Rising Above

by Quick Fix

Chapter 9 - Subtle Change

October 9th

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"Thank Celestia for umbrellas." Quick mumbled to himself, glancing up at the sky as he walked through town. The weather ponies had been generous so far this autumn but today the rain was coming down hard and he was the only pony out at the moment. Having to control an umbrella with his mouth didn't help either, at least he was keeping his saddlebags dry, he needed everything in there more than ever now. In his mind, everything came down to today, make or break on dual destinies. No pressure then.

Eventually he reached the Ponyville Athletics Circuit, it was still relatively small compared to some of the other sporting venues of Equestria but at least that compact size allowed for a covered roof. Quick gave a sigh of relief as he headed inside and looked round. Most ponies present seemed to be here to duck out of the rain, with several groups gathered and talking in the various bleachers. A few were out on the track though, he could see Apple Bloom doing laps from here, though why she had Pinkie Pie handling the timing he had no idea.

More to the point, he could see Scootaloo in the centre of the arena, running herself through one of her basic scooter routines with Trixie nearby providing some fitting ambiance with her magic. Even as he watched, she launched her ride onto a rail, grinding down to a small hoop at the end and launching the scooter through it, using what little wing power she had to push herself over it. Impressive as it was, Quick used the moment to watch her flap, trying to determine anything he could from the moment. All too quickly though, she came back down and brought her hooves onto the scooter, skidding to a stop in front of Trixie.

"Alright! Better, better. I'm using that one the next time I'm in Canterlot." Scootaloo took her helmet off and fluffed her mane back up, letting her adrenaline wear down.

"Agreed, you're starting to hit your stride with combination moves...Oh, look, your friend from yesterday is here." Trixie's voice had got a little colder as Scootaloo looked round to see Quick approaching.

"Come on, just hear him out. I mean he took long enough for you to put an order in for that cape right?"

Trixie huffed slightly and looked away as Quick trotted over to them, trying to look as calm as he did before. Scootaloo could already tell he was nervous though, understandable really, even she was somewhat worried about what might be said here.

"Hello, Scootaloo, Trixie. I-"

"That's Great Illusionary Artist Trixie, to you." Trixie butt in, making Quick hesitate in his greeting. He noticed Trixie was smiling slightly as she said it though. Much as she'd never admit it, she clearly appreciated somepony noticing her as well.

"Aaannyyway, I brought what I had and I have something of an idea." Scootaloo tilted her head as Quick put his saddlebags down and started getting papers out. She took a look at one and while she couldn't make sense of half of it, what she could read about muscular development it was clear he'd done his research. It really was looking like he was starting to be the real deal.

"Okay then, Quick. This looks impressive actually, you could've been a specialist," Quick grinned at the compliment as he finished laying the papers out, leaving Scootaloo slightly dumbfounded at just how he'd made two dozen pages worth of notes in a few days. "Err...Trixie, could you help hold all these up please?"

"Sure. But if he tries anything funny in the meantime, I'll have him wearing these notes for Nightmare Night." Trixie warned, though she was chuckling softly as she started to lift the notes up, just messing with him now. Quick nodded, looking for his starting point.

"I gotta say, I can't thank you enough for being open enough to give me this chance. Scootaloo, could you open your wings please?" Quick said as he looked back at Scootaloo, waiting as she stretched her wings out and posed them for him. He moved in and took a close look at them, constantly looking back at his notes. Scootaloo could just about hear him talking to himself as he checked.

"Okay...No, the bone structure matches everything...Old fracture, probably from a crash....What about on the right? No, that's all the same too...The outer muscle is fine...Some feathers are spread slightly more, that wouldn't be enough though....How she does it normally might....Scootaloo, could you rotate your wings backward about four degrees and flap slowly?"

Scootaloo looked puzzled but did so, wincing slightly as she did so. Holding her wings like that was quickly taxing on her muscles and it felt even worse as she started flapping, only managing to hold it for a few seconds before having to stop. She felt exhausted but managed to keep it contained before giving a few more flaps, Quick motioned for her to stop and checked his notes again.

"Well, that is subtle if it's right...Scootaloo, how long have you been riding your scooter?"

"Oh, about twenty four years now."

"Hmmm..." Quick leaned in to make sure nopony around would overhear. "I'm not a doctor of course, but from everything I've read, it looks like simple muscle conditioning."

"What in the hay is that then?" Scootaloo blinked as Trixie finally put the notes down.

"You've been using your wings to propel your scooter since you were at a crucial development stage, it's very subtle but they've grown to be more comfortable angled for how you'd use them on your scooter than for flight."

"Woah...That's weird, but makes sense in a way. I asked the doctors to look for the serious stuff, no wonder they overlooked something so small. So...Is it going to be....?"

"Good news is, it's reversible, the muscles can adapt to any position if held there enough. Bad news, you basically have to go through the exact same thing to get your wings used to their normal position again. I wont lie, it's probably going to take months."

"And probably going to be very uncomfortable in the process...I understand though. This is the real deal, and you figured it out where nopony else has...Thank you."

Quick smiled softly and started gathering his notes back up, watching as Scootaloo checked her wings. She looked like it had taken it's toll on her stamina after just a few seconds and they were hoping for sustained flight? It wasn't impossible, but getting to the next step was all in her hooves now. Even as he finished packing up, Trixie looked between him and Scootaloo in thought.

"So, what happens now?"

"Now, we start training Scootaloo's wings. I'm not going to say we try holding them in place because real muscle damage is a risk if she tries too fast. Start with just trying for a few seconds at a time spread out over the day, see how we go."

Scootaloo nodded, though outwardly she appeared optimistic, inside she was a mess. Her back felt like it was on fire from just a few weak flaps and she was meant to do that forever, eventually. Just how soon was eventually anyway? What if it never came to be? Through all this one question was lingering in her mind. If it worked, this was everything she'd ever wanted and at the same time she knew she wasn't like the filly her that could have learned.

Was she too old to keep chasing a childhood dream?

Comments

[redmar]

I have actually seen that explananation before but in that story it was easy to fix.