And what would they even look like?
Rainbow Dash trotted into Twilight's crystalline castle, nodding a quick hello to Starlight Glimmer. "Morning Twilight!" She greeted the princess. "I got your message to come by, what can I help you with?"
"Rainbow, I need some information from you, and I'd like your consent to do a thaumaturgic arcane calibration scan."
"A what?"
"Twilight and I want to test you for magic and try to better understand how you use it." Starlight Glimmer clarified. "We'd need to scan you here on the ground and then again while you're pushing a cloud."
"Pegasi magic allows you to influence weather and fly when most pegasi defy the normal laws of aerodynamics." Twilight said.
"Huh?"
"We can understand how you can fly," Starlight said, grinning at having to clarify for the princess, "But somepony like Snowflake shouldn't be able to get off the ground."
"Well sure, you can scan me if you want, as long as it won't interfere too much with my abilities or schedule. We've got a rainstorm on the north side of town scheduled for this afternoon."
"Great." Twilight said, her horn already glowing. Starlight lit her horn as well and Rainbow shivered as the scan begin. It felt like someone was dragging a static charged feather duster over every cell in her body. A wave of strange sensation passed from the top of her head down to her hooves.
"OK, I think that's a good basic scan." Twilight said, her magic recording data on several clipboards. "You are in great shape Rainbow Dash."
"Hmm," Starlight frowned. "I noticed some old wounds and broken bones, is that normal for pegasi?"
"Not for most." Rainbow puffed out her chest. "I'm a wonderbolt reserve and amateur stunt flyer, so i've got more breaks than you could expect to see in any other pony."
"We may have to get a new reading then." Starlight said, "To make sure the bone structure doesn't affect magic too much."
"If wounds like yours don't have many negative side effects on flight and magical power, then it certainly bodes well for..." Twilight cut herself off.
"For?" Rainbow prodded.
"We'll talk about it later. Go grab a cloud!" Starlight said, pushing Rainbow out the door.
Rainbow zipped up into the sky and returned with a foal sized cloud only a second or two later, walking in on a quick conversation.
"-know better." Starlight hissed in an angry tone. "Subject confidentiality-"
"RAINBOW!" Twilight called louder than was needed, stepping forward to her friend. "That was quicker than even I expected, and that's saying something for how long I've known you."
"Yeah, I'm trying to push my record on cloud busting and a lot of that is speed. Remember when we first met and I could clear the whole sky in ten seconds flat? I've got it down to nine point five."
"A half second better?" Starlight asked with a disappointed tone.
"That's a half second faster for one pegasi to cover the entire town. By myself."
"Rainbow, it's going to be difficult to impress the time traveling unicorn who can fly under her own telekinetic power." Twilight muttered. "If you could push the cloud around the room we will conduct the secondary scan."
A short scan later and Starlight started to shuffle and compile the notes. "Well?" Twilight asked.
"It's just like you theorized, the majority of the thaumaturgic energy is focused into weather manipulation."
"YES!" Twilight pumped her hoof. "Now we know what we're looking for."
"So I can stop pushing this thing around now?" Rainbow asked from near the ceiling. When Twilight nodded, Dash spun around and busted the cloud to nothing in a single kick. "Now that you've got all this data, what are you going to do with it?"
"Our primary goal is to see if we can help other pegasi in the development of their arcane abilities." Starlight said. "Scootaloo for instance, might be able to fly if we can help her magic focus. Though it's easier now that we have another to compare."
"So she's the pegasi you were talking about earlier." Rainbow smiled at her clever deduction. Starlight groaned and Twilight face hooved. "What were you saying about wound and broken bones? Has the squirt hurt herself that badly on that scooter of hers?"
"No," Starlight said. "She's always been safe on the scooter. As near as we can tell, the breaks and scars are older and-"
"Starlight." Twilight snipped at her, cutting her off before turning to Rainbow Dash. "Please, you can't mention this to anypony."
"Twilight. What happened to Scootaloo?" Rainbow's tone had gone icy cold.
"Rainbow-"
"What. Happened?"
Twilight struggled for a bit before bowing her head. "We don't know for sure and she won't talk about it, but it looks like she was beaten from an early age. The most recent wounds are years old though."
"That's why she ran away from home?" Rainbow asked. "Why she lives with her aunt? Who would do that to a child?"
"I- I don't know. Rainbow I honestly don't know." Twilight said with her head down.
"Well, lets find the jerk and-"
"He's dead Rainbow." Starlight said.
The prismatic pony came up short. "What?"
"Twilight went digging into records looking for Scoot's parents as soon as she found out. Figured she could drag them to justice. Scootaloo's dad's been dead for five years, her mother for seven."
"So he got what's coming to him then." Rainbow nodded with satisfaction. "That's alright, but I still want to know where the jerk is buried. I intend to water his grave, so to speak."
"Rainbow you can't. I can't look into that. YOU can't look into that."
"But-"
"NO!" Twilight shouted at her friend. "Listen, Rainbow, Scootaloo came to Ponyville around five years ago. I don't know if she left because he died or if he died because she left, but I can't look into it."
"Why not?"
"Rainbow Dash, you idiot!" Starlight shouted. "Because what if Scootaloo killed her father?"
Rainbow quirked an eyebrow. "Then the squirt's got guts and all the better."
"NO! NOT ALL THE BETTER!" Starlight screamed. "Don't you understand how hard this is for Twilight?"
"Rainbow, I'm a Princess of Equestria. If I was to discover wrongdoing I'd have to bring Scootaloo in. You're an Element Bearer and Wonderbolt Reserve, so you're under the same restrictions. Even Starlight here is technically part of the government, being an official Student of a Princess."
"What? It could have been self defense." Rainbow said defiantly.
"Do you know how hard it would be to prove that?" Twilight asked. "Five years after the fact? And Scootaloo has her cutie mark now, she'd be tried as an adult. We cannot look into this Rainbow. Just drop it."
Rainbow lifted a hoof in protest before dropping it. "Fine. I'll have to be satisfied that he's dead and gone."
Twilight closed her eyes and let out a sigh. "Thank you Rainbow."
"Whatever." She grumbled. "Did you need anything else? I've got to get that storm ready."
"Yes," Starlight said. "Can you tell us of any strange storms in the last ten to fifteen years? We think they might be pegasi magical surges, similar to how unicorns surge when they first master their magic."
Rainbow stopped to consider. "I'll have to check with the central board in Cloudsdale. You're going to get a lot of those, um, fake successes?"
"False positives?" Starlight offered.
"Yeah, those." Rainbow said. "You'll get a storm that got too big or out of control of the local weather team. I even recall one time a small team out near Bay City lost control of the water spout, like the one we used to resupply the Cloudsdale weather factories. Smashed a lot of homes and they lost a few ponies but that's just from inexperience and bad luck."
"Right, it will be troublesome, but we'll have to sift through the data and then start interviews." Twilight said.
"Take care Rainbow." Starlight said with a wave. "And thanks for all your help."
"Wow, it shore is coming down." Applebloom said, standing next to her two friends and watching the rain fall from the safety of the garage.
Scootaloo sat on box of bolts closest to the open garrage door, watching the drops fall onto the dirt driveway. His aunt's carriage repair garrage extended off of her house, and it was easy to sit safe and dry and watch the storm. She nodded in agreement with Applebloom, her somber expression never leaving the cloudy skies.
"You like the rain, don't you?" Sweetie asked quietly. Scootaloo nodded again.
"I think she's just trying to catch a glimpse of Rainbow Dash." Applebloom teased, then shivered as a stray gust blew cold air in.
"Hey girls!" Scoot's aunt called from the door to the house. "I've got hot chocolate if you want some."
"Yes please!" Applebloom said, hopping out of the carriage and trotting towards the door.
"Are you coming?" Sweetie Belle asked Scootaloo as she started towards the door.
"In a little bit." Scoots responded. "I want to watch the storm just a little longer."
Sweetie shrugged and went in, leaving Scootaloo to the sound of the rain and distant lightning. She fluttered her wings in the relative stillness of the garage, remembering a different storm long ago. Her wings twitched, water whirls spun in the rain just beyond her hooves, and she started to softly sing.
Dry lightning cracks across the skies
Those storm clouds gather in her eyes
Daddy was mean a old mister
Mama was an angel in the ground
The weather mare called for a twister
She prayed blow it down
There's not enough rain in all Equestria
To wash the sins out of that house
There's not enough wind in all Equestria
To rip the nails out of the past
She heard those sirens screaming out
Her daddy laid there passed out on the couch
She locked herself in the cellar
Listened to the screaming of the wind
Some ponies called it taking shelter
She called it sweet revenge
Shatter every window till it's all blown away,
Every brick, every board, every slamming door blown away
Till there's nothing left standing,
Nothing left of yesterday
Every tear-soaked whiskey memory blown away,
blown away
She stuck her head out into the storm and stood there till the rain had washed her tears into obscurity before turning back to the house.
Author's Note
The song is Blown Away by Carrie Underwood. The idea for this story came to me while I was cowering from tornadoes at work recently.
