Let Me Show You the World
Despair. That’s the only thing that a small orange pegasus filly could describe the feeling as while she watched the Wonderbolts flying at the Summer Sun Celebration. She knew this was supposed to be a happy time full of fun and joy, but when she looked back at her wings she felt only the cold reality of the situation. Tears rolled down the Scootaloo’s face while she shuffled her tiny wings. Scootaloo had been trying to learn to fly for what seemed like ages, but she could never get off the ground for more than a few seconds-without help or taking a jump off a rock or out of a small tree. Her family, if it could be called one with a father long gone and a mother more concerned with cider than raising a filly, didn’t offer any help, offering nothing more than indifference.
Scootaloo shook slightly, her body wracked with silent sobs while she sat alone, cursing her wings for not being able to carry her into the clouds. Cursing herself for not trying harder than she had, even though her attempts to stay aloft usually found her flailing wildly in a barely controlled fall from whatever place she had tried to leap from.
Looking up, she spotted a familiar rainbow colored mane in the crowd of ponies gathered in the center of town. Rainbow Dash. It was all Scootaloo could do to choke back a sob at the sight of the older mare. Dash had given Scootaloo flying advice on occasion in the past, but she’d never admitted that she still could not fly. In fact, the only thing her wings were useful for was propelling herself on her scooter. An exhilarating experience for sure, but nothing she thought would compare to being hundreds of feet in the air.
It’s not fair. All the other pegasi my age are going to flight camp and I’m stuck her with this dumb thing. Scootaloo glared at her scooter as if it were the sole thing responsible for her lack of being able to be airborne.
Off a ways towards the center of town, trumpets sounded brightly in a heraldic call and a squire of the Royal Canterlot Guard announced the arrival of Princess Celestia, who glided down onto an elevated platform. Her serene grace was matched by none, save for perhaps her sister, Princess Luna who had been present at the celebration the year prior after some rather frightening events involving the return of Nightmare Moon.
As Celestia landed, the trumpets ceased and the white alicorn began her oration, speaking of the significance of the event and praising the return of her sister, whom she had banished to the moon a millennia and a year prior in order to restore harmony to Equestria. Immediately following the end of her speech, the Princess beat her large wings, gracefully rising into the air, bringing the soft glow of the morning sun with her to signal the end of the Celebration. Of course it never ended there, as the ponies gathered in the small city continued to celebrate, offering their respects to the royal sisters and exchanging pleasantries with the same.
Scootaloo didn’t join in the festivities; she was too wrapped up in her own emotions to even want to be there. She’d been drawn by the promise of seeing Princess Celestia, whom she knew might be able to grant her the gift of flight, but was far too nervous to approach in her present state of despair. The window of opportunity was quickly closing and she knew it, but couldn’t muster up the courage to come forward, instead she hung her head low, tears flowing hard again and rolling off her face onto the ground beneath her.
The soft trod of hoof on grass alerted her to company and Scootaloo quickly looked up to see who was approaching, and was met with the sight of Princess Celestia. She stopped just a few feet away, concern in her eyes as she looked down upon the orange filly. Celestia stepped forward just a little bit and knelt in front of Scootaloo, her presence nearly overwhelming.
“What is wrong my little pony? There’s no place for tears today little one, today is a happy day. Will you tell me what ails you?” Celestia asked, genuine concern rooted deep in her voice.
Scootaloo could hardly talk through her sobbing. The fact that a pony had noticed her was embarrassing, but that pony being Princess Celestia was mortifying. She struggled and failed to form a coherent sentence, and it came out halfway between words and broken sobs.
“I-I just want to fly,” she sobbed, causing her voice to shake as hard as her body was. “It’s not fair! Every other pegasus my age is…why not me?” She asked, almost pleading for an answer She felt like she wouldn't like.
Celestia felt a pang of sorrow as the young pegasus’s plight reached her ears. There wasn’t any magic cure for teaching a filly to fly, and she knew it. She also knew that the news would crush Scootaloo if her words were poorly chosen. Thinking for just a moment, Celestia carefully chose her words to best convey to the purple-maned filly that she couldn't give her what she desired
“Oh, my little pony, I know it's hard to bear when things are difficult, and it saddens me as much as any other to see such a wonderful spirit grounded when she belongs soaring amongst the clouds. There is no magic cure for it, but I promise your heart’s desire will come in time and I know you’ll be an excellent flier, soaring through the skies and above the clouds.
She had been right, the news had crushed Scootaloo initially. When she continued speaking words of encouragement, her sobs became shorter and shorter before stopping altogether. Scootaloo sniffed and wiped her eyes dry before looking up at Celestia again.
“You really think so Princess?”
“I know so, little one. It’s not easy, but the harder the fight the sweeter the victory. You’ll be a great flier one day,” Celestia said softly, reinforcing her earlier encouragement. “I must go now, to attend to celebrations in other cities around Equestria, but do not despair, for you are young and full of potential.” Celestia stood up and nuzzled Scootaloo affectionately before walking off and mounting her carriage with Princess Luna, after which the team of pegasus guards galloped forward and pulled the chariot skyward, taking Scootaloo’s spirits with them.
It wasn’t a complete turnaround, but Scootaloo was certainly feeling much better now and had gotten up to join the celebration, even smiling a bit as the Wonderbolts closed their performance and landed to bask in the adulation of hundreds of ponies. Scootaloo was drawn to them almost magnetically, as if just being near them would somehow allow her to fly, even though Princess Celestia had said there wasn’t a magic cure for such a task.
She pushed her way through the crowd, a somewhat easy task for somepony of her stature, until she was as near to the front as she was going to get, watching the ‘bolts signing autographs and taking pictures with the ponies who were busily staring in awe and babbling about the performance and how magnificent the ceremony was. The crowd grew rapidly more animated, forcing Scootaloo to retreat from the immediate area for fear of being stepped on.
Scootaloo left the crowd and took a walk to ponder what Princess Celestia had said, thinking about how hard she had worked to fly and still had not succeeded, but quickly banished the thoughts and decided to redouble her efforts. A fire in her eye that hadn't been there in ages was kidled and Scootaloo was back in a winner’s mindset, hellbent on flying, looking and thinking of new ways to get herself airborne, even if it meant jumping off of the Town Hall.
Maybe that’s it…maybe I just haven’t found a place tall enough yet…that rock was no good…neither was the tree…maybe I’ll try the Crusader Clubhouse…
Plans came together and fell apart in her mind as she scrapped them for being too dangerous, even for her. Eventually she settled on the Crusader Clubhouse being the perfect place to try, once again, to take to the sky.
Upon arriving at the clubhouse, Scootaloo carried her scooter up the ramp and left it inside the building while she returned to the balcony outside. Her heart was pounding as she took a position at the top of the railing. Time seemed to slow as she jumped and spread her wings as wide as she possibly could, but alas, as it wasn’t enough to sustain her for more than a mere couple seconds of gliding hang time before she tumbled to the ground. The fall seemed to take ages, thoughts flashing through her head like bolts of lightning until she struck the ground. With the impact, her fragile resolve broke like a dam and she started to cry again, slipping back into the same despair she had embraced before the start of the Summer Sun Celebration.
Scootaloo sobbed, wondering how the day could be worse, having tried and failed, being told she would succeed, and then failing again. Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of stamping hooves not too far away. She didn’t look at who it was, but rather kept her face buried in her hooves as if it would make her invisible like she so badly wanted to be. The impact of hooves on dirt grew closer with every crunch of gravel until Scootaloo’s curiosity got the best of her and she dared a peek out.
Her heart sank, and she’d never felt so weak and ashamed before in her life. Standing in front of her was Rainbow Dash, watching her reduced to tears. Scootaloo didn’t want to just disappear anymore, but would have rather crawled under the nearest large rock and stayed there for eternity. Before she could finish picturing herself underneath a boulder, she felt a warm tickling sensation as Dash sat down beside her and wrapped her in a wing. There was no way she could stop the tears now.
The two pegasi sat there for a few minutes until Scootaloo had calmed down and rested her head against Rainbow Dash’s side. She was silent, not really sure what to say now that she knew her ultra-tough facade had been broken. So she sat there quietly, still mortified that it had to be Rainbow Dash of all ponies, on top of Princess Celestia, that just happened across her at that particular time.
“That must hurt…” Dash said, finally breaking the silence.
Scootaloo nodded, reaching up with a hoof to dry her tears, but otherwise remained silent save for slightly ragged breathing that accompanied such a fit. She didn’t know what Dash was thinking, and it scared her almost more than anything else in the world.
After a time, Scootaloo felt Dash remove her wing from around her and stand up, but didn’t walk away. Instead Scootaloo gasped with surprise as she was lifted onto Rainbow Dash’s back. The light blue pegasus turned her head to look back at the orange filly residing there, cracking a grin with a determined look in her eye.
“Hey Scoots, hang on tight.”
Without waiting for a response, Rainbow broke into a quick trot; Scootaloo wrapping her hooves around her neck so she wouldn’t fall off. Dash spread her wings and leaped skyward; climbing higher and higher until Scootaloo looked down and around, seeing the world from a new set of eyes. Even if it wasn’t her wings that carried her to the heavens, she was elated, filled with such joy that she almost started crying again. They flew around from late morning until well after Luna had raised the moon, gracing the sky with its ivory glow and the fire of countless stars, and the warm summer night wind rushing through their manes. Scootaloo was at peace. She had seen the earth and skies, and now she was more determined than ever before, even more than when Celestia had come to her, to soar up on her own wings.
10 Years Later…
Scootaloo wandered through town on her usual mid-afternoon walk, heading out towards Sweet Apple Acres to visit Applebloom. It had been an uneventful day, clouds just barely moving in the faintest of winds. The dirt road out to the farm was lined with trees in each direction, and the beauty of the flora was as calming as it was pleasing to the eye. Or it would have been, if one of the trees hadn’t been shaking like a leaf in a wind storm. Scootaloo’s curiosity was piqued, so she stopped to take a closer look. As she stared, a lavender-coated blue-maned filly fell clumsily from the oak to impact the ground.
Scootaloo recognized her as Following Wind, one of the newest generation of Crusaders. They try so hard...if only they knew. This was hardly the first time Scootaloo had caught her trying something stupid to fly, and Following Wind had plenty of scrapes on her forelegs to prove it, much like Scootaloo did years ago. As Scootaloo drew closer, Following Wind hung her head and tried to choke back her sobs. That brave attempt failed as Scootaloo knelt down, and draped one wing over the filly, who buried her face in Scootaloo’s side. Together they waited on the side of the road, until Following Wind had calmed down enough to look up, uncertainty in her gaze. Heh, here goes.
“Hey kid, let me show you the world…”
Author's Note
A note from the desk of Vermilion,
Greetings readers, and thank you for all your positive feedback! I had a tremendous time writing this story, and it happens to be one of my favorite works so far, out of those I've worked/am working on. (Only two of mine have been published so far, but I've several more hidden in the depths of my laptop...). I hadn't originally planned on writing a sequel chapter, but after seeing how much people seem to like it, I'm seriously considering it.
As always, take care and stay safe during the holiday season, and all the rest of the year.
Semper Filly!
-Vermilion 'Vermy' C. DeLuna
