Rainbow Dash looked down at her adoptive daughter, whose eyes shone back with a silent plea that broke the Wonderbolt’s heart. She couldn’t bear to see Scootaloo so desperate. It was so unlike when she showed the determination and will to succeed despite her handicap. Dash felt her mind begin to shake with the pressure of this decision. On the one hoof, she knew that it was a financial impossibility. Wonderbolts got paid 25,000 bits per year, true, but it would still take a long time to raise the necessary 100,000 bits for the operation. But on the other, she couldn’t take the pain of seeing Scootaloo looking longingly towards the other Pegasi foals, yearning to soar as they did.

She was just about to announce her decision when Dr. Hoovsy suddenly chimed in. “Rainbow, may I have a private word with Scootaloo?”

“Huh?” Dash asked, before shaking her head and clearing the cobwebs, “uh, sure, I guess. I’ll just be out in the hall.”

With those words, Dash retreated from the small room, and Scootaloo was left staring. In that moment, she suddenly felt very much alone, and she wanted her new mother back beside her. It felt like it had when her birth mother had left the room after tucking her in for the night. She’d cry out, and the matron would dutifully return and rub a soothing hoof through her mane while singing a soft lullaby of love. The young filly would instantly forget all about her fears and curl up into a deep sleep, receiving a small kiss on the cheek as she did so.

But this was all new, and this time, there was no soothing song or calming hoof through the mane. Now, she had to face this doctor, and she didn’t know why the mare had requested that Rainbow Dash leave the room. She tried to sit up straight and show how tough she was, but inside, she was a quivering little filly. She felt sweat begin to bead and then pour down her face. It caught on the bridge of her nose and ran into her eyes. She got lightheaded and began wobbling in place a bit, but was stopped by a pair of gentle hooves and a very kind smile.

“Whoa there, little one!” Hoovsy said, “we can’t have you fainting, now can we?”

“I…I’m not scared!” Scootaloo said as she straightened her fur a bit, “I was just…testing your reflexes!”

“Oh, I’m sure you were,” the doctor said with an amused sparkle in her eye, “but let’s forget reflexes for now. Let’s talk about your wings.”

Scootaloo looked at the table in embarrassment before slowly spreading her tiny appendages. “You mean these things?”

“Yes, I do,” the doctor said, “and they’re definitely not a cause for humiliation.”

“How aren’t they?” Scootaloo asked, “I mean, I have the smallest wings of all the Pegasi foals at my school. I can’t fly, I can’t even hover! All I can do is buzz them, and all that does is draw cute looks from other ponies. I don’t wanna be cute! I wanna be tough! I wanna be brave! I wanna be…like my new Mom.”

Hoovsy smiled again. She understood everything that the young mare was going through. She had seen it time and time again, when disabled foals and their parents came to her, desperate for answers on just what the affliction was and if it could be fixed. She thought of a certain Unicorn filly that she had examined just the previous day. She’d been born without the use of her horn, as the internal organs that Unicorns use to create magic had been improperly formed. The poor filly wept bitterly at her predicament. She explained that she just wanted to make her parents proud, considering their status as the magic champions of Neighagra Falls. She felt worthless and inferior in their sight, and in the sight of all the other foals. So, Hoovsy had told her a secret, and it had lifted her spirits so much that she left the clinic happier than ever. Now, she prepared to divulge the same secret to Scootaloo.

“I know you want to soar through the heavens like a bird on the wing,” Hoovsy said compassionately, “but…unfortunately…that isn’t possible.”

“But what about the Flight Transfer procedure?” Scootaloo asked.

“Well, the fact is…your mom may not be in a position to commit to something like that right now. Whether that’s financially, emotionally, or anything else is irrelevant. It just may not happen. But let me tell you something, Scootaloo…a secret that may just help you more than any surgery could.”

“A secret?” Scootaloo asked, intrigued by the doctor’s sudden shift in volume, “what secret?”

Hoovsy smiled once again, and removed two small pockets from her lab coat. They were along her flanks, and Scootaloo gasped when she saw what they had to reveal. Two tiny wings poked out, as flightless as she was. The filly’s mouth practically hit the ground as the feathered appendages made themselves known. She couldn’t believe that the kind doctor, whom she had taken as being an Earth Pony, was actually a member of her own species! She was both delighted and disappointed at the same time. As much as she enjoyed being able to relate to the doctor, she also realized that, if Hoovsy couldn’t fly, then she’d never be able to.

“Well…there they are,” Hoovsy said, “I know they aren’t much, but I do have them.”

“I…I just can’t believe you’re a Pegasus!”

“I am,” Hoovsy said, “born and bred in Cloudsdale itself. I remember the day I discovered that my wings were much smaller than the other foals’. I remember being so sad when they all trounced off to Flight Camp, and I was stuck at home. I tried and tried and tried to fly, Scootaloo, and my parents helped me immeasurably. My dad even built me this ramp and I would jump off of it and try so hard to pump my wings and soar, but I never did. I felt terrible about myself, but my parents and friends saw me through it. I realized that, as long as I had a family and wonderful friends, I didn’t need to fly.”

“But…don’t you ever wonder what it’s like to fly?”

Hoovsy nodded. “I’d be lying if I said I’d never wanted to try again. Even since I graduated from medical school and became a doctor, there’ve been times when I wanted to soar with the other Pegasi. But then I remember my friends and family, and those feelings of inferiority and disappointment melt away. I think they will for you, too. Take your mom, Rainbow Dash, for instance. I bet she’s just as pleased as can be that you’re her daughter.”

“I don’t think so,” Scootaloo confessed, “and that’s part of the reason I came on this trip. I…heard her telling her friends that she was upset with somepony for not being able to fly, and I just know that pony’s me! I just know it! She’s not proud of me, and she wishes she’d never adopted me! She…doesn’t love me.”

At that point, the door to the room burst open and Rainbow Dash flew in and threw her hooves around Scootaloo. It was very apparent that the Pegasus had been weeping severely, and she covered the young one’s face in kisses. It was such a shocking turn away from her normal character, that it nearly knocked the doctor off her hooves. But the moment was beautiful, and she soon regained her composure and became a willing spectator. She knew she’d said all she needed to say, and she just needed for the parental figure to take care of the rest.

“Oh, Scootaloo…” Dash said through a thick voice, “…don’t you DARE think that I don’t love you, and that I’m not proud of you! I love you more than anypony else! You’re my daughter, and I’m always gonna be proud of you, no matter what!”

“But…I can’t fly!” Scootaloo cried, “I can’t fly, and I’m never gonna be able to!”

“That’s okay, Scoot!” Dash exclaimed as she held the filly tighter, “I don’t care that you can’t fly! I just want you in my life! We started as good friends, became sisters, and now we’re something even closer…a mother and her daughter. Flight aside, that’s a pretty awesome combination. Look, I know you’re upset about not being able to fly…but it doesn’t matter, Scoot! What matters is you as a pony, and as my daughter! You have such an amazing life back in Ponyville, and you’re such an amazing filly. Frankly, you don’t need wings to fly, because you’ve soared your entire life!”

Scootaloo couldn’t hold back her own tears anymore, and she buried her head into Rainbow’s shoulder. The two Pegasi shared a few beautiful moments together, as they felt their bond strengthen even more than it already was. Scootaloo had rediscovered her own courage and confidence, and she now knew more than ever that Rainbow and the other ponies loved and accepted her, regardless of her disability. She was intensely grateful for everything that the doctor had told her, and she saw the wisdom in what she said. She would never be upset at her shortcomings again. After all, in Rainbow Dash’s words, she was “all kinds of awesome, anyway.”