Under Your Wings

by Askesalsa


Single Wing, part 1

The early morning light was as sharp as always, passing the borders of the open kitchen window where a light breeze gently shook the drapes from side to side, letting in short glimpses of the sun's blinding rays. Scootaloo quickly found herself blinded, just as she was carrying one of her mother's finest plates to the kitchen table. A bumpy corner of the rug swept the temporarily blinded filly off her feet, making her accidentally lose her grip on the pretty piece of porcelain and send it flying through the air. With a bit of reflexes, luck and agility though, the orange filly managed to leap forward and caught the plate midair before it would break into an impossible puzzle. She let out a sigh of relief, wondering just how disappointed her mother would be if she had broken this heirloom of hers from her own parents. Not wanting such an event to happen again; the orange filly carefully put the plate down and decided to close the window so the wind could no longer play this trick on her.

As she stretched her tiny hoof to properly grab the edge of the window and pull it back to the sash, she noticed the shape of an earth pony, probably a stallion, walking up the narrow gravel path to their house. She closed her eyes halfway in an attempt to identify the stranger with the blinding sun behind him. A set of sparkly stars appeared in her pupils when she noticed the white doctor coat covering the stallion's own natural faded tan one, and the white-gray mane that ran untrimmed along his neck. She also managed to narrowly notice a picture of a bandage-wrapped heart on the old stallion's flank and was now a hundred percent sure of his identity.

With the speed of light she stormed to the door and opened it wide before the stallion had a chance to reach the doorbell. She excitedly started skipping in place with enough intensity for the glasses, bowls and plates on the shelves to start clinging in symphony. "Hi, Candyfeld!" she yelled with a happy voice. "Did you get me some sweets this time too, huh? Did you? Did you?"

The old stallion burst into a deep laughter, though the wide open mouth from which this sound emitted was almost invisible because of his great, white mustache. "Always with the Candyfeld, eh Scootaloo?" he cheerfully replied as he used a hoof to nuzzle the orange filly's mane. "Yes, well I just might have a little something on me."

He stretched his neck as much to the side as ponily possible to reach the chest pocket of his doctor's coat. Scootaloo was still a little unsure of why he would wear such a weird piece of cloth when it was so difficult to do something as simple as reach into the pocket. But every time she asked him about it, he simply answered that he looked more respectable as a doctor with it, whatever that meant. He got his teeth around a white plastic stick and managed to drag out a red and blue lollypop of such proportions that it logically should not have been able to fit in such a small pocket.

"Oh. My. Gosh!" Scootaloo shrieked when she was presented with the sweet wheel of sugar on a stick. Her eyes turned sparkly once more and a waterfall of drool started running from her mouth. She jumped the piece of candy like a viper attacking its prey, even making the old doctor quickly retract his hoof out of pure instinct.

The filly was just about to yank her teeth into the candy, but stopped when she noticed that it was still wrapped in its plastic container. From there, she started ripping and tearing it with her teeth and hooves to get her price from the bag, while the old doctor stood watching in amusement.

However, it did not take long for him to remove his attention from the filly to a staircase at the end of the hallway. While he was silently focusing on each step, his well-hidden smile became smaller, gradually replaced by a more serious and stern appearance. Scootaloo took note of where he was looking and let go of the lollypop, only having managed to tear a little at the impossible.to-break invisible wrapping.

"She's still sleeping," she said with a smile on her face and a couple of adorable eyes looking up at the old doctor.

"That's good," he responded, still focused on the staircase. "So I take it she's as weak as ever?"

"It's not like she's weak all the time," Scootaloo said with a serious tone that caught the doctor's attention. "Yeah, she's been coughing a lot at night. And yeah, she's been sort of… sleepy lately… but she still has time to play and have fun and stuff."

The doctor smacked a hoof to his forehead and let out a loud sigh. "She still does that? Celestia, how many times do I have to tell her to stay in bed before she gets it?"

Scootaloo's ears dropped a tad and she looked to the side, eyes lowered and focused on the floor. "… I think it's nice when she's up… it's more fun than when she's just sleeping."

"I know you think so," the doctor said, nuzzling the filly's hair gently in an attempt to cheer her up. "But you do know that she needs her rest too, right?"

Scootaloo nodded and looked back up. She noticed that the old stallion was smiling caringly at her, as much as the mustache would reveal, and forced a weak smile upon her own lips. Not wanting to seem too miserable, she tried to lighten the mood by changing her tone of voice into a more jokingly sort: "Well, she won't stay in bed no matter what you tell her. She's way too stubborn for that, Candyfeld."

"I guess that's true," the old stallion said with a snigger. "And proud to boot; no matter how many times I tell her to rest; she just smiles and says she's fine. You know, she doesn't make my job any easier."

"And what fun would there be in an easy job?" a sweet voice called out from behind Scootaloo. The filly's eyes widened and she hastily turned her head to see the light-brown pegasus mare with the spiraling cloud cutie mark slowly approaching them from the stairs. Her purplish-red mane was messy, even more than Scootaloo's own, meaning she must have just gotten out of bed. The orange filly jumped up and trotted over to the mare to embrace her in a big hug that was returned with a single hoof wrapped around her little filly shoulder. Although the pegasus' green eyes showed clear signs of fatigue, and although her missing wing was very noticeable, Scootaloo always found comfort in the loving light that her sweet smile always seemed to give off.

"My, my, aren't you a buzzkill?" the mare said, grinning at the old doctor, who simply stood smiling in front of her, all the while maintaining the hug with the little filly. "Coming here and making my cute little daughter all sad. It's probably a good thing you didn't become a pediatrician, eh Candyfeld?"

"So even you've started calling me Candyfeld, huh?" the old doctor laughed loudly to the point where his eyes started generating water. "You do realize what a laughing stock I would be at the hospital if they heard that name, don't you, Copperbolt?"

The brown mare sniggered and let go of the orange filly, hinting to end the hug. "Well, we're not at the hospital right now, are we?" she replied deviously before winking to her orange daughter, who winked back with a hearty grin, happy to see her mother as always.

"Well, as long as you remember to call me Heartfeld around others," the stallion said as his outburst of laughter wore off. "Or nopony would take me seriously."

"I can't make any promises," Copperbolt replied with a jestering tone.

"Me neither," Scootaloo joined in, trying to imitate every move the pegasus was making.

Smiling and sighing, Dr. Heartfeld shook his head at the two. "Good grief, you never change."

While the mare and the filly simultaneously shook their heads as if they had been practicing the synchronization, the elderly stallion changed his expression back to the serious one he had just a minute ago. Fun time was over in his case. Scootaloo's smile faded when she noticed this and she looked to her dear mother beside her to try and see what the problem was. But Copperbolt simply smiled at her, telling her that everything was fine with a simple nod of the head.

"I'm glad to see you're ok," the stallion said, returning Scootaloo's attention to him. "But you know how I feel about you being out of bed, right?"

Copperbolt rolled her eyes and waved a hoof before her as she responded: "Oh, don't be so stingy, Candyfeld. I need to stretch my wing every now and then. Besides, what harm can a little fresh air do?"

"It's not about the fresh air," the stallion sighed. "You're just in no condition to walk around like you do. If you would just listen to-."

"Is that a lollypop, Scoot?" the brown mare interrupted, and the elderly stallion smacked his forehead in annoyance at the mare's unwillingness to follow his medical advice.

Scootaloo looked up at her and smiled with all her might, knowing exactly what would come to happen next. So she got ready to defend her price. "Yeah, Candyfeld gave it to me."

"Oh?" the brown mare smiled deviously. Scootaloo tried to hide the treat behind her back as Copperbolt sneakily approached it. It was obvious to the orange filly that she would have to fight for her right to eat it at this point. The one-winged pegasus continued: "Well, have you eaten your breakfast yet?"

The orange filly nodded hastily, although it did not seem to convince her all too clever mother, who simply extended her devilish smirk, still slowly approaching the lollypop like a predator would its prey. She then darted her head forward with the speed of a Quarray Eel, snatching the sugarwheel away from Scootaloo before she had a chance to react. The orange filly jumped forward with a grin of her own and tried to grab it back, but her overly pepped mother was holding it just outside of her reach, giggling as she waved it back and forth above the bouncing filly's head.

"Aww, come on!" Scootaloo laughed while jumping for her candy. "Give it back! I promise I won't eat it 'till after breakfast!"

"Yeah right!" Copperbolt responded while holding the object between her teeth, which made her spit a little when she talked. "I've heard that one before. This one's going on the shelf." She turned around and walked to the kitchen where she stretched her body to reach the highest shelf on the wall.

"Please, mom? Can't I just have one bite?" Scootaloo pleaded, trying out her puppy eyes, though Copperbolt had developed an immunity to these eyes over the years.

"Aren't you the one who always says it's too hard to chew in the morning?" the brown mare said in laughter, still trying to reach the shelf.

But the little game was ruined when something seemed to happen to Copperbolt, just as she was about to put down the piece of candy: She began sweating, and her movement was becoming unstable and wobbly. Her breath was heavy enough to be heard through the kitchen door and into the hallway where Dr. Heartfeld and Scootaloo were both watching her through the doorway with a growing sense of worry. The mare herself ignored it though, futilely acting as if everything was ok. "Besides…" she breathlessly continued. "Breakfast gets you… through the… the day. You can't just… you shouldn't eat candy before-."

She finally dropped the lollypop and stumbled a few steps back before she regained her balance by grabbing onto the table, hitting it hard enough for the entire kitchen to shake. Scootaloo darted over to the weak mare and was almost about to jump her, though she stopped herself from doing so, afraid that she would somehow make it worse by jumping her in this weakened state. She instead sat down beside her and gently touched her side with a single hoof to show that she was there.

"Mom, are you ok?" Scootaloo asked, though she knew the answer already. The true answer at least, not the one she expected her mother to give her.

"Yes, yes," Copperbolt answered with a weak voice, putting on an obviously fake and forced smile. "I just lost my balance for a bit, honey. Don't worry about me."

"I think we should get you back to bed," Heartfeld calmly and sternly intervened as he walked over to the pegasus that was still clinging to the table. He let his head slip under her body from the side and then lifted himself along with her, letting her hang breathlessly over his back. She began coughing on his back, letting out loud shockwaves from her throat that she tried to hold back with her hoof, while Scootaloo was watching silently with a frightened expression.

"Sorry about that, Scoot," Copperbolt said wearily, having given up on trying to hide her weakness, though she kept on smiling. "I guess I have to get my treatment done with for the day."

"You're gonna be ok though, right?" Scootaloo asked with worry painted across her face.

Copperbolt smiled at her and nodded once. "Of course I am. In fact; when you get home, how about we do something fun?"

"Are you sure we can do that?" Scootaloo asked, unsure whether or not this was an empty promise. She looked at Heartfeld, whose face told her they could not do anything, but Copperbolt's eyes said differently.

"Of course we can, Scoot. Don't underestimate your mom," the pegasus giggled while she flexed one of her forelegs as much as she could. "So what you wanna do?"

Her head lowered, Scootaloo started rubbing her hooves together in thought. "Can we… maybe go to the playground?"

"You really shouldn't," Heartfeld strictly intervened, bringing Scootaloo's head even further down.

"I'm still gonna," the brown pegasus laughed, making the doctor let out a surrendering sigh. "There's no way I'm backing out of a promise to you, Scoot. When you get home from school, we're going to the playground, ok?"

Scootaloo felt a little bit of a smile form on her lips. Perhaps there was still hope of getting to spend a little fun-time with her mother, but she could not bring herself to completely believe in her words. She raised an eyebrow and put on her most serious expression and asked: "You promise we can go?"

Copperbolt nodded once more and raised a hoof as much as possible while still on the doctor's back. "I promise."

The doctor shook his head though, giving up on trying to convince his patient that she should do as he says. He looked up at a clock hanging above the doorway and seemed a little surprised at what he saw. "Speaking of school," he said. "Scootaloo, shouldn't you be on your way?"

Scootaloo looked at the clock herself, resulting in her eyes opening wide in shock at how late it was. Slightly panicky, the young filly put aside all the bad thoughts from before and instead focused on the fact she was late, overreacting to the point where she was unable to think clearly. Copperbolt simply laughed weakly from the stallion's back at the jumpy filly and signaled for her to calm down with her forelegs. "Don't worry, Scoot," she said with tears of laughter left in her eye corners, though her voice was tired and worn out from the coughing. "I bet Cherilee won't mind you coming a few minutes late. Just take your scooter and get there as fast as you can."

"But I've never been late before!" Scootaloo yelled, not having been calmed down the slightest by her mother's words.

"Well, you'll be even later if you just run around whining about it, won't you?" The brown mare said with a devious grin, countering her sleepy expression and inviting Heartfeld along on a small giggle. "Now gimme a hug, grab your stuff and get the hay outta here, ok?"

The filly nodded hastily and jumped in to give the one-winged pegasus a quick farewell-hug before she dashed over to the door where her helmet and backpack was lying ready. She waved back at the two ponies, still standing in the kitchen in the same awkward position with Copperbolt on Heartfeld's back, and received a couple of caring smiles and waves in return. Slamming the door open and forcing it shut once again, she galloped to her little scooter, jumped on it, and started her wings like a motor and propelled forwards as fast as possible to make sure she would get to school as fast as possible. There was no reason to worry about her mother right now. She was in good hooves with Dr. Heartfeld. What she did worry about though, was Cherilee's reaction when she would show up after the bell had chirmed.