Scootaloo is Slightly Flame Retardant

“Oh dear oh dear oh dear,” Rarity worried, “please, doctor, tell me they’re alright!” Applejack and Rainbow Dash stood beside her, awaiting the news as well.

“Miss Rarity and Miss Applejack, there is no need to worry, your sisters have suffered a few minor first degree burns, nothing serious. They should be healed up within the week.” The doctor was happy to inform them.

“What…what about Scoots?” Rainbow Dash bit her lip.

“Oddly, besides a few charred feathers, Scootaloo shows no signs of injury. You should be very proud of her. If she hadn’t pulled Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle out of that fire things could have been much worse,” the doctor told her.

“Can we see them?” Applejack asked, still fretting a bit.

“Yes, they’re in room 502 right down the hall and to the left.” The doctor pointed a hoof.

Inside the room the three mares found their younger counterparts. Strangely they were in high spirits. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle were lying bandaged up, sharing a hospital bed and Scootaloo was hopping about on the floor, buzzing her little wings.

“Scootaloo got her cutie mark!” the two younger sisters shouted as the orange Pegasus leapt about gleefully, an ear-to-ear grin on her face. Any admonishments the trio of mares had for the little ones were forgotten when they saw how happy the fillies were.

“Let’s see it Scoots!” Rainbow Dash said excitedly.

“Look!” the little Pegasus hopped over to them and showed off the glistening new mark on her flank. It was an image of a tiny flame with an X over it. The mares were confused.

“That’s wonderful Scootaloo dear…” Rarity tried to be tactful, “but, may I ask, what does it mean?” She glanced over at Applejack and Dash but they seemed as confounded as she.

“I think it means I’m fireproof!” Scootaloo said, the joy and awe in her voice was palpable.

“I dunno Scoots,” Rainbow pondered, “you are a little bit burned, so you can’t be fireproof…I don’t think anypony can be fireproof…”

“Huh…” Scootaloo’s excitement decreased a little as she reconsidered her new mark. “Well then maybe it means I’m a good firefighter!” She perked right back up.

“Uh Scootaloo, not to rain on your parade, but you’re the one who started the fire in the first place…” Apple Bloom interjected. Scootaloo’s “Cutie Mark Crusaders torch jugglers” idea hadn’t gone very well.

“Well darn it,” the little Pegasus was starting to get irritated, “What does it mean then? What’s my special talent?”

Rarity, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash exchanged blank expressions.

“Hey why don’t we go ask Twilight,” Dash finally piped up, “she knows everything, I’ll bet she can tell ya!”

“Yeah!” Scootaloo said with renewed excitement, “lets go!”

-----

“Just a minute!” Came the familiar voice as Scootaloo rapped impatiently on the library door. When it opened, a sleepy looking Twilight greeted them, still in her pajamas.

“Did you just get up, hon?” Applejack inquired.

“Yeah, I was up all night re-shelving books…then I decided I didn’t like the way I’d re-shelved them so I had to re-re-shelve them and…oh my, Apple Bloom! Sweetie Belle! What are those bandages for? Are you two alright?”

“The doc says they’ll be fine,” Rainbow Dash said, “thanks to Scoots here,” Rainbow patted her number one fan on the head and tousled her mane.

“Scootaloo saved us…even if she did start the fire in the first place,” Apple Bloom explained.

“Another crusader caper gone awry I’m afraid,” Applejack shot a reproachful glance at her sister.

“I see. So, what brings you all here then?” Twilight wondered.

“Do you know what a picture of a flame with an X over it means?” Rarity asked.

“A fl…oh yeah of course,” Twilight laughed, “In fact…” she turned the waistband of her pajamas inside out. On it was a tag with a symbol identical to Scootaloo’s cutie mark. “It’s used on fabrics and the like. It means ‘flame retardant’.”

“Flame re-what now?” Applejack puzzled

“Flame retardant. It means it won’t burn as easily. You don’t want your P.J.’s going up in flames!”

“I’m fireproof!” Scootaloo shouted with exhilaration, “that is so awesome!”

“Wait what?” Now it was Twilight’s turn to be confused. She stared quizzically at the orange filly until she saw the mark on her flank. “Oh…wow…Scootaloo, your cutie mark…congrats…” she said with a ‘what the fuck?’ style expression on her face.

“Now I can be a torch juggler or a fire breather or something cool like that and I’ll never get burned!” Scootaloo felt like she had super powers.

“Um, hold on a minute there Scootaloo…” Twilight raised a hoof gingerly. Scootaloo stopped bouncing. “Fireproof and flame retardant are two very different things…”

“Huh? Well how different?”

“Well something that’s fireproof won’t burn at all. Something that’s flame retardant will still burn, just not as easily as most things.”

“Well could I still swallow fire?” The filly asked hopefully.

“I wouldn’t recommend it…”

“Could I walk through fire?”

“Um, maybe? You’d have to do it really quickly though…”

“Well what can I do then?” Scootaloo demanded.

“I think this calls for an experiment…”

-----

“Ok see now if I hold my hoof over the candle for more than a second or two, I…ow…I get burned,” Twilight demonstrated, “now you try.”

Scootaloo thrust her hoof into the flame confidently, only to recoil a few seconds later when it started to burn.

“Huh…five seconds…well, that’s three more than most ponies!” Twilight made an attempt at a convincing smile and failed miserably.

“So what’s my special talent then?”

“Well, Scootaloo, it appears you are slightly flame retardant.”

“Like your pajamas?”

“Ehh…yeah…maybe not quite as much, but yeah…” Twilight trailed off.

Scootaloo looked around at her friends, all of whom were doing their best to look happy for her and sucking at it, nervous grins plastered on their faces.

She slumped back onto her haunches and sighed. She looked at her ridiculous cutie mark. “God damnit”