Chapter 17: Learning
The cyan mare took a breath as she sat in the waiting room, Scootaloo playing with her hoof. Her filly cooed, hugging her hoof to her chest and burying her muzzle in her guardian’s fetlock. Rainbow’s heart skipped a beat at the sight, a small smile playing along her face before she nuzzled Scootaloo in return, the little pegasus turning just enough to snuggle into her neck.
Rainbow’s gaze once again rose to the poster situated right across from her, showcasing a cross-section diagram of a pony’s ear and educating Rainbow Dash on exactly what complexities go on inside the heads of ponies that allow them to hear.
Every passing second of just looking at it made her more and more nervous for what she might hear.
Thankfully, her saving grace came in the form of an open door. “Rainbow Dash?” The attending nurse called.
Immediately, Rainbow Dash stood, easing Scootaloo onto her back and trotting up to the nurse with a nervous smile as a greeting. “Hi.”
“Hello there, right this way.” The nurse ushered her into the back. “Just a consultation today, right?”
“Right,” Rainbow confirmed, following her to a room and sitting in the provided chair, holding her little sister in her lap.
The nurse nodded, Rainbow Dash finally seeing “Pleasant Field” on the lavender earth pony’s smock. “Alrighty, then. I’ll just be taking Scootaloo’s pulse and blood pressure, just so we have a baseline in our system.” Rainbow nodded, gently stretching out Scootaloo’s foreleg and translating the nurse’s words as the cuff was affixed to her.
Scootaloo’s face scrunched in confusion. “Why are we at the doctor? Am I sick?”
Rainbow almost chuckled. “No, you’re fine—“
“Are you sick?” Scootaloo’s words would have been laughable if it weren’t for the worried little whine of that escaped her.
Instantly, her guardian nuzzled her reassuringly. “No, Scoots, I’m not sick. This is just a checkup. The doctor’s gonna take a look at you while you’re healthy so they’ll know what’s different from normal when you are sick.”
The explanation did the trick, calming the filly at once. A twinge of guilt tapped Rainbow’s heart at lying to her little sister, but she didn’t want to cause the filly any unnecessary excitement until she could confirm this would work.
‘Please,’ she prayed, ‘please let this work…’
Before too long, the nurse finished her preliminary readings, humming softly to herself as Scootaloo played with Rainbow’s hoof. She gave Rainbow a polite smile, tucking her clipboard to her chest. “Alrighty, Doctor Physique will be in shortly to speak with you.”
“Thank you,” Rainbow returned as Pleasant Field stepped out, leaving her with swimming thoughts and a playfully patient filly. Her eyes began to wander around the nearly empty room, monochrome walls adorned with casual advertisements and infographics for expectant mothers and insurance holders.
Scootaloo’s playfulness quickly turned to boredom as they waited, the filly squirming a bit in her big sister’s lap until she finally settled against her chest, lightly nuzzling Rainbow’s chest fur. Rainbow herself had begun fighting off her own sleep when, finally, a knock resounded on the door, and it opened.
A light blue stallion stepped through the door, his silver eyes gleaming as he smiled, stepping toward Rainbow Dash and extending a hoof in greeting. “Hello, there, Miss Dash. I’m Doctor Diminue Physique, how are you?”
Rainbow Dash gave him a polite smile, meeting his hoof. “I’m good! Thanks for coming all the way from Canterlot to see us.”
Doctor Physique smiles, his horn lighting through his brown mane and a clipboard levitating onto the counter. “Not a problem! When I heard wind of Miss Scootaloo’s story…well, it would be against my very oath to not see if this technology could help improve her quality of life.”
The cyan mare smiled awkwardly, having heard the term a couple times by now, both from Twilight and the doctor’s letter. ‘Quality of life’. If she were being honest with herself, she hated the term. Who were they to say how good Scootaloo’s life was? To determine how much she had done for the filly or how much she loved life?
Or at least…what she could experience of it.
Because if she were really being honest with herself…she wanted more for her little sister.
One good thing about having to be so hooves-on with Scootaloo was that the two had to stay indoors a lot, away from prying eyes. Which meant Rainbow was the only one who knew how many times she had let her emotions get the better of her. How many times she suddenly began crying when her filly’s eyes would pass right over her, or when she wished more than anything to sing her a lullaby or let her hear what an animal sounded like.
The same could be said for Scootaloo.
No pony else was around when Scootaloo would break, Rainbow seeing the signs of her upset from a mile away, but never prying until the filly couldn’t try (and fail) to hide her feelings anymore. Only Rainbow Dash knew how much it hurt Scootaloo to not be able to hear her guardian’s voice, or see a sunset.
Rainbow’s aching heart still replayed the memory of the day Scootaloo learned what music was, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle having innocently attempted an introduction. What followed for Scootaloo was a series of confusing shapes as they showed her a gramophone, and poorly-conducted vibrations that could only be felt on the speaker bell.
When she was subsequently asked “Isn’t it pretty?”, she lied.
The two had patiently and kindly been asked to leave such introductions like that to Rainbow Dash from then on.
Even still, Rainbow had wondered many times over the past two weeks whether or not what she was doing was selfish. She had finally decided it wasn’t, so long as the final decision came down to Scootaloo herself.
That is…if it was able to even work.
“Well, I’m really grateful you came so far to see her,” she said to Doctor Physique. “I actually don’t know all the specifics of her deafness, I just know she’s stone deaf because her…ear bones didn’t form right…?”
Doctor Physique chuckled kindly. “That’s alright. We’ll both know exactly what’s going on in that little head of hers soon.”
Gently, carefully, Doctor Physique leaned down toward Scootaloo, and grazed her shoulder with his aura. Immediately, Scootaloo perked up, giggling a bit as she reached for the newcomer. The good doctor introduced himself and let the little thing feel his face, Scootaloo cooing as she held his muzzle.
With a chuckle, he eased her hooves off his snout. “She’s a very happy filly.” At Rainbow’s grin, he took a step back, his horn alighting in a silver aura and an image appearing on the wall, a similar diagram as was shown in the lobby.
“This is a normal auditory system,” Doctor Physique explained. A small ripple floated down the canal with a large opening, heading towards a drum-like structure. “When sound enters the auditory canal, it hits the eardrum, which then vibrates these three little bones. The bones then cause tiny filaments in this spiraled organ called the cochlea to rub against its walls, which then sends a signal down the auditory nerve to the brain, where the sound is interpreted.”
As he spoke, the mock soundwave caused the prompted structures and organs to vibrate, giving Rainbow a step-by-step of the system in question. She listened intently and closely, despite having already read about it three times before, and nodded along, the doctor merely confirming what she already knew.
Not that she was gonna tell him that.
Doctor Physique smiled at her understanding, taking a step toward Scootaloo and his horn flaring once more, leveling a calming gaze at Rainbow Dash. “I’m going to cast a medical spell that will allow me to see into her skull enough to see her auditory systems. I’ll look at her right, then her left, then show you both. Okay?”
Rainbow nodded, and told Scootaloo to sit up straight. With the filly patiently waiting, Doctor Physique smiled and peered at Scootaloo’s head, casting his spell.
The guardian waited patiently as the doctor stared for a long moment at the right side of Scootaloo’s head, finally releasing a little interested hum before nodding and moving over to her left, recasting the spell.
Finally, Doctor Physique stood straight once more, stepping back to the wall. A rise and fall of silver, and the cross-sectioned images of Scootaloo’s own head appeared on the wall. Rainbow Dash swallowed the lump forming in her throat at what she saw.
Where the healthy system sported three distinctive bones connecting the eardrum to the cochlea, Scootaloo’s right system had three little white dots. Her left sported a mere, small clump of what was supposed to be said bones. Her cochlea seemed smaller than the healthy system, but she was unable to tell if that was because she was still a filly or not.
Thankfully, the doctor answered her unspoken curiosity. “As you can see here, the most glaring problem is her hammer, anvil, and stapes bones in both ears. From the looks of it, they were unable to develop past a certain point, which seems to have yielded two different results, both of which, simply put, have caused a disconnect between the mechanical and electrical parts of her auditory system, which has left her with her stone deafness.
“That being said, her eardrum and cochlea, while a touch smaller for her age, seem to not sport any openings, and seems to be fully developed, if not slightly smaller than they should be, particularly her cochlea.”
Rainbow nodded curiously. “Do you know how that happened?”
Doctor Physique shook his head. “I do not. The details you described on her file stated you were told they simply stopped developing, which is true, in a sense; but things like this need a trigger to occur. Usually, this kind of developmental deficiency can allude to the involvement of a wide range of things, anywhere from the pony’s gene pool to a freak genetic mutation to environmental factors outside of the pony’s control. Too many things could have happened to bring Scootaloo’s auditory system to this point. But it is useless to speculate on the why. Right now and from here on out, we should focus on the what and if and how we can help her.”
The cyan mare’s heart pounded in her chest, subconsciously leaning on the edge of her seat, her undivided attention on the doctor’s next words. “And…can you help her?”
Doctor Physique smiled patiently. “With her cochlea intact and connected to the auditory nerve…yes. We can help her.”
Rainbow’s breath left her chest in a great huff, and she slumped in her seat, stupefied. Scootaloo, sensing her big sister’s sudden change in posture, whined in worry, twisting around in her lap. “What’s wrong?”
Cyan hooves caught orange. “Nothing’s wrong, Scoots. I’m okay. Everything’s okay, actually, I’m just…happy!”
Unable to give a further explanation without going on a tangent, Rainbow simply scooped up her little sister in a tight hug. Her kisses between the filly’s eyes were met with giggles and happy squeals, Doctor Physique’s own light chuckles joining Scootaloo’s own. “Now, when would you like to schedule the surgery?”
And at once, Rainbow’s heart jumped to her throat. “Oh…uh…I actually…I need to talk to Scootaloo about it first. I…I just wanted to see if this was possible before I brought it up to her, because I didn’t…you know…I didn’t want to get her hopes up if it couldn’t happen, but…now I know it can, so…”
Doctor Physique chuckled in understanding. “Of course. I understand.” He motioned for Rainbow to stand so he could walk her out to the front desk, the mare complying and swinging Scootaloo onto her back, the filly grabbing hold with a little squeal of delight. “You have my office number,” the stallion continued as they began walking, “don’t hesitate to call me if you have any more questions or if Scootaloo wants to move forward with everything. I understand this is a big decision to be made, and it shouldn’t be taken lightly. I take it you know the risks? The potential of never being able to hear again? Discomfort and short-term balance issues?”
Rainbow nodded, having read over the risks multiple times from a couple articles Twilight had given her to read. After hearing Twilight’s theoretical risks that ranged all the way to delayed intellectual development (something Rainbow argued Scootaloo technically already had), she felt as if nothing in the way of risks could phase her anymore.
But…to Scootaloo, that may be a different story.
The mare smiled once more as Doctor Physique led her back outside. “Thank you again for coming so far to see Scootaloo. I really appreciate you giving us this opportunity.”
Doctor Physique waved her off. “Oh, it’s not a problem at all. All ponies should be given the opportunity to hear, and Miss Scootaloo is no different.” He smiled pleasantly at her. “I do hope to hear from you soon, Miss Dash. Have a wonderful rest of your day.”
Rainbow wished him the same, and he disappeared in a flash of silver.
Rainbow sat silently in Sugarcube Corner, barely remembering to blink as she watched Scootaloo sway happily as she ate a cupcake—a reward for her good behavior at the doctor’s office. The filly’s muzzle was a mess of chocolate and dotted with sprinkles, much like Rainbow’s thoughts. The parallel made a little huffed laugh escape Rainbow Dash as she imagined poking fun at the filly, the two of them enjoying a fun conversation over their snack, something deemed impossible with their way of communicating presently.
“Whatcha thinkin’ ‘bout, Dashie?” Pinkie Pie’s sudden voice cut through the fog of her thoughts, making her blink away her mental haze.
“Oh, hey Pinks…” Rainbow trailed, having to tear her eyes away from her charge to look at her pink friend. “I, uh… it’s…a little hard to explain…”
Pinkie Pie let out a long, drawn-out hum, sitting next to her friend as she tapped her chin. “Hmmm…is it like that one time when we tried to throw a surprise birthday party for Fluttershy—“
“Pinkie…”
“Only for her to see us with Angel Bunny picking out all her favorite things—“
“Pinkie…”
“And then we made up this story about how Angel needed to go to the vet, but he looked fine to Fluttershy because obviously she knows him best, and we almost had to tell her?“
“PINKIE!!”
The motor-mouthed pink mare giggled. “Now that was hard to explain!”
Rainbow Dash huffed a sigh, the tension leaving her shoulders at once now that the overstimulating timbre of Pinkie’s rant was over. Exasperated, Rainbow took in a slow breath, and began.
She told Pinkie about Twilight’s research, about the meeting they had today. Every detail she could think to divulge, she did. And to her pleasant surprise, Pinkie listened, not interrupting for a moment as Rainbow let out the memories swirling inside her head. With a glance to her filly, who had begun trying to wipe off her hooves by herself, Rainbow spoke her conflicting feelings about the whole matter, too caught up in them to even chuckle at Scootaloo’s adorable concentration.
“So…” she finally finished, “I guess…I’m just trying to decide…if I should tell Scootaloo about it…and let her know that something like this exists. Would it…even be worth it to go through something so life changing just to have the chance of letting her hear?”
Her voice ended timidly, unsure even of her question. With a tiny chuckle, she finally scooped up her messy filly and helped her finish cleaning her hooves. Once the task was complete, Scootaloo’s favorite trick of clapping her hooves over Rainbow’s muzzle sent the two pegasi into a fit of giggles.
The whole time, Pinkie watched Rainbow Dash with an odd expression of seriousness that didn’t quite fit the party pony’s usual cheer. When the cyan mare finally looked at her friend, she found Pinkie staring at her hard, clearly scrutinizing everything she had heard. “What?” Rainbow asked blankly.
Pinkie blinked stupidly, as if having come to an obvious conclusion Rainbow was still unaware of. “What?” Rainbow repeated.
The pink party pony stared hard at Rainbow for one more moment before finally opening her mouth to speak. “Are you seriously thinking about not giving Scootaloo the chance to hear?”
Rainbow blinked, gobsmacked. “You say that like there’s no other way.”
“Well, duh!” Pinkie exclaimed, perking up once again. “You’d have to be crazy to not go through with it. I mean…that’s just…think of all the things she’s missing out on!” Before Rainbow could express her flare of protective anger, Pinkie began listing all the ‘things’ in question.
“There’s laughter, singing, music. The rush of excitement when you hear ponies shouting ‘surprise’! The chants of games—oh! I bet she’d be amazing at Pin the Tail on the Pony! And she’d actually be able to hear Granny Smith’s Nightmare Night story. And all kinds of other stories, too! Not to mention hearing ponies singing to her on her birthday!”
As Pinkie listed each and every point to her argument, Rainbow Dash began to find it easier and easier to agree with her, and soon began nodding along with the ideas, her worries beginning to melt away as she became more and more sure of the decision.
The chime of the cuckoo clock in Sugarcube Corner finally jolted Rainbow Dash out of her thoughts, and she glanced at it, jumping up to her hooves and scooping Scootaloo onto her back. “Sorry, Pinks. I forgot I promised Scoots I’d take her to Fluttershy’s house to help with the first round of hibernation blankets.”
“Ooh!” Pinkie perked up. “Is it that time already?”
“Yeah,” Rainbow chuckled as Scootaloo settled down between her wings. “It’s kinda funny how many animals seem to like her. The last time I went over there, she had hitched a ride on this tortoise named Tank, and Fluttershy said he’d been having a blast just walking around in circles with her on his back. Scoots said she liked the pattern on his shell.”
Pinkie giggled, calling up to Rainbow as she took to the sky. “Well, you two have fun!”
“Hey, ‘Shy!” Rainbow greeted heartily as she landed, Scootaloo sliding off her wing to the ground.
“Hello, Rainbow Dash,” Flutershy returned wispily, her hooves full of felt. “Is Scootaloo ready?”
Rainbow grinned. “She sure is!” With a playful tickle and a scoop, Rainbow situated Scootaloo at the picnic table, Fluttershy placing the little hooves onto the fabric and explaining how to tie the knots at each tassel.
As Scootaloo started on the task, Fluttershy glanced over at Rainbow Dash, stifling a giggle. “Somepony’s happy.”
“Huh?” Rainbow Dash snapped up, suddenly feeling a blush rise in her cheeks.
Fluttershy smiled at her oldest friend. “I know that look. What’s happened that’s got you so happy?”
Rainbow blinked, surprised, before she broke out in her own chuckle. “Could never hide much from you, huh, Flutters?”
A grin is all that answered her, the pastel yellow mare taking two layers of felt for herself before passing another pair to Rainbow Dash. “So, what’s got you so excited?”
Working her tassels into gentle knots, Rainbow Dash launched into the same spiel she gave Pinkie Pie, resigning herself to tell the same tale potentially three more times. By the time she was done, she was halfway through her own blanket, and Fluttershy was peeking at her from behind her mane with an oddly unreadable expression.
“What is it?” Rainbow inquired.
Fluttershy’s brow furrowed. “So…you really think it’s a good idea to give Scootaloo hearing?”
“Uh…yeah? If she says yes.” Rainbow’s smile faltered, and she glanced to the side, unsure of what Fluttershy was getting at. “Don’t…don’t you?”
The blanket Fluttershy was working on lands softly in her lap as her hooves drop. “Um…no.”
Crimson eyes widen at the blunt answer. “No…? Why?”
Fluttershy lets out a breath through her nose, thinking over how to phrase her next words. “Well…it would be against her nature, wouldn’t it?”
Rainbow felt as if a block had lodged itself in her brain. “Uh…what?”
A small hum escaped Fluttershy, and the pegasus looked around, finally perking up as she reached for a little pink creature bundled in older blankets, holding it gently out to Rainbow Dash, the speedster suddenly finding her vision full of the wrinkly, buck-toothed face of a naked mole rat.
“Take Molly, for instance,” Fluttershy began explaining. “She doesn’t have very good eyesight, and has to rely on her other senses to get around, just like Scootaloo.”
Rainbow stared at the squinty-eyed creature for a moment, finally looking back up to Fluttershy. “Um, okay, but…what does that have to do with Scootaloo?”
Fluttershy tucked Molly the naked mole rat back into her blanket, the hairless creature snuggling back into its blanket. “If you gave Molly better eyesight, it would completely change the nature of who she is as a creature. She wouldn’t need to rely on her other senses anymore, and she wouldn’t need to burrow for safety anymore, either. Everything that makes her a naked mole rat wouldn’t matter anymore, or everything else she’s worked so hard to establish over her whole life. She would have to change so much about herself, that she just wouldn’t be the same. And since it would be completely against what makes a naked mole rat a naked mole rat…she would no longer be how she was…well, meant to be.”
Rainbow fell silent, the logic hitting her harder than she thought it would. Her eyes fell as her mind scrambled for a thought, any kind of argument that she could use to make Fluttershy see and be on her side. “But…Scootaloo’s a pony. It’s not…against pony nature to see or hear.”
“I know, but…well, it’s not my nature to fly fast; and it’s not your nature to care for animals all day. It’s more individual for ponies, but it still applies.”
The speedster looked down once more at the blanket in her lap, brought to silence once again. A yellow hoof touched her own, bringing her crimson eyes back to Fluttershy’s cerulean, the demure mare speaking once again.
“I’m just saying that you shouldn’t go into this without considering Scootaloo’s feelings. She’s known one way of life ever since she was born. It’s easy to say she’s missing something when you have what she doesn’t; but if you were to ask her, I’m sure she’d say she has everything she needs right here, and that she doesn’t need to hear.”
Rainbow smiled softly at Fluttershy, nodding quietly. “But…what if she wants it?”
Fluttershy grinned. “Then she wants it. But if she doesn’t, well…now you have a better understanding of why.”
A chuckle escaped the cyan pegasus. “Yeah, that’s true.” She offered a little smile to her friend, beginning to tie her blanket tassels again. “Thanks, ‘Shy.”
“No problem, Rainbow Dash.” Fluttershy giggled as Scootaloo gave a little call, holding up her first completed blanket for Fluttershy to take, the mare replacing it with another for the filly to start on, which she did with gusto, keeping her head as still as possible to avoid annoying the birds settling down for a nap in her mane.
Rainbow carefully reached over and plucked out the last of several feathers she had found in Scootaloo’s mane since they had been home, the filly obliviously working on the next book in the Daring Do series as she sat in Rainbow’s lap, the mare holding her own copy of the same book over Scootaloo. The two had recently found solace in their own way of “reading” together, and enjoyed simply sitting together and reading the same story simultaneously. Even if this was Rainbow’s fifth time reading this tome in particular.
Not that she could even focus on it if she wanted to. Pinkie’s and Fluttershy’s words swirled together in her mind, creating an argument of disputing ideas all with the same idea in mind: Scootaloo’s happiness in the face of this new and life-changing opportunity.
With a sigh, she finally admitted defeat over her internal battle, remembering the one pony whose opinion actually mattered in this dilemma had yet to be asked. With a twisting in her gut, Rainbow Dash leaned down to nuzzle Scootaloo’s mane, their signal that she wanted to talk.
Scootaloo reached the end of her paragraph, then obediently placed her bookmark and closed the book, her cloudy eyes blinking up in a curious smile at Rainbow.
With a nervous smile, Rainbow passed a hoof through Scootaloo’s lengthening mane, beginning to droop at the back of her neck, and lifted her up to turn her around and face her, taking a hoof. “I wanted to talk to you about something.”
Scootaloo’s head tilted cutely as her eyes flitted back and forth. “Okay, what is it?”
Rainbow hesitated, unsure how to open Scootaloo up to the conversation. With a lump in her throat, she began: “Mind if I ask a hypothetical question?”
Scootaloo nodded, giving a quizzical little hum.
“If you had the chance to hear, would you take it?”
The question made Scootaloo’s eyes widen. The filly sat there for a moment in quiet contemplation. She nodded a bit to herself, humming softly, and finally reached for Rainbow’s hoof.
“Yes. I’d want to hear your voice, and Apple Bloom, and Sweetie Belle, and everypony. I’d want to know what music is, and I’d want to learn how to talk and sing.” Scootaloo paused, as if imagining being able to hear all that she had described. With a smile, she added, “But I don’t need to hear. I can recognize you and all our friends just fine, and even though I don’t know how to talk, I don’t need to speak.”
Rainbow Dash smiled, tears welling in her eyes. She scooped up Scootaloo, nuzzling her and tapping out, “Do you have any idea how awesome you are?”
Scootaloo giggled, hugging Rainbow Dash. “I should hope so, since you’re the pony that adopted me.”
The two sisters held each other close, their shared laughter pleasantly filling the space around them for a moment before Scootaloo let her thoughts get the better of her, and she tapped on Rainbow’s chest, “Why do you ask? I feel like that’s an important question.”
A sigh whistled out of Rainbow’s nose. She pulled her little sister away from her, holding her gently in her lap. “Yeah, actually…it is pretty important.”
Scootaloo’s heart began to pick up pace, her smile turning nervous, altogether wanting and not wanting to know the reason behind the question. “So…what is it?”
Rainbow Dash took a steadying breath as she gently took Scootaloo’s hooves. “Okay, Scoots, here’s the thing…All these appointments we’ve been going to…they were more than just check-ups. I’ve been talking to a doctor Twilight recommended, and…well…there’s something that’s come up over the past few years, and it’s allowed deaf ponies to hear.”
A jolt passed over Scootaloo, the filly’s face blanking in shock. Rainbow Dash ran a hoof through the purple mane and kissed her forehead. “The pony we saw today is the ear doctor that developed it, and he said it would work on you. But I wanted to ask you if you wanted to do it before we did anything.”
The cyan mare fell silent as her filly hesitated. Scootaloo put out a hoof, hesitated, drew it back. The silence, broken only by the soft ticking of the clock, dragged on for minutes, thoughts cantering around and around in Scootaloo’s mind. Finally, her eyes floated up to Rainbow’s forehead. “So…I would actually be able to hear…all that stuff that I want to?”
Unbidden, Rainbow’s eyes began to water, and she nuzzled her sweet filly. “Yeah, Scoots. You’d be able to hear me and your friends. You’d be able to learn how to talk without your hooves. I could read to you, your friends could talk and sing with you. Everything you could possibly want to do, we could.”
When she looked back down to Scootaloo, she found those cloudy lavender eyes welling with tears of their own, Scootaloo’s own thoughts already trying to overwhelm her. Her forehead pressed into Rainbow’s chest, trying to ground herself from her swirling thoughts, both excited for the opportunity and terrified of the possible outcomes. “Can…can I think about it for a little bit?” she finally asked.
Rainbow felt her heart skip over itself, wishing she could help Scootaloo sort her thoughts. “Sure, kiddo. And you don’t have to decide right away. And you can ask whatever you want, I’ve got lots of answers.”
Scootaloo giggled softly, falling silent against her guardian. After a moment of silence from both of them, the little filly gently tapped on Rainbow shoulder: “Can I stay with you tonight?”
She felt Rainbow’s larger hoof rub her withers. “Of course you can, Scoots.” Instead of scooping her little sister onto her back, she held Scootaloo close as the two abandoned their books on the couch and took to the air, Rainbow silently flying up the stairs to her room and settling down in her bed with Scootaloo.
The mare lay quietly, her hoof passing lovingly over Scootaloo’s spine as she waited for the little filly’s thoughts to sort themselves into something askable. Finally, her patience was rewarded as the questions steadily began flowing.
“How many ponies has the doctor helped?” Scootaloo softly tapped.
“A couple hundred. And Twilight even interviewed a few that had it done. One of the ponies that went deaf said it was just like how they heard before, it just took a little while to get used to.”
A caught breath in Scootaloo’s throat indicated her surprise, her heart picking up pace. ‘Just like normal?’ she thought to herself. The answer fueled her curious excitement as her nervousness dictated the next question.
“Will it hurt? How does it…work?”
Rainbow smiled. “You’ll be asleep while it happens, and there will be just a little discomfort afterwards. It’s a surgery that’ll put a probe in your inner ear, and the only thing that’ll show is a little scar right about here.” She lightly traced the toe of her hoof across a spot about an inch behind Scootaloo’s ear. “There’s gonna be something right under your skin right about there, and after you’ve recovered from the surgery, you’ll have these things that’ll sit over your ears like this.” Once again, she traced a little arc hooking over Scootaloo’s ear. “Those will have a microphone and a magnet that connects to the part behind your ear. They’ll work together to let you hear.”
Scootaloo’s throat moved in a thoughtful hum. “So it only works with both parts?”
“Yes,” Rainbow tapped. “You can take off the magnet any time, and everything will go quiet again. So you don’t have to get used to it all at once. We can take this whole thing as slow as you need.”
The little filly pressed against her chest smiled gently, grateful for the unspoken promise. “How will I learn how to talk?”
“After the microphones come in and get set up, I’ll take you to a speech pony who helps other ponies learn how to talk. And we’ll practice at home as much as you want.” She finished her sentence with a kiss to Scootaloo’s mane, earning a giggle from her sweet filly.
Evening turned into night as Rainbow answered every single question Scootaloo had, the guardian refusing to ask for a decision right then and there, simply letting her charge think things through and mull over the information she was given, occasionally nuzzling her to simply let Scootaloo know she was there and she loved her.
Her own racing with anticipation, Rainbow Dash chuckled as Scootaloo eventually fell asleep in the midst of all her thinking. With a little sigh, Rainbow resigned herself to do the same, her heart full of anticipation and hope for her little filly.
Apple Bloom rushed up the ramps of the clubhouse, she and Sweetie Belle gently pulling along Scootaloo, though their friend was already able to climb to the front door without even thinking about it.
At Sweetie’s suggestion of their own modified version of Mark-o Polo, Scootaloo hesitated, her nervous smile cluing the two in on something being wrong with their friend.
“Is everything okay?” Apple Bloom inquired.
Scootaloo gnawed her lip. “Can I ask you something?”
At Apple Bloom’s translation, Sweetie Belle frowned thoughtfully. “Of course! What is it?”
The three sat down, Scootaloo holding her friends’ hooves together and beginning to tap away, telling them what Rainbow Dash had told her the previous night. Unseen by herself, eyes of orange and green widened as they felt her story, their own hearts beginning to race as Scootaloo broke the news to them.
A moment of tactile silence fell between them as she finished, the two fillies unaware she had even stopped for a moment as their little minds reeled.
Scootaloo took their stillness as an opportunity to finally say what had followed her to sleep, and stayed rooted in her mind all morning. As much as she wanted to tell Rainbow about it, this was something that only the two fillies in front of her could be asked.
“So…” she began, her eyes flicking back and forth nervously, “I wanted to ask…What you two thought of it.”
Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle were snapped from their excited and racing thoughts by the odd question. “What do you mean?” Sweetie tapped on her shoulder. “This isn’t exactly something we can decide for you.”
A little chuckle escaped Scootaloo, her mouth rising and falling in a little smile before she clarified, “I…I just wanted to know if this would…If you would still want to be friends with me after.”
Two little jaws slackened, the fillies floored to hear such a thing from their best friend. Without even thinking or consulting Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom grabbed Scootaloo’s hoof and tapped out as fast as she could:
“Are you crazy?! Of course we will!”
Scootaloo’s concern left her mind so suddenly, all she felt was the embarrassment of having thought such a thing to begin with. With a sheepish smile, she threw her hooves out, catching her two friends around their necks, the three nuzzling each other fiercely, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle tapping out their excitement and support for their pegasus friend, asking nearly as many questions as Scootaloo had, the deaf-blind filly answering the best she could.
It was afternoon by the time Rainbow Dash landed on the front step of the Cutie Mark Crusaders’ clubhouse. She grinned at hearing three peals of laughter, pushing the door open just enough to peek inside, seeing the fillies happily playing Mark-o Polo.
Scootaloo gave a wordless call, and Apple Bloom and Sweetie gave a hard stomp and a little hop, respectively. The little pegasus’s ears twisted, indicating she had felt the vibrations, and was now deciding which to try and pursue.
With a shout, she ran to Apple Bloom, the earth pony squealing and dodging, mere inches away from Scootaloo’s hoof, leaving both panting with giggles.
Rainbow Dash chuckled, hovering and slipping inside, two fillies looking up at her. She pressed a hoof to her lips, and Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle giggled to themselves. The latter took a chance and gently bapped Scootaloo’s hoof, the pegasus grinning and taking a few bounding strides toward Sweetie Belle, the unicorn shuffling out of the way with a giggle. Rainbow Dash took the opportunity to give her wings a hard downstroke, the little breeze she created stirring up the paper underneath the filly and brushing her fur.
Scootaloo stopped in surprise, then grinned. Her head panned in the direction the breeze had come from, and she took a couple curious steps toward it. Rainbow Dash hovered gently over her, giving another hard downstroke once she was behind her.
Scootaloo paused, giving an airy chuckle. She hopped, turning herself around, landing in a wide stance as if ready to tackle her adversary, beaming widely.
Rainbow Dash dove to the side while in mid-air, catching herself and giving another hard downstroke over Scootaloo’s left shoulder. The little filly at once turned toward the breeze, giggling. Chuckling herself, Rainbow Dash landed, stepping lightly to the filly. Ducking her head, she touched her nose to Scootaloo’s. She shouted a laugh, throwing her hooves around Rainbow’s head, capturing the mare’s face in her hooves.
Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle giggled while their friend was scooped up by her big sister. Rainbow Dash nuzzled Scootaloo, tapping out something against her chest. Once Scootaloo nodded happily, she asked Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle, “Did you three have fun today?”
“Yep!” Sweetie Belle chirped.
“We figured out what to try next, but we can’t say, ‘cause it’s a surprise!” Apple Bloom declared.
Rainbow smirked. “Oh really?” Before she could get an answer, however, Scootaloo pressed her little hoof to Rainbow’s chest.
“I wanna get the surgery.”
Crimson eyes widened at the sudden declaration, her hooves rendered immobile for a moment in her shock. Finally, she questioned, “Are you sure? What made you decide?”
Scootaloo paused, her beating heart so hard she could feel it jumping in her throat. “I told Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle. They said it won’t change our friendship, so…I’m okay with getting it now.”
Rainbow blinked, taken aback by the line of thinking she had no hope of trying to understand the journey of, simply once again finding herself grateful for the two best friends of her little sister. With a little smile, she nuzzled Scootaloo’s mane, and kissed her forehead.
If this was all Scootaloo was worried about, then she didn’t exactly have anything to complain about, she decided.
“Okay.”
“My mouth speaks wisdom; my heart’s meditation brings understanding.”
-Psalms 49:3 CSB
Hi, everyone!
Sorry it took so long for a new chapter! My last couple blog posts will detail what’s been going on, but I’m finally in a mental state where I can get back on track with the story.
Not sponsered
but Headspace and Fabulous have really been carrying me lately behind the scenes.
Shout out to my good friend who’s kept me laughing all throughout. Hope you enjoyed the Pin the Tail reference!
Next chapter will be up far sooner than this one
Stay tuned! I love you guys!
Keep an eye out for upcoming readings in the near future.
‘Kay, bye!
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More good
Why can't I like stories more than once?
I was very happy to see this new chapter pop up and of course, immediately read it. I have to say that I rather liked how you presented Pinkie’s and Fluttershy’s views on the surgery, as I can relate somewhat, having been born hard of hearing myself. It’s been a part of my life for so long, I imagine I might have been a very different person had I not been born that way. I don’t know if such an implant would help me, but I kinda like just being able not wearing my aid at times - thus I can understand both points of view.
In any case, your story remains very enjoyable and I want to say that I think your story would make a great novel if you wanted to make a humanized version for the general public. Of course, you’d have to change some things, like making the characters human and not just human versions of the ponies and in a more modern world. I think your story would work very well if you were to do something like that if you ever want to be a published author.
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Are you saying you're not the original author of this story? Is this another story where Rainbow Dash adopts Scootaloo?
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Oh, no, sorry, let me clarify.
I’m the original author, this person is translating the story into Chinese. They asked me if they could, and I gave permission, then I added the link to the translation in the description to give credit to the translator. Sorry for the confusion!
This is BEAUTIFUL.
Every time I read a new chapter of this story I'm reminded again why I started reading it in the first place.
This new chapter is amazing, I LIKE IT! I hope the surgery will go well.
You handled one of the most loaded topics concerning disability with such earnest, consideration, and grace!
My compliments!
Once again, this earns it's place on my all time favorites bookshelf.
Fluttershy of all creatures having that point of view is hilarious to me, because it just makes her a massive hypocrite.
First, using her own argument, how she was "meant" to be is a healthy and happy filly, not disabled and struggling everyday to be as happy as she can, so it's not doing it that is against her nature.
The naked mole rat exemple is also bad, because the difference is that naked mole rat "blueprint" starts with that bad eyesight, the race is like that, it's not so for a pony. What she is doing is more akin to telling someone who lost a leg at birth that using a prosthesis is against nature because being crippled is "who" they are. (Very nice that, defining someone by their disability....Your body state define the "how", not the "what" or the "who".)
Second, this is coming from a pony who takes care of wild animals, when wild animals should, as "nature intended" struggle to survive, find their food themselves, and survive (or not) injuries on their own. Following her logic, her whole life is against her animals nature and she is destroying "who" they are. By all logic, according to nature, she should be killed and eaten by her canivorous animals, because that's what those do in nature when hungry and cornering a solitary not very bodily able prey animal, which she is.
Ultimately, she has one right point that it should be Scoots choice to decide what she wanna do and how she wanna live her life, but the whole part before that deserves a punch in the face (and were it me the friendship would end right here, because as someone with very poor eyesight, her exemple is very insulting.).
Ranting over.
Very nice chapter overall, writing is very good as always.
I love this story so much so awesome
Also, I'm hoping to see if Scootaloo is going to learn how to fly. Your dreams are what define your individuality. They have the power to give you wings and make you fly high.
I really hope this continues soon, I'd like to see what happens. I had skipped to the end a bit, wondering if this was another abandoned story that's really good, and noticed the recent reviews. As others have mentioned... I really hope this Scoots will fly with her big sister.
Wanted to add... I'd love for Scoots to meet Celestia and Luna, maybe even Cadance, and their thoughts on Rainbows adoption, perhaps if she has the surgery in Canterlot, before it happens. :D
Crazy idea, just thought of while re-reading the first chapter, what if our little filly met Dream Luna. o.o
Another great chapter! I was wondering what Scootaloo would choose. I was also hoping it would be possible so she could have a chance to hear. Now we wait for the surgery and the outcome!
I'm sorry flutters but your argument is dumb, stupid and fuking stupid
Yeah, the only point I agree on with Fluttershy is that it's going to be a (overwhelmingly) big change to Scootaloos life which is not strictly neccessary. But the only one who has any right to tell what she is meant to be is Scootaloo herself.
Another great chapter! This story is fantastic and I can't wait for the next chapter.
Really liked how Rainbow got as much information as she possibly could, including outside opinions, before springing the question on little Scoots. Probably really helped the little filly stay calm while absorbing the information.
Anyway, I'm just overall excited.
Soo, the surgery is basically implanting hearing aids in pony ears?
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Almost. It’s a bit more complicated than that. Hearing aids assist the hearing system that’s already there. Cochlear implants completely bypass it. Hearing aids have the one part, while cochlear implants have two, one of which requires the implantation.
If you don’t have a sensitive stomach, I would recommend looking up a cochlear implant surgery, it’s quite fascinating
Also, there’s an increased risk with cochlear implants. If the surgery fails, then you’ve basically botched your cochlea, guaranteeing stone deafness for the rest of your life. But that rarely happens because it’s such a common surgery now.
Can't wait for the next chapter! Hopefully, after Scootie gets her hearing perhaps she'll eventually gain her sight too!
And another thing, if Scootaloo is going to learn to fly. She's going to do some training with Rainbow Dash to get her strength up. One who gains strength by overcoming obstacles possesses the only strength which can overcome adversity.
OH YOOO- I NEVER GOT A NOTIF AND THEN I COME BACK OUT OF CURIOSITY AND THERES THREE NEW CHAPTERS??????????? DAY MADE!
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I'm pretty sure it's bad on purpose lol. Dash was struggling to take an obvious step, and she gave a terrible defense to show how dumb it'd be not to do it
(tho that's more based on my fluttershy headcanon more than anything. But like, "flutters is emotionally intelligent and tends to talk indirectly" is not much of a reach from canon)