A New Family, A New Life

"Ok. Let's see if I've got this right," Amethyst Star said while pacing back and forth. "You were playing games with a filly, and then she tried to cast a spell, but screwed up."

"That sounds about right," Ditzy stated.

"She managed to halt the spell and collapsed. And afterwards another filly who looked exactly like her imaginary friend appeared in the area the spell hit?" She said, taken aback.

"Looked like, nothing. I am Sweetie Belle's best friend!" Scootaloo exclaimed, still somewhat miffed about Sparkler's initial reaction to her.

"No, no, I'm not doubting you. It just doesn't make much sense to me," Sparkler said. "I'm not the most knowledgeable pony about magic out there, but let me see what I can find out."

A violet aura glowed around various boxes in the room as items flew out and back in them, until eventually an old saddlebag flew out of a box. It opened, a textbook titled Beginning Magic: A Unicorn's Primer Guide floated over to Sparkler, and everything else dropped to the ground.

Sparkler opened the book and skimmed the table of contents. "'Chapter 10: Accidental Magic and When Spells Go Wrong.' Well, that sounds promising..." She flipped forward to that section, and read over it briefly.

"Well, according to this, accidental magic is typically either transfiguration, which has to be reversed, or illusions and conjuration, which fade under normal circumstances after a few minutes."

Hearing that, Scootaloo began trembling. A few minutes!

Sparkler looked at her and frowned. "How long ago was this accident?"

"Just long enough for us to have gone home, gotten a bath, and come over here." Ditzy spent a moment in thought. "An hour or two?"

"Let me try something." Sparkler pointed her now glowing horn at Scootaloo, who quickly hid behind Ditzy, looking frightened.

"You aren't going to try to reverse the spell or anything, right?" Ditzy asked her.

"Of course not! She seems like a nice young filly, and I'd prefer for her not to vanish in a cloud of smoke while we're talking." Scootaloo glanced in her direction from behind Ditzy. Sparkler continued on. "There's a magical diagnosis spell here I want to try that looks easy enough, though. It's a more complicated version of a spell I use on gemstones, so I should be able to pull it off."

Scootaloo hesitantly walked back out. She was trembling all over, as if she expected to be vaporised at any moment. A violet beam from Sparklers horn slowly scanned over her entire body, and caused a tingling sensation as it went by.

"Huh." She flipped through a few more pages, and studied one of them briefly. She tapped on one section of the page and nodded. "Well, let's do this first."

She fired off a quick magical bolt. Scootaloo staggered as it hit and wondered if she should have run for it after all.

"Hey! What was that?" She stomped one hoof. She felt like something was different, and tapped the side of her head experimentally. "That's weird. I feel a little... More solid, I suppose."

"Good," Sparkler said, with a smug look on her face. "That spell is supposed to boost the life of preexisting spells it comes into contact with. That should give us at least a week or two to figure this out. Now, let's see what we've got."

She closed her eyes, then when she opened them, they were glowing violet. She closely examined Scootaloo.

"What a mishmash of spells," Sparkler said with a sigh. "Ok, this is definitely way out of my league."

"You couldn't find anything?" Ditzy asked, disappointed.

"I found all sorts of stuff. That's the problem. " She blinked and shook her head. "Her body is mostly made of magic with one unicorn's signature on it, probably Sweetie's. There's even a magical cord going back in what's likely her direction."

She paced back and forth, looking Scootaloo over. "She registers a decent amount of lifeforce, meaning she's alive and not some sort of puppet, even if it isn't quite as much as a normal pony would have. She barely has any magic reserves right now, but that isn't a big deal for a pegasus that hasn't started flying yet."

"Well, that's a start, at least."

"Yeah, but there's this tangled mess of spells from both the conjuration and transfiguration school I can't make heads or tails of." She paused in thought. "It's almost like, I don't know, something was transfigured and expanded on with conjuration because there wasn't enough mass for just transformation. Maybe."

"Er... Ok. No idea what you're talking about," Scootaloo said, baffled.

"Well, I'm not good enough to fix you up permanently, and we need somepony who's a real magical ace to look at you," Sparkler said. "I can stabilise things once a week until then, though."

"What happens if you don't?" Scootaloo asked, almost afraid to hear the answer.

"The spells start falling apart and unraveling," Sparkler said, making Scootaloo cringe. "After that... Well, I'm not sure, but it can't be good."

"And there's nothing else you can do?" she asked, a quiver in her voice.

"Hey, I'm a jeweler, not some high-powered mage. I've played with some of this before, but it's not like I've gone to that school in Canterlot for bigshot magicians or anything," Sparkler said defensively. "Trouble is there aren't many unicorns in town, let alone ones good at magic."

"So, we need to travel to a far off city, and seek out a great and powerful wizard." Ditzy smiled. "Is a yellow brick road involved?"

"Mom!" Sparkler groaned.

"Seriously, though," Ditzy said. "Is there anything else you can tell us about Scootaloo's condition?"

"Well, I'm still sorta curious about that cord connecting her to her friend." Sparkler frowned. "Not sure if that's drawing energy from her, or mentally connecting them, or what that's about."

"Which means breaking it could cause problems," Ditzy said.

"Or solve them, but only if done the right way. It'd be too risky for me to try," Sparkler replied. "Also, that meeting in the park tomorrow is so not happening."

"Why not? Sweetie Belle and Scoots were looking forward to it." From the crestfallen look on Ditzy's face, Scootaloo could tell she had been as well.

"Well, all ponies have a magical reserve. The trouble is that most of Sweetie Belle's is currently standing here making puppy-dog eyes at me." Sparkler glanced down at the filly, who was indeed staring up at her intently with big moist eyes. "If she used that much of her magic in one place, she clearly is going to have a bad case of magical exhaustion. Her parents should have spotted that, and she'll probably be on bedrest for a week or two."

"Magical exhaustion?" Ditzy said blankly.

Sparkler rolled her eyes. "Mom, this is covered in Unicorn Health and Safety 101. A unicorn mostly runs on magic, so if their reserves are exhausted, they won't have any stamina at all, and will need bedrest until they recover sufficiently. Well, bedrest and chocolate, actually, because chocolate helps the regeneration process."

"In that case, I hope she got home safely. She had seemed fine afterwards, though a bit tired."

"It doesn't really kick in until whatever she had left of her physical reserves is gone and her body can't replenish it," Sparkler said. "It has different effects on pegasi and earth ponies, too. Pegasi are just rendered flightless, and unable to walk on clouds, for example."

"She should be able to make it. Her home isn't that far from the pond." Scootaloo spoke up, as the conversation finally got to something she knew about. "We just took a long route there because it was supposed to be an adventure!"

"You know, Scoots, you're supposed to have some sort of connection to her," Ditzy said. "I wonder if there's any way you could check on her through it?"

"Um... How exactly would I do that?" Scootaloo asked, mind whirling.

"Well, if it's possible to do, I think what you'd do is first close your eyes and clear your mind," Sparkler said, closing her own eyes as she spoke. "Then picture a line between you and Sweetie Belle, try to follow it, and see if you can get any sort of impression of your surroundings."

"Alright. Clear my mind. Well, that should be easy. I hardly have anything there." She frowned. "Wait, that didn't come out right."

Sparkler let out a giggle at this. Ditzy, having a bit more self control, merely smiled a bit wider. Scootaloo ignored this, and closed her eyes.

She tried to get a good mental image of Sweetie Belle in her head, which wasn't exactly difficult - she barely had any memories that didn't feature her. Sensing a cord going from her in one direction, she mentally followed it.

A few minutes later, she was surprised to find herself in a very familiar place. She was standing in Sweetie Belle's bedroom. She wasn't actually there, of course. She could still feel her body somewhere back off at the other end of the cord. This was more like, well, every other time she'd been in her room, actually.

Next to her bed, a bunch of chocolate wrappers and an empty tea cup lay discarded on an end table. Sweetie Belle lay curled up in her bed, partially covered in blankets. She appeared to be fast asleep, her front hooves and forelegs twitching occasionally.

Smiling at the sight, the orange pegasus started to leave. Then she heard Sweetie Belle murmur something. She leaned closer to listen.

"Scootaloo..."

Did Sweetie Belle know she was there?

"Run! Rarity is on a fashion rampage!"

Oh. Scootaloo whispered into her ear. "Quick, behind Opalescence! She'll protect us!"

She contemplated messing with Sweetie Belle's dream further, but she thought she could hear something in the distance. She hauled back on the line she'd followed to get there, and got a surprise when she arrived back.

She could see her body just standing there in the back room, eyes closed. She'd figured that'd be the case. What she wasn't expecting was the way she could see right through it. She was sure it shouldn't be transparent.

"Scootaloo!" She whirled around when she heard Ditzy yell her name. Next to Ditzy, Sparkler was leveling her horn at her. Well, the other her, anyways. Being in more than one place was really confusing.

As Sparklers' horn started to glow, she found herself panicking. She liked her body, and wasn't quite ready to part with it yet. She turned back to face it, and flung herself forward.

Feeling whole again, she opened her eyes and let out a yelp. A bolt of magic was coming right at her! Scootaloo quickly rolled aside, and it hit the wall behind her. Looking down, she was looking solid again, at least.

Sparkler adjusted her aim, and her horn began glowing again. Scootaloo ran through the open door of the room back into the shop in a panic. She darted behind one of the display cases, and stopped to catch her breath, shaking all over. Sparkler could have been trying to help her, but that had been really scary.

She supposed she should do something brave and adventurous, like she remembered doing so many times before. But that was when she hadn't had anything to lose. This was real life, and real life was the scariest thing she'd had to deal with yet.

From the other room, she heard some loud voices arguing and some scuffling around. A few minutes later, she heard hoofsteps coming into the room, and her name being called softly. Sticking her head out to look, she saw Ditzy slowly walking into the room, alone.

She was sure she should go out to meet her. She really should. But, still paralysed with fear, she just stayed where she was. A few minutes later, Ditzy circled around the display case until she was standing right over her.

"Don't worry, I talked to Sparkler, and she won't cast any more spells at you without your permission," Ditzy said, sympathy in her voice. "Are you alright?"

Scootaloo forced herself to stand back up, and looked herself over. One of her hind legs looked scraped, and she was still shaking uncontrollably, but she seemed in one piece otherwise.

"I- I t-think so. S-She's going t-to stop t-trying to b-blast me?" she asked, stammering.

"There won't be any blasting involved. She said that was another version of the stabilization spell she used earlier, and you look back to normal. Why don't you come on back in with me and we'll talk about it?"

Scootaloo didn't resist as Ditzy scooped her up in her forelegs. Ditzy engulfed her in a large hug, and it felt like a dam burst inside her. Tears welled up in her eyes, and fell onto Ditzys fur. She rubbed Scootaloo's back in circles for a few minutes and stroked her mane comfortingly until they stopped falling. Scootaloo sniffed.

"I'm s-sorry. I- I rem-remember b-being brave and b-bold and d-daring, not like this. I- I j-just don't know... H-how c-could this..." Her words cut off as Ditzy continued to cradle her soothingly. After a while, she spoke.

"Don't worry if you aren't acting the way you remember being. With a new body, your pituitary gland probably isn't regulating things properly yet..." She trailed off as she saw Scootaloo's eyes glazing over. "Your body probably isn't used to who you are yet. Give it some time."

"Time." Scootaloo sniffed again. "Okay."

"Now, feeling brave enough to go into the back room with me?" Ditzy asked.

"I-I s'pose."

Ditzy gently withdrew from the hug, dried off Scootaloo's tears, and swung her around onto her shoulder blades. She walked back into the room they'd left. Sparkler was slumped in one corner, looking miserable. Ditzy plopped Scootaloo down on a cushion where she sat, feeling like a target.

"Sorry about that, squirt." Sparkler walked over to the cushion, and wrapped Scootaloo in an awkward hug with one foreleg. "I saw you fading out like that, and it totally freaked me out. What happened?"

Scootaloo did her best to explain with Sparkler's foreleg clamped around her chest. "Well, clearing my mind was real easy, and I followed that connection to Sweetie Belle, and then I was there, but wasn't there."

"That's about as clear as mud, kid," Sparkler said, loosening her death grip slightly. "Come again?"

"Well, I was in her room, but I was also back here, and when I was in her room, it was more like back before I got a body," Scootaloo tried to explain. "Not having my body there didn't matter, though, because she was asleep and dreaming. Of me, actually."

And something was bugging her about that. She wasn't quite sure what, though.

"Well, sounds like she made it home safely, at least," Ditzy said, relieved.

"Yeah, and there were a bunch of empty chocolate wrappers by her bed, too."

"I guess her parents must know how to treat magical exhaustion as well," Ditzy said.

"As I said, Mom, Unicorn Health 101. Though, you know, thinking about it, they pulled the class into three different groups at the time: unicorns, pegasi, and earth ponies. Maybe they only taught unicorns about that?" Sparkler said, finally letting the orange pegasus go. "I'm still wondering about Scootaloo turning all see-through. I'd assume it was because she wasn't in her body, though."

"That sounds likely, but I wouldn't think that'd be normal."

"It's not. I'm thinking that mess of spells holding her together relies on her mind being in her body," Sparkler speculated. "I think we should probably avoid messing with it more."

Just then, Scootaloo realised what had been bothering her.

"Wait a minute," she said. Ditzy and Sparkler looked in her direction. "When Sweetie Belle was dreaming, she called out my name. I didn't choose the name 'Scootaloo' until after we left, though. How could..." She stopped there, unsure of what else to say.

Ditzy and Sparkler looked at each other.

"Beats the hay out of me." Sparkler said bluntly. "Maybe information is going both ways over that connection subconsciously?"

"Or maybe I'm still just a figment of her imagination, just more active and solid than before." She hung her head down, a horrified look on her face.

"Oh..." Scootaloo trailed off for a moment while she searched her vocabulary for something suitable to express her feelings. "Wait a minute, why don't I know any swear words? Pony fur? Hoof clippings?"

"Well, if you don't know any, I'm certainly not going to teach you. You can learn them the same way as anypony else." Ditzy said.

"From your big sis?" Sparkler teased.

"Amethyst Star!" Ditzy said sternly.

"Kidding! Kidding!" Sparkler said hastily.

"Big sis?" Scootaloo asked.

Sparkler looked at Ditzy. "You said you were taking Scootaloo in to live with you, right?"

Ditzy looked down at the hyperactive pegasus. "Of course I am."

"Well, that makes you my other little sister, along with Dinky, then."

"Wouldn't I have to be related to you?"

Sparkler had a hard expression on her face for a moment. "Blood relationships are overrated. The family you make for yourself is what's important."

Ditzy looked at her thoughtfully. "I'm not sure I'd go that far. Both can be important."

"And how many members of your family that are actually related to you are you on speaking terms with? Aside from Dinky?" Sparkler said.

Ditzy sighed. "As many as you, I'm afraid. I'm just not willing to write them totally off."

"I am," Sparkler said.

"I know," Ditzy said sadly.

Scootaloo sat there, trying to figure out what they were talking about. "But I'm a member of both of your families?" she asked, feeling like that needed clarification.

Ditzy and Amethyst looked her way guiltily, having forgotten she was there.

"Of course you are!" Ditzy exclaimed.

"Well, you're growing on me, Scoots," Sparkler said. "Sure. You, Dinky, and Ditzy are family enough for me."

Ditzy threw a glance in her direction at that last, but she ignored it.

"And would Sweetie Belle be part of my family too, then?" Scootaloo asked, still not totally clear on the whole family concept.

"Well, she'd have more claim than most, since she's literally responsible for your existence," Ditzy said, mulling it over. "Though I'd stick to saying she's your best friend when anypony that doesn't know how you came to be is nearby."

"Right," Sparkler agreed. "Best friend is practically family, anyways."

Scootaloo's stomach suddenly let out a loud rumble.

Sparkler perked up. "Do you know what that means?"

Ditzy looked puzzled. "Generally that it's past some little fillies dinnertime in my experience. Maybe we should get something to eat?"

"No, no." She shook her head. "Well, yes, I suppose so, but that's not what I was thinking of. Magical constructs don't generally get hungry, so that's a good sign that she's real."

"Real hungry, anyways," Scootaloo piped up.

Ditzy smiled. "Well, of course you are. You haven't eaten since-"

"Ever," Scootaloo said.

"Right. Take-out?" Sparkler asked.