If you walked up to a group of pegasus ponies and asked them what it’s like to fly, the only thing their answers would have in common is that it's as natural to them as walking is to a earth pony or unicorn. However, what makes flying special to them depends entirely on the individual. For Spitfire, it's all about the thrill of seeing the expressions of the earth ponies and unicorns as she and her team of Wonderbolts perform stunts that can't be done on the ground. Of course, alicorns are part pegasus, and for Princess Celestia, flying is a way to view her kingdom and its magnificence while feeling the rush of air through her wings.
If you were to ask Rainbow Dash what it's like for her to fly, her answer would be that it's amazing to feel the rush of air around you as you travel so fast you can break the sound barrier and shatter the visible light spectrum in the process. It's her way of saying she's doing her 'Sonic Rainboom' while trying not to brag about being able to do it. But for Scootaloo, a pegasus who lives and spends most of her time on the ground, it means something else entirely.
Scootaloo is a pegasus that no matter how much she has tried and practiced, still can’t get herself off the ground. The knowledge that she can’t soar through the clouds like the rest of her tribe can has caused her to become depressed repeatedly over the years. Although her friends have tried to help her through her depression, this was one time they simply couldn't bring her out of it.
"Hey squirt," Rainbow Dash called out, looking down at Scootaloo from the cloud she was perched on, "How're ya doin'?"
"Hi Dash," Scootaloo replied unenthusiastically, "What brings you here?"
"I ran into Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom, and they told me my number one fan is depressed. But that can't possibly be true, can it?"
"Of course I'm depressed! I'm the only pegasus who can't fly. Look at Pound Cake! He's not even three months old now and he's flying around so much Mrs. Cake had to put a leash on him just to keep him from flying away!"
"I know that not flying is bothering you, but you're being too hard on yourself. Just keep practicing with me and you'll get flying in no time."
"We've been practicing after school for months now. And the only times I can fly are either when you take me and carry me, or when I find a high point like a roof and jump. The one thing that both of those scenarios have in common is I still can't fly. Even when I jump I either glide or crash to the ground, but I still can't maintain altitude."
"You've gotten better at flying than you give yourself credit for. Just the other day you were hovering off the ground."
"I had to beat my wings so fast I pulled a muscle in my left one. And for what? Three or four seconds of hovering an inch or two off the ground? I might as well face it, I'm a pegasus who won't ever fly."
"Don't say that, Scootaloo. I'm not going to give up on you, and you can't give up on yourself. I know how important flying is to you."
"No, you don't! Flying is everything to me! A pegasus who can't fly is useless. What if there's a storm? I can't do anything except run and hide and hope the other pegasus ponies can control it. What if I'm out in the woods and get lost? I won't be able to fly around to find out which way is home, but worst of all I won't ever be able to be like you. Please, just leave me alone. It's hopeless, and the sooner you realize that, the sooner you can stop wasting your time with a loser like me."
Without giving time for Rainbow Dash to reply, Scootaloo took off running. She darted around a corner and just as quickly as she had appeared she was gone. For a few brief seconds Rainbow had considered following her, but she dismissed the idea. Scootaloo was upset, and following her might make her even more upset than she was already. Rainbow Dash stared at the ground, trying to figure out a way to help her, when she remembered their camping trip. Rainbow smiled as she took to the air and headed toward the Library. As a frequent visitor and friend to both Twilight Sparkle and Spike, she didn't bother knocking on the door before she headed inside.
"Hi Rainbow," Spike greeted, glancing over his shoulder, "Twilight's not here. She's off in the Crystal Empire on 'Princess Business', as she put it."
"What's she really doing there?"
"Using 'Princess Business' as an excuse to see her brother and sister-in-law. So what brings you here?"
"Actually I was kind of hoping to find you. I need you to do me a favor."
"Anything for you, Rainbow."
"I need you to send a letter to Princess Luna for me. I'll write it, but I could really use her help."
"I can send it to Princess Celestia and ask her to deliver it to her sister but I've never sent a letter directly to Princess Luna."
"That will work," Rainbow replied, taking a quill and parchment and she wrote a short letter. Within a few minutes Spike had the letter on its way.
************************** The following night **************************
Scootaloo was walking through the apple orchard in Sweet Apple Acres. She loved the farm and the Apple Family, but mostly she loved walking amongst the trees during the night because of the solitude. Nopony would be walking through the orchard in the middle of the night, least of all Rainbow Dash. Even if her idol wasn't upset with her for her screaming at her, she still didn't want to run into her. Just the thought of her outburst at her idol, a pony who had spent so much time trying to help her, made her want to cry. When she stopped to sit on a log, Princess Luna walked down the path and straight toward her.
"Hello Scootaloo."
"Pr...Princess Luna?" Scootaloo stammered, surprised by the sight of the Princess, "What are you doing here?"
"Yesterday I received a letter from Rainbow Dash. A very urgent one, asking me to come speak with you. Though Rainbow Dash didn't say what I should be speaking with you about. She only said that you were on the edge of giving up on yourself, and she thought I might be able to help."
"Rainbow Dash asked you to come here?"
"Do not be angry with her, she has your best interests at heart."
"I'm not angry. I'm just grateful she still cares after the way I treated her yesterday."
"May I ask what your outburst was about?"
"Rainbow Dash isn't with you, is she?"
"No. Before I came here looking for you, I asked her to go to Cloudsdale, and remain there until I came for her. That way you and I can talk without interruption."
"I can't fly, Princess. I've put my heart and soul into trying to learn. I've read every book in Princess Twilight's library on flying, asked my classmates about it, pegasi on the street how they do it, but still I can't. Rainbow Dash's been so patient with me. She's been trying to help me fly for months now, but still the best I can do is hover a few inches off the ground at best for a few seconds."
"You must not give up, Scootaloo. Those things in life that are the most rewarding take the most effort to achieve."
"I've it given everything that I've got, Princess. What more can I do?"
"Scootaloo, when I received Rainbow Dash's letter, I did some research about you. You and your family moved here from Cloudsdale, is this correct?"
"Yes. My parents realized that I was having difficulty flying and thought it would be easier for me to attend school where other ponies didn't fly, so I wouldn't take so much bullying."
"I spoke with your parents earlier today."
"You...spoke with them?" Scootaloo asked, suddenly very nervous, "What exactly did they say?"
"Mostly stuff I already knew, but they said that you were once a normal pegasus filly. They said that you used to fly everywhere when you were born, but one day you started walking places. You started walking to places that you used to fly to, and even asked your parents to carry you to the places that you needed to fly to get to. They said that they asked you repeatedly to talk with them, but you refused."
"I don't want to talk about this. Please."
"Scootaloo, please listen. I can see it on your face right now. I can hear it in your voice. I can tell something is bothering you about this conversation. Your parents could tell too. That is why they asked you all those times to talk about it, whatever it is with them. What happened, Scootaloo? What happened the day you choose to walk instead of fly?"
"I...I can't..." Tears started streaming down her face.
"I cannot and will not force you to choose, Scootaloo. Any more than your parents will. The decision to face whatever is bothering you must be yours, but if you do not face it, it will never change."
"Please don't... I can't do this alone."
Princess Luna sat down on the log beside Scootaloo and hugged the little pegasus filly.
"I am here with you. I will not leave your side."
"It's all my fault, Princess," Scootaloo said, burying her face into Princess Luna's wing, her tears flowing uncontrollably, "I caused them to get hurt."
"Them? Whom are you talking about?"
"My friends. We were playing tag. Flying around chasing each other. I flew too close to the edge of the city. My parents had warned me never to fly that close to the edge of the city until I was older, but I did anyway. My friends saw me about to fall and they raced to my side and grabbed me, but the wind picked up and two of them got sucked up into the current. They were pulled down out of the city and thrown toward the ground. The weather pony called it a microburst."
"I have heard that term before."
"When they were found thirty minutes later they were alive but had broken wings from where they plowed into the ground. All because they saved me from falling."
Princess Luna hugged Scootaloo tighter as she replied, "I know it seems like it was your fault because you were playing too close to the edge of the city, but it was not your fault. Microbursts are dangerous things regardless of where you are. This was nothing more than an accident, Scootaloo. You must not blame yourself," Princess Luna said.
"If I wasn't so close to the edge, those pegasi wouldn't have gotten hurt. They wouldn't have had to be held back a year because of me."
"Scootaloo, accidents are nopony's fault. When I was your age, my sister and I were playing a game we had invented where one of us would use invisibility and the other would try and find them without using magic. When it was my turn to be invisible my sister got hurt because she had wandered into a thicket, thinking I would hide there. She never noticed the bees that had made a rather large nest there. By the time I had gotten to her she had over two hundred stings on her body, and the bees were still attacking her. I drove them away and rushed her home, where Mom and Dad were able to save her and heal her wounds. But she doesn't blame me, nor do I blame myself. It was an accident. It could have happened any number of ways."
"I just wish those other fillies hadn't been hurt because of me. Nor had they been held back because of me." Scootaloo was feeling somewhat better for having gotten this all off of her chest.
"Scootaloo, please listen to me. I know you blame yourself for their injuries, but you cannot change the past. What's done is done and you cannot allow yourself to continue punishing yourself for what happened. You have to let go and move on or it will consume you inside. Take it from somepony who knows better than most what can happen when a pony allows negativity to consumer her."
"But I'm a bad pony. I don't deserve to fly."
"You are not a bad pony. You didn't intentionally harm your friends. Have you ever considered that your friends may not blame you for what happened?"
"I…I uh… Well, no. No I haven't"
"Have you even seen them since that day?"
Scootaloo turned away from the princess and didn't say a word. Luna understood the shame the filly was feeling – first for feeling she had injured her friends and now upon realizing she had abandoned them.
"I would be happy to check on them for you."
"You would do that for me? But…you must have more important things to do with your time."
"None so urgent that they would take priority over checking upon the well-being of my subjects. However, it is lonely flying to Cloudsdale from here. I would very much like some company."
"I can't fly, Princess. I don't know how."
"Yes you do, Scootaloo. The knowledge has always been a part of you since the day you were born. It's an intrinsic part of being a pegasus and it's time for you to choose to use it again."
"I'll try," Scootaloo said as Princess Luna released her from the hug. Scootaloo stood in front of Princess Luna and stretched her wings out.
"Look at me, Scootaloo," Princess Luna commanded, "Look into my eyes. Listen to my voice."
When Scootaloo had complied with the Princess of the Night she was standing perfectly still with both of her wings extended.
"Now flap your wings simultaneously, but slowly." Scootaloo flapped her wings in perfect unison again and again, and inch by inch she hovered off the ground, barely making any effort.
"Now look down."
"I'm...flying?" Scootaloo said, struggling to contain her excitement, "I'm flying!"
