"… And that," The colorful pegasus concluded, "is why the Wonderbolts are the best flight team in Equestria! Any more questions, Scootaloo?" She sat down, drawing her wings in by her side and puffing out her chest with pride. The smaller winged filly only smiled, starry-eyed in the presence of her idol.
"Whoa~! You're amazing, Rainbow Dash!" Her wings withdrew with a humble smile. "I can't believe you know so much about the best Equestrian fliers!"
"Yeah, well…" Rainbow Dash chuckled. "When you grow up in Cloudsdale, you know a lot about a whole bunch of cool pegasi… So as I said, how about it?" She flapped her wings a little, swiftly rising to her feet. "Nothin' else you wanna ask?"
"Mm-mm." The satisfied filly shook her head a little, followed by another humble grin and shrugging of her shoulders. "It's getting late, and I said I'd meet the other Crusaders soon to see if we can study planets and… Star formations! We'll be - uh…" She looked away with a blush, embarrassed of her hesitation. "Um… A-Astronomers!" She looked up again and smiled, remembering the word quickly.
Rainbow chuckled again, and began hovering about one foot above the ground. "Haha, okay. Good luck with that." She rolled her eyes with a smile, thinking she should have known. "I gotta go anyway, Scootaloo! Next time, it's your turn to tell me about yourself." She yawned a little. "I'm gonna hit the hay. Gotta wake up early if I wanna catch that new Daring Do book when it hits the stores in the morning!"
As she rose higher into the sky, Scootaloo stared. Just then, Rainbow Dash flew upward and swiftly threw her head back, preforming a backwards loop and gliding through the sky in the direction of home. The orange filly gazed out at the rainbow mare while her colorful mane blew in the increasing wind as she ascended at a normal pace. As emotion swelled in her chest, the silence grew uncomfortable.
"Wait!! Rainbow Dash!!"
Rainbow Dash heard the faint yet recognizable voice and stopped, turning around and looking down at the now very small Scootaloo. She flew nearer.
"Yeah, what is it, Squirt?" She was smiling - but that very smile slowly faded when she was close enough to see the filly's expression. Scootaloo was standing, looking back at her own outstretched wings, with her head hung low and a face which expressed hopeless longing.
"… Actually… I do have something to ask you…"
Rainbow Dash suddenly dreaded the question. She laughed nervously, trying to put her fears aside. "U-uh, oh! Really? … What's up?" She saw a little bit of uncertainty on the young one's face, similar to the uncertainty on her own.
"… What's it like to fly?"
That was it. The question that Rainbow Dash wasn't sure she was ready for. But not because she didn't know the answer. In fact, the answer was obvious. Flying is the best! She thought. Who DOESN'T like the wind in their mane and the entire sky at the tips of their wings? … But that's not something she could tell Scootaloo. Sure, she could go on about what it's like and describe the joys of flying without having to ride on somepony's back, but what good would that do? She would be amazed for a moment, and quickly realize that it's something that she may never experience. Rainbow Dash made an empathetic expression. Her brow furrowed, and she looked at the filly, feeling sorry for her. Rainbow knew that if she found out she was unable to fly as a filly, she would have been crushed. Flying is the most wonderful joy she had ever experienced, and she loved every minute of it… So how could she possibly describe it without making it obvious that Scootaloo was missing out on what Rainbow Dash felt was one of the greatest joys in life as a pegasus?
"… Rainbow Dash…?" Scootaloo's voice brought her back into reality. "… What's wrong?"
"Oh- n-nothing!" She replied quickly. "I - uh… Why don't you just ask me tomorrow? We uh… We don't have time for anymore questions. Remember? Astronomy and all?" She laughed nervously.
"Oh-… Okay…" Scootaloo made a fake grin that disappeared a moment after, then looked at the ground. "Right… Astronomy…" She glanced up at Rainbow dash again, but upon hearing no reply, she turned around slowly and began walking. "See you later Rainbow Dash…"
Rainbow tapped her hooves together nervously, not wanting to leave the filly depressed. "W-… Wait-…"
Scootaloo turned around.
"Um…"
She looked up at her.
Finally, Rainbow Dash gave up with a deep sigh. "… Why don't you come back here when you're finished with your whole star gazing thing, and I'll answer you. I… Gotta think about this one."
"Oh, uh… Okay." She replied. She was a little confused, but feeling a bit better knowing that her question was going to be answered. From there, without even a 'see you later', Rainbow Dash flew up into the sky and fell back onto a cloud, staring up at the moon and stars. Scootaloo looked up, seeing the familiar rainbow tail hanging off the side of the cloud, and knew that's where she was waiting. She looked back at her own wings again, then put them back down by her side as she walked off.
Rainbow Dash continued to stare, doing a little star gazing of her own. How would she begin to describe to her what it's like to fly without making it sound awesome? She could always mention the downsides, like the occasional hitting a bug or having to preen more often than a flightless pegasus would, but she couldn't possibly mention those things without also noting that bugs aren't as common as some ponies think, and that preening after a perilous flight feels more relaxing than preening would normally. In her mind, she scrolled through all of the downsides she could think of… But all of them had upsides, too, or were too easily resolved. Ear-popping altitude is no problem if you swallow whenever you feel the pressure build. Getting too tired to continue flying will never be bad enough to take you out of the sky, because all pegasi know how to descend or conserve energy by gliding. The fear of falling without control is nonexistent when you know how to fly well, and nearly every full-grown pegasus can fly just as well as they can walk. Or for Rainbow Dash - better. Every single downside was either something you get over in the beginning, or too small to worry about. She was stuck…
But then she had an idea.
Rainbow Dash sat up, and stared out at the endless sky. What if she was honest? But what if she was so honest, that instead of making Scootaloo feel bad, she instead can help her imagine just what it's like to fly? She doesn't have to make flying sound boring or frightening. She can just offer to help Scootaloo know what it's like without even having to flap a wing. She'll tell her the most awesome, accurate, detailed, exciting story of what flying is like - that she'll be able to imagine it perfectly! But just a story won't help - she can hold her up in the night sky at the same time, and let her spread her wings! She can put her on a cloud, and let her feel the wind blowing past her feathers and through her mane, the smell of the summer night air warming her heart and making her feel on top of the world. And after all of the fun, she can sit down on a cloud high above Ponyville, and help her preen after an adventurous night in the sky… It was perfect! Rainbow Dash stood up and immediately dashed down through the cloud, feeling the soft cottony surface burst as it's mist cooled her face. Soft, cool - she remembered those words for her later story with Scootaloo. She put herself in a free-fall with her wings spread, pulling up just before hitting the ground and soaring a couple inches from the earth's surface. The tall grass swept across her underbelly for long outdrawn moments, and with one strong flap of her wings she pushed herself up, now a whole five feet above the ground, listing words and sentences to describe the feeling of flight. From there, she slowed, and let her hooves drop onto the grass with a finishing trot from the earlier speed.
She looked back, smiling at the field she had sped through when she was hit with such adrenaline. She looked into the sky, tracing the direction she had flown in with her eyes. She remembered the feeling, and how amazing it was. The cooling speck-sized droplets of mist shrouding her body when she bursted through that cloud, and the adrenaline-raising speed she acquired from her amazing trip back down to the earth as she practically danced with gravity itself on the way to where she stood. Yes, she remembered the feeling. The excitement of a free-fall, the beauty of the moonlight shining against every blade of grass while she glided along the earth, the satisfying crisp air running through her mane… But to tie it all up, I need words to describe the feeling itself, she thought. One word, to really describe the amazing feeling of flight! She rose into the air again, looking up at the stars.
Awesome…
Amazing…
Satisfying, heroic, spine-chilling -
Unspeakable, INDESCRIBABLE! …
… Indescribable…
Then, she realized.
Rainbow Dash lowered herself onto the ground again, looking toward the ground with sudden sadness. It's true. The feeling is so amazing, it's beyond words… No matter how hard she tried, Scootaloo would never really know how it felt unless she experienced it for herself, and no ride on somepony's back or standing at the edge of a cloud could ever truly make her understand.
All attempts failed, and right back where she started, Rainbow Dash flew back up into the sky, laying down on a cloud nearby the one she was on earlier. She looked down at the ground for seemingly hours, now imagining how not ever flying would feel. Being earth-bound, but still not being able to equal an earth pony due to lack of the same natural strength… And missing out on the most life-changing feeling she's ever experienced. The depression of all this must be… Indescribable, she thought. The same way Scootaloo would never know the feeling of flight without experiencing it, Rainbow Dash could also never know how upsetting it would be to be earth-bound all her life. With this thought in mind, she teared up with empathy.
"Rainbow Dash! Rainbow Dash, I'm back!" Scootaloo came back down the same path she had left by, seeming refreshed after hanging out with her friends.
Rainbow Dash looked down, "Oh, hi… Scoot…" She gave a false smile, flying down from the cloud and not even worrying about whether Scootaloo was able to hear her 'hello' from that height. She touched the ground and drew in her wings, her attention on the small pegasus once again.
"I'm actually kinda tired, but I knew you were waiting for me, so… I'm here!" She laughed a little, but after a moment, she remembered her earlier question and looked away a little. "… So… What's your answer…?" She asked with another worried, uncertain expression. "You're the best flyer in Equestria, so I know you'd know what it's like even better than the other pegasi…"
Rainbow Dash frowned, but quickly put on another faux grin before she spoke. "Well, Scoot, I-…" She paused, and looked at the the filly's wings… Then into her sad eyes. There was silence.
"… Yeah?"
"… Flying is…" She teared up again, this time feeling a tear roll down her cheek as she sorrowfully smiled.
"… Not all that great."
She could never tell her the truth.
Silence filled the air around them once again. Although Scootaloo knew that Rainbow Dash flew often, for a split second she believed her. Maybe Rainbow flew because she enjoyed speed, but flying by itself wasn't that exciting? Maybe she wasn't missing out on anything at all, and she could have a good time on the ground? Scootaloo smiled softly. Even though she wasn't sure, she secretly wanted to believe her. Rainbow Dash's answer filled Scootaloo's heart with a spark of hope that she hadn't ever expected…
And then she looked at her. She spotted the tear running down Rainbow's cheek. Her eyes followed it as it dropped onto the ground, disappearing into the grass… And suddenly, she knew the reason for her dull answer.
Scootaloo's hope disappeared once more.
Author's Note
Hey, thanks for reading!
I wrote this for Writer's Training Grounds #004 on Equestria Daily. Even though I'm not the biggest fan of the sister-like relationship between these two, I thought the prompt would go well with them. :) This was fun to write, so I hope you all enjoyed.
