This is about Scootaloo and her relationship with her mother, Derpy, as well as some others
Scootaloo used to be on very good terms with her mother, Derpy. However she's lately become distant and ashamed of her. But this is not the result of your typical youthful rebellion, Scootaloo has actually begun to resent her for reasons she can't really explain. One day this resentment comes to surface and Scootaloo does something she soon regrets. Derpy soon afterwards hurt in an accident and Scootaloo might not even get the chance to make things right.
Derpy and Fluttershy were flying just over the canopy of the Everfree forest. They both were wearing their saddle bags which contained various herbs. “Thank you again for helping me gather these ingredients” said Fluttershy “I just can’t believe I ran out of medicine right when those poor animals start getting sick.”
“I’m happy to help, besides I’ve been meaning to come exploring in the forest for a while” replied Derpy.
“What” gasped the yellow pegasus “why would anypony what to come in here when they didn’t have to?”
“Well, the Everfree forest is a weird place that doesn’t work like other places in Equestria, right?”
“Yes” said Fluttershy nervously. The thought of an environment that ran on its own accord without any supervision from ponies gave her the chills.
“So just think of all the possibilities there are when nothing plays by the rules here; What if we were able to find a muffin tree!?”
“Oh, well I-I don’t know if…that…wait, do you hear that?”
“Hear what…” Derpy then heard what sounded like loud, shrill crying coming from a distance. “What is that?”
“I’m not sure, but I think it might be some poor, hurt animal. We should go see if we can help.” The two speed of toward the sound of the noise until they were right on top of it. They landed in a clearing and ran over to where the crying was coming from. They found a tiny orange filly, probably not more than a day or two old. “Oh my goodness" cried Fluttershy as she picked up the filly. “Oh my goodness!” she cried again with a shrill voice. “Derpy she’s freezing, we have to get her to the hospital immediately.”
“Hello” Derpy called out “has anypony lost a baby.”
“Derpy” Fluttershy yelled.
“Right, there’s nopony here, let’s go.”
Derpy and Fluttershy sat in the waiting room until Nurse Redheart walked in. “How is she” asked a miserably worried Fluttershy.
“We’ve fed her and warmed her up so she’s doing much better now. I want to keep her here over night and run some blood tests just to be on the safe side, but as far as I can tell she’s just fine now.”
“Thank goodness” Fluttershy sighed.
“Now, I just want to clarify what I was told. You two just found her all alone out in the forest?”
“Do you think something may have happened to her parents? I mean Cloudsdale just drifted nearby Ponyville just this morning. Maybe her parents came down to sight see and didn’t know that the forest is dangerous.”
“Perhaps, but Derpy that foal can’t be more than a day or two old. I doubt the mother, would be up for an outing so soon after giving birth. And why wouldn’t have whatever could have gotten two adult pegasi not have taken a defenseless foal?”
“But, what else could have happened?”
Redheart sighed and decided not to reveal her suspicions. “It doesn’t matter, what’s important is that you found her before it was too late.”
“Um, could we, i-if it’s not too much trouble, see the foal” asked Fluttershy. Nurse Redheart gave her a questioning look. “Well, I want to see her now that she’s alright. It’s just that when we found her she was so…please I just want to see that she’s okay.”
Nurse Redheart decided to indulge the young pegasus and motioned for her and Derpy to follow. She had learned to be sympathetic for the need for peace of mind in friends and families of patients. And since Fluttershy had come to live in Ponyville a few months ago she had come to know her well enough to know that if the yellow mare concerns were not assuaged then she’d very likely be back to the hospital suffering from a nervous breakdown before the night was out.
“The babies are sleeping now so please be quiet” Redheart said as she opened the door. Fluttershy and Derpy both entered the room and approached the indicated bassinet. The orange filly had been cleaned up and was now wrapped tightly in a blanket and sleeping peacefully. “Well as you can see she’s perfectly alright so you needn’t worry anymore. My only concern now is going to be finding somepony willing to adopt her” sighed Redheart “Unless one of you wants her” she added jokingly.
“Oh, I would like take her” said Fluttershy. She often fantasized about being a mother as many girls do at times, and she couldn’t help but fall in love with that little bundle.
“What?” exclaimed Redheart, in a hushed voice. “Fluttershy I was just joking and you can’t possibly take care of a foal.”
“But I’m really good at taking care of things.”
“Of animals yes, but taking care of a baby is completely different. They need near constant attention, there are diaper changes to worry about, you have to feed them when they want to be feed, which is often. And speaking of feeding, you are still practically a foal yourself so you certainly won’t be giving any milk which means you’ll have to either hire a wet nurse, which I know you couldn’t possibly afford, or buy formula which wouldn’t be nearly as healthy and would still cost money you don’t have. I know you’re working on getting certified as a royal caretaker of animal life, which doesn’t happen overnight especially considering your age, but until you get that you don’t have a steady income to support yourself much less a baby. And those are only the immediate concerns. Could you provide a growing foal with a steady home life? You’re aren’t likely to be able to do it yourself as you are much too young to even know where to begin with babies, and you don’t have any kind of partner to support you in raising a child. Furthermore could you guarantee a good education for her…?” Nurse Redheart continued on about all the reasons why Fluttershy wouldn’t be able to raise a child properly which by this point had brought the young pegasus to tears.
Derpy stepped between them and said “That’s enough” in a surprisingly authoritative voice. “As you’ve pointed out multiple times she’s still a child herself, so cut her some slack.”
Nurse Redheart took a moment to breath, “Right”.
Derpy turned to Fluttershy and said “Look, Fluttershy it’s really sweet of you to offer to raise her, and I know you would give it your very best. But she’s right you know; you just aren’t in a position to care for a foal.”
“I-I suppose you right” sniffled Fluttershy.
“Besides, you need to focus on your school work and getting your certification for animal husbandry, and taking care of the animals right now.”
“Okay” whispered the no longer crying but still pathetic looking Fluttershy.
“Alright then” said Redheart after calming down “let’s get back to business now. Do either of you happen know a family in Ponyville that would want to adopt her?”
“I will” said the again cheerful looking Derpy.
Nurse Redheart was hesitant for a moment. She really couldn’t think of any reason Derpy’s family would be unsuitable. After all she and that Doctor fellow seemed to have done a good job raising Sparkler thus far. “Are you certain you’d want to? I know you’re already going to be adopting Golden Harvest’s baby after she gives birth, are you sure you can handle it?”
“I know I can, but more importantly I know I can love her like she needs to be, every bit as much as love Sparkler and Carrot Top’s baby.”
Nurse Redheart couldn’t help by smile briefly. Despite Derpy’s flaws she was just about the most loving pony she had ever met. Derpy was the sort of mare who would care for every foal in Equestria as her own if she were able. “Well, I have no objections. But this is something you should talk over with your family before making a decision.”
“Oh yeah” Derpy giggled “I guess I should.”
“Talk it over with them tonight, and if you are still sure tomorrow come and see me and I’ll make the arrangements. I have to get back to work now so I’ll need you to leave now. Oh, and I’m sorry for losing my temper at you Fluttershy. I’m afraid I’ve doing that far too often lately.”
“Maybe you should take some vacation time and relax” suggested Derpy.
“No time for any of that, good evening.”
Derpy and Fluttershy exited the hospital. “Hey Fluttershy, do you want to go out for muffins before heading home” asked Derpy.
“No thank you” moaned Fluttershy miserably.
“Did she really upset you that much?”
“Well she was right wasn’t she; I’m not fit to be mother.”
Derpy placed a hoof on her shoulder “Maybe not now, but that’s only because you are young. You’ve got a good heart though and when the time comes I know you’ll be a terrific mother. And you’ve got quite a bit of growing up to do before you should be worrying about something like that. You’re already dealing with more than somepony your age ought to, what with living on your own and getting certified as an official caretaker of animals. All when you’re just barely out of foalhood. I really wish you had come to live with me.”
“Um, it’s not that I don’t appreciate your offer, I really do like the idea of living with you but…I just can’t.”
“I know you have problems being around others. Still I wish you would, I really think my family and I could help you overcome your social anxieties.” Fluttershy looked away, ashamed. “Just know my doors always open for you. Anyway my point is that your circumstances have forced you to grow up to fast and all I’m saying is try not to grow up faster than is necessary.”
“You’re right” said Fluttershy, wiping her eyes and forcing a smile “besides I have my hooves full as it is taking care of the animals.”
“Speaking of which, do you think we got enough ingredients for the sick ones?”
“This will be enough for tonight. I really should be getting back to them now, but thank you so much again for your help” said Fluttershy as she flew off.
“You’re welcome again. Have a good night” Derpy called out to the yellow pegasus. “Alright, a quick muffin run and then home.”
The Doctor and Sparkler didn’t take much convincing and before long the little filly, whom they decided to name Scootaloo, became part of the family.
She was such a tiny thing with a seemingly endless reservoir of energy, as most pegasi foals are, as such it was quite the ordeal keeping up with her, and Derpy loved every minute of it. Words could hardly describe her joy when Scootaloo said her first word, “Mommy”.
School was over for the day. Scootaloo rode around Ponyville on her scooter trying to amuse herself by performing various stunts but to little avail. It was one of the few times that the Cutie Mark Crusaders weren’t together planning their next scheme to get a cutie mark. It was zap apple harvest time so Applebloom was always helping her family whenever she wasn’t at school. Coincidentally Rarity had begun to design a line of clothing for young fillies and Sweetie Belle, who decided to try and get her cutie mark in modeling, eagerly committed herself to helping her sister. Scootaloo decided to pass on that. As much as she liked Sweetie Belle she just could not stand to involve herself in something so frilly. If there’s anything she knew it’s that her special talent was not it was trying on sissy outfits.
She eventually went to an open field just outside of town. She came here often so she could practice flying in peace. In the field stood a tree which she was able to climb and then jump on off a low branch. She would then flap her wings with all her might only to hit the ground like a rock. She once tried to get Rainbow Dash to teach her how to fly but, as cool as was, she was not a good teacher. Her lessons pretty much always ended up with her showing off some new moves she was working on. It was fun to watch but not very helpful. Other Pegesi she talked to weren’t much help either. None of their advice ever seemed to help. So she kept up wing exercises and jumping out of tree in the hope that she would eventually just get it.
Scootaloo hit the ground with a great thud. “Ow” she moaned as she picked herself up. “Are you ok Scooty”. Scootaloo turned to see that Derpy suddenly next to her, an expression of worry on her face.
“Yeah I’m alright, but what are you doing here?”
“I was flying towards Fluttershy’s house to deliver her mail when I saw you, I just thought I’d say hello but then I saw you fall out of the tree and wa-wa-wa….”her voice suddenly gave out as it always did when she was upset.
“I’m fine, I was just practicing my flying is all; I fall out of that tree all the time.”
After taking a couple of deep breaths she recovered. “Alright….okay thank goodness you weren’t hurt.”
“You worry too much Derpy.”
“Say, why don’t you ever call me Mommy anymore?”
“Aw I too old for that stuff now.”
“But there are a lot of fillies your age that still call their mothers mommy, or mom, or WOW LOOK AT THAT BUTTERFLY, IT’S SO BLUE!! Derpy completely forgot about her conversation with Scootaloo and became occupied with hovering around in the air and looking at a butterfly that was fluttering about. Scootaloo groaned in embarrassment but was grateful that Derpy was no longer questioning her. Scootaloo had stopped referring to her as Mommy a while ago and in fact made a point of not talking about her home life at all. As a matter of fact almost none of the foals in Ponyville knew that Scootaloo lived with Derpy and she was happy to keep it that way. It wasn’t that Scootaloo didn’t like her, but Derpy was odd to say the least and the other ponies at school, particularly Dimond Tiara and Silver Spoon gave her no end of trouble already without having this additional ammunition. “It’s so…incredible” Derpy said in her state of awe “it’s like a little, flying blueberry. If only it was in a flying muffin”. She became lost in her fantasy of flying muffins until she crashed into the tree and fell to the ground with a loud thud.
Scootaloo winced. “Are you okay?"
Derpy stood gingerly, eyes rolling all about, and with that goofy smile of hers said “Uh-huh, I’m okay. Now about that flying muffin” she began to scan the air all around the tree.
“Um, don’t you still have mail to deliver?”
Derpy, suddenly remembering her job, gives her head a shake. Her eyes become straight and focused. “That right, I as Ponyville’s mailmare has a duty to see that the mail is delivered; I have no time to waste on avian pastries”. She began to walk in the direction of Fluttershy’s house when suddenly she jumped into the air and gasped loudly “OH NO! I forgot that I have to deliver that package to Cloudsdale today; I have no time to lose! Scooty please go home and tell Dinky and the Doctor that I’ll be home late.
She darted off before Scootaloo could say anything. “Argh, I hate it when she calls me that!” She sighed and went to retrieve her scooter that was lying beside a nearby bush. It was still pretty early so she didn’t have to go home immediately, but now that Derpy knew that she was practicing here it ruined her motivation to practice. This was supposed to be her secret place for learning to fly, sure an open field wasn’t an ideal location for a secret place, and Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom already knew about it but that was different. Her friends respected the concept of alone time, like when she practiced flying, or when Sweetie Belle practiced her magic, or Apple bloom her karate. Derpy on the other hoof would always be ‘checking up’ on her now that she knew about her place. “This blows big time” exclaimed Scootaloo “now I’ll have to find another place to practice”. She really didn’t feel like just riding her scooter around Ponyville for the next couple of hours. “Maybe Sweetie Belle is finished with that modeling stuff” she thought at last “then we can go help Alpplebloom, which ought to at least be a little fun.”
“I should have just gone to Sweet Apple Acres by myself” said Scootaloo with a scowl. She was now wearing a ridiculously frilly outfit and was none too pleased about it.
“It’s not so bad” offered Sweetie Belle who was sitting next to her wearing a pale blue dress complimented by a silver tiara. “It makes you look really…” she hesitated a moment “that is to say I…really like your mane” she offered.
“Now now Scootaloo” said Rarity who was looking the two fillies over and making the occasional modification “it looks very charming on you”.
“Charming my hoof” Scootaloo muttered under her breath.
“Besides I’m very happy you showed up. I ever so needed sompony to model my colt clothes and you have that boyish charm about you that is just perfect for this.”
“These are supposed to be guy clothes” Scootaloo said in disbelief. “I don’t think I’ve seen even the prissiest mares in Canterlot wear something as frilly as this.”
Sweetie Belle giggled and Rarity huffed “I’ll have you know that this is based off a design I did for a wealthy Manehatten family’s young colt who was attending a new year’s party and he was a hit. His mother wrote me a letter of appreciation in which she informed me of how much the other ponies there commented on it”.
“I can certainly see how a boy wearing something like this might draw some comments.” Sweetie Belle laughed again and Rarity just rolled her eyes and continued her inspection. “Anyway why do have me wearing colt clothes anyway?”
“Like I said you have a certain boyish charm that makes you a perfect male model” Scootaloo shot her a murderous glance “hehe, if you were male that is” she quickly threw in. Scootaloo now became more angry than annoyed. She found the idea of wearing boys clothes to be humiliating. Rarity suddenly noticed that Scootaloo seemed upset “but as I was saying I’m very fortunate that you came by, I tried to get some colt to do this for me but you how boys are, so stubborn and uncooperative, that’s why we girls have to stick together right” Rarity said with a forced smile.
“Whatever, how much more of this do we have to do?”
“Erm, well actually, thanks to your help, I’ve spotted some mistakes I’ve made that I need to fix right away so you girls can go now.”
Scootaloo threw off the cloths and marched straight for the door. Sweetie Belle, a bit less roughly, took off her dress and inspected her flank. She sighed disappointedly upon finding no cutie mark, she then noticed Scootaloo leaving and went after her. “Hey Scoots wait up” she called as she ran out the door.
“Oh dear” Rarity muttered as she gathered up the clothes with her magic “I didn’t take Scootaloo to be the sensitive type”. She recalled a story Fluttershy told her while they were on one of their spa dates about when she and Rainbow Dash were in school together. She was shocked then as well to learn how much Rainbow Dash had cried after being rejected by a colt she had a crush on. “Well, I guess it’s those ponies that feel they have to act tough are the ones who have the most to cry about, and anyway I should have asked if it was alright to have her model colt clothes to begin with. I’ll have to apologize later.”
“Scootaloo wait for me” cried Sweetie Belle as she ran up beside the orange pegasus. “Is something wrong?”
“No” Scootaloo snapped “everything’s fine”.
Sweetie Belle jumped in front of her “I’m really sorry about Rarity, I make sure she never pushes you into dressing up again” she took a quick look at her friends flank “besides now we know that modeling is not your special talent so there’s no need for you to do it anymore.”
“I wouldn’t want to have my cutie mark in stupid modeling” she immediately regretted her words upon seeing the hurt look on Sweetie Belle’s face, she was really trying to get her cutie mark with it after all. “Sorry, I didn’t mean it like that. It’s just that having Rarity put in boy’s clothes just really touched a nerve you know.”
“Yeah, I get it” said Sweetie Belle perking up “and I agree, putting you in colt clothes was going too far, but I promise I won’t tell anypony about it, not even Applebloom, and I’ll make Rarity promise not to tell anypony either”.
“Thanks, I’d appreciate it.”
“No problem, though to be honest I’m kind of surprised something like that would upset you so much.”
"Well if it was just that maybe it wouldn’t, but I’ve been kind of having a bad day today.”
“What happened” Sweetie Belle asked.
“I don’t want to talk about it. I need to go home anyway and tell Dinky and the Doctor that Derpy’s going to be coming home late tonight anyway.”
“Okay” Sweetie Belle said giving her a quick hug. “Remember, Apple Bloom will be finished with her work by Friday and we’ve got a lot of crusading to catch up on.”
“Now you’re talking” said Scootaloo now all fired up “we’ll get our cutie marks for sure this weekend I just know it”.
“And Applebloom and I came up with the perfect idea; Saturday night they’re having an open mic night at Sugar Cube Corner. We should try a comedy routine. We did win best comedy routine at that talent show.”
“Cutie Mark Crusader Comedians, I love it! But didn’t we already try comedy?”
“Yeah but we did skits then, this time we’re doing standup. I already thought up some good jokes, listen to this one. Why did Scootaloo cross the road?”
“Hey, shut up” Scootaloo said giving Sweetie Belle a shove. They both laughed for a while before Scootaloo finally said “Thanks, I needed that.”
The two fillies said their goodbyes and went their separate ways. Scootaloo felt a little better now, time spent with her friends always made things seem less bad. Although all the friends in the world couldn’t save her from the Doctor’s attempt at cooking, the last time he did her and Dinky both became so sick that they couldn’t even get out of bed for two days. As she rode home she decided right then and there that she was going to learn how to cook so as to spare them from such misery again, and who knows she may even get her cutie mark in cooking.
Scootaloo walked into the front door of her home “I’m home” she called out.
“Ah hullo Scootaloo” said the Doctor. He was standing in front of the computer and chuckling “Dinky was just showing me this list of all these Buck Norris jokes. Have you seen these, they’re simply hysterical, I mean a fifth hoof hidden in his beard hahahahe”.
Dinky, who was sitting in the floor playing with her ragdoll, looked at him with a bit of concern. “Right, well Derpy asked me to tell you that she won’t be home until late. She had a package she had to deliver to Cloudsdale.”
Dinky was suddenly in front of Scootaloo, she looked scared. She whispered “you don’t mean….he’s goning to…” she looks toward the kitchen “do it again.”
Scootaloo gave her a hug and tried to be as reassuring as possible but fact was that she was scared to. “Really” the Doctor said “well I’d best prepare supper then shouldn’t I, tell me what would you girls like to have tonight?”
“Grass” called out Dinky “I don’t know about you Scootaloo but I’m in the mood for some nice, RAW grass”.
“Oh, come now” said the Doctor “While I’ve come to realize that grass can be nice for an occasional snack one can hardly make a proper meal out of it. Say, when’s the last time we all had a nice pasta dinner? I for one have been having a craving for some chicken alfre…er I mean alfredo pasta” he laughed nervously and walked off while muttering something about ponies being herbivores.
Scootaloo, knowing it futile to try to persuade the Doctor once he had made his mind up about something, sighed and went to her room. “I just hope I’ll be well enough to go crusading by Friday.”
She walked into her upstairs bedroom and went to the window by which he bed was situated. Her room was rather simple, just a bed, a small table next to the wall with a stereo system, and a toy box filled with toys she used to play with when she was younger, although Dinky was the one who usually played with them now. There was also a closet which contained the few clothes she had. Her walls had so many pictures on them that one could hardly see them. Many of these pictures were of her and her friends but the overwhelming majority of them were of Rainbow Dash. She turned on the stereo for some background noise. She always had it set to play at random some of her favorite songs, the first song to play was ‘I Want To Hold Your Hoof’ by the Bridles.
She then laid down on her bed and gazed out the window. It was the time of day when from her window it looked as if Rainbow Dash's cloud house was passing just over the setting sun. Scootaloo sighed, she wished so badly that she could at least visit Rainbow’s house and see what it’s like on the inside. Of course getting there in the first place was a problem.
The fact that she couldn’t fly bothered her a great deal. Most pegasi her age were at least capable of fluttering short distances but she couldn’t even get off the ground. And she was just plain pissed off when she heard that little Pound Cake was flying around at only a couple of months old. She had asked Twilight about how that was possible and she explained that because his twin sister is a unicorn he has more magic that most pegasi which was why he was able to fly so young. Scootaloo didn’t understand what magic had to do with flying and Twilight went off on some boring lecture about how the wings on a pegasus weren’t big enough to support their weight in flight and that a certain amount of magic was necessary for them to become airborne.
Suddenly there came a knock on her door, interrupting her train of thought. “Ah, Scootaloo” the Doctor said poking his head through the door “I hope you’ll pardon the intrusion but I don’t believe I got your opinion on supper tonight, pasta is okay with you isn’t it?”
“Whatever is fine with me Doc” murmured Scootaloo.
“Scootaloo, is something the matter? ” “No, I’m fine just a little tired is all”
The Doctor sat down on the bed next to her “now now, I have a knack for detecting problems and you missy have a problem. Why not tell me about it, maybe I can help.”
“You couldn’t help with this.”
“You could tell me all the same, I also have a knack for listening.”
Scootaloo supposed that there was no harm in telling him, though he may come off as dimwitted sometimes he knew how to keep a secret and he also could give some good advice most of the time. “Derpy found out where I practice flying.”
“Oh, that’s a bad thing I take it.”
“Yes, that was supposed to be my own place to practice and be by myself, you know.”
“Quite, I understand the need for privacy, but why should her knowing about it change anything?”
“Because now she’s always going to be watching me and I won’t be able to focus on flying.”
“Well, always is a bit of an exaggeration. She does have her job and other responsibilities. Surely just having somebody…er…somepony watching you on occasion isn’t all that bad.”
“But, I can’t fly at all yet. It’s humiliating to be scene constantly failing when every other pegasi my age can fly at least a little bit.”
“Scootaloo you’re just a late bloomer is all. You’ll learn to fly when it’s time."
“That’s what I’m always told but the time never comes.”
That’s all the more reason why it might be a good idea for your mum to watch you practice. If you’re really bothered about being unable to fly you should get help, and who better to get help from than her eh? Besides it would provide the perfect opportunity for the two of you to spend some quality time together. I don’t know if you’ve noticed but you’ve become quite distant lately.”
Scootaloo looked down at her bedcovers ashamed “I haven’t meant to be” she said apologetically.
“I know you haven’t, but these things happen if we’re not cautious.”
“I guess you’re right, but…”
“But” said the Doctor picking up on her hesitation “there’s something holding you back isn’t there?” Scootaloo again looked away ashamed. “Bullies” he guesses, Scootaloo nodes. “Oh now Scoot, it’s not your mum’s fault that that Diamond Tiara is a little bitch.” Scootaloo looked at the Doctor in stunned amazement. His eyes suddenly went wide and his hoof slapped over his mouth. “You didn’t hear that” he said.
“Not a word” replied Scootaloo chuckling.
“What I should have said was that you shouldn’t worry about her, she’s cruel because she can’t stand to worry about her own self for whatever reason. The sooner she can’t get a reaction out of you the sooner she’ll try to move on to a new victim, until there’s nobo…pony left to torture but herself.”
“I think you’re over thinking it. She’s just mean.”
“And I think one day you’ll realize that nothing’s ever that simple. But we’re getting off topic. If you’ll take my advice I believe you’ll find that having your mum being more involved with your flying practice would be good for you both.”
Scootaloo paused for a few moments before saying “I’ll think about it”. She went back to gazing listlessly out the window.
The Doctor didn’t like seeing her so forlorn. “Say I’ve been thinking and it occurs to me that my cooking is absolutely rubbish isn’t it?” Scootaloo looked back up at him and nodded apologetically. “I thought so, so how about we order take out from The Café Pastoral” he knew that that was her favorite restaurant.
“Thanks Doc” Scootaloo said with a broad smile. He gave her a gentle nuzzle before leaving the room. She now felt a little better about herself, as goofy as he was at times the Doctor had a way of solving problems or at least making them seem more bearable, as did the anticipation of good food. Her stereo continued to play on, it was now playing ‘A Horse with no Name’ by Amareica, as she resumed watching Rainbow Dash’s house precede across the sky she. “Maybe tomorrow will be better.”
The rest of the week passed pleasantly enough. Derpy now made a point of checking in on Scootaloo’s practice every so often as Scootaloo had predicted. However she did not neglect her duties as a mailpony and these intrusions were usually a brief hello, goodbye. If she was running ahead of schedule she would sometimes stay longer and give advice. This usually start out as some boring physics lesson about lift, thrust, and other things Scootaloo found uninteresting, although it always ended with Derpy going on some random stream of conscious that was if nothing else entertaining to watch. Still it wasn’t as big of an infringement on her privacy as she thought it would be. And despite how boring and uninteresting she had to admit that despite how odd she might be Derpy was no doubt intelligent. “If only she could just act smart more often” Scootaloo would think as she listened to her mother “ponies wouldn’t care so much about her weirdness if they just knew she was smart.”
It was now a Saturday. The Cutie Mark Crusaders limped into town in a horrible looking state. They were covered in bruises and oozing redness, which dripped in splotches leaving a scarlet trail behind them. “Guess paintball ain’t out special talent either” groaned Applebloom.
“You said it” replied Scootaloo. “It still would have been fun if they hadn’t cheated.”
“They didn’t cheat” sighed Sweetie Belle “the referee said it was all legal.”
“No, I read in that magazine that the Equestrian Paintball Association forbids flying.”
“That was an old magazine. The ref said that they changed the rules to allow flying two years ago.”
“What, they cain’t just change the rules like that cain they” asked Applebloom.
“Yes they can, it says so in the the official charter, article 4 section 7, that the association reserves the right to change the rules at any time.”
“What are you a law book” said Scootaloo.
“No I just take the time to get up to date information on something we’re doing for our cutie marks, unlike some ponies” Sweetie Belle shot back.
“I shouldn’t have to check the rules continually. Changing them at random like that is bologna and you know it, egghead.”
“What did you call me you dodo?!”
“Look we know it ain’t what our special talent is so there ain’t no point in fightin over it” Applebloom said, trying to avoid an unnecessary conflict.
“Yeah you’re right” sighed Scootaloo “let’s just get cleaned up and move on to the next plan.”
“Now yer talkin; Sweetie Bell, do ya know about where Prancer Lake Summer Camp is?”
“Yeah, all we have to do is take the train to Trotingham and it’s just outside of town.”
“Alright, This is it girls” said Scootaloo.
The three fillies each took a deep breath and yelled “CUTIE MARK CRUSADER CAMP COUNSELORS, YAAAAAAYY!!!”
“Ah, hey not so loud” Rainbow Dash suddenly appeared seemingly out of nowhere and landed in front of them. She wore a pained grimace on her face and was rubbing her ears. “Seriously I think they heard you guys in the next town. I hate to be the one to burst you bubble but you kids are too young to be camp counselors.”
“Awww” the fillies exclaimed with downtrodden faces.
“So, what where you three doing?”
“We were going to my place to get cleaned up” said Sweetie Belle “and then I guess find something else to try to get our cutie marks with.”
“OO, ah… I don’t think Rarity would like you coming into her place like that don’t you think?”
“But we got this way playin paintball, it’s not supposeta stain clothes” said Applebloom.
“Yeah but do you think for a second that Rarity will believe that” replied Rainbow Dash
“Well, now that you mention it she probably won’t” said Sweetie Belle.
“You know, I was just heading over to Twilight’s place to help her with some experiment she’s doing. I bet she’d let you clean up there and maybe you could help out too. You might even get your cutie marks in something sciency.”
“That’s a great idea” said an enthusiastic Scootaloo “just think, we could do all kinds a cool experiments”. The idea of being a scientist greatly excited her, and an opportunity to hang out with her idle didn’t hurt either.
“Yeah, it’ll be just like on Destrier’s Laboratory!” exclaimed Sweetie Belle with her characteristic voice crack.
“It’s gona to be so fun!” put in Applebloom.
The Crusaders each began to inhale a deep breath. Rainbow Dash sensing danger covered her ears and collapsed to the ground. “CUTIE MARK CRUSADER SCIENTISTS, YAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” they yelled in unison.
Despite her precautions Rainbow Dash was blown off the ground and was slammed up against the wall of a nearby building. After peeling herself from the wall and giving her head a shake “Well, ah my head, uh let’s go” Rainbow Dash said as she began to walk off toward the library, “while I’m still in one piece” she added under her breath.
The three fillies were in in the bathroom cleaning themselves off and talking about what sort of experiment they might be helping Twilight with.
“I’ll bet we’re going to clone some dinosaurs” said a wide-eyed Scootaloo.
“Or maybe we’ll be researching some space alien technology” said Sweetie Belle who was literally jumping with excitement.
“Or maybe she’s developed a formula with which we cain open up a short cut in the spacetime continuum that we cain send somthin through” exclaimed Applebloom. Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle stared at her. “Ya know, a wormhole”, they continued to stare. “Oh come on, there was an article about it in the latest issue of ‘Scientific Equestrian’.”
“Applebloom, don’t tell me you’re an egghead too” said Scootaloo.
“It ain’t bein an egghead to like knowin stuff. Besides, sompony in this group has gota know this stuff, it might be imporant fer gettin our cutie marks.”
“She does have a point” put in Sweetie Belle as she toweled off her mane “none of the things we’ve tried so far require any sort of higher education, maybe we do need to look into more academically inclined special talents.”
“Oh come on” said Scootaloo who rather than using a towel just shook herself dry “it can’t really be called a special talent if somepony has to teach you how to do it.”
“Hey, don’t just shake water everywhere, that’s rude, not to mention unsanitary.”
Scootaloo sighed and apologized, she didn’t feel like arguing with her friends while there were some awesome experiments to get to.
After finally drying themselves off the Crusaders joined Twilight and Rainbow Dash who were in the main area of the library along with Spike who was preoccupied with reshelving some books which were scattered about the floor. “Ah, you’re here now we can get started” said Twilight.
“So what are we going to do? Are we going to clone dinosaurs, or go into outer space?!” asked Scootaloo, jumping up and down.
“No, no nothing like that, I just need to do a quick scan on you.”
“That’s it, ah thought ya needed our help doing somthin” said Applebloom “least that’s what Rainbow Dash told us.”
“Well yeah” said Rainbow Dash “you know it’s for one of those magical, uh, sciency,….things. Right, Twilight?”
“Uh, yeah that’s it” said Twilight.
“What has that got to do with cool experiments” asks Scootaloo. Twilight hesitated and seemed to be at a loss for word.
“It’s for a…..research paper” said Spike, detecting her distress.
“Yeah it’s part on my studies on magic. Now if you’ll just hold still for a moment we can begin.” Twilight approached Sweetie Belle first. She lowered her head toward the filly, her horn began to glow and Sweetie Belle was surrounded by a purple glow. It only lasted a few second before she moved on to Applebloom and repeated the process. Finally she came to Scootaloo, who was pouting in disappointment over not being able to do any awesome experiments. As soon as she became wraped in Twilight’s purple aura she relaxed a bit, apparently whatever spell she was using had a calming effect. Twilight took a noticeably longer time on Scootaloo than she did on the other crusaders. After a while Twilight stopped and said “well, that’s all I need for right now so you can go now girls”.
“Twilight, is something wrong” asked Sweetie Belle, who noticed that Twilight seemed to suddenly be very down.
“No, not all, I’m fine” replied Twilight with an obviously forced smile. “Thank you for your help. Maybe next time when I have something more fun to do I’ll ask you to help again.”
The three fillies left the library, after they were outside Sweetie Belle said “Well that was a disappointment”.
“Yer tellin me” said Applebloom. “Ah wonder, just what kind a research paper that was supposta be?”
“Your guess is as good as mine. Maybe Rainbow Dash was the only one Twilight wanted helping her, I notice she didn’t scan her.”
“Hey that’s right” said Scootaloo” maybe Twilight only wanted another adult to help her with the experiment. I say we stay and try to figure out what’s what.” She noticed a box that was sitting under an open window “we can see what’s happening inside over there”.
“Ya sure this is a good idea” asked Applebloom “ah mean don’t ya figure they wanted us ta leave fer a reason?”
“Don’t worry about it, we’re just going to watch.” The crusaders climbed onto the box and looked inside. They were surprised to see Derpy coming down the stairs “Hey, what’s she doing here?”
“Maybe she’s helpin with the experiment” said Applebloom.
“Shh, let’s just listen” said Sweetie Belle.
“Thank you for helping me to get Scootaloo here” Derpy said to Rainbow Dash. “She wouldn’t have wanted to come if I tried to bring her.”
“Hey, no problem, but why go through all this trouble? Isn’t your policy to always be open and honest with your kids?”
“It is, but this is a sensitive issue. She’s already upset about not being able to fly and I didn’t want to worry her unnecessarily in case this was just needless worry on my part.” Derpy then turned to Twilight “it is just needless worry right?”
Twilight was looking uncomfortable and clearly did not like to have to be the one say what it was she had to say. “I’m afraid not Derpy.” Derpy closed her eyes and sighed deeply.
“So what exactly is the matter” asked Rainbow Dash “Derpy didn’t exactly tell me why I needed to get Scootaloo here.”
“I didn’t?” said Derpy.
“I think you were going to, but then you saw a sign that said Sugercube Corner was selling muffins half price that day.”
“Oh yeah” she recollected. With a sly grin she said “That was a good day.”
“Well” said Twilight “You know how Scootaloo can’t fly?”
“Yeah, I know” said Rainbow Dash.
“Well most pegasi her age can at least fly a little bit, but she can’t fly at all.”
“True but that doesn’t mean anything. You know Spitfire from the Wonderbolts? I read in her biography that she couldn’t fly until she was way older than what Scootaloo is. Now look at her, she one of the greatest flyers in Eqestria.”
“I know” said Derpy “Scootaloo has a copy, but I saw in there that Spitfire came from an abusive family that never bothered to teach her to fly and that they would beat her for even trying. That’s not been the case with Scootaloo. I try to teach her whenever I can, I know you’ve tried to help her occasionally, and recently I’ve seen that she’s been practicing. I know there is no way she can be putting that much effort into something and not have any progress, so I thought there might be something wrong, like…aleveosis.”
“Really” said a surprised Rainbow Dash “but that’s like…really rare isn’t it?”
“Yes” said Twilight “but it does happen.”
“Uh, pardon me” interrupted Spike who had finished shelving the books “but what exactly is aleveosis?”
“It’s a rare pegasus disorder” explained Twilight. “Those inflicted have a deficiently in magic that leaves them unable to fly.”
The Crusaders were all stunned at hearing this. Applebloom and Sweetie Belle looked at their orange friend who stood to their left with looks of surprise, concern and empathy. Scootaloo was paralyzed. Scootaloo was glued to the spot and continued to stare and listen in a state of shock and horror, all the while hoping against hope that she had simply misheard ‘unable to fly’.
“What do you mean magic” asked Spike “Only unicorns can use magic right?”
“In terms of casting spells yes, but pegasi also have a kind of magic that helps them to fly.”
“What does magic got to do with flying?”
“You see pegasus wings are too small to be of any use. If they didn’t have some kind of magic to help them fly their wings would have to be ten times their normal size to even get them off the ground. Also they use it to help control their flight since they don’t have tail feathers like birds or a strong tail that acts as a rudder like dragons have.”
“Twilight” said Derpy, who was rather annoyed at the unicorn for suddenly just moving to a frivolous subject “if you’re finished could we please get back to Scootaloo.”
“Oh, I’m sorry” Twilight clears her throat. “Well, as I said it is aleveosis so that explains why she can’t fly.”
“But that’s not like real bad is it” said Rainbow Dash “I mean they can fix that right?”
“That’s usually the case. Normally those afflicted just need some kind of charm to amplify what little magic they do have. But I’m not sure if that can be done with Scootaloo.” Twilight placed a comforting hoof on Derpy’s shoulder. “You see, I couldn’t find any magic whatsoever. I’ve never heard of a case where the patient didn’t have at least some magic so I’m not sure how this would be treated or if it even can be.”
“Are you sure” asked a distraught Derpy.
“I’m not sure of anything yet. I know some ponies back in Canterlot who have some expertise in the medical field that I’m going to write to. If they can’t help I’m sure I can ask Princess Celestia for advice, given the extreme nature of Scootaloo’s condition she might even be willing to arrange some kind of special program to try to find a solution.”
“So that not only is she going to have to deal with being a pegasus that can’t fly, she’ll have to put up with being a medical guinea pig?”
“Derpy, I didn’t mean it like that.”
“I know…I’m sorry” said Derpy who was struggling to keep herself from crying. “I know you’re trying to help but…”
“I know, this isn’t a pleasant situation no matter how you look at it.”
A moment of uncomfortable silence past before Derpy said to Rainbow Dash “do you think that there might be any pegasi doctors in Cloudsdale that I could take her to, maybe they might know more about how to treat this sort of thing.”
“I doubt it” said Rainbow Dash. “Anyway, if she doesn’t have any magic at all she won’t even be able to walk on the clouds, so taking her there would be a bad idea, unless Twilight uses that spell of her’s for that, but even then you’d have a rough time finding a pegasi doctor in Cloudsdale of all places to treat aleviosis.”
“Why is that?”
“Well sadly there’s a cultural stigmatization of pegasus ponies that for one reason or another are unable to fly. There was even this barbaric ritual that the pegasi did for thousands of years where if a newborn foal that looked weak or unhealthy they were taken down to the surface and left to die in the elements. It’s of course been outlawed and suppressed since unification, but unfortunately it still happens from time to time.”
“What, you’re not suggesting that that’s what had happened to Scootaloo that day I found her in the forest?”
“More than likely, yes” said Rainbow Dash, feeling very ashamed of her culture at that moment.
Derpy was dwelling on her own thought and emotions when suddenly one of her wall eyes happened to drift over to window where the three fillies stood. Almost immediately her head jerked over to face them, both eyes looking straight on in horror at her daughter. Scootaloo now regained her ability to move and she ran. She ran faster than she had ever run before in her life. She became oblivious to the calls of her friends, her mother, Twilight, and even Rainbow Dash. As she ran she felt all of her dreams dying. She would never take a nap on a cloud, never fly around for the sheer joy of it, never have lunch with Rainbow Dash at her house, or anything that she had ever hoped and dreamed of doing. Now there was nothing left except to run.
If Scootaloo had had her way about it she would have never stopped running, it was the only thing there was to do. However no matter how fast she could run she couldn’t outrun Derpy and Rainbow Dash who had the advantage of flight. Each of the adults tried to explain to her that the situation was not as hopeless as might seem. Twilight especially emphasized the medical expertise of her acquaintances in Canterlot, and that they would surely be able to find a way to help her, Derpy mainly reinforced everything Twilight was saying and trying to give assurances that everything would work out in the end, and Rainbow Dash for the most part just stood there and felt awkward.
“I don’t think I should be here” thought Rainbow Dash to herself and wishing she were somewhere else right now. “I’m not family and I don’t have any useful connection like Twilight. There’s nothing I can do to help.”
Nothing either Twilight or Derpy said registered to Scootaloo. Her entire attention was on Rainbow Dash, whose eyes went here and there trying to avoid the filly’s gaze. That’s what registered to her. Scootaloo was the sort of pony that might have eventually learned to see this disability as just a challenge to overcome, and even if she never did fly she would have been able to live with herself knowing she never stopped trying. That might have been the case, but now what she saw was that her hero, her idol refused to even look at her. With that her heart shattered.
Tears began to flow down her face uninhibited and her small body shook as she began to cry. This was not the wailing cry of someone who is either angry in there sadness or who is crying for some particular reason. This was the passive, pitiful sobbing of the completely devastated. Derpy decided to take her home. The other two fillies, who had been trying to give moral support to their comrade, were also sent home.
Scootaloo was lying in bed, face buried in her pillow. Derpy sat next to her, muzzling her mane, trying to be of some comfort to her daughter. After some amount of time Derpy said “a nice bath might help you feel better, would you like me to draw you one”. Scootaloo said nothing.
After a while however she did sit up. Her eyes were red and puffy, she rubbed them dry with her foreleg and continued to sit. Then Derpy said “Well listen, Twilight said that she would write to those big shot medical ponies in Canterlot today and that she should get her responses by tomorrow at the most. So why don’t you go have a nice hot bath to perk you up while I fix us some lunch, okay Scooty?”
“Don’t call me that” Scootaloo hissed.
“What?”
“Don’t call me Scooty, I hate that name.” Since learning the terrible truth Scootaloo had become a vortex of negative emotion and now all of the sadness, resentment, bitterness, and disappointment that had built up was evolving into a searing anger at Derpy.
Derpy was caught off guard by this outburst, Scooty had always been a pet name for her daughter that Scootaloo had always enjoyed, or at least she did when she was younger. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know it bothered you sweetie.”
“And stop talking to me like you’re my mom, I know you aren’t” Scootaloo shouted at her.”
Derpy was even more surprised by this. “What do you mean, of course I am.”
“No you’re not, I heard the part about you just finding me in the woods!”
“But why is this upsetting you now? You’ve always known you were adopted, we never kept that from you. And it doesn’t mean anything, you’re just as much my daughter as Dinky or…”
“You told me I was adopted, you never said anything about being abandoned!” tears were beginning to build up in her eyes again but Scootaloo held them back. She refused to let herself cry in front of Derpy now.
“Honey, we don’t know for sure that’s what happened, Rainbow Dash was only saying that it was a possibility. And even if that is what happened, their mistake doesn’t define you.”
“Shut up! Don’t talk to me like I matter, I don’t, that’s why I was left to die in the woods, and why Rainbow Dash won’t even look at me anymore.”
“That’s not true, this thing isn’t your fault. And I know Rainbow Dash well enough to know she would never hurt you on purpose.”
“Just stop it! I was thrown away because nopony wants me. You should have just let die out in the woods, I hate you!” Scootaloo screamed before burring her face in her pillow again.
Derpy’s voice gave out, but before it went completely she managed to say squeak “I want you”. She was unable to speak and Scootaloo was unwilling to listen so she left the room as her own eyes began to fill with tears.
Scootaloo spent the rest of the day lying in bed. She didn’t want to do anything, not even listen to her songs as she normally did. She felt a pang of guilt about what she had said to Derpy but she suppressed it. There was a great feeling of relief in being able to throw all the unpleasantness she felt at somepony else.
Derpy only came back once to leave a dandelion sandwich on Scootaloo’s night stand. Scootaloo could tell she had been crying. “Maybe I’ll feel like apologizing tomorrow” she thought to herself, although she certainly didn’t’ feel like it now.
The day eventually faded into dusk and Scootaloo had not left her room. This was normally the time when she would gaze longingly at Rainbow Dash’s house as it made its pass over the sun. Now she viewed to house as one might view a corpse at a funeral and placed all of her dreams, fantasies, and expectations of flying and all that would come with it to rest. After that she decided that she went to sleep without dinner, she didn’t feel like eating and sleeping felt like the only thing to do now. However it wasn’t restful at all, and she kept waking up all hours of the night so that in the morning she did not feel rested at all.
She came downstairs to eat breakfast with everypony at the appropriate time. Normally all of the family meals were filled with lively conversation, but today there was not much talking, or maybe there was, Scootaloo did care to listen either way. She decided that she wasn’t going to go to school today. Mondays were bad enough without all the unpleasantness she was currently feeling.
Before she left Derpy said that she had to make a delivery to Baltimare and that she would be home late again. She gave the other three members of the family a hug, a kiss, and an ‘I love you’. Dinky and the Doctor returned the gestures but Scootaloo said nothing and avoided looking at her. Derpy smiled sadly and gave her another kiss before heading out. Scootaloo had intended to stay at home today. But the Doctor wouldn’t allow it. He and Derpy didn’t mind if either of their children skipped school so long as they weren’t wasting their time. So they could skip anytime they wanted on the condition that they were at the library reading. This arrangement normally suited Scootaloo well, the only reason she even went to school was because her friends were there. After yesterday however the library was the last place she wanted to be. She decided the she would just check out a book and go elsewhere.
She managed to get a book and sign her name and the title in the registry without Twilight noticing, as she was absorbed in modifying her weekly schedule.
Afterward she went went to her private place near the tree where she practiced, or rather used to practice. She read until she got bored and then wished she had brought her scooter. She almost claimed the tree to practice flying out of habit but then recalled that there was no point in it. So she spent the day reading when she could stand it and just being bored when she couldn’t and waited for Applebloom and Sweetie Belle to get out of school. She didn’t feel like socializing but she also thought she would like having her friends around.
It was nearly time for school to let out and Scootaloo was about to go meet her friends when Fluttershy happened flutter by and stop her. “Hey Scootaloo, did school let out early today?”
“Hey Fluttershy, no I just didn’t feel like going today. I was actually just about to go meet my friends when they get out.” “Oh, I was just on my way to meet Rarity for our weekly get together, how about we walk together into town, um, that is if you want to?”
“Alright” said Scootaloo as she began walking next to her.
The two began to make bits of small talk but the whole conversation soon went to Scootaloo asking Fluttershy all sorts of questions about animals. It felt odd at first, she had never really been interested in animals before and had never thought Fluttershy could have told her all these cool things about animals. Any other time she might have taken this as a good lesson of never judging a book by its cover, but there was another thing that caught her interest. Fluttershy was talking to her, answering her questions, asking her questions, actually paying attention to her. With Rainbow Dash she constantly had to try catch her attention by some means or another and would usually get nothing more than a ‘hey their squirt’ or something to that effect before her hero bolted off to do whatever. In fact now that she gave it serious thought she could not recall Rainbow Dash ever spending time with her, listening to her, giving her encouragement or advice. Adding all these realities together the orange filly was forced to a realization. “Rainbow Dash doesn’t care about me at all” Scootaloo thought to herself. Finally acknowledging what she had long suspected in the back of her mind was both painful and refreshing at once, a feeling that going through some feared struggle and learning one is able to stand it is likely to produce. Her next thoughts were, conventionally enough, for Derpy. She had always done for Scootaloo what she so desperately wanted from Rainbow Dash and more.
“Hey Fluttershy” Scootaloo asked as the yellow pegasus finished talking about the migratory patterns of Caneighdian geese.
“What is it Scootaloo, was I boring you, I’m sorry” Fluttershy apologized.
“No it’s not that. I just wanted to ask about something else.”
“Oh, go right ahead then.”
“You’ve known Der…my mom for a long time haven’t you?”
“Yes I suppose I have. When I first came to Ponyville she helped me a lot. If it weren’t for her I’m not sure I could have made it living on the ground. Why do you ask?”
Before Scootaloo could ask her question however the two pegasi heard the Doctor call out to them. He ran up to them, with Dinky running right behind him, and said “Scootaloo, you weren’t at the library” he said. He was clearly distressed over some matter.
“I just checked something out” Scootaloo said as she tried to reach into her saddle bag to show him the book.
“Fine, it’s not important” he said sharply. “Fluttershy I’m sorry to ask this of you out of the blue but could you please watch Dinky and Scootaloo tonight I’ve got to be on the next train to Baltimare.”
“Of course I will but, if you don’t mind me asking, what’s the urgency?”
“Doctor”, said Dinky after having taken a few moments to catch her breath, “what’s going on, please tell me.”
“Right” he said forcing himself to calm down “right I’m sorry. About half an hour ago Rainbow Dash told me that she received an urgent message that your mother was in an accident. Apparently there was an unscheduled thunderstorm around Baltimare today and she was struck by lightning.”
“Is she alright” squealed the now terrified filly.
“All I know right now is that she’s in the hospital. As soon as I find out more I’ll send word to you both” he said addressing both of the fillies.
Scootaloo was in something of a shock from hearing the news and said nothing. Dinky, with tears in her eyes, was begging the Doctor to let her come with him. He explained that she couldn’t and that if it was necessary he would send for them after he had found a place for them to stay. She really wasn’t paying attention to anything that was going on anymore. Her senses only returning to her after Fluttershy had brought her and Dinky back to her house.
Fluttershy was eventually able to calm Dinky down enough so that she could be occupied playing with some of the animals. After that she walked over to talk to Scootaloo who had been sitting by herself and trying to fully process everything. The orange filly’s eyes had become moist and her small body had begun to tremble as it all sank in. Fluttershy nuzzled her cheek and asked “are you ok Scootaloo”.
“No” Scootaloo replied, with a shaky voice. Fluttershy brought her into a tight embrace.
A short while pasted as the two sat together, Scootaloo whimpering into Fluttershy’s chest. She then finnaly said “We had a fight”.
“You and your mother” said Fluttershy.
“Uh-huh” Scootaloo said between her increasingly frequent sobs. “No, it wasn’t even that, I was just yelling at her. I said that I hated her.”
Fluttershy hugged her tighter and said “she knows you didn’t mean it.”
“What if she doesn’t come back, that’ll be the last thing I’ll have ever said to her.”
“Oh, but…I’m sure she’ll be fine Scootaloo.”
“But if she…I’ve got to go to Baltimare, I have to see her” said Scootaloo as she tore herself away from Fluttershy.
“Scootaloo the train will have already left, wait!” But Scootaloo was oblivious to her calls.
She knew the train was gone by now and so started running as fast as her legs could carry her in the general direction of Baltimare. Her heart beat fiercely as she ran, and as it did there developed a sensation building inside her chest that was alien to her, but she hardly gave it attention. It became more intense with her resolve to get to her mother. “I won’t let that be the last thing I say to her” she proclaimed to herself. The strange sensation that had been building in her chest spread throughout her entire body. She nearly gasped at how much lighter she felt now; it felt like a mound of bricks had been removed from her back after having carried them her entire life. Her wings unfolded and she began to flap them so that she shot into the air and sored across the sky toward her destination like a bolt of lightning.
Rainbow Dash was soaring through the night sky just outside Baltimare and was on her way to give the city’s head weather pony a piece of her mind. As head weather pony he should have alerted her and the weather teams in every other city, town, and village a week in advance of any potentially hazardous weather conditions he planned for his area. That policy had been enacted by the Central Weather Bureau so that accidents like this wouldn’t happen. He would no doubt be fired over this serious blunder but not before she was done with him.
“I’m gonna kick his flank into the next century when I get my hoofs on him” she muttered to herself, among other things. Her train of thought was interrupted however by a flash of orange zipping past her. “What the hay was that” she cried aloud as she watched the thing fly down and disappear into the city.
Scootaloo flew through the city looking for Derpy. The same internal sensation that was giving her lift was urging her toward a certain place in the city, she knew that’s where her mother was. Sure enough she eventually came to a hospital building and made for an open window on the second story in order to land inside. Of course having never flown before she knew nothing of landing and so went through the window and crashed into a supply closet.
She broke some mops and brooms but luckily no bones. This floor was dark and quiet. It was apparently just for overnight patients who were being left to sleep. Scootaloo picked herself up and was about to go downstairs when she felt herself pulled toward a room at the end of the hall.
As she approached the door she saw written on the tag, Derpy Hooves. She opened the door and stepped into the darkened room. Derpy was lying asleep on the bed, with a number of wires attached to her body and an oxygen mask on her face. Scootaloo was taken aback, seeing her like that, and for a moment there was no sound save for Derpy’s slow breathing and the steady beeping of the heart monitor. Scootaloo then ran over and jumped onto the bed. She was again taken aback by the sight and smell of singed feathers and hair. Now that she was up close she was able to hear how ragged and labored Derpy’s breathing was. “Mom” she said hesitantly, but she received no response the pegasus. “Mommy” Scootaloo said again more pleadingly and again got no response. Not knowing what else to do she curled up next to her mother as her emotions began to get the better of her.
“I’m so sorry for what I said” spoke the teary eyed filly. “And I’m sorry for everything else; for blaming you for everything that wasn’t your fault, for being embarrassed by you, and for trying to push you out of my life.” Her voice caught in her throat a moment. “I don’t hate you, I don’t know why I ever thought I did. I love you”. Derpy remained unconscious and unresponsive. The tears she had been trying to hold back began to flow unabated. “Please wake up and hear me say it” she pleaded. She began sobbing profusely and repeating ‘I love you’ over and over again.
Derpy could hardly remember anything from this afternoon. She remembered that as she was flying into Baltimare she felt a tremendous shock before crashing to the ground. From there everything was a fuzzy blur until the point she fell into a drug induced sleep. She was now awoken by a pain in her side. Her thinking was clouded from all the drugs they had her on so it took her a moment to identify the orange mass curled up against her as Scootaloo. Her daughter was crying but appeared to be in a state of half-sleep. The filly was muttering something but Derpy wasn’t able to understand it.
“She seems to have cried an awful lot” thought Derpy to herself “we must be out of muffins…wait, that’s me who does that.” She tried to raise her head and ask Scootaloo what the matter was, but the moment she tried she found hadn’t the strength to do so. “Sweet Celestia, I’m tired.” She looked down at Scootaloo “it looks like you are to, and its way past your bedtime anyway”. She unfurled her wing and covered her daughter, “you can sleep with me tonight and tell me about it tomorrow”. Her last thought before the drugs pulled her back into sleep was “I love you, little one”.
In the morning Rainbow Dash went to the hospital to check in on Derpy before going back home. No visitors were allowed last night, so she figured she would just wait to see her along with the Doctor today. Unfortunately his train was delayed and he would not be getting in until noon. She decided just to stop by to say hello before flying back to Ponyville to let everypony know that Derpy would be alright. She found the room where Derpy was and approached the door. She noticed that it was slightly ajar and so, not being able to help herself, she peeked inside. She saw that Derpy was still sleeping. She thought perhaps it would be better to let her sleep and return to Ponyville right away. Before leaving however she noticed Scootaloo on the bed with her. “What, how did she get here?” She then recalled the orange streak that zipped passed her last night. “No way” was all she could say upon that realization. She said it a little too loud however which caused Scootaloo to begin to stir.
Scootaloo’s sudden movement cased a sharp pain in Derpy’s side which caused her to wake instantly. “Ow, please be careful how you move around Scootaloo.”
“Mom, you’re alright” called out Scootaloo excitedly.
“Yeah” said Derpy as she rose into a sitting position, cringing the whole time she was moveing, “maybe not 100% but I’m fine”. Scootaloo suddenly hugged her tightly. “Argh, gently, gently” she said through clenched teeth.
Scootaloo backed out of the hug. “Sorry about that” said Scootaloo, tears of joy streaming down her face, “I’m so happy you’re alright”. Scootaloo felt Derpy wrap her own forelegs around her.
“Hey, you called me mom. It’s been awhile since you’ve last called me that.”
“I know” said Scootaloo in a solemn voice “it’s been awhile since I’ve done anything right by you hasn’t it?”
“What?”
“I know that I’ve been treating you horribly and you didn’t deserve it. And I’m so very sorry for it.”
Derpy began stroking her sobbing daughter’s mane and said “It’s alright dear, I understand. You’re getting older and you want to assert your independence…”
“No, that’s not what it was at all.”
“It was something else?”
“Yes, I’ve been so angry for the longest time and I’ve been throwing it all at you” Scootaloo tearfully confessed.
Derpy started to rub her back. “Why were you so angry?”
“I don’t know, I think that, maybe, I was actually mad at Rainbow Dash.”
“Why are you angry at her?”
“I idolize her, I mean I’m president of her fan club for Pete’s sake, but she never pays any attention of me. The few times she does speak to me it’s nothing more than a ‘what’s up kid’ or something like that. And the only time she ever spends with me is just her showing off some of her flying moves. Which I like and all, but I’ve always wanted her to…” she trailed off as she was at a loss for words.
“You want her to acknowledge you and you feel like she doesn’t care for you all.”
“Yeah” said Scootaloo.
Rainbow Dash who had been listening the whole time slowly walked away from the door, feeling just about as rotten as she ever felt. She took off through an open window and slowly made her way back to Ponyville.
“You know I’ve known Rainbow Dash for a long time” said Derpy. “She moved to Ponyville after graduating so that she could live in the same town as Fluttershy. Even back then she was popular and she liked to show off. To tell the truth she’s never really grown up. And while she can be insensitive at times she really is a good pony and would never intentionally hurt anypony.” Scootaloo nodded but seemed unconvinced. “It’s far more likely that she has no idea how much you look up to her, she’s also not the most observant of ponies.”
“Maybe, but I should never have taken it out on you.”
“I forgive you, and thank you for telling me about what’s been bothering you. It’s good to get things like this out in the open like this, right?”
“Yeah”
“Try to remember that these are the sort of things you can talk to me about. That way we can resolve them before they become a problem.”
“I will, I won’t ever let anything ruin our relationship again.”
“There’s nothing that ever could Scooty.”
“I still don’t like that nickname though.”
“Alright I won’t call you that anymore.”
“But hey, it’s alright for me to call you mommy again isn’t it?”
“Of course” said Derpy kissing her daughter on the cheek “I would very much like that.” The two shared a time of silence for quite some time but it was eventually broken by Derpy. “Tell me something, how did you get here from Ponyville anyway.”
Scootaloo had not really been thinking about anything except getting to her mother during her her mad dash to Baltimare. Now having her attention brought to last night’s events left her nearly at a loss for words. “I…I flew” she finally managed to say.
“You flew here” exclaimed Derpy who was equally surprised and joyous all at once. “How in Equestria did you manage to do that?”
“I don’t know. I wasn’t really thinking about it at the time. I just knew I had to get to you and I did, I can’t explain how it happened. I mean didn’t Twilight say that I’d never be able to fly because I didn’t have any magic?”
Derpy thought over it for a while then shrugged and with a smile said “I guess you found your own magic”.
After returning to ponyville Scootaloo found that while she could fly she was only able to do so for a few feet at a time. A specialist in pegasi ailments, whom Twilight contacted through her associates in Canterlot, said that the sudden development of magical presence within her was astounding enough and that her flight to Baltimare was nothing short of miraculous. He hypothesized that her heightened state of emotional stress might have triggered something like an adrenaline rush, only with magic, and that it wasn’t likely to happen again. Fortunately now that she had a magical presence the problem was easily remedied with a simple charm, in this case an enchanted hair clip which enhanced her magic, which enabled her to fly as well as any pegasi so long as she wore it.
Derpy took some time off, on the doctor’s recommendation, until she had completely recovered. She and Scootaloo spent the time improving their relationship. During this time off came the annual Sisterhoof Social, which was something of a family reunion for them. Sparkler, the eldest daughter who now lived in Canterlot, made a point of coming down to Ponyville during the event. And Golden Harvest and Written Script, Dinky’s biological parents, came to be with the family as always. The family always enjoyed having a picnic while watching the games. Sparkler and Dinky participated in in nearly all the events together, as did Golden Harvest with her younger sister Sweet Wheat.
When she was younger Scootaloo would sometimes take part in some of the events with Sparkler, but they had never really become close, their personality and interests were simply to different and they eventually stopped doing any events together. She liked to do some of the more athletic solo events, and sometimes she would team up with one of the several young mares who would volunteer to team up with any fillies who didn’t have an older sister. This year she also tried to be more involved with the family whereas in previous years she had been rather distant and did little to no socializing with them.
Sparkler, Dinky, Golden Harvest, and Sweat Wheat all went to get ready for the big race. The rest of them found a place to sit and watch. The Doctor and Written Script were of talking about something while Derpy and Scootaloo were lying down next to each other on a grassy hill overlooking the race track. “Are you sure you don’t want to be in the race” asked Derpy. “I’m sure there’s somepony that would team up with you.”
“Nah, I’m good” said Scootaloo.
“Alright then” Derpy said before letting out a yawn. “Goodness, I’ve been tired lately.”
“You were very busy with work before hit by lightning on top of it. It’s probably just all the stress catching up to you.”
“I guess so.”
After a short while Rainbow Dash landed nearby. “Hey there Derpy, how are you feeling?”
“I’m doing fine thank you. Oh, while you’re here there’s something I’ve been meaning to ask you for the longest time.”
“Oh yeah, shoot.”
“You know about ‘raining cats and dogs’ right?”
“Yeah, I know about it.”
“Well I know you never done it here, and I want to let you know I appreciate it, but why would anypony anywhere make it rain cats and dogs?!”
“Huh?”
“I mean what’s the point? It doesn’t benefit anypony like normal water rain would and even if it did it’s just plain cruel! Sending those poor, terrified animals to fall to their death’s like that. What kind of sick pony would do such a thing, and how could they get away with it? Why hasn’t the Central Weather Bureau, or the Princesses put a stop to it?!”
“Derpy, we don’t actually make it rain cats and dogs, that’s just a phrase meaning it’s raining a lot.”
“Really, but why would they say cats and dogs I wonder. Some ponies are just weird I guess.”
“Uh, y-yeah” said Rainbow Dash as Scootaloo facehoofed. “Anyway, Scootaloo can I talk to you in private for a sec?”
“Sure” Scootaloo said as she stood up. She and Rainbow Dash walked off a ways. Scootaloo couldn’t help but feel the conflict of her lingering admiration of the pegasus and her new born bitterness toward her. Despite Derpy’s explanation for Rainbow Dash’s distance she couldn’t help but feel bitter.
“So listen” Rainbow Dash said at last “I’ve been thinking that I haven’t been…well, you’re president of my fan club and all so that means you’re, like, a fan, right?”
“Yes.”
“Well, I’ve been thinking that maybe I should have been…nicer to you or something. Especially when we all found out about that, you know, your problem. But even before then I should have…look I know I’ve been a jerk to you and I’m trying to say I’m sorry, alright!” Scootaloo’s look of bewilderment goaded her to explain further. “You see, I heard some things and after thinking about it I realized that I haven’t been very considerate of you or really anyone besides myself for that matter.”
“Well, thanks but it’s not your responsibility to care about me. I mean it’s not like we’re sisters or anything.”
“Maybe it’s not my responsibility but that’s no excuse. You looked up to me and I should have acted like sompony worth looking up to.”
Scootaloo could hear the sincerity in Rainbow’s apology and thus her bitterness began to melt away. “Thanks Rainbow Dash, it really means a lot to hear you say that” she suddenly gave the mare a big hug “I forgive you.”
The surprised Rainbow Dash became very stiff and uncomfortable but momentarily returned the hug. “Thanks, I’ll try to be better from now on.” They released each other from the hug. “Okay, that was really all I wanted to say so I’ll let you get back to enjoying yourself.”
“Alright, see ya.” Scootaloo turned to go back to Derpy but noticed her mother motioning toward the race track. Taking the hint she quickly turned back and called “Hey Rainbow Dash.”
“Yeah, what’s up kid?”
Scootaloo began to nervously paw at the ground “Um, I know we aren’t really sisters but if you aren’t doining anything else do you think that, maybe, we could do the race together?”
Rainbow Dash looked over at the track then smirked and said “Only if you think you can keep up with the Dash. I’ll go get us entered” she said as she flew off toward the registration stand.
Scootaloo excitedly ran back the Derpy. “Mom I’m going to go do the race with Rainbow Dash.”
“Alright, I’ll be routing for you” said Derpy before giving her a kiss on the cheek. “I love you Scootaloo.”
“Love you to Mom” Scootaloo said as she flew off after Rainbow Dash.”
