Shooting Star

The next day, back in Ponyville, Scootaloo decided, after a morning of moping in her room, that she was going to go out and get her cutie mark, so that she could show it off proudly to Rainbow when she got back from Los Pegasus. She cantered through Ponyville towards a field on the outskirts of town, stretching her wings as she trotted, making sure each orange feather was in place.

The field was empty apart from the tall oak tree which stood proudly in the centre, leaves rustling in the slight breeze which swept through the air. Scootaloo, wings stretched out fully, stood for a moment, feeling the breeze over her feathers, before raising her wings and beginning to beat them quickly up and down. They made a slight whirring sound as they flapped in a blur, but Scootaloo had barely lifted a couple of inches off the ground before she tired; her wings flopped to her sides and she touched down again.

Frowning, Scootaloo allowed her wings a few minutes to recover before repeating the action, with the same result. Scootaloo straightened her feathers and was about to begin again when a delicate butterfly fluttered before her face to come to rest on her snout. Scootaloo snorted and shook it off irritably, only for a second butterfly to join it, the two brightly-coloured insects gracefully riding the breeze. They were joined by more and more, until a hundred or so butterflies crowded the air, two hundred pink, blue and yellow wings flapping in the sky.

"Oh!" came a familiar voice from above. "No, little ones, the next field is the one with the flowers..."

The crowd of butterflies opened up and Fluttershy descended slowly to the ground beside Scootaloo. She conferred quietly with three of the fluttering insects, who hovered before her face for a moment, before flying back into the cloud of the fellows. Slowly, the butterflies rose up and flew together to the next field, where many yellow daffodils swayed and bobbed their pretty heads.

Fluttershy looked over at Scootaloo. "I'm very sorry- they just got excited and came down too soon. What are you doing here on your own, anyway?"

"I was trying to fly." muttered Scootaloo ruefully. "But I wasn't getting anywhere."

Fluttershy looked surprised. "Really? But your wings are the right shape, your flight feathers are fully grown in... they're like Rainbow's wings, just right for high speed flight."

"But they're so weak." spat Scootaloo.

Fluttershy frowned. "Try again- maybe I'll be able to tell you what's wrong."

Scootaloo dutifully unfurled her wings and repeated her high-speed flapping, tiring and sinking back down after a few seconds. Fluttershy tilted her head on one side.

"You're flapping them too fast." she confirmed.

"Huh?" said Scootaloo incredulously. Fluttershy unfolded her own wings.

"You need to beat them slowly, and put all the power in the downstroke, not the upstroke." To demonstrate, she flapped her wings down once, much more slowly than Scootaloo, and rose a foot in the air. Scootaloo was fascinated, and instantly tried to replicate the action.

Fluttershy watched as Scootaloo swung her wings down, putting all her strength into the action. Somehow, it felt right, and she lifted a few inches off the ground. Immediately, Scootaloo pulled her wings up again and repeated the downstroke. But as she began to rise higher, she became excited and began to buzz her wings again, only to fall back down, exhausted. Fluttershy smiled.

"You need to get more power in your wings before you can fly properly, anyway. I once trained with my animals for Hurricane Day; maybe I could give a training session?"

This was the closest to flying Scootaloo had ever got; eagerly, she accepted.

Half an hour later, Scootaloo was sweating. Having been defeated in an aerial tug-of-war by butterflies, seven times over, could take its toll. Fluttershy glided over, whistle dangling around her neck, and asked, "Are you ready for weightlifting?"

Scootaloo braced her wings against the dumbbell, and pushed upwards. It began to lift, and she grinned, only to glance at the weights and see that there were no weights on the pole.

For the rest of the day, Fluttershy kept Scootaloo on a training course, practicing press-ups with her wings, lifting weights, and practicing the wing motions for flight. Scootaloo had to drag herself back home, but she already felt stronger.

The morning after, Scootaloo rushed straight to Fluttershy's cottage, eager for another lesson. A yawning Fluttershy answered the door. "Oh, good morning, Scootaloo... what brings you here so early?"

"I want another training session! Please!" exclaimed Scootaloo.

Fluttershy looked sad. "Sorry, Scootaloo, but I have to count the baby squirrels today, and move some newts to a new pond. I really don't have time- maybe just practice on your own today?"

Scootaloo turned away, dejected, but then grew determined. "I will practice, and practice harder, until I'm as good a flyer as Rainbow Dash! No, better than Rainbow Dash! I'll prove to her, and myself, that I belong up in the sky!"

Day after day, Scootaloo trained. Some days she trained with Fluttershy, others by herself. With every lift of the weights, with every push-up, with each successful tug-of-war, Scootaloo's wings grew stronger.

Until one day, when Fluttershy was otherwise occupied, Scootaloo decided she was finally ready for true flight. So she set off for the gorge, where Rainbow Dash had once raced against the animals who wished to be her faithful pet.

Standing on the edge, Scootaloo spread her wings- and jumped.

At first, things went fine. Scootaloo's wings reacted just as they should, and she flapped along slowly above the chasm. But then, she decided to try a couple of stunts. Beating her wings harder, she rose into a loop-the-loop, and then, folding her wings, dived towards the bottom of the gorge. Calmly, as she neared the rocky base of the gorge, Scootaloo threw open her wings, but too late; her eyes widened as the ground zoomed up to meet her, there was a sickening thud- and darkness.

Much later, Scootaloo woke up. Stars glittered overhead, but as she tried to stand, she felt a sharp pain in her back leg and cried out in agony. Squinting in the darkness, she saw that her hind leg was trapped beneath a considerably-sized rock, and was twisted at a strange angle; it was apparently broken. Scootaloo suddenly remembered that nopony knew she was here, and thus would not think to look for her here. Fear at being left here to starve filled her, and she began to cry out into the fathomless night, a high-pitched keening sound.

After a few moments, there was an answering screech. Three kestrels swooped down to land beside her, and scrutinized the young orange pegasus with bright yellow eyes. At first, Scootaloo ignored them, but then they began to scratch at the rock, and she turned to face them. The kestrels fastened their sharp talons onto the rough surface of the rock, and then slowly began to lift it off Scootaloo's leg. Scootaloo quickly stood, keeping her weight off her injured leg, and smiled, thanking the three kestrels for their help. They just bobbed their heads and blinked a bit more, but as Scootaloo began to limp along, they stayed with her.

After a long, agonising walk, Scootaloo reached the far end of the gorge, and climbed laboriously out, her bruised wings offering little help. She limped back to town, and arrived back as the sun began to appear on the horizon.

Through all this, the smallest kestrel stayed by her. Its peers had winged away as Scootaloo left the gorge, but the youngest hovered over her, occasionally swooping down for a rest on her back. Scootaloo smiled at her little companion, and she blinked back.

Scootaloo arrived at the hospital, and immediately was rushed for an x-ray which confirmed that her leg was broken. It was wrapped up in plaster and then Scootaloo was dismissed from the hospital, bemused at the pure speed of it all. She limped more comfortably along home, where she found the little she-kestrel waiting on her windowsill. It cried musically to her, and came to rest on her shoulder. Examining the young raptor further, Scootaloo saw that one of her talons was missing, and took it to Fluttershy with all haste.

Fluttershy told Scootaloo that one of the kestrel's talons had been wrenched out as she lifted the rock, scolded Scootaloo for being irresponsible, and then treated the injury carefully.

But when Fluttershy let the kestrel go, she flew straight to Scootaloo and rubbed her head against her cheek, hovering by the orange pegasus's shoulder.

"Well, Scootaloo, it appears you've found yourself an animal willing to be your pet, if you'll accept her." said Fluttershy. "She says she feels a special connection with you, and she'd like to be your companion."

Scootaloo surveyed the young kestrel perching on her back. "Pet, huh? I've always wanted one of those..." And it was true. Applebloom had Red, one of Winona's puppies, and Sweetie Belle had Glimmer, one of Opal's kittens (who thankfully had a much more friendly attitude than her mother). But up until now, Scootaloo had had no pet, and had put little thought to how to obtain one. But now it seemed she had one.

"Sure, you can be my companion!" said Scootaloo enthusiastically. The little kestrel screeched happily.

Fluttershy prompted, "Do you want to give her a name?"

Scootaloo looked around at the bird, who surveyed her with beady yellow eyes. "Oh, right! I'll call her..."