Scootaloo was strapped into a strange device that looked like something out of Rainbow Dash's secret books, which the evil doctor locked an innocent mare into before transforming her into some kind of monster.

A pale green rubber cap sat on her head, blue and red lights blinking like some alien brain. Translucent tentacle-like wires ending with suction electrodes were attached to her body, and her limbs were strapped down to sinister black hoof rests. Scootaloo didn't know whether she needed Luna or a plucky assistant to save her from its weird clutches.

Twilight walked in with Raindrops, whom Scootaloo had to admit wasn't that bad a pony, even if she really needed to get out more with a special somepony. Whatever that meant. Urgh! Please Luna, don't let Rarity rub off on me like she's doing Sweetie Belle. What do special someponies do, anyway? And why do her friends need to do that?

Scootaloo asked why Rainbow Dash hid those in a locked chest under her bed, and was sworn to secrecy lest everypony learn she liked other books beside Daring Do. Scootaloo joked that Twilight was rubbing off on her, and almost busted a lung laughing at how red Rainbow Dash turned.

Scootaloo burst out laughing at the memory. "Are you alright?" Twilight asked, looking concerned.

"*Snrk*! Yeah, just remembering something. Hey Twilight, I think you should know that Dashie likes you!" Scootaloo sang, merrily playing matchmaker.

"What!?" The look on Twilight's face as her wings popped open like Rainbow Dash when she got ahold of an autographed copy of Daring Do was priceless.

"Yeah, she got real red when we were talking about you. All good stuff, I promise," Scootaloo said with a smile so innocent a little halo appeared over her head.

"Alright, I'll talk to her later, but first, let's see what's going on with your core." Twilight, blushing brighter than anything she ever saw from Fluttershy, flipped the machine's ‘on’ switch.

The headpiece, with the tentacle like network of transparent looking wires glew brightly, with a similar green glow flowing down the wires to little suction cups attached to her body. The pale colors began to brighten and expand, until they fully enveloped Scootaloo in a bubble of green energy.

Twilight looked at the readings and hummed thoughtfully. "Hmmm... I see... Oh! That's odd... Okay... I didn't know pegasi could have that too ..."

"Twilight, you're going into creepy mad scientist mode again," Spike warned.

"Sorry Spike. Scootaloo, it seems you have a rather strong magic core, but the blockage looks like something you'd see in unicorns only. But that's silly talk, no offense, but everypony knows that pegasi can't cast spells."

"But what about The Three Mages? They showed a pegasus and an earth pony using magic!"

"Everypony knows fairy tales aren't real," Twilight said, chuckling softly, "But nonetheless, after fixing this little block we can start getting you ready to tap into your magic core more easily. Now if you were a unicorn, I'd have to place a sap cap on you to prevent a magic surge. But being a pegasus, I guess just securing you so you don't accidentally fly through the ceiling would suffice. Is that okay, Raindrops?"

"I guess so, just make sure to keep free of the wing joints," Raindrops replied, looking over to Spike to see if he knew where this was heading.

"Don't worry, Twilight will make sure everything’s safe before continuing. She might have a reputation for being a crazy mad scientist, but she'd never take chances with a pony’s safety... At least not intentionally," Spike shrugged noncommittally before walking over to help Twilight get a restraining table and protective gear from a far off closet.

Scootaloo gulped as the table was dragged to the center of the room in Twilight's magical aura. Spike gave her a comforting smile. "Hey, don't worry about a thing. Sure, we never did this with a pegasus, but I've seen her do his with a few unicorns, not to mention when she had Celestia do this for her as a filly. There's nothing to be worried about, and I'll be here with you."

"Really?" Scoots meekly asked.

"Sure, what kind of friend would I be if I left you hanging? Rainbow Dash would probably rainboom me to the moon if I did," Spike laughed, easing the tension in the room a little.

"Yeah she would! Dash is awesome!" Scootaloo shouted pridefully.

"When you're ready, let me know and everything will be over in a minute," Twilight said as she returned to Scootaloo.

"Um, sure? I'm as ready as I'll ever be," Scootaloo replied as bravely as she could, eyeing the cold table warily.

"Okay, let's do science!" Twilight yelled happily, ominous lightning flashing in the background.

"Sorry!" Spike exclaimed, "Slipped onto the tesla coil."

Scootaloo couldn't shake an uneasy feeling that something was going to wrong. Maybe it was the alien tentacle monster of a machine she was previously strapped to, or the lightning that flashed a few seconds ago as Twilight threw a cliche mad scientist line. Or, more than likely, it was the weird sensation of being strapped to a table, as Twilight muttered over her checklist while Spike facepalmed.

Regardless, Scootaloo suppressed a shiver as Raindrops trotted beside her and rested a hoof comfortingly on her withers. "Are you okay, Scootaloo?"

"I'm not scared!" Scootaloo blurted defensively.

"Of course not, but if you were, that'd be alright," Raindrops replied, comfortingly rubbing Scootaloo's back.

"Well... Maybe a little. But you and Spike won't let anything bad happen... So I'm good. Kinda." Scootaloo admitted sheepishly.

"That's right, Spike and I will be right here with you," Raindrops grinned.

"It's time to start, is everyone ready?" Twilight inquired, quill hovering over her checklist at the last empty box. After checking and rechecking to make sure that everyone present was ready did the last box get checked, "Alright then, if you and Spike will step back, this will only take a moment."

"Are you sure you know what you're doing? No offense, but what if this is like what happens to unicorns?" Raindrops asked hesitantly, stepping closer to Scootaloo.

"Not in pegasi, but I've never heard of a pegasus spellcaster outside of fiction. And these straps are lightning retardant and grounded so no worries about electrical damage, and they’ll keep her down to prevent her from flying straight through the ceiling. As for unicorns. I've done it plenty of times. Although it was slightly different."

"How so?"

"All a unicorn needs is a sap cap to prevent magic from forming. It takes anywhere from thirty seconds to five minutes for the burst of magic to run its course. Then it's all over."

"Alright," Raindrops said, moving over to Spike as Twilight readied the spell.

Scootaloo shut her eyes tightly to prevent herself from seeing whatever weird mojo Twilight was going to do. But her temporary guardian and friend were there to witness what transpired next.

Scootaloo's body was enveloped in a amethyst aura and her eyes glowed with with magic. Her mind went blank as the pervasive feeling of magic rushed through her like a tidal wave, seeking release, and release it did as she lifted her wings.

Blasts of magic shot out and struck Spike and Raindrops, transforming them into squirrels with the same color schemes as their normal bodies. Scootaloo's hooves, meanwhile, removed the straps from her body as she floated toward the center of the room. Random spells shot out with each wingbeat, while her hooves alternated between moving things in telekinetic auras, and shooting random blasts of purple lightning. All the while, she felt strangely detached, as if looking upon it as an outsider. Watching as the lab came to life, Twilight hurriedly tried to fix things, and two pretty squirrels ran into the maelstrom of chaos.

Twilight had decided that she was a very unhappy camper being on the receiving end of a massive flare. Usually ponies who flared in her lab had measures to keep them from releasing random bursts of magic as blockages, calluses, or anomalies were corrected, releasing the built up forces that had been building up as the body worked to stabilize itself. And very few of them had any magical core worth talking about. Not that she felt herself superior, but rather they weren't that dangerous. But the thought of a pegasus casting magic ... Twilight felt a part of her brain snap at the improbability of it. Even more so than when she tried studying the Pinkie Sense.

But there was one thing that took precedence over trying to understand how Scootaloo was doing something that was supposed to only belong to unicorns, and that was making sure that the pegasus under her care didn't do any lasting damage to herself or others.

But before she could make a move, the most unlikely of guests arrived. "Discord, what in Tartarus are you doing here!?" Twilight shouted over the din of magic.

"Oh, I just sensed some lovely chaos, much more better than her and Rainbow Dash's cooking, I must say," Discord said merrily.

"If you're here, help!" Twilight said, zapping at a series of wires that had transformed into giant tentacles.

"Oh, if you insist! After all, that's what friends do for each other, right?" Discord said, swishing his tail. For just a moment, everything returned to normal, only to get blasted with Scootaloo’s next volley of spells.

"Yes, and thank you. Just please, keep whatever you’re doing up, and let me deal with Scootaloo.”
Sighing wearily, Twilight flew unevenly over to Scootaloo. So this is what Celestia felt like when Rainbow Dash's sonic rainboom set me off.

She touched Scootaloo and the aura around her died down. But unlike herself, when her flare died down ending in a Cutie Mark, Scootaloo's ended with a sleeping filly clinging to Twilight's neck.

Scootaloo had switched from clinging to Twilight to nestling herself between Raindrops’ wings. Raindrops herself was looking at Discord with a mixture of horror and relief. "So you're supposed to be a good guy now?"

"Sure, let's go with that, although I have quite the soft spot for the little Generators of Chaos, and when I saw that Rainbow Jr. here was in danger I just had to help. After all, Twilight and I are good friends. Isn't that right, princess Twilight Sparkle?"

"Yes, sure, why not. Discord... I thought I'd never say this. Ever. But, thank you, you really helped me out," Twilight said with something between a smile and a grimace.

"So you'll finally come and have tea with me and Fluttershy? After all, with how you all have been avoiding me, I was starting to think we weren't friends at all," Discord replied with a wry smile.

"Yes, and I guess I can talk to you more, and yes Raindrops. We've... Well, really just Fluttershy, reformed Discord. He's been discovering the friendship of magic," Twilight said, rubbing her forehead with her hoof, "And I'm sorry about that. It was unprecedented, and I apologize for that."

"Well, Discord... Did help," Raindrops said with a shudder that didn't go unnoticed by Discord, as revealed by his arched eyebrow, "Sorry. It's just, last time I saw you... It was quite unpleasant. But yeah, thank you for helping Scootaloo. As for you, Twilight, I guess I see why you need a sap cap on unicorns, so since everything’s alright now... I guess it's alright... Goodbye everyone?"

Receiving a round of goodbyes, she trotted up the stairs and out of the library. What an odd bunch you've landed yourself in with Scootaloo. I have a feeling that everything’s going to turn out alright.

Author's Notes:

Something that came up when I was making this chapter is that yes "glew" is a past tense version of glow. Honestly I was suprised with the visceral levels of hate for the word, but it's something I was taught was proper.

Anywho. For the real A/N, I've had this scene more or less in my head since I started writing this fic. And I feel accomplished with finally getting around to finishing this part of the story. The next fic, "Golden Crusade" is going to be out in probably a month or two from now.

For all of you who've been with this from the beginning thank you, and for those of you just finishing up. There's more to come.

Other GoldenVerse Fics out right now:

http://www.fimfiction.net/story/126409/strawberry-muffins

[Takes place a few weeks before Chapter 1. It's sequel takes place right before the big reveal (or two days before this chapter takes place.]

http://www.fimfiction.net/story/212009/types-of-love

[Begins in Chapter 11, and from the end of this fic / Chapter 3 of ToL, branch into their own stories for a while with passing cameos / crossovers for a while.]