Yes, Scootaloo and Flash Sentry are siblings. Stop freaking out.
Scootaloo could feel the strain on her wings as she rose slightly just outside the Cutie Mark Crusader Clubhouse. They buzzed furiously together as she kept pushing upwards. A few beads of sweat had formed on her forehead, and her cheeks were beginning to turn a pinkish hue.
All the while, her two best friends, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle, watched and encouraged her.
“Go Scoots! You're the best!”
“Come on, Scootaloo! You can do it!”
The little orange pegasus smiled at her friends, then began to shift the direction in which her wings fluttered. She closed her eyes tightly and gritted her teeth as her wings buzzed harder, slowly moving her body forward. Her face was soon glowing red and covered with sweat, and her teeth parted as she began to gasp for air.
It was at this point that her wings suddenly stopped.
All Scootaloo could do was cry out in despair as she fell to the ground. Shocked, her two friends ran to her side, shouting in horror.
“Scootaloo!” screamed Sweetie Belle.
“Scootaloo! Are you okay?!” asked Apple Bloom.
“I'm okay!” gasped Scootaloo, exhausted by her latest attempt at flying. Between the enormous effort to maintain her body in the air and the crash when she dramatically returned, her entire body ached. Her wings in particular were very sore after having worked harder than ever to lift their determined owner into the sky, and her face was a deep red.
“You sure you're okay there, Scoots?” asked Apple Bloom.
“Absolutely!” said Scootaloo, finally having had the chance to catch her breath. “How did I do?”
Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom looked at each other in consternation at Scootaloo's question. They then turned towards her, presenting her with two wide toothy grins.
“You did awesome!” said Apple Bloom.
“Yep!” added Sweetie Belle. “Just awesome!”
Scootaloo stared at them, unconvinced by their attempt at covering the truth.
“Okay, seriously,” she said. “How did I do?”
Realizing that they couldn't fool her, the two fillies sighed as they hung their heads in defeat.
“One foot high,” said Apple Bloom.
“And six inches in distance,” finished Sweetie Belle.
Scootaloo groaned at the news.
“I was so sure I was gonna do great this time!"
As she hung her head low in despair, Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom stared at each other worriedly.
“What's wrong, Scoots?” asked Apple Bloom. “We know ya wanna fly, but you've never been this sad before!”
“Yeah!” said Sweetie Belle. “You know we've been through all sorts of bad things before, and we've always managed to get through it together! Just tell us what's wrong!”
Scootaloo lifted her head, looking at her two concerned friends. She then turned away from them, unsure of what to say.
“It's nothing,” she said sadly. “It's just I thought I was finally gonna fly today, and I totally failed! I mean, how am I ever gonna be a great flyer if I can't even get off the ground?!”
“Of course you're gonna be a great flyer!” said Apple Bloom. “Just like Rainbow Dash!”
“Yeah!” said Sweetie Belle. “Just like your sort-of-almost big sister Rainbow Dash!”
“Yeah,” said Scootaloo. “She really is just like my sister.”
“Speaking of family,” Apple Bloom said suddenly, “don't you ever hang out with your family?”
At the mention of the word “family,” Scootaloo's eyes shut tight as her body tensed up.
“I don't want to talk about it,” she said, her voice tinged with discomfort.
“Aw, come on,” said Apple Bloom. “You know we're your friends-”
“I said I don't want to talk about it!” Scootaloo shouted, clearly quite frustrated. Realizing that their efforts were only making her angry, the white unicorn and yellow earth pony closed their mouths, sitting down on the floor next to their anguished friend.
Meanwhile, Scootaloo was lost deep in her own thoughts. She had never talked much about her family, and with good reason. When it came to flying, she had always been at the bottom of her class, but not for lack of trying. Indeed, she had always struggled to improve, constantly pushing herself as hard as she could. Unfortunately, no matter how hard she tried, it never seemed to be enough. More often than not, she felt like she'd never be able to live up to the expectations of her parents.
If nothing else, however, she could at least take comfort in the knowledge that she still had him.
Right now, though, the last thing she needed was a reminder of how weak she was compared to her parents.
Unfortunately for the little orange filly, fate seemed to be exceptionally cruel to her on that day.
“Hey, Scootaloo!”
The three Cutie Mark Crusaders lifted their heads up in the direction of the voice. To their surprise, they saw a purple dragon running towards them as fast as his two stubby legs could carry him. As he reached them, he bent over to catch his breath.
“Spike?” Sweetie Belle asked. “What are you doing here? And… did you really just run all the way from Canterlot to Ponyville?”
“Girls!” gasped Spike. “Letter… Scootaloo… important!”
He held out his right claw, revealing a pair of scrolls, one bound with a royal seal, the other with a simple yellow ribbon, then collapsed in front of them. The three little fillies' eyes went wide at the sight of the first scroll.
“Wow!” said Apple Bloom. “It's like one of those official letters from the princess!”
“Does that mean Scoots has a letter from the princess?” Sweetie Belle asked excitedly.
“Just… read,” said Spike.
Scootaloo raised her eyebrow, the very same question now reverberating in her head. There was little reason for her to receive a letter that looked so very official.
Gripped by confusion, as well as the slightest sense of trepidation, Scootaloo took the royal scroll from Spike's claws into her hooves. Sighing, she broke the seal and began to unfurl the letter.
The first thing she saw caught her attention: Large fancy letters spelling out the phrase “Royal Wedding.” Her fellow crusaders saw this too, and quickly became excited.
“There’s a Royal Wedding?!” said Sweetie Belle.
“And you just got invited?!” said Apple Bloom.
“No way!” said Apple Bloom. “You're so lucky Scoots!”
Shrugging at the comments she was now receiving, Scootaloo continued to unfurl the scroll, uncovering the first few lines of text. As she did so, she began to read.
“Princess Celestia cordially invites you to the royal wedding of Princess Twilight Sparkle and-”
The young pegasus felt her heart drop as she read the next name present on the scroll. As she looked away from the invitation, only two words escaped from her mouth.
“My brother?”
Dear Scootie:
How's it going? Have you managed to fly yet? I hope you've been happy living in Ponyville, even though you're so far away from home. I've missed you a lot, so I'm really looking forward to meeting you again.
I'm sure you've heard of Twilight, right? She lived with you guys in Ponyville before her ascension, so you might already know a lot about her. Anyway, she's amazing. She's one of the smartest, friendliest, and most helpful ponies I've ever met. Not to mention that, even after becoming a princess, she was humble enough to treat everypony she met with respect and kindness, which is more than I can say for a lot of upper class ponies.
As for me, I've been promoted to the Canterlot Elite Guard! It’s pretty amazing how far I’ve managed to get since the last time we met. True, it’s really busy, but now ponies actually look up to me! I mean, between getting into the Elite Guard and getting engaged to a princess, it’s hard to believe all this is real! But it is, just like I always said it would be one day!
Again, I'm really looking forward to these next few days, not just for the wedding, but also because I'll get to see you again very soon. I hope you're as excited as I am!
Your big brother, Flash Sentry.
“'Scootie?'” said Spike, trying hard to hold back a snicker.
Scootaloo groaned and dropped her brother's letter. She then banged her head against the window and watched as the countryside zoomed past her. They were already two thirds of the way to Canterlot, and the magenta-maned filly was dreading the moment more with each passing second.
“So, let me to get this straight,” said Rainbow Dash, who was now sitting next to her. “You have an older brother?”
“Yes,” Scootaloo said quietly.
“And he's a member of the Canterlot Elite Guard, the bravest and most dashing unit of the Royal Guard?!” asked Rarity, her eyes practically sparkling.
“Yes.”
“And on top of that, he's getting married to Twilight now?” asked Applejack.
“Yes!” groaned Scootaloo.
“Weird,” said Rainbow. “Between you and Twilight, it’s like we never learn that somepony has a brother unless he gets married to a princess!”
“Wow-wee!” shrieked Pinkie Pie. “I'm gonna have to hold a “Scootaloo has a big brother” party, and a “Scootaloo's big brother's getting married” party! And that's in addition to all the stuff I'm gonna have to do at the wedding! Oh man I wish I had an entire arsenal of party cannons!”
As the older ponies cheered and laughed with Pinkie Pie, Scootaloo simply looked out the window, a big frown pasted on her face.
“Hey, Scoots? You okay there?”
Scootaloo turned away from the window to see Apple Bloom looking at her with a worried expression.
“You look like you're worried about something,” said Apple Bloom. “Is everything all right?”
“Oh, everything's just fine,” said Scootaloo, her voice full of sarcasm. “I can’t wait to see my brother again! Everything's going to be just fine!”
The little yellow filly didn't answer. She simply stared at Scootaloo in confusion, then shrugged and walked off.
A great blast of steam rose into the sky as the friendship express rolled into the Canterlot station. As soon as it came to a stop, several ponies, as well as one baby dragon, walked out of the coaches and onto the platform. Though there were fewer guards present than the previous royal wedding, they were still as attentive as ever, watching everypony carefully with razor-sharp eyes. As always, the majority were completely stoic, never showing any emotion. However, one guard had quite an unexpected reaction.
“Scootaloo!” said the guard. “You're here!”
“Dad!”
The group of ponies who had arrived with the little orange filly suddenly stopped, shocked as she ran into the pegasus guard's open hooves. His coat was blue, while his mane was a reddish violet similar to Scootaloo's. Both father and daughter held their embrace for a minute, before the two broke off and turned to face everypony.
“So, yeah,” said Scootaloo. “This is my dad.”
“Steel Wing,” said Scootaloo's father. “It's great to meet you all.”
The other ponies simply stared, not quite sure what to say. Then, Sweetie Belle shook her head and began to speak.
“Hold on a second. So, not only is your brother an Elite Guard, but your father is too?”
“Yeah,” Scootaloo said nervously.
“Why didn't you tell us before?” she asked.
“What do you mean?” asked Steel Wing, turning towards his daughter. “You mean you never told your friends about us?”
“Well… no one ever asked,” said Scootaloo. It was only half of the truth, but it was true nevertheless. “I didn't want anypony to give me special treatment just because my family's so, well, awesome! I mean, I'm just a normal pony, and not that special, really...”
“Of course you're special,” said Apple Bloom. “You're our friend!”
“And a Cutie Mark Crusader,” said Sweetie Belle.
“And my sort-of-almost little sister,” added Rainbow Dash.
“And even if you weren't any of that, you're still my daughter,” said Steel Wing. “And that makes you more special than anypony else!”
A smile formed on Scootaloo’s face as she listened to the encouragement she was now receiving.
“Thanks guys,” she said happily.
“It's what we do,” said Rainbow. “So, as your sort-of-almost big sister, shouldn't I be properly introduced to your dad?”
“Ah, you must be Rainbow Dash,” said Steel Wing. “My daughter has told me a lot about you.”
“Of course she has!” said Rainbow. “I'm 120 percent awesomeness!”
“She sure is!” said Scootaloo. “Mom will be really happy to meet you!”
“Oh yeah,” said Rainbow. “Kind of an obvious question, but who is your mom?”
Scootaloo's eyes turned downward as her cheeks went pink.
“I don't want to talk about it.”
“Seriously?” said Rainbow, clearly exasperated by Scootaloo's constant evasion of questions. “Your dad's a royal guard, and your brother is about to marry Twilight! What could possibly be more awesome than that?”
As if to answer Rainbow's question, an incredible gust of wind whipped at everypony’s face as a pegasus passed just above them at unbelievable speeds. She turned downwards, headed directly for the platform, where she landed right in between Rainbow and Scootaloo, kicking up a huge cloud of dust as she did so.
As the cloud cleared, it revealed the sleek form of an athletic pegasus. She was wearing a blue full-body suit, lined with yellow thunderbolts. Her yellow coat could just be seen through her wings, muzzle, and ears, the only parts not covered. But her most striking feature was her fiery-orange mane and tail.
If Rainbow's lower jaw hadn't been attached to her head, it would have fallen off and never come back.
“Hey mom,” nonchalantly said Scootaloo.
“Scootaloo!” said Spitfire, wrapping her hooves around her daughter. “I'm so glad you're finally here!”
Scootaloo smiled as she snuggled in her mother's embrace. She then let go to face her friends.
“Guys, this is my mom. You probably know what she does and all…”
“Hey there, Rainbow,” said Spitfire. “I see you’ve been taking care of my little girl, ey?”
There was complete silence for a few moments. Everypony seemed to shocked to produce any sounds, and they didn't seem to know what to say, either.
It was only when an extremely high-pitched squeal came out of the mouth of a certain rainbow-maned pegasus that the silence was broken.
“Omigosh! No way! Omigosh! Omigosh! No way!”
The three pegasi laughed at Rainbow's excitement, and soon everypony was laughing with them. Two little fillies in particular were now running up to Scootaloo, chatting with her excitedly.
“Oh wow, Scoots,” said Sweetie Belle. “I can't believe Spitfire's your mom!”
“Yeah,” said Apple Bloom. “Your family's totally amazing!”
“Speaking of family,” said Spitfire as she opened her wings to fly away, “Flash has been waiting for you, Scoots. You'd better go talk to him.”
At the mention of her brother's name, Scootaloo's mood quickly began to sour. She groaned as she remembered the whole point of her trip to Canterlot.
“Okay,” she said, looking up as her mother vanished in the distance. “I'll go see him.”
And maybe finally get the chance to figure out just what the heck happened, she thought to herself.
“I'll go too,” said Spike. “I need to check up on Twilight.”
“Sounds good to me,” said Rainbow. “You two go on. I'm gonna stay here and get to know your folks!”
Scootaloo smiled and nodded, then walked away towards the castle. As she did so, however, her smile vanished and a frown took hold of her face. She tried thinking of something, anything which would help her get out of her situation. Alas, nothing came to her.
Well then, she thought to herself, let's get this over with.
A young Elite Guard saluted his comrades as he walked past them towards his balcony, continually maintaining his calm facade. It was part of his job as a guard to maintain his stoic appearance, never panicking, losing their temper, or becoming so excited he became more trouble than he was worth. Nothing could make the blue-maned orange-yellow pegasus show any sort of emotion while he was on duty.
Or, at least, almost nothing.
“Flash Sentry!”
The surprised guard turned his head in surprise, and saw two highly recognizable individuals. One was his fiancee's faithful assistant, Spike. The other, much to his delight, was his sister.
“Scootie!” he called out happily. He then opened his wings and jumped into the air, and then proceeded to descend to the ground level. As he landed in front of the little orange pegasus, he wrapped his left hoof around her and gave her a hug.
“You have no idea how happy I am that you made it,” said Flash. “I mean, we hardly ever get to see each other these days, what with me in the guard and you being an exchange student in Ponyville. But I’m glad you’re here now, Scootie, because there’s nothing that could make me happier than you being here at my wedding!”
Scootaloo glared at Spike, who was struggling not to bend over laughing. She then gritted her teeth as she said “Yeah, real excited.”
“Well that’s great, because I’m excited too!”
Scootaloo and Spike turned their heads up to see a familiar lavender pony floating down to meet them. She landed gracefully next to her fiance and wrapped her left wing around him. The two ponies then moved in close to each other and rubbed their foreheads together affectionately.
“I love you, Twily.”
“I love you too, Flashy.”
This romantic display was met by disgusted looks from a baby dragon and orange pegasus filly.
“Can we please leave the mushy stuff for later?” asked Scootaloo.
“Yeah,” said Spike. “I think I'm gonna get cooties just from watching you two!”
Remembering the presence of the two children, Flash and Twilight quickly regained their composure.
“Oh, of course,” said Flash, his face glowing pink.
“Yeah,” added Twilight, blushing intensely. “Scootaloo, I'm glad you could make it. You know, your brother is a really special pony.”
“Yeah,” said Scootaloo, trying her best to not sound disappointed. “He's definitely something.”
“Yeah, I guess,” Flash said with a shrug. “Now, if you'll excuse me, Spike and I still have to sort out all the issues that were caused by that exploding hamster.”
“Oh, yeah,” said Spike, a bead of sweat forming on his forehead. “I wish we could all just forget about that.”
“So do I,” said Flash, before turning back towards Twilight and Scootaloo. “Why don't you two spend some time together? I hear that they’re making some really good treats over at the royal kitchen.”
Scootaloo glared at her brother, whose attention was fortunately focused on Twilight.
“Sounds good to me,” said Twilight.
“Great!” said Flash. “I’m sure you’ll have a lot of fun!”
“Yeah, unlike us,” Spike said as he went behind Flash, leaving Twilight and Scootaloo together.
“So, want to go see what's cooking?” asked Twilight.
Sighing, Scootaloo looked up at her future sister-in-law, putting on the best smile she possibly could.
“Sounds good to me!”
“Great!” said Twilight. “Follow me!”
Scootaloo licked her lips in response to the smells emanating from the kitchen. She followed Twilight closely as the young alicorn walked in and greeted the ponies happily.
“Hello everypony! How is everything today?”
Shocked by her sudden appearance, the majority of the ponies quickly dropped what they were doing and bowed.
“Princess Sparkle! We were not expecting to see you so soon!”
“Please, just call me Twilight,” she said reassuringly. “And please don’t mind me. Just go back to your business.”
The young orange pegasus rolled her eyes.
“Howdy Twilight!” said a voice. Upon turning, Scootaloo saw that it was Applejack.
“Hey Applejack,” said Twilight. “I'm so glad you're catering for us. I can't wait to see all the delicious treats you'll be preparing for the wedding!”
“Aw, shucks,” said Applejack. “What kind of friend would I be if I wasn't there to help ya on yer big day, sugarcube?”
The two mare laughed together before Applejack continued.
“So, want to taste either some of the delicious apple fritters, apple cupcakes, or apple cobblers?”
“I'd love some,” said Twilight as she happily took two cupcakes in her magic grasp. The first one was sent straight to her eager mouth, and the second one floated right into Scootaloo's open hooves. The surprised filly barely looked at her cupcake, however, instead staring at how easily the purple alicorn was now lifting several objects with her magic. While she had always envied her brother, she had never felt particularly resentful of the purple librarian. And yet, now that she was going to marry Flash, she suddenly came to an important realization.
Twilight was practically a perfect pony now.
Perhaps in her youth things had been different. Even then, however, she had been talented enough to be noticed by Princess Celestia herself. As she grew older, she had performed feats of magic other unicorns could only dream of, and, with the help of her friends, she had managed to defeat two ancient evils and helped defeat another two. Not only that, but her leadership skills and knowledge were second only to the elder princesses.
Admittedly, one could make the case that she was not, for lack of a better term, the embodiment of perfection. She was just another unicorn, not a member of the royalty, and she preferred to associate herself with common ponies rather than the upper-class elite. But that had changed forever with her ascension to the status of alicorn princess, as she now had as much authority as Celestia, Luna, or Cadance.
To Scootaloo, it was a bitter reminder of how insignificant she was in comparison to the rest of her family. And, as of a short while ago, her brother.
With a sigh, she shoved the fruity confection into her mouth and chewed sadly.
“I wish I could fly as easily as she does that.”
“Is that so?”
Slightly startled, Scootaloo turned around to see Apple Bloom looking at her.
“Apple Bloom?” she asked. “What are you doing here?”
“I’m helping my sister with her work,” said Apple Bloom. “What are you doing here?”
“Me?” said Scootaloo. “Oh, you know, I’m just hanging out with the most perfect pony princess possible while she gets ready to marry Mister Perfect!”
The yellow earth pony filly raised her eyebrow.
“Scoots, if ya don’t mind me asking, what’s really wrong? Every time anypony mentions your brother, you get all sad and grouchy."
Scootaloo frowned and looked down.
“It wasn’t always like that,” she explained sadly. “You see, back when he was my age, he was afraid of heights.”
“Wait, what?” said Apple Bloom. “A pegasus who’s afraid of heights who isn’t Fluttershy?”
“I know it’s hard to believe,” said Scootaloo. “But his fear of heights was so bad that he could barely even open his wings. Not only could he not fly, he didn't even want to try. In fact, he failed more flight exams than any other flyer in Cloudsdale, and was so scared of flying they actually started calling him Flash Won’t-try.”
“Ouch.”
“Yeah. Even as he grew up, he never quite managed to get over it. In fact, he still had his moments the last time I saw him. Barely even managed to pass his entrance exams for the royal guard. Even so, he never worried about that, because I was there for him, and he was there for me.”
Scootaloo looked down, a single tear rolling down her cheek.
“Well, sounds like ya got a pretty good relationship with your brother, Scoots,” said Apple Bloom.
“I know I used to,” said Scootaloo. “But he’s different now, and I can’t help but feel like, well, like..."
As the little orange pegasus struggled to find the right words, she looked down dejectedly. Meanwhile, her red-maned friend looked at her sympathetically.
“I think I get what you’re saying,” said Apple Bloom. “Since the last time ya saw him, everything has changed, and that makes you upset.”
Scootaloo turned towards Apple Bloom and nodded.
“You know, it might help ya if you actually talked to somepony about all this.”
Scootaloo stared at her friend in confusion for a minute, then turned away to consider what she had said.
After tasting Applejack’s culinary delights, the two ponies had left to check on the other ponies’ work. Rarity, ever the romantic mare, had been making the most extravagant wedding dress ever for Twilight’s “perfect” wedding day. Unsurprisingly, the young princess had been reluctant to accept such a work of art, instead requesting that her dress be as simple as acceptable for a wedding dress.
Once Twilight had managed to convince the obsessive white unicorn to tone down her dress, she and Scootaloo had gone off to see Fluttershy, whose chorus of birds seemed to sing more beautifully than ever. Unfortunately for them, Twilight became so amazed by their beauty that she inadvertently shouted out with the Royal Canterlot Voice, scaring them off and earning her an angry glare from Fluttershy.
Afterwards, they visited Pinkie, who was decorating the party room while talking to Rainbow Dash and Spitfire. Neither purple princess nor pink party pony had any trouble discussing what was needed, as Twilight knew that Pinkie knew exactly what was best for a party, and Pinkie was Pinkie. She also spent some time discussing how Rainbow would perform her Sonic Rainboom at the wedding, even though the young pegasus was much more interested in talking to Spitfire.
They were currently sitting on a balcony watching the sunset as they sipped on Applejack’s delicious cider. As they did, however, Twilight couldn’t help but notice the scowl on the orange filly’s face.
“Is everything okay, Scootaloo?”
Scootaloo turned up towards Twilight.
“Twilight? Do you ever worry that you might go so far that everypony else gets left behind?”
The young princess turned her head in confusion.
“What are you talking about, Scootaloo?”
“I’m talking about how much better than anypony else you are, Twilight,” said Scootaloo, her voice full of carefully controlled anger. “I mean, how many other ponies do you know who were one of Celestia's students?”
“Just one,” said Twilight. “She sort of ran away, though, so nopony ever hears about-”
The fact that the young princess had let her thoughts stray away from the conversation was the spark that ignited Scootaloo's rage.
“Yeah, because the princess only teaches really special ponies! And then you just kept doing more and more awesome things, like beating Nightmare Moon and Discord, but still, you were just a unicorn, so maybe you could at least try to be normal like everypony else!”
“Listen Scootaloo-”
“No, you listen! You were very good, but you weren’t so good that everypony else got left behind! But now, you’re an alicorn, so there’s no way you can hide the fact that you’re better than everypony else! You’ve changed, and everything you could possibly have needed your friends for means nothing, because now you can do everything all by yourself!”
Twilight watched in shock as the little orange pegasus vented her anger at her.
“And that’s not all! I’ve had to live my whole life listening to everypony talk about how amazingly good my parents are! My dad is one of the best members of the Canterlot Elite Guard, and my mom is the captain of the freaking Wonderbolts! And everypony, especially them, look at me, expecting me to one day be as good at them when I can barely move one foot off the ground!”
As she finished her rant, Scootaloo gasped for breath, before letting her head hang low in surrender.
“Of course… before all this, I could always count on Flash to be there for me. Whenever I was worried about how I’d never be as good as they were, he just told me about how he wasn’t much better than me, and how he believed in me. And I was happy, because he understood what I was going through. I thought he’d always be there for me, no matter what. But now… now it turns out he’s become so much better than me that now it’s all going to be about him! No one is ever going to give me a second glance because I’m just a wimpy pegasus filly who can’t fly while he’s the greatest pegasus who’s ever lived!”
And with that, Scootaloo burst into tears. She had always felt vastly overshadowed by her parents, but never by her brother. He had always been the one who was there to comfort her when she was feeling powerless. But not anymore.
In her sorrow, she barely noticed the pair of hooves wrapping around her. As they hugged her, however, her anger began to fade away, though her sadness and despair did not
It still felt nice to know somepony else cared, though.
“Thank you, Twilight.”
“So, my name is Twilight now?”
The little filly's eyes opened in shock as she realized who had spoken.
“F-Flash?” she asked weakly.
The yellow pegasus smiled at her, stroking his hoof against her back, then turned towards Twilight.
“I think my sister and I need some private time, Twily.”
His fiancee smiled and nodded, opening her wings and flying away. As she did so, Scootaloo broke off her brother's embrace, then looked at him nervously.
“So, you heard...?”
“Everything.”
Guilt began to gnaw at Scootaloo almost immediately. She didn't even try to stop the tears flowing from her cheeks.
“I feel so useless,” she said.
“Scootie, you're not useless,” Flash said encouragingly.
“Of course I am!” yelled Scootaloo. “I can't even fly right! And mom and dad are the best pegasi in all of Equestria, and you’re a close second, and I'm stuck here on the ground! Just look!”
The distraught filly fluttered her wings as hard as she could, trying to lift herself, only to fall to the ground.
“I'm a pegasus that can't fly. Just like a chicken.”
“Scootaloo, you're not a chicken,” said Flash.
“Yes I am.”
“If you’re a chicken, then why aren’t you afraid of heights?”
Scootaloo looked up at her brother in confusion.
“What?”
Flash looked away in embarrassment.
“Okay, that was kind of a stupid line,” said Flash. “But the point is, I know that we've been distant these past few years. We don’t see each other as much as we used to, and I haven’t really gotten the chance to show you everything that’s happened with me for a while. And yes, I've kind of gotten farther in life than either of us could have predicted. But other than me getting into the Elite Guard and falling in love with Twilight, what’s really changed about me?”
“I… don’t know,” Scootaloo admitted.
“You see?” said Flash. “Yeah, I’m not as much of a loser as I was before, but I’m still the same guy I've always been. Heck, I’m still kind of nervous about being so high up.”
As he said this, Flash looked down from the balcony towards the ground below and swallowed.
“And let me tell you something, Scootaloo. I may be a member of the Elite Guard and the fiancé of Equestria's newest princess, but I'm still your brother. And do you honestly believe that any amount of promotions, weddings, or improvement is ever going to change that?”
“No, I guess not,” said Scootaloo.
“You see?” said Flash. “Things change, sis. But just because things change doesn't mean everything's going to be completely different. It's just like dad said: The more things change, the more they stay the same. Deep down, I'm still the same acrophobic pegasus colt I always was. And if you were to ask Twilight, she'd tell you that she's every bit as determined to please Princess Celestia as she always was, and more importantly, still as devoted to her friends as she's ever been.”
Flash paused for a brief moment, before he smiled mischievously.
“And, of course, you and I can still hang out and work together to become the greatest flyers Equestria has ever seen.”
At the mention of their old shared dream, the orange filly's face lit up.
“You mean it?” she asked excitedly.
“Of course I do, Scootie. We always said we'd work to be the best together, didn't we?”
The young guard grinned at his little sister as a smile bigger than any he'd ever seen on her face was formed. She wrapped her hooves around her brother, hugging him as tightly as she could. At first surprised by his sister’s sudden show of affection, Flash soon hugged her as well.
The two ponies remained in their embrace for a few minutes, before the older one broke it off.
“So, do you think we can both become the best flyers ever, Scootie?” he asked.
At this question, Scootaloo’s face turned contemplative for a moment, before she turned to him.
“Only if you only use that nickname when nopony else is looking, and especially not on an invitation to a royal wedding.”
Flash blushed intensely as he realized his mistake.
“Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.”
Scootaloo smiled approvingly at her brother, who turned and smiled back.
“I hope you’re happy now, Scootie.”
The two siblings laughed together.
The cutie mark crusaders, dressed in adorable little white dresses and carrying small baskets full of flowers, bounced around Twilight excitedly. She was wearing a dress not unlike the one she had worn to her coronation, only completely white. There was no doubt for anypony involved that this day was going to be perfect.
“But what if the changelings attack again?” Sweetie Belle suddenly asked.
“Pshh, yeah,” Scootaloo scoffed. “We have, like, four princesses, the Elements of Harmony, and even Discord! There’s no way anything can cause trouble!”
While the other crusaders laughed in agreement, Twilight looked at Scootaloo with a satisfied look on her face.
“So, I guess you’re happy for me and Flash now?”
Scootaloo stopped and turned towards Twilight.
“I sure am,” she said happily. “You’re gonna have an awesome husband, Princess!”
“Scootaloo,” Twilight said with a slight hint of disappointment in her voice, “You know you don’t have to call me ‘Princess,’ I’ve always been Twilight, and I always will be.”
“Is that so?” Scootaloo asked mischievously. “Then who am I supposed to give my friendship report to?”
The purple pony princess lifted her eyebrow in surprise. She had been hoping that Scootaloo and Flash would manage to restore their relationship, but this was certainly unexpected.
“Well,” she said, “I guess you can call me ‘Princess’ just this once.”
“Okay,” said Scootaloo. she then took a deep breath and began to speak.
“I've learned that you should never assume the worst when someone close to your heart undergoes big changes in their life. Even if they have changed drastically on the outside, on the inside they will almost always be the same as they've always been, and they will always value the relationship they have with you. So you should never feel angry or resentful over things that are supposed to make you happy, like when a close friend suddenly grows wings, or your brother becomes a high-ranking guard, or when said close friend and brother suddenly end up in a relationship together.”
As the little orange pegasus finished her recital, the alicorn bride smiled in approval.
“I’m very proud of you, Scootaloo, or maybe I should just call you sister?”
Scootaloo beamed, happy for her new sister’s approval. As she did so, Apple Bloom moved in close to her.
“See? I told you it would help to talk to ponies when you have problems.”
“Yeah,” said Scootaloo. “It sure helped a lot.”
The two fillies chuckled, but quickly regained their composure as the doors to the main hallway opened. On cue they began to bounce up the aisle, spreading their flowers everywhere. Scootaloo watched everypony around her with amazement as she moved alongside her fellow flower fillies, leading the way as Twilight walked slowly up the aisle. Along the aisles the other Element Bearers watched with pride and tears in their eyes. The parents of the bride and groom watched happily, the mothers smiling proudly, while the fathers both wiped away their tears. Finally, waiting at the altar, eager for his bride to arrive, was Flash Sentry.
Her brother, for whom everything had changed.
Everything was going to be fine.
Author's Note
Yes, people, everything's going to be fine. It's not like Twilicorn, Equestria Girls, Flash Sentry, and/or any number of little things are worth worrying about in the first place. Stop freaking out.
Or, if this just isn't your kind of fanfic, enjoy reading how everything is wrong with it!
