A Prologue : The CMC And What It Means To Be
All was peace and quiet on Sweet Apple Acres. Beside the family's freshly painted barn sat a pen full of pigs and piglets, oinking contentedly. A chicken coop with several of the feathered, flightless birds rested beside that, the inhabitants out and about pecking absently at the ground for food that had not yet come. Within the barn itself, were several napping cattle, content to sleep and eat their day away amidst all the peace.
Everything was picturesque.
...
Apple Bloom deftly jumped out of the second story window of her home. “GEEEROONIMOOOOO!” She cried enthusiastically.
Below her, the unsuspecting target, and her friend, Scootaloo, let out a shriek of surprise. “AAGH!- Ooph!”
Apple Bloom had been slowed by the makeshift bungee line which she had put together. Immediately after landing, she rose up to her hooves and stared excitedly at her flank. “Did I get it? Did I get mah ninja cutie mark!?” The flank in question however, was as blank ever. She felt her emotions once again sink, as they always did. “Aaaw...”
There was a slight groan of pain from beneath her.
“Oh uh, you alright, Scootaloo?” Apple Bloom pointed her head down expectantly at her prone and sprawled out friend.
“Yeah...” The orange pegasus filly croaked out. “Never felt better...” She coughed, managing a weak smile, then struggled to stand up. “Good surprise, did you get anything?” Her eyes spun some in her head, then straightened to look over at her friend.
Apple Bloom's disappointed tone when she answered Scoots' inquiry said it all. “Nope, nadda thing, Scootaloo...” Her blank as ever flank turned towards her friend so that she had a clear view.
“Aaaw, I totally didn’t see that attack coming either-” Suddenly, Scootaloo was cut off, as an alabaster and black cloth shrouded blur streaked across the ground to Scootaloo’s left.
“HEE-YAH!” Sweetie Bell shouted. Her hoof came crashing down atop Scootaloo’s head, resulting in a solid thud as she made contact. The other filly’s expression shifted from a goofy grin—caused by the blow—over to that of an unconscious pony toppling over.
The attacker and Apple Bloom stared down nervously at their plan’s results.
The figure beneath the veil of dark cloth spoke up in a squeaky voice. “Uh oh, I think I hit her too hard." The pony ninja shook Scootaloo's shoulder with a hoof.
Apple Bloom replied absently, her eager eyes already searching her friend’s side. “Mmmhm, out lahk a candle before bedtime, Sweetie Belle. Any luck?” She was certain the flawless attack would have at least gotten the other Crusader her mark.
Sweetie Belle moved the the folds of black silk she’d absconded with from Rarity’s boutique with to reveal... absolutely nothing. Her flank, was still blank.
“Shucks, no cutie mark though.” Apple Bloom sat back and wiped a bead of sweat from her brow with a foreleg, then crossed them angrily.
Sweetie stared longingly back at her own flank in defeat. “Darnit, you’re right, nothing..."
Apple Bloom's frown deepened, her eyes not yet leaving the absence of a cutie mark on Sweetie Belle's flank. "This is getting ridiculous." She flung her hooves up into the air, then fell back into the grass, sighing. "I thought for sure that coordinated double fake out attack would get us our ninja cutie mark too...”
Sweetie Belle nodded, looked once more, then huffed and stamped a hoof. “Well," her voice cracked. "Let’s get back to the clubhouse and go back to the drawing board again, I guess...” She began prodding Scootaloo in order to wake her up. “I think I may have hit Scoots a bit too hard though... oops...”
Apple Bloom lifted her head. "Hm, she'll be fine ah think." Getting up she grabbed one of the miniature pegasus' wings in her mouth. "'ome on, ah 'ot an i'ea a'ready!"
Sweetie Belle failed to feel the same enthusiasm that had struck Apple Bloom, but sighed and hesitated to follow. Before leaning down to pull the unconscious Scootaloo the same way the earth pony was, she instead focused on her horn.
Grunting, Sweetie pushed and pulled with all her might at the magic conduit she knew was capable of great things. She could feel it all the time, after all.
"Sweetie Belle?" Apple Bloom dropped Scoots with a thud, just in time to see a golden burst of light envelope Sweetie Belle's horn, and then blink out with a fizzle. "Wow."
Sweetie panted, from both the summer heat around them, and the effort she had just exerted. Groaning she trudged forward and grabbed Scootaloo's wing.
"That was amazin' Sweetie Belle! You almost had something that time I think." Apple Bloom grinned then retook up Scootaloo's other wing.
The unicorn smiled a little as well, but was getting fed up with failure after failure. "Yeah, thanks, Apple Bloom..."
The two fillies rounded the corner of the apple family's ancestral home, busily dragging back Scootaloo the old fashioned way, when Applejack stuck her head out of the kitchen window, right above them.
"Apple Bloom, was that ya'll makin' that racket?" Applejack looked between both girl's, filled with wide-eyed surprise, then out to the chicken coop, where the clucking farm animals were just now calming down. "If you're going to rough house and cause a ruckus with your friends, could you do it somewhere else?” The sound of panicked mooing from the barn and the words 'snake' being yelled over and over reached her fuzzy ears too. "Is that the cattle!? Apple Bloom, what did you do? Those poor girls ruin their milk every time you stir them up. Do you fillies have anything to say for yourselves?"
Apple Bloom's and Sweetie Belle's jaws dropped, freeing Scootaloo to hit the ground. They both answered with their own versions of explanations and excuses respectively.
"But we weren't even in the barn! I- We-" managed the olive coated filly, while her white coated partner in crime shouted with a squeak, "We were being quiet like the wind, though!"
Applejack sighed and put her hat on, readying up to go calm down the cattle. "Never mind, girls, it's fine. I gotta go calm them down, just please, take it elsewhere." With a second thought, she added, "someplace safe and not somepony else's property. Ah mean it."
Sweetie Belle sighed, and turned from the window to recover Scootaloo once more, while Apple Bloom stayed where she was. In frustration, the red maned filly snorted. "T'ain't fair," she sulked, staring hard at the ground.
Applejack kept from shutting the kitchen window, just barely hearing her little sister's angry mutter. She poked her head back out, holding her hat down with a hoof to keep it from gettin' knocked off by the frame. "What' ain't fair, Apple Bloom?" She spotted a couple tears soaking the ground.
Sniffing, the filly replied, "We're just trying our hardest to find what we're good at. We even try to stay out of the way doin' it, too. It's just..."
Applejack bit her lip and looked around. The sad infecting Apple Bloom seemed to be spreading to Sweetie Belle, who was scrunching her face up as well. Not so much Scootaloo though, the pegasus seemed to be napping.
"Ah- Now hold on Apple Bloom, don't cry now, okay?" Applejack looked around then, grunted and surprised both fillies by heaving herself out the window and onto the ground outside. She stood up tall, straightening her hat. "How about this, maybe I can't get you your cutie mark, but what if I help you figure out what it was exactly you're good at, besides that?"
Apple Bloom furrowed her brow, confused, then looked at Sweetie Belle, who shrugged and looked just as lost. Scootaloo remained on the ground.
"What do you mean, Sis?" Apple Bloom whipped her head around to look up at the adult, her red bow bobbing from the excited movement.
Applejack smiled coolly. "What I mean, is how about I teach you some stuff about your heritage? Good old, reliable earth pony magic." She struck an energetic pose, digging a hoof at the soil while regarding the small hole she made for effect. She looked up again at her sister with a grin. "How about it? You have to promise not to fret about finding your cutie mark again though. It's like we told you girls, they come when they come! You can't fight the way things work."
Apple Bloom frowned slightly, then smiled and nodded. "Why, you're right Applejack. I'd like that, too."
Satisfied, she gave the fillies present a confident smirk. Heh, crisis averted. Good job, AJ.
"But what about me?" Sweetie Belle pointed a hoof to herself, to lower lip still quivering some.
Scootaloo groaned and pushed herself up off the ground, now awake. "Yeah, or me? That really hurt by the way, guys." She gave the unicorn present a glower, who grinned sheepishly in return.
Applejack looked down at Sweetie and Scootaloo, letting out an unsure sound. "Uuuh, well, I can't really touch you anything about being a unicorn, Sweetie Belle..." She rubbed a defeated hoof on the back of her head, unsure of what to say. "Or about being a pegasus, Scootaloo. I just know the basics. Unicorns can use their crazy horn magic to float stuff around and do all kinds of spells, and pegasi can fly like the dickens and push around clouds."
The little white filly sank lower to the ground, joined by her orange friend once she'd sat up.
"Hey girls, I have an idea!" Apple Bloom jumped up and brought the other two fillies into a quick huddle. The three of them began whispering excitedly amongst one another.
Applejack strained an ear to listen, desperate to know how afraid she should be.
"Oh, okay ... so I'll ask ... Then after that you'll- ... and we'll meet back at the ... and we'll get our cutie marks for sure!"
Applejack's eyes widened a fraction. She could feel the pit of worry forming more and more in her stomach.
Apple Bloom stood up tall and looked quickly from one of her friends to the other. "Alright girls, it's settled! Scoots, you'll go and get Rainbow Dash to explain the finer points of pegasusing."
"Right!" Scootaloo smartly saluted, then winced when her hoof tapped a tender spot.
"Sweetie Belle, you'll get your sister to explain unicorn magic some. Failing that, go get Twilight Sparkle, because she's the best unicorn when it comes to magic, ever!" Apple Bloom stood up and folded her front hooves behind her back, satisfied. "Alright girls, move out! We'll have our cutie marks in no time!"
"Yeah!" Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo hopped into the air, buzzing theirs wings and sparking their horn respectively.
Applejack took off her hat slowly, sighed, then muttered a prayer to Celestia and Luna.
Author's Note
Not much to say guys, just thought I'd write a funny little short fic with a few chapters from the perspective of each of our favorite filly trio! Hope you guys like it as much as I liked writing it. 
Till next time lords and ladies!
Scootaloo burst out of the tree line in a flurry of torn leaves, broken branches and buzzing wings. Her scooter thudded onto the wet grass of the field which lay just below the destination she sought; Rainbow Dash's home. She skidded and slid to a halt, pulling up on her scooter's handle at the last second hard enough to stop on a bit. Quickly, she gave herself a once over. "Awesome, no tree sap, or pine needles!"
Scootaloo cut her laughter short and turned her grin to stare up starry eyed at the home of her idol; the one and only fastest pegasus in Equestria. Sure, tons of other ponies liked to lay claim to the title, but she knew that only Rainbow Dash could pull off a sonic boom; let alone a sonic rainboom.
To her, that meant Rainbow had to be the fastest, and the best. It made perfect sense after all.
Unable to contain anymore of her excitement, Scootaloo abandoned her scooter and quickly sped up to the shady patch of land beneath Rainbow's cloud home. Again she slid to a stop, grinning madly up at the front door. I wonder if my mom will let me live in a cloud home when I'm old enough... She shook her head and frowned at the ground quickly. What am I thinking? I'll be my own boss by then, and the sooner the better. For now though...
Scootaloo's grin re-fixed itself on her face like a banner and called up to the house aloft above the ground. "Hey, Rainbow Dash!" She waited for a response, barely able to keep her hooves still.
A minute passed, with no response or sign of life.
Scootaloo's brow furrowed in thought over what to do. I could call again... She shifted her hooves uncertainly beneath herself. Augh, but what if she's busy? I don't want to sound annoying. Oh geez, if Rainbow Dash thought I was annoying I don't know what I would do. A sweat of nervousness threatened to slick her mane if she worried about it too much more. Actually, what if she does already!? Her eye twitched.
Scootaloo shook her head to dispel the worries; there was no chance of that, she decided.
"Well..." She puffed up her chest and decided to give it another go; hoping confidently that her idol wouldn't mind under any circumstance. After all, Rainbow was always really nice and helpful and... sisterly. One more time, but I won't push my luck after that!
"HEY, RAINBOW DASH!" Scootaloo shouted with enough force to lift herself off the ground, landing again a split-second later. "Phew." She considered maybe she'd been too loud, but watched the cloud home with eager eyes all the same.
The door remained shut.
Scootaloo's frown deepened the longer she watched the door, which refused to open, then swapped it into a disappointed look. Aw, what the hay. She tilted her head and sat. I guess... maybe she isn't home? I really need to know more about being a pegasus though. She started wondering about what her other options might be.
There weren't any other older ponies she really knew well enough to ask; except her parents, but there was no way they'd explain anything without wanting something done around the house in return. Fluttershy might be an option, but she didn't seem like much of a pegasus after Scootaloo put some thought into it.
Hm, or maybe I can ask Rumble's brother? I think he was pretty fast and awesome. Not like Rainbow, of course, but- Scootaloo stopped and considered her goal a moment for the first time since splitting from Sweet Apple Acres.
Wait... I'm a pegasus, and everything that pegasi do is in the air. Weather stuff or otherwise. Scootaloo turned her head back at her wings, and felt the realization of what she was thinking click home; that she couldn't fly anyway. Oh. She stared down at the ground, almost angrily. I... might not have thought Apple Bloom's plan through...
Scootaloo stomped a hoof on the grass, ears tucked back. Even with all that practicing I do, I haven't been able to fly yet! I'm already ten, will I ever be able to fly? Her thoughts replayed the old tune that often strummed when thinking about her inability to soar in the air. There are fillies and colts younger than me that have already gone to flight camp!...
The anger faded into the nervousness Scootaloo had felt earlier, but for a different reason this time. What if I can't get my special talent because I won't ever fly like I'm supposed to!?
As if on cue, her wings gave a few short, pathetic flaps on her back.
"Uggh, so this is pointless for me. At least Sweetie Belle kind of looks like she can do something with magic already." Scootaloo furrowed her brow and puffed out her cheeks after another realization. "Darnit, she's younger than me too!" She shook her head and let out a dreary sigh. "I guess this was another bad idea from the start," after thinking a second, she added, "Like everything else we do," and kicked a hoof out before starting to trot back to her scooter.
A voice called down to her from above. "Hello? Is somepony there?"
Scootaloo raised her head, ears twitching in surprise, and confusion. The voice she had expected to hear was all wrong, and not the kind of wrong she might have expected. It was clearly a stallion's voice, and while it kinda sounded like Dash's, it surely wasn't.
After Scootaloo craned back her head to look up at the ledge of Rainbow Dash's home, she saw what she had been expecting from the start; a rainbow maned pegasus. What she hadn't been expecting, was the broader face and musculature of a stallion that accompanied it.
"Uuuuh." Scootaloo felt her eyes widen in panic and horror. Did Twilight go nuts with testing spells again? She gulped, ready to get help if needed.
The figure tilted their head at Scootaloo. "Uhm, hello? Are you okay there little guy? Was that you yelling a second ago?"
Scootaloo shook her head a few times to clear it. "Uhm, y-yes, that was me." She swallowed and took a few steps backwards so she wasn't staring straight up at the other pony. "Rainbow... Dash?"
The stallion blinked, then pulled down a lock of his mane to look at it and let out a light fit of laughter. "Hah, oh no, not at all. Sorry, my daughter's out right now. I'm just house sitting for a few days while she's at the Wonderbolt's flight academy. At the rate she's going she'll be a Wonderbolt before she knows it, I'm sure." He glanced up and gave nothing in particular a thoughtful look before continuing. "Anyway, it gave me an excuse to see her again, too. She rarely visits so I offered to come." He mussed up the tussled mess of hair on his head with a hoof, making it look even worse than before while he spoke. "I can see how you'd get me confused with my daughter, though. It's happened a lot at the reunions."
Scootaloo listened with rapt attention, soaking in the words that dealt with Rainbow eagerly. Upon hearing a certain word, however, she almost sat down hard enough to make the earth itself shake. It wasn't the bit about the academy, either, she'd heard about that already. "Your daughter!?" Her eyes nearly bulged out of her head at the same time it had a thought, panicked with excitement. He's Rainbow's dad!?
The stallion put on a lopsided grin and looked left and right, as if a little confused by the reaction. "Uhm, yes? I mean, I know I'm no looker but surely it's not too crazy to believe I have a-"
"No, nonono!" Scootaloo began bouncing on her hooves excitedly. "You don't understand, you're Rainbow Dash's father! The dad of the best flyer in all of Equestria!?"
The stallion chuckled to himself. "Well, she is very good at what she does." He tapped a hoof to his chin, scrunching his face slightly, then looked down at the orange colt again. "That bit about her being the greatest ever isn't what she's been going around telling ponies still, is i-"
Scootaloo put her hooves up to her face, which in turn felt light headed and by proxy made her feel dizzy. "Oh my gosh oh my gosh oh my gosh. I'm meeting the Rainbow Dash's dad." Her expression solidified to stone the second the most important thought of her life came to her.
Meanwhile, on the cloud home ledge the stallion rubbed the side of his head again, feeling at a loss. "Rainy wasn't kidding, there are some straaange ponies in Ponyvi-" His quiet mumble was interrupted by the orange colt once again addressing him enthusiastically.
"Sir!" Scootaloo called up with as a straight and serious a voice as she could manage. "Please teach me everything to know about being a pegasus pony!" She flung a hoof up in a salute, and held her stalwart stance of rigidness without falter.
Rainbow Dash's father widened his eyes at hearing that, more than a little caught off guard by the fanfare. "Uhm," he stumbled verbally, "I- what?" He had gathered already that this might be the sibling of one of Rainbow's friends, but it seemed more likely to him now that his daughter's showiness had acquired her a fan of some sort.
Scootaloo felt her chances of maybe accomplishing her goal anyway, as well as learning from the Rainbow's father, slipping away. She gulped and attempted to salvage the situation. "MyfriendsandItryingtolearnmoreabouthowtobeour-"
Rainbow's dad interrupted the runaway chatter. "Whoa, whoa there, Squirt." He held up both hooves in a calming motion, then took flight from the cloud ledge and glided down. His back hoof kicked the front door closed just before that. "Alright, now say that again, but slow down some."
Scootaloo blinked, then exhaled a breath. Alright, play it cool, Scootaloo. "Well, uhm, see, my friends and I... we're trying to learn more about being an earth pony, or pegasus, or unicorn. I came by to Rainbow's to see if she could explain pegasus magic to me, but she isn't here." Her grin had begun to grow again as she got to the point suggesting her request. "Sooo, I was hoping, Mr. Rainbow Dash's dad, sir, that maybe you could tell me about it? It's important, like so important you wouldn't believe!"
Rainbow's dad felt his sly grin and one eyebrow raising more and more as the rambunctious colt explained things to him. Ah, this is just like when Rainbow was this age. Hoo boy, those were some destructive days... He settled down to sit, still listening, then nodded when the colt finished.
"I see. Well, I'm sure I can answer some questions, and after all, a friend of Rainy's is a friend a mine." Rainbow's dad grinned wider and ruffled the kiddo's mane.
Scootaloo's eyes widened to the size of dinner plates. "Rainbow Dash... my friend?" She shook her head rapidly after something else occurred to her. "Wait a second, Rainy?" Her head tilted incredulously, voice cracking slightly over the odd sounding name.
"Hm? Oh, yeah, it's what I call little Rainbow. She hates it, actually, so maybe you shouldn't try it." The stallion chuckled some and sat back on the grass, holding a hoof up to his front from the laughter shaking him. He calmed down after a moment. "It embarrasses her to no end, you see." Rainbow's dad started laughing some more at that.
Scootaloo watched in a amazement, but made a slightly open mouthed smile of interest to join in. "Huh, cool. Yeah, I won't, don't worry. Rainbow's way too awesome for a name like that, anyway."
Rainbow's dad smirked back. "She certainly makes me proud, I'll give her that." He blinked and clapped his hooves together. "So, what did you need to know, little guy? I'm actually surprised you would need to know anything. Don't they teach you everything you would need to know at school? Or Flight Camp?" He tilted his head back slightly in an curious manner.
Scootaloo felt herself wilt a bit more with each thing the stranger said to her. Finally, her wings and ears were all drooping by the time he had finished.
"Uhm," Rainbow's dad started. "Did I say something wrong?" He leaned down some to try and look the younger pony in the eye.
Scootaloo decided to start with the part she didn't really care about. "Well, for starters, I'm a filly, not a colt or a 'little guy'." She glanced from the corner of her eye with a slightly indignant look.
The stallion oooed in understand. He recognized that the young pony was a filly, easily as tom boyish as his own daughter. "My bad-" he started to apologize, but was interrupted.
"And," Scootaloo continued and straightened back up. "I can't fly. So I haven't even gone to Flight Camp yet, and my school doesn't really teach anything important at all." She made a slightly sickly expression, sticking out her tongue and gagging at the memory of all the history lessons, math and grammar that Ponyville Elementary seemed to focus on.
"Huh." The stallion didn't bring up that what the filly had said sounded about right. "Well, sorry about the 'little guy' thing. I guess I owe it to you now, huh?" He chuckled and rubbed a hoof behind his head. A thought came to him at the same time. "Actually, I'm curious, haven't your parents taught you all of that? There isn't much to say really. At least, I don't think there is. I could be wrong though." The stallion held a hoof to his chin, then shook his head slightly and muttered, "I never was the brightest firefly in the jar, you see..."
Scootaloo rolled her eyes, missing the last part. "Nah, I'm not sure what they would know about it, anyway, and I've only been to Cloudsdale to visit my grandma."
Scootaloo blew a raspberry to illustrate just what she thought of that. "Honestly, I don't know the first thing other than that we can do stuff with the weather; like clouds and stuff. My parents? They only care that I preen right, don't get dirty, and that I'm paying attention at school... They're not great flyers or anything." Her voice grew more heated as she went on. "They just tell me 'oooh, eat your peas Scootaloo', 'Scootaloo, take your friends and reek havoc elsewhere!'" She growled at the ground a moment. "Honestly, I don't even know what smelling bad has to do with anything!"
Rainbow's dad couldn't resist a smirk, which turned into a full grin after understanding that the orange filly mistook the meaning of the word 'wreak'.
Scootaloo continued to frown at the ground, before then perking up once more in enthusiasm. "But I bet you're a terrific flyer and know everything there is to know! You're old, old ponies know everything, and Rainbow Dash is your daughter!"
Rainbow's dad felt his grin droop into a deadpan he directed towards the treeline for a moment. He nervously rallied his grin back and looked back at the precocious little filly. "Heh, well, actually, in the flying department I fall a little short, I think. The only skills Rainbow seems to have inherited from me would be napping, admittedly."
Scootaloo gave the other pony a look like he was crazy. "Huh?"
The stallion nodded. "Yup, I've gotta penchant for working the wind and weather with the best of them, but speed's not really my thing. Now, if Rainbow got that penchant for fast from anypony, it would be her mother. Now that mare, she's the speedster."
Scootaloo's eyes lit up. "Ooo, so I need to talk to her! Is she here too!?" Her hooves began to bounce slightly, along with the rest of her.
Rainbow's dad chuckled in response. "Not so much, no. She isn't here. Just me-" At seeing the filly's excitement drain immediately, he continued. "-but, you just need some answers about pegasi. I at least know that much." He left out that pretty much any adult pegasi would, and likely even a few unicorns and earth ponies that knew pegasi would know some things, too. "So, you can't fly, and have never been to Flight Camp? You look about that age."
Scootaloo brought one corner of her mouth down in a slight frown, but didn't get offended. It was an honest statement. "Yeah, my dad says any day now. My mom was worried there might be something wrong with me, but he says it's just because I was raised in Ponyville and not in the sky." She blew out her cheeks and rolled her eyes. "I don't see what that has to do with anything."
A knowing grin formed on the stallion's expression. "A lot, actually." He glanced up at the sky and found what he was searching for. "One moment." His hooves pushed off the ground and sent him up into the air, where his wings quickly grabbed hold of the sky and brought him upwards towards a tuft of loose cloud hanging of his daughter's home. He decided he would need to talk to her about proper house-care after she got back.
"Here we are." Rainbow's dad pushed the bit of weather down in front of the other pegasus.
Scootaloo raised an eyebrow doubtfully at the thing and looked to her impromptu teacher. "Uhm, this is a just a cloud."
The stallion sighed and rolled his eyes. "I'm getting to my point. You want to know some stuff about pegasi, what we can do, and why, right?" He pulled back with the cloud, hinting at leaving, but not. This got the filly's attention.
"Oh! Yes! I'm sorry." Scootaloo bit her lip nervously and looked from him to the cloud several times.
Rainbow's dad chuckled again and settled back to sit down. "Alright then. Well, let's start with the simple stuff. For starters, there's more to being a pegasus than just flying or working the weather." The look of confusion he got from the orange filly wasn't very reassuring.
"There is!?" Scootaloo replied incredulously, then sat down hard, wondering what else there could possibly be that she hadn't heard of yet.
"Well," Rainbow's dad stirred a hoof in the air above the cloud he held and struggled with what to say next. "Yes and no, I meant to say there are reasons why that is what we do, and an explanation for how-"
"Whoa, wait a second." Scootaloo recognized this sort of speech and made a T with her hooves to call a time out. "This is starting to sound like it's drifting into egghead territory; which is totally and undeniably not cool." she recalled her idol's words of wisdom well.
Rainbow's dad deadpanned slightly at the air above the filly's head. Rainy, what have you been up to. He sighed, then smiled again, albeit weakly. "Well if you think about it, everything is 'egghead' stuff in a way. That's how you learn and get better at things." It had been some years since he'd said that line.
Scootaloo doubted the sound of what she heard from her idol's father. "Eh, there's no way 'everything' is egghead stuff. There's too much awesome stuff in the world!" She raised her hooves up in an arc, implying what she said.
"Yes, true, that is very true, but-" Rainbow's Dad winked, wrapped up in how cleverly he'd maneuvered another conversation with a hard headed filly. "Let's take the Wonderbolt's for example. They study for hours upon hours to properly choreograph their moves and performances. They're not the best naturally. Flying with finesse can take a lot of study and 'egghead' stuff."
Scootaloo's eyes widened in shock and mild understanding. "Whoa." Her mind was still a little caught up trying to solve the riddle of what flying with 'fish-nets' had to do with anything, though.
Rainbow's Dad smirked and made as if to leave, stretching out his wings. "Now, would you like it if I share it with you, or should I go back up to the house and let you get back to being awesome?"
Scootaloo broke out of her slight daze. "No! Nonono, please I'll listen. If it's got to do with flying and being a pegasus, it can't be egghead stuff, anyway." That made sense to her. "I just meant it sounded, like egghead stuff. Obviously, it isn't."
Rainbow's dad suppressed the urge to sigh or laugh again. "Alright, well for starters lets begin with the basics, Harmony-"
Scootaloo's brow furrowed immediately. "Huh? What's Harmony got to do with flying? Or the weather?"
The stallion's eyes widened. "Everything! Take this cloud for instance." He pointed a hoof at his yet unused example. "Harmony is what allows it to maintain its shape. Balance, dictates its form, just like all things." He smirked back at her, and had the look of wanting to say more on the subject. "Actually, I used to monitor the world wide effects the forces of Harmony had on-" He coughed and cleared his throat upon noticing the slightly glazed over look the filly was giving him. "That's not important though, I guess. What is important, however, is that Harmony effects all things, living or not. In a sense, it is magic, and you know that all things living and not are comprised of magic, right?"
Scootaloo stared up at the cyan stallion holding up a hoof and talking as if everything he was saying made perfect sense. All the while, the only thought she could come up with, rather than a response, was, Did I find Rainbow's dad? Or Twilight's?
"Hey, Squirt, you still in there?" Rainbow's dad was a second from tapping his hoof on the filly's head to regain her attention.
"Oh uhm, Yeah, I'm here..." Scootaloo scrunched up her face as hard as she could and peered at the adult pegasus suspiciously. "I just don't get it, I thought that only unicorns could do-"
"Ap!" The stallion raised a hoof and interrupted. "I understand you probably are still learning the basics in school, but that is a huge misconception amongst most races, not just you. Magic, is not just spells. How do you think we control the weather, hm? Or even fly?" He swept a hoof across the skies. In the distance, a light grey mare was busily pushing a tuft of storm clouds across the horizon, making a perfect example.
Scootaloo's gears churned a second, then looked back up at the stallion and exclaimed, "That's magic!?" She looked back at the blonde pegasus flying by with the storm piece. "I always just thought that pegasi could do that stuff."
The stallion nodded in understanding. "There's more to it than just that, though. Magic is a form of Harmony. Harmony is an inherent force in Equestria, and even further out into the rest of the world. At least, that's how I remember it, or was it that Harmony is a form of magic?" He turned to face the orange filly again and sat, a thoughtful expression on his muzzle until he shrugged and continued. "Well, anyway, those are the basics. Everything; the three races of ponykind, and more, are linked by Harmony and magic. It's a kind of..."
Scootaloo looked up, grinning. "Friendship?" She was feeling some familiarity between the lecture and one of Twilight's, but it was interesting. It could help get her cutie mark, too, she considered, so it was worth it.
"Yeah," Rainbow's dad nodded, grinning and looking at the sky a little absently. "Yeah, it is sort of like friendship. I was going to say a 'bond', but that works, too. So, pegasi, we work the weather, and to do that we fly so we can exercise our magic of 'friendship' with it. In a way, we are the weather."
Scootaloo's eyes widened once again in thought over the way Rainbow's dad put it. "Woooow, I never thought of it like that. Pegasi are totally the best ever."
The taller pony chuckled and grinned at the sight of some other ponies soaring by in the distance. "Well, we play our part, certainly. But we're just a piece to the puzzle, as it were." He cleared his throat and readied himself to get into the bulk of things, as they were. "I'm not speaking from experience, since I'm not a unicorn, but I hear that pegasi magic is a lot more natural than unicorn magic, for example. We just need to interact our bodies with the weather and sort of 'will' the clouds to do what we want. For instance, with wind, a lot of us get together and kick up a gale with our wings." He chuckled at that. "Though, we don't usually need a whole lot of wind. Wind can get kind of messy unchecked. Normally, we do a lot more controlling of natural winds from elsewhere." He hummed, for a moment then smiled down at the filly. "I think that about covers it for pegasi and the weather."
Scootaloo stood back up eagerly, determined to know more and unable to sit still. "Alright, I kinda knew all that, most of it anyway... My dad says I'll be able to control the weather just fine... when I can fly." She frowned slightly, then perked up again, already over her shortcomings for now. "So, what about the other ponies, what do they do? I mean, besides the obvious stuff like planting things and floating things." She gave the other pony a slightly silly, slightly smug, knowing grin. "What are they a part of, if we're the weather?"
The thought of Princess Celestia and Luna occurred to Scootaloo briefly, pictures of them raising and lowering their sun and moon; but those had to be totally different. Her musing was interrupted.
Rainbow's Dad held his hooves up. "Now hold on, I'm getting to that. I also didn't mean that we are a part of the weather, not literally- I mean, are we?" He scratched his head a moment, then shook it. "No, no, there are other races that aren't even ponies that can control the weather too, I hear. Don't ask about that either. I, like most ponies, haven't left Equestria. I was just speaking figuratively, before. I meant we're the weather because we can work it."
"Oh." Scootaloo nodded impatiently, waiting for more. "And other ponies?"
"They're just like us, really." The stallion's wings flapped on his back absently, a concentrated look on his face.
Scootaloo frowned. "Just like us?" She stared at his wings.
Rainbow's dad looked behind himself and backtracked. "Not like- Okay, what I mean by that is, that we all have our own magic, and work to maintain Harmony in Equestria. Gosh, other places, too. All over the world." He hummed slightly at that. "Each race works to the same end, maintaining harmony-"
Scootaloo's attention was grabbed once again. "There are other places around the world!?" She felt her jaw drop.
"Geez, what do they teach kids in school these days." Rainbow's dad furrowed his brow and swished his tail in annoyance. "Of course there are, you didn't think Equestria was all there was, did you?"
Frowning slightly, Scootaloo shrugged.
"Shoot, there's Germane, Neighpon... Ah, but we're getting off topic, aren't we?" The other pegasus leaned back some with a sigh and looked back up at the house. "Maybe sometime you could come over and talk with Rainbow about it. She's been thinking about seeing the world, lately, much to my dismay."
"Much to your what?" Scootaloo tilted her head, hearing another weird word from the stallion.
"Dismay, it's- nevermind." Rainbow's dad chuckled. "So, did you have any other questions in specific? I'm afraid my minds gotten off track." He grinned a little sheepishly, as true enough, he couldn't exactly remember what he'd been talking about specifically. He was hoping the filly's curiosity had been sated. She reminded him a great deal of Rainbow when she'd been little, which might be a troublesome thing now that he considered it.
Scootaloo held a hoof to her chin. "Well, we've talked about everything in general I guess, but I haven't learned anything new about us that I wanted to, really." She looked up at the taller pony in desperation. "I need to know more so I can get my cutie mark, isn't there anything else?"
Rainbow's dad looked back blankly a moment, eyes wide, then smiled. "Hah, well of course there is, there's tons! But not all of it pertaining just to us pegasi. If you want a cutie mark, you'll have to look further than that. Cutie marks are simple, yet complicated, and don't always have to do with what we are, but, they're always something that's very dear to us. I can't help with that..." He hummed, frowning down at the pleading look the filly was giving him. "I can say that whether you can fly yet or not isn't important to getting a cutie mark either, and-" He thought hard, unable to take the sad look that seemed to grow the more he didn't give the little pony a straight answer. This is just as bad as Rainy! he lamented briefly.
Rainbow's dad inhaled, then arrived at what else he could say. "Okay, what else is there, hum." He looked around himself, trying to remember past the basics he used for his job and life and into what smaller circles of pegasi practiced. "Alright, well, I'll admit, there's a lot I don't know, but... I have seen some extraordinary things that hint at, let's call them, 'possibilities'."
Scootaloo stared intently, confused, but interested again.
Rainbow's dad hid his smirk, and focused on remembering the story as he could recalled it. "There was a terrible storm, perhaps a decade ago. The likes of which Equestria doesn't see very often. It was the sort of thing that occurs once in a thousand years or longer." He kept his expression calm, but was happy to see the look of fascination on the orange filly's face. "This storm was massive, one that could have destroyed a city. It was a hurricane, something that you've probably only heard of in stories just like this."
Scootaloo gasped. "But it was real!?" Her wings buzzed on impulse, heart racing at the idea of weather so powerful pegasi alone could tame it. She watched the stallion nod. "And you were there!?"
Rainbow's dad did smirk then, while the rest of him relaxed and grew somber. "Oh yes, myself, possibly every pegasi in Equestria, and the Princess herself." He could almost feel the ocean's spray on his face again. "The tidal waves were as tall as buildings or taller. Dragons would have shied away from the things. Above it all, crashed lightning and thunder like you wouldn't believe. Certainly it was something beyond what any one pegasus could handle." The sight of thousands of ponies lining the beaches for kilometers in either direction of western Equestria hung in his mind's eye.
Scootaloo could feel her jaw hanging open in the back of her mind, but didn't care. "Whoa..."
The stallion coughed and straightened up. "Ahem, now, like I said earlier, pegasi exert their will on the weather to control it. That means we can do anything the weather can, in a way, right?" He hoped he wasn't overdoing it, remembering how he was prone to do that.
The stallion's suddenly brighter attitude caught Scootaloo off guard. "Oh, uhm, yes?" she answered, unsure.
Rainbow's dad grinned bigger and reared back, giving his wings a quick flap.
Scootaloo let out a yelp, then shivered suddenly. "H-hey, what's the big idea?" Her teeth chattered slightly from the cold wind that had whipped over her.
The stallion laughed again. "Sorry, that was a visual aid. Pegasi control every aspect of the weather, seasons, temperature, so we can chill the air, too. How do you think we stopped the storm?"
Scootaloo shook herself until the sun warmed her fur and feathers back up. Once done, she thought for a moment. "Oh, you froze those big waves you talked about solid!" She grinned widely.
Rainbow's dad left his mouth open for a moment, hesitating. "Nnnnnno, not quite. We did, however, lower the temperature enough that the storm petered out before it made land fall. See, that egghead stuff you were hated so much earlier was just the ticket for stopping that chaotic storm from who-knows-where. You see, a storm builds when warm, humid air-"
Scootaloo blinked and tilted her head, wearing a lost look openly.
"Well, it's... complicated, how about we save weather patterns and stuff for the schools to explain to you." Rainbow's dad chuckled some, rubbing one leg with a hoof. "I was just letting you know that you really do have a lot to look forward to as a pegasi, not just flying, or even weather, magic is available to us, too, in a way."
Scootaloo nodded in understanding, grinning at first, then frowning at the ground. "Okay..." she started, "But how does that help me get my cutie mark now?"
Rainbow's dad stared a moment, then face-hoofed.
Author's Note
I'd often thought about writing a Scootaloo fic when I started out, this chapter sorta gave me the ability too. I have no doubt that season four will proooobably have one. Odds are likely I think Twilight will be involved in it too. As silly as that sounds given how well she was soaring at the end of season three and all.
