Under Scrutiny
By: SilentBelle
The sun beat into the eastern side of Ponyville with a heavy and humid pressure. Not for the first time, Rainbow Dash regretted getting up before sunset and clearing out all the clouds. Not only had she worked up a sweat with her unrivaled display of cloud busting, but she also left herself without a single spot of shade to seek refuge within once the sun had finally risen. You see, sometimes it pays to be lazy, she thought with a sad shake of her head. I should have just stayed in bed.
She trained her eyes on the building before her. It had a well-worn wooden door, bleached from years of morning sunrises. Above it, hung an equally old, equally wooden sign. It's long-since faded red letters blazed golden in the sunlight. 'Alto's Acoustics' the sign read. Just below the front sign, hanging in the window, was a distinctly stylized upholstery; they were drapes with writing on them.
Rainbow Dash squinted, and tried to make out the tilted, loopy characters. “'Sorry, for the Inconvenience, We are Closed.' Wow, that's hard to read. And what type of shop owner doesn't give their hours of operation? You better open soon,” she muttered under her breath.
As she stood there, she felt the presence of summer breathing unrelentingly upon her back, seeking the flesh beneath her fur. Why did I ever think this was a good idea? she wondered, sneaking a peak over her shoulder.
In the distance, she could see other ponies leaving their homes and heading out to tend fields or opening up a bazaar at the market square. She looked back at the music store, which stood innocuously taunting her. I swear if that store doesn't open soon I'm going to bail. This was supposed to be a quick thing. Dash in, and dash out. Simple. If somepony finds out why I'm here...
A soft buzzing sound caught in her ears and reached a crescendo, sounding like some noisy industrial machine. She turned her head to see Scootaloo, banking hard around the building's corner. Rainbow Dash looked about to find something, anything she could hide behind. A bush, a tree, a cloud. Her eyes flicked up at the taunting, endless blue above her, then back to the street. Maybe she won't see me, she thought hopefully.
It took all of half a second for the orange filly to turn her head and lock her eyes on her role model. A smile of brilliant enamel lit the filly's face, while her head turned instinctively as she passed. “Oh my gosh! Rainbow Dash!” Scootaloo waved a hoof, beckoning her. “I've been looking all over for- Ahhh!” she screeched shrilly as her scooter promptly swerved right into the building's wall. She was tossed free from her scooter, and hit the ground, head-first with a sharp crack.
Rainbow Dash winced at the sound, both her screeching and the sharp landing. She bounded over as the dust settled. “Hey Squirt, you okay?”
“Ow,” the filly groaned from the hot dirt road. “I think I broke something...” she muttered as she pulled herself up off the ground. She looked to the side to inspect herself, with that slight movement, her helmet fell from her head, evenly in half, to either side of her. “Oh, good. It was just my helmet.”
“Wow, you're a really tough kid.” Rainbow said with a smirk.
“Really? You mean it?” Scootaloo, practically flew with excitement as she got to her hooves.
“Of course! Only the toughest around could be my own honorary little sister.”
Scootaloo positively beamed at the remark, and then she blinked as a memory resurfaced with the dust settling around her. “Oh yeah, that's right! I almost forgot! Rainbow Dash, you said that you'd teach me a thing or two about flying today! I'm so glad I managed to find you. So when are we gonna start? Right now?”
Rainbow Dash darted her eyes about in uncertainty and noticed the streets slowly filling with ponies. Oh hay, I forgot about that promise. The filly before her grinned with closed eyes. Rainbow Dash could practically see a small halo forming around her.
Rainbow Dash squinted. “Hey, squirt, do you think you could move over a bit, the sun's kind of blinding me.”
“Yes ma'am!” she said with a sloppy salute. Scootaloo sprung happily over to Rainbow Dash's side, awaiting further instruction.
“Look squirt, I'm kind of busy right now.”
“Really?” the orange filly blinked in surprise. “But you didn't look busy when I turned the corner. You were just leaning against the wall.”
“Well, I... uh, just cleared the sky!” Rainbow Dash explained pointing a hoof to the sky. “I think I might have broken a new record. I was just taking a short breather is all.”
“Wow! That's amazing! I don't think I've ever seen it this clear in the morning before!”
“Yeah, and it'll stay clear all day.” And it'll only get hotter. Rainbow Dash suppressed a groan. “Don't you have school or something to go to?”
“Oh, don't be silly Rainbow Dash. It's summer! And that means two months of no school, full of attempts to get my flying cutie mark.”
Two months? Rainbow Dash looked to her purple-maned cohort and this time couldn't suppress a groan. “I think I need to plan a vacation.”
“Sweet a vacation. Oh, I know! We could visit neigh-eh-grafalls, or go camping again!”
“No, I meant—Ugh!” She couldn't take it anymore and took off into the heavy morning air. “Look, Squirt, it's been great chatting with you, but I gotta get back to my training. I'll see you later today.”
“Alright! See you later! And don't forget, flying lessons! It's a promise!” she heard Scootaloo shout as she crested over building's roof.
Once out of sight, the Rainbow Dash turned and peeked over the peaked rooftop, spying on the little filly. She was rewarded with the scene of Scootaloo still standing where she had been, picking up her scooter. The filly looked up at the rooftop, as if guided by some sixth sense that told her where Rainbow Dash was at any given moment. It was a theory that seemed entirely possible and far too hard for Rainbow Dash to disprove, given her prior experiences with Scootaloo.
“Huh? What is it Rainbow Dash?” the filly called out to her.
“Uh...” C'mon Dash. Think, think, think! “Don't ride that scooter back without a helmet! It's dangerous!” She put a up a false smile and darted away from the roof.
She took to the air, for a good ten minutes, waiting until she was sure that Scootaloo had vacated the street. Then as inconspicuously as a rainbow-mane mare could, she made her way back to her spot by the store. The drapes were still pulled shut, and her familiar, tired frown reformed.
With a sigh, she looked longingly at the numerous stands down the street in market square. A small line of ponies had started in front of what seemed to be a shop selling frozen goods. Ice cream, flavoured shaved-ice, and juice frozen on sticks.
She weighed her options for a moment. The line only had eight ponies in it. No! she mentally berated herself. I only have enough for the tickets, I can't risk not having enough when the store opens. Darn it. Where's Scootaloo? She'd have been willing to wait in line and buy me something if I asked her. She scowled at the line. It's like she's only here to annoy me, but leaves when she could be useful.
Brooding to herself, time crept on. Perhaps two hours had passed and the sun rose ever higher. The ground burned with all the heat of a desert, and Rainbow Dash soon found the wooden wall beside her to be an apt spot to soak up the heat with her inaction.
She had closed her eyes for nary a second when sudden noise broke the haze of her closed eyelids. She sprung awake to see numerous ponies had filed in past her, lining up outside Alto's Acoustics.
With a nervous and parched swallow, she moved to the end of the line. She looked at the other ponies in line, many of them toting fashionable sun-umbrellas, which were mounted on equally fashionable saddles. It almost looked to be Rarity's hoof-work. In fact almost every pony was wearing some form of clothing: Dresses, hats, saddles. For a moment, Rainbow felt decidedly naked.
“Oh? Rainbow Dash? What a pleasant surprise it is to see you out here,” a certain eloquent voice called out from behind her.
“Rarity?” The name tumbled out of her mouth as she spun to see the mare in question.
She was wearing a full ensemble of translucent cloth, which seemed to play on some hidden breeze, and a hat of the enormous variety, creating a perfectly shady patch larger than most umbrellas. Behind her, Fluttershy stood with a small crown of flowers around her head and gave Rainbow a soft smile.
“Oh, have you come to get tickets as well?” Fluttershy asked.
“Uh.” Rainbow's heart skipped a beat. “Tickets? What tickets are you talking about?”
“You don't know?” Rarity tweaked an eye in skepticism. “Surely, you must know what you are standing in line for.”
“A line?” Rainbow asked with a slight blush, looking at the trail of ponies behind her. “Oh, you mean them. Yeah, I was wondering what they were doing here.”
“Um, then why were standing out here, with saddlebags?” Fluttershy spoke up. “If you don't mind me asking, that is. I mean, you're up awfully earlier than usual.”
“It's just heat training,” Rainbow explained, the beads of sweat on her face acting as evidence.
“So you aren't in line then?” Rarity restated, levelly.
Rainbow shook her head. “Nope, I'm not.”
“Then you won't mind if we move up past you?”
“Uh, no. Of course not.”
“Well, I am sorry for the misunderstanding Rainbow Dash. I did find it quite peculiar that you would be in line for tickets for the Royal Canterlot Symphony Orchestra. You always listen to that...” She grimaced. “Rock and roll. I do hope your training goes well though, dear.”
The two ponies walked past Rainbow, taking her spot in line, Fluttershy smiling politely. “Yeah... I'll catch you later. I'm going to go do some tricks. Even on hot days, you have to keep in shape.” She leaped away and took to the air.
Darn it! She berated herself as she flew. I should have know that they'd be going too. She looked down at the market square and saw a few stands. I need a drink, she decided.
Alighting to the hot dirt, she looked around for a while, looking for the cheapest drink. A single bit for a sizable bottle of ice-cold water. It was all she could afford if she still wanted to get that ticket.
I'll just go back after Fluttershy and Rarity have gone. She nodded to herself. With her new plan in mind, and a well-quenched thirst, she made her way back to the rooftops to scout on Alto's Acoustics.
As she cleared the final rooftop, she looked down in surprise and gawked. The line was gone. Vanished, and only fifteen minutes had passed. The drapes in the window were pulled to the side, and a cursive 'We Are Open' sign could be seen through the window.
Without a second to lose, Rainbow dashed to the front door and pushed it. With a chime, the door swung open and she was met with the cool wind of a fan met her mane, and she felt the moisture on her fur, thick as well as a slightly pungent scent.
She peered around the store, her eyes passing over numerous stringed instruments all mounted on the walls. She spotted the storekeeper, who looked up from her perch by the counter. She was a blue unicorn, and held a violin and its accompanying bow in her magic. She turned and watched Rainbow approach, warily.
That's Alto, I guess? Rainbow managed to put on a nervous smile. Though, she couldn't help but notice the shop keeper sniffing slightly, and a look of discomfort forming on her muzzle. Oh, come on. It's a hot day, everypony's bound to be a bit sweaty.
Rainbow darted her head around. Double checking to make sure that no other pony was in the shop to hear her request. “Hey, I'd like one ticket to the Royal Canterlot Symphony Orchestra.”
It was the moment she had been waiting for all day. She had stashed away a hundred bits just to purchase the ticket. She reached with a wing to open one of her saddle bags, so that she could claim her prize. Even now, she could almost hear the violins striking their first note.
The shopkeeper played a single sad note on the violin, frowned and adjusted one of the tuning pegs. “Oh, well, you're a little late. I only had twenty-five to sell. I am all out. Sorry,” she said curtly, focusing on the violin. “Next time, I recommend coming earlier and waiting in line with everypony else.”
“What?!” she stared venom at the pony. “You can't be out! You just opened like five minutes ago!”
Alto looked back to Rainbow with an irritated frown. “I opened twelve minutes ago, thank you very much. And there was a line-up before I even opened. Once again, I am sorry. There's nothing I can do for you. Unless you want to buy an instrument?” she asked hopefully.
Rainbow dash had already stopped listening to the shopkeeper and made her way out of the old shop. Once out of the door, she hit the wall of prevalent heat and collapsed to the ground. With a groan, she let the hot dirt drain her stamina and she shut her eyes.
“What am I going to do now? All my plans, they're ruined!This is hopeless...”
“What's hopeless?”
Rainbow nearly jumped out of her skin. Looking up, she saw Scootaloo was standing above her.
“Squirt! What are you doing here?”
“Oh, it's later now,” the filly began excitedly, flapping her wings in a small buzz. “And you promised that you'd give me some flying lessons.”
“Wait. How did you even know I was here?” Rainbow wondered.
“Easy, I just asked around where you were. Everypony knows who you are. They said they saw you fly over here. Then I peeked in through that window and saw you inside the store,” she explained with a smile. Then her eyes widened in thought. “Say what were you doing in there anyway?”
Rainbow Dash looked to the sky, and considered just flying away into its deep blue depths. But no, she couldn't just break her promise with the filly just like that. She sighed, which only seemed to add to the humidity of the day.
“Hey Squirt, can you keep a secret?”
“Of course. Anything you say Rainbow Dash. You can count on me!”
“Well, the truth is I was going to get some tickets for the R.C.S.O., but they sold out of them before I could get mine.”
“R.C.S.O.? Oh, so that's why you were out here waiting for the store to open.”
“Yeah...” Rainbow admitted. “But then I realized I couldn't stand in line for a bit. By the time I got back, they were sold out.”
“Oh, so you really want a ticket to the R.C.S.O.?”
“Yeah, I just said that.”
“Hmm, maybe if you ask around you can get somepony to sell you one. Hay if Apple Bloom and Sweetie were here, we could try to be the Cutie Mark Crusaders: Ticket Scalpers!”
“No! No,” she interrupted Scootaloo's abundant enthusiasm. “Look, nopony can know that I wanted those tickets.”
“Oh, I see. Nopony can know...”
Rainbow Dash wondered at Scootaloo's words for a moment. But then another buzz of Scootaloo's wings sounded, interrupting her thoughts.
“So, about that flying training...”
“Alright,” Rainbow said in a defeated tone. “Follow me back home. We'll work on your gliding.”
“Why your home?” Scootaloo wondered as she merrily skipped along beside her mentor.
“Because, the neat thing about clouds is that they are cool. And since you can't fly up where it's really cool, we might as well go to the next best place.”
* * *
Rainbow Dash smiled a sad smile. Yeah, I may not have gotten that ticket, but the Squirt really is getting the hang of it. On the last gliding bit before the sun had set, the filly had managed to land right on target.
The training had consisted of essentially flying the small pegasus up to the cloud home and tossing her off into a lower, distant patch of clouds that she had gathered into a pile. At the center, she had coloured a single spot with few splashes of liquid rainbow to be her target.
She's doing pretty good, she assessed. Sure, she's nowhere near my level when I was her age, but hay, I'm Rainbow Dash, there was no filly or colt that was as great as me.
She watch the moon begin to rise as she lay atop her cloud house. And listened to the soft calls of crickets. Soft and humming, like a distant fan, or Rarity's sewing machine, or an industrial-strength vacuum cleaner.
Annoyed, she got up and peered over the edge of her cloud home. “Scootaloo?!” she shouted in bewilderment down at the filly approching on her scooter. Rainbow Dash took to the air and glided down to Scootaloo Will she never leave me alone? “Hey! I thought I told you not to ride that thing without a helmet.”
“But I don't have another helmet!” Scootaloo protested. “Ugh, never mind that. Look!” She reached into her backpack and pulled out a silver ticket with the letters 'R.C.S.O.' running across it. Numerous pictographs of instruments ran around the border. “Ta-da!”
“Is that—Scootaloo! Where did you get that?!”
“Oh, I just asked a few ponies if they knew anypony who had a ticket.”
Rainbow Dash frowned at her. “And how did you get this ticket? They cost a hundred bits. Where would you get money like that from?”
“I—uh—I didn't pay for it.”
She peered at Scootaloo. The filly's violet eyes shifted to the side. “So, then who's ticket is this?”
“Well, I went and visited Sweetie Belle right after practice. I happened to know that she was going to go. So I asked her if I could have the ticket.” Rainbow merely blinked at the statement and kept her scrutiny up. The filly gulped. “Don't worry, I didn't tell her that it was going to be for you. I told her that I really wanted the ticket, and that it was super important.”
“That's not the point Scootaloo!” Rainbow Dash shouted at the filly, and winced slightly at the scared expression on her face. “Look,” she said quietly, taking the ticket gently from the filly, tucking it under her wing, “I'm not mad at you, Squirt. But just follow me for a moment.”
Rainbow Dash walked at a brisk pace, and Scootaloo followed sullenly. They wound their way through the darkened streets of Ponyville until the rounded a street corner and were standing outside the Carousel Boutique.
A warm light spilled out from the front window, although a 'Closed' sign hung quite clearly, written in clear and legibly. Now that's how a sign is supposed to be. Plain and simple. She stepped up to door and knocked loudly.
She could hear a slight murmuring from the other side of the door. Something about 'the late hour', and something else about 'only the most uncouth of ponies would-'. “Who is it?” Rarity's singsong voice called through the door.
“It's me, Rainbow Dash.”
“Rainbow?” Rarity opened the door. “It is indeed a rarity that you'd even consider visiting my shop without first breaking through a window or two. And is that Scootaloo with you?”
At the mention of Scootaloo's name, Rainbow could feel the filly step behind her as if to hide. “Look Rarity, Scootaloo took something that belongs to your sister, and we just came by to give it back.” She reached back, to her wing, and pulled the silver ticket free.
“A Royal Canterlot Syphony Orchestra Ticket? How ever did Scootaloo get Sweetie's ticket?”
“I'm sorry!” Scootaloo said quickly.
“No,” Rainbow said, spreading her wings to shield the filly from sight. “It's my fault. You see, I told Scootaloo that I really wanted to see the orchestra, and I managed to miss getting the tickets by a few minutes earlier today. Scootaloo managed to convince Sweetie to part with them, because she knew I really wanted to go, but that was wrong. I'm not going to go at the expense of somepony else.” She could feel her face flushed by the end of her speech.
“You?” she asked with a frown. “Rainbow Dash, you wanted to see the Royal Canterlot Symphony Orchestra? You, who likes that loud rock and roll music, wants tickets to go to the R.C.S.O.?”
“Yes,” Rainbow asserted firmly.
Rarity gave her a light, amused smile, and snagged the ticket with her magic. “Well, that is quite the surprise.”
“Well, you like watching the Wonderbolts,” Rainbow countered.
“True enough, and thank you for returning this ticket.”
“You're welcome.” Rainbow nodded and turned to leave.
“Wait!” Rarity called, in an almost-teasing voice. “I'll give you my ticket, if you do two things for me.”
Rainbow Dash turned around in surprise. “But I thought you loved the orchestra!”
“Oh, I enjoy it well enough,” Rarity said with an amused shake of her head. “But the main reason I bought it was as an excuse to visit Canterlot again. If you want to go to the orchestra so passionately, I am more than willing to give my ticket to you.”
“Alright,” Rainbow said evenly, “you got a deal. What do I have to do?”
“Well,” she began, and motioned the two of them into the boutique. They followed her to the main room, filled with numerous dress-forms lathered in various designs. “First thing you'd have to do is look after Sweetie Belle. And for the second...” A mischievous smile spread across her face. “You're going to have to wear this.”
Rainbow stared dumbstruck at a many-hued dress that looked to be twice her size, and an accompanying hat that looked as though it could double up as a tent if they were camping. She sighed and looked to Scootaloo. The filly peered at the strange dress with a distinct look of fear in her eyes. “Alright,” Rainbow agreed, a slow smile spreading across her face. “But only if the Squirt gets to come too.”
“B-B-What?!” she sputtered, turning to Rainbow.
“Oh, what a wonderful idea, Rainbow!” Rarity positively beamed. “We'll just ask Fluttershy if she'd be willing to give up her ticket and then I can have both Scootaloo and Sweetie, each wearing an ensemble to match your own.”
Scootaloo's eyes dilated at the thought. “No!” she screamed, running out the door.
Both Rarity and Rainbow Dash chuckled. Perhaps it was a good day after all.
End of: Under Scrutiny
Author's Note
Well, I managed to actually do it. I wrote a comedy (my self-asserted worst genre) for this neat little Contest Group. I'll be trying to take part in the monthly contests, so feel free to participate beside me in either this month's contest and the coming ones. The important part isn't about winning, it's to keep writing and trying out areas of writing you might not be that skilled in.
So the prompts were pick a character out of six or so choices (I chose RD). That character is standing in line for hours. It had to be exclusively Comedy and Slice of Life.
Maybe I could use this as possible back-story for before my SoC series, a few weeks before it all started...
Anyway, thanks for reading. And if you didn't read the story, but only read the author's notes... Well, thanks for reading the author's notes :)
