“Why can’t I fly already?” Scootaloo stared longingly up at the sky. “Birds can fly. Bugs can fly. Even that squirrel can fly.” She added as a flying squirrel glided past. “Every other Pegasus I know can fly already… What if I’m never able to get off the ground?”
“Not everypony can fly, you know.” An unexpected voice caused Scootaloo to jump. Whirling around, the filly spotted a grey stallion with a short black mane and tail. He was looking at her curiously. “I can’t fly.” He stated.
“Well yeah, I know that everypony can’t fly.” Scootaloo nodded. “But every Pegasus can.” To her surprise, the stallion only chuckled. “Hey, stop laughing at me.” Scootaloo glared, her small wings flapping angrily.
“Oh no, you must be mistaken; I wasn’t laughing at you my dear filly.” The stallion explained. “I’m…” He paused a moment. “Whirlwind. My name is Whirlwind. And you are?”
“I’m… Scootaloo?” Scootaloo raised a brow.
“Scootaloo, was it?” Whirlwind asked. Scootaloo nodded. “Would you like me to teach you to fly?”
“Wait, what?” Scootaloo spoke before she could stop herself. “But you just said you can’t fly. How in Equestria are you going to teach me? Do you even have wings?” It was obvious she was more than confused by this stallion’s strange behaviour. Whirlwind nodded, turning slightly. On his back were a pair of almost laughably small wings. He flapped them once for extra emphasis.
“As I was saying, would you like me to teach you how to fly?” Whirlwind asked. Scootaloo nodded frantically, bouncing in excitement.
“Teach me how!” Scootaloo exclaimed. She could hardly contain her excitement. Finally, somepony who understood how she felt! And he was willing to teach her how to fly! It was almost a dream come true!
“Are you coming?” Whirlwind called out. Scootaloo saw that he was already way ahead of her. Without skipping a beat the filly grabbed her scooter, threw her helmet on and was speeding after him in an instant. Almost five minutes later they finally stopped.
“S-So, where are we?” Scootaloo spoke in confusion, a sudden wave of nervousness washing over her. She had no idea where she was and no one knew where to find her. Swallowing hard, she looked around.
“Why, we’re in the Everfree forest, dear Scootaloo.” Whirlwind told the young filly. “This is the only place in all of Ponyville where I can actually teach you how to fly.”
“Okay, so what am I supposed to do?”Scootaloo asked, her voice coming out more timidly than she had hoped. Her mind was beginning to tell her that maybe it was a bad idea but she was still clinging to the hope that maybe this pony would be able to teach her. After all, his wings were way smaller than hers was… For his size anyway.
“Patience, my dear Scootaloo.” Whirlwind responded simply. He was facing away from Scootaloo and appeared to be staring at something. Out of pure curiosity Scootaloo trotted over to him, looking around. To her sudden shock she found herself almost stepping off a cliff.
“What are we waiting f-” Scootaloo began, but she was interrupted almost immediately when Whirlwind put a hoof over her mouth.
“Shh.” Whirlwind whispered. Scootaloo sighed loudly, but she only received the same response. Sitting down on her flank with a thump, Scootaloo knew she was in for a long wait…
~*~
“So… How long are we gonna be s-”
“Shh…”
“…Not that this isn’t fun but-”
“Shh…”
“…What are we even waiti-”
“Shh!”
“…” Scootaloo pouted silently. They had been waiting for almost an eternity! Okay so maybe it was only a few minutes, but it seemed like eternity to the impatient filly. Suddenly a swift gust blew past them, causing Whirlwind to grin.
“Geronimo!” Whirlwind exclaimed, bounding past Scootaloo and off the cliff, his miniature wings flapping hard. Scootaloo covered her eyes, ready for anything. To her surprise there was no sound. Peeking out from behind her hooves Scootaloo saw that Whirlwind was flying just in front of her, staring at her with a knowing expression.
“Woah! How are you doing that?” Scootaloo gasped, eyes wide. Her wings flapped in anticipation.
“Just jump and flap really hard.” Whirlwind grinned. “There’s enough wind to keep you airborne.” Scootaloo looked at him doubtfully. “Just trust me.” He spoke sincerely, holding out a hoof. Tentatively Scootaloo followed.
“Am I still alive?” Scootaloo’s eyes were squeezed tightly shut and her wings were flapping hard.
“Of course you are, silly-filly.” Whirlwind chuckled. “Open your eyes already.” Slowly Scootaloo opened one eye and then the other. To her surprise, she was airborne.
“I’m flying!” Scootaloo squealed, unable to contain her excitement. “Look at me, I’m actually doing it! I’m flying! If Rainbow Dash could see me now she-” Scootaloo suddenly gasped. “Rainbow Dash! I’ve gotta show Rainbow Dash!” Whirlwind took her hoof as she turned to leave, shaking his head.
“Just stay and enjoy it for now.” Whirlwind smiled. “Afterwards you can tell her.”
“How did you know about this place?” Scootaloo asked as she performed a flip that seemed a little clumsier than she would’ve liked. Whirlwind only smiled knowingly.
“You learn quite a lot when you get to my age.” Whirlwind explained. “This here for example is a geyser. It’s a strong burst of wind that comes out of the ground. You can use it to practise your flying for when you get older.” He looked at his wings with a chuckle. “Obviously my wings never grew but you’re still young. Something tells me that you’ll fly someday, and even if you don’t there’s always this place.”
“Wow, thank you so much Whirlwind!” Scootaloo grinned. “You’re the second coolest pony I know; behind Rainbow Dash of course!”
“It was my pleasure, Scootaloo.” Whirlwind responded. For a time the two Pegasi simply enjoyed the warm air the geyser was giving off, but finally Whirlwind told the younger filly that it was time to get back on the cliff.
“Aww, does this really have to end?” Scootaloo pouted, looking longingly as the last of the warm air evaporated, leaving a slight chill in the breeze. Whirlwind simply nodded.
“Good things cannot last forever, little filly.” Whirlwind said, gently raising Scootaloo’s head with his hoof. “I’ll tell you what though. If you come back here at the same time tomorrow you can do this all again. You can even bring your friend Rainbow Dash.” Hearing this, Scootaloo’s expression instantly brightened.
“I’ve gotta tell Rainbow Dash!” Scootaloo realized, grabbing her scooter and making her way speedily through the trees. “I’ll never forget this, Whirlwind! Thank you for everything!”
“No need to thank me!” Whirlwind called back. Once Scootaloo was gone, a snap was heard. Where a grey stallion with a twister Cutie Mark once stood, a Draconequus was seen floating barely inches above the ground. He stretched a moment, a slight smirk on his face. “Well that was fun.” He spoke to nopony. “And now I do believe I should get going. I have a luncheon to go to.” With a click and a flash he was suddenly in Fluttershy’s cottage. “My dear Fluttershy.” He grinned widely to the yellow and pink Pegasus mare. “Did you miss me?”
“That was a very nice thing you did for Scootaloo you know.” Fluttershy smiled gently as Discord went very red in the face.
“Me, nice?” Discord raised a brow curiously. “Now where did you get that idea?”
“The geyser isn’t too far from my house.” Fluttershy giggled. “I heard you two and came out to look. I think that was a very sweet thing you did, Discord. See how good a bit of kindness feels?”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Discord grinned, still rather pink beneath his fur. “Now why don’t we have some lovely cucumber sandwiches and forget all this silly nonsense about me being kind?” With a snap of his talon a plate of cucumber sandwiches appeared. Shaking her head gently, Fluttershy hugged the Draconequus. After a slight pause Discord hugged back.
“Yes I think that cucumber sandwiches are a lovely idea.” Fluttershy smiled. Discord could be a real sweetheart when the mood took him.
Author's Note
I considered tagging Discord but decided against it because I felt it'd ruin the surprise...
So, what'd you think of my first Scootaloo fic? I hope I kept her in character.
