I Always Wanted to be Like You (Rewritten)

Chapters

Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 4
Chapter 3

Chapter 1

I Always Wanted to be Like You

‘Rainbow Dash, are you sure this is safe?’ The timid, yellow mare flapped her wings a little stronger to push a cloud into place.

‘No, but I know it’s gonna be awesome!’ The cyan Pegasus easily pushed two smaller clouds into place, immediately turning to gather more.

‘Well, um, o-okay… if you say so, Rainbow. I trust you’

‘It’s alright Fluttershy, this is what a month of practise was for!' She turned in the air and looked into the timid mare's eyes before continuing. ‘You know the plan. We have the lightning cloud ready, I just need to kick it to start the storm. When the storm begins, I fly around the cloud, picking up speed and spinning it, then fly up and come crashing down in a sonic rainboom, and if it works, rainbow lightning!’ She thrust her hoof into the air to emphasise her words.

‘Well, okay,’ concluded Fluttershy.

Little did either of them know that there was another Pegasus, a mere filly, watching from the ground. She was leaning on the handles of a scooter and holding an unbuckled helmet in one hoof.

Scootaloo had always come to watch Rainbow Dash when she went out of Ponyville to perform stunts. She thought of Rainbow as something of a mother, or maybe even sister, and was willing to support her in anything. Whatever Rainbow was to the young filly, she was a hero. Besides, her tricks are pretty awesome, she thought to herself as the other pegasi pushed the last clouds into place.

Scootaloo was standing at the base of a thick tree so as not to be seen by either Pegasus in the sky. Rainbow caught her watching once and told her off, saying something about not wanting her to get dangerous ideas. Taking clouds from the weather factory wasn't entirely legal, but Scootaloo didn't need to know that.

She had better hurry up with this trick, Scootaloo thought to herself. I’m meant to be meeting the other Crusaders in half an hour!

A pair of cyan hooves came into contact with the giant cloud and the air vibrated with a loud thunderclap.

Uh-oh, this could be dangerous… more dangerous than normal...

Rainbow began circling the cloud, easily 50 times the size of both Pegasi together, and it slowly started rotating. After she had it going a little faster, she flew up far above the clouds, and without even losing speed, swung around in a 180 to face straight down. After a few seconds of propelling herself down, all Scootaloo could see from below was a blue blur.

What's she doing?

The young filly could hardly see Rainbow Dash underneath the white cone around her.

This'll be epic!

The white cone pulled impossibly tight. As it began to bend around Rainbow and reform at the back, the front broke and Rainbow went flying forward, propelled by the multi-coloured explosion behind her.

No! It went off too early, thought Rainbow Dash. I need to pull up!!

Rainbow began to turn up and away from the hulking black cloud in front of her, but before she could avert the course a mere foot, she hit the cloud.

She didn’t come out the other side.

Scootaloo stared in shock. Her mouth fell open as her thoughts whirled.

Where is she? No, it can’t have- nothing has gone wrong before!

‘RAINBOW DASH!!’ she screamed up at the cloud

The cloud began to glow white and then quickly changed to glow like a rainbow, before beginning to expand outwards.

Fluttershy flew over to the cloud, scared to get too close. ‘Rainbow? Can you hear me? Rainbow Dash!’ she said, barely audible over the now roaring wind and crashing of invisible thunder.

‘I have to be strong…’ she said to herself before pointing straight at the mass of clouds and flying at top speed. When she began to close in on the cloud ball she also began to encounter resistance, then suddenly hit what felt like an invisible wall a yard from it.

‘What? No! Rainbow, you need to get out of there!’ she shouted, at what was a normal talking level of sound for most ponies. ‘Rainbow, please! Please!!’ she squeaked frantically, tears of fear and helplessness beginning to stream down her cheeks.

Inside the cloud, Rainbow dash was barely clinging to consciousness. She could faintly hear a voice outside the cloud she was in. Whatever was going on outside didn’t matter, it was getting hot in there!

The reason Pegasus-ponies can stand on clouds is because their bodies are light enough, and fragile enough, to rest on them. This means that where a normal pony could simply walk through a cloud, a Pegasus would have to fight their way through it; almost as though it was as thick as cotton-candy, but as strong as stone.

Somewhere in the back of her mind a voice was yelling to get out; to leave the cloud while she could. That voice was quickly snuffed out by pain as small shocks hit all over her body. The cloud was building pressure, condensing around her… but, was it? It seemed to be condensing, but perhaps it was just building power…

Rainbow thought back to her days at the academy, learning about how clouds work and how pressure works inside them. When pressure builds in a cloud of this size, it means… Ugh, it means… Ahh!

Her thoughts completely melted away as the pressure increased so much that she could swear her body would be crushed… then the pressure mysteriously disappeared and the world cooled again.

The cloud was swelling at a faster rate now. Lightning was cracking through here and there and the whole cloud was humming with unseen power. If Rainbow didn’t get out of there soon, anything could happen.

Fluttershy was just about to try flying at it again, more out of desperation than anything, when it exploded. A ring of rainbow light flew out of the cloud, the most powerful rainboom Equestria had ever seen, and the clouds were completely eradicated; turning to raindrops almost immediately. Scootaloo ducked behind her tree and Fluttershy flew as fast as her wings would carry her away from the explosion.

Rainbow Dash suddenly realised that a huge pressure was lifted. She was in the middle of a blinding light, and she was falling. The cloud had seemed to explode around her and she was falling slowly to the earth. In the suddenly cool air her mind cleared somewhat. Oxygen returned to her lungs and a small, pulsating throb was taking over her body, numbing her mind with a tremendous headache.

Rainbow’s natural instincts took over. Without her urging, her wings began to flap and she felt her descent slow. Before she had flapped her wings more than four times, she felt pressure return to the air and heard an ear-splitting boom behind her.

She felt lightning strike her directly between the wings. Unimaginable pain shot through her body, along with a huge blast of adrenaline.

Rainbow froze. Every muscle tensed and contracted, and she was paralysed. She was still falling.

So this is it, she thought to herself. Her thoughts shifted to Twilight Sparkle and her other friends. What would they say if they found out she was performing such dangerous stunts?

Rainbow, you really shouldn’t. The voice of Twilight rang out in her mind. I’ve read so many books on weather accidents caused by exactly this that I’m surprised you haven’t been wounded yet. Murphy’s Law dictates that something eventually will.

Are yeh kiddin’ me, Rainbow? Ah ain’t a smart pony, but Ah know the difference between a stunt and a deathwish. If Ah ever catch yeh doin’ somethin’ this dangerous near Applebloom, you believe me, I’ll tan yer hide.

Well, Rainbow, I am rather a fan of your stunts, because they always create such beautiful colours, but, honestly, why ever somepony would try anything that dangerous is beyond me! If you were injured… ah, I can’t imagine what we would do. Well, for one, the town would become to dreadfully dreary with loose clouds everywhere, nopony can clear clouds like you.

Well, um, I don’t think you should do something so dangerous, but, um, you know, whatever you want to do is fine, I guess…. You should do whatever makes you happy, so long as you don’t hurt yourself… um, if that’s okay…

Are you kidding me? Yes that would be so cool! We could have a rainboom party! You’re like our own set of fireworks, and it makes you happy to do it! Anything that makes anypony happy is worth doing, at least once! Now for this rainboom party we’re going to need streamers and balloons and cake and guests and music and…

Her thoughts returned to her own voice.

What of the fillies? They look up to me… Scootaloo, especially…

Everypony… I’m sorry. I’m not ready, yet! I never became one of the Wonderbolts! I nearly had my chance, but now I won’t ever make it…

Suddenly a set of hooves wrapped around her midriff and tugged tightly. What is that? Rainbow thought to herself. She tried to turn and look, but was still paralysed.

Fluttershy had flown back as fast as she could. She was trying her hardest to hold Rainbow, and they were slowing. Not fast enough.

The ground was only 300 feet away.

Fluttershy began to slip. No, I have to hold on! I have to save her! I can’t let go.

200 feet.

Fluttershy’s wings began to burn. She wasn’t used to carrying anything more than woodland creatures, and trying to carry a falling Pegasus was too much for her wings to take.

100 feet.

They were still going too fast. Maybe if she could find a soft place to land, she could land safely with her friend.

There! A lake was visible 40 yards or so to the north, and the Everfree Forest was just off to the south. In between them, nearly below, there was a patch of soft mud. She wasn’t sure if she could make it, but she had to try.

Abandoning her attempts to slow, she began to try to push Rainbow and herself more toward the puddle. They began to pick up speed again, but were definitely angling toward the mud puddle.

Just a little farther…

Crack. They had hit the puddle, but it wasn’t deep enough to slow them much. Rainbow was barely breathing, and Fluttershy couldn’t move her wings enough to lift herself, let alone another pony. But what was that crack? Oh no… oh no, oh no… Rainbow’s leg was bent at an odd angle. She had hit the ground wrong and Celestia only knew if her leg was broken or merely dislocated. She seemed to be breathing, but barely.

Suddenly, an orange Pegasus came speeding out of the Forest on a scooter, helmet left behind in her frantic hurry.

‘Fluttershy!’ she called out, too shocked to think of anything more to say.

‘Scootaloo! Quick, you need to help! I can’t fly Rainbow back to town; we need to get her help!’

‘On it, ‘Shy,’ said Scootaloo. ‘I’ll have her back to town before you can say “help”’. The small Pegasus was actually scared out of her wits, but she was putting on a brave face for Fluttershy’s sakes. Or maybe she was trying to convince herself everything was better than it seemed…

‘No, you mustn’t! She has to be taken slowly. I don’t know how hurt Rainbow Dash is, and we can’t risk you hitting a bump and hurting her more’

‘Oh. Right. Well, what do I do?’

‘Help me lift her onto the scooter and then you can steer her on it. I’ll stand next to her, holding her on, while you push it.’

‘Okay, Fluttershy’ Scootaloo said, her voice slightly breaking. ‘I hope she’ll be okay…’

‘Has anypony seen Rainbow Dash around? There are more clouds out today than usual,’ asked the town’s librarian.

‘I haven’t seen her. Knowing her, she’s probably either lazing around or off training to become one of the Wonderbolts’ said Rarity, putting particular emphasis on the word “Wonderbolts” as though it was a joke.

‘Yeah, I suppose…’

Twilight had organised a picnic for all her friends. She had found a nice spot in Ponyville Park, right near the Everfree Forest so they could hear the birds. Only Twilight, Rarity, and Pinkie had showed up so far. Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash were missing, but Applejack had said she would be a bit late because of all the extra apples she and Big Macintosh had to buck that season.

She heard a disturbance in the forest, followed by a yelp, and cantered over to the forest to see what the sound was.

In her peripheral vision she saw Sweetie Belle and Applebloom over a ways with a picnic basket of their own. I wonder why Scootaloo isn’t with them…

When she reached the forest, she saw Fluttershy and Scootaloo trying to lift an unconscious, and bleeding Rainbow Dash onto a scooter.

‘What are you doing? What happened?’ Asked Twilight, an obvious note of panic in her voice.

‘Rainbow was practising a trick and I didn’t tell her to stop and something went wrong and then she fell and I tried to save her, but I couldn’t help much and then she hit the ground and it’s all my fault!’ Fluttershy said all of this very quickly, in an increasingly high voice, before finally breaking down and sobbing.

‘Twilight! Please help, we need to get her to the hospital! It’s taken us forever to get through the forest!’

‘Fluttershy, it’s alright. I’ll take it from here, Scootaloo,’ said Twilight. She levitated Rainbow from the ground as gently as she could and then began to trot as fast as she could back into town, Rainbow levitating in tow.

‘Twilight? Did you find out what that sound was?’ Rarity said before gasping. ‘Is that Rainbow Dash?! Oh my goodness, what happened to her! Twilight?’

Twilight completely ignored her. She had to get to the hospital. She didn’t know what happened, but she knew it was serious. Time spent in the forest might already be taking its toll.

Pinkie Pie had disappeared the instant she saw Rainbow Dash’s body.

What felt like hours later, although it was mere minutes, Twilight arrived at the clinic. She used magic to open the front door and carefully lifted Rainbow Dash inside.

‘Somepony, help! Rainbow is hurt! Somepony, anypony!’ she shouted.

When she got no response she carefully put Rainbow down on a medical bed near the corridor and began to run. Eventually she heard voices from one of the many rooms around.

‘Vait, vait, it gets better! Vhen ze patient voke up, his skeleton vas missing and the doctor vas never heard from again! Hahaha!’

She heard a second booming laugh from a much deeper voice. Turning into the room, she saw a white pony with a comically oversized syringe on his flank next to one of the biggest stallions she had ever seen with a sandwich on his hip.

‘Anyvay, zat’s how I lost my medical license. I vas lucky to have it reinstated here in Ponyville!’

The stallion suddenly stopped laughing and stared at the doctor. Twilight tapped her hoof impatiently on the doorframe.

‘Vot vos noise?’ he asked. The doctor turned around to see Twilight with a frantic expression on her face.

‘Yes? Can I help you?’

‘My friend! There’s been an accident! She’s in the front room, and nopony’s there, and she needs help, and you were the first person I could find, and… come on!’ she said frantically, gesturing for the doctor to come to the front desk.

‘Vhy vas zere nopony at the desk? Surely you did not need to come to find me?’

‘I don’t know! I shouted for help and nopony came, come on, now, please! Hurry!!’

‘Mein Gott, hat dieser Idiot nachlassen WIEDER?’

Twilight looked at the doctor in shock. She had spent time studying different languages, and he had just insulted somepony in a Germane dialect...

‘I apologise. Nurse Redheart has been slacking off for a week now, and this has happened four times. Please, show me to your friend’

The rest of the group arrived, bar Pinkie, to see what had happened. Applejack had seen Twilight rushing through town with something big and blue, then the rest of her friends running a few minutes after with the Crusaders not far behind, but gasping for breath.

She had followed the rest and gotten the basic story from Fluttershy, who was near-impossible to understand through her tears and sobbing.

After a while, the Cutie Mark Crusaders had come in (they couldn’t keep up with the fully grown mares) and Scootaloo had told them what she had seen. Fluttershy was able to add in a few points through the story, but she wouldn’t have been able to tell the whole tale herself.

‘Well, Ah have t’ git back to th’ farm. It’s nearly Applebuck Season and Big Mac can’t do all the work himself. Someone come ‘n’ git me when we can see her.’

‘Oh… alright, Applejack…’ said Twilight. ‘I’ll be sure to come and get you myself when she comes out of the theatre.’

Applejack left, and the CMC’s had fallen asleep. Pinkie was still nowhere to be found.

After what felt like an eternity (four hours), Doctor Hoovington came out of the theatre.

‘Vell, she is alive, but I do not know vhat vill happen. She is in vhat ve call a “coma”. Do you know vhat that means?’

Naturally, Twilight answered. ‘It means that she is in a state of semi-permanent sleep that she might not wake up from. Her body is so damaged that her mind had to nearly shut off to save energy. But… she could still wake up, right?’

‘Only time vill tell,’ said the doctor. ‘You may go and see her, but I do not know vhat good it vill do to such young fillies. She is in a bad state,’ he finished, glancing at the Crusaders.

He told them to go to the last room on the left when they wanted to see her, then went to fill out a form at the front desk.

‘Just a moment…’ said Twilight, then teleported out with a flash of violet light.

‘Huh? What was that?’ said Sweetie Belle, waking up with the other two Crusaders.

Twilight reappeared a minute later with a shaken-looking Applejack.

‘Okay, sugarcube. Please never do that again. Ah’d like to walk next time.’ Applejack looked around the room at the others and the doctor walking quietly back to his office. ‘But Ah guess this is important enough to excuse’.

The eight walked together down the hallway and into the room indicated by the doctor. They were greeted by a closed curtain and a slow beeping.

‘Are you all ready?’ asked Twilight to the rest of the group, but especially the Crusaders. ‘I would prefer otherwise, but Rainbow is important to you, too, so I’ll let you come with us if you want’.

They all glanced at each other, then nodded their assent; Scootaloo a little bit slower than the rest. Twilight pulled back the curtain.

There was Rainbow. She was lying on her side, unconscious, with an oxygen mask to her muzzle and several needles sticking out of her foreleg. Her chest was being slightly depressed by bandages, possibly some fractured ribs… it’s horrible to see her like this, thought Twilight. Dash’s lower right foreleg was in a cast.

So it was broken, not dislocated. Oh, Rainbow… thought Fluttershy.

Scootaloo almost immediately gasped and ran from the room sobbing. She couldn’t bear to see her hero in such a state. So full of life normally, but now… broken…

Applebloom and Sweetie Belle looked at each other quickly and followed.

Rainbow Dash’s left wing was folded against her back, but her right wing was still extended, parts wrapped in gauze and bandages. Fluttershy began to cry softly, and Rarity put a reassuring leg around her, offering a tissue. Their friend was comatose, and they didn’t know if she would ever wake up.

Chapter 2

I Always Wanted to be Like You – Part 2

Scootaloo ran unlike she ever had before. Twilight warned her that she wouldn’t like what she saw, but she didn’t listen. Rainbow Dash was tough; she could keep her head in any situation. Without her… Scootaloo didn’t know what she would do.

Where do I go? I don’t want to be found… I need to think… I need to be alone… I can’t live without her! Rainbow… she thought frantically, tears streaming and being left behind in the dirt.
She was thinking of how she would live the rest of her life. Her parents had died years before. She was told that they had simply gotten lost in the wilderness and would return someday, but she knew they were gone forever.
Rainbow Dash and the Crusaders were the closest to family she had left. Without Rainbow, she simply couldn’t live.

She snapped out of her thoughts to find herself at the Crusaders’ clubhouse. Thankful that she had a place to stop, at least for a while, she made to go in.

When she neared the door, she heard a soft sniffling. Scootaloo cautiously pushed it open, tears that had been fresh but a moment ago already drying from the wind on her face. She saw a pink mass huddled in the corner.
I think I recognise her… is that… ‘Pinkie?’ she asked tentatively.

The pink pony was definitely Ponyville’s resident party-goer, but her mane had completely lost its natural frizz. It was now lying unnaturally flat against her neck. Her tail was in a similar way.

‘Don’t call me that! Call me Pinkamina. Only my friends call me Pinkie, and I don’t deserve any friends.’ She retorted.

‘Sorry Pink- a… mina…. What are you doing in my clubhouse?’

‘Hiding. After I saw Rainbow so hurt, I just wanted to be alone. Please, please tell me she’s okay!’ Pinkamina pleaded.

‘She… she’s alive,’ Scootaloo said slowly.

‘Oh…,’ said Pinkie, dejectedly. ‘Well… how bad is she?’

‘Maybe you should…’ she had been about to say “see for yourself”, but after seeing it first-hoof she couldn’t bring herself to. A mere two minutes ago she had never wanted to see anypony ever again, but now she didn’t want to be left alone. She knew, somewhere in the back of her subconscious, that if she was left alone, she would do something stupid and end up worse off than Rainbow. ‘Can I… sit with you? I need company… I-’ she couldn’t even finish her sentence. She knew if she kept talking eventually her voice would break and she would cry, and she refused to do that in front of anypony.

‘O-okay’ said Pinkamina, holding back more tears. She trotted over to Scootaloo and sat close to her.

She’s nothing but a filly in a mare’s body, thought Scootaloo. She is going to take this far worse than anypony else. They sat together for what felt like an eternity, before finally drifting into sleep next to each other.

‘She left her scooter,’ said Applebloom

‘Well, duh. Way to go, Captain Obvious!’ retorted Sweetie Belle.

Neither were very happy about anything at the moment. Applebloom had stopped showing emotion at all. Her movements were slow, and the normal happy twinkle of her eyes was gone, leaving them dull and saddened. Sweetie Belle was acting the opposite, showing anger and frustration at everything, and making quick, erratic movements.

‘Well, maybe we should find her. She’ll want’a be left alone, but the best thing for her right now’s somepony to talk to,’ suggested Applebloom.

‘Fine. If she thinks I’ll forgive her so easily, though, she has another thing coming! How can she just leave us? We all think highly of Rain-… of her’ said Sweetie Belle, now fighting back tears. ‘Let’s try to find Pinkie. She always knows where everypony is. I don’t know how, she just does.’

‘Well, where would she go? Ah don’t think she’d go back to Sugarcube corner if she’s in a sad mood. Nopony ever goes to happy places when they feel sad,’ said Applebloom increasingly quietly until she was barely audible, her muzzle hanging mere inched from the ground.

‘Sure, whatever. Come on, let’s take her scooter back to the clubhouse. I don’t want to have to carry around this dirty thing any longer than I have to,’ said Sweetie Belle.

Sweetie Belle deposited the scooter on her own back and began to trot at a brisk pace toward Sweet Apple Acres. After a moment Applebloom began to trudge after her, barely keeping pace. She felt like collapsing. Just lying down and never getting up again. She caught up with Sweetie Belle and began to walk alongside her.

‘Oh, Rainbow…’ muttered Applejack. A sole tear ran down her muzzle and fell to the floor.
After a moment, she seemed to realise she was being closely watched by the others and leaned back from the bed. She continued watching the unconscious pony, a deep frown on her face as she tried to hold back her tears.

Fluttershy suddenly let out a great shuddering sob. ‘Oh, it’s all my fault! I should have told her not to, I could have told her it was too dangerous, but no! I can’t be assertive at all; I just let all this happen! While she was getting ready, I realised how dangerous it was and I still just watched from the sidelines. Why? Why did I have to do that? I just… I… Oh!’ she squeaked.

Everypony in the room turned to look at her. Rarity was the first to speak up. ‘Fluttershy, it’s not your fault, she wouldn’t have listened. Just be glad that you were there to help when she needed it. If you hadn’t been there, Celestia knows what could have happened.’

‘Yer a good friend, ‘Shy,’ said Applejack in a wavering voice.

‘But… But…’ She broke down into more quiet tears, burying her face in Rarity’s mane. It goes to mark just how serious the occasion was that Rarity didn’t immediately pull away from Fluttershy who was wetting and ruining her mane.

‘Hold on, y’all… Twilight, can’t you write to Celestia and ask f’r help? Ah’m sure she’d be happy to do everything she could, and do not try to tell me this ain’t an emergency!’ said Applejack, putting on a brave face.

‘Well… okay… but I’ll need to go and talk to Doctor Hoovington to find out what exactly happened. I’ll be back tomorrow with help, visiting time finishes in an hour, if I’m not mistaken’

‘Okay darling. We’ll be sure to come and get you if anything happens,’ said Rarity, only now leaning slightly away from Fluttershy (still sniffling) and trying to flick her mane to the other side of her neck.

Wh… where am I? This isn’t anywhere I know… why’s it so dark? Oh, my eyes are closed.

Rainbow Dash opened her eyes. She immediately recognised that everything was white and fluffy. She was in the clouds. Looking around, she began to recognise the landmarks as that of Cloudsdale. Looking to the far end of town, her house was clearly visible. It seemed closer than she remembered... I must just be imagining it.

She began to trot down the main street. Wait, why am I walking? She unfolded her wings and tried to fly, only to realise that she couldn’t lift off the cloud. What’s going on? Oh well, I guess I’m grounded. She looked down through the cloud to the earth a mile below. Sort of.

Hang on… why is there nopony around? She looked up to the sky. ‘Hello? Is anypony out there? Hellooo… alright, this is weird,’ she said to herself.

‘I’ll just head home,’ she said while beginning to trot towards her cloud house on the edge of Cloudsdale. After a few steps, she became aware of an extreme pain in her right foreleg. What’s going on? she thought. She looked down and noticed that her knee was bent at an odd angle then, right before her eyes, a cast appeared on it.

Wait, does that mean…? She glanced back at her wing as, it extended and bits of bandage and gauze appeared on it. She felt sick watching her perfect wing suddenly become so mangled and broken.

Something weird is going on here…

She continued limping slowly toward her house. If she needed to leave her house, surely Tank would be happy to help her. He had done so in the past, after all.

Right as she thought this, the tortoise flew towards her. Attached to his shell was the special fan Rainbow had designed to help him fly and walk on clouds.

‘Hey, Tank. Do you think you could help me get home?’ she asked.

Tank flew towards her.

He’s not stopping. ‘Tank, slow down! Any time now!’

She tried to move out the way, but suddenly realised she couldn’t move at all. She saw medical apparatus appearing all over her body and she was suddenly bound to several machines. Tank flew right through her.

‘Aahh! But… No… That’s impossible. Tank? Tank! Don’t leave me here! TANK!’

She tried to turn to see him, but couldn’t move her neck.

Out in the real world, she didn’t even twitch.

Sweetie Belle and Applebloom had arrived at the clubhouse. They didn’t hear anything inside, so they assumed that Scootaloo wasn’t there after all.

They trotted to the door and Sweetie Belle leaned the scooter against the doorframe, then entered. Applebloom merely stopped moving mid-step, but Sweetie Belle let out a shriek when she saw the two ponies lying in the corner together.

‘Scootaloo, you scared us half to death!’ yelled Sweetie belle, before realising they were asleep. Pinkie stirred.

‘BATS! Leave me alone! Go away, baaattsss!!! Oh, it’s you, Sweetie Belle. You scared me, hahah!’ said Pinkie Pie. Her hair returned to normal and she was bouncing around them, smiling brightly. ‘What happened? Why am I here… and… oh,’ she said. Her hair suddenly deflated with the sound of a balloon being let go. She had remembered exactly why she was there and what had happened.

‘Oh… well… I think I might go and see D-D-… her… now.’ Pinkie couldn’t bring herself to say the name of her friend.

‘…Okay… I guess I should go back too. She… she’s my hero… And I just ran out like that. I can’t leave her. I’ll go, as well,’ said Scootaloo.

If anypony else were there, they would have been proud of the braveness Scootaloo was showing right then. Even Rainbow Dash herself would have been impressed.

As it were, Pinkie and Applebloom being depressed, and Sweetie Belle being angry, nopony seemed to notice how much courage it took Scootaloo to say what she just had, and they would not notice how much more difficult it would be to return to Dash’s side.

‘Well, we can’t do it now. Visiting hours are over. We have to wait until tomorrow,’ said Sweetie Belle, shooting a murderous glance at Scootaloo for running away and forcing them to leave, too.

‘Okay,’ said Applebloom, ‘maybe Applejack is still in town and can take me home.’

They left as a group to head back to town.

‘Ah’d better be gittin’ home soon,’ said Applejack, breaking the silence that had again settled over the group.

‘Yes. We all should. A pony needs her beauty sleep, after all,’ said Rarity.

Fluttershy let out a small sniffle and began to shuffle out of the room, followed closely by all but Applejack.

‘Applejack, are you coming?’ asked Rarity

‘Yeah Ah… Ah’ll just be a minute…’

She bent low over Rainbow Dash, filled with memories of their rime spent together. The running of the ponies last Autumn. The Iron-Pony Challenge. All of these had brought them closer and closer until, finally, something had just changed. They had become… intertwined. Wherever one went, the other was with them, spiritually or physically.

As another tear rolled down her muzzle and she gently pressed it to Rainbow Dash’s cheek. ‘Darn mask’ she muttered at the oxygen mask. ‘Ah love you Rainbow. Please don’t leave me’.
She turned and left.

It began to rain. It never rains in Cloudsdale! What is going on here?!

She began to get wet. Tasting the rain, she noticed it was salty. She felt her face and realised that the rain was mixing with her own tears.

Why am I crying? I have got no idea what’s going on . Suddenly a soft, caring voice could be heard. It was faint, but it was there.

‘Ah love you Rainbow. Please don’t leave me’.

Wait… was that…? ‘Applejack! Applejack help me! No, why am I being left here all alone?’

She fell to her haunches and began to cry harder as the rain stopped. She suddenly felt more alone than ever before.

The night came and went. Scootaloo had stayed with Pinkie Pie at Sugarcube Corner. Both were equally sad. Both were unwilling to talk when greeted by the Cakes. Applebloom had found Applejack in a right state waiting outside the clinic. Even though she was pacing in circles, she didn’t seem to be watching where she was going; rather staring off into the distance where Cloudsdale was barely visible.

Sweetie Belle had walked straight back to Rarity’s Boutique. She hadn’t even been told off for returning home so late. Opalescence sensed something was wrong and gave a rare show of affection to try and cheer Sweetie up, but to no avail.

Twilight had, indeed, talked with the Doctor and found out the exact damage. It was worse than she thought. Her foreleg was more than just fractured, it was cleanly broken. She would permanently be lame, if ever she woke up. Her fragile wing bones had fractured here and there, too, and he said that she would never be speed flying again. She would be lucky to fly at all, once again, if she ever woke up. Small shrapnel had been found embedded in her lungs after a rib had snapped, but that had already been taken care of; the shards already removed and small punctures healed.

The instant Twilight returned home, Spike berated her for being so late and missing dinner. Immediately after he wished he hadn’t, as he now knew something was wrong. He had never seen Twilight this sad; not even when there was a fire in Canterlot and her favourite books had been burned. She had him write a letter to Celestia explaining what had happened and what the damage was. Spike was also in a sad mood by the time he sent the letter off and went to bed.

First thing in the morning, they all cancelled their day’s appointments, except for Applejack who had stayed up half the night doing her chores, and had headed together to the clinic to see if there was any change. The Cutie Mark Crusaders went with them and Applejack met them at the door.

Scootaloo was deep in thought the whole way to Dash’s room. This will be the first time I’ve seen her since I ran away. Oh, I hope she looks better. I need to keep calm this time. I can’t run away again, I owe that much to her. Maybe I should have brought a gift? No, what good would a gift do, she’d never use it. Don’t think that! She will get better! I’m sure of it. But even so…

Her conflicting thoughts didn’t leave her mind until the door opened. The curtain that normally blocked the bed from view was open. Dash had been moved since last night. Her bandages had been changed and she looked a bit better. Even so, all thoughts left Scootaloo’s mind and a strange calm came over her. She trotted over to Rainbow’s bed and climbed up onto a chair to see her better, then broke down.

It is impossible to explain in words the magnitude of her sadness. She simply couldn’t cry. She went limp in shock at seeing her hero in such a state and began to shake violently, then went limp again. She had fainted.

‘Uhh… maybe we should, uh, y’know… Help her?’ said Applejack, unhelpfully.

‘No’ said Twilight. ‘We should leave her alone for now.’

They began to swap stories of times spent together with Rainbow. Any laughter was dry and empty. It was still too early for any real laughter. Eventually they fell silent again and watched Rainbow and Scootaloo sleep. Applejack carefully lifted Scootaloo up and placed her at Rainbow’s flank. She began to smile slightly in her sleep.

Scootaloo began to dream. She appeared in Cloudsdale, just as she remembered it. She had been born there, of course, but had moved to Ponyville when she was just a filly. She barely remembered anything of Cloudsdale, as nopony would take her there lest she fall when nopony was around to help.

She was at the aerodrome. This was one of her favourite places in Cloudsdale before she moved. She noticed a short way away was Rainbow Dash. She had her cutie mark on her flank, but she still only looked like a filly. She was at the start line of the track, against two mean-looking ponies. A gunshot rang out and they all flew around the track, blurry from the intense speeds. This was a happier time. Nothing could or would ever go wrong.

As soon as it had begun, the race was already over. Scootaloo realised she had been so caught up in watching Rainbow move that she hadn’t noticed how fast they were going. Rainbow Dash came over to her. She began to speak, but the words seemed hollow and echoed, as though spoken through a long hallway.

‘Scootaloo, I know you look up to me. Those ponies over there, you see them? They’re the Junior Speedsters. I was one of them when I was your age. In fact, I basically led them. I was the fastest on the team. The coach said I was the fastest he’d ever seen. Now it’s time for you to take over. My time is past. I’m too old for the junior teams, so you need to do better. You need to go above and beyond. Train and train and maybe one day you’ll even pass me.’

‘But Rainbow Dash, nopony can do better than you!’

Her voice was suddenly much sharper, though still not perfectly clear. Rainbow Dash didn’t laugh in the slightest. If anything, her tone became even more serious. ‘Yes, they can Scootaloo. Not anypony, though. Only you. The only one who can surpass me, is you…’

‘Rainbow!’ she called out to the apparition slowly being blown away like dust in the wind.

Rainbow's voice seemed to reverberate throughout the world. ‘You can do it, kid. I know you can.’

Rainbow dash completely dispersed, much as a cloud blowing away. The rest of the dream faded and disappeared in a similar fashion.

She found herself back in the room with the real Rainbow Dash and the others. The Crusaders were sitting on the chair she had fallen unconscious on and the others were either watching her or, in Applejack’s case, staring unblinkingly at Rainbow Dash.
She looked behind her and noticed that she had been asleep next to Rainbow. As much as she wanted to stay next to her hero, something in the back of her mind told her not to. She climbed back down to the chair and sat between Applebloom and Sweetie Belle who immediately rested their heads on her neck comfortingly.

‘Did anything happen while I was out?’ she asked blankly.

‘No. I’m glad you’re okay. You had us worried there,’ said Twilight with a small, fragile smile.

‘Girls… I need to go. There’s something I need to take care of,’ said Scootaloo, excusing herself.

‘What is it? Can we help?’ asked Applebloom

‘No, I don’t think you can. This is really personal to me. I need to go.’

She left without a backwards glance and immediately headed out to retrieve her scooter from the waiting room. She had to begin training as soon as possible. She would drive her scooter at top speed to practise holding her wings straight then she would begin beating them fast enough to take off and build up her wing muscles. This was going to be a difficult path for her to follow.

For Rainbow Dash.

Chapter 4

I Always Wanted to be Like You – Part 4

Word had spread that the Wonderbolts had come to Cloudsdale. What had actually happened was that the Wonderbolts officially said they were going to make a trip to Cloudsdale, and posters had been stuck up around the city.

Rumours have a strange way of only containing half the truth.

‘Well, at least we have time to prepare for now… right, Jecht?’

‘You bet’cha! I can’t wait to see what we have to do! I wonder if it’ll be a race or a talent competition?’

‘Maybe both. Wouldn’t that be something,’ muttered Scootaloo, her thoughts drifting back to Rainbow Dash stuck in a hospital bed, missing out on her achievements.

‘Scoots…’ Jecht rarely called Scootaloo this. ‘You’re thinking about her again, aren’t you?

Don’t worry. I swear we’ll win. It’s what she wanted and it’s what we’ll do.’

‘It’s just… I don’t know if this is what she actually would have wanted. Have I ever told you why I wanted to surpass her? Why I had to become a Wonderbolt?’

‘Yeah, she told you herself. She… wait… I never realised. How did she tell you if she was unconscious?’

‘That’s just the thing. She didn’t. Just after the accident happened, and I went to see her, I ran away. It didn’t last long. I was found and brought back. Well, when I went in to see her again, I fainted. While I was unconscious, I had a dream; a vision. She told me that for her legacy to live on, I had to surpass her. She said her speed lives on in me, and to complete her life goal I have to become a Wonderbolt.’

‘So, you’ve been living off a dream?’

‘Basically… yeah,’ she said, looking dejected.

‘Well have I ever told you why I like racing?’ Jecht asked.

‘…No, I don’t think so. Family?’

‘Well, you’d think so. Everypony with potential for the last six generations has been a great racer in my family. I’m not doing it because of that, though. I just like to be noticed.

‘Having a family member like Spitfire has kept me shunned. Nopony ever noticed me for me; they only ever saw a relative of the great Spitfire. I race so that maybe, some day, people will see Jecht, not the niece of Spitfire. Living in a shadow… it’s not fun. Nopony ever paid attention to me- the real me. The only friends I ever had just wanted to be seen with a relative of the Great Spitfire.’

‘I… never knew-’

‘That was until I met you! You were a great flyer. You quickly rose to being one of the best flyers at the Academy, and you quickly became my friend. I knew that you were my friend because we were alike, not because I was related to Spitfire. You definitely saw the relation, yeah, I mean, how can you not; I have the flaming hair to show it,’ she said with a laugh. ‘But at the same time, you saw more. You saw a pony going through something similar to what you were, and…’ she suddenly looked up into Scootaloo’s eyes ‘…Thank you,’ she finished; a tear forming in her eye, a smile on her lips.

Wow… I never thought about it like that, thought Scootaloo. She’s more than a friend. She’s a sister in all but blood. Or… maybe…

She knew this wasn’t the time for any further comments, and instead just sat closer to Jecht, leaning her head against the other’s neck, just as Jecht had done for her earlier.

The day of the Wonderbolts’ arrival grew closer and closer. For a group such as them to leave Canterlot and head to Cloudsdale took preparation. They were preparing to leave Canterlot in a week, and they would arrive in Cloudsdale in eight days time.

An unofficial letter arrived from Spitfire addressed to Firebolt. She said they were going to fly in on the seventh night to avoid a crowd. She wished the family all the best, gave her condolences to Scootaloo about “that talented pony Rainbow Dash,” and ended the letter with an official signature. Jecht wasn’t mentioned once.

Scootaloo and Jecht were both becoming nervous, and both could guess at the other’s reason. It sometimes seemed the two were so close they could read each other’s thoughts, sometimes before the other even thought it.

Scootaloo was worried about what was to happen if she lost. If she didn’t become a Wonderbolt, she’ll have failed Dash. This was almost definitely the only chance she would ever get to go up against the Wonderbolts. She tried not to think about it, but the thoughts seeped back into her mind anyway. The more she tried not to think about it, the more she thought about not thinking about it, and the more she thought about it.

Jecht was also worried about losing, but for a different reason. Her auntie Spitfire was coming to Cloudsdale. If she lost the race, she would slip back down to where she began. She had become somewhat renowned in Cloudsdale, and if she lost the competition, she would never be recognised under Spitfire.

They had both prepared their lunches and packed their saddlebags for a day of training with the Junior Speedsters. After donning their matching black jackets of the Speedsters, they sat down for breakfast.

‘Are you ready for what’s coming?’ Jecht asked Scootaloo out of the blue.

‘I… no…’

‘Neither am I. Don’t worry about it! As long as we have each other, we’ll be fine!’

Sometimes I think she thinks we’re more than friends…. Are we? I don’t even know anymore. I can’t say I’ve never thought about her in that way before, but at the same time, she’s my sister… sort of… Her thoughts continued to go in conflicting circles for a few moments.

‘Equestria to Scootaloo, come in Scootaloo,’ said Jecht, mockingly.

‘Yeah, sorry, I have a lot on my mind.’

‘Don’t we all? I mean, we have our minds, then some blood, then a skull, and then our manes! It all weighs, what, a couple’ pounds?’

‘You know what I mean,’ she said forcing an angry tone to her voice, but the tone was betrayed by a grin spreading across her muzzle.

‘That’s more like it. So what’s up?’ Jecht asked.

‘It’s… I dunno… you’ll think I’m weird.’

‘Are you kidding me? I know you’re weird, but so am I. There’s no such thing as normal. Just tell me what you’re thinking,’ she said. She could already guess what was going through Scootaloo’s mind, but she wanted to be sure before making moves either way.

‘You think about things too literally, Jecht. It’s just… we’re more than friends, aren’t we? I don’t know what we are any more. I-‘

‘Do you like where we are together?’

‘Well, yeah. In fact I wouldn’t mind if-’ she suddenly cut herself off, blushing.

‘Scootaloo, I’ve known you for a year and a half, now. You know you can tell me anything.’

Anything… Can I tell her this?

Scootaloo looked into her eyes and saw something she had never seen before. She saw a sparkle in Jecht’s eyes that said she wanted to be accepted. It said she wanted to be loved. There was no doubt that they had the same thoughts.

I can’t get sidetracked, though. I need to become a Wonderbolt. I need to… I need to have friends…. When I lost the Crusaders, life was terrible, but… oh, what do I do?

‘I… Jecht, I…’ she was still looking into Jecht’s eyes. She stared into her very soul, through the black portal encircled by a ring of pure, sky blue.

‘Good morning, everypony! Glad to… oh, err, sorry. Is this a bad time?’ Firebolt looked like he’d walked into the wrong changing room at the Aerodrome.

Scootaloo became aware that she was mere inches from Jecht’s face and suddenly pulled herself back to her half eaten breakfast.

‘Uhh, no! Not a bad time. I’ll, err, see you later, I guess,’ stammered Scootaloo, rushing out the door, blushing furiously.

She left without Jecht and flew to a nearby cloud to sit and think, burying her red face in the cool cloud.

Firebolt seemed almost as embarrassed at the situation as Jecht did. ‘I’m sorry, Jecht. I didn’t mean to-’

‘No, dad, it’s alright. Nothing was happening, I swear. She was just, err, telling me about a new move she was practising?’

‘Jecht, I’m your father. You know you can’t lie to me,’ he said.

‘Well, we aren’t together, if that’s what you’re thinking.’

That he wasn’t sure so about. He could nearly always tell when his daughter told lies, which was rare, but right now he couldn’t find a trace of a lie in her voice. Well that doesn’t make sense. They wouldn’t have been that close together if it was just moves she was talking about. Unless she was talking about “other” moves, he thought. But this is my daughter. I suppose I should have a talk with her. He opened his mouth to speak, only to be cut off by Jecht.

‘Dad, I have to go to training. I don’t want to be late for the Junior Speedsters.’

‘Well… we’ll talk when you return home. Scootaloo too, if she will permit it. Just know this: you’re my daughter and I will support you in any choice you make, no matter what.’

Jecht smiled and walked out, pausing to give him a kiss on the cheek and mutter ‘Thanks, daddy’ before leaving.

My daughter is growing up. I must have missed the part where she became so mature.

Scootaloo noticed Jecht standing in the doorway. With her mind still reeling at what had happened, she didn’t move. Jecht saw her sitting on the nearby cloud, just above the house and about 50 yards away. She lazily flew up to join her.

‘Scootaloo, it’s alright. He’s fine with it… whatever “it” is.’

‘Y-yeah… but… uhh… let’s just go to training, okay?’

They went together to the outskirts of Cloudsdale where the Aerodrome was located. Several silhouettes flew around above them, shadowed by the early morning sun. The Junior Speedsters had a permanent booking on the Cloudsdale Aerodrome one day a week for training.

‘Sorry we’re late, coach. Family issues.’

The coach was a large grey Pegasus colt with completely black eyes, except for the whites. His mane was cut to stubble, to “reduce air-resistance,” but the team believed it had once been a fluffy white, like cirrus clouds.

‘Alright,’ he said, his deep voice ragged from years of shouting instructions to his students. ‘Get in there and do some laps to warm up your wings. Proper training starts in twenty.’

Training went faster than usual for Jecht. She was dreading returning home for the “talk” with her father, and wanted to spend as much time at training as possible. She was so distracted, she ended up flying into other ponies twice, much to the vocalised displeasure of the coach, and couldn’t even get up to her normal speed until Scootaloo spoke to her.

‘Are you alright, Jecht? You seem distracted.’

‘Yeah, I’m fine. It’s just… this morning after you left, dad said he wanted to have a talk with me. With both of us, if he could. I don’t know what to expect. He said he would support me through anything, but I don’t know if he agrees with choices I’m making or-’

‘Jecht, it’s alright,’ she said, ignoring the echo in her mind of just what “choices” she was making. ‘I’ll be there for you. You don’t have to go through this alone. You don’t have to go through anything alone. I’ll be there for you, I promise.’

‘Does that mean you...?’ Jecht began, before noticing that Scootaloo had already taken off.

‘Come on! I’ll answer one question for every two laps you beat me around the Aerodrome!’ Scootaloo called out from above.

‘Hey, no fair! You had a head start!’ Jecht shouted ahead, taking off, too. She began to laugh as she caught up with Scootaloo, but the second she became level with her friend, Scootaloo put on a burst of speed.

I can match anything Scootaloo can do! She flew faster and faster, racing Scootaloo around the Aerodrome, but only beating her once by the end of training.

‘That was some good flying once you pulled yourself together, Jecht. ‘Best I’ve seen you do, I’d say,’ said the coach, his voice even more hoarse now that the eight hour training session was over.

‘Thanks, coach. See you next week.’

He continued down the line of students, offering advice or praise to each in turn before they all departed to their individual homes.

‘So you said you’d answer a question for every lap I won against you?’

‘No, I said every two laps, and you only beat me once,’ said Scootaloo, remembering the taunts thrown at her after she had sneezed mid-flight.

‘So? I want a question answered!’

‘Well, I’ll half answer it.’

Jecht considered this. ‘Alright, but you have to half answer it, nothing more, nothing less. No laughing, and no awkward silence.’

‘Uh… okay? Deal,’ said Scootaloo, knowing what the question was before it was even asked.

‘Scootaloo… Do you…’ Jecht said, blushing more and more red the longer she took to ask.

‘Do you… L… Love me?’ she asked, immediately looking away, her normally blue face now completely red.

She looked at Scootaloo, and saw that she, too, was blushing. She was too embarrassed and closed her eyes, facing down a bit.

Then she felt something. Another set of lips against her own. It lasted a few seconds, but felt like an eternity to the blue Pegasus. If this was half-answering, she really wanted to know what completely answering was.

After they broke apart, Jecht opened her eyes to see Scootaloo a couple of feet away.

‘Come on, Jecht. We’re expected home, remember?’

‘Uhh, right. Y-yeah… home,’ stuttered Jecht.

Scootaloo winked, taking to the air and angling to their house, Jecht right beside her.

As they flew, the sun began to set off to the west. I never noticed how incredible the sunset could look. It’s beautiful, and orange, and… purple… Her thoughts trailed off as she looked to the pony next to her; her coat the exact same colour as the sunset, her mane the same colour as the opposing end of the sky.

They arrived home as Luna’s moon appeared on the horizon and Celestia’s sun fell below the other side of Equestria.

Jecht’s father, Firebolt, was waiting at the table for her, along with her mother. A mixture of vegetables and roots was boiling on the stove in fresh cloudwater for dinner. Jecht sat down opposite them, Scootaloo next to her. They sat together in silence for a few seconds before her father spoke up.

‘Jecht,’ he said ‘I have never been more proud of you than at this very point in your life. You have excelled at the academy, even in the Junior Speedsters, and you have found a-’ he glanced at Scootaloo- ‘a friend. You’re both respectable young mares, and I can foresee you both going far in this world of ours.

‘I want to have a serious talk with you. I said this morning that I would support you with any choices you make, Jecht. I did truly mean that. If you decided you wanted to go and do something else besides flying, I wouldn’t mind, whether it means going to rule Equestria or becoming a garbage-mare. It’s your choice to make, and I only truly realised that this morning.

‘I’ve raised you as best I could. I could have given you anything you wanted. I could have put you into any school you wished. I could have had you in the Junior Speedsters before you could even fly, but you only ever asked for what you thought you deserved. You have worked for everything you have, even without needing to, and you have earned not just my love, but my respect.’

‘Dad, I… Thank you,’ she said, a single tear on her cheek.

‘Scootaloo, I have known you for more than a year now. I do not know what it is that fuels your passion for flight, but I know it must be strong. You came from nothing and made a name for yourself. I am equally proud of you, as I am of my own daughter, and I consider you as one of my own. You have lived in this household for a bit over a year, now, and have always tried to prove your worth. You were self-supporting, and you supported Jecht in a time that I feared would corrupt her, and for this: I thank you.’

Scootaloo nodded to him, overcome with pride. So this is what a father’s love is… I am not related to him, but I do love him as though he’s my own father.

‘Dad…’ said Jecht, breaking the silence that had come over them. ‘Scootaloo and I… I… we…’

Her father interrupted. ‘I know, Jecht. I know. You have found yourself a pony to have a relationship with, strong enough to transcend any other, and to survive any adversity you both may face. I support your choice in this. Love was never meant to be limited. It was never meant to be only shared between a stallion and a mare. It can appear anywhere, no matter the circumstances.

‘I believe that you two were, indeed, meant for each other, and I will allow you two to be with each other. As though I had a choice, though, hahah!’ he said, breaking the serious mood.

Everypony at the table laughed. Jecht’s mother reached over and placed a hoof to her daughters’, a loving smile on her face.

Dinner was served and they all began a conversation of their best memories together, as husband and wife, and for Scootaloo and Jecht, as friends who were meant to be more. Not a thought was spared for the mere week they had left until the competition to change their lives.

Three days had passed since the conversation, and Jecht’s family had never been closer. They had received a letter from a certain cross-eyed mailmare saying that Spitfire was coming down two days earlier than planned to spend some time with family (this time actually mentioning Jecht while saying she was looking forward to seeing all of them.) Jecht seemed torn on what to think about this. She loved her auntie as a family member, but she despised being eclipsed by her.

Scootaloo and Jecht were still not officially together, but they were closer than they’d ever been before and, somehow, word had gotten around about it. Elderly ponies would frown at them whenever they passed, some even muttering taunts and insults, but adults and teenagers would either pass them by without a word or congratulate them on being happily together. This wasn’t helping with training, which now took up most of their spare time.

Jecht had worked out a diet plan to give them maximum energy by the end of the week while Scootaloo had worked out a training schedule. They were given nine hours a night for sleep and three hours a day for everything else from eating to relaxing. They would wake up, have breakfast, train for six hours, have lunch, train for a further six hours, then have dinner and talk with family until bed.

After six days of this somewhat antisocial schedule, they rested an entire day with no training to conserve energy for the competition.

Rainbow Dash had been living in this world for what felt like a month now. On the first day in her strange world, she had met Scootaloo. The words of their conversation, even after this slow month, had burned into her memory. She had told Scootaloo to go above and beyond. She had told Scootaloo to exceed her in everything she had ever strived to do, and she believed Scootaloo could do it. Then again, Scootaloo was just a figment. This world couldn’t be real… but then why did it seem so? This was the only world she ever knew, and nothing waited beyond it…

After a few days in the strange dream-world, everything seemed to go a bit slower, and she was joined by Applejack. Another world rested on the edge of her memory, threatening to fall into the abyss if she attempted to recall it. Of this strange half-forgotten world, only Applejack remained.

They had sat and talked for hours on end. Or rather, Applejack had talked to her. Rainbow didn’t really know what was happening anymore, but she couldn’t speak. She had trouble walking, could barely fly, and now she was mute. Only Applejack kept her sane.

Every once in a while, one or more of her other friends would come into her dream, too, but would always leave after an hour or two. Whenever Rarity visited, the colour of the sky would change and the clouds would resemble a different type of flower. This seemed somehow strange to Rainbow Dash, but, as before, this was the only world she knew. No matter how strange it seemed, it must be real, for what else could it be?

She had once felt extremely tired. So tired she knew she wouldn’t wake up if she slept. Oh, how she wanted to sleep, but Pinkie had kept her awake with one of her parties. Rainbow Dash didn’t object, she liked Pinkie’s parties, but she just wished Pinkie had picked a better time. She had heard yelling from somewhere and Pinkie disappeared, along with the colour she had brought to this white and grey cloud world. Just after Pinkie left, she heard words faintly in the distance… or was it one word repeated? She thought she heard ‘clear… clear…’ and something she assumed was an unseen thunder cloud struck her a few times until she was fully awake again.

Whenever any of her other friends visited, they only ever sat quietly. She tried to interact with them, but while their gaze would follow her around, she couldn’t start a conversation with them.

After a fortnight in this world, Scootaloo had brought somepony else with her. She couldn’t remember who, she couldn’t even remember what this pony looked like; only that they had come with Scootaloo. She had a feeling it was a mare, but it might have been a colt… was it a Pegasus or not?

When Scootaloo spoke, her heart had soared. She had felt better than she had in the fortnight since her mind had started recording memories. Scootaloo said had learned to fly. She flew so well, she had even joined the Junior Speedsters. This was what Dash had wanted. After this visit, Dash was stronger. She was able to fly again. Not much, but she was able to. Somehow, Scootaloo having come one step closer to their shared goal had made her somewhat better… she didn’t know what this meant, but she knew Scootaloo had to complete the goal for… something. What would happen if Scootaloo completed the goal had slipped her mind, but Dash knew it was important.

Scootaloo’s friend had spoken, too. They had wished for her to get better. Why would she need to get better? She couldn’t fly too well, but she felt fine. But then again, since Scootaloo left, that familiar tiredness was slowly returning…

Applejack was almost always by her side. When she disappeared, she would come back after what felt like half an hour. Having Applejack there made her feel better… why, she didn’t know, but it helped having a friend as close as Applejack. Wait, why does it help? What do I need help with?

That was a fortnight ago. She hadn’t seen Scootaloo since, but Applejack was still there, and her other friends were still visiting. She was content, though still uneasy with the world she was in. She just didn’t seem to be able to pick what was wrong with it...

AUTHORS NOTE

From here on in, you need to choose what ending you want to read. I’ve written a happy ending and a sad ending, to keep everyone happy. I know a lot of you will read both, but whatever.

There is also a happy and sad epilogue. I’m contemplating writing a ScootaJecht continuation (A journey to the Old World), but that’ll all depend on how well-received this rewrite is.

Once again, I thank you, the readers, for taking the time to read this. I’m nothing without all of you.

Chapter 3

I Always Wanted to be Like You – Part 3

As Scootaloo walked out of the clinic, she could think of nothing but what lay in store for her. She was already making plans on when and where she would train, whether or not she would need a trainer, and how she would get the bits to pay for one. I don’t need a trainer. What’ll they do? Shout at me a whole heap and not much more. No, I’ll just have to do this alone.

She hopped onto her scooter and buckled her helmet. Somepony was calling her name, but she ignored them. Scootaloo took off down the street building speed then snapped her wings straight, attempting to keep them extended against the wind. The unused muscles began to burn faster than she had thought. That just means they’re getting stronger! No pain, no gain, that’s what the adults say, right? Dash… this is for you.

Scootaloo had been training solidly for six months. She had barely spoken to anypony at all, except when taking breaks-however short-and when travelling home. She had long since abandoned her scooter, missing it out of nostalgia more than anything else for a time, but eventually was rid of it. When she mentioned not wanting to get rid of it Applebloom had jumped at the opportunity to get her friend back, offering a permanent spot in the Sweet Apple Acres barn. Scootaloo thanked her for the offer, but Applebloom was saddened to find that Scootaloo now spent even less time on the ground.

Scootaloo still lived in Ponyville. As part of her training she had begun to fly to Cloudsdale every morning and back in the afternoons. Being a mere two miles, she had made a personal task of making the flight in ten minutes or less. If she didn’t make it, she would go and fly the distance again and again until successful, whether or not it meant nearly dropping from the sky in sheer exhaustion.

Her friends were worried. Scootaloo’s actions were almost like depression, but instead of sadness and lack of sense of self-worth, she seemed to have nothing but determination for her training, even if it killed her.

After five months, she had joined the Junior Flight Academy in Cloudsdale. That was her best bet for getting into the Junior Speedsters. Impress someone at the Academy and they’ll come find me. After being at the Academy for a month she had become one of the best flyers in the class. The coach went on about her natural skill and wouldn’t hear a word of it when she tried to tell him it wasn’t. Scootaloo continued training harder than any other in the Academy just so she could achieve her goal.

Within her first month of training Scootaloo had found her mark. The first time she made the ten minute flight to Cloudsdale she felt a small burning on her flank and turned to see a cutie mark much like Rainbow Dash’s own. The cloud had a faint grey tinge to it and the thunder was the same shade of purple as her mane, though it was otherwise identical.

There were only two better flyers than her. The first was a young, cocky, brown colt. He was convinced that he would be the best flyer to ever graduate the academy simply because he had acquired his cutie mark-a shooting star-first of anyone else. The other, had grown to become Scootaloo’s friend, was named Jecht. Her cutie mark was a fireball and her coat was as pure and blue as the sky. She was the niece of Spitfire of the Wonderbolts, and had the fiery mane to prove it. Her dream in life was to take after her auntie and father who had both been Wonderbolts.

Jecht was surprisingly small for her age, though her body was perfectly formed for speed; wings preened to perfection, thin flanked, surprisingly flexible, and her mane seemed to flatten itself to lessen wind resistance when she flew. She would often gross Scootaloo out by stretching a hoof back behind her and bending her wings to unnatural angles, then letting them spring back.

Jecht’s father, Firebolt, had been the original trainer of the Wonderbolts before his arthritis had set in. He was still able to fly, but not well. Firebolt had trained Jecht whenever she wanted help, but had not forced her to train as so many other parent might have. He wanted his daughter to make her own choices.

Scootaloo and Jecht were drawn together by a common interest of striving to do their best in school and later life. Jecht, with her family’s connections, could have secured a place in any flight-related academy or club, but had chosen not to do so until she deemed herself good enough. It was this that kept her down in the Academy with Scootaloo until they were both ready to move on. Scootaloo couldn’t help but respect her friend for waiting behind until she was good enough to move on.

More than that, Scootaloo saw something else in Jecht. She showed loyalty to those close to her. When Scootaloo looked at Jecht, she saw Rainbow Dash.

Applejack still visited Rainbow daily, but the rest of her friends had settled down to a visit roughly once a week whenever they could make it. Twilight optimised this best, making for a two hour visit every Saturday from ten in the morning until midday.

Pinkie Pie had nearly been banned from the hospital when she tried to wake up Rainbow Dash with a party. She had somehow found a way to get confetti and balloons into the air vents, along with sticking streamers around the ceiling. When her friends arrived the party decorations went off and music started, waking up every patient except Dash, and scaring one of the senior residents. Pinkie’s friends scolded her, but they knew deep down that she was only trying to help.

Rarity knew she wouldn’t be able to awaken Dash, so she went for the next best thing: trying to liven up the room a little bit. She put up one of Dash’s “ghastly” Wonderbolts posters on the wall and brought in a vase of flowers every week. She literally hoof-made and fired a new clay vase every week, painting it herself and stocking it with fresh flowers from the local botanist, Roseluck.

Applejack began to donate as many apples as the farm could spare in the hopes that if the hospital spent less money in food they could focus more attention on curing Rainbow Dash. Big Macintosh had tried to explain that that wasn’t the way hospitals worked, and began to explain how a monthly budget works only to be berated for "using them fancy mathematics to muddy the issue."

Twilight researched all she could, even requesting books from Canterlot, but nothing could help. All of the books said the same thing: ‘If a pony is to wake up from a coma, they will do it in their own time,’ before going into details about how to avoid bedsores. This only proved to make Twilight’s mood worse about the whole ordeal. The doctor that Princess Celestia had sent in had said the exact same thing, except he had at least been able to use magic to speed the healing of Rainbow’s broken leg and fractured wing.

Scootaloo had visited twice since she had left that day six months ago. When she came in, she just sat and watched Rainbow Dash, every so often muttering things like ‘I will do it,’ and ‘I’m making progress. Please get better soon.’ Applejack left Scootaloo alone on the few occasions she had come in. She made excuses about having work to do at the farm, but Scootaloo knew better, and she couldn’t be more grateful.

After Dash’s broken bones were fixed, the doctors saw no improvements in her condition. They had once offered to unplug the life support system, but her friends wouldn’t let them do anything of the sort.

The Cutie Mark Crusaders had broken up completely. Not long after Scootaloo left she had received her cutie mark. Applebloom eventually convinced Sweetie Belle to try singing publicly and she had agreed. After giving an unbelievable performance of a song of her own composition a mark appeared on her flank in the form of a silver musical note. Applebloom gave up on searching for her mark and started learning how to buck apples properly, taking on bigger chores at the farm.

In her dream world, Dash had regained the ability to use her wings and legs to almost normal levels. She couldn’t do her aerial tricks, but with nopony around to show off to, there was no point to begin with.

Rainbow Dash was drifting off more and more. Her friends still visited her world, though they never interacted with her. If they tried to talk to her it became a one-sided conversation. She couldn’t talk to or touch them. They were completely transparent; oblivious to her movements. The bullies from her junior flight class came to visit once. She contented herself by bucking through their faces a few times, but with no solidity, she gave up and accepted their apologies.

Rainbow’s heart was slowing down. The hospital records showed a slow decline in heart rate. After two months her heart rate was down to half normal speed, and at six months it dropped below a quarter; fifteen beats per minute. The doctors were giving up hope.

One Year Later

Scootaloo had been training with Jecht, as usual, when the stallion arrived. He said he was the coach of the Junior Speedsters and that the teacher at the Academy had mentioned just how advanced these two young mares were. He offered them a chance to be a part of the Junior Speedsters and, without a second thought, they both accepted.

Scootaloo moved in with Jecht. She was like a sister to the young mare; the sister she never had. Jecht’s father was delighted for her to move in, accepting her as a foster daughter. Scootaloo was thrilled to finally have a family. She had been alone for almost as long as she could remember, and having a family again was more than she could have ever hoped for.

Scootaloo was still absolutely devoted to her training. She was only ever seen at the race track or sleeping; sometimes both. Jecht couldn’t possibly keep up with Scootaloo’s level of skill, but Scootaloo still didn’t have any plans of moving up without her friend. She didn’t honestly know where she would be moving to from this point. The Junior Speedsters were as high as you could get before going professional. She decided to pay another visit to Rainbow Dash before her first training session with her new flight team.

Jecht mentioned how she wanted to meed Scootaloo’s hero, and Scootaloo was more than happy to have her friend along on the trip back to her old home town. Dash had been her whole reason for her meeting Jecht; it seemed more than right to invite Jecht along to see her.

Jecht and Scootaloo both set off early the next morning for Ponyville to see Rainbow Dash in the hospital.

They hardly had time to set down on the ground in Ponyville before Scootaloo was hug-tackled by her old friends Applebloom and Sweetie Belle.

‘Gawt’cha! Y’ can’t fly away now!’

‘Don’t struggle, you big chicken! We haven’t seen you in so long!’

Jecht laughed as Scootaloo continued to struggle under her old friends. Applebloom looked up to see Jecht for the first time and jumped off of Scootaloo, almost immediately followed by Sweetie Belle.

‘Ooh, this your marefriend?’ chided Applebloom

‘Actually, no. This is my friend, Jecht. Y’know, like a fighter jet? We’ve been training together for months now.’

‘Hiya!’ put in Jecht

‘If you say so,’ said Sweetie Belle, a sly smirk coming across her face.

‘Nothing like that is going on, Sweetie Belle.’ Scootaloo’s eyes narrowed slightly as she glared at her old friend.

‘I’m only teasing. Don’t you remember when we used to make jokes? You haven’t forgotten what a joke is have you?’

‘No, I do, I just don’t remember those kinds of jokes going on. What’s new with you two, anyway?’

‘Ah got my cutie mark! It’s an apple seed, y’see?’ She turned to show off an image of a brown seed on her flank.
‘Applejack thinks it means Ah’m the spark o’ new life or somethin’, but I dunno. I’m the best at plantin’ stuff, anyway.’

‘Rarity’s trying to get me in contact with a record company from Canterlot. I don’t think I’m that good as singing, but she won’t let up, so I guess I’ll humour her.’

‘Dictionary.’ Jecht looked at Scootaloo, confused at the out of place comment. ‘It’s an old joke, I’ll tell you later.’

‘Alrighty then.’

‘Anyway, we were heading to the clinic?’

‘Yessum. Come on down th’other side o’ town, they moved her to the long stay ward a while ago. They wanted to move her to Manehattan, but we said “no way is we losin’ a friend like Rainbow! We want her to stay here,” 'nd that was it. They moved her over that-a-way’ she pointed her head south.

The four young mares set off through town, Jecht and Scootaloo collecting glances from young bucks. Scootaloo knew she should feel offended at the way they were ogling at her, but she was secretly proud… until Jecht shoved her over and started laughing.

‘Thanks.’

‘Hey, somepony had to do it! Even Pegasi aren’t allowed to live with their heads in the clouds.’

Scootaloo got back to her hooves and waited until Jecht wasn’t watching to shove her back.

‘Hey!’

‘Payback.’

‘Oh really?’

‘Yeah, really!’

Jecht picked herself up off the ground and ran at Scootaloo, tripping over when Scootaloo leapt into the air.

‘What’s the matter? I thought you were faster than that!’

Jecht bared her teeth, attempting to cover a smile. She launched herself into the air after Scootaloo, both pulling off complex aerial moves in attempts to gain higher ground and shove each other. Scootaloo pulled in tightly, gliding backwards over the top of Jecht, and lightly poked her between the joints of her wings. Jecht gasped and fell a full twelve feet to the ground.

‘Jecht! Are you okay? Oh Celestia, I’m sorry!’

‘Come here… Scootaloo…’ She sat back up on the ground, gasping deeply.

Scootaloo landed quickly and walked over, fearing she had more than just winded her friend.

‘YOU’RE GONNA PAY FOR THAT, FILLY!’ Jecht jumped up and flew at Scootaloo, taking her by surprise and knocking her over. They rolled over each other twice before coming to rest, laughing.

Applebloom leaned in close to Sweetie Belle. ‘Are y’ sure they ain’t… y’know… t’gether?’

‘I don’t even know.’

They arrived at the long-stay ward and were directed to the right room, entering together. The new room seemed more homely than Rainbow’s old one. There were paintings by famous artists on the walls and several books on a nearby desk collecting dust.

Rainbow had nowhere near as many machines attached to her as the last time Scootaloo had visited. In the old hospital, Rainbow had at least two cables attached to every limb, but here she had only an IV drip in her right foreleg and a heart monitor patch on her left, completed with a small mask for supplying oxygen to the mare. Her mane had lost all of its natural lustre and even seemed to be somewhat greying, and her coat was nowhere near the vibrant shade of blue that it used to be.

‘Hey girls. ‘Been a long time since Ah’ve seen y’all t’gether like this,’ came the familiar voice of Applejack from the corner of the room.

‘Applejack! Uhh, hi. I didn’t see you there. Err, no, this isn’t my marefriend. I see that assumption runs in the family,’ Scootaloo said with a backwards glance at Applebloom who shrugged. ‘This is Jecht. She’s a friend of mine. We’re here to see Dash.’

‘Well it’s good t’ see yer alive and well. It’s been too long. More’n a year since I last saw yeh. Ye grew up so fast…’

Applejack seemed tired, sitting there. She had rushed her chores every single day to try to make it into town and be with Rainbow Dash. Applebloom admired her sister’s loyalty, but worried for her health. More than once had Applejack almost injured herself seriously by trying to rush chores. On one occasion, Applejack had been trapped under a stack of hay bales that she didn’t stack properly and had to wait for an hour before Big Macintosh found her in the barn.

‘Well, ah should be getting’ back t’ th’ farm. Big Macintosh’ll be wantin’ some help since you’re takin’ the day off, Applebloom. Yeh sure are lucky, y’know. Yer one day off is the one day Scootaloo comes t’ town.’

‘Yeah, ain’t that right, big sister? Ah’ll seeya at home later.’

Applejack stood and cantered out of the room, only pausing to give Scootaloo a quick, friendly hug.

Scootaloo walked to the bedside, Jecht standing back in the doorway.

‘Uh, hi, Rainbow Dash. I haven’t seen you in more than a year. Sorry, I guess. Well… I’ve been training like you told me to. I joined the Junior Flight Academy shortly after leaving Ponyville- oh yeah, and I moved to Cloudsdale, too… I graduated top of the year, second-fastest of any pony, ever, right after you. Oh, and I’m in the Junior Speedsters now, just like you were.’

A tear began to roll, down her face. Her voice, however, remained level and unbroken.

‘I wish you could see how far I’ve come. It was all for you. Rainbow Dash, you’re my hero. I-I…’ she broke off and sat in silence while more tears rolled down her muzzle.

Jecht came and stepped up to the bed to better look at Rainbow Dash.

‘Hi, Rainbow Dash. I’m Jecht, Scootaloo’s new sister. I’m very happy to meet you,’ she said. Jecht knew there was no point in talking to a pony this far under, but she did it more for Scootaloo’s sake than anything. ‘I see why she strives so hard to do her best. I’ll make sure to keep her in check for you, okay? She needs a friend to watch over here.’ She then leant against Scootaloo’s neck to give the young orange mare some comfort.

‘Thank you,’ whispered Scootaloo.

Applebloom and Sweetie Belle looked at each other and began to whisper.

‘Are y’ absotively sure they ain’t t’gether? I mean… well, look!’

‘That’s not a word, Applebloom... and I’m still not sure, but I suppose there was a point when we both did that with our sisters, and Scootaloo’s never had a sister before. Just don’t say anyth- uh-oh.’

Scootaloo had heard faint muttering and turned around to see two guilty looking faces. She suddenly realised how the scene must appear to her old friends. She had been talking to a comatose pony and now was now nuzzling somepony she had claimed to be nothing more than a friend.

She turned to Dash and quietly said ‘It’s all been for you’, then turned back and walked out of the room again, Jecht not far behind.

Applebloom and Sweetie Belle glanced one final time back to Dash and left behind Scootaloo and Jecht.

They spent the rest of the day meeting and greeting all of her old friends and acquaintances from Ponyville. Pinkie was literally bouncing off the walls with excitement when Scootaloo got there, and she wasn’t able to leave until an hour had passed and they were carrying a tray of free cupcakes each that Pinkie Pie had insisted they take.

A few ponies were wary of Jecht when they found out she was related to Spitfire of the Wonderbolts, but they respected Scootaloo’s choice in friends and held their tongues. Fluttershy had held her tongue more out of nervousness at meeting a new pony than anything else.

By 4PM that afternoon, they had reacquainted everypony from Scootaloo’s old life, and decided to take a break together down at her favourite childhood spot. She had once found a small river a few hundred yards into the forest and had since then visited it at least once a week until she had left Ponyville. She suspected the magic of the forest was at play, as despite it being the middle of the day, stars were clearly visible between the few breaks in tree branches overhead.

When the day was nearly over, Scootaloo and Jecht headed home to Cloudsdale, still with a few cupcakes wrapped up in their saddlebags.

‘Thank you, Scootaloo.’

‘Huh? What for?’

‘For letting me meet your old friends… and Rainbow Dash.’

‘Aw, come on, don’t get all sappy on me!’

‘Don’t make me knock you out the sky.’

‘I thought it was me who did that?’

‘Who did what? Got knocked out the sky?’ Jecht swung in dangerously close to Scootaloo, but instead of shoving her again, she lightly nudged her foreleg, offering a friendly smile.

‘Thank you, Jecht.’

‘Why?’

‘For being such a good friend. I needed you today.’

They flew the rest of the trip in silence, arriving back home just as the sun dipped under the horizon.

Growing numbers of competitors were arriving in Cloudsdale. Word of the undefeatable duo was spreading fast, and they were more than happy to race anypony who went up against them. Their coach had put them both into the highest class the Speedsters had at their disposal, yet they still rose together to the top. Jecht had finally caught up to Scootaloo’s skill level again, and Scootaloo couldn’t be happier to have a friendly face by her side. With Jecht racing alongside her, nopony stood a chance against either of them.

Finally, Scootaloo began to enter official competitions. She lost nearly every one of them until Jecht joined in, too. With the added familial competition, she began to win half of competitions; the other half being won by Jecht. It was a rare occurrence that anypony beat either of them, let alone both.

They entered more and more advanced competitions, including some aerobatics ones, just to see how they could go. They both failed superbly in the Single Aerobatics competitions, but in Duo Competitions, they blew the rest out of the air. They were always perfectly synchronised, even through their more complex moves, never missing a beat of their wings, and always coming home with an award to show for their efforts.

At last, the Wonderbolts themselves came to Cloudsdale. They were scheduled to be touring around the eastern borders of Equestria, but had organised for a short trip to Cloudsdale to investigate the rumours.

This was what two years of training and competitions had boiled down to. In order to achieve her life goal, Scootaloo had to surpass Rainbow Dash. She had to become a Wonderbolt.