Rainbow Dash was trying so hard not to crack a smile. She didn’t know if it made her unsupportive, a jerk, or both, especially since the anxiety she could see plain as day in her surrogate sister’s eyes showcased just how heavy the weight of what she had just admitted to her was.
But there was no use in resisting it. Her face flushed with pink, Rainbow Dash’s wings shot out from her sides, and with a loud shout, she shot upwards in a flying backflip.
“Aaaaaaaw! Scoot! Yes! Yes!”
The little orange filly flinched when Rainbow Dash landed right beside her and dug her hoof into her scalp in an affectionate noogie. Her whole face heated up to a dark shade of red, her skin burning with embarrassment. “Rainbooow! This is serious!”
Rainbow Dash was beaming, smiling from ear to ear. She nodded her head like it was attached to a wobbly spring. “I know, I know! That’s why I’m just so… so… aaaaww! Scoot’s got her first big crush!”
Scootaloo tapped the ground with the tip of her hoof, looking down at the dirt with a blush that rivaled the glow of the setting sun. Because she wasn’t looking, it came to her as a bit of a shock when Rainbow Dash plucked her up from the ground and spun her around, causing her to holler out in surprise at the sudden feeling of leaving the earth.
“Little Scoot’s growing up! Her cutie mark, her first crush, and heck, next thing you know, you’ll be having your first…”
“Daash!” Scootaloo cut her off, scowling through her embarrassed smile. It was Rainbow Dash’s turn to blush a little, and she set Scootaloo down. She cleared her throat.
“Ahem… yeah, sorry. A little TMI, my bad. But still… d’aaaaww!”
Scootaloo’s expression was starting to sour, and Rainbow Dash realized that her excitement had probably overstayed its welcome. She grinned sheepishly. Scootaloo rubbed the back of her head, face still burning up.
“Soooo... can you help me? Or not?”
Rainbow Dash was still practically dancing on her hooves, heart swelling with pride and excitement. As such, her response was delivered with barely contained enthusiasm. She blew a raspberry. “Pfft, help you? Of course I can help you out! Just say the word, Scoots! Whaddya need help with? I mean, besides picking out a dress or something, that’s more in Rarity’s ball park…”
Scootaloo shrugged her shoulders. “I dunno… just, like, getting noticed? Doing something that’ll make him see me and go,” she said, waving her hooves above her head dramatically, “Whoa.”
Rainbow Dash grinned. “Well then, you’ve come to the right pony for the job, Scoots! When it comes to helping ponies showing off their awesomeness, strutting their stuff, and all of that good stuff, there’s no better pony in all of Equestria to help you out! Ahem,” she cleared her throat, “So… what have you tried already? Anything?”
Scootaloo shook her head slowly. She gritted her teeth. “Well… yeah. But I don’t think they worked...”
Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow. “Oh, really? Why not? You tried showing him some of your awesome scooter tricks?”
Scootaloo shook her head again. “Yeah, but… see, that’s the thing. We’re the same age, but he’s just… such a good flier. I mean, he helped you out with the tornado to get the water up to Cloudsdale last year, when he was still just a colt! And me and my scooter, we just… it isn’t the same. You know?”
Scootaloo’s ears drooped. Rainbow, however, didn’t seem to share her discouragement. She smirked, and chuckled lightly.
“Wait… so, you’re worried that since you can’t fly, he won’t care about your… oh, pfft! That’s not true, Scoots! I mean, I think your scooter tricks are awesome, and I’m one of the fastest fliers in all of Equestria! And if I think you’re awesome, then I know he will! Heck, he probably already thinks you’re one serious stuntpony, and he just hasn’t told you yet!”
Scootaloo’s eyes and ears perked up hopefully. She looked up at Rainbow Dash with shimmering eyes. “Really? You really think so?”
Rainbow Dash nodded once. “Oh yeah. Wouldn’t surprise me at all, Scoots. And hey… if you think that you haven’t been noticed by him yet, then just you wait, little sis. I’m gonna make sure he wants to ask you out by the time we’re done. Now, listen closely, and watch…”
Rainbow Dash flexed her wings, cracking the joints. She pawed at the ground with her hoof. Scootaloo stared at her intently.
“... and learn from the best.”
Rainbow Dash wasn’t a fan of early mornings, but today was a special day. There was no way she was going to miss this, not for the earliest morning in Equestria.
The hairs of Scootaloo’s mane pricked up nervously, feeling like they were charged with static. She pushed them back down with a rub of her hoof down the back of her neck. “Soo… are you sure this is gonna work, Rainbow Dash? It feels a little… silly.”
Rainbow Dash smirked knowingly. She patted the top of Scootaloo’s head. “Oh yeah, Scoots. I’m sure! Trust me, once you’ve got him wrapped around your hoof, you’ll be thanking me later!”
Scootaloo gulped. She looked at the hustle and bustle of the other schoolponies in the yard as the sun began its arc in the morning sky. She looked for the distinctive black hair and turquoise coat of Rumble to show up in the mix, but from where she was at, it was impossible to make anypony specific out. Her wings fluttered at her side.
“Okay… well, I guess I’d better get in there…” She took a deep breath. “Here goes…”
Looking straight ahead, Scootaloo started forward, walking down the path. Rainbow Dash, on the other hoof, stayed back.
Once Scootaloo was a little distance away, Rainbow shot up into the air, and within seconds, she had withdrawn a sizable cumulus cloud to rest on. She perched on the edge, gripping the cloud with her forehooves while her head peeked out. It took a little while to find Scootaloo from up high, but once she did, her eyes were locked on target.
She couldn’t wait to see what was going to unfold. Head abuzz with excitement, she waited with baited breath.
This was so going to work!
Apple Bloom’s eyes were practically popping out of her head. “Uhhh… Scoot? I don’t think this is gonna work...”
Between her two friends, neither Sweetie Belle nor Apple Bloom’s expression could exactly be considered a stamp of approval. Scootaloo groaned.
“But… Rainbow Dash told me that the best way to get Rumble to notice me was to, you know… strut my stuff!” she protested.
Sweetie Belle’s usually white face was a shade of hot pink. She grimaced. “But… maybe not the only way, right? Because what if you just… you know, asked him out, instead?”
Scootaloo facehooved, groaning loudly. “Look, I already told you, this is the only way! I trust Rainbow Dash. I mean, she knows all about this stuff, right?”
Apple Bloom groaned. Once Rainbow Dash got thrown into the conversation, she knew it was over. There was no dissuading her friend away from Rainbow’s say-so. She looked over to Sweetie Belle, and they exchanged a knowing glance.
Apple Bloom sighed. “Well… alright. If she said so…”
Scootaloo sighed, as well. Her wings did a little flutter at her sides, and her hooves shook below her. Wiping a strand of her mane out of her eyes, she looked dead ahead. She swallowed the doubt that was creeping up within her in one big gulp.
Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom were looking at him, too. Out of sympathy.
Scootaloo took a long, deep breath, and walked forward. In her mind, she rehearsed everything she and Rainbow has gone over...
“...And then, when you get close, just take your tail…” Rainbow Dash swished it sharply to the left, like she was swatting at a fly. “...Just brush it up his foreleg, like that!”
Scootaloo hadn’t budged from her spot since her learning session with Rainbow Dash began. Her jaw lay slack, and beads of sweat trailed down her red face.
“Uhh… okay. “ She bit her bottom lip, mentally going over all of the steps she had just seen. Smiling sheepishly, she asked, “So… You’re sure that, if I do that, Rumble will want to ask me out? Really, really sure?”
Rainbow Dash nodded confidently. “Oh yeah, I’m sure! At least, I know it worked when I did it to Thund...err, nevermind!” Rainbow laughed nervously. “So, you got it, then?”
Scootaloo nodded her head, but she was only half-listening. She was too busy imagining what the look on Rumble’s face was going to be.”Yeah… I got it.”
“Great! Then it’s set.”
Scootaloo smiled on only one side of her mouth. She rotated the tip of her hoof in the dirt. “Okay, Rainbow… if you say so. So, ahem… when do you want me to give this a try?”
Rainbow cocked her eyebrow. “When? What do you mean? We can totally do this tomorrow, right?”
Scootaloo stared at her blankly for a few seconds. She shook her head roughly a few times, and began stammering out a reply with tentative enthusiasm.
“Uhh, uh… y-yeah, yeah! Totally. Totally…”
The ground in front of Scootaloo seemed to stretch out like a strand of hot taffy the closer to Rumble she got. But once she was only a few steps away from away from him, the illusion suddenly vanished, and the reality that she was standing right next to him and his two other colt friends hit her like a brick.
There he was.
She let out a breath that she hadn’t even realized she was holding in. Her pupils dilated, and her heart raced once she realized that Rumble was staring right at her.
“H-h-heey, R… ahem. Hey, Rumble!” Scootaloo felt her nerve escaping her, and it took a moment to recollect herself. Her wings did another flutter at her side. “What’s up?”
Rumble stared at her with a neutral expression for a few seconds. He exchanged a glance with the other two colts at his sides, who had gone completely silent as soon as they’d noticed Scootaloo standing there.
He gave her a courteous smile, but his furrowed brow betrayed his feeling of uncertainty. “Oh. Uhh, hey, Scootaloo. Nothing much… what’s going on with you?”
A basic question. But Scootaloo just stood there, mouth slightly agape. Her eyes darted between him and his two other friends, and all of the steps she had gone over with Rainbow Dash suddenly became bygone memories.
She stood there, frozen to the spot. Rumble’s courteous smile widened out of unease.
For a while, they both just stood there, looking at each other. Until finally, one of them broke the awkward silence.
“Uhh, Scootaloo?”
For a second, Scootaloo said nothing. Her hooves trembled, and her wings spread out at her side, feathers twitching. Each breath she took felt shallow, and the hairs on the back of her neck stood up straight.
“Uhh, uhhh… I, uhh… gotta go!”
Then, even more suddenly than she had arrived, Scootaloo took off, her face flushed pink and her eyes stinging with tears.
Author's Note
I know it's probably like every other cutesy shipfic out there, but I just thought I'd post what I have so far anyway. Hope you all like it at least a little bit!
