//------------------------------// // Tough Love // Story: An Imperfect Paradise // by Ximer //------------------------------// Scootaloo sighed as the lesson she and her fellow classmates were subjected to seemed to drag on forever. The day wasn't even halfway through yet, since they hadn't even had recess. Time seemed to be deliberately dragging its hooves, and it seemed as if recess would pass them by completely. The filly knew this was false, but at that moment she was content to let her mind run wild with horrible circumstances if recess was missed. There might be another blue bottle incident if such a crime was to unfold, and nopony wanted that, except Applebloom perhaps. Even Star Sprint's antics had grown boring, which was a rare occurrence. Scootaloo liked spending time with the colt, almost as much as Sweetiebelle did with Button Mash. He was a loyal friend, and there to listen when she wanted to vent about problems at school, which she still received thanks to Silver Spoon's new groupies. Diamond Tiara had finally ended things with the filly, after giving her one final chance to turn her heart around. Silver Spoon refused, and blamed Scootaloo for her former friend becoming too softhearted. It left the once smug filly down trodden, but thankfully she had real friends to pick her back up. Scootaloo found herself idly drawing her aunt. She was a real hero, an explorer that was well known back on Earth. While her dad would always be number one, Isabella was a pretty close contender...which set the gears in motion for a small comic, one of which she snickered as she put more details into it. "Scootaloo," Cheerilee's voice made the filly jump. "It's good to see a pony so dedicated to taking notes-" Here it comes. Scootaloo thought to herself. "-perhaps you'd like to review what you were so vigorously jotting down?" Scootaloo rolled her eyes, sighing loudly. She didn't even bother to cover up the fact that she had been doodling. Instead, she simply gave Cheerilee her paper which she had been drawing on, ready to receive her punishment, and a round of laughter from her classmates. "This...is this your aunt and father fighting?" Cheerilee asked. "Yeah, why?" Scootaloo raised her eyebrow at her teacher. "...it's just...I don't remember either of them firing lightning from their eyes, or their hands being surrounded by fire....is there something you're trying to tell me?" Cheerilee whispered the last part to the filly. "No, I just wondered who would win in a fight." Scootaloo shrugged. "A fight..." the mare deadpanned. "Yer pa, duh." Apple Bloom chimed in. "Nuh uh, Isabella would." Sweetiebelle stood up in her chair. "Pfft, as if. Isabella could do anything against a pegasus." Featherweight laughed. "She did say they had hands, meaning they're human." Diamond Tiara promptly pointed out. The conversation soon devolved into a bickering match between two sides of the classroom. One for team Daniel, the other for team Isabella. In the middle of all of the chaos was Cheerilee, doing her best to try and calm things down, to no avail. Scootaloo smiled with the unintentional results of her slacking. For once, it paid to actually goof off, for the moment anyways. The filly was certain that there was trouble in her foreseeable future as a result of her disturbance. For now though, she was going to enjoy the moment. Or so she thought, until the comic pushed its way into her mind again. She was still curious herself as to who would win in a fight? She eventually shrugged it off, but not without some difficulty around the laughing and shouting classmates. “Her dad couldn’t win, he’s just a loser.” one colt’s voice rang out above the rest. Perhaps it was the fact that it was a direct insult to her father, or the fact that it came from a foal that was close by. Whatever the reason, Scootaloo heard this above the rest of the noise and snarled. “You take that back!” “Or what?” the colt huffed. Scootaloo narrowed her eyes, her tiny wings buzzing briefly before tackling the colt, catching him off guard. She couldn’t really hurt him, but did managed to pin him to the floor, much to the other students amusement. Eventually the bell rang, which was sweet music to Scootaloo’s ears. Before she could stand and follow the other students out however; a firm hoof was placed on her shoulder. Cheerilee didn't seem too thrilled with her class being disrupted. Scootaloo sheepishly grinned as the mare narrowed her eyes. She could tell her teacher was quite miffed by her antics. --- I groaned as I re-read the letter from Princess Celestia. Apparently, Filthy Rich had the wrong date for the event sent to him. Thankfully Celestia had sent a letter congratulating me and Cloudchaser, and had brought up the event, hoping to see us there. There were more details to my requested presence. She wanted to 'see her friend the way he had arrived' which was do-able. It would certainly rub a few unicorns the wrong way, seeing a little foal sired by an alien. Now that the date of the charity was much closer that left little time for the beach. As much as I didn't want to, it was looking like it would have to be postponed. I sighed, quite certain that Scootaloo would hate me, or at the very least be disappointed and not want to speak to me. Cloudchaser would probably be worse, and I might get a lecture, or Filthy Rich might. A thump from the foal's room caught my attention. I dropped the letter and flew the short distance to Stormwalker's room. I found the foal giggling as he bumped into the gentle netting that covered his crib, causing him to fall back down onto the small mattress. "You'll still be on my side, right buddy?" I asked rhetorically. Stormwalker babbled a bit before proceeding to consume his blanket, or try to at least. Foal's nibbling on things was a pretty good indication that they were hungry, which was a problem I was happy to resolve before he gave his second sign of hunger, one that was much more audible and hard on the ears. I left him to his own devices momentarily while I prepped his meal. The next thing to come in would be his teeth, which would be a brand new nightmare. I knew taking care of a baby would be hard, but one straight out of my world's mythology wasn't exactly what I had in mind. Truth be told, for a while Cloudchaser and I weren't sure what Stormwalker would be. Cadance had said he would be a colt, but I was referred to as a stallion even when I was a human. To them, stallion served as just another way to identify gender as much as species. I returned to find Stormwalker in the same position I had left him in. Feeding the little colt had become a bit more difficult now that he could become airborne. Thankfully, I could fly faster than he could possibly hope to, for the time being anyways. The instant I lowered the net around his crib, Stormwalker slowly started to rise up above the bars. I gently grabbed him out of the air to feed him, an action he wasn't too thrilled by until he realized why I had detained the little would be escapee. "You, you little aviator wanna be, are going to be a hoofful huh?" I asked as the colt continued to feed. I was startled by the door slowly opening. I wasn’t expecting anypony today, and it was too soon for Cloudchaser to come home. I gently set Stormwalker down, giving him time to support his bottle with his hind and forelegs. I smirked at his budding creativity before refocusing on the mystery guest that had let themselves into my home. I poked my head out of the foal’s room to spot Scootaloo, who was trying to close the door a bit quieter than she had opened it. While it was safe to assume it was because of Stormwalker, but that didn’t explain why she was trying to sneak into the house so early in the day. Equestria didn’t normally have early dismissal days, like Earth schools, so that left only one possibility. Okay Daniel, let’s not jump to conclusions…she could be sick. I need better advice brain. Uh…what would Mufasa do? ….I can roll with that. “Hey Scoots,” I said as I approached her, making her jump. “Why are you home so early?” “O-oh, uhh, nothing! I just uh…got…sick, yeah, really contagious.” Scootaloo stammered. I was at a cross road now. My daughter, bless the little fuzz ball, was doing a poor job at trying to cover up the truth. I knew this, and she probably knew I knew this, but wasn’t quite ready to come out with the truth yet. So, I could either end things now, or I could see how long it took to get the truth out of her with my own shenanigans. “I see,” I said with a smile, coming to a conclusion as to what needed to be done. “Well, let’s see what we’ve got then.” Scootaloo seemed a bit dumbfounded as I nonchalantly placed a hoof beside her head. Her temperature was fine of course, but she didn’t know that I knew any better yet. I had to stop myself from snickering and struggled to keep a straight expression as I set my plan in motion. “Hmm, you might have something,” I said quietly. “We’d better get you in bed kiddo.” “Wha-I mean, m-maybe Cheerilee was just worried.” just like that, Scootaloo had set in motion the next part of my little game. “I’m not taking any chances. Come on little bit.” I said ushering her to her room. “But, but-“ Scootaloo’s wings buzzed in protest. “No buts, if Cheerilee says your sick then I’m going to take her word for it. I’m not as educated on pony illnesses as her, so I’ll let Cloudchaser decide what to do when she gets home.” I cut her off. Scootaloo finally submitted to being carried to her room. Whether it was childhood naivety, or a distracted mind, she didn’t seem to pick up on the fact that I was playing along with her. I did my best to mask my tone, but it had slipped once or twice. “You know, you don’t have to do this. I’m feeling better already.” Scootaloo smiled. “If Cheerilee says it’s highly contagious then we need to keep you in bed for at least say….oh I don’t know, two weeks?” I offered. “Two weeks!?” Scootaloo blurted out in shock. “That’s not a problem is it? I mean, you are sick, right?” I asked with a hint of skepticism in my voice. Scootaloo hesitated for a second. She looked like she was on the verge of cracking, which was what I wanted. While some might see this as cruel punishment, it was a better alternative to spanking her. While I believed that doing so was beneficial, I didn’t exactly know whether or not it would have the same result as a human child. Pony’s didn’t have hands, and with only a hoof to work with, spanking became a lot less effective. That, and even contemplating hitting Scootaloo, even out of discipline, pricked my heart a bit. The little filly really did have me wrapped around her little hoof, but she had been sent home for a reason, and trying to cover it up was wrong. “Come to think of it, I should probably look into what medicine to get you,” I pretended to think out loud, hoping that would be the extra nudge she needed to come clean. “Be right back.” I closed the door to Scootloo’s room, returning to Stormwalker’s to watch the last of the milk disappear from the bottle he had. The little guy could put it away. At least he wouldn’t be trying to escape with a full stomach weighing him down. The colt gave me a pained expression and squirmed restlessly, as his greed started to catch up with him. Scooping him up, I gently patted his back, working the bubbles up from his stomach. What followed was an adorable burp, accompanied by a hiccup. The combination made me chuckle as I placed him back in his crib. Stormwalker’s eyes had already started to droop, growing heavy after being fed. His little wings flapped occasionally in protest to falling asleep, not quite ready to drift off just yet. Their resistance was snuffed out by a fresh blanket being tucked snugly around his tired form, which gave out one final yawn before surrendering to slumber. Latching the crib net shut again, I returned to Scootaloo’s room after quickly swinging by the kitchen to grab a spoon and small glass, which I had filled with syrup. The glass was blue in color though, and threw off the regular golden brown hue the liquid had. Instead, it appeared as any standard dark fluid would, and was unidentifiable. “Okay, sorry for the wait,” I said pushing the door open to Scootaloo’s room. “Now, let’s try and get something down you.” “Uh…what is that?” Scootaloo asked nervously. “An old family remedy, I’ve been hoping to see how well it would work with an illness in Equestria so-“ I started. “I lied!” Scootaloo exclaimed. “I got in trouble at school!” I chuckled and drank the syrup that was in the glass, there was no sense in wasting it. I also did it to get one last reaction out of Scootaloo, as she watched me drink her “medicine.” “Dad, are you crazy!?” Scootaloo panicked. “Relax squirt, it was just syrup,” I grinned. “I appreciate your concern though.” “Syrup...how did you know?” Scootaloo asked, her shoulders slumping as her ears drooped with the realization that I had been aware of her cover up from the beginning. This wasn’t the first time that Scootaloo had gotten in trouble, but it was the first time she had tried to cover up the truth from me. Now that she had come clean, it was time to do what my father never did, explain why I was going to punish her. He had often gotten mad, and my mother would do the explaining. I didn’t hate him though, but I wasn’t going to be him either. “Scoots, I was a kid once. I fibbed to my parents as well.” I replied, sitting on her bed. “Why the act though? Couldn’t you have just talked to Cheerilee?” my daughter shyly looked up at me. “I could have, but what would that accomplish?” I asked in return. “I don’t…oh.” Scootaloo said as she realized why I had carried on with her. “I wanted you to tell the truth yourself,” I said, wrapping a wing around her. “So, what really happened?” “I drew a comic in class, and when Cheerilee asked me about it I told her I was just curious who would win, you or Isabella,” Scootaloo noticed my raised eyebrow and furthered her explanation. “It caused an argument, so she sent me home.” “How big of an argument?” I asked, trying not to sound too critical. “Classroom sized.” Scootaloo mumbled. I found it hard to believe that something so trivial would cause such a disturbance, but ponies found interest in strange things sometimes. Then again, since I was part of the topic in question it made me a little curious myself who they thought would win, not that something like that would ever happen anyways. “Is there more?” I asked. “A colt called you a loser…so I tackled him.” Scootaloo replied. “That makes more sense,” I nodded. “Sweetie, you can’t beat up every foal that says stupid stuff, that makes you just as wrong as him.” “I know.” Scootaloo sighed. “You know that I have to punish you, right?” I asked. “I know.” Scootaloo said again, not making eye contact at me. “Hey,” I nudged her, getting her to look up at me. “I’m not doing it to be mean. I’m doing it because I love you, and don’t want you to end up like the bad apples in the world. You’ve got a good head on you.” Wordlessly, the filly leaned against me, her expression blank. I felt I had made my point, and all that was left now was to decide on something fitting as punishment. She would definitely be apologizing to whomever this mystery colt was, but that needed to wait. It needed to be genuine when she did so, and not just because she was in trouble. “So, I’m going to go take care of a few things,” I said hoping down from Scootaloo’s bed after we had sat in silence for a while. “I don’t want you to say sorry just yet, I want you to think about things for a while before you do.” “Yes sir.” Scootaloo said, her ears remaining splayed back against her head. --- Isabella threw another small gem into the river, resulting in a small light display beneath the running water before another fish floated to the surface briefly. She had been at this for a while now, taking a break from learning about Scootaloo’s possible past, to extending her own abilities. “You find amusement in such activities?” she heard Blueblood ask, who had insisted on accompanying her. “It’s hit and miss, but I do find it interesting how fast your world’s fish recover from the shock.” Isabella replied. “I see…you do know this could be considered cruelty, yes?” the prince raised an eyebrow at her. “It’s barely a love tap…with a gem stone….that has a small static charg-okay fine, you win.” Isabella huffed as Blueblood held his accusing expression through her explanation. “Could you repeat that, I didn’t have my good ear turned to you.” Blueblood grinned. Isabella rolled her eyes before throwing an uncharged gem at the unicorn. His horn became surrounded by an aura just as the gem started to levitated in place. With a smirk, he tucked it neatly into the bag she had pulled it from. “Show off.” Isabella grumbled. “Hardly showing off, I’m amazed your brother doesn’t have the same control as you do.” Blueblood commented. “At least he can fly and stuff…” Isabella commented. Blueblood put a hoof to his chin. “Okay, what’s on your mind?” “Nothing, why?” Isabella asked. “I’ve been around you long enough to know when you’re dwelling on something.” Blueblood replied. “Gasp, the prince has finally learned to read others? Oh the prophecy has been fulfilled!” Isabella mock swooned. “Hilarious,” Blueblood deadpanned. “Seriously though, what troubles that beautiful mind of yours?” Isabella hesitated divulging information to her colt friend. She felt that it might be a sensitive topic, since it had to do with politics. Then again, Blueblood might be completely ignorant to the entire event and she had nothing to worry about. “So…let’s say a unicorn and a pegasus fell in love,” Isabella started, continuing once Blueblood nodded. “How would you feel about that if they were in Canterlot?” “I can’t say I approve, but I’m not going to stop them. Some traditions die hard, especially in Canterlot…why do you ask?” Blueblood replied. “Just troubled over the incident that left Scootaloo an orphan...did you know of a Summer Stars?” Isabella asked. “Summer Stars…ah yes, I remember that affair.” Blueblood said. “Affair?” Isabella sat up at the mention of the word. “Well, as far as I can remember she was betrothed to another unicorn that perished in the army, I’m afraid...she obviously didn't stay single though.” Blueblood said. Isabella was starting to connect the dots, but was still having a hard time believing what she was hearing. Was this possibly the missing piece of the puzzle? All she needed was one more piece of information, she was sure of it. She was already under the assumption that Scootaloo's parents had been murdered, but she couldn't make that call just yet. “Do you remember who it was that she was supposed to be married to?” Isabella asked. “I’m afraid any trace of that information died with her. Her parents fell ill and departed us before she did. Otherwise your niece’s picture wouldn’t be resting on your nightstand,” Blueblood frowned. “I can’t recall the name of the stallion either…I’m sorry.” Isabella mentally cursed. The second she had a trail, it went cold again. No wonder the ponies had given up on this case, there was no link left to find. She had assumed it might have been jealousy or something, but with nothing else to go on she was back to square one. “Why does it trouble you so much?” Blueblood asked, resting his head on her shoulder while she was on the ground. “She’s family, and if somepony did something to her-“ Isabella started. “You’d give them the ol’ one two, I know,” Blueblood said. “Nopony’s been able to solve this case for years though, don’t over think things too much.” There was something else that had been bugging her, something that she and her brother often joked about, but was beginning to look like a real possibility. She had heard rumors of foals being mistreated if they weren't born a unicorn in an all unicorn family. Rare as it may be, being with a relatively influential unicorn put things into perspective. “What would you do if we didn’t have a unicorn?” Isabella asked quietly. “I'm sorry?” Blueblood tilted his head. "If we stay together, and you do your thing...what would you do if we didn't have a unicorn?" Isabella asked again. "Rather left field of you," Blueblood commented. "I would be proud all the same...needless to say I'd still have a preference for a daughter first." "First huh?" Isabella reached behind her to stroke his mane. This was a far cry from the selfish wimp he had once been. She liked this Blueblood, and he definitely seemed to like her back. “I think we’ve spent enough time torturing the fish for one day, unless you prefer to start working on birds next?” the prince mocked. “Pfft, birds? I’m thinking dragons.” Isabella laughed. --- Impulse carefully attached the last leg to the metal frame. Finally, if all his figures were correct, his project should be mobile on the ground as well, if it were to pass for a normal pegasus it would need to, however briefly. He smiled at the thought of something he made coming together and working as well as he intended, but tried not to get his hopes too high, this was still just a test after all. “Okay, time for the moment of truth,” Impulse said lowering his creation to the floor. “Let’s see if you can walk.” Impulse levitated a controller in front of him, flipping four small switches up one at a time. The unicorn had set a red crystal in each leg, used to hold a charge of his magic for mobility. As he flipped the switched, each crystal started to shine, sending magic through the wiring that had been coiled around each one. Each leg was segmented and dirty bronze in color. Metal plates covered sophisticated gears that stood in as muscle for the fake pony. Impulse was quite proud of his idea, though he had yet to find a suitable, long lasting power source that didn’t expire after four hours. He opted to leave the head off for this test run. He wanted to be sure it could move before he had to worry about balancing. On top of that, the head made strange noises when magic was channeled through it, some of which unsettling. The crystal had been left inside, even though there was no magic running through it. Impulse willed the directional control forward, anxiously watching for any bugs of flaws to arise. A quiet buzzing sound was all that broke the silence, followed by the clank of a metal hoof against the cold floor. A sick grin curled across his muzzle as the soulless automaton stepped forward without issue. Wanting to see how far he could test his creation’s new limbs, Impulse pushed the control forward a bit more, causing the construct to walk towards him as he backed away to give it space. Each leg moved just like a normal pony’s would, though they seemed to be a bit stiff. “You’ll eventually need a name.” Impulse said aloud as he directed his creation towards his desk. He misjudged the space he had to work with, and caused the mobile, headless pony to knock a book free from his shelf. With his magic already coursing through his device, he would have to put it back the old fashioned way, a trivial task…or perhaps it was fate at work. Impulse looked down and saw that it had fallen open to an old theory based around the number zero. It was a silly idea that had somehow been approved to be placed in literature. He took this as a sign for his name problem since what he would be naming had no friends, no memories, no family, nothing. It was depressing the more he thought about it, but he settled on the name, dismissing such thoughts to the recesses of his mind as quickly as he could. “Zero…your name is Zero.” Impulse thought aloud.