Scootaloo fidgeted in her seat, vaguely aware of the steady stream of not-important things pouring from Cheerilee's mouth, and glanced at the clock. They still had five minutes left — far too much time for her tastes. Why couldn't time hurry up and move faster?
Applebloom nudged her. "Are you even listenin' to me?"
She blinked. "Huh?"
"Ah said, do you think we should try blueberry-bucking, water-skiing, or backyard pinball machine repair today?"
Her eyes nearly popped out of her head. "I can't!"
Applebloom stared at her. "What?"
She bit her lip, and glanced out the window. "I mean, I can't. Rainbow Dash promised me she was gonna show me something really super important later today."
"What could be more important than gettin' our cutie marks?"
She clenched her jaw, and thought about it. "Like, I don't know. But she said it's important, so it must be."
Cheerilee coughed. "Girls, are you listening to me?"
Applebloom leaned out of her seat, attempting to inspect the bottom of her table. "Yeah."
Scootaloo glanced out the window. "N — yes."
She rolled her eyes. "That's what I thought. Now, please, concentrate."
The rest of what came out of her mouth, Scootaloo didn't understand much of. To her, it mostly sounded something like, 'blah, blah blah blah, blah blah blah blah blah.' Eventually, Cheerilee finished whatever she saying, and the bell rang.
As soon as she got outside, Scootaloo made a beeline for her scooter and took off. Rainbow had given her directions. She was supposed to meet her at some spring or something in the Whitetail Woods.
Applebloom and Sweetie Belle approached the abandoned cart, and Applebloom scratched her chin. "Huh. Wonder if we could get our cutie marks in wagon-drivin'."
Scootaloo's scooter bucked and jumped every so often as she raced down the beaten trail through the forest, though she somehow managed to keep it under control. If Rainbow's directions were right, she just had to turn right at the funny-shaped tree, cross the Rickety Wooden Slat Bridge of Infinite Despair and Bruises, and… well, she couldn't remember the third part, but it had to be something obvious. She'd be like right on top of the spring at that point.
She passed a gnarled tree that looked kind of like Rarity spying on her neighbors and hung a right. She had to be getting close now. Maybe Rainbow would even teach her some of the stuff she learned at the Wonderbolt academy; that seemed pretty important. A spring in a forest would be a really weird place to teach that, but maybe it had some magic thing to it, or something.
A few minutes later, she came to a rickety wooden bridge and stopped. She glanced from the wheel to the slats, and after a moment, decided it probably wouldn't make it across. She groaned, stepped onto the first slat and glanced back at the scooter. "I'll be back."
She held her breath, and took another step. The bridge rocked, but it didn't fall apart like it would have in Daring Do, so that was good. She took a third step, and the bridge quaked, but held together. She let out her breath and began to walk across the bridge.
About halfway across, she heard a loud snap.
Her footing buckled on one side, and she clenched her teeth. It was about then that she realized the rope on either side was too far apart to hold her if she slipped. She jumped forward a few feet, and scrabbled at the next plank. She caught a hoof on it and held on for dear life.
The plank swayed in her grip, threatening to toss her off into the pit below. She reached for the next one, and gasped as her hoof slipped. She shoved her hoof into the next hole and threw herself onto the next slat.
She planted a rear hoof in the last slat, and heaved herself up onto the dirt on the other side. She reeled for breath for a few moments, and grinned. It was like one of Rainbow Dash's adventures. It was something worthy of Daring herself. She took a deep breath. "That… was… ."
She glanced over the edge of the pit, and noticed it was about six inches deep. She scowled at the pitiful thing. "Wait. Seriously?"
Okay, so the bridge thing was really lame, but she still had to find Rainbow. She turned and set off down the path again. Maybe the next thing would be better. It couldn't be worse, right? She shook her head. No, it had to be better. After all, it was part of Rainbow Dash's directions. She wouldn't make her go through two really lame obstacles to find her. Must've been a mistake.
Nine minutes later, the path dropped off, and Scootaloo glanced around the trees, hoping for something to point her in the right direction. She hesitated. If she'd listened hard enough and remembered what Rainbow said, maybe she wouldn't have had a problem.
Something rustled in the bushes, and she jumped. A high-pitched voice said, "Hey! Psst. Scootaloo!"
She turned to the voice and took a few steps toward it. The bush rustled again. "I know how you can find Rainbow Dash."
"What? How? You're just a bush." She blinked, and took a step back. "How did you know I'm looking for Rainbow Dash?"
A pair of blue eyes rolled from inside the bush. "Well, duh, you just said it like five paragraphs ago." Scootaloo gave the bush an odd look, but it didn't seem to bother it. "Anyway, I know how you can find her!"
"How?"
The bush cleared its throat. "Well, there's two ways. Fiiirst, you have to cross the river full of piranhas, rescue the artifact from the temple, defeat the villainously villainy villain guy, rescue the dumb farmcolt from certain doom, then circle back around, knock on Death's door and ask for sugar." It blinked. "Oh, and make sure it's a Tuesday, or else he won't answer. He's on vacation on Tuesdays."
Scootaloo opened her mouth to ask what next, but the bush cut her off. "And theeen, you take the sugar to the river full of piranhas, and make cupcakes with it over an open fire, feed them to the super-vicious alligator in the river, and then he'll tell you how to find the spring!"
"And what's the other way?"
The bush paused. "Or, you could answer my riddles three."
Scootaloo leaned on her side and squinted past the bush. She could hear running water out somewhere inthe trees. "Hey, isn't that the spring back there?"
"Yeeeah."
"How come I can't just walk there?"
The bush hesitated. "Because… it's just not as fun?"
Something clicked in Scootaloo's brain. "Pinkie?"
"Darnit! Foiled again!" She ripped the bush from the ground and carried it off around her, pink legs sticking out of the foliage. "I guess we'll have to find another place to sit, Mr. Leafy."
Scootaloo blinked and shook herself. Okay, so the directions got a little weird. But it would all be worth it once she got to Rainbow. It had to be. She said it was like the most important thing she'd ever learn. She smiled, and trotted off through the underbrush.
"Halt."
She skidded to a stop at the edge of the clearing. Rainbow stood in front of the spring, staring into the water, a pair of saddlebags on her hips. She gestured, and Scootaloo crept over to stand beside her.
"Do you know why I called you here?"
Scootaloo grinned. "You're going to teach me the most important thing you ever learned!"
Rainbow nodded solemnly. "Yeah, and the spring looks pretty cool, too."
They were silent for a moment. After a few minutes, Scootaloo nudged her. "So? Are you gonna show me?"
She blinked and started. "Oh, oh, yeah. Right." She resumed her solemn face. "Scootaloo, I'm going to teach you the most important skill I ever learned in my whole life."
Scootaloo bounced up and down, almost knocking Rainbow over. "What is it?"
She stared off into the waters. "There is no skill you'll ever learn that's more important than this. Wherever you go, it will always be with you, a part of you. I have to warn you, Scoots: once you learn, you can't unlearn." She cleared her throat. "Are you ready to learn?"
"Yes!"
"I said, are you ready to learn?"
"Yes!"
She grinned. "I said —"
"Yes, yes, just teach me already!"
Rainbow nodded, and ambled over to a rough wooden table about a foot high. She pulled a box out of her saddlebag, and slapped it down on the surface with a loud rattle of small parts knocking around. She gestured for Scootaloo to take her place on the other side of the table, staring down at the box.
She opened the box, then withdrew a two-sided board and a tiny figurine of a weather pony. "Scootaloo, I'm going to teach you how to play Cloudspace."
A faint sound of vegetation under tiny wheels floated into the clearing. Scootaloo gaped at the box, speechless, and Rainbow gave another solemn nod. "I know. It's a lot to take in the first time. I know you'll get it."
A moment passed, and Scootaloo continued to stare at the box. Rainbow nudged her across the table. "You okay, kid?"
Five seconds later, a small red wagon ripped through the underbrush and smashed through the table, sending pieces flying. Applebloom and Sweetie Belle screamed, and the cart hit a bump and bounced off into the spring, sending a shower of water over all of them.
Scootaloo continued to stare at the space where the table had been.
Applebloom climbed out of the wreckage and ambled over to them, staring at her friend. "Ah think you broke Scootaloo."