"Are you sure you will be okay?" Rose asked nervously as she paced back and forth in the botique's showroom. Neither of them knew exactly what time Rarity was supposed to come to show them what to do, but Rainbow Dash had agreed to start Summer's lessons this morning. If they didn't leave soon Summer would be late meeting the rainbow maned pegasus which was something Rose just did not want to do.
"I'll be fine...don't forget that I have a lot more experience running a showroom than you do anyways. I can handle this in my sleep." Trixie said giving Rose a playful grin. She was a little worried though, she knew a little more about fashion than her sister, but Summer knew a lot more than Rose and Trixie combined and the filly wasn't that old for Celestia's sake.
"Do you think I should really leave Summer alone with Rainbow Dash?" Rose asked, fretting about leaving her daughter alone with some pony she didn't know that well. No matter how many times Trixie reassured her that this was a little town with little to no crime, it still made Rose nervous to be away from her daughter for a whole day.
"It will be fine, trust me. Besides, it would probably be best that Summer isn't stuck here all day while we have to worry about learning what we have to do to take care of this place." Trixie replied shaking her mane out. "I promise the squirt will be okay, sis, trust me."
"I guess." Rose sighed giving in as she heard Summer hurrying down the steps.
"Excited squirt?" Trixie laughed at the filly's excited face. The little girl was so much like her mother, always eager to learn something new.
"I can't wait...I bet I'll be creating sonic rainbooms in no time." Summer cried out while taking an overly dramatic pose making her mother and aunt giggle.
"I'm sure the Wonderbolts will be begging you to join them in no time." Trixie told the excited pegasus who bristled with pride at the words.
"Not until you graduate from school." Rose said making Trixie roll her eyes.
"Ahhh, mamma, no fair." Summer whined, pouting towards her mother.
"Trust me sweetie, a good education is the most important thing in life." Rose said nuzzling the filly. "Now come on, we're going to be late."
"Let's go!" Summer cheered, instantly brightening up. Rose hurried after her daughter, nearly tripping over her when Summer stopped all of a sudden. "Ummm...which way are we going?"
Rose couldn't help rolling her eyes as she giggled at her daughter's antics. How the little pegasus could be so full of energy so early in the morning was a mystery.
"Going to meet Rainbow Dash?" A young pegasus teen asked as the pair passed her. If Rose remembered correctly the pegasus's name was Scootaloo and she was the oldest filly that she had ever seen that still didn't have her cutie mark.
"Yep, she's going to teach me how to fly!" Summer cried out happily making Scootaloo get a pained look on her face.
"Good luck...she's...an awesome flier, but a terrible teacher." Scootaloo said as her voice took on a slightly sour tone. "She tried teaching me for years, but...I still can't fly."
"May I ask who your parents are?" Twilight asked as she studied the pegasus filly while Summer shifted anxiously beside her.
"I...don't know..." Scootaloo sighed, hanging her ehad as her ears flatened a little.
"Has anyone ever checked your mana flow?" Rose asked, cocking her head studying the young pegasus with worry. If her mana flow was messed up because she was a hybrid like her daughter, it may be fixable though a bit tricky. If taken care of when she was a filly then there would be no problem. With her mana lines more fully matured, if there was blockages due to her mixed heritage it would cause her some pain to fix it. It was something she learned because of her daughter who was also a hybrid between pegasus and unicorn.
"Mana flow?" Scootaloo asked in confusion answering Rose's question. Rose winced as she began wondering if she should do this or not. The initial infusion of magic into the filly's system would be painful, but if it worked she would be fine. Sure she may need a few follow up infusions, but they should go much easier. Still, it would b nice if the doctor that took care of her during her prgnancy was around as he was an expert in this. He had assured her that she had the ability and understanding to easily do this.
"Can you meet me near the forest in about twenty minutes?" Rose asked as she pointed the opposite direction of where they were going. She felt bad for the filly. She would do what she could to help her, and worse case scenario she was eitehr wrong or if she made a mistake the filly may feel a little pain. She could tell maybe another unicorn, but if they knew about this they would have done something already...wouldn't they?
"I'm not too sure." Scootaloo said aas she swallowed. Sure she wanted help, she would do anything if she could fly, but this mare was new in town. If she was honest, she thought Rose was kind of cool...not as cool as Rainbow Dash of course...but she was also kind of scary with that cloak.
"It is up to you, but I don't have a lot of time." Rose said, looking towards the direction she was supposed to meet Rainbow.
"Okay...I'll...I'll meet you." Scootaloo said as she tried to shake off the uneasy feeling in her stomach.
"Good...as soon as I drop my daughter off, I'll be right there. I just have to stop off and grab a few things from home on my way."
~~~
Scootaloo was worried as she slowly trotted to the edge of the Everfree Forest, a place that was already kind of scary on it's own after all of their misadventures there. The Cutie Mark Crusaders had slowly found their cutie marks though as time went on, all but Scootaloo herself. Sweetie Bell got a microphone with music notes and Apple Bloom had gotten a hammer and wrench in the shape of an X. Sweetie's special talent was singing and Bloom's was fixing things up.
"Everyone is special but me." Scootaloo sighed. Of course Rarity and Sweetie had told her time and time again that she was special which helped her. The two loved her as she had become a member of their family. Yet, she couldn't help feeling like a freak for growing so old and still not finding her mark.
"I'm glad you came...I really think I can help you. I must warn you though...it might be painful." Rose said, "For now I just want to test you, then I want you to actually think about if you want to go through with the...remedy for your condition."
"What's wrong with me?" Scootaloo asked, unable to deny the pony sounded confident that she knew what she was talking about. It almost felt like she was talking to...no, it was impossible! This was Trixie's sister, wasn't she?
"I think one of your parents may not have been a pegasus making you what is known as a hybrid." Rose exlained slowly, "It's something that rarely happens, but when it does a pegasus's mana lines within their body can get blocked as the two types of magic try and figure out what it is supposed to do."
"I don't get it...how can that make me not be able to fly?" Scootaloo asked now feeling less hopeful than she did. This didn't make much sense.
"It's a condition that's very rare, but my doctor back where I came from was an expert in rare conditions as well as rare magic. He taught me some things, including this so I could take care of my daughter if needed." Rose explained. "My daughter, and I believe you to are hybrids. You know the differences in each type of pony's natural magic?"
"Well yeah, it's taught in school." Scootaloo said rolling her eyes. Really, that was something they learned in kidnergarden after all.
"Then tell me what a pegasus's natural magic is." Rose said sitting down in front of Scootaloo as the pegasus filly studied her curiously. She could almost see Twilight sitting there lecturing like she had more than a few times back before the unicorn ran away.
"Well, we can fly and walk on clouds and stuff." Scootaloo explained, though she started feeling a little doubtful about it when she heard the cloaked mare snort.
"That...isn't really what a pegasus's natural magic is...I have no idea why they teach that since it's only the results of what a pegasus's natural magic is. A pegasus can control their mass instinctually through thier magic. They make themselves lighter and lighter until they can create enough lift through their wings to fly. It is also what gives them the ability to walk on clouds. A hybrid though can sometimes have blockages in their natural mana lines as their pegasus magic kind of fights with their other type of magic. If the blockage is removed then the pegasus's natural magic will start flowing and should keep their mana lines clear of any more blockages...though sometimes it can take a few times to get it flowing enough to naturally fight off any more blockages." Rose lectured, "When their magic is flowing normally a hybrid pegasus will be able to fly. They may or may not be as good at it as a full blooded pegasus, but they will be able to fly. They will also have some traits of their other race most of the time. Such as using their magic if it's from a unicorn to maybe increase their flight speed or be physically more resilient if the extra magic comes from an earth pony."
"That's kind of...hard to take in." Scootaloo sighed, almost feeling her eyes swirling with confusion. She pretty much understood a lot of it, but it was still a lot to take in.
"Here, just take this and hold it between your hooves." Rose said floating a small emerald from under her cloak over to Scootaloo who caught it between her fron hooves.
"What am I supposed to do with it?" Scootaloo asked, disappointed when it felt like a normal gem and didn't do anything as she held it. She gasped when it flew from her back udner Rose's cloak.
"Nothing, it's just a diagnostic tool. It's enchanted to glow if your magic is flowing correctly. Since it didn't, your must have a blockage. I can do it, remove the blockage, but it may be painful." Rose explained. She knew a couple spells that could numb a pony a little, but this spell wouldn't burn the effects from her system in no time. The young filly should tthink about it, talk to...Rarity! Of course, this was one of the fillies that was at the orphanage. "Take some time, talk it over with your friends. Speak to Rarity, she's your caretaker right?"
"I don't want to wait...I can deal with any amount of pain if you can make me fly." Scootaloo pleaded as she gave Rose a puppy dog pout full blast making the cloaked mare's resolve crack.
"Look, even if I did do this now, it would take at the least twenty minutes to create the rune in the ground to do this and...and I need to do it without my hood. I need to use my horn to trace and charge the rune." Rose said shaking a little. She would rather do it alone when no pony was around and have Scootaloo come back.
"Please...I've waited so long for this...I'll do anything, just please help me!" Scootaloo cried out, tears slowly starting to fall crumbling the last of Rose's resolve.
"Okay...come back in like twenty minutes." Rose sighed.
"No...please...let me stay, I'll help set up this...rune thing." Scootaloo pleaded making Rose sigh in defeat. If the filly wanted this so much, then maybe she would keep a secret, or more, a secret in exchange.
"Okay, I'll let you stay if you keep watch while I trace the rune, I don't want any pony else seeing me without my hood." Rose said, the pegasus's eyes shining in excitement. "My...I'm scared up so please don't comment on them. And lastly, you must promise me that you will NOT tell any pony what I look like...or what my...birth name is until I'm ready."
"I promise." Scootaloo breathed, afraid if she spoke to loud the mare would back out. She watched in bated breath as the mare reached her hooves up, for the first time seeing her bare legs as the billous cloak slid back showing just a fraction of a familiar color. Watching the hooves slowly draw back the hood tears started pooring from the filly. "Tw-twilight?!"