A young filly happily ran through the streets of Ponyville. She was a light blue pegasus with a light purple mane and tail. She hadn’t earned her cutie mark yet. The filly carried a doll in one hoof and made whooshing noises as she made it ‘fly’ around.
“Sonic Rainboom! Pow!” she yelled as she closed her eyes and galloped as fast as she could.
The filly kept running until she crashed right into a mare. Both of them toppled over and slid a few meters. The mare was an orange pegasus with a long, violet mane. Her cutie mark was an image of a wheel with wings growing out of the center and the wheel left a skid mark behind it in an ‘S’ shape.
The mare stood and rubbed her head. “You should really watch where you’re going.”
The filly ignored her and started looking around frantically. “Where’s Rainbow Dash!?”
The mare looked around and noticed a Rainbow Dash doll wearing a Wonderbolts outfit at her hooves. “This what you’re looking for?”
The filly gasped and grabbed the doll. She hugged it tight like her life depended on it. The mare half-smiled.
“Wow, you really like Rainbow Dash huh?” asked the mare.
“Are you kidding? Rainbow Dash is the coolest Wonderbolt there is! I just got this at her show. I’m going to be just like her when I grow up. I just need to get my cutie mark for awesome flying and I’ll be set,” the filly said with the utmost confidence.
The mare smiled. “Oh yeah? Why do you want to be like Rainbow Dash?”
The filly looked shocked at the question, like she was asked who put the sun in the sky every day. “Well duh, she’s only the most awesome pegasus who ever lived! Who wouldn’t want to be like her?”
“You know, you kind of remind me of myself when I was your age, I used to think that way about Rainbow Dash when I was younger too. What’s your name?”
“I’m Violet Streak.”
“Nice to meet you, Violet, my name is Scootaloo.”
“What did you mean when you said that you used to want to be like Rainbow? Don’t you still?”
“Well,” Scootaloo started tentatively, “it’s kind of a long story. It’s about how Rainbow Dash helped me earn my cutie mark.”
“Rainbow Dash helped you get a cutie mark?” Violet asked, excitement in her voice.
“Well, kind of, yeah. You want to hear the story?”
“Tell me! Tell me!” Violet said enthusiastically.
“All right,” Scootaloo said with a smile. “Back when I was about your age my two best friends, Sweetie Belle and Applebloom, and I formed a club called the Cutie Mark Crusaders to find our cutie marks. Sweetie was the first, getting a cutie mark for her singing. It wasn’t much longer until Applebloom got hers when she was fixing up her family’s barn. It only made me frustrated that I was left out.
“I remember that weekend like it just happened yesterday. It was friday and school just let out. I slumped out the door, not even waiting for my friends to catch up. I held my head up but what happened next made me want to drag it on the ground...”
“Hey there, blank flank!” called the shrill voice of our school bully, Diamond Tiara. “How does it feel to be the only one in the whole school without a cutie mark?”
“Yeah,” chimed her ever-present sidekick, Silver Spoon. “I bet you’re the last little filly in Ponyville without a cutie mark.”
I felt tears well up in the back of my eyes and did everything I could to stop them from falling. “Stop it.”
“What are you gonna do,” Diamond Tiara said stepping closer, “fly away?”
The two of them laughed. It got harder to hold back my tears; each cackle felt like a knife through my heart. I found myself quickly swatting away teardrops from my eyes. I tried to keep a stern face and act like the waterworks weren’t really happening.
“That’s enough!” Applebloom yelled as she ran to my side. “Why do you gotta pick on her anyway!? She’ll have her cutie mark soon enough and It’ll be a thousand times better than yours!”
Diamond Tiara scoffed. “Oh come on. You can’t really still be hanging out with this blank flank. You have a cutie mark now, you’re better than her.”
I’m not sure I’ve ever seen Applebloom more angry before or since. Her whole head started turning from it’s usual yellow to red. I thought she was about to smack Diamond Tiara right then and there. She probably would have had Sweetie Belle not brought our teacher, Miss Cheerilee, outside.
“What’s going on here?” Miss Cheerilee asked.
“Nothing, Miss Cheerilee,” Diamond Tiara said innocently. “We were only trying to give our good friend, Scootaloo, some tips on getting her cutie mark. I don’t know why they’re so upset, we were only trying to help. It must be hard being the last one in class.”
Diamond Tiara put her hoof on my shoulder and smiled. I shrugged off her fake sympathy, turned, and walked away. Even if Miss Cheerilee could tell what was happening, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon would always just make up some story and then it was our word against theirs. Without any proof there wasn’t much that could be done.
I dried my tears and hopped on my scooter. I started flapping my wings as fast as I could and rode off. Applebloom and Sweetie Belle ran after me. As much as I liked my friends, in that moment, I didn’t want to talk to them. I just wanted to be alone.
“That wasn’t a very good story,” Violet complained. “And I thought you said Rainbow Dash was in it.”
“I’m getting there. The story only just started,” Scootaloo said. “Oh, shoot!”
“What?”
“I was on my way to Sugarcube Corner to meet somepony before you bumped into me. Well I guess I’m still pretty early but I’d like to get over there soon. Come on, I’ll buy you a shake and tell you what happened next...”
With my scooter I was faster than my friends. I lost them pretty quickly. All I needed was a place to be alone for a while. Looking back, it probably wasn’t a good idea to hide in our clubhouse though; they knew right where to find me.
“Scootaloo?” I heard Sweetie Belle call.
She and Applebloom came in and saw me slumped over in the corner. I stayed silent and turned away from them. I just hoped they would go away and leave me alone.
“Come on, Scootaloo,” Applebloom said. “Why are you so upset? I mean, I know Diamond Tiara was being mean but it’s not the end o’ the world.”
“You don’t understand,” I grumbled.
“Then tell us!” Sweetie said, a hint of anger in her usually calm voice.
I shifted to one side and grunted quietly. I didn’t want to talk and I didn’t want to feel better. All I wanted was to drive my friends away with stubbornness. Fortunately it didn’t work.
Applebloom came right up close and put a hoof over my back. “We’re your friends, Scootaloo. You can tell us anything.”
“Yeah,” Sweetie chimed in. “We’re here for you no matter what.”
“If it’s about not havin’ your cutie mark yet, don’t worry. We’re still the Cutie Mark Crusaders; we’ll get you that cutie mark in no time.”
“It’s not just my cutie mark,” I finally said, still trying to sound grumpy.
“Then what? We don’t know what it is if you don’t say anything,” Sweetie said.
I stood up. “We’ve already tried everything and I’m no closer now than I was a year ago.”
“Well we’ll just have to keep tryin’ then,” Applebloom said.
“You don’t get it! I’m a pegasus. My special talent must have something to do with my wings, but I can’t fly!” I yelled, my voice beginning to shake. “Diamond Tiara is right; I’ll never have a cutie mark.”
“Wait a minute,” Violet interrupted. “You can’t fly?”
“Nope,” Scootaloo answered. “It’s kind of a rare genetic condition. It happens sometimes when a pegasus has one pegasus parent and one earth-pony parent. Basically my wings aren’t strong enough to lift me off the ground.”
“But your cutie mark has wings on it. How’d you get a cutie mark like that with wings that don’t work?”
“You’ll find out if you let me continue the story,” Scootaloo said, a hint of annoyance in her tone.
Violet went quiet and took a long sip of her vanilla shake. Scootaloo took a sip of her own before continuing.
Applebloom stroked her chin and narrowed her eyes. It was a look I’d come to recognize since she got her cutie mark. She was onto an idea, probably something she wanted to build. Suddenly she got this wide, open-mouthed, smile on her face and I could tell she had one of her ‘eureka’ moments.
“I’ve got it!” Applebloom said. “Both o’ you meet me at the farm tomorrow mornin’ nice and early!”
“Wait, what is it?” I asked. “What’d you think of?”
Applebloom just smiled at Sweetie and me. “Just be there tomorrow.”
The next day I met up with Sweetie Belle and the two of us went over to Sweet Apple Acres. Sweetie was just as clueless as I was about what Applebloom was up to. All we could do was wait and see what she was planning.
I knocked on the door of Applebloom’s house. Her big sister, Applejack, answered.
“Well howdy,” Applejack said. “You two are here pretty early today.”
“Applebloom said she has something to show us,” Sweetie said.
“She’s over in the barn,” Applejack said. “She’s been workin’ on that somethin’ all night. Won’t even let me see it till it’s done.”
Sweetie and I said ‘thanks’ and walked over to the barn. I cracked the door open and peeked inside. All I could see were bales of hay and some stuff covered in tarps. We went inside and took a closer look at things.
“Applebloom?” Sweetie called.
“Applebloom,” I echoed.
“Where is she?” Sweetie asked as she sat next to a pile of hay.
We waited for a moment in case she was just outside the barn for a minute. Suddenly Sweetie jumped when the pile of hay next to her fell apart and loose hay fell everywhere. I heard a yawn and finally noticed Applebloom standing where the hay used to be.
“Oh hey girls,” Applebloom said realizing we were there. “What are you two doin’ here?”
“You told us to come remember?” I reminded her.
“Oh yeah,” Applebloom said, shaking the sleep off her face. “It’s right over here. Come take a look.”
She led us to one corner of the barn. It was the one area that had more things covered in tarps than any other. She took us straight to the biggest one and stood next to it.
“I present to you the Get Scootaloo Her Cutie Mark In Flying Machine Mark-1.” Applebloom said as she pulled the tarp away.
Both Sweetie and I were speechless. Applebloom had built some weird contraption made of wood. It looked like the skeleton of some monster with huge wings. It stood at my height on four legs. Each of the legs had rods holding up the wings.
“What is it?” Sweetie Belle asked.
Applebloom’s face slumped a bit. “It’s a flying suit. I thought if Scootaloo can’t fly with her wings then we’d just have to make a pair she can fly with.”
“That’s a great idea!” Sweetie said.
“You really think that will work?” I asked.
“Of course it will. I spent all afternoon and night making it,” Applebloom said.
I smiled a big smile. “All right, let’s go try it!”
“So that’s how you fly?” Violet Streak asked, hesitation in her tone, unsure if she should believe it.
“You’re kind of impatient aren’t you?” Scootaloo asked.
“Sorry,” Violet said shrinking back a little.
Scootaloo giggled. “It’s fine. But no, that isn’t how I fly. Things didn’t exactly go as planned. The wings on the suit were supposed to flap when I moved the my legs in a certain way...”
We took the wings outside and with my friend’s help I was strapped in. With a little instruction from Applebloom I was ready to fly. I started off easy, bending down to lift the wings and jumping to make them flap.
It worked. A small gust of wind threw me upward with each flap. At first it was scary and I didn’t go very high off the ground. It wasn’t easy to control but I did my best and started to get the hang of it. For a brief moment I was actually flying. It felt amazing.
Unfortunately it didn’t last. One subtle misstep and I was back on the ground. I crashed pretty hard but luckily I wasn’t too high up. My friends ran over to me.
“Scootaloo!” they both yelled.
“Are you okay?” Sweetie asked as she and Applebloom unstrapped me and pulled me from the wreckage.
“Yeah I’m fine,” I answered. “But I can’t say the same for the flying machine.”
“Well then we’ll just have to try one of the others,” Applebloom said.
“Others?” I asked, somewhat hesitant.
“That was only the first design,” Applebloom clarified happily. “I made more in case it didn’t work. Come on!”
Sweetie Belle and I exchanged a look of concern before following Applebloom back to the barn. Applebloom went back to her work corner and pulled a few more tarps away revealing the other devices.
One of them looked like a weird drill pointing up with a seat attached underneath. Another looked like a hang glider with fans attached all over it. There was one that used a bunch of balloons for lift. They were all rather crude but it was kind of amazing how much she had come up with in just one night.
One by one I tried them. Some made more sense than others. One of them, I think it was the drill, just didn’t work at all; I couldn’t even get off the ground. The balloons actually did work and lifted me into the air but I had no control and just kept rising. If I hadn’t grabbed onto a nearby tree I probably would have just gone higher and higher until the balloons popped.
It was failure after failure after failure and it was starting to get late. We already tried everything Applebloom had made and took a break to lay on the ground. I was just happy to rest all my bruises.
“Maybe if we had a giant slingshot,” Applebloom mused.
“And then what?” Sweetie asked, confusion evident in her tone.
“Umm...” Applebloom responded.
I stood and looked at my friends. “Guys, stop. It’s enough already. Thanks for trying but I don’t think this is going to work.”
“We can’t just give up,” Applebloom said.
“I can. And I am,” I said.
My friends looked at me like I was some weird looking swamp monster.
“After all the crusading we’ve done you want to just give up?” Sweetie asked sounding appalled.
“I just have to face it, I don’t have a special talent,” I said.
I hopped on my scooter and rode away before either of them could argue with me. I wasn’t sure where I was going then. I didn’t feel like going home or seeing my friends but I didn’t really want to be alone either so I just kept going.
“Wait a minute!” Violet yelled. “You gave up? How could you?”
“Shh,” Scootaloo said looking around at the ponies that were now staring at them. “We’re in a bakery remember? Keep it down.”
“But why did you give up?” Violet asked in a more level tone.
“I was convinced that I had already tried every non-flying talent there was and failed. All that was left was flying and I couldn’t do it. If I did have a special talent I wasn’t going to find it.”
“But... But...” Violet said, trying to find the right words to make a sentence.
“Don’t worry so much,” Scootaloo said with a cheery grin. “You know I got my cutie mark. I just haven’t told you how yet. And this is where a certain blue pegasus comes in.”
Violet’s eyes sprang wide open. She leaned in a bit and seemed more attentive than ever.
I found myself wandering to a field just outside of town. I stopped and got off my scooter. I sat down and watched the sun start to set, letting my decision to give up sink in.
I saw a shadow race across the ground and the pegasus casting it gently land in front of me. It was Rainbow Dash. She looked at me with a smile. I wasn’t really sure if seeing her made me happy or sad.
“Hey, kiddo, what’s up?” she asked.
“Nothing,” I said with a sigh.
“Hmm. It sure doesn’t seem like nothing,” Dash said as she sat next to me. “Something’s definitely got you bummed, so spill.”
I hesitated for a moment before saying anything. “Applebloom and Sweetie Belle have their cutie marks.”
“And you’re still waiting on yours huh?” she said, finishing my thoughts.
I nodded.
“Well, don’t worry. You’ll find it. You just gotta keep trying,” she said trying to cheer me up.
I hesitated again to say anything. Rainbow Dash was the one pony I always looked up to. She was an awesome flyer but she was also more than that. She was a good friend, she was kind, loyal and she always tried to better herself. She was a role model. She was the pony I always wanted to be. Admitting that I quit to her just felt wrong.
“I’m– I’m not so sure I’ll find it,” I said, a sadness in my voice.
Dash was silent for a minute. “Meet me here tomorrow afternoon.”
“Why?” I asked.
“It’s a surprise. Just meet me here tomorrow afternoon. And bring your scooter and helmet,” she said before flying off.
My stomach rumbled as I watched Dash fly away. I hadn’t eaten all day but I felt like some of it was more nervousness. Dash was probably thinking of a way to get me my cutie mark. I didn’t like the idea of failing to get it again, especially right in front of my idol.
“Wait,” Violet interrupted, “you actually know Rainbow Dash? Like, personally?”
“You could say that,” Scootaloo said, a coy smile on her face.
“Wow. You are so lucky.”
“She wasn’t always a huge star you know. There was a time when she was just another pony like you or me.”
“I guess I never really thought of it that way,” Violet said.
“That’s okay. I’m sure Dash wouldn’t mind her fans thinking she was an awesome star from birth,” Scootaloo said.
“So how did Rainbow Dash help you get your cutie mark?”
I grabbed my helmet and scooter and headed to the field that afternoon. I took my time getting there and did some tricks along the way. It felt great to have the wind rush past me as I swerved this way and that. If there was ever anything that could cheer me up it was hanging out with Rainbow Dash and riding my scooter. And I was going to do both at the same time.
When I finally got to the field I was surprised at what I saw. There was a big obstacle course full of ramps, loops, and rings. Rainbow Dash stood next to a scooter and smiled at me.
“What’s all this?” I asked.
“We’re gonna have a race,” Dash said.
“A race?”
“A scooter race,” Dash clarified. “Think you can beat me?”
I smiled. “You’re on!”
We scooted over to the starting line and waited.
“On three. One-two-three-go,” Dash said before speeding off ahead of me.
“Hey!” I yelled as I started the race.
The start of the course was a long flat area where we could start building up speed. Dash was ahead of me kicking the ground to go faster. I used my wings to help me accelerate and caught up at the first obstacle.
The first challenge was a ramp that we had to jump from. I ducked down to reduce air resistance and got some good distance out of the jump. I saw Dash spread her wings and use them to glide. It probably slowed her down but she managed to go quite a distance.
I was just barely in the lead coming to the next obstacle, a long ramp that curved ninety degrees to the right. I sped straight for the corner of the ramp and launched myself vertically into the air. Dash was below me simply following the curve of the ramp and kicking against it for speed. She got ahead for a second but couldn’t build nearly the speed I could when I fell back down and I went right past her.
I flapped my wings as fast as I could coming to the next part. It was a big halfpipe with arrows painted on it to show that I was supposed to go up the sides three times before going through a hoop at the top. It wasn’t too difficult. Just like the last ramp, I built up speed by launching into the air and falling back down. I did a simple flip through the hoop and landed at the top of the halfpipe before going back down and continuing the course.
I glanced back and saw Dash taking her time going back and forth trying to get high enough to reach the hoop. I wondered why she didn’t just flap her wings like I did to add to the speed.
I turned my head and swerved to one side to avoid crashing into the next obstacle. I stopped and took a breath before continuing.
There were a series of rails that I had to grind to move on with the course that I got past easily and quickly. I sped into a loop de loop and came into a jump. There were a number of tall orange cones that I had to zigzag through. And there were a few more more twists and pipes to navigate through before the end.
Finally I reached the finish line. I looked around and saw that Rainbow Dash was still struggling through the course. She didn’t have enough speed to go through the loop de loop without stumbling. She made it through the orange cones alright, albeit slowly. Most of the time she just didn’t have the speed or the maneuverability to make it through the obstacles in one try.
Dash rolled across the finish line and laid down in front of me breathing heavily. “Alright, you win.”
“You didn’t have to let me win you know,” I said.
“Trust me, I didn’t,” she said.
“Then why didn’t you using your wings?”
“I did,” Dash answered. “At least I did as much as I could. If I had tried to use wingpower like you do it would have been an even bigger disaster for me.”
“I don’t get it. What do you mean?” I asked.
“If I flap my wings the gust will either send me into the air or throw me off balance, it’s too strong. But with the combination of your wing strength and the way you flap them so quickly you have awesome speed and maneuverability. Kind of like a hummingbird. The stuff you can do with that is like nopony else.”
It was that moment that I realized just how right Dash was. I had always been doing awesome tricks with my scooter and wings. And I realized something important, I didn’t need to fly and I didn’t need to be the best Rainbow Dash I could be. I needed to be the best Scootaloo I could be.
Sure she and I are similar in some ways and I’m still going to make a big name for myself someday like she did. But there are differences too. And I would find out later that it was more than just physical ability.
“Dogpile on Scootaloo!” I heard Sweetie yell as she and Applebloom appeared from nowhere and tackled me.
“What are you two doing here?” I asked.
“You don’t really think that I built this whole course by myself do you?” Rainbow Dash answered.
Several of Dashes friends, including Applejack and Sweetie’s sister, Rarity, walked up to us.
“Well lookie there,” Applejack said pointing at me. “Guess you were right.”
“Right about what?” I asked looking behind me.
My face lit right up when I saw my cutie mark for the first time. I ran over to Rainbow Dash and hugged her tight.
“Thank you thank you thank you!” I said as I let a few tears escape my eyes.
“Yeah, well–” Dash said. “What kind of pony would I be if I let my little sister give up on her cutie mark?”
Violet coughed on her drink. “Little sister!?”
“Did I not mention that?” Scootaloo asked.
The bell to Sugarcube Corner rang as the door opened. Rainbow Dash walked in and looked around to find Scootaloo sitting at a table.
“Hey, Scootaloo,” Dash said.
“You’re late,” Scootaloo said, a hint of annoyance in her tone.
“Sorry. I got mobbed by fans, couldn’t get away. I guess that’s what happens when you perform in your hometown. Who’s this?”
Violet stared upwards, her jaw hanging open. “Rainbow Dash.”
“Rainbow Dash, huh?” Dash said. “That’s a pretty cool name.”
“Ah no– yes– I mean– my name is Violet Streak.”
Rainbow Dash giggled. “Nice to meet you. Sorry, but I’m going to have to steal my sister for a while if that’s okay with you.”
Violet quickly nodded her head up and down. Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo left the bakery leaving a stunned Violet still sitting at her seat.
Violet smiled. “Wow. I can’t wait to tell my friends!”