I do not own MLP.
"This is me speaking"
'I'm thinking.....I'm thinking'

AVAVAVAVAVAVAVAVAVAVAVAVAVAVAVAVAVAVAVAVAVAVAVAVAVAVAV

Twilight

"Are you ok?" I asked Rainbow Dash, who was standing outside the Scootaloo's hospital room. After she had given Scootaloo to a nurse, Rainbow had come to me to take Speedster into custody. It was so shocking to hear, but the blood on the carpet was Scootaloo's and with Rainbows word, that was all the evidence I needed to arrest Speedster, who was spending time in a cell.

"How much longer Twilight? Do you think they found something bad, life-threatening bad?"

I put my hoof around her shoulders in an effort to help her calm down. "I sure she'll be fine. She's tough.....just like her hero."

Rainbow looked down, a sad look with guilt heavy in her eyes. "Some hero. Celestia knows how long this has been going on and I never questioned it. All those times she had some injury, she told me she just wiped out on her scooter or got into a fight at school." She leaned back and put her hoofs over her eyes, it was clear she was crying. "I'm so stupid!"

"You're not stupid Dash, everypony missed it. And you were the one to end it. You saved her Dash"

The guilty look came back, "Yeah, "I" saved her."

The way she said "I" had thrown me off. There was something she wasn't telling me, but.....

'As long as Scootaloo is safe, I guess it can wait till later.' I thought, looking back at the door.

We heard somepony call our names and I turned to look. The rest of the girls had shown up along with Spike, Sweetie Bell and Applebloom. I walked towards them but Dash stayed by the door.

"Hey girls, thanks for coming."

"It's no problem darling." Rarity said a sad look in her eye "Spike told us what happened. And to think it happened to poor Scootaloo."

"That no good varmint Speedster! He's lucky that they put him in that cell, or I would'a showed him a thing or two." The anger that Applejack showed was shocking but not surprising. Looking back on the way that the Apple family treated their kin, it was no wonder AJ was furious. Fluttershy didn't say a word but slowly walked to Rainbow Dash and put her hoof around her. Rainbow leaned in, taking some comfort from the hug.

"Twilight?"

I looked down at the two crusaders. They looked so sad but Sweetie looked the worst, not hiding her emotions. Applebloom tried to be strong but it was clear that she was upset too.

"Is Scoots going to be ok?" Asked Applebloom, her eyes full of hope.

"She's going to be fine."

We waited for what seemed like hours before the doors opened. Eventually several nurses and doctors walked out and one stopped to talk to us.

"Doc," Rainbow said as she ran towards him. "Is she going to be ok?"

"Well, do you want the good news or bad news."

We looked at each other and Pinkie Pie spoke for us

"Good News?"

"She will be fine, she's not in any moral danger."

Everypony let out the breath they had been holding.....but then..

"What's the bad news?"

The Doctor looked down at the children , and AJ got the massage

"Girls, why don't ya'll go get somethin' from Sugercube Corner." She pulled a bag of bits from her hat. "As much as you want. And get somethin' for Scootaloo too."

The girls looked at each other and took the bag. Though they were still sad, the thought of multiple pastries did brighten up their faces a little. After they walked out of hearshot, the Doctor began.

"There was allot to heal, more than from what she got last night. Damaged tissue, torn muscles, and the worst....her wings."

"What about them?" I asked, scared to know the answer.

"They were broken from last night, which is understandable. Pegasi wings aren't the most durable of body parts, especially young ones. But when we went to heal them, they wouldn't set. Confused we ordered a mutli-layered x-ray spell on her."

Rainbow swallowed and so did I. They only did those if something was really wrong.

"It turns out that her wings have been misaligned for a long time, we suspect from early infancy. The muscles and tendons have grown around this problem, so simply repairing the damage is impossible, as this is the bodies norm. And any surgery would be long and dangerous, her body wouldn't be able to handle it."

You could have heard a pin drop. Everypony was quite, unable to even say a word.

Miraculously, it was Fluttershy who spoke up first. "Does this mean she will never fly?"

the doctor sighed "Yes. While Pegasi use magic to stay airborne, the wings themselves do play a role, not dissimilar to a unicorn horn. With her wings like this, she will never get more than a few inches off the ground."

"But," said Rainbow, looking horrified "you said she would fine. That she would be ok."

"And she will be, yes. Her injuries are no longer life threatening, but this has been here a long time. Fixing this is near impossible. Which is the next thing I need to talk to you about."

"Oh, what else is there?" Said Rarity, "What else is so important next to this?"

"Her wings aren't getting better."

"What?" Asked Rainbow in a quiet voice.

"Her wings have been damaged for so long that when they were broken again, they finally gave up. They aren't healing well, even with magic and if they do they will be bent out of shape. A surgery might be able to fix them, but her body is too weak to handle anything like that. And by the time she is well enough to have the surgery, she will be too old to have the operation."

I spoke up "So then what are you saying?

"Right now, several of the doctors believe that.....amputation would be the best solution."

We were quite again, unable to say anything. I felt Spike hug my leg and I put my wing around him. This was terrible. But before I could get a word in, Rainbow jumped and tackled the doctor, pinning him to the floor.

"That's not true! You tell me that's not true!" She spoke with anger and grief, tears running down her face.

To his credit, the doctor didn't fight back, but let her get the emotions out. He closed his eyes.

"I'm sorry."

Rainbow ran out of the hospital and took off the second she was outside.

We all looked at each other, and thought the same thing 'What are we going to do now?'

Rainbow Dash

I flew as fast as I could, and didn't stop. I didn't know what else to do. Never fly? Amputation? Why? I landed on a cloud and I began to cry. I didn't care who saw me. I was supposed to be her hero, her big sister, and I let this happen. I failed her, and because I did, she'll be even more hurt then before.

I don't know when the tears stopped, minutes....hours... who cares. I opened my eyes to see that I had folded my wings in front of my face, which made me feel worse. Here I was, a stupid, entitled, pig-headed pony, who had some of the strongest wings in Equestria. And now a young filly who has had a terrible life is going to have her wings removed.

"It's all my fault."

"What is?"

I jumped and looked to my left. There was that skeleton from late night, sitting on the cloud, in the middle of the day.
"What are you doing here?!"

"What are YOU doing HERE? You're right above the Everfree."

Sure each, I looked down and saw the forest, and with the way I couldn't even see Ponyville, I most have flown deep into it.

"Why are you crying? Did something happen to Scootaloo?"

"Why do you care?"

"Hey," he said, looking angry....at least I think so. "That kid has had enough problems. So if something has happened, you tell me right now."

I looked down and told him what had happened. While his.....skull didn't change, his head became downtrodden.
"....and there no other options. It's this or let her have bent and broken wings for the rest of her life."

The skeleton didn't respond for a few minutes, as if he was thinking something over.

"It's my fault. I should have been there for her." I put my head in my hoofs as I started to cry again. "How many nights did she ask for somepony, anypony to save her. And all I did was ignore her."

"All right, that's enough of that."

I turned my head to look at the skeleton.

"Right now there's a little girl who needs our help and crying about it isn't going to help the situation. You can cry later when everything's fixed."

Wiping away some tears, I nodded.

"Your right. But nopony has the magic to heal her. The doctors said that her body is too weak to fix, so unless you have the magic heal her, what can we do?"

He turned away, looking into the distance.

"I can."

I snapped my head towards him. What did he say?

"Y....you can.."

"I can heal her body, but.....it would take us getting our hands dirty."

'Hands?' "What do you mean dirty?"

"I am a Lich, and I naturally can use dark magic to raise the bodies of the dead and summon spirits. But I can also manipulate the spirits and body's of living ponies. In order for me to heal her body, I will have to literally rip away all of the tissue and muscle, fix the bone and then regrow everything. They would be weak for a while, but they would grow normally."

"But she'll die! Her body couldn't handle something like that!"

"Not if we put her spirit in a temporary vessel. She will be bound to this plane of existence but her body will be unable to feel the pain of the operation."

I stopped. It sounded so wrong, like my insides were dirty form even hearing this...thing talk about it.....but..

"What's the catch? And if you could have done this the whole time why didn't you?!"

"*sign* And that is where we hit the first problem. My Lich magic......changes ponies, it always has, but I have found a way of channeling my magic through a pony and using their base magic to complete my spells. Leaving the pony I'm casting on free of my....taint."

"What's the problem then?"

"The pony I'm channeling through will have their base magic drained, and my Lich magic will move to take up the space that is left behind."

That's when it hit me....what he was asking me.

"You want to channel my magic."

"Yes." He said, not turning to look at me "I could channel anyponies magic, but they have to be willing to let me take their base magic and no others trust me outside of you, my wife and my daughter. And call me selfish, but I don't want my family to suffer."

"You're married, with a kid!?"

"Yes but we're getting off topic. If you go through with this you will be different by the end. The change could be purely physical or you could be a completely different pony. But would you still be willing to do this?"

"Yes."

He seemed shocked that I answered so quickly. But if there was anything I could do for Scootaloo, then I would. I would help my friends, no matter what. I am Loyalty after all.

"Ok. We'll go to my home and wait for dark. I'll grab the vessel and we can plan part 2.5."

"Which is?"

"How do you feel about kidnapping?"

Patrick

I teleported us to my home, and I watched as Rainbow Dash flew around, looking at the entire area before landing by a tree.

Before I could call out to her, I heard Spirit run to me.

"DAD!" I turned and was tackled by my daughter, sending the both of us to the ground. As I hugged her, I saw Moondancer walking towards us, a small smile on her face.

"Welcome home Pat, your back early."

"Yeah Dad, what happened? *Gasp* Is it something bad? Is it about Scootaloo?"

"Well...."

There was a snap and all three of turned towards it. There was Rainbow Dash, looking like a deer-in-highlights. There was silence for a moment as my family looked at the 'intruder' to our home. Moondancer looked at me, wearing a look one would give to a misbehaving child.

"Patrick..."

"Yes dear?"

"Why is one of the Elements in our home?"

30 minutes later

"And that's everything."

I had finished explaining everything to Moondancer, from what happened to Scootaloo, to my plan to help fix her wings. She was silent as she digested the information, and watched as Rainbow performed another trick for an applauding Spirit. Seems after seeing me, Spirit looked more normal in comparison. At the very least she was shaped like a pony.

"And your waiting for night fall?"

"Yes. We have to keep the amount of ponies involved to a minimum and if I'm spotted then there goes our quite Everfree forest." We turned to look at each other. "Trust me, I'll be careful."

"Ok, I trust you. Do you need me to do anything?"

"No, me and Rainbow should have everything under control."

"Alright. Why don't you bring those two in while I get lunch ready."

"K, be there in a few."

Moondancer turned to leave when I spoke to her again

"Moon?"

"Yes?"

"I love you."

She smiled as she pulled me down and kissed me.

"I love you too Patrick."

She walked away, shaking her hips as she walked.

'Damn. Guess I need to break out the old restoration spell after this.'

It had gotten dark when me and Rainbow teleport into Ponyville. We looked around, making sure that we hadn't been seen. We ran into a nearby alley, and took cover.

"Alright," I said turning to Rainbow Dash "i'll get the spell prepared, you go get the ponies."

"Ok, we'll meet you at the hospital."

I teleported to the hospital, and made my way to Scootlaoo's room, Rainbow already telling me the way to it.
I walked in quietly, not wanting to wake Scoots or alert any doctors working late. But as I looked in I saw that she was already awake, a downtrodden look on her face. I walked in and cast a silence spell on the room.

'Poor girl.'

"Hello Scootaloo."

She jumped as she heard her name but smiled when she saw me.

"Patrick! You're here! "

"Yeah. How are you feeling?"

Her smiled disappeared, and she turned to her wings which were wrapped in bandages, but even with them on I could tell that they shouldn't have that shape.

"Patrick....they...."

"I know.....and we're going to fix you."

She snapped her head towards me, a shocked but hopeful look covering her face.

"Really?"

"Yep, we just have to wait for someone."

We heard a tapping on the window before I raised it with my magic. In came Rainbow Dash with Sweetie Belle and Applebloom on her back. Both looked tired, which wasn't surprising.

"Rainbow!" She yelled and large smile on her face

"Hey squirt. Look who I brought."

She looked and her smile grew when she saw her friends, who quickly jumped on her bed.

Rainbow walked towards me. "Did anyone see you?"

"No. Rarity and AJ were asleep."

"Good."

I looked back at Scootaloo and saw that the two crusaders stood in-between us. Applebloom looking determined while Sweetie shook a little. But before they could talk, Rainbow stood in front of me.

"Girls relax. This is the weird skeleton guy I was talking about."

"What?" "What?"

"Guys" Scootaloo said, putting her hoofs on their shoulders. "It's ok, I know him. His names Patrick."

The two young ones looked sceptical, but seemed to take Rainbow's and Scootaloo's word. Sweetie Belle walked over to me and looked at my hand.

"You really are a skeleton. You're really here."

"In the flesh."

The girls seemed to like the little joke, but Rainbow rolled her eyes.

"Now I need to talk to you girls, so please let me get through everything, ok?"

Seeing three nods, I began to explain the plan to them.

"Ok. Now, do you know about Scootaloo's wings."

"Yah, our sister's told us 'bout them. How they can't fix them without Scootaloo dyin'." Applebloom hugged Scootaloo, tears starting to well up. "I'm really sorry Scoots." She hugged back.

"Well don't be, cause I'm going to fix them."

The three girls turned to me.

"How?"

"With this."

I pulled the large pack off my back and opened it up. Inside was one of Spirit's most well contrasted golems, made from thorns and roses. She was almost in tears when I grabbed it.

"You see, Scootaloo normally couldn't handle the healing process. But if we put your...." I looked down at Rainbow. "...mind inside this golem, which is kind of like a really big toy, then I can heal your body without worry or hurting you."

The three looked at it funny, as if they were waiting for it to come to life.

Sweetie Belle looked at me "Just like that?"

"Well it's a bit more complicated. But that's the basics, yes. Rainbow, think you can talk to them while I get the supplies?"

Rainbow nodded as I walked out, getting more nervous with each step.

Rainbow Dash

"Look girls. I know this all sounds crazy but please listen to me. Patrick knows what he's doing. I'm not really comfortable myself, but if this can help Scootaloo, then I'm willing to try. What about you squirt?"

She looked down for a second before nodding and having both other crusaders wrap their hoofs around her. After a few minutes, Patrick walked in carrying a few blood packs and medical stuff.

I frowned "Did you just steal that stuff?"

"I left gems."

I shook my head and walked towards him, getting Applebloom and Sweetie to stand to the side. I felt Patrick's hand on my back before me spoke to Scootaloo.

"You're going to feel a weird tingling feeling, not unlike being under water. That's normal. Are you ready?"

"Yeah......wait! What happens if the golem breaks!"

I looked up at him.

"That's a good question."

"You come back to your body.......in the middle of the operation. So don't break it."

"Ep."

That's when I felt it: his alien magic entering my body. It chilled me to my core, and I could hear and see things, like the girls' hearts beating. I saw a red magic chain fly from my body and enter Scootaloo's as she feel limp. The chain pulled out a blue looking Scootaloo, but what really got me was what on her flank. It glowed bright, so bright I almost couldn't see it.

Her cutie-mark.

I looked at the two others. They didn't seem to notice, so maybe it was only because of Patrick's magic that I could see her special talent. I smiled, it was perfect for her.

I watched as the chain placed the blue spirit inside the golem then connect itself to Scootaloo's body and leave mine. For a second nothing happened but then the golem started to get up. It shock it's head and groaned.

"I feel funny."

"Scootaloo!" "Scootaloo!"

" 're you alright?"

"I...I think so?" she took a few steps and seemed to be ok, but walked like somepony who was drunk .

Patrick spoke up "Ok girls, now it's time for your job. Take Scootaloo into the empty room next to this one, lock the door and don't come out in till I get you. If anyone sees Scoots like this they will be scared and might attack her. Can you do this?"

The two saluted "We'll protect her, Mister Skeleton" "Yeah, maybe we'll get our cutie-marks for this!" "Yeah!" and walked Scootaloo out, closing the door behind them.

Patrick waited in till he (and I) heard the next room's door lock before he chanted something. Runes appeared on the door and I felt that he 'magic'd' the other door as well.

"Magic locks. Only someone with Lich magic can open the door or windows now." He straitened himself and looked me in the eye (I think).

"You ready?"

I grinned and flicked my tail "Of course."

His teeth turned upwards into a grin "Alright. Let's do this!"

Author's Note

ANNNNNNNND cut. That's all for today folks. Hope it's good. The only time I've had to work on it was at 1 or 2 in the mornings, so if it's really shit, let me know. Not my fault, per say, but between School, life, my family, friends, the university club I'm running and my new addiction to Bloodborne there hasn't been much free time.
I'm so tired, plus I'm watching old episodes of MXC (Most Extreme Elimination Challenge) as I type this. So funny, but I stop to laugh every minute or so.
Anyway, hope you liked it. If you want to leave a comment, anything is welcome, but don't feel pressured to. And just because I don't respond doesn't mean I haven't read them.
Hope to post something new soon. In till next time!