When Pain Becomes Strength

The October afternoon was one of the coldest and grayest on record in Ponyville. Bluish-grey clouds were cast over the world. During this day, two older stallions were picking on a young filly. She seemed to be extremely hurt by their words.

"Hehe. What's the matter? You a crybaby or somethin'?"

"Need to go home and have your mama change your diaper?"

"Guys, leave her alone...," They heard a voice say. When they turned around, they saw another little filly in a black hoodie, the hood draping over her face.

"You gonna' make us, runt?"

Instead of tacking on another insult, his friend gave him a slap upside the head.

"Knock it off. Do you know who that is?"

"Why should I?"

"You ding dong! That's Saint Scootaloo. I told you about her before. That's the kid who lost her mom to leukemia a year ago and started training out of the blue."

"You're pullin' my leg here. She's only an elementary school student."

"No; not this one. Rumor has it she was so sad after it happened that every time she trained, she would go so hard it made her bleed. She worked at the apple farm and boutique to the point of puking and passing out a bunch of times. She's got more heart than anyone else in this town; so much so that the princesses themselves recognized her as a virtuous being and gave her the title of Saint."

"Hey, kid," the first stallion asked, "Is it true what they say about the timber wolf incident?"

"The timber wolf was self-defense. I had to crush its head in to save myself..."

"it's true, then!?"

"That's what I've been telling you, dude," his lackey responded for her.

"What about the hood? Is it true you use it to cover your bleeding eye?"

"My left eye bleeds if I get too sad when I train. I still can't figure out why. I don't use the hood to hide it. I don't want anyone to see what I'm feeling..."

"One last question. Are you studying to find cures for different types of cancers?"

"It's not easy..."

"Look; I'm not keen on tasting the ground today. Can you just let us go?"

"I wasn't planning on fighting anyway. Just don't pick on ponies. It's not cool..."

The two stallions walked off.

"That kid's no joke," the first one said.

"She's done more good for this place than I think anyone else ever will."

Scootaloo went and comforted the filly.

"Are you okay?"

"Yes. Thank you."

"I don't think you'll have to worry about those guys anymore."

"Are you the Scootaloo I've heard about before; the one who lost her mom?"

"That's me..."

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bring it up."

"Don't worry. It happened a long time ago. I'm used to her being gone..."

"Would you mind walking me home? I'm scared of days like this."

"Yeah. Lead the way."

"Thank you for bringing me home. Do you want to come in?"

"Are you sure? I don't want to bother anybody."

"It's fine."

"I guess I could use a break."

The two of them headed inside.

"How's the cancer thing going?"

"I've been testing something called CBD oil. It's a type of oil extracted from a plant called cannabis."

"Extracted?"

"Taken from. Sorry. I've studied a lot over the last year and learned a few big words. Sometimes I forget I'm talking to other ponies my age."

"Oh, okay. I get it."

"The problem with CBD oil is that it's still too weak. It holds back cancer cells, but it doesn't kill them."

"Did you try using more of it?"

"Actually, no. One of the drawbacks of research is that sometimes things seem harder than they really are. Another thing I could try is mixing it with other types of chemicals to see if I can amplify its effects."

"Can I ask you something?"

"Go for it."

"When I first heard about you, there was a rumor going around that you wanted to be a mom when you grew up. Is it true?"

"...Yeah. It is."

"I think it's nice."

"Thanks. It means a lot."

"Did you think about who you wanted the dad to be?"

"I can't say I have. I hope it's someone who actually loves the kids as much as I do. My dad was kind of a bad guy."

"He was?"

"Yeah. He hurt my mom a lot when I was really little. I want to meet someone nice who'll take care of them like I will."

"You really are sad, aren't you?"

Scootaloo removed her hood to show her tired eyes. Her mane had grown over the left one to hide the trickle of blood commonly associated with her training.

"I'm sorry."

"About what?"

"Your mom and dad. It couldn't have been easy."

"If everything was easy, we wouldn't get stronger, right?"

"That's true. You're really smart."

"I just put a lot of time into learning and being kind to everybody. It made things a little easier for me. After I finish regular school, I'm gonna' go to a trade school and learn some skills for work."

"Do you think I can too?"

"You can do anything you set your mind too. If anyone says you can't, you look them dead in the eye and tell them 'you're wrong'."

"I will."

"I have to start heading home. There's a test tomorrow and I want to be ready."

"Can I go with you?"

"It's too dangerous. I built a house in the woods where the timber wolves are so nobody would try to find me."

"Why didn't you want anybody to find you?"

"So I could change without anyone trying to stop me."

"Why would they stop you?"

"Because I live and breathe pain. If I stopped being sad, I wouldn't feel like trying to be better than I was before."

"Isn't that bad for you?"

"Couldn't be any worse than what I've already been through."

"My parents will be home soon. I need to start studying too. Can you come back sometime?"

"Yeah. I'll drop by tomorrow. Thanks for talking to me. I feel a bit better now. I haven't had the chance to really sit down with anyone and talk about what's been bothering me."

"I hope you can be happy someday."

"I promise I'll try."

"Yeah. Promise."

"Try to get some rest. You'll need as much as you can get."

"Okay. I'll see you later."

"See ya'."

Scootaloo got up and left the filly's house.

Cold rain poured down outside. It always made Scootaloo sleepy for some reason.

"She seems really sweet. Maybe we can at least get some kind of therapy from each other's company."

With nothing left to gain from remaining in front of the house for the time being, Scootaloo spread her wings.

"Time to go home..."