“Today's the day. I can just feel it. We're going to get our FLYING cutie marks!” Scootaloo adjusted her goggles from atop her seat and glanced back to check on the others. They'd brought their creation, the helo-cycle, to the top of the hill overlooking Ponyville. This street was usually deserted due to the fact that many ponies who had taken this route had their vehicles roll out of control. The Crusaders were counting on this to get them up to takeoff speed. The emptiness was a plus.
All of them were dressed up for danger with helmets on and padding around their joints. They strapped themselves into their seats. Their vehicle had once been a three-seater bicycle, but it was now modified into a flying machine. That was the idea anyway.
“Are you sure this is such a good idea?” Sweetie Belle looked up at the large, dangerous helicopter blades above her head. “This doesn't look safe.”
“Yeah, I kind of agree with Sweetie Belle on this one,” Apple Bloom said. She looked behind her at the tail rotor. The spinning blades would only be a few feet from her tail. “Sure, we made it look like that one Pinkie Pie built but I'm not sure I trust it.”
“Oh come on, you two.” Scootaloo thumped on the handlebars. “We already put a lot of time into this. You can't back out now.”
“Well...” Sweetie Belle cast her eyes aside and looked at the ground.
“Maybe we should make a model first?” Apple Bloom suggested.
Scootaloo's eye twitched. “What are you? Chicken?” she asked.
“Hey, you can't call us chicken; you're the chicken,” Apple Bloom said.
“No way, I'm not a chicken. You're the ones who want to chicken out. Chickens.”
“But this hasn't been tested.” Sweetie Belle pointed up at the sharp looking blades.
“What do you think we're doing now or are you too chicken, chicken?” Scootaloo asked.
“Hey!” Sweetie Belle yelled.
“Chicken. Chicken. Chicken. Chicken–” Scootaloo repeated.
“Ugh, fine. I'll do it.” Apple Bloom said. She re-tightened the seatbelt she'd been unbuckling. “Let's get this over with.”
“Sweetie Belle?” Scootaloo asked.
“Oh, alright,”she said. She followed Apple Bloom's lead and strapped herself back in again.
“Uh, Sweetie Belle?” Scootaloo pointed at the block under the front wheel.
“Uh, right.” Sweetie Belle looked down at the obstructing object and past that at the hill below. While Sweetie Belle was no stranger to rolling downhill, she could always take comfort in the fact that she'd never planned on leaving it before. This though, if it worked, would send them flying. What was flying truly like? Did she really want to know? She felt butterflies in her stomach. Her apprehension got the better of her.
“Uh, Sweetie Belle?” Scootaloo repeated.
“Sorry, I can't use magic while nervous,” she said.
“Or at all,” Apple Bloom mumbled.
“I heard that!”
“Hold on. I got this.” Scootaloo wiggled the handlebars and pushed on her pedals. After working at it for a bit she dislodged the block and they started rolling downhill towards town. Apple Bloom kicked up the kickstand and started pedaling. Sweetie Belle held on for the ride.
It began just like any other bike ride: wobbly. Even pedaling downhill they had trouble building momentum. A normal bike would pick up speed and roll down the hill in a flash but normal bikes do not have eight foot long helicopter blades hooked into the gear system.
Their contraption lurched forward as the spinning blades picked up speed. Amidst the bumpiness of the road a growing wind of air could be felt as the blades fanned down on the ponies underneath.
“I-I h-hope this works.” Scootaloo pumped the pedals as hard as she could. The bumps on the road jarred her speech, but after each bump it felt like they had more hang time than the previous. They were getting close to takeoff speed, but they were running out of hill too. If this didn't work, they'd be forced to ride through the busy streets of Ponyville. Braking this contraption would not be easy or quick. Actually, the spinning blades might not even fit between the buildings. In that case, breaking would be sudden... and painful.
“Pedal harder!” Scootaloo yelled. There was a good three seconds hang time on that last bump. Just a little faster and they'd be airborne. “Come on! We almost got this!”
Apple Bloom did her best to push harder. Sweetie Belle tried to help, but couldn't spin her pedals fast enough to add anything. She gave up and focused on holding on for dear life instead. She could see past Scootaloo and winced with anticipation at an inevitable collision.
It didn't happen.
A pony in front of them screamed but cut off abruptly. It sounded like it came from below.
“We did it! We're flying! We're really flying!” Scootaloo yelled. The machine was in the air and slowly gaining altitude. It approached Ponyville at about rooftop level. Ponies down below looked up at them.
“Whoa.” Apple Bloom leaned over to get a good look. The wind from the main rotor blew down on them and ruffled her mane. The sensation of flight was kind of like jumping—the air rushed past in a smooth flowing motion but the ground didn't return to greet them. “We really are flying.”
“No,” corrected Sweetie Belle, “we're falling.” In their excitement, they'd forgotten to keep pedaling. They were losing altitude and already dangerously close to the rooftops. Even this close to the ground a crash landing could potentially break bones. Sweetie Belle started screaming.
“Keep pedaling! Keep pedaling!” Scootaloo yelled. Their descent halted, but it was a slow process. Ponies below evacuated from the area under their shadow. The Crusaders hung down halfway in streets now. The wind from their blades kicked up dust and caused grass and flowers to fan out away from them. They lucked out having come down at the start of the town square, but they were on a collision course with Sugarcube Corner.
“Pedal! Pedal! Pedal!” Scootaloo pumped her legs and her muscles rippled beneath her fur. She also buzzed her tiny wings for all the good that did. Apple Bloom panted but didn't falter. Sweetie Belle might not be pedaling, but her screaming was good motivation.
They rose again, and almost cleared the roof. A loud 'tang' rained through the air along with shattered pieces of stone shingles. The rotor blades left a gouge from the impact. Their device escaped intact, but it wasn't unharmed. The once smooth whirr of the helicopter blades now rattled a bit and a subtle vibration could be felt through the frame.
“Whoo, we did it! Did you see that? That was awesome!” Scootaloo twisted around to grin at the other two.
Sweetie Belle turned a bit green and moaned as she watched the ground recede below them. “Why did I agree to this?” she whimpered.
Apple Bloom also looked down with awe. “Whoa, they all look so small.”
“I told you guys that flying was amazing,” Scootaloo said. “Now you know what it's like.”
“If this is flying then I'm glad I was born a unicorn.” Sweetie Belle shivered and wrapped her forelegs tightly around Scootaloo's waist. “We're too high, and I'm cold, and I don't really like this.” The constant flow of air blowing down on her masked her shivering as it rustled through her fur.
“Uh, maybe Sweetie Belle's right. We should probably land to get that rattle checked out, anyway. That doesn't sound too good,” Apple Bloom said.
“What?! We've only just started and you want to quit already?! Are you chicken?” Scootaloo teased.
“We are NOT chicken!” Apple Bloom retorted.
“Then prove it and pedal faster.” Scootaloo focused on her pedaling again.
Apple Bloom did the same, but muttered to Sweetie Belle, “You could help too, you know.”
Sweetie Belle, for her part, did try. She spun her pedals, but remained just as useless as before. It was enough to fool Apple Bloom, at least. Their combined efforts increased the speed of the whirling, faintly rattling, blades and increased the downdraft. Sweetie Belle's teeth chattered. She should have packed a sweater.
“Oh my goodness, don't you three just look so adorable.”
Their escapade had attracted some attention. “Oh, hi there, Blossomforth,” Scootaloo said.
This white freckled pegasus mare with green and pink striped hair kept pace with them several wing-lengths away. Her feathered wingbeats looked so effortless compared to the exertion that the Crusaders put in to keep their helo-cycle in the air. Blossomforth's curiosity got the better of her and she seemed oblivious to the dangerous whirling blades as she crept closer to them.
“That's such a neat device, how does it—”
“Wait, stay back!” Apple Bloom warned, but she was too late.
“—aaaah!” Blossomforth got caught in their downdraft and the sudden wind shear knocked her out of the air. She didn't stay falling for long and flew back up (at a safe distance). She placed her forelegs on her sides with her elbows out and furrowed her brow and frowned at them.
“Sorry. It's basically a giant fan that stays in the air by blowing downwards,” Apple Bloom explained. “It's best to stay away from it.”
Blossomforth's expression melted and she smiled. “Well I can't stay mad at you. You're just too cute! I've got to get my camera. Try not to go too far, okay?”
She twisted around and broke into a dive. Her motions looked fluid and natural. It was a far cry from the slow awkwardness of the flying machine. The machine did its job, but it still left much to be desired. It was still better than not flying, though. If that was, indeed, what they were still doing.
The conversation had distracted the fillies and they'd neglected their pedaling again. The blades were slowing down and a sinking feeling was rising in their stomachs. Sweetie Belle looked a bit greenish.
“Pedal faster, Apple Bloom. I think we're falling,” Scootaloo said.
“Me? But Sweetie Belle's not even doing anything!”
That wasn't entirely true. She was turning greener. “I-I—urp.”
“What!? No, you can't be sick—you're right behind—Aaugh! Oh, yuck.” If they ever wanted to compare something to lunch rolling off a pegasus' back, now they could. It wasn't nearly as clean as water off a duck's back. Their only consolation was that the fanning winds blew the odor away so they didn't have to smell it.
“Sorry,” Sweetie Belle moaned. “I feel sick.”
Despite the, uh, seasoning, Scootaloo kept pedaling. Apple Bloom's heart wasn't in it anymore, though.
“Maybe we should land now,” Apple Bloom said. “Sweetie Belle's sick.”
They drifted in the air away from Ponyville. The houses were just spots below and the large rows of trees in Sweet Apple Acres made square patterns on the ground. It was difficult to tell if they were going up or down but since the sinking feeling subsided they weren't moving fast either way. The clouds above them looked deceptively close.
“No way! We should check out the clouds first.” Scootaloo went back to pedaling vigorously.
“Oh come on! Aren't we high enough!?” Sweetie Belle found her voice and used it to complain. “YOU can always catch a ride with another pegasus and visit the clouds whenever you want. WE just want to get down!”
“But it's different when we're the ones flying. I want to be able to say that I flew to the clouds on my own. Please, guys? It would mean a lot to me.”
Sweetie Belle groaned.
“Ah dunno.” Apple Bloom looked up and focused on the blur of the whirling blades instead of the clouds. “I'm not sure but I think the rattle's getting worse.”
“Not it's not. It's probably nothing anyway.” Scootaloo snorted but that sound couldn't be heard over the whirring of their contraption. Her sneer was enough to convey her message, anyway. “It sounds to me like you're just scared.”
“I am not scared!” Apple Bloom frowned. “Don't you dare call us chicken again!”
“Chicken. Chicken. Chicken. Chicken–”
“Guys, can we argue about this someplace safer—like the ground?” Sweetie Belle asked.
“No!” Scootaloo yelled. “Not until after we visit the clouds.”
“Ugh, fine.” Apple Bloom put more effort into her pedaling. “But after that it's straight to the ground!”
“Please don't say it like that,” Sweetie Belle whimpered quietly. “It's a long ways down.”
With the extra effort they rose again. They'd passed Sweet Apple Acres below towards open forest. They weren't quite over the Everfree Forest yet but it was visible as a carpet of darker green splotches with wispy tendrils of fog clinging to it in places. They'd want to turn around before attempting to land.
The only pony who could potentially steer this thing, though, had her head in the clouds—almost. Scootaloo practically salivated with anticipation as they flew closer to them. These weren't the thin twisty mare's tails commonly seen in the sky. They were the more solid puffy cumulus clouds that weather team had stashed there in preparation for the scheduled rains tomorrow. Scootaloo realized too late that they were on a direct collision course.
She winced and covered her face with her hooves. She was in no danger, though. The rotor blades sliced right through the cloud with no effort. Fogginess blurred their vision as they passed through and a fine mist clung to them as the blades wrung some of the moisture out of the air. They broke through and the sun's brightness nearly blinded them.
“Whoa.” Despite her reservations, Apple Bloom couldn't help but feel amazed. The puffy fluffiness of the clouds was nothing like she'd seen before. Well, she'd seen clouds before but up close they looked huge. Even Sweetie Belle looked around with awe. That was the first time this entire trip that she looked like she was enjoying herself. A weak smile crept up her face.
“See, I told you that flying was awesome,” Scootaloo said.
Sweetie's smile didn't last long as she started shivering. The dampness they'd passed through and the air constantly blasting down on them took their toll. “Y-yeah. L-let's get down now, please.”
“What? But we just got here!”
“I like the view too, but I'm getting tired from all this pedaling,” Apple Bloom said. “Flying is nice and all, but it's getting exhausting.” Apple Bloom was dripping with wetness and most of that was sweat.
“Just a few more minutes?” Scootaloo urged. “This is so cool!”
“No! Ah'm not going to pedal.” Apple Bloom pursed her lips.
“What? Are you worried about falling or something? The clouds are like, right there.” Scootaloo pointed down. They were, indeed, right there. The great arcs of billowing puffiness looked inviting.
“S-says the only pony who can actually w-walk on them,” muttered Sweetie Belle through her chattering teeth.
“Yeah, maybe you're the one who's afraid of falling now.” Apple Bloom said.
“Am not!”
“Chicken!”
“Gah! Fine! We'll go back down.” Scootaloo slowed her pedaling and they started descending again. “Just let me turn this thing around and, um...” She waived her handlebars back and forth uselessly. “Wait. I got this.” Leaning to one side, Scootaloo buzzed her wings. That had little, if any, effect, but they had a long ways to go still and even a small motion could add up over time.
Ptang.
“What was that?” All six of their wide, round eyes looked up at the rotor assembly. They squinted against the sun. The rattle was louder and it sent worrisome vibrations throughout the entire frame.
“It's coming apart!” Apple Bloom yelled.
“We're all going to die!” Sweetie Belle wailed.
“Bail!” Scootaloo frantically tore off her seatbelt but Sweetie Belle's hooves were still wrapped around her waist. “Hey, let go!”
“Don't leave us!” Sweetie Belle gripped tighter. Scootaloo kicked and squirmed and rolled free. She landed on the clouds below as the flying machine and its deadly spinning blades fell towards her. Thankfully, the loss of her mass slowed its fall enough for her to scamper out of the way before she got puréed.
“Scootaloo you jerk!” Sweetie yelled before she plunged back through the cloud.
“Don't worry guys, I'm going to run to—get... help.” There was no pony up there but her. There were only clouds as far as she could see in all directions—big, huge, towering clouds. The deafening silence drowned out her thoughts. The still air weighed down heavily on her. She wrapped her hooves over her head and whimpered.
wwwwwrrrRRR—
“Wha?–aaaah!” Scootaloo scampered backwards and the rotor blades punched up through the cloud where she'd been sitting. They spun off by themselves, sans flying machine.
It was a horrible, sinking sensation. Her eyes followed the blades as they arced through the sky and punched back through the cloud one last time. Her ears picked up the faint screams of her friends falling to their deaths.
“Noooo!” she screamed.
“It's all my fault,” Scootaloo wailed. “If I hadn't been... so... so... If I'd listened... I...” She broke down sobbing. That's all she did. She sobbed. She sniffled and pounded her forelegs on the cloud, sending up wisps of mist in futile protest. She rubbed her puffy bloodshot eyes and listened but all she could hear was... her name?
“Scoota—oh there you are. I've been looking all over for you. You should say something when you hear your name. It makes it easier to find you.”
“Rainbow Dash? Ack!-no. Don't look at me.” Scootaloo tried to wipe the tears from her face but realized the futility of her actions when the larger pegasus landed next to her. Instead, she looked up into Dash's face. “Are-are they...?”
“Easy there, kiddo. They're fine.”
“Yes! Thank you! Thank you!” Scootaloo wrapped herself around Dash's leg and nuzzled her face into her fur.
“Aw, heh. It wasn't actually me this time, though. Blossomforth's a big gossip and half the weather team was there. We arrived just in time to see it come apart. I still totally would have caught them if the others hadn't done it first.
“I heard you yelling but the clouds were too thick so I had to fly around to look for you.” Rainbow Dash scooped up Scootaloo and held her close. She spread her wings. “Come on, we should get back to–” She paused and wrinkled her nose. “What's that smell? Did you throw up?”
Scootaloo opened her mouth but didn't say anything. She cast her eyes aside and frowned.
“Nevermind. We can get you cleaned up on the ground.” Rainbow Dash took off and pumped her wings in rhythmic fluid motions. When she cleared the edge of the clouds she broke into a dive.
Scootaloo remained silent. This return flight was a lot faster and quieter than the noisy trip with the ill-fated flying machine. Rainbow's wings cut through the air with hardly even a whistle. They were stretched out in full to control the dive. The ground rushed up to greet them but neither pony batted an eye. The dive became a swoop and soon those wings flapped hard to cancel out their momentum for a landing. As quickly as it had started, it was over. Scootaloo hopped onto the solid ground and ran towards Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom who were already there.
“You're safe! Oh thank goodness, I'm so glad to see that you're all right.”
“No thanks to you.” Sweetie Belle turned up her nose and harrumphed.
“I guess we know who the chicken really is,” Apple Bloom spat. Both of them turned their backs on Scootaloo and walked away, leaving the adults to shrug in confusion.
“Aww, I totally deserved that.” Scootaloo hung her head and moped. “I was all my fault that–”
Rainbow Dash put a hoof on Scootaloo's mouth and looked into her eyes. They stared at each other in silence. Rainbow dropped her hoof and said, “So you messed up, huh? Possibly big time?”
Scootaloo nodded.
“Well, whether or not they'll forgive you, you still probably learned a lot right?”
Scootaloo nodded more emphatically.
“Then you should write it down, in a letter, and hope for the best.”
Dear Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle,
I'm sorry.
I should not have pressured you into going on that flight with me. At every step of the way, you were right, and I was wrong. I thought only of myself and how wonderful it would be to finally have a way to fly under my own power. I wanted to share that experience with you, too, but I wrongfully assumed that you'd have the same enthusiasm for it that I did. When you didn't, I resorted to name-calling to get you to do things my way even though you clearly didn't care for it.
In the end, it nearly cost us everything. I know you're not speaking to me right now, but I want to say just how sorry I truly am. I know a lot of ponies who are very happy that you made it down safely, and I am one of them. When I was alone on the clouds I thought I'd lost you forever. It was the worst feeling I'd ever had.
I know now that I shouldn't have bailed out at the last moment either. I panicked and made yet another bad decision. I am truly, truly, sorry.
Please forgive me,
Scootaloo
Dear Sweetie Belle,
Scootaloo asked us to forgive her, but I have to be honest with you. I don't think that I can. What she put us through for the sake of her own satisfaction is too much for me. Having read her letter, tough, I realized that I, too wronged you.
That contraption took two ponies to fly and I was the second. I never should have let her pressure me into doing that. I didn't listen to my instincts, or to you. I guess what I'm trying to say is that it was just as much my fault as it was hers. I can understand if you'll never want to forgive me.
Apple Bloom
Dear Apple Bloom and Scootaloo,
I forgive you.
Sweetie Belle
Rainbow Dash walked over the schoolhouse but stopped dead in her tracks when she saw the Crusaders playing... together. She had a whole speech planned but it died on her lips. “Huh. I didn't think I'd see them together again so soon.”
“Aren't they just darling?” Rarity stepped up next to her. “I'm glad that Sweetie Belle took my advice. Offering her forgiveness was the generous thing to do, after all.”
“Huh. I heard the full story and I don't think I could have done that. I had a whole speech planned on the importance of loyalty and how it would take time to mend things. Yet here they are playing together as if nothing had happened.”
“That's certainly not true. You should still give your speech–” The two of them stood there watching them play. “–later. Giving forgiveness is one thing, but earning trust back will be much, much harder.”
Rainbow Dash nodded. “Agreed.”
