> Feathers on Scales
>  by LavendarRegards
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Chapter 1
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Scootaloo zoomed through town with a huge smile on her face. Her heart was a flutter with hope. Rainbow Dash, and her family had actually cheered her research project. It was a silly thing to be happy about, but it meant everything to Scootaloo -- and not just because it was a well needed ego boost.

Home sweet home, Scootaloo thought bitterly as she pulled up to the porch of the Ponyville orphanage. It was a nice inviting two story house, with nearly five bedrooms. But, it didn’t have the same levels of love as a family… a family like Rainbow Dash had. That wasn’t to say that Mrs. Sweet Home didn’t care about Scootaloo. But, she didn’t love her… at least not in the same way as a parent. Instead, she tended to care about Scootaloo in the same way as Mrs. Cheerilee cared for her, or Pinkie Pie cared for the Pie twins.

“Cinnamon Buns, no running in the house!” Mrs. Sweet Home sternly commanded a small five year old colt, who Scootaloo knew liked to run around a lot. Currently the orphanage had only five foals in it, and that was sure to change quickly. The reality of Ponyville was that it was small, and fairly well off. That meant that most foals didn’t stay at the orphanage long… unless they were Scootaloo. 

“Now, I need you to get out of the kitchen. I have a lot to talk about with my guest,” Mrs. Sweet Home commanded sternly as she pushed Cinnamon Buns out of the kitchen.

Scootaloo jumped out of the way as Cinnamon Buns galloped past her at full speed. The colt bore the largest smile Scootaloo had seen since Diamond Tiara visited the Orphanage with gifts. “I’m sorry, but I can’t handle her anymore,” Scootaloo heard Mrs. Sweet Home whisper to somepony. Scootaloo then found herself sitting on the other side of the kitchen wall. Scootaloo could feel her heart drop. She’d heard about this sort of thing happening. Scootaloo had been in the system since she was practically a newborn. That was practically a full ten years. By now, they were just ready to give up on her.

Scootaloo gulped. In some ways she’d seen this coming for years. Quickly she struggled to suppress that nagging, and familiar feeling… The feeling that something was wrong with her. Nopony had ever taken interest in her. Whereas, Scootaloo had never seen a foal reach the age of seven without being adopted. But, she was already ten.

“She’s just getting to be too much to handle,” Mrs. Sweet Home continued, undeterred and unaware of Scootaloo’s presence behind the wall. “I’ve been giving her all of the food supplements the doctor called for me to give her, and it’s only getting worse,” Mrs. Sweet Home explained with a frustrated sigh.

Oh no, Scootaloo thought with a gasp. 

She’s still mad about what happened to my bed, Scootaloo realised with a long swallow as she looked down at her forelegs forlornly. She didn’t know how it had happened. But, she’d gone to bed the night before, only to find her room scorched in the morning. Fortunately, Mrs. Sweet Home had “Cutie Mark Crusader-proofed” the room earlier that year, and so it hadn’t completely taken the house down with it.

“We may have to move her to another orphanage,” Mrs. Sweet Home explained clinically to the, as of yet, unknown pony. Scootaloo couldn’t register what the other pony said in response through the pounding of her heart. Mrs. Sweet Home was giving up on her… just like every other pony eventually did. 

“With all due respect: I know what you said. But, I cannot do that anymore. I’m not properly equipped to handle her needs,” Mrs. Sweet Home insisted to her mysterious guest in a softish whisper.

Scootaloo could feel the tears well up, and then flood her eyes. She didn’t want to leave Ponyville. She didn’t want to lose her few friends, her hero slash sister, or the few ponies that actually cared about her. Scootaloo could no longer see anything in front of her, because of the flood of despair. Still... even before Scootaloo knew what she was doing, her legs were already galloping at full speed around the corner, and into the kitchen. “Please don’t send me away,” Scootaloo pleaded. 

“I want to stay in Ponyville,” Scootaloo continued to beg pitifully. She found herself kneeling on the floor, and her hooves outstretched in a silent prayer.

“How much did you hear, little one?” asked a melodious, and gentle new voice. Scootaloo opened her eyes in surprise to look at the mystery pony, only for her heart to drop at what she saw. Standing in front of her was the regal appearance of Equestria’s tallest, and most powerful princess.

“P-princess Celestia?” Scootaloo stuttered as her jaw dropped, and all further conversation left her throat. 

“P-please don’t let them take me away?” Scootaloo managed to plead through her dry throat, and empty mouth.

“It’s ok little one, I wasn’t going to send you away from your home,” Celestia softly explained as she laid a comforting and downy wing on Scootaloo’s withers, and shot Mrs. Sweet Home a clearly displeased look. 

“Quite the contrary, the most qualified pony to care for you lives right here in Ponyville,” Celestia explained warmly as she kneeled down to sit closer to Scootaloo’s level.

“Most qualified pony?” Scootaloo asked glumly. She couldn’t help but feel like she was being shoved on some pony she didn’t know. Like, they just found somepony that would put up with her for a while.

“You see, you’re a very special pony, Scootaloo,” Celestia continued as she gave Scootaloo a warm smile. 

“And, you are getting older. And, part of getting older is going through some changes in your body,” Celestia explained cryptically.

“Like puberty?” Scootaloo asked with a long gulp. She’d heard about this from Miss. Cheerilee. But, she thought she still had about three more years before she had to deal with that “fearful, but wonderful time.”

“Heavens, no,” Celestia said with a slight blush. 

“This is a special situation for you. And, one I suspected you would be going through for quite some time,” Celestia added. Scootaloo looked at her with a face full of confusion and skepticism. It was understandable… It was an alien concept to any pony that Celestia could have any specific interest in their life. And, that was mostly because she was so busy. But this case was special, and it called for special attention.

“So, I need you to pack your things, Scootaloo. So that we can get you settled into your new home,” Celestia explained as she called her two guards over, so that they could help the small filly pack.

---

Spike hastily waddled around as he frantically attempted to sweep the entire crystal castle from top to bottom in less than ten minutes. “We gotta hurry up. Princess Celestia said, she’s supposed to be here today!” Spike shouted in panic as he whizzed by Twilight Sparkle with a feather duster now sitting firmly in his hand.

“Spike, she’s younger than you. I doubt she’s going to get worked up over a little dust,” Twilight chastised him as she watched him whiz by a third time, this time carrying a mop. 

“Plus, we don’t know when she’s supposed to get here, it could be hours,” Twilight added as she watched Spike run himself ragged.

“But Twilight, this is my sister,” Spike chastised the lavender alicorn as he took a second from his cleaning spree to stare at Twilight slack jawed. 

“A sister, mind you, that nopony even knew I had,” Spike pointed out eagerly as he resumed his mopping. 

“And, I want her to feel right at home as soon as she arrives,” Spike concluded as he ran around swabbing the floors.

“But, she’s younger than you… And, a lot younger if I correctly understood what Princess Celestia’s letter was telling me,” Twilight countered as she flew just a few feet off of the ground in an attempt to keep up with Spike without tiring out her legs. 

“According to the letter that the princess sent, she just started expressing fire recently. And, you were already a baby when you started expressing fire,” Twilight explained as she watched Spike’s pace only pick up, rather than slowing down.

“Or, she could be a late bloomer,” Spike countered with a large grin, and excited eyes. 

“After all, she’s never had a chance to be a dragon, since she was raised by ponies. And that means, I’ll get to teach her everything I know about being a dragon, and doing things the dragon way,” Spike added as he eagerly imagined himself teaching a little sister everything he knew, just like Twilight had taught him everything she knew.

“Don’t get too excited, the only things you know about being a dragon you learned by experience, or from the Dragon Migration and the Dragon Lord competition,” Twilight warned. She didn’t want to break his heart, but she didn’t want him building his hopes up too high, either.

“Still, she knows nothing. And, that means I have a lot to share,” Spike stated eagerly. 

“And, why aren’t you more excited? We’ve never had a chance to know anything about my family, and now the princess just found a long lost sister that nopony even knew about. Do you know what this means?” Spike asked eagerly.

“That you have a sister?” Twilight asked nervously through a forced smile as she watched Spike’s mood continue to grow ever more excited.

“Not just that, the princess might know who my father, or mother is,” Spike added as he wrung his claws together with an excitement too big to contain. 

“We might finally know who my family is, and why they abandoned my egg,.. Or my sister’s egg for that matter, I suppose,” Spike grimly explained as the melancholy thoughts managed to suppress his previous uncontainable excitement.

“Not necessarily. I think Princess Celestia would have told us more information if she knew more,” Twilight explained as she rubbed her chin with a hoof. 

“And, all she told me was that your sister was being cared for by ponies, and that she’d be staying here with us from now on. Nothing else. She didn’t even tell us who hatched her,” Twilight added as she watched Spike’s face grow more somber with each word. Twilight could feel her heart already ache to see Spike in such a rare slump. 

“But, I could ask the princess next time I see her,” Twilight added as she reached out and gave Spike a gentle tap on the shoulder.

“Would you?” Spike asked as his face slowly turned up with a new look of hopefulness. 

“Because, maybe she’s learned more since she sent the letter,” Spike added hopefully.

“I certainly could,” Twilight admitted as a faint knocking on the front door told her somepony was at the front door.

“That’s her now!” Spike shouted as he frantically resumed the mopping that Twilight had interrupted. 

“Twilight, please get the door!” Spike pleaded as he hurried to finish the cleaning quickly.

“Spike, you answer the door. I’ll finish the mopping,” Twilight commanded with a roll of her eyes as she grabbed the mop out of Spike’s claws using her magic.

“Right,” Spike agreed anxiously as he sprinted down the hall, and down the stairs. Spike was well out of breath by the time he reached the front door. Hastily Spike licked his hand, and ran it along the spikes along his head and back. 

“Hello little sister,” Spike said as he casually pulled the door open.

“Little sister?” asked a small feminine voice from behind the door. If Spike wasn’t so surprised by the familiarity of the voice, he might have heard the subtle sound of a poorly hidden hope buried in her voice.

“Scootaloo?” Spike asked in wide eyed surprise. Quickly he watched her wilt at the surprise. Both her wings, and ears pinned to her body in an obvious sign of depression.

“Spike, please show Scootaloo in,” calmly commanded the gentle voice of princess Celestia as she strode up to stand right next to Scootaloo. 

“I want you to show Scootaloo around her new home, and help her feel at home. She will be staying with you and Twilight from now on. Don’t worry about her luggage, a couple of my guards will be moving them in for you shortly,” Celestia explained, earning a surprised look from Spike. 

“In the meantime, I need to discuss a couple of matters with Twilight,” Celestia explained casually as she waited for Spike to lead Scootaloo into the castle.

“What about my sister? Is she still coming today?” Spike asked with a hint of disappointment in his voice.

“Spike,” Celestia stated calmly, but assertively. 

“She’ll be moved in soon. But for now, I want you to make Scootaloo feel at home -- while my guards help move her into your home,” Celestia firmly stated with a voice that was not harsh, but it was commanding.

“Of course,” Spike submitted with a definite disappointment in his voice. 

“Come on Scootaloo. Let me get you something to drink,” Spike said calmly as he turned around to give Scootaloo his most inviting smile.

Scootaloo followed Spike as he walked into the castle with his usual trundle, and not the highly energetic movements he’d shown earlier. As Spike took a turn at the top of the stairs, princess Celestia walked up to Twilight’s throne room.

“Twilight are you here?” Celestia asked gently as she took a quick look around the throne room. Much to her suspicion, she found Twilight sitting on her throne with her muzzled buried in a book about dragons.

Celestia gently smiled when she noticed that Twilight had not yet noticed her voice. It reminded her of a few times when she had dropped in on Twilight unexpectedly. It seemed that Twilight could still lose track of time if she got herself wrapped up in a problem.

“Twilight?” Celestia stated a bit louder. This time, the familiar voice managed to arrest Twilight’s attention away from her work.

“Celestia?” Twilight said with a start as she looked up sheepishly at Princess Celestia. 

“Is Spike’s sister here already?” Twilight asked curiously as her ears perked up in an obvious sign of her fascination with the problem.

“That’s one of the things I wanted to discuss with you,” princess Celestia stated plainly as she trotted over to stand at Twilight’s crystal table. 

“Another would be Spike’s parents,” Celestia added with a definite reservation in her voice.

“You know who they were?” Twilight asked curiously, her smile growing as she began to show an obvious curiosity.

“I do,” Celestia admitted. 

“But before that, do you know about the story of Sedna, and Clip the thief?” Celestia inquired. Twilight lifted an eyebrow as she tried to figure out what a seemingly irrelevant myth had to do with Spike. Celestia’s face bore no help, however.

“It’s a myth, about a genocidal unicorn wizard, and how he was ultimately slain by a petty thief at the cost of her own live,” Twilight answered as she allowed herself to stare up at the ceiling. 

“It never made much sense to me, to be honest. Besides there being no reliable historical records. The whole story has several problems with it,” Twilight recalled as she considered all of the issues with the story.

“One, how could any being, especially a pony, be so monstrous. Second, it seems unlikely that an untrained and unprepared filly could survive a direct magical blow from such a powerful wizard. Finally, the timetable of the story seems off… It takes nearly eleven months to resolve, and is broken up into two different confrontations between clip and Sedna. I just don’t think anypony as evil as Sedna could get away with wanton murder for that long,” Twilight finished as she allowed her eyes to return to looking at her ex-mentor.

“It all just seemed allegorical to me. Even the tale highly suggests that Clip’s appearance wasn’t her true shape. And, Sedna’s curse on his own children made even less sense. After all, Sedna had been obsessed with starting a strong dynasty for himself, but then he cursed his children to be brutally murdered… It just never made sense outside of figurative imagery,” Twilight summarized as she looked to Celestia to see what information the princess would supply.

“The story does predate Luna, and my time on the throne. So, some of the details may have changed over the course of a couple thousand years,” Celestia admitted as she gave Twilight a gentle smile. 

“But, I can assure you that both characters in the story did exist… If not quite in the same shape,” Celestia added as she watched Twilight suppress a skeptical look.

“So the story is true?” Twilight asked with a raise of her eyebrow.

“As a matter of fact yes,” Celestia acknowledged, before she walked over to stand closer to Twilight Sparkle. 

“Now for the second thing I wanted to discuss with you: did you know a dragon egg only hatches in response to certain magical stimuli, but will remain alive and intact for several Millennia as long as they are continually incubated by magic?” Celestia asked as she watched a look of surprise cross Twilight’s face. 

Twilight’s mind was racing from all of the seemingly unimportant, and disconnected elements. Finally, she asked the first rational question that came to her mind, that she could figure out how to vocalize. “Who hatched Spike’s sister?” Twilight asked calmly.

“You did,” Celestia admitted with no discernible expression crossing her face.

“But, I only cast my magic on Spike’s egg,” Twilight countered with a definite confusion in her voice.

“Yes, but your magic burst was powerful enough to touch everything in the building… even the other egg from Spike’s clutch that we had stored in the basement,” Celestia explained with a gentle smile, and a slight look of pride vaguely hiding on the fringes of her face.

“Celestia, why didn’t you tell me? I would have taken care of Spike’s sister too,” Twilight admitted with a hint of betrayal, and hurt on her face.

“You had enough to work to do, just caring for Spike,” Princess Celestia admitted somberly. 

“And also, Spike’s sister needs special considerations -- which I decided you wouldn’t be able to provide for her,” Princess Celestia concluded as she gave Twilight Sparkle an apologetic look.

“I suppose that makes sense,” Twilight admitted with a defeated sigh.

“Celestia,” Twilight asked quietly. “You said you were bringing Spike’s sister here today. And yet, you brought Scootaloo instead. Are these things related?“

“Twilight, I think you already know the answer to that,” Celetia said calmly.

Twilight sighed, and hung her head.

 “Could you at least tell me who Scootaloo’s parents are?” Twilight entreated her beloved mentor.

“Yes, but this needs to stay between us,” Princess Celestia explained with an air of utter finality.
> Chapter 2
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

A small dragon, a rather quiet orange pegasus filly, and two rather large royal guards walked down the empty halls of Twilight’s crystal castle. While the dragon and filly weren’t carrying anything, the two guards were laden down with Scootaloo’s worldly possessions.

“And, this will be your room,” Spike explained casually as he opened one of the large crystal doors to reveal a rather empty crystal room.

“And that wraps up the tour,” Spike added as he stepped out of the way, so Scootaloo could peek around the dragon, and see her room.

The small orange pegasus didn’t seem to bite. Instead, she moved her head a bit, and then went back to following the dragon very quietly. Spike couldn’t help but feel like the normally energetic filly seemed off today. Quieter, more aloof even. His thoughts were interrupted by one of the two stallions wearing heavy armor.

“Umm… can we unload the stuff now?” one of the two guards quietly asked Spike. The two guards had reached their limit of patience and strength about four rooms ago. But, they had diligently muscled through, as their mission from their princess was pretty specific.

“Sure go ahead,” Spike conceded with a shrug.

“Hey Scootaloo you hungry,” Spike offered, finally getting a bit of a reaction from the filly. Her stomach growled, causing her to blush. She then gave a wane smile and a nod.

“OK. Follow me. The dining room is this way,” Spike explained as he doubled back and started walking where the two had just come from.

“Hey wait! I got to get my medicine,” Scootaloo realized with a small startle. Quickly she ran over to one of the stallions, and grabbed some saddle bags from his back with her teeth, and then she gallopped back after the small retreating dragonling.

It took a little while for the dragonling to realize he’d left the pegasus behind, and even longer for him to finally stop and let her catch up.

“I didn’t know you took medicine,” Spike said with a hint of surprise. 

“You seem healthy enough,” he added casually. “I mean, aren’t you the one doing all those fancy scooter stunts?”

Scootaloo nodded as her mind seemed to switch gears into a lighter mood. “Yup. I got to get my wings stronger somehow. If my wings don’t grow out, then my only hope for flight is to muscle through it. And that means, I got to get stronger!”

“So, what’s it for?” Spike couldn’t help but ask.

“Nothing,” Scootaloo said with a blush. 

“It’s not important,” she insisted a bit brusquely.

“Hey, no need to get worked up about it.” Spike retorted defensively as he raised both claws in a defensive stance.

“I don’t think it’s anything stranger than Twilight’s had to take over the years. I remember when she was a teenager, she had like four different medications just to keep her acne under control,” Spike said with a snort, and a small laugh. Those years had embarrassed poor Twilight, but he’d just thought it was amusing, really.

Spike frowned a little when he noticed the small pegasus didn’t even smirk.

“I don’t know,” Scootaloo said as Spike saw the two into a rather large room with enough space to comfortably sit eight. “This stuff is pretty funky...”

“Oh come on. Don’t be so worked up about it. It’s not that important, and you might as well tell me. I’m going to be pestering you until you tell me,” Spike admitted as he took one of the empty seats. Scootaloo then took the seat next to him.

“Fine,” Scootaloo conceded in defeat. 

“But, I want some bread, a knife, some peanut butter, a jar of jelly, and a teaspoon,” Scootaloo demanded. Spike shrugged, and conceded to her demands. He grabbed the small list of items, and then set them casually down on the table as he returned to his seat.

“Well, this blue stuff is for my heartburn,” Scootaloo explained as she plopped a large medical bottle full of some kind of paste down on the counter. The contents were hidden by the tinted plastic. But Spike could see it was a deep blue.

“Heartburn?” Spike asked casually as he looked at the blue paste.

“Yeah, I get this whole burning sensation from my stomach, clear up my throat,” Scootaloo explained as she scooped two teaspoons worth of paste from the bottle, and slathered them onto the bread.

“Ohh, it sparkles,” Spike said in awe as he eyeballed the glittering paste. It actually did glitter like gems when free from the confinements of the tinted medical bottle.

“It tastes bad though,” Scootaloo complained as she stuck out her tongue. 

“It kind of tastes like Salt water… But, nothing like Salt water… If that makes sense?” she tried to explain, before she looked away in frustration.

“Huh…” Spike said as he rubbed his head. Carefully he reached over and dipped his claw into the bottle, before pulling out the now blue tinted substance.

“Hey! That stuff is expensive. Mrs. Sweet Home is going to…” Scootaloo started in a panic, before she figured something out. The rest of her argument then died in her throat.

“Never mind...” she mumbled as she looked away with a slight huff.

Spike shrugged, and licked the paste off of his claw. He then shook a bit in revulsion. “Ugg. It tastes just like a Water Sapphire.”

Spike then pulled the bottle over, and sniffed the contents.

“Smells like it too,” he complained as he made a point to plug his nose in the most obvious way possible.

“Can’t be,” Scootaloo said with a shake of her head. “Miss. Cheerilee had a lesson about edible rocks when we visited that rock farm, and she said to never eat Water Sapphires.”

“I guess you’re right,” Spike conceded with a shrug. 

Scootaloo shrugged back, and then reached for her other medical bottle. This time she was less careful, and just dumped out a small mound of the contents. It was a rainbow of colors, but also glittered like fine gems. Spike could also smell it. It smelt delicious. Spike reached a claw towards the bread, only to get a sour look from the pegasus. He withdrew his claw, and attempted to return the conversation to the blue paste.

“Dragons can eat them. But, they make it so we cannot breath fire for a while. Twilight usually makes me eat them when I have a bad cold,” Spike explained as he passed the bottle back.

“What about the other stuff,” Spike asked as Scootaloo began to spread the paste evenly.

“It’s…. It’s…” Scootaloo struggled to say anymore. Her face was flaming. And, her ears and tail drooped with an obvious embarrassment.

“It’s what?” Spike asked with a building curiosity.

Scootaloo buried her muzzle in her forelegs. “It’s for my skin condition…” She mumbled almost completely unintelligibly into her forelegs.

“Skin condition?!” Spike shouted in surprise.

“Shoosh!!! Not so loud!” Scootaloo half shouted as she covered the dragonling’s mouth with both hooves.

The dragon continued to look at her with that questioning look. Even after a few seconds, he just didn’t seem to give up on the question he was sitting on,

“Fine…” Scootaloo sighed.

“There’s some kind of hard scab or something growing under my fur. The doctor couldn’t make it stop, so he just said to use that stuff to keep it from cracking and bleeding,” Scootaloo whispered into Spike’s ear fin.

“Wow… That is freaky,” Spike marveled causing Scootaloo to blush harder, her face turning completely red with humiliation.

“Can I see it?” Spike pleaded with the orange pegasus, who shot him a grossed out look.

“Why would you want to see that?” She hissed.

“Oh come on, I’m just curious,” Spike explained as he raised his claws in a defensive posture.

“Boys…” Scootaloo muttered to herself.

“Fine… There’s some up here on my foreleg. Just don’t tell anypony about it, ok?” She grumbled as she shot her foreleg out, and rested it on the wooden table.

“Right…” Spike accepted as he gently slid her fur out of the way to poke at the reportedly scabbed skin.

It was solid, but had a bit of give to it. It was rough to the touch, but didn’t feel rough in the complete way that a scab might. It also looked like it was broken up into several smaller circles. Furthermore, Scootaloo’s fur seemed to be growing out of the odd skin without any difficulty, something that Twilight’s scabs never did.

“It kind of feels like Scale,” Spike decided as he gently rubbed the odd skin a bit more. Carefully he looked over the small scale like growths. The skin had turned from it’s usual hairless pink to a shade of orange to match Scootaloo’s coat.

“It’s not scale,” Scootaloo groused as she slapped Spike’s claws away. She then huffed, and began to slather the jelly and peanut butter onto the other slice of the bread.

“Sorry… Geez, what’s getting you so worked up?” Spike asked with a hint of concern.

“For starters, you are asking me embarrassing questions, “ Scootaloo hissed.

“Before that. You’ve been sulky the whole time you’ve been here,” Spike pointed out calmly but firmly.

Scootaloo opened her mouth to object, only to get cut off.  “And don’t try to deny it, I could tell,” Spike pointed out.

“It’s nothing,” Scootaloo retorted defensively.

“Not to you,” Spike pointed out firmly.

“Come on, out with it. Holding it in is only going to make you feel worse,” spike insisted.

“I… I… you said ‘sister’,” Scootaloo mumbled as she mashed her sandwich together with a little too much force, causing it to smoosh into two smooth lumps of flatbread with filling oozing out from all four sides.

“What?” Spike asked as he rubbed his ear fins.

“I just wanted a family. OK!?” Scootaloo admitted as she slammed her hooves on the table, and stifled a whimper. She choked a couple of times, and then rubbed her eyes. 

“But, nopony wanted me. And, if anypony even showed a little interest… any interest at all, Mrs. Sweet Home would always have a list of demands. Not even those two monster hunters wanted me after they saw all the requirements Mrs. Sweet Home had… I…. I… I guess: I just wasn’t worth the effort,” Scootaloo grumbled as she desperately suppressed a whimper.

Finally, she began to furiously attack her bread with her teeth, tearing large chunks off, and then chewing it like it was her worst enemy. Her furious eyes still looked wet, but she didn’t seem like she was actively crying now.

“I’m sorry,” Spike apologized. As he went quiet, and watched the little filly continue to attack her bread. His mind raced for a good thing to say. Something to cheer her up.

“Spike,” Interrupted another voice, drawing Spike’s thoughts away from the current issue.

“I got a summons from Twilight. And, I’ve been looking everywhere for her. Do you know where she is?” asked the familiar voice of Starlight Glimmer, Twilight Sparkles current student. Although, “student” was pushing it a bit at this point.

“I think she’s still in her throne room. At least, that’s the last time I heard from her,” Spike said as he rubbed his chin.

“Do you think it has to do with my sister? Celestia’s letter said today, right? I swear that’s what it said,” Spike asked the pinkish purple mare.

“I think so. Maybe that’s what she wanted to talk to me about,” Starlight Glimmer offered as she made a beeline out of the kitchen.

“You have a sister,” Scootaloo asked with a hint of curiosity, poking through her dour mood.

“Apparently,” Spike admitted.

“I never knew my parents, and I assumed I didn’t have any family,” Spike conceded.

“But a few days ago, we got this letter from Princess Celestia saying that my mother had two eggs in the clutch I was born from, and that she was sending the other dragon from the clutch here,” Spike explained casually.

“Oh… Now I see what you meant by ‘sister’,” Scootaloo mumbled with a hint of guilt.

“It’s ok. I guess we aren’t that different after all. Neither of us knew our parents,” Spike offered as he reached a claw out, and gave the filly a little pat on the withers.

Scootaloo gave the dragon a small smile as her face brightened up a little. At least, she could appreciate the empathy.

---

It was fairly late into the evening by the time Spike or Scootaloo saw anypony again. The rest of the day had been a few odd board games, or comic books as Spike had tried to entertain Scootaloo for the rest of the day. Naturally, he’d picked the Crystal table, it was the best place to spread out a board game. And, Twilight, Celestia, and Starlight Glimmer were not currently using the room. Wherever they had gone and whatever they had been talking about, it was no longer there.

“Double Six, that means I land on Go!” Scootaloo bragged as she reared up a bit in her chair, and waved her hooves a bit in the air.

“You won’t be bragging once you land on my Neighyork Avenue!” Spike gloated back, only to hear the doors to the throne room open.

“Spike, I need you to go. I need to coordinate with my friends on an important friendship problem,” Twilight demanded as she and her five friends stepped into the throne room.

“Right…” spike grumbled as he started grabbing clawfulls of game pieces to throw back in the box.

“Hi Rainbow Dash!” Scootaloo eagerly shouted as she waved a hoof at her honorary sister.

“Hey half-pint,” Rainbow Dash said eagerly as she flew over to stand on the table, and look Scootaloo in the eyes.

“But, is it true? Are you like half-dragon?” Rainbow Dash eagerly inquired as she squeezed her cheeks. “That must be super amazing!”

“What???” Scootaloo looked at Rainbow Dash with a look of pure confusion. Her eyes blinked a couple of times as she tried to decipher what Rainbow Dash was trying to say. Was it a joke?

“Rainbow Dash! That was supposed to be a secret!” Rarity chastised the cyan mare in a rather brusque whisper. Unfortunately, it wasn’t soft enough to not be heard by the little orange pegasus.

Scootaloo squared her withers at that statement. Her body snapped to attention, and her eyes locked onto the white unicorn. Rainbow Dash would play pranks… Scootaloo had never taken Rarity for the joking sort… Applejack was the only other pony she knew to be less likely to play jokes.

Scootaloo could feel her mind racing. Rainbow Dash was joking, right? If so, why was everyone acting so serious about it? She would have expected comments about the tastefulness of the jest… not this response.

“Darling, did you forget what Twilight told us, already?” The white unicorn tisked with a click of her tongue in her hushed tone. A thought crossed her mind, and her eyes peeked over towards Scootaloo with a look of fear behind her carefully cultivated expression.. Unfortunately, Scootaloo had heard that too.

Scootaloo felt a tinge of a headache building. It wasn’t a joke. A secret? What? Why? How? No way, it couldn’t be true. She didn’t look anything like Spike… 

But, then why the secrecy?

“Yeah, breaking a promise is not ok dashie,” Pinkie Pie added in a subtly chastising tone. The bubbly pink mare’s usual quirky smile had been replaced by a gentle but firm look of disappointment.

“Dragon? What? Huh?” Scootaloo stuttered. She’d been a pony her whole life. She didn’t have scales, or breath fire. She had wings, but they weren’t webbed.

“Wait? You hadn’t heard?!” Rainbow Dash said in shock. She then noticeably flinched at the rather sour looks that most of the other ponies in the room were shooting her.

“Whoopse…” Rainbow Dash breathed quietly as she rubbed her head nervously with a hoof. Twilight Sparkle noticeably shook her head.

“Uhh. Nevermind!” Rainbow Dash said with a clearly forced smile.

“Funny joke, eh Scoots? You a half-dragon...? Uhh… never!” Rainbow Dash tried, her weak retort only serving to cement the opposite in Scotaloo’s mind.

“Half… Half… Half-Dragon? When?!!” Scootaloo shouted in confusion. Her mind was racing now. Celestia had said her body was changing. Was this what she meant? While Scootaloo would normally be intrigued by the prospect, the thought of her body changing was overriding her playful side.

Everything that she’d thought suddenly didn’t seem to make sense anymore. The meds? Was that to fix her dragon-ness? Was it to make her change faster? Was everything a lie? What else didn't she know? Scootaloo’s breath continued to grow more and more frantic as she tried to work through the new information.  

Is this why I cannot fly? Do dragons even get Cutie marks? Scootaloo could feel a fresh wave of panic hit her. 

Is my cutie mark going to disappear? That thought almost stopped Scootaloo’s heart entirely. She’d spent so much time just getting it, and if it could just go away in the same way as her scales grew in.

What if things continued to get worse? Would she need to worry about turning into a 50 foot tall monster? Would she need to watch her every thought for greed? Would she rampage through town square like Spike did?

“Scootaloo, please breath!” Fluttershy’s panicked voice whispered, as the whole world began to spin. The last thing Scootaloo felt was her face hitting a stack of Mare-opoly bits.

—-

Scootaloo slowly came to. She was greeted by a soft comforting hum. Two warm forelegs cradled her. Gently she felt herself rocking back and forth. “W… What?” Scootaloo croaked as her mind slowly returned, and her eyes slowly creaked open.

“Are you ok?” whispered the gentle voice of a yellow and pink blob as Scootaloo’s eyes slowly came into focus.

Scootaloo knew that voice. “Miss. Fluttershy?” she asked groggily.

“Good. You’re ok. Please, take your time. No need to wake up too quickly,” Fluttershy cooed as she continued to gently rock Scootaloo back and forth.

“I’m ok,” Scootaloo insisted, a bit weaker than she meant to.

“Still, you gave us a big shock there, little filly,” Fluttershy gently cooed in a tone that hardly sounded like the chastisement the words implied.

“I’m sorry,” Scootaloo murmured apologetically.

“See Scootaloo’s ok. Now, can somepony please explain why this is a secret!” Rainbow Dash growled.

“Didn’t you hear Twi, when she explained it? The less ponies that know, the less likely the curse is to hurt them,” Applejack explained astutely.

“C...Curse?!!” Scootaloo murmured with a slight tinge of fear.

“It’s not a curse, it’s some kind of prophecy, or maybe an oath,” Twilight snapped back.

Curse!? Scootaloo's mind repeated. Scootaloo’s eyes went wide.

“Shh… Shh… no need to worry, we came here to protect you. And, maybe figure out a way to make sure you’re never in any danger,” Fluttershy whispered directly into Scootaloo’s ear.

“Does this mean I’m some sort of freak? I just wanted a normal family, and a normal life,” Scootaloo whimpered into Fluttershy’s fur.

“What if I things keep changing?” Scootaloo murmured as her fears from earlier returned, despite the comfort Fluttershy was showing her.

“It’s ok,” fluttershy whispered. “Nothing bad’s going to happen.”

Scootaloo took a couple of deep breaths… She wanted to believe that, she really did...

“Twilight dear, I was curious. Does this mean Scootaloo is a Kirin, like in the old bedtime stories?” Rarity asked.

“Will she explode into flames if she gets too mad?” Rarity added, as she remembered the old lullaby.

“I’m not sure. It’s inconclusive whether Kirin are actually related to dragons, or if they are another tribe of ponies,” Twilight Sparkle lectured.

“Even if they were half dragon, that is not what Scootaloo is. Frankly, she is something new.. or at the very least, something not previously recorded,” Twilight explained.

“To be honest, this opens up a whole new realm of questions,” Twilight added with a growing glee at what she could learn.

“Stop!” Spike shouted.

“I think they’re something you aren’t telling Scootalo and I. Things that we need to hear!” Spike accused with a claw pointed directly at Twilight Sparkle.

Twilight opened her mouth a couple of times, but nothing came out. Instead, she looked back at Spike with a look of guilt, remorse, and anxiety.

“Twilight, does this mean Scootaloo is my sister?” Spike continued to press rather rudely with a clearly irate expression on his face. Twilight looked down at the floor with an obvious look of shame on her face.

Scootaloo looked up in shock. She then looked at Spike with wonder, and curiosity.

“How long did you know? Were you planning to hide this from me all day?” Spike huffed.

“It was for both of your safety,” Twilight insisted. “Frankly, I shouldn’t even let you two leave until we have a good plan. This is why I wanted to discuss this matter with my friends and Starlight Glimmer first...”

“But, I wanted to go to school tomorrow. My friends and I had plans. And...” Scootaloo insisted. Her cries interrupting both twilight and spike.

“it’s ok. You can probably go to school tomorrow. I’m sure we’ll have it figured out by then,” Fluttershy assured the filly.

“Actually…” Twilight started, only to lose her resolve at the pleading look Scootaloo was currently giving Fluttershy.

“For now, I think you need to go to bed. Too much excitement is bad for fillies your age,” fluttershy purred as she carried Scootaloo off.

“You should go to bed too, Spike” Twilight commanded.

“Not till you tell me: when were you going to tell me?” Spike snapped

“I just found out today,” Twilight hedged.

“Never… I see,” spike said coldly. His voice actually did a wonderful job of sounding disappointed. But, there was no new fury in it. The small dragon waddled off leaving the six mares alone.

“I did it for your good…” Twilight called as Spike stormed off. He didn’t respond, and she couldn’t be sure he even heard...
> Chapter 3
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Scootaloo yawned, and rolled over a couple of times in bed. The whole night had been fairly sleepless. But, at this point, she was just about to give up on sleeping entirely. Instead, she would get up early to do her usual training. 

While her night had not been restful, it had given her a chance to think and brighten her outlook. Spike made being a dragon look cool. And, Rainbow Dash was impressed. Maybe this was not a bad thing?

Where did they put my scooter and wagon? Scootaloo asked herself as she rolled out of bed, and wandered over to the crystal closet.

Everything being crystal is going to take some getting used to, she decided as she pulled the doors open and rummaged through them. Hastily she grabbed her saddle bags, and threw them onto her back. She then grabbed her medicine bag with her teeth, and held it in her mouth. Finally, she found what she was looking for, buried at the bottom of the closet next to a soccer ball, and some small dumbbells.

Scootaloo grabbed it, and tucked it under a wing. Then, she tucked her helmet behind her other wing. Finally, she wrapped her tail around the wagon handle, and tugged it behind her. She then made her way out of her room. Now where was the dining room? She asked herself. However, everything just looked the same. Doors and crystal walls as far as the eye could see.

How does anypony find their way around here? Scootaloo grumbled as she picked a direction, and started marching that direction. Thankfully, it only took about four wrong turns before she finally found her way back to the dining room.

Now to grab a quick bagel, Scootaloo decided as she sat her scooter and wagon on the floor and dropped her medicine bag on the table. She then reopened the door leading back out the hall, only to come to a realization. She didn’t know which way the kitchen was. Still, it had to be close to the dining room, she decided. So, she just needed to pick the correct door.

Why does this darn tree have to be so large! Scootaloo complained.

Eenie-Meenie-Minie Moe, Scootaloo counted as she began to point at the various hallways. 

That one she decided, as she pointed at a random door.

Scootaloo walked over the door, and bit down on the handle. “Scootaloo! You’re up early little sis,” Spike called out from down the hall, causing Scootaloo to jump. Her grip on the door released with the shock.

“Spike?” Scootaloo asked in surprise.

“I was going to surprise you with a good breakfast. I made it myself so that you’d have a good breakfast to start your first day out right,” Spike said as he showed her the tray of pastries he had made himself.

Scootaloo couldn’t help but look at the tray of pastries with a look of desire. They smelled delicious.

“Come on, let’s go back to the dining room before they get cold,” Spike insisted as he began walking back the way Scootaloo had come.

“Spike… could you show me where the kitchen is some time? I want to be able to grab my own breakfast some days,” Scootaloo admitted with a hint of a blush in her cheeks. It was a bit embarrassing to admit she didn’t remember where it was.

“No problem. I’ll show you right after breakfast,” Spike added as he clumsily pushed the dining room door open with a foot. He then walked in and set the tray down in the middle of the table. Scootaloo followed, and sat down at the table.

“What are these?” Scootaloo asked as she took a closer look at the pastries. They looked like lumps of baked dough, but they did appear to be folded at the top. They smelled heavily of sugar, and an earthy smell the Scootaloo was not familiar with. She supposed the smell smelt quite tasty, but it was not one she was familiar with.

Cautiously Scootaloo reached out, and stuck a pastry to her hoof using the innate magic in her frog. She then pulled it in, and took a large bite out of it. The filling was crunchy, but not difficult to chew. Furthermore, it was like a flavor explosion in her mouth. It was a rainbow of different sweet flavors. She couldn't help but give a pleased "mmm".

What is in here, that tastes that good? Maybe a fried nut? She considered.

“Do you like them?” Spike admitted as he nervously rubbed his head with one of his claws.

Scootaloo nodded with a pleased smile.

“They’re gem dumplings. It was super hard not to eat all the filling before it hit the dough… But, I managed to do it just for you,” Spike admitted with a sheepish rub of his head. He’d only eaten enough filling to make up a full dozen dumplings.

“There’s gems in here?” Scootaloo asked as she held up the dumpling closer to her eyes so she could look at it.

“Yes. Is it too hard to chew on?” Spike asked nervously.

Scootaloo could see a slight glitter from within the pastry. It certainly looked like there could be gems in there.

“No… I thought it would be. But, it only seemed a bit crunchy,” Scootaloo considered with a look of amazement.

“I figured: if you’re a dragon, then you should eat gems,” Spike explained as he reached out and grabbed one of the pastries.

Scootaloo slowly worked on her pastry. It wasn't that it wasn't good. But, there were a couple of things sitting heavily on her mind.

“Spike, are you still mad at Twilight?” Scootaloo asked first. “I mean, I’m not happy with her for keeping it a secret. But, maybe she had a good reason?”

Spike sighed, and looked down at his dumpling for a bit. “I suppose I’m not. And, I’m sure she had a good reason. But, I don’t see why we didn’t have a reason to know. I mean, it’s not like our dad was some kind of monster. You know, some kind of pony that we’d hate to be related to.”

“Like Sombra, maybe?” Scootaloo proposed.

“OK, that'd be bad. But, I could live with that. Somepony worse. I don’t know, Sedna the Murderous, maybe?” Spike proposed as he waved his dumpling around a little. 

“What about the curse? Maybe something bad really would happen if too many ponies knew?” Scootaloo suggested as she tried to push back on the thought of their being a curse at all.

“I don’t know...” Spike mumbled as he paused for a second to think about it. “She could have not told Starlight Glimmer, and Rainbow Dash then. I mean, that would be the same number of ponies. And, those two aren’t always the most subtle, anyway.”

“Hey! Rainbow Dash is awesome!” Scootaloo objected. That thought brought her back to the other matter. Rainbow Dash had been rather fascinated by the thought of her being a dragon. And, she had to wonder if she could do it...

Spike shrugged. The two went silent for a moment or two. But, Scootaloo had to ask the other question.

“Spike: Do you think I’ll breath fire?” Scootaloo considered as she reached out and grabbed a second pastry.

“I’m certain you will. I bet that’s why they were feeding you Water Sapphires,” Spike stated as he waved the pastry in his claw around a bit, like he was pointing at something with it.

“They were probably trying to suppress your fire till you learned how to use it properly,” Spike concluded as he took a big bite out of his pastry.

“Huh…” Scootaloo considered. 

“Maybe I shouldn’t. I don’t want my friends to think I’m weird,” Scootaloo mumbled nervously as she rubbed her foreleg with a hoof.

“Nonsense. They’ll think it’s cool,” Spike assured her with a smile, and a thumbs up.

“I guess it would kind of be cool,” Scootaloo admitted with a growing grin. Her mind was already beginning to  imagine the cool things she could do with fire breath. Maybe an awesome prank or two?

Then the sudden weirdness of a fire breathing pony hit her like a cold blanket. “I mean… as long as we keep it just between us,” Scootaloo proposed with a blush.

Spike just shrugged in response, and grabbed another dumpling.

Still her friends wouldn’t be weirded out, right? “And, I bet Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle would flip if I showed them some fire breath. Do you think you could show me some time?” Scootaloo decided with a playful smile forming on her face.

“And here, Twilight said I wouldn’t have anything to teach you,” Spike pointed out with a smug smirk and a laugh.

“Why don’t you try now? It’s pretty straightforward. Just take a deep breath, hold it in for a second or two, and then breathe it out like you were trying to say ‘oh’,” Spike instructed.

I hope I can do this! It would be amazing… Scootaloo thought with a hint of doubt. She’d never breathed fire before. She couldn’t be sure if she truly was able to.

Come on, Dragons do this all the time, she coached herself as she took a deep breath. Finally, she pursed her lips, and breathed out. She could feel a slight warmth in her chest, and then nothing came out. 

“Nothing... “ Scootaloo mumbled in disappointment.

“Huh,” Spike puzzled.

“Try again,” he instructed as he placed a claw a couple of inches in front of her muzzle.

Scootaloo frowned, and tried again. Still nothing came out, although a small smile did seem to form on Spike’s lips.

“I can’t do it,” Scootalo lamented with a pout.

“You need a bit more time. I felt hot air come out. Your pilot light might still be small from the Water Sapphires you ate earlier. Just give it some time. We’ll just have to try again later,” Spike offered her as he reached out and gave her a pat on the withers.

Scootaloo breathed a long sigh of defeat. “Well… It’s just another thing I have to wait around for,” she grumbled.

Her grumbling was cut short as a clock chimed in the distance. “Shoot! I’m going to be late for school!” Scootaloo panicked as she hastily shoved her purple helmet onto her head.

“Spike, point me to the exit. I got to pick up my friends,” Scootaloo urgently demanded as she hastily hitched her wagon to her scooter and quickly hopped onto said scooter. Her small wings were already buzzing frantically, even before she was truly ready to go.

“And, don’t try to stop me. I’m going,” Scootaloo insisted gruffly with an air of finality.

“I wasn’t going to ask you to stay. If Twilight doesn’t want to be honest with me, I don’t see the point in just doing whatever she says -- just because she says to,” Spike grumbled.

“Thanks Spike,” Scootaloo said as she smiled a little.

“Anway… That way, and then take a left as soon as you can,” Spike instructed as he pointed back out into the hall. He then waddled over to the table to finish the rest of the dumplings, only to notice a small bag left behind on the table.

Scootaloo burned rubber as her small wings pushed the scooter out at the speed of a motorized vehicle.

“Hey, you forgot!” shouted the fading voice of Spike as Scootaloo quickly revved out of earshot.

---

Scootaloo’s scooter pulled up to Sweetie Belle’s house. “Come on Sweetie Belle, we gotta get going! We’re late!” she shouted anxiously.

Sweetie Belle stuck her head out of the window. She then looked with a wide eyed surprise as she noticed the little pony on the ground.

“Scootaloo you came?!” Sweetie Belle cheered with a definite surprise.

“I mean… I’m Coming!” Sweetie Belle shouted as she pulled her head back into the window. Scootaloo could vaguely hear the sound of construction as the white unicorn tore apart her room to be ready in two minutes or less.

Scootaloo sighed. She’d left late, despite getting up early… Then again she was only a couple of minutes behind schedule. After all, she was a little closer to both of her friends than Mrs. Sweet Home’s house had been. So, maybe it worked out to be a net zero?

“Sorry,” Sweetie Belle apologized as she put on her green helmet and loaded herself into Scootaloo’s wagon.

“Don’t worry about it,” Scootaloo assured her as she turned her head back to the road.

“And, we’re off,” Scootaloo announced, mostly to herself, as she took off towards Apple Bloom’s family farm.

“I’m surprised you made it today. Rarity was saying you weren’t feeling well, and that we wouldn’t see you for a few days,” Sweetie Belle said with a smile.

Scootaloo grimaced. She heard that bit about a curse, but it didn’t seem like a problem before yesterday. What had worked them up so much? For a brief moment, Scootaloo considered just spilling everything to Sweetie Belle. 

But, if there was a curse… a slight shiver ran up Scootaloo’s spine.

“I feel fine,” Scootaloo stated flatly to the little white unicorn as she sped up the buzzing of her wings. The scooter rocketed down the road.

Things went thankfully quiet for a few minutes. Unfortunately, Apple Bloom lived on the other side of town, which meant that Scootaloo had quite a ways to go before she could pick up her yellow friend.

Scootaloo pulled up to the farm house, and hesitated. If she shouted here and now, she might draw Applejack’s attention. And, Applejack would probably send her right back to Twilight’s castle… thus canceling the sleepover.

“Hey Apple Bloom!” Sweetie Belle shouted. Scootaloo flinched at both the loudness of the yell, and the unexpected surprise of it.

The door opened up to Sweet Apple Acres. Scootaloo breathed a sigh of relief when she saw the little yellow filly, and not her orange sister. Maybe we can get away with this yet, she thought giddily.

“Hey Scootaloo. I knew you’d be picking us up today. Heh, There’s no way you would miss our crusader business after school”, Apple Bloom explained as she came out wearing her blue helmet.

“You know it,” Scootaloo bragged as she waited for Apple Bloom to load herself into the wagon. Once she did, Scootaloo hastily took off. Scootaloo couldn't help but look back one final time to see if Apple Bloom's sister came out of the house. When she didn't, the little pegasus breathed a sigh of relief.

“How’d you get away from Twilight?” Apple Bloom asked, causing Scootaloo to look back in surprise.

“How did you know I was living with Twilight?” Scootaloo asked.

“Well… Applejack said so. She said you were staying with Twilight from now on. She also admitted that Twilight’s really worried about you, and she didn’t want you leaving the castle while she figures things out,” Apple Bloom explained casually.

“I… uhh… just left the castle,” Scootaloo admitted reluctantly.

“No problem,” Scootaloo blustered, but only externally. Internally, she couldn’t help but worry a little. Would her friend just send her away. Worse, did she know about why Scootaloo was staying with Twilight?

Scootaloo bit her lower lip. “W...What else did she tell you?”

“Not much,” Apple Bloom admitted.

“Applejack doesn’t lie, but she doesn’t always talk, either,” Apple Bloom admitted.

“What else would she tell you?” Sweetie Belle interrupted with a question that Scootaloo had hoped she wouldn't ask.

"Nothing important. Just some... uhh... personal business," Scootaloo practically mumbled as she struggled to come up with a satisfactory excuse.

Both Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle nodded. Scootaloo released a held breath. Much to her relief, they had accepted that answer.

“So, what’s it like to live with Twilight? Is she teaching you all kinds of new stuff?” Sweetie Belle asked as her curiosity peaked.

“I bet it’s like Twilight Time, but better,” Apple Bloom agreed.

Why couldn’t it have been like that? Scootaloo thought bitterly.

“I… uh… Didn’t see much of her, yesterday,” Scootaloo admitted.

“She was strange all day yesterday. She and her friends were busy slinking around. I almost thought they had been replaced by changelings again… But, they were being too friendly for that,” Scootaloo admitted.

“That’s too bad,” Sweetie Belle sympathised.

“I bet she’ll show you a lot of cool stuff later,” Apple Bloom consoled her.

“But, we’re still going to have a sleepover at the clubhouse tonight, right?” Sweetie Belle almost pleaded with a hint of concern.

“As if I’d miss a chance to hang out with you girls,” Scootaloo said cockily.

Both Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom smiled.

“But yeah, I was working on a trick with Spike. Maybe I’ll be able to show you tonight,” Scootaloo said with a smile.

If I can figure out how, she realized with a grimace.

“Sounds like fun,” Apple Bloom decided. Sweetie Belle nodded in agreement.

---

Scootaloo carefully stowed her scooter and wagon in the class closet. Somehow, much to Scootaloo’s relief, they had arrived a little early. With a smile, Scootaloo then trotted out to go play with her friends for whatever time they had left before class.

Now, where’s Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom? Scootaloo asked herself as she scanned the school yard. They weren’t by the swings. A quick look showed they weren’t on the Merry Go Round. Even the seesaw was empty.

Where is everypony? Scootaloo asked herself as she noticed that several of the other colts and fillies seemed to be missing. Carefully she trotted around the school yard, until she found Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle huddled around a small group of colts and fillies.

“You sure?” asked Archer to Sun Glimmer.

“Yeah,” Archer confirmed with a definite confidence.

“What’s everypony talking about?” Scootaloo asked as she trotted up to the group.

“Archer was saying that the orphanage randomly caught fire like two days ago,” Sweetie Belle explained.

“Sun Glimmer and I were saying that it just didn’t make sense. I mean, why would a room just spontaneously combust.” Apple Bloom added with a shake of her head.

“Beats me,” Scootaloo fibbed with a nervous smile that so loudly screamed forced, that it was positively deathening.

“Anyways. I heard they had to call in a specialist to put it out. The fire was like some kind of magic fire,” Archer continued as she took a moment to heighten the suspense. She positively relished the energy as she soaked in the tension.

The room was smoking a little when I went downstairs that day… And, they did call in a pony. But, I don’t think it was on fire. Maybe I missed something when I ran downstairs? Scootaloo pondered as she tried to mentally think back to that day. In truth, she’d been too panicked at seeing her room grayed and covered in ashes and soot to look to see if any fire lingered.

“My big brother said the place is haunted. He works for the specialists, and he said that’s the room where that filly died a decade ago,”  Archer concluded with wide eyes, and a small wave of her hooves.

Scootaloo rolled her eyes.

“Nonsense. There’s no ghost,” Scootaloo insisted with a stern frown.

“How would you know? And besides, my big brother does not lie!” Archer countered.

Scootaloo opened her mouth to continue the argument only to hear the obvious ringing of the school bells. All the colts and fillies took off in a hurry, leaving Scootaloo in their dust.

“There’s no ghost!” Scootaloo shouted insistently at the quickly disappearing herd of students.

“Miss. Cheerilee is starting class a bit late,” Scootaloo mumbled.

---

Quickly the fillies and colts loaded into the classroom. Some continued to talk amongst themselves. However, the vast majority simply looked forward to where Miss. Cheerilee would be standing.

“Good morning, Fillies and Colts,” said a new masculine voice. Everypony looked up in surprise as a new pony walked through the doorway. He was a tall muscular unicorn. Although not as big and bulky as Big Mac, or Bulk Biceps, he carried himself like he could take said powerhouses in hoof wrestling. His mane and tail were an azure color bright enough that it almost glowed. And, his coat was a darker tan. But, the most disconcerting thing about the stallion was the way his cyan eyes just seemed to glow.

The stallion certainly seemed nice enough. But, there was something about the stallion, or at least his eyes, that made Scootaloo uneasy. A quick look around the room suggested other colts and fillies were a bit uneasy around the new stallion.

“I’m Wrangler DrachenJaeger, and I’ll be subbing for Miss. Cheerilee for a couple of days,” The stallion said in a friendly enough tone. He even gave the class a very warm smile. Not as warm as Miss. Cheerilee, but not too bad.

“What’s wrong with Miss. Cheerilee?” nervously asked Sweetie Belle. Her question leaving her mouth, even before her hoof finished raising.

“She got tied up…” the stallion said with a clinical certainty, then he flinched.

”I mean: she got very sick, and will be out for a couple of days,” the stallion assured her with a somber look on his face. However, the look didn’t last long as he quickly seemed to reset to that lackadaisical mood from earlier.

“In the meantime, I have her lesson plan right here. Plucked right from her desk,” he said eaglery as his cyan magic levitated a stack of paper onto the desk.

“It says here you were supposed to have a lesson on the rise of Barnyard Bargains,” the stallion read dryly from the lesson plans.

Only one filly in the class looked enthused. Diamond Tiara positively glowed. Scootaloo just let her head hit the desk.

“I’m afraid I’m not qualified to teach this,” he said with a shrug as he tossed the papers over his withers. The stack smashing into the blackboard -- scattering paper everywhere.

Diamond Tiara’s mouth practically hit the floor. Diamond Tiara wasn’t the only school foal, either, that looked at the stallion like he’d grown a second head.

“I think we’ll leave that for Cheerilee when she gets back. Today, I think we can talk about dragons,” the stallion said with an eager grin.

Scootaloo couldn’t help but grin as well. Maybe she would learn something good. This lesson could very well affect her directly.

“You know about dragons,” Diamond Tiara asked skeptically from her seat next to sweetie Belle.

“I know it sounds unbelievable. After all,  ponies didn't used to know much about dragons -- what with the fact that they are dangerous and terrifyingly large creatures,” Wrangler admitted as his magic pulled up a large picture of a dragon towering over a pony, and mounted it to the chalkboard. The poor little pony in the picture actually looked up in wide eyed terror at the much larger dragon.

“Yes, Dragons have always been a mysterious topic for ponies. Generally because they’re too dangerous to approach. But, with Dragon Lord Ember opening diplomatic relations, things are looking up in that area. Also, there are a few families in Equestria that have been known to watch, or even search out specific dragons for generations,” Wrangler explained as he drew a painting of some kind of warrior ponies, ripped straight out of a Daring Doo book, watching a dragon from their hiding place in a bush.

“They’re idiots,” he admitted with a small laugh. Nopony returned the laugh, however. Instead, each foal in the class looked to the next, with confusion, as if they knew what was going on.

“My family is in the construction and repair business. Although, I might brag: we do know a proprietary… that’s a secret... method for putting out dragon flame. I know what you are saying: dragon flame goes out like regular fire. But, not always. It’s very magical,” he admitted with a bit of a smile.

"Dragon Fire, you see, is unique for each kind of dragon. Usually the differences are minor. But, they can occasionally be quite vast. Being able to recognize dragon fire could be used to figure out what dragons were in an area," Mr. Wrangler continued to babble, before he blushed deeply. "Or... so I've heard..."

“Still, you can ask me anything about dragons. I assure you, I’m quite up to date on my reading,” he assured the class. Nopony was certain if that was true, after a lecture like that…

Does he know anything? Or, is he just messing with us? Scootaloo suspiciously eyed the odd stallion from here. At the moment, he just seemed to be looking at each colt and filly with an odd expression that looked like he was trying to read their minds. 

Nothing ventured, nothing gained, Scootaloo decided.

Scootaloo raised her hoof, and waited for the stallion to acknowledge her. “What happens if a pony and a dragon get married and have a foal?” Scootaloo asked the stallion.

“A good question,” the stallion said with a strangely happy smile. His eyes then seemed to lock onto Scootaloo with a laser like focus.

“I assume that’s because of the dragon living in your town? Or, do you know somepony like that?” he asked with a rather casual tone and a big grin, even as he continued to stare into her soul.

Scootaloo gulped. Did she say too much? “No… I mean yes… Because of the dragon living in town,” Scootaloo tried to say as naturally as possible. The seemed to appease the stallion’s interest as his eyes seemed to relax.

“Well. I assume maybe it’d make a Kirin,” the stallion said as he pulled up a couple of paintings of Kirin, and mounted them to the blackboard.

“If not, then the foal would be a freak of nature,” the stallion said with a shrug as he made a point to look at every foal in the classroom. Scootaloo couldn’t help but feel like he was staring at her again.

“Chromosomes work the way they do to keep compatible creatures breeding, and incompatible ones from breeding. Although magic can occasionally mitigate this, such as hybrid creatures. Some examples exist: such as Hippogriffs, Sirens, or even the Chimera of Flame Geyser Swamp,” the stallion explained as he mounted a few pictures of an odd structure that looked like two strange chains made of different color beads. There were arrows between the two showing where beads could be moved between chains.

“If magic didn’t stabilize the merged genetic code, the results would be a mismatched chimera so confused and disorganized in shape that they’d make Discord look as normal as a pony. They’d be a hideous, twisted, horrible abomination,” Scootaloo flinched with every word, even as the stallion finished with a rather inappropriate smile, and looked around the room. As if that wasn't bad enough, the stallion pulled up a painting of a Chimera. But, the snake, goat, and tiger parts were all mangled and mismatching, creating something of a horror show.

“But, I know a dragon that’s got a crush on a pony. There’s no way there could be love there if it wasn’t natural,” Sweetie Belle objected, causing Scootaloo to startle. This time, the stallion’s eyes locked onto Sweetie Belle.

“It could be. Or, everything would be normal until the magic came undone,” The stallion added with one final smile… Although to Scootaloo, it almost looked like a smirk. The thought made Scootaloo mentally cringe. Her mind was suddenly plagued with images of her looking like somepony had torn apart a Smarty Pants doll, and attached a bunch of random dragon parts to it. Her limbs were mismatched in size, and half of her mouth was sharp fangs, and the other blunt teeth.

Scootaloo violently shook her head, in an attempt to clear her mind.

“Well… We should move on,” The stallion said. Scootaloo couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief. She needed to clear that image from her mind.

The rest of the lesson was thankfully, more friendly things. Apparently the stallion knew quite a bit about dragon dietary needs. He knew about Dragon Puberty -- or Molt Down, as he called it. Scootaloo made a point to take some mental notes.

Then, the lesson was over, and the stallion waved and watched all the fillies leave. Scootaloo hurried out the door with her friends. They had a lot to do.

--

The stallion watched all the fillies and colts go. After they were gone, he quickly scribbled on a piece of paper. He then focused his magic on the paper with great intent. The paper glowed with a bright cyan light. After several migraine inducing moments, the stallion stopped looking like he was going to have an aneurysm, and the paper disappeared in a flash of magic.

Within moments a piece of paper returned from the ether, in a puff of smoke.

Our father has received your message. He is ecstatic to learn that the children of Sedna may have appeared. At last, the blood spilled can be avenged.

But, he is not happy to hear that you still have not reported their identities. He wants to know why you are hiding this from us. Have you rejected our ancient blood vow?

If such a shameful thing were true: father wants to remind you that your vow was made on your own life, and it will be collected if necessary.

The stallion winced… This would need an immediate response. Carefully he rubbed his head. He hated when he had to write a letter.

The stallion tried to shake the migrain from his head. If anything, it just made the throbbing worse. With a grimace, he wished he’d had a cutie mark in magic. Carefully he wrote on another piece of paper.

I apologize to father. But, I have about four suspects. But, nothing conclusive. While I am sure father would gladly murder two or three innocent foals in order to kill the evil line. I would feel much better not murdering the innocent with the guilty.

I ask that father give me a little time. I have a couple of tests I can run that should narrow it down quickly. Please tell father to give me two or three more days.

The stallion then shook his head and groaned, as he powered up his horn to send the new response.
> Chapter 4
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hideous, twisted, horrible abomination, the words bounced around in Scootaloo’s mind as she pulled her scooter up to the clubhouse. She shook her head. She was not a freak. Rainbow Dash, and her friends didn’t think so.

“Well girls, we are here,” Scootaloo said as she focused her enthusiasm in her chest.

“We got smores to make, and scary stories to tell, and pillows to hit each other with,” Scootaloo cheered as she left her scooter and wagon under the shade of a tree.

“So, Scootaloo, are you still going to show us that trick?” Apple Bloom asked eagerly.

Scootaloo flinched. She hadn’t tried fire breathing since that morning. Maybe she could do it now? However, a new persistent thought came to her mind, like an angry wasp. What if she lost control of it?

With that thought, Scootaloo couldn’t shake visions of herself coughing up torrents of flames, leaving the clubhouse, the orchard, and her friends smoldering heaps of ash. Scootaloo didn’t dare shake her head, with her friends staring. But, she would have if she could, at least if it would clear her head of the horrible images.

“Well… I don’t feel like it right now,” Scootaloo mumbled. Her admission earning a surprised look from her friends.

“I’m kind of hungry… We should have some pizza,” Scootaloo insisted as she made a point to dash into the Cutie Mark Crusader clubhouse. Her flight ended in an abrupt halt as she came nose to nose with an orange Earth Pony mare.

“Applejack!?” Scootaloo yipped in surprise as she fell backwards onto her plot.

“There you are! We’ve been looking for you everywhere. Do you know how worried you’ve got Twilight,” Applejack chastised her.

“I’m sorry, but I wanted to hang out with my friends,” Scootaloo insisted with a slight look of shame on her face. “Besides, why do I have to stay at Twilight’s castle? I haven’t done anything wrong! Is this about the curse?”

“Applejack, what’s going on?” asked Apple Bloom as she slowly walked up behind Scootaloo.

“Is Scootaloo in trouble?” Sweetie Belle asked as she caught up with Apple Bloom. Both fillies now stood behind Scootaloo.

Applejack sighed a long sigh. “Girls: Twilight and us girls agreed not to tell you this, cause we didn’t want you to worry about it -- till it was a problem. But, there’s a bunch of ponies around town recently. They could be tourists. But, even Pinkie Pie is suspicious.”

“Changelings?!” all three fillies asked in surprise. It wasn’t that long ago when Twilight and her friends, as well as all 3 other princes of Equestria were replaced by Changelings.

“Not that we can tell,” Applejack admitted. “Girls, if you see any strange ponies around, or anypony is acting strange, or if they are asking weird questions, then come directly to Twilight, me, or any of the other girls.”

Applejack got a nod of agreement from the three fillies. It wasn’t anything they hadn’t heard before, at least, when it came to strangers.

“I’ll make you girls a deal. If you agree to not do anything too big around town -- you know make a scene -- then I’ll let you have this campout tonight. But first: Scootaloo, we got to talk about something. Just you and I,” Applejack bartered with a stern but calm look. “Now Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle, I need you to go over there for a bit, while I talk to Scootaloo.”

Both fillies nodded and complied with Applejack’s demands. Applejack waited quietly until Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle returned to the ready camping spot. Once she was comfortable with their distance Applejack closed the clubhouse door and opened her mouth to speak again.

“I’m in trouble, aren’t I?” Scootaloo interrupted her.

“Probably. But, it’s partially on us for not telling you everything,” Applejack admitted with a sigh and a look of regret. “It’s just, Twilight didn’t want you to worry for nothing. And, she thought you would just follow orders… I told her, you were as good at following orders as Rainbow Dash. But, Twilight insisted you would listen...”

Scootaloo stifled a giggle.

“Yes, the curse is a part of it. But really: Scootaloo, your dad was not a good pony. And, while I think most ponies have moved on by now. There might still be ponies that would want to harm you because of what he did,” Applejack warned with a rather grim expression on her face. Scootaloo couldn’t help but look back in shock. Who was her father? Was he that bad of a pony?

“I don’t know much more about him, to be honest. Twilight promised the princess she wouldn’t share. I think the princess is trying to shield you from whatever the truth is,” Applejack admitted with a frown. “But, I do know this: you breathing fire is going to attract unwanted attention like a moth to a flame.”

Scootaloo quickly stifled a snicker at how Applejack had just used flame literally and figuratively. Applejack didn’t seem to notice as she continued her thought. “This is why Twilight wanted you to stay at the castle. She didn’t want you coming out till you had at least as much control as Spike…”

Applejack paused, and tapped her chin a couple of times. “Actually, more control. Spike still sneezes and hiccups flames.”

Scootaloo looked at Applejack with a sad expression. “Now don’t look at me like that. I agreed to let you have the campout tonight. But, I need you to listen to Twilight more. And, I don’t want you breathing fire around other ponies till we think it’s safe,” Applejack sternly demanded. Scootaloo sighed, but conceded to her instructions. It was reasonable enough.

“Besides, I don’t think anypony would have a problem with your friends visiting you. And, it’s not forever,” Applejack assured her. Scootaloo wasn’t so sure. If Spike wasn’t good enough with his fire by now, what chance did she have?

“Now, I’m going to go tell Twilight. I cannot promise you that she’ll let you stay. But, I’ll try to convince her. Other than that, try to enjoy your time with your friends,” Applejack proposed as she slowly opened the clubhouse door.

“Thanks, Applejack,” Scootaloo whispered with a smile. Much to her surprise, Applejack returned the smile.

---

All three girls sat around a small pile of stones that had been carefully laid out outside of the Cutie Mark Crusader Clubhouse. In the middle of the pile was a few odd branches that had been laid out into a smaller pile.

The rest of the ground had been hastily cleared. All stray leaves and twigs left behind by a major storm a day or two ago had been pushed into a roughly circular pile around the clearing. 

“So how does this here pizza bake without an oven?” Apple Bloom mumbled through her clenched teeth, as she moved the bow back and forth to rub the wood with another stick of wood.

“I asked Rainbow Dash about it,” Scootaloo explained as she pulled out a cast iron pan from her saddlebags. She carefully waved it in the air as Apple Bloom managed to get the wood started burning.

“It’s really simple. We just get this pan hot. Then, we put the pizza dough on it. Let it cook for a bit. Then flip it, and add the sauce, cheese, and toppings. Simple as one, two, three,” Scootaloo explained casually as she dropped the pan onto the fire to get warm.

“Ooh, and each of us could pick some toppings!” Sweetie Belle decided with a growing smile.

“Uhh… don’t overdo it. It’s not good if it’s overloaded,” Apple Bloom corrected.

“How about we each pick one?” Scootaloo suggested as she began to sift through her saddle bags. However, she couldn’t find her medication bottles anywhere in the bags.

They got to be here somewhere, Scootaloo thought frantically as she took off her saddlebags, and began to shake them up and down onto the ground.

“What are you looking for Scootaloo?” Apple Bloom asked as she watched Scootaloo nervously picking through the odds and ends that used to be in her saddlebag.

Scootaloo noticeably flinched. The thought occurred to her to tell her friends. But, she quickly shot down the idea. She didn’t want her friends to think she was a freak. “Uhh… nothing…” Scootaloo mumbled with a forced smile.

“Just some… stuff…” Scootaloo said through an obviously forced smile.

“Stuff?” Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom said in unison.

“I must have left it at Twilight’s castle,” Scootaloo admitted as she rubbed her mane with a hoof nervously.

“Well go get it,” Apple Bloom suggested.

“You’re pretty fast, and the pan needs time to get hot anyway,” Sweetie Belle added.

“If I go back there, Twilight will have a cow... Besides, It’s not important,” Scootaloo assured her friends. However, even as the words left her lips, she felt the distinctive feeling of heat building up in her chest. It was not a painful feeling, but felt a bit like a lump of hot something had lodged itself in her chest, and needed release.

Calm down… it’s probably stress, Scootaloo decided as she took a quick breath in an attempt to cool her nerves and the fire.

“Anyway, it’s already been a couple of minutes. It won’t take it long to get warm now. We should pick some toppings now, while we wait,” Scootaloo asserted as she made a point to grab the small jar of sauce, and the bag of cheese she had off of the ground.

Thankfully, that distracted the other two fillies for a second as they began to sift through the odds and ends Scootaloo had grabbed from Barnyard bargains on the way to the clubhouse.

Scootaloo took another moment to breath. Thankfully, she could feel the growing heat cool. And with the cooling, her mind relaxed a bit. And, as her mind relaxed the fire cooled further till the fire in her chest went out.

Finally, the two fillies had picked. Sweetie Belle had picked Blue Cheese, and Apple Bloom had picked some apple slices. Scootaloo had picked out a few odd nuts.

“So, what do you girls think about that substitute teacher’s lesson?” Scootaloo asked. Partly out of curiosity… mostly out of curiosity… she wasn’t worried about what her friends would think of her… of course not…

“I don’t know what to think,” Apple Bloom admitted in her drawl.

“I think he’s wrong. If a dragon loves a pony, how could their relationship be wrong?” Sweetie Belle admitted with a goofy sigh as she imagined one drake finally getting together with his one true love…

“I’m more worried about the foal they’d have,” Scootaloo mumbled quietly. She could feel a hint of worry fill her, especially as images from that lesson flew past her mind.

“Well.. that was kind of freaky,” Apple Bloom admitted as she rubbed her head nervously with one hoof.

“If the foal looked like that, it would be kind of … scary,” Sweetie Belle admitted with a grim look.

“But, I mean, love can’t be wrong,” she insisted.

“Sure...” Apple Bloom agreed with a nod. “But, he does have a point. Ponies and Dragons are so different. Maybe them having a foal is impossible?”

“Maybe… But, you don’t need a foal to have love,” Sweetie Belle finally accepted.

“So, do you girls think their foal would be a freak, or not?” Scootaloo asked with a bit more urgency then she meant to show.

“If they looked like Mr. Wrangler’s painting… I suppose they would be,” Apple Bloom admitted with a shudder. That would leave her with nightmares for sure.

Scootaloo felt her heart drop into her stomach… But, she understood. She’d have nightmares about that too.

“Urr.. I bet the pan is hot by now,” Scootaloo sidestepped the conversation as pointed at the cast iron pan on the open fire.

“Now, let’s see if it’s hot enough,” Scootaloo said as she reached her hoof out to touch the pan.

“No don’t! It’s…” Apple Bloom shouted, only to watch in horror as Scootaloo’s hoof sat down on the hot pan for a moment or two. Her fear turned to amazement when Scootaloo’s hoof did not recoil in pain.

“It’s not done yet? It’s barely warm,” Scootaloo grumbled as she pulled her hoof away from the pan.

“You’re lucky. That pan is going to be rocket hot in a moment or two,” Apple Bloom groused as she waved a hoof over the pan to feel it’s heat.

“Are you messing with me? That pan is plenty hot,” Apple Bloom said in amazement.

“Are you burned? Does it hurt?” Sweetie Belle asked Scootaloo in concern.

“Huh?” Scootaloo gawked. She turned her foreleg so that she could look at her frog. At first inspection, it just looked like the fleshy springing V that sat at the well of her hoof like a finger tip. But, at closer inspection, she could see what happened. There was a protective layer of orange heat proof scales that had formed around her frog, and under her hoof. A layer of scales that were similar to the ones that had formed under patches of her fur.

A Layer of freakish fire proof scales.

“Uhh… I must have pulled it off too fast,” Scootaloo tried with a forced smile.

Sheepishly she looked at her friends. She tried not to fidget as her friends seemed to look at her with a scrutinizing look… Then they just shrugged and moved on. Scootaloo couldn’t help but relax.

Now she just had to keep them from thinking too hard. “We should just start the pizza,” Scootaloo assured her friends with a forced smile.

“Well… if you’re ok,” Apple Bloom reluctantly conceded.

“That was scary,” Sweetie Belle decided with a relieved sigh.

---

“Not bad for a first try,” Apple Bloom assured her pouty friends as she loaded some sticks with marshmallows.

“But, my slice was all pecans,” Sweetie Belle grumbled as she tried to shake that flavor from her mouth. Carefully the white unicorn used her magic to line up some gram crackers on the small stump outside of the clubhouse.

“I’m sorry girls,” Scootaloo apologized as she got the chocolate ready to load on the crackers. She was thankful they were doing the smores now. She needed to get the taste of burned dough, and Blue Cheese out of her mouth.

“Well… I got to try the three toppings together. I reckon it will be perfect once we get the toppings on there evenly,” Apple Bloom assured them.

Still, at least the fillies couldn’t screw up smores… Or rather, Scootaloo hoped they couldn’t screw that up. She needed the clubhouse sleepover to go right. She just wanted to be normal for a little while. She didn’t want to deal with her growing sub-coat of fireproof scales and how abnormal that was until morning. And, she absolutely didn’t want her friends to know… she didn’t want them to think she was a freak.

With that thought, Scootaloo reached out a hoof, and grabbed the long stick with the tantalizing caramelizing marshmallow at the tip. Scootaloo pulled the stick in close so that she could put her muzzle closer to the still lit marshmallow. Quickly she snuffed out the small yellow flames that danced along the surface of her marshmallow. With it no longer burning, she took a hoof and pushed it off onto the cracker. Next she reached out a hoof and grabbed a stick of chocolate. Quickly the chocolate was jammed onto the marshmallow… followed by a piece of cracker. The pegasus then positioned a healthy piece of the treat into her mouth.

“Why are you staying with Twilight? It sounds like there’s some kind of secret? What is it?” asked with an odd mix of curiosity, and that sneaky look she got whenever she looked at Rarity’s journal.

Scootaloo flinched, and found her hoof shoving the entire smore into her mouth. Panic built in her mind both from the definite choking caused by the treat, but also because of how close that question was to the bit she didn’t want to share.

In her panic, Scootaloo tried to swallow the cracker. Unfortunately she could feel it getting wedged into her throat. She could feel her coughing and gagging grow thicker as the angry treat tried to suffocate her.

Scootaloo managed a small cough. A little ball of purple fire, about the size of a grape hit the dirt. It continued to glow and burn, despite the lack of wood or grass beneath it.

Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom barely seemed to notice the small flame as they continued to stare at their choking friend in fear. Scootaloo put up a hoof to tell them to give her a second.

Scootaloo allowed herself to cough again, as she tried to dislodge the cracker. Another small tongue of flame hit the dry dirt. Another cough, another flame. Again, and again it exited her muzzle. 

Only now did the first flame go out, having burned for a few seconds. However Scootaloo didn’t have time to think about that, as she continued to heave and cough up the rouge food. Thankfully: finally, Scootaloo managed to hack and wheeze a vomit of flames, and the monstrous marshmallow from her throat.

“Are you ok?” Scootaloo vaguely heard Apple Bloom ask. Scootaloo couldn’t respond at the moment, as she gasped for the air she’d just lost. However, after a few more coughs and a few wheezes, she was able to look down at the small little campfire of purple flames she’d managed to heave onto the dirt below her.

“Scootaloo! What’s that?!” Sweetie Belle asked in a hint of fear. Cautiously the small filly reached a stick out to touch the purple flames. The flame then seemed to ignite the wood with an insatiable hunger. They began to travel up the wood like an angry viper crawled up a tree branch.

Scootaloo’s eyes went wide with fear. She raced over, and violently knocked the branch out of Sweetie Belle’s hoof. The small stick then flew a few feet, and landed on the pile of discarded leaves and branches that surrounded the makeshift campsite. The fire hungrily consumed all of the kindling. Now, the girls were fully surrounded by a blazing inferno of purple flames.

“No!” Scootaloo whispered as she looked around. Small latent flames licking at her lips in a most hellish sight. Sweetie Belle was the first to see them. She pointed and screamed in horror at the flames dancing around Scootaloo’s lips. Apple Bloom then seemed to notice it as well. Now, both fillies were screaming and dancing in place because of the flaming circle, and their seemingly burning friend.

“I… I got to get help!” Scootaloo screamed as she let her pegasus jeans take over. She lept high into the air over the flames, and landed on the other side of the circle. Hastily she grabbed her scooter, and quickly hopped onto it. She then took a direct ride down towards the farmhouse.

---

“Well… It’s mighty nice of you to offer to renovate the barn and my sister’s clubhouse. But, I don’t know if I feel good about you doing all that for free,” Applejack said to that new substitute teacher slash sales associate, Mr. Wrangler. Currently the two ponies stood right outside of the apple family barn. She’d been caught off guard to find the stallion standing out there when she’d come back from discussing matters with Twilight Sparkle.

“Well, it’s like I explained, Miss Applejack,” Wrangler responded with a big smile. “Helping you will also help me. It’s just simple business -- more or less.”

He noticeably winced when Applejack shot him a skeptical look. “That is to say: you have one of the oldest structures in Ponyville. If we do a good renovation to it. Then, it will impress other ponies, and they will in turn seek us out for their renovation needs. You see, my family is always looking for new business. It helps us to get to know ponies, after all,” he explained eagerly.

“I suppose I can see that...” Applejack conceded. However, something else caught her intention. It was the thick odder of fire. It smelt of leaves and apple wood, and the pungent smell of burning dirt.

“My orchard!” Applejack shouted as she looked around for any indication of what was burning. A small cloud of purple smoke rising up from one of the more secluded areas of the farm answered her question. It was the part of the farm where Apple Bloom and her friends were.

“Apple Bloom!” Applejack shouted as she raced ahead, leaving the stallion behind. Her legs moved as fast as they could. And, with the speed of a fine athlete she had already covered the distance between the barn and the clubhouse in less than a couple of minutes. Surprisingly, the larger stallion quickly pulled up behind her.

“Applejack!” Apple Bloom added in fear as she and Sweetie Belle continued to stare in horror at the hellish pyre of purple flames dancing in a circle around the cowering fillies. The flames stood about two feet tall, and just loomed over the fillies. While the flames didn’t seem to move, it just seemed like they were waiting for an opportunity to strike.

“Don’t worry sis, I’ll get those flames out in a second! I’ll go get some water to put them out,” Applejack assured her sister as she turned to head for the barn.

“That won’t work!” Mr. Wrangler told Applejack rather sternly. 

“They won’t stop burning till the magic in them exhausts.” Mr. Wrangler chastised her as he reached into his saddle bags, and pulled something out.

“Here, my company specializes in this form of fire,” he added as he poured a bit of the vial over each flame. He then began to chant. The flames seemed to noticeably change colors, and began to glow in an almost ominous way. Then, they began to extinguish. Once all the flames were out, Applejack rushed over to hug her sister.

“I’m terribly sorry, Mr. Wrangler. But, I need to get these two home and see if they are ok,” Applejack explained as she pulled Sweetie Belle into a close hug.

“Don’t be Miss. Applejack. Tonight has already been a rather successful evening. Far more successful than I could have hoped,” Mr. Wrangler responded through an enigmatic smile. “We can discuss business another time...”

---

Scootaloo rode down to the Apple Family barn. She didn’t stop her momentum till she had slammed into the door with her body. Now that her momentum was gone, she began to pound on the door with both hooves.

“Applejack! Big Mac! I need help!” Scootaloo shouted in terror. Her pleas were interrupted as she heard the sound of hooves trampling dirt behind her. She looked behind her to see that it was a rather angry looking purple Alicorn.

I’m in trouble, Scootaloo realized. Quickly she pushed that thought down. Her friend needed help more.

“Help! My friends are trapped at the clubhouse! They’re trapped by flames! The flames won’t go out! Help them!” Scootaloo shouted in panic and horror.

“Oh No!” Twilight whispered in horror.

“Scootaloo, go inside and have Big Mac take you home. I’ll go out to the clubhouse,” Twilight commanded calmly but firmly.

“And yes, you are grounded,” Twilight added rather icily as she focused magic on her horn, and teleported out of view.

Scootaloo turned around to ignore that order, and rush back to the clubhouse, however she had no sooner jumped onto the scooter, than a strong pair of teeth grabbed hold of her neck, and hefted her high into the air. It seemed, a big red stallion had heard Twilight’s little lecture, and was currently helping her resolve it.

“Nope,” was all the stallion mumbled as he held her firmly between his teeth. It wasn’t painful, but Scootaloo couldn’t seem to struggle or wriggle her neck free from his grip. Finally, she just surrendered and allowed her body to hang loose.

It was like that the whole way home. She simply hung defeated from his grip. If her friends weren’t afraid of her freaky dragon breath… they were surely to be afraid of her now. Her flames were dangerous.

Worse… She had run out on her friends in their hour of need. She’d left them to burn… Scootaloo hung her head.

She really was a freak….

---

Scootaloo flopped onto her new bed in defeat. The sleepover was a disaster. Her friends were probably never going to be able to approach her. Twilight was livid. And, then there was that talk about stalkers and a curse.

Scootaloo rolled over to sit on her stomach. She lifted her head to look at the mirror that sat on the nightstand across from her bed. What she saw in the mirror was just a pegasus. A normal looking pegasus. But, she knew it was all a charade. She was a freak. Under her fur was a growing layer of protective scales. In her chest was a deadly flame.

She opened her mouth and tried to look at her teeth. It was a ways away, but they looked flat from here, save for her incisors. Everything about her mouth looked normal… But it wasn’t, Her teeth had changed. They could gnaw through diamonds and jewels. It was just another subtle change.

Everything would be normal until the magic came undone...

Scootaloo winced as the words echoed through her mind. She was changing. How much longer until something else changed? Something more noticeable. Something stranger? Maybe her eyes. Would they be slitted soon?

Even if she could hold onto normalcy, what would happen when she hit puberty? What about dragon puberty? Was she going to go through a Molt Down? What would she look like with gem acne? Would it accelerate Mr. Wrangler’s prediction? Maybe she’d just come undone entirely. She’d look like the mangled Mr. Smarty Pants doll?

Scootaloo shuddered. What was she going to do?

Twilight said I wouldn’t have anything to teach you…

“Spike!” Scootaloo exclaimed as the epiphany hit her. He could teach her how to turn off all that weird dragon stuff. Then, she could be normal! It was so simple. How had she not thought of it earlier?

Hastily Scootaloo galloped out of the room, her hooves skidding on the crystal floors for just a moment or two. “Spike!” she shouted as she tried to maneuver the still unfamiliar crystal tree.

“Spike!” she called again, as she skidded around another corner.

It went like that for a few minutes, until finally she found him in the kitchen. The small dragon was slaving over the fireplace, as he stirred a pot full of a white liquid.

“Spike,” Scootaloo half shouted as she saw the dragon.

“What?” Spike asked as he looked up from the pot to the little pegasus.

“Well… I was hoping you could teach me more about being a dragon? Like, how do I turn off my fire breath?” Scootaloo asked with a bit too much gusto. She noticeably winced at how that must have come out.

“I did promise… But, why are you asking me this late at night?” Spike mumbled as he went back to stirring the pot.

“Why are you up so late?” Scootaloo countered.

“Making some warm milk. I’m having trouble sleeping,” Spike admitted as he put a small claw into the pot.

“I was having trouble too...” Scootaloo mumbled as she looked down. Quickly she shook her head, and gathered her courage.

“But, I really do need your help,” she insisted.

“Well… ” Spike mumbled as he tapped his chin with a claw. “Follow me into the dining room, and we can talk about it.”

---

Once again, Scootaloo and Spike sat at the dining room table. Spike took a long sip from his mug of warm milk. Meanwhile, Scootaloo just fidgeted with her hooves. “So, What’s going on?” Spike asked carefully.

Scootaloo looked down in shame. “I lost control of my flames, and almost burned my friends alive. So, I thought maybe you can teach me how to turn off my fire?” She admitted with a look of shame.

“Ouch. That’s happened to me once or twice,” Spike admitted as he gave Scootaloo a sympathetic look.

“OK. I think the easiest way to learn how to stop is: to learn how to call it,” Spike explained as he waddled over, and laid a claw on Scootaloo’s withers.

“I can’t do that. It just hangs in the air, it cannot be put out!” Scootaloo whimpered.

“I bet I could. I’m fireproof after all!” Spike bragged with a small beat of his chest. Scootaloo looked at him with a disbelieving look.

“And, if you know how to breath fire, you know what not to do!” Spike proposed. Scootaloo had to think about that.

“Then, we can teach you control. With a good technique, you might surprise yourself,” Spike continued.

“I suppose,” Scootaloo accepted. Spike’s offer made sense.

“OK. First breath in…” Spike started the instruction.

Scootaloo followed his instructions dutifully. She took a deep breath

“Now, breath out,” Spike instructed.

Scootaloo aggressively breathed out till her lungs were empty. She then frowned when she got nothing for her efforts.

“Now I can’t do it!” she wheezed..

“I know you can do it. We’re just approaching this wrong,” Spike assured her as he walked over, and gave her a couple of pats on her withers. Spike thought for a moment or two. Finally he spoke again, “What do you feel when you breathe in?”

Scootaloo took another breath, and breathed out. “Nothing,” she admitted as she flicked her tail in agitation.

“Hmm…” Spike mumbled as he rubbed his chin with a claw. Experimentally he took some breaths, and breathed a little green fire a couple of times.

“You should feel a little heat about…” Spike gently poked Scootaloo’s chest. “There.”

Scootaloo took a deep breath, and still felt nothing. “It’s not happening,” she grumbled.

Spike paced a couple of times. He muttered to himself, and stared at the floor. Finally, his deliberation ended. “What did you feel this evening when you breathed fire?”

“I was choking on a marshmallow,” Scootaloo admitted with a blush.

“Anything else?” Spike posed. He looked back at her with a little smile, like he thought he was onto something. Scootaloo wasn’t sure what to think about that.

Scootaloo paused, and tried to think back. Had she felt something else. A small thought occurred to her. She might have. “Yeah, there was like a warm lump in my chest,” she finally conceded.

“That’s what we’re looking for,” Spike offered with a smile. “So, we got to feel that feeling again. Maybe you should try breathing in and out until you feel that again?”

Scootaloo followed instructions. It made sense. She could do it! With each breath her excitement built. Finally, she thought she could feel a bit of heat growing in her chest. “I got it!” She shouted in glee.

This time when she breathed in and out, she got…

Nothing!

“I can’t do it! I’m just a freak. Neither pony, nor dragon,” Scootaloo screamed in frustration as she drove a little hoof onto the hard crystal floor.

“Hey, you’re not a freak!” Spike said chasitingly. “Besides, I saw smoke. You almost had it.”

Scootaloo didn’t seem to hear, or at least register what he had just said. Instead, she continued to look more and more flustered. “But, I need to learn how to control it, right? Otherwise, I’ll just be a monster. I won’t be able to see my friends ever again,” Scootaloo whined with a couple of tears pooling at the corners of her eyes.

“You’re not a freak or a monster,” Spike assured her with a comforting voice.

“Easy for you to say. You’re a perfectly normal dragon,” Scootaloo hiccuped.

“I’m half pony, or did you forget?” Spike sternly pointed out, causing Scootaloo to freeze. The words bounced around in her frustrated mind like an angry bee. “Just because I got more Dragon genes then you, doesn’t make that any less true. It seems to me: either neither of us is a freak, or we both are.”

“Sorry,” Scootaloo mumbled as the words slowly sinked in.

“Now, you probably don’t see it. But, you are getting close. I guess it’s just going to take you more practice to get it right,” Spike pointed out as he gave Scootaloo a little hug. “Maybe one or two more tries tonight, and then you should go to bed. You need your sleep, little sis.”

---

“One more time. I can tell we’re close,” Scootaloo told Spike as she took another deep breath. She then breathed heavily out. Again…. Nothing… It was like her flying. No matter how hard she tried, she just couldn’t fly... 

Actually, this was worse. At least her flying she could give up on. This… she had fire breath… she’d seen it, but she couldn’t control when it activated. And, she couldn’t activate it when she wanted to.

Scootaloo could feel herself growing light headed from all the holding of her breath. The day was also catching up to her. She hadn’t slept well in over a day and a half.

“Maybe we should call it a night. There’s no point in exhausting yourself,” Spike decided with a yawn, and a sigh.

“I can do it!” Scootaloo screamed as she took in several raspy breaths. She packed her lungs full of all the air she could, and then breathed it out with great aggression. A small tongue of purple flame slipped out of her mouth, and quickly dissipated into the air.

“I got it!” Scootaloo wearily bragged, before she succumbed to an especially strong sense of vertigo, and fell right into Spike’s waiting claws.

“Time to go to bed little sister,” Spike whispered as he held the slightly bigger filly against his chest.

“Spike!” shouted the voice of Twilight Sparkle as she let herself into the crystal castle.

Spike looked at Scootaloo with a look of worry. When the filly continued to breath softly in the throws of sleep, Spike allowed himself to relax. Gently he set her down on the floor, before he let himself out into the hall.

Once he had shut the door, he allowed himself to shout. “I’m in the dining room Twilight!”

Spike then waited patiently for the clip clop of Twilight’s hooves to reach the dining room. Finally the purple alicorn looked over at him.

“What’s up Twilight?” Spike asked.

“Is Scootaloo here in the castle?” Twilight asked calmly, but deliberately.

Spike nodded. “She’s in the dining room, fast asleep. She said she lost control of her fire tonight, and she wanted me to show her how to control it,” Spike explained.

“I don’t know if that’s a good idea. I think we would be better suppressing it,” Twilight calmly explained, as if such a thing was reasonable or normal.

“Twilight, I think this will help her,” Spike stated firmly. “I think you should give her a chance. Like you did for me.”

“We can’t. She’s attracting too much attention,” Twilight admitted with an obvious tone of worry in her voice.

“Attention?” Spike mumbled in confusion.

“Don’t you remember what we discussed earlier today? …nevermind” Twilight sighed. “Let me get Scootaloo to bed.”

“Twilight… She’s my sister. I know she can do it,” Spike insisted. Twilight considered that.

“After all… if you could teach me, then I know you could teach her,” Spike continued earning a skeptical look from Twilight.

“In a way: we’re both your children,” Spike admitted hesitantly. Twilight froze… She hadn’t thought about it that way.

Twilight bore a contemplative look as she gently opened the door. Her magic then lifted Scootaloo off the ground, and out the door. She then placed the filly on her back, and trotted back to Scootaloo’s room. Gently she pulled Scootaloo’s sheets aside. She then placed the filly down on the bed, and tucked her in.

Once that was done, she gave one final contemplative look. Her mind was abuzz with what Spike had said. Finally, she turned around to head for the door. A small voice interrupted her trot.

“Twilight? Are my friends ok?” Scootaloo asked from where she had awakened.

“Yes. Applejack said some other pony put out the flames before they even touched your friends. Still, I didn’t want you going out until we’d figure out how to keep something like that from happening,” Twilight gently chastised her as she turned around to look back at Scootaloo.

Scootaloo breathed a sigh of relief. She then looked back at Twilight.“Twilight, am I a freak?” she asked with a hint of worry.

“No. You’re different. But, you are not a freak,” Twilight insisted as she made a point to look Scootaloo in the eyes.

“Then… Why did my mom abandon me and Spike?” Scootaloo asked Twilight pointedly.

“She didn’t…” Twilight said with a soft voice as she trotted back to Scootaloo’s bed. “She just couldn’t care for you.”

“Why couldn’t she care for us? What happened?” Scootaloo asked as she continued to look pleadingly at Twilight Sparkle.

“I’m sorry Scootaloo, I promised princess Celestia I wouldn’t tell you anything about your parents,” Twilight admitted with a hint of regret.

“Why? Because of the curse?” Scootaloo surmised.

“In a way. I don’t believe that the curses of ponies do anything. But, it does touch on an important point. The more ponies that know about your parents, the more room there is for the information to get out. And the more it gets out, the worse it could make things. If you knew who your parents were, you might say something or acknowledge something that could put you at risk. In this case, it’s best just to let your parents be forgotten,” Twilight admitted with a small frown and a sorrowful look.

“Isn’t there anything you can tell me?” Scootaloo asked her with those big pleading eyes that were nearly impossible to ignore.

“No, I’m sorry,” Twilight tried to say, but the words died in her mouth. Scootaloo had that begging look on her fact that some fillies gave, that was hard to resist.

“Your mother was very sick when you were born,” Twilight explained.

“You mean: when she laid my egg,” Scootaloo pointed out, earning a wince from Twilight.

“I know about how you hatched Spike’s egg,” Scootaloo added. It had been quite the cutie mark story.

“Well, it’s possible…” Twilight started as she tried to salvage the conversation.

“But it isn’t, is it?” Scootaloo grumbled. Twilight sighed in defeat.

“Listen, your mother cried because she knew she wouldn’t live to see you and Spike hatch or grow up. You see: your mother would have given her life to see you grow up. You are a very special filly, and don’t let anypony else tell you otherwise,” Twilight explained with a look of sadness on her face, but a certain determination in her voice.

Twilight sighed a deep breath. “That’s all I can say, sorry. But, maybe you’d like to hear an old lullaby?” she offered with an obviously forced grin.

“It’s based on an even older story. Nopony knows who wrote the lullaby. But, I doubt you’ve heard it. Maybe you’d be curious to hear it?” Twilight offered.

Scootaloo hung her head. She doubted it would. Still, she was a bit curious. Hesitantly, she gave a little nod. Twilight smiled, and then gave Scootaloo a little pat on the head, and recited the lullaby.


Two graves on a hill. Two farmers in their prime.
A sad little filly. Clip has no parents upon to rely. The little pegasus cries.
Silly Filly. Silly filly.
Your parents didn’t want to die.

Good art. Bad art. Silly Art. Crayon. Pencil. Paint. Whole or Piecemeal.
Clip, why do you steal? You Can’t reach the sky above! Is Nopony on the ground below?
Have the villagers no kindness shown?
Silly Filly. Silly Filly.
You’re parents left you so you wouldn’t be alone.

The sky is on fire. The village is a pyre. 
A bride to give Sedna foals. To the fire the rest will go.
Silly Filly. Silly Filly.
You can’t beat this foe.

Stab. Parry. Thrust. A cry. A Justice Clip cannot fulfill.
A flash of bronze. Everything is still.
Silly Filly. Silly Filly.
Get up! Gather your will! Run!

One Month. Two Months. Three.
Clip keeps him in her sight.
Silly Filly. Silly Filly.
Why do you still fight?

Eight Months. Nine Months. ten.
Platinum  run! For a princess Sedna has come.
Silly Filly. Silly Filly.
If you go, you can’t change this outcome.

A princess without an ally. Nopony left to defy.
A Flash. A slash! A Cry!
Silly Filly. Silly Filly.
You don’t need to die.

Clip’s down once more. Sedna has much to answer for. 
Rage covers her like a drape.
A wall of bronze. A mighty roar. There is no escape.
Silly Filly. Silly Filly.
Do you now see your true shape?

The sky still burns. Magic still churns. Two shapes on the floor lie.
Sedna vows, his foals will die. 
Clip’s wings will never reach the clouds.
Silly Filly. Silly Filly.
You have made your parents proud.

A Whimper. A Sob. A scream. A hiss. A wheeze.
Two dim stars. Ten not aglow.
Silly Filly. Silly Filly.
You won’t see them grow.

Three graves on a hill. A little filly before her prime.
A princess on a hill. Her tears hit the stone.
Silly Filly. Silly Filly.
You no longer are alone.


Scootaloo looked back in confusion. “What was that about?” she asked with a hint of confusion.

“The flightless pegasus thief Clip, and how she stopped the villainous unicorn wizard Sedna,” Twilight answered quite calmly and clinically.

“No, I mean: that whole thing is kind of vague, and it all happens really fast,” Scootaloo admitted with a small frown.

“I didn’t think you’d understand it. It’s a strange old story,” Twilight Sparkle admitted.

“Don’t you think it’s kind of depressing?” Scootaloo added.

“Yeah, it is,” Twilight Sparkle admitted with a small smile.

“But, you have to consider when this was made. It was a darker time. And, the artistic works from the period were darker as well,” Twilight lectured in a soft tone.

“The whole story takes place, and was most likely written, only a few years before the Wendigo era, and at the height of the Tribal Feudal era. And, there was a lot of strife and turmoil back then. It was inevitable that that would affect the art of the time,” Twilight continued to lecture. Scootaloo tried to listen, but found it a bit too much to follow, really.

“Maybe next time, we could read something I understand. Maybe a Daring Doo book,“ Scootaloo mumbled with a blush. It was embarrassing not understanding stuff. She wasn’t as smart as her friends...

Twilight giggled a little, but gave a small nod and a smile.

“Still, if you still don’t understand the lullaby by tomorrow and if you’re a good filly and behave yourself, then I can probably get you some books to read about it,” Twilight Sparkle offered.

Scootaloo groaned. Still, she got the message: think about it, and go to sleep. She conceded with a nod.

“I know you can be a good filly,” Twilight gave her a little smile and a kiss on the forehead, before leaving.

Scootaloo looked up in surprise. This was a side of Twilight Sparkle she’d never seen. She couldn’t help but admit it… it was kind of nice.