//------------------------------// // The Physical // Story: Golden Wings // by TheGreatEater //------------------------------// Scootaloo, much like her honorary sister, was not by any stretch of the imagination a morning pony. Thus it was much to her chagrin that Raindrops had her up at the crack of dawn. "But why do I have to be up?" Scootaloo whinnied for the umpteenth time that morning. "As I told you, we have a very busy day today, Scootaloo," Raindrops said with a wry grin. "But the morning is evil!" Scootaloo hissed. Although it was hard to take her seriously when her eyes were losing their half-hearted battle to stay open. "It is, but this was the earliest I could schedule your full battery of tests to make sure everythings okay. It's something your potential future parents will want to know. As well as things I need to know about you living alone all those years," Raindrops said. "Graah! Today’s going to be a long day," Scootaloo growled, dropping her head heavily upon the table. Scootaloo lost her battle to stay awake on the way to the hospital, riding on Raindrops' back. She looked over at her sleeping cargo and smiled. She knew that her dedication to her work didn't always make her likable too many ponies, and some ponies even though she was practically a robot with how professional she appeared on the surface. But moments like these, they were what made everything worth it. Seeing a pony happy, and knowing she made a difference in that life for the better. It didn't leave a whole lot of time to have a social life, and sometimes she wished she could have a foal of her own, but it wasn't in the cards for her, both in Canterlot and other places she'd lived. She was a stepping stone for a pony’s future for a better life. As long as Scootaloo could benefit from their time together, then she'd be happy. Raindrops entered the hospital and walked up to the receptionist. "Hi, I'm here for Scootaloo’s appointment." "Hmmm... Let’s see here," the receptionist muttered, looking through a list of the appointments scheduled for the day, "Ah yes, Scootaloo. Here she is, I'll let the doctors know to be ready to see her soon." Walking over to the waiting seats, she gripped Scootaloo by the skin of her neck and gently deposited her onto the seat next to her. Nudging her awake, she grinned at Scootaloo's futile attempts to remain asleep until she finally gave in. Sitting groggily in her chair, she looked around and noticing where they were and groused, "How can anypony make a poor, innocent filly be up at this ridiculous hour?" "Didn't you ever get up this early when... You know?" "Pht! Sure, and Manticores are herbivores. Hey Raindrops, why can't I get some coffee?" Scootaloo asked with her best puppy dog eyes. "Nice try," Raindrops chortled, "after the tests we'll get you something to help wake you up, or you can go back to sleep." "Drats," Scootaloo harumphed grouchily. Thus Scootaloo endured an eternity of boredom, or fifteen minutes, until they called her and Raindrops to one of the many back rooms to begin Scootaloo's much needed battery of tests. As Scootaloo sat on the bed waiting for what was going to happen next she looked at Raindrops and asked, "So what are they going to do to me?" "Well, first they're going to do a normal physical to see how healthy you are. Then they are going to check out your wings to see if there's a problem with them. After that, there’s going to be a few X-Rays, and lastly we're going to get a Core Check." "What's a Core Check?" "Basically, they observe condition of your magical core, the flow of magic through your meridians, and any problems in your magic flow. While it's mostly used in unicorn check-ups, since they’re magic heavy, it's also used for pegasi, at least until you fully develop, or don’t do a job that uses a lot of pegasus magic." "Oh. Is it going to hurt?" Scootaloo asked, a thread of worry in her voice. "Not at all! It might feel a little tingly, and sometimes there's some pressure, but it doesn't hurt. At least from what I've personally gone through," Raindrops replied with a smile. She trotted up to Scootaloo and gave her a reassuring nuzzle, "But you have nothing to worry about. I'll be right here with you throughout your tests, okay?" "Okay, but I'm not worried! I'm a brave filly, just like Rainbow Dash! I'm not afraid of anything!" Scootaloo said, puffing out her chest, "But if you want to stay, that'd be cool too," she added with a sheepish smile. "Of course. Rainbow Dash sure is lucky to have such a brave filly like yourself as an honorary sister," Raindrops responded with a gentle smile. Just then Nurse Redheart walked in. "Why hello there, Scootaloo. Finally paying us a visit?" She joked, giving a disarming smile to Scootaloo. "Yep. So... I haven't been in a hospital for as long as I can remember. What exactly is part of a normal physical?" "Well, first I'm going to need to draw some blood." "B-blood? Why do you need to do that? Are you all secretly vampires?" Scootaloo asked, her features growing pale. Nurse Redheart gave a slight chuckle. "No, we aren't vampires. But we need your blood and a little bit of urine to see how healthy your body is, and if there's anything that your body is lacking to stay healthy. I promise, it's nothing more than a quick pinch and a bit of pressure, then it's over. It'll be done faster than you can say onomatopoeia," As she talked, she lifted Scootaloo's right forehoof and gave it a quick rub with an alcohol-soaked pad.She stealthily got ready to slip the needle into Scoot's frog. "*Snrk*, you said pee!" Scootaloo laughed at her joke and the tickling sensation in her hoof. With a deft hoof, Redheart inserted the needle in. "That I did. See, it’s not so bad. Now all I'm doing now is filling these tubes. Then we'll be all done." Redheart showed Scootaloo the four vials on the tray next to her. The room fell silent as a vial disappeared under Scootaloo’s hoof, and a filled one was placed on the tray. And Redheart, she mused, was correct. Other than a little pinch as the needle went into her frog, it didn't hurt at all. Although it would probably be worse if she had to actually watch the needle go into her body. When it was all done, Scootaloo couldn't help but quip, "It took longer than saying that one big word." "True, and you were such a brave filly. How would you like a sucker?" Redheart replied. "Really! Can I, Raindrops?" Scootaloo asked, hopping up and down in excitement after the needle was removed. "Sure thing, but first you need to get the band aid on your frog so you don't get an infection." "Pfft! This little thing? I get worse scrapes when I smash into buildings on my scooter!" Raindrops raised an eyebrow at that. "I'm sure. But it's part of the hospital’s rules, candy for a band aid. Not such a bad trade, is it?" "Not really, I guess? Do you have any Wonderbolt ones?" "We sure do. With the amount of times Rainbow Dash visits, we make sure to keep a big stock of them," Redheart joked. After that, Scootaloo sat still as the doctor came in to poke and prod her with various instruments that she swore were secret torture instruments made to be as cold and uncomfortable as possible. But the biggest problem for Scootaloo was that it was just as boring as it was uncomfortable. That was, at least, until the Core Check. Scootaloo was expecting some other pre-Discordian era torture instrument like the hammer, or cold gloves, (Seriously, why would ponies makes gloves like that? All cold and weird feeling...). Scootaloo suppressed a shiver, but the doctor explained everything for her before she could voice her curiosity. "Since Ponyville is a mainly an Earth Pony town, and earth ponies don't have the same needs and demands for magic flow as pegasi and unicorns, we don't have the funds or the usual needs for fancy machines like you'd find in bigger cities or ones with a larger concentration of those races. "But while I'm not expecting you to have problems, if there are, there are better hospitals in Manehatten and Canterlot close by, and Twilight Sparkle owns one. She's been kind enough to use it on the few ponies who needed readings or assistance but aren't able to afford the medical bills that such an in-depth reading costs "I think I'd trust Twilight more than some stranger messing with my medi-thingies," Scootaloo replied, the word meridians feeling strange to say after hearing about it from Raindrops. "Well that's only if you need it. Let's check, shall we? What we're going to do is a simple spell that'll show us your magical energy flow." Dr. Stable's horn lit up, sending golden magic flowing over Scootaloo. Within seconds, yellow tendrils of light began to spiral around her body. Looking at herself, she saw a massive light in her barrel, but the light coming out of it . The light flowing to her wings was nothing more than a foggy mist that barely seemed to move. "Hmm... You seem to have a rather strong magical core. Try flapping your wings as hard as you can, please," He asked, adjusting his stethoscope. Scootaloo flapped her wings with all of her might, getting a whole foot off the table before collapsing. The magic flow to her wings seemed powerful, but tapered off and couldn't quite make it to the wings themselves. "Well, there’s good news and news," Dr. Stable said as he cut off the spell. "Good news first, please!" Scootaloo replied hopefully. "The good news is, you're the only pegasus I know of who can lift herself off the ground by muscle alone. The other news is that you'll need a more in-depth core reading. You have a rather bad block keeping your magic from fully reaching your wings." "Oh well... That's still pretty cool. I bet Rainbow Dash is going to flip when I tell her that I can get off the ground with wing strength alone! As for the other stuff, I know Twilight can help me. She's super smart, and she's going to be teaching me and the crusaders stuff!" Scootaloo said, bouncing on the table. Sure, I need to see why my magic's wonky, but I'm not going to let that get me down! Once I get this fixed, everything's going to better! I know it! On the way to the library, they saw a rather distraught looking Spike, who was looking as if somepony told him emeralds and turquoise no longer existed and the Featherman series was discontinued forever. Raindrops and Scootaloo, wanting to cheer him up, decided to talk to him on along the way. "Hello, Spike! How have you been? I'm sorry I didn't take the time to chat at Scootaloo's party yesterday," Raindrops greeted. "Not too good, to tell you the truth. Twilight's great and really working on those things you talked about, but I just learned that I can't be her son," Spike said sadly. "Why not? From what I saw, while oblivious in some regards, I saw that she cares about you, so why can't you be her son?" "Because the law says that dragons are pets, apparently," Spike growled in response. "What! You're not a pet!" Scootaloo huffed just as angrily, "Sure we might not be friends and hang out and stuff, but you're every bit as pony as I am... Just, a dragon!" "I have to agree, well, not on the pony part. But with how well-mannered you appear, and how sentient you are, you are a child, and I would never have acted as I did if I didn't think you were," Raindrops added. "What do you mean?" Spike asked. "One of my many jobs is as a member of Foal Protective Services, not whatever pets have. And even though I've never had any of my own, I'm very protective of the foals that I meet. If I didn't think you were every bit a foal as those I'm sworn to Celestia and Luna to protect and serve, I would never have stepped in. After all, pets are trained to do all sorts of jobs and have different rules on treatment. "So if anypony can't look at you and see a young one that's every bit as deserving as any other foal, kid, or what have you, then they are blind and stupid," Raindrops finished. Spike spent a few moments looking at the look of indignant anger on her face and gave a small smile. "You know, you might be okay after all. So enough about me for now. I really need to take my mind off me. What are you two up to?" "Well, me and Scootaloo were on our way to Twilight," Raindrops replied. "I'll walk with you," he said, falling into place alongside them as they walked to his home. Scootaloo looked at him as they walked and decided to break the ice. "Hey Spike." "What's up, Scootaloo?" "I know we never really see each other, or hang out, or whatever. But if you ever want to chill, you can hang out with me and the Crusaders if you'd like. We might be aquawhatsists-" "Acquaintances," Spike corrected. "Sure, that thing. But I'd like to be your friend if you'd like. And I'm sure the crusaders would like to be your friend too. Then everypony can see that you're a cool friend, and maybe think you're a pony like them?" Scootaloo said innocently. "I might be busy for a while coming up, but yeah. I think I'd like to be your friend," Spike said. Scootaloo sat at the dining room table with a cup of chocolate milk and small bowl of applesauce, while Raindrops sipped a cup of tea that Spike had prepared for them both as they waited for Twilight to come back. "So you need Twilight to check your magic core?" Spike asked. "Yeah, they said that she has the machine to do a more complete scan-thing than they could do. Is it true that she helps other ponies like that?" "Yep, that's Twilight... Well, at least that's the Twilight ever since she moved down to Ponyville." "So she wasn't always cool?" Scootaloo asked, happily snacking on her sauce. As an afterthought, she added, "For an egghead." "Nah, she wasn't into the whole ‘friends’ thing until recently. I mean, sure, some of the friends I used to have live here now, but she was too caught up with her studies." "If you don't mind, why aren't you friends with them still?" Raindrops interected. "Well, after college, I've been up to my ear fins with work, and Twilight has more needs now that there's no castle staff to do a lot of the grunt work. But it's not all that bad, I guess. I mean, I'm her number one assistant and all," Spike puffed out his chest with pride at that last part before deflating again. "College?" Raindrops said incredulously. "Yeah, Celestia thought it'd be good for me. Since dragons’ minds apparently mature faster than our bodies, I went to schooling along with Twilight, after I managed to blow through basic schooling. Didn't hurt that Twilight always used me as a sounding board when playing school." "Wow... I must say that I'm impressed. Did you have a lot of friends?" Spike seemed to shrink into himself for a moment before responding, "Yeah, a few." "Well, now you have a few more!" Scootaloo said enthusiastically, trying to cheer up the down drake, "And I was serious, I'm your friend now and I know that Sweets and Bloom Oh, and Mango, Pips and Dinks would love to have you as a friend! Heck, we can make you a Cutie Mark Crusader!" "That'd be nice, but dragons don't get Cutie Marks." "Pfft," Scoots blew off the comment, "You still want to find out who you are, right?" "Well, yeah, but -" "’But' nothing! A Cutie Mark shows what makes a pony special, but what really matters is finding out who we are and want to be. So you could definitely be a crusader!" "Ha! You're quite the motivational speaker, Scoots. I might need some time to do some soul searching... But I think I could get behind that." As Scootaloo was about the reply, a very distraught Twilight came bursting through the doors. "Spike?! Oh thank Celestia! I was wondering where you'd gone off too!" "I ran into Scootaloo here along with Raindrops, and we came here since she needed to talk to you," Spike replied nonchalantly, which Scootaloo found strange considering how down in the dumps he was looking. "Oh! Well we can send a letter to Celestia later, I guess," Twilight responded glumly, before throwing on a smile, "So Scootaloo, how can I help you?" "Well, I got a check up today, but there was a problem with my Core Scan, and they suggested that you might be able to help... And since you're going to help me with the whole ‘Twilight Time’ thing, I figured it wouldn’t be that much trouble." "No trouble at all, I'd love to help you. Why don't you and Spike go to the basement and get ready, and I'll be down shortly." "So is there a reason you sent them downstairs? " Raindrops asked. "Yes, you see, I tried adopting Spike. But even Mayor Mare, when she eventually came out to see the scene I was making, said that while a few ponies do like Spike as a dragon, the laws don't acknowledge Spike as a being that one can adopt... But Spike's not a pet,” Twilight sighed, “What should I do?" "You're a princess, can't you just make a law saying dragons are adoptable?" Raindrops asked. "It's not that easy. It requires a majority vote from the rulers to sign on new laws., and then there's the House of Nobles that go over new laws, then there's public outlook that also affects the House of Nobles, and parliament," Twilight explained, "But it looks like I may have to go that route." "Being a princess isn't as easy as everyone thinks it is isn't it?" Raindrops responded with a chuckle. Twilight gave a self-deprecating snicker. "Yeah, tons of red tape and bickering old ponies... You know, I have to thank you a little bit." "How so?" "If it wasn't for you, I never have known that Spike really sees me as his mom, and I wouldn't have had that push I needed to become the pony I should have been for him." "You're welcome, but if it's not too rude of me to ask... Why did it take me to give that push?" Raindrops asked, wrapping a friendly wing around the deflated alicorn. "Mostly because how we were is it's always been. Prin - I mean, Celestia, always made sure that he was given the best education beside me and, in a way, domesticated him for pony life. And I personally just never thought to question it." Twilight said, leaning into the hug slightly before stepping away. "So... Celestia forgive me, but are you saying Celestia basically helped make ponies think of dragons as pets, rather than equals?" "It was unintentional!... Sorry, but yeah, dragons aren’t known as civilized, so we literally had to make things up as we went. But that's something I need to ask her later. Tomorrow I'm going to give Spike the day off. After all, in two days he's going to have a huge surprise." "What's that?" "I've been working on perfecting a spatial distortion and plant transformation spell, so he'll have his own room. By then, all the special things I've ordered will be ready to give him a space all his own," Twilight’s grin faded, and her voice grew solemn as she looked at Raindrops. “Do you think I'll be a good mom?" Raindrops grinned. "Well he hasn't turned out too bad so far. I think with a little work, you could be one of the good ones. Although I want to know why even though he said some of his college friends live in Ponyville, he hasn't been able to keep in touch? That's quite important for any growing being to have." "He had friends?" Twilight asked, tilting her head as if it had never occurred to her before, "I guess I missed out on more than I thought. I'll talk to him tomorrow about it, and see if I can do anything to repair any rifts from being incommunicado for these last few years."