I Can't Teach You

by OneOverTwo

Rating: everyone
Tags: Slice of Life
Length: 2979

Hailstorm (OC) seeks to learn from the greatest Wonderbolt of all time: Rainbow Dash, but she encounters some trouble trying to achieve that goal.

Hailstorm was a talented stunt flier who felt that she only had one option to better herself, she had to learn from the greatest Wonderbolt of all time: Rainbow Dash. However, she finds that Rainbow Dash doesn't seem to want to give her lessons.

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Set a bit into the future.

Published 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC
Last updated 2014-12-13 16:30:02 UTC

Arrival.

Hailstorm was not a pony to take lightly when it came to flying. She was among the best of young fliers in her era. She could only think of one other pony who was better at flying than her, the pony she would get to teach her how to better herself. The Wonderbolt: Rainbow Dash!

Hailstorm knew that Rainbow Dash was on vacation when she arrived in Ponyville, she knew that it would have been pointless to try and get her to teach her otherwise.

Hailstorm launched into the sky and scoured the town for her idol. It took her only 12  seconds to look thru all of it. She found who she was looking for napping on a cloud.

“Rainbow Dash! I can’t believe I’m seeing THE Rainbow Dash this close! Out of her uniform no less!” said Hailstorm after she landed on the cloud.

Rainbow Dash shot up awake at the sound. She turned around to face where the voice came from. She raised an eyebrow at the sky blue pegasus with curly white hair and red eyes she saw.

“Uh, what’s up?” she said.

“She talked to me!” said Hailstorm.

‘Oh,’ thought Rainbow Dash, ‘a fan.’

Rainbow adopted a cocky grin and stood up.

“So... such a big fan that you had to see me now, huh?” said Rainbow Dash, “Is it your birthday or something…”

“Hailstorm! My name is Hailstorm!” said Hailstorm, “And no, it’s not my birthday. I came here for something very important though!”

Rainbow pondered at that for a few seconds, “Go on…”

“I’m a really good flier and-”

“and you want to test your skills against the fastest Wonderbolt in history?” interrupted Rainbow Dash, “Yeah, I’m down for a race.”

Rainbow Dash crouched into a starting position.

“The finish line’ll be that cloud over there!” said Rainbow Dash.

“Ms. Rainbow Dash, you don’t understand! I don’t want to race you! Or, well, I’m not merely here to race you,” said Hailstorm.

“Huh?” said Rainbow Dash with her head turned back to face her.

“Teach me, Ms. Rainbow Dash!” said Hailstorm, “I need you to teach me how to really fly!”

Rainbow Dash froze.

“Ms. Rainbow Dash?” said Hailstorm.

Hailstorm stared at the motionless Rainbow Dash for a while before finally reaching out a hoof to bump her.

Rainbow snapped out of her stillness.

“Uh, listen kid, no can do,” said Rainbow Dash, “And don’t call me ‘Ms. Rainbow Dash’, it makes me feel weird.”

Then she flew away faster than she could.

“Dang it!” said Hailstorm.

Rainbow Dash had to hide. She knew she couldn’t go to her house; a fan was after her. She had to go to a place that she knew that nopony would think to look for her.

‘The spa!’ thought Rainbow Dash right before she headed off for the spa.

Rainbow entered her hiding place.

“Rainbow Dash!” said Hailstorm, “Did you change your mind and find me?”

“Yikes, what are you doing here?” said Rainbow Dash.

“I decided to refresh myself at the spa a white unicorn generously directed me to before I tried to find you again,” said Hailstorm, “but you’re here now! It must be fate!”

Rainbow Dash responded only by flying out the exit.

“Wait!” said Hailstorm as she flew after her.

Rainbow was going at a speed that practically no other pony could keep up with. Hailstorm did not fit into that practicality.

“Wait!” said Hailstorm.

Hailstorm was catching up. Rainbow turned. Hailstorm’s succeeding turning arc ended up being much wider. A lot wider.

‘Yes!’ thought Rainbow Dash.

Rainbow went straight. Then turned. Hailstorm struggled to keep up, she did not have that much experience making such sharp turns. Rainbow flew literal circles around Hailstorm. Hailstorm stopped for a moment before going straight into the rainbow trail.

“Ms. Rainbow Dash, you simply must teach me!” said Hailstorm.

“Darn it! I told you not to call me that,” said Rainbow right before Hailstorm struck her.

Hailstorm had Rainbow Dash in an airborne bear hug.

“Teach me! Please!” said Hailstorm, “You’re the only flier better than I am!”

Rainbow Dash struggled in her grip.

“Okay kid, lesson one,” said Rainbow Dash, “Work on your leg strength!”

Rainbow actually very easily got out of Hailstorm’s hug. Really the only limbs Hailstorm could have potentially held Dash in were her wings, but being in midair hampered her ability to wrap those around any pony without falling to her doom or at least a hospital visit.

Rainbow easily sped off to a far off place, her rainbow contrail disappearing just in time for Hailstorm to be unable to follow it.

“Wait!” said Hailstorm, “How do I strengthen them?!”

Cornered.

With nothing better to do, Hailstorm leisurely flew around Ponyville while casually searching again for her idol Rainbow Dash. A growl stopped her.

“Dang, I’m hungry,” said Hailstorm.

The growl of a stomach that is.

Hailstorm landed near a building that looked like a giant gingerbread house.

“I hope this is a restaurant,” said Hailstorm, “because otherwise earth pony architecture is weirder than I thought.”

“While I do wish all buildings were like Sugarcube Corner sometimes, this is a bakery,” said an overly pink blue eyed mare.

“Gah!” said Hailstorm, “Where did you come from?”

“Well when two rock farmers of opposite-”

“N-nevermind, don’t answer,” said Hailstorm.

The two mares entered the bakery.

“Where’s the pony who takes the orders?” said Hailstorm, “The sign said it was open.”

The room was empty.

“Whoever it is, she’s not doing a very good job,” said the pink mare.

Then she walked up to the other side of the counter.

“Hi! I’m Pinkie Pie!” said Pinkie Pie.

“Aren’t the owners going to be mad at you if you stand there?” said Hailstorm.

“I can’t imagine why, this is what they told me to do. I’m in charge of running Sugarcube Corner today,” said Pinkie Pie.

Hailstorm considered saying ‘what’. Instead she just ordered something.

“Just give me a muffin or something please.” said Hailstorm.

Pinkie exchanged the order for its payment.

Hailstorm grumbled to herself as she devoured her muffin at a far off table.

“Why does she not want to teach me?” said Hailstorm, “Am I just annoying or something?”

“Nah, Dashie’s actually got a pretty good tolerance for that sort of thing,” said Pinkie, “I would know.”

“Gah! Where di-” said Hailstorm, having to stop herself when she remembered what the answer probably was, “Wait… how did you know I was talking about Rainbow Dash?”

“Just a hunch,” said Pinkie, “I know Rainbow pretty well.”

“You do?!” said Hailstorm, her forelegs had smacked the table as she attempted to sit up with impact, “Surely you know why she refused to teach me, right?”

“Silly, I’m not Shirley, I’m Pinkie!” said Pinkie, “But I do know.”

“Really?” said Hailstorm.

“Really really,” said Pinkie.

“What is it?!” said Hailstorm.

“It’s a bit complexy, but I’m sure the answer will hit you eventually. Bye!,” said Pinkie. Then she walked away back to behind the counter.

Hailstorm sat there still in silence. Pinkie had the answer, but wouldn’t tell it to her. It took her several minutes to decide to get up and leave.

‘I can’t believe I let her get my hopes up like that,’ thought Hailstorm.

As Hailstorm opened the bakery door, a force of impact struck her.

“Ouch!” said Hailstorm.

“Ow!” said the orange coated force of impact.

The force of impact got up and offered Hailstorm a hoof to do likewise. Hailstorm looked up and was able to realize that the force was in fact an orange pegasus with a pink mane and purple eyes.

“You alright?” said the orange pegasus.

“Indeed,” said Hailstorm, “I actually have had worse wipeouts from when I practice flying stunts.”

“Oh, you’re a stunt flier? Neat,” said the orange pegasus, “I’ve always liked those.”

“Maybe I can entertain you with my aerial techniques later,” said Hailstorm, “but I have a bit of a problem right now. Oh but I should really ask for your name first. My own name is Hailstorm.

“Scootaloo,” said Scootaloo, “What’s your problem that you said you had?”

“I came to this town with a purpose,” said Hailstorm, “I came to be taught by the best stunt flier ever, but she refused me in just the rudest way.”

“I’m sorry,” said Scootaloo.

“Why? It’s not your fault,” said Hailstorm.

Scootaloo just generated awkward silence. Hailstorm gave her a curious look.

“It’s… it IS not your fault,” said Hailstorm, “right?”

Scootaloo sat on the floor and cast her gaze downwards.

“It’s my fault,” said Scootaloo, “It is definitely my fault.”

“R-really?” said Hailstorm.

“I’ll tell ya, but we should really go somewhere else first,” said Scootaloo.

“Very well, I spotted an isolated cloud we could fly to for privacy,” said Hailstorm.

Scootaloo turned her head and sighed.

“We’ve got to walk,” said Scootaloo, “Well, I’m gonna roll there, but…”

Hailstorm tilted her head in confusion.

“The point is, follow me,” said Scootaloo.

Hailstorm watched Scootaloo exit then speed away on a scooter.

‘Wow,’ thought Hailstorm, ‘The speed she’s going could rival the Wonderbolts. I wonder why she’s going by ground though...’

Scootaloo.

Hailstorm arrived at the place Scootaloo was leading her to. It was an isolated area of Whitetail Woods. There was near nothing but somewhat sparsely placed trees all around them.

“You’re probably wondering why I didn’t fly here,” said Scootaloo, “Unless you put two and two together.”

Hailstorm paused, “... I guess I haven’t.”

“Snrk,” snrked Scootaloo.

“What?” said Hailstorm.

Scootaloo got close to Hailstorm and touched her shoulder.

“Listen kid,” said Scootaloo.

“I am an adult,” said Hailstorm.

“Yeah, well I’m adulter,” said Scootaloo.

“You don’t look much adul- much more adult than I do,” said Hailstorm.

“Listen kid,” said Scootaloo, a bit more sternly this time, “I- I’m the reason.”

“What?”

“I’M THE REASON!” yelled Scootaloo.

“No, I heard you,” said Hailstorm, “I was trying to get you to elaborate.”

“Elaborate?” said Scootaloo.

“Er, further explain what you mean,” said Hailstorm.

“Pfff, what are you? A thesaurus?” said Scootaloo.

“No, but I like to read them a lot,” said Hailstorm.

‘This girl might be the dorkiest stunt flier I’ve ever met,’ thought Scootaloo, ‘Maybe not the dorkiest, Soarin’ seemed really dorky when I met him, but she’s definitely up there.’

“Anyways, I’m the reason Dash is telling you no and flying off,” said Scootaloo.

“How?” said Hailstorm.

“She- she doesn’t want to teach anypony because she thinks she failed me,” said Scootaloo.

Hailstorm’s eyes widened slightly.

“How did she fail you?” said Hailstorm.

“It’s not really her fault…” said Scootaloo, “I just can’t fly. She couldn’t teach me and she blames herself, even though I just CAN’T fly.”

‘Oh! that seems really obvious now that she’s said it,’ thought Hailstorm, ‘Now I feel a tad stupid.’

“That seems a bit extreme that she’d give up teaching just because one student of hers failed,” said Hailstorm, “I mean, if she was teaching you she’d have a few more students too, right?”

Scootaloo smiled and shook her head while her eyes were shut.

“Rainbow’s not actually much of a teacher,” said Scootaloo, “Really she was teaching me ‘cause I’m her little sister.”

“You are not!” said Hailstorm.

“Hm?” said Scootaloo.

“You’re not her little sister,” said Hailstorm, “I checked her family tree, Ms. Rainbow Dash doesn’t have any little sisters!”

“We’re not related by blood,” said Scootaloo, “but we’re just as close as if we were. Also, MS. Rainbow Dash?”

“It’s a sign of respect…” said Hailstorm, eyes looking downward.

“Not to Rainbow Dash,” said Scootaloo, “If you want any chance at all, make sure you don’t call her that.”

“Y- yes, very well,” said Hailstorm, “How come I’ve never heard of you if you’re so close to Rainbow Dash?”

Scootaloo shrugged, “I don’t know, bad luck I guess.”

“I mean, I checked every public record I could find of her. From world records to family and housing records!” said Hailstorm.

“What about, like, magazines?” said Scootaloo.

It was that moment that Hailstorm realized that she hadn’t. Scootaloo saw the look of realization on her face.

“Did you really do the obsessive fan activities while neglecting to do the regular ones?” said Scootaloo.

“Oh shush, you,” said Hailstorm.

“I’ll show you some of my favorite articles later, I guess,” said Scootaloo, “Anyways, don’t tell her this, but Rainbow Dash basically lost her confidence when she found out that she could not teach me.”

“Why exactly is that?” said Hailstorm.

“My wing muscles didn’t grow right,” said Scootaloo, “or rather, my wing muscles were never going to grow right. I don’t quite remember the name of the condition, it was all like medical jargon name.”

“Okay…” said Hailstorm, “Shouldn’t that bother you? That you’re a pegasus who will never fly?”

Scootaloo gave her a solemnly subdued smile.

“It certainly used to,” said Scootaloo, “but, for the most part, I’ve gotten over it a long time ago.”

“Then…” said Hailstorm, “it bothers Rainbow Dash?”

“Yeah, sort of,” said Scootaloo, “She doesn’t care that I can’t fly, but it hurts her a lot that she was unable to teach me. She had already worked hard trying to get me fit to fly for months before we found out about my condition, heck, my wing power is actually near the world record. I just can’t quite make the correct motions for flight.”

“That’s a bit sad,” said Hailstorm.

“Meh, I’ve gotten over it,” said Scootaloo, “I mean, it’s not like my mom died or anything.”

“So why exactly does Rainbow despise teaching again?” said Hailstorm.

“She doesn’t hate teaching or anything, she just can’t teach a student to be a stunt flier,” said Scootaloo, “it reminds her that she couldn’t do it with me. That she’ll never soar thru the air with her sister side by side. Makes her sad and junk.”

Hailstorm went silent for a moment.

“Do you think I should just leave?” said Hailstorm.

“Actually, I kinda want you to stay,” said Scootaloo, “I wish that Rainbow would take up a student to teach her moves to. A few other super-fans before you tried to get her to teach them too, but they didn’t get anywhere.”

“You want me to learn from Rainbow Dash?” said Hailstorm.

Hailstorm stopped for a moment to think of something.

“How were those other ponies driven off?” said Hailstorm.

Scootaloo snapped up, her gaze directly at Hailstorm.

“I… actually heard about all of them second hand from Rainbow herself,” said Scootaloo, “They just gave up on their own, I guess.”

“So none of those ponies ever talked to you?” said Hailstorm, “Her reason?”

“I guess not,” said Scootaloo.

“Scootaloo,” said Hailstorm, “please help me get Rainbow Dash to teach me.”

“Sure thing,” said Scootaloo.

Convince

Hailstorm once again set about her search for Rainbow Dash in Ponyville. This time she had assistance in the form of her sister from another mister.

“So how do you call for Rainbow Dash?” said Hailstorm.

“I use a tried and true method whenever I want to find Dash,” said Scootaloo, “Rainbow Dash!”

“Rainbo-”

“No! keep quiet, we only want her to hear my voice,” said Scootaloo.

“Very well,” said Hailstorm.

Scootaloo cupped her hooves to her mouth in an effort to amplify her voice.

“RAINBOW DASH!” said Scootaloo, “RAINBOW DASH!”

A rainbow streak passed by and turned ‘round to meet her.

“I hear ya, squirt,” said Rainbow Dash, “What’s up?”

“Please teach me M- Rainbow Dash,” said Hailstorm.

“Ack!” said Rainbow Dash, “I, um, I’ll catch you later, Scoots.”

Rainbow started to make a move to get away.

“Don’t you move, Rainbow,” said Scootaloo.

Rainbow Dash stopped in her tracks. Her body relaxed and she sighed.

“So, I see you’ve talked to Scootaloo,” said Rainbow Dash.

“Indeed I have,” said Hailstorm.

“Then you understand my reason for not teaching you, goodbye,” said Rainbow Dash, once again moving to leave.

“Rainbow Dash!” said Scootaloo.

Rainbow stopped again.

“You have to stop running away from this, Rainbow,” said Scootaloo, “It’s not your fault!”

Rainbow looked down. She knew on a logical level that it was true, but her heart she just couldn’t get over it.

“Scootaloo, I- I can’t do this,” said Rainbow Dash, “You never-”

“I was never meant to, Rainbow, we both know that,” said Scootaloo, “but you can’t let something so awesome go away.”

“What ya mean, Scootaloo?” said Rainbow Dash.

“Your moves are too amazing not to pass on to somepony,” said Scootaloo, “This filly here is a stunt pony herself and wants to learn from the best, you have gotta teach her.”

“Er, I feel that I have reached the highest I can on my own,” said Hailstorm, “The only way I think I can reach higher is with your help.”

“Please, Rainbow Dash,” said Scootaloo, “Do it, do it for me.”

Rainbow Dash looked into Scootaloo’s puppy dog eyes. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and sighed.

Rainbow looked once more at Scootaloo.

“Okay, Squirt,” said Rainbow Dash, “I’ll do it for you.”

Rainbow Dash turned to Hailstorm, “So kid, what was your name again?”

“Hailstorm,” said Hailstorm, “My name is Hailstorm.”

“Hailstorm, you really gave me a run for my money earlier,” said Rainbow Dash, “You even caught me at one point.”

“Whoa, she did?” said Scootaloo, “If you teach her, she might even surpass you!”

“Don’t be ridiculous, Scootaloo,” said Rainbow Dash.

“Hey, feelings…” said Hailstorm.

“So, what else you got?” said Rainbow Dash.

“I, um, am able to scour this town in twelve seconds,” said Hailstorm.

“Twelve seconds? I can scour the town in under twelve seconds,” said Scootaloo, smile on her face.

“Come on, kid,” said Rainbow Dash, “Let’s see if we can get that down to ten seconds or less.”