Never Gonna Make It

Scootaloo groaned as a ringing sound reached her ears. She turned over and pulled her pillow over her ears but she still heard the ringing noise. It took her a few moments to recognize the sound as her phone's ringtone, and as she cracked her eyes open she decided to just let the call go to voicemail. She closed her eyes in satisfaction as the ringing finally stopped, but almost immediately the caller called back again, restarting the shrill sound of her phone.

"Agh, screw it." Scootaloo muttered in disdain. Groggily sitting up, she reached over where Thunderlane had placed her purse on the bedside table and clumsily fished out her phone. "Hello?"

"Scoots! Where'd ya go off to? You missed the end of the party!"

Scootaloo instantly perked up as she heard her favorite mare's voice. "Rainbow Dash! I'm sorry, I, uh... something came up that I had to, you know..."

"Well, you're still up, right? Come on up to my room! I gotta tell you something really awesome!" Rainbow Dash said excitedly. hanging up before Scootaloo could reply.

Scootaloo removed the phone from her ear and looked at what time it was, grimacing when she saw that it was only just past three in the morning. She let out a loud yawn, then noticed that she was alone, that Thunderlane had left her alone in his room. The thought of searching his room for his stash of steroids didn't even cross her mind; she had tried that foolish move once before, and he had beaten her badly when he caught her searching his room. Not to mention he had almost... he had almost taken her...

Scootaloo shook her head of the horrible thought and quickly put on her clothes before she opened the window and breathed in the cool, fresh air. She knew that Thunderlane wouldn't mind that she left. He never cared when she left once he was done playing with her body as long as she immediately responded to his summons.

Stepping onto the windowsill and taking a deep breath, Scootaloo leaped out the window and spread her wings, with each flap of her wings soaring higher and higher into the sky until she was almost fifty feet above the roof of the hotel. She gave her wings a few more hard flaps and smiled broadly as she didn't feel any pain at all. This is what made her torture and torment worth it; the freedom of finally being able to fly effortlessly just like every other pegasi in the world. This was her one little sliver of normalcy. The one thing that made her finally feel like she belonged in this world despite every other poor hand she was dealt.

Despite losing her two best friends so long ago.

Despite never having her love returned by the one pony that mattered...

Remembering where she was supposed to be, Scootaloo spread her wings wide to glide down back to the hotel, easily spotting the balcony where Rainbow Dash was standing, waving to her. Scootaloo waved back, gliding in and landing perfectly alongside her role model and embracing her in a hug.

"Nice landing, kid! With moves like that, you'll be a Wonderbolt in no time!" Rainbow Dash said proudly before quickly ushering Scootaloo inside her room once more.

"Thanks." Scootaloo said, blushing slightly from the compliment. "So, uh, what'd going on?"

Rainbow Dash's wings buzzed excitedly as she did a small mid-air loop, landing in a seated position on her bed. "The BEST day ever!" she exclaimed happily.

Scootaloo buzzed over to her bed, forgoing any attempt at the trick Dash had just done and sat down next to Rainbow. "Of course it was. You set a world record and got promoted! What's better than that?"

There was nothing that could make Rainbow stop smiling now. "It got even BETTER!" she exclaimed.

"Tell me! Tell me!" Scootaloo begged in excitement, wondering what Rainbow Dash was so worked up over.

"Well, okay, but only because you're my number one favorite mare ever." Rainbow said with a wink, almost causing Scootaloo to faint. "Well, you saw that I got promoted to lead coordinator for the competitive flying team. After that, I got swarmed by everyone present and was barraged with requests for autographs. Even the princesses lined up for one! How cool is that!"

Scootaloo nodded, not wanting to ruin Rainbow's enthusiasm by telling her that she had indeed seen those events transpire. "Awesome! That's an awesome story!"

"Oh, but that wasn't it!" Dash said with a sly grin. "I got approached by some media reporter who asked me if I'd be willing to do an exclusive story for Flyers Illustrated and do a photoshoot for their magazine cover!"

"Wow, Flyers Illustrated? That's the hottest magazine in Cloudsdale!" Scootaloo said excitedly. "I love the articles Quick Feather writes! That'd be even cooler if he was the one interviewing you."

"Ah, yeah! That's his name!" Rainbow remembered. "Yeah, that's the guy who's interviewing me."

"That's so cool!" Scootaloo squealed excitedly.

"Heh, yeah, but the best part is still to come." Dash said. "Once things finally started to calm down, Soarin came up to me and asked if I could speak to him in private. I was sure it'd be him congratulating me again for such an awesome job today and the promotion. Well, he brought me back to his room and gave me this!"

Scootaloo's eyes widened as Dash showed her a gold necklace with a crystal ornament in the shape of a thunderbolt underneath a cloud. "Oh wow... it's beautiful." Scootaloo said in awe.

"Yeah, it's pure crystal from the lost mines of the Crystal Mountain." Dash said proudly.

Scootaloo slowly reached out and gingerly touched the lightning bolt portion of the crystal, her finger tracing it from where it started in the cloud to its point at the bottom. "It's perfect, just like you." she said. "Was it a gift for setting the world record?"

"Heh, I thought it was." Dash said, blushing slightly as she prepared for her big announcement. "But it was for something else, the thing that definitely made tonight the best night ever!"

Scootaloo's eyes widened in anticipation as Rainbow Dash dramatically paused, but her next words caused Scootaloo's heart to shatter into a million pieces.

"He asked me to be his marefriend!"

Scootaloo gulped, trying to speak over the shock she had wash over her. "H-h-he what?" she asked, hoping she had heard wrong.

"He asked me to be his marefriend, and I said yes!" Dash squealed in excitement, missing the clear look of devastation that briefly clouded Scootaloo's face before she forced her smile back.

"O-oh..." Scootaloo said. "So, um... did you two kiss and, stuff?" she asked.

Dash looked around the room in caution before leaning in to whisper her next bit of information. "Well, don't tell anyone, but I've always had the biggest crush on him for so long, and him asking me out is a dream come true! I couldn't help but kiss him, and, well... one thing led to another, and, well... you know about the parasprites and the breezies, right? Well, I couldn't help letting him take the lead, and... well, Soarin is now officially my first!"

There was no way that Scootaloo could hide the look of hopelessness as the large boulder Dash had released crushed any remnants of hope Scootaloo still held on to. "W-what?" she asked in disbelief.

Rainbow Dash unfortunately mistook Scootaloo's horror for just surprise. "Yeah, I know, right? It was the most perfect night ever! It definitely wasn't as bad as everyone else told me it would be. I mean, it stung just a tiny bit, but he was so gentle and careful..."

Scootaloo jumped slightly as Rainbow Dash's ringtone broke the quiet atmosphere, her choice of setting her ringtone to the 1812 Overture by the Canterlot Orchestra as subtle as she was humble. "Whoops, sorry, lemme take this." Dash said before picking up the phone. "Hey, Spitfire! Yeah, I'm still up... Uh huh..."

Scootaloo tuned out Dash's side of the conversation as she let reality sink in. 'Rainbow Dash and Soarin are... together now? And they... they went all the way. That means... Dash... she's no longer a... I can never be her first.'

"Awesome!" Dash exclaimed before hanging up and slapping Scootaloo's back. "Hey, Scoots, Spitfire managed to get her hands on a few extra fireworks from the end of the closing ceremony and is gonna set them off! Come on, we're all gonna watch it from her balcony on the other side of the hotel!"

"Y-yeah, cool." Scootaloo said awkwardly, getting up as Dash sprinted over to the open balcony.

Once Scootaloo had joined Rainbow Dash, she froze as her mentor and hero stopped to give her a big hug. "Thank you for being my number one fan, Scootaloo. I couldn't have done any of this without you."

Scootaloo could only smile meekly as Rainbow finally let go of her embrace. "A-anytime..." she said.

Spreading her wings, Rainbow Dash stepped onto the guardrail of the balcony. "Come on, last one over to Spitfire's room is a rotten egg!" she said before zooming off into the sky, more than likely off to perform some acrobatics in the sky before landing gracefully on Spitfire's balcony.

Scootaloo climbed onto the ledge as well but refrained from taking off, her eyes not even on the black sky but instead on the ground far below. Now that she was alone, she didn't try to stop the tears from welling up in her eyes and falling down her face as she came to terms over the news she had just been given.

"She's... she's with Soarin now. She doesn't need you anymore. No, she never needed you... she never wanted you." Scootaloo murmured to herself. Memories of their time together flashed through her mind; from the first day she saw Rainbow Dash streaking through the skies above Ponyville, to Rainbow Dash being there when she finally flew for the first time, to being the one to pin Dash's Wonderbolt badge during her graduation...

Scootaloo sighed heavily, spreading her wings and finally looking up at the sky through her tear stained eyes. "Rainbow Dash..." she said, leaning forward but not flapping her wings at all...

"Scoots? Hey, Scootaloo? You there?" Rainbow called out, hovering over the roof of the hotel. It had been five minutes since Rainbow Dash took off from her balcony, conducting a few loop-de-loops in the air before landing right on Soarin's lap and swiping his beer from his hands. It shouldn't have taken Scootaloo this long to get here; in fact, she should have beaten Rainbow Dash to Spitfire's balcony thanks to her showboating.

'Maybe she's still at my room.' she thought as she flew back to her room. Flying back to her side of the building, Rainbow Dash scratched her head as she saw that her balcony and room were both vacant. She flew back up and flew back to the front side of the hotel, scanning the ground below for the familiar hairdo of her biggest fan. She didn't find what she was looking for, but she curiously watched as a large group of ponies came running out of the front of the hotel and back to the side of the building that Rainbow's room was on, quickly forming a circle around a small blurred object on the ground far below. It wasn't until one of the security guards present turned on his flashlight that Rainbow saw something she didn't expect at all.

"No... No! NOOOO!"

Spitfire and Soarin looked up as they heard the loud cry of someone screaming in the middle of the night.

"What was that?" Spitfire asked curiously.

"Probably someone getting kicked out of the bar again." Soarin joked.

"There you guys are!" a voice from above called out. Looking up, Soarin and Spitfire saw their teammate Fleetfoot hurtling towards them. "Something happened down on the ground, we gotta go!"

The panic in Fleetfoot's voice coupled with the sudden burst of sirens drawing closer to the hotel had Spitfire and Soarin hot on her heels as she lead them to the scene. They quickly zoned in on the large group that had gathered and planned on landing to offer assistance with crowd control, but their attention was averted when Fleetfoot pointed out the biggest problem.

"Back the fuck off, lemme go!" Rainbow Dash screamed as Applejack and Rarity did their best to hold down their friend. Fluttershy was kneeling down next to Twilight, who had a bloody nose and seemed a bit dazed, while a somber Pinkie Pie sat off to the side holding and hugging a sobbing Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom.

"Calm down, ya ain't helpin' at all!" Applejack yelled at Rainbow, but the desperate pegasus continued her struggle.

Before Spitfire could ask what in Tartarus was going on, a bystander yelled out the answer she was looking for. "She hit the princess! She hit Princess Twilight Sparkle!"

Spitfire and Soarin couldn't believe their ears. Why would Rainbow strike one of her best friends and savior of Equestria? However, before they could speak up again, Princess Twilight stood up and stood in front of them both. "Please, don't hold this against her. It wasn't her fault." she said somberly, nodding for them to look behind them.

Turning their heads, Spitfire and Soarin looked at the oddly shaped object covered by one of the hotel's bed sheets on the ground. They both walked slowly to it, but as Spitfire reached out to lift up a corner of the sheet Rainbow Dash yelled out. "No! Don't you fucking touch her! No! No!"

Her heart sinking fast, Spitfire took just one peek under the sheet before she quickly dropped it in horror. Rainbow Dash finally broke free of her captors, knocking Applejack and Rarity over into the other bystanders, but was intercepted by Soarin and Spitfire as they pulled her into a tight hug.

"Shh, shh... Rainbow, it's okay." Spitfire said softly. Rainbow continued to struggle for a few more moments but finally let her grief take over, breaking down and crying as her two teammates continued to hold her.

"No... no... she couldn't have... why would she..." Rainbow Dash sobbed, her mind forever scarred with the image of Scootaloo's limp body splayed out on the cold hard pavement. "You were... we were supposed to fly together."