Shooting Star

Scootaloo racked her brains for a good name. "Dash... no... Finesse...no...Ha! Vitesse! That's an awesome name, right Vitesse?"

The kestrel screeched in confirmation. Fluttershy smiled, and then firmly sent Scootaloo home to rest her broken leg.

Flying with a broken leg was dangerous, since the leg hung limp and could not be used for balance in the air, so Scootaloo was grounded until it could heal. She would have been miserable were it not for Vitesse flitting around and screeching, soaring around above her new owner's head.

As Scootaloo trotted through Ponyville, she wondered if she still needed a teacher for her flying. Not really- but she wanted to learn stunts, and be a flier like Rainbow Dash, not just a weather pony. Cloudbusting wasn't something she had tried, just in case that turned out to be her special talent and not aerobatics. A Sonic Rainboom was the ultimate goal, but it would be a long while until she could even attempt such a thing. Basic stunts, like corkscrews, loop-the-loops and other simplicities had to be utterly mastered before any action towards tackling advanced stunts.

As Scootaloo thought through this, she forgot to look where she was going. She bumped head on into somepony who was leaning on a streetlight.

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" Scootaloo cried, but the figure just gave a noncommittal grunt. As she looked at the figure, it was evident that it was not a pony, and as it stepped forward, a sharp beak, large brown wings, and twitching lion's tail came into view. It was a griffin, and not just any griffin. This was-

"Gilda?" exclaimed Scootaloo.

Scootaloo, though having never met the griffin personally, had nevertheless heard tell of her from Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie and  of course, Rainbow Dash, though these things were seldom very pleasant. Now, Gilda's unfamiliar form loomed, and Scootaloo felt the sudden urge to cower.

Vitesse, however, was unperturbed, and went to perch on Gilda's outstretched wing. Gilda inclined her head slightly, as did the kestrel, in a signal of respect for a fellow raptor, and then the griffin turned her piercing yellow eyes on Scootaloo.

"Hey." said Gilda offhandedly. Her large, bronze-feathered wings folded with a rustle. Vitesse swooped over to perch on Scootaloo's back again. "Nice pet. How'd you know my name, anyhow?"

"Well...um... Rainbow Dash told me about you." stuttered Scootaloo.

"Dash?" Gilda said. "I came here to see her, actually, and congratulate her on becoming a Wonderbolt. She around?"

"No, she's away in Los Pegasus." replied Scootaloo, still edgy.

"Shame. I wanted to introduce her to Peleus." said Gilda.

"Who's..." Scootaloo broke off as a young griffin emerged from Gilda. "Uh, is that-"

"My little brother." interrupted Gilda.

"Oh." Scootaloo blinked at the little griffin. His feathers were  sandy gold colour, and he was only a little bigger than a colt. He blinked back at her with sharp, intelligent orange eyes.

"Sorry, Peleus, Dash isn't here." said Gilda, wrapping her brother in a winged hug; the griffin cub pushed her off. Gilda looked up and surveyed Scootaloo coolly. "That girl Pinkie Pie still here?" she asked.

Scootaloo was instantly defensive. "Why?"

Gilda shrugged. "Wanted to apologise to her. I was a bit nasty when I was here last. Just a difficult time in my life. Oh, and I'd like to see the yellow and pink one too."

"Fluttershy?"

"Yeah, that's the one."

"She is here... both of them are, but I'm not sure they'd be too glad to see you..." Scootaloo said nervously.

Gilda scowled. "I'm guessing they've been bad-mouthing me to you?"

"Truth be told, yes." admitted Scootaloo. "But-"

"Wait." Gilda pointed with one of her claws at Scootaloo's flank. "Where's your... uh..."

"My cutie mark? I don't have one." confessed Scootaloo.

"Why not? I thought you ponies all had them."

"We get them when we discover our special talents. I haven't found mine yet, so I don't have a cutie mark."

"Huh.You ponies are so weird. Anyway, I gotta go give Peleus a flying lesson. Laters, uh..."

"Scootaloo. How long will you be staying here?"

"Until Dash gets back, probably."

"You'll be here a while- she's in Los Pegasus for a year."

Gilda seemed thoroughly unruffled by this information. "Well, I'm a free griffin. I'll take Peleus back home in a few weeks, then come back and wait. See you around, Scootaloo, Vitesse."

"How did you know that was her name?" said Scootaloo as Gilda spread her wings.

"She told me. Duh." Gilda rolled her eyes and took off, Peleus clinging to her back.

Scootaloo watched Gilda soaring away, and smiled. The griffin didn't seem so bad.

Scootaloo's leg mended quickly since she was young and healthy, and a few weeks after her accident she was given the all clear to fly again.

It felt so good to be airborne once again that Scootaloo, once she'd settled into a glide far above the ground, closed her eyes and just enjoyed the sensation of the air through her feathers.

As she slowly descended, the story of Rainbow's cutie mark passed through her head. Maybe, if she could do a Sonic Rainboom, she'd finally get her cutie mark.

Scootaloo opened her eyes; in a flash of daring, she soared upwards as high as she could go, then tilted into an almost vertical dive. She stretched her hooves out before her, kept her wings almost folded in order to minimise drag, and gained speed rapidly as she dived.

To her delight, a smooth curve of force began to build around her hooves, but even as it appeared she felt it pushing back on her, and seconds later she was forced backwards, losing a lot of speed.

Scootaloo pulled up, and then heard a voice call to her. "You have to push forwards, not just keep going!"

Scootaloo whirled around to see Gilda hovering nearby, Peleus at her side.

"How do you know?" called Scootaloo, a bit of scorn in her tone; did the griffin even have a clue about what she was talking about?

Gilda flew over and told Peleus to stay with Scootaloo, before beating her wings and carrying herself upwards, to the same height Scootaloo had started from. Then the griffin took up the same stance Scootaloo had and plunged into a dive.

Duly, the curve of resistance materialised before Gilda's outstretched claws, but the griffin was not deterred. Continuing to dive, she pressed forward, and the curve grew bolder, until it narrowed into a cone.

And then there was an almighty boom. Scootaloo stared, expecting to see the colours of the spectrum painting the sky, but there was nothing.

Gilda stalled and slowed down, coming to hover in front of Scootaloo. She ran a claw through her white head feathers. "For some reason, it's only you ponies who can do the rainbow thing; it's just a sonic boom for us griffins. But then, who wants to look like they're farting rainbows?"

For some reason, that made Scootaloo giggle. Gilda looked thoughtfully at her. "Say, you seem okay, for a pony. And you certainly seemed to know what you were doing with the dive, until the resistance bounced you back. I could give you a few pointers on that if you like."

"Oh, thank you! I'd like that, I'm certain my special talent must be something to do with flying." gushed Scootaloo, before regaining her composure. "I- I mean, if it isn't too much trouble."

"Sure it isn't. I'll see you later, Scoots." Gilda swooped away, followed by Peleus.

Scootaloo went home, and Vitesse was there to greet her. "Somehow, Vitesse." said Scootaloo, "I think everything might be okay from here on."

The kestrel just screeched.