Brand New Wings
Chapter One
"D'ja get enough to eat?" asked a blue-skinned woman with a broad spectrum of hair colors. Her question was addressed to her young pre-teen daughter sitting across the kitchen table. The blue woman stretched her arms, wings, and legs out after their dinner as she waited for an answer.
"Yeah, I think so…" replied the orange-skinned girl. She brushed a ringlet of her slightly curly magenta hair out of her face as she let out a small belch. "Excuse me," she giggled.
Her mother chortled along as she gathered the oddly large amount of plates that littered the table.
"Wow, you ate a lot tonight, Kiddo. Everything okay?" she asked with nonchalance present in her tone.
"Yeah, I'll be fine. Just really hungry tonight, I guess," the girl admitted. "I probably won't eat for another week!"
Contrary to her words, the orange girl had been quite voracious at every meal recently. She and her mother simply thought it to be a preparation for another growth-spurt.
One look at the girl made Rainbow Dash snort in laughter once more. Her daughter seemed to be fending off the lull of sleep with everything her food-filled body had.
"Here, let me clean up dinner. You look like you're about to fall over," informed Dash. "Go brush your teeth and head to bed. I'll be right up to tuck you in."
"Kay, mom," Scootaloo replied as she lifted her thin frame off of her chair, soon departing up the stairs.
Dash watched her go. "Something's up with her," she thought to herself as she rinsed a plate.
Upstairs in the bathroom, Scootaloo was gazing upon herself in the mirror. She knew she should at least be fattening up a little bit from her excessive cravings. However, for some reason she stayed her thin, lean form. Turning around, she looked at her wing-less back. Like most children her age, she was without wings, or a horn, or anything out of the ordinary; such was custom among this species of people.
Scootaloo had listened to her teacher some months before as she explained how a person matures. One of three things could happen to someone of Scootaloo's age: They grow wings, they grow a horn, or their muscle mass strengthens exponentially. The basis of the growth is mostly genetic, but sometimes a fluke will unfortunately occur. The attribute of this people was a result of a spell the first member of this species put in place. Scootaloo hadn't listened closely to the history; only retaining the fact that the first was "Patient Zero" essentially, and had an ability to transform others into beings somewhat similar to herself. Then there was some war between this new species and the old, with the new emerging victorious bearing their wings, horns, and strength; and in extremely rare cases all three.
But Scootaloo couldn't think about all that right now. In fact, she could barely keep focus on anything; she was too sleepy to do much other than drag her feet across the carpet and collapse onto her bed.
A few moments later, Scootaloo's mother slowly pushed the bedroom door open with a groaning creak from the hinges. A shaft of light slowly scanned the room as the door widened further. Eventually, the light fell upon the dreaming face of the orange girl. Giggling softly, Dash pulled the door shut and switched off the hallway light. "Kid's tired," she thought.
Returning down the stairs, Dash searched for something to do before she headed off to her own bed. Her eyes rested on a small blue hard-backed novel resting on a small table next to her couch. Smiling softly, the woman decided that reading might be a good option before bed. She flicked the lamp switch and a dim light illuminated the glittering letters on the book. Dash slid her fingers around the latest novel in the series as she lied down on the couch.
"Daring Do and the Tribe of Nan'ke," she said aloud as she read the title. "Perfect." Rainbow Dash dug herself deep into her seat as she delved into the book.
The large hand on the wall clock had done three full rotations before Dash heard small, rhythmic thumps going down the stairs. A small orange figure entered Dash's vision as she lowered the book.
"Mom?" asked the girl.
"Hmm?" she responded.
"My back hurts…"
Dash squinted her eyes in the dim light of her living room. She then was able to make out the appearance of her daughter. She was pale, trembling uncontrollably, and sweating profusely. Her hair was matted and messy, and her pupils were the size of pinholes in her deep purple eyes.
"A lot…" the girl added.
"Your back hurts, huh? C'mere, Sweaty, let me have a look," the woman requested.
Scootaloo slowly walked over to where her mother was seated on the couch, tripping over the leg of the coffee table and nearly losing what balance she had. Rainbow Dash patted her lap to signal her daughter where to sit.
Taking her seat, Scootaloo looked forward and leaned over. Dash lifted her daughter's sodden yellow shirt to inspect the orange back that it covered. Anticlimactically, Scootaloo's back was completely normal, aside from it being pale and clammy.
Scrunching her face in thought, Dash began prodding her daughter's mind and back for information.
"Where does it hurt?" she asked.
Scootaloo twisted both of her arms up and pointed to two spots adjacent each shoulder blade.
"Here, and here," she said.
Dash slowly poked her finger into one of the points where Scootaloo had indicated the pain was coming from. Evoking no response whatsoever, Dash asked another question.
"Does it hurt when I touch it?"
"No, should it?"
Dash smiled broadly behind her daughter's back. She had an idea as to what was causing Scootaloo so much pain, but it was too early to rule anything for sure.
"How long has it been hurting?"
"Well, everything was normal when I went to bed, except for me being super tired. Then I woke up and it felt like there were two sharp rocks under the skin on my back."
"Rocks, huh?" Dash sought more information. "Does it hurt when you move?"
Scootaloo squirmed a bit before answering. "No, not really."
Dash giggled softly, eliciting a peeved look from her daughter. "What's so funny?" she asked.
"Nothing," she managed. "It's just…it's just that I know why you're in pain."
Scootaloo stayed staring into her mother's eyes. "What?"
Dash lifted her hands to her daughter's face and made sure she had her absolute attention.
"Scootaloo, honey, I think you're gonna sprout wings here pretty soon!"
The orange girl stared long after Dash had removed her hands.
"S-sprout…wings?!" she asked. Dash nodded slowly with a bright grin that twisted her face upward. "Is it…gonna hurt?"
"I ain't gonna lie...yes, it will hurt a bit. But I know you'll be able to stick through it; you do have me as a mom, don't you?"
Scootaloo giggled slightly. Her mother had always told stories about how she had broken several bones throughout the course of her life. Each time it happened she wore the cast or the brace for however long she had to, then got right back to doing the exact thing that broke the bone in the first place. Scootaloo's mother was as tough as nails, and she needed to be the same.
"Did it hurt when you got your wings?" she asked, still unsure about the whole situation.
"Did it hurt?" she replied. "Kinda. But the weirdest part was the feeling of having these babies." Dash flared her wings in a display of confidence. Her blue feathers stretched themselves out and made the wings look bigger than they actually were. She then lowered her proud appendages and wrapped them around her precious daughter.
Scootaloo giggled at her mother's distinct behavior. "She's so cool," the girl thought. She leaned into the blue woman and squeezed her tightly.
"Here, how about I read you a story?" Dash asked. Scootaloo nodded, and the two lied back into the couch. "Just tell me when it starts feeling hot, okay?" Scootaloo nodded again. Dash plucked the book back up off of the side table and opened to the first page. She read the title, then began reciting the words on the pages.
The large hand on the clock had done another rotation when Scootaloo interrupted the story.
"Daring Do's nose was flooded with a foul stench as she set foot into the murky swamp water. Behind her, the tribesman were chasing and shoutin-"
"Mom?" the girl asked.
"Yeah?" Dash replied, pausing in the middle of a sentence.
"It's starting to feel hot."
Dash's eyes widened, but she was careful to not let Scootaloo see it. Slowly, she rose from the couch. "Okay, you're getting pretty close now." Dash set her daughter down onto the couch, and left to set everything up.
She snatched a wooden chair from the kitchen table and carried it into the bathroom down the hall. Setting it in front of the bath tub, she angled it so she could sit in it normally, and Scootaloo could sit in her lap facing the opposite direction. Sighing deeply in fear for events to come, she fetched a small washcloth from the drawer, and rolled it up.
Dash reentered the living room to find that Scootaloo was panting heavily with her body slumped over. Her eyes were wide and quivering, and she was shaking harder than before. Dash ran over to the hurting child and parted the girl's lips. Scootaloo had her teeth clenched tight and was fervently grinding them together.
"Oh boy," muttered Dash. "Here, open your mouth."
Scootaloo strained to release her jaw muscles. Finally opening them wide enough, Dash stuffed the washcloth between the girl's teeth. The trembling girl was moaning softly as her mother scooped her up into her arms and carried her into the bathroom. Dash sat down onto the wooden chair, and sat her daughter in her lap. The blue woman peeled Scootaloo's damp yellow shirt off of her body, and discarded it in one motion as she pointed the girl's back to the bathtub.
The two girls then sat with muted moans echoing off of the plastic shower walls for what seemed like hours. Eventually, the orange girl's panting became more frequent and her moans rose in severity. Dash could feel drips of water on her shoulder, and lifted her hand to rest on the back of her daughter's head. She caressed the purple hair in an effort to comfort the sobbing girl.
"It's okay, it's okay, Mommy's here, Mommy's here," Dash chanted.
Suddenly, Scootaloo's entire body contracted and squeezed the air from Dash's lungs. Grunting from the tight embrace, the blue woman tried her best to calm the storm. She failed miserably, however. Scootaloo's muffled cries and screams only grew in strength as her whole body clenched and relaxed repeatedly.
"Come on, it's okay. You're almost there," comforted Dash. Scootaloo didn't seem to hear her; her cries muffled by the rag overpowered what noise Dash could produce with her shortened lung capacity. The woman's heart reached out to the girl; wishing so deeply that she could remove the pain the girl was in.
At last, Scootaloo let out a massive scream as her body seized up and didn't relax.
"Here it comes, Scootaloo, here it comes!" Dash yelled.
What happened next might haunt Dash for the rest of her life. One moment she was staring at the tiled wall of the shower with nothing blocking her view, the next a sickening cracking noise sounded as two massive skinless and muscle-less wings shot out of Scootaloo's back in the blink of an eye; literally. In the middle of Dash's blink, two skeletal wings appeared seemingly out of thin air.
It was the most horrifying thing she had ever seen. Her daughter was howling loudly and crying like a faucet left to run. Her ghastly, skinless wings stayed stiff and unmoving. Time seemed to go slowly; hours dragged on for Rainbow Dash as Scootaloo's body clenched then unclenched, and sobbed then cried. After tiredly fearing that Scootaloo's new wings were permanently skeletal, she received her answer in the form of a disgusting sizzling noise.
Red strands laced themselves over each other in between bits of white, pulling taut. The newly formed muscles contracted, giving the wings movement. Finally, a hissing noise accompanied a wave of bright orange skin that glazed over the muscle and bone.
Scootaloo's cries dropped off completely as she and her wings fell limp in Dash's arms. The blue woman stared in an almost catatonic state. Eventually, she regained control of her senses as she scanned the scene around the two girls.
The only prominent noise in the room came from her own erratic breathing. Dash found that she was still clutching the unconscious girl with an unnecessary amount of strength. Releasing her grip, she looked about the bathroom. To Dash's horror, a rather large patch of the shower wall in front of her was spattered with tiny droplets of Scootaloo's blood. The orange girl the blood belonged to was completely motionless save for her breathing. Her chest rose, then fell, and her bare wings twitched periodically.
The blue woman looked at the featherless wings and began to worry. Again, she was startled as the wings grew yet again. An audible flumph! sounded as orange feathers exploded into existence.
Taking in all of this information, Dash could only laugh dementedly. She giggled mostly at the silly noise the feathers had made. After she eventually regained her composure, she plucked the wet and deformed rag from Scootaloo's mouth and lifted herself off of the chair.
She walked a few steps toward the bathroom door before a bright orange glow shone upon her face. Slowly swiveling her neck, she looked to the source of the beaming light. It was the mirror; and through it she could see Scootaloo's bright new wings in all their splendor.
They were absolutely beautiful.
The feathers glinted and shimmered in the artificial light. Twitching ever so slightly, the plumage ruffled then returned to order. Scootaloo mumbled something incoherent, and switched her head to her mother's other shoulder. Her gorgeous new wings flittered briefly as she did this. A single tear was brought to Rainbow Dash's eye as she witnessed this captivating display.
Holding her daughter tightly, Dash walked out of the dirty bathroom and up the stairs into Scootaloo's room. She reached into the girl's dresser and pulled out a faded pink spaghetti-strap tank top. Dash threaded her daughter's wings through the shirt, then pulled the article down over her head. She first made certain to keep the wings out of the straps, then she pulled the girls arms through them. She finally slid the shirt down to cover the orange torso.
Rainbow Dash retreated to the door after tucking her feathered daughter in and looked back. She smiled broadly as she envisioned Scootaloo's new future; firstly, her tomorrow.
That would be the day she'd finally get to fly with her special little girl.
Author's Note
Hello, and thank you for reading!
Yes they're anthrofied, yes Rainbow Dash is Scootaloo's mom, and yes she grows wings magically. This is an alternate universe, so I decide what happens in it.
I got the idea from a crazy dream I had. After thinking about it for a while, I decided that the only way I was going to be able to make peace with the concept would be to write it out (like any other story).
Please tell me what you think of this idea! I don't want to find out that I'm insane or something, and that I enjoy envisioning morbid scenes of a preteen girl having appendages force themselves out of her shoulder blades.
Also, tiny side note, I was listening to the songs on my iPod and Daft Punk's "Motherboard" came up. I realized that the tones of the different sounds and their chronology line up neatly with the story. Just thought I'd throw that in there. 