Over Yonder

by theNDinspector

Chapter 2: House Call

THUMP thump thump THUMP thump thump THUMP thump thump.

Scootaloo was lying in her bed, bouncing a ball off the floor to the wall and back at her left forehoof. It had been nearly four weeks since she came home from the Wonderbolt Academy. Four weeks of being cooped up in the house and visiting the Hospital nearly every other day for physical therapy. About a week-and-a-half ago, she was able fly again for the first time since the accident. She also no longer needed to brace her right forehoof and could walk normally. In all, she had been cleared by Doctor Fitness, and was now awaiting the doctor from the Academy to come by and give her the okay to return to the academy—if he would give it, that is.

Other than her visits to the hospital, Scootaloo remained cooped up at home—despite the fact that she was physically able to move around on her own. Her mother wanted her to rest up. Once, Scootaloo tried to go out and ride on her newer scooter—just to get out of the house—but Needlepoint caught her and locked up the wheeled contraption. Scootaloo had considered using her old scooter that was sitting in the opposite corner of her greyish-blue room, but that was out of the question. It was far too small for her now—not to mention that the wheels were pretty loose no matter how well she repaired it, and the whole thing would break in half if she set even one hoof on it.

Basically, she was stuck with nothing to do except eat, sleep, exercise, and try to find something to entertain herself—usually books, games or listening to music. Occasionally, she did get a visitor; the most frequent one was Apple Bloom. The apprentice carpenter would stop by nearly every evening on her way home from the wood shop, chat and see how she was holding up. Rainbow Dash managed to visit a couple of times as well. Sweetie Belle, unfortunately, was away in Canterlot attending a Fine Arts school for music and couldn’t find time or money to come over. She did send an overly glittered “Get Well Soon” card that sat on Scootaloo’s bedside table.

Skreeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

A long, drawn-out screech emanated from the house. It wasn’t the fire alarm, but it sounded important. Scootaloo looked towards her door—the ball she was bouncing then subsequently hit the side of her head.

“Gah!” Though it didn’t really hurt, Scootaloo rubbed the place where she got smacked. The ball rolled off into her closet.

Curious, Scootaloo got up, opened the door and walked down the stairs to find the source of the noise. Once downstairs, she was drawn to the radio sitting in the living room where the noise was coming form—interrupting the music it was playing. The screech continued for a moment before stopping; then the voice of a stallion was audible.

“This is an Emergency Equestrian Broadcast Notice,” the voice said. “Minor earthquake tremors have been reported in the valley regions beneath and around Cloudsdale. No severe damage has been caused in any villages, towns or the railway and only minor injuries have been reported. We urge caution to travelers in and out of this area and that residents review earthquake sheltering procedures according to the age and style of the building they are located in.”

There was static and a couple of electronic beeps before the radio went oddly silent. Then another voice came on the radio, this one more feminine and very agitated.

“Hey! Nopony interrupts my show like that! Who do they think they are?!”

“Vinyl,” a second mare’s voice said, rather exasperated. “It was a national broadcast on all channels for very important information. Every show was interrupted.”

“Well, I didn’t ask them to interrupt my show for it.”

“Ugh! Vinyl, I swear, trying to reason with you is like rolling around in a pile of shit sometimes.”

“Um…Octy…you do realize that we are on the air right now, right?”

“WHAT?!” There was a noise of rustling and various sound effects as buttons were being pressed. Laughter could also be heard on the radio. “Oh Sweet Celestia! Where’s that button again?”

Suddenly, music began playing again on the radio. Scootaloo blinked a couple of times and then decided to sit down on the couch and leaned on a cream colored throw pillow with some embroidering of flowers stitched into it—her mother’s design. The mare in question then walked into the room from the kitchen, wiping her hooves on a towel after having cleaned the dishes.

“Hmm, more earthquakes?” Needlepoint muttered as she draped the towel over the back of her neck. “I remember the earthquake we had here a few months ago and broke all my good dishes. Well, at least we were fine. I swear, it’s like something drastic happens around here every other week.”

“I know,” Scootaloo smirked. “I’m just glad it’s not us for once.”

Her comment was received with a slap of a damp towel to the face.

“That’s not funny Scootaloo!”

“Okay, okay…I’m sorry,” Scootaloo pleaded. “But you have to admit that it’s kinda true.”

Needlepoint puffed out her cheeks and her face was going redder than her natural red coat. Before she could say anything however, a knock came at the door. She sighed and turned around, “I’ll get it.”

Scootaloo just nuzzled herself deeper into the couch, making herself a little more comfortable. Then she heard a burst of laughter come from the direction of the front door. Needlepoint trotted back in, trying to stifle her giggles with a hoof to her mouth.

“Scoot…Scootaloo,” Needlepoint said, trying desperately to keep a straight face. “It’s for you…it’s Doctor Hawkeye.”

At the mention of his name, an olive-green pegasus with a slightly messy black mane entered in a most bazaar fashion. He was wearing a long white coat—common for doctors—but in addition to that, he also had large, clown-like shoes and a multi-colored shirt that would cause Rarity to faint. On his face, he wore a pair of fake glasses with a pink nose and mustache attached to it—much like the one Scootaloo saw Pinkie Pie wear a few times for laughs or whenever she was trying to sneak around disguised as a bale of hay.

“Helloelloello,” Hawkeye said excitedly as he took over-exaggerated stomping steps into the living room towards the couch. Then he veered off course and then placed his stethoscope onto the clock. “Hmm, sixty beats per minute, that’s a little high, but nothing too serious. Have you been feeling ill lately?”

“Umm…doctor,” Scootaloo said, trying hard not to laugh as well. “I’m over here.”

Hawkeye turned around and looked at Scootaloo as if he had only just noticed her. “Oh, I see.” He then turned to the clock and whispered, “You better watch out for this one. She has it in for fine clocks such as yourself.”

Scootaloo absentmindedly rubbed her right forehoof—remembering how she sprained it by smashing an alarm clock back at the Wonderbolt Academy that was to wake her up every couple of hours due to her suffering a concussion.

“You know, I normally don’t make house-calls like this,” Hawkeye commented as he took Scootaloo’s vitals. “However, it’s nice to get out of the base every once and a while and let loose. They’re so strict in the dress code there.”

Scootaloo glanced at the doctor’s multi-colored shirt again and rolled her eyes. “Yeah, I can’t imagine why.”

“I know, right?” Hawkeye said, apparently missing her sarcasm. “Anyways, I talked with your therapist and she believes that you are fit for anything now.”

A glint of hope sparkled in Scootaloo’s mind. “And what do you say?”

Hawkeye took off his fake moustache-glasses. “Well, to be honest, it’s been a month now. Normally, you wouldn’t be brought back—at least not in the same spot you were in to begin with.”

Scootaloo sagged a little in her seat, her hope failing.

“However,” Hawkeye continued, causing Scootaloo to look up again. “Colonel Spitfire really wants you back with your particular group for some reason—and I can’t say no to that—but I want to see how well you can handle flying right now before I decide anything.”

“All right!” Scootaloo shouted, jumping for joy out of the couch. She practically sprinted out the front door—eager to get out and do something as well as prove that she was ready to go back to the Wonderbolt Academy.

Scootaloo relished any moment she could get flying, especially after being grounded for so long. She was accustomed very well to life on the ground—being as she spent most of her fillyhood there—but there was something about the wind in her face and under her wings that thrilled her. It was part of the reason why she idolized Rainbow Dash so much—along with her being the most super-awesome “big sister” ever and that she took Scootaloo under her wing so many years ago.

After flying around for a few minutes in both basic maneuvers and some more complex tricks, Doctor Hawkeye seemed satisfied with Scootaloo’s health.

“Well, everything seems normal,” he said after taking her vitals again. “I send my report to the Colonel and I imagine she’ll get back to you very soon.”

“SWEET!” Scootaloo began to jump again, then stopped and moved to a more downplayed pose by examining her hoof. “Yeah…that’s cool.”

“Right.” Hawkeye gave a knowing smile, then spread his own wings and took off.

Once he was out of sight, Scootaloo started bouncing around again. “I’m going back to the Academy! This is so great! Oh, I just wish I could go right now.”

Scootaloo’s celebration was cut short as a hoof came to her shoulder and held her down.

“Scootaloo dear,” Needlepoint said, a deep look of concern in her eyes. “Can you at least try to promise me that you won’t go overdoing this and putting yourself in harm's way?”

“Oh, come on Mom,” Scootaloo complained. “Fine…I’ll be careful.” Her mother continued to look at her disbelievingly. “What? Do you want me to Pinkie Pie Promise?”

Needlepoint stopped her daughter from making the motions of a promise that she knew would be hard to keep. “No, that won’t be necessary. Just be safe, okay.”

“I’ll be fine Mom…really.”