The Diagnosis

Rainbow Dash was flying through Ponyville one day, going about her daily rounds to see if there's anypony in need of help. She had almost covered the area and was about to believe that all's well, when all of a sudden, she heard a loud "AAAAUUGH!!!" coming from the east side of town.

Rainbow jolted upon hearing this anguished scream, and upon hearing more of them, she realized "That sounds like Scootaloo!"

Rainbow flapped her wings rapidly and headed toward the direction of Scootaloo's house, where she arrived in under four seconds. She stopped short of hitting the outside of the house, and she curled the area in search of her surrogate little sister. "Scootaloo? Hey, Scoots! Ya alright?" she said as she looked through all the windows.

She found Scootaloo by looking through the pegasus filly's bedroom, and she appeared to be fine. But she wasn't.

She was lying down on her belly, her eyes shut hard, her teeth clenched, and banging her front hooves on the floor.

"Aaaugh! It hurts! It hurst so much!"

Rainbow flew in and landed next to Scootaloo, and she said to her "I came as fast as I could, Scoots. It where something wrong?"

"Nggggg," Scootaloo said as she tries to muster out an explanation. "My wiiiings! They huuuurt! Awwww! Heeeelp!"

"Oh my goodness," exclaimed a concerned Rainbow Dash, "Looks like you need to get to a hospital!"

"What!?" yelled Scootaloo in an offended tone, "I don't need to go to no hospital. I'm perfectly--"

But before Scootaloo could finish her defiant statement, the pain in her wings hit her again. Her hard-shut eyes started to leak tears.

"YAAAAGH! OKAY! OKAY! HURRY!"

"Roger that," said Rainbow Dash, who then threw Scootaloo into the air and went under her to get the filly onto her back. "Hang on!"

And she was off at an instant, en route to Ponyville General.

At the hospital, Scootaloo lied down on a doctor's table, still in pain from the tingles in her wings. Rainbow Dash was by her side. The doctor was out at the moment, as he had went to retrieve some x-ray photos he took of Scootaloo.

"Rainbow Dash," cried Scootaloo, "what's wrong with my wings?"

Rainbow replied, "I don't really know, Scoots. Maybe the doctor can explain when he gets back."

Just then, Dr. Petey Sure, a unicorn pediatrician, walked in levitating some X-ray photos with his horn. He magically set the photos into a board before facing the two pegasi.

Rainbow Dash asked out of compassion for her friend, "So, doc, what's wrong?"

The doctor explained, "Well, I went through these x-rays and, while most of Scootaloo's body is in good condition, there's something about her wings. They're smaller than average for a pegasus your age."

Scootaloo barked at him, knowing her past dealings with her wing problem, "I know that!"

The doctor made a "hush" gesture with his front hoof before going on. "Now, Miss Dash, you said that Scootaloo here has felt some pain in her wings."

"Yes," Dash replied.

"Hmmm," went the doctor, "I think I might know the problem here. And it's serious."

Scootaloo shot up, "What!?" She reacted to another stinging pain in her wings before she asked him "What's wrong with me?!"

The doctor said to the two pegasi, "Now, I've seen cases like this before. If these x-rays and the description of your ailment are any indication, my diagnosis is that Scootaloo here has what we in the medical profession call Stunted Wing Syndrome."

The two pegasi's eyes went wide. Scootaloo, shouting "Stunted what!?". Rainbow Dash shouted "Oh, no!" as if she had heard of it before.

"Oh yes," said the doctor with his head hanging low in empathy for the orange pegasus. "Stunted Wing Syndrome, or SWS, is a rare condition that stunts the growth of a pegasus's wings." The doc's horn then glowed and projected two images, one of a pegasus in profile, the other a pegasus facing frontward with its belly out and wings spread. In both images, red marks that looked like overinflated balloons appeared in the wing areas.

Scootaloo stood speechless and slack jawed, for she believed that she had finally found the reason as to why her wings weren't working as they should.

Rainbow Dash asked the doctor, "Then...why are Scoot's wings hurting?"

The doctor went on, "Because, Miss Dash, while her body is growing and maturing, her wings are not. To put it in a way you'll understand, they want to grow, but the SWS is not letting them. They're trying all they can to stretch out and blossom, but they're confined to that form forever."

Finally, Scootaloo spike, abbot with a high-pitched whimper in her voice. "Does...Does this mean...?"

"Yes, Scootaloo," the doctor said in an empathetic tone as he put his hoot on her shoulder. "Your wings will never grow with you, which will cause problems as your body mass increases. With those small wings, you can flutter above the ground for a few seconds, and your wings can propel your scooter like your friend told me, but I'm sad to say that..." He paused and took a deep breath.

"...you will never fly like a normal pegasus."

The orange filly's pupils shrank. She felt as though her world had crumbled and fell apart. The doctor's revelation endlessly echoed in her ears. Her eyes started to well up with tears. "No...No!...NOOOO!!!" She sank her head into her front hooves and cried her little eyes out on the table. Her sobbing was occasionally interrupted by her muttering "I'm not a pegasus..."

The doctor spoke again when her crying started to grow quiet. "The pains you are suffering are common in pegasi with SWS. They will strike every once in a while, but they will go away very soon."

The sobbing stopped after a while, but Scootaloo's eyes remained wide and teary-eyed, her face practically stoic.

"Uhh...thanks, doc," Rainbow Dash said as she carried the tired pegasus filly in her forelegs.

Rainbow flew quietly and slowly out of the doctor's office and out of the hospital to take Scootaloo home. She sighed with sorrow as she looked at the filly she was carrying. The tears were still coming down Scootaloo's cheeks.

Things looked bleak for the future.