Chapters zero through one.
Magic Ears
Today is going to be the best day of my life.
This is what Scootaloo thought as she raced towards Sweet Apple Acres. It was a beautiful morning, but Scootaloo was too distracted to give a thought to the weather. It was fortunate that dodging pedestrians had become second nature to her, or she would hardly have made it out the door.
They're gonna be so amazed.
She sped out of town as fast as her scooter could carry her, and soon raced through the gates of Sweet Apple Acres. She hung a left, and the Crusader Clubhouse came into view, with Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle in front of it, chatting and waiting for her. Scootaloo shouted to them, even though they were certainly too far away to hear her.
"Apple Bloom, Sweetie! Guys! Hey guys, guess what!"
And so forth, until eventually they spotted her and waved. Scootaloo couldn't contain herself as she skidded to a stop before them, panting and out of breath. Sweetie held aloft a small paper cup she had been holding.
"'Morning Scootaloo! Apple Bloom and I have already got some ideas for today. We collected some dead bugs from the clubhouse's windows," she indicated the cup with a nod. "We were thinking Cutie Mark Crusader Entomologists!"
"Or Cutie Mark Crusader Taxonomists!" chimed Apple Bloom.
"Or both!" said Sweetie.
"No, girls, wait- " Scootaloo tried to regain control of the conversation, and somehow succeeded. Apple Bloom and Sweetie looked to Scootaloo with unexpectedly rapt attention. Scootaloo opened her mouth to finish....
"Or, at least me and Sweetie could do that," said Apple Bloom sheepishly.
"Wow, yeah, congrats on getting your mark Scootaloo!" said Sweetie.
"Huh?" Scootaloo whipped her head around to look at her flank, which was emblazoned with a shiny new cutie mark: what appeared at first glance to be a wave of blue flame and an arcane rune. She gawked in shock.
This really is the best day of my life.
"It looks like..." Apple Bloom started. "It looks like, a, um,"
Sweetie Belle didn't have quite as much tact. "It looks like a unicorn's cutie mark."
Scootaloo's train of thought immediately re-railed itself. "Yeah, watch this!"
She looked around for a moment before her eyes settled on the cup that Sweetie was holding in her hoof.
"Can I see that?" she asked. Scootaloo didn't wait for a response, instead taking the cup and placing it on the ground in front of her. She glared at it for a second before a purple aura surrounded her ears and the cup began to slowly float upwards. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle stared dumbly at Scootaloo and the floating cup. Their jaws dropped. The cup continued to ascend, now a full meter off the ground, rotating on all axis. The mummified contents spilled out: it appeared that, for now at least, Scootaloo didn't have much of a hang on stability, or anything besides 'up'. After about a minute Scootaloo grunted and the cup dropped to the ground. Scootaloo's friends just continued to stare at her, while Scootaloo beamed back at them, awaiting praise.
"That's..." Sweetie attempted.
Yes?
"That was amazing," Apple Bloom managed.
Yes and...
Sweetie tammered. "How did you... you're not supposed to be able to... how did you even..."
Apple Bloom slowly sat down. "Ah can't believe it..."
Sweetie had finally composed herself enough for a complete sentence.
"How did you do that?"
"Well," said Scootaloo, "I set my alarm clock last night so that I could wake up early and meet you guys, like we planned. But when the alarm went off this morning, my bed felt really great and I didn't want to get up, so I tried to hit the snooze button but I accidentally knocked it off the table. I really didn't want to get out of bed and turn it off, and thought about how I really wished that I was a unicorn so I could just toss it out the window, and then I heard a glass-breaking sound and the clock’s ringing got quiet, and then I looked up and saw that the window was broken and my alarm clock was gone, and that's how I figured out I could use magic!" Scootaloo panted; she had hardly inhaled at all during her story.
"Can you uh..." Apple Bloom looked around, "lift this brick?"
Scootaloo looked at the brick in question. That sounded like a challenge. "I think so," she said. She glared at the brick, willing it to move. Her ears itched. Move! One end of the brick lifted into the air, and then the entire brick floated upwards. She strained to keep it above the ground. "Yeah, I can lift it."
"Wow," said Sweetie quietly. "I've never been able to lift a whole brick."
"Can you throw it?" asked Apple Bloom.
"How far can you throw it?" added Sweetie.
Scootaloo was actually just about to drop the brick, but she thought she may as well give throwing a try. She actually hadn't yet tried to move anything horizontally, but how hard could it be? She willed it to her left, pushing as hard as she could. It nudged in the direction she was pushing it, but fell to the ground before the movement could qualify as a 'throw'.
"No, it's too heavy," She sighed.
"Well how about this then?" asked Apple Bloom, picking up a tiny pebble.
Scootaloo easily levitated the pebble and gave it a mental shove. The pebble whizzed off and imbedded itself in a nearby tree with a loud crack.
"Awesome!" cried Sweetie Belle. "Soyour ears are like a horn?"
"What do you mean?" said Scootaloo.
"I mean, is that why your ears glow like a horn whenever you lift something?"
"They do?" Scootaloo asked. "Huh, well that probably explains why my ears itch every time I do it."
"You seriously didn't notice your own face glowing?" asked Apple Bloom.
"Yeah, I guess I missed that," said Scootaloo. "I was so excited that I kinda dropped everything and ran over here. I actually didn't even notice my cutie mark until you girls pointed it out to me."
Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle gawked again. They couldn't even imagine a pony not being aware of their own cutie mark, least of all Scootaloo who, like her fellow crusaders, had developed a tick of unconsciously checking her flank every time she stood still. Cutie marks were just so important! Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle were incredulous, but soon their curiosity returned and took center stage.
"What else can you do?" asked Apple Bloom.
"I dunno," said Scootaloo, "Lifting is all I've managed to do so far, along with throwing that rock, I guess."
"Well then," said Apple Bloom, "I move that we suspend all planned crusading and instead see what kind of cool stuff Scootaloo can do with her magic!"
"Second," seconded Sweetie Belle.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Well," said Apple Bloom as she read from an old notepad, "You can't turn lead into gold, you can't turn gold into more gold (or replicate anything, for that matter), you can't perform magical vivisecomies, you can't speak to animals, you can't turn yourself into a bat, you can't turn Sweetie Belle into a bat, you can't invert gravity, and you can't stop time."
"Drat," said Scootaloo, "if I can’t do that stuff, what’s the point of doing magic at all?"
"Well at least you can start fires!" quipped Sweetie Belle.
Scootaloo smiled. "Yeah, I guess that's pretty neat."
Apple Bloom rubbed her chin, thinking. "Can you reanimate the dead? Try it on the bugs we brought out."
"Okay," Scootaloo said. They walked back to the forgotten cup, and found the shriveled insects carcases nearby. She focused her magic on them, concentrating. A few of them floated into the air, and some crumpled into unrecognisable shapes. That felt icky even though she wasn't really touching them.
"It's moving!" said Sweetie, "It's alive! No, wait... I think that's just heat distortion."
Scootaloo dropped the bugs and sighed.
"So necromancy is a bust," said Apple Bloom, taking a note.
Scootaloo looked particularly glum about that one.
"Can you teleport?" asked Sweetie Belle.
"Maybe," Scootaloo said, looking optimistic, "but that sounds kinda dangerous."
"More dangerous than summoning lightning?" retorted Sweetie "If you had actually succeeded at that, it probably would have gone right through your ears and fried your brain, but you didn't let that stifle your inquisitive spirit! Besides, Twilight teleports all the time, and look how good at magic she is!"
"Yeah, okay!" said Scootaloo, failing to notice the backwards logic.
"Why don't you try to teleport up to the clubhouse?" suggested Apple Bloom, "We'll meet you there!"
Sweetie and Apple Bloom hurried up the clubhouse's ramp, while Scootaloo closed her eyes and focused. Even though she had failed to accomplish anything new all morning, it was becoming easier to find her magic, and as she did so she imagined herself flashing about ten feet up and forty feet forward. She closed her eyes and tried to convince herself that she would open them to find herself at her destination.
Flash.
Scootaloo's eyes jumped open in surprise, and she found herself a few feet above the wooden structure she had been aiming at. She fell, branches scraping her on every side. Something grabbed her hoof, and a pain shot through her leg. She hit the roof and began to slide down it.
No no no no no.
Time seemed to slow as she scrambled for a grasp, but the roof was too slick. She was all too conscious of one, two, three, and finally four hooves sliding over the edge.
Whump.
Scootaloo's world was spinning, but she stayed conscious just long enough to see her friends racing down to her.
"Oh man, she looks hurt." said Apple Bloom, now standing over Scootaloo.
"Ohmygosh look at her hoof..." gasped Sweetie, pointing down at a twig that passed straight through Scootaloo's left hind hoof, into one side and out the other. "OhManOhManOhMan."
"There's just no way that thing poked all the way through," Apple Bloom said, doing some panicked reasoning, "she must've teleported into it! Let's go get Applejack!"
Apple Bloom turned and started to run, but Sweetie Belle grabbed her. "No! Let's take her straight to Redheart. She doesn't ask any questions! Plus, that's just where Applejack would go anyway!"
"Okay, I'll get the wagon, you try to wake her up!" said Apple Bloom, rushing towards the barn.
As a longtime Cutie Mark Crusader, Sweetie knew the routine. She checked for a pulse, and found it after a bit of searching. She let out a breath she hadn't realized she was holding. She shook Scootaloo. "C'mon Scootaloo, everything's gonna be fine." She looked back at the strange wound.
Hrmm... Maybe she should just stay conked-out; that hoof looks like it would hurt a lot.
Sweetie looked up towards the barn and saw Apple Bloom hurrying back with a small wagon. She looked back at Scootaloo's inert form.
"I hope you remember what just happened, Scootaloo," she muttered, "Because that was pretty awesome."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Twelve hours and one very unorthodox surgery later.
As Scootaloo puttered her way to school, she regretted riding her scooter instead of walking. She had thought that it would be easier (and faster, and more fun), but in reality it meant that her right hind hoof had to support her entire weight all the way to school. So now both her bandaged leg and her good leg ached. Eventually she sat down and rode with her front hooves holding the handles above her head, chopper-style.
She arrived at the schoolhouse, made her way inside, and found her seat next to Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle. As usual she was almost, but not quite, late.
"Hey guys," she said, "thanks for staying with me last night."
"We had to," said Sweetie, "we had to see if you were okay. And anyway, that stunt was our idea."
Apple Bloom reflected on her memory of the previous night. "Ah don't think I've seen that much blood since that time we tried to be Cutie Mark Crusader chiropractors..."
"Yeah, that was a lot of blood," said Scootaloo, "Totally effective though; that patient never came back!"
Cheerilee looked up from the paperwork that she had been trying to work on.
"Alright class, settle down," she said, "We're going to continue from where we left off last Friday, but first let's all congratulate Scootaloo on her new cutie mark!"
Scootaloo looked up in surprise.
Diamond Tiara threw her head back and complained. "Ugh, does that mean she'll finally shut up about it?!" Nopony responded.
"Scootaloo, would you like to tell us about it?" asked Cheerilee.
"Okay, well, uh, let me just show you," she said. Her eyes darted around before settling on Diamond Tiara's ever-present namesake.
Scootaloo lit her ears and levitated the tiara right off of her nemesis' pink little head.
Jaws dropped.
Scootaloo looked around, smiling. "I can teleport too." She waited for praise. Instead the scene around her devolved into bedlam. Some of her classmates responded positively. There were a few oohs and aahs; a few cheered or stomped their hooves in applause. Others reacted not-so-positively. There were screams and a surprising number of obscenities, considering the age of the crowd. There was a stampede for the door. Diamond Tiara looked at her crown with a horrified expression before jumping out the window.
Scootaloo frowned. "No, guys, wait!"
As for Cheerilee, she only gawked for a moment before her instinct to maintain order overrode her amazement. "Everypony please return to your seats! Quiet please! Everypony settle down!" She tried everything. speaking calmly, yelling angrily, singling out particularly disruptive foals, but nothing worked. Her class was in complete disarray. Those that hadn't fled were yelling at Scootaloo, at each other, and at the world at large. Featherweight was standing on his desk, pointing and screaming louder than Cheerilee would have imagined possible. Extreme measures would be required to restore order. Cheerilee jumped over her desk, opened the top drawer, and grabbed the lanyard which held her termination-of-recess whistle. She gulped in air and blew a deafening whistle. The class winced and looked at her with pained expressions. Featherweight stopped screaming and looked at Cheerilee, but kept pointing at Scootaloo.
"Everypony sit down!" Cheerily exclaimed sternly. "Scootaloo, do you know where the library is?"
"Yeah, I know-"
"Go there right now and talk to Twilight Sparkle," instructed Cheerilee.
"But-"
"Right now."
Scootaloo set down Diamond Tiara's crown, tucked her tail, bowed her head, and walked out. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle watched her walk out, then looked back at Cheerilee.
"Can we go with her?" asked Sweetie.
"No. Sit down," said Cheerilee.
Cheerilee eyed her classroom. The agitated classroom had momentarily been pacified, but anxious glances and muttered words were already threatening her weak grasp on control. This was going to be difficult, but she was up to the challenge. She put the lanyard around her neck and set her shoulders.
Alright foals, school's in session.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Scootaloo tapped on the door of the library and waited for a response. It was Spike who answered her.
"Oh, hey Scootaloo, shouldn't you be in school?" he asked.
"Cheerilee sent me here. She says I need to talk to Twilight."
"Well okay, c'mon in then. Yikes, what happened to your hoof?"
Scootaloo stepped inside and nudged the door closed behind her. "That's kind of why I'm here," she said. Across the room, Twilight looked up from the book she had been engrossed in and smiled at her.
"Good morning Scootaloo, can I help you with something? Maybe a book you'd like to check out?" She looked at Scootaloo hopefully and started in surprise. "Hey, I see you got your cutie mark! Patience finally paid off, didn't it?" She looked at Scootaloo sagely.
"Yeah, that's why I'm here," said Scootaloo, "I got my mark yesterday when-"
"Wait." interrupted Spike. "Do you want to check out a book?"
"No I-"
"Oh, come on Spike," said Twilight with a tinge of frustration "she doesn't count."
Spike raised a claw and began to condescend to Twilight. "Now Twilight, Scootaloo is a citizen of Ponyville, and a potential patron of Golden Oaks Library. If she chooses not to avail herself of that privilege, well, then..."
"Ugh, fine," exclaimed Twilight. She levitated a bit into his open palm, and Spike smiled smugly.
"Mark my words Spike," said Twilight through clenched teeth, "someday somepony is going to walk in here and check out the entire Encyclopedia Equestria, and I sure hope you've got some serious moolah in that pillow-case of yours, because when that day comes, you're gonna need it.
Twilight directed her attention back to Scootaloo, once again all smiles. "So, Scootaloo, what did your special talent turn out to be? I see your mark is..." she leaned over, trying to get a better look. Scootaloo turned for Twilight's benefit.
"...arcane."
"My talent is magic," said Scootaloo.
"Neat," said Spike, "I love Magic tricks!"
"Show us one, Scootaloo." said Twilight.
"Actually I..." Scootaloo hesitated. "I'll need a coin for this trick."
Spike's smile lessened a little. "Oh, I think I know how this one goes." He handed Scootaloo his newly acquired coin, but it looked like he was daring her not to make it disappear. Scootaloo was happy to oblige him.
Scootaloo lit her ears and levitated the bit from his hand. She gave her audience a nervous smile. "Ta-da!"
Twilight looked at the scene before her for a few moments before she realized what she was seeing. She gasped and stepped forward. She flailed a hoof around the floating coin, as if trying to find the wires that suspended it in space.
Failing to find any, she poked Scootaloo's ears and peeled back Scootaloo’s eyelids. Apparently not finding anything incriminating, just she stepped back and stared in amazement.
"I've never seen anything like it," she managed, "Does it hurt?"
"No," said Scootaloo, "but my ears itch."
"Your ears, yes..." Twilight's gaze moved up a few inches to rest on Scootaloo's earlobes. "They're functioning as a magical conduit, just like a unicorn's horn... It's almost like the magic just finds the highest point on your body and escapes there. That alone will re-write soooo many books... all the books on magical anatomy... most of the thaumaturgy omnibuses..." Twilight moved uncomfortably close to Scootaloo, grabbed one of her hooves, and looked into her eyes beseeching. "You have to tell me everything."
So Scootaloo told her everything. She told Twilight about the alarm clock, about meeting her friends and finding her cutie mark, about her failed attempts at magic, about her successful attempt at teleportation and her hospitalization, all through being sent to Twilight by Cheerilee. After practically every sentence Twilight would ask a slough of often-technical questions, but Scootaloo was barely able to understand the queries, let alone answer them. When she was finished, Twilight sighed and looked out the window.
"Well, Cheerilee was right to send you here. Inexperienced magic users can hurt themselves and others if they aren't informed on proper technique, especially if they have... poor judgement," said Twilight, looking at Scootaloo's bandaged hoof. "Also a specimen as important as you shouldn't be kept from the scientific community for a moment longer than is necessary."
Scootaloo peered up at her questioningly. "A specimen-"
"Just give me a moment to fetch my instruments," said Twilight, rushing down the basement staircase.
"Can I have my bit back now?" asked Spike.
"Yeah," said Scootaloo, pushing the coin across the floor with a hoof. She didn't want to be thought of as a specimen. For a moment a horrible vision crossed her mind, of a lifetime spent on examination tables. She paled at the thought.
The sound of excited hooves preceded Twilight's arrival. She brought with her a roll of duct-tape, a strange machine, and a tangle of diagnostic wires with small cups on the ends.
"I'm back," said Twilight, redundantly, "Oh wait, one more thing." She set down her equipment and again rushed out of the library's main room, but this time she went into the living area. Seconds later she returned with a small bathroom scale.
She set it down in front of Scootaloo, and Scootaloo stepped onto it.
"No, no, Scootaloo," said Twilight, "press down on it."
Scootaloo looked confused. She gave a little hop and watched the red needle on the dial jump.
"With your magic, I meant."
"Oh," said Scootaloo, hastily stepping off the scale, "I haven't done down before."
"Do you think you'll have trouble with it?"
"Uh..."
"No matter," said Twilight. She grabbed the scale with her own magic and held it upside-down. "Just push the plate upwards." Scootaloo lit her ears, felt the plate, and pushed as hard as she could. She felt a little pathetic with her magic pushing against Twilight's own rock-solid force, but she still strained as hard as she could. Twilight awkwardly rolled onto her back so she could read the result. "Four-point-four pounds. You can stop pushing now." Twilight grabbed a book from somewhere behind Scootaloo and levitated it in front of her nose. "Let's see... you've been using magic for thirty six hours, you're... how old are you again?"
"Nine."
"You're nine…” She rolled over and stood up. A quill appeared before her. She levitated a nearby scrap of paper and scribbled something onto it. “And I'm pretty sure that that scale reads a little heavy so I'll just account for the error... putting you in the eighty-fifth percentile! Very nice, Scootaloo!" She looked at Scootaloo, or rather seemed to look through her. "Amazing," she said, probably to herself. After a moment her focus returned to her. "And now for my favorite part: the part where we get technical." Not taking her eyes off of her specimen for a moment, she levitated her reference book over to where she remembered Spike standing and dropped it. "Shelve this."
"Okay!" Spike shouted from the kitchen.
Twilight picked up the device she had brought from the basement, placed it in front of Scootaloo, and started plugging wires into it. "Hold still please," she said.
Twilight picked up a wire, ripped a piece of tape, placed it on the back of the cup, and adhered it to Scootaloo's neck.
"One down, fourteen to go," she said, "Don't worry, this'll just be a minute."
One by one, Twilight secured all of the nodes. She seemed to pay particular attention to Scootaloo's ears. By the time Twilight was done, Scootaloo was having some difficulty holding her left ear erect against the weight of the many wires hanging from it.
Twilight looked over the setup one more time, checking that everything was in order. "Okay, now we just need to have you to perform some task. Let's uh... let's play checkers!"
That caught Scootaloo off-guard. "Checkers?"
"Yes, checkers," said Twilight, levitating a box from a shelf across the room, removing the board and pieces, and setting up the game, "but you can only use your magic to move the pieces, okay?"
"I thought that this was going to be technical."
"Of course it's technical! Do you see how many wires we're dealing with here? Very technical," Twilight said, nodding to herself as she finished placing the pieces. She looked up and noticed how Scootaloo was looking at her. Realising that she may have affected her sample's disposition, she tried to compensate. "But don't worry about that. For you, this is just a game of checkers, nothing more."
As the game began, Twilight tried not to look at the ticker-tape streaming out of her instrument.
Soon, Twilight. Don't agitate Scootaloo. Don't fudge the data.
Twilight killed at checkers. Scootaloo should have expected that and asked for something like tic-tac-toe, or maybe roulette; something she would have had a chance at.Twilight won handily in less than five minutes.
"Man, that was fast," said Scootaloo dejectedly, "I didn't even have a chance."
Damnit, Twilight.
"Oh, sorry. We can play something else. How about... chess? We can use the same board," said Twilight.
"Right," said Scootaloo sarcastically, "That'll be fun."
"No, seriously, I suck at chess," said Twilight. Of course, Twilight actually rocked at chess, but she was almost as skilled at lying.
"Okay, we can try it," said Scootaloo.
When it came to chess, Twilight was skilled not only at winning, but in letting her opponent win. Teaching Spike to play the game had given her plenty of practice with that. Scootaloo was no different. She prolonged the game for as long as possible, giving Scootaloo plenty of opportunities but making her work to see them. Eventually though, it got to a point where any more mistakes on Twilight's part would have been ridiculous, and she let the game end.
"Good game Scootaloo," she said, "I had no idea you were so good at chess."
"Yeah, neither did I," responded Scootaloo, obviously surprised at the game's outcome, "which is strange because I'm sure we tried to be Cutie Mark Crusader Grandmasters at least twice."
Twilight smiled at the irony. "Well, it'll take me all night to go over this data." She waved a hoof to indicate the ticker-tape, which had now become less of a ribbon and more of a pile. "Why don't you head home and come back tomorrow morning? I'll tell you if I've figured out anything, and if I haven't then I have some more tests we can do."
"But I have school tomorrow."
"I'll let Cheerilee know where you'll be."
"So can I take these wires off now?"
"Oh, yeah, let me help you with that," said Twilight. She peeled the first cup off of Scootaloo's chest.
Scootaloo winced. "Aaah."
"Oh, I'm so sorry!" Twilight said hastily, "I should have known that would hurt. Let me get some solvent."
"No, just rip them off. I'm tough, I can take it."
"Don't be silly, hold on a sec," said Twilight, heading down into the basement. She returned with an orange bottle and a razor. Scootaloo tried to hold still as Twilight began the slow process of applying solvent and scraping off the tape.
"You know," said Twilight, "it's funny that this happened, because I was thinking about having you over for some tests."
"What do you mean?" asked Scootaloo.
"Well, most pegasus foals are flying by half your age," Twilight said, "I mean, Pound Cake practically flew out of the delivery room. We were starting to get worried about you."
"What? Really? Who's 'we'?"
"All of us, Scootaloo. Especially Rainbow. You know, sometimes she comes here after your flying lessons and asks if you're... okay. I always tell her to just give you some time but lately I was thinking that maybe I should run some tests. Just to rule things out."
Scootaloo was dumbstruck. "Does that mean-"
"All it means is that it's extra-good you came here today, because we might end up solving two mysteries at once."
Scootaloo closed her mouth. Twilight had clearly said all that she was going to say, at least until after she had done whatever she was going to do tonight. So Scootaloo just waited for Twilight to finish. It took a while, but eventually all the wires had been removed. Twilight coiled them, and Scootaloo turned to leave.
"Oh, and Scootaloo..."
Scootaloo stopped at the door and looked back at Twilight.
"DON'T use any magic on your own, okay?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Scootaloo walked unhurriedly to the library. She hadn't slept much last night; there was so much to think about. She had met her friends after school yesterday afternoon. They had been happy to see her, but their other classmates had mostly just eyed her from a distance. She had told Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle about her day, and about Twilight's strange test. Now she found herself thinking about how long she was going to have to wait to see them again. At least five more hours. They probably wanted just as much as she did to know what Twilight had discovered, but they'd have to sit in school all day before finding out. And just what would Twilight say to Scootaloo? Maybe she hadn't learned anything at all. Would she perform more tests? Probably. What if she told Scootaloo that there was going to be some kind of terrible side-effect? Was Scootaloo going to grow a horn and start using big words? She supposed that that wouldn't be so bad; certainly it could be worse. What if she died? That would certainly be bad-
Scootaloo didn't have time to think too much about that, because she found herself at Twilight's door. She hesitated, then knocked. The door was opened by...
"Rainbow Dash?" said Scootaloo, who had been bracing herself to face Twilight.
"Hey kid," said Rainbow, "Twilight called me over; 'said that you had gotten your cutie mark and that something was wrong with you."
Twilight gasped behind her. "That's not what I said at all! There is nothing wrong with Scootaloo. She's just been going through some stuff and I know that the two of you have some kind of... bonding deal... so I thought you should be here."
Scootaloo was relieved to hear Twilight say that there was nothing wrong with her, but Rainbow Dash was a whole new element which had somehow slipped her mind for the past two days. Rainbow Dash was a distillation of pegasus-ness. What would she think if she learned that her adopted sister was some kind of freak; not a pegasus at all? And Twilight had mentioned Scootaloo's difficulty with flying. What if all their flying lessons had been a waste of time?! What would Rainbow think then? Would Rainbow Dash hate her? The thought dug a pit in her stomach. She was brought back to reality when Rainbow leaned down and looked into her eyes, a look of concern written on her face.
"Whoa, kid. Are you okay?" She put a comforting hoof on Scootaloo's shoulder. When Scootaloo didn't respond, Rainbow pulled her into a hug. "Hey, whatever it is, I'm sure everything's going to be okay." Scootaloo looked up at her, a smile forming on her face. A tear fell her down cheek.
Yeah, everything's gonna be okay.
"Wait," said Rainbow, "You're not contagious, are you?"
"I don't think so," she said. Scootaloo eased out of Rainbow's embrace, stepping inside and closing the door behind her. She noticed Twilight watching from behind Rainbow's shoulder. Twilight gave an encouraging nod.
"Show her," said Twilight.
"But you said not to-"
"It's okay, I'm here now," said Twilight.
Scootaloo hesitated for one more moment before reaching for her magic, lighting her ears, and picking up a small broom that rested beside the door.
"Ta-da..." she said, looking up at Rainbow nervously.
Rainbow's face lit up like she had just seen the coolest thing of her entire life, which she probably had. "Whoa-oh," she exclaimed, "Is this what you were moping about? That. Is. Awesome!"
"You really think so?"
"Hay yeah I do! I would seriously kill to be able to do magic."
"Really?"
"Yeah, really. How do you do it?"
"I don't know. Twilight did some tests yesterday and said she'd figure it out overnight. That's why I came here," said Scootaloo. Both Rainbow and Scootaloo looked to Twilight, who straightened up when she realized that she had become the center of attention.
"Oh, yes, well, believe it or not I actually did make some progress as to what's going on. This might sound obvious but, well, Scootaloo, your magic functions like that of a unicorn."
"But I already know that!" said Scootaloo.
"Yes, I know, but... how can I put this..." Twilight seemed to consider it for a moment. "Yesterday we knew that that's what it looked like. We saw some... effects, but weren't sure of the cause. Today I can tell you that it really is exactly what it looks like. The magical pathways, the nodes, it's all like a unicorn's. It's like you're a unicorn with wings and no horn. It could all be explained through a highly unusual hormone abnormality or something, except for the horn. Or lack thereof, as the case may be. I still have no idea how that works. Obviously I'm going to have to perform a lot more tests. As for your wings, there's some good news and some bad news. What do you want to hear first?"
Scootaloo wasn't ready for more news of any kind quite yet. "Am I a unicorn?"
"No, no Scootaloo, you're not a unicorn," said Twilight, "You're just... like a unicorn... magically. We'll figure it out."
Scootaloo looked at her hooves and thought for a moment. "Bad news first."
"Okay," began Twilight, "the bad new is that your unicorn-esque magic doesn't only mean you can use magic, it also means that the normal pegasus pathways are severely atrophied. So, you'll never get off the ground with your wings alone. You'll certainly never be able to keep up with Rainbow Dash."
Scootaloo didn't know what 'atrophied' mean, but she definitely got the message. Rainbow was the first to break the silence.
"Gees Twi', harsh."
Twilight's face suddenly took on a whole lot more emotion. There was sadness and nervousness and... fear maybe?
"I'm sorry, it's just... I'm so sorry, sometimes when I get emotional I compensate by speaking technically and it all comes out wrong and insensitive."
Rainbow looked at Scootaloo. Scootaloo seemed to be under control.
"Why don't you make it up to us with some good news?" said Rainbow.
"Right," said Twilight, brightening slightly, "the good news is that you seem to be quite talented at magic, and I know how much you want to get off the ground, so I’m happy to inform you that there are magical means of flight that you'll be able to experiment with. Magic is your cutie mark, after all."
"You mean like that thing you did to Rarity a couple years ago?" asked Scootaloo.
"Yeah, but we might be able to come up with something better than that." answered Twilight.
"Okay." said Scootaloo, unsure of what to think.
"Oh, and one more thing," said Twilight, "It's not good news or bad news it's... neutral news. As part of my research last night I tried to find any previous cases of this... anomaly. It turns out that this has happened before. I found some vague references in a few books, and I also sent a letter to Princess Celestia. She says that she actually personally knew such a pony about two hundred years ago. Unfortunately I wasn't able to find any hard science anywhere. It seems like the phenomenon is exceedingly rare, as I guessed, and also highly under-researched."
At that Twilight frowned: "I will definitely have some questions for Celestia about how something so remarkable could have such a marked lack of data. Suffice to say, there will be plenty of probing, both literal and figurative, in your future, young mare."
Scootaloo looked terrified. "Is that going to be my life? Am I going to be experimented on?!"
"No-no," said Twilight waving her hooves in a 'calm down' motion, "it's true that you will always be a... person of interest, and I do hope that you'll let me continue to… uh, learn from you, but I assure you that you will still be able to live a normal and happy life."
Twilight glanced upward in thought. "Or at least a happy one," she corrected herself.
"So," said Scootaloo, "what now?"
"Well, I think it's safe for you to go back to school. I might come in tomorrow and answer any questions your class has; 'make sure they're comfortable with you. I also think it's safe for you to use levitation. In fact, I think you should practice regularly. But NO teleportation, okay? It's extremely dangerous."
Scootaloo looked down at her bandaged hoof. It would be tempting, but she definitely didn't need any more reminders of the risks.
"No teleportation, got it," said Scootaloo, "How do I practice floating things?"
Twilight cringed, but then remembered who she was talking to. "It's called levitation, Scootaloo," she corrected, "ponies assume that using magic is always complicated, but for things as basic as levitation it's actually as simple as moving a muscle, and like a muscle you have to use it or lose it. So all you need to do to build your strength is levitate stuff. Simple as that. Sometimes it's even helpful for foals to have work-outs, so to speak. I know Rainbow has some dumbbells that she would probably share with you. A lot of dumbbells, actually. She should probably just give you a few." Twilight looked at Rainbow accusingly.
"What?" quipped Rainbow Dash, "I really like weights, okay?"
"Mhm," responded Twilight, "Well, as much as I would like to keep you girls around, I actually have to finish my notes from last night."
Spike walked in from the kitchen. He knew when he was needed, even before Twilight did.
"C'mon, Twilight needs quiet," he said, shooing them towards the door.
Twilight peered past him at Scootaloo. "Scootaloo, could you come back here on Saturday?"
"Sure," said Scootaloo, "as long as it doesn't take all day. I have my own things to do on the weekend too, you know."
"Of course," responded Twilight, “and I’ll try to figure out what that rune is on your flank.”
“Okay, thanks Twilight!” Scootaloo said as she closed the door behind herself and Rainbow Dash. They both seemed to realize that they didn't know where to go next, so they stood there for a moment.
"Nice cutie mark, by the way," said Rainbow.
Scootaloo smiled at that."Thanks," she said, "I'm still getting used to it."
"Using magic or having a cutie mark?"
"Both."
Around them, Ponyville’s daily activities were getting into full swing. Ponies walked, talked, and laughed. Grociers sold groceries. Somepony plucked a string instrument somewhere, and the mailmare swerved overhead.
"So..." began Scootaloo, "you've got some weights I can use?"
"Sure," said Rainbow, "let's head over to my place. I'll find some for you there."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Rainbow Dash's house floated above a hill on the south edge of town. Being a cloud-home, it tended to move, but she tried to keep it within yelling distance of her mailbox. Sometimes when she was busy she would lose track of her house, but lately she hadn't been exceptionally occupied or comatose, so her house had stayed just where it belonged.
"Lemme give you a boost," said Rainbow.
Scootaloo sighed and lifted her front hooves, which Rainbow grabbed before flying, Scootaloo-in-hoof, up to her porch. The first few times Scootaloo had visited Rainbow, the novelty of this maneuver had been exhilarating to Scootaloo, but recently it just seemed to sadden her. This time, when Rainbow set down her passenger she noticed that Scootaloo had tears on her face.
"Hey, I thought you said you were cool about this," she said, "I mean... hey, what's wrong?"
"It's just...Every time you flew me up here I would always tell myself that it was the last time; that next time I would do it myself," Scootaloo blubbered, "but now I know that there never will be a last time, because I'll never be able to do it by myself. I hate this stupid cutie mark! I... I thought I could practice really hard and get better and… and... I want it so bad, Rainbow Dash."
"Woah, calm down," said Rainbow, "Your cutie mark is not stupid. It is the opposite of stupid. It's seriously the awesomest cutie mark I've ever seen, besides my own, of course. And quit crying; I'm sure you'll be blinking up here in no time."
"But Twilight said no teleportation."
"For now. But I saw the way she looked at you. The only other time I've seen that look was right after she got princessified-"
"Coronated."
"-Right. Anyway I was flying over her house for... some reason, I don't remember. I saw Twilight on her balcony with her crown between her hooves. She was just staring at it, with this contemplating look on her face."
"Contemplative."
"Is that a word?"
"I think so."
"The point is, the only thing Twilight loves as much as learning is teaching what she’s learned, and she clearly really wants to teach you," said Rainbow.
"You really think Twilight wants to teach me?" said Scootaloo, wiping her eyes, "I guess that would be pretty cool."
"Yeah," Said Rainbow, "that would be pretty cool, wouldn't it?" Actually it would probably be super slow and boring. Maybe I shouldn't mention that. "You're special, and not in an ‘everypony’s special’ kind of way. I mean you’re really something cool, and nopony feels that more strongly than Twilight. So chin-up, okay?"
"Okay," said Scootaloo, burying her face in Rainbow's chest. "Thanks, Rainbow Dash."
Rainbow put a hoof over Scootaloo's shoulder and pulled her close. "No problem," she said, "That's what big sisters are for, right?"
"Heh, yeah."
"C'mon, let's find some weights for you," said Rainbow, already turning and walking away, "We'll figure out some exercises, 'do some practice and stuff."
Scootaloo eagerly trotted off behind her.
Exercises with Rainbow Dash? Maybe things aren't so different after all!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
THE END