Junior Flight Camp: The Crusader and the Bullhead

Chapters

My Fluttershy
In the Doldrums
Everyone Flies, No One Fails
The Wind of Hope
Thinking Tank
Past and Future Incidents
Rainbow's Wracking Realisation
Reversal of Roles
Twilight Therapy
Assumptions
Fear of the Dark
The Gantelope
Epilogue: Field Trip
The Flightless Filly meets The Bullhead
Scootaloo's First Kiss

My Fluttershy

Chapter 2: My Fluttershy

“Okay, you all know the rules: no biting, no kicking, just pushing and pulling. New players, don’t make the mistake of flying around, it just makes you easier to push. You hit a wall or fall off the edge, you’re out. It’s three tries per round. Have fun, everypony!” Derpy called out as the final preparations were made.

Whimper, meanwhile, was pacing nervously along the arena he thought would be just for him and Scootaloo. He called Derpy over for a question. “W-Wait, did you just say this is a competition?”

Derpy turned to him, landing on a stepping stone cloud as the arenas were lifted a little more for better vision. Some of the other coaches gave the walls some taps, and the woven mist gave nicely. The walls were just like a wire fence, only more cotton-like.

“Sure it is, silly! You’re Doldrum Whimper, right? You’re paired with Rumble for the first round. Good luck!”

Whimper shook his head as the grey pegasus made to leave and the crowds of older kids -- presumably more contestants for different weight classes -- swarmed around the arenas like adolescent hornets while the seats on a higher vantage point filled with the standard spectating crowd of disaster tourists.

“But I didn’t sign up for any… Scootaloo?”

A squee and a very unsettling smile answered him, and next thing he knew she was standing right in his personal space. “Told you I’d get even. Look on the bright side, I’m paired with Zephyr. I’ll give him a little humble pie for ya.”

Whimper whimpered, the bruiser’s wings locked in abject fear. “I-I don’t suppose I could just forfeit?”

To that, Scootaloo shook her head and tapped his chest in reply, her own little flappers spread to make her look bigger than the colt. “Oh, no. You’re gonna wrestle whoever steps into the arena with you, and you’re gonna do whatever you can to win. ‘Coz if you don’t, I’m gonna have to keep finding ways to get even for making me look bad.” She leaned in close for effect. “You seem like a nice guy, Wimpie, but if you wanna hang out with me, you need to learn to stand up for yourself.”

Whimper grimaced as Rumble entered the arena. He gave the filly a glare of attempted defiance. “My mom warned me about girls like you.”

“Sirens who lure you into exciting adventures?”

“Harpies that drag you to certain death.” He groaned.

She chuckled, happy to at least get some response out of him. “Well, you just try your best.” Scootaloo hopped off along the clouds to face Zephyr.

Whimper, resigning to his fate, groaned as he approached Scoot’s classmate and squared off right in front of him. He shook his head at Rumble. “I’m really sorry about this.”

This got a confused look from his opponent.

Scootaloo grinned and pressed her head against the jock’s, determined to put him in his place. The two were already pushing back and forth, and the crowd they’d drawn seemed to disapprove of their early aggression.

“Begin!” their judge called out.

Zephyr swiped at the filly’s front hooves, making her lose her footing for just a moment as she jumped up. With that slight moment of weakness, the youth pushed forward and knocked her over and back. She tried to correct herself by flapping her wings, but one powerful flap of his own wings and a thrust of his hind legs gave the lavender colt the momentum to tackle and toss her into the makeshift cloud cage.

“Nice moves, chicken-wing. In case nopony told you, beating losers like you is what I do all day,” the bolt-tailed colt boasted.

Scootaloo gritted her teeth and stepped back to the centre. Without a word, she waited for the signal.

The attack came in fast, simply trying to careen over her in one swift motion. Instead of backing down, though, she bent low and made a full-body swoop to get the angle on Zephyr’s exposed underbelly. With a calculated step back, a tap to his hind legs and one little shove to get him off his hooves, she got the drop on him. The motion got him off the ground and his full, clumsy weight on her. Rushing forward before he could correct, she flipped him off her neck and into the walls.

The boy grunted as he got up. “Okay, no more Mister Nice Guy.” He bumped into her head rather harshly before squaring off for the last round.

“You wanna play rough? Fine.” Scootaloo smirked mirthlessly. She still had one secret weapon the bad apple star didn’t know about.

Their third round started with both of them going straight for the shoulders, neither wanting to give the other an inch as they turned the wrestling into a shoving contest.

Naturally, Zephyr had the advantage in brute power, pushing the filly back and out of balance.

Until Scootaloo started flapping her wings, that is.

Once the tell-tale hum of her wings filled the air, even Zephyr’s own powerful flaps did nothing to halt the filly’s advance. More disconcerting was his inability to dislodge his arms. She’d pinned his hooves under her shoulders to keep him steady in her grip. His hind hooves dragged uselessly over the cloud as Scootaloo managed to push him back. To his shock, he couldn’t even try to lift her or push her sideways. It was like she was glued to the ground, only it didn’t slow her down. Her grin was what really scared him, though.

Scootaloo got a little more friction on her hooves than what she got moving on her scooter, but it was close enough. Pulling carts wasn’t exactly what wings were supposed to be used for, but having done a lot of it she knew exactly what she could do with the buzzing things. They were useless for getting lift, but when it came to trucking forward, she had a downright unfair advantage, and she was determined to make the most of it.

Step after confident step, that ominous buzzing spelled certain doom for the cocky jock, slowly edging him forward with nothing he could do about it. She allowed herself one moment of triumph before giving him the final shove. “In case nopony told you, trucking on these chicken-wings is what I do all day.”

The older kids gave her a light clopping of the hooves, the pony equivalent of applause. Zephyr grunted and flew off with Skyron in tow, no doubt back to their ballgames.

“Ah, cloudwrestling.” Rainbow Dash flew up to the stage clouds of Doldrum’s arena, her unicorn friends using the cottony stairs to keep up. ”Best game ever.”

“Looks like Whimper won the first round,” Twilight remarked as Rumble was being peeled off the safety walls, with the spikey-maned colt looking a little shocked at his own strength and apologising profusely. The older fillies and colts nodded with a look of respect, and some of the coaches were giving Dash a look that asked ‘One of yours?’

“Yep. Shame he’s going to have to lose, though,” Dash replied.

Twilight frowned at that. Lyra grinned as inappropriately as always. “You’ll see, Twilight, just wait.”

Whimper was pacing around nervously, really not liking the attention he was getting.

Okay, so I beat the first one fair and square. There can’t be that many ponies in my weight class, right? A few more rounds, and I’m home free.

As it turned out, there really weren’t that many ponies signed up in his weight class. He glanced towards Scootaloo’s arena, who was now facing a lanky teen at least half a head taller than she was and definitely heavier. Her opponent was about two years her senior, with a little growth spurt thrown in for extra kicks.

“Huh?” Whimper raised an eyebrow as, with a turn of the head, he noticed that Scootaloo wasn’t the only one who’d gotten punched up a weight class.

Right in front of him stood an ocean blue-green colt with a white and cyan mane, about three years older. He was bigger, heavier, and without a shadow of a doubt a lot better at this game than Whimper was. As the smaller foal looked up in fear, his opponent just gave a gentle smile to comfort the little guy.

The smile did not help.

Twilight frowned. “Wait, they have to fight older ponies now?”

“Yup.” Lyra rubbed her hooves together in a manner that was normally reserved for spectators of gladiatorial fights.

“But isn’t that unfair?”

“Yup.” Rainbow Dash smirked.

“I don’t get it.”

“Well, you wanted to see how we learn to fly, right? This is how we learn to be a good sport.” Rainbow Dash made a point of facing her friend as the sound of little kids smashing into the cloud walls served as background music. She wanted this to be clear and sink in.

Twilight, unlike Rainbow, kept her eye on the fights themselves.

“These aren’t just mock fights or games, they’re a test and a lesson. The little ones have potential, but they have nothing to compare against except each other. So in the first round, you see who’s best of the litter.” Another crash into the clouds came, this time from Scootaloo’s arena, signalling her loss of a best of three. There was no way she could beat someone that much bigger than her.

“But the older ones don’t enter the competition from the first round. They start off against the smaller, younger ones who won their first round.” Rainbow Dash kept her gaze on Twilight to make sure she was still listening.

”Seeing what the big ones can do, first-hoof, gives the little ones someone to look up to. It gives them something to look forward to when they grow. And it gives the older ponies something even more important, a reminder of what it means to be bigger and better. See, these are kids who’ve been getting growth spurts. They wake up one day, bigger and stronger, maybe even cockier. But when your opponent is that much weaker, and when the rules don't let you fight for real, you have to be careful. You learn to use your strength the right way,” the mare narrated as if she’d had the exact same lecture when she was a filly, which was more than likely the case.

“Not if you’re a bully. This is a perfect feeding ground for complete jerks, isn’t it?”

Rainbow Dash nodded. “You would think that, but there’s always the next round. The older ponies are all watching you, checking what you can take, what you can’t. And they see how you treat your opponent. If you deliberately hurt your opponent, if you abuse the loser, whoever you face next gets even. That’s the rule: someone gets hurt, someone else gets even. Doesn’t matter who, doesn’t matter how many rounds it takes. The bullies always get a taste of their own medicine.”

“But you’re still putting little foals in a match they can’t possibly win.”

“Exactly. They learn, right when they’re little, that there’s always someone better. And with the example their opponents set they learn that being better doesn’t give you an excuse to be mean. No matter how good you are, you always lose at some point. At least, that's idea. Not everypony gets that right away.”

"But that doesn't go for whoever actually wins, right? Eventually you run out of opponents who can get even.” Twilight rubbed her head as she tried to picture it.

“Kinda, but not really. Every round the opponents get stronger, and whoever beats the strongest camp members has to face a grownup. They face the best fighter on the staff.” Lyra grinned at the thought. ”It's sudden death, too, one shot, you're out. I hear this year we’ve got a black belt on our crew, so that should be fun to watch. No kid can beat a grownup, certainly not the best fighter on staff. In this game, loss is inevitable.”

“So yeah, anyway, even that big kid isn’t going to get past this round.” Rainbow Dash lazily settled on her cloud, not even watching the proceedings.

“He just did, actually,” Twilight remarked.

Rainbow Dash barely had time to gasp as Whimper squared off against yet another, slightly bigger colt. His previous opponent got back on his hooves and gave some helpful advice. “Be careful around that one. He’s not... normal.”

The victorious Doldrum Whimper, meanwhile, was clicking his teeth in absolute terror. He did show the courtesy of checking if his opponent was okay, but his primary concern was his own physical integrity. After having stretched his previous fight to see if he couldn’t lose fairly -- which had failed, miserably -- said integrity was beginning to face a very real risk in his mind.

His matchups just kept getting bigger and they were probably starting to realise that they shouldn’t hold back against him. Truth be told, he was beginning to wonder what would be worse. Should he fight to the best of his abilities and risk injuring or getting injured by the bigger kids, or endure more of Scootaloo’s ideas? A brief thought of what else the filly might have in mind was the only motivation he had for not throwing the fight or just assuming the fetal position right then and there.

“How did he do that?” Rainbow Dash wondered aloud.

As his opponent swiped for his front hooves, Whimper pushed himself forward and sideways to push the bigger colt to his right. Caught off balance, the bigger pegasus flapped his wings in a reflex to back away, but Whimper just stuck to him and got on his hind hooves. Even as his foe took a wobbly step back, he positioned his front hooves against chest and belly, and one hind leg in position to trip him on the way back. It didn’t even look like he was doing that much, it was one swift motion. It was the perfect set-up for a fatal counter, and he did in it one move.

Just like that, he gave a good push, sending all of his weight into it to send his opponent flying.

And still he didn’t look happy about it. Scootaloo watched him from her own spot nearby, sipping apple juice at the entertainment after her graceful loss in round two. She briefly considered walking up to him, but she didn’t want to resort to using the stepping stone clouds in front of a crowd. Those things were for babies and unicorns, and she didn’t have a horn. She also lacked a wrestling cutie mark, but having seen sumo ponies she figured that cutie mark would probably have looked like a diaper of sorts, so it wasn’t that big a loss.

Whimper was, at least, impressive. It was one thing to be as strong as he apparently was, but he didn’t just rely on brute strength. Even as his opponent moved to unbalance him, he corrected and countered without so much as dropping a beat. He flipped the older colt with his neck under the belly as a coup de grace, almost juggling with what would have to be a superior adversary.

“I think I’m starting to like this kid,” Rainbow admitted with a wicked grin. Another flip, a roll and firm push of the back hooves, and the third kid fell to the Whimper once more.

“It doesn’t look like he’s doing that much. He just moves sideways and forward when his opponent moves forward, instead of moving back to defend. He defends and attacks at the same time, using circular motion instead of straight lines of offensive power. He’s good, but it’s just basic physics.” Twilight smiled in admiration, though. Her brother would have loved to see this to appreciate the aesthetics a young combatant could deliver.

“Yeah, I know that and you know that, but how does a little kid know that?” Rainbow half-laughed. Everypony seemed to want to cheer for the little guy, but it was considered bad form to do so for cloudwrestling. You just don’t cheer in a game that’s designed to have the crowd favourite lose, not before the game is over.

“Maybe it’s his special talent. He’s a blank flank, still. His talent could involve feeling out an opponent's moves.” Lyra had broken out a camera to tape the whole thing. Twilight’s brother would no doubt love to have this on film to scare the new recruits.

Everyone swarmed around Whimper’s arena now. He was literally shaking in his hooves, even though he hadn’t been brutal or disrespectful to any of his opponents. None of them had so much as a bruise, but nopony could figure out how he was doing it. His previous opponents were as confused as the rest of the crowds, and as impressed. His last opponent was the only sixteen-year-old who’d signed up, Twilight guessed it was the staff member. It might have been some kid on a summer job, and he wore a black belt, but even he soon looked shocked as his sense of balance just seemed to head off on a lunch break or something.

Twilight sighed. “But Whimper doesn’t seem to be enjoying himself. I’m pretty sure someone tricked him into signing up.”

“No kidding. Scootaloo’s grinning like crazy. I’d say she did it to toughen him up a little.” Rainbow smirked, carefully examining the colt’s moves. They looked oddly familiar, maybe the Cilindricus style of fighting. But it was definitely improvised, not learned behaviour. His moves were way too erratic for any sort of teacher to have instilled them, going from herky-jerky panic to smooth combat in the heat of the moment. She wasn't even sure if the kid really knew what he was doing. He looked too scared to be a seasoned fighter, but apparently it was close enough for this sort of competition.

Twilight turned to her friend, her tone sharpening with her gaze. “That’s not funny, Rainbow. If she did, I’m going to want a word with her.”

Rainbow Dash frowned in confusion. She felt she was missing something here, and it wasn’t the usual sort of missing. “Okay. If you think that’s best, you do what you need to do.”

Meanwhile, the panting Doldrum Whimper was receiving a mild applause from beating yet another bigger colt. Someone with a black belt, no less. Twilight squinted and noticed the belt wasn’t the usual sort used in martial arts, but looked more like a utility belt with the items taken off. Someone handed the kid his little pouches to clip back on, which confirmed the unicorn’s suspicions. It also brought to mind another important detail.

Nopony had declared Whimper the victor of the competition yet.

“Wait. That wasn’t --” Twilight noticed Rainbow Dash had taken off. She also noticed Lyra was grinning, which in her experience meant something dramatic was about to happen.

The gears in Twilight’s head turned. Little clicks were made as all the connections fell into place. The last opponent was a staff member. The previous opponent had apparently not been a staff member. The last one would be the best fighter on the staff. This year the last fighter was a black belt, a fact which had been emphasised such to suggest that previous years they did not have this black belt available. So whoever was the last fighter was someone who was coaching here for the first time.

Like clockwork, the facts twisted and turned in Twilight’s head. And like the hammer hitting the bell to sound the passing of time, Twilight’s hoof struck her forehead to sound the painfully obvious. “Of course.”

Doldrum Whimper was looking around nervously. He watched the walls of the cage and anxiously waited for his next and hopefully last opponent. A big, hulking white bodybuilder pegasus with red eyes stared intently at him. Snow Flake read the colt’s mind and shook his head, then pointed a hoof past him.

The shadow appeared behind Whimper. Rainbow Dash gave him the last words he wanted to hear. “Your last opponent… is me.”

As he turned around, what courage he had left sank into the tips of his hooves, his ears dropping to match. “I think I want my mommy now.”

Rainbow Dash leaned in to nudge his head. She whispered to him just to make things clear.

“Hey, don’t feel bad about having to fight me, or losing. It’s part of the game. See all those kids watching you? They think you’re awesome for getting this far. And they want to see you do your best. So you put up a good fight, okay? I promise I’ll go easy on you, but only if you do your best. Make it look good.”

Twilight Sparkle’s hoof hadn’t left her forehead. She couldn’t bear to watch, even though averting her eyes wasn’t an option. Lyra was floating half a dozen cameras around by now, determined to get this fight recorded from every conceivable angle for posterity’s sake, for Royal Guard training purposes, and of course for her own guilty pleasure.

As the last match started, the unicorns could hear the poor boy’s whimpers and little shrieks as Rainbow swiped at his front hooves, then shoved him from one end of the battlefield to the other. He put up a good fight, alright, showing perfect form at every roll and sidestep. His hoofwork was fast and balanced, not one counter-push he made didn’t have his full body weight behind it, but to no avail. Whatever advantage he’d had over his other opponents was all but absent in his last matchup.

Rainbow Dash was having a good time, obviously. She felt like a little filly again, playing the game that taught pegasi their most important lesson, yet ironically was the most awkward game for them to play. Having to stick to the ground wasn’t natural for them, doubly so in a combat situation where they’d have to fly backwards to correct their balance. However, Dash had the dexterity, coordination and reflexes of a professional, and pretty much danced around the hapless kid.

He didn’t give up. He took every opportunity to try and unbalance her after her own attacks fizzled, which Twilight could only assume was because Rainbow Dash wanted the fight to last nice and long. Rainbow’s catcalls of “Nice one!” and “You almost got me that time!” only served to put more of a show as the two gracefully yet swiftly exchanged pushes, shoves and trips.

Doldrum Whimper failed to appreciate the aesthetics of it. The blue bruiser yelped at every speedy attack, despite correcting and countering perfectly every single time, if only in the nick of time. Twilight felt sorry for him, especially when he started getting tired. After a few minutes his positioning was slowing down, his legs were looking wobbly and his head was beginning to hang limply from the exertion, that one spike of hair falling in front of his face again. Eventually he just stood still, panting.

The little guy was spent.

Rainbow Dash smiled down at him, regardless. He’d lasted more rounds than normal, and stood up to a grownup who knew what she was doing. With her opponent too tired to protest, she slowly trotted over to his side and nuzzled his belly. He giggled at the unexpected affection.

Then she flipped him.

After all, it was tradition.

The crowds erupted into cheers and applause. Rainbow Dash spun around to face everyone, one hoof extended to accept and channel the praise, then brought down to direct it at the one who deserved it.

“Your cloudwrestling champion: Doldrum Whimper!”

The net-like cloud where he’d landed was empty. Whimper was gone, slipped away when nopony was looking. Scootaloo had run off as well, no doubt in hot pursuit, and Twilight was most likely on the hunt for a potential lecturing victim. Dash gave it some thought before addressing the crowds.

"Huh. Okay, Whimper’s not a crowd pony, I guess. I’m gonna go see where he is. The rest of you, as you were, we’ll just have to save the applause for dinner.”

Whimper trotted towards the nearest building as quick as he could to hide in the shadow of the walls. He sighed and panted, trying to catch his breath and slow down his heartbeat to get it out of his personal danger zone. He sat himself down, alone with his thoughts.

A swish stopped his thoughts from getting too far. He groaned and looked up sadly. “You know what I hate about being up in the clouds?”

Rainbow Dash leaned over the edge of his sheltering cabin, looking down in a mix of sympathy and pure giddiness. “Zero privacy? Yeah, I’m kind of a bigshot like that. I can clear a city’s sky in ten seconds, flat. Checking the entire camp site doesn’t take me that long.” She came down to face him, then sat next to him in the shade. ”So why’d you run off like that? You’re not hurt, are you?”

Whimper shook his head. “I just don’t like ponies looking at me like that, is all.”

Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow. “Like what? Like you just did something you should be proud of? That’s kind of funny, ‘coz I never get tired of that.”

The blue colt, just a shade darker than the mare, chuckled softly. He made himself small, as if cowering in fear of her. “I guess. But that’s just it. I’m… really not that good. I don’t want ponies to start expecting me to be, because, well...”

She shuffled closer and spread a wing over his back. He felt chilly to the touch, no doubt from the sweat he’d spent. “Hey, you’re under my wing now. You're supposed to get better, just give it some time. And let me tell you something, what I've seen from you so far is pretty impressive. You've got good reflexes, and you've got guts. Don’t worry about what you can’t do, what you can do now is way above the curve.”

The little colt cringed, though he did seem to relax under the stretched wing. “Really?”

She nodded. “Really. A Peregrine Dive is a tricky thing to do, and catching somepony in mid-air without getting them hurt is tricky, too. Plus, you’re a good wrestler, even if you don’t really know what you’re doing.”

He blushed and made himself smaller again. “Umm… that was just luck. I-I’m not that good at fighting, not really. The other ponies just let me win.”

Rainbow Dash narrowed her eyes. There was something about him that seemed familiar, and it wasn't just him looking or sounding like Fluttershy with his whisper-like voice and his mane. She'd seen him somewhere before, but she couldn't quite remember where.

“You’re kinda weird, aren’t you? You don’t do sports, you don’t like crowds, and you still look like a bruiser. And anypony who’s that good at something would know better than to say they let you win. What do you do all day, anyway?”

Whimper looked away from her. “I just help out on the rock farm near my house or my town’s cherry orchard when school is out. That’s pretty much what I do every day until dinner comes around, and after that I just do… stuff. Nothing important.”

Rainbow Dash leered at him. “Kid, don’t try that talk on me. I know an athlete when I see one. You don’t just hang out on farms and lug stuff around, you’ve got a dedicated program that just happens to go unnoticed, I can tell. You don’t get to look the way you do without pushing your limits. Now that I think about it, you probably shouldn’t be doing that to begin with. I mean, look at you, that kind of build takes time, especially at your age. Doesn’t anypony keep an eye on you?”

He shrugged. “Sure they do. I usually hang out with my friend Peachy on the rock farm, and my aunt Blossom never lets me near the cherry sorting machines without her being there. Peachy’s pretty much always around me, she’s nice, and a good laugh. But we don’t talk much, well… she does most of the talking, I guess. We help out with each other’s chores, that’s all, and her parents think she’s safer around me. I’m not too sure if I’m safe around her sometimes, though."

That got a chuckle out of the mare. "So you do train to get stronger, right? Ever try any competition?"

"Once, but that didn't really count. I just try to do something to get my mind off things, that’s all. So I did some exercises for a while to get bigger, and now I help out on some farms to stay big. It makes me feel like I can do something. Plus, all the grownups like me, and I get pie. I don’t have to do anything I don’t want to, if that’s what you mean. And I’m happy, sort of,” he clearly lied, at least part of it.

A few gears turned in Rainbow Dash’s head, or rather tried to turn, since a spanner had gotten stuck in the works. “Your friend Peachy lives on a rock farm? I’m guessing she’s an Earth pony with a peach colour, little yellow in the mane, maybe?”

Doldrum Whimper nodded.

Judging from what she knew and past experiences, Dash could guess the implications for the young colt. She'd seen a Peachy at a talent show once, but she hadn't connected the dots then. “Is she really lively, does her tail twitch whenever there’s trouble, and is her last name 'Pie'?” That last word she added with a sense of dread.

“Oh, you know her?”

For the briefest moment, Rainbow Dash had vision, or a daydream. It involved Doldrum Whimper trying to shove a massive boulder up a hill with a filly Pinkie Pie expy jumping up and down on it in encouragement. It also involved the filly driving everyone in her class up the walls, except for the one shy colt who just thought she was weird. Said shy colt would more than likely tag along with her and provide zero counterweight to any crazy ideas she had, leaving them both headed into trouble.

An impressionable bullhead and a younger version of Pinkie Pie? Whoever’s teaching that class is either highly trained or highly medicated.

Get it together, Rainbow, you don’t even know that girl. They’re probably just perfectly normal kids… the same way Scootaloo and her friends are perfectly normal. And you know how well that turns out most of the time.

She shook those thoughts away for a later nightmare, right now she had more urgent concerns. “Never mind that. I just need to know, have you ever gotten hurt from trying to carry anything too heavy? Have you ever -- I dunno -- crashed under the weight? Any injuries that might pop up in practice?” She moved her wings back and forth a bit, just to get him to unwind.

Doldrum tilted his head, still nervous and pensive but a little more comfy under the light blue wing. “No injuries, no. I just push rocks around once the moss and herbs are harvested, and load up cherry baskets ‘till I can’t take any more. I get to the point where it burns, but never more, so I can keep going the next day. My mom’s a dietetic nurse, she knows what I’m supposed to do and when I’m supposed to stop. I do push-ups, too, and ab crunches. I got a program from a magazine to get to a hundred crunches, but I’ve only gotten to 75 so far. Peachy and my mom check the schedules, I don’t really do that much. I just follow their advice.”

“You don’t do that much? So your friend is even bigger than you, then?”

He raised his eyebrow, surprised at the question. “Umm… no? She doesn’t do that kind of thing, she just got me into it because she thought I’d like it. And I do.”

“Then I’d say you still managed to do a lot, kid. Even if you had help, you still had to do the work on your own, don’t forget that.”

He smiled weakly, staring at his tree trunk arms. “I know. Not that it matters. It doesn’t help my flying at all. I’m just slow, always have been, so I’m always left behind. I can’t speed up, and nothing works.”

There was what she needed to hear. “So you bulked up instead, and kids still pick on you, huh?”

“Uhuh. But at least I don’t get beaten up that often. It could be worse.”

“Have you tried standing up to them? You know kids only pick on you because you let them, right? No matter how strong you are, they’ll keep going if you don’t fight back.”

Whimper tensed up again. “I know. But if I fight, then ponies get hurt, and I get in trouble. I’ve tried fighting back, but grownups keep telling me fighting’s bad, that I shouldn’t. So I don’t. It’s not like I won’t fight back if I really have to. I just don’t like doing it.”

Dash nodded. At least he realised what he was in for. She tried to get the facts straight so she knew what she would be in for. The little tension he got at the thought of violence confirmed another suspicion, but one that required a little more subtlety.

“So you just lug stuff around on your own, and you’ve been lugging heavier stuff to get stronger. And that’s all you’ve been doing for a while, with a filly who talks to you but you don’t talk back to keeping you company. And when things get too much for you, your first instinct is to find a little corner to be alone, is that right?”

A solemn nod answered her.

“Well, I guess you can finally say your hard work’s paid off. You won the cloudwrestling fair and square, and all the older kids will respect you for that, even if your classmates don’t. Nopony’s gonna give you a hard time here, not if you don’t let them. And just so you don’t run off in a sad little corner like some emu kid, I’ll ask Twilight if she can’t set up a little book corner. I noticed you brought a book along, you can read in quiet there if things really get to you. Does that sound all right?” She leaned in with a friendly look.

Whimper smiled up at her. His back had warmed up again, it seemed. “I think I can handle that. But mine’s not really a book you read. It’s more a book you read to other ponies.”

“Oh. I’m sure Scootaloo would love to hear you read it, then. And I’m pretty sure she’ll stick up for you if Zephyr and Skyron ever get out of hand, too.” She winked.

“Are you kidding? That Scootaloo hates me! She’s not gonna be satisfied ‘till I’m going home in pieces!” Right on cue, he went rigid under her wing again.

Rainbow Dash laughed as she got up. “Don’t worry, I know Scootaloo. She doesn’t hate you, she’s not like that. If anything, she’ll like you even more for what you did, and she’ll give those jocks a run for their money if they try to prank you. You wouldn’t believe some of the stuff she’s pulled back in Ponyville. Trust me, she’s your friend.”

The colt got to his hooves. “Okay. If you say so.”

Rainbow Dash smiled down at the little guy. She’d get him to open up soon enough. She led the way as they headed back. “You know, you look kinda familiar. Ever been to Canterlot? Like, I dunno, field trips?”

He looked away. “A couple.”

“Let me give you a little tip, then. Next time you go there, you should get your class to go to the Phoenix Garden. That’s where the Royal Guard’s flyers train, and the Wonderbolts. They’ve got this Wall of Fame corridor with pictures from any pegasus who’s made the news. You know: breaking speed records, heroic saves or fighting monsters.” Rainbow Dash checked his reaction to that last one.

He was blushing furiously. She was sure of it now. “I-I’m pretty sure it’d be off limits for me, and my class. Thanks anyway. ”

“Give up already, Whimper, I know your little secret.” Dash patted him gently with her wing.

His eyes went wide, his body froze. “What do you know? And how?”

To that, Dash chuckled. “Last time I was in Canterlot, your name and picture were hanging right next to mine.”

“Scootaloo, can we talk?” Twilight came up behind the filly.

“Urgh, you’re not gonna tell me to be nice to Wimpie, are you?” She saw it coming a mile away, and wasn’t about to roll over to a lecture if she could help it.

“No, I was going to tell you to be careful with him.”

“Huh? Come on, you saw him, he’s strong as an ox. He can take it. I just want him to start acting like it. I can’t wait to see what else he can do.” She giggled as she jumped up excitedly. Seeing him throw those bigger colts around was definitely something she’d never forget, but she suspected she could get him to do more. Scootaloo only regretted not having her friends around to see it too. They’d never believe her.

Twilight shot her a disapproving look. “That’s not what I meant at all. He’s not the one I’m worried about.”

“What? You think he might beat up those bullies? That’d be so cool.” Scootaloo rubbed her hooves together. She knew he’d win soundly, too.

With a sigh, Twilight lay down to get to Scootaloo’s eye level. “You really don’t know anything about boys, do you?”

“No offense, but do you?” Scootaloo raised an eyebrow, knowing full well that was a fair point as far as Twilight was concerned.

Twilight smiled sheepishly, but didn’t let the remark break her resolve. “Not all boys, I’ll admit, but I know Whimper’s type well enough. I grew up with a colt just like him, my best friend, even. He was friendly, a little shy. But then, well, something happened, and he shut himself off. He decided he wasn’t strong enough, so he started working on that.”

Scootaloo wasn’t buying any of it, but Twilight’s reputation as a lecturer was enough warning not to argue at this point. Better to get it over with now than to have to endure it in front of everypony else. “So what happened?”

“Me and him got picked on by... some pony, I can’t even remember who it was exactly. We told the grownups about it, they said we had to learn to stand up for ourselves and for others. He didn’t take that very well. He started locking himself away, got angry at every little thing. All the fun just went out of him, just like that.” Twilight looked almost sad, but it still smelled like an act to the filly.

“Okay, stop right there. I understand what you’re trying to say, but really? Am I supposed to believe you, of all ponies, had a best friend who was just like Wimpie? Come on, I was on the school newspaper, remember? Everypony knows you hardly knew anyone in Canterlot. What’s next, you gave him a card on Hearts and Hooves Day, he was finally happy, and now he’s your special somepony?”

Twilight rolled her eyes. “Actually, he’s my brother.”

The image of Shining Armour smiling at his wedding flashed through the filly’s head. “Wait, your brother? From the Royal Guard? How… what--”

“He didn’t get any help from our parents, or from any teachers. They said it was his fight. They all told him he had to face up to his responsibilities as a colt, as a stallion. So he bulked himself up as much as he could and started trying attack spells he had no business even knowing existed. He got pretty close to getting his hooves on some weapons, too. Shiny wouldn’t let me out of his sight for protection and he barely talked. He toughened himself up, just like you want Whimper to toughen up. Take my word for it, when they get to the point that the pain of failing is worse than the pain needed to grow, you do not want to push them further.”

“So what happened? Did the bully back off?” Scootaloo asked worriedly.

“Kind of. One night, we were eating dinner, and my brother walked in. He finally had his cutie mark, that sparkling shield.”

Scootaloo smiled at that. Cutie marks were good.

“And a dislocated shoulder, a black eye, bite marks on his neck, claw marks on his back and lightning burns on his belly.” The unicorn winced as that one image was firmly implanted on her mind, even if she couldn’t remember the exact circumstances.

Scootaloo mimicked the wince. “Wow. That sounds rough.”

“Oh, that’s nothing. You should have seen the other six, they were just mangled,” Twilight replied casually. She almost sounded proud of it in retrospect.

That finally broke Scootaloo’s composure. Six on one, presumably with one of the six being a griffon, and one being a unicorn, mangled? This did not compute.

“See what I’m trying to say? Whimper’s type isn’t one you want to push any farther. You know how hard it is to get stronger or faster, and I think you can guess how much effort he put into getting as strong as he is now. If you start mocking him or get it into his head he should start getting violent, he’s going to think violence was what he should have started with in the first place. You saw what he can do with kids bigger than him, and he was holding back. What do you suppose will happen when he snaps on you?” She leaned in at that question.

The filly shook her head slowly. “He wouldn’t. He’s a pushover, I’ll bet he even brought a stuffed animal along to sleep with.”

Twilight tilted her head with a look as if Scootaloo had just announced bananas were red. “You do realise the flaw in that logic, don’t you?”

“What flaw?”

“You think it’s safe because he’s a pushover, yet you’re trying to get him to stop being a pushover.” Twilight looked Scootaloo in the eye for added effect.

At the thought of what else she had planned for Whimper, and the intended results, combined with this new data, the filly’s face turned pale. She just wanted him to feel better, not make a bully out of him. But then, she’d have bully him into it, too. “But I just want to do him a favour. He might even get his cutie mark if he just got over his nerves.”

Twilight raised herself back up with a smile. “Good. I’m glad you feel that way, because I’ve spoken to Lyra about your punishment and we agreed that you should do a dance for the cloud fire tonight, in front of the whole camp. Signing someone up for a fight against their will isn’t something we tolerate here in Flight Camp. And since you’re a good dancer, we figured we might as well get creative.”

Scootaloo shook her head furiously. “Wait, what? No, please, not that! I can’t dance in front of a crowd!”

“But you’re good at it. Very good, even.” Twilight kept up her innocent look.

“Doesn’t mean I wanna do it in front of everyone! Suppose I mess up? Then everypony will laugh at me.” Scootaloo pondered faking an injury at this point.

“But you’re not going to mess up because you’re good at it. In fact, you might even get your cutie mark that way.” The unicorn gave her the usual grin, knowing full well that was a fair point in Scootaloo’s case.

“No, I won’t. I’ll be too busy stressing out about tripping over my hooves, landing on my head or getting laughed at because of my wings to get anything on my flanks. Look, if you wanna punish me, fine. But please, I’m begging you, don’t make me dance in front of everyone. I’m just not good enough.” Scootaloo let her head hang.

Twilight looked down in sympathy. “Maybe you are, maybe you aren’t. But you certainly don’t feel good enough for it, do you? The same way Whimper doesn’t feel good about showing his strength in front of others or about fighting, like you were planning to make him.”

Scootaloo groaned and bumped her head into Twilight’s front legs, given that there were no walls in bumping range. Walked right into that one. “Okay, I get it. No poking the bullhead. I’ll just leave him alone.”

“You don’t have to go that far. I’m sure the two of you will get along fine. Just don’t get into trouble, okay?”

Scootaloo groaned. “Fine.”

“I knew you’d see things my way.” Twilight smiled triumphantly. She glanced back to see Whimper and Rainbow Dash heading back from whatever corner the colt had sought out. He hung his head when he noticed Scootaloo talking to Twilight.

“Um… are you telling her to be friends with me?" Whimper winced.

Twilight was going to say something, but the cloud next to her suddenly poofed up and next thing she knew Scootaloo was already standing next to him.

“Don’t worry about Twilight, she was just warning me not to do that to you again, or you’d break every bone in my body.”

The colt raised an eyebrow, Dash suppressed a giggle. If he had one of Pinkie Pie’s family in his class, chances were the boy had some experience with fillies getting in his face. That thought brought the idea of Doldrum Whimper and Peachy Pie meeting the Cutie Mark Crusaders into her head, and the resulting image of a mushroom cloud made her shudder to her core.

Whimper blinked obliviously as he tried to make sense of what Scootaloo had just said. “Umm... okay?”

“And don’t worry, Wimpie, even if you’re a little soft, you are officially awesome enough to hang out with me. You're pretty tough when you want to be. Hey, you could be my Fluttershy!” Scootaloo exclaimed. The two headed off at their own pace, somewhat preoccupied with each other as the grownups took the front.

“What’s a Fluttershy?” he asked sheepishly.

That got a chuckle from the mares. Twilight Sparkle turned back for just second. “A very good and very strong friend of ours. You sort of talk like her, actually. But it’s a good thing, trust me, and it suits you. Kind of.”

“So if you want me to rough up Zephyr or Skyron, I’ve got your back. And you have got to show me how you threw those kids like you did.” Scootaloo started ranting just a tad. ”Oh, and do you dance?”

He blushed and flattened his ears. “Never. I-I can’t really move all that fast for too long, so I try not to move when I don’t need to.”

Scootaloo let that sink in for a bit. If he didn’t have a lot of stamina, he would have to compensate in strength. It made sense to her. “That’s okay, Wimpy. I’ll show you some of my moves if you show me some of yours.”

Whimper looked her in the eye with an almost sad expression, as if sensing some sort of mockery. She stopped, taken aback by it. “What’s wrong?”

Whimper looked away and kicked at the ground for a moment, or what passed for the ground up in the clouds. “Ssoooo… are we friends now?”

Scootaloo smiled brightly. “Of course we are. We’re both blank flanks, we’ve both got awesome moves. You look out for me, and I’m gonna look out for you. Why wouldn’t we be friends?”

“Well, if we are… could you not call me ‘Wimpie’, please?” He grimaced ever so slightly.

Rainbow Dash and Twilight turned their heads for just a bit as they caught that, not wanting to ruin the moment.

Scootaloo suddenly felt a little pang in her chest. “Oh. I’m sorry, I thought it was just a funny nickname.”

“It’s not. It’s not the worst thing I get called, but it still kinda stings. My friends call me 'Whimper'. Or ‘Bullhead’, but after that one movie it’s got kind of a weird ring to it.” He rolled his eyes at the thought. Thankfully, the movie in question wasn’t very popular. Twilight winced, though, as she had seen it. The titular character had added some very unfortunate associations with the term. Twilight was sure the boy would never be associated with that one, though, it was just too obscure.

“That’s kind of a weird name you’ve got, though. But you can call me ‘Scoot’ if you like,” she offered as Rainbow Dash opened the doors to the cantina.

As soon as they saw him, everyone at their tables started pounding in applause, coaches and kids, with Dash and Twilight heading off to their table to join the fray. The colt couldn’t see his classmates, though. Whimper froze in place and cringed, but Scootaloo pushed him on like he was a stubborn sheep.

“Come on, you. They’ll probably forget about it in a few days, you might as well enjoy the fame while it lasts.”

Whimper looked around, stomach growling with nerves and hunger. Almost everyone was applauding him, yet his heart sank. He nearly let his head hang before Scootaloo nudged him again. He was really hard to get moving if he didn’t want to.

“Come on, don’t just stand there like a dunce. Let’s get something to eat.”

The pair made off to get their meal, and conversation returned to normal. Whimper chanced a glance around the crowds, then looked to Scootaloo as she found them a seat.

New friend on my first day. Wow, maybe things won’t be so bad up here.

Maybe, just once, things will be all right.

Just once, I won’t have to hear the other thing they call me.

In the Doldrums

Chapter 3: In the Doldrums

Scootaloo looked at the cloud in front of her, then to the abyss that separated it from the one she was on, then to the stairs that had been added for no reason other than to give foals another leg workout. “Okay, so I have to jump from here to there and flap my wings only once. And that’s supposed to be enough to carry me there, right?”

Rainbow Dash grimaced down at her. The clouds weren’t as high as the dive on the Gantelope, but they didn’t need to be. It was high enough to plummet, and far enough to require a wingflap. “Normally, yeah. If you think you’re not going to make it, at least try to make a good landing.”

Whimper took a few quick deep breaths before walking up to Scootaloo. “I’ll go first, if that’s okay with you. The others are waiting.”

Scootaloo nodded.

With a steady trot, Whimper lined up his jump and gave one calculated flap of his wing to clear the distance from one cloud to the other. He didn't dive down right away like the others had, though. He stayed there just for moral support, and to avoid the two jocks.

“Scootacooties up last, huh?“ Rumble asked with a grin, loud enough for all to hear.

Whimper kept his eye on Scootaloo, and she returned the gesture. Even with only two days, she decided she did kind of like him. He didn’t have much of a snap to him, he didn’t seem that prone to arguing, unlike Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle. And, as she'd learned on the first night in the cabin, he did indeed sleep with a stuffed animal. To be fair, though, his plush bat was a bit of a surprise. It had buttons on its wings and a wingspan so wide he could go to sleep with it hugging his neck with its wings and warming his back with its body. The mares and filly had thought it rather cute, in a creepy sort of way.

“Come on, chicken, you’re holding up the line!” Skyron called.

Scootaloo sighed. With a running start, she jumped straight forward. Right at the halfway point, she gave one powerful flap of the wing, as strong as she could muster.

It did nothing, save getting her in a roll that sent her falling.

Flailing her hooves as the jocks got a little chuckle going, she pushed out her chest, lowered her shoulders and started flapping her wings in her normal rhythm, too fast for the naked eye. Still she plummeted, rolling and flailing in the air. She gritted her teeth as the landing cloud came to greet her.

She needn’t have worried. Just as before, Whimper was right there to catch her. She rolled off his back even as the other colts started making smooching sounds and calling out some inanity or another.

“Thanks.” Scootaloo blushed at the save.

“Eheh, no problem.”

Twilight was standing at the other end of the makeshift chasm, her suspicions about Scootaloo confirmed. The unicorn just needed one more test to make sure she could fix it, but she was confident she’d get Scootaloo flying normally before the end of the day. The foals marched up the stairs to work their legs, lined up to take the jump again, and things quickly settled into a routine. Rumble’s wings were already stronger than before, so he got enough lift from one flap. Zephyr and Skyron had no trouble clearing the gap, and Whimper barely even needed to flap at all. Their dives afterward went pretty well, too.

But no matter what Scootaloo tried, she always wound up falling. Twilight had to suppress a sigh every time Scootaloo plummeted. The exercise demanded that they keep going, no exceptions. But with every leap, Scootaloo’s face contorted in shame and resentment. Her usual cheerful expression, with that hint of defiance, was fading into defeat at every failed jump.

Twilight had never realised how much flying meant for a pegasus. It was heart-breaking to watch a filly she knew be broken like that. To think that Fluttershy had gone through the same ordeal made her chest ache even more.

But at least Scootaloo never crashed into the clouds. Twilight kept her eye on Whimper a few times when he dove after her, and as far as she could tell his technique was near perfect. He always had that little tension in his shoulders, a mere hint of a twitch in his wings, and then he’d be off. He’d go into freefall, catch up to Scootaloo as she barely managed to slow down her fall, and have her land on his back while he took the impact of the landing. All the while, his expression never shifted, like he wasn’t even thinking about it.

He really was like Fluttershy with her animals, albeit a colt with near-steroid-driven physique.

Twilight considered the options. She could take Scootaloo aside now or during the break, but she’d need Lyra’s help to pinpoint the exact problem, and currently Lyra had a few flight flea cases to deal with. Not a contagious problem, the silly things just had a taste for fruit-scented wing shampoo, and for some reason they were always attracted to whichever scent was in fashion at the time. This led to the odd trend that parasites was what all the cool kids had. She’d just have to wait until after lunch, as much as it pained her to do so. Twilight shrugged at the thought. At least Scootaloo has a friend to cheer her up.

Lunch had all the cheer of a class on differential equations as applied to water sanitation. Scootaloo nibbled idly on her daisy sandwich while Whimper tried to find something to lift her spirits.

Unfortunately, with his only friend being of the hyperactive and constantly happy variety, he didn’t exactly have a lot of experience in the matter. He kept quiet for a while before resorting to the most common and, sadly, probably the worst phrase a friend could offer. “You wanna talk about it?”

Scootaloo groaned, then giggled at the clumsy attempt. “Not really, no. It’s nothing, I’m kind of used to not being able to fly. I just want to get my certificate, that’s all.”

Whimper swallowed another bite. “Me too. It stinks that you’re not even considered a proper pegasus without one.”

Scootaloo nodded. “Yup. No letters for Hurricane Day, no weather clean-up duty on Winter Wrap-Up Day, not even allowed to use a raincloud without a permission slip.”

Whimper scrunched his face, deciding to go for a different approach. “At least you can use your wings, right?”

Scootaloo looked back and flapped the little appendages, still disappointed at their minute size. She couldn’t even see them most of the time, they were so small. They were about three-quarters of Whimper’s, and when she was nervous they shrank to half. They’d always been small compared to others. And yet Skyron had almost the same wing size, but no problems at all. “These things? Maybe when they’re fully grown. Now, I might as well not have them at all. My wings are just like I am, small and useless.”

Whimper stretched his wing over her shoulder, as far as it could reach, and patted a little. The background smooching sounds from the other table were quickly silenced by the glares of some of the older kids. Apparently winning the cloudwrestling competition really did yield some respect. “I think your wings are awesome. You can’t even see them move, the way you go.”

Scootaloo gave him a weak smile, and suppressed the urge to groan at his use of the word ‘awesome’. It just didn’t feel right coming from him, not with him sounding the way he did. “Thanks. But do you have any idea what it’s like being grounded all the time?”

The blue colt shook his head slowly as Scootaloo’s appetite returned. “I know what it’s like being last all the time. At least you’re fast, the only thing I can do fast is go straight down.” He thought for a moment. ”Wait. If you’re always grounded, how did you beat Zephyr without any wing power?”

The filly shrugged as she finished her lunch. “I didn’t. I’ve got a lot of wing power, I just can’t fly. I get around Ponyville on my scooter, and I use my wings to push me forward. I’m used to doing that kind of thing, so I did that for my fight. It was harder without wheels under my hooves, but I pretty much just ran him over.”

“Wow. You ran over a bad apple striker? I thought you just tripped him or something. That’s not an easy trick.” He shook his head at the thought. He’d seen Zephyr in action, to beat him on pure wing power was to beat him at his own game.

“But what’s your problem, then? You can fly just fine, can’t you?” She certainly hadn’t seen him struggle with anything yet, but then they hadn’t done anything speed-related yet.

Whimper turned his face away. “I can, sort of, but not that well. I-I...”

Scootaloo didn’t press the issue. No point in making Whimper feel bad after he tried to cheer her up. “I guess it doesn’t matter. Rainbow Dash is the best flyer in all of Equestria, and Twilight Sparkle’s the smartest unicorn. We’re getting lessons from the best, so it’ll all work out. And afterwards, you could fly to Ponyville and hang out with my friends! I’m sure they’d love to meet you.”

Whimper nodded. More crazy fillies, just what he needed. Scootaloo was quite sure Sweetie Belle would be swooning over the colt, and Apple Bloom could always appreciate someone down to Earth and strong, like her brother.

“Sure, I guess. Bogsdown isn’t that far from Ponyville if you fly. So what do your friends do for fun?”

Scootaloo took a deep breath to start listing all the things they’d gotten up to, but stopped herself. “Mostly we try to get our cutie marks.”

Whimper winced slightly at the sudden drop of her tone. “And how’s that worked out?”

“Let’s see: my friend Apple Bloom poisoned herself with a disease that went extinct 5000 years ago, then we gave her brother a love poison that drove him and our teacher nuts. Sweetie Belle got us lost in the Everfree Forest and nearly got us stoned by a cockatrice. We all tore down the stage during a school talent show, and we wrecked a few lives with our gossip column in the school newspaper.” She realised a little too late that this was probably not something she should admit to that early in their friendship.

“Oh, you’re that Scootaloo, huh? I’ve read about you in the Foal Free Press, you’re pretty amazing. That doesn’t sound so bad.”

Scootaloo blinked, surprised. As far as she knew, those were all big deals. If he didn’t think so, that could only mean one thing. “What have you gotten into, then?”

“Umm, nothing special. My friend Peachy just gets me into trouble sometimes, that’s all. She got robbed by Kludde near Froggy Bottom Bog, so I… I kind of wrestled it to get her necklace back. No big deal.” He ate a little quicker after that admission, and gulped his drink nervously.

This was news to the filly. She’d read about Kludde once, when the Crusaders used a book on horrific creatures as a style guide for their costumes (it sounded like a good idea at the time). Kludde was bipedal, green, had tusks and red glowing eyes, and there was supposed to be only one of its kind on Equestria. It was pretty big, too, about minotaur-sized. Scootaloo had seen its picture, but it was only of its head, and even then it wasn’t really clear if it was a head or a helmet. The plates of its mask or head didn't seem to wrap around all the way, just over the side. Then again, with a creature like that, it's hard to say where the neck begins and where the head starts, if any.

From what she’d read, Kludde resembled an armoured skeletal devil more than anything else, though the armour itself was made of plant material woven together. She was pretty sure it could change its shape, too, but not like a changeling. It had something to do with only using dead matter, like the plants that made up its armour.

The thing would scare travellers and steal their trinkets, and feed on the sentimentality and memories that had been bestowed upon them. It usually just ate necklaces and earrings, but it had been known to sneak into towns and go for ancient tomes of knowledge or valuable artifacts, putting it high on the hit-list of the Royal Guard. It would also ambush someone and terrify them to feed on the memories as their lives flashed before their eyes.

Kludde was basically a Windigo or a changeling that required memories attached to the emotions to feed. It had some sort of magic to attack prey, too, but she couldn’t quite remember what.

And if Whimper had fought it, that of course brought to mind the obvious question. “Did you beat it?”

The boy blushed and tensed up again, his wings locked against his flank. “I got the necklace back, if that’s what you mean.”

It was probably a lucky shot, dropped in a scuffle or something. Scootaloo already knew he wasn’t the type to go overboard about his achievements, and it felt good to hear him open up a little, so she kept going. “Just that? No tearing down the stage in a music contest? No super-awesome moves that get you into the newspapers?”

“Umm... there was the eating contest from Manneken Pix, the Royal Chef. Peachy Pie signed me up for that, you’re not the first one to do that.”

“An eating contest? By Manneken Pix, the alicorn chef of the royal court? The guy who has an indigestion wing named after him in Canterlot Hospital?”

He cringed as she summed it up. “Umm… yes?”

She let her eyes go over his muscular frame. “That does sound right up your alley. Or was that before you… you know…”

“No, that was after. It wasn’t bad, actually, I just couldn’t eat all the olives, too salty. Pix gave me a good honey and cheese dish recipe, though, my mom loved it. I finished third, too. So pretty standard stuff, not like you.” He tried to sound casual.

The filly looked at his face, and couldn’t see any lies, any hint of exaggerating or just bragging. He was pretty much in the same boat as she was. A blank flank pegasus who couldn’t fly properly and had nothing else to do all day but follow whoever let him hang out with them, even if ‘hanging out’ meant 'upsetting the very balance of the Universe'.

Then again, ‘brutalising the laws of physics’ was pretty much a national sport in Equestria, so kids could get away with a lot.

Scootaloo pondered the comparison for a moment. “Don’t worry, I’m sure you’d be able to keep up with me and my friends. You bring your friends, I’ll bring mine, and we’ll see what happens.”

“Sure?” He looked confused, but relieved at her perking up a little.

The purple-maned filly gave him the best she could muster. The best fake smile, at least.

Twilight walked into the nurse’s office as Lyra sprayed one blushing green teen filly with some insecticide. “Got everything ready for Scootaloo?”

Lyra sniffed the lemony air around the girl before levitating some metal disks towards her purple companion. That was all the answer she had to give, really. “There, that’ll keep the creepy crawlies off ya. And remember, they’re drawn to peach now, so use a different shampoo.”

Once the filly was off, Lyra turned to unicorn for a more serious matter. “If you've got a minute, Twi, I noticed something a little weird in that book corner of yours.”

Twilight tilted her head. “What? You’re surprised little kids are capable of enjoying a book?”

Lyra shook her head and walked out with Twilight in tow, right to the cabin where the latter had installed her books. Lyra went browsing for a little something and showed Twilight the weird thing in question. “This one: The Fountain and other Soothing Scenes.”

Twilight flipped the pages to get an idea of the book. “There’s no dialogue. It’s just descriptions. I’m pretty sure this one isn’t mine, either. Is this that book Whimper dropped off so he wouldn’t lose it?”

The green bard nodded. “It is, and that’s why I asked. This is a rune page, not a story book.”

Twilight raised an eyebrow. “A whatnow?”

To that, Lyra looked surprised as it was something she’d assumed Twilight, of all ponies, would know about. “It’s an imagery book, like the ones they used to write in runes. It’s supposed to put stuff in your head, they give these things for hypnotherapy.”

“And you’re telling me this, because?”

“Because I’d like to know what Whimper would want with a book like that. He could have a medical problem and maybe this book is part of the treatment. But there’s nothing on his files, and he didn’t bring any medicine. Whimper didn’t ask for anypony to read it to him, so it’s not something he really needs, but then why would he bring this in the first place? I thought, since you’re training him and you know books better than I do, maybe you could tell me what it’s for?”

Twilight gave the titular story a brief read. It was mostly imagery of travelling, vast landscapes, feeling the waters of a mythical fountain feed the character’s body. A few detailed descriptions of water droplets growing and shrinking were there, too, which all pointed to a growth stimulant of sorts. “If I had to guess, I’d say it’s just something to make his muscles bigger. It could be a little way of easing cramps by visualising the lactic acid shrinking. I know the principle, we got these things in magic kindergarten, didn’t we? Actually, now that I think about it, it might really just be to relax. You’ve seen how tense he can be.”

“Maybe you should talk to him about it, in case it’s something serious.”

Twilight considered it. “There's not much point, is there? If it was something serious, he wouldn’t have come to camp to begin with, or at least he’d have brought his medication. Lots of kids have little issues that they grow out of, they just get their certificates later. He wouldn't be up here with his bullies if he didn't think he could do it, so it's probably nothing. I’d rather just focus on Scootaloo’s problem now and make sure that we fix what we know. She can’t even land right now, and she’s the only one in our group who’s got a real problem.”

“So you’re just gonna leave it at that?”

“Yes, I am, and so are you. Whimper’s already got confidence issues, it’ll only get worse if we take him aside and upset him. Besides, you can't actually cure anything with this sort of thing, can you? It's just something to calm him down, I'm sure.”

Lyra weighed the facts in her mind before shrugging. “I suppose. It just worries me, is all.”

“What does?”

“That a little kid would be resorting to this sort of thing. I'm telling you, Twilight, this isn't normal.”

“Maybe not, but look at him. He’s clearly used to working out, he clearly knows how to get stronger. I’ve seen him fly at a normal pace, there’s nothing wrong with him. If he says he’s just slow, then… he’s just slow. And with his build, that’s not too surprising, either. He looks healthy to me.”

Lyra sighed in resignation. “You’re right, Scootaloo’s our primary concern now. So have you checked her weight yet?” She resumed her usual smile as they went back out.

“Not yet, but I can snatch her up before speed training, we’ll know for sure then.”

Rainbow Dash kept the pen in her mouth, carefully considering the words in her letter.

Dear Shining Armour,

Rainbow Dash here, writing to you from Flight Camp. You’ll be happy to know that your sister is helping me train young pegasus ponies to fly, and she’s still lecturing when she needs to. We’ve got a good group here: two overconfident flyers trying to set the example (you know how they get at that age), one who’s just tagging along with the cool kids, and Scootaloo. You remember Scootaloo, right? The orange flower girl?

Anyway, the reason I’m writing is because of the fifth kid in my group. His name is Doldrum Whimper, and I know this sounds crazy, but I’m sure I saw his face on the Phoenix Garden Wall of Fame. I overheard him talking about something called ‘Kludde’, that he fought it, maybe? I asked him, but he just shut down, like he was embarrassed about it. The point is, he’s got some sort of issues with his confidence, and if he really is up on that wall he shouldn’t. I mean, if you’re on there, that basically means you’ve earned a medal of honour or something, doesn’t it? I’m not sure what the rules are on this sort of thing, but I thought maybe, if it’s not too much trouble, could you tell me what got him on that wall? I think it might have something to do with his issues.

I’m sending this letter with a recording of Whimper during our little cloudwrestling competition. He’s jumpy, but the kid’s got moves. I’m sure the rest of the Royal Guard will love seeing it. We sure had fun doing it, and Whimper’s already made a name for himself with the older kids.

Say hi to Cadence for me,

Rainbow Dash

P.S.: Yes, I know, I know. I should have put my mane in a ponytail before combat, it makes a good improvised weapon, you told me. But it’s not like I’m about to whip a little kid in the eye during a friendly competition. And no, I didn't finish him off right away, I was having too much fun.

“You wanted to see me, Rainbow Dash?” Scootaloo asked bashfully as she walked into their group’s cabin. Rainbow Dash had just finished the letter on her nest-like cloud bed and patted the ground next to it for the filly to sit. Whimper stayed outside, just in case Scoot called him. It was private, though, it had to be, Rainbow had said.

One problem at a time.

“I just wanted to talk to you about your flying, or your not flying,” Dash said as Scootaloo took a seat.

Scootaloo felt a pain in her chest at that. She looked away from the mare. “Look, it’s not my fault. I try my best, it’s just not good enough, okay?”

“No, it’s not okay. I heard what you said in the cafeteria. That you can’t do anything without your certificate, that you’re useless if you can’t fly.” She emphasised all the harsher words.

“Well, it’s true, isn’t it? I can’t play with the other pegasus ponies, I can’t help my friends when they need something from the skies, I can’t even catch someone when they fall. I can still carry ponies around with my scooter, but it’s just not the same.” Scootaloo lamented with a cracking voice.

Rainbow Dash chanced a glance towards the door. Whimper’s tail was barely visible as he paced. She wasn’t sure if he’d heard, but she knew he’d be worried. “So a pegasus without wings isn’t a pegasus, huh? Just like that, your wings are everything?”

“Well, not exactly, but… everypony ignores a pegasus who can’t fly, even you. Apple Bloom told me you tried to help her get her cutie mark when Diamond Tiara gave her a hard time, and Sweetie Belle’s always laughing at the faces you make when you pose for Rarity.” Scootaloo was holding back her tears, but it wouldn’t last.

“But I never cheer you up,” she admitted with a smile.

Scootaloo nodded.“Even you wouldn’t teach me how to fly. You know what it’s like back at my place. All I’ve got is aunt Vinyl, and she can’t fly either. I thought maybe --”

“You thought that maybe if you just got the attention of the best flyer in Ponyville, she’d use her awesomeness to get you off the ground. Well, what do you expect, an adoption? Your parents aren’t dead. They’re just far away, is all.” Dash tried to sound sympathetic, but it wasn’t something she was used to, and it showed.

“Up in the clouds, checking the water. I know it’s important, that they’re really good at it, but --” Scootaloo looked at the ground in regret.

“But that still puts your closest family in a spot where you can’t follow, where you can’t really live. Is it true you had to wake up at 6 AM every morning to go to school?” Dash asked with a raised eyebrow.

Scootaloo grimaced at the thought. “Yeah, and then wait an hour at school every morning before anypony else showed up. I couldn’t go alone because I couldn’t fly, and my parents couldn’t go later because they had to head off for work too. And then my wings wouldn’t grow… but I like living in Ponyville better, I just wish I could fly. And I hoped --"

“I know, Scootaloo. You hoped that one day you’d be moping in a corner like Apple Bloom was, and I’d notice, like I always do when I’m flying over. And then I’d take you somewhere to teach you how to fly. It would be awesome, and it would be the best day ever.”

“But you never did, because nopony cares about a flightless pegasus. Even you.” The filly turned away from her idol.

“Okay, that’s it. Snap out of it.”

“What?”

“I said: snap out of it.” The mare hardened her tone.

“You don’t know what it’s like for me. You never did.” Scootaloo was fuming by now.

“Three times,” Dash replied calmly.

Scootaloo shook her head.

“Three times I’ve lost my wings, and all three are some of the worst memories of my life. I know what it’s like to not be able to keep up, to feel useless. But I also know what it’s like to finally reach that one goal you’ve been dreaming of for years. Have you noticed I haven’t flown at top speed for a while?” Dash asked.

“You’re on camp clouds. You can’t, right?” Scootaloo calmed down a little.

“Exactly. You were there at the Royal Wedding, too. Did you see my Sonic Rainboom?” Dash asked, still sounding uncannily casual.

“Well, yeah, but --”

“I can do that on command now. How awesome is that?” Dash randomly changed the subject.

“You just don’t care.” Scootaloo let her head hang.

Rainbow Dash put a hoof on the filly’s shoulder. “Yes, I do, Scootaloo. But I’m trying to tell you that if you keep trying to get better all the time, sometimes you forget how good you already are. I can do a Sonic Rainboom on command, I can head down to Ponyville in the morning, clear the skies and be back in time for breakfast, that’s pretty impressive. And you’re pretty impressive too, you know.”

“So you’ll finally teach me how to fly?” Scootaloo perked up at that.

Rainbow got up and rubbed Scootaloo’s mane. The mare’s face looked sad, remorseful, almost. “No, I won’t. Twilight and Lyra will take care of that.”

Scootaloo felt a tear welling up.

Rainbow Dash gave her fan's mane another rub. “But I don’t want you to think it’s because I don’t care. I do, honest, but… I don’t know how to help you.”

Scootaloo squinted at that, a little suspicious.

“I don’t even know where to start helping you. I’ve seen you race across Ponyville. You’re good, you’re really good, and there’s no reason why you shouldn’t be able to fly. I’ve asked around, I’ve tried research. But the library’s got books on aeronautics, aerodynamics, aerobatics, and that’s just under the ‘A’. I wouldn't know where to start.”

“So? At least you tried with Apple Bloom.”

“Yeah, I tried to help Apple Bloom get her cutie mark. And I failed. But did that stop her?”

Scootaloo considered it. “No.”

“Exactly. To her, failing wasn’t the end of the world, she could keep on trying. But you, me? I’m Rainbow Dash, the fastest pony to ever come out of Cloudsdale, and you’re my number one fan. If I tried to help you and failed, where would that leave you?” The mare let that trail off.

Realisation set in the filly’s heart, and regret at ever doubting the most awesome flyer to ever grace the skies above Ponyville. “So you did want to help me?”

“Of course I did, I’d never leave you hanging. But I really wish you’d just asked Fluttershy. She’s actually gotten birds flying, I haven’t. I know I'm awesome and cool, but I can’t do everything. If I tried to get you flying and you found out I couldn’t… I didn’t want you to get heart-broken over it or give up. So I just figured you’d learn at Flight Camp. I’m sorry, I should have said something sooner.”

A load fell off the filly’s chest at that, leaning into the comforting hoof on her head. Her wings relaxed, she didn’t even realise those things had bunched up. The muscles seemed to unwind from the stress relief, and she half-hoped that they’d be bigger when she looked at them. The story of Fluttershy getting her cutie mark floated up in her mind, how the yellow pegasus had finally gotten into flight at the wonder of the world around, just from getting all that weight off her back. Maybe now Scootaloo would have her majestic flight.

She was still on the ground. She still had little chicken-wings.

But they were her chicken-wings, and she decided that she would wear them with pride.

“Look, Twilight’s gonna take you away from the group sometime soon, I’m guessing in a few minutes or tomorrow, if Lyra’s still busy. Twilight’s smarter than me, she can help you way better than I can. So you do whatever she tells you, and you pay attention, okay?”

“I will, I promise.” Scootaloo looked up with renewed hope in her eyes.

“And no more nonsense about being useless, got it? You’re never gonna get any lift if you bring yourself down.” She leaned in to whisper. ”And you don’t want to give your new friend nightmares, do you?”

Scootaloo chuckled. “No, I guess not. And I’m sorry. I guess it was kind of silly to want to fly with you, not being, you know --”

“Don't mention it. I’ve wanted to fly with the Wonderbolts for a long time now, and they’re more strangers to me than I am to you. I understand. Now run along before Whimper gets really worried.”

With a smile and a nod, the filly trotted off. She caught a glance of that giant bat plush in Whimper’s nest before getting out. He’d probably try putting it around her neck if she told him she felt bad.

“What happened? Are you in trouble?” Whimper asked as they went off to the playing grounds. Not that they had a lot of time, they just wanted to see some of the bigger pegasi fly around to get an idea of what they’d be getting. A bit of window-shopping, really.

“Not anymore, I’m not. Rainbow Dash just wanted to let me know that I’ll finally fly soon.”

“So what’s keeping you on the ground, then?”

“Don’t know yet, but Twilight’s gonna take care of me.” Scootaloo noticed the colt’s face was an odd mix of happiness and something she couldn’t place. Shame, maybe?

Scootaloo wasn’t that experienced with boys, but where Whimper was concerned, she was a quick study. “Hey, don’t worry about whatever problem you’ve got. You just don’t have any speed, right? And Rainbow Dash is all about speed. Trust me, whatever she’s got in mind for training, you can do it.”

The colt turned.

“You really think so?”

She looked at his face. For all his strength, he seemed really worried about his speed. She couldn’t let that hold him back, certainly not since she was a ground-bound speedster already. The idea of her finally flying and him getting left behind, still slow, did not sit well with her.

Scoot gave him a confident nod, right back to her old self after Dash’s pep talk. “I’m sure. We’re gonna fly soon, Whimper, and we’re gonna fly fast.”

To Captain Shining Armour,

I am writing in regards to the reports of disturbances near the suburbs of Bogsdown. I can confirm that the creature has been sighted in the area. Eye witness reports have so far appeared reliable and conclusive, and as you are undoubtedly aware Kludde has never failed to identify itself when encountered. However, I would hold off on mobilising the Royal Guard at this juncture.

I am currently in Bogsdown Hospital, trying to ascertain the facts regarding an attack that just took place. Two foals, a filly and a colt, both aged ten, were brought in with injuries that match what we know of the creature’s habits. The filly, I’m told, is in a state of hysteria at the moment. The colt is currently in intensive care, and the mare that brought them in is in a state of shock.

I’m aware of the implications, of course, hence my caution. If the thing has fed again, we can't waste time scouring the marshes. We may need to mobilise the special forces towards Ponyville instead. And rest assured, if it turns out to be an elaborate prank, the culprits will be punished.

I shall keep you informed as more information reaches me.

Squad Commander Obsidian Storm

“Whimper? You okay?” Scootaloo asked.

“Oh, I’m fine, just nervous. At least I’ll have you watching my back during speed training, right?” He smiled nervously as he started trembling.

Right at that moment, Scootaloo was lifted off the ground by a purple unicorn. Twilight gave her a wide smile she reserved for chess games and special someponies. Well, mostly chess games.

“Time to fly, huh?” Scootaloo asked. Twilight nodded proudly.

Whimper grimaced and locked his wings as their break was just about over. Rainbow Dash and the rest of the coaches were getting their groups together already.

“Well, guess I’ll see you on the track.” Whimper tried and failed to sound brave as the filly was carried off before she could reply.

He gulped as he trotted off alone. “Me and my big mouth.”

Everyone Flies, No One Fails

Chapter 4: Everyone Flies, No One Fails

“Okay, just step on the metal disks, this’ll only take few minutes.” Twilight put the filly back down on the ground and motioned to the four disks. They had little outcroppings around the edges, making them look more like dishes, probably to help her get a grip.

Scootaloo’s heart was pounding. If Rainbow Dash hadn’t warned her, the sheer nerves of getting flight lessons from Twilight Sparkle would have made her pass out, especially at the thought of it all being over in a matter of minutes. As she stepped on the metal things, she took a deep breath to steady her nerves. All the worrying, all the tension, this would be it.

“Now, Lyra’s going to be keeping an eye on you from the side so we can pinpoint the problem. Don’t worry about anything, just do your best, okay?” Twilight felt that this was probably about as tense an experience for Scootaloo as the entrance exam to Celestia’s Academy had been for her. Having seen what nerves could do to a pegasus’ ability to fly, she couldn't afford to let the filly be too tense.

The purple-maned filly nodded, a little light-headed from the excitement but determined to finally see this through. “Okay, I think I’m ready.”

With a little concentration and magic, Twilight raised up the disks so Scootaloo was off the ground, and her front hooves were raised as if she was on her scooter. “First I need to check how much force you can generate, so let’s start with what you know. Flap your wings slowly like you do on your scooter. If your hooves are a little higher or lower than they normally are, adjust your posture. We need to make sure it’s the exact same position.”

With another deep breath to calm herself, Scootaloo started slowly flapping her wings, just like she always did on her scooter. She bent down to get the angle, again following her habit, and started waving the little things back and forth in the proper rowing motion she’d seen from every other flying creature in Equestria, save dragons and flying squirrels. She could feel the piercing eyes of the nurse on her as every move was carefully analysed and the disks were turned to push against her forward motion. She couldn’t let embarrassment at being stared at stop her, not this time. Twilight pushed the disks back as the filly went, carefully keeping her in place and feeling out what sort of force she could generate.

“Okay, good. Now speed up a little. I’ll give a counter-push so you don’t fall off.” Twilight had to brace herself as much as Scootaloo did. This would be the deciding moment.

The flapping turned to humming, and Scootaloo could feel that familiar woosh of the air going past her wings and pushing her forward with every little motion. This was how much she had to do to pull a cart, or her friends, and still make good speed.

“Looking good, Scootaloo. I’m just gonna put a little sand there to make sure.” Lyra levitated a small satchet filled with powder over Scootaloo’s wings.

Scootaloo felt a little bit of sparkling dust trailing past her wings, but she was too focused on her task to dare turn around. She sped up some more, pushing into the disks with full power.

“Yep, just like you said, Twilight.” Lyra sounded happy for some reason.

“Okay, you can slow down now.” Twilight smiled in triumph.

Carefully, the orange filly slowed down, making sure Twilight didn’t accidentally shove her off the clouds. She stayed put in mid-air, on the disks. Twilight lowered the ones at her front hooves to keep the filly comfortable, supported on all fours.

“So what is it? What’s wrong with me?”

Lyra just smiled. “Relax, kid, nothing’s wrong. Did you see where the tension is, Twi?”

Scootaloo’s gaze went from one aloof grownup to another.

“Yes. Scootaloo, I’d like you raise your shoulders, please, and keep your chest level, don’t stick it out.” Twilight showed the proper form.

Though confused, Scootaloo assumed the pose.

“Just like that. Now straighten your back, don’t make an arch.” Twilight was sounding like miss Cheerilee by now. Again, Scootaloo followed orders. She felt quite silly, posing like that. She must have looked like she was stuck halfway into a shrug or something.

“Good, now close your eyes and start flapping, about the same pace as you’d go when you’re dragging a cart behind you and go at light trotting speed.” Twilight squinted, doing some math in her head or faking it.

Scootaloo sighed. She did as she was told, but she knew this old trick. This was what grownups liked to think of as a universal solution to any problem kids had: distraction. They’d be convinced that the foals could do whatever they set their hearts to, and that only a lack of confidence held them back. Even as Scootaloo went up to normal speed in a slightly awkward posture, she felt her heart sink. “Umm, Twilight? I appreciate the effort, but --”

“Open your eyes,” Twilight said with a smile. Of course she knew Scoot was smart enough to see through a little diversion. But there were mechanics involved in this, not just petty preconceptions on her part. The filly closing her eyes wasn’t to ensure that she’d be too distracted to keep herself down.

It was to make sure she didn’t notice the disks were currently on the ground.

“What?" At the back of Scootaloo’s mind, something told her this was a trick, that she was dreaming, that she was standing on an invisible ladder Discord had left with her name on it.

“I’m not holding you up, Scootaloo. You’re flying, on your own,” Twilight solemnly declared.

The filly’s heart was throbbing at this point. After all this time, all that wanting, hoping, she was finally doing it. She was aloft, she felt born again borne on the strength of her wings. She didn’t dare move out of fear of falling. If her friends could see her now, if her parents only knew.

A force on her back and a rough bellyflop into the ground interrupted that train of thought, her first crash since arriving. Whimper had caught her every time in training, but he wasn’t around now. Lyra gave the little pegasus a sympathetic smile.

Did she just knock me out of the sky? “What was that for? I was finally flying!”

“I’m sorry, but I had to. If you’re used to living on the ground, your first time flying triggers some new instincts, makes you get scared of the ground. It can get pretty overwhelming, I've seen it happen. You don't want that kind of embarrassment in front of the rest, do you?”

“No, but… I flew, but I don’t know how. I mean, can I go up again?” She tried again, pushing out her chest and lowering her shoulders, the same posture she’d seen every pegasus assume when preparing to lift off. She jumped up and down in a frantic pace, but she couldn’t get lift. She’d had a taste of heaven, literally, and she’d lost it already.

Twilight put a hoof on her shoulder. “You can fly, but not like that. Here, feel this?”

Scootaloo felt a hoof go right under her wing and press into a very tender nerve spot. The numbing pain shot from the base of her wing right to the muscles over her sternum, making her whole chest sore. “Ow.”

“And do you feel this?”

Another rough poke, this time right in front of her wingbase, and this one the filly felt right up to just beside her collarbone, like some sort of nerve pinch in her shoulders. “Ow!”

Twilight backed off. Her first response of getting clinical wasn’t likely to win her any popularity contests, but she needed this to be clear. “Your wing muscles are a little different from other pegasi’s. Normally the ones that connect your wings to your ribcage, your stabilisers, are quite firm and tight. The ones for upwards and downwards rotation, at the back and front of the wings, are flexible. With you, it’s the other way around.”

“What does that mean? That my wings are bad?”

Lyra rolled her eyes. “There’s nothing wrong with your wings, Scootaloo. You’ve got plenty of power in them, more than enough to carry yourself and fly. Your only problem is that when you move your shoulders and chest to lift off, what you wind up doing is curling your wings downward.”

Scootaloo tried to visualise it. Twilight floated two of the disks towards her. “It’s best if I just show you. Extend your wings, put them out straight and horizontal.”

She did as she was asked, and the disks were placed on her little chicken-wings. They were light, but balancing them would be tricky with her small wingspan.

“You’re sure your wings are straight?” Twilight asked.

Scootaloo turned her head. She had to crane her neck to really check it.

“They feel straight. I can’t really tell.”

“Just wait and see, then.” Twilight released her magic hold on the disks.

The disks slid forward.

Lyra picked them up and held them at an angle to explain. “See, your wings aren’t too small to fly, you have innate pegasus magic to make sure of that, but they’re probably too small to keep an eye on while you’re trying to fly. So you only had muscle tension to check your positioning, which is just off in your case. It’s a simple thing, really, but it takes a keen eye to notice with the speeds you flap at. Once you correct that, well, you’re flying just like any other pegasus, really."

Twilight nodded. “What you need to know is that for flight, all you’d have to do differently is tilt your wings backwards, not forwards. The way you’ve been going, the wind is pushing you down as you go forward, not up.”

“Wait, you mean to tell me that all this time, I couldn’t fly because of a posture problem?” The orange filly was incredulous. Miss Cheerilee would never let her live this down if she caught wind of it.

Twilight thought it over for a moment, looking for the right words. “Not quite. You couldn’t fly because you were trained to stay on the ground. All that scooting around, all those stunts across Ponyville? You worked your muscles differently from other pegasus ponies, so you grew differently. Actually, come to think of it, the way your wings are is probably the whole reason you’re good on your scooter. You can get up to high speeds without taking off because your wings push you down like the fins on racing carts. I’ll bet you even lean back when you jump to stop yourself from falling.”

“I-I don’t know what to say.” Scootaloo carefully adjusted her position. It was awkward, to the point of nearly cramping, but she was sure she could get it right. Twilight gave her wing a gentle rub. It would work itself out if she stretched in the right places, but for now awkward flying was better than not flying at all.

“Perfect. Just like that.” Twilight beamed like the proud teacher she was right then. ”Feel like trying out your new mobility? I’m sure Rainbow Dash will have the boys sweating from the warm-up by now.”

With a little hop and a careful buzz of her wings, Scootaloo took off again. She hovered over the ground just to make sure she could, staying a little above Twilight’s eye level for the sake of it. A wicked grin appeared as the possibilities soared through her mind. “Oh yeah. I’m ready to have those guys eating my dust.”

“Please, Scootaloo, don’t let Rainbow Dash hear you say that sort of thing,” Twilight chided her as they took off. ”Lyra, thanks for your help.”

Unfazed by the remark, Scootaloo returned to the ground. Better to have it be a surprise. “Yeah, thanks a lot, Lyra. You don’t know how much this means to me.”

“No problem, kid, it’s what I’m here for.” Indeed, the thought of having helped a filly with her flight problem was moving, to say the least. It was just this sort of intense experiences that an artist could draw on to keep their creativity going. With a content smile and the pair out to the training grounds, Lyra headed back to her office to work out some steam on her lyre.

When the nurse was out earshot, Twilight finished her reaction to Scootaloo’s unsportscoltlike boast. “At this height, it’s ‘eat my vapour’, not ‘eat my dust’.”

To Obsidian Storm,

You were right in warning me as soon as possible. We can't afford to lose precious time if we're to set up an ambush for the monster. I've sent word to the nearest patrols to be on alert, and to keep an eye on the roads for any odd mists that might conceal the thing.

However, if this does turn out to be a case of crying timberwolf, we will have to make sure we're not missing any genuine sightings. Report with more information as soon as you can confirm the creature’s involvement, and leave no detail unchecked. I shall expect a full report of what transpired, naturally including a list of evidence to either confirm or deny the other recent sightings.

If this turns out to be yet another ill-conceived prank, you may consider yourself tasked with sifting the reliable information of the other sightings from the dredge. I am certain you are up to it, should the need arise.

Captain Shining Armour

Rainbow Dash sprang up from her push-up posture as her class finished their last rep. “Okay, everypony’s nice and warmed up, let’s do some rounds on the track.”

Skyron grunted when he saw Scootaloo and Twilight head their way. “How come chicken-wing didn’t warm up with the rest of us? Scootacooties need a bug spray?”

Whimper glared at the boy, but Scootaloo took the little jab with a flair. She fluttered her eyelashes in an uncharacteristically girlish way.

“Oh, I’m warmed up enough, I just needed some private time. Girl things, you know. I could go first if you’re not feeling up to it.”

To that, Zephyr scowled. “That’ll be the day. Are we being timed on this?”

“Nope, we don't time your first tries, this is just to get used to it. It’s five laps training for speed first. You start here, you finish when you reach the other end of the court over there.” Rainbow Dash pointed to the other side of the track. “You wait your turn after every one, so try and pace yourself a little.”

“Pace myself, huh?” the lavender colt started, before dashing off with a blue and yellow streak in his wake. Wings ablaze with sheer energy, he soared over the course, leaning into the curves before giving one final push before the finish line.

“Umm… Rainbow Dash…” Whimper whispered.

“I know, I know, you can’t fly too fast. Just wait your turn and when you have to go, do your first lap at quick trot speed. You know, double time, like a fast march. Then speed up for the next lap, then slow down, you’ll get used to it. Trust me, I’ve had slow flyers on my Weather Patrols. It’ll work out,” Dash whispered back. The colt could feel the obvious stares of his peers boring into his back. Asking grownups for help was always a good way of making yourself look bad.

Skyron went next, and he bolted as fast around the course as his team mate. Scootaloo kept her eye on her friend, and she figured he was making the same face she was when she was falling the whole time.

“Well, if you’re sure,” Whimper tried.

“I’m sure. I’m a pro, remember?” Dash tried to beam some confidence unto him, and his weak smile in reply seemed to indicate success at such.

Skyron came in with a proud swoop, and Rumble took his place at the starting line. He was the slowest of the bunch yet, but he still got a respectable speed. He wasn’t going at full-on sprinting speed, but then at a long court like the one they were on that wasn’t really a surprise for a pony who didn’t spend all his time racing around.

“Okay, Whimper or Scootaloo?” Twilight asked.

“You go,” Whimper said. ”You’ve had to wait long enough.”

Scootaloo was about to reply something incredibly corny, but given the company she decided against it.

The filly lined up for take-off. Back straight, shoulders in position, wings a little uncomfortable, but straight. She tuned out the little teasing the colts gave her, the only thing she really cared about was the looks that mattered: Rainbow Dash’s anticipation, Twilight’s pride, and Whimper’s worry.

Let’s see what these chicken wings can do now…

To Captain Shining Armour,

the doctors just gave me clearance to see the colt and filly. They have been struck, no doubt about that. By what, I do not know for certain. Their blood is being drawn for investigation as we speak, but I must confess my first glance has indicated that they, at least, were not pulling a prank.

The colt, named Doldrum Whimper, looked in particularly bad shape. Most of his body, save his wings, appears to have been scrubbed with sand paper, or rubbed against nettles. His skin is awash with irritation, and he's barely breathing. His throat showed claw markings, suggesting something strangled him. The doctors are still treating him, and they are not speaking of any magic used on him, nor his friend, so we’ve had to resort to the standard safety shielding before my initial questioning. Their insistence on quarantine is understandable, of course.

The filly, one Peachy Pie (blood relative to the Element of Laughter), gave off a decidedly confused and distracted impression when I first tried to talk to her. No doubt she is still recovering from the shock, but she’s suffered no physical injuries. The girl doesn’t seem to understand the severity of what’s happened. Her tongue moves faster than even a unicorn can move a quill, and most of the things she’s saying sound like gibberish or make belief. But then, an encounter with something that even remotely resembles Kludde can do that to a pony. Shock aside, she does sound like she fell under the creature’s spell.

I will interview the filly properly once the medical staff gives me the green flag and assures me that she’s lucid. She is out of harm’s way at this point. Of the colt, I am not certain. As far as I know, friction burns or contact poisons are not among Kludde’s arsenal, so we may still be dealing with a prank gone out of hand or a creature of a very different nature. It was the boy's aunt who brought them in, and apparently she fainted after rushing the pair to the hospital. She wasn’t near the attack, she doesn’t know what happened, either way. Neither the filly's nor the colt's parents know what exactly transpired, only they do. But we have confirmed contact, sir. The water devil was here.

I’ve already sent my squad towards the scene of the attack, I expect them to report back to me any time now. My next letter will be a full overview of all the facts regarding this matter. In the meantime, readying the special forces to head for Bogsdown is in order. The creature may still be in the area.

Squad Commander Obsidian Storm

Scootaloo panted heavily, though exertion had nothing to do with it. She’d crossed the finish line, and while she wasn’t being timed, she was pretty sure she’d beaten the boys. She felt giddy with excitement, finally she could fly just like Rainbow Dash. She was sure she’d almost left a trail, too.

Rumble, despite deciding to join the teasing jocks, showed his gallant side with a smile. “Way to go, Scootaloo.”

It wasn’t much, but it was the closest the filly would get to receiving praise from her friends back home, at least until camp was over.

So this was what flying fast felt like. The laws of inertia blocking you every step of the way, the defiance of a silly filly against the laws of physics. It felt like staring gravity itself in the eye and telling it to take its business elsewhere. To think she’d spent all that time moping, pondering, worrying about the thing that set pegasi apart, the one skill they needed to use their magic, even.

All those little verbal jabs of the high-flyers, those little pangs of loneliness and feeling useless, all those bad memories met with one response now.

Totally worth it.

Rainbow Dash gave the filly a proud look and a nod, which only made her feel even giddier. It had finally happened. She’d finally gotten the approval she’d longed for.

This was turning out to be the best day ever.

She walked over as Whimper took off. He wasn’t going fast at all, barely a quick march. His wings beat a steady pace, same as when they warmed up to run. He leaned into the turns alright, but he never got any real speed. Scootaloo’s sense of victory faded at the sight, but she couldn’t really think of a reason why. He was going to get better, he would be faster soon, why should she feel bad about him?

Maybe because she couldn’t watch his back, nor he hers, when she was soaring in the distance in front of him. Scootaloo had an epiphany then; Rainbow Dash was faster than anypony else in Equestria. If there was ever any trouble with her friends, she would be the first to respond. But if anything ever happened to her? If nopony can keep up with you, that means there’s no other pony where you are. It means that unless you slow down, you wind up alone.

Rainbow Dash read the filly like an open book. “Don’t worry about Whimper, really. He’s just not used to it, that’s all. He’ll catch up. He’s not gonna get left behind, not on my watch.”

Eventually, the colt made it to the finish line. He breathed in deep through his nose, but a little faster than before. He breathed in through his mouth a few times, taking a few quick gulps despite his lower speed.

“Okay, next lap,” Rainbow Dash announced as Twilight moved over to Whimper.

“Are you alright? Remember, in through the nose, right down to the belly, out through the mouth.” Twilight checked his breath.

“Oh, don’t worry about little W-”

“Don’t say it, Skyron,” Whimper flat-out threatened. ”Unless you want me to tell everypony in school that our bad apple captain got beaten by a girl.”

Twilight was going to say something at the colt’s tone, but the white jock went wide-eyed just as his classmate got back and her response got caught up in the moment. His confidence was looking better, at least. Better to leave him be for a bit and let him give some rebuttal to his bullies.

Skyron scowled. “Not like anyone would believe you.”

“They will if the girl shows up and beats him again.” Scootaloo joined in as Skyron went off for his second lap.

The colts remained quiet, including Rumble. They just lined up for their laps, one by one. When Whimper’s turn came again, Dash offered her standard training advice.

“Your first lap wasn’t bad, but now you need to beat faster. Faster pace, shallow wingbeats. Got it?”

“Got it.” Whimper looked determined to get his reputation as a slowpoke out of the way at last.

Twilight pondered Dash’s choice of training. Interval training was a good way of increasing speed, switching slow and strong beats with fast and more shallow wing movements, then of course combining the two for top speed. As the dark blue pegasus burst out of the starting line, Twilight kept her eye on those wings. She couldn’t quite figure out why he’d be slower than other pegasi, aside from his bulk. Actually, even his bulk might not make that much of a difference. Snow Flake had proportions that were a lot more out of whack than Whimper’s, and even he got up to respectable speeds compared to Rainbow Dash. In fact, he was one of the faster ones on Hurricane Day.

It didn’t make any sense. When Whimper tried to fly with quick flaps like Scootaloo did, he got to a good speed, just like her. The only reason he’d really be slower than anypony else was because he didn’t want to go fast. Then again, given how he’d acted before, it might just have been his personality. He came in panting a little, but Rumble was panting as well. You were supposed to pant from exercise, that was the whole point. There was, as far as she could tell, nothing wrong with him. Whimper did get a few glares from the other colts, though, probably from the attention the mares were giving him. She averted her gaze from him to stop it from getting worse.

Scootaloo kept it to herself, but she’d figured out by now what the other thing was they called Whimper, namely ‘teacher’s pet’. That was a lot worse than ‘Wimpie’, at least for macho colts like he seemed to be stuck with. Still, Scootaloo was sure he’d be feeling better at the end of camp. All the kids in her class were pretty much teacher’s pets, including Rumble.

“All right, nopony else need help with keeping up?” Rainbow Dash had a knack for reading the faces of the little ones. No one dared admit that they needed help like Whimper and Scootaloo had, which was enough reason to keep the issue to themselves for lap number 3.

“Good job, Whimper. Told you you could do it.” Scootaloo patted his neck as he panted and sighed.

“Uh huh.” Whimper smiled back, his wings kept up high as he caught his breath again. ”I’m nowhere near as fast as you, though.”

“Don’t worry about it, you’ll catch up.” The filly beamed as she went for her third lap. He was almost as fast as she was, actually, but if he didn’t feel that way, she wasn’t about to stop him from wanting to improve.

Rainbow Dash leaned in to whisper. “Save your strength for the last lap, okay? You’re doing great, you just need to show these guys you’re as fast as they are. Last lap, you go at top speed, full and fast beats. Slow and deep now, fast and shallow next, top speed last. Think you can do it?”

Whimper was breathing a little heavily through his mouth. Rainbow Dash figured it was just from holding back for so long. He didn’t let any doubt show, though, much to her delight. “Yes. I can do this.”

And just as Scootaloo came in again, Whimper got back into the good form of steady and deliberate flaps of the wing pushing him forward, steady breaths, he was looking good.

Zephyr chuckled when the bullhead finished. “Well, you’re lasting longer than usual. Normally you only get one --”

“I’m warning you, don’t say it, Zephyr.” Whimper glared at his classmate as he spoke. ”Not this time.”

“Fine.” The lavender pegasus flashed him a cocky grin as he lined up to the starting line for lap 4. ”Suit yourself.”

“Am I missing something here?” Rumble asked Skyron.

The bullhead wriggled his shoulders awkwardly, like he had an itchy back but didn’t want to show it, but the glare in his eyes hadn’t faded. Skyron wasn’t about to dare him in front of the teachers, not to mention the crazy filly.

Everyone raced across the track, everyone caught their breaths again, it was turning to routine. The only thing that seemed to change was Whimper. When he finished his fourth lap, he was breathing through his mouth again, and he insisted on keeping his wings up stiff for some reason.

More worryingly, his belly didn’t move when he breathed, only his chest did.

Twilight called him out on the bad habit. “Come on, Whimper, like we told you, breathe in through the nose, let it go deep, out through the mouth.” Twilight demonstrated the good form again, which brought a little cough from the young colt as he tried to mimic it. It sounded dry. No surprise there, really, since low fat percentage means low water reserves, and being quick to get a dry throat. It did worry her a little, though, but Scootaloo was keeping closer track of him than Twilight was.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Scootaloo asked. Her last lap was coming up.

“Just getting my bearings. I’ve never gone this fast for this long before.” He smiled shyly, his head bobbing up and down as he breathed.

Twilight bit her lip. “Maybe you should lie down?”

Whimper’s head snapped up. “What? No, I’m fine. I don’t need to lie down. Not in front of them.”

Twilight looked at the smirking boys, who seemed intent on keeping their distance from the two who needed help. Hold on. Are they waiting for something?

Rainbow Dash interrupted her train of thought. “Let him go, Twilight. Of course he’s out of breath, he’s never done this before. I’ll bet his gym teacher never bothered to give him proper training, either, right?”

Whimper looked up at Twilight. “That’s right. I’ve never done this sort of thing before, and I’m getting faster already. Can I please keep going?”

Rainbow nodded. “You can keep going, you’ll be fine. Scootaloo, you’re up.”

Scootaloo took her position at the starting line again and looked at her friend with a mix of sympathy and regret. Somehow, this wasn’t how she’d pictured her first flight. It felt like he was falling behind, no matter what he tried. He was as fast as anyone, but it took him more effort. Her problem had been fixed in a matter of minutes. His problem persisted, and getting help only made him look worse.

She realised what it was that really bothered her. Scootaloo considered Whimper a friend, even if they’d only met so recently. So far, all her friends were the ones she shared her problems with. She thought she’d shared one problem with Whimper, but now that was gone. Now she wanted to share a joy, the joy of flying, and she couldn’t. She was enjoying herself with her problem fixed, and he couldn’t because his problem was still there. It just rubbed her the wrong way.

“Well, go on. Don’t let me hold you up.” Whimper’s breathing got back to more or less normal pace.

She bolted off once again, top speed. If anyone back home saw her, they’d think she’d gotten a pinch of some of Rainbow Dash’s awesome. It certainly felt that way, the track blurring beneath her hooves as she went. She was sure she was making a trail as she went now, and it was awesome. And yet, it felt off.

She didn’t feel like this would get her a cutie mark, she realised. It was fun, it was the achievement she’d dreamed of for years, but it didn’t feel natural. She’d always assumed she’d get her cutie mark the same way Rainbow Dash had: going at top speed, sticking up for a friend. This, though, wasn’t what she’d expected.

As she finished her last lap with a sigh of relief, Scootaloo turned to her muscular friend. Zephyr and Skyron were still looking at him funny, like they were expecting something. The mares paid it little heed. They’d made it clear he had to fight his own fights, and the teasing wasn’t keeping him down anymore. Twilight had made a mental note of his minor difficulties, and she'd remember to tell him to bring a drink next time. But she also had to admit that with his build, Whimper probably did have a good idea of what his limit was. It just wasn't possible to get his physique without learning that sort of thing.

Besides that, Twilight had to make sure the other colts weren’t getting any problems as well, so her attention was divided somewhat. Rumble was wriggling his wings a little awkwardly, no doubt a little lactic acid building up there. Whimper had kept his wings up since the first lap, and he was visibly struggling to steady his breath. He kept it up, though, much to Scootaloo’s delight. At least she was helping him get over it, like he’d helped her.

Rainbow Dash stood next to Whimper on the starting line. “Right, last lap. Give it all you’ve got now. That burning in your lungs is normal, your heart beating faster is all natural. Anything you're feeling now is supposed to happen. If you've never gone this far before, this is how it feels. Don’t worry about it. You just give it all you’ve got.”

A chuckle came from the jocks at that. Twilight raised an eyebrow at their reaction, Scootaloo grunted in anger.

The filly's train of thought and the revenge plots it entailed were cut short when Whimper burst out like the wind. She smiled as he went at the same pace she had, using that fine technique to lean into the curves like a pro.

He was making trails, finally.

He’d caught up.

“Two jelly cubes says Wheezy doesn’t make it to the finish line.” Zephyr leaned in to his classmate so the mares wouldn’t hear, one hoof extended for the offer.

“You’re on.” Skyron slapped his hoof on Zephyr’s.

Scootaloo scowled. So now Whimper had proven he wasn’t a wimp, they were going to laugh at him for being out of breath sooner than everyone else? It wouldn’t matter. Whimper dashed over the finish line and skidded to a halt, his speed more than up to par with the rest of them now. Scootaloo started hopping over to him, but stopped in her tracks when she saw him lower his head to hang in between his forelegs. Her smile faded and things slowed down around her.

The sound was the first thing she noticed; a weak wheeze, something in between a bagpipe that’s sprung a leak and a hissing cat. The second thing was his eyes; half-lidded, like he was exhausted. But it was just five laps on the track. Scootaloo got that distance almost every day, easy, usually with weight behind her. Sure, flying was different from scooting, but still. His expression was slowly turning to one of sheer agony. That couldn't be normal.

The thing that really hammered it home, though, was his belly. It wasn’t moving. He was gasping for air through the mouth, but the only thing moving was his chest.

Up in the air, finally able to fly, Scootaloo realised the gravity of the situation.

“It’s not the worst thing they call me, but it still kinda stings.”

Wheezy.

They called him Wheezy.

They’dalways called him Wheezy.

For a moment, the slowing surroundings turned to a full stop. Her heart skipped a beat, she barely realised she was breathing, a mix of outrage and unadulterated terror swept over and paralysed her. She couldn’t move. She could see it happening right in front of her and she couldn’t move.

Whimper panted and wheezed, and he slowly lowered himself down, first sitting, then lying down, then curling up on his side. His body just couldn’t seem to keep up its own weight, even with those tree-trunk legs of his. He didn’t speak, he didn’t pass out, he just lay there, desperately gulping for oxygen. The air tried to go in with a short breath, then came out with a long wheeze.

Rainbow Dash and Twilight ran over to him when he went down, but slowed a bit when they noticed he hadn’t passed out. Rainbow Dash nudged him. She’d seen this before. Lazy ponies would take short inhales and long exhales to make a wheeze like they were sick. This was just what he was doing. “Come on, Whimper, get up. You're stronger than this. I know it hurts, but it’ll only hurt more if you don’t get moving again.”

Whimper’s mouth moved, but all he managed was the pathetic whistle of a tea kettle as he exhaled.

“Get up.” Rainbow Dash gave him another nudge. ”Come on, you knew this wasn't going to be easy. You were doing so well, just get up and walk it off. You’re not doing yourself any favours here, you know. Just get up. You’ll be fine, I promise.”

Twilight was looking him over worriedly. She bent down and folded his wings back. Whimper’s face contorted in shame as she did. When she realised what was happening, Twilight pressed her ear against his chest.

“What is it? Is that... is that a rash?” Dash came a little closer to check. The hairs on his back, right in between his wings, were standing on end like pins. Little flecks of white and red skin irritation were falling off, almost dandruff.

Twilight pulled her friend closer and pressed her ear against his chest so she could hear his breathing.

All they could hear was a faint whistle, or a wheeze. And the sound wasn’t coming from where it should be. From the sound of it, the air got stuck halfway up his throat. His lungs were barely inflating, the long exhales a sign of the lost struggle to keep oxygen in.

Rainbow Dash shook her head in confusion as she and Twilight withdrew. Twilight looked distraught, which didn’t help Dash’s composure one bit. She turned to Rainbow and looked her in the eye. Suffice to say, it looked like bad news.

“I don’t understand.”

Twilight sighed. “It’s Eagle’s Grasp, Rainbow.”

“What?”

”He can’t get up. He can barely even breathe.”

The Wind of Hope

Chapter 5: The Wind of Hope

“What do you mean, he can barely breathe? Is he out of breath or is he choking?” Rainbow Dash paced around him, panicking. “Why can’t he get up? He was supposed to be fine, I said he’d be fine. Why isn’t he fine?”

“Well, he’s breathing, but he needs medical attention, now. I’ll take him.” Twilight gently picked him up in her forelegs.

“No.” Rainbow Dash put her head under the boy, took his weight on her back and wrapped his forelegs around her neck. ”I’ll take him, you keep the others going. Stay on schedule, we’ll talk when we get back.”

Twilight nodded as Rainbow Dash took off, the colt held on her back in between her wings. She really thinks he’ll be back for training. She has no idea.

Scootaloo was still frozen. Just like that, everything had fallen apart. Her friend, her new friend... she’d done nothing. Nothing but make his life miserable.

“Okay, everypony, cooldown laps.” Twilight motioned to the track, a little shaky. ”Fly slow and fly together now.”

“Lyra? Medic!” Rainbow Dash called out as she barged into Lyra’s cabin.

The green unicorn was practising on her lyre again, still happy about her success with Scootaloo, her back turned to Dash. “No need to thank me Dash, it’s all in a day’s… oh.” Her expression shifted when she noticed the wheezing Whimper on the mare’s back. She lifted him with a green glow and slowly put him on a cloud bed, checking him over. “What happened?”

“I don’t know.” Rainbow Dash’s voice cracked. ”We were doing half laps around the track, he said he was slow so I put him on interval training. He was getting up to speed, he was doing fine, even if he was a little out of breath. Then he did his final lap and… he just collapsed. Twilight said it’s called Eagle’s Grasp?”

Lyra closed her eyes in repressed guilt and nodded, placing the kid on his belly and making sure his wings were relaxed and stretched over the sides. “Okay. This is important, did he stop breathing at any point, lose consciousness?”

Whimper shook his head meekly. As Lyra placed her hooves on the irritated back, Dash tried to recall exactly what happened. “No. He didn’t really close his eyes. He stayed awake the whole time, he just went down after his last lap. He wouldn’t move, he wouldn’t get up.”

The bard felt out the little sore spots on the colt’s back, and grimaced as the severity of it became clear. Her face seemed to convey the pain Whimper wasn’t capable of showing. “Aww, poor baby. You’ve got it bad, don’t you?”

Whimper groaned and nodded, a little preoccupied with breathing to worry about dignity at this point.

“Is he going to be okay? How bad is it?” Dash hovered over the bed as Lyra started rubbing two small spots near Whimper’s shoulders.

“He’ll be okay. He didn’t lose consciousness, that means there’s no brain damage from lack of oxygen. Eagle’s Grasp doesn’t make you pass out, it just makes you stop, normally. It’s when you keep going that you get in trouble. Some ponies just can’t move too fast, or their body overreacts.”

Lyra sent some warm energy into her hooves and pressed, then massaged the points. Whimper arched his back into it with a low whine, the tension and the rash making those points very tender.

“When they get to a critical rhythm of moving, like running or galloping, at a certain point they get out of breath, and then the brain sends out a panic response. Wires get crossed, signals get mixed up and the body goes into overdrive. It reacts as if it’s sick, focusing on the lungs. Inflammation occurs, the heart starts pounding, and the chest and throat start to tense up. Nose usually gets stuffed up before that, too. You can tell an Eagle’s Grasp case from someone who’s out of breath by these three little pressure points here.” Lyra nodded towards three swollen spots on the colt’s back. ”They tense up and get irritated when it happens, and that’s pretty much the beginning of the end. If you don't relax those points, the lungs stay closed.”

The green unicorn slowly rubbed along those points, before stroking the boy’s back with the same warm healing energy. Whimper’s squeal-like breaths came in faster, the pain triggering a slight panic response but his body unable to flee.

“When they’re out of breath, their back starts to chill. In the middle of an attack, the skin on their back turns rough like sandpaper. That’s why it’s called Eagle’s Grasp. It feels like an eagle landing on you, digging its claws into your lungs and pecking into you.”

“He kept his wings up and he didn't say anything. He hid it.” Rainbow Dash pressed a hoof to her forehead, looking down and giving the kid a very disapproving look. Whimper didn’t look up at her, the little guy didn’t have any fight in him left. His breath slowly went back to normal, though, with deeper inhales, if still wheezing when he exhaled.

Lyra pushed him unto his side once the pressure points near his shoulders softened up, simply pressing into a third point right along his spine. “There now. Feel a little better?”

The blue colt nodded, still avoiding Rainbow’s gaze but looking the nurse in the eye. He croaked a little as he spoke, relief washing over his face. “Uhuh, thanks.”

Lyra levitated a rag and a bottle of green stuff towards him, wetting the rag with some aromatic oil.

Whimper backed away, shaking his head. “No,” His voice cracked and his eyes watered when he saw it.

“I know, sweetie, I know. But I have to.” The nurse gave a sad smile of sympathy as the aromatic rag was brought closer.

“No. Nonono, please.” He gave a muffled moan as the rag was pressed into his face and his toned body went limp. A tear rolled over his face, his head started to go down like a ragdoll’s.

“We’ll be right outside, okay? Won’t be long.” Lyra patted him and put a blanket over the young pegasus as his belly and chest started moving in spasms.

Rainbow bit her lip. “I wanna stay with him.”

“Trust me, you don’t want to hear this. And he doesn’t want you to hear it.” Lyra nodded her head towards the prone patient, who was quickly losing the struggle to keep in his coughs.

As soon as they stepped out, the wheezing coughs could be heard beyond the door.

Lyra tilted her head towards the door. “Eucalyptus, mint, some etheric oils. It clears the airways, sends them into an uncontrollable coughing fit. He’ll be able to talk a little, but his throat’ll be raw, so you won’t have long. I will have to put him to sleep so he can recover fully.”

The blue mare nodded with a sigh. At least Whimper wasn’t in any danger.

“Are you alright, Rainbow Dash?”

“Yeah. I’m just shaky, you know? I mean, can you believe this kid’s luck, getting sick on his third day of Flight Camp?” She smiled meekly, mostly to try and fool herself.

Lyra looked her right in the eye and smiled sympathetically. “Come on, Dash. You saw how he reacted when he saw the bottle, you know that’s not how it is. Eagle’s Grasp isn’t something you catch, he was born with it. And this isn’t the first time he’s had an attack like that.”

Rainbow Dash tapped her hooves a little nervously. “Well, at least we can get it fixed now, right? He’ll get better.”

Lyra shook her head. The dry coughing beyond the door kept going unabated. “He’ll breathe normally again in a bit, if that’s what you mean. But this is going to keep happening, you do realise that?”

“Okay, fine. I’ll ask Twilight to look up a cure, fly off tonight to wherever it is and be back by morning--” Dash started.

“Rainbow--”

“-- Maybe I should head down to get Spike, ask princess Celestia or Zecora too, just in case --”

“Rainbow! You’re not listening to me. There’s no cure. Trust me, a lot of ponies have looked. This has been around for centuries and no one, not even Celestia herself, has been able to get rid of it. There’s no healing water, no rare plant, no epic side quest you can go on that’s going to stop this kid from wheezing every time he speeds up.”

Rainbow Dash scowled. “Oh, don’t say that. We have magic, don’t we? Twilight’s travelled through time, how hard can it be to fix a breathing problem?”

“You can’t cure Eagle’s Grasp with magic, Dash. It’s not like a wound you can stitch, it’s something that’s a part of you. It comes with your body. This is a problem that’s rooted as deep as a pony’s magic itself. If you even try to fix it, you wind up taking his innate magic away. That means no way to move on clouds, no weather control, no making himself lighter. He’d never even get a cutie mark if you so much as touch him at that level. The only thing that might properly cure it is a polymorph spell.”

The pegasus let her head hang low. She’d heard this lecture once before. “And if you’re going to fix something with a polymorph, you might as well turn him into a dragon and be done with it, I know, I know. I just… I don’t understand how this happened. We were standing right there, Twilight wanted him to stop. I did this, Lyra, I made him think he could do it.”

“He probably wanted you to think he could do it, too. You are one of the best flyers in Equestria, maybe he just didn’t want you to write him off right away.”

“But I never wrote off Scootaloo and he knows that. Why didn’t he just say something? ”

The coughing started to get slower and quieter. The nurse shrugged. “He was probably embarrassed about it. It makes sense, though. He only has a problem when he tries to move fast, which means muscle training isn’t an issue. Neither is wrestling, if he watches his tempo.”

“Then why wouldn’t it be on his record? Why doesn’t he have any pills with him or something?” Dash wouldn’t relent.

Lyra shrugged. “It’s never put on record because it varies. There are light cases who can run just fine if you give them five minutes to ease off. There's no point in registering cases when it varies like that. He’s not handicapped, you know, not officially. He still has to do everything all the other ponies do, including gym class, and he’s not outright banned from Flight Camp, that’s something to consider.”

Rainbow Dash groaned. “Of course he’s not handicapped, but there has to be some kind of special treatment or training or whatever to make this easier, right?”

“He did bring a rune page. You can treat it a little bit with hypnotherapy, but it depends on the severity. At least a part of it is stress-related, just getting them to relax can help a little. He's pretty much got everything he could get up here. But you can't tell who has it until they get an attack, there's no symptoms to watch for outside of that. As for medication? Most of it isn’t all that useful if you want to stay active. It works fine, but it all has some side effects. What I gave him now’s gonna leave him woozy for a while, and some of the other stuff can be worse than the attacks.” Lyra rolled her eyes at the thought of it.

“So? Can’t he take something before he flies so it doesn’t happen?” Rainbow tried.

“Err… sure, there’s one thing that always works, I guess. And we do have it in stock.”

“Good, we’ll give him that and he’ll be racing with the rest in no time.” The winged mare smiled as the problem was resolved.

“Noted side effects include heart arrhythmia, hypertension, and hypothermia, especially in the extremities.” Lyra kept her voice slow and even, careful to break this to Dash.

“Hyper and extreme sounds good.”

“That means his heart will be pounding, his legs will be shaking, and his wings will be freezing. And that’s before he even takes off.”

“What kind of a medicine is that?” The pegasus had to stop herself from shouting.

“The kind you only use in emergencies. Look, this isn’t as big a deal as you think. Lots of ponies have Eagle’s Grasp, Flitter’s training three of them right now. I’m pretty sure a few ponies in Ponyville have it, too. They just grow out of it, mostly, it gets better with time. They can never run very fast, but most ponies don’t really need to. And pegasus ponies… their wings get bigger, flying becomes easier when their magic grows stronger. They lag behind but they don’t fail their tests when they’re older.”

The coughing had stopped by now.

“But if he tries it the way he is now, he’s gonna fail, right? There’s no way he’s going home with what he wants?” Rainbow Dash asked with a quiet edge in her voice. She really didn’t want to risk Whimper hearing this.

“I doubt it. There’s no training regime I know of that would work, and I don’t think you do, either. Not unless you know a way to make him go faster without having to move faster.” Lyra let silence fall as she opened the door.

The two walked in. Whimper’s face looked like he’d been mangled, but at least the wheezing had quieted down to a vague squeak.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Rainbow Dash got right to the point.

“I did tell you. I’m slow, and you told me how to get faster. So I did what you told me, and it worked.” Whimper croaked, throat raw from the coughing. Lyra floated a drink towards the prone colt. He winced in pain as the juice ran down his throat, but it didn’t seem to last long.

“Uh huh.” Dash kept glaring at him. ”And look where it got you. You could’ve gotten really hurt, you should have told someone you have a breathing problem.”

“And then what? It’s always the same. Either they tell me I need to buck up and try harder, or they tell me not to try at all. I can’t try harder, and I don’t want to get left hanging at the side lines. You're the only one who's actually managed to help, I never went that fast for so long. What am I supposed to do?”

Rainbow Dash put her hoof to her forehead and sighed. Seeing and hearing this sort of thing brought back memories, most of them bad. Her heart ached with pity, as much as she wanted to deny it. “Kid, it’s not as bad as it could’ve been, but you’re hurt right now. And you’re going to keep getting hurt if you try that again.” Rainbow Dash leaned in to face him.

Whimper gritted his teeth and looked almost angry as he got up, with what strength he had left to back it. He was buckling, though, both from the exertion and the medicine. His eyes looked a little off, like he had a splitting headache.

“Don’t look at me like that. I don’t want pity. I don’t care if I’m always gonna be last, just let me finish with the rest, please, I have to --” He gave a weak cough as some leftover tension worked out of his throat.

“Okay, that’s enough out of you.” Lyra came towards him, her horn glowing and some sort of lullaby starting to play from it.

Whimper widened his eyes and backed away again. “No, I don’t want to --”

“Shh.” She touched his forehead with her horn, and the lullaby playing from it sank into his ears, a green glow appearing in his eyes as the spell made his body go heavy. He moaned meekly and rolled his eyes as he fought to stay awake, but it was a lost cause. His mouth started hanging open as he went down again. His legs collapsed, but kept moving as he went. One wing tried to flap feebly to get away even as the spell was doing its work, lullaby in his ears and one big blur in his eyes. A hind leg kicked at random, then fell silent and limp along with the rest of him.

Rainbow Dash bit her lip, then sighed in defeat. “It’s okay. I’ll think of something, Whimper.”

With that, his eyes drifted shut, his body losing strength under the magic. Lyra posed the boy’s body like a rag doll, he didn’t so much as stir in his sleep as she closed his mouth. Rainbow looked away. Not that she wasn’t all for relieving pain, but there was just something fundamentally unsettling about a child being forced into losing consciousness by an adult.

The nurse carefully made sure his wings and forelegs weren’t placed so he’d lie atop them, since her lullaby spell immediately sent ponies right into dreamland, like a heavy sedative. It wouldn’t do to put a kid to sleep to ease the pain, only to have him wake up with muscle cramps. She rubbed his mane and gave him a little kiss. “There. You rest now, sweetie.”

The rainbow-maned pegasus looked on confusedly at the gesture. She does have a good bedside manner, I guess. “I hope you never try that on me.”

Lyra smiled at the thought. “Don’t worry, I can’t do grownups… yet.”

Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow.

“I’m just kiddin’. I can knock you out whenever I want to.”

The winged mare was about to comment on the bard’s incredibly poor sense of humour, but she stopped herself. The big crisis was averted, Whimper was safe. It was okay to lighten up. “Look, um… I need to get to back to the rest of my group.” The thought got stuck in her head and made her freeze.

“Of course. Whimper should be fine once dinnertime rolls around. I don’t suppose he’s brought anything to sleep with?”

“Yeah, a stuffed bat, in our cabin, probably to keep his back warm.” Dash pondered as she walked out of the infirmary, Lyra in tow. ”But… I just realised, Zephyr and Skyron, they knew about this, right?”

Lyra shrugged. “Of course. It’s probably why they pick on him. No matter what he does, they’ll always be faster.”

“And they didn’t say anything either. They just laughed at him when he kept trying. He shouldn’t have to take that. He’s as good as anyone, he even went up against Clod, or whatshisname.”

Lyra’s expression turned to shock. “Kuh-Kludde? You’re kidding, right?”

“No, I’m not. At the wedding, when I was practising my Sonic Rainboom, I saw Whimper’s picture hanging next to mine, and the symbol underneath it was the one for fighting monsters. I wasn’t sure of it at first, but it’s him, it has to be. I’ve sent a letter to Shining Armour to see what the whole story is. He told Scootaloo about it, something about getting a necklace back for his friend. I don’t think he’d lie about that.”

Lyra plopped her rump down on the cloud in utter amazement. “You’re serious. He took back a necklace? Do you even know what Kludde is?”

Dash shook her head. “No, what’s wrong?”

“Y-You need to ask Twilight, she’ll explain it better than me. Her brother went up against that thing and lost. As a matter of fact, the entire Royal Guard has a special… oooh,” Lyra was blinking a lot as she tried to make sense of it all.

“What?”

Lyra blinked once more as the facts sank in.

“Nothing, you should head back to your flight. I’m going to get Whimper his stuffed bat. But Rainbow? Don’t mention this Kludde business where anypony else can hear it. This is a very big thing, and I’m pretty sure Whimper doesn’t want it to get out. If Shining sends a reply, I’m going to want to see it.”

The pegasus wanted to keep asking, but the fact was that she didn’t have time. She had four other kids who had to be told that their team mate was out of harm’s way, and her head wasn’t geared towards another long explanation, certainly not from a drama pony.

It was, however, geared towards some retribution.

Scootaloo was shaking the whole time they were flying. Twilight wouldn’t let them get a moment of peace, determined to keep their minds off little Whimper.

It did not work.

All she could think of was her friend gasping for air because she’d failed to see what was wrong. He hadn’t let her down once. He’d dived right after her every time he saw she would fall, never even hesitated. He hadn’t backed out of the cloudwrestling, never even called her out about it, he’d tried to cheer her up when she was down, and what she done?

Pretty much the same thing she did to all her friends, nearly get him killed.

The jocks were grunting about something, and Rumble didn’t seem to understand what had happened. Twilight kept them moving from one exercise to another, no doubt getting ahead of schedule.

Rainbow Dash came flying in, the settled next to Twilight. She didn’t call out the other foals right away, just let them do the exercises as they should. Her mind was reeling, though. She remembered the harsh words she’d had to endure as a child, the callousness of her peers. More than that, she remembered how much Fluttershy had suffered at the same thing, constantly being broken by nothing more than names. Rainbow was never one for dwelling on the past, but the past had a way of coming back sometimes.

And while she may have made some wrong decisions in the past regarding dealing with these harsh words, her mistakes had taught her some valuable lessons, as well.

Words had power, she’d learned that a long time ago. And while the harsh words and hurtful names were plentiful, Rainbow Dash had also learned she only needed two words to counter them. Two simple, magic words that would make all the evils of the world go away.

Never again.

The foals landed after their final lap, a whole afternoon spent flying, Twilight marked the endurance training off her checklist. Rainbow Dash braced herself for what she was about to do. “Okay, everypony, line up.”

Without a word, the foals lined up in front of their coach: Scootaloo, Skyron, Zephyr, Rumble, she looked over every last one. Her intense gaze would have put a cockatrice to shame.

“I told you on day one that I only have one rule: everyone flies, no one fails. Whimper flew today, he didn’t fail. He has a breathing problem that triggers when he gets to high speed, that’s all. He couldn’t breathe normally, so he had to lie down. He’s fine now.”

Scootaloo breathed a sigh of relief. Now she could plan some payback. Although it seemed that Rainbow Dash was about to beat her to it.

“Now, Zephyr, Skyron, I’d like to hear why you call Whimper names and why you didn’t step in before he hurt himself.” Rainbow kept her demeanour eerily calm. Twilight forced herself to keep quiet, not wanting to break the mood Rainbow was carefully setting up, at least not yet. She was aching for it, though. Rainbow was liable to punch those kids in the face, and even unicorn magic might not be able to stop her from doing just that.

Zephyr groaned. “Ugh, not this again.”

Skyron rolled his eyes. “Look, we don’t hate the guy, okay? But it’s no fun for us either.”

Twilight opened her mouth to say something, but her blue friend stopped her with a raised hoof. She didn’t even turn her head, she kept her gaze fixed on the two kids. One could cut the tension with a knife. “Go on. I’m not gonna punish you for not liking someone. I just want to hear you say this.”

Rainbow Dash had had some time to think while they completed their exercises, and she’d contemplated the best move.

Aggression wouldn’t work, and would probably lead to angry letters from the colts’ parents. Outright punishing them wasn’t likely to help in the long term. Singling them out or making them work harder would only make them hate Whimper more. With so many intuitive solutions useless when dealing with kids, Rainbow Dash had gone for the final solution, the one thing she turned to when all other options proved useless.

What would a smart pony like Twilight Sparkle do?

“It’s always the same thing with Wimpie.” Zephyr threw his hooves up in frustration. ”We can’t get into a decent routine with him around, we have to slow down and wait for him every single time, and then we’re supposed to be nice to him? It’s not fair! We’re ace flyers, we shouldn’t have to let a wimp like him slow us down.”

Scootaloo felt herself shaking again, this time with a familiar anger.

Rainbow Dash nodded. “Okay, I can relate to that. You’re better than him, you shouldn’t have to worry about his limits when you’re pushing yours.”

Zephyr nodded back, calming down. “Exactly. Me and Skyron, everyone in our class would be a lot better by now if Wimpie didn’t hold us back every time we try to get better at our game. We can't ever play at our top level, ever. It doesn’t matter what we do, we have to let him join because our teacher says so, and he drags everything down with him every single time. I mean, what do you do with dead weight like that?”

Scootaloo heard the phrase ‘dead weight’ ringing in her head. Exceptionally bad choice of words, considering what Whimper had looked like.

“Oh, me? I’ve had dead weight like that, a lot of it. I try to get rid of it, kinda like you.” Dash played along.

Scootaloo was fuming by now, but not at her idol. She knew full well this trap was about to get sprung.

Skyron sighed. “Right, except we can’t do it like you. We can’t get rid of Wimpie or our teacher gets mad at us, or some other grownup.”

“Yeah, that’s not the only difference, actually.” Dash looked back as she said it, faking indifference.

Zephyr tilted his head. “Huh?”

“See, I only try to get rid of dead weight when the dead weight is going to get hurt. I actually care about dead weight. And I don’t call them ‘dead weight’ where they can hear it.” She let an edge slip into her voice at that one.”But the real difference? I managed to make friends with dead weight, and it hasn’t stopped me once. If anything, I got better thanks to some dead weight. And you think you’re an ace flyer? What kind of an ace lets himself get slowed down by a wimp, anyway?”

Skyron shook his head. “Please, you’re just like everypony else. You think you’re cool, you think you know better, but you don’t even know Wimpie. He just sits by himself and hides behind grownups and silly fillies.”

Scootaloo gritted her teeth again. They were giving Whimper a hard time when he didn’t have his Earth pony friend with him, they’d have been worse if he didn’t have any comfort on camp. His friend always stuck up for him, she realised, and they mocked him even more for that. The idea that someone would that do that to Apple Bloom or Sweetie Belle when she wasn’t around to stick up for them made her anger boil. The fact that it was happening to her new friend right now was maddening.

“And I guess you’re tough because you hide from the silly fillies, huh? Face it, you think he’s holding you back, but he’s managed to get pretty strong all on his own. If he really wanted to, he could do what you do to him, and worse. So which one of you is the dead weight, then?”

The colts both grimaced at that thought.

“Look, I don’t like it, either. But that’s how it is. You want to punish me, fine. Wouldn’t be the first time. But you’re not gonna change anything. We’re still gonna be flying circles around Wimpie, and he’s still only gonna wheeze every time he tries to fix that, you might as well keep a bed open for him in the infirmary. You wanna yell at us? You don’t even know what the rest of our class gets up to.” Zephyr was ranting by now.

Scootaloo’s anger was reaching critical mass, she could just about hear the tea kettle whistle in her ears. She bit her lip. Not gonna say it… not gonna say it...

“SHUT UP, ZEPHYR!”

Scootaloo looked past the jocks. That shout, while well-timed and fully deserved, hadn’t come from her. Rumble?

“It’s not funny anymore, Zephyr. Whimper did fine, he’s just as fast as you are, but you… you just don’t stop.” Rumble’s eyes were wide with anger. “You knew he was going to get hurt, and the only thing you did was laugh!”

“Oh, please, like you haven’t been cracking jokes when his back was turned. You’ve been laughing at Scootaloo the whole camp.” Zephyr pointed a hoof her way.

“Yeah, because I know what she can take. And I don’t cross the line, not anymore.” Rumble shook his head, almost sobbing. ”You, you just like seeing other ponies get upset and cry. You know what they call ponies who like to see others get upset and cry? Sadists. You’re just jerks, both of you... and you made me into a jerk, too.”

An awkward silence fell as Rumble moved over to the other side to stand beside Scootaloo. The filly looked at her classmate, but he averted his gaze.

“And I’m not going to apologise for it, either. I know Scootaloo’s good for it. She laughs at me too, and she never crosses the line. As soon as she gets home, she’ll tell her friends and they’ll get even. I don’t care what they do, I deserve it.” He hung his head guiltily.

“Dude, come on, you’re overreacting,” Skyron tried.

“Don’t talk to me like I’m your friend. I’m not. I won’t bother Scootaloo or Whimper, either. I’ll just find somepony else to hang out with.”

Rainbow Dash suppressed a grin. Thunderlane would be proud of his little bro.

Twilight was seeing it, but she didn’t believe it. Rainbow Dash, the pony whose first response when faced with a giant dragon was ‘kick it in the nose’, was actually putting two bullies in their place, using words alone. Where in Celestia’s name did she get that? And on top of that, she’s actually rubbed off on Rumble, of all ponies, in a good way.

Rainbow rubbed her forehead with a hoof, before turning to the boys again. "Zephyr, Skyron, I want to make one thing clear to you two. You didn't warn anyone about Whimper's breathing problem and you knew he was going to get hurt. I'm not gonna punish you for that, since Whimper still decided to keep going on his own. I don't think I even wanna punish you for picking on him. But just remember, I'm not going to punish him either if he does anything to you. I might not even be fast enough to stop him from hurting you."

The colts shook a little at the threat. Skyron raised an eyebrow at Rainbow Dash. "You're bluffing. He's not going to do anything. And you can't let one of us get hurt.”

"Why not? I just let Whimper get hurt trying to do something he shouldn’t, why should you be any different?"

“Ooo… kay, I think everypony’s said what they needed to say here.” Twilight interrupted before the mood got any nastier. She looked to Scootaloo, who’d remained silent for her own reasons. ”We should probably head off now.”

The orange filly snapped out of her reverie and flew over to Rainbow Dash just as she was pulling away from the chastised colts. “Err, Rainbow Dash, could I --”

Rainbow took off one of her bracelets and put it on Scootaloo’s foreleg. “Go. Go see your friend.”

Scootaloo showed Lyra her bracelet, just to make sure she wouldn’t get in trouble. She hovered into the infirmary, staying at eye level with Lyra. “Is he going to be okay?” Whimper was sound asleep, his bat wrapped around his neck. It was cute, but weird. He looked so helpless.

“He’ll be fine, don’t worry.” She could see the conflicting emotions in the filly’s eyes. “What about you? Are you going to be okay, Scootaloo?”

“I don’t know. I mean, it’s not like this is my fault, but it still feels that way.” She shook her head as she tried to voice her concerns. ”I-I want him to feel better, but I don’t know how. What do you say to boys like him, anyway?”

Lyra crouched down and patted her on the shoulder, grinning. “Just say what you think is best. Keep his spirits up, keep his back warm, and try not to get too mushy. I know you can do that. I’ll leave you two be, just make sure he doesn’t miss dinner. He shouldn’t be too hard to wake up.” She left with a wink.

With that, the bard walked off, leaving Scootaloo with her unconscious friend.

“Hey, Whimper, wake up.” She nudged him, still a little sad at his predicament.

He didn’t respond. He just lay in his death-like slumber.

“Wake up.” She nudged him again. She really needed to pay more attention to the colts in her class, or ask Twilight to borrow the manual of colts and stallions sometime. They had to have an on and off switch somewhere, why else would the older fillies insist that they knew how to ‘push a boy’s buttons’?

Doldrum Whimper’s head turned a little from the nudging, and now he did give her some response.

He snored.

“Hmm…” Scootaloo considered it for a moment, but shouting in his ear was probably inappropriate. She’d seen something like this in a movie a while back. What’s the best way to wake up a boy again?

She stroked his neck slowly and lovingly, just like in the movie. Leaning in close, she blew lightly in his ear, then nibbled it. Then she gagged to get the taste of ear out of her mouth. Getting that up close and personal just felt wrong, but she’d seen it in a movie, so it had to work.

Of course, she hadn’t seen the whole movie, since apparently it wasn’t meant for foals of her age. She didn’t see the big deal, really, colt ears did not taste well at all. Besides that, in the movie the stallion whose ear had been nibbled then proceeded to not only wake up, but after a while also start making some odd grunting sounds. She never found out why, though, since her parents had covered her eyes at that point and dragged her back to her bedroom.

“Whu…” Whimper opened his eyes at last. For some strange reason, his wings started unfurling as well. She always had trouble getting her wings to wake up after a nap. Must’ve been a boy thing.

“Hey there, sleepy head.” She smiled back at him. ”Dinner’s up. You ready to go?”

“Urrrff…” Whimper groaned as he started dragging himself out of bed all bleary-eyed. ”Don’t ever mess with Lyra. That nurse packs a real wallop.”

As he got out, he stumbled on his heavy legs and landed on the filly. She managed to keep him up for the most part, though, and actually got a lot closer to emulating the scene from the movie than she’d ever know. Scootaloo realised that since he was hanging over her, this must be what grownups meant with the word ‘hangover’. But being hung over with a boy wasn’t as bad as the grownups had made it out to be, really. The heavy warmth of his muscles over her wasn’t anywhere near uncomfortable, though it would make an embarrassing sight. And at least she could carry him, not like the pileups she dreaded so much. Being hung over was kind of nice, she decided. Then again, there may have been some grammatical issues she was missing.

She checked her flanks, too, just in case a grape had appeared on it. She remembered Applejack mentioning something about Berry Punch having a hangover cutie mark, which looked like grapes. How one got from boys hanging over you to grapes was a mystery, though. And why did aunt Vinyl keep saying she woke up with a hangover when she didn’t bring any guys around? Grownups were confusing like that.

“Come on, get up.” She shook him off.

“I’m up, I’m up.” Whimper dizzily got back on all fours, shaking his head to clear it. He looked at her as the inevitable awkward silence fell. “Oh no, not you too.”

“I’m sorry,” she said anyway. She didn’t look at him with pity in her eyes, though.

He sighed. “It’s not your fault I went down. I’d have done what Rainbow Dash told me no matter what you did. I shouldn’t have come to Camp in the first place.”

“I don’t mean that, you sappy… I mean I’m sorry for not helping you. I saw you were in trouble and I froze. You caught me every single time I fell, and the one time you fall I wasn’t there. And I’m really sorry for leaving you behind. I was so happy being able to fly, and it was fixed so fast. I didn’t think you’d be worse off than me.”

The resentment and frustration in the colt’s face faded. He blinked a few times as it sank in. “Umm… well, I didn’t want you to worry. I don’t want anyone to worry.”

“But don’t think I’m going soft on you. I just wanted you to cross the finish line with me, even if you would be slower.”

“That’s okay. I don’t think I’d mind being stuck behind you.”He flashed her an awkward smile.

With that out of the way, the pair set off to the cantina.

“So what’s it like, then? Do you run out of breath when you go fast, or...” Scootaloo asked.

“No, not just that. My nose gets stuffed, my back gets cold and itchy, and my throat bunches up as soon as I go faster than a light trot. After a while, if I don’t stop, trying to breathe hurts, like I’m breathing in hot smoke. And when I can’t breathe, everything hurts like I’ve running all day, when I’ve only been running for a few minutes. It’s pretty stupid, really.” His muscles were still throbbing from the exertion, but his bruiser look clashed with the cute plushie still buttoned around his neck.

“I guess that’s why you’re slow, huh?” She kept her eye on his taut belly as his breathed, all those little muscles stretching like they should. His face worried her, though. He needed cheering up, and she really didn’t know any other way besides ‘get it all out’.

“It is. Peachy’s the only one who slows down for me, and she’s always hopping in circles around me.” He smiled fondly at the thought. Scootaloo vaguely remembered the filly who’d won the drama award during their last talent show. She seemed pretty nice, and she was quite decent on her rollerblades. At least he had a groundbound friend who made him laugh.

“Well, don’t worry. Rainbow Dash had a good talk with the other guys. I don’t think they’ll give you a hard time anymore. She didn’t punish them, but I think it’s okay if we get even.” Scootaloo was already scheming something.

“Nah.” Whimper shrugged sadly as they stood in front of the cantina. ”They'd only get worse after that.”

His eyes were watering up. Scootaloo wasn’t sure what to make of it. She’d seen boys cry before, but that was usually when she made them cry. They all deserved it, of course, and she’d cried like that herself a few times too, but she really wanted to forget about those times. The problem was that she’d never seen a boy break down and cry quite like this. He reminded her of Apple Bloom in her weaker moments, which didn’t help at all. It scared her, actually. “Aww, don’t feel bad about it. It’s not like you can’t do anything. You’re strong as an ox, you’re tossing kids twice your size.” Not exactly molly cuddling, but she got closer to it than she cared for.

“Yeah, I’m a real bigshot. Everyone’s always going ‘ooh’ and ‘whoa’ when they see how strong I am. Then they hear I have Eagle’s Grasp. And all of a sudden, I’m not the bullhead anymore. I’m not strong, I’m not impressive, I’m just some runt who can’t keep up with the rest and has to lie down whenever he tries. And that look… I hate that look.” He closed his eyes to stop the tears, but it didn’t help much.

Scootaloo looked at the door. Everypony probably knew what had happened by now. The big cloudwrestling champion had fallen. In a way, it was her fault. She’d gotten him into it, she’d made sure everypony knew Doldrum Whimper was the strongest pony on Camp. And now they’d look at him like he was sick, like he was a runt.

“Okay, someone remembered to pack their angsty pants,” Scootaloo started, but she didn’t keep that tone, since he was visibly hurting. ”Come on, it’s not all bad. I don’t think you’re a runt. You’re the coolest pony on Camp, next to me. Anyone more awesome is on staff.”

He sniffed. “You’re just saying that.”

She tried lightly punching his ribcage to snap him out of it. He didn’t move, she nearly fell over. “I mean it. I hang out with the sisters of the Elements of Harmony. I’ve been into the Everfree Forest, the last wild place on Equestria. I insulted Princess Celestia and still managed to be a flower girl at the last royal wedding. Back in Ponyville, I’m the fastest thing on wheels, and I see Rainbow Dash every day. I know what awesome looks like. And you? You got into an eating contest hosted by a guy who’s got a hospital wing named after him, and you fight like a pro without ever taking any lessons. Not only that, you stood up to a monster the size of a minotaur, didn’t you? You’re cool, Whimper, and we’re two leaves of a clover, whether you like it or not.”

Doldrum Whimper frowned at that. Some of it had sunk in, at least. “Yeah, about that? There’s something I’ve been meaning to tell you. It’s kind of awkward, but I really don’t have anypony to talk to about it.You did make national news, I guess local too, kinda like me. And since we are a little alike, I thought…”

Scootaloo started heading around the cantina with her friend in tow. If he wanted to avoid the gaze of the camp goers, they’d just have to slip in through the back door. “I’m listenin’, Whimper.”

“You know how I said I took on Kludde?” He’d stopped crying by now, but he kept his head low.

“You took back a necklace for your friend, right? That must’ve been pretty awesome.” Scootaloo tried to imagine the battle, but she’d forgotten what magic Kludde used, so she couldn’t get it too accurately. In her mind, Whimper had dodged fireballs and snatched the necklace out of the monster’s hands.

“Not really. Peachy Pie was already down when I got there, her necklace was already taken. I followed this shadow in the mist and well, one thing led to the other, I barely made it. I don’t even remember exactly what happened, but -- ” He took a deep breath to prepare. ”When I got out of the hospital, the Royal Guard offered me a medal.” He grimaced at the thought.

“Really? Cool,” she half-fawned.

“I turned it down.”

Scootaloo turned to face him, a little confused. “Why would you turn down a medal?”

“Do you know what Kludde is?”

“It’s a monster, right? Makes its body out of dead plants, used to look like a dog, now it’s minotaur-ish, takes trinkets?” She didn’t finish that trail of thought. That led to a silly conclusion, it just wasn’t possible.

“And it attacks through magic. The Royal Guard never managed to beat it or even catch it because they always had to fight with a handicap. As soon as Kludde spots you, he casts a spell on you. The spell does two things: make you feel like you have a crushing weight on your back, and make your lungs burn. It’s a spell that’s supposed to scare you, paralyse you, by stealing your breath.” He seemed embarrassed about something, but it didn’t add up at first.

Scootaloo finally realised it. “Ooooh, and that’s why you didn’t get your cutie mark afterwards, too. I just thought fighting was your talent, and that's how you beat it. That does explain it.”

“The only reason I even survived is because I have this stupid breathing problem. Kludde’s spell, the thing that keeps putting Royal Guardsponies out of the fight, the thing that inspires terror in the heart of every pony, is a terror that I get every time I try to run. I got lucky, and if they gave me a medal, all of Equestria would know about it.” Whimper let his head hang again.

Scootaloo winced in sympathy at his predicment. The only time he’d acted like a real hero, the one thing that he could really feel proud of, was tainted by a stupid health problem. “But you’re still a hero, right?”

“No, I’m not. They checked me for everything: ancestral spirits, past lives, bloodline traits, I got nothing. The only thing special about me is that I’m wheezy, bulky and jumpy.”

“Come on, nopony would think that. None of that stuff makes you a hero, what you did makes you a hero. You went in to defend a friend.”

“Sure, everypony would think I’m a hero, right up to the point they ask me how it happened. Then I go back to being a pathetic runt who can’t run or fly. Nopony would think I’m strong or brave, just sick and lucky. Suppose I don’t tell anyone, then something else happens and I’m too slow to help? Some hero I’d turn out to be. And if I do tell them? The only thing a medal would do is give more ponies a reason to pity me. It’s bad enough having to see those looks from the ponies I know, I don’t want that from the entire kingdom.”

“But you still fought something that’s as strong as a minotaur. Even if you didn’t really win, that’s pretty cool no matter how you look at it. Aaand… you can get your medal later, right?”

He raised an eyebrow. “Huh?”

“Suppose you were strong and famous enough to make the whole Eagle’s Grasp thing not matter, if you could say that you’re just that strong? If you were already known as a hero, nopony would even care how you pulled another heroic save. And if you do manage to fly fast enough, you’ll get to be a hero next time too, if there is one.”

The two were standing at the back of the cantina by now.

“I guess. I just want ponies to think that I deserve it, you know? That I’m really a hero and not some sick kid who got lucky. I don’t want to be a runt anymore. That’s why I came to Flight Camp. I thought, if I’m ever gonna get it fixed, it’ll be here.” Whimper leaned against the wall, lost in thought. He wasn't looking at her as he said it, though, which clued her off that he wasn't being completely honest. That he checked her response to it after he said it confirmed he was hiding something from her.

Something else was really bothering him, which probably didn’t have anything to do with his breathing problem, but now wasn’t the time to be pulling open actual wounds. The only reason she even noticed was because she’d gone through the same thing. The whole Gabby Gums debacle was largely made possible because the Crusaders kept telling themselves the same lies over and over. And Whimper’s tone of voice, as well as his whole demeanour, was looking awfully familiar.

He wasn’t just hiding something from her, he was lying to himself about something, and he’d gotten to the point where he believed it. She couldn’t think of what, though.

“Don’t worry about a thing. You fly over to Ponyville sometime and me and my friends’ll make sure your face is in every newspaper from here to Manehattan. We get up to plenty of stuff that needs a hero to fix. We can make you famous in ten seconds, flat.” The thought of seeing his name in the newspapers brought one little question to the filly’s mind, though. One that had been bugging her since they’d met.

“Thanks.” He smiled with a mix of embarrassment and gratitude. ”So why are we standing at the back of the cafeteria?”

“To get in through the backdoor.”

“Don’t we need a backdoor for that?” Whimper squinted as he inspected the solid wall. Funny how you forget about things like that.

“Hmm…” Scootaloo pondered aloud. ”Actually, if you’re okay with it, there’s just one more thing that’s been bothering me.”

“Shoot, Scoot.” He smiled sheepishly. Whimper had cheered up a bit, it seemed.

“Why would your parents call you ‘Whimper’? I mean, ‘Doldrum Whimper’? Isn’t ‘Doldrum’ and ‘Whimper’ a bad thing?” Getting to some modicum of normal conversation would take his mind off things, and sate her curiosity on the matter. Besides, she still felt awfully silly calling her friend ‘Whimper’.

Whimper shrugged. “It’s an old name. Back when the tribes weren’t united, explorers used boats to get across long stretches of sea. See, the Doldrums are a place where there’s almost no winds, where you can barely move forward. It’s in the middle of nowhere, so you don’t even know which way to turn when the sun is up, or where exactly you are to begin with. If you got stuck in the Doldrums, it was pretty much the end of the line. But some of the winds that did come through the Doldrums were storms. Storm winds, because of how they sounded, were called ‘howls’ back then. A rare, mild wind, a good one, was called a ‘whimper’.”

Scootaloo frowned. “So you’re named after a wind that saved explorers?”

He shrugged. “That’s what my parents told me. It’s tradition in my family for stallions to be named after a wind. My name’s the boy version of ‘Twilight Sparkle’, basically, that’s what they called far off lighthouses. You could see them better when night was setting in, in the twilight, and from really far it was only a sparkle. ‘Twilight Sparkle’ means ‘Light of Hope’ --”

“And ‘Doldrum Whimper’ means ‘Wind of Hope’,” Scootaloo finished as she lifted off, Whimper following obliviously. ”So ‘Whimper’ is what they called a good wind, huh? I guess that is pretty cool. Better than ‘Zephyr’, anyway. I’m sure there’s hundreds of pegasus ponies called ‘Zephyr’.”

They both chuckled at that.

Twilight found the mood at dinner muted, at best. Zephyr and Skyron were hanging out with some of the other jocks, comparing strategies for bad apple, no doubt. Twilight realised that even though the two sports colts had been mean, their peers excluding them would only make their attitudes worse. They’d learn their lesson in time, she was sure.

Rumble was sitting quietly at a table with foals who were about a year and a half older than him, and Twilight was pretty sure one of the fillies was giving his hair one too many strokes with her wing to be considered introductory. Then again, she did have a cutie mark of a comb and scissors, she might just really have liked his mane. Twilight made a mental note to ask Thunderlane sometime what exactly he’d told his brother regarding fillies and the like. She still wasn't sure what to think of the fact that ten-year-old Rumble even knew what a sadist was. But then, what Thunderlane did in his own time wasn’t any of her business.

The unicorn was more worried about Whimper and Scootaloo. Everyone was keeping their eye on the entrance, waiting for the two to come in. She’d taken a table with Rainbow Dash and Lyra, all the way at the back with two seats reserved. They didn’t want Whimper to have to face all those looks of pity, but they couldn’t really stop it from happening when he came in through the door. The fact that they hadn’t shown up yet only made the tension worse.

A motion from the corner of her eye drew her attention. An orange pegasus filly set down two plates of food and some drinks. As Twilight turned, she realised Scootaloo and Whimper were sitting next to her. Rainbow Dash and Lyra turned to stare at them, confused. There was only one way in, right through the front door, and neither of them could teleport. None of the walls had holes in them, either.

The foals started eating their apple fritters, oblivious. Whimper had already set his bat down, not wanting to stain his precious plushie, no doubt. The grownups kept staring wordlessly. Scootaloo stared back and slowly chewed on a piece of apple, then swallowed.

She gave them an awkward look, then blinked and shrugged. “What? Haven’t you ever seen a pegasus fly in through the window before?”

Thinking Tank

Chapter 6: Thinking Tank

Rainbow Dash rubbed her forehead and looked around the room. Derpy, Flitter, Cloudkicker, Snow Flake (or Horse Power, or ‘Roid Rage, or Bulk Biceps, depending on who you asked), and the two unicorns were looking at the speedster with mixed emotions.

Right in front of her lay form 1248, the form to send a kid home.

Rainbow Dash sighed. “Okay, let’s hear it.” No point in delaying the inevitable.

“Well, everypony’s had some time to put their thoughts on paper, and we’ve made a little list of good reasons why Whimper should go home.” Lyra passed Rainbow a piece of paper.

Rainbow looked down at the sheet of paper Lyra floated to her. It was all the unicorn’s writing, she recognised the squiggle of her ‘s’. It definitely wasn’t Lyra’s idea, though. Rainbow Dash knew her well enough to know Lyra would only send a kid home if they were missing pieces, and even then she’d be tempted to find spares.

But of course, it wasn’t up to her. They had a kid who would either slow down his group and mess with their growth or keep getting hurt trying to keep up. They had an Eagle’s Grasp case, and Eagle’s Grasp cases were simply not all fit for Flight Camp. It basically came down to what they’d want to risk and how fair it would be to the rest to risk it.

Rainbow read the first argument. “Right. First off: preserving morale.” Flitter scrunched her face at that. “Okay, sounds reasonable, but sending him home’s gonna hurt him a lot more than keeping him on board with his problem. That’s not helping him at all, that’s breaking him.”

“Okay, stop right there,” Flitter interrupted her. ”Before we go any further, I just want to know something. Are you sure you’re thinking clearly about this? Your judgment’s not affected by anything?”

“What do you mean?”

Cloudchaser gave her sister a knowing look. “She means you’re only saying that because the kid’s bulked up. You’re playing favourites because he’s an athlete, like you. If he were an egghead or an artist, you’d send him home right away, wouldn’t you?”

Oddly, the thought hadn’t occurred to either Rainbow Dash or Twilight. Suppose he was a kid who had no physical features to speak of? Suppose they were dealing with someone who had no interest at all in becoming stronger or faster? Would they treat him any different for that? More to the point, would they even be having this discussion if they didn’t know what they knew?

The letter had arrived shortly after dinner, Spike having stopped Derpy on her rounds as soon as it had come rumbling up his throat. Twilight, Lyra and Rainbow Dash were alone, already wondering what they’d do about Whimper. They knew the rest of the staff would be wanting to send him home unless they had a good reason to assume he wouldn’t be a problem.

“Well, let’s see what Shining has to say.” Twilight opened the envelope and got out the first sheet of paper, reading it aloud.

Dear Rainbow Dash,

When I got your letter, I had managed to get through three months of marriage without my dear wife thinking of children. Thank you very much for remedying that for me.

“Eheh, oops.”

I have to admit, I was very happy to hear that you’re training Whimper. The boy’s got a lot of potential, even if he doesn’t realise it. I imagine you’ll know by now that he has a breathing problem, and that he can’t run or flap his wings too fast without severe pain.

However, I’m afraid that’s not the only problem he’s suffering from. You’ll see what I mean when you read the full report. I also included the last letter Whimper received from the Royal Guard, my own personal acknowledgement for his act of bravery. Honestly, I don’t know what else I’m supposed to say to him. I imagine there are some things that I just can’t understand regarding this matter, maybe you can. Despite my best efforts I’ve not gotten him to accept the medal that he deserves.

It’s considered something of a mixed bag here in higher echelons of the Court, and so far the only ones who know about it are the Wonderbolts, the Royal Guard, the Princesses and the Ashen Blizzard, as well as anyone Whimper may have told, which is only Peachy Pie and his next of kin, as far as I know. I suppose the Elements of Harmony should be informed of the matter as well, and Lyra would most likely try to strangle me for the story as soon as she got wind of it. I think she can be trusted with it as well.

“Oh, Shining, how little you know me. You wouldn’t be able to tell me if I strangled you.”

Twilight frowned. “Who’s the Ashen Blizzard?”

“A grandmaster in martial arts, even invented a whole new school. He’s called a lot of things, almost nopony knows his real name. So kind of a bigshot.” Rainbow kept her eyes on the paper.

As big as this is, I must urge you to keep this on a need-to-know basis. Whimper specifically requested it be kept under wraps, and we are honour-bound to do so. So Twilight, Lyra, please don’t announce this for the whole camp to see, he won’t like it. And don’t try putting it into his head that he should be proud of what he did and he should accept the medal. I’m pretty sure he’d have done it by now if things were that simple. He has nopony to talk to about this, and I doubt there are a lot of ponies who can even begin to understand it. So be careful around him, please.

And Rainbow, I know it must be very, very tempting, but for the love of Celestia do not try to teach Doldrum Whimper how to fight. If he doesn’t feel like it, no good will come of it, regardless of his obvious talent. Go easy on the little guy.

Yours truly,
Shining Armour

“Not a lot of ponies would understand? What do you suppose he means by that?” Twilight got to the next letter, Obsidian Storm’s first report on the encounter, sent right before he headed out.

“Well, keep reading and we’ll find out.” Lyra hung over Twilight’s shoulder, curiosity burning her up inside.

Twilight closed her eyes and put the letter back. She shook, but for no apparent reason. “Maybe we should wait. I mean, we’re going to have to discuss him with the rest. Suppose we slip up and someone catches on?”

Lyra pressed a hoof to her face. “Please tell me you’re not serious. I’m already dying with anticipation here.”

Rainbow nodded. “She’s right. We can’t treat Whimper any different from the rest, we need to keep a level head. Whatever happened, it can’t count. Besides, he just took back a necklace, that’s not a big deal. We can wait.”

Twilight frowned at that. Lyra scrunched her face in agreement. What Rainbow Dash had just said made no sense at all. It just wasn’t possible, for one very simple reason.

Go easy on the little guy…

“Sure. I’d send him home just like that.”

Silence fell over the room. Twilight raised an eyebrow.

“If Whimper was an egghead, an artist, or anything else, I wouldn’t feel bad about sending him home. Because he wouldn’t have to feel bad about it, either. If he had something else that made him happy, I wouldn’t feel bad about sending him home. But he doesn’t, and you all know it. He’s here because he thought he could get his problem fixed if he just tried. I can’t deny him a chance to just try.”

Snow Flake shook his head in thought. “What about the rest of the Camp members? How are they going to react when they see the strongest kid on Camp wheezing when he tries to go fast? How is it going to look when they see him fail?”

“That depends, I guess. How’s it gonna look when they want to ask him how he got so strong, and he’s not around anymore? Or how about running into him once Flight Camp’s done?” Dash shot the bodybuilder a sad look. She knew he could empathise with the kid a little.

The red-eyed stallion sighed. Of course he’d considered the reactions if Whimper got sent home, but this matter was painful no matter how one looked at it. Bad enough to always fail at something, but to have a condition that punishes you for trying, that was downright cruel. It was doubly cruel for someone who wants to push their limits and leave that weakness behind. At the other end of the spectrum, forcing someone to keep going despite a crippling pain was a big red flag in his mind, and this was exactly what Dash was suggesting.

“Next thing:” Dash went over the list. ”The Wonderbolts’ judgment? What do you--”

She looked up. All the pegasi looked at her in sympathy, and it took a second for it to dawn on her. “You guys… that’s really nice of you to consider, but the Wonderbolts aren’t going to accept me just for what I do here. It doesn’t matter. If I let him stay or send him home, they’ll know. I really don’t think they’ll like me more for doing one or the other.”

Rainbow Dash chanced a glance over to Derpy. She’d looked away most of the time, brooding about the whole thing. Derpy took it hard, no doubt. The mailmare was sensitive like that, especially when kids were involved.

“Look, we can argue about sending him home or not, but don’t you think we should be discussing solutions here? Can’t we fix his problem?” Twilight looked around for any shows of confidence.

Lyra sighed. “You can’t cure Eagle’s Grasp, Twilight. You know it can’t done. You’d be wounding him just for the trying.”

“Suppose we don’t need a cure? His only problem is the rate at which he moves. I’ve seen some of the other kids with the same thing, they can keep up just fine with the rest of their flights, even if they’re slower.”

Flitter nodded reluctantly. “Well, that’s true. When their wings are bigger, they can stay up easier. Their magic's stronger, too. But for a little foal, that just ain’t in the cards. Pegasus magic isn't like unicorn magic, you can't force it without forcing your body too. If you have Eagle’s Grasp, you don’t show up for Flight Camp at his age, and that’s it. The only reason nopony thought he had it is because no one ever risks it with his condition, it's as simple as that. It’s painful, it’s sad, but that’s how it is. We can’t use magic or tools to make his wings bigger, not during the actual test. And simply making his wings stronger won’t work, either.”

Rainbow Dash looked over to her derpy-eyed colleague again. “Derpy? Mind helping us out here?”

She cringed at the attention. “Wuh-what do you want from me?”

Dash shrugged. “Well, what would you do? You’re pretty much the expert on this sort of thing, aren’t you?”

Everyone would have slapped her in the face for that remark if they hadn’t been too busy feeling shocked.

“What?” Rainbow looked around at their shocked faces. ”It’s true, isn’t it?”

A few ponies shook their heads, Derpy squinted bashfully.

“You came in fifth at the last Young Flyer’s Competition, you were third in the last Running of the Leaves and you cover plenty of distance on your job. I’m pretty sure that out of all the pegasus ponies here, you’re the only one who gets as much airtime as me and still lives on the ground, like Whimper. And yet I never see you train with the other high flyers. You’re kinda the best amateur flyer we’ve got.” Rainbow Dash gestured towards Derpy as she explained what to her was obvious.

Derpy’s expression lifted at that. “Oh, you mean that.”

“What else would I mean?”

Silence fell.

Derpy fidgeted in her seat. “Umm… I still don’t know how I could help.”

“How did you train? You never went with the pros, you didn’t even go to Flight School, but you still got your stamina up, and your speed.”

Everyone gave Derpy a hopeful look at that.

“I err… I didn’t really follow any program. I was pretty much pooped every day when I started with the mail, I just sped up over time. I didn’t even time myself, mostly I was happy to stay on schedule. Everything else? I keep moving, that’s all, and I watched the other great flyers, like you. I don’t know what to tell you. I found a lot of time to get better. I don’t think Whimper would be able to do that, though, not in less than two weeks and not with his problem.”

Rainbow Dash nodded. It was worth a shot, at least. “Okay, anyone else got any solutions?”

Silence answered her.

Cloudchaser rubbed the back of her head nervously. “Umm… you’re the best flyer we have, Rainbow, period. We were kinda expecting you to think of something if you wouldn’t send him home. I mean, if you can’t, then nopony can.”

Derpy sighed and looked at Rainbow with a sad expression. “Maybe you just need to accept that not everyone can learn to fly like you.”

There are times in life when one hears something that just clicks. Sometimes it’s a misunderstanding, sometimes it’s random. Sometimes it makes perfect sense, sometimes it sounds like complete gibberish. Dash had just gotten something to click, and she gave the rest something else to chew on. But while her little epiphany made perfect sense, her response to it was, to say the least, mildly confusing.

“Derpy, you’re a genius.”

Derpy blinked a few times and perked her ears to make sure they were working properly. What she had just heard made no sense. She’d certainly heard all of those words before, but never in that order. She’d pretty much accepted that she’d never hear them in that order, too, at least not from Dash.

Rainbow Dash stared at Bulk Biceps then.

He stared right back. "Are you thinking what I think you're thinking?"

"Oh yeah." Rainbow grinned.

He winced at the thought. "Isn't that dangerous, though?"

Rainbow shrugged and grinned. "You tell me. It would work, wouldn't it?"

The bodybuilder with the stubby wings squinted in thought. "On that one? Yeah, I guess it would. It should, definitely. You'd have to be careful, though."

Everyone looked from Rainbow to Bulk.

Flitter’s ears perked as she tried to make sense of it. "What are you talking about?"

Rainbow Dash got up from the meeting table. “I need to head off to Ponyville for a little bit. I think I have an answer, but it’ll take a day or two to work. So, look, Whimper doesn’t have that big a problem that he needs to go home right now, does he? Even if we can’t fix it, we can at least let him do the exercises at his own pace, right?”

“But that would still slow down the rest of your flight. You know how uptight management gets about their schedules.” Snow Flake rolled his eyes. “They need to be able to do the whole regime, that’s what the Gantelope is calculated for.”

“That would be a problem, but I’ve got the most organised pony in Equestria to help me out on that one.” Dash motioned to Twilight, who gave her a curt salute. ”If that’s really the only problem, then it’s not a problem, is it?”

The pegasi all nodded, Lyra following suit.

“Good. He wants to get better, and I think I know how to make it happen. We can still keep him on, and if he thinks he can’t make it through the Gantelope, he doesn’t have to. We can still send Whimper home one day in advance if we really need to.” Rainbow Dash turned to leave. ”So if that’s everything, I’m gonna head off to the ground for a bit.”

Twilight followed her friend out as Lyra called the meeting adjourned. They’d all speak with the rest of the staff and make sure the higher-ups all knew what was going on. As she came outside, the cold night air made her shiver almost as much at the thought of what was happening. “Rainbow, could I talk to you?”

Twilight looked worried, worried enough to warrant a full stop from Rainbow.

“What’s wrong?”

“’He doesn’t have anything’? You don’t know that. You’re acting really weird over this kid, Rainbow. And you’re sticking up for Whimper as he is, but you just said you’d send him home if he had his cutie mark? What is wrong with you? This isn’t like you at all.” Twilight raised an eyebrow.

“It’s complicated. You wouldn’t understand, Twilight,” came the reply.

“Why? Because I’m a unicorn?” Twilight finally dropped the hammer that had been hanging over them since the day they’d met.

Rainbow Dash took a deep breath. She didn’t have to say it.

“You know, I think I’ve been a pretty good sport about this. I’ve swallowed my words and kept quiet here more than I’d like. I let Whimper get hurt just as much as you did. I’ve tried to understand the pegasus way of doing things--”

“I know, Twilight,” Dash interrupted, calmly. ”You’re trying, I appreciate it, and it’s not fair to you that it would make a difference, but it does. It’s not what you think, though; this isn’t about how pegasi do things, it’s about how we feel things. It's just different for us.”

Twilight grimaced at that. “Umm… mind explaining that?”

Rainbow held her head in her hooves, before sighing deeply and facing Twilight again. “We’re built differently from unicorns, that’s all. And we’re wired differently, we don’t care about the same things unicorns do. It’s like…” Rainbow Dash weighed her words. ”You know what the worst thing in the world is for Earth ponies? Think about Applejack or Pinkie Pie, what’s the one thing they can’t take? What’s the worst feeling for them?”

Twilight tried to picture some of her friends’ weaker moments. It wasn’t really a voluntary reaction, more of a side effect from reading so much and having such a wild imagination. Then she tried to think about what set Earth ponies apart from the rest. They had an innate bond with animals, with the land around them, but the worst thing for them? Crops gone bad, dishes going off, their trade being useless? She couldn’t put a hoof on the exact feeling.

“Feeling hopeless,” Rainbow Dash finished the thought for her. ”They’re wired to care, to set things up for the future. Take away their future, their hope, you take away everything. And what’s the worst thing for you? What makes a unicorn break down?”

Twilight really didn’t want to picture that, but she wound up doing it anyway. Losing her horn, then her friends against Discord, being held captive by the Changeling Queen, all those times she saw her own little world collapsing around her, it didn't take long to pin a name on that. “Feeling helpless.”

“Exactly. You’re wired to be in control all the time. No matter what’s happening, you can always do something about it right then and there.” She emphasised the point with a few taps of her hoof on Twilight’s chest. ”If it’s not your magic then it’s something else you can hold on to, and when that’s taken away, you break down. What do you suppose the worst thing is for a pegasus pony?”

Again, Twilight got the images all right, but she couldn’t guess what Dash meant. She felt a little sad, not being empathise like that. It made her feel like a bad friend. But then, Rainbow wasn’t holding it against her. She was being uncharacteristically patient with her, actually, and it paid off.

Twilight Sparkle had always been a big fan of facts, and now the facts were becoming clear in their friendship. She was a unicorn, Dash was a pegasus. The two were just different, and if you were one, you simply couldn’t be expected to know what it felt like to be the other. It was a simple fact of life, and one that meant Twilight just couldn’t guess at what her friend meant.

“Feeling useless.” Rainbow Dash snapped her out of her little reverie.

A lot of things became clear at that point.

“We’re the ones who can fly, we can take the high ground. We see danger coming first, we go in first. It’s in our blood, always has been, always will be. A pegasus who can’t stick up for what they hold dear, what they believe in… if they can’t be the one to defend their friends, then they’re nothing. Do you get it now? Unicorns and Earth ponies get confidence from doing things, but pegasus ponies need confidence before they try to do anything. They don’t start a hobby if they don’t think it’ll be fun. They can’t fly if they don’t believe they can fly. That’s why Whimper’s got nothing except his friends. He doesn’t have the confidence to get behind anything on his own, he needs others to do that for him. So he sticks up for them.”

This new data trickled into labyrinthine nightmare that was Twilight Sparkle’s mind. So a pegasus’ innate irrational fear was being useless? That did account for Rainbow Dash actually wanting to speed towards a dragon, wanting to help the buffalo despite not having any diplomatic influence whatsoever, it explained quite a lot, actually. The debacle with Discord must have been particularly gruelling to deal with, not to mention Mare Do Well.

Rainbow Dash had let heroics go to her head, true, but at a time when she had some time off and nothing else to do. Despite all the bravado and all the apparent differences, Twilight realised that Rainbow Dash really wasn’t that different from her friends at all. She needed to be acknowledged the same way Rarity, and actually Twilight herself, needed approval.

It took Twilight a while to understand why a pegasus would need confidence first, but she quickly figured it was probably an evolutionary boon. Nerves can make pegasus wings lock up, which means that if they’re afraid to fly, a “fly or die” situation would quickly weed out whoever let their egos get the better of common sense.

It didn’t add up entirely, though.

“Of course he can, just look at him. I’m sure he can find confidence in his strength. He just lacks speed, and speed isn’t everything, you know. I mean, Fluttershy--”

“Stop… comparing Whimper… to Fluttershy.” Rainbow Dash sighed at every word then. They’d both been making that comparison quite a lot, as had most of the rest of staff, at least the ones who knew the mare in question. “Fluttershy’s a good flyer when she wants to be, and she’s a great flyer when she needs to be. But Whimper, a little hero with a medal? If a bunny’s drowning, or if someone needs help, they’re fine if Fluttershy is there, or any other pegasus who can fly properly. But Whimper has to either go slow and risk losing precious time, or go at top speed and risk collapsing. Can you imagine lying there, out of breath, unable to get up, and having to watch a bunny drown? Not to mention getting help. If he goes too fast, he won’t even be able to talk. If ponies think he’s a hero and he fails like that, it could scar him for life. I don’t blame him for refusing the medal if that’s what he’s in for.”

“Okay, I get it, you want him to feel useful.” Twilight sucked up a tear caused by that active imagination. ”But you shouldn’t get your hopes up about this hero thing. You understand that, right? Even if he gets his speed up, Whimper’s not going to accept his medal.”

“Why wouldn’t he? It’s the only thing stopping him, isn’t it?” Dash shrugged.

“No, it’s not.” Twilight sighed. ”There’s something you don’t know about Kludde, the water devil he fought.”

“Twilight, you’re kinda scaring me here.” Rainbow leaned in close.

“A water devil is like a changeling or a windigo. It feeds off the energies that are released with intense emotions, except for creatures like Kludde it’s emotionally charged memories,” Twilight said with a quiver in her voice.

“So what? He gave the kid amnesia?”

“No, it’s just the energies, not the memories themselves. Kludde feeds in two ways: either he takes a trinket that has a great sentimental value, maybe something really old with a lot of memories imbued in it, or he grabs the owners.” She slowed her words down for the last part.

Rainbow shook her head. “I don’t understand.”

“Kludde doesn’t just take trinkets. He, or it, eats them. It’s a walking kiln, this spirit fire in a hollow armour. The only way Whimper could have taken back a necklace is if he got there before it was absorbed.” She gulped and took a deep breath. ”Which would mean Kludde decided to feed on him, instead.”

“You mean--”

“Whimper’s not a hero, he’s a victim. Kludde’s magic causes symptoms like an Eagle’s Grasp attack, which would be even scarier for an actual Eagle’s Grasp patient. When his prey is terrified, Kludde goes in closer and scares them to the point their life flashes before their eyes. That panic response forces the body to spend all its energy just trying to get away. That’s when Kludde feeds. Afterwards, he just tosses his victim aside and leaves them there. If they’re lucky, they can make it back to safety. If not, they’re in such a state of shock that they can’t move at all.”

“Wow. That sounds awful.”

“It is. That’s why the Royal Guard are still chasing it. That thing doesn’t even need to kill you, it just leaves you for dead. And with that spell, the only way to fight it is an ambush. Once the spell is on you, it’s over, and it’s an instantaneous one, so you can’t dodge it. The Royal Guard's tried to get that thing for years, my brother tried it himself. The best anyone's managed to do is damage it and force it to retreat, but you can't chase after it with that spell on you. And I don't think Whimper would want a medal to remind him of something that scary, especially if all it does is draw attention to his breathing problem.”

Rainbow Dash considered these new facts. Granted, they hadn’t read the whole story yet, but then that was most likely because Twilight didn’t want to have a detailed description of a child being tortured ringing in her head while they were discussing said child. They couldn’t even be sure if that was what happened, and Rainbow was pretty sure there was more to it than that.

If Whimper’s a victim, he sure doesn’t fight like one. What the hay is going on here? “Okay, that doesn’t change anything. He still needs help to fly properly, he still wants to stop being the runt.”

“So what are you going to do? You don’t have a cure, do you?” Twilight raised an eyebrow.

“I may not have a cure, but I have an idea.”

Twilight frowned at that. The standard Rainbow Dash idea didn’t seem too constructive or useful in this situation.

“Care to tell me what you have in mind?”

Dash flashed her friend a mysterious grin. “Think Rarity’s up for one more order?”

Scootaloo and Whimper sat by the cloud fire as the sun set. It was a camp fire, technically, but not the usual sort. Being away from the ground and this far up, pegasi couldn’t just rub some sticks together and expect to get a camp fire going.

So naturally, they just got some enchanted materials to serve as a floating barrier, piled up wood just below a thundercloud, gave it a little tap to use lightning as a lighter, enjoyed the warmth and bribed the laws of physics with some marshmallows. The electricity in the air made them extra fluffy.

Whimper kept his head down, and most of the other foals didn’t pay him much heed. He didn’t really have anything to say, and there wasn’t anything they could say to him, either. He looked around after finishing his marshmallows, then trotted off. “I think I’m gonna head off to bed now.”

There wasn’t much of a response. Everyone knew he’d had a medical emergency, chances were he still had a headache, or felt embarrassed about still wearing his bat plushie in public. Scootaloo followed him, just to keep him company and to get some things straight.

As they got to their cabin, stars and moon lighting their way, Whimper turned around to face her. “You don’t need to hang around me all the time, you know. I’m fine.”

“I know, I’m hitting the hay early too. Besides, I wanted to ask you something.” Scootaloo closed the door behind them.

Whimper wriggled into bed, Scootaloo stood next to it, looking down at him. He sighed. “Okay, what’s on your mind?”

“Well, I’m curious. You’re worried other ponies will look at you weird, so you stay low-profile, right? Why did you catch me that first time, then? Did you know who I was?”

Whimper nodded, his face just barely catching a stray moon ray. “Umm… vaguely, maybe. I saw your picture in the newspaper, with that ‘Gabby Gums’ story. I didn’t really realise it was you until you told me. I noticed you were down at the warm-up, and you looked scared at the dive. I thought maybe, possibly, you might want to be friends, so I tried to be friendly. And when you fell, I just didn’t think. I saw you falling, so I dove after you. It's hard to explain.” The colt tensed up at the admission.

Scootaloo narrowed her eyes. “Are you sure you’re okay, Whimper? You’re looking kinda shaky.”

“Oh, that’s nothing, I get that all the time.”

Scootaloo looked at his covers. The wings underneath were shaking like a leaf. “Whimper, is there something else that’s bothering you? Are you cold?”

He shivered even more. “N-no, just a little nervous t-twitch. It’s nothing, really, it’ll pass.”

That half-whisper voice and those innocent eyes really did make him look and sound like Fluttershy. He still had a bite to him, but as often as he spoke up, she was starting to think back home, it was the exception rather than the rule.

“Have you always had that?”

He didn’t reply, but his stomach did. It groaned, and his face contorted as he rubbed the source.

Scootaloo sat down and lowered her head to be inches away from his. He didn’t back down, but he blushed when the smell of her lavender soap hit his nostrils. “Did you get that from the bullying, or from that monster fight you got in?”

Being so close, she could hear the nervous wheeze slipping into his voice. Wrong button to push, but she had to keep going now. She had to know, to make him feel better, maybe. “What are you afraid of? That it’ll go after your friend, that it’s coming back for you? Kludde can’t fly, can it?”

“You have no idea.” He groaned, clutching his covers tighter.

“Maybe you should talk about it. I don’t really know exactly what it’s like, but I know what being scared feels like. Me and my friends have gotten into some pretty bad stuff too. You might feel better if you try.”

Whimper clenched his eyes shut, still shaking. This was really starting to weigh him down, it seemed. “I-I don’t know, Scootaloo. You might not like what you hear.”

Scootaloo tilted her head. “Come on, you can tell me. I won’t laugh or anything. You’ll feel better if you talk about it, I promise.”

His breath was coming in quicker and more ragged now. “I’m serious. It’s not what you think.”

Scootaloo nodded. Even if he was up to it, just talking at this hour would mean he’d be up all night reliving the same memories. As curious as she was, she couldn’t do that to the boy. “Okay. Don’t tell me, if it hurts that much. But at least talk to Rainbow Dash about it.”

The blue colt grimaced in the moonlight as he considered it. His stomach gave off another groan.

Scootaloo returned the grimace. She really had pushed him too far. “Promise me you’ll talk to Rainbow Dash about it?”

Whimper sighed. “I promise. But not tonight, okay?”

“Good." Scootaloo strode back to her bed and wriggled into it. ”You rest up, we’re gonna need our strength for tomorrow.”

“Why? What are we doing tomorrow?”

“The same thing I do every day: try to get a cutie mark. And I’m making you an honorary Cutie Mark Crusader.” She smiled.

Whimper’s mouth curled up a bit as the smile proved infectious. “If I don’t get sent home, you mean?”

“Rainbow Dash would never let you get sent home, Whimper.” The facts suddenly dawned on her. ”Uh oh.”

“’Uh oh’? What do you mean, ‘uh oh’?” The boy’s smile turned to a gritting of the teeth.

“I think she might already know about the whole Kludde thing. When she talked to me, she said she overheard us talking over lunch.”

Whimper’s stomach gave another groan, but his face didn’t contort this time. “Well, she is an Element of Harmony. She already knew I did something, my picture’s up in Canterlot. She’d have found out anyway.”

“I’m sorry.” Scootaloo settled into bed and lay her head down.

“No biggie,” came the sighed reply. Whimper scrunched his nose like he was brooding over something. “Hey, Scootaloo?”

“What?”

“This might sound kinda weird, but… why do you hang out with me? I mean, you could hang out with Rumble or the older kids, and you beat Zephyr. I’ll be holding you back now that you can fly.”

Scootaloo hid her smile at that. The poor guy was so used to only having one friend, he really didn’t know what to make of their friendship.

“No, you won’t. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle don’t slow me down, and they don’t even have wings. I’ve got no reason to stop hanging out with you. You’re still strong, you’re still cool, and you’re still nice. Like I said, we’re two leaves of a clover. Nothing’s changed.”

Whimper smiled. "You really think so?"

“Sure. And besides, if I don’t look out for you, some silly filly might start taking advantage of that kindness and try bossing you around. Now get some sleep, I don’t want to have to drag you out of bed again.”

“Thanks.” He smiled sheepishly as he covered up. ”Good night.”

“Good night.” The filly turned her back to him and closed her eyes.

It bugged her, though. She rolled around in bed for a while and noticed Whimper was stirring as well.

She’d gone too far there. She knew the whole Kludde thing would be painful, but she’d kept going on about it. She only wanted him to feel better. And now Whimper would be up all night worrying about it. He worried way too much to be healthy.

She could hear his breaths. Just reliving some of the memories made him wheeze.

She should do something. On the other hoof, she really shouldn’t.

Whimper tossed and turned, his breath giving the vaguest hint of a wheeze, just enough to be heard. She could tell there was no way he’d be getting any sleep tonight if she didn’t step in. The shape of his wing under the covers was shaking. That silly bat plush poked out from under the sheets.

Scootaloo sighed in frustration. What would Rainbow Dash do? She couldn’t really think of anything cool that would work, just mushy stuff. What would Scootaloo do if it was Apple Bloom or Sweetie Belle stirring like that? Pretty much the same mushy, embarrassing thing she was thinking of doing now.

With a grunt of determination, Scootaloo got out of bed and shot the shape of the clouds a firm look. Their beds were just nests, really, mere indentations on the larger cloud mass made fluffy with some magic. She shoved the cloud towards Whimper’s. It was like pushing into sand bags filled with jelly, but she got it, one grunt after the other.

Whimper stared at her in the dim starlight as her bed and his were close enough to make contact. Without a word, she got back under the covers. Then she curled up the length of her tail under Whimper’s covers. “There. You can squeeze my tail if you get scared, okay? Just don’t tell anyone.”

He didn’t reply. He didn’t need to. He just wrapped his forelegs around the thick bushy tail with the feather pattern and squeezed. She figured he didn’t do that with a plush since, well, that would mean he’d need a new plush every now and then. Or have it repaired, but patchwork only holds for so long.

He unwound, he stopped shaking, and he went out like a candle. The amount of tension he was holding must have been enormous, and with his build that meant he was hard and tight all the time. She wasn’t too keen on anatomy, but she knew stress and muscles did not mix. She couldn’t let her bullhead friend lose that hard-won strength over the one real fight he’d ever been in. It was an embarrassing solution, but at least no one would notice in the dark.

In just a few minutes, he was sleeping soundly, which meant she could sleep soundly.

Scootaloo tried to turn, but there was something on her. Something heavy.

She turned her head, only to find a heavy weight pressing down on it. It was taut, it was blue.

She blinked to find Whimper’s body pressing down on hers, crushing the breath out of her.

“Whimper, don’t --” She tried to catch her breath, but the weight kept piling up. She couldn’t move, her wings started buzzing but she couldn’t move. The colt didn’t speak, he just clasped around her and squeezed. Her lungs felt like they were burning. “Please… I can’t breathe…”

She shot awake with a gasp. There was nothing on her, her friend was still sound asleep holding her tail like a comforter.

Scootaloo breathed a sigh of relief. It was just a nightmare, a silly nightmare. She took a few moments to catch her breath. Nothing to worry about.

Except she still had something to fear. Rainbow Dash stood right next to her bed, she must have heard her gasp. It was the middle of the night, and thankfully nopony else had woken up. “Bad dream?”

Scootaloo nodded.

“Whimper choking you?”

“How did you know?” Scootaloo kept her voice hushed.

“Lucky guess.” Rainbow leaned over a little closer and noticed the filly’s tail disappeared under the colt’s sheets. She gave her fan a funny grin that was partly hidden in the darkness.

“Umm… it’s not what you think.”

“You gave Whimper your tail to squeeze like a stress ball, huh? That’s why you scooted your bed over.” Dash chuckled, if very quietly.

Yep, there came the final humiliation. All that stunt work, the work on the Rainbow Dash fan club, it was all for naught. Scootaloo was now officially a mushy filly who was too embarrassing to even be seen with future Wonderbolt Rainbow Dash.

“Good thinking, squirt.”

“No, really, I’m not into that cuddly stuff… wait, what?” She barely managed enough self-restraint to keep her voice down to a whisper. If the other colts saw this, she’d never live this down. She was surprised they hadn’t woken her up when they came in.

“I know, I know. You’re not into that cuddly stuff. But he is, and meeting him halfway like that is very cool of you. I guess Twilight told you, huh?” She leaned in to the filly.

“Told me what?”

Rainbow Dash tilted her head. “You didn’t know? I had a gryphon friend once on Flight Camp who couldn’t sleep. She was homesick, said she missed the smell of home cooking. So I snuck off and dipped my tail in barbecue sauce, scooted my bed over just like you did and gave her my tail just like you’re doing. Slept like a hatchie, all camp long.”

Scootaloo was pretty sure she was still dreaming at that point.

“I guess you're more like me than you think. Now, go back to sleep, okay?” Rainbow Dash said, raising her hoof to pat her on the mane.

Scoot felt the hoof lightly fall on her head, and just like that, she felt the approval wash away the bad dreams. She’d not only done the right thing, but the cool thing, too. Those two didn’t mix all that often, certainly not for her.

She was once again Rainbow Dash-approved.

She could sleep easily again, maybe do the same thing next time right from the get-go.

“Okay.” Whimper led the way as the two flew up to the higher echelons of the Camp. ”We have full stomachs, upward mobility and time until noon. What do you wanna do?”

Scootaloo observed the new world as it unfolded before her on their cloud. Ball games in the air, diving, a racing ring in the distance near the old barracks, the works. There was only one thing a Cutie Mark Crusader worth her cape could reply to that. “All of it.”

“Excuse me.” An ocean blue-green colt came flying in, with a crescent moon cutie mark, no less. Whimper recognised him from the Cloudwrestling, round 2, or maybe 3. ”I’m Blue Moon, and you seem a bit lost. I haven’t seen you two up here before, come to think of it. You’re not new to flight games, are you?”

The two shrugged.

“Well, I don’t usually fly all that high.” Whimper blushed.

“And I only learned to fly yesterday.” Scootaloo added with a nervous smile. If her friend was going to be embarrassed, let it never be said that she wouldn’t join in.

Blue Moon’s eyes widened. “Wait, so neither of you has ever done any game in the air?”

The two foals shook their heads.

“I’ve tried bad apple, but that doesn’t usually end well.” Whimper shyly kicked the ground.

The older colt looked positively shocked. “Bu-but… then presumably neither of you has wiped out before?”

“We don’t have beaches in Ponyville, so we don’t surf. I’m don’t think swamps get waves, either,” Scoot replied, looking to a nodding Whimper.

To that, Blue Moon’s jaw dropped. Then his face turned to that of a smug salesman and he nudged the two onwards to destinations unknown.

“Come with me, my fine young feathered friends, you have some catching up to do.”

Past and Future Incidents

Chapter 7: Past and Future Incidents

“Okay. Breakfast, check.” Twilight went over the little list. ”Renew my cloud-walking spell, check. Renew Lyra’s cloud-walking spell --”

“GYAAAAaaaaaah!!!!”

Twilight frowned and turned her head. “You realise that doesn’t work when you’re standing right next to me.”

“A girl can try, can’t she?” Lyra flashed that broad grin of hers as Twilight gave that point a reluctant check. Lyra had been okay to hang out with, though, and her knowledge on music magic had proven quite extensive. She wasn’t sure what to make of her interest in animation spells, though. Didn’t every unicorn learn that in kindergarten?

“Rainbow Dash performing her Weather Patrol duties --”

Rainbow came flying in at neck-break speed. The list nearly made a beeline through the window from the wind.

“Whew. Sorry I’m late, stray cumulonimbus over Sweet Apple Acres.”

“Check. Letters from Shining Armour…” Twilight looked at the correspondence her brother had sent. The mood suddenly became a lot heavier. Curiosity mixed with dread and inevitability to form something that would make any nose curl.

Lyra put her front hooves to her hips. “So, any reason not to read these things now?”

“Well, where are Scootaloo and Doldrum Whimper? Just so we can round everyone up quickly once the lessons start again.” Twilight looked out at the lower level of the camp, scanning it for any muscular colts or vaguely Scootaloo-shaped blurs.

“Huh… they’re probably up on the higher levels.” Rainbow Dash looked upward through the door.

“I don’t see them.” Twilight browsed the skies above them through the window. ”Not at the cloudwrestling or the bad apple fields.”

Lyra put a hoof to her chin to ponder. “Hmm, let’s think. Scootaloo only learned to fly yesterday, so that narrows it down. Dash, what did you do when you first learned to fly?”

Rainbow Dash went back to the table with the letters and shrugged. “The same thing every pegasus pony does right after learning to fly. I--”

Rainbow Dash’s face turned from Columbia to a paler shade of blue. Her eyes shrunk in terror and stared blankly ahead. Lyra apparently realised the same thing, as she stared ahead with the same terrified expression. It would have looked appropriate on the inventor of dynamite, right after realising what this fantastic invention did when lit up.

“Are you two okay?” Twilight looked at them obliviously.

“Sure.” Rainbow Dash snapped out of it. ”Just take a letter first, if you don’t mind.”

With a roll of her eyes and a twinkle of magic, Twilight took down the words her friend dictated.

Dear Mayor Mare,

According to schedule, disaster-proofing Ponyville was supposed to be done by the end of summer. I suggest speeding it up right now. Ponyville needs to be disaster-proof before the end of Flight Camp.

“Huh? Why?” Twilight asked.

This is not a joke, this is not a drill. Scootaloo has learned to fly. Please hurry.

“Come on, you’re overreacting.”

“Am I, Twilight, am I?”

“Yo, Red, Green!” Blue Moon called out to an aptly coloured young stallion and mare, both around 13-ish. ”Look who I found wandering around!”

“Ah, if it isn’t Doldrum Whimper, the Bogsdown Bullhead.” The light green filly came flying over. ”Haven’t seen you around this high. I’m Green Water and that there is Red Tide. Who’s your friend?”

Whimper cringed a little at the attention, and the nickname.

“I’m Scootaloo, and neither of us has gone up this high before. I only learned to fly yesterday, and Whimper didn’t want to leave me behind.”

Whimper turned his face to Scootaloo at that half-lie.

“Uh huh.” Green Water leaned in to the colt. ”And I don’t suppose your breathing problem was any reason to stay on the lower levels?”

“Umm… sort of, yes.” Whimper looked away. One tends to want solid ground under oneself when one’s breath is a finite resource and ‘catching your breath’ has a five-minute casting time and a fifteen-minute cooldown.

“Fear not, Whimper, lots of pegasi have Eagle’s Grasp. Hay, Red there’s got it, hasn’t stopped him yet.” Blue Moon nodded towards his red compatriot.

To that, said Red gave his best impression of a phoenix losing its last few feathers, complete with fake coughs, hanging tongue and hooves raised to the heavens.

Green Water scowled. “Drama queen. So how’d you get so good at wrestling, huh? Fall into a cauldron of magic potion or grow up fighting Timberwolves?”

“Umm… no, I just trained my muscles. Mostly routines out of magazines and helping out on a farm or two. I just do what I like, the fighting was just lucky.” The colt shyly kicked the air as he admitted it. Again, Scootaloo could have sworn it was Fluttershy talking, his whole body language was nearly identical. She didn't have the heart to point that out again, though, she was pretty sure all of staff was saying the exact same thing behind his back.

Green turned her head towards the somewhat lanky red teen. “See, Red? Not everyone gives up as easily as you do.”

“I prefer to think of it as superior foresight, Green. We can’t all share your groundless, boundless optimism.” Red Tide bound up to his hooves.

“Pay no heed to my quarrelling compatriots,” Blue Moon explained with an accent that was just a little thinner than Apple Bloom’s, ”they tend to get a little bit edgy with each other when our other friends aren’t around.”

“Lemme guess. Gold and Silver?” Scootaloo facehoofed as she said it.

“Golden Heart and Silver Soul, yes, both unicorns. You know’em?” Blue Moon raised an eyebrow.

“Lucky guess.” Scootaloo suppressed a grunt.

Granted, she wasn’t in any position to comment on the matter, but Equestrian parents really had a way of bucking their kids right up a tree when picking out names. Why couldn’t they just go with normal horse names, like ‘Ed’? She was named after a musical instrument herself, actually, she’d tried to play it once. The ropes tangled around her hooves, the bag nearly blew up in her face and the wheels chafed her belly. That was the day she’d realised that not every pony was named after their supposed talent, as playing the scootaloo definitely wasn’t hers.

Whimper turned his attention back to Blue and Green. “Umm… you said something about ‘wiping out’?”

“Ah yes, since you’ve never flown this high before, I thought you might enjoy a little initiation in one of the finest arts a pegasus pony can master. One of our unique abilities and a fundamental stepping stone to mastering your innate magic.” Blue Moon unfurled his wings dramatically and raised a hoof to the sky where other creatures would a fist.

“In case you hadn’t noticed, Blue here’s got a penchant for the dramatic himself.” Green patted her friend’s mane.

“Wait, we’re going to practise magic?” Scootaloo looked left, then right, with no potion ingredients in sight. This part of camp was pretty much abandoned, with hardly any clouds up high and zero equipment save the safety clouds and the platforms they were on. ”What exactly do you do here?”

Right on cue, a deafening sound came from below the clouds. Grey mass started clumping together as the winds kicked up and formed a funnel.

“Scootaloo, Doldrum Whimper, here… we make tornadoes.”

Somewhere in the clouds, a unicorn shivered and posted her letter.

Scootaloo’s brain tried to digest this new bit of information, but found it hard to chew. “Wait, we can make tornadoes?” The twister before them picked up speed and power.

“Yup. Comes with the wings.” Blue Moon wriggled his to illustrate..

Scootaloo’s brain kept on chewing, but it wouldn’t sink in. “We can make tornadoes?”

Green Water raised an eyebrow. “Blank flanks. They always get a little over-excited when they realise what they can do.”

Whimper shivered and looked at the tornado in front of them. “So who’s making that tornado? Shouldn’t there be a grownup keeping an eye on things?”

Red Tide pointed to the tornado. “That is the grownup in the tornado. I think you might know her. She’s from Ponyville, like you. Pretty awesome, too, the only one who puts up with the three of us and the constant concussion hazards.”

Awesome? Ponyville? Concussion-proof? To Scootaloo, that led immediately to the thought that the Ponyville Weather Patrol captain would be doing this, but she was sure she’d seen Rainbow Dash retreat to the book corner earlier for some reason.

The twister started shouting “Woowoowoohoo!” before a grey shape was launched out of it and the whole thing lost its consistency. The shape had blonde hair, hit the clouds and skidded to a halt right in front of the foals. It also had eyes that focused on two separate things.

“Derpy, you know Whimper and Scootaloo, right?” Red Tide motioned to the two smaller foals.

Derpy cheerfully got to her hooves and gave them a big smile. “Yup. You’re looking at the fastest filly from Ponyville and the strongest colt from Bogsdown. At least, I think Whimper’s the strongest in his town. You haven’t run into anyone stronger yet, have you?”

“I try not to run into anyone at all, actually.” The colt gave her a bashful smile.

“Hey! Me too! Doesn’t always work, though. Anyway, welcome to the hurricane section, where pegasi go to fly freely on winds of glory, or go into free fall and get a little gory, I forget which one.”

“Let me just get this straight. We can make tornadoes?” Scootaloo looked to Whimper. ”I mean, can he do it slowly?”

“Of course!” Derpy waved away her concerns with a hoof, ”Why wouldn’t he? We make winds by magic, same way you make a trail, only a little more intense. You could do it just waving your tail back and forth if you’re good enough. It’s a body skill, you see, all pegasus magic works with stuff that’s just outside your body. Once you get a decent wind going, the tornado forms on its own, and it carries you, mostly. It doesn’t take that much flapping, really.”

“Trust me, I’m slower than these guys and I can blow down anything.” Red Tide patted himself on the chest.

“Yeah, you are quite the blowhard,” Green Water joked.

In a reflex, Scootaloo checked Green and Red’s flanks. Green Water had a sea-green wave to contrast her light green fur, while Red had what looked like a red pearl with two smaller ones sprouting from it. She couldn’t guess what those meant, though. “Bu-but, I thought you made twisters by speeding up and using your wing power.”

Derpy patted Scootaloo on the head. “No, silly. Wing power doesn’t make the tornado go faster or harder. It just means you’re flying stable in the tornado once it picks up, which lets you put more power into it to make it even bigger without getting flung away. Speed only means control, not power, and even without speed, you can get control if you’re strong enough. We only tell that wing power story to little blank flanks so they don’t try to get an easy demolition cutie mark with a town twister.”

Derpy realised her mistake only after Scoot’s face had frozen into a wide smile and her eyes had widened in sheer glee. It had happened sometime around the words ‘demolition cutie mark’.

“Umm… if anypony asks....”

“I read about it in one of Twilight’s books.” Scootaloo replied casually.

“Good girl. So, how about you give it a try?”

Scootaloo hopped over to what she presumed was the right spot.

“Okay, so how do I do this? Just fly around in circles really fast?”

“Well, it does take some concentration, but we’ll talk you through it. And for a first time, it’s easier if you do it in pairs, actually,” Derpy replied.

Silence fell. Everyone turned their head to Whimper.

Green nodded towards Scootaloo. “Well, go on. You’ll learn faster if you try it together.”

Whimper gulped and took his position right across from the filly.

“Okay now, safety rules for when you’re out of Flight Camp: never do a tornado without properly announcing it, never do it where you can cause property damage, and always make sure you have a safe exit path. Do you agree with these rules?” Derpy announced in her best attempt at sounding official. She only ever said this once per foal, and mostly relied on her innate charm to make sure that was enough. So far, she’d never had any real complaints on the matter, which was a big deal as far as she was concerned.

“We agree,” the foals sounded in unison.

“Good. Now, what you want to do is fly slowly, relax, and concentrate on the wind going past your tail. You should feel something like a little ball trailing behind it and rubbing the hairs. Try to feel it out, it’ll be like rubbing magnets together.”

Scootaloo and Doldrum Whimper started going in circles. The filly kept her pace slow, focusing on the air going around her tail. Completing one circle, she noticed the clouds were moving just a tad. Okay, that was a good first step. She could feel her innate magic starting to take over, gently pushing her forward so she didn’t need to flap as hard. The energies she used to get wind always moved in a circle or spiral shape, no matter what she tried, which explained why pegasi didn’t just use winds to propel themselves. She could probably make a straight gust of wind if she got the circular motion right, and if she stabilised with her wings she could push something backwards, but a steady stream to propel her would always send her spiralling her out of control.

Which meant Whimper couldn’t use that trick on the Gantelope, either.

“Okay, stop, you two.” Red Tide was shaking his head at the sight.

The foals looked at their seniors.

Green Water flew over to them. “Scootaloo, you’re doing fine, but Whimper, you don’t seem to be getting it. You haven’t taken any medication that might mess with your magic, have you?”

“Nothing today, no.”

Derpy rubbed her chin pensively. “Maybe you should try not relaxing. Think of something scary, or something you’re proud of. Pump yourself up a bit, see if that helps?”

“Pump myself up?” Whimper looked to Scootaloo.

“I think she means try and get excited, get your heart pumping faster.” Scootaloo took a few deep and quick breaths.

Whimper followed her lead and let off a fake grunt before nodding. The two foals took off and went at it again, both creating a mild breeze now.

“Okay, good!” Derpy called out. ”Now picture a weight forming at your tail, make it heavier as you drag it along and go a little faster.”

They both got it, bigger winds kicking up. The winds were actually going faster than they were at this point, which made the foals acutely aware of the fact that the invisible energies they were wielding always returned to the same central point behind them. More importantly, the energies swirled in a self-righting circle, like a gyroscope.

“Yeah, nice! Now speed up some more. Let the wind carry you a little, but keep up.” Blue Moon kept his eye on the two as they went.

Scootaloo was in her own little world then. It almost felt like asking the elements to play, and apparently ‘air’ was a fun-loving element. Steadily she sped up and noticed her surroundings blurring around her. The forces around her were becoming stronger, more commanding, which meant she had to be more commanding herself. Her organs tensed up under the onslaught, connective tissue turned stronger and rigid under the pressures. Her little body seemed to be adjusting to the new experience. She realised then why it was that Rainbow Dash, not to mention Derpy, could take so much punishment and not get injured. This was basic pegasus training, it was part of what made their race tough as nails. And she was finally doing it.

Derpy took a deep breath before shouting at the top of her lungs. “Now let her rip!”

Scootaloo went at full speed, and concentrated all her power in generating the wind now. She dove and rose as the winds started getting a mind of their own. Turbulence began wracking her body, forcing her to tense up even more. She hadn’t even realised it yet, but the air around had turned grey with the matter that was being sucked up. She was actually making a bona fide tornado.

“Totally doing it, you two!” Green Water encouraged the cute couple. It wasn’t the first time she’d yelled that particular phrase, but usually the targets weren’t quite so young. They weren’t making twisters, either. At least, most of the time. Some boys just do silly things to impress the fillies.

Scootaloo gritted her teeth. She tried to get the wind under control again, but it was no good. The outward pressure against her flank was overpowering. The tornado had gotten so strong she couldn’t even control her own flight path.

“Can’t… hold it…” She barely managed to gasp before being flung out of the vortex.

She was in free fall, and she suddenly realised why they'd started with landing practice on day one. It also dawned on her she’d botched that particular lesson repeatedly and was still slightly behind on that part of her curriculum. She was going too fast. She couldn’t control her flight after spending that much energy, even flapping her wings didn’t slow her down much. All she could really do was try and break her fall as one safety cloud rushed to meet her like a baseball glove.

She plunged into it, back first, using her front hooves to smash into the cottony material and soften the blow like she’d seen Rainbow Dash do, sending the cloud off to spend up the momentum she gave it.

Just like that, the cloud spent up its momentum. She was still. No concussion, no whiplash, she felt pretty good, actually. A little shaky, but she was safe. What’s more, she found she’d made the exact same impression on the cloud as the legendary filly before her. It was a perfect fit of posture, position, like she’d been imprinted on it herself. For some odd reason it felt like déjà vu. At least this time smashing into something didn’t yield something sticky, like tree sap.

But what a ride that was. Every fibre of her being had been pressurised, her adrenalin had been soaring, and she’d gone faster than she’d ever thought possible, driven forward by a summoned wind the likes of which could level a civilisation itself. She had the power of untold destruction right at her wingtips. It was scary, it was terrifying. It was something no rational pony should ever want to even think of trying.

“Let’s do that again.” Her lack of cutie mark didn’t even bother her at this point, at least she was having fun.

That thought made her freeze. Whimper was still in the same tornado. And she’d gone at top speed. Was he going to be alright?

Apparently, she’d find out quite soon, since he was being flung right at her while she was thinking it. She saw the dark blue mass shouting in panic as it was swiftly catapulted towards her. She barely had time to ponder what damage his taut form would do crashing into her before the actual crash occurred.

Scootaloo forced her eyes shut as she heard the loud cotton pop and the cloud she was on got driven further back. Slowly, she opened one eye, then the other. His face was inches from hers, and Whimper’s legs were spread, leaving his body well clear of hers. Apparently he could do a Peregrine Dive without diving.

“Are you okay?” Scootaloo beat him to the punch.

“Umm, yes, actually. It really doesn’t take that much effort, turns out. I’m not even out of breath, I think I can go again.”

“And that is why the game is called ‘wiping out’.” Blue Moon gestured to the two foals plastered against the clouds, before extending a hoof to get Whimper off. ”Nice job, you two.”

“Wow.” Green Water came flying in with the rest. ”You can land on your hooves even when you go vertical? Are you sure you’re not part feline, little guy?”

Whimper pulled himself off the cloud as Derpy planted a flag in it. He didn’t seem to resent being called ‘little guy’, even though the filly wasn’t his senior by that much. It made him sound cute, which was a lot better than what he was used to.

“Well, I might be. My uncle says that in my family, we’re all tigers in the sack and we tend to marry tigers in the sack. Does that count for anything?”

The colts suppressed a grin, the mare and green filly suppressed a giggle.

“I’m sure it’ll count for something when you’re a little older.” Green barely contained her laughter.

“Tigers in the sack, huh? You and I should check that sometime.” Scootaloo popped out of the cloud.

To that, Derpy raised an eyebrow. Thankfully, she was flying behind them so they didn’t notice.

“I don’t think we can. They don’t do sack races here on Flight Camp, do they?”

The older foals turned their back and headed back to the hurricane section before they burst out into tears of laughter.

Scootaloo turned back to check the flag Derpy had placed. Upon closer inspection, it had “Scootaloo + Doldrum Whimper, 10” written on it. She nearly thought it had something to with her and Whimper supposedly being a couple, but passing by the next cloud, she noted a flag with the words “Derpy Hooves Ditzy Doo Permanent Damage, 12” written on it. “What’s with the flags?”

“The flags are just for decoration, silly, they don’t really mean anything.” Derpy put on her goggles and the other foals got lined up for another go. ”And on a completely unrelated note, I need to get ready to break my old distance record.”

The three mares frowned at their first impressions.

Rainbow Dash leaned back from the letter. “So they thought it was a prank at first, huh?”

Lyra nodded slowly. “Yeah, well, Kludde can make new bodies from time to time, and it relies on terror. It’s pretty easy to fake.”

“Those injuries sound severe.” Twilight gulped at the thought of getting claw marks at the neck with lungs on fire. At least Whimper got better, obviously. She wasn’t sure what to make of the reports of friction burns, though. The Baron of the Marshes didn’t have that ability as far she, or her brother, knew.

Rainbow nudged Twilight to read the big one: the final report on the attack. ”Well, keep going.”

Twilight took a deep breath and started reading aloud.

To Captain Shining Armour,

Doldrum Whimper has been diagnosed and properly treated. His injuries, while they appeared most grievous, haven’t caused any permanent damage. The colt has all the appearance and physical strength of a workhorse, but I’ve been assured that is only because he trains himself, not any pressure from his family. He gets bullied a lot, apparently, and he seems prefer mild work over playing with his classmates, though the doctors tell me his build isn’t so unusual as to provide any health concerns. At any rate, he does not have a reputation for exaggerating or lying, nor of being a thrill-seeker.

That said, getting his testimony has proven somewhat problematic. His friend and family tell me that he’s always had a nervous disposition, and this experience has left him quite shaken. Nevertheless, based on what I’ve gleaned from Peachy Pie, Whimper himself and the findings of my scouts, I’ve constructed the most probable account of the events tonight.

Peachy Pie and Doldrum Whimper were going home late in the evening after helping out on the nearby cherry farm, owned by one Blossom Blizzard, Whimper’s aunt. The colt headed out on the west road, the filly headed south, as they normally do. The filly noted a mist coming on as the sun was setting, as well as strange rattling noises. She tells me that she did what she always did when a little scared, which is, and I quote, “Giggle at the ghosties”. Apparently this is something of a tradition in the Pie family, one that’s carried over symbolically in the form of a necklace, which she was wearing at the time. Presumably, it is this heirloom and its traditional value that drew the creature in.

The mist thickened around her, she never even saw the creature before it struck. She did manage to scream before her lungs started burning, which drew the attention of Doldrum Whimper. He came in flying at his top speed and found Peachy on the ground, quivering and without her necklace. He spotted a shadow in the mist and ran after it. His account of the facts is somewhat foggy from this point on.

The boy, you see, has a condition known as Eagle’s Grasp, and a severe form of it at that. Any movement faster than a light trot sets off an immune response and causes his lungs to burn and a rash to appear on his back. He was already out of breath by the time he got there, and as he himself put it, "All of a sudden, the burning got unbearable and this weight pressed down on his back". He collapsed almost instantly, though he did try to resist and managed to remain conscious. According to Peachy Pie, the creature starting goading his attempt to stop it, no doubt hoping to scare the boy. She did not hear what exactly was said. She was in shock and actually covered her eyes during some parts of the attack. What the colt remembers is that with the spell on him, burning his lungs and pressuring his muscles, the thing decided to pick him up and grab him by the throat.

He claims he saw his life passing before his eyes, and that he blacked out right at that point. This is where their testimonies differ somewhat: according to the filly, Kludde raised his sword at him.

“Wait, that thing has a sword?” Dash asked in shock.

“It’s more of a machete, really.” Twilight tried to keep her composure, but she couldn’t hide some hint of sympathy for the boy. She’d read her fair share of horror novels and thrillers, but this was a different matter altogether.

Peachy closed her eyes as the creature struck Whimper, but she did hear a violent crashing sound. The next thing she heard was Whimper shouting “Give it back!”, punctuated by three dull blows, and one cracking noise. After that, she heard what she interpreted as a roar and something sliding over the dirt road, she presumes Whimper being driven back. She heard vague murmurs between the two, and in a reflex she looked up. This is where it gets confusing. She swears she saw Kludde’s hands glowing, which means he was casting his spell again. The boy managed to lunge forward in spite of this, and in fact made a clean landing on the thing’s face, sending it crashing to the ground again.

The filly didn’t dare look as the struggle continued. Her descriptions of the sounds were quite vivid, but suffice to say her report suggested a struggle for dear life. The only truly relevant sound she picked up was a loud snap, like an old tree collapsing under its own weight and its bark ripping away. She didn’t see how it happened, she can only recall the sound. She then heard soft steps towards her, and something hard nudged her.

Twilight froze.

“What? What is it?”.

Next thing she knew, Whimper was standing in front of her, with the upside-down head of Kludde held like a basket in his mouth. He had, and she was quite adamant I quote her on this, "a ragged expression on his face, but a look in his eyes like a proud puppy fetching a stick".

“You’re kidding me.” Lyra gasped.

At which point, Peachy fetched out her necklace from the hollow helmet that makes up the Baron’s head and said something along the lines of “Thanks, Whimper. You’re the best.” Again, sir, she insisted her exact words were put on the record.

With that, the two returned towards Blossom Blizzard’s farm, who promptly rushed them both to the hospital. Once there, the boy's injuries had become apparent and his adrenalin rush had subsided, leaving him in shock. The boy dropped the head in the confusion when his aunt picked him up, my scouts have returned it now. Based on their report, I estimate the actual struggle between Whimper and Kludde went as follows.

The creature grabbed the boy by the neck. The claw marks we’ve found confirm this. It then swung its sword at him. Based on the dislocated shoulder, the odd twists in the internal branches, as well as the fact that we found the sword planted in a nearby tree, we’ve concluded that Whimper placed a hoof on the thing’s elbow, pressed down to break its balance, then flew forward and curled his forearm such that Kludde’s grasping hand was wrenched clear, leaving its elbow pointing upwards. The colt then twisted in the air, forcing the creature’s entire body to make a turn in the opposite direction the sword was swinging in. This sudden movement disarmed the demon and sent it to the ground, and that in a split second.

The colt landed behind Kludde. Presumably, the breath-stealing spell had been broken at this point. From what we’ve been able to tell from the remains, Whimper placed two kicks on the back of its head, buckling the material that made up its shell near the neck joints. The third kick came in just as Kludde was turning its head, which meant that it landed on one of its tusks. The tusk snapped off, and the impact no doubt made Kludde’s head turn quite violently, putting more pressure on the neck plates. Kludde then drove Whimper back with a backhanded blow and got back on its feet, readying its spell. Based on the damage done, I’d say the force the boy used to administer those kicks was excessive, by any standard.

I’m not entirely sure what to make of what happened next. Peachy Pie swears that the spell was being cast, but the boy still managed to lunge forward and land on Kludde’s face. The only way that’s possible is if he managed to dodge it, since the creature would have sustained the spell and fought him off otherwise. The struggle then continued on the ground, and by my reckoning he got some leverage on the thing’s horns, and with what must have been a tremendous burst of adrenalin he twisted the head clean off.

I'm pleased to report the debate on the nature of Kludde is no longer academic. Kludde consists of a spirit fire of enough density to mimic jelly, and it resides in dead plant material forming plates, which are held together by what my scouts tell me is a pyrolytic oil. The plates that make up this armour are coarse, and have a texture that releases small, irritating particles into the skin when touched. This accounts for the friction burns. The boy made full body contact with it, he wouldn’t have noticed anything until after the fight. We weren’t aware of this simply because nopony has ever fought the thing unarmoured, not even the Ashen Blizzard. At any rate, Kludde manipulates this hollow shell with internal branches that serve as bones, but the actual spirit matter needs to remain contained in order to maintain its consistency. This would explain why Kludde prefers to flee when injured, yet doesn’t have a set pattern of attacks. It doesn’t need time to heal, it merely patches itself up. Punching a hole in the plates causes the matter to lose consistency and the body to lose strength. Tearing off his head meant the spirit matter could no longer hold itself together at all, which caused the thing’s strength to evaporate.

My scouts have recovered the hollow body and the sword, as well as a small, weakly pulsating mass of deadwood radiating energies that are identical to the traces we found on the armour. There doesn’t seem to be any intelligence to it at this point, which leads me to believe that losing a body means Kludde can no longer manifest itself properly in our midst. We will be bringing this mass to Tartarus, naturally, but I doubt it will make much difference.

Doldrum Whimper vanquished a monster, that’s the only conclusion I can reach. As for confirming its identity, we have recovered from the hollow remains a tiara belonging to the royal family, a golden laurel from the Best Young Flyer’s Competition, as well as a signed silver arrowhead embedded in the thing’s hips (incidentally, nice shot, sir). We even recovered the fire-proof remains of the book “Sigils and other Mystical Signs”, the bait for the Royal Guard’s last attempted ambush four months ago. Most of the metal possessions found in Kludde’s remains are in good condition, we should be able to return them to their owners in short order.

There is no doubt in my mind that the creature that fell tonight is the real Kludde. I have had Doldrum Whimper tested for every conceivable explanation for his actions, and found nothing. He has no genetic proclivity towards extreme strength, no ancestral spirits watching over him, he doesn’t have any of the tell-tale signs of a reincarnation, and he shows no residual energy suggesting possession. There is no indication whatsoever that he did not do this on the merits of his own abilities. He saw his friend was in danger, and in a reflex he determined that getting back that necklace was the only way to make things right. The boy has a warrior’s heart, that’s the only reasonable explanation I can think of.

And yet, there is one oddity still: Whimper is refusing credit for his actions. He claims he blacked out, nothing more. Despite walking back to his aunt's farm, he claims he passed out when Kludde grabbed him by the neck. He says he just woke up at the hospital, and my asking him what happened is the first lucid memory he has. And if you’ll pardon my candour, I don’t blame him. He most likely suppressed the trauma, or somehow feels this sort of thing doesn’t happen to colts like him. His doctors tell me the adrenalin rush he had must have been extreme, considering the aftermath on his body. His injuries, both the ones he suffered during the fight and the ones that appeared after, apparently didn't even register until after he was in the hospital. From the looks of it, he genuinely lost consciousness, possibly to dull the pain.

At any rate, the boy doesn't seem to be accepting any of this, and insists that he had nothing to do with it. His parents tell me he’s grown something of an inferiority complex, partly due to his condition. Honestly, I am out of my league on that matter, sir. I would suggest bringing this before Princess Luna, she knows these things better than anyone.

You now have all the facts concerning this attack. The Baron of the Marshes has been brought down. The Royal Guard need not mobilise for this threat any longer.

Squad Commander Obsidian Storm

The mares blinked a few times, then picked up their jaws.

Lyra whistled, impressed. “Wow. He tore the head off that thing? That kid doesn’t mess around.”

Twilight nodded, still flabbergasted herself. “I don’t understand why he’d refuse the medal, though. He’s clearly got every right to be proud of what he did.”

“I guess he’s just too used to feeling like a victim or a runt to feel like he can be anything else. He’ll feel better once his flying picks up, I’m sure.”

Rainbow Dash looked up with a sigh. “Yeah, we can fix this." Shining’s letter was next, but she already knew what it would say.

“Just get him flying right, and then I’ll talk to him. He’ll be fine.” Twilight rubbed Rainbow’s back, to stop her wings from shaking.

Rainbow nodded, despite her better judgment. Her friends didn’t know. They didn't even notice.

Dash mentally kicked herself for not seeing it sooner. She could have seen it. She should have seen it.

Her friends were clueless, though.

They had no idea of what they were dealing with.

Nopony ever did.

Whimper held his head low. The six of them had done three regular twisters to warm up, followed by four shed-shredders, three Dustbowl Doozies and something called the “Auntie Em Special”, which was apparently a technique that could cleanly lift a house into the air and drop it with startling accuracy. It was also the one that was used on Hurricane Day to lift the water, so the two foals were both pretty pleased with themselves that they could actually do it now. Scootaloo wasn’t sure if ‘Auntie Em’ had been the one to invent that one or the one to get a house dropped on her, but she was afraid to ask.

It was a fun ride, all in all, and Whimper had kept up quite long. But still, he’d reached his limit. Even if making twisters didn’t take that much breath, it did take some. And he still ran out before anyone else. His back felt chilly to the touch when Scootaloo touched it, and a vague wheeze was starting to form already.

Red Tide looked down at him. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. I just need to sit down, I guess. No biggie.” He smiled sadly at the admission.

Red could relate. He was actually behind two years compared to his peers because of the same problem. Things did get better when he got his cutie mark, though, and nopony ever messed with the Red Tide when they learned about his cutie mark.

Scootaloo pouted in sympathy. It just wasn’t the same to be doing something fun without him.

Derpy unfurled a wing and draped it over the boy. “You guys keep going, I’ll keep an eye on him. No need to let a bit of pacing get in the way of our fun, is there?”

“None at all.” Blue Moon agreed. ”Come on, Scootaloo. We’ll try the barn-breaker this time.”

The filly looked at her friend as he lied down, legs folded. The grey mare followed suit right next to him.

Whimper smiled at her. “Well, go on, don’t let me hold you up.”

Scootaloo sighed and took her position. Those words had a very awkward ring to them now. If she wanted him to keep going, he’d end up in the infirmary. Now he was actually accepting his problem and acting accordingly, and it still meant they couldn’t have fun together.

She quickly got over it, though. He was fine. She could do other fun stuff with him later, Rainbow Dash would surely come up with a solution for their next lesson, and besides that, he had Derpy to keep him company. So she braced herself, listened to the specifics of the barn-breaker (apparently it was more of a wall of wind than a proper shed-shredder) and went at it again. Her own cutie mark was just an afterthought for the moment. If her talent involved flying, she’d have to get some flying practice done.

And if her talent was demolition, there was no better way to catch up on lost time.

Derpy kept her eye on the kids until they got the wind going. Once the roar got loud enough to block out any conversation, she leaned in to talk to the colt. “Nice to see Scootaloo back to normal. She looked really down the other day.”

“This is her normal?” The colt raised an eyebrow. Granted, they were both away from their usual surroundings, so neither of them really knew what the other was like. Still, Whimper couldn’t complain about the filly.

The comment drew a light chuckle from the mare. “You know, Rainbow Dash said she had an idea to help you. I’m not sure what, but she was pretty confident about it, and stubborn. I guess she likes you.”

His dull mood lightened at that. “Maybe. Everypony keeps telling me I remind them of someone called Fluttershy?”

Derpy nodded knowingly. “It’s true, you do talk like her a little, and you act kinda like her. Plus, Fluttershy is kinda famous, so it’s easy to see any resemblance if you know her. It’s a good thing, though, trust me.”

“Uhuh. Fluttershy’s the blonde one, right? I mean, the other Element of Harmony as strong as Rainbow Dash?”

Derpy pondered that for a bit. Here she had a boy who got bullied a lot and who had some physical prowess to be proud of. Presumably, said prowess had come from quite a bit of pain, something Derpy could attest to. Her ‘deadly plot of steel’, as some referred to her flanks, had come after some gruelling and unorthodox training methods, for reasons she didn’t usually share. She wasn’t aware of how the boy trained, but she could take a wild guess or two. She’d seen him fight, too, he was very impressive for a neophyte.

"Umm... yeah, she's the strong one, alright." The mare tried to keep his male pride intact.

"But is she the blonde one?" Whimper looked up at her, trying to spot any lies.

Derpy considered her choice of words. A kid like that, a bullhead boy, was being compared to the shyest, gentlest, most peace-loving pegasus in Ponyville. Luckily, he still thought he was being compared to Applejack, apparently. And she could keep that illusion alive without lying, if she weighed her words right. “Yup, the blonde one's the strong one. Fluttershy even stared down a dragon once, I heard. She’s a hero, like you.”

To that, the boy gulped. Another one? “W-what do you mean, a hero?”

“Well, you kept catching your friend, didn’t you?” She gestured to the twister as the foals scattered once more. “You need to be pretty brave to dive after a falling pony, and pretty fast to catch them, and pretty careful to do it without them getting hurt.”

“Oh, right. Well, it’s a reflex, mostly.” He tried to make it sound less impressive than it was.

“That’s a good reflex, then. Not a lot of flyers can let go and just fall out of control like that, even less at your age. I’m surprised that hasn’t gotten you a cutie mark yet, come to think of it.”

Whimper looked down and thought for a moment, before looking back at the twister forming. “Actually, do you know how those other foals got theirs?”

“Sure do. Green and Blue got theirs on the same day, actually. Green Water’s talent is making the best of something bad. She got it making some drinks from old fruit no one wanted.”

“Err… isn’t that dangerous?”

“Not if you’re careful, apparently. Fermentation’s pretty basic, you just need to know what you’re doing. See, she and Blue Moon helped set up a little celebration for their school. Blue’s talent is making things stand out. They got their cutie marks when they saw how much everyone enjoyed what they’d done. As for Red…”

Whimper raised an eyebrow. Derpy weighed her words, as this tale was a little odd compared to most cutie mark stories.

“Red Tide got his cutie mark in detention, or so I heard. Someone threw a paper airplane at him class. A couple of minutes later, he pummeled the guy with his own little swarm. Red Tide’s talent is critical mass, or muscle memory, something like that. He’s not good at making new stuff, but if you show him something simple once, he can get a whole bunch of it really quickly. He can pretty much bury anypony in a snowball fight, that’s what his classmates told me.”

“So he got his cutie mark making paper airplanes?” Whimper was incredulous.

“No, of course not. He got it feeling smug about himself after making the paper airplanes. You don’t get your cutie marks from just doing stuff. You get them from enjoying your talent and being proud of it. I guess you haven’t really done anything big enough to enjoy it, have you?” She leaned in with a knowing look.

The colt shuddered. I’ve done something big alright, but that wasn’t fun at all. And if that’s what it takes, I’ll be a blank flank forever.

“Are you sure you’re okay? You’re not feeling embarrassed about hanging out with fillies and mares, are ya?” Derpy hit that particular nail right on the head.

“Well, most of the colts I know are either jerks or interested in things I’m not, so fillies and mares are fine by me.” He gave Derpy a friendly smile.

“That’s the spirit. And don’t worry, if you can keep that up for a couple more years, all the colts will be green with envy.”

“I guess that’s true” Whimper he got up, taking a few deep breaths and noting the lack of tea kettle whistle coming from his lungs. He’d caught his breath again.

“I know it’s true.”

“No, I mean I guess it must be true. Every grownup I talk to says the same thing. Not sure why, though.”

Derpy’s left eye twitched at that, which was saying a lot.

Kids these days...

Rainbow's Wracking Realisation

Chapter 8: Rainbow’s Wracking Realisation.

Rainbow Dash circled around the kids as they walked over to the Gantelope. “Okay, everypony, you’ve practised landing, breaking your fall, and speed. Aside from that, you’ve gotten a bit of exercise to get those flying muscles nice and strong. Now it’s time for some serious business: maneuvering.”

Everyone looked up at the set of rings right after the diving portion of the Gantelope. They had another few sets just like it near the old barracks, but right now those were taken by the more experienced flyers. Rainbow Dash flew up to make sure everyone saw her right.

“Now, for this part of the course, you’ll have to learn how to roll in mid-air. The rings here are placed so close in a row that you can’t turn without losing precious time. You need to roll sideways to pass this part. In case you’re wondering why you might need this skill, let’s just say it comes in handy if you’re ever in an avalanche.” She rubbed the back of her head as she said it. She’d almost said ‘if you ever cause an avalanche’, which accounted for about half the ones she’d been in, actually.

“So the way you want to do this is -” Dash bolted off before finishing that sentence, throwing herself into rolls left and right, and making her distinct rainbow trail through that part of the course. She went faster than the naked eye, actually, and did the whole thing thrice in a matter of seconds. Twilight frowned a little at the approach. She still wasn’t sure why Dash had insisted on bringing her saddlebags along too, or what she’d asked Rarity the other night.

Rainbow Dash was turning out to be quite the mystery, but then that wasn’t news. Rainbow had always been the one friend of Twilight’s who really didn’t make sense. At least Pinkie Pie had the ‘controlled insanity’ moniker to explain her actions, but Dash? She’d never figured out the reason why Dash acted the way she did. She wasn’t even sure why the athlete was friends with Twilight, not that she was complaining.

“All right, any questions?” Dash came flying in with her drill sergeant look.

Scootaloo shook her head in amazement, jaw dropped. Whimper raised a hoof and immediately regretted it. “Yes. Could you please explain how you did that, and maybe do it slower?”

To that, Rainbow Dash smiled. “Sure. What you wanna do is fold your wings, and at the same time throw your body weight sideways. Always make sure you roll from the shoulders first. It looks like everything rolls at the same time, but it doesn’t. Shoulders first, then the rest. That way you don’t fall as much and you go straight to the side.” She did the same roll hovering in place to illustrate. ”And make sure your wings open again once you’re level, not before. Open the one on the outside of the roll first, then the one on the inside. Open too quickly and you wind up spiralling out of control. And weigh off the amount of strength you use. You’ll be hitting stuff left and right if you’re not careful. Got it?”

All five foals nodded.

Rainbow Dash landed and went towards the saddle bags. “Another thing. Whimper will be wearing one of these while training.” She got out what looked like a padded training vest with flames on it. ”This is his prize for winning at the cloudwrestling. Just to keep things fair, I’ve gotten another one in case you wanna try it. But this one’s for Whimper, he needs it. He’s asked for help, so he’s getting it. If anyone else needs help with anything, you have to ask. We don’t want to hurt anyone’s pride, and if you think you can fix it yourself, we won’t stop you. Everyone got that?”

Rumble nodded with a grimace, Zephyr and Skyron grumbled a little, but nodded as well. Twilight suppressed a smirk at Dash’s clever approach. If the jocks ran into any trouble themselves, they’d have to swallow their pride as much as Whimper and Scootaloo had. It wasn’t much, but it might help adjust their attitude.

Whimper got into the training vest a little awkwardly. First Rainbow Dash put it on the ground, then he had to lie on his back, get his limbs through the holes and button it up, then roll onto his hooves.The thick padding really stood out on his back and near his ribcage.

Scootaloo wondered what that was supposed to do, since Whimper jumped up and down to check something. Is he being weighed down? How is that supposed to help anything?

Skyron chuckled. “You look like a flying tortoise.”

“You got a problem with flying tortoises?” Dash leered at the jock.

“No, ma’am.” The jock got a look of terror on his face as the cockatrice glare went through him.

Zephyr grunted. ”Psh, you’re just playing favourites. Let me have the other one.”

“Sure, catch.” Just as politely as the question had come, Rainbow tossed the other vest right unto the lavender colt’s back in reply.

He caught it, his knees buckled once, then he collapsed. He gritted his teeth as he tried to get up. “What the… it’s like… an anvil!”

“Excuses, excuses. You wanna be treated like Whimper, you get treated like Whimper. Now you two are gonna do a run on the rings with that vest on. They’re both equally heavy, so you both get the same pressure. Any difference is between your skills alone. Unless you think you can’t handle it.”

Zephyr grunted as he barely managed to get into the vest, let alone flap his wings hard enough to get off the ground.

“This isn’t so bad,” Whimper remarked as he slowly managed to get some lift and headed up towards the rings. ”I’ve carried baskets heavier than this. Not flying, but still.” He slowly passed by the hovering mare, only at walking speed despite his quick flaps but at least moving.

Zephyr flapped his wings furiously and tried to keep up, but he wound up looking like Scootaloo had when she tried to fly earlier. He sat down and shot his instructor an angry look. “How is this fair?”

Rainbow Dash shrugged, unimpressed. “Well, Whimper can do it because he’s got a stronger back than you. Kinda like how you can fly circles around him because your lungs are stronger. Sounds fair to me.”

Zephyr didn’t bother saying he couldn’t do it, he just shed the weighted vest and lifted off. Whimper was just passing the first ring when the jock came zipping by. Zephyr went into his roll at top speed.

Then he crashed into the sides, just as Whimper tried the same manoeuvre at a slower pace. He nearly went off track himself, but managed to stabilise himself just in time. He went through the second ring and readied himself for another roll. Scootaloo kept her eye on things. Whimper was clenching his jaw just with the effort of trying to stay stable and up, while Zephyr simply refused to take it easy and wound up falling along the sides every single time.

Twilight was making notes herself, no doubt wanting to keep everything on schedule. She wasn’t sure what to make of the weighted vests, though. Tapping the one Zephyr had shed, the unicorn realised the padding was filled with cherry stones, as well as some other seeds to make it an even distribution. And judging from the weight, she was sure none of the other foals could fly with one of those strapped to their backs.

It didn’t make sense, though. Slower and stronger wingflaps did nothing for Whimper’s problem. He couldn’t speed up with just stronger flaps, surely Rainbow knew that? If anything, Whimper would be slower than before, since a stronger flap just put more of a wavy motion in a flight, not extra speed. Flying wasn’t like swimming where you were already buoyant, you needed strength to stay up as well as move forward. That was doubly true for a foal whose wingspan couldn’t carry him yet and whose magic couldn’t make him light enough yet. What am I missing here?

As the two colts landed, one having done a slow and perfect track and the other going all over the place, Twilight turned to the other kids.

“All right, now you all go single file. You’ve seen how it’s done right, just make sure you keep stable. Rainbow Dash will be up on your level if you need any help.”

Rainbow Dash suppressed a grin at that. Twilight was a quick study.

At that command, the five foals got into another round. Whimper trailed behind, of course, since he needed five flaps of the wing just to stay up where the others needed a mere two. Going forward took even more strength, and going forward fast took strength he didn’t have. Scootaloo buzzed past him once, then twice. He was falling behind again, but at least he wasn’t getting out of breath. He was pacing himself fine, but the pace he was going at was abysmally low, despite his wings moving at quick trot speed.

After a few rounds, the foals landed at their instructors’ command. Twilight made a few notes and sighed. “Okay, everypony, now on to the dive so you can chain it together.”

Once the foals were getting ready on the steps, Rainbow Dash flew in to talk to her friend. “What’s wrong?”

“You do realise that just making his wings stronger won’t work, right?”

To that, Rainbow Dash gave a confident smile. “That’s not what I’m trying to do, Twilight. Trust me, you’ll see. And speaking of which, Whimper!”

The colt nearly jumped at the sudden shout. “How are you feeling? Any head-rush?” Dash called out loud enough for everyone to hear.

“A-a little, why?” He pulled up his hooves, cringing in fear.

“Take off the vest for a bit, then.”

Rainbow Dash flew up to take the vest from him. He shook off some muscle strain before getting ready with the rest of the squad.

Twilight kept her eye on everyone. Both Zephyr and Skyron were struggling with the rolls, even when they bounced off the landing cloud to pick up speed. Nevertheless, they stubbornly refused to ask for help, so they didn’t get any. Rumble did fine, but he looked worried, probably because Scootaloo was right behind him. The poor guy really looked like he felt guilty, and now he didn’t talk to anyone in their group. Still, she’d seen him with the older kids, and he was flying fine, if a little wobbly. Scootaloo herself was proving quite the ace when it came to agility, but then that wasn’t a surprise considering she flew like a hummingbird already. She even managed to slow down her fall at last.

As for Whimper, he was doing fine technically, but he wasn’t going any faster than before. Whatever Rainbow Dash had in mind, it wouldn’t be instantaneous. Twilight couldn’t think of what, though. It had something to do with flying the way Rainbow Dash did, but didn’t all pegasi fly with the same basic technique in mind? It didn’t make any sense. And the colt wasn’t looking too happy with the state of his body, either. At least he had one thing going for him, that being a strong back.

The routines went on and on, Whimper went in and out the weighted vest a few times, and slowly but surely lunch came around. Rainbow Dash nodded when they’d finished their schedules for now, then headed over to Whimper as he and Scootaloo trotted off. Twilight kept the rest of foals going out of earshot.

“Hold up for a second.” Dash stopped the pair. ”Okay, here’s the deal. You can wait until your muscles feel a little better the day after tomorrow, or you can do a special training with me after lunch and you’ll be pain-free right after. You’ll also see what I’m trying to do right away.”

He grimaced as he considered it, averting his gaze for a moment before looking back up at her. “Umm… what’s the catch?”

“It’ll be a little weird, and it might even get painful. That goes for you too, Scootaloo. You can join in if you want, but you might not like it.” Dash winced as she considered her course of action.

Scootaloo didn’t hesitate. “I’m up for it.” She wasn’t about to pass up a chance to be with her idol, and Whimper wouldn’t back out of pain relief in embarrassment if Scoots was going ahead with it.

Rainbow Dash looked down at the boy. “Well, Whimper?”

He nodded with his eyes closed, like he knew what was going to happen. His wings twitched.

“Good. I’ll see you after lunch, then. Oh, and another thing, I’ll be timing when you wear that vest, and keeping a close eye on you most of the time. I stuck my neck out to keep you on camp, so it’s important you do exactly as I say from now on, got it? No exceptions, not in or out of flying lessons. I’ll tell you to stop when it’s getting to be too much, but you can’t quit if I don’t let you, and you do not get to run away from me. Understand?”

Whimper nodded. “Okay, I won’t. Thank you.”

“That’s including your bully problem, too. If you get in a fight, I’ll let you have one move, just one. You try a second one, I step in. Don’t expect me to go easy on you, I’m going to start pushing you to your limit if I have to. You refuse one time, I’m sending you right back home. Is that clear?” She held her hoof high to emphasise the one chance he’d get.

“Yes, ma’am.” He looked up with as defiant a sigh as he could muster.

Just what she was hoping for and just what he needed. “Perfect. Off you go, then. I’ll catch you later.”

“Umm, Twilight?” Rumble came walking into the book corner during the lunch break. As per usual on her breaks, she had her nose in a history of the use of mental loci in spellcasting, including a very interesting tidbit about the evolution of rune pages into hypnotic therapy books.

“What’s on your mind, Rumble?” She looked up just a moment. ”Looking for a book on flight dynamics?”

“No, not exactly.” He kicked the ground bashfully. ”You said that if we had a problem, we should say so. Well, I know you don’t like me as much as Whimper or Scootaloo, but…”

To that, the unicorn’s ears perked. That kind of talk from a foal set off a few red flags in her mind. “Hey, don’t say that. Just because Rainbow Dash is friends with Scootaloo and Whimper needed more help, doesn’t mean we play favourites. And it doesn’t mean we don’t like you. We’re here to teach everypony, remember?”

“Well, if that’s true... I’ve got kind of a problem, and I don’t know what’s wrong, exactly.” The colt gave a nervous smile, like he was embarrassed about it.

That he’d gone to her in private and not gone straight to the nurse set off another set of alarms in Twilight’s mind. Had he sprained something, broken something? Was he infested with one of those obscure parasites that burrow in a pony’s head or come bursting out their chests? “Why don’t you start by telling me what’s bothering you.” She lay down right in front of him before her vivid imagination kicked in and made matters worse.

He sighed and let his head hang. “I have a headache.”

Twilight blinked. Not what she was expecting. “Just that, a headache? Did you bump your head, maybe land badly?”

Rumble shook his head and pushed a hoof to it. “No, I mean I’ve had this pressure in my head for a while, a couple of weeks, maybe months. I didn’t think it was that bad, but when we were rolling, it got worse. I was feeling dizzy, and I kinda still am. Eating didn’t help, either.”

Residual dizziness, constant headaches…not good signs. “Stand up straight for me and follow my hoof, Rumble.”

The colt stood up as straight as he could, and followed the hoof as Twilight moved it left and right. He was only moving his eyes, but there was no mistaking it. He was swaying on his hooves. His balance was off, meaning that if it got worse in flight he’d be in serious trouble. That wasn't even to mention the risk of him losing his lunch if he had to roll again. She got up and tried a few cursory tests with her hooves. He’d have to go to the nurse eventually, though. “How’s your breath, and your stomach? Did you feel queasy or anything?”

She placed the back of a hoof on his forehead as he thought.

“Yeah, but it didn’t start in my stomach, and I’m not really tired, it’s just my head. Am I sick?”

“No fever…” She absently rubbed his mane and noticed something. Twilight sniffed that mane just to be sure. She narrowed her gaze as a few things came up in her head. The smell of rose water hung over the boy. “You’ve got a pretty soft mane for a colt, you know. Do you use any special shampoo?”

He blushed at that. “Yeah, I kinda have to. My hair greases up really quickly, so I have to use girl shampoo to keep from looking stupid or getting smelly." He spat out the word ‘girl’ just a little. ”My dad’s always joking I should learn to wrestle, ‘coz I’m always oiled up.”

Twilight gave him a friendly smile and nudged him out into the crowds of his playing peers. “I think I know what’s wrong. We should get you to Lyra.”

“So I am sick? Do I have worms or something?”

“You’re not sick, Rumble, you just need a little attention.” She lowered her voice to a whisper, not wanting to state the problem out loud where anyone outside might hear it. He was really taking this hard, even if he shouldn’t. Rumble acted like he ignored her, or didn’t hear. The look on his face was going to mild panic by this point. She’d stay with him, just to make sure he didn’t feel too scared. It was bad enough having to smell like a girl, let alone getting embarrassing medical issues.

Moving into the nurse’s office, Twilight noted a distinct lack of green unicorn. She gave the buzzer a gentle nudge. A low and loud voice, possibly Snow Flake’s, came hollering in reply.

“MEDIIIIIC!!!”

The sound made her ears ring. Rumble didn’t so much as flinch.

A green flash materialised in front of the two. The flash had a horn and a slasher smile. “Hi there. Please state the nature of your medical emergency.”

“Rumble’s gotten a bit dizzy from the rolling. I think he might need some cleaning up.” Twilight leaned in and winked.

“Oh? Well, let’s see then.” Lyra wasted no time in grabbing the boy’s head and ignoring all protests at the invasion of his personal space. His head was poked and prodded at every visible vein, golden eyes moving in to scrutinise the surface of his scalp and all over his head. “Yup, I think you’re right. Come with me, little guy.” A green blob of magic pushed the confused colt onwards, heedless of his struggles to get out.

“Come on, don’t worry.” Twilight tried to soothe Rumble’s concerns. ”This won’t hurt a bit. We just need to get your head under some water, that’s all.”

“Huh? Bu-but I already washed this morning!”

“I know, sweetie, but there’s just some spots you can’t reach. Now hold still, this might be a little uncomfortable.” Lyra gently placed Rumble’s head under a sink and let some warm water flow. Taking the faucet in her magical grasp, the mint unicorn aimed the stream of water straight into the boy’s exposed ear canal.

He squirmed at the uncomfortable pressure, but he was held down. The mares tried talking to him, but he didn’t hear with the water in one ear and the other one turned away from them. He felt something in his ear, like the edge of a wet towel wrapped into a point or a slimy thread. A thread that moved. It wriggled around inside, and the pressure was quite painful, nearly going right into his eardrum. He was regretting watching “Invasion of the Pony Snatchers” at this point, particularly not closing his eyes during the scene where one of the main characters became infested by a worm in the ear. His brother was cool about letting him watch classic films, but sometimes Thunderlane let him see things he really shouldn’t.

Once the nurse was satisfied, she turned him over and gave his other ear the same treatment, first filling it with warm water, then digging into it with what he now saw was a string of cotton. He grimaced as the shots of pain went into his head, but this time he heard Lyra shushing him and stroking his neck. He noticed the string came out looking a very disgusting brown, and she actually had to change it a few times to make sure she got out all of the gunk. The colt groaned a little in embarrassment, but he weathered it as best he could.

“There, all done.” She got a towel and dried off his head as she let him up. ”Feel better?”

Rumble rubbed his ears with a grimace. They were ringing, but the pressure in his head was subsiding. Their voices came in clearer, too, and he could actually hear the other foals playing outside now.

“A little. So did something get in my ears?”

Twilight shook her head. “Nothing to worry about. Your ears just got a little clumped up, that’s all. Your hair isn’t the only thing that greases up a lot. You don’t have a parasite, you're not sick, it’s just earwax, that was the pressure in your head. You should be fine now.”

“Earwax? Seriously?”

“Seriously. You’ll probably get it later, too, but if you just remember to get some water in your ears when you wash, it won’t be so bad.” Twilight smiled.

Awkwardly, Rumble started walking off. “Thanks a lot. Um, just one thing, don’t tell anyone?”

“Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye,” Lyra swore. Twilight, for her part, still hadn’t figured out how to do that without grievously injuring herself, so she went with a simple “I promise.”

With a bound, Rumble was off.

“Can you imagine he thought he had parasites?” Twilight chuckled softly. As strange as it sounded, she was somewhat relieved to know she wasn’t the only one who got crazy ideas when scared out of her wits.

“Sure. It happens, and things get scary when you don’t know what’s wrong with you.” Lyra kept a serious tone. She’d seen it happen a few times herself, after all.

“I guess that’s just how kids are.” Twilight looked out the window, recalling her own little adventures with Cadence. ”Every problem they have seems like the biggest one in the world, but to a grownup it always looks like the same thing.”

She chanced a glance towards the higher levels. Rainbow Dash was flying off to a remote corner with Scootaloo and Whimper.

“Something exceptionally trivial.”

Rainbow Dash set down on the cloud with the two foals in tow. “Okay, this should do fine.”

Scootaloo landed in front of her and looked around the isolated patch of sky. “So what are doing here, Rainbow Dash?”

“Twilight calls this ‘Rapid Oneiric Recharging’. It’s kind of like magic, but a little different. Trust me, it’ll help with tornadoes, lightning, everything. Just lie on your backs, you’ll see how it works.”

The pair laid down on the fluffy cloud. Rainbow Dash went to lie down on her belly, folding her legs up.

Scootaloo got into the position, with Whimper following suit. “What now?”

“Now focus on your hind legs. Just hold them still and comfy. You can hold still and comfy, can’t you?” Rainbow asked with a friendlier tone than usual. It wasn’t much, but it was definitely not her usual tone of voice.

Whimper winced, but nodded. “Uhuh. I’ve done this before.”

Encouraged by her friend’s apparent experience, Scootaloo tried to follow Dash’s suggestion. She felt out how her hind hooves were positioned, then her legs. She seemed to relax automatically from just paying attention to it.

“You’ll notice you’re starting to feel a little heavier now, that’s normal. Just feel out how you’re lying down, and breathe a little slower. Just relax and sink into the cloud for now.” Dash kept her voice calm and even, letting any edge bleed out. It was quite soothing, with a little effort.

Scootaloo took a deep breath and felt that heavy sensation settle over her belly as her breath slowed. Her head was feeling a little woozy too. Whimper was shaking at this point. She perked her ears as she checked him. “You okay?”

The colt adjusted his front legs and sighed. “Just a little nervous, but I can’t back out now, can I?”

“You’ll be fine, Whimper. We’re alone, up in the clouds, and no one’s going to get hurt. It’s okay to let go for just a bit. Can you feel your forelegs getting heavy?” Rainbow Dash tilted her head to get a better look.

Whimper took another nervous breath as the heavy feeling moved up his forelegs. “Uhuh.”

“Okay, now I want you to look at that cloud right in front of you.” Dash pointed a hoof straight ahead. ”Just keep looking at it, focus all your attention just on that and following my voice. And you can stop talking. Just nod or shake your heads, okay?”

Scootaloo felt herself sinking away into the cloud. This was getting a little scary, actually, but she didn’t want to back out at this point.

“Now as you focus on that cloud and my voice, you’ll notice it’s getting harder to think. That’s okay, you can still follow what I tell you, and I won’t tell you anything bad. That heavy feeling will go a little faster up now, almost like you’re standing at the edge of a deep well. That’s fine, you don’t have to let go completely yet. Now, Whimper, Derpy told me that you can only work magic when you’re excited. That’s not because your magic works that way, it’s because you can’t relax right, that's all. We can fix that if you’ll let me. And Scootaloo, if any bad memories do come up, just remember that this is different.” Dash took a deep breath. ”You need to trust me on this, okay?”

The two foals were a little out of it. The gears in their mind had slowed, their bodies were going limp, and they couldn’t help but follow Rainbow Dash’s instructions. Not they couldn’t do anything else, they just couldn’t think of a good reason not to.

Scootaloo felt a tear roll over her eyes, even though she couldn’t think of why. What was this reminding her of so much? Why was she so afraid?

“Now sleep.” The two foals felt a hoof on their forehead and closed their eyes. Any resistance they had left turned to vapour just like the cloud they were lying on. Just as she’d said, they felt like they were falling into a deep well, always deeper and deeper. They couldn’t stop it, they just gave up control. A vague memory went through Scootaloo’s mind, a tiny paper cut in her consciousness no one had ever thought to patch up, not even her.

“I want it.“

“I need it.”

“I really like her mane.”

Loss of control. Something in her mind she didn't put there. Nothing she could do about it.

It was scary in a way Scootaloo wasn't used to, but at least she was safe this time. Maybe now she could look at it for what it was.

“Okay, this is very important. What you’re feeling right now is what’s called trance. It’s not going to make your eyes all googly, it won’t make you do things you normally wouldn’t. You’re not being controlled by anyone but yourself. You can snap out of it if it really gets too much for you, but I’m here to make sure that it doesn’t get that far.” Dash’s heart was racing as she said it. ”I’m going to remove my hoof now, and you can stay this relaxed. I’ll just read something, but it’s up to you if you want to listen or not. It’ll be just like story-time, only more real. Is that okay?”

The slumbering foals slowly nodded, Scootaloo’s mouth hanging slack and open by now.

Slowly, carefully, Dash retreated her hooves. Then she rooted through the cloud they were on and got out the book Whimper had brought with him. “Now I want you to imagine you’re standing at the base of a mountain.”

As she narrated the script, Dash contemplated what she considered her fundamental equation.

At one end of the equation, she had her past. This included breaking speed records, doing tricks that were considered hard by the pros and one that had been considered a myth for years. It also included kicking a dragon in the nose and being generally awesome.

At the other end, she had what she was doing right now. This included trying to soothe the emotions of a pegasus who couldn’t fly properly due to medical issues, trying to teach kids how to master their innate skills and using hypnosis to clear up some underlying issues.

The equation led to one conclusion.

No matter how hard she tried, no matter how fast and awesome she’d been, and no matter how much she’d avoided all things girly, biology-bloody-biology would have the last laugh.

Rainbow Dash was turning into her mother.

“Okay, you can wake up now.” Dash touched their foreheads once she was done. ”Don’t try to move too fast, things will take a while to get going again. How are you feeling?”

“Pretty good.” Scootaloo slowly stretched out. ”I’m not sure what we did, exactly, I kind of zoned out. What was it called? Rapid Ornery…”

“Rapid Oneiric Recharging. That’s what Twilight calls it.” Dash winked at her. ”Most ponies just call it a power nap. What about you, Whimper? Looks like you’re not shaking for once.”

The colt got to his hooves and wriggled his wings. He took a few deep breaths to get his bearings, but his face betrayed some disturbance, still. He had a smile on his face that just looked awkward.

“I’m fine,” he clearly lied. ”My muscles aren’t sore anymore, I’m feeling good and… strong.”

Scootaloo turned her head. He didn’t look at all happy about it. No real need to bring it up now, though, better to make sure they were both well awake.

“Come on, class is starting again, and now it’s a speed run on the rings by the old barracks. Think you’ll be able to keep up?” Rainbow Dash shot Whimper a confident smile.

Whimper wriggled his wings again and gave a cursory flap. Even after just one session with the vest, whatever had changed elicited a confident if careful grin. “Actually, I think I can manage now.”

As the foals and mare headed off to the barracks, Scootaloo tried to see what the difference was between Whimper before and after the vest. To her surprise, she got an answer when she noticed Whimper’s wingflaps came at the same pace as Rainbow Dash’s. Every foal flapped faster than an adult, she buzzed along like a hummingbird herself. But how was that going to make him faster?

Twilight was already standing ready with the three other colts, as well as two light purple pegasi coaches with the three kids from the hurricane section and two others she didn’t know. The coaches had light green manes with white highlights, and one of them had a bow in her hair. One’s hair was spikey, the other’s mostly flat. They looked like they were related, probably sisters.

Rainbow Dash smiled in greeting. “Hey Flitter, Cloudchaser. Guess we’re sharing the track now?”

“Yup. How’s everything coming along?” Cloudchaser asked.

“Well, Whimper should be fine now, but Zephyr and Skyron there don’t seem to be getting the rolling down.” Dash nodded in their general direction.

“Very funny." Zephyr rolled his eyes.

“So you’ve fixed his problem already, huh? That’s impressive. Care to show us what you’ve got, kid?” Flitter asked the colt.

Scootaloo gulped at that, but her friend gave an uncharacteristically confident grin and pushed that firm chest forward. “Sure. What do you have in mind?”

“How about a little race to warm up? You, Zephyr and Rumble, and Blue, Red and Green. Not that I don’t trust Rainbow’s training methods, but I just gotta see how much she can get done in less than a day.” Flitter winked at the two coaches.

Rainbow Dash’s face was stuck in confident grinning mode, despite Twilight’s stunned expression. Them allowing this was mind-boggling. Whimper agreeing to it was even more baffling. What the hay did she just do? “Are you sure that’s a good idea?”

Whimper was already lining up with the rest. Twilight noticed the boy’s face had changed. He’d lost that little bit of nerves he usually had, and in its place something more predatory had appeared. He looked out of it, kind of angry, even.

“And go!” Flitter gave the starting signal.

Twilight turned away. She didn’t want to give anyone the satisfaction of watching an ill-advised and potentially dangerous race, certainly not on a longer track than she’d seen Whimper do already. This sort of distance would be way past his critical point, she was sure of it. She looked at Scootaloo as the race went on, and noticed the filly was breathing a little slower than usual. Scootaloo also seemed a lot more focused than normal, not even thinking of cheering anyone on. Most disconcerting was the fact that the girl's pupils were dilated, despite not looking at all excited. Twilight Sparkle wasn’t an expert on these things, but she knew what that sort of change meant. “Did Rainbow Dash put you under?”

The question snapped the orange pegasus to attention. “Huh? Oh, she just let us have a power nap, that’s all. She read something from a book, too, I’m not sure what. I zoned out a little, I think, I can’t really remember what she said.”

So Rainbow Dash knows about hypnosis? Where would she get that?

As the foals crossed the floating finish line, Twilight kept her eye on Whimper. He came in right after Red Tide, a pretty respectable time considering the red colt wasn’t even trying that hard. What’s more, he’d narrowly beaten Zephyr. Dash gave him an airborne hoofbump in congratulations at his progress.

Flitter nodded in admiration. “Wow, that is impressive. How do you suppose Dash did that? Made his wings stronger?”

Keeping a close scrutiny on Whimper’s wings, it finally dawned on Twilight. “No, I don’t think so. Look, he flaps slower than Zephyr when he tries to hover. That’s what she meant, older pegasus foals don’t have as big a problem with Eagle’s Grasp because their wings are bigger. They don’t need to spend as much effort to stay up. She weighed him down to train the muscles responsible for downward force only, which aren’t purely in the wings. Making his wings stronger would only provide forwards force, which is useless in this situation. So she made his core stronger, the muscles that keep his back and belly straight in the air.”

“Huh?” The pegasus sisters raised an eyebrow in confusion as the contestants headed straight back down to their level. Scootaloo mimicked said confused look.

“Imagine you have to go on the track with twenty wingflaps. A young foal won’t get very far, because about ten of those wingflaps are spent just to stay up. A foal with bigger wings would only need seven to stay up, or even five, while a grownup can just glide along and hardly spend any flaps at all to stay up.” Twilight drew a diagram on the clouds to illustrate. “The amount of flaps you need to stay up depends on three things: how much magic you’re using, how much you lean on your wings and how much weight your wings can carry. But if you train your core muscles and adjust your posture, you can use those to stay straight.”

“Leaving more wingflaps spent on pure speed,” Cloudchaser finished. “But then why not use this for every kid with his problem?”

“Because being weighed down puts a lot of stress on his back. His magic is being pushed to compensate, but that doesn’t do anything about the pressure he has to work against. That’s probably why Rainbow Dash asked Snow Flake about it. It’s not his wings that are being worked, it’s everything around it. He can take it because his back is strong enough, but any other foal would buckle. On top of that, the stress is forcing his magic to overcompensate, something you normally can’t do with pegasus magic. It really only works because he’s so strong, I guess.”

Zephyr and Skyron, meanwhile, were arguing about the turnout of the race. Even though the foals had expected to lose from their seniors, Whimper beating the ace flyer didn’t sit well.

“You cheated, you must have,” Skyron started as Scootaloo came flying in along with him.

Scootaloo scowled. “Sore loser.”

Zephyr glared at Whimper. “It’s true, you used the wind to shove me out of the third ring.”

Whimper pouted angrily. “I didn’t need to use any magic, Zephyr. You’re just so used to bursting in a straight line you can’t turn properly on a longer stretch. It’s not my fault you can’t keep up.”

The grownups, as well as the older foals, were getting back into the routine, letting the smaller ones finish bickering. Rainbow Dash looked like she was expecting something, and Twilight didn’t like it one bit.

“Whimper!” Dash called out as she got back to her colleagues. ”Don’t waste your breath on those guys. If they want to argue, everypony who matters is standing right here.”

Whimper turned his back to the pair, not wanting to antagonise his coach-declared-master. He trotted off to the start of the course for a steady run this time.

“You can’t hurt him anymore.” Scootaloo she turned her back on them. Rumble quietly followed suit, shaking his head.

Twilight felt a shiver run down her spine and things slowed down. She became intensely aware of what was happening all of a sudden. Flitter and Cloudchaser were looking at their foals, Whimper was walking towards them, Scootaloo and Rumble were picking up the pace to close the gap. Twilight caught her breath. Why am I feeling so tense all of a sudden? Rainbow Dash was looking up at the older foals, but her ears were perked towards her own team coming towards her. Am I somehow picking up on Dash’s tension? Twilight perked her ears in the same direction just in case and looked at their team.

“Well, they make a nice bunch, at least,” Skyron started with a nasty tone.

Zephyr grinned. “Yeah. A wheezy wimp, a rose-scented coltcuddler and a butch fillyfooler.”

Twilight barely heard it, but Whimper definitely had. He froze in place.

The air around them suddenly felt a lot colder.

Twilight looked at his eyes and realised the big mistake they’d all made. They’d been comparing Whimper to Fluttershy all camp. They’d failed to consider one crucial question regarding Doldrum Whimper and Fluttershy, one they should have asked themselves right from the start.

What would happen when Whimper finally got angry?

From the looks of it, the answer included his eyes turning into seething pools of sheer hatred. Scootaloo and Rumble backed away from the sudden change in his demeanour. His breath came in ragged, his teeth were bared, it seemed like he was radiating his anger somehow.

He was ready to snap.

He barely managed enough control for one response to the insult. It came clear, loud and imposing. “What did you call them?”

Author's Note

I really need to come up with a better synopsis for this story. It wasn't really meant to be purely Scootaloo-centered, there's some interaction between Twilight and Rainbow Dash that's very important too. This chapter is mainly to set up Twilight's attempt at therapy coming up (hint: the whole reason Whimper's up there hasn't even been mentioned yet), which in turn will put forward the usual bit of society criticism I like to throw in.

Anyway, why the scene with Rumble? Because originally Zephyr and Skyron were supposed to insult Scootaloo only. But then where's Rumble in that picture? I had to include him in that scene, he's part of the group. Besides that, I put Rumble in this fic because he's a pegasus colt who is from Ponyville and knows Scootaloo. I can't put him in and not give him some sort of characterisation. Also; I wanted Lyra to be in this chapter. Note that Lyra's listed as a main character and has shown up in every single chapter so far. Rumble's not listed as a main character, but he hasn't been that important s far. That won't change, btw, I just didn't want to make him 'Token Colt #3'. Also, the random medical stuff would be reason enough to be insecure, and have the other two call him... you know... using that line also allows me to add one little bit of characterisation to my OC, which you'll see later on.

Reversal of Roles

Zephyr chuckled with a mocking tone. “Didn’t you hear me? I called you a wheezy wimp, and a cheating one, now that I think about it.”

Whimper turned around, slowly and calmly. Scootaloo got a look at his eyes as he did. He was beside himself. That wasn’t Whimper behind those eyes, that was something that belonged in the Everfree Forest or Tartarus.

“I didn’t ask what you called me. I asked what you called them.”

Twilight nudged Rainbow Dash as the conversation got ugly. She slowly took a few paces towards Whimper. “Now, now, let’s not let harsh words get the better of us.”

He didn’t hear. His attention was fixed on the bullies.

“What, now you’re deaf, too? He called them a rose-scented coltcuddler and a butch fillyfooler.” Skyron stoked the bullhead up some more.

Whimper growled, his body lowering like a set up spring.

“What are you gonna do about it? You know we can still fly circles around you. You only beat me once, you’re spent.” Zephyr kept up his cocky grin.

Twilight was halfway to Whimper by then.

Not close enough.

Whimper leaped forward, wings opened menacingly and his whole body mimicking a gryphon pouncing its prey. Twilight concentrated and used her magic to grab him by the tail.

She grabbed air.

Whimper had rolled away from the spell. It was then she realised that Kludde’s spell, much like the one she’d just tried, was an instantaneous one. She’d forgotten all about that. The monster didn’t fire any bolts, bolts were easy to dodge. But something like grabbing in mid-air was impossible to dodge, or at least it was supposed to be. She lost precious milliseconds thinking about it, though.

Zephyr was off the ground by the time Whimper was in striking range, but he couldn’t flee. One light blow went to press against his chin, then a hind hoof found one of his knees and unbalanced him. The hoof on his chin pressed upward, forcing his vision away from his enraged attacker before making a circle.

The hoof came down, and the jock’s body went down along with it.

Twilight put up a barrier to hold back the other grownups as they tried to rush forward. “Don’t! If he moves that hoof...”

Doldrum Whimper had the jock in his grip, the edge of one hoof right where the chin meets the neck, the other on the nearest arm. His whole body was leaning stably on the hoof pressed to the neck, and the arm connected to it was slightly bent.

Twilight knew that grip all too well. Her brother had demonstrated it once, it wasn’t pleasant. The Royal Guard knew this grip as “Interrogation in Enemy Territory”. Everypony else came to know it as “The Final Nail”. With the hard, slightly sharp edge of a hoof pressed against just the right spot on your throat, a simple snap stretch of the arm was basically putting the final nail in your coffin. A ten-year-old had no business knowing that.

Rainbow Dash took a deep breath before barking out an order. “Whimper! Remember what I said.”

Whimper took a few ragged breaths, looking the colt in the eye. He practically spat out his words in anger. “Listen very carefully, I will say this only once. You don’t get to insult anyone to rile me up, ever, especially my friends. It’s over, no more Mister Nice Guy.”

Zephyr wheezed. “Can’t… breathe…”

Whimper felt a tear of rage fall across his cheek. “Good. Now you know how it feels. I’m through with letting things slide. I'm through with jerks like you. So if you feel like trying anything, anything at all, you just remember this. You want to fly circles around me all day, you need to be faster than me all day. And even then you can barely touch me. But me? I only need to be faster than you for a split second. And then? I will hurt you. And I might get in trouble, I might not be teacher’s pet anymore, but you will still… be… hurt. Got it?”

Zephyr nodded, a tear rolling over his face as his lungs burned. Whimper shot Skyron a spiteful look, which quickly got another scared nod.

Rainbow Dash started walking over to him, holding up a hoof to stop anyone else from trying. “Whimper, listen to me. I let you have one move. You used it, and you’ve said what you’ve had to say. You can walk away now.”

Shaking, Whimper withdrew his hoof, before wiping away the tear. His expression lightened in a matter of seconds, all the rage just died down. He went from rage to confusion as he realised what he’d done, then to regret. Turning around, he found everyone staring at him. He lowered his head in shame.

“Okay, Cloudchaser, I think we should probably keep these guys separated. You two on the track, now.” Dash pointed towards the shaking jocks. ”Some of the older kids will be flying in between you and the rest.”

Wordlessly, Zephyr and Skyron went on the track, followed by two pegasi from Flitter’s squad. Dash nudged Whimper forward, and he took off with Scootaloo and Rumble.

“Wait, that’s it? You’re not gonna punish him?” Cloudchaser asked once they were out of earshot.

Rainbow Dash shrugged. “Punish who? And for what?”

“Well, Whimper for attacking a team mate and Zephyr for that horrible language.”

Rainbow Dash looked her colleague in the eye. “Sure, what would that do? You punish a bully for not liking someone, it gets worse. And where do you think Zephyr got that language? Up here, or when he’s playing in competition and all the grownups are shouting across the field? Face it, nothing I do about that will work. He’ll just go home and keep hearing that kind of talk like it’s normal. I can’t fix that, he has to learn that on his own. Unless I threaten him, but I'm not allowed to.”

“And what about Whimper? Kid’s got anger issues.” Flitter shook her head slowly.

“Yeah, he does. And I think he’s handling them pretty well for his age. Did you see how he moved? He could’ve done worse, a lot worse, but he didn’t.” Rainbow tapped her hoof on the ground for emphasis. ”He knows what I expect, and he listened to me. I said he’d get one move, and he dealt with it in one move. Why would I punish him for doing exactly what I told him to?”

“So it’s okay for a kid to go straight for the throat as long as he’s dared to do it, is that what you’re saying?” Flitter raised an eyebrow at the mare’s attitude.

Twilight, finally getting over the shock of things, decided she didn’t like her friend being ganged up on. “No, what she’s saying is that something drastic is the only way to break a stubborn habit like that. Both of them are stuck in the same role, and if Whimper had just lunged for a punch, they’d have had a real fight and we’d have to send both of them home. As it is, we’ll have to get a wall in between them in the cabin. But what was he supposed to do? Just rush in and start flailing until we pulled them apart? Doing what he did made it so they’ll respect the damage he can cause. They need to treat him as an equal now. Of everything he could have done, I think this was actually the only thing that might work.”

Rainbow Dash felt pretty proud right then. “Exactly. What do they say in the Royal Guard? The perfect attack spell isn’t the one you never have to fire --”

“It’s the one you only fire once,” Twilight finished. ”And if you really think it’s that big of a deal, I can talk to him, make sure he understands the limits for defending himself. But this is still progress, actually, he stood up for himself. You can't argue with that.”

The purple pegasi shrugged at that logic and resumed checking the foals, since the argument was lost before it even started. Their students were holding up quite well. This part of the course was meant to push endurance, but none of the smaller foals were struggling yet.

Something bugged Twilight, though, about how Rainbow Dash had learned to deal with bullies. Whimper wasn’t the only one who had problems. Rainbow Dash herself had been bullied most of her life, even though she never spoke of it. Maybe she could relate to the little bullhead because of that?

The thought got stuck in her head. She knew Dash had been bullied, she’d met the bullies at the Young Flyer’s Competition. But why would anypony bully Rainbow Dash in the first place? Dash was an athlete and always had been, there was no reason she’d have to take flak from anypony. If anything, pegasi loved daredevils, whether they succeeded in their tricks or not. That made her mental processes return to Dash’s cutie mark story, which in her mind had a few plot holes, no pun intended.

As she kept her eye on the kids, the unicorn realised she was standing right where it happened. A little distance away from her there was an old barracks just under a ring, where Fluttershy must have been standing to try and clear it. A red flag was standing a little further away, that’s where she crashed when those two bullies (what were their names again?) came flying in and called her names.

The name-calling. That was what didn’t make sense. The bullies went to Flight School with her, but that was later. Flight School came after finishing grade school. No one would call her ‘Rainbow Crash’ if it wasn’t an established nickname before Flight Camp.

Meaning something had happened to Dash before Flight Camp. Something bad that she never talked about, but had left some marks.

There was only one thing for it. Twilight would have to use her extensive knowledge of psychology (acquired in two days of reading in her little book corner) to fix everything (since nothing ever went wrong when she took matters into her own hooves). She’d start by gathering information from Scootaloo, talk to Whimper to fix his confidence and anger problem, and finish with Rainbow Dash to heal whatever emotional scars she had.

What could possibly go wrong?

Twilight trotted over to Scootaloo as she left. “Scootaloo, could I have a word with you? Alone?”

“Sure.” She nodded to Whimper while he was heading off for dinner. He hadn’t said much while they were flying, but then he still had to spare his breath, and he was as shaken up as the jocks were. He needed some time alone, she decided, and Twilight was giving her a good excuse for giving him just that while Rainbow Dash stuck with the bullhead.

“What has Whimper told you, exactly?”

“About what?”

“About the thing with the friend and the necklace.” Twilight tried to keep it as vague as possible, just in case she didn’t know anything.

“Oh, that. Well, he doesn’t remember. He says he got lucky. That maybe him having a breathing problem was the only reason he survived.” Scootaloo fidgeted, still sorry about dragging it up the other night.

“And what do you think of that?”

Scootaloo shook her head. “I don’t know. It doesn’t sound right. Like something else is bothering him, but I don’t wanna bring up anything painful, you know? Do you know what happened? I mean, with your brother and all?”

“I have the reports, but I don’t know how Whimper feels about it. Maybe if he starts talking about it to somepony else, it’ll be easier to talk about it to a friend.” Twilight felt like she was asking permission, but really she was just testing the waters. She tried to stifle the thought that she was only doing this because Whimper and Scoot made such a cute couple. Being honest with herself, though, she had to admit that was still playing some part in her actions. Even their colour schemes matched, for pity’s sake!

The orange filly narrowed her eyes. “Umm, Twilight? No offense, but… be careful with him? He’s pretty sensitive.”

Twilight smiled at that as she started heading off with the filly in tow. She’d never pegged Scootaloo for the caring type. The defensive type, certainly, but not the caring type. She truly was turning into a little Rainbow Dash. “You’re really fond of him, aren’t you?”

Scootaloo shrugged at that. “Well, sure. He’s fun to have around, and he’s nice. And you saw what he did when that jerk called me names. We look out for each other. Even Apple Bloom wouldn’t lose it like that. Not only that, he never argues. It’s kinda like having a puppy, only bigger and smarter.”

“Plus, he’s got a bit of a reputation, like you.”

“Oh yeah, Whimper’s pretty awesome. And pretty brave, when he’s not shaking. You know he can land on his hooves when he’s being launched from a tornado?”

That mental image elicited Twilight’s patented grimace. She’d only ever seen Rainbow Dash land on her back, or crash, after an uncontrolled tornado, and she was quite certain physics made that trick next to impossible. The reflexes that would demand would have to be fast. Not fast enough to dodge an instant-cast spell, but certainly close. She was beginning to wonder whether that dodge was a fluke or not.

“Yeah, thought so.” Scootaloo broke the reverie. ”We understand each other, is all. And don’t tell anypony else, but… I just feel safe with him around, you know?”

Safe, huh? That made sense. Twilight had nearly had a cardiac arrest the first time she’d seen the filly on her scooter. No doubt Scootaloo herself got a little scared when trying tricks like that with no safety crew to catch her. It wouldn't be often, obviously, but it had to happen sometimes. And Whimper did seem to have fiercely protective streak. It must have been quite comforting to have somepony like that around her. That led Twilight to another train of thought.

“I wonder… does Whimper have any brothers or sisters?”

“He hasn’t mentioned any, no. Why?” Scootaloo tilted her head like she was hiding something.

“I’m just curious why he’d come to Flight Camp if he knew he would be failing. He couldn’t be sure his problem got fixed now. He could have waited until his wings and magic grew, like most ponies with his problem. Plus, his bullies would follow him around and up here there’s no real getting away from them. He didn’t look like he was forced to come here by his parents, so why the rush?”

Scootaloo remained silent at that, averting her eyes from the unicorn's gaze. Twilight felt the gears in her head turning, and as always things started making sense. Whimper wanted to go this year because this year was important. He was on an urgent timetable. He had to go now, he had to get over his problem before it was too late. Which, all things considered, meant one of two things. Either he is dying, or… “Okay, I think I get it now.”

“You did not hear it from me. I’m pretty sure Whimper doesn’t want to talk about it.” Scootaloo grimaced nervously.

As they reached the cantina, Twilight pretended to zip her mouth up.

Logic would triumph once more.

“Now, Whimper, do you know why I wanted to talk to you?” Twilight adjusted her seat. She’d gone the extra mile and gotten out her fake therapist’s glasses, as well as sculpting out a therapist’s office for herself in her book corner. She’d already added a few walls in the cloud matter of their cabin to practise, it wasn’t that hard a trick to pull off.

“Look, I’m sorry I attacked Zephyr. I don’t know what came over me.” Whimper groaned, not at all comfortable being alone with Twilight like that.

“That’s okay. I just want to talk to you about a few things, make sure everything is alright. I gather you don’t get a lot of chance to just talk about what’s bothering you, and you probably need to. So let’s start with your fight against Kludde. What can you tell me about that time?”

The colt’s face contorted at the thought. “There’s nothing to say. I don’t want to talk about it.”

“You will have to, eventually. I’ve read the reports, you know, I know what you did. You should be proud of yourself, beating a monster the Royal Guard couldn’t even catch.” She gave him a friendly smile that did absolutely nothing.

“I got lucky, that’s all.” The boy averted his gaze.

“Because of your breathing problem? You know that’s not true, right? The Royal Guard trains to be able to fight when their lungs burn like that. Luck had nothing to do with it, you beat that thing on your own strength.” She checked him for any response, but got nothing but tension and denial from his body language. His wings locked against his sides.

“Could we please talk about something else?” Whimper grabbed his head with his hooves, nearly crying out in frustration.

Twilight scribbled something on her paper and changed the subject. She gave him a beanie bag to squeeze just in case. She’d made it with coffee beans inside, always prepared. “Okay, but can I just ask why?”

He clutched the bag and ground it against his hard belly. “It was supposed to be a secret. How would you like it if you went through something like that and wanted it kept secret, and then ponies wouldn’t stop talking about it?”

Ah.

That was a valid reason to drop the topic. He didn’t want to be known as just ‘that pony’ and he’d hoped to keep the incident a secret. Of course, all the heroes of Equestria knew about it, and by sheer coincidence he’d ended up with two of them on camp. Having your secrets uncovered by a stranger wasn’t that pleasant. At least, she thought it wasn’t, she couldn’t speak from experience. “Alright, then. Let’s talk about your friends. I hear you’re friends with Peachy Pie?”

“How do you know her?”

“I saw her at a talent show, when she did some poetry on rollerblades. That, and her aunt talks about her sometimes. From what I hear, she’s a really nice girl.”

His frustrations started ebbing away, and a little vein near his wing stopped throbbing so much. “Yeah, she is nice. Always makes me laugh when I’m down. Gives everypony else in class a run for their money when they try and prank me, too.”

“And she never runs out on you, does she? She slows down for you when you can’t keep up?”

Whimper nodded. “Uh huh. She talks a lot, and I guess she tries to get me to talk, but I don’t have a lot to say.”

“But you do help out when she asks, right? On the… rock farm, I guess?”

The colt chuckled. “Uhuh. The Pies don’t really farm rocks, but moss for... I dunno, compost or special food. And the rest of their land is kept dry on purpose, something about weeds and herbs, I’m not sure.”

Twilight made a mental note at that, or rather scratched something on her mental checklist. Pinkie Pie’s family farmed a xerophyte vegetation, like thyme and rosemary, plants that got their specific taste from being in dry environments. That’s how Pinkie Pie got her sensitive (and eager) taste buds, as well as how she knew about Parasprites. Flight Camp was turning out to be quite the learning experience for Twilight.

“And you two hang out just because you both decided you wanted to be nice to each other?” She approached the issue carefully.

“Pretty much. Peachy Pie’s a little... weird. Most ponies can’t get used to her. But she’s okay, she never picked a fight with me, so we’ve been friends since a little after kindergarten, I think?” He tilted his head in thought.

“And why do you suppose she likes you?” Twilight went in for the big one. Well, one of the big ones, at least.

“I dunno, because I make things easier for her?”

There came the first crucial point that would require therapy. She shuffled a little closer. ”Whimper, you shouldn’t think that way. If you keep thinking like that, sooner or later someone will start taking advantage of you. A true friend doesn’t like you just because you do their chores, it’s because they’re happy being friends with you. Are you really a good boy because you think others will like you for it, or because you feel happy being a good boy?”

His face looked pensive at what was, pretty much, a really weird question. “I guess I feel happy. I mean, it’s not like I feel better when I’m angry or when I hurt someone. I don’t really know why anyone hangs out with me.”

Whatever had happened during that little fight with Zephyr, it had left no trace. His whole demeanour, right down to the little quiver in his ears, only served to make him look vulnerable.

That wasn’t an easy trick, since he was pulling it off with a body that looked hard enough to shatter a rock on. His skin even had a little curve inwards where his ribcage met his abdominal region. The words ‘Fluttershy on steroids’ were beginning to echo in Twilight’s mind, as well as the precaution to never bring that to the boy’s attention.

“And there aren’t any colts you talk to, huh?” Twilight squinted with a smile, taking some more notes.

“Not a lot I could talk about, really. I bulked up to get away from most of the colts. A lot of fillies, too.” He blushed, embarrassed.

“That’s pretty normal, actually. And it worked, right? You’re stronger than any foal I’ve seen your age, including Earth ponies. And you make a good impression when you meet new friends.” Twilight tried to keep his spirits up.

He shivered. Clearly this was part of the problem. She didn’t want to broach his timing just yet, though. “Anyway, what about Scootaloo? You two seem to be getting along really well.”

“Yeah, she says she’s done all this crazy stuff, like me.” He sounded like he believed it, but the fact was he didn’t have any real proof of it.

“Oh, trust me, it’s all true.” Twilight suppressed a groan. ”And then there’s a few things she probably won’t admit to. But is that the only reason you’re friends with her?”

Therapy, as far as Twilight knew, was all about facing things. Apparently, Whimper hadn’t thought about why he was friends with Scoots or Peachy. He simply didn’t have enough friends to afford the luxury of wondering about them.

“No, I just like her. She’s fun, and she seems to like me. We’re a lot alike, I guess.”

“You really are, actually. But do you know why she likes you?”

“She says she feels safe around me?” Another little shiver, and a throb near his wing.

So she did tell him about that, huh? Didn’t think she’d admit that to a boy. “What do you suppose she means by that?” Twilight tilted her head.

He started really shaking at that point. “That I’ll never hurt her. That even her friends call her stuff she doesn’t like sometimes, but I wouldn’t.”

Twilight nodded. “It’s true. ‘Chicken’, they call her, or ‘dodo’, but they don’t mean it. Sometimes friends get a little frustrated at each other, and they say things they wish they didn’t. But that doesn’t mean they’re not friends anymore. Scootaloo just likes the fact that you’re gentle. If you ever did get angry, she’d forgive you. She’s tough like that.”

Another shiver, and a clenching of the arms at the word ‘tough’. The coffee was being ground against his hard abs.

“Is it maybe because you respect each other that you decided to be friends?” Twilight’s heart sank as she posed the question. She wasn’t sure why, but this whole thing started giving her a sense of déjà vu.

“I guess that’s it, maybe. Yes, respect, that’s what it is. Like making an effort actually mattered, you know? Scootaloo’s done all this crazy stuff, it shouldn’t not matter, otherwise why bother doing it? And she signed me up for that whole wrestling thing to see what I could do when I wasn’t even sure what that was myself. I don’t want to get hurt, but… sometimes a little push is a good thing, right?”

Twilight nodded. “Of course it is. Do you suppose it’s the same way for Peachy Pie?”

“I think so. She got me into training in the first place, always told me how strong I really was on the inside, then on the outside. She’s fearless, too. She’ll laugh at anything. Giggle at the ghosties…” He trailed off. He was there again. It didn’t matter what he did. Things always went the same way.

His face showed it, too. Twilight let the silence hang over them for a moment. “So when you found her, downed and scared, your first instinct was to get her to laugh again, right?” Twilight tried.

He clenched the beanie bag she’d given him. The coffee scent was getting clearer now, like he was grinding the contents to powder. She reminded him of an otter smashing clams on its belly, only slower.

“I just thought she’d be fine if I got that necklace back for her, that’s what reminds her to laugh. She never lets me get upset, ever. She got me into an eating contest when I lost most of my appetite after that fight, and before the fight, even before I bulked up, she always stepped in when somepony tried to get me crying. She’s always strong, as long as she can laugh. What was I supposed to do? I just wanted her to laugh again, she’s fine if she can laugh. So I went after the thing, and...”

“And then you blacked out when it grabbed you by the throat,” Twilight finished.

The colt nodded. “Everything started feeling heavy, and all these flashes came up in my eyes. All bad memories: of getting left behind, running with teachers pushing me to try harder when my lungs are burning. But then there was always someone to cheer me up. She even opened a can of slugs on our bad apple team.”

“You mean she opened a can of worms.” Twilight corrected the expression.

“No. No, I don’t.”

Twilight gulped at that.

“I guess I owed her my best shot. I wanted her to feel better like she made me feel better. That’s what friends do, isn’t it?” He looked up to a nodding Twilight. ”And that thing was laughing at me for that. I don’t know what happened next, it’s just a blur until I got to the hospital. I don’t even know if I’d have risked it for anypony else. And the weird part is: I don't think we're even that close. We just hang out together a lot. It feels weird, thinking about that. Does that make me a bad pony?”

“Close or not close, you stood up for a friend, Whimper. You were brave in the face of a very real danger, and you overcame a threat to ponies all over Equestria, that’s what they hand out medals for. You’ve got a good heart. You’d have done the same for anyone, I’m sure of it.” She really was sure of it, actually, she’d seen the same attitude in her friends.

“Maybe.” He shook at the thought.

“You’re quite protective, aren’t you? Of your friends, I mean. That’s why you came to Flight Camp earlier than you should have. You wanted to be better. You think you might not be worth friends at all, am I right?”

“No, that’s not it.” He grimaced in annoyance. ”Peachy Pie and Scootaloo don’t need me to look out for them. They’re fine without me, I don’t need to be perfect or protect them all the time. You don’t understand.”

“I think I do, actually. You want to protect someone else, somepony who isn’t as fearless or as tough as your friends.” She looked over her notes, then checked his still nervous posture.

“You don’t know what you’re talking about.” Whimper clenched that beanie bag.

“Come on, it’s all right. I know what you’re going through, I’ve seen this before.” Twilight tried to assure him to no avail.

“I’m sorry, but... nopony knows what it’s like.”

Twilight went in for the big one. The one reason he was up here to begin with. “You’re going to be a big brother soon, aren’t you?”

Silence fell and he shook violently. The colt made a crunching sound with the beanie bag. “How did you know?”

“It’s the only thing that makes sense in your situation. You don’t have a lot of friends, and the ones you do have can stand up for themselves, like you said. You basically take turns protecting each other, and you seem to think that you need to earn the right to be someone’s friend by being a good guardian for them. But nopony’s ever expected you to be a perfect protector, you just act like they do. With a baby? If it turns out to have the same breathing problem you have, then having your problem fixed here means you can fix it for them too. If not, that means they’ll be faster than you and they’ll get into trouble where you can’t protect them, just because you can’t follow. That’s the only thing that would get you up here with your wings still being so small and your bullies still following you.”

Whimper suppressed a tear. He was clinging to the beanie bag like it was a life buoy. “My mom found out the day they announced when Flight Camp would start. Would you believe that?”

“Whimper, you know you can stop, right? You can fly fine now. Even if you can’t go fast, you’ll keep up with pegasi at their normal speed, you can fly at a gallop even if you can’t sprint. Once camp is over, things will be different. You don’t have to keep moping and bringing yourself down. Despite what you might think, you stopped being a runt a long time ago, the day you decided you wanted to be stronger.” Twilight tried to get her motivational speech going.

“No, I didn’t. I’m still the runt.” He clenched his teeth in anger. The beans stopped ruffling in the bag. He couldn’t have crushed all of them, could he?

“Come on, you don’t really believe that. Look at yourself. You’re strong, everyone who really knows you, likes you, and you’re a hero recognised by the Royal Guard. How does that make you a runt?”

“You don’t understand. It’s the only thing I can be. I don’t like it, but that’s the way it is. I just don't wanna get that look. Anything but that look.” He sobbed.

Twilight nodded in sympathy. She could guess what kind of look he was referring to. “You do realise you can’t keep up that attitude around a sibling, right? Don’t you want to be a good example for your baby brother or sister?” She’d hoped that particular logic would snap him out of his self-pity.

It didn’t pan out the way she’d planned.

“No, I don’t. Babies are loud, smelly and annoying. I don’t want anything to do with it. You want to know the truth? I didn’t come here so I could keep up with it, I came to Flight Camp so I could get away from it!”

Twilight blinked. It was hard to imagine he'd actually hate his future sibling, he certainly wasn’t the jealous type.

“Um… what do you mean? Are you scared your parents won’t like you anymore?”

He shook his head violently. “You don’t understand. It’s not what you think, and I don’t want anyone to know. It’s fine as long as I can get away, and nopony needs to know. They’ll look at me if they know.”

“Know what? Do you feel jealous? Inadequate?” She reached over to try and comfort him with a pet on the mane.

He tensed up like a wound spring when her hoof approached him. His teeth were gritted together and his stress relief was cracking at the seams. Either the boy was going to burst, or the bag, and it would be ugly no matter which burst first.

“Whimper.” Rainbow Dash came in, snapping both of them to attention. ”It’s okay. You don’t have to talk about it if you’re not ready.”

Twilight frowned at her winged friend. But looking down at Whimper’s quivering form, she realised it was probably best if she stopped. Knowing how he really felt about his upcoming sibling was enough of a breakthrough, even if she didn’t understand it. She sighed. “I’m sorry if I upset you, Whimper. You can go if you don’t want to talk. But please don’t let this eat you up.”

Without a word, he dropped the beanie bag and walked out as the sun was getting ready to set. Twilight checked that beanie bag. There were no beans anymore, just powder. That kid was really tense. “I don’t understand what went wrong. I thought I had him figured out, I was sure I could help him,” the self-declared expert of child psychology started.

Rainbow Dash flashed her that patented confident smile. “That’s okay, Twilight. I figured you would need some help. That’s why I stepped in.”

Twilight’s jaw dropped. “Excuse me?”

“Getting through to kids takes a lot of work, and some ponies just aren’t cut out to handle that kind of empathy.”

This was reminding Twilight of something. Where have I heard this conversation before? And why do I feel so tempted to cover Rainbow Dash in flour?

“Oh, so you do have that kind of empathy? Don’t think I can’t figure this out, Rainbow. I know you’re hiding something just as much as Whimper is, maybe you’ve had the same sort of experience. And I know it has something to do with your cutie mark. You might have fooled everypony else with that story, but not me.”

“So what if I did?” Rainbow Dash walked up to her friend with a defiant grin. ”It’s not like you’re smart enough to do anything about it.”

The unicorn narrowed her eyes. Dash could be harsh, but she was never this offensive. Rainbow was daring her, and Twilight couldn't back down from it. “Oh, I’m pretty sure I am.”

To that, Dash’s expression shifted to something Twilight had never expected. For the briefest moment, Rainbow Dash looked like Twilight’s mirror image just as she uttered two words. Two simple words that had started their friendship and conveyed the whole of their complex relationship.

“Prove it.”

Twilight Therapy

Twilight grunted at the challenge. “Okay. You lied about how you got your cutie mark, as well as how you made friends with Fluttershy.”

Rainbow Dash shook her head. “Nope. It happened just like I said it did. Why would I lie? Why would Fluttershy lie?”

That thought hadn’t occurred to the unicorn yet. Fluttershy had told the same story, more or less. The bullying, the racing, it was mostly identical. “You didn’t tell the whole truth, though. Something’s missing from your side of the story.”

“What makes you say that?” Rainbow Dash indulged her inquisitive friend with a raised eyebrow.

“Fluttershy was, well, shy, and got scared a lot as a foal. You were a jock, popular or not. She’d be scared of you too, even if you stood up for her. When I first met her, she barely spoke to me, and I was trying to be nice. To you? She’d freeze up as soon as you started talking, not to mention when you did your tricks. She should have been terrified of you. And nopony would bully you on Camp. Trying tricks the way you did would get you respect, not mockery, even if you failed. The only way that your story would make any sense is if...” The mare trailed off at that. ”Oh.”

Rainbow Dash looked her blankly in the eye. “It makes sense if?”

“It makes sense if you already looked harmless when you came to Flight Camp. If Fluttershy took pity on you before you could scare her. And the same thing was the reason other ponies mocked you. You’re not clumsy, you never were, yet they called you ‘Rainbow Crash’. That would only happen if you looked like you’d crashed before you came here.”

Rainbow Dash sighed.

Twilight gave her a sad look, sympathy bordering on pity. Random memories flashed in front of her eyes as the pieces of the puzzle fell into place. “You fooled everyone when we were discussing Whimper. Everyone thought you meant you’d teach him to fly the way you fly, but what you meant, what you heard Derpy say, was ‘learn to fly the way you learned to fly’. You were weighed down a while before Flight Camp.”

Rainbow Dash bit her lip. “Yup.”

“But you were a featherweight, you weren't strong enough to train with that.”

“Who said I was training?”

Twilight’s eyes went wide. “Oh. You got wrapped in bandages, with heavy compresses in between. They put little bags of aromatic seeds in between the bandages to let the medicine seep into your fur, didn’t they? But that kind of treatment is only for…”

Rainbow Dash didn’t break her glare, even if she was suppressing a tear. “Go on. You know you wanna know.”

Twilight gulped. “You either got burns all over your body, or you were covered in cuts and scratches. If you were burned, no doctor would have allowed you to go up high in the bright sun right after treatment, so it was cuts. You looked like a flying tortoise for a while, that’s why you didn’t like Tank at first. It reminded you of that time, that explains it. And it explains how you were able to run with your wings strapped tight during the Running of the Leaves. That wouldn’t be possible if you weren’t somehow used to it, I’ve asked around. That just leaves how you got injured to begin with.”

Rainbow Dash let Twilight think with a heavy silence between them.

Twilight perked up. “Wait a second, you said you’d flown Ghastly Gorge a million times. How old were you when you first did it?”

“Nine.” There was a quiver in Dash’s voice that the unicorn had never heard before. ”And I got as far as the brambles and cactuses. My hair got stuck, I kept getting grazed, and like an idiot I kept going straight into the sharp stuff. By the time I cleared that bit, I nearly passed out just from the pain. Nothing went too deep, but a lot of cuts add up, you know. Not to mention the pieces I lost from my mane and tail.”

“Wow. How did you...”

The pegasus shrugged. “Oh, I woke up in the hospital, I still don’t know how I got there. The doctors said some fillies brought me in, but they ran off before anyone could ask any questions. I don’t know who they were, how they got down there, or how they even knew I was there. All I know is they picked me up and carried me up through the Gorge and into Ponyville Hospital. I’m just glad they saw me. That far down it’d be impossible to catch.”

Maybe one of them had a twitching tail. Twilight’s mind reeled at the implications.

“Anyway, the doctors said that most of the cuts were infected, and to stop me from getting them even more infected they put me in one of those heavy casts, with little bags in between. They smelled good, at least.” Rainbow was smiling widely as she said it. ”Then they told me I wouldn’t fly for a while. My wings had to be taped in, strapped to my belly, and they’d be too weak to do anything for weeks. That meant no Flight Camp for me. That was what really made me upset. Not the cuts, not looking ugly, just not going to Flight Camp when I wanted. But trust me, the cuts were pretty bad, too.

Twilight winced in sympathy. “Um, how bad are we talking here?”

“Bad enough to keep me up at night. My mom had to do this silly story thing to put me to sleep every night, and my dad?” She shook her head laughing, or crying, it was hard to tell. ”My dad didn’t even get angry at me for doing something that stupid. He was just happy I was all right, didn’t even bother trying to talk me out of Camp. He just took me to practise flying every day, same time, after my wings were free again. My belly was still wrapped up and I was still weighed down, to keep the softer stuff from hurting, but he promised me I’d get to get fly when I wanted to. So I practised with him, weighed down, and with wings that hadn’t moved for a week and a half. I got pretty strong that way, and the cast came off two days before Flight Camp started. Finally, when it rolled around --”

“The cuts hadn’t fully cleared up yet. They use willow exudates in that kind of bandages. They’re painkillers, but also blood-thinners. You looked injured when you got there, and since no one had seen how you got that way, they just assumed you were a ditz, and the tricks you could do only made that image worse. So they started calling you ‘Rainbow Crash’.”

Rainbow shrugged. “It wasn’t so bad. I didn’t get any permanent scars. I got really strong, really fast. I learned to fly right pretty early on, and that made me faster than anypony. Even the instructors had a hard time keeping up. And the name-calling? I just stopped caring. After a while I was doing things I knew I couldn’t do, but I learned to stay safe, my dad made sure of that. Even if I knew I couldn’t do it, it wouldn’t hurt too much to try. I earned my nickname long after they gave it to me.” She wore a huge grin as she explained it.

“So Fluttershy wasn’t scared of you because you looked hurt. She felt sympathy for you. And your first Sonic Rainboom?”

“Nopony believed I did it. And why would they? I still had painkillers in my system, all anyone really saw was an explosion and a rainbow. There’s lots of magic that could do that by accident. And then there was a silly filly who went so fast she didn’t even notice her muscles were tearing. If I hadn’t had the Rainboom pushing me forward, I wouldn’t have made it back up to the clouds at all.”

Twilight winced. “You… tore your muscles?”

Rainbow Dash gulped and chuckled sadly. “Yup, I don’t usually admit that when I tell that story. I err… I was bleeding again when I crossed the finish line. My wings hurt for months after that and the instructors never let me out of their sight for the rest of Flight Camp. Totally worth it, by the way. I only started telling that story when I moved to Ponyville. They didn’t know about the whole ‘Rainbow Crash’ thing, and when they saw what else I could do, ponies believed me. Even Fluttershy never connected the dots. She didn't know what a Rainboom looks like, nopony did. And since my first one only happened with painkillers, it took a while before I could push myself like that again. Soo… that’s it, the secret origins of Rainbow Crash. Now you know.”

Twilight let her head hang low. “Who else knows about this?”

“Just the ones who were there. So aside from Fluttershy, you’re the only one who knows the whole story.”

“I guess I owe you an apology, then. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to drag this up. I just wanted to understand.”

“It’s okay, Twilight.” Dash put a hoof on her friend’s shoulder. ”You always try to figure things out to help, it’s in your nature. Sure, it hurts to bring it up, but that’s just what you do. You always get to the bottom of things. I wouldn’t be much of a friend if I couldn’t put up with that.”

“That’s not what I meant, Rainbow. I’m sorry for everything. Every time I’ve yanked your tail or seen someone else do it, every time I didn’t see you were down or just didn’t think to help, and I’m really sorry for all the times I hurt you. And don’t pretend you don’t know what I’m talking about, I know it hurt.” Twilight narrowed her gaze at that.

“You’re being silly, Twilight. There’s a lot worse that you could apologise for than just that stupid costume thing.” Rainbow chuckled to herself. It had hurt, but it was in the past, and it was a learning experience.

Twilight raised herself up. The familiarity with Whimper came back to her, at least in one aspect. “I never apologise for mistakes I can’t avoid, there’s no point. But you? I’ve seen you cry more often than any of our friends, except maybe Rarity. Yet you act like nothing can touch you, and that makes everypony else think that nothing really can touch you. Except you only act like that because you’ve been in pain before, it’s a vicious cycle. The fact that you’ve learned to take pain doesn’t give anyone an excuse to just hurt you. There’s no point in getting tough if all it accomplishes is ponies hurting you even more, and I should have realised that sooner. I’ve done things to you that I’d never have done with Applejack or Fluttershy or anypony else. Well, except maybe that one time I slammed a door in Fluttershy’s face, but that was different.” She shook her head to get back on topic.

"Twilight, what are you getting at? I do not cry," Rainbow lied.

“My point is, I know I’m insensitive, but I’ve seen others do the same thing, and you being strong enough to take it isn’t an excuse. It’s not fair that you should be treated worse just because you act like it doesn’t hurt. So will you please accept my apologies? Please forgive me?” She pleaded with a smile that would give a dragon pause for thought.

The speedster looked weird, then. Twilight hadn’t seen that look on Rainbow Dash before, she couldn’t place it immediately. It was gratitude, and maybe a sense of relief at finding understanding at long last.

“I bear the Element of Loyalty, remember? I always forgive my friends.” Dash turned back. ”We should head to the camp fire, by the way. They’ll be waiting for us.”

“Yeah.” Twilight shook her head to clear it. ”I should probably apologise to Whimper, too.”

“No, you shouldn’t. You did help, just not in the way you think. You don’t know the whole story.”

“But you do, right?” Twilight dropped the hammer. ”You knew he’d get into that fight, you knew he’d freak out when I talked to him, you even knew he was getting a sibling.”

“Huh? No, I didn’t know that last one. But you might say I know what he’s going through.” Dash avoided the topic. ”Physically, I mean. I don’t know all of it, but a little. And that fight was going to happen anyway. Being weighed down when you fly does that. Once the weight is removed your body tries to stay up all the time. Your magic gets jumpstarted and overcompensates to keep you up, and your wings get all hyper. If you fly like that too much, you wind up getting edgy when you need to stand still, and you snap easily too. But I’m timing Whimper so that doesn’t get too bad. He just needs to go through some stuff, even if it’s painful.”

Twilight frowned. “What kind of stuff? What aren’t you telling me?”

“You have to trust me on this. It’s way more complicated than you think, but I know what I’m doing. Part of his problem is him reacting to stress, and I need to stress him out a little to teach him how to deal with it. That’s why I’m keeping on such a short leash, I can’t help him if I don’t.”

“Well, he’s all yours. Whatever it is that you know about him, I can’t figure it out. I just can’t tell what’s bothering him. I kept asking him if he knew why his friends liked having him around and I don’t even know why you put up with me, actually.”

Rainbow Dash stopped, just out of earshot from the camp fire. She lowered her voice just in case. “It’s the other way around, Twilight. You put up with me. First thing you did when you met me was challenge me, nopony ever did that first time they met me. Either they call me a blowhard and walk away, or they just take me for granted. You don’t take nonsense from anypony, even me. And you know what it’s like to push yourself to be better. We just understand each other, is all.”

The familiarity of what Whimper had said about his friendships came back. Even when they’d just met, the two had had a silent acknowledgement of how far they really were in their respective skill levels. Twilight had very quickly accepted Dash’s boasting, simply because she acknowledged the fact that Dash had something worth boasting about. Likewise, Dash had quickly accepted that Twilight simply knew a lot more than she did, because she spent time and effort learning these things and how to explain them properly. It had taken both of them a lot of effort to get to where they were, and the mere acknowledgement of that effort was enough to understand each other.

Dash resumed their approach. “Besides, you do know what his problem is. What’s on his mind, anyway. I’m pretty sure you’re the only one up here who’s actually had the same thing on their mind, maybe more than once.”

“I don’t follow.”

“Yeah, you do. You just don’t realise it, Miss Smartypants.”

The final click in that mental clockwork came, and the bells were sounding as Twilight’s eyes went wide. “Oh.”

Whimper lay down with the rest of the group. He was still shaking, but at least Zephyr and Skyron were sitting by another fire. Scootaloo was sidled nice and close to him, just close enough to make sure he’d feel comfy. Flitter and Cloudchaser were looking at the pair weirdly, but no one spoke up. Some of the older pegasus foals gave them a few glances, but the colt was too preoccupied to care and the filly didn’t seem to realise what the fuss was about.

It looked out of place, but only to the ones looking at them. Their whispering to each other probably didn’t help much, either.

“You sure you don’t want your marshmallow?”

“No, you can have it. I’m just not that hungry.” He smiled at her.

Scootaloo munched on that extra marshmallow, looking worried. “First time Twilight lectured you, huh?”

He shook his head. “She didn’t lecture me. She tried to give me therapy.”

“Ouch.” Scootaloo sympathised. ”No wonder you’re not eating. How bad was it?”

“Ever have your deepest, darkest secrets come out to a perfect stranger who’s just guessing?”

She grimaced at that. “I’m sorry, I think I might’ve clued her off about it.”

“About what?”

“Well, you getting a baby brother or sister.” She leaned in as close as she could so one would hear it.

“Is it that obvious?” He groaned to himself.

“Well, it’s kinda written all over your face, it’s not that hard to figure out. And I guess it was written all over mine, too.”

“That’s okay. I don’t mind you knowing all about me.” He smiled weakly.

“Hey, lovebirds,” Flitter called out, ”what are you two whispering for? Feel like sharing anything with the group?”

Derpy got out some popcorn. “Aww, don’t be mean, Flitter. They’re not lovebirds, they’re friends, and probably tired. You’d want to keep your muscles nice and warm too if you pushed yourself like that. They’re probably just whispering about what they’ll do tomorrow to top their tornado-making.”

Scootaloo blinked twice in amazement. As far as she knew, when Derpy started sounding like the voice of reason, that was when you should be worried.

Flitter groaned just as Rainbow Dash came in with Twilight and Lyra. “Sorry I asked.”

The mint green unicorn had her lyre with her. Scootaloo realised they’d stuck around longer than usual, and the main reason she went to bed early up here was about to come up once more.

Lyra threw her hooves in the air with great gusto. “Who’s up for some songs?”

Whimper looked over to Rainbow Dash, who was now flanking him and Scootaloo with Twilight. Rainbow shook her head.

“Do I really have to sit through this?” Whimper whimpered.

“Yes, you do. I know it’s painful, but it’ll be good for ya. Scootaloo, you can go if it’s too mushy for you.”

“Nah. If he can take it, so can I.” The filly gulped as she realised she’d just dug a massive hole for herself. She hated those mushy camp songs, even if there were a few rock exceptions.

Then again, it was just singing. How bad could it be?

Scootaloo’s left eye twitched. Actually, it had started twitching somewhere around ‘Holding out for a Hero’, and ‘Moonlight Shadow’. Then there was the very inappropriate (to her, at least) ‘One Day I’ll Fly Away’, a song about a pegasus foal trying to… well, the title said it all, really. Then, just to sing a song the colts might like, there was her new personal peeve: "I'm into Folk."

In any event, while Scootaloo was repressing the urge to vomit at the sappy love songs and nonsensical attempts at pop, Whimper seemed to genuinely be suffering. He held his head in his hooves, but he didn’t sound like he was crying. More like he couldn’t stand the noise, or the fact that everpony was getting excited with the singing. Maybe he just couldn’t handle being in crowds.

Then again, when you hear a song like ‘Moonlight Shadow’, which is about a filly who nearly sees her friend get devoured by a Timberwolf? In Whimper’s case, that might have been a bit of a sore spot.

Rainbow Dash looked at Whimper and Scootaloo. The older foals were getting into it, though the colts were feeling visibly silly at the choice of songs as well. One couldn’t really blame them. There were bound to be more ‘girly’ songs at a campfire with more girls than boys, and this one happened to fit the bill. But then, Scootaloo was also a girl, who hated girly songs.

And that was because Scootaloo, growing up with her aunt Vinyl Scratch, had developed a slightly different taste in music.

As in, she actually had taste.

Rainbow Dash turned to the musician. “Hey, Lyra, how about something a little faster this time?”

The unicorn raised an eyebrow. “Like what?”

“You know the one.”

“You mean it?” Lyra squeed and displayed that unsettling smile once more.

“Yep. You can play it, sing it, shout it for all I care. I’m officially not caring about it.” Rainbow Dash held up a hoof to wave away her former concerns. Twilight raised an eyebrow, but figured it didn’t make much of a difference now. Dash had come clean about her awkward past, she might as well acknowledge some of the infamy it had gotten her.

“Are you sure?”

Rainbow Dash turned to Twilight Sparkle for an exchange of glances. “When you can’t hide in shame, take refuge in audacity. I’m sure.”

To that, Lyra turned her lyre into a guitar and got some brass blowers out for full effect. Where she had been playing her instrument through mere magic before, this sort of occasion demanded a hands-on approach.

But since she lacked hands, she simply animated a pair of gryphon gloves, which is what every unicorn with half her wits about her would do when she is in need of opposable thumbs.

“Okay, everypony! Who knows ‘The Ballad of Rainbow Crash’?”

Rainbow nudged Whimper as Lyra started singing about the legendary filly who was declared ‘Queen of the Infirmary’ in one verse.

Twilight blocked her ears. She didn’t mind singing, but it was pretty clear from the start that the song was meant as little more than a joke at Rainbow’s expense. Looking to the side, she realised Dash seemed to be tuning out most of the song, too. It hurt, but other ponies had fun with it. One fact did nothing about the other.

Rainbow Dash tolerated it, she didn’t have to like it. She nudged Whimper again to get him out of the daze he was in. “Come on, let’s get you to bed.“ Scootaloo breathed a sigh of relief and tagged along.

Rainbow Dash led the pair away from the camp fire, before turning back and pointing to lavender mare with a blonde mane sitting near a different fire. “See that mare over there? Her name’s Cloud Kicker, she’s on my Weather Patrol. She teaches cloud sculpting. Try talking to her tomorrow.”

Whimper’s ears perked. Dash noticed it, too. He was feeling bad from being in a crowd, but he was still awake and alert.

“Why would we want to learn to sculpt clouds?” Scootaloo was a little confused. Is Rainbow Dash mistaking me for Sweetie Belle?

“It sounds good to me.” Whimper smiled, the pain from being in a crowd already subsiding.

“Oh, no real reason.” She kept on walking with the foals in tow. ”I just thought... Apple Bloom always helps Applejack on the farm, Sweetie Belle tries to help Rarity out. Maybe if you learned how to handle clouds, I’d let you tag along on the job with me sometime?”

Scootaloo’s eyes widened in sheer glee, a smile fixed on her face. A squee escaped her lips. “You mean it?”

Scootaloo turned to Whimper, who just returned the smile. Scootaloo had been talking about Rainbow Dash during class quite a bit, he knew how she felt. There was no reason why she couldn’t, and even less reason for him not to tag along. After all, sculpting clouds was something slow that they could both enjoy without having to take a break.

“Sooo… Cloud Kicker, huh?” Scootaloo flashed understanding smile.

Rainbow Dash nodded as they got to the cabin. She poked her head in to check the new walls. Zephyr and Skyron would be separated from the rest, not completely but enough. Rainbow Dash and Twilight had to be able to hear them if anything happened in the night, still. Rumble’s bed was in the same section as Scootaloo’s and Whimper’s, but the colt wouldn’t be a problem. He was on half-decent terms with them, he wouldn’t bother either of them. “Okay, looks like Twilight made some adjustments. Good night. And Whimper, if your head still hurts, try scratching around your shoulders. That’ll get the blood flowing, relieve some pressure.”

“Good night, Rainbow Dash,” the two foals called as they headed in.

Dash pondered to herself about the wisdom of leaving two foals of different genders alone in a bedroom. But then she remembered that this was Flight Camp. Even if they were a couple (which they weren’t, thank Celestia for that), they weren’t dumb enough to do anything that would interfere with their flying. Even the older foals knew better than to let lack of sleep become an issue, especially when the coaches were perfectly capable of spotting and exhausting both sides of the pairing during the daytime.

It just wasn’t worth it, one way or the other. That was why fillies and colts weren’t separated based on gender, but on the probability of them trying to kill one another. It was also a good introduction to common courtesy for the other gender, something foals didn’t usually get in their normal surroundings. Besides which, there was always the option of adding walls to the buildings if things got out of hoof.

And really, Scootaloo had been trusted with things a lot more dangerous than boys.

Scootaloo and a shaking Whimper made their way to bed, still shoved nice and close so the colt could use the filly’s tail as a comforter.

Scootaloo squinted at him. “So you get headaches in crowds, huh?”

He nodded. “It’s not so bad, really. I just don’t like noise.”

“Huh. Do you feel better now, then?” She tilted her head a little worriedly.

He lay down in his bed with a sigh. “I get it all the time. It’s no big deal, just this throbbing in my head.”

Scootaloo leaned in to him. “And that started after the fight, too?”

“Uh huh,” he admitted with a shiver. ”I know I promised, but I haven’t talked to Rainbow Dash yet. And after that thing with Twilight, I’m really not feeling so good right now.”

The filly looked at his face. He looked awkward, out of place. She didn’t blame him. Everypony who talked to him always dragged up the same painful topic, and nothing anypony ever did made things easier for him to deal with.

“That’s okay. You should rest up.” She nuzzled him slightly, yielding an embarrassed blush. He turned in his bed to avoid the filly seeing him like that.

The colt groaned a little to himself, and his stomach replied in kind.

Then he giggled.

He rolled around, laughing uncontrollably. He noticed Scootaloo standing over him, wiggling the tip of her tail right into his sides. “Stop! What are you doing?”

“Just checking something.” She kept up a gleeful grin as he squirmed under her feather-pattern tail.

He was doomed. She knew exactly where the soft spots were around his ribs. He rolled back and forth in his bed. All the while, he couldn’t stop laughing.

“I give! I give! What do you want from me?”

She didn’t answer him. She’d much rather keep on tormenting him a little.

As he feebly tried to roll away, legs kicking and flailing, his hind legs got tangled up in the offending limb and he wound up yanking her off her hooves. They gave off an “Oof!” in stereo.

She collapsed right on top of him.

The two froze. Scootaloo’s face was inches from his, close enough to feel each other’s breath. Their chests were pressed against each other, and the filly noticed Whimper’s body felt cool to the touch. He wasn’t out of breath, and the cold wasn’t just on his back. That was weird. Slowly, gingerly, Scootaloo stood up, with her hooves on the edges of the colt’s bed.

Whimper caught his breath and stared up at her lithe body. “What was that for?”

“Like I said, just checking.”

“Checking what?”

“To see if you could still laugh. I’d say you can.” She got off with a hop. “And don’t worry about the fight thing. You’ll tell me tomorrow,”

“What makes you so sure?”

“You’ve been telling me everything there is to know about you. And I’m pretty sure that’s because you want to treat all your friends the same way. It doesn’t matter how badly it hurts to talk about it. If Peachy knows about it, deep down, you want me to know about it. You’re strong and all, but you’re still kind of a pushover. In a good way.” She hopped into bed at that last bit, curling her tail for the colt to grasp.

Reluctantly, he gave that tail a tight grip. It was looser than before, though, but only a little, she could tell by the bend at the tip.

“Am I really that weak to you?”

She turned around and looked him in the eyes, smiling. “You’re not weak, Whimper. If I really tried hurting you, if I decided to bully you, you wouldn’t have even talked to me. I mean, I didn’t hurt you with the cloudwrestling thing, did I?”

“Not really, no.” He rubbed his head into his pillow as his eyes fell shut. ”My head hurt a little, and you scared me, but I never thought you were mean. And you did show Zephyr a thing or two.”

“Exactly.” She stifled a yawn. ”I didn’t want you to get hurt, and if you had, I’d have made it up to you somehow. If you did the same for a mean girl who hurts you, that’d be weak. But you wouldn’t let a girl tell you what to do if you didn’t want to. So you’re not weak, okay?”

“Hmm…” He softly moaned as sleep took over.

Scootaloo looked him over again. Oddly, he went out like a light once he relaxed. How much tension is this guy holding on to?

“Sleep tight, Whimper. Hope you dream well.”

His ear perked. She knew he’d heard. Whatever had been bothering him all this time, she knew he’d tell her tomorrow.

She just hoped she wouldn’t wind up upsetting him with her response.

But really, she already knew him as well as the Crusaders.

How bad could it be?

Author's Note

I realise the Season 5 finale has made Rainbow's story clash with canon, but it's too late to be putting an AU tag on it now. It's too little of a difference to matter, anyhow.

Assumptions

“It’s bird!”

“It’s a blimp!”

Scootaloo groaned. “It’s Rainbow Dash.”

“Since when does Rainbow Dash have eight legs?” one of the foals asked.

“Err… it’s a perspective thing?” The filly gave an awkward smile.

Cloud Kicker gave the new cloud sculpting student’s work a brief look. The cloud looked like a pony, vaguely, with an immense bulk at the torso, an expression that spoke of animalistic urges, and eight legs. It wouldn’t have looked bad in an exhibit on Norse myths, but it wasn’t exactly a masterpiece of anatomical accuracy. “Well, at least you’ve got the sculpting down, Scootaloo. How’s your boyfriend coming along?”

She moaned, much to the delight of the teens present. “For the third time, he is not my boyfriend.”

Whimper was working meticulously on some detail in the claws of what looked like a dragon, albeit a small, wingless one. He stopped when the mare’s eyes fell on him. “Umm… it’s a dragon?”

Cloud Kicker nodded, impressed. The detail work on the claws made the sharp stuff really stand out, not an easy feat on matter that tends to look fluffy no matter what. “That’s a pretty good one. Feel like trying a speedy sculpt this time?”

Scootaloo nodded eagerly.

“Okay, everypony, smooth out your clouds. This’ll be good practice if you ever need to quickly stabilise a tornado.”

All the foals had a standard nimbus at the ready.

“Right, at my mark, everypony sculpt a swan. And I do mean a swan, not a pair of lovebirds, lovebirds.”

A couple of foals turned their heads with an adoring smile, since there was only one couple on camp they knew of.

Scootaloo muttered under her teeth. “Again, not… a… couple.”

“On your marks, get set, go!”

The foals disappeared in their usual zip lines as they scurried to manipulate the cloud matter into their subject matter. In a matter of moments, the teen foals under Cloud Kicker’s tutelage had created their swans. One looked like it was sitting on a lake, another looked like it was about to take off.

Whimper was still going after the teens were done. He circled the cloud slower than the rest, but even a speed sculpt wouldn’t make him lose breath too quickly.

“Okay, stop now.”

The colt stopped with a grimace. His swan looked a bit plump, and the neck was too thick to be considered that of a swan, more like a serpent’s. He simply didn’t have enough time to cut into the stuff properly.

“Um, not bad for a first attempt, Whimper.”

The colt gave a nervous squee.

Cloud Kicker looked at Scootaloo’s work. Then she looked at the filly. “That’s supposed to be a swan?”

Scootaloo nodded.

“And you’re sure you didn’t mean to make a hydra?”

The beak of Scootaloo’s swan was flat, the paws had claws instead of flippers, and the thing had four heads.

“I swear I didn’t mean for it to come out looking like that.”

Cloud Kicker planted her hoof on her forehead. “Maybe you should try thinking about how many heads and legs you give something before you actually sculpt. Think before you act?”

The filly rubbed the back of her head with a nervous smile. That was a recurring problem, actually.

Oh well, if at first you don’t succeed…

“Well, you didn’t get a sculpting cutie mark,” Whimper tried as they headed to training.

“I don’t think sculpting’s a talent I’d like anyway. I’m surprised you didn’t get it, either. You were pretty good with that stuff.”

Whimper grimaced and lowered his eyes. “Yeah, about that, I don’t think you should worry about getting me a cutie mark. I doubt I’ll get it on Flight Camp.”

“Way ahead of ya, Whimper. After class, you and me are gonna take a cloudwrestling ring for ourselves, and then we’ll really get to your talent.” Scootaloo smiled broadly as she said it.

“Wait, what?”

“I did say I’d teach you how to dance if you taught me how to fight. We’ve been a little busy, but we could give it a shot, right? Besides, all of camp seems to think we’re a couple now for some reason, might as well give ‘em something to look at.”

“Umm… sure. I don’t understand where they got that, though. Everyone seemed to leave me alone after that cloudwrestling thing.”

“Must be the campfire last night. It’s probably my fault.” The filly grimaced along with him. She had to wonder if that was really just from leaning in so close and whispering to him. Was there a rule that colts and fillies didn’t do that for each other if they were just friends?

The colt shrugged. “Look on the bright side. At least neither of us has to worry about anypony else getting a crush on us now.”

Truth be told, that was kind of a relief.

“Okay, which one of you spread the rumour Whimper and Scootaloo are a couple?” Rainbow Dash glared at the two unicorns before her. Lyra and Twilight were just wrapping up their discussion on the stochastic nature of channelling and its implications to extradimensional communication.

Twilight lowered her ears in shame. “Well… they looked so cute sleeping together Whimper clutching Scootaloo’s tail like that, it’s just so sweet. And I may have let Flitter on to it, but she was already convinced they were in love with each other. Word travels fast up here, I guess.”

Dash facehoofed. “Honestly, Twilight, I thought you knew better than to spread rumours.”

Lyra scowled. “Please, it’s not a rumour. All of camp is accepting it as a fact, and neither of them is doing anything to deny it. Well, except denying it, but that doesn’t mean anything. It’s not like they’re getting teased. Whimper’s still pretty respected. It’s harmless, and adorable.”

“Yeah, besides, what does it matter? Whimper’s a good kid, and he’s actually turning out to be a good influence on Scootaloo. She hasn’t complained about her cutie mark once, that’s a new personal record. They’ll probably get a crush for each other in a day or two anyway.” Twilight rolled her eyes dismissively.

“Uh huh.” Rainbow wasn’t buying it. ”So you don’t mind it one bit?”

“I think I can get away with it, especially after making sure Zephyr and Skyron would be too scared to even talk to either of them for the rest of camp, and making sure they’d never call anyone a fillyfooler or a coltcuddler ever again.” Twilight beamed.

Rainbow Dash tilted her head. “What could you possibly threaten them with for that to happen?”

“You remember that love potion the Cutie Mark Crusaders made? Turns out a pegasus who can fly can collect all the ingredients on her own. I just pointed that out to the boys, and told them in front of a whole camp fire while you were putting Whimper and Scootaloo to sleep.” The unicorn smiled as she recalled the moment. They’d dared her to do it, really, they were saying how him flying didn’t change anything, since every sport involved running to warm up, which Whimper still couldn’t do and probably never would.

Rainbow Dash thought it over. Publicly saying what harsh language they used, threatening with a love potion in front of a few Ponyvillians who know it’s true… not bad, not bad. “But neither Zephyr nor Skyron would be scared of being forced to fall in love with Scootaloo, right?”

“That’s true, and they pointed that out to me. They’re quite observant, actually. But then I explained that this particular love potion doesn’t make one pony fall in love with another. It makes two ponies fall in love with each other.” Twilight waved her hoof back and forth, just like she’d done in front of the boys.

Dash recoiled in horror. “Wow. How did they react to that?”

“Oh, they’ll think twice before calling anyone a coltcuddler now.” Twilight grinned evilly.

“Touché. I still think you should have kept the couple thing to yourself. Suppose somepony really likes Whimper, or Scootaloo?” Dash wasn’t the romantic type, but she was practical, and she did have some experience with admirers, obviously.

Twilight raised an eyebrow. “Come on, Rainbow Dash. If anyone really liked one or the other, they’d have started talking by now, or they’d listen to the denial. Aside from that, need I remind you that we have the youngest group of the bunch? None of the older foals would get a crush on either of them.”

“I guess you’re right. I’m sure you’d do the same for any cute pair you see.”

“Exactly.” Twilight got up. ”Why, if Whimper was mine -- uh oh.”

Hoping no one had heard her slip, Twilight turned to a grinning Lyra and Rainbow Dash. She'd fallen right into that little trap.

“Guess that explains it.” Rainbow Dash mentally evened the score for ‘embarrassing revelations’. ”Twilight Sparkle, Celestia’s star student, spent half her life in books, but it takes less than a week on Flight Camp to get her mother instincts going.”

Twilight held a hoof in front of her mouth while Lyra chuckled to herself, nearly rolling over the floor laughing.

“Well, that’s nothing to be embarrassed about, is it?” Twilight turned to the other unicorn.

Dash casually smiled. “Nah, I’m just messing with you.”

Lyra wiped away a tear and caught her breath. “But you might want to take that as a sign of something, Twi.”

Twilight considered it. She really did like caring for kids, helping out with little problems. Even the Cutie Mark Crusaders, the most dangerous bunch of fillies since the colonial era. She could never bring herself to simply refuse them something. Maybe this was her mother instinct kicking in.

Nevertheless, these weren’t her kids, and they’d have to go home at some point. The best she could hope for was that she’d contributed in some constructive way.

And having everypony on camp thinking Scootaloo and Whimper were a couple was constructive, in its own way.

“Well, it’s not like I can do anything about it now, anyway.” Twilight pondered. ”Unless I just cut out the middle pony and slip a love potion in their drinks.”

Rainbow Dash’s expression hardened into a glare. “Don’t… even… think it.”

Training had come and gone, with no incident worthy of mention. At least, none that Scootaloo would ever admit to. Why anyone would put a warning sign on a perfectly good iced-over landing strip was beyond her. Why anyone wouldn’t want to practise landing on ice was also a mystery. There was such a thing as winter, after all, and there was such a thing as emergency landings. How the hay anyone could even leave ice up this high was a magical feat she’d never understand. She left those little mysteries to another day as she and Whimper went off to a cloudwrestling ring of their own. “Okay, so how about we start with your usual warm-up?”

Whimper shrugged and let his wings unfurl, before stretching them out. “Um, that’s just stretching, really.”

Scootaloo shrugged and got into her stretches as the colt followed suit. “Okay, then what? Do I just push into you and you show me how it’s done?”

Whimper bit his lower lip. “Scootaloo, I don’t think this is a good idea.”

“Why not? We can go easy to start. I won’t let you run out of breath.”

“It’s not that. It’s… I can’t show you how I fight.”

Scootaloo rolled her eyes. “Oh, is this some ‘warrior code’ thing?”

“No. It’s a ‘no medal’ thing.” He avoided her gaze as he admitted it.

“Really? You can’t show me how you fight because of what happened in a fight? Why?” She came closer when she noticed Whimper’s breath quickening.

Whimper barely managed to look at her. “It’s not what you think.”

”Are you sure? Because I think it’s something that hurt a lot, and I think it might help if you finally talked about it."

Reluctantly, Whimper nodded. “Maybe. I just don’t know how to explain it.”

Scootaloo sat down, her face inches away from his and her voice lowered to a whisper, not unlike Whimper’s own tone of voice. “Why don’t you start from the beginning. What happened when you fought that demon thing?”

With a deep sigh, Whimper nodded again. “All right, I’ll tell you. It didn’t happen the way you think. He cast this spell on me, I went down, and then I was dangling in that thing’s grip. He grabbed me by the throat. I was burning up inside just as bad as I was when I pushed myself here, and he strangled me. I blacked out.”

“Well, you survived, right? I don’t see what that has to do with you fighting now, if you failed before.” She tried to sound comforting.

“I ripped his head off.”

Scootaloo blinked. “You did what?”

“I blacked out, and things got hazy, but somehow I got a grip on the thing’s head and then I twisted it straight off. A legendary demon, the last water devil in Equestria, and I opened him up like a piñata.” He looked down, almost ashamed as he said it, which made little to no sense.

“But... you told me you got lucky. You told me you didn’t want to be a runt anymore, and that’s why you didn’t want the credit.” Scootaloo bent her head to look him in the eye again.

He panted and gritted his teeth. “I lied. But I did get lucky.”

Lots of things ran through the filly’s mind at that point. The fact that he had a breathing problem, that he didn’t have a lot of friends, that he didn’t like to fight for some reason. This eventually brought Twilight’s lecture to mind.

What’ll happen if he snaps on you?

She put a hoof to his chin to force him to look at her. She could tell he was scared beyond his wits, like no one could ever understand and just saying it would cut into his heart. Maybe he never gave anyone the right answer because nopony ever thought of the right question. “Lucky because you beat a monster, or lucky because the thing you beat turned out to be a monster?”

He shook his head as he suppressed his tears, not wanting to be seen crying in public. No one was paying any attention to them, but it wouldn’t do to have this out in the open. “I blacked out. I didn’t know what I was doing, it wasn’t even like a dream. One minute I'm being strangled, the next I'm in the hospital and ponies are telling me I've been walking and talking for a while without me remembering. I don't know what I did, it's all vague until I get angry again.” He sighed in resignation, looking for the right words. ”I’ve been in one real fight my entire life, and it ended with me twisting the other guy’s head off. What if it turned out to be a prank? What if it was just Zephyr or anypony else in a costume?”

Scootaloo considered it. That’s what’s really been bothering him all this time. He’s already snapped once.

“But... come on, that’s no reason to be scared, is it?” She smiled, hoping it’d help.

“No, if it was just one time, but it’s not. I’ve been blacking out ever since. The Captain of the Royal Guard sent me a letter, he explained it.”

“And?”

Whimper could relate that letter all too well. He’d read it a dozen times, the words were engraved on his memory.

Dear Doldrum Whimper,

My name is Shining Armour, I am Captain of the Royal Guard, stationed in Canterlot. I’d like to congratulate you on defeating Kludde. I fought the beast myself, what you did took great strength of heart and character. Not a lot of ponies could have done the same in that situation, and even less at your age.

“Basically, I beat a monster. And since I wasn’t supposed to beat it, that makes me a monster, too.”

“Come on, that’s not how it works.”

My scout tells me that you’re refusing to take credit for your feat. I’m not sure why, but I suppose perhaps you think your breathing problem somehow gave you an edge that a normal pony wouldn’t have had. Maybe you think this tarnishes your victory. You could not be farther from the truth. Our special forces have a greenhouse with highly allergenic plants to prepare and train for these sorts of encounters. The best that any of us have ever managed to do is stand up while under the spell and survive, not fight. The only tactics that worked against Kludde were ambushes, the Royal Guard would simply open fire before the spell was cast. Eventually, an entire patrol would fall and have to see that thing walk or limp off to fight another day while we are powerless to stop it. The only reason it hasn't taken more lives is because we know to unload everything we have on sight.

Believe me when I say that we all know what sort of pain you endured, and that suffering it regularly by no means provides any sort of advantage. If anything, you fought with a worse handicap than any of us.

“You don’t understand. The breathing thing is what I could hide behind. It makes me look weak, harmless. I don’t like how ponies look at me, but I don’t want them to look at me like I’m monster, either.”

“Whimper, you’re not a monster. Your friend was down, you were scared, anyone would have snapped. The fact that you were still lucid enough to actually win is something you should be proud of.”

On the other hoof, there’s the question of your blacking out. If what you say is true, then I can only assume the panic caused a primal response from your body. It’s quite rare, but it’s been known to happen. Intense emotions cloud the rational mind, and the body reacts without the mind’s intervention. According to legend, this causes the true self to emerge. Limitations are pushed aside, pain doesn’t register, and a singularity of purpose sets in. You stop thinking, and act on feeling. It can be very unsettling to know what lies underneath the masks we put on for society, but it’s quite natural.

“Except I wasn’t lucid. I wasn’t aware of what I was doing. This thing inside me, this monster took over. Something deep, the real me.”

“What are you talking about?” The filly shook her head.

Rest assured, when we present somepony with a medal, it’s because they earned it. You faced a superior opponent, and pushed through a primal panic response to save a friend in need. You did this on your own strength, we have confirmed as much. You are not possessed, you’re not the next coming of some ancient hero, and nothing in your blood would suggest that the strength you displayed should be brushed away as something trivial.

“I hoped maybe I had something else, that I was possessed, but there’s nothing. All I really remember is fear and anger, and it was all me. It’s the real me, and the real me doesn’t think.”

“I don’t get it.” Scootaloo got Whimper to rise up on his hooves again. ”So you beat that thing, but you’re not proud of it because you were angry when you did it?”

You are a hero, Whimper, all signs point to that. You have a true warrior’s heart, a talent for protecting those around you.

A sigh answered her. “No. Because I didn’t want to do it. I keep telling you I blacked out. I wasn’t in control of myself. This, me talking? That’s not the same Whimper who fought that thing. The guy you’re talking to right now isn’t the real Whimper. And to make it even worse, I found out my talent, and I hate it.”

But, all that said, I cannot force you to accept the medal. So I’ll tell you what we’ll do. The Royal Guard will hang on to it for now, and your name and picture will be posted discretely at the Phoenix Garden. It’s a remote part of the Palace, only the Wonderbolts and the Royal Guard pass by. It’s tradition, and it won’t affect your anonymity.

I’ve notified Princess Luna of your case, and she was very eager to meet you in pony. She told me she understands what you're going through, and that she can help. If you do have doubts of whether or not you are a hero, she can test you to make sure. There is a test to distinguish those with a warrior’s heart, and I’m confident you are one the rare ponies who can pass it. I should warn you, though, do not attempt it before your recent traumas are healed. It demands you face a similar terror to what you experienced. I took the test myself four times now, failed every time. Should you pass it, that alone would demand the respect of any pony you encounter, regardless of what handicaps you think you should be ashamed of. It is a rare honour, and one that you can earn, if you so wish.

Whatever you decide to do, contact Luna or accept the medal, the best way of going about it is heading over to Ponyville and visiting the library. Take a letter with your request and ask for Spike, he’s a small purple dragon who lives there. Ask him nicely to send your letter and tell him it’s at Shining Armour’s request. He will burn it for you, and your letter will arrive with the Princesses in a matter of seconds. You should get a swift reply then.

Even if you think you’re not a hero, the other heroes of Equestria know you walk among them. I can only hope that offers some solace.

My regards and respect,

Captain Shining Armour

“My talent is freaking out and destroying whatever annoys me. They told me to contact princess Luna because princess Luna's in charge of all the nightmares and monsters in Equestria. The only reason they’re offering a medal is because they think that if I’m called a hero enough, I’ll start acting like one. And then I wouldn’t freak out or hurt anypony. Thing is, I don’t have a say in that.” He sobbed. ”They don’t want me to embarrass them, but I will anyway, it’s just a matter of time. I know I’ll be a blank-flanked runt forever if I don’t get over it, but… my body doesn’t listen to what my mind is telling it to do. So a runt is pretty much the safest thing for me to be. It's the only thing I can be without turning into a monster.”

Scootaloo winced in sympathy as her previous experiences came to her. “So every time you caught me, those fights at the cloudwrestling, tackling Zephyr, you weren’t awake then.”

“It’s not always as bad. But no, I’m never fully awake when I do those things. Sometimes it’s like falling asleep and moving in a dream, other times I just wake up afterwards and shake my head like I’m sorry, even if I don’t really know what for. When I kept catching you, I could feel how scared you were, and I couldn't stop myself from diving after you. The cloudwrestling was just weird. I was awake enough to know that I couldn’t hurt anyone, so I only moved to get away or drive the other guy away. I kept getting jolted in and out of it, like waking up from a nightmare every five seconds. It keeps getting worse, too. I can’t be around crowds and it’s not safe when I’m being backed into a corner. I can take a lot, but I never know when I’m going to completely black out again or what’ll happen when I do. That’s why I want to learn to fly fast. I just want to get away and not let it get to that.”

“But what about the baby? Don’t you wanna look out for a brother or sister?”

“That’s exactly why I need to get my Flyer’s Certificate now. If I have that, if I’m allowed to handle clouds, then I can set up a cloud bed out of the house, maybe build a little tent, sleep far away from the baby. With a certificate, that's allowed, no one can tell me I can't do that. I can sneak out at night, even bust the cloud in the morning so my parents don’t have to know what I’m doing." He seemed to be getting even more scared at the thought.

“You don’t want to be around a baby? That’s kinda harsh, Whimper.”

He gritted his teeth in frustration. “You think that’s bad? Suppose I’m lying in bed, and the baby’s crying? What if I haven’t gotten any sleep in days, what if I’m stressed out to the point of snapping?”

Even as he voiced his fear, she felt her heart sink. “Oh.”

“I don’t wanna wake up next to the crib and find out I’ve been sleepwalking, to find the baby… I know it can happen. I'm losing control. I'm already snapping at Zephyr, and at home I've caught myself taking stuff from the fridge and not even remembering that I felt hungry. I know I can hurt the baby and I can’t risk it, I just can't.”

“Well, for what it’s worth, I don’t think that’s going to happen. I mean, you’re lucky I don’t have to go to the bathroom at night. I’ve seen trees that are more likely to get up and walk in their sleep.” She flashed him a broad smile to cheer him up. He didn’t return it. “So your solution to the blacking out is running away as soon as you get annoyed or angry, right?”

Whimper hung his head in shame. “Uhuh.”

“What about getting excited? You had a headache from the singing last night.”

“That’s not as bad, but it’s not a risk I want to take.” He shook his head.

“Umm… I hate to tell you, but that’s not going to work all the time. Eventually that sort of thing will backfire.” She grimaced as the situation sank in.

“How?”

“Suppose you meet a filly with long wavy hair, fluttery eyes, somepony you just can’t seem to shake.” She recalled some of the descriptions from Hearts and Hooves Day, the only day she ever let her girly side out. ”A pony who likes you, a lot, as more than just a friend. You know, someone who’s happy when she’s around you and unhappy when she’s not. Can you picture that?”

“Vaguely, why?” He furrowed his brow, oblivious.

“You wouldn’t want to make a girl like that cry, would you?” She looked away at the skies, just casually setting him up.

“Of course not, you know that.” Whimper sounded outraged at the thought.

“So what are you going to do when a filly like that tries to kiss you?” She leaned in for the big one.

A resigned grunt answered her.

“Whimper, I know it must be scary, and that it’s painful, but running away isn’t going to work. If you meet a girl who really likes you, and you run away because you’re scared, you’ll be making that girl cry,” Scootaloo explained matter-of-factly.

“That’s not a big worry, actually. I don’t think any filly would like me that much.”

“Oh gimme a break, Whimper!” Scoot nearly shouted. ”You look like a superhero, you’re quiet and sensitive, and you’re scared of hurting the ones you care for. That’s exactly the sort of sappy romantic thing all the fillies go crazy over! You might as well just cover yourself in glitter and call yourself a vampire!”

“Why would vampires need glitter?” He narrowed his eyes.

“I don’t know! I don’t read those stupid romance novels, ask Twilight! My point is, you shouldn’t be scared of something that’s a part of you and that’s actually turned out to be a good thing. You’re forgetting that every time you black out, you win. You’re doing great stuff with this, and you’re too scared to even admit it. If you try to ignore it, won’t it be more likely to sneak up on you?”

“So what am I supposed to do, then? I can’t just take over or wake up when I black out, that’s the whole problem.”

“Maybe you don’t need to.” Scootaloo danced around a bit to warm up. ”Maybe you just need to control when you black out. That’s probably what Rainbow Dash has been trying to get you to do.”

“How? How can I possibly control when my body goes into a state of complete terror?”

“The same way you get into the Wonderbolts.” Scootaloo cheerfully moved in closer. She placed one hoof squarely on his throat, pushing it up lightly. She was careful not to try and spook him or choke him. “Practice.”

He looked down at the hoof on his throat. “You realise that if this works, I’ll wind up hurting you?”

She smiled and shrugged. “Just don’t pin me down.”

“Huh?”

“When you get me floored, don’t put your weight on me. You can throw me all you want, but don’t keep me down for too long. As long as I can get up, I’m fine. I only get scared when I can’t get up, I promise. I’ve gotten banged up on my scooter before. You can’t hurt me, Whimper, I know you can’t.” She smiled confidently.

“Well, if you’re sure…” He slowly started to push back that arm and try to unbalance her.

He moved awkwardly, though, and it didn’t take her long to correct her posture and push him back again. Granted, he had a few pounds on her, so the pushing didn’t do much, but at least she was trying. With an annoyed grunt, she tried to shove him off balance. He didn’t budge at all, didn’t even try to block her.

Scootaloo grunted. “Come on, do something already.”

“I am doing something. What would you like?” Whimper tried.

“Try some of those awesome moves you used before. What’s keeping you?” The girl pounded the ground in frustration.

“I don’t know those moves, Scootaloo. I can try, but I doubt it’ll work.”

She sighed. This was supposed to be something he was good at. She might actually get to see a pony gain their cutie mark right in front of her eyes. How was she supposed to get him to fight right?

More importantly, if he wouldn’t teach her how he did it, how was she ever going to top ripping the head off a demon?

“Look, maybe you need to do like you did at the tornado making, pump yourself up first. You wouldn’t have to overdo it, just enough to maybe not think as much. You need to let go to do it, right?”

“I dunno…” He slowly backed away, nerves playing up at the idea.

“At least try? I just wanna see how you do it. You were too fast the first few times. Besides, ponies are starting to look at us. They’re gonna start thinking we’re up to something if you don’t show your stuff,” Scootaloo half-threatened, half-observed.

Whimper took a few quick deep breaths and started shaking slightly. “Stretch your forelegs first. Try to get your hooves to touch behind your back, then go at my throat. I think I know what I did when I got grabbed.”

“You remember now?” She stretched accordingly.

“No, I don’t. But my body does, if that makes any sense. It’ll be quick, but I’ll try not to jerk you too much.”

Scootaloo braced herself. The moment of truth. With a little dash, she moved in for his throat with her left.

She made contact, pushed lightly, then all of a sudden his left front leg was pushing down on her arm, forcing her elbow to bend and pushing her out of balance. In a smooth motion, that arm curled around and forced her elbow to point upward.

Scootaloo had said Whimper couldn’t hurt her. She realised just then that wasn’t completely true. She felt her body being forced into an awkward position, elbow pointing up and the rest of her being dragged closer to the hard-muscled colt. Then, just when she thought it couldn’t get any worse, he spun. That one limb was twisted and dragged, and she could only try to follow with the rest of her body as she was immobilised and dragged to the ground.

She landed and rolled away, shaking her now sore arm. The gravity of her friend’s situation sunk in. He blacked out when he did these things. He wasn’t fully awake when he’d grabbed her.

If he’d completely let go and did just that move at full speed, he could have snapped a few bones, just like that.

“Cool.”

“Are you all right? I didn’t hurt you, did I?”

“You did, but only a little. Nothing I’d be scared of. That was good. So it’s push down, curl up, then spin, right?”

Whimper shook his head. He really didn’t know what he did, exactly. “Umm… yes, I think?”

“Good. Now let me try.” She went to him and tapped her neck invitingly.

He slowly, gingerly, pressed a hoof against that point. Scootaloo tried to repeat the motion of pushing him off balance. He went along first, then bent his arm as she got him in the lock. “Does that hurt?”

Whimper shook his head. “No, not really. I think I can just roll out of it if you do it slowly.”

Scootaloo smiled and twisted to make the colt fall on his back.

Whimper looked up at her and perked his ears in surprise. His wings spread, and they seemed reluctant to fold back to his sides. “I guess that’s how you do that. I think that’s how you get out of a stranglehold.”

“Looks like.” Scootaloo pulled him up. ”Mind if I try again?”

He got up and poked her throat again. “Just don’t go too fast. I’ll be needing that foreleg, still.”

Rainbow Dash looked down at the pair. A couple of ponies were giving the two some odd looks, but no one was about to step in and disturb them. She was surprised at Scootaloo, actually. Most girls wouldn’t stand for a colt twice as strong as her being such a pushover. Most girls wouldn’t have gone for second helpings when they realised their arms could get torn clean off.

But then, Scootaloo wasn’t your average filly. She’d been president of the Rainbow Dash Fan Club, and she was the fastest thing on wheels in Ponyville. She pushed herself to be better, and even now, she was trying to glean what exactly made her friend so awesome.

It was good to see them practising, but they didn’t know what they were doing.

After a few tries, Rainbow Dash noticed Whimper was shaking again. Scootaloo was getting him hyped up for a different move.

Too hyped up.

“Okay, let’s try another one. This time I’m aiming for your ribs, okay?”

Whimper shook, but nodded. He looked out of it, but still mostly lucid. “I’m ready for you.”

Rainbow Dash landed right in between them before Scootaloo got another word in. “Okay, I’m going to have to stop you right there. You’re doing it wrong.”

Whimper backed away from Scootaloo. “Umm, sorry? How are we supposed to do it?”

Rainbow Dash patted Scootaloo’s mane. “If you’re going to practise like this, you’re going to have to do it right. So take a break for now, I’m stepping in as a sparring partner.”

“Oh, okay.” Scootaloo walked to the side of the cloud, disappointment barely hidden in her voice. She was just starting to have fun, too.

“Not you.” Rainbow nodded towards the colt. “Whimper.”

Scootaloo looked up at her idol. Did I just hear that right?

“Whimper, you sit down and watch. And pay attention, so you know what you’re doing next time. Scootaloo, you and I are going to have some fun together.”

Fear of the Dark

Chapter 13: Fear of the Dark

“What do you mean?” Whimper cringed, pushing into the mare in a reflex. ”Is this going to get worse? Am I sick?”

Rainbow Dash unfurled a wing over his back and took a deep breath.

“You’re not sick, exactly. It’s complicated, and… as hard to believe as it is, it’s natural. It’s scary and it’s painful, but it’s not something that came from the outside, it’s on the inside. And it’s not a defect, either. Every pony can get it, and even gryphons. Basically everything that thinks, every civilised race, has this sort of thing happen. Sometimes even on purpose.”

“What? Ponies try to black out and lose it on purpose?”

Rainbow Dash nodded. “Some of them do. You can get it by meditating a certain way, I heard. But because it involves dealing with anger and hate, it’s very hard to talk about. It’s pretty much unknown, except for the ones who stumble upon it. It’s got a lot of names, and none of them are really clear. ‘Warrior’s heart’ is just what the Royal Guard calls it, but even they don't know the whole story behind it. They know of it, they kind of know what to expect of it, but no one there knows how to deal with it.”

She bit her lip as she wanted to get the stinging part out of the way first. “And I really hate to say it, but what I’m about to tell you… you probably won’t be able to share. If you try, ponies will just think you’re crazy and they won’t understand it. There’s more to this than words, and since words are the only thing most ponies can talk with, you can’t explain it to someone who doesn’t have it. And even if they have it, it’s pretty hard. I'll probably wind up saying things that don't really seem to help, but it'll make sense eventually.”

Whimper gulped. “So what is it? Why do I black out when I get excited? And… do you?”

A deep sigh answered the colt. This is going to be awkward. “I don’t know everything about it. What I have is still kind of normal. Sometimes I’m just not completely awake while I’m doing things, but what you have is at least one step beyond me. So no, I never completely black out like you. You skipped a few things, which is pretty impressive, actually.”

“I don’t understand. There’s levels to it? Did I get cursed or something?”

The mare shook her head. She was getting off topic and it was confusing enough already. “First you should know what it is and what it isn’t. It’s not a disease, it’s not possession, it’s not something that anything puts on you. And it’s not going to kill you, at least if you don’t try to fight it. If you do try, it won't work and it can kill you. What’s happening to you, the reason you black out and all those other things, is because your body is starting to think.”

“My body is thinking?” Whimper asked. "Ho-how does that work?”

“Well, what do ponies normally think with? Lemme rephrase that, where’s your mind? Or where’s my mind? Point to it.” Rainbow sat back to let the boy guess.

“In the brain, right?” Whimper perked his ears, thinking.

“Right. And where is your brain?”

“In my head.” He tapped his head to illustrate.

Rainbow Dash gave the boy's back a slight graze with her tail. “But you just felt my tail go over your back, right?”

“Umm… yes? What does that have to do with it?”

“The reason you feel that, the way all your senses work, is because your brain is connected to your back. You have little nerve endings all over, and they all lead to some part of where you think your mind is. When you get angry, your heart starts pumping harder, your muscles tense up. All of that comes from your mind, your brain, but your body is doing things too. Your mind isn’t just in your head, it’s all over your body.”

“Okay, so how does that make me black out? Is it a heart thing?”

Dash looked sad at that. This was the hardest part to explain, even more so to a kid. “No. See, most of the time, your body is doing all sorts of things that your thinking mind, the part that’s awake, doesn’t need to worry about. Like breathing, or making your heart beat. Your body thinks, sort of, but it’s never… thinking ‘loud’ enough for your brain to hear. Normally they just don’t bother each other, so it feels like you only think with your brain. But sometimes, when your body takes a massive shock, your body wakes up and starts thinking louder. The shock could be anything: overworking yourself, getting too emotional for too long, or in your case a huge adrenalin rush and a trauma.”

“So there’s lots of ponies like me, then. I’m not the only one.” Whimper smiled hopefully at that.

Dash shook her head. “It’s true, there are more ponies who are sort of like you, but it’s not that simple. To most ponies, it doesn’t make as big an impact. Their bodies don’t really think that loudly even when it’s woken up. They just get flashes of creativity or act a little weird sometimes, and no one notices, not even them. One of the side effects, you see, is that your body gets more energy. You start to 'glow', kind of. It’s like every little fibre of your being starts breathing deeper, and your emotions and instincts, the parts of you you normally don’t notice, they get a lot stronger. That’s why you get shaky, and why you have trouble sleeping. You can’t handle that kind of emotional energy when you’re tense. But the other ones who get it don’t usually have blackouts. That’s supposed to come later, and only if they work at it. The way you are, that high level, I only know three other ponies who are like that. Two of them are princesses.”

“But you just said it can happen to anyone, that you have it. What’s so different about me?”

Dash took a deep breath to steady herself. This part of it she’d heard once before, at least, from Luna. “Getting a shock like that doesn’t automatically mean it’ll happen. No matter how you get it, your body gets the same reaction as it gets to something terrifying. You don't just face something scary, or even the scariest thing in the world, you get a look at fear itself. It takes guts to face fear itself, and to be able to let go when your body goes into overdrive. You need a certain mindset to get it. Second, most of the time, when it does happen, the body just thinks a little louder and your brain keeps working normally alongside it. The two get a different kind of balance going. But the shock you got went a lot deeper, and your thinking mind shut down completely. So now your body, your feeling mind, the part of you that doesn’t think in words? That’s trying to get more control. And every time it does, your thinking mind just switches off because it doesn’t know how to handle it otherwise. You never learned that part because you went too far into it.”

“So that’s what happens when I black out. I stop thinking and I just act on instinct. That’s why it happens when I’m angry.”

The mare nodded. “When you get like that, everything that makes you civilised just stops. It’s a deeper you that comes out, the kind that artists try to get in touch with. It’s… free, or it wants to be. It’s the part of you that was there before you learned to be anything, that’s why they call it your true self. But it’s as much you as the stuff you learned, it just feels deeper. And it’s not just about anger or hate, it deals with all your emotions. So far you’ve only noticed it with the bad ones, that’s all. That feeling part of you is in charge of a lot of things in your body that your thinking part doesn’t normally have a say in. Because of that, when it starts waking up and making you glow, some changes happen in your body, and they’re all good. Things start running a little leaner compared to other ponies. You get a few abilities that you don’t normally get.”

“Like what?” He perked up at the idea of an upside to this.

“Stronger muscles without having to bulk up, and being able to talk and listen with your whole body, without words. You can make your senses stronger if you focus, too, there's some tricks for that. Besides that, you'll get to feel out things most ponies don’t even realise is there. If you figure out how, you can learn to see the glow around other ponies. You can see through disguises, and you'd be able to tell when someone's feeling down, they'll look a little grey. And that's just while you're awake. Blacked out the way you do it, you’d be able to react to an attack instead of an intention. And that’s a big one, let me tell you.” She smiled.

“That doesn’t sound like much. Is there a difference?”

“It’s hard to explain. See, ponies do sometimes try to get this, but usually they only get halfway compared to you. In martial arts, what you have is something they want, badly, even if they don't know what they're doing. But most of the ones who do try this and make it, they never get past being able to sense the intent of an attack.” Rainbow Dash kept up her smile as she explained it, glad to see him perk up.

“So? That’s good enough, right? At least they don’t lose control.”

“Reading intent is pretty good in most situations, but in a fight that’s not always enough. Against someone who only reacts to an attack, it matters a lot. Those three other ponies? They can dance around anyone who can read only intent, but someone who can read an attack can fight them as an equal.”

“I don’t get it.” The colt narrowed his eyes in confusion.

“Mastering intent is pretty easy, it’s like acting. I did it with Scootaloo. You saw her backing down even when I missed on purpose. If you can control your anger and fake an attack, you can fool a master fighter who only reacts to intent, no matter how good they are. A changeling in disguise can fake intent and fool everyone, even strike a pony in the back without them ever knowing. But a pony who only reacts to an attack can’t be faked out, can’t be snuck up on, they can even dodge an instantly cast spell by only moving as it’s being cast.” She leaned in for that. Those were quite awesome abilities, as far as she was concerned.

“But if it’s such a good thing, why can’t I control it? Why can’t I do those things when I want to and not do them when I don’t?”

“You skipped some steps. The middle ground to what you have is body and mind listening to each other. Normally, the worst thing that can happen is that you slip a little out of consciousness and start acting… well, like a foal, I guess. You’re still awake then, just acting more freely. Your brain can still think like that. But when that thing attacked you, I guess you went deeper. And as a result, your body is trying to call all the shots. You should be getting these abilities one at a time, but you wound up getting a lot of them all at once, and that’s hard to handle. Not only that, but they come up without your thinking part wanting it. With that kind of pressure overloading you like that you can only… lash out, really.” She shrugged, keeping her wing on the boy for comfort.

He pondered it for a moment. “So all that anger and aggression is in my body, not my mind. My body’s evil?”

“Not evil, uncivilised. Back when we didn’t have cities, every pony was like that. Being able to tell a feint from a real attack would save your life against a predator. But back then, we didn’t have a lot of the things we have now. We started hiding our darker sides, our instincts and especially our anger, because we didn’t need them to protect us anymore. Our thinking minds had to be stronger to build up civilisation, so that part started taking charge and instinct got pushed aside.”

She paused as that history lesson brought her to the next big point. “Your body doesn’t think in words, that’s why it’s gotten harder to read. That’ll get better in time, though, if you take it easy. You just need to understand that what you’re feeling is a very old part of you, and not a bad one. Everyone has it, we just have it switched on.”

He groaned. “Easy for you to say. You didn’t jump at anyone’s throat without knowing it. You don’t have to worry about hurting a baby.”

She brought his chin up with a hoof and forced him to look her in the eye. The light of the moon played over her rainbow mane, making her look almost like one of the Princesses as a wind kicked up and made that rainbow flow. “Look at me, Whimper. You are not going to hurt a baby, ever. That angry, dark part of you is still you, and it only reacts to a real threat. All you’ve been doing is overreacting, not reacting to the wrong thing.”

The look in his eyes and his drooping ears seemed to indicate that the message sunk in. “What am I supposed to do about it, then?”

Rainbow Dash closed her eyes to avoid the look of shock she knew she’d be getting from him. “I know it’s hard, but if I were you I’d learn how to fight properly.”

He tensed up under her wing. “What? No, no, no, you can’t make me, I don’t want to. I can barely stop myself from hurting anypony as it is. I don’t want to get even more dangerous, I’m sorry I bulked up already. And besides, I can’t join a class with my breathing problem. What good would it do for me get into martial arts if I don’t want to hurt anyone?”

“I never said you had to hurt anyone. No one’s asking you to join the Royal Guard. Trust me, you’d hate every second on the job. And not every martial art is taught just by masters. You could get a book and study the moves on your own. You wouldn’t have to run. As for the good it’ll do? Try to understand that this is both in your head and in your body. The best way to get control over it is to practise natural movement, letting go without blacking out. For you, fighting’s your best choice. Fighting will let you face that anger you’re so scared of and get used to it. Loosen up a little, and learn to use your right side and your left. It’ll get that energy flowing better and make you glow brighter. It has some perks. You wanna see the coolest trick I ever learned? Even better than the Sonic Rainboom?”

“Umm… okay?” He shrugged.

Just like that, Rainbow Dash placed a hoof on the colt’s back.

And just like that, he was lost.

His eyes watered up, his head hung, his whole body went heavy and limp as his already dropped wings seemed to melt under him He could almost feel his pupils widening, too. “Wuwha….”

“This is a very old technique, one I almost never use. It’s just taking a feeling, putting it into your hooves, and then touching somepony with it. What you’re feeling right now is ‘calm’. You like that?” She smiled a little as a little pop came out of his left shoulder, some tension he was holding just evaporating.

“Yeah,” he muzzily replied.

Rainbow Dash withdrew her hoof, not wanting to mentally scar the boy. He found himself drying tears he barely realised he’d shed.

“It takes a lot of concentration to keep up. I can’t do it in combat, but being able to think with your body makes it come a little more natural. You’d be pretty good with it if you practised. Of course, you need to have control of your emotions, too, which is kinda tricky.” She rubbed the back of her head nervously.

Whimper’s breathing had turned slow, like he was half asleep. “That was weird. I felt like a little foal again.”

“Yeah, they teach that trick in hospitals. They call it ‘therapeutic touch’ there, or something like that. Your parents probably did it when you were a baby. Basically they tell parents never to handle a baby when they’re stressed out, and try to feel their love going into their hooves. Thing is, nopony ever teaches how to train that as a skill, so it doesn’t always work. In martial arts, you can learn to train it and perfect it. That’s mastering intent, something you could use.”

Whimper didn’t seem to get her reasoning.

She encouraged him with a smile, though trepidation snuck into her voice. “Doesn’t that sound like a good thing? You could calm somepony down with a pat on the back, even if they’re hysteric. If a unicorn friend ever loses control of their magic, you can switch it off for them. Or if you ever get into cooking you could really put love into a dish.”

He pouted, making Dash break her smile.“ Please stop trying to make this sound better than it is. You’re hiding something, I can tell. What’s going to happen to me, if I can fix the blacking out?”

She sighed. Smart kid. “Okay, here’s how it is. Assuming you don’t completely black out at random any more, your body and mind are both going to do the thinking. Most ponies who do get it only get it after they’ve grown up already. They get shocks to their body and their mind as the balance shifts. Your changes started sooner, so you’ll change on top of what you’d get growing up. It'll be easier on your body, but harder on your mind. You’ll grow up like I grew up. And that means you’re in for a rough ride.”

He cringed. “How rough?”

“You’ve probably noticed that, because your body’s a little more charged up, you’re more sensitive than other ponies. That’s not going to get any better. You’ll cry easily, and you being a colt makes that even harder. You being able to feel out what other ponies think of you? That’ll get worse, but you can learn to switch it off after a while. And even if you can control the blackouts, you’ll still lose some control when you get excited, but you’ll only black out on command or when you need to, when it really counts.”

He adjusted his position against her, leaning even closer to catch her warmth only to find they were both equally chilly to the touch. “So I really can’t be in crowds?”

As much as she hated it, she shook her head. “Not at first. You’ll start acting excited, like everypony else, and then you’ll start acting weird, out of control. And then ponies will think you’re crazy or stupid. But you’ll learn to handle crowds, eventually. Stage fright, too, you get that once and then you’re clear. The thing that you really have to watch out for, though, is… different.”

Whimper shivered at that. “Different? How?”

“When your mind and body are more balanced, at some point you’re going to notice that you’re a little more perceptive than everypony else. Stronger, too, you’ll have a plastic phase where you can’t hold glass anymore, it just explodes in your hooves. And... basically you’ll feel better than everyone else. Once you’re more in tune with your body and your emotions, once you start glowing, everypony else will seem like they’re not really awake instead of the other way around. The sad part is that you’ll be right, and you’re going to want to be acknowledged for it.”

Whimper’s ears lowered as Rainbow’s tone hardened.

“You won’t notice it, but you’ll start acting arrogant. You’re going to do some stupid things, and make a complete fool of yourself trying to prove how good you really are. You’ll start trying to do things you know you really can’t, even with your strength, but that won’t stop you. And you won’t realise you’re acting like a high and mighty jerk, not for one second. And because of how you are, that feeling, that callousness, will be contagious and it’ll spread to the ponies around you. Eventually your friends will step in, only after you’ve taken it one step too far. You'll be so busy praising yourself your abilities won't even let you see them coming. Everything shuts down when you get like that, your mind just turns rigid thinking about how good you are. You'll be a sitting duck for whatever they decide to do.”

The colt cringed, like he knew what was coming next.

“Your friends will notice you’ve been acting a little off, and they’ll do something to snap you out of it. They’ll make you humble again, bring you back down. And when they do bring you down, it’ll feel horrible. You'll kick yourself for being so stupid that you not only let things go to your head, you didn't see the humiliation coming. Once that hits, everything that makes you special will feel like a curse, and everything you’ve been through will feel pointless.”

Dash rubbed her eyes as she recalled those sensations. “Your friends won’t apologise for making you feel that bad, either. You are going to get stabbed in the back, and you’ll have no one to blame, not even yourself. You’ll find yourself hating your friends, for a little while. No one will think that they’ve hurt your feelings, because you’re just a tough guy… even if you cry more than anypony else. But you’ll just have to forgive them, like they forgive you for doing what comes natural.” Dash swallowed hard to stop any tears from flowing out. At least Twilight had understood eventually, but she couldn’t be sure Whimper would have the same luxury.

“Can’t I stop that from happening?” the boy whimpered.

Dash brought to mind all the times she’d gone awry, and the stupidly obvious solutions that had eluded her then. “Your personality changing? No, that’s going to happen whether you like it or not. But if you want to change into the kind of pony you are now, a couple of things would help. If you get into a competition, never try to just be the best, try to beat your old record. If things get heated in the competition, try your best to ignore it. And if you ever get caught in the middle of an argument? Leave, just leave. The way we are, we only make things worse when we don’t have anything to do with the problem. Lastly, and this is the big one, if ponies start praising you for anything, if they start hyping you up, turn your back and walk away.”

“So I shouldn’t take the medal, then? It’ll go to my head no matter what I do?”

“Oh no, build up a reputation first, take the medal when you feel like it and nothing bad will happen. I mean if you start getting things like a fan club, or when smaller crowds are cheering you on. Don’t let that get to you, and get away when it does. Your head will know that you should be humble, but your body doesn’t. And because of how things work in your body, your head won't be able to step in to take control again. As soon as that sort of thing starts, don’t let it get out of control or it will sneak up on you, your friends will step in, and it will the worst experience in your whole life.”

“Umm… you said we can’t handle crowds. How do you plan on being a Wonderbolt if that’s true?” He cringed again as he asked it.

“Well, I don’t have it as bad as you, I grew more slowly so I could get used to it. I've got more experience, and more control. And I’m learning to get past the crowd thing now, it just took me some time before I learned how. You could, too, if you just got the blackouts under control. That’s all you need to do.”

“How?”

“Send a letter to Princess Luna, like you should have in the first place.” She rubbed his back more roughly now, and sounded insistent. ”She knows about this sort of thing, she can explain it better than I can. She explained it to me when I was in Canterlot for the royal wedding and I got a lot out of just one talk with her. She knows about anger, about all those dark sides that everyone has but you actually brought out, but she can't help you if you hide it. I didn't even know she knew that much, or I'd have asked her sooner. And that test Shining Armour wrote about? The main reason no one ever passes it is because they can’t let go like you can. If you can completely black out on command just once, that’s enough. Your body sent a signal to your head and it keeps doing that, but your head can send the same signal to your body if you order it to. That’ll get you balanced again, it won’t happen at random anymore.”

His back tensed under her touch. She moved up to his neck, trying to ease out the hardness of his tendons and keep him feeling okay. “Trust me, being able to do that is a big deal. She’ll give you an official seal and no one will think twice about how good you are. Write that letter, and talk to her. It’s her job, and she’ll understand even better than I do. This is something that gets pushed down into the dark, right where she's at home. You’re not going to get labelled as a freak or a monster, I promise. If you accept that medal and anyone asks, that seal would be enough to explain yourself.”

“What’s the catch?” He narrowed his eyes. "Or what's the test?"

“It’s not so bad, really. She just stands behind you, swings a stick at you, and you have to dodge it. But the test is supposed to scare you, and if she doesn’t feel you being scared enough, you fail even if you dodge. You’d have to go as deep as you went in that fight and let go completely, let your dark side out just once. It’s not enough to react to the intent of the attack, lots of ponies can do that, for that test you have to react to an actual attack. And that means letting go and trusting your deeper self, by getting scared on command. Then she’ll give you the seal, and you’ll be a real bigshot. It’s one of the rarest and highest honours in any martial art. I can't even try something like that, but you can do it.”

“And then I’d be like you, right? Everything else you said would go wrong, that won’t happen, will it?”

Dash bit her lip at that. “No, all that will still happen, but you’ll feel better when it does. No matter what you do, you’ll always be a little weird. The way you are now, the pony you think you are? That pony won’t the same pony you’ll be in a few years. You’ll be awesome, you’ll earn respect, but no one will understand you, not even your friends. You’ll always look and feel a little off compared to others, and you won’t think or feel things the way they do. There can still be a few times you get out of line that you can’t really help, and your friends will still… stab you in the back if things get really out of hoof. That’s not even mentioning what’ll happen when you get a little older. You’ll notice some popular kids seem to get all the attention, and you’ll wonder why all the colts or all the fillies fall for them. But you? You won’t go for that.”

“What do you mean?”

“Once you’ve gotten the hang of it, and when you feel this energy going through you, your heart will know who you should be with. It can tell the difference between wanting someone and loving someone. It’ll save you the trouble of guessing who the right one for you is, that’s a plus. But because of that energy, you start glowing, and some ponies will like you and want to be with you without knowing why. And that’ll be really painful, because you’ll know right from the start that they can’t.” Dash sighed.

Whimper winced at the thought. “But I don’t wanna be mean to fillies who like me.”

“You’ll have to learn to tone it down, then, and not show that energy. I managed to cheat my way out of that by burning off energy with stunt flying at first, but I doubt you can do that with your breathing problem. You can learn to control it, but it’s not foolproof. Even if you stay relaxed and just keep yourself feeling neutral, you’ll still feel stronger, and others will see that you're strong on the inside. But with a little practice, you can make it so nopony really pays too much attention to you, it's kinda like turning invisible by making everyone look the other way. It’s a neat trick to stay hidden and play pranks, too.” She grinned. Nightmare Night was the best time for testing how stealthy she could be.

He blinked as the facts sunk in. “So… wait, if I relax, I’ll get that energy flowing through my body better. Does that mean I’ll be healthier than everyone else, too?”

“Oh yeah. If you think you’re strong now, give it a few years. Your nerves will work on a higher voltage. You’ll be even stronger than you look, and you won’t get sick easily. You won't have to grow any more muscle, either, it's pure voltage. Your bones will get heavier too, if you know the training for that. You’ll be able to arm-wrestle Earth ponies, but don’t try stopping a runaway bus, that won’t work.” She groaned, having tried the latter and failed.

Whimper bit his lip as that train of thought reached its logical conclusion. Might as well ask. “What about my breathing problem, then? Is that going to get fixed, at least?”

An awkward silence fell. She gave him a careful smile. “It might. I don’t know how this sort of thing works, exactly, but I know it’s at least as deep as your problem. If it does clear up completely, it won’t be for about four more years, when your body gets some other changes. You’ll know when to expect it, trust me. But I doubt it would make a lot of difference, you're not the type to rush into things, and that's okay. If you just watch yourself, you can make it so the breathing thing doesn't matter.”

“But… the control thing… I’ll still be a risk, right? I can’t be sure everything will be all right?”

“No. Your personality’s going to change, that’s why it feels like you’re dying. That’s just the price you pay for being awesome. But it’ll get easier to make new friends, and they’ll look out for you. Scootaloo didn't know you before that fight, and she still made friends with you the way you are now. I don't know what you were like before that fight, but I can tell what you are now. You’re a good kid, Whimper, that won’t change if you don’t want it to. If you stay yourself, your friends will forgive you, no matter what you do.”

“How can you be so sure of that?”

“That's what friends do. They forgive each other. Especially the loyal ones.” She smirked.

He lowered his head as he got the facts lined up. “So all I have to do is black out on command once, go as deep as I did against Kludde, and then I’ll be more or less in control again? And I won’t hurt anyone if I’m really careful, if I keep all that in mind?”

“That’s right. There’s just one more thing you need to watch out for.” Dash gulped. She really didn’t want to have this talk at his early age, but she couldn’t risk it.

He shivered. “What’s that?”

“Part of what we have gives us more energy, more life. It’ll flow more easily if you relax, to the point where it shows, like a glow. Ponies will notice it, but they can’t put on a hoof on what it is, exactly. Even if you keep your emotions neutral, they’ll know you have a strong spirit.” Rainbow wriggled her wing over Whimper’s back again to keep him comfy.

“Okay, you said that already. So I need to try and not get other ponies hyped up around me. Or just learn to stay calm and then I won’t affect them.” He kept nodding as he got things straight.

Rainbow Dash braced herself. “Not just that. When you hang around someone for a long time, like all day for a few months or years, just being around them can give their bodies the same sort of shock to wake them up. It‘s slower, but it happens eventually. And that’s something that’s a bit harder to control. I never got that far, I just make sure I can get away in time.“

“You mean just being around ponies means I’ll be hurting them like I got hurt? My parents are going to get it too?”

“No, not your parents. It’s more of a transfer thing. It happens when you…’glow’ for someone, like a friend you pay a lot of attention to, a sick friend you're taking care of, or a girlfriend that you really love. Like that trick with the hoof on your back, that can trigger it if you’re not careful. What I'm trying to say is, the attention you give them will light them up if you’re not careful. That’s how it started for me.”

Silence hung over them for a moment. Whimper didn’t dare ask for more of an explanation.

Rainbow Dash bit her lip. No, he deserves to know this. “A pony I grew up with had the same thing as you, only he got it by trying. He didn’t even know what he was doing, really, but by meditating for a long time and by practising he got to where you are now. Don’t ask me how he managed it.” She rolled her eyes at the thought, half occluded in the moonlight.

She took another deep breath. I just have to weigh my words carefully here, that’s all. “He was a good friend, and we spent a lot of time together. We were thick as thieves. And by being that close to him for as long as I was, things got set off. I had an accident when I was your age that really jump started the thing, and a little while later I did the first Sonic Rainboom in a hundred years. I was your age when I did that for the first time, you know. I went pretty deep then, with sheer joy, but even then I’ve never gone as deep as you. And I’ve never had it happen too badly with anger.”

Dash looked pensive. She’d never shared this much with any pony. No one knew, not even her friends, and she didn’t know how long she could or should keep the secret. “Thing is, that was when I realised I’d changed, that my body and mind weren’t normal anymore. But I got my cutie mark from that, even if the Rainboom was never officially registered. I knew, right then, that whatever happened to me was something awesome, and I still do.” She smiled at the fond memory.

“And what happened to the guy who gave you that… thing?”

“Nothing bad.” She shrugged. ”We don’t talk much now, but he’s happily married. His wife tries to kill him from time to time, though. She’s about as far into it as I am, also because of exposure. It’s okay if you can learn to tone it down, but it still changes ponies, and if somepony changes because of you, you’ll need to know how to handle that. It won't happen with your parents, probably not even for a sibling, but... if you get married and have kids of your own, they won't be normal. Eventually, once you get that inner strength going, whoever you spend time with is exposed to your spirit, and you’ll notice they start acting a little like you do. Whether they get the same thing you have will just depend on how intensely you feel about them.”

“So am I really going to be alright? And my friends --”

“You don’t have to worry anymore, Whimper. If you really want to fix yourself, now you know how. But this isn’t going to go away, and it can’t be taken away without killing you.” Her heart sank as she said it.

“How am I supposed to deal with this? Even if I get it under control, I’m still going to die. I won’t be me anymore. And my friends will get it too?” He was nearly crying at everything he’d been told. The idea that he'd find someone to love, a true love, and wreck their lives by being with them, that was hard to swallow.

Rainbow nudged him out of his rant. “Have fun.”

“What?”

“You heard me. You’ve only been looking at the downsides, but there are a lot of upsides to it. You feel things more intensely, that includes happiness and love. When you learn to relax into it, when you feel that glow, food will start tasting better, music will really move you, and if you get into art, being in touch with your deeper self gives you a big edge on the rest. As bad as it looks, this is a good thing. You’re still going to be alive, Whimper, even more than you were before. It’s just your thinking mind that’s scared of letting go. If you can embrace this, it won’t change the way you are, just the way you feel. And normality's overrated anyway. I'm not normal, none of my friends are, and we're doing fine."

She let silence fall as the boy suppressed a sob. She leaned in and whispered. "I won't lie. It's scary and it can get lonely. There's a hundred things I wish I could tell you about and a thousand things I wish I could warn you about. But when it comes right down to it, you just have to trust me when I say that you can be happy if you give it a shot. So what’ll it be?” She rubbed his back again with that unfurled wing.

Whimper let his head hang. This was a lot of information to take in.

Life as he knew it was over, basically.

It had been over for a long time.

What am I supposed to do?

Scootaloo looked around the campfire as her friend finally came flying in. “You okay?”

“Just had a little talk with Rainbow Dash, is all.” He lay down next to his friend.

The colts and fillies stared at the two as Rainbow Dash sat next to him. Apparently that fake kiss had worked quite well, and everyone just assumed that was what Dash had talked to the colt about.

“Okay, song time, everypony!” Lyra called out.

Scootaloo nudged the boy, then rubbed his neck. “Are you sure you’re fine? You look a little out of it.”

He looked at the filly. Somehow, he knew what she was thinking, right down to the worries. He wasn’t shaking anymore, he was pretty relaxed. He could almost see the little glow around her in the moonlight: a vague whiteish pink that told him of her concerns. Maybe getting control just means being able to let go. And if I act weird or get emotional… who doesn’t?

Everyone’s got a dark side.

Everyone cries.

Why should I be any different?

He smiled at his friend. “I’ll be okay. What are we gonna sing now?”

“I gave Lyra a little list to spice things up. You take requests, don’t you, Lyra?” The filly smiled broadly as Lyra gave a knowing nod.

Rainbow Dash and Twilight pressed their hooves to their foreheads.

What kind of music would Scootaloo bring to the campfire?

What nightmarish, outlandish rock music had she tricked Lyra into singing?

Judging by the makeup that magically appeared on her face, it would be something dark. Judging by the fact that every other campfire had fallen silent, this was going to be dramatic. And loud.

It was just then that Rainbow Dash realised just what sort of ‘intense experiences’ Lyra had meant when she’d asked why the unicorn was up here. She just wanted to play in front of a crowd of excited pegasi. As the minty green unicorn opened her mouth, both Rainbow’s and Twilight’s ears flattened.

"A light...in the black...or just a fear...of the dark?"

She was going to sing that song? At a campfire?

Lyra got her animated gloves ready and started a riff that had some notoriety among rock fans. Whimper’s ears perked at the familiar tune. “You like Iron Filly?”

“You know Iron Filly?” Scootaloo hardly believed her ears. Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom had only gotten their taste of that music when Scoot had introduced it to them.

“Well, sure. Bogsdown’s not that far from a concert hall, I can hear them from my bedroom when they play. Plus, my dad loves that kind music, and he leaves the volume low when I'm around, so this is pretty much just a loud lullaby for me.” He blushed in embarrassment.

Scootaloo raised her eyebrow.

Whimper blushed even more, lowering his head. “What?”

“I guess you’re more hard core than I gave you credit for.” She grinned as the foals hollered along with the lyrics, ”But isn’t this a little loud for you?”

“I think I’ll manage.” He smiled warmly.

“And do you know what you wanna do tomorrow? You can pick.” She nudged his shoulder again.

Whimper put his hoof to his chin as he thought. “How about tomorrow I do something a little different from what I do every day?”

She nodded. “What do you have in mind?”

“Try to get you your cutie mark.” He smiled. ”You know my moves now, so I’m thinking…”

Scootaloo looked confused.

Whimper grinned sheepishly. “Eheh, maybe you could, um, teach me how to dance?”

The Gantelope

Chapter 14: The Gantelope

Scootaloo came buzzing in excitedly. “I did it! I did it!”

Whimper smiled as she hopped and down, that all-important scroll dangling from her tail. “Congratulations, Scootaloo. You got your certificate.”

The colt and filly looked over to the Gantelope, then to the officials, with Soarin’ supervising in his uniform. The stallion and mare who were taking notes had kept a weather eye on the proceedings, and on some machines hooked up to the landing cloud via wires.

The first-timers, as tradition dictates, had opened the proceedings. Rumble had gone first, passed. Then Zephyr, passed despite flying off course at the rings. Then a shaky Skyron barely got the cog clouds turning, but managed to pass the Gantelope course with a few seconds to spare. Soarin’ looked happy at the young foals’ results, but he wasn’t talking much. He just handed over the Flight Certificates after one of the officials put their seal and signature on it with a standard “Good job.”

And then Scootaloo’s turn had come and gone. Those stubby chicken wings had buzzed all the way through, and the Wonderbolt clearly hid a grin when he gave her the certificate.

Twilight walked up up behind Whimper, before turning back to all the other instructors and foals who were waiting to take their turn. She felt their eyes on her back. “You’re sure you want to do this, Whimper? You don’t have to if you don’t think you’re up to it,”

He scrunched his nose as he thought. “Umm… how good was I in training?”

Twilight checked her notes. “Just as good as everypony else. All your weaker points are pretty much compensated for, the numbers check out. There’s no reason to think you can’t do it, unless you think you can’t do it.”

“I think I can do it.” He looked up at the jumping platform.

Scootaloo patted his neck. “You’ll be fine. Even if you fail, at least you tried. And Flight Camp was fun, right?”

A little grin appeared on his face, though it seemed to hide some worry, too. “You’re right. It’s been really fun. Thank you, Scootaloo.”

“Doldrum Whimper, you’re up,” one of the officials, a brown pegasus stallion with an hourglass cutie mark, announced.

Slowly, Whimper trotted over to the cloud staircase, all the eyes of the foals and instructors of Flight Camp on him. He didn’t turn back to see. Can’t lose my nerve now.

Scootaloo wasn’t worried. The colt had loosened up a lot after whatever Rainbow Dash had told him. He hadn’t talked about it, he hadn’t moped about it, it was like he’d just decided to let go and stop worrying. Whatever problems he’d had, he stopped trying to fix them by panicking.

And their reputation on Flight Camp would last for years.

Between the kissing (which eventually was revealed to everypony as a fake, though some girls still insisted it wasn’t) and the shenanigans at every activity they participated in (they still hadn’t figured out how that giant snowball had landed in the kitchen, which luckily meant no one could prove anything), Scootaloo and Doldrum Whimper would be mentioned together for years to come. Lyra was even tempted to write a song about them, despite warnings from both Rainbow Dash and Twilight.

And yet, deep down it felt like Whimper still hid something. He was fine, sure, but something was on his mind now. As the filly looked up to the platforms, a tiny part of her wondered if maybe she just hadn’t caught it. Maybe she wasn’t sensitive enough to see her friend was still in trouble.

Rainbow’s eyes went wide when she looked up. “Whimper! You’re up too high, that’s the advanced level!”

The filly’s heart sank as she saw her friend on the highest cloud, the one for the experienced flyers. Even from that great height, she could tell the colt’s face wasn’t looking normal. She saw him take a deep breath and lock his wings against his sides.

His eyes closed as he seemed to gather his courage, even though he was trying hard not to shake as it was. His breath came in slow and calm, like he was just falling asleep.

“He’s going to black out again. He doesn’t know what he’s doing.” Rainbow Dash crouched, ready to intercept him.

“Nopony move!” Soarin’ interrupted as some of the other foals and instructors were getting scared. ”If he wants to do this, let him. I know that look.”

Scootaloo grimaced in thought, not liking what this looked like.

It can’t be. This is some kind of joke, it has to be.

Was he saying goodbye?

He wouldn’t… he was finally happy.

With another deep breath and his eyes closed, he jumped.

The filly saw him go into free fall, wings locked still. He looked like he just gave up. I thought I knew him, why would he do this? With all her attention fixed on him, she nearly jumped when his eyes shot open halfway through the fall. There were tears flowing from his eyes, flying off into the wind as he went straight down. He clenched his jaw, visible terror washing over him. For a moment, Scootaloo could have sworn she heard him in her mind.

It's over. It’s finally over.

Twilight Sparkle had already written her letter to princess Celestia when the foals were getting ready to take the test. Whatever Rainbow Dash had told Whimper, it had worked. The boy was still shy, but at least he wasn’t shaking at random anymore. He still held Scootaloo’s tail at night, but that was more of a friendly affection than a necessity. Scootaloo had loosened up, just like him. That was just her way of saying it was okay to be a big softie sometimes.

Scootaloo still gagged at the love songs around campfire, though.

As she ran all that through her head, Twilight re-read her letter to summarise all she’d learned.

Dear Princess Celestia,

I am pleased to report I have learned many new things with the pegasus ponies on Flight Camp. I learned that ponies who are different in body are different in mind, and that sometimes it’s hard to tell which difference comes from which.

But more importantly, I have learned a very important lesson about friendship, one I feel I should have learned far sooner. It’s about what friendship is, but especially about what friendship isn’t.

Friendship is not about stopping all bad things from happening to your friends. Bad things can and will happen, no matter how hard we try.

Friendship is not about never hurting your friends. Being different from your friends means you can’t always know what hurts them. Even if we try not to hurt our friends, we can’t always avoid it, and sometimes we even knowingly hurt them thinking it's for their own good.

Friendship certainly is not about making your friends be perfect. Not only is being perfect impossible, just trying it can be painful. Ponies like to be the way they are, and it’s up to them if and what they want to change, not us.

Rather, friendship is about helping friends find the good side to their imperfections. Sharing your mistakes, no matter how painful or embarrassing, can help a friend avoid that mistake. Getting a new perspective on what we think is a weakness can help us understand that sometimes the weakness is really a strength in disguise.

Sometimes, as hard as it is to accept, the good just comes with the bad.

In short, I learned that a friend isn’t someone who likes you despite your flaws, but someone who understands that maybe they aren’t flaws at all.

Your Faithful Student,

Twilight Sparkle

Scootaloo walked over to the prone colt. He lay face down, that hard, taut belly plastered over the clouds. She nudged his motionless body with her nose. Lyra was standing over him, shaking her head. Scootaloo grunted, annoyed. “Come on, Whimper. Get up.”

No response came. She nudged him again. “Get up, Whimper, you look ridiculous.”

Still he wouldn’t move. She got her head under his shoulders and shoved him on his back. “Come on, you big lug...”

His arms fell limply at his sides as his body was rolled over, his wings followed suit. He still didn’t respond. She gave off another grunt before whispering to him. “Don’t make me chew your ear again.”

He groaned as he regained consciousness. “Urrff… gimme a break, will you? I think all the blood’s drained from my head.”

Scootaloo smiled. “You’re a hard act to follow, you know that? You had everyone scared witless, even me.”

“Sorry, I wasn’t really thinking. I’m not sure what happened. But I think I managed to black out when I wanted to. Really deep, you know, pulled out all the stops like in the fight. I remember now, everything. I even know what I said to Kludde to get him so angry.”

Rainbow Dash and Twilight came towards him as he was getting back to his senses. “Really? What was it?”

He chuckled, then coughed. ”He asked how it was possible that I could still move under his spell, that it was a terror. I told him his spell crushes our spirits and steals our breath. To other ponies, that’s a terror. To me, it’s just gym class.”

At that, Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo both started laughing out loud, even rolling over the clouds in synch with each other.

Still woozy, the colt sat upright. Lyra floated him something to drink and checked his pulse again. Back to normal, as she'd suspected. “That must’ve been some adrenalin rush you had, kid, moving like that. You managed to stop from collapsing for pretty long, too. You didn’t even wobble when you went to get your certificate.”

“Uhuh. Didn’t think I had it in me." He sighed after a little sip. ”Shame I didn’t get it, though.”

Rainbow Dash sighed with him as she got to her hooves. He had a breathing problem, his body was wired differently from everypony else, and after all he’d gone through he wouldn’t get his certificate. Poor kid just can’t catch a break. “Hey, don’t feel bad about it. It’s my fault. I should have told you.”

“You did tell me, on day one. It’s my fault. I should’ve noticed it sooner. I just wasn’t thinking straight, I’m not used to it. I would’ve noticed if I hadn’t been so distracted.”

Scootaloo groaned and threw her front hooves into the air. “Noticed what? Come on, you had a good time! You even managed to pull up from a dive, at the last millisecond, without spraining your wings. Why didn’t you pass?”

Rubbing his sore head as the blood came back to it, he pointed to landing cloud and to the machine that was wired to it. “Because the timer starts when you hit the cloud. I pulled up right at the last moment. I never actually touched it, so I wasn’t timed. And that means I failed. No second chance, no exceptions, that’s what they said.”

Scootaloo let her forelegs fall in defeat. “Wow, and you didn't even get your cutie mark. Even after all that. I’m sorry.”

He shrugged. “Don’t be, it’s not your fault. I got to try, and I had fun. It’s not like I really needed to get my certificate right now.” He looked right at her then. "And I think I've figured out my special talent now, so my cutie mark... I think I know what I need to do to get that, too."

Scootaloo followed Whimper's gaze as his eyes turned to Rainbow Dash for some reason. The whole thing rubbed the filly the wrong way. He deserved to get his certificate, the only reason he didn’t get it was because he'd actually done something more awesome than he was supposed to.

“Excuse me.” A deep male voice caught everyone’s attention. ”While they’re getting the paperwork ready for the next group, I’d like to give you this.”

Scootaloo barely registered what was happening. A hoof extended towards her friend, with a piece of paper in it. The hoof was covered in blue spandex, with yellow bolts running in a ring around it. Soarin’ is handing over the certificate?

Whimper’s ears perked up, and his wings went rigid with nerves. His head darted back and forth from the paper to the pony giving it to him. “Bu-But…I failed. Those guys said they couldn’t break the rules.”

Soarin’ put the paper closer, until the blue colt took it and read it.

“They can’t. Officially, they’re not allowed to put their seal and signature on a Flight Certificate if someone fails the test. So I put mine on yours, instead.” He gave a little grin.

Scootaloo’s eyes widened. The certificate looked genuine, the seal looked a little different, but it had Soarin’s signature on it.

“But that doesn’t count, does it? I mean, you’re not an official. You’re a Wonderbolt, sir. That’s not in your job description, is it?” Whimper's eyes were fixed on the paper.

“Well, I’m flattered you think I was born wearing blue spandex, but I wasn’t.” That little grin widened.

Scootaloo and Whimper looked up from the paper, not really getting it just yet.

“What do you think my day job was before I joined the squad? That seal, my seal, is still recognised as official, and that signature means that if anyone ever doubts your flying capacities, they have to contact me about it. Nopony else gets to question you. And I timed you the old fashioned way. Even if I'm off by a few seconds, I know you passed.” He got out an old stopwatch he kept around, for stopwatch emergencies.

“I can’t accept this. Isn’t that unfair to everypony else?”

Soarin’s expression turned hard then. “Kid, you might have gotten the Royal Guard to hold on to something that belongs to you, but the Wonderbolts are not your personal stash keepers. I’m not taking that piece of paper back. Accept it, it’s yours. You’ve earned it, like you’ll earn a lot of other things.”

Whimper’s face lit up. “Thank you, sir.”

“Oh, and another thing.” Soarin’ looked left and right, then lowered his voice, whispering in the boy's ear so not even Scootaloo could hear.

When he withdrew, Whimper nodded in a mix of surprise and understanding. “I’ll-I’ll keep that mind, sir.”

“Good. You’ve got real potential, kid. I look forward to hearing more about you.”

Scootaloo grinned as Whimper gave the most embarrassing ‘squee’ in the history of embarrassing ‘squee’s.

“And as for you, Scootaloo --” Soarin’ continued with a sterner tone of voice.

Scootaloo froze in fear. He knows my name? How?

“-- the next time I see your name and picture in a newspaper, let it be for something you can be proud of. I don’t want to have to give another briefing on how to delicately handle gossip columnists. And save the stunts for a dirt track. It’s rude to get a dust cloud up in other ponies’ tea and pie.”

At that, as she was wont to do, Scootaloo topped Whimper’s performance with an embarrassing ‘squee’. “Yes sir, will do, sir.” She saluted the stallion.

“Soarin’?” the pegasus with the hourglass cutie mark called out. ”Five minutes ‘till the next batch.”

“Duty calls.” Soarin' trotted off.

“Could you excuse me for one second? I need to check a little something.” Rainbow Dash followed him.

Scootaloo barely had time to wonder what that was about before a familiar voice broke off her train of thought. “Hey, kiddo!”

Scootaloo’s face lit up in a smile. She flew up at the unicorn and gave her an excited hug around the neck. “Aunt Vinyl!”

“So you finally got off the ground, huh?” The DJ gave her cousin a rub on the manes. ”That’s good. Now I can stop looking down at you.”

Scootaloo rolled her eyes. “Very funny. And early. I thought you wouldn’t be here for another two hours.”

“Well, I was gonna wait until Pinkie Pie didn’t need her delivery balloon anymore, but it turns out she was busy with something else today. Apparently some flightless pegasus filly finally learned how to fly, and so now she’s organised a party for her… which should start in about as long as it takes for a balloon to get back to Sugarcube Corner.” Vinyl grinned and lowered her sunglasses to wink at the girl.

“Wait, there’s a party? For me? But how did anyone know I learned to fly? What if I’d failed?”

Whimper held up a hoof. “Um, Rainbow Dash got that training vest for me from down on the ground, didn’t she?”

Vinyl Scratch nodded. “Sweetie Belle said Rainbow had come down to Rarity’s place, she woke up from the noise. You can imagine how relieved she was when Dash told her you were airborne already. Your friends have been planning this party for a while now, Rumble’s invited too. So why don’t you get your things and we’ll be off?” She motioned to the back area of the camp, where Pinkie Pie’s balloon was parked.

Scootaloo’s heart sank as she landed. She turned to Whimper, whose eyebrow had been raised in confusion for a little while. He was staring at the unicorn for some reason.

“Something wrong, young sir?” Vinyl Scratch asked in a mock Canterlot voice.

“No, ma’am, nothing. It’s just... you’re Scootaloo’s aunt?”

“Oh, right. Umm, Doldrum Whimper, this is my aunt Vinyl Scratch. I told you about her, didn't I? I live with her on the ground, most of the time. It’s closer to school, and it’s easier in the mornings, since my parents have to leave for work really early.”

He nodded. Then he tilted his head, much to the amusement of the other unicorns present. “Vinyl Scratch? You’re DJ-P0N3, aren’t you? I’ve heard some of your gigs at the Bogsdown Arena.”

Vinyl chuckled heartily. “Well, well, kid’s got taste. Is this your boyfriend, Scoots?”

“We’re just friends, but you might hear a few rumours. Don’t pay any attention to it.” The filly rubbed the back of her head in embarrassment. A pair of nearby unicorn mares snickered a little at that.

“Hey, bring him along, then.”

Scootaloo bit her lip in anticipation. “Well, could you, Whimper?”

He grimaced. “I can’t. My parents are picking me up in an hour and taking me to this all-you-can-eat place. They've made reservations."

The filly nodded. No matter how she turned it, he’d have to miss the party. “I guess this is goodbye, then.”

“I’ll catch you later.” He extended his hoof.

“If I don’t catch you first, you mean.” She tapped that hoof with her own.

For a moment, they locked eyes and just shook hooves.

Then Scootaloo pulled the colt into a hug and squeezed his tight body to hers until he melted inside. He returned the affection, and barely managed to conceal a tear as he (very carefully) pressed her to him. When they pulled away, Scootaloo just smiled at the sight.

She also ignored the annoying sound of "Awww..." coming from Twilight and Lyra.

Without another word, she turned and trotted off with her aunt to collect her things.

“He seemed pretty nice,” Vinyl started. ”Don’t think I’ve ever seen you hug anyone that tight. Is he the only new friend you made at camp?”

“Yup, just him. But trust me, he’s a doozy.” The filly grinned.

“And you can keep in touch?” the DJ asked.

“Sure. He’s from Bogsdown. That’s right past Froggy Bottom Bog, isn’t it?”

“Froggy Bottom Bog’s pretty big, as the pony runs."

Her grin turned into a smirk. “Yeah, but as the pegasus flies, it’s close enough.”

“Well, that didn’t take long.” Soarin’ turned back as Rainbow Dash caught up to him.

“Don’t worry, I’m not here to ask about joining the Wonderbolts.” She rolled her eyes.

“Oh? So you’ve stopped caring now?”

“I figure it’ll happen when those two over there get their cutie marks.” She motioned to Whimper and Scoot just as Vinyl was approaching them. ”You know, when the time is right.”

“That’s a pretty good attitude, Dash.” He smiled at that. ”So what’s on your mind, then?”

“Why’d you set me up?” She dropped the hammer.

“Excuse me?”

“I didn’t volunteer for Flight Camp duty. I’ve never volunteered for Flight Camp duty, and seeing as how I left Flight School… the way I did, I’d always assumed I’d never get asked. But here I am. That was you, wasn’t it?” She gave the Wonderbolt an intense glare, one even he couldn’t withstand.

Eventually, he relented. “Actually… it was Spitfire’s idea.”

Rainbow recoiled, narrowing her eyes. “Why?”

“Part of the job is setting a good example, being able to share your experience. From what I’ve seen, you’ve managed to do that with a pretty varied group. And not just the ones who couldn’t fly, I mean all of them. You didn’t fix everything, but I hear you made things better all around, at least, and you listened to other ponies’ advice. We wouldn’t have gotten the chance to let you prove that otherwise.”

“Share your experience, huh? I guess that’s why you whispered to Whimper about counting his breaths. Four a minute won’t stop the attacks from coming, but it buys you more time. Did I hear that right?”

“You heard that?” His voice trembled a little.

“I've got a really keen hearing, it drives ponies nuts sometimes. So, you too, huh?”

“Eheh… I'd prefer to keep that under wraps, obviously. I don’t want anyone to think my funny flying style is because of my handicap.” He spat out the last word.”Not to mention my horrible track record at the derbies. I got lucky, I had a pretty good teacher myself. I figured one little pointer might help the little guy feel better about it.”

Realising Eagle’s Grasp wasn’t a topic she wanted to broach with a Wonderbolt, Dash went for the answers she really wanted. “So you just wanted to test me? Whimper and Scootaloo, you had nothing to do with me teaching them?”

He tilted his head back and forth a bit, lost for words at first. “Not quite. Spitfire set you up to do Flight Camp. Once we knew those two would be attending, I made sure they’d be on your team. And in case you’re wondering, no, we didn’t think Twilight Sparkle would follow you up here. I did, however, insist you be the one teaching those two.”

Dash considered it. There was no way even Soarin’ knew about the warrior’s heart thing, he couldn’t know all of the things that had played a part in what had happened. He knew about the fight, obviously, but he couldn’t know Rainbow Dash knew how to help. “Why would you do that?”

To that, Soarin’ looked back at the foals, just as they hugged goodbye.

His eyes settled on the speedy filly who hid her insecurities, then on the shy colt who didn’t know his own strength. Then he looked at Rainbow Dash, the awesome instructor who wanted nothing more than to be a Wonderbolt and who'd started off as a filly with hidden insecurities.

And finally, he looked down at his hooves, just as the other officials called him for the next batch of kids on the Gantelope.

Looking down at himself, he saw the former instructor who had made it to the big time. The colt who used to hide in a little corner, all grown up.

He weighed his words carefully before he looked back up at her.

“Let’s just say… history’s got a funny way of repeating itself.”

The End.

Epilogue: Field Trip

The group of fillies and colts moved through the Palace Gardens, their eyes greedily taking in the sights of the well-kept flowers, hedges, and statues.

The mare leading them stopped in front of a statue of a slender alicorn and a burly unicorn, both displayed with determined even ferocious looks, as if preparing for battle. “Alright, class, and finally here we have the statue of Shining Armour and Princess Cadence, set here only a few months ago to celebrate their tenth wedding anniversary. They saved Canterlot from a changeling invasion that happened right in the middle of their wedding. With the enemy bursting through the gates, it was their courage and love that saved everyone, even when the Elements of Harmony were disabled. So you see, children, never give up, even when the odds are stacked against you.”

The class of twelve ten-year-old foals (and one whelpchick) stood before the intricate carvings of the statue. Cadence’s feathers were all clearly outlined, as were Shining Armour’s fetlocks, right down to the one stray hair on his left front hoof neither his mother nor his sister ever made him forget.

The griffon girl of the group grimaced. “I liked the dragonequus better.”

A unicorn filly with a mirror cutie mark scowled. “You‘d like any monster better than a pretty couple.”

The Earth pony mare did a headcount, then called out to the usual straggler. “Guiding Gale! I told you to stay with the group.”

Guiding Gale, an air superiority blue blank flank pegasus with a neckerchief wrapped around his neck (complete with pockets for some snacks) and a mane that looked like an ocean blue flame, rubbed his eyes as he chewed on something. He flew in slowly from back at Discord's statue, then settled down with the rest of the group. “Sorry, miss Merry. What did I miss?”

The griffon curtly pointed to the two stone ponies. “That’s Shining Armour, that’s Princess Cadence. They love each other, and we’re all very grateful for that,”

Miss Merry, however, was more interested in the contents of the boy’s mouth than in his lack of interest in current events. “Is that gum in your mouth?”

“No, miss.” He sucked on the thing some more. He didn’t want to swallow it just yet.

“What did I tell you about eating sweets on a fieldtrip?”

“It’s not sweets, miss. It’s medicinal.” He pouted with indignation. This the eighteenth time in two weeks, stupid pollen season.

With all the tact of an elephant in a china shop, the cerise mare with the smiling poppy cutie mark leaned in and smelled his breath. “Well, I stand corrected, then. So, class, any questions?”

The foals remained silent.

Gale grunted, before nudging his griffon friend. “Adila, you owe me big time. I’ll never live that down now.”

“Hey, it was either the sound of us chewing through a love scene of our stomachs growling through it. Be glad they didn’t kick us out of the theatre.”

“Excuse me, miss… Merry, is it? My name is Blazing Shield, and you are the class from Bogsdown, I presume?” A grey pegasus came towards the group, walking through the statue garden just as they were ready to leave. It was a Royal Guard in full armour, but he seemed less serious than the ones they’d seen around. He was also unarmed, which was even more unusual.

Miss Merry Poppies turned to face the new arrival. “That is us. Is there a problem, sir?”

“No problem. I’ve been instructed to give you and your class here a little tour of the Phoenix Garden Hall of Fame. There are some names and faces I’m told you should see. It’s quite a rare sight, I assure you.”

“But that section of the Palace is off limits, isn’t it? We didn’t request permission to go there.”

“And yet, someone gave it to you. My guess is one of the nobles wanted to add a bit more culture to your visit, they can be random at times. Or perhaps one of your little ponies has important parents. At any rate, would you care to follow me, please?”

“Alright, class, I guess we get a look behind the screens. We can’t stay for too long, though, sir. We came by train and have a tight schedule to keep.”

“I’ll try to be as brief and as interesting as I can, then. Just one thing.” The stallion turned to Gale. ”Is that gum?”

“No sir.” The boy quivered. ”It’s medicinal. For allergies.” Make that nineteen times in two weeks.

“Ah, of course. It is pollen season, after all.” The stallion seemed to accept that explanation.

All the other foals, though, had a bit of a laugh at Gale’s expense.

He didn’t mind.

Not like he wasn’t used to it by now.

“And that is why it takes so long for the Wonderbolts to take in new members.” Blazing Shield wrapped up the explanation he’d given on the way.

Miss Merry nodded. “That makes a lot of sense, actually. I never realised that.”

Adila raised an eyebrow. “Wait, I don't get it. How was Equestria made again?”

“And now we come to the hallowed Hall of Fame. As you can see, here we hang the portraits of the great pegasus heroes. And before you ask, the unicorns are five corridors down south, the Earth ponies are just left from the royal arenas. But it’s the pegasi I’ve been instructed to show you.”

“What are we doing here, again?” Magic Mirror -- the unicorn filly with the mirror cutie mark -- asked.

Adila grinned. “Someone seems to think we need to see some more awesome flyers. As if I’m not good enough for the likes of you.”

That got a chuckle from Gale and the other foals. It was a mixed bunch, consisting of unicorns, Earth ponies and pegasi. There were, however, only three blank flanks in their class. One was a griffon, one was a grey Earth pony filly with a blonde mane and a bit of a reputation for being clumsy, and the last one was Guiding Gale.

“Well, now that you mention it, the griffons who serve Equestria do have their own Hall of Fame, but that’s not in this palace. And I don’t know why exactly you are here, all I know is someone asked me to show you… these.”

The class grouped up before two portraits, arranged in height by what looked like age. At the top was a light blue mare who looked in her twenties, with a rainbow-patterned mane. Blazing Shield had flown up to just underneath it to give his explanation.

“This is somepony you’ll probably know. Her name is Rainbow Dash. You know her as the Element of Harmony, more specifically that of Loyalty, and as the Wonderbolt. You’ve probably seen the rainbow trail from Bogsdown when she goes on her commute from Ponyville to here every single day. You may even know that she is the first pegasus to perform the Sonic Rainboom in one hundred years, and the first one to be able to do it on command in two hundred years.”

The foals gaped at the picture. Of course they knew Rainbow Dash, it was kind of hard not to.

“What you probably don’t know is that when she first did the Sonic Rainboom, she was no older than you. She was just ten years old when she first did the impossible. It took a long time before it was acknowledged as such, she even had to do it a second time just to prove she could do it. But what’s important to note here is how fast she went. The Sonic Rainboom only happens when a pegasus moves so fast the field of magic around her - her aura, her very soul, even - can barely keep up.”

Adila raised a talon. “Wait, so that forcefield is the soul showing?”

Blazing nodded. “Indeed. The soul of a pony doing the Sonic Rainboom moves so fast that it it begins to move at the same rhythm as the soul of our very universe. The barrier that appears is the border between a pony's soul and our world's soul, or so the legend goes. That is what causes the explosion. It is the liberation of the soul from the limits of the body, and the pony's soul touching that of the world. When the Rainboom is accomplished, both soul and body are set free, and the secrets of our world are said to be revealed. If you believe in that sort of thing.” He smirked.

Miss Merry was impressed at the guard’s explanation, he had them riveted. Then he pointed to the portrait under Dash’s and to her right. It was an orange filly with a purple mane that looked like a feather because of the colour pattern. She was about their age, maybe two or three years older.

Adila squeed at the sight, Gale chuckled to himself before their teacher glared them to silence.

“This one is a little less famous, but still well-known in certain circles.” He smiled at the griffon who apparently liked stunts. ”Her name is Scootaloo. This flyer's claim to fame, believe it or not, is sticking to the ground. During the Dirt Lovers Derby, this little filly on a scooter managed to flap her wings so fast, some claim she could have made a Sonic Rainboom if she wanted. Only her experience was slightly different. She kept her wings angled to let the air push her down on the ground. As a result, she instinctively took control of the air around her. Eventually, she went so fast that the winds formed the shape of a hammerhead shark, vaguely, mind you. You see, when a pegasus moves that fast while putting that much power into her stability, the air starts to warp around them without their active control. Their soul, rather than seeking to meet that of the world, seeks to protect the body instead. The rider becomes one with the wind, as it were. This speed is just below the limit of a Sonic Rainboom. Instead of breaking through the soul barrier, the barrier is made to bend, even fold.”

Blazing paused for a moment to let that sink in.

“Scootaloo is the first pegasus in a century to be able to perform the Hammerhead. Because of the distortions she causes in the air, she becomes invulnerable for a short time, surrounded by a shield made of pure vibrations and stronger than dragon scales. Any object that tries to stop a Hammerhead fails. The forward motion cannot be interrupted by any material barrier. When that hammer and triple fin shape appears, the forces around the rider simply push everything aside, or let the rider go right up the wall, defying gravity as easily as riding a bike and manoeuvring at top speed without ever missing a beat or losing contact with whatever's underneath. It is indeed... the perfect ride.”

Magic Mirror scowled. “Wow, looks like fillies and mares do all the good stuff in Equestria.”

Blazing Shield grinned at that, before flying aside to show the third portrait, completing what was revealed to be a triangle. It was a dark blue colt with a spiky mane, who looked about ten. “You might think so, but before you let that go to your head, consider this one. This is Doldrum Whimper. He got his picture up here by sheer courage. His friend was waylaid by a demon who’d been giving the Royal Guard the slip for centuries. I believe your region knows him as the legendary Baron of the Marshes, or Kludde.”

That got a few gulps. Everyone knew that name, and most of the stories. Not this one, though.

“Rather than stand idly by while his friend was hurt, Whimper chased after the creature. It then cast its spell on him, magically setting his lungs on fire and putting a crushing weight on his back, or at least making it feel as such. I don’t think I need to tell you that this was not a pleasant experience. Barely able to breathe, and with the Baron ready to finish him for his insolence, he still managed to find the strength to fight the thing.”

Some jaws dropped at that.

“Imagine being so scared and angry that it whites out all rational thought. Imagine seeing your deepest self, all the ugly bits that you try so hard to hide, just bursting out in the open and taking over. That is what happened to Whimper, and he wielded his rage like a true warrior. With a surge of strength, he broke the thing’s hold -- on his throat, I might add -- and managed to unbalance it. That broke the spell, and with that opening, he managed to do on his own what it took the Royal Guard months of planning and entire platoons to do. He hurt it, and what's more, he stopped it from fleeing, something we never accomplished.”

More jaws dropped.

“This was a colt with no military or martial training whatsoever, but he trusted his instincts when they took over. He hurt the thing." Pause for dramatic effect. "Badly, to the point that the Royal Guard just had to pick up the pieces and throw what remained of Kludde into Tartarus, where he’s been ever since.”

Magic Mirror frowned. “I don’t get it. Those three don’t make a set, do they? Whimper shouldn’t be hanging next to them. Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo got here by being fast, he got here by just getting angry and fighting?”

“Not quite. You see, Doldrum Whimper managed to summon the sort of strength we in the Royal Guard aspire to. By letting his inner self out -- and believe you me, facing your dark side is not an easy trick -- he managed to dodge an instantly cast spell that would have otherwise sealed his fate. He later learned how to do that on command. Ask your unicorn friends to tug at your tail with magic and then you'll know how fast you need to be to dodge that sort of spell.”

Silence fell.

The guard pointed to Rainbow Dash’s portrait again. “Rainbow Dash, faster than the speed of soul.”

Next came the orange filly. “Scootaloo, faster than the speed of wall.”

Lastly, he pointed to Whimper’s. “Doldrum Whimper, faster than the speed of magic.”

Adila was smiling at that.

“All three accomplished the impossible, moving at speeds that no one would ever have thought they could. To this day, these three are the fastest living things in or under the Equestrian sky. And all three of them did these incredible feats while they were still blank flanks. Let that be a lesson to you. Potential comes in many forms. Respect the ones around you, for they may surprise you one day.”

He let that last lesson sink in for a bit.

“They only got their cutie mark either doing these incredible feats or even later, in Whimper’s case. The two young mares you see here are speedsters who to date remain unmatched in their respective fields, even by each other. As for Doldrum Whimper, he took the spear test from Princess Luna when he was ten, making him the youngest pony in recorded history to pass it and the first to be acknowledged by Luna since her return from exile. After a little over a decade, and countless Warrior Meets with the Royal Guard and all our martial arts grandmasters present, the only pony to ever beat him in combat was the Ashen Blizzard himself, the highest ranked martial artist alive and personal sparring partner to Celestia and Luna.

Another pause for dramtic effect.

“That is how capable a fighter he is. He was beaten only by the best. So yes, you have a fair point, he never even participated in a real race. Yet that colt was put here for his speed, a speed on extreme close range that makes him a terror in combat. Doldrum Whimper is, to this very day, the strongest civilian warrior in Equestria, and remains nigh undefeated as such. No one, short of the Ashen Blizzard, has ever brought him down.”

“Umm… excuse me, sir?” Adila raised a talon again, much to the chagrin of her teacher. ”That’s not completely true.”

The pegasus guard set down on the ground and gave her a quizzical look. “Really, now? Pray tell.”

“Well… Doldrum Whimper’s from our town, sir, and he’s been beaten, I’ve seen it.” She nudged the pegasus next to her. ”Gale, back me up on this, would you?”

Blazing smiled to himself. “You’ve seen the Mangler from the Marshlands be beaten? Care to explain how that happened?”

The griffon girl just kept prodding the blank flank next to her with an elbow. “Come on, tell him.”

Finally Gale relented and sighed. “Umm... sort of, I guess? He has gotten beaten in combat, but not for real.”

“My dear boy, beating someone in combat is always ‘for real’, or it’s not combat. And if there is a pony who can beat that good a fighter, even if it is just in a practice match, I’m sure the rest of the Royal Guard would love to hear about it. So by all means, explain yourself.” Blazing gestured with a hoof..

The boy gritted his teeth. He glared at Adila for bringing it up, but continued, as asked. “Well, yeah, he is a great fighter, and I’m sure everything you’ve said is true, sir. I know, I’ve seen him knock the right head of a hydra out cold by hitting the left one. But technically he’s been beaten in combat, I guess.”

“You guess or you know, boy?” The guard smiled.

The blank flank swallowed the herbal pastille he’d been sucking on, then shyly kicked the ground. He averted his gaze as his whole class, and the guard, stared at him. “It’s nothing serious, sir, really, it’s just…”

Another nudge from his griffon friend, and the colt finally spilled the beans as he looked up at the portraits.

“He still lets his little brother win sometimes.”

The Flightless Filly meets The Bullhead

Scootaloo rubbed her front hooves together, nervous. The group of five young pegasi stood in a line as a Columbia blue mare, their drill sergeant, explained the many complicated rules of Flight Camp. “I only have one rule: everyone flies, no one fails.”

The orange filly gulped. Despite her frantic mosquito-like flapping and her impressive jumping skills on the scooter, she never really got off the ground enough to get into a proper flight. Her aunt Vinyl had to fly her up in a balloon and drop her off, for pity’s sake! The whole thing made her shiver, but at least things couldn’t be any worse.

Naturally, the sergeant swiftly pierced that illusion. “For the next two weeks, your wings are mine. You will go through arduous training to perfect your flight in every conceivable aspect, culminating in a run on the Gantelope, under the supervision of the one and only Soarin’ of the Wonderbolts.”

Scootaloo gulped again. The Gantelope was every flyer’s worst nightmare, simply because every possible nightmare was on it. It was a course consisting of a ring track, a slalom, a dive, a cog cloud, the works. Even if you were good at a few, there was always something to throw you off. Getting your flyer's certificate would be easy if you could just stick to your strengths, but that was never really an option. As a matter of fact, the course wasn’t really adjusted to match different difficulty levels, only the dive got higher, and the timing got stricter.

“Now, don’t get too scared just knowing that. It’s not all bad. Look on the bright side, you’ve got a way out. Anytime you think I’m being too rough, anytime you think I’m being unfair, anytime you miss your mommy, quit! You sign form 1248, you pack your things, you take a stroll down Washout Lane.” An extended hoof marked the shameful exit doors, kind of obsolete for a place up in the clouds, but still intimidating. The instructor noted the shaking bodies of the young ones.

Scootaloo, however, wasn't shaking. While the rest of her squad was busy thinking about that intimidating speech, Scootaloo's mind went to the time she'd first heard those exact words.

I didn't know Rainbow Dash was a Verhooven fan.

“Now that we’ve made that clear, name call. Scootaloo?” The blue instructor flipped the page as Scootaloo confirmed her presence with a raised hoof.

“Zephyr?”

A lavender colt with a yellow bolt running along darker-hued his tail nodded. He had a cocky grin that Scootaloo recognised from all those ‘Young Elite’ sports colts. His legs were a little longer than hers, and his light blue eyes gleamed with confidence. That, along with the short cut of his violet mane, suggested he was on a provincial-level team, at least. If she had to wager a guess... either a bad apple striker or airborne controller, probably both.

“Rumble?”

That was Scootaloo’s blank-flanked classmate. That is, they shared a class occasionally, most of the time he was in the classroom at the back of their school. Grey with a dark mane that always seemed to flip back and shine like it was greased up, Scoot knew he was alright but she never hung out with him much. He nodded in acknowledgement, a little sheepishly but not shaking like Scoot was.

“Skyron?”

A snow-white colt raised his hoof, then grinned at Zephyr. This one was a little stockier, more top-heavy. His wings were only a little larger than Scootaloo's, but from the looks of it that didn't bother him one bit. Green-eyed and sporting the same hairdo as Zephyr, Skyron didn't follow the style in tail, at least. Where Zephyr sported a long tail to show off that yellow streak, Skyron kept his short. The two of them probably came from the same team, maybe even the same school.

Scootaloo sighed a little, a flightless filly surrounded by jocks, two of which already had a winged bolt and a snowy cloud adorning their rump. Just comparing wing size made her feel depressed.

“Doldrum Whimper?”

Scootaloo nearly burst out in laughter at that one. 'Doldrum Whimper'? What kind of a name is that?

Apparently it belonged to a blue colt with a spikey mane, one of the spikes just hanging over the side of his face as if he wanted to try and conceal his left eye. His dark blue mane and tail still drew the attention to his lighter fur coat, though. His physique was what struck her, actually. If the others looked like jocks, this one looked like a bona fide bullhead. His legs were thick as young tree trunks, and one could just about see little sinews poking out on his back and along the borders of his wings. His wings themselves looked slightly bigger than average, even out of place on a foal. Most likely they'd grown out a little before his body had. His short neck almost made him look like he was on steroids, just barely below that awkward structure that only unnaturally driven or overfed bodies could have. But his face gave him away. Shy eyes with a golden gleam in them, and a few suppressed gulps that had left his expression in an uncomfortable grimace. A big pushover, at first glance.

“Right then, you’re all where you need to be, which just leaves my tardy assistant.” Rainbow Dash looked up from the page in surprise. ”Twilight Sparkle?"

With bright and loud rip in the fabric of the real, the purple unicorn appeared.

“Sorry I’m late, everypony! Derpy asked me to help her fix her fanbase before taking off. That thing’s really taken a beating recently.” She panted and blushed, embarrassed at her own tardiness.

“Yeah, she can avoid the propeller easy enough, but somehow she always manages to crash into the part of the fan that’s not moving. I’d just move the thing away from her front door and be done with it. Anyway, class, this is Twilight Sparkle. Twilight: Scootaloo, Zephyr, Rumble, Skyron, and Doldrum.”

The instructor turned to the last two pages. Scootaloo breathed a sigh of relief: there was one upside to all this: she'd get to train with the most awesome pegasus pony in history.

“And for those of you who’ve been living in a cave for the past few years and don’t know me, you have been missing out. My name is Rainbow Dash.”

This was a mixed bag for the girl, truth be told. The prospect of bunking up with four boys wasn’t that scary (there wasn't any real reason to separate them, after all). And at least she’d be getting flying lessons from her big idol. However, if she failed in front of Rainbow Dash, Scootaloo would be an embarrassment to the pony she adored. She really did not want to look bad in front of the most awesome pegasus pony in Equestria.

“Now, for the training. You need to understand that everyone comes in at a different level. This is where you learn to fly officially, so I don’t expect all of you to be able to fly on your own yet,” Rainbow started.

“Wimpy,” someone whispered.

Dash continued undisturbed. “That’s why these lessons are done in smaller groups. We’re going to start by getting some strength in those wings, then when everyone’s nice and warmed up, we’ll get to the first and trickiest part of the Gantelope, the dive. Today you’ll just do one dive. You start slow to get used to the exercise you’ll be getting, after that you’re free to do whatever’s on the schedule.”

Scootaloo tried to steady her racing heart at the thought of it. At least she’d be prepared when the inevitable fail came. Being the only filly in a herd of colts wasn’t helping much, either.

The group warmed up with a few laps of running, Zephyr and Skyron taking an effortless lead with Rumble galloping not too far behind. Whimper trailed behind with a steady trot, and the filly felt a little bad about leaving him behind. She kept herself a little further from the rest, not wanting to make the blue colt feel awkward. The gap between her and the lead widened, though, and soon enough she was behind a lap, then another. She bit her lip when she sped up, determined to at least finish with some respectable time. Not that anyone was clocking her, it just felt that way.

Rainbow Dash sighed, the distance large enough to avoid being overheard. “That Doldrum’s gonna be a problem.”

“Rainbow!” Twilight checked the notes. ”It’s only the warm-up, he’s just pacing himself.”

“I guess you’re right. I’m just nervous about the Wonderbolts, that’s all. I’d hate for anyone to be embarrassed in front of them. What are you doing up here, anyway?” Dash raised an eyebrow.

“I thought this would be a perfect opportunity to see how pegasi learn to fly. Plus, I figured you might appreciate my input, since it’s your first time coaching kids.”

“Err, no offense, Twilight, but… no wings?” Rainbow wriggled hers to illustrate.

“Oh, I can’t fly, true, but I have been reading up on flight dynamics for quite a bit. I know the theory behind it, you know the practice. Besides, would you ask anypony else for help if you needed it?" Twilight asked with a knowing smile.

Rainbow grunted. "Do you even know what you're supposed to do up here?"

"Follow your lead?" The unicorn raised an eyebrow and grinned.

"Exactly."

Meanwhile, Doldrum Whimper had finished his laps. Zephyr and Skyron seemed to be muttering something under their breaths.

“Aren’t you going to say something, Dash? I thought you’d want to nip any sort of bullying in the bud.” Doldrum and Scootaloo hadn’t gone fast enough to be panting, but the other three were breathing a little heavily, though the long break they’d had waiting for the stragglers was certainly some relief.

“Not yet, it’s just a little nickname, after all. You need to toughen them up just a little first, let them stand on their own hooves if they can. I’ll talk to Doldrum when he’s alone, Scootaloo too, if I have to. I want them to understand that they need to stand up for themselves, but I’m not about to let them get knocked down if they can’t. Oh, and another thing, not sure if you’ve noticed.” Dash leaned in to whisper before the kids got there. ”Scootaloo’s got a problem with her wings. I’m not sure what it is, she can flap fast as anything, but for some reason she never gets off the ground. Think you can find something to help?”

“I think I can work with that,” she whispered back as they got within range of their class. ”And by the way, it’s 'Whimper', not 'Doldrum'. 'Doldrum' is not something you want to call anyone.”

Dash just shook it away as she went to show them the next exercises. After that brisk run to warm up, she had the little ones stretch their muscles while Twilight watched. As was tradition (and common sense) on Flight Camp, the coach was the one who demonstrated proper form, while the assistant kept a vigilant eye on the students to catch any hint of trouble. It was the coach’s job to make sure they did what they needed to do. The assistant’s job was to make sure they could do it properly to begin with, as well as intervene in case of any trouble, physical or otherwise. The two-pony coaching system meant that if a child had a problem or a medical emergency, it could be dealt with without interrupting the exercise.

Rainbow Dash’s form was flawless, as one would expect from a weathered Weather Patrol member and a trained athlete. She showed them how to do the cat stretch for the upper body, the side butterfly where they lay on their sides and let their outstretched legs or wings stick the ground, then slowly roll so the joints are pressed into the ground with the rest of the body rolling on its back, giving a little pull at the lines of power that run from the base of the arms and wings to the chest. On and on she went, always calmly showing how it’s done, and never just snapping from one position to the next. She was being oddly calm about it, not at all her usual dashing self.

But then, she was trying to set a good example now. Despite her getting edgy when she had to slow down, she couldn’t just go rushing about the place and botch the exercises.

Twilight, meanwhile, kept her eye on the kids. Zephyr, Skyron and Rumble were doing fine, the two young jocks no doubt accustomed to some stretches. Rumble was keeping up nicely, but his range wasn’t quite the same as that of the other two. Scootaloo, on the other hoof, had a hard time stretching her wings, having to stay at an awkward angle through the strain. Twilight couldn’t make sense of why, though. Judging from the speeds Scootaloo got while rushing through Ponyville she had to be more than a match for the jocks in terms of physical shape.

The real shocker, though, was Doldrum Whimper. For being a bit bulky for his age, he followed Dash’s instructions marvellously, even going farther into the stretch than the actual athletes. She made a mental note to ask him about that.

Then came the inevitable push-ups. No one, not even Zephyr or Skyron, was particularly happy about push-ups. They all groaned and grunted as they pushed off, and even more so when they then had to do it again with their wings. Poor Scootaloo was contorting her face in pain, but she wouldn’t relent, despite those little stubs barely having the length required to lift her, let alone the strength.

Rainbow Dash sprang up and smiled at all their tuckered-out faces. “Okay, everyone, take a breather. I’m going to go and introduce you to the nurse, and then we’ll get to diving.”

Scootaloo looked anxiously at Twilight, who just left her to her own devices with a knowing smile. Whimper came trotting over as the other three were boasting to each other about their strength. Rumble -- for never having met the other two before -- seemed to be getting along quite well with them. Whimper pushed the orange filly up from her prone form.

“Are you all right?” he asked. His voice sounded pretty soft for a colt, like he could only really whisper instead of talk. It sounded slightly familiar, actually. The spike of hair hanging low on his face certainly added to the familiarity.

Scootaloo gave him a nervous smile. “Oh yeah, sure. Not like I don’t do stuff like this all the time,” she didn't lie, per se: she was pretty good on her scooter. Besides that, she’d developed a firm set of muscles from her time with the Crusaders, if nothing else from pulling at whatever random sticky substance decided to land on them.

Whimper smiled nervously and looked away, before lightly kicking at the ground. An awkward silence fell between the two.

Twilight raised an eyebrow. The posture, the little kick and looking away, it was nearly identical to when she’d met Fluttershy. “Say, Whimper, could I ask you something? You look like a strong, fit colt. What sort of sports do you do?”

The darker-hued colt seemed taken aback by that. “Oh, umm… nothing, really. I don’t like competition, but everypony keeps telling me I need to keep moving. So I mostly just, um, lug stuff around. I live close to a rock farm and a cherry orchard. Nopony minds me helping out, and my parents always know where to find me.” Twilight had to restrain herself from asking if he was at all related to Fluttershy. The way he talked and moved, it just looked too much of a coincidence.

“What about Zephyr and Skyron?” Scootaloo asked. ”You know them?”

He winced and made a sound that resembled a nervous squeak. “Um, yes. They’re my classmates. They think they’re big shots just ‘coz they’re in the bad apple team. Zephyr’s our captain and a striker, Skyron’s an airborne controller and a feeder.”

Twilight’s ears perked at that. That did explain why those two were in better shape. Bad apple was not a game for the meek, certainly not one for meek pegasus ponies. On fields of varying composition with high and low ground, two teams would attempt to hit each other with rotten apples (hence the name), stored in barrels that had to be knocked open first. Different types of pony had different roles. Pegasi were usually strikers or controllers, either swooping fast in with an apple in hoof or controlling enemy movement by pelting apples from afar, though occasionally some chose to be the feeders who would toss the apples for their team mates to use without the need for giving up ground. In any event, if they did it in a competitive scene, that meant they were a little better at flying than average.

“But you are stronger than they are, right?” Twilight frowned. He certainly didn’t look like the type who’d get pushed around or called names. If anything, he reminded her of her brother, or a young Big Mac. Hay, even Snow Flake, or Horse Power as everyone called him, wouldn’t have been an unfair comparison.

Whimper blushed. “I-I really don’t know, and I don’t wanna know. I just wanna learn how to fly, that’s all.”

Scootaloo rolled her eyes. No wonder he gets picked on.

Rainbow Dash knocked on the door of the nurse’s office, before entering and poking her head into the cabin. Another door, the smell of disinfectant alcohol and a small hallway greeted her, but no pony. “Hello? Nurse?”

She wasn’t sure who’d be in charge of the medical side of things, since most of Flight Camp was run on a public service deal with some volunteers mixed in. She heard a faint sound from beyond the actual office, though.

She dismissed it at first, because the sound implied something that wasn’t possible. As Rainbow came closer to the door of the infirmary’s main room, she pressed her head against the door just to make sure she wasn’t going insane. The result did bode well for the pegasus’s mental health.

What she heard was the sound of a lyre.

She opened the door and found a lime green unicorn with white and grey mane, the trademark lyre both on her flanks and in her hooves.

“Lyra Heartstrings? What are you doing here?” Dash stopped herself just in time from saying ‘Wow, they’re really lettin’ anypony up into the clouds these days,’ though that would pretty much have summed up her sentiment.

“Hey, Dash, I’m the nurse here. Time to introduce me to your little flight of pegasi, I presume?”

Dash shook her head in confusion. “Hold on, answer my question, please. You’re a nurse? How?”

“I took a summer course, of course. Turns out knowing first aid in Ponyville makes you really popular, really fast.” She grinned.

As much as Rainbow hated to admit it, that made sense. “Okay, so why are you here nursing pegasi?”

“Oh, well, you know how it is with us artists. We need intense experiences or our creative juices run dry. Besides, this was the perfect opportunity to get some time alone with Twilight. You know, I’ve been frantically trying to get her to talk to me for years.” Lyra smiled brightly at her success at such, finally.

“Huh. I never noticed,” Dash offered.

“Neither did she,” Lyra replied dryly.

“But what would you want to talk to Twilight about? She doesn’t know that much about music, does she?” Dash tilted her head in the confusion.

To that, miss Heartstrings put up her best drama face.

“I will have you know, Rainbow Dash, that I am first and foremost a bard, a very capable one at that. I am not merely a musician, I am a mage. My talent is the magic of music, not music itself. My cutie mark also isn't just a lyre, it forms an ancient sigil meaning ‘the breaking of silence’. So yeah, I do have a couple of things in common with Twilight, like most unicorns who study magic. I'm nowhere near her level, of course, but we're still colleagues.”

Rainbow Dash was flabbergasted. She knew she was flabbergasted, Twilight had taught her the meaning of the word after that horrendous ‘Rainbow Paint’ experiment, of which they both promised to never speak again. “Let me just get this straight. You’re saying that your talent lets you do the same things as Twilight?”

“Kind of. Some of the same stuff, but on a smaller scale. Matchstick to a forest fire.”

“And you’ve been trying to make friends with her for years because you’re basically the same, talent-wise?” Rainbow Dash pictured it more vividly than she cared for.

“Also true.” Lyra’s face betrayed not one wit of emotion at the peculiarity of her previous situation.

“Before she even met me and the other Elements? ‘Coz you’re from Canterlot too, right?”

A nod followed. “Yeah. I went to magic kindergarten with her, actually, we used to hang out but we kinda drifted apart when she got Celestia’s attention. You’re getting the picture now?”

“Wow. No wonder you freak out so much.”

“It comes with the territory. So, who are the fortunate souls to get to train with you?” Lyra led the way outside.

“Okay, everypony, meet Lyra Heartstrings, she’ll be in the nurse’s office,” Rainbow Dash announced as Lyra sat down and put on that patented ‘excited slasher smile’ with a wave. For some odd reason, Lyra seemed to prefer sitting on her haunches or standing on two hooves. Rainbow Dash didn’t pay it much heed, probably just her thing. She knew well enough that ponies sometimes did weird things that actually made perfect sense once you knew them.

“Hi, kids! I’ll be tending to whatever bones you break, whatever fevers might break out and any embarrassing bugs that have managed to get up this high scrounging on your skins. Hope to see you in my office soon!”

Such behaviour might get misinterpreted as mere social ineptitude, but there was a reason for her crude approach. It was a time-honoured and very effective tradition at Flight Camp for the nurse to give some ’encouragement’ regarding safety regulations.

But seeing as a unicorn wouldn’t have too much authority on pegasus safety, Lyra preferred a ‘Be careful, or else’ routine. The odd looks this garnered from the young ones told her that all that experience with drama really did have some practical use.

“Right. Anyway, if you need to go to the nurse’s office during the lesson, you have to talk to me or Twilight first. You are not allowed to be away from your group while we’re training, remember that. If you need medical help, talk to us and we’ll give you one of these.” Rainbow held up her left front hoof to show two rainbow-coloured bracelets. Twilight had the same on hers, only they were purple with a star in the centre.

“If it’s not a big emergency, you can go alone, but only if you’re wearing my bracelet or Twilight’s. That’ll tell nurse Lyra here that we sent you. You do not run around where we can’t see you during training. Keep in mind you’re up in the clouds now, we’re responsible for you. We need to know where you are or there could be trouble. During breaks, there’s always somepony on guard duty. But while we’re training, everyone’s scattered in their little groups, so we don’t want any confusion. Are we clear on the not running off part?” Rainbow Dash let her stare go over all five foals.

They all nodded.

“Okay, then we’re off to the Gantelope for some diving practice.”

Rainbow Dash led the way, and Lyra seemed intent to tag along with Twilight. “Shouldn’t you be in the nurse’s office?”

“Don’t worry. If anyone needs me, there’s a buzzer that yells ‘Medic!’ loud enough for all of camp to hear. Besides, if you’re going to be diving, I might as well stand by for practicality’s sake,” Lyra said with a most inappropriate smile.

Rainbow Dash suppressed a groan. She was feeling more than a little anaemic knowing that there were now two Twilights to consider. A third or fourth Twilight would probably suck her dry. Luckily, they arrived at the site before her face turned pale. Dash got into character again.

“Okay. This is the first part of the Gantelope, the dive. As you can see, there’s three clouds, one for every skill level. The bronze certificate you’re all aiming for requires a jump from the lowest cloud and a proper landing. Now before any of you go whining about how even a chicken can make a decent landing --” Scootaloo smiled nervously at that one ”-- you need to understand that this sort of exercise is supposed to prove that you can make it safely to the ground when you’re knocked off course. Winds can kick up at any time, someone careless can rush past you and make you lose your balance. And if you ever get on a Weather Patrol? Trust me, you need this. You’ll also want to be able to keep some of your momentum so you don’t slow down too much as you enter the rest of the trials. In case nopony told you, you’re timed on the Gantelope as soon as you hit the landing cloud and pass through the first ring.”

The little pegasi looked up at the clouds. One jumping platform was about five meters high, the other about ten, the last one twenty, at least. The landing cloud would let one bounce right into the second part of the trial; a line of rings set in a fairly complicated pattern, that would no doubt require some mid-air rolling to get right.

“Now, there are a few ways of going about this,” Dash said in her drill sergeant voice. ”You can open your wings and let yourself glide down in a spiral. That’s what most pegasi will do. You can flap your wings to slow down as you go straight against gravity. That’s usually best if your wings aren’t that big. Either way, you’ll want to make a good landing and then bounce right back up to fly on. And then there’s the Peregrine Dive. The Peregrine Dive is the fastest and the best way of getting down, and it can be summed up in three simple words.”

The little ones all leaned in, except for Whimper, who raised an eyebrow.

“Not. For. You. Letting yourself fall with your wings closed is a risky move when the ground is trying to make friends with you, and you need to know how to get the impact of the landing into your body without causing any damage. It requires the near-perfect coordination and awesome reflexes of a hummingbird to land a Peregrine Dive properly, since you get knocked off course more the sooner you open your wings. Not only that, but of all the ways of landing, it is the most painful one to mess up, since you’re speeding up instead of slowing down the whole time.”

Skyron raised a hoof. “Question: why don’t you just pull up and keep your momentum to go through the rings?”

“Well, the rings on the next trial are placed so that you can’t really get the angle from a spiral or a slowed fall and for the Peregrine… there’s a problem with pulling up from a Peregrine.” Twilight winced at the thought.

The wince raised another question from the snow white colt. “What’s the problem with pulling up from a Peregrine?”

In response, a grey pegasus with a blonde mane came flying down at neck-breaking speed, pulled up, veered off and smashed into one of the cloud walls that were set up around the course.

Rainbow Dash slowly turned her head to look at the crash victim embedded in the cloud. “That.”

Twilight took a deep breath and got into her lecturing voice. “As you’re falling down, the air rushing past will start knocking you back and forth. Remember, the point is not to fly downwards. A Peregrine requires zero wing action right up to touching the ground. As soon as you open your wings and try to pull up, those little knocks turn into a random slam that can send you any which way, and probably injure your wings in the process. Opening them suddenly like that gives you a split second to get all that pressure divided evenly, and that's before you even start steering. Your feathers are numb like hair, keep that in mind. It’s not possible to feel the wind on your feathers, which means you need a lot of sensitivity along your flanks and wings to be able to judge when and which way to pull up. Even an experienced flyer like Derpy here can’t do it just like that."

Said experienced flyer pulled herself off the cloud, seemingly unharmed except for her derpy eyes. “I’m okay, everypony!”

“What’s wrong with her eyes?” Zephyr asked with a grimace.

“Nothing. There is absolutely nothing wrong with her eyes,” Dash replied coldly before changing to a friendly tone. ”Everyone, you might know Derpy, the mailmare. She’s in charge of checking whether or not the equipment is still safe.” Mostly by crashing into it and checking if it’s not broken yet.

Derpy was alright, though, as far as Rainbow was concerned. You just had to set up a few rules when she was around, like keeping an open space for her to stand still in if you had anything fragile exposed, and making sure she understood that she shouldn’t move about. But once you did, she never argued about the little things, and she never gave anyone a good reason to be mad at her. She wasn’t even that dumb, as anyone who tried to beat her in strategy board games quickly learned, doubly so when betting muffins.

Derpy wasn't bad or anything, Derpy was just Derpy.

When the inspector peeled herself off of the impact-reducing cloud, the shape she’d made in it popped out, leaving that of another, smaller pegasus imprinted on it. Twilight gave the cushioning safety clouds around a good look as the blonde mare walked off to finish her other chores. The clouds all had the same imprint on them, or rather the same pony in different postures and positions.

Scootaloo had noticed too, apparently. “Umm, Rainbow Dash? What’s up with those clouds?”

“These cushion clouds are here to stop Lyra from overworking herself if anyone messes up. They are extra soft and fluffy and designed to pop back into shape after anything smashes into them.” Dash gave one a little tap to illustrate. Sure enough, it left an indent that popped back right after.

“Sooo… why is there still an imprint of a pony on them?” Scootaloo persisted.

Rainbow looked up dreamily. “Well, that’s one of the stories of the Camp. You see, these clouds are also used in Flight School, and if you believe the story: there was one student there who always kept trying the coolest, most dangerous stunts and wound up smashing into these clouds every single time. Some say it was dozens of times a day, others say it was hundreds. According to the legend, this student smashed into them so much that eventually every cloud decided to shame her by refusing to reform just once if she crashed into them. When she realised what was going on, she just decided to crash into all of them once. And so that one daring yet horrible flyer is imprinted on them to this very day.”

“It’s a pretty popular camp song, actually. I’ll be sure to teach it to you sometime. You might even hear it from the older camp members tonight.” Lyra grinned.

Rainbow smiled nervously. “Yeah, it’s not a very good song, though. I’d appreciate it if you didn’t sing it this year.”

Twilight raised an eyebrow. “You don’t want kids to sing the song? Okay, I’ll make sure the other coaches get the message.” Twilight floated a quill and notepad before her and took note. ”What’s the song called, then?”

“The Ballad of Rainbow Crash.” Lyra smirked.

“Okay, now that we have that awkwardness out of the way, let’s do the exercise. Twilight, if you’d please escort the group to the first level cloud?” Dash suppressed a gritting of the teeth.

Twilight smiled sheepishly. The colts and filly walked up the fluffy stairs and lined up for their jumps, unicorn standing by for moral support.

“Okay, now, no need to be scared. Just do what feels natural.” Twilight offered some helpful yet awfully generic advice.

Zephyr needed no further encouragement and promptly jumped, wings spread wide to go in a steady spiral downward. Skyron came right after, following the good form of his team mate. Rumble tried to follow suit, but wound up having to flap his wings instead, lacking the wingspan and stability to go into a spiral on his first try.

Scootaloo was shaking like a leaf by the time it was her turn. “I-I don’t know if I can do this.”

“Don’t worry, Scootaloo, you’ll be fine.” Twilight looked down with a smile. ”Just try.”

“Hey!” Zephyr shouted from below. ”Don’t tell me you’re chicken!”

“Yeah, can’t get your chicken-wings to work?” Skyron added while Rumble just laughed.

The girl’s face contorted at the embarrassment. Said chicken-wings looked like they were shrinking, in fact.

Twilight sighed. “Look, I know you have trouble flying. I want to help you. But I can’t help if I don’t know what the problem is.”

“Come on! Hurry up and go already, or get Wimpy there to help ya!”

Whimper shuffled his hooves over the cloud, gathering his courage to speak. He sighed. “Don’t worry about Zephyr and Skyron, they just want to get you riled up. They make fun of me all the time. I can’t fly either, not the way I want to, at least. If you need help, I’ve got your back.”

Scootaloo closed her eyes. That was a horrendously corny thing to say, and it was coming from a wimp. A very buff wimp, but a wimp nonetheless. Still, she couldn’t just let it slide. “Okay. Here goes.”

She took off and started flapping her wings like she did on her scooter, hanging in the air with a veritable engine on her back.

And then she plummeted.

The wings did nothing to slow her down, and she couldn’t find the lift or balance to correct herself as she wound up rolling, then diving headfirst towards the landing cloud.

Twilight kept her eye on the flailing filly. She felt sorry for her, doubly so when the colts started yelling to just give up and fall already. She was snapped out of her reverie by a little whooshing sound. She looked left and right, then concluded that since she wasn’t in Maretropolis, that couldn’t have been Superstallion flying past.

Scootaloo braced herself, still flapping furiously and constantly trying to roll in mid-air to get some sort of lift going. She slowed herself down for a few short moments, but that never lasted long and she kept tumbling downward to go headfirst towards the impending cotton pop of a failed landing.

Something bumped into her in mid-air, something warm. She found herself falling with something soft underneath her now. Next thing she knew she wasn’t falling anymore. She was lying still on someone’s back, head faced up, and the thing underneath her had taken the impact. Judging from the size, it wasn’t a grownup, either.

Oh great, Zephyr caught me. Now I’ll never hear the end of it.

Rainbow Dash’s voice came from behind her. “Don’t move. Don’t move a muscle. Scootaloo, you can get off.”

Scootaloo blushed as she rolled off the colt’s back. Then she noticed the three colts standing in front of her. Doldrum Whimper was standing stock still on the cloud. No one had intercepted her from the ground, Whimper had just caught up to her somehow.

“How the hay’d you…” Scootaloo looked up at Twilight. The unicorn shrugged in confusion.

Rainbow Dash circled around the Whimper, inspecting his limbs. She gave his knee joints a few taps to see how stable they were, but he didn’t buckle one bit. His legs were slightly bent, his back was straight, his wings were unfolded halfway, the only thing unsteady were his ears, and that was just nerves about being inspected.

“A-am I in trouble?” He quivered in fear of the consequences if not shaken from his actions themselves.

“Hey, Twilight! Come check this out! Lyra, can you get a camera for me?” Rainbow Dash nearly laughed out loud.

The two unicorns followed the order, albeit a little out of the loop.

“What’s the camera for?” Twilight asked as Rainbow Dash proceeded to take pictures of the colt from every possible direction. Lyra sat on her haunches and shrugged.

“This is just to make sure ponies believe me when I tell them I’ve got a colt on my squad who can do a perfect Peregrine Dive.”

Zephyr rolled his eyes. “It oughtta be perfect, it’s the only trick Wimpy can do.” His tone suggested this wasn't the first time Whimper had pulled it, and that it frequently got a little more attention than it should.

“Yeah? So where’d you learn that, then? Smile for the camera, Doldrum.” Rainbow took his picture as he smiled nervously.

“Umm… just practice on a few farms, is all.” The colt seemed almost embarrassed about his feat. ”Jumping down trees with cherry baskets, stuff like that.”

“Well, that’s a pretty awesome manoeuvre to pull off perfectly. Your posture’s perfect, your landing was flawless, and you didn’t even slow down until the very last second. That takes a lot of guts, kid.” Dash patted him on the back.

“So, can I move now?”

Rainbow Dash nodded. “Dismissed, everypony, that was good for a first training. I need to talk to Twilight to compare remarks.”

Scootaloo trotted off despondently with Whimper in tow. The grownups turned to each other to discuss.

Twilight’s mouth was almost hanging open. “What just happened? First I see Scootaloo flailing, the next thing I know Whimper’s on the ground catching her.”

“Yep, that’s how fast a Peregrine can be." Dash looked up in thought. "Didn’t even flap his wings to slow down. He must have gotten a lot of practice for that one. But did you see Scootaloo trying to fly? Did you notice anything off about her?”

Twilight exchanged a glance with Lyra. The unicorns both nodded.

“I think I saw something that might be the problem. I’ll have to read up some more on anatomy and dynamics before I can fix it, though. And I’d rather try it when she’s alone, just in case.”

“So what’s the problem then? Her wings?”

Twilight gave Lyra another look, not wanting to overly complicate the issue. Lyra answered her plain and simple. “Nope. Her wings are fine. It’s everything else that’s the problem.”

“Umm, hi, Scootaloo.” Whimper came trotting over to the filly as they made their way to the playground. Most of the pegasi there were already flying around and playing ballgames in the air. Scootaloo grimaced, not in the mood for any flying games nor for a wimpy tagalong colt.

“What, Doldrum?” she asked with a little bit of anger in her voice.

The colt backed away at her sharp tone, his ears flattened in fear. “I-I just wanted to say I’m sorry if I made you look bad. I didn’t mean to, I’ll just… I should leave you alone, I get it." He turned to leave.

“Wait, don’t go. I--” She bit her lip as she looked for the right words. She sighed. ”-- I don’t really have any friends here at Flight Camp. And what you did, you were trying to be nice. You did stop those jerks from calling me names, and I guess I can always get even with you later. Plus, that was a pretty awesome thing you did there. Are you sure you can’t fly?”

“Not like I’d want to, no. I can do a little, but...” He dropped his head low, making that one spike fall in front of his left eye as if he was trying to hide. Scootaloo realised then why he looked and sounded familiar: he was a lot like Fluttershy, in a weird sort of way. Cute, but weird.

She grinned at his shy demeanour. It looked so out of place on his bulk. “Come on, Wimpy.” Scootaloo tilted her head. ”Let’s try cloudwrestling, you and me. I wanna see if you can push me off the edge or not. Oh, hang on.” She turned back. ”I’m just gonna get us something to drink. Is apple juice okay?”

Whimper just nodded as he walked into the cloud arena. “Um, okay.”

After a while, Scootaloo came running back with two cups on her wings. Even if they weren’t strong enough to fly, at least she had some use for the silly appendages. She set the cups down just as the cloud they were on was raised, along with thinly woven walls of mist that made the whole thing look like a wrestling cage. Derpy called out when all the surrounding arenas were ready and a swarm of pegasi took their seats around the setup.

“Okay, everypony, get ready for round one of the Flight Camp Cloudwrestling Competition!”

Whimper’s face went pale, his eyes widening in shock.

“What competition?”

Scootaloo's First Kiss

Chapter 12: Scootaloo's First Kiss

Rainbow Dash walked over to Whimper and drew a line in the cloud. “You step over this line, I send you home. Got it?” She spoke calmly, but sternly, glaring him down.

Whimper quivered at the sudden change in tone. “Yes, ma’am.”

Rainbow nodded and trotted over to Scootaloo. “So, you’ve got the stranglehold escape down?”

Scootaloo hopped up in joy. “Yup!”

“Show me.” Rainbow Dash placed a hoof on the filly’s neck.

Just as before, she pressed down on the elbow to unbalance her opponent.

Unlike before, her opponent corrected right after. Dash didn’t remove and reposition her hoof, since a real stranglehold would involve holding her, making hooves inadequate to replicate the sensation. She did, however, stay stable and straightened her elbow. “Nope, try again.”

Scootaloo went for it again, but failed.

Rainbow Dash shook her head. “Know what you’re doing wrong here?”

Scootaloo tried to think. “Umm… no? I’m doing it just like I did with Whimper.”

“Yeah, but Whimper lets you win. He does things on autopilot. He doesn’t know the proper technique, even if he does use it.”

That rang a few bells in the filly’s head. “Wait, I’m confused. I thought you only knew karate. There’s no strangling in karate, is there?”

Rainbow Dash pushed slightly harder against that throat. “I never said I had a black belt in karate. That’s just one thing I know, and I’m not even that good at it. My black belt is in something pretty different, actually. Something a little more free-style. Now, what is it you’re doing wrong? I’m not going to stop pushing, kiddo.”

The pressure against the girl’s throat became uncomfortable. What’s she trying to do here? And why can’t I think… oh. In one swift motion, she pressed, turned and twisted. This time, the bigger mare went along for the ride, letting herself be unbalanced.

Rainbow Dash smiled proudly at Scootaloo, staying down so the girl could relish the sight. “Figured it out now?”

“I-I don’t know.”

Rainbow Dash got up and raised her voice so Whimper would hear too. “Whimper never took any classes in martial arts because he can’t keep up with the running part of it. He’s gasping for air as soon as the warm-up’s done. All of his moves come natural. Now, some martial arts rely only on natural movement, but that's got a few problems. When somepony tells you or shows you what to do, you start thinking. You slow down, and the move loses power because of it. The more you think about it, the slower you get, the more likely it is you fail. So the best way to learn is to see what you're supposed to do, memorise the proper technique, then keep practising until you can do it without thinking. That’s lesson one. Lesson two is dodging.”

Scootaloo raised her eyebrow, confused. “Wait, lesson one and two? If we’re not doing karate, what are we doing?”

“Don’t worry about the name, you wouldn’t know it if I told you. Now, as I was saying, you need to learn how to dodge. I’m going to punch at you now, for real. You need to get away from the punch and find the spot where you’re safe. Got that?” Rainbow Dash got on her hind legs and tensed up for an attack.

Scootaloo followed suit, albeit shakily. “Err… are you sure…”

“HUT!” The blue hoof shot forward in a blur.

Scootaloo barely had time to dodge that hoof. What the… she nearly took my head off! Good thing she wasn’t aiming right at it. The blow had come in fast and hard, and Scootaloo could feel the power and even rage behind it. Is Rainbow Dash mad at me for something?

“C-could we maybe slow down, Rainbow Dash?”

“HUT!” Another blur, another near-miss.

Again, Scootaloo backed away from a clearly angry punch. She wasn’t getting through to her idol, she was going to get beaten up and she didn’t know why.

“Is this about the fan club thing? I said I was sorry! We disbanded, just like you asked!”

“YAH!”

Another punch, another step back. Scootaloo was shaking at this point. Her angry instructor lightened up and went out of her fighting stance. “Look at where you’re standing.”

Scootaloo looked around. She’d gone three steps backwards. The implications were sinking in.

Rainbow Dash held up a hoof to Scootaloo’s nose to get her attention. “I told you to move to a safe place. If you just back up, I can always just punch again. And eventually you’re going to run out of space before I do. Look around, watch what I’m doing. Where’s the danger coming from, where the power in my punch? Find the safe spot and move there.”

Scoot’s mind was reeling. What’s Rainbow Dash trying to say here? Does she think I’m not good enough to be like her? She turned her eyes towards Whimper. Maybe she’s right. Whimper’s had it worse than me, and he’s done bigger things than I could ever do. Maybe I’m the runt now.

Scootaloo saw Whimper’s eyes on her. They spoke of friendship and respect, not the pity she was expecting. No, that can’t be it. Rainbow Dash never lets anypony hang, including me. And Whimper’s no better than me, we’re equal. I just need to get my head together. I’m not a runt, I’m a daredevil.

The last blow came in without a kiai.

Daredevil… that’s it!

Scootaloo’s rational mind may have been slow to think, but her reaction time certainly didn’t show it. She'd dodged the blow. Rainbow Dash looked to the side, over her extended right foreleg.

Right where she needed to be, Scootaloo stood with one hoof at Rainbow’s elbow. She realised she didn’t actually need to get away from her opponent, just the dangerous part of her opponent. The only dangerous part was the tip of that incoming hoof. Moving sideways and forward meant she could dodge the blow and be safe from the follow-up. She squeed as she realised what she’d done. “Lesson two, safety isn’t always where you think it is?”

Rainbow Dash grinned proudly. “You learn fast, Scootaloo. Good job. If you just remember that, you’re already miles ahead of any martial arts jocks you might run into.”

“What’s lesson three?” Scootaloo backed away to reposition herself.

Rainbow sighed softly, almost nervously. “First I show you a few more basic moves. I can’t show you number three if you can’t defend yourself.”

Scootaloo squeed. “So you’ll teach me some super cool punches and grapples?”

“Sure, and then you show Apple Bloom, she’ll tear down the place, and then Applejack will never let me hear the end of it. No, escapes and blocks are more important. You don’t need fancy stuff to attack, but a fancy defence is pretty awesome.” Rainbow winked.

Right on cue, Lyra came walking towards the cloud ring, settling down next to Whimper. “Rainbow Dash showing her stuff, huh?”

“Uhuh.” The colt looked at the line in front of him. ”She’s showing Scootaloo and me how to fight properly. It’s starting to look familiar, but I thought Rainbow Dash was a weather pony. Is she a fighter, too?”

“Good question. Honestly, I’m not sure. Everyone in Ponyville knows her by name, but not a lot of ponies make friends with her. Come to think of it, her and Scootaloo… they don’t know each other that well, either.”

“They don’t?” That was a surprise, considering how much attention Dash paid to the filly, and how much the filly praised her. They could have been sisters.

“Nope. Actually, every time I’ve seen them together, I can’t remember one time before Flight Camp that Rainbow called Scootaloo by name, just ‘squirt’ or ‘kiddo’. So no, I can’t say for sure if she’s a fighter. I know she can fight, obviously, but how well? No clue.” The nurse looked the boy over. ”What about you? How’s the breathing?”

“It’s a lot better. I still have to pace myself, I still can’t run, but I can fly with the rest now, that’s all I wanted. Thank you for asking.” He smiled weakly.

Lyra ran her hoof over the line in the cloud. “What’s with the line?”

“I’m not allowed to cross it, or I get sent home. Rainbow Dash has gotten strict now.”

Scootaloo and Rainbow were exchanging light blows, not really punching straight on but more like curling their hooves towards each other’s elbows, as if they were aiming to sideswipe each other with the edge of their hooves. Somewhere in the back of his head, Whimper realised that sort of blow was supposed to be used to hit the joints, but how he knew it was a mystery. He also noticed Dash was teaching Scootaloo some other basic moves that wouldn’t work as well against a bigger opponent. What is she up to?

Lyra nudged him. “I guess it’s to make sure you don’t get out of control. Big kid like you, you can be a real menace if you ever got it into your head.”

He groaned.“I know. I try not to be, though. That counts for something, right?”

“Of course it does. You know, you’re actually not that different from any other pony.” Lyra gave him a knowing smile.

Whimper sighed. Does everypony here know what happened with me and Kludde? “What makes you say that?”

“Well, we unicorns tend to grow up a little weird. We see our role models use magic, and we can hardly wait to master it ourselves. So on one side, you have unicorns feeling like they’re missing something, like they still need to get better to, well, be good, period. But then there’s always this moment, just one moment, after we get our magic going, that we get scared. We start realising that we can use magic to do so many things, we doubt if we should even have that sort of power. We can get a lot of things done, and pegasi and Earth ponies can’t follow all of it.” She let that last one sink in for a bit.

"So you feel sorry you're stronger?" Whimper asked, trying to follow the logic.

“Sometimes, yes. It gets lonely at one point or another, and scary for the really powerful ones. We can turn on our friends and cause them a lot of trouble, intentionally or not, and we try to find a balance between those two instincts of power and restraint. So, what I’m trying to say is it doesn’t really matter which side of that balance you’re on, there are other ponies there, Rainbow Dash included.”

Whimper looked up at her. She just thinks I’m scared of my own strength. Okay, I guess that is something a lot of ponies get. “There’s just one difference between me and unicorns.”

“No magic?”

His stomach gave off a nervous groan. “No control.”

Lyra raised her eyebrow. No control? Oh, of course. Big arms like that, heavy bulk to drag around, he’s just clumsy. No wonder he’s so nervous, after that ‘ripping heads’ thing he’s probably worried he’ll crack somepony’s ribs with a hug. “Well, the Elements of Harmony don’t have any control and they don’t seem to mind.” Lyra grinned.

“Huh?” He narrowed his eyes.

“I’m not kidding. Ponyville’s a dangerous town sometimes, and having them around doesn’t make it any safer. I’ve heard the gossip and seen it happen with my own eyes. They hurt each other, badly. Twilight’s set the whole town upside down a few times, and she didn’t realise she was doing it, either. But she tries to make up for it, and everypony forgives her.”

Whimper weighed that in his head. ”It’s still not the same.”

“Why not? Even heroes make mistakes, you know.”

Whimper didn’t reply. He just sighed as her words sank in.

“Whimper! Keep your eyes on the action!” Dash called out.

“Oh, better pay attention.” Lyra smiled that toothy smile like a petulant student who’d just been snapped awake in class.

Scootaloo braced herself. She’d gotten the hang of the basics, and pretty quickly at that. She wasn’t bad at maneuvering on her scooter, which made it so manipulating her centre of gravity was second nature to her. Now she could finally prove herself to her idol.

“Okay, just one thing before we start. Give up when it gets too much for you. I don’t want to hurt you, but I will if you don’t stop in time. Understand?”

The filly nodded.

Then she blinked.

Then she was on her back, with two front legs pressing against her throat. Something hurt in her tailbone, and her right hind leg felt like it had been stung by a bee or something.

Rainbow Dash grinned wickedly. “Gotcha.”

Rainbow Dash backed off. Scootaloo got to her hooves and shook her head. Her throat hurt from the sudden attack, as well.

“I’ll go a little slower for you.” Rainbow Dash got back into position.

With a swift motion, Dash came in for a swipe at Scoot’s hooves, landing her unceremoniously on her side.
Scootaloo groaned and shook her head, which was now starting to throb from the abuse. She was getting roughed up, and she wasn’t sure if she liked it very much.

Rainbow kept on jumping up and down, agitated. “Come on, kiddo, don’t tell me you’re too slow to keep up.”

Lyra kept her eye on Whimper. He was shaking with repressed anger.

“Easy, Whimper. Rainbow Dash knows what she’s doing.”

“But...” He gestured to his friend as she was slowly getting back on her hooves.

Lyra patted Whimper on the back to keep him calm. “I know, but what do you think she’s trying to do?”

Whimper looked at the scene, but his mind was clouding over with anger. “I don’t know. I don’t understand this. I just wanna stop it.”

“That just means you care for your friend, and that’s good. But you can’t stop it. Rainbow Dash told me what she wanted to do, and I agree with her. Have a little faith, you’ll see. It’ll be all right. I’m right here if things get out of hand. I could sedate you again if I have to.”

The boy grimaced. He shook his head, not wanting to be robbed of consciousness again.

“Last try, Scootaloo. Try to keep up.” Dash winked.

Scootaloo braced herself for the attack. This wasn’t at all like the cloudwrestling she’d seen. She was getting her head handed to her. Granted, Dash hadn’t really bothered striking her (thank Celestia), but the shoves and pokes were getting a little painful. The object wasn’t to get her opponent thrown out of the ring, it was to get her opponent down for the count and unable to fight on. She’d never really understood the difference before now.

Again, the mare came in for the attack. Despite Scootaloo’s quick reaction, she still wound up with her belly pressed against the cloud floor and one foreleg clenched behind her back, pinned under Dash’s shoulder. She was basically being sat on, with one foreleg wrenched in a very painful position. “Ow! You’re hurting me, Rainbow Dash!”

“Then give up, squirt. What are you trying to prove, anyway?” Dash seemed to mock her little opponent.

“I’m not gonna give up.” Scoot squirmed under the weight, tears forming as her wings were being squashed under the weight. She was panicking, she could barely breathe.

Whimper was trembling. She’s pinned down. Scoot doesn’t like being pinned down. “Don’t…”

Dash saw it, but she shook her head at the colt. Her expression looked serious, almost ferocious. She leaned forward with that foreleg clenched under her shoulders. She got her own arms into position near Scoot’s hoof joint, ready to start twisting it even more painfully. “Why don’t you give up?”

“Because you wouldn’t give up,” Scootaloo blurted out. ”I wanna be just like you and Whimper so…” She tried pushing herself up, but it was no good. Her wings were starting to buzz in a reflex, to no avail. All it did was make her back hurt more.

“Fine. If you’re not gonna give up, then I’m gonna keep on going.” She pushed that foreleg forward again, getting the filly crying in earnest.

Scootaloo heard a tear, like crackling embers, and something started burning under her skin. It hurt, a lot. “Ow! Why are you hurting me like this?” she whimpered.

“Because that’s what happens when you don’t give up in time.” Rainbow Dash’s voice became eerily calm.

Scootaloo sobbed. Is that regret in Dash’s voice? It doesn’t make any sense. “Fine. I give up.”

Slowly, Rainbow Dash got up. Scootaloo turned her head to her assailant and found tears just being held back in the mare’s eyes. She gestured Lyra to come forward, as well as Whimper. With a quick inspection the unicorn found the injured muscles and soothed the pain. Whimper glared at his instructor, but remained silent. He didn’t want to risk losing it.

“Why would you do that?” Scootaloo asked with a snivel, testing that sore arm as it got healed up.

“You wouldn’t give up, even when you knew you could get hurt.” Dash rubbed her eyes to get some dirt out. At least, that’s what she’d admit to.

“But I just want to be like you.” Scootaloo turned to Dash and Whimper. ”And you don’t give up.”

“That’s what I’m trying to tell you. I don’t know about your friend, but I give up when I know I have to. Pushing your limits is good, but a limit is a limit for a good reason. I’m twice your size, I’m way faster than you, and you’ve never been in a real fight in your entire life. You shouldn’t even be thinking about trying to do serious sparring with me without being prepared. But you did, and you got hurt because of it.” The mare tapped the girl’s chest for emphasis.

Scootaloo pouted. “You could’ve just said so.”

“Sure. And then you’d just listen?” Dash raised an eyebrow. ”I can boss Whimper around, I know that, but not you. You wouldn’t listen to me or any other grownup. But now you know how it can feel. Think about it. Would you be careful back home if somepony told you, or would you try something dangerous just to see if you could?”

That got a blush from the little pegasus. Okay, maybe she’s got a point.

Rainbow Dash smiled down at her. “You want to be like me, and I’m flattered. But even if I push my limits, I learned to respect them, the hard way. I only got hurt once, but it hurt really bad, and it was nearly the end of me. And if you’re gonna treat me like a role model, then I’m responsible for what you do copying me. I can’t have you getting into trouble or getting hurt and then saying you did it because that’s what I’d do. I’d never forgive myself.” She grimaced. ”It’s scary for me to see you repeating mistakes I know I made, and I wish I could make sure that you don’t. You probably will anyway. But those mistakes were painful, and there’s no way I can warn you without showing that pain. I’m sorry, but that’s how it is.”

“So what you’re saying is, I’ll never be as awesome as you and I should give up trying.” Scootaloo let her head hang.

Rainbow Dash lifted her chin. “What I’m saying is, do you want to be awesome or do you want to be happy? Because the sooner you learn the difference, the better. In a real fight, you shouldn’t give up if you really can’t. When you really have to, keep going. But don’t get wrecked just trying to prove something or training. When you need to give up, it’s okay. When it doesn’t count, it’s not worth it. Lesson three is to save it for when it counts. You don’t need pain to grow, even if a lot of ponies might tell you otherwise. And how else am I supposed to get that into your head?”

“Well…”

Rainbow Dash pulled the filly close and hugged her head to her chest, one wing rubbing over her back. “I’m sorry I went too far. It’ll hurt for another day or so. But you need to realise you could have avoided it by giving up and asking me to show you how to fight right. If you ever need to defend yourself for real you’re not going to get that kind of chance. You'll need to know who you can fight and who you need to run away from. And if you practise flying to the point where you exhaust yourself, just remember that being able to fly means you can fall a lot farther down when your muscles fail. You wanna follow my example, you learn when to take a step back. That goes double for the Sonic Rainboom, don’t ever let me catch you practising that without me there. Even trying it is more dangerous than anything you know, and there are worse things that can happen than just failing it.”

Scootaloo looked up at Rainbow Dash. The mare really did look scared, like she was afraid she’d hurt Scootaloo too much, or not enough. It made her words sink in, and the filly realised that she was, at least, being treated kind of like an adult. Rainbow Dash didn’t sugar-coat it, she made things clear right from the get-go, and she cared. Sure she was coarse, sure she’d hurt her a little, but she cared. And she knew that Scootaloo would get hurt no matter what, because they really were that much alike. Scootaloo would have done the same, if she had that kind of foresight.

Besides, if Rainbow Dash didn’t go a little rough on her, the filly might as well have been taking lessons from Fluttershy.

“Come on, dry your tears and we’ll go again, slowly this time.” Dash patted her on the back and leaned in to whisper. ”And I’ll show you how to beat bigger opponents, too. Then we’ll have a fair fight.”

The filly's eyes lit up at the prospect. A fair fight with Rainbow Dash? A match as an equal to the most awesome pegasus to ever fly across Equestrian skies?

How can anyone stay mad at that?

Scootaloo turned to a sulking Whimper as the pair was eating dinner. “You look kinda mad.”

His ears perked up in surprise. “Hmm? Oh, it’s nothing, just my stomach’s a little upset.”

“Oh, give me a break, you really feel that bad about Rainbow Dash teaching me how to fight?” She leaned in a little for comfort.

“Umm, yes, actually. It’s not right. You looked scared, Scootaloo, and she hurt you.”

“And then she apologised and made sure it didn’t hurt as much.”

“That doesn’t make it all right.”

Scootaloo shrugged. “No, but the fact that I asked for it does.”

“You didn’t ask for it, Scoot. Rainbow Dash knew you were going to get hurt and kept on going. It’s not right.”

“Look who’s talking, mister ‘Don’t tell anyone I have a breathing problem’. At least I got something out of it. I’ve never gotten that much time that close to Rainbow Dash. That fighting practice today was better than a sleepover at her place. I’m pretty happy about it.”

The colt sighed as he worked down another slice of carrot. “I’m sorry. I just get worked up, you know? Would you believe my arm stung when she twisted yours?”

“Wow. That bad, huh?” She winced in sympathy.

A solemn nod, and the sound of carrot crunching.

Scootaloo kept up her smile. “Look on the bright side. Now we’re pretty much equal again, at least by Flight Camp standards.”

“How do you figure that?” The blue colt narrowed his eyes in thought.

“You took on Rainbow Dash in cloudwrestling and managed to fight her to a standstill. I took on Rainbow Dash in a serious sparring match and almost did as well as you, for a first time. As for everything outside of Flight Camp, after today, I know I can catch up to you.”

“You really just wanna top what I did?” Whimper sounded almost insulted at that.

“Why not? I’ve made the newspapers with my other friends, no reason you should be any different. You don’t like having your name up somewhere, but wouldn’t it be okay if your friends’ names were up in the same place?”

He smiled as that image formed in his head. “I… I guess it would be nice. But you wouldn’t go chasing any monsters just to get famous, would you?”

Scootaloo shook her head. “Nah, I think I’ve got that covered.”

“How?”

To that, she gave an unsettling grin. “Know anything about speed records?”

“So Scootaloo isn’t hurt too badly, then?” Twilight asked as she got another bite of her dinner.

“No, I had Lyra on standby. She’ll be fine in the morning. It’s not so bad if you can treat it quickly.” Rainbow Dash took another bite of her daisy sandwich.

“But Whimper got upset, I take it?”

“Oh yeah, he looked ready to pounce.”

“Are you really sure you’re doing the right thing?” Twilight Sparkle chanced a glance towards the pair’s table. The colt looked more cheerful than before, and Scootaloo was busy explaining something or other that must have involved quick turns and soaring, judging by how excitedly she waved her hooves.

Rainbow Dash sighed in resignation. “I’m sure, Twilight. This is something I have to do alone.”

“So, let me get this straight. You know about some problem Whimper’s got, that you only figured out after reading the Royal Guard’s report, and that I know nothing of, despite reading the same letter.”

“It’s not that big a deal, Twilight. You couldn’t know, you don’t even know what words to look for. It's complicated.”

“That’s not my point, Rainbow Dash. What bothers me is the only way you could possibly know about something that obscure is if you’ve come into contact with it yourself. So either you know a pony like him, or you are like him. Either way, that’s a pretty big deal, considering how he’s acting.”

Rainbow swallowed and sighed. “Look, I don’t like talking about it, to anyone. Part of the problem is that he… that I know when I’m being watched, or talked about, and we can tell how ponies feel when they’re watching us. Imagine feeling like you’re talking in front of a crowd, with all those eyes on you, all the time. Well, maybe not all the time, but a lot of the time. That’s not easy to get used to.

Twilight winced. “I can’t imagine it would be. But what are you gonna do about it, then?”

“I’m not going to do anything, I’m just going to try and explain it so he knows what to expect. I just want to get this thing over with and leave him alone. All this attention and talking behind his back? It’s not helpful, it’s annoying. So I’m going to sort him out tonight, have a nice long talk and that’ll be the end of it. No more talking about that fight, no more 'therapy', just having some fun at Flight Camp.”

“Can I least know what he has, or what you have, so I can look it up?” Twilight finished her carrots along with her sentence. She barely let it register that Rainbow had the same thing, instead of a friend with whatever it was.

A facehoof and a grunt answered her. “No, Twilight. You can’t, because there’s no name for it that you can look up. It’s got a dozen different names and descriptions. I can’t even pronounce most of them, and the ones I can don't make a lot of sense. The worst part of it is, it’s nearly impossible to explain in words. I’m not even sure how I’m going to explain it to him.”

The unicorn considered that. “Doesn’t that get lonely?”

Dash shrugged. “Nah.”

Twilight thought for a moment before continuing. “So how did you get it, then? How does anyone get it?”

“Twilight, you’re my friend and I like you, but just trust me on this. You don’t wanna know.” Rainbow shot her a stern look.

“Okay. I'll respect that. Just remember I’m here if you want me.”

Scootaloo prodded Whimper’s shoulder, noting the hard flesh beneath his fur. “Come on, lighten up. It’s no fun when you’re like this. I’ve gotten banged up worse on my scooter, honest! I kinda feel more at home now, actually.”

“It’s not that, it’s just… I feel like I’m being watched.”

Scootaloo turned around and glanced at the cafeteria. A few fillies were stealing glances his way, then quickly averted their gaze when noticed. Scootaloo and Whimper were a bit younger than everyone else, but apparently that didn’t stop the twelve-year-olds from pining over them, or rather, him.

This brought a neat little thought to the filly’s mind. She was now hanging out with the popular kid. She was used to hanging out with the cool kids, sure, but ‘cool’ and ‘popular’ didn’t always mix, because ponies could be silly like that.

“Told you you’d get attention from the fillies. I guess us being a couple only makes them like you more. How does that even work?”

Scootaloo certainly knew the concept of affection, being like alcohol for adults, namely nice but to be used in moderation. She also grasped the concept of romance, in that it was needlessly complicated and confusing, occasionally vomit-inducing, again much like alcohol, at least from what she’d gleaned from aunt Vinyl. The filly had even mastered the concept of ‘a love that dare not speak its name’, mostly because dumb movie directors always shoehorned it in during her favourite action flicks.

She did not, however, grasp the concept of just longing for someone you didn’t even know. She supposed that must be what a ‘crush’ was.

“I don’t think I like it very much. They’re looking at me all weird.” Whimper forced himself to keep staring at his empty plate and not at the girls staring at him.

Scootaloo confirmed that with another glance around the room. “How can you tell? You’re not looking back at them.”

“I don’t know, I can just feel it. When I relax, I can… I dunno, pick up things, maybe? I just thought I was imagining it.”

“No, you’re not, you’re pretty right about that one. Maybe you have ninja senses for a special talent.”

That elicited Whimper’s patented ‘This filly is kind of crazy’ look. “Ninja? Me? I stick out like an island turtle in a lake.”

“'Ninja turtle' sounds pretty cool to me.”

For the umpteenth time at Flight Camp, Whimper let his head hang. “Just... please tell me I’m imagining things, and that no one is watching me.”

“There’s about five fillies staring at you.” Scoot denied him that peace of mind. "But it’s not so bad. It just means they like you.”

“Umm… if you’re right about me not imagining it… then no, they don’t.”

Scootaloo scanned the room again. “I still don’t see how you can tell.”

“You and me both. I can't really switch it on or off, but it's on now."

“So that little training did give you something new?”

Whimper’s stomach gave off a nervous groan. “No, I've had it before, just not like this clearly. I just want it to stop. I can feel those girls wanting to hold me and hug me like a sick puppy.”

“Don’t be rude, Whimper. Just because someone likes you, doesn’t mean they’re a sick puppy.” Even Scootaloo never took her aversions that far.

“I don’t mean that. I mean they want to treat me like a sick puppy.” He buried his head in his front hooves.

“So let me get this straight. You’d rather take a beating from a girl like me and be treated like an equal, than be cuddled by a girly girl?” Scoot raised her eyebrow.

The boy shivered. “They don’t want a boyfriend, they want a pet. I like being hugged, but it feels like they want to smother me. I think I can even smell their perfumes. At least when you try beating me up, you don’t treat me like I’m beneath you. “

Scootaloo stared at him for that remark.

“What?”

She kept on staring, then wobbled the foreleg that Rainbow Dash had twisted.

“Oh, right. I said I was sorry.”

“That’s okay, you’re just looking out for me. So what do you plan to do about the staring? Just walk out?”

“They’ll just keep staring when we’re around the campfire tonight. Guess I should get used to it, huh?” He grimaced.

Scootaloo pondered it for a while. “Want me to stop them?”

“Would you?”

Scootaloo nodded solemnly. “I would. By any means necessary?”

He looked left and right at that. “Umm… sure?”

Rainbow Dash wolfed down her second helpings as she saw it happen. A few gasps went around the room, and judging by the goat sound, at least one filly had fainted.

At the table, all anyone saw was Whimper’s face, eyes closed and mouth eclipsed by an orange filly’s face and hooves.

Gone was any doubt that those two were not madly in love with each other.

They were kissing.

For quite long.

On the lips.

At least, as far as any of the foals could see.

In reality, Scootaloo merely moved her lips in close and hid the fact by holding his face with her hooves. Luckily, Whimper was a good actor, and so was Scootaloo. Everyone bought it, even most of the grownups were fooled at first.

Rainbow Dash, and a few other Ponyvillians, turned her head to Twilight. Dash and Lyra hadn't forgotten the remarks about a love potion yet.

However, to sway those fears, Twilight Sparkle quietly uttered that universal phrase that one female of a species should never say about another female. “She’s faking it.”

Scootaloo smirked triumphantly as the pair exited. “Well, that solved that problem.”

Whimper nodded, albeit hesitatingly. “Uhuh. And my mom’s going to kill me when she hears about this.”

“Why? Because she warned you about girls like me?” Scoot squeed.

“No. It’s just that she said if I like a girl, I should buy her dinner first, then kiss her, then sleep with her. But we were sleeping together first, then we kissed, or pretended to. Does that mean I have to buy you dinner now?” He looked at her, confused.

“Your mom said that?”

“Yeah, and then she covered her mouth like she’d said something she shouldn’t have, right before taking another sip of cider. It was a Hearth's Warming Eve party, maybe I heard her wrong.”

The girl shrugged. “She was probably just excited, I wouldn’t worry about it.”

Rainbow Dash came up from behind them. “Whimper, I’m going to want a word with you tonight. About the thing with the you-know-what.”

“She knows, Rainbow Dash. I told her the whole story.”

Rainbow Dash smiled at the two. “That’s very good of you. Anyway, I just want to get some things straight, and then nopony will bother you about it again, I promise. I’ll come find you around sundown.”

Whimper raised his eyebrows in surpise. That actually sounded quite good. “Um, okay. What do you feel like doing until then, Scootaloo? More practice?”

Just then, Scootaloo’s eye caught a grey pegasus colt with a dark mane walking out. He looked pensive, and his left ear was drooping. “Actually, why don’t you go to the cloudwrestling rings and I’ll catch up. I still need to wrap up a little something.”

“Sure.” The colt shrugged and flew off to watch some more wrestling. He still didn’t know how he did most of his fighting moves, maybe some of the older kids had a few pointers.

Scootaloo, for her part, went to talk with the grey colt. “Hey, Rumble. What’s happening?”

“Nothing much.” He sighed. ”Where’s Whimper?”

“Off beating on some bigger kids again. I was just wondering, are you all right?”

Rumble avoided looking her in the eye. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

“Because your left ear always droops when you’re feeling embarrassed or ashamed about something, and it’s drooping now.” She pointed at said ear.

“It does? How would you know about that?”

“Let’s just say you’re lucky Celestia’s cake was a bigger story than you shopping with your mom.” Now Scootaloo avoided looking him in the eye.

“Oh, right, the Gabby Gums thing. Thanks for not printing that one.”

“You’re welcome. So what’s bothering you? That filly not liking your mane anymore?” Scootaloo wasn’t the only one who was being talked about, but Rumble’s situation strangely didn’t get as much publicity.

“No, she’s nice to hang out with. I’m fine, really.” He tried to flash her a smile, but it didn’t look too convincing.

Scootaloo made a face she normally reserved for an out of control Apple family member or a unicorn with a nervous breakdown.

“Okay, fine. I’m just wondering if you’ve decided what you’re going to do to me after camp, that’s all.”

Of course you are. Boys are just weird that way. “Rumble, I’m not going to give you a hard time for laughing at me or calling me names. And neither will Whimper.”

“But I didn’t apologise. And I’m not going to. So… just do your worst, I’m not going to say I’m sorry.”

Scootaloo smiled at that. “Rumble, who do you think you’re talking to? I don’t care about you saying you’re sorry, I care about you being sorry. And you’re sorry, I get it. So stop beating yourself up, you’re making me feel bad about it.”

“But--”

“But what? You made fun of me, big deal. You’re not a jerk, are you?”

“Umm… no?”

“Good. I hate jerks, and you're not a jerk. So I don't hate you. Could you stop moping about it now?” She noticed that left ear was rising slowly again.

“Do you boss all the colts around like that, or just Whimper?”

She chuckled at that. “Never mind. You wanna beat yourself up, go ahead. But I’m not going to do it for you. And I won’t tell Apple Bloom or Sweetie Belle.”

“So we’re cool?”

“I’m cool, you... you did get in on Hurricane Day, so you’re kinda cool. But you can stop watching behind your back, I won’t do anything.”

“Well, okay,” he replied with a flourish, walking off. ”Oh, just one thing. You and Whimper -- that kiss -- that was fake, right?”

Scootaloo lowered her voice to a whisper. “Don’t tell anyone. Whimper thinks the girls want to smother him.”

“I know how that feels.” He rolled his eyes at that one.

“Okay, everypony, let’s wrap up and head to the fire,” Derpy said as the sun was setting. Scootaloo had enjoyed watching the display. Now that she actually knew some combat dynamics she could comment on every fighter’s style, and work out what kind she would like.

Whimper had only done a few fights, still blacking out a little when he moved, but at least now he was gutsy enough to try on his own accord.

As the rest of the foals headed off, Rainbow Dash kept Whimper back. She nodded to Derpy as the mailmare made sure everyone else was off. Whimper sighed, smiling to Scootaloo as she went out of earshot.

Whimper took a long, deep breath to steady himself. “Okay, I’m ready to talk now. What do you wanna know about the fight, Rainbow Dash?”

Rainbow gulped and braced herself. “I’m not here to talk about the fight, Whimper. I want to talk about what happened afterwards.”

Whimper shrugged. “What? Nothing happened afterwards. I kept it a secret, Peachy agreed, we got into some other stuff together. There’s nothing to talk about.”.

“Yes, there is. After your fight with that demon thing, you started noticing some changes, didn’t you? You started feeling different from other ponies and you couldn’t tell why. And you started blacking out too, I guess.”

Whimper clenched his eyes shut. “I’m sorry, but I’ve had this kind of talk a million times already. I’ve heard doctors say I have some syndrome, and they just go with that. I don’t like talking about whatever it is I have, and I didn’t like doctors to begin with. Nopony understands, nopony even knows what’s wrong with me, and I wish I didn’t know, either. I know you’re an Element of Harmony and all, but what makes you think you understand?”

Rainbow Dash felt a pang in her chest at that. Some part of her hoped she was wrong, but she knew she wasn’t. This would be painful, for both of them. “You’re a slow eater. You don’t eat much but every once in a while you gorge and stuff yourself. You never put on any fat and you never eat so much it hurts the next day. But when you gorge, you eat more than normal ponies can handle, that’s what got you through that eating contest.”

Whimper looked away. “So you’ve been paying attention while I eat. Anypony can see that.”

“You can tell when ponies are watching you sometimes, and how they think about you while they’re watching you. It comes and goes, sometimes it's like reading minds but you don't know how to practise it or switch it off. You can’t handle crowds, not because of the noise, but because the excitement is contagious. You feel what everyone else feels, and it’s like you’re not really in control anymore. That works both ways, too. You can get into a mood and make it so other ponies get into the same mood without them realising it. In your case, your friends feel down when you’re feeling down, and not just because of sympathy.” Rainbow Dash kept her voice even, but a hint of sadness shone through.

Whimper kept up the denial. “You just checked that around the campfire. It’s not a big deal.”

“Okay.” She lay down a little distance from him, head pointing the same way his was. ”Not impressed yet? I'll tell you what. I'm going to start saying some things no one could possibly know. You don't have to do anything, but if you start getting scared because I'm right you can scoot a little closer.”

He nodded quietly, lying down right on the spot.

“You don’t have much of a sweet tooth. You don’t hate sweets, but you only like the softer flavours, like marzipan or merengue. You like chocolate, but not pure chocolate, at least not too much. You do like bonbons or truffles, the expensive stuff,” Dash stated matter-of-factly.

Reluctantly, he got a little closer.

“You have this weird reflex of pressing your tongue against the back of your front teeth, and sometimes when you do that you get a throbbing sensation in your forehead. Right where a horn would be if you were a unicorn.” She tapped the spot in question.

Another little scoot closer. Dash could feel her throat constricting. She was right on the mark. “You don’t want to be mollycoddled, but you like hugs, a lot. It’s embarrassing, but when someone hugs you like they mean it, you feel like you melt a little. And you can tell when they mean it. You also don’t get cold easily, but other ponies keep saying you feel cold to the touch, even when you’re not really out of breath. You think it's from the Eagle's Grasp, but it can't be because it's all over your body, not just your back.”

He was right next to her at that one. The grimace on his face spoke of betrayal, like someone had uncovered a big secret behind his back. But no one knew, so the only way Rainbow Dash could know was if she invaded his privacy. “How did you find out about all that?”

“Right after that fight, you noticed reading got a little harder. You couldn’t really keep up in school because every time you read, you get tired really easily. Reading’s a chore for you, and even if your teachers say you only need to try harder, deep down you just know you’re stupid. After a while, you decided that books just aren’t for you.” Dash gave up on hiding the sympathy and regret in her voice.

The colt locked eyes with the mare at that one. “Have you been sneaking out and talking to my teacher?”

“Aside from blacking out, you’ve had seizures, at least twice. You were completely alone, maybe asleep, and all of a sudden your body started twitching and shaking violently. You saw lights in your eyes that wouldn’t go out even if you closed them, and you heard thunder when there was nothing there. It felt like you’d die. And deep down, you feel like you’re still dying.” She was almost crying in sympathy at that last one.

Whimper’s face went blank in shock. “I never told anypony about that, not even my parents. Y-you… you couldn’t know that, there’s no way you’d know.”

Rainbow Dash bit her lip. “Yes, there is. There’s one way I could know, squirt.”

His jaw went slack. His wings relaxed and drooped over the cloud. “You too?”

Rainbow Dash chuckled and nodded. “Yup, every bit of it, and I’m sorry. You can’t imagine how sorry I am. I should have noticed it sooner. I would have noticed it sooner, but… you’re kind of special. You've got a couple of other things that hide it, and even without that it's hard to catch.”

“So you really do know what it’s like,” the boy said with an air of relief and surprise.

Rainbow Dash sighed. “I do, and you’re not going to like it.”

“But… you’re normal. So you can show me how to control it, right? Fix it so I won’t hurt my friends?”

Rainbow Dash took a deep breath and shook her head. “Kid, that’s the least of your worries.”