• Published 31st Dec 2014
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Feeding Problems - ferret



Rainbow Dash is trying to adopt Scootaloo, but the filly has a shameful secret. She doesn't know what she is, only that she can't eat like other ponies, and anypony who knew would hate her forever.

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Regrets

Three of them. There were three of them now. One of them was Scootaloo, one was Archer and the third had finally worn herself out again, and had fallen asleep right in the middle of the day, upstairs on the second floor of the library. Twilight was sitting right up next to the very orange sleeping filly, worrying now about where Scootaloo and Archer were.

Scootaloo and Archer had gone to... school, if that were even conceivable. But they’d gone to school every other day of their lives living like this, so why not today? Scootaloo swore up and down that this new filly had no supernatural ability to get past locks, chains, magical wards, or any sort of deterrant, and that she must simply not be given food, if not expected to multiply, so all Twilight had to do is watch her and put a lock on the cabinet. It was almost too easy.

Rainbow Dash had gone to work, after a short trip to the orphanage to let them know that Scootaloo was safe, and that she and Twilight had had a good long talk with Scootaloo’s “family” about doing this sort of thing. That statement was literally true, despite the confusion in addressing Archer as the closest thing Scootaloo had to a sister, or, the closest thing she had to a daughter. By extension, Scootaloo would be a grandma, since despite her daughter/sister having consumed her daughter/sister, her daughter/sister’s daughter/sister still remained alive. Which by extension should have disqualified her for adoption due to being a 1001 year old adult mare, even though that couldn’t be further from the truth. And, by extension this was starting to give Twilight Sparkle a headache.

She had the new filly under close supervision right now. Twilight was curled protectively around her on the floor, not willing to attempt to get the filly to bed for fear of waking her up again. This filly was very rambunctious and active, much like Scootaloo, but with a more mischevious streak to her, which made her even more trouble to deal with. Twilight wondered whether they were all born like this, or whether the filly was already displaying distinctive personality traits. One more experiment to go on Twilight’s docket. Not that she was going to experiment on this filly. No more of that. No more of that ever again.

Licky awoke eventually, and yes the name stuck, and lifted her head. Licky then startled Twilight out of her wits by immediately murmuring sleepily, “Where...?”

“You’re talking, Licky!” Twilight exclaimed in astonishment.

Licky looked at Twilight as if she was crazy and said, “I’m not...” and then... the light just died in her eyes. Her face contorted in confusion and she struggled to her hooves, backing up from Twilight and looking up at her warily. “Uhh?” she said inarticulately, in a completely different voice.

Twilight snapped out of her horrified daze and said as gently as she could, “It’s okay. I’m Twilight Sparkle. You’re safe here, but please don’t eat anything.”

It was the thirteenth time Twilight had said that phrase today, but Licky had never spoken before. She wasn’t supposed to be able to speak, even though she was supposed to be able to speak. The filly immediately cantered off, and Twilight grimaced ruefully, trying to remember where she kept the paracetamol. Twilight was honestly surprised that she wasn’t hallucinating, seeing Licky as being simultaneously blue and green, with how that filly just seemed to defy all logic and reason, but thankfully the retreating orange-tailed butt was most certainly and mundanely orange colored.

Scootaloo had tried to explain what Twilight was up against, ‘what’ being a 21 year newborn infant with full control over her musculature and access to all of Scootaloo’s memories, barring those after a few days ago when Scootaloo ...emitted Bee. Yet somehow, Licky was to have no inclination or impetus to use those memories, and a near complete inability to retain new ones. At least that’s what Twilight was inferring from her observations, and from Scootaloo’s casual observation that “They don’t really remember stuff yet.” She wasn’t convinced that Scootaloo was even fully aware of her own nature though, because some things just weren’t adding up.

Unfortunately, this thrilling learning experience was entirely preventing Twilight Sparkle from leaving the library. She did, in fact, occasionally have very important reasons to depart from this giant treelike book fort, and one of those reasons today was Pinkie Pie. The earth pony hadn’t come back to the library since that evening, and Twilight was pretty much absolutely certain that, left unchecked, Pinkie Pie would do something over the top and drastic at the worst possible moment. It was Pinkie Pie, after all. Twilight told Rainbow Dash to put the school on Pink alert, and to find Pinkie Pie at all costs, but that wasn’t Twilight Sparkle out there looking for the elusive party pony. Twilight felt guilty for not being able to help there, especially considering she accidentally brought Pinkie into the loop in the first place. Rainbow Dash could be halfway across Ponyville in two shakes of a tail, but Pinkie consistently seemed to be able to get the drop on her somehow. Twilight wasn’t sure if anypony alone could find Pinkie Pie, when she didn’t want to be found.

Nevertheless, being bound to a severely retarded filly didn’t mean Twilight was entirely helpless. She made good use of all the powers of arcane sorcery at her command, summoning every book in the library on ancient history, arthropology, equitology, ponypology and comparative anatomy to read through them searching for some clue to the origin of Scootaloo’s, and now this Licky filly’s bizarre anatomical differences from an ordinary pegasus. Twilight knew she wouldn’t find anything. There were so many gaps in the pre-Discordian records that Scootaloo was sure to fall squarely in the middle of one of them. But that was a good thing, because it meant Twilight had discovered something nopony knew before, and could help everypony if she could just understand where it lay in the grand scheme of things.

She and her floating entourage of books followed Licky downstairs, finding the filly walking in circles on the table around the equibust, looking at it with interest again. Licky seemed to want to do that every time she entered the lobby. Twilight hadn’t the slightest idea why. There were a lot of repetitive yet complex behaviors that the filly engaged in seemingly without rhyme or reason. It was possible Licky was attempting to integrate the memories of Scootaloo, but she certainly wasn’t succeeding. The best thing Twilight could think to do for somepony like this is just to let the orange filly run around on her own and explore, hoping maybe something will stick, and making sure she didn’t get into anything dangerous, or damage any books. For the most part, Twilight was succeeding.

Spike was already jealous of Licky, that much was obvious. Thankfully Twilight had managed to coax him into leaving the library, instead of getting exasperated at him continuing to try to recreate his own infancy to make himself a more attractive target than Licky. She couldn’t just tell him to leave of course, because that in his mind meant that she was placing him below Licky in the dragon hierarchy. But Twilight had plenty of experience with a dragon’s thought process, and all it took was a slight suggestion that a certain snow white friend of hers would appreciate his company, and he could go over and help her if he was a really good boy, and now Spike was Rarity’s problem.

Licky was tiring out more quickly this time. She sauntered from library wing to library wing, gallopping forward but then shuffling her hooves sluggishly. Twilight didn’t let her run outside freely, as she was worried about losing track of the filly, and worried about Licky’s inability to process information. Any ponies who tried to talk to Licky, or significantly interact with her would immediately become suspicious. Twilight was really curious how Scootaloo had dealt with that for so long. One more question to go on the mental checklist.

The library was still closed, and some ponies kept coming in to complain. Twilight quickly hurried them back out, and there had been no dangerous close calls so far. Twilight eventually hung the “CAUTION: IMPORTANT MAGICAL EXPERIMENT” sign by the door, after which no ponies came to complain, or came willingly within 300 meters of the tree. Twilight wasn’t totally heartless about those denied library goers; she felt very guilty about it, and resolved once more to get her own separate research complex for experimentation, and to get this town a real librarian. All Twilight had to do was find somepony as organized as she was, to manage the library. Yup, any day now.

Licky stopped running again, and her stomach growled loudly enough for Twilight to hear from ten steps away. The filly plopped her butt on the floor and looked down at her own stomach in confusion, holding a hoof around it. Then she started to hiccup, then cry. Twilight dropped her books and rushed forward, settling down to pull the filly into a hug telling her again, “I’m sorry Licky, but no eating remember?”

Licky quieted at that and sniffled, but then she started to cry harder, a thin wail of resigned despair. This filly knew she couldn’t eat, but couldn’t understand why. No, that wasn’t quite it. This filly understood why she couldn’t eat, but couldn’t know it. It was a completely alien experience that Twilight could hardly even imagine what it was like to go through. Twilight tried to comfort Licky with words and hugs, but it was just no use.

In all this, Twilight Sparkle was desperately trying not to ponypomorphize. She had no idea what the dietary requirements of this tribe were, only that “too much” meant spontaneous instantaneous reproduction. But how much was too much? Twilight couldn’t feed her anything without knowing that! The only pony who knew what was happening with Licky’s appetite and how to fix it was Scootaloo, and she wasn’t coming back until late in the afternoon. If only there was some way to get some word to Scootaloo. Some sort of messenger. Of course!

“Spike!” Twilight called out brightly. “Spiiiike?” Then her ears went flat. Of course. She just had to go and do that, didn’t she. And now Spike was a quarter of the way across town with Rarity. It’d be totally thoughtless of Twilight though, to tear him away, just so she could keep an eye on Licky while using him as a messenger boy. Twilight sighed indecisively, and nuzzled the whimpering filly. Licky’s hair was so soft, in long bouncy curls not anything like Scootaloo’s. Her skin was baby smooth. She really had been created just this morning. Being so close to Licky really drove that home for Twilight. Licky stopped crying and got up again eventually, and walked away from Twilight, but just ...listlessly in a downtrodden daze.

Scootaloo or no Scootaloo, this filly needed to eat. Every filly needed to eat something at some point, and this filly had eaten nothing at any point. Since her ill timed conception she had been gallopping around constantly, only stopping long enough to fall asleep. She was running on fumes now; a filly just can’t stay that active and not eat any breakfast or lunch.

Twilight firmed her resolve. This simply could not stand. She curtly levitated Licky onto her back, and carried the wiggly filly down back towards the kitchen area, a giddy smile trying to fight its way onto Twilight’s composed face. It was time to experiment. As soon as the kitchen came into sight, Licky jumped off of Twilight’s back and ran in the other direction.

Wait, what?

Twilight chased after Licky, who had only gone around the corner before slumping down again. Twilight again tried to carry the filly into the kitchen, but Licky gave a distressed sound and jumped off, running away again, making Twilight about face and follow after the filly again.

“Come... on!” Twilight griped, sliding Licky bodily towards the kitchen, just pushing the filly with her blunt tipped forehead. Licky started crying again as she saw the kitchen, resisting every move towards it. “I’m trying... to feed you!” Twilight exclaimed, and then Licky jumped up and ran around her, going into the other room again. Twilight just stopped, turned her head and looked where Licky went, attempting in vain to understand what was going on in that filly’s head. Twilight looked toward the kitchen area, the shield ward having been since dispelled, but the food securely locked away through more mundane means. Nothing Licky could get into, but surely Licky would want to go in there? She hesitated uncertainly.

Then Twilight darted into the kitchen alone. She immediately went to the pantry, fumbling with the lock until it clicked open, then peering inside. She grabbed a bag of quackers, hesitating and then setting the hefty bag down, undoing its tie and pulling it open. With her magic she levitated out precisely one half dozen quackers, stacking the thin grassy wafers neatly in midair, then tied up the bag again and stuck it back in the pantry. She made sure the lock clicked closed securely, then turned to see if Licky had followed her.

Licky, as it turns out, had followed her to the entrance to the kitchen, but was merely peering at her fearfully around the edge of the archway. As soon as Twilight met the filly’s gaze, Licky ducked out of the way and her hoofsteps could be heard clattering away. With her magically levitated food package in tow, Twilight followed the blue eyed pegasus to where she’d run back into the main lobby.

Licky was sitting in there with her back to Twilight, and Twilight said, “Licky! Licky? Licky Loo?” but of course Licky didn’t know her own name. It was just what Twilight was calling her for now, after Dash thought it up. Which really was all that a name was, when you think about it. Twilight circled carefully around to where she could look Licky face to face.

“Look, see?” Twilight demonstrated waving one in front of her. “Quackers!” Licky was captivated by the floating wafer, so Twilight placed it on the ground in front of her. “You can eat it, see?” Twilight explained. Licky carefully put her front right hoof down on the fallen wafer. Then she pushed it away. Then she looked at it hungrily, and started crying again, then tore her eyes away again.

“Please, Licky,” Twilight begged sliding the quacker back towards her. “You’re miserable! You need to eat something!”

Licky just shied away from it giving Twilight a fearful look.

Twilight was grasping at straws at this point. Did you have to say something to get them to eat? “I promise I won’t feed you too much, Licky,” she said to the filly. “Just a little, not too much!”

Licky stared at the quacker, and then at Twilight, and then at last she picked up the quacker in both hooves and started nibbling at it. Once she finished, Twilight levitated another quacker towards her, to which Licky shied back looking fearfully at Twilight.

How in Equestria had Spike managed to feed one of these a whole head of lettuce?

“It’s not too much,” Twilight said, “Look, there were only twelve, see? It won’t make you fructify.”

Hesitantly, Licky lifted the second quacker, and started munching on it in the exact same practiced motion as before. She ate a third quacker more readily. Twilight was almost totally sure that there wasn’t a fraction of the biomass you would need to construct a filly from whole cloth in a light snack like this. So she started hovering the fourth quacker over, right when the front door to the library opened behind her, and she heard Scootaloo’s voice call out admonishingly,

“Miss Twilight!”

Twilight Sparkle winced, dropping the quacker guiltily. “Oh hello Scootaloo,” she said in a forced cheerful voice, turning to look over her shoulder where Scootaloo had just walked in. “What are you doing here so earl—”

Twilight’s heart stopped.

School was a drag, but it sure beat sitting around doing nothing all the time. Contrary to popular belief, Scootaloo did hunger to learn stuff about the world. Plus it was only at school that Scootaloo could find her friends, her real friends that really cared about her, not just her... others. Scootaloo loved them all, but there was something to be said for a foal who would be your friend by choice, instead of as a matter of instinct and necessity.

Scootaloo was feeling lots better this morning having finally taken Dizzie inside and been let inside. That embarassing bit of crying was sort of cathartic. It was so much better being Scootaloo, and not being some nobody filly who doesn’t even know what’s going on. When the rainbow eagle horse stole Scootaloo away, and left her with Bee all alone with the big lightning and thunder crashing overhead, she was sure that was it. That was the last she’d ever see Scootaloo again. She was going to have to start all over.

But then Scootaloo came back! And it turned out that the rainbow eagle horse was none other than the amazing Rainbow Dash that Scootaloo loved so much. Dizzie loved her so much that she got to even sleep with her in a real bed for the very first time again, with the sounds of Rainbow Dash’s heartbeat lulling her to sleep, and then the sounds of Rainbow Dash’s snoring lulling her away from sleep. Luckily Dizzie figured out that if you sat on Rainbow Dash’s chest and stuck your head under her chin, it made her a lot quieter. She honestly wondered if she would ever have had the guts to do something like that as Scootaloo.

So even though Dizzie had been so scared, it was still a relief to be Scootaloo again. She felt more like herself that way, more like she was somepony. And her greatest most amazing sister in the whole world knew about her secret, and didn’t hate it! Scootaloo had dreaded that moment for so long, but now it was just, well, it was all going to be O.K!

Probably the best thing about it was that Scootaloo was so very full now. Scootaloo was usually pretty full, but Dizzie always had had to be hungry all the time, because she didn’t want to make too many. And at last, that gnawing hunger was a thing of the past, because she was safely Scootaloo once again, and Scootaloo could actually eat when she got hungry.

Scootaloo wasn’t sure if it was Dizzie’s bubbly personality rubbing off on her or just her general good mood from what happened yesterday, but even when she trotted into class late, from having to have spent the morning being studied by Twilight and swallowing fillies, she just apologized sincerely, and sat down at her desk with a big dreamy smile on her face.

“Well... O.K.” Cheerilee said to Scootaloo, fiddling with the chalk stick in her lips. “But you can’t keep coming in late. You’ll miss the lesson, and it’s not fair to disrupt the rest of the class.”

“Sorry, Miss Cheerilee,” Scootaloo said abashedly. “I was uh, studying with Twilight. It took a little too long.”

Cheerilee raised an eyebrow, and Scootaloo blurted out, “I was! You can just ask her!”

“Yes well,” Cheerilee turned to the chalkboard, “As I was saying, the reduction of esters will produce ether subgroups, much like the oxidation of ethers will produce esters. Do you know what catalyzes ester reduction...”

Yeah, suffice to say the lesson was kind of boring. And it was really more Apple Bloom’s thing anyway. It was kind of weird too, because instead of being fascinated with how to use apples to distill oranges, Apple Bloom spent the whole class just looking at Scootaloo. Not all at once, but every time she thought Scootaloo wasn’t watching she kept sneaking glances. It couldn’t have been the... the throwing up thing, though, because Apple Bloom wasn’t looking at Archer at all only Scootaloo, And anyway, the only ones who knew were Rainbow Dash, Twilight and... oh yeah, Pinkie Pie.

Scootaloo swallowed nervously. She didn’t know how good Pinkie Pie was at keeping secrets, but she sure was mad at Scootaloo. Now that Scootaloo thought on it, it was incredible there hadn’t been an angry mob waiting outside the library with Pinkie at the front of it. How could Pinkie even think something like that though? Scootaloo would never k-k–do anything bad to somepony. Was Pinkie just being Pinkie? Maybe her reaction was supposed to be a joke? Scootaloo was having a hard time finding it at all funny though. It had to have been a joke though. Intolerance was one thing, but ignoring your friends and jumping to conclusions like that was something a comic book villain would do. And there was no way Pinkie Pie was one of those. Right?

Scootaloo tried to pay attention to the lesson. Something about molecule chains, something something. Her scooter didn’t even have chains. That’s what made it so robust. Carbon chains were different though, sort of more like monofilament nanotubes but a lot less cool, or useful. So instead of the lesson, she was thinking about Apple Bloom.

What if Pinkie had told her? Like just her? Maybe that’s why Apple Bloom was acting so weird? It was a scary thought that they might know and Scootaloo never got to tell them herself. What if somepony else told Apple Bloom, or Sweetie Belle? Then Scootaloo would never be able to earn their trust, because it was too late for her to tell them and they’d just think she was a big liar. Scootaloo remembered what Twilight said about Apple Bloom, her heart warming at the story of bravery and open mindedness, of her best friend, and...

Yeah, she was going to do it. She was going to tell both of them today. It was happening so fast yesterday, that she knew she had to tell them now. If she didn’t, then Scootaloo would just blink one day, and the opportunity to tell them would be gone forever. They were her friends, they deserved to know and, and she wasn’t going to hide from them like a baby.

Plus, opening up to Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle would mean that they could be friends with Archer now, too! That’d make Archer even happier about being outside and playing with Scootaloo. And maybe they could help Archer earn her cutie mark! Archer would probably want it in something sissy like flowers or something, but, maybe Sweetie Belle could help her out with that. So it wasn’t only Scootaloo who needed them to know, but Archer as well. She was sure they could keep it a secret if they Pink—if they promised, and since those two were her best friends, Scootaloo wasn’t going to keep it from them anymore.

Scootaloo was about ready to explode from anxious anticipation, when the recess bell finally rang. As the class cleared out, she zipped over to Archer in the blink of an eye. They didn’t normally hang out together or interact at school because... well, uncomfortable questions, and different friends, and stuff, so Archer was understandably nervous when Scootaloo came right up to her.

“I’m gonna do it, Archer!” Scootaloo whispered tensely to the blue pony. “I’m gonna tell Apple Bloom!”

“Wh-why?!” Archer whispered back frightfully.

“So you can be friends with them too!” Scootaloo said, “You heard about Apple Bloom and that zebra, right?”

“...no?”

Scootaloo blinked. “Oh, right. Uh, fill you in on that later, but Apple Bloom is like, super cool about it.”

“What about Sweetie Belle?” Archer said with a light blush.

“I... I don’t know, but I’m gonna tell both of them! This time I mean it!” Scootaloo asserted confidently.

Archer scraped a hoof self consciously saying, “You don’t... you don’t have to, just for...”

“Archer, I know how much you want friends,” Scootaloo said sympathetically, laying a hoof across her shoulders, “And they’re the best friends you could ever have. We gotta tell them!”

“We?!” Archer said in a quiet squeak.

Scootaloo backed up and rubbed her mane, looking aside saying, “Yeah, I could tell them myself, I guess, but I don’t know. It’s kind of important for you to be there to back me up. Plus I want to finally introduce you!”

Archer was blushing hard now and her head was tilted down totally concealing her eyes beneath her rough cut, bouncy unkempt bangs. “Uh... um...” she mumbled, almost inaudibly saying, “.......ok....”

“Great!” Scootaloo cheered, snagging Archer by the hoof, and bodily dragging her out of the classroom. If Archer squeaked in protest, the brash, purple orange filly didn’t even notice in her excitement.

Cheerilee, who had been watching the quiet exchange with interest, crossed her hoof under her chin and said, “I wonder what that was all about.” She looked out the window, where Scootaloo was buzzing away on her scooter, with Archer spooned in front of her holding onto the scooter handles, as if this were a familiar sort of thing they did all the time.

Cheerilee really didn’t know what to make of her students sometimes.


“Looks like they’re headed for the clubhouse,” Scootaloo said, catching quickly up to her two friends who were trotting through the apple orchard at a decent pace. “You know,” she repeated to the blue pony against her front, “The clubhouse that I go to sometimes?”

“Um... oh, yeah, I know where you’re talking about,” Archer responded. Her own wings were flittering unsteadily, trapped between them, as Scootaloo’s provided the power to push them along. It was kind of making Scootaloo’s chest fur tickle.

“We should catch them before they get in there,” Scootaloo decided, “I kind of need to ask their permission before letting you, you know. It’s official Crusader headquarters.”

Archer stiffened slightly, saying “Do you think I could be...”

“Well, that’s the plan!” Scootaloo said with a grin.

They skidded to a halt right as the others got to the clearing the clubhouse was in. Scootaloo jumped right off, and Archer climbed off a little more carefully, if just because she wasn’t often on scooter rides.

“Hey Apple Bloom! Sweetie Belle!” Scootaloo announced as she came around the trees to the picnic area in front of the clubhouse.

Apple Bloom actually jumped when Scootaloo said that, but she just shook her head and calmed down right away. The two of them turned to face Scootaloo, Apple Bloom saying, “Oh, hey, Scootaloo...” Sweetie just smiled nervously.

“Anyway...” Scootaloo started, crossing a hoof awkwardly, “So there’s kind of something I need to tell you. I talked with Miss Twilight about it and, well, I really need to share this with you.” She looked back, where Archer was still hiding out of sight anxiously, then looked at her two best friends. “I sort of... um...” Scootaloo was having trouble looking them in the eyes as she tried to figure out how to say it.

“Sorry, this is harder than I thought,” she said. “I kind of, well I’m not really... I mean,”

“Spit it out, Scootaloo!” Sweetie Belle said with a petulant whimper.

Scootaloo laughed at that, just a bit. “Heh heh, funny you should mention that. So I’m not... like other ...fillies.” Darn it why was she blushing so much? “Like, I’m really really weird. I um, when I eat too much it uh... well you know that one time, that pony named Archer came to school?”

Scootaloo sighed, looking over her shoulder, “You can come out already, Archer!” Reluctantly, Archer walked out to stand next to her. Scootaloo looked at Archer and said, “This is Archer. You’ve never talked to her but she knows you two. She really wants to be friends with you. Sorry, she’s kind of shy still.”

Scootaloo visibly gulped forcing herself to face forward, if only to see her friend’s hooves. “She knows you, because she knows everything I do sort of, because I sort of... I made her. She came out of me. Out of my ...mouth.”

Dragging her eyes up to their faces was probably the most difficult thing Scootaloo ever had to do. “So, pretty weird huh?” she laughed nervously. Archer was just shivering. Sweetie Belle didn’t look like she understood, or really believed Scootaloo. Her face was torn between curiosity and that anticipation of betrayal you show when you think somepony is pranking you. It could have been worse though. Scootaloo had said it, and the worst part was over. At least Apple Bloom the more grounded pony of their group had a look of pure, unadultrated horror. Wait.

“Get back!!” Apple Bloom screamed, rearing up and viciously kicking Scootaloo in the side of her head, knocking her right into Archer, the two of them going down in a heap.

“What the buck, Apple Bloom?!” Scootaloo explained, her head throbbing as she dragged herself to her feet. Apple Bloom was backing up from them, pushing Sweetie Belle with her rear. Archer took the opportunity to turn tail, while Scootaloo just stared at Apple Bloom in complete shock.

“Don’t you say mah name!!” Apple Bloom shouted angrily, planting her hooves and grounding protectively in front of a now completely terrified Sweetie Belle who had just fallen to her side with a squeak. “You ain’t gonna touch us!” She said it so intently, but even standing there Apple Bloom was shaking like a leaf.

“I’m not gonna touch you,” Scootaloo said approaching full of anger and betrayal, “I’m just gonna—”

You cain’t!!” Apple Bloom shouted shrilly, rearing up again. Scootaloo backed up hastily, as Apple Bloom’s hooves returned to the ground. “I’ll kill you first!!” she accused with a furious snort. It hit Scootaloo like a freight train. Just the power of her words drove Scootaloo back like a spear of ice right through her heart. This can’t be happening!

“Apple Bloom,” she said furious with outrage, trying to be furious with outrage but she couldn’t keep her own voice steady, and why were her cheeks getting wet? “Why?!”

“You should die,” Apple Bloom said bitterly, spitting on the ground. “Horrible ugly awful nasty monsters like you don’t even deserve to live! Not after you—” Scootaloo just leapt at her in a blind rage, the only thought left in her head to shut up that stupid Whinneapolis mouth.

She managed to connect, smacking Apple Bloom’s face with her hoof, but that left her wide open as Apple Bloom reared up again connecting solidly with Scootaloo’s chest, the crushing blow to her rib cage knocking her back skidding against the grass. Scootaloo rushed forward again and this time Apple Bloom did too, the two of them rearing up and tangling hooves, struggling to push each other over to stomp on. Apple Bloom bit down hard on Scootaloo’s shoulder making an angry scream rip out of her as she frantically elbowed Apple Bloom hitting her in the eye to make her let go.

When they spun apart, it gave Scootaloo the opportunity to buck Apple Bloom in the flank hard enough to knock her over, but Apple Bloom just kept rolling and shot up frantically like her life depended on it. She ran at Scootaloo kicking and biting anything she could reach, as Scootaloo tried to just hurt this thing that looked like her friend. The strength and fury of the earth pony had Scootaloo at a disadvantage though, and she had to keep backing up until her hind legs were knee deep in the bushes. Apple Bloom’s eye was swelling shut, and both of them had traded a cut ear, and were developing bruises on their chest and shoulders. Scootaloo just felt hot pain in her chest, but she didn’t even care, but AGH that was her knee! Her tears burned on the bloody bite on her cheek and her shoulder felt like it was on fire. She couldn’t keep this up she had to get away!

Somehow Scootaloo found the sheer adrenalin to buck Apple Bloom in the chest shoving her back, and that was enough for Scootaloo to start running. She felt teeth clack right on the tip of her tail, and she yanked forward hard, clenching her teeth to avoid screaming in pain at the hairs ripping out in her determination to get away. “Give her back!” Apple Bloom screamed behind her as Scootaloo fled hobbling into the forest, jumping on her scooter and engaging her wings frantically.

Scootaloo buzzed away from the clearing as fast as she could go. “Give her back!!” Apple Bloom shrieked one more time, and then just collapsed, sobbing.

Scootaloo couldn’t even bear to look back.

Scootaloo had gotten into fights with Apple Bloom before, but never like that. She felt like every part of her was hurting, inside and out. She was heading to the school at first but— she couldn’t go back there. They’d see and they’d know a-and they’d ask and then... she couldn’t go there. Only Twilight already knew. Twilight would know what to do. Scootaloo slumped against her own scooter like a lifeline, angling her course more southerly towards the library, navigating the streets and avoiding obstacles for once. She couldn’t jump or do tricks, she just wanted to crawl into a hole and...

Twilight would know what to do.

The treebrary took all too long for Scootaloo’s tastes to come into view. She pulled up to it wearily, wincing with a hiss as she couldn’t put down the leg that Apple Bloom had kicked. She walked on three hooves, having to push the knob on the door with her forehead to get it open. Inside the library there was what looked like an idyllic scene, with Twilight and that new Licky Loo seated on the sun dappled floor, Twilight dedicatedly floating quackers over for Licky to eat.

“Miss Twilight!” Scootaloo shouted in an admonishing, outraged, terrified, hurt, betrayed, angry, furious, scared, unimpressed, worried, pained tone. It came out sounding just admonishing though.

“Oh hello Scootaloo,” Twilight said turning and giving her a nervous look. “What are you doing here so earl—”

There was a silence.

“Scootaloo?!” Twilight belted out at the beleagured filly, scrambling to her hooves fast as she could. She couldn’t run over fast enough, but then she pulled up short, unable to tell whether she should touch the filly. Scootaloo had abrasions and deep bruises on her chest and flank. Her left shoulder was a mass of bloody matted fur, and her right cheek had a bite mark in it so severe that the skin was hanging loose. One of her front legs wasn’t bent right; the knee was crooked and swelling up. Scootaloo had trailed blood into the library from where the torn tip of her tail dragged listlessly along the ground. “What happened?!”

“Miss Twilight,” Scootaloo said weakly taking shallow, pained breaths, “You gotta help! There’s something wrong with Apple Bloom!”

“Apple Bloom?!” Twilight exclaimed, lighting up her horn. “Where is she? Is she conscious? What did you three do?!” Not even the trebuchet disaster had been as bad as this. She readied herself to teleport immediately, the very instant Scootaloo told her where they’d all gotten hurt so badly.

“She’s fine!” Scootaloo protested contrarily, “But there’s something wrong with her! You said she would be fine! But she wasn’t!”

“Scootaloo please, calm down,” Twilight begged earnestly, “Where is she, and what is wrong with Apple Bloom? Is she O.K.?”

“She hates me!!” Scootaloo screamed, cutting off with a rough coughing that kept getting mixed up with despairing sobs. The light in Twilight’s horn died. She reached forward to touch Scootaloo’s un-bitten cheek as carefully as she could to hold the filly’s attention, looking her in those violet eyes.

“Scootaloo, what happened to you?”

“M-m–m–” Scootaloo stuttered, sniffled and buried her nose in the fur on her good shoulder, then said, “I was at recess and I told her, just like you said! And now she hates me, and I don’t know why and you were wrong, Miss Twilight!” she tried to shout, despite having such a hard time breathing.

“No, you’re hurt, Scootaloo!” Twilight corrected her, “What happened to you?”

“I t-told you,” Scootaloo said shaking, “Apple Bloom hates me!”

“No, I mean how did you get hurt?” Twilight clarified in confusion.

“I told you,” Scootaloo replied giving Twilight an angry glare, “Apple Bloom hates me!”

Twilight’s hoof dropped limply to her side.

“No,” Twilight said unbelievingly, “It can’t be. Apple Bloom did this to you?!”

Scootaloo sniffled again, and it was clear it was a bloody nose and not just a runny one. “W-we got in a fight,” she said miserably, looking to the side.

“This isn’t just a fight, Scootaloo,” Twilight chastised her, “You need to go to the hospital!”

“No!” Scootaloo actually scrambled back at that, yelping in pain as her bad hoof hit the wooden floor. “I–I can’t they would find out and then everypony would know! Then they do this to me.”

“I know you want to keep it secret, Scootaloo,” Twilight said lighting up her horn, “But this is important! Your life could be in danger! The ponies at the hospital are good people. They won’t hurt you, even if they know. Now be ready to tele—”

“Tha’s what you said about Apple Bloom!” Scootaloo shouted, her bottom sinking to the ground and her chest heaving ever so shallowly. She looked at the floor as if she was just trying to deal with the sheer amount of pain she was feeling.

Twilight’s horn died again. She backed up in shock and denial, saying “Apple... Apple Bloom? Really? Apple Bloom did this to you because you– just because you produce fillies out of your mouth?!”

Scootaloo just nodded, and her silence was telling.

“Scootaloo, we have to do something,” Twilight pressed forward again, “You can’t even put weight on your right front leg. Do you know what that does to a pony if left untreated?!”

Scootaloo breathed shallowly for a few more seconds before quietly rasping, “A-archer.”

“What?” Twilight blinked.

“Archer,” Scootaloo repeated, lifting her head to look Twilight in the eyes, with a frightening confidence given the state of her body. “You need to get Archer. She can help me better than a hospital.”

“I don’t—” Twilight exhaled exasperatedly and didn’t even try to demand an explanation. “Where is Archer?” she asked evenly.

Scootaloo shrank from the question saying, “I–I don’t know.”

“Scootaloo, please, do you have any idea where she might be, or any idea of anything?” Twilight retorted at her wit’s end.

“I don’t—” Scootaloo started, then looked forward evenly for a moment, and said, “If she isn’t coming here she’d be going to the school, so she’s at the school, Miss Twilight.”

Twilight slammed the door closed leading out of the library, magically sealing it shut. “Okay Scootaloo,” Twilight said to the injured filly, “I’m going to get Archer and I’m not going to ask why because you need help right now. I need you not to move and stay very still so you don’t get hurt worse. Please don’t try to stop Licky Loo even if she,” There was a crash in the other room. “...that.”

“O-okay, Miss Twilight,” Scootaloo said, settling to a half up seated position except with her hurt leg held up. Swaying a bit, but seeming steady for now. Hopefully fetching Archer would only take Twilight a small increment of time. Without a thought, Twilight teleported ending up a short distance away outside the library. She started gallopping then, relay teleporting for efficiency since she wasn’t accompanied by somepony this time. The bookstore, the quill store, Sugarcube corner, the lower hill residences, the hillside and then the school, where Twilight burst into existence right in the middle of a busy recess.

The distant shrill din of happy foals running around the play yard filled her ears as she scanned over the scene, foals were helping each other over the monkey bars jumping rope together, crowding in a bunch to climb the ladder to the slide. No Archer in sight. Twilight strode into the school house, but the only pony in there was not Archer, or even Cheerilee, but just a green filly with bountifully wavy blue hair over by the window, who she didn’t recognize. “Do you know where Miss Cheerilee is?” Twilight asked the filly.

The filly nodded and said in a bright voice, “She just went out with Archer. There was a fight.”

Twilight dropped her head in disgust. Of course this couldn’t be easy. “Please,” she implored, “Did Miss Cheerilee say where the fight was?” Twilight smiled at the filly hopefully.

The filly paused, and said, “She just said the clubhouse. I don’t know where that—”

“Thank you so much!” Twilight said giving her a big hug because this was the first pony in all of today who’d proven themselves helpful. Then she winked out of existence before the filly could even react.

“I know they were here, Miss Cheerilee!” Archer called upward, looking up at the clubhouse where the dark magenta mare was looking around the windows and doors, trying to see if there were any fillies hiding in it. Archer was standing on the forest floor, not really comfortable with entering the clubhouse herself. Not that she ever would be allowed into it ever... but she had to think of Scootaloo first.

Cheerilee walked down the ramp and stood before the filly saying, “It’s clear there was a fight here, from the way the ground is scuffed like this, so I believe you are being honest with me. It must have ended before we got here.” She smiled wanly at Archer saying, “But thank you for bringing this to my attention! Just tell me the names of the ponies involved and I can be sure they receive proper discipline.”

Archer could say the names of the others, but probably shouldn’t say Scootaloo. But who would they be fighting against then? But she didn’t want to get Scootaloo in trouble. She looked up at Cheerilee and said, “W–”

Twilight appeared in a burst of pink magic right next to them, looking very frazzled and a bit wall eyed. “Sorry, I have to borrow her for a sec,” she said to Cheerilee and then enveloped herself and Archer in her magic, and before Archer could say anything her world turned sideways and inside out.

Completely alone now, in the clearing where the Cutie Mark Crusader clubhouse faced a small picnic table, Cheerilee stomped a hoof, shouting, “What is going on here?” As she was in fact, completely alone, she didn’t get any satisfactory answer.

Teleportation was the most bizarre experience for just about anypony. Archer felt like she wasn’t even there, but “there” was anywhere. It was like she didn’t have a body, but was still moving somehow, but wasn’t moving in any direction she was familiar with. It was a palpable shock when she suddenly found herself herself once again, with breathing lungs, a beating heart, and blood pumping through her veins.

They were in the library again, the library lobby which was more brightly lit from the sun than other rooms in the library. The caesar carving, the bookshelves lining the walls, made to look like the inside of a, well, tree trunk. Twilight’s magic had brought Archer all the way over here, in just a few seconds!

“Woah...” Archer said, her eyes readjusting dizzily, wobbling on her hooves at the unexpected feel of a whole planet underneath the four of them. “That was kind of...”

“Archer, please this is an emergency,” Twilight said, immediately catching her attention. Archer looked at where the unicorn stood, then gasped because next to her was Scootaloo sitting there looking beaten and bloody. Licky was sitting next to Scootaloo on her other side just licking her cuts worriedly. The fight had gotten that bad? Archer should have never run. They both should have run! Archer knew Scootaloo wouldn’t ever run from that though, not after the last time.

“Oh no, Scootaloo are you okay?” Archer cried, trotting over and reaching hesitantly, trying to find a spot on Scootaloo that she could hug that wasn’t bruised or bloody.

“Been better,” Scootaloo said tensely, smiling with half of her face.

“Archer,” Twilight said in a frustrated tone and stood up, her tall purple hooves coming to stand before her. “Could you please tell Scootaloo that her injuries are serious and possibly life threatening, you don’t have some kind of miracle curative ability, and she needs to go to the hospital?”

“Oh,” Archer said looking up at her with steady eyes, “...no. We can’t go to the hospital or they’ll find out.”

“Finding out is better than dying!” Twilight exclaimed to her.

“Also I have a miracle curative ability,” Archer added.

Twilight immediately strode away stiffly, shouting, “I give up!” shouting at the ceiling going, “I give up! I give up. I have had it. I give up. I’m not even going to try. These ponies make no sense. That they exist makes no sense. That they are not widely known makes no sense. I. Give. Up!”

She calmly walked back to Archer and said to her in a sweet voice, “Are you the only one with mystical healing powers or is it every one of you?”

“No, it’s all of us,” Archer said, crouching nervously, “I mean it’s nothing special.”

“NOTHING SP–” Twilight closed her eyes, put her hoof on her chest and took a deep breath. “How praytell,” she asked again in that sweet tone of voice, “Does your miraculous healing ability work?”

Archer’s ears went down. Twilight may have been upset, but Archer felt like Twilight was making fun of her, and that wasn’t fair. “It’s simple,” Archer replied petulantly. “I just eat her.”

Twilight’s response held too much of that look of horror Archer was repeatedly familiar with.