Life's Lessons

Scootaloo’s eyes slowly opened to a sea of sky blue colored feathers as her senses started to return. She felt the warmth and snugness that they provided, it was the most awesome blanket she could ever ask for. She had surely just had the best night sleep she’d had in a long time. It had sure beat the flanks off of sleeping out in the alleyway behind Sugarcube Corner. Scootaloo rolled onto her stomach as she became more awake. She then looked forwards to see her idol and big sister still snoring heavily on the cloud pillow. A playful smirk spread across the filly’s lips as an idea reached her head. The filly looked back up to the ocean of blue feathers. She quickly found a loose feather at the edge of her sisters wing and carefully took the feather in both hooves and plucked it from the wing. Scootaloo quickly checked back to the cyan mare to make sure she hadn't awoken - to her surprise, she was still sleeping soundly.

The orange filly put her plan into action and slowly crawled forward along the cyan wing until she could reach the older mares muzzle. With a devilish smile she took the feather and gently began to wave it across Rainbow’s nose. Suddenly, Dash started to move and wrinkled her muzzle slightly before moving it side to side. The cyan mare soon after began to make a noise. Scoots started to crawl away when she saw the mare sneeze hard before opening her eyes in a flash and scanned the room.

Dash looked around the dimly lit room as she came back to reality. She then tried to figure what could have woken her from her slumber, this was until the sound of muffled giggles made its way over the cyan mare. Dash looked down and noticed the little orange filly holding a cyan feather in one hoof and clasping the other hoof over her mouth - trying to muffle her giggles. Scoots stopped once she noticed the older mare staring at her with a evil smirk.

Immediately Scootaloo started to apologise but at the same time still trying to hold in the laughter, “I-I’m pfft sorry Rainbow... haha!” she said, falling over on the cloud bed in hysteria. As the filly rolled onto her stomach Rainbow Dash launched into action and dug her hooves into the filly’s sides, causing the filly to burst into laughter and try to squirm out of the cyan mares grasp.

“I hahahehe pleasahehehe stophehehe!” Scootaloo squeaked out whilst trying in vain to get the older mare to stop. Rainbow only quickened her speed as she moved her hooves over the filly’s sides, which made Scoots to elect more squeals as she attempted to break free.

Rainbow grinned. “Who’s best pony?” she asked knowingly as she leaned down over the filly.

Scootaloo’s face was now starting to grow red from the lack of proper breathing. “Hehe you haha are!” the filly replied as she continued squirming.

Dash kept a tight grip on the filly as she persisted. “And who is the best pranker?” Dash said as Scootaloo kept laughing.

The filly tried to calm down her rapid breathing as she kept laughing, “You hahaha, you are!”

With that Dash accepted her victory and relinquished her hooves from the filly, letting the orange pony calm down from her laughter as she breathed heavily. Dash smiled and lifted the filly onto her chest as she laid back down onto the cloud surface. “So kiddo, what you wanna do today?” she asked.

Scootaloo took a few more deep breaths before responding. “I guess I wouldn't mind doing some flight lessons.” she said, moving a hoof round Dash’s chest in a circular motion.

Dash quickly glanced out of the cloud window at the far side of the bedroom and saw the slightly fading fog from the night as the sun rose above the clouds. She turned back to the small filly before nodding happily. “Sure thing Squirt! But it’s gonna be cold out.” she said knowingly.

Scootaloo was confused. “How is it cold?” she asked while looking out off the small cloud window. Suddenly a small gust of autumn wind came past the two ponies, which sent the little filly into a fit of shivers.

Dash laughed before wrapping her wings around the filly again, heating her back up. “Yeah, we might need to get you a flight suit or somethin’.” the cyan mare said as she pondered.

After a few moments a smile appeared on Rainbow’s face as she came up with an answer, “I can get Rarity to do one!” she said knowingly and smiled at the idea. Suddenly her smile dropped before she let out a sigh. “You're gonna have to stand there while she does all that froo froo stuff though.” she pointed out, rolling her eyes and waiting for her little surrogate sister to respond.

Scootaloo put a hoof to her chin as she weighed her options. But after a few moments she nodded happily. “Sure, I guess I could do that if its not for too long.” she said, rolling her eyes.

Dash giggled. “You might just have to do that kid.” she said with a smirk as she let the small filly crawl off her chest. Before she got herself up off the bed, she stretched her wings out and sighed as she felt the relief of her joints settling and turned back to the filly on the bed, who was clearly annoyed with having to get out of the soft world she currently inhabited. Dash muffled a laugh before she spoke, “Come on Scoots you have to get up sometime.” the mare said as she went over to the small cloud window and looked out to see the white clouds over the small earth pony town.

Scootaloo groaned and made her way out of the bed and trotted slowly over to the bathroom at the far end of the corridor whilst Dash made her way downstairs to make some breakfast.

Scootaloo made her way down the small spiral staircase, her mane in a lot better shape than it was a few moments prior. She stopped at the bottom of the steps and looked around the living room. She noticed a few cloud objects like a sofa, coffee table and loads of more Wonderbolt's items which adorned the walls. The room was a lot cleaner than the top floor, but it still had the odd Wonderbolt magazine thrown around here or there. Scootaloo then looked over to the kitchen to hear the sound of annoyed groans emanating from behind the cloud layer. The little filly trotted over to the room and put a hoof on the door before pushing it open.

Scootaloo was met with a wave of smoke, making her choke slightly on the the foul air. As Scootaloo looked around she saw the sky blue mare behind the kitchen counter, taking out a burnt plate of eggs from the stove. Dash facehoofed at her failure before she attempted to clear the smoke filling the room. After a few moments Scootaloo was introduced with the cloud kitchen which had a few basic necessities like a sink and stove that where at the far side of the kitchen. Rainbow Dash trotted over from the open window with a sheepish grin. “Yeah sorry about that squirt...” she said, rubbing the back of her neck with a hoof.

Scootaloo giggled. “Yeah I can see that you can't cook either.” she said with a grin.

Dash blew a part of her mane out of her face before going over to the counter and taking out a box of cereal. “I’ll get Derpy to teach me some day.” Dash said whilst Scootaloo made her way over to the small cloud table in the kitchen.

Soon the older mare came over balancing two bowls of cereal on her wings. She leaned down and set them onto the table before she to sat down and dug into the morning meal. Scootaloo only ate acceptable mouthfuls and giggled slightly at Rainbows attitude to eating. Soon both ponies were finished and Rainbow decided to break the silence, “So kid, do you know anything about flying?” she asked putting the bowl to one side.

Scootaloo pondered for a moment before she replied, “Um nothing much, besides that it's super awesome!” she said with a confident smile.

Dash nodded happily in agreement before speaking, “Well in that case we’re going to have to check what your wings are like.” she said, motioning for Scootaloo to spread her wings. The filly did so as the cyan mare got up and inspected the appendages. “Yeah well first you're gonna need a good preening, but that's not too bad.” Rainbow said as she lifted one of the small wings and checked them.

After a few tense moments Rainbow trotted back over to the seat with her usual smirk. “We’ll have to work on a few things, but I’m sure you’ll be able to fly!” she said confidently.

The little filly smiled excitedly, “Y-you mean I could really fly!” she said joyfully bouncing on her chair.

The cyan mare gave a nod. “Sure you can, anypony with wings can fly, but only some can become a Wonderbolt.” she said proudly looking at her own wings.

Scootaloo smiled dreamily as she thought about the day that she may become part of the amazing flying team, but the smile slowly faded. Dash was concerned by this and went over to the filly as she placed a hoof on her shoulder. “You okay squirt?” she asked the downcast filly.

Scootaloo looked up towards the blue mare. “Oh... it's nothing.” she said hesitantly as she shifted on her chair uncomfortably.

Dash wasn't going to leave it there, “Come on sis, what's bothering you?” she said, smiling when she said the word she knew meant most to the little filly.

Scootaloo smiled at the mares words and spoke, “Well… you remember how I told you in the letter about…. that home.” she said cautiously as she fumbled with her hooves.

Dash nodded, letting the small filly continue. “Well they always bullied me because I couldn't fly and rumors went around that it was the reason why I was dumped.” the filly said with a sad tone as she lowered her head.

Dash however did the opposite, taking a more determined posture as she lifted the little filly’s chin up. “Hey Scoot that's the past and besides, you don't have to worry about that anymore.” she said happily, ruffling the little filly’s mane.

Scootaloo smiled and hugged her sisters neck tightly as she spoke, “Thanks Dash, you're the best” she said returning to her usual fun and energetic attitude.

Dash smiled back as she held the tight embrace for a few more moments before speaking, “Right then, I think its time we go and get ready for some training!” she said in an excited tone. Scootaloo pumped a hoof in the air before dashing off towards the stairs to get ready.

Dash smiled as she watched the filly ascend the set of stairs. Scootaloo didn’t know but this morning had actually been really fun for her older sister and she felt a lot more enjoyment taking care of the filly than she previously thought. Dash put the bowls in the sink as her mind buzzed with excitement about her day and she dared say it was as good as meeting the Wonderbolts themselves. She turned around at the sound of hoofsteps on the cloud surface and saw the little filly descending the stairs once again, Dash smiled.

“You ready to go kiddo?” Rainbow asked making her way with the orange filly to the entrance of the house.

Scootaloo nodded happily. “Heck yeah I am! I can’t wait!” she said excitedly as she buzzed her little wings. Dash smiled and leaned down motioning for the little filly to hop onto her back.

Once the pair where ready to go Dash pushed her hoof on the cloud door and opened the cloud layer revealing the vast sky over Equestria and the small town below them. Dash turned back to the small filly on her back as she flared her wings fully as she said, “You ready Scoot?” The little filly nodded, and with that the cyan mare bolted from the home in a burst of Rainbow and cyan as the pair made their way to the small town for a very hectic day.