Scootaloo looked longingly across the room at Rainbow Dash. Neither of the three girls had actually tried to talk to their elder siblings with the strange pony in the room.
“Little lonely?”
Scootaloo jumped. The brown mare stood over them and rolled her eyes. “Look, a lot of Lilly’s friends bite, but I’m not one of them. I grew up in normal pony country, so I’m not one of those weirdos.”
“What’s your name?” Apple Bloom asked.
Arrow struck a pose, flicking a lighter lock of mane away from her face. “Arrow, Sharp Arrow. Though I think Lilly would prefer if I’m called Muddy Furball right now.”
The three fillies chuckled. “Really?” Sweetie asked.
Arrow rolled her eyes. “Lilly is Lilly. She can be odd. Believe me, I’ve only been her bunkmate for three and a half years. I should know. So, how are you related to this lot?”
“Ah’m Apple Bloom, and that’s mah sister.” She pointed to Applejack.
Arrow studied Apple Bloom, then Applejack. “I can believe it; your eyes are the same color as her coat.”
“I’m Sweetie Belle!” Sweetie said, “And that’s my sister, the white one with the curly mane.”
“Let’s see... she’s been in magazines—no don’t tell me!” Arrow’s face scrunched up. “Hairy Deal, right?”
Sweetie about fell over laughing. “She’s been a hairy deal alright, but her name is Rarity.”
Arrow whacked herself in the forehead with extra drama. “I should have know that! I’m not,” she struck another pose, “the Drama Queen of the Wings for nothin', ya’ know. So Kiwi, what’s your name?”
Scootaloo flushed. “Kiwi? Isn’t that a fruit?”
Arrow shrugged. “As far as I know, it’s a flightless bird. So, what’s your name?”
“Scoot-Scootaloo,” Scootaloo said. “How-how did you know I can’t fly?”
Arrow smirked. “Your wings. You hold them as if they are these things that are just attached to you. A pegasus that flies holds their wings as if they are part of themselves like their eyes and ears, constantly shifting and twitching to catch the sound.” Arrow frowned. “And now I sound like a brainy unicorn. So,” her frown flipped back into a smile, “how are you a part of this crowd?”
Scootaloo pointed to Rainbow Dash. “I’m her little sister.”
Lilly froze where she stood beside Twilight reading over some paperwork. Spike’s pen froze with it. “Dash?” She looked at Scootaloo, then back to Rainbow Dash. “I know your family, and you don’t have any siblings.”
Scootaloo’s cheeks went crimson. “UH—”
Dash smiled. “Well, you remember when you told me that a baby sister would be exactly what I needed to settle down?”
“I remember,” Lilly said. “I said that a sibling would be good for you and give you something to direct that energy with. Go on.”
“Well, Scootaloo is honorary,” Dash explained.
Lilly beamed. “Only child yourself, Tadpole?”
“Scootaloo,” Scootaloo corrected. “Yep.”
Lilly nodded. “Then it’s good for you both.”
She then turned back. “Lilly knew Dash in school,” Arrow explained.
“Tadpole?” Scootaloo grimaced, “Like a baby frog?”
“She called me ‘Piller when I was younger,” Arrow grumped. “Tadpole is what she calls her baby sister. I’d take it as a compliment. Lilly has trouble with normal names. She doesn’t forget a nickname.”
“So...” Arrow smiled. “You want me to help you with your wings until Lilly’s done?”
“Aren’t ya supposed ta be taken’ care of that lamb?” Apple Bloom asked.
Arrow rolled her eyes. “Spoilsports! Yes.” Her ears flopped down.
“Then why are ya leavin’ that ta Fluttershy?” the yellow filly asked again.
Arrow’s ears drooped. “Want to know a little secret?”
The all leaned forward, nodding.
“I am HORRIBLE with animals. In-Stinks doesn’t spray ponies. If I even look at that pole cat wrong, I get sprayed.” Arrow’s ears flicked back.
“Instincts?” they asked.
“In-Stinks, it’s the name of Lilly’s pet skunk,” Arrow said loud enough for everypony in the room to hear.
“A skunk!” Fluttershy paused mid-way through wrapping the lamb’s leg. “You got yourself a skunk?”
Lilly smiled. “Yep.” Her feathers fluffed and her shoulders pulled back slightly. “Was a gift from Pinkie’s elder sister. Found it in a rock slide since I was visiting, bringing a few of the rocks my family had found down to be studied. And since for years I’d been saying I was looking for a baby skunk to have as a pet, I got her and her brother. Out disappeared a while back, but I still have In. The names came from an old joke my Papaw used to tell on snowy days.”
“Once upon a time!” Pinkie exclaimed. “Can I tell it? Please!”
Cat sighed. “She should know it.”
“I don’t see why not. It’d do this group some good,” Lilly affirmed.
“What about your timetable?” Twilight asked.
“Ever told Celestia you’d be late?”
They all shook their heads.
Lilly smiled. “I’m not worried, I’ve been late before. She’s pretty used to it by now. But Sundown, she’ll come looking for us.” That sly grin danced across her face. “Go ahead Pinkie. We have five and a half hours before then, and I personally want to spend it making sure you guys don’t have a dark day and are tired enough to actually sleep tonight.”
Pinkie grinned. “Well then! Once upon a time, there lived a family of skunks—”
“That’s the bear family’s start,” Lilly corrected. “The skunk story starts, ‘When I was little—’”
“I know!” Pinkie exclaimed. “When I was a little filly, I had these two pet skunks. The first skunk I named In. The other skunk I named Out. In was kept inside; she liked life soft and comfortable with all the trappings and ribbons. She loved to be stroked and petted. Out was the exact opposite—he was an on-the-go type of skunk. Best tracker in all of Equestria. He loved things rough and rugged, so he stayed outside. Well,” Pinkie took a deep breath, smiling at Lilly who was seated with her forehooves crossed. “You don’t mind me adding to it, do you?”
“I like it!” Lilly said with a laugh.
“She’s changin’ it!” Cat said, sitting beside her twin, definitely troubled.
Arrow and everypony else were enjoying every moment of it. “Well then,” Pinkie said. “While I was away throwing a party, In managed to get outside and got lost!” Pinkie gasped, scaring herself and springing to the ceiling. “Oops, silly me!”
Slowly Pinkie climbed down. “Well then, I came back home and looked around. I couldn’t find In in my bedroom. I couldn’t find In in her bedroom. I couldn’t find In, in any bedroom. So I went to find Out. Like always, Out was outside working with Gummy building a house. I think the old one had louse, so they were building a house! So I went up to Out and said, ‘Out! I can’t find In anywhere!’ Out looked puzzled for several moments. You see, he was only a skunk and skunks have such little brains. So then he set to tracking. Gummy curled up in my mane telling me everything would be alright, and sure enough, within just a few minutes, Out came back with In. I picked her up and hugged her close, just like this!”
Rainbow screamed in pain as Pinkie Pie tackled her with a bear-sized hug.
“Pinkie!” Applejack growled.
“Rainbow, darling, are you alright?” Rarity asked, for Rainbow Dash had curled up in a ball with her eyes tightly shut.
Lilly squeezed in, laying a wing on her body. This time, Twilight felt Lilly’s wing become colder. “Feel better Dash?” Lilly asked.
“No!” A tear slipped from Rainbow Dash’s eye.
“Relax, Dash,” Lilly cooed. “Breathe in, breathe out... don’t talk till you have control of the pain.”
“I’m sorry Dashie!” Pinkie cried. “Will you be alright?”
It took several seconds, but slowly Rainbow started breathing normally again. “Yeah,” she said quite out of breath.
“Arrow,” Lilly growled. “Go get two clouds NOW.”
“But—”
Lilly turned and glared at her. Not another word was spoken. Arrow lept from the window and headed to the nearest cloud.
Soon she was back. Lilly froze both clouds, then tucked them around Rainbow, helping her sit up slightly. “Much better,” Rainbow said.
“If you even think about trying a harebrained stunt, I’ll break the other one,” Lilly growled, quoting a play she’d once been in. Then she turned to Pinkie. “Do you ever think?”
“I was just trying—” Pinkie sighed, “I guess I forgot.”
Lilly shook her head. “And that is how you broke Catstitch’s leg! By not thinking!”
Pinkie deflated. “I’m... I’m sorry!”
“Whoa there, nelly!” Applejack said. “Do what?”
Pinkie sighed. “It was right after I got my cutie mark. Mr. Persimmon came to the farm with a load of rocks he wanted to be identified. He brought his granddaughter Catstitch with him. I got... a little excited.”
Catstitch rolled her eyes. “A wee bit?”
“You can’t blame a pony! I’d never met another twin before!” Pinkie defended herself. “Since you were, I got a little excited.”
“Aye. Anda’ ah be the one that talked to me cousins, the Cakes and asked them ta’ take the lass in. The Pie family neigh would ‘ere figured that filly out.”
Dash’s eyebrows raised. “Wait, Lilly got me through school and Catstitch—CAT!—got Pinkie to the Cakes? How?” she asked weakly.
“Don’t ask that Rainbow,” Lilly said. “Trust me, you don’t want to know. I told you we are secret agents of Celestia. The less you know, the less the bad guys can extract. So try to rest and give your body time to catch up with your activity.”
“So,” Sweetie asked. “Where was the skunk?”
“The skun—oh!” Pinkie giggled. “Well, I kinda punched Dash instead of telling you the punch line!”
“Ouch,” Cat said. “That’s neigh almost as bad as some of yer’ jokes Lilly.”
“That’s because it’s past Cowgirl’s bedtime, so she’s got the sleepy sillies,” Pinkie said.
“I’m beginning to think you’ve lost it, and even more than usual, Pinkie Pie,” Rarity said with concern.
“You aren’t the only one,” Spike added.
“Anyways,” Pinkie giggled, “I picked up Out in a big hug. ‘Out!’ I said, ‘Where did you find In?’ You want to know what Out said? Well, this is what he said: he wrinkled up his nose, gave me the ‘you are so dumb’ look and stated flatly, ‘Instincts.’ ”
“Instincts?” Spike asked, “As in the skunk smelled or—”
“As in the fact that it just kinda knew?” Scootaloo finished.
Lilly shrugged. “I’ve gone back five generations in journals and have found that joke in every single one. Told different ways each time, and as far as it goes, half the time it’s one way, the other half it’s the other way. I’m not sure which is correct.
“Alright Twilight, when was the last time they had their medication?” Lilly asked.
Twilight opened her mouth, then shut it again. “After breakfast?” she said hopefully while looking at Fluttershy.
“I don’t remember,” Fluttershy said.
“Dash is hurting more than she’s letting on,” Lilly said. “Therefore, it’s time to take the edge off of it again.”
“How do you know this stuff?” Rainbow Dash asked. “If I wanted you guys to know—”
Lilly smiled. “Never hide secrets from an empath.”
Realization dawned on Rainbow’s face. “You are an—”
“What’s an empath?” Scootaloo asked, cutting in.
“Is he on the path?” Sweetie asked innocently.
“Not exactly,” Twilight said, shaking herself. “Fluttershy could be considered one, but empaths are known for knowing what the ponies around them are feeling.”
“And it’s annoying!” Arrow stated flatly, lounging beside the lamb once more.
“It’s stronger with pegasi than with the other tribes, but yes,” Lilly said.
“What am I feeling?” Scootaloo asked.
Lilly closed her eyes. “Hurt, but not physically. Otherwise, curious... I think.” She opened her eyes again. “It’s hard for me to read you because I don’t know you. Not to mention I don’t do as well when I’m in a crowd. I’m picking up, but it’s all jumbled. Dash is projecting, so it’s not as hard, but—”
“Am not!” Rainbow defended herself.
Fluttershy frowned. “Yes Rainbow, you are. You look pained.”
“You don’t have to say how you live each day. You don’t have to say if you work or play. A tried true barometer serves in its place. You won’t have to say it, it’ll show in your face,” Lilly quoted. “Rainbow, if you weren’t hurt, I wouldn’t be here. A Wonderbolt wouldn’t fight it.”
Applejack smiled and shook her head. “Yep, ya know ‘er alright.”
“Darling, you definitely believe in blackmail,” Rarity stated.
“It’s how I got my way through school,” Lilly stated somewhat sheepishly. “I have other tactics, but with the difficult ones, I found blackmail worked really nicely.”
“Like?” Twilight asked.
“None of your business. That’s for me to know, and you guys to wonder about. I don’t spread gossip. Just know I did use it on occasion to get what needed to be done out of ponies.” Lilly said.
“So... who’s your favorite to dump snow on?” Rainbow Dash asked.
There was a long pause. “Snow takes snow clouds. And why would anypony want to dump snow on another individual?” Lilly finally stated.
“Well, Flash said that there was this mysterious pony that dumped snow on other ponies, and since we discovered you are with the Mountain Mares—” Fluttershy defended.
“And you believe every rumor that comes from the royal guard?” Lilly asked deadpan.
Catstitch snickered behind a hoof. “Don’t mind me, sis.”
“Yeah right!” Arrow laughed aloud..
“The medication is wearing off,” Lilly stated, ignoring her two friends.
Spike tapped Lilly on the shoulder. “Flash said he woke up in a snow drift in the middle of Summer.”
Lilly rolled her eyes. “Ever hear of a Windigo?”
“Yeah?”
“There’s one loose in the castle that uses its magic to remind slacking guards to pay attention,” Lilly explained.
“Really?” Spike asked.
“Really,” Lilly affirmed, completely straight-faced.
------------------------
Ten minutes later, Spike had brought up a meal for both of the invalids and the four fillies. Apple Bloom, Arrow, Scootaloo, and Sweetie were in the corner carefully taking turns feeding the lamb. More stories had been swapped during that time to give everyone a chance to relax before the “class” actually began. Finally, Lilly stood up, stretching her wings. “Well, the sun waits on nopony but the Princess, so we better get a move on.”
Spike immediately jumped up and retrieved his scroll, ready to write.
“Well then,” Lilly began, “First off, we are dealing with the core muscles. In an earth pony, it’s actually different than in a pegasus. Catstitch and I are prime examples of this. A mare’s body is designed to carry young, not to do hard labor. This is the reason it’s more common for such occurrences to happen to a mare than to a stallion.”
“And,” Arrow added, “It’s why unless you are an earth pony, mares aren’t allowed to be ‘based’ at the center.”
Lilly nodded, “Good point, but they don’t understand a word of that,” she stated. “The base is the pony in the middle who does any heavy lifting during any routine. In my team, that’s Steady. I already stated that Comet, the stallion who started the center—his wife was the one that helped me through getting back into my normal life. Comet was part of the Wonderbolts, and his wife continued to run her bakery and small wheat farm during that time. Then one day, as she worked she moved something a tad heavier than she should have. This, of course, ended with her tearing her stomach wall.”
Twilight cringed, Spike gasped, and Rarity fainted. Arrow rolled her eyes. “Really?” she groaned.
“Ouch, how?” Twilight asked.
Lilly shrugged, “Her body just finally rebelled. Overwork can cause a lot of problems in both sexes. But in addition to ruptured stomachs, I’ve heard of mares shredding their uteri, hernias, straining muscles, and all kinds of other things. I even once heard of a pony ripping their diaphragm, but I’m not exactly sure how.”
Spike was looking just a tad more green than normal. “I’m glad I’m not a mare.”
“Yeah, and it’s more likely Twilight will give herself a stroke than do any of that with her lifting work,” Lilly pointed out.
“Can we just not talk about this?” Catstitch said.
Lilly shook her head. “Nope, I need to point out why I’ve studied this, not just what I know. It gives it more importance and a better placing in reality.”
“Can we move on then?” Scootaloo asked, also looking green.
“Gladly,” Lilly affirmed. “After my unfortunate summer with that vine, I decided to specialize in core muscle and mental disabilities. My work is non-stop and far from complete. As we all know, muscles can’t push, they can only pull. They don’t work by forcing everything away from them, but rather pulling it to the center. When a muscle is pulling, it’s bunched up and thick. When it’s not pulling, it’s very thin and long.” Walking over to her bags, she pulled out a thick tube of thin strings of rubber. “It looks something like this,” she said, demonstrating a couple of times. “It’s a natural process, as you can see. If you stretch the muscle—in this case, this wad of rubber rope—more than it’s designed to, it will tear. That’s what happens whenever you work out. That pain is, in reality, your muscles tearing. If they didn’t though, you would not grow stronger. I was taught to work until it hurts, count to ten, then relax and go sit down for a while. This is so those tears can heal themselves, making you stronger. The trouble lies when you tear it more than it’s able to heal quickly, then overwork it again too soon. That’s what happened with you two.”
“Alright, ah know how, now how do ah get back ta where ah was so ah can go home?” Applejack complained.
“Yeah!”
“As many doctors will tell you, ‘just give me a moment, I’ll get there.’ ”
Arrow glared. “I don’t like that from doctors, and neither do you.”
“And being a teacher, ya’ ought to know better,” Catstitch stated.
“It’d help if you just said it,” Fluttershy said, trying to revive the still mostly out Rarity.
“Say it before ye bank of words runs out,” Catstitch teased.
Lilly shot her sister a look before continuing. “Well, when studying with Mrs. Bread, we worked in stages.
“The first stage is right now. Right after the injury your body is still more protesting than anything. For a torn muscle, you have to give it time to re-attach itself, but at the same time, you don’t want it to be stiff. So the important thing is to move, but not work.”
Applejack’s eyes glazed over. “Do what?”
Lilly chuckled, “Move, but don’t work. You need to move every so often. In the hospital, if a pony is in a coma, the nurses will move and massage their limbs every two to five hours so they don’t get too stiff to move. It’s the same concept here. You don’t want to overwork that muscle, but you don’t want to let it get lazy either. Massaging is a VERY important thing, but not aggressively. You want it to be gentle, like petting a scared rabbit or doing fine detail work on pottery.”
Blank looks were on every pony’s face.
Lilly sighed, “Don’t tell me none of you ever attempted pottery before?”
“Ah work with clay from time ta time,” Applejack said.
“Like adding more water to the dough?” Pinkie Pie asked. “And kneading it in?”
Lilly nodded. “There we go, yep.”
“Now I get it,” Rainbow said.
“Good,” Lilly stated. “Because that’s where you are. Now the second stage is basic movements. You’ve been keeping them moving, but not really using them. Now it’s time to start moving them on your own. Go till it hurts, then stop! This is important: you don’t push a torn muscle PAST where it hurts. You are very likely to just tear it again and be back at square one. This isn’t true of a sore muscle; there you want to take it to where it hurts, pause, let it endure for a count of five to ten seconds, then relax. So for stage two, you want to go to the point it hurts, then let it relax. And do that about five times tops. Try not to have any weight on the muscle when doing this. But unlike with stage one where you have a lot of help, here you have a spotter and are more or less on your own.”
“Spotter?” Twilight asked.
Arrow suddenly was at Lilly’s side and started poking her wings going. “Spot! Spot! Spot!”
Opening her wings, Lilly knocked Arrow a couple steps backwards before continuing. “Yes. A spotter is the pony who catches the patient if something goes wrong. So if they suddenly realize they aren’t strong enough to do something, the spotter will support and help guide the pony through the moment to the point where he or she can relax again. It’s the safety first mentality. The spotter’s job is to watch for trouble, then make sure nothing happens.”
“Now that sounds important,” Applejack stated.
Lilly nodded, then flashed a frown at the brown mare beside her. “Unless your name is Arrow, then nothing is important.”
“I take it seriously!” Arrow defended herself.
“And that is why I sprained a hoof last month?” Lilly asked.
Arrow rolled her eyes. “You said to make it real!”
“I said to do your job,” Lilly stated. “Emergency landing fifteen, Arrow decided to ‘panic,’ ” she flashed some air quotes, “which knocked me out from where I was supposed to be, making it that much harder to complete the landing with any level of success.”
“Ouch!” Dash said.
“Wasn't fun, but with a drama queen that forgets to think and has too much energy with no discipline, you learn to expect it.”
“I’m self-disciplined!” Arrow tried to defend herself.
“Then you are back at the center working on that report, Gertrude is with Aunt Wisteria where she belongs, and my hat does not have an ugly rip in it,” Lilly listed very simply.
Arrow said nothing.
“Go sit back down. Now,” Lilly ordered.
Arrow sighed and obeyed.
“Did I miss anything?” Rarity asked, finally coming to.
“Only gore, giggles, and the end of the world as we know it,” Lilly stated.
“What?” Rarity asked.
“Don’t worry Rarity, I’m writing everything down,” Spike said.
“She’s teasing you!” Dash chuckled weakly.
“Oh,” Rarity pouted. “I’d prefer a straight answer.”
“Sorry,” Lilly apologized, “You only missed the first two steps in my recovery plan, the ones they are in now. Dash is in need of much help, Applejack needs less help. The lil’ tike over here is keeping up with my speech nicely. If you miss anything, you can read it later.”
Rarity sighed, “Still, why didn’t you try to wake me up?”
Lilly shrugged, “I decided that if you wanted to sleep on the floor that was your business. Taking care of one invalid is hard enough, two is a nightmare.
“Anyways,” she continued, going serious again. “After that, you continue to slowly increase your tolerance to the pain, subjecting it to a little more stress each day until you get back to normal.”
“Sounds easy!” Scootaloo said.
“Well, I’m also told that teleportation only requires the user to fully picture the place they want to go and use the right amount of magic. Sounds easy to me, but I can’t seem to do it.” Lilly joked.
Catstitch sighed. “Enough with the Feather jokes!”
“What I’m trying to say is,” Lilly stated, “that just because it sounds easy doesn't mean it is, or would be for anypony.”
“I see what you mean,” Twilight mused.
Applejack frowned. “Are ya sayin’ that we won’t be able ta do it? Because darn tootin’ Ah can.”
Lilly smirked. “Then I challenge you to try. Wait, no. But do your best. This won’t be easy on any of you. It’s not easy to work through pain or force somebody you love to endure pain. I have to do both in my line of work every. Single. Day. And sometimes—” she sighed. “Sometimes, I wish I could just curl up and ignore life.”
“Especially since you are an empath?” questioned Fluttershy.
Captain Feathers nodded. “Yep.”
Scootaloo tapped Lilly on the shoulder. “Captain, that is, if you don’t mind… since, well, you know—”
“Spit it out Tater Tot, I don’t bite.” Lilly stated.
“Well, could you, well—um... you see... Can I help? Can I learn?”
“Can all of us?” Sweetie asked.
“Please!” Apple Bloom begged.
Lilly nodded. “Listen, and don’t rush me. Then yes.”
The three fillies started bouncing about the room cheering. “GIRLS!” Fluttershy scolded.
They immediately froze. “Sorry.” They hung their heads sadly.
“Well, let’s get on with it,” Lilly stated. “Everyone, team up into groups of three. Fuzzy Mudball, you are with me. No buts. Might as well make this a class for you all.”
“And that is how you grow a horn,” Arrow teased.
If looks could kill, Lilly would have shot down that filly on the spot.