Skies were clear above Ponyville, the early afternoon sun inching across fields of blue. The air was crisp, the slight breeze biting if not for the faint warmth granted by the sun's rays. A wisp of a cloud swam over the horizon, a growing imperfection in the previously unmarred emptiness of the sky as it drew nearer.
Scootaloo followed the painfully slow journey of the lone cloud as it passed over the park; a nigh-imperceptible shadow crept over her supine form as the tuft of cirrus momentarily obscured the sun, continuing to drift on out of view moments later. Good flying weather, the filly noted absently, corners of her mouth drawn downward in a slight frown. Inhale; she reached up with her forelegs and clasped her hooves behind her head. Exhale; she crossed one hind leg over the other, her unfocused gaze never leaving the sky. The cool grass tickled her back as she shifted, and her wings twitched idly at her sides, aching for use. Inhale...
A pair of thumps sounded a short distance above her line of sight, and she craned her head upwards. A familiar light blue mare was stuck to the grassy ceiling, trotting towards her with her teeth bared threateningly. "Hey, kiddo," she heard as she rolled over onto her belly. "Sorry for taking so long."
"It's okay," she replied with a flick of her purple tail. She mirrored her visitor's now-inverted snarl with a grin of her own and rose to her hooves, sliding forward into a delicious stretch. "Mmph. What're we doing first, Dash? Wing-ups? Weights?"
Rainbow's gleeful smile subsided, leaving a smug smirk in its wake. "Nuh-uh. Today," she began, turning her back to the orange filly. "you..."
Scootaloo's curious smile melted away when Rainbow twisted to face her again, a familiar device clutched in her forehooves. "...are gonna teach me." The filly's wide eyes traced down the object's long, metallic neck, underneath the deck and over the four smooth, hard rubber wheels, then slowly back up to a pair of curved handlebars.
"Hunh?" She grunted, turning to peer over her shoulder; a few yards away, her own blue scooter lay on its side in the shade of a tree, right where she'd left it nearly half an hour earlier. She returned her gaze to the brand-new, shiny red scooter, her ears folding back in confusion. "But we... What about flying?" Her quiet murmur rang with disappointment.
Rainbow's amused smile fell slightly, and she gently set her scooter on the ground between them. "Well..." She tapped a hoof against her chin, wings fluttering anxiously. "Think of it this way... You're using your wings to get around, aren'tcha?"
Scootaloo lowered her eyes. "Uh-huh."
"Sounds a lot like flying to me." Rainbow shrugged, grinning down at the filly as she idly pawed the ground. When Scootaloo didn't respond, Rainbow sagged in defeat, releasing a whisper of a sigh. "I'm sorry, squirt. I thought you'd be excited." She pushed the scooter to the side and raised her hoof to ruffle Scootaloo's messy mane before setting it back down on the ground. "I mean, I sure was. You get some serious lightning speed on that thing."
Scootaloo paused, finally raising her head and looking into Rainbow's eyes. "You... were?"
Rainbow nodded. "Yeah, I thought it would be fun for us to do something different together, something you've really got the hang of." She heaved a wistful sigh, tossing her head and dramatically staring off into the distance. "But, y'know, we can just do some more training, if that's what you'd prefer." Her ear twitched as it picked up the fading sound of hurried hoofbeats. She looked forward again, chuckling as Scootaloo galloped toward her, scooter in tow.
"Well, what are we just standing around for?!" The little pegasus raced past, only to let out an "oof" as she was brought to a sudden stop by a blue hoof to the chest.
"Hold up there, squirt," Rainbow laughed. "First, you gotta teach me how to ride this thing."
Her mood brightening even further, Scootaloo nodded vigorously. She led Rainbow over to the dirt path cutting through the park and hopped onto her own scooter. "Okay! You stand on here and steer with your front hooves." The filly demonstrated as such, rearing up on her hind legs and draping her forelegs over the handlebars, then turned to watch Rainbow expectantly. "Like this."
Rainbow carefully stepped onto her scooter and lifted her forelegs over the handlebars, imitating Scootaloo's pose. Taking a moment to steady herself, she nearly toppled over in surprise when she felt something drop on top of her head and a pair of hooves encircling her neck. With a click the hooves retreated, and as Rainbow fiddled with the strap under her chin, Scootaloo walked around the front of her scooter, flashing her a sheepish smile.
"You should probably be wearing a helmet, since you're new, y'know?" Rainbow opened her mouth to insist that she most definitely did not need a helmet, but after a moment it fell shut again, morphing into a small smile.
"Sure. Thanks, Scoots," she laughed, reaching forward to rub the filly's mane. She would have succeeded in doing so, were it not for the loss of balance that came with letting go of the handlebars; instead, she tipped over with a squawk, hooves flailing for a split second before she hit the grass.
Scootaloo did her best to hold back a laugh as she helped nudge the mare back to her hooves. "I guess that's a good place to start: Don't let go of the handlebars."
"Got it," Rainbow replied with a curt nod.
Hopping back onto her own scooter, Scootaloo looked over at Rainbow and chewed her lip for a moment as she considered how best to continue. Personally, she'd always been more attuned to learning by doing. Besides, Rainbow Dash had to be a fast learner, and she already knew how to use her wings. Scootaloo straightened up, mouth set in a firm line, and began slowly circling Rainbow, the older pegasus's eyes following her as she went.
"Okay," the filly began in her deepest, most teacherly voice, much to Rainbow's amusement, "so, some basics first. You've got the stance down, so next is how to... well, how to move." Gesturing to the pair of wings buzzing behind her back, she continued. "One can clearly see that one must use one's wings to, uh..." She rolled her hoof in the air, searching her brain for the most scientifically accurate terminology she knew. "...go."
Rainbow failed to hide the grin spreading across her muzzle. "Oh, can one?"
"Yeah." Scootaloo's head sank down, her face growing red. "Or you can use one of your back hooves, I guess. It's loads slower and tougher, though."
"I think my wings'll do just fine." Rainbow gripped the handlebars tighter, staring straight ahead with a determined smile. "Can I try now?"
"Yeah!" Scootaloo stopped her scooter and watched eagerly as the blue pegasus extended her wings, taking a short moment to steady herself. One hard thrust sent Rainbow quickly rolling forward, and she let out a small whoop of excitement. The experience wasn't too unlike pushing clouds while sitting or laying down on top of them, but the vibrations running through the scooter and into her legs provided an interestingly exhilarating sensation. She flapped her wings again, noticing too late that she was veering off to the right side of the path. The scooter jerked uncontrollably as it strayed into the bumpy field, and Rainbow tumbled into the grass.
"Rainbow, are you okay?" Scootaloo appeared beside her idol, who sat up on her haunches, spitting and scraping blades of grass from her tongue.
"Blech. Yeah, I'm good." She dusted her hoof against her chest, grinning despite the embarrassment of wiping out within only five or so seconds of riding. "No little spill is gonna keep Rainbow Dash down, kid."
Scootaloo smiled and rolled her eyes, moreso at herself than at Rainbow. "Yeah, I should'a known."
Rainbow righted her scooter, pushed it back onto the dirt path, and immediately climbed back on and extended her wings. "I'm gonna try again, 'kay?" With an affirmation from her little instructor, she thrust her wings back once more. She followed this up with several more strong wingbeats, and she barely noticed until Scootaloo hollered from behind her that she'd lifted the scooter nearly a meter off the ground. Slowing to a standstill, she floated back down to ground level and set the scooter down on the path. "Heh, whoops."
"You gotta angle your wings more downward," Scootaloo explained, flaring her own wings and twisting them forward for Rainbow to observe. "You said when we fly we have to push downward and back so we go forward and up, right?" Rainbow smiled and nodded. "Well, for scooters, you gotta push upward and back so you go forward without flying off your scooter." The filly let out a little giggle. "Or, y'know, flying away with your scooter."
"Gotcha." Rainbow flared her own wings, peering back at them as she tried to mimic what Scootaloo had shown. "Yikes, that's kinda awkward. If I'm flying and wanna go downwards, I usually just dive or let gravity do my work for me." The mare shrugged and climbed back onto her scooter, arching her back a bit more than she had previously. She took a deep breath, extended her wings, tilted them slightly as Scootaloo had instructed, and thrust them backward. The scooter rolled forward a good few meters, and in addition to the burst of forward momentum, Rainbow felt herself press more heavily against the scooter. Taking that as a sign she was executing the new technique properly, she flapped her wings again in a similar fashion, and again, and again.
The scooter zoomed forward, though Rainbow once again found it veering off to the right. Recalling Scootaloo's earlier instructions, she jerked the handlebars counterclockwise to compensate. Instead of turning left as expected, however, the scooter came to a sudden stop, and Rainbow cried out as she was thrown over the handlebars. Scootaloo cringed and let out a sympathetic hiss of pain as she watched Rainbow crash into the ground and skid through the dirt until she, too, slowed to a halt.
Scootaloo once again approached the bundle of limbs and feathers, cautiously prodding one of Rainbow's cutie marks. "Still okay?"
Rainbow gave a short groan in reply, rolling onto her hooves and shaking the dust from her coat like a dog. "Doing alright, yeah." She lifted a wing to peek at her side, and both ponies grimaced; there was a streak of red beneath the base of her wing, the skin rubbed raw by the rough dirt. Noticing Scootaloo's worry, she hastily snapped the wing back to her side, concealing the abrasion. "Nothin' serious," she assured her, grinning widely. "I've gotten way worse practicing tricks."
Scootaloo nodded, and the two returned to their respective scooters. Rainbow glared at hers, bending over to inspect it more thoroughly. "I think one of the wheels might be messed up," Rainbow called, and Scootaloo rolled closer on her own scooter to have a look. "I kept going right, even though I wasn't turning the handlebars at all."
"Oh, well, turning is more about leaning than the handlebars." At Rainbow's incredulous expression, Scootaloo rubbed a hoof behind her head. "Heh, probably should have mentioned that..."
"Probably," Rainbow grumbled sarcastically, though her smile didn't do much in her favor; regardless, Scootaloo's ears fell back guiltily, and Rainbow wrapped a wing around the filly's shoulders, pulling her against her side. "It's no biggie, Scoots. Really."
"Heh, okay," Scootaloo murmured, pulling away with a grin. "Let's try again!"
Rainbow stretched her neck out, giving Scootaloo's mane a quick nuzzle before climbing back onto her scooter. "You got it, coach!"
Scootaloo covered her eyes with a foreleg, cringing for what had to be the twentieth time that day. A distant echo of "ouch!" followed by a faint crunch rang in her ears, and she sighed before making her way towards the source of the commotion.
"I'm... fine..." Rainbow's voice was raspier than Scootaloo had ever heard it as she approached the tangled heap of pony that was her mentor. "Just..." she wheezed, "just gimme a sec..." Walking in front of her so that Rainbow could see her despite having her chin buried in the dirt, Scootaloo sat down and sighed, preparing to give an analysis of her performance.
"You're focusing too much on speed and not enough on balance. When you flap your wings so hard at a downward angle, it's really easy to lean to one side without noticing it. You also need to keep your... your..." Scootaloo trailed off, just starting to take in Rainbow's exhausted expression; the mare was panting heavily from exertion and clearly struggling to keep her eyes open. Scootaloo looked her over, wincing at the numerous scrapes and bruises adorning the older pegasus's body, as well as the fact that the majority of her blue coat was stained with sweat and dust. Glancing into the distance, Scootaloo had to squint as the sun glared into her eyes, its slow descent tinting the late-afternoon sky a soft pink. The young pegasus heaved a long sigh and dropped her gaze to the ground beneath her hooves. "...I... I dunno, Dash, maybe... maybe we should call it quits."
At this remark, Rainbow's eyes opened wider, and she shifted painfully in the dirt, trying to right herself. "What? Come on, kiddo, it--"
"Rainbow." The pegasus froze, mouth still slightly open after the abrupt interruption. "Maybe it's just not meant to be." Scootaloo lifted her head and gazed longingly up into the sky, and Rainbow felt her heart drop into her stomach as the filly's eyes clouded with moisture. "Maybe you're not meant to ride scooters, and I'm just not meant... not meant... t-to..." Scootaloo's own sniffle cut her off; she let out a shaky breath and dipped her head. Though her mane obscured her eyes, she couldn't hide the telltale tears dripping from her muzzle.
Rainbow's ears flattened, her rose irises flashing with understanding. "Scoots..." She slid next to Scootaloo and wrapped a foreleg around her shoulders; she ran her other hoof through the little filly's tangled mane, pulling her head snug against her chest. Scootaloo's muffled sobs wracked both their frames, and Rainbow's chest tightened. "You know, Scoots... I have to say..." She slowly, reluctantly pushed Scootaloo back a few inches, allowing her to gaze into those watery purple eyes. "I think you're wrong on this one." Upon receiving nothing more than a slow blink, Rainbow gave her an encouraging smile. "It's hard to master anything in a day, kid."
"Not for you." Rainbow laughed as the faint mumble reached her ears, and she rolled her eyes.
"In case you haven't noticed, I've eaten more dirt today than Pinkie's eaten cupcakes." A small giggle escaped Scootaloo at that, and Rainbow went on. "But... if I keep trying, and practicing, then I'll get the hang of it, yeah?"
Scootaloo's eyes flicked over to Rainbow's scooter, no longer shiny, but rather smudged with dirt and sporting a hefty dent near the bottom of the neck. She looked back at Rainbow, her mouth curling up in a smile. "Yeah."
Rainbow raised her eyebrows, her grin stretching wider. "And you believe in me, don't you Scoots?" A nod. "Well, I believe in me, too." Rainbow draped a wing over Scootaloo's back, tousling her mane with a dusty hoof. "And that's... That's what matters. Okay?"
Scootaloo leaned against Rainbow's chest, and a wide smile overtook her features as she nuzzled into her big sister's fur. "Okay."
"Good." The two remained like that for a few moments, watching the sun fall towards the horizon, until Rainbow broke the silence, standing up and bounding over to her scooter. "Now c'mon, I want a rematch from that little race earlier."
Scootaloo snorted, climbing onto her scooter as well. "Haven't you eaten enough dust for one day?" Before Rainbow could make a retort, Scootaloo was already speeding away, a cloud of dust in her wake. Rainbow throttled the handlebars, stretched out her wings and zoomed off in hot pursuit, fighting the grin worming its way onto her muzzle.
"Don't think you can just say something like that to Rainbow Dash and get away with it, missy!"
