then... nothing until I woke up here.” Rainbow looked at her seriously, but she was still smiling that relieved smile as she answered. “We were both caught in some kind of accident. You've been out for a long time squirt, but you're awake now, and in a few weeks you should be strong enough to go home again.” Scootaloo's smile gradually faded as a strange sensation drew her attention to her back legs, and with some difficulty she reached a hoof under the blankets and felt something crinkly and moist between her legs. Blushing absolutely scarlet, she tried to sink into the covers and disappear, but her hero seemed to understand. “Relax, squirt, I said you'd been out for a quite a while. Why don't we see if you can get to the bathroom on your own? You're still going to feel weak, but I won't let you fall.” A few minutes later Rainbow helped a very embarrassed orange foal hobble her way back to the bed where she laid down once more. “Uh... thanks Rainbow I-” Scootlaoo trailed off, her eyes wide as Dr. Betty Gregerson walked in with her cane and clipboard for her daily rounds. “Morning kido, good to see you awake at last.” Scootaloo looked from the towering biped to Rainbow and back, trying not to let her fear show. “Uh, Rainbow?” She felt a hoof on her shoulder as Rainbow reassured her. “Relax Scoot. This is Doctor Gregerson, one of the humans who's been helping you get better. She's cool.” Dr. Gregerson smiled back. “I'm glad you think so.” She proceeded to inspect her patient thoroughly, and Rainbow waited, patiently holding Scootlaoo's hoof through it all until the good doctor was done. “Thank you Scootaloo. Now for this next part, I'm going to need your help Rainbow. I need you to put your hooves on Scootaloo's and go through some exercises with me. These old bones just aren't strong enough to do it myself anymore.” And so for the next five minutes she coached Rainbow and Dashie as they had little Scootaloo push and pull with her weakened limbs, working her until the sweat ran down her brow. “Okay, that should be enough for now. Now I need you to do these exercises at least three times a day for the next few weeks so your body can regain its strength. Can you three do that for me?” Scootaloo, Dashie and Rainbow all nodded. “Very good. You're a real trouper Scootaloo, and with a little work we'll have you back on your feet – er, hooves in no time.” When the elderly doctor had gone and they were alone once more, Scootaloo, the sweat still moist on her forehead turned to ask. “What's a human?” The answer came from a new pony who was just walking into the room. “You didn't tell her yet?” The laugh that followed sounded just like her own, and Scootaloo's eyes widened as she saw... herself stepping into view with a clipboard in one hand, and a cup of coffee in the other. “What?! Who are...?” Ms. Scott just smiled. “You must have just woken up right?” She received a dazed nod of agreement and continued. “I'm Scootaloo Scott, your doctor, and depending on your definition, I'm you. The accident that sent you to this world wiped your memory and aged you back into a tiny foal, me, who grew up here and spent the last twenty years living with the humans of this world.” Scootaloo felt like her eyes were going to pop out of here head. “I'm... You're a doctor?!” Ms. Scott laughed. “Don't look so disappointed, I get to jump out of helicopters as part of the job- Big metal flying machines.” “So... I'm you? Or...?” Ms. Scott shook her head and took out her tools to do her own checkup on the orange filly. “You are the pony named Scootaloo that everyone knows and loves. I am the body of the original Scootaloo who had her mind erased and grew up here on earth. Your body is a clone of my original that we rescued from a... research laboratory. Princess Luna pulled your mind down from” she though for a moment “from the pony cloud for lack of a better word, and brought you here where your mind was joined to this empty host body that had spent the last eight or nine years in a coma. That's why you feel so weak; this body hasn't moved under it's own power in many years, and it will take a few weeks for you to build your strength back up.” “Eight or nine years?! I've been gone that long?!” Rainbow squeezed her hoof gently. “Hey, hey. Calm down Scoot, you've only been gone for about a month. Your doppelganger doc here was shoved twenty years into the past, so you haven't missed much back home.” Scootaloo mulled that over for a moment as they both watched her. “So... I'm a clone?” Rainbow spoke up. “Well, your body is, but your mind, the part that makes you you? That's the same awesome filly I know and love.” Scootaloo blushed bright red as her little heart swelled with pride, but before she could think of what to say to this, the sound of tiny hooves on tile broke the silence. “Cousin Scootaloo! Cousin Scoot's awake!” “Yay! Cousin Scoot!” And with that, Scootaloo was hugged by the two tiny foals who leapt up onto her bed and snuggled up to their new relative. “I told you it was a long story.” Rainbow grinned at her. Ms. Scott shook her head and pulled the two foals off so Scootaloo could breath normally. “Scootaloo? I'd like you to meet my daughters Sophie Belle and Chaya Jayne. Girls, this is your cousin Scootaloo.” Scootaloo looked from her hero to her two younger selves, to her older self who had crossed her extra arms in front of her, and a suspicion slowly entered her mind. “Is this some kind of prank?” The two grown ponies broke down in a fit of the giggles as the two foals looked at her curiously. “Sorry kido, as weird as it seems, this is all real.” “Yeah, and did I mention the same thing happened to me?” Rainbow rolled her eyes and Scootaloo stared once more. “Yeah, I got blasted back to a human world too. They put Dashie here back into my body, so now I've got a room-mate to keep me company.” “Hey! I didn't ask for this either remember?” “Okay... can we stop for a bit? I don't know if I can take any more weirdness for one day...” Scootaloo complained as the world seemed to spin around her. “Sounds like good advice to me.” Rainbow agreed as she shooed the twins out the door and Ms. Scott followed. “Why don't we let you get some rest.” She added closing the door and taking her seat in the bedside chair once more. “I'll be right here when you need me.” ... A few days later as Rainbow and Dashie were helping little Scootaloo get back on her hooves again, there was a stirring in the bed across the hall. Whatever her other faults, Princess Luna had barely left her bedside in nearly a week, and as Snowdrop's mind gradually re-formed, Luna was there to calm and guide her through the many strange dreams. Normally, dream walking was something that came easily to the princess of the night, but with Snowdrop, she found herself calling on skills she had not used in more than a thousand years. When Luna ventured into another pony's dream she could manipulate many things, change their perceptions, and even tweak their view of the waking world, a skill that had been invaluable during the early years of the sister's reign. The problem was that she was still bound by the limits of the mind she was exploring. The minds of the very young resembled the toys of the very young, all smooth shapes and bright colors; while older, more mature ponies had far finer detail and more intricate problems for her to solve. Normally this was merely a contextual detail of minor interest, but Snowdrop had always made her feel... vulnerable. With her eyes crippled, the part of her mind that would normally learn to interpret sight never developed, instead being taken over to improve her hearing, touch and smell. When Luna explored her mind, a mind that had never known sight, she was, herself, blind, stumbling through a world of extreme sounds and sharp textures without help from the coping skills Snowdrop herself had developed. “Snowdrop? Are you there?” The texture beneath her hooves was sharper and more defined than any she could remember, and she found she could actually feel the soft moistness of the floor that supported her, bowing just a little under her with each step. The air smelled clean and warm with just a hint of moist earth, though she was not skilled enough to discern spring from summer or fall. “Hello? Is someone there?” She instantly recognized the small scared voice, and stepped forward to comfort her, only to find the surface she stood upon had run out as she stepped forward, pitching her headlong toward whatever lay below. Her adrenaline surged as she fell, tumbling blindly head over hoof and her wings snapped open to stop her fall, but without her sight, she had no idea which way was up, let alone how to find another surface to stand on. The wind whipped at her from one direction, then the other, utterly scrambling her sense of direction, and in a panic she beat her wings fiercely trying to gain altitude and stability. As she picked up speed fast she realized too late that she was pointed downwards, and as she tried to pull up, an intense pain and a sickening crack announced her body's destruction as she collided hard with the ground. Luna woke with a muffled shriek to find herself still in the hospital bed by the sleeping orange foal. It took a few minutes to calm her racing heart, but despite her fears, she closed her eyes once more. She had to go back and help. As scary as this was for her, Snowdrop had lived every day of her life like this, and now the little foal needed her. She swallowed hard and rejoined her dream. ... Scootaloo was still recovering from her trans-dimensional accident on an alien world surrounded by talking monkeys, but all things considered, she was really taking it in stride. It only took a couple of days before she was walking the hallway outside her room, and in less than a week she, Rainbow and Agent Tyler were making longer and longer trips through the hospital. Scootaloo and Agent Tyler also hit it off, and it wasn't long before the agent began taking her out on 'secret missions' that usually involved extracting a veggie burger from burger king while Rainbow got some much needed sleep. ... The floor had a certain spring under her hooves as Luna stood once more, but something was different. The warm smell of moist earth was gone, replaced by the cold bite of winter air and she could feel tiny pin pricks of cold flash into existence across her back and flank. Snow. It was winter now, and in the distance she could hear the sounds of a little foal sobbing quietly. Using the her horn to feel her way, Luna formed a flat path of hard, solid magic from the place she stood, onward toward the sound. More than once the sound and shake of the walkway told her she stood over an endless gulf of empty air, and her shivers had little to do with the frigid breeze that flowed around her. As she grew nearer, the sobbing stopped as though someone was listening. “Hello? Please, is someone there?” There was a pause as Luna felt with her magic for the cloud on which her foal lay. “Please, I don't want to be alone anymore...” “It is okay, Snowdrop. I am here with you.” “Luna?!” She heard the startled foal leap to her hooves, but she made no attempt to run to her, knowing the dangers all too well by now. Instead, Luna felt the last bit of the way with her horn until she could feel a warm coat of fur and feathers ahead and to her left. Stepping carefully she sat down and extended her wing to cover the shivering foal, pulling her close as she nuzzled her back. “Oh Luna, thank you so much. I was worried I wouldn't get the chance to say goodbye...” Snowdrop felt the princess beside her cringe at her words, and she hastily tried to apologize. “I'm so sorry we didn't get to see each other again, but I'm really glad you came back! We all missed you so much after...” she trailed off, unsure how to speak of her friend's banishment. The drop of water fell on her neck ran down her chest to the ground below, and with a start she realized her princess was crying. “Oh Luna... Don't be sad. I... I just couldn't hold on any longer. I know Mom and Dad will be sad... I already miss them so much... But I just can't stay any longer.” Snowdrop felt another tear land on her shoulder as Luna answered in a shaking voice. “I am sorry too child. But you are not dying, and I have not returned early from my banishment...” There was confusion mixed with hope in her voice when she spoke again. “I'm not going to die? But the doctors... they told my mom and dad that...” Luna squeezed the little foal tightly under her wing, holding her close against the cold. “Child... it has been more than a thousand years...” She felt Snowdrop shiver underneath her as she grasped what that meant. “But... Mom... Dad! You mean they're...?” More tears fell as Luna nuzzled the distraught foal. “For nearly a thousand years now, yes. They couldn't save you, and neither could I at the time, but now I have found a way.” “But... my parents...” “Your parents lived out the rest of their lives. They had another daughter, and she grew into a fine mare and had a family of her own before she too passed on. I cannot bring them all back, but I have found a body for you. At this moment you are lying on a hospital bed as your new body heals itself and you.” Her voice was cracked and strained when she finally answered. “Thank you Princess... I don't know what to say...” “Say nothing then, just hold on to me, dear one. I am here for you, and if you let me, I will be your new guardian through the childhood you were robbed of.” For the first time, Snowdrop hugged Luna tightly as her own tears of loss flowed. Her world was gone. She knew now that she had died in that hospital bed as her mother and father held her hoof, but now they were gone too. Everyone was gone... Everyone except Luna... A quiet background sound had been slowly building in volume as they held each other, and now even Luna beside her could hear the soft roar of static behind the silence, and indeed, even feel it in the clouds beneath her hooves. A new day was beginning. … Luna was just waking up when the orange foal on the bed beside her finally stirred and tried to sit up. With a small groan she failed and fell back onto her pillow as Luna came fully awake and leaned over to stroke her head. “Luna?” “I am here little one. You are safe.” Snowdrop seemed to relax a bit, but her next question caught the Princess off guard. “Luna? Why is it so loud?” Luna raised her eyebrow, listening to the relative stillness of the hospital. “Loud? What do you hear?” The door shutting behind Ms. Scott interrupted her reply. “Good morning Snowdrop! Good to see you awake at last, I'm Dr. Scott. How are you feeling?” The orange pegasus seemed to think about it. “I'm okay I guess... I feel kind of weak, but there's this weird sound I've never heard before... what is that?” Ms. Scott grinned from ear to ear as she pulled a penlight from a pocket of her prosthetic. “I think I might have an idea. Here, I'm going to do something and I want you to tell me if anything changes, okay?” So saying, she held penlight over Snowdrop's right eye and clicked it on. “Oh! That's so loud!” The little orange foal flinched as the light entered her eye. The elder Scootaloo flicked off the light with a satisfied smile. “Don't worry, it will take you a little while to get used to it, but this can happen sometimes.” Luna just stared at her in confusion. “What? How can she be hearing light?” “Light?” Snowdrop asked in a startled whisper. “Yes, light. Your mind is being faithfully re-created by the magic that bears your consciousness, and your original mind couldn't see, so the parts of your brain that handle sight were taken over for other senses like hearing. Your new body has two fully functional eyes but your brain just doesn't know what to do with the new signal information. Don't worry though, in a few more days you should be seeing blurry images, and a little after that you'll be able to see just as well as I can.” Her little voice quavered as she looked in the direction of Ms. Scott's voice. “I'm... I'm going to see?” Luna wrapped her hooves around Snowdrop and planted a kiss on her forehead as she answered in a choked voice. “Yes. You are going to see just like we can.” As her eyes filled with tears, the little foal held out a hoof. “Dr. Scott? May I please see you?” Ms. Scott smiled and held her face up for the little foal to examine with her hoof. After a few moments she took her hoof and held it against the little foals face. “Sneak preview dear. Can you see the resemblance?” Snowdrop ran her hoof over her own face and her eyes grew wide as she asked. “I'm your daughter?” Luna and Ms. Scott looked at each other and shrugged. “More or less I suppose. Now sit up straight okay? I've got some exercises I need you to do with Luna.”