Scootaloo's Return

by RebelNarrator45

4 The Proposition

Scootaloo leaned slightly closer herself, eyes locked on Dark Magic as he spoke.

"I know a spell that will remove your friend's injuries completely." He stated. "But there is a cost. At least for you."

"I don't care!" Scootaloo said. "If you can fix her, I'll pay you whatever money you want! Somehow. But I'll pay you! Just do it! I'll take you to her right now..."

"No, no, no." Dark Magic held up a hoof. "It will not cost you money, my dear. It will cost something else entirely."

"Well, what???"

"Your own self. Your freedom. Your comfort."

Scootaloo stared in confusion. "Huh?!"

"If I do this," Dark Magic said patiently, "it will remove her injuries and pain...and transfer them to you."

Scootaloo gaped at him in shock. That wasn't what she wanted to hear.

"But...but...huh?!" She spluttered.

"Do you want your friend to get better?"

"Well, yes, of course, but..."

"Then take the offer! She'll be released from her pain and suffering, and you will repay your debt to her. You wanted atonement...I'm offering you a deal."

"Yes, but I wasn't expecting something so drastic!"

"And I thought you cared for your friend and would do whatever it took to heal her. Was I wrong?"

Scootaloo hesitated. Her mind was racing as she struggled to sort through her thoughts.

"Tell you what." Dark Magic rose. "I plan on staying here a day or two. I have a wagon not too far down this path. Take the rest of today to think on this, and come to me with your answer tomorrow."

Scootaloo also rose. "You really can do this? Make her better?"

"I wouldn't have offered if I couldn't." He replied. "But you go, think on it. Tell me what you've decided tomorrow. I realise that it is a tremendously life changing offer, for you and your friend."

He started to walk away, then paused and looked back.

"One more thing." He said. "If you agree, this exchange is permanently binding. Which means you'll have her injuries for the rest of your life. You can't change back. You'll want to think on that for a while too."

And he walked away, leaving Scootaloo staring after him, mind reeling. She finally turned and headed for the one place that always helped her calm down and focus: a little hill below the Cloudsdale home she shared with Dash.

She had a lot of thinking to do.

She didn't notice that Dark Magic had returned unseen, and was watching her walk away with a mysterious expression on his face.

***********************************
Scootaloo sat on the quiet hill, mulling over Dark Magic's offer.

'Apple Bloom will be normal again.'

'Yes, and you'll be the injured one! How will that help?'

'But I really want her to be well.'

'At the cost of your own health?! Think about what this will mean for you! You're about to enter the Wonderbolt Academy!'

Scootaloo flinched as her internal self threw that reminder at her. Yes. The Wonderbolt Academy. Ever since she was a filly, she had thought she might be a Wonderbolt, like Dash. Then she started to fly and knew it was what she wanted more than anything.

Well...almost.

What she wanted most was for Apple Bloom to be healed. If she took Dark Magic's offer, she would be. But of course it came with a high cost to herself.
She would have to forget the Academy. Forget flying at all. Forget running and walking normally. Forget what being normal and whole was.

She would be grounded and crippled forever.

The choice was not an easy one. If she said yes, then Apple Bloom would be restored to wholeness and she would have repaid the debt she owed her.
If she said no, Apple Bloom would never be whole again, and she herself would continue to suffer intense and maddening guilt that might eventually lead to her doing something even worse than mentally beating herself up.

'I have to make this right.'

'But the Academy! Flying! Normal life!'

'Apple Bloom is more important.'

'FLYING. WONDERBOLTS. NORMAL LIFE. WHOLENESS.'

Scootaloo had tears in her eyes as she argued with the voice in her head.

'I know. I'll have to give that up. But if it means Bloom can have her normal life back, then it's worth it.'

'And you? What about the fact you'll hurt for all the rest of your life and not be able to fly or even walk normally? Is repaying a debt really worth that?!'

Scootaloo was outright crying now, the weight of knowing everything she would be giving up bearing down on her. The Wonderbolts had become her dream. And she was so close to attaining it. She loved flying, and especially flying with Dash. And if she took Dark Magic's offer, that would be gone. Forever. Her dream would be shattered. But then, she'd shattered any dreams Apple Bloom had seven years earlier. The filly had wanted to grow up and take over the farming with Applejack one day: bucking apples, herding the cows...all the things she could no longer do because of her injuries. Injuries Scootaloo caused.

'I took Apple Bloom's dream from her. If I can give it back...'

'At the cost of your own? Let me repeat the question: is repaying your debt worth giving up the one thing you waited most of your life for? Flying? Is it worth it?'

'Apple Bloom deserves her dream back.'

The argument went back and forth for several more hours until well after the sun had set as her internal battle raged on. Then finally, she hushed the negative voice and took a deep breath.

Her mind was made up. Her path was clear. She knew what she had to do tomorrow.

The sun had already set hours ago as she lifted off the ground and flew up to the cloud house. She went directly to bed, and for the first time in a long time slept deeply and peacefully.

**********************************
"Do it."

Dark Magic dropped his breakfast and whirled. Scootaloo stood staring at him, an intense urgency in her eyes.

"Good morning." He said. "You've made your choice, I see."

"I want you to do it." Scootaloo said. "Make Apple Bloom well. I'll take her injuries and pain if that's what it takes. Just do it."

Dark Magic stared at her. "You remember that I told you once this is done, it's final." He said. "You can't change it. It's permanent."

"I know." Scootaloo said, trying to keep her voice from trembling. "I don't care. If it means Apple Bloom is whole again, I'll do it. So go on."

"Alright." He said, facing her squarely. "For this to work, you need to close your eyes and focus entirely on your friend and her injuries. Nothing else. I'll cast the spell and those injuries will transfer to you. Permanently." He studied her. "Are you sure?"

"Just do it!" Scootaloo muttered, closing her eyes and focusing her thoughts on Apple Bloom.

Dark Magic shrugged, a small grin on his face. He lit his horn and focused intently on Scootaloo, connecting his mind to hers as he cast the spell, directed at her mental image of Apple Bloom. Scootaloo's body jerked and twitched as everything but Apple Bloom's image faded. Then her whole world went white with a blinding light. She felt as if she were falling, and her legs flailed. A burst of nearly white hot energy overtook her, and her mouth dropped open in a silent scream. Just as suddenly everything went dark. She was dimly aware of a brief flash of pain in her hind legs, then nothing.

When she opened her eyes, she was being levitated in the air. Dark Magic set her down, panting and sweating from the magical strain.

"It is done." He puffed.

Scootaloo looked back, and for a moment her heart clenched painfully at the sight of Apple Bloom's wheeled contraption attached to her. Not only that, but every single scar that had once been on Bloom was now on her own body. And then just as suddenly, she felt lighter than she had in seven years. All guilt dissipated, and a genuine, heartfelt smile crossed her face.

In that moment, it didn't matter that she couldn't feel the back half of her body, or that some of the vivid scars throbbed more than a little. All that mattered was that Apple Bloom would now be free to live a normal, whole life. Without pain, without scars, without being tied down by a wheeled frame.

She had made the best decision of her life, and she had no regrets for it. She had paid her debt to Apple Bloom.

Dark Magic was suddenly startled by the burst of happy laughter that exploded from her. He blinked.

"Thank you!" She said happily. "Thank you so much!"

"You know it’s not reversible?" He said, perplexed.

"I don't care! Apple Bloom is healed and I couldn't be happier!" Scootaloo laughed.

She turned around and made her way towards town, leaving the completely astonished and confused stallion gaping after her. He shook his head and loaded up his wagon, preparing to leave.

"Well, that didn't end as I expected it to." He muttered. "She actually took it...well."

He shook his head again as he put on his harness and headed in the opposite direction of Scootaloo.

Scootaloo, for her part, took a few minutes to get the hang of her new wheels, then trotted into town, headed for Sugarcube Corner, oblivious to the looks of pure, unadulterated shock from everypony that saw her.

She was giddy with joy at the knowledge that she had given Apple Bloom back her normal life.

She felt more alive and happy than she had in a long time.

Comments

[Wysteria]

So now, completely out of the blue, Apple Bloom is 100% better and Scootaloo is now permanently messed up?

I have to wonder have everypony will react to this? Or wonder is something else is going on?

[Connect-the-Pie]

"If I do this," Dark Magic said patiently, "it will remove her injuries and pain...and transfer them to you ."

I mean like... it’s not bad