Atmosphere.
A cool afternoon breeze meandered its way through the tall pinewood trees of the Everfree forest, bringing with it an aura of freshness. Sounds of birds chirping and woodpeckers pecking filled the air with the peaceful melodies of nature as Scootaloo and Rainbow Dash traversed the landscape together. Walking briskly amidst the shade of the forest and sporting saddlebags that bounced alongside their flanks with every hoofstep, they trekked further into the forest toward the camping site for the camping trip they'd been planning for a few weeks.
Scootaloo couldn't help smile and as she walked behind Rainbow Dash, an ever-so-slight bounce in her step. Ever since the day began, she'd been beaming with happiness, enthralled and excited to finally be spending some extended time with her adopted big sister. She'd been counting down the days for weeks. As of late though, she felt like the time she was able to spend with Dash was becoming less and less. Between Rainbow Dash becoming a Wonderbolt and taking on a few new responsibilities of her own, it meant considerably less time to be able to bond with each other. It also didn't help that the academy was in the air. If it wasn't so difficult to get there by other means than flying, she'd certainly come to visit every so often. But for reasons she knew oh-so-well, she couldn't.
To Rainbow Dash, it seemed like Scootaloo was still the little filly that she'd always known as her biggest fan. As she took careful steps avoiding rocks and debris on the forest floor, she reminisced about all of the times they had grown closer together. It almost felt like they had been sisters from the very beginning, even though that wasn't the case. Scootaloo's seemingly unlimited adoration of her likely played a role in that. Dash took a quick glance backwards over her shoulder as they rounded a corner and looked at Scootaloo. She certainly wasn't a little filly anymore. From a distance, nopony would be able to discern their size differences. Her purple mane was full and flowing and she was beginning to look less like a filly and more like a young mare. As they continued to walk along the path, Scootaloo's hoofsteps nearly filled the hoofprints Dash had just made.
Scootaloo was growing up.
Rainbow Dash averted her gaze back towards the path ahead of them. A mixture of feelings began to well up in her mind. Mostly pride and sisterly love, but tainted by a twinge of sadness and worry. She felt sadness because of the realization that the days of her fillyhood were behind them. But she couldn't quite place a reason for her worry. What did she have to worry about? Scootaloo was going to grow up to be an inspiring and awesome pegasus, that much she was certain of. But something worrisome still pervaded her thoughts.
Scootaloo's voice broke her concentration. "Are we getting close yet?"
"Yeah," Dash replied, her mind still returning to reality, "it shouldn't be too far off. This is the best campsite, but we'll have to do a little bushwhacking."
Scootaloo acknowledged the reply and continued walking behind her, her face still beaming. She found herself practically bouncing around the obstacles in the path, placing her hooves in precisely the right spots every time. After several more minutes of hiking, they reached a clearing in the trees. A stiff breeze greeted them as they reached the edge of a deep ravine with a small creek at the bottom.
Rainbow Dash seemed to be looking for something. "I don't see it..."
"See what?"
"There should be a downed tree trunk around her for crossing the ravine. Do you see anything?"
Scootaloo looked left and right. "No."
"Hmm," Rainbow Dash pondered, "maybe we're off by a little bit. I'm going to fly over and see if I can find it."
"Okay," Scootaloo replied.
Rainbow Dash flew into the air and started looking for the downed tree trunk so they could cross the ravine. Of course, crossing the ravine for her was trivial, but that wasn't the case for Scootaloo. Rainbow Dash had quickly learned how to realize these sorts of things when she and Scootaloo first started spending time together. In fact, her decision to fly away and check for the fallen tree trunk wasn't easy. Every time she flew around Scootaloo, a small twinge of guilt found its way into her heart. And whenever that happened, memories to the testament of her arrogance in the past resurfaced as well.
"Ugh, well here it is," Rainbow Dash said to herself. The tree trunk had fallen into the ravine and wedged itself far below. After a bit more searching, it became apparent that there was no easy way to cross it, and she would have to offer to carry Scootaloo over and fly across. Rainbow Dash sighed and headed back, her eyes searching for the orange and purple filly on one side of the ravine. But when she returned, Scootaloo was already on the other side.
"What...how--" Rainbow Dash stammered out, quickly realizing that it was just bringing attention to a sensitive topic.
"I just jumped from that rock...there...over to that ledge...there...and then climbed up those parts over...there. Easy as cake!"
Rainbow Dash cocked her head sideways as Scootaloo explained the path she took to reach the other side. It did not look easy at all. She probably couldn't have done it herself without flying. "You did all of that?"
"Yeah," Scootaloo replied, trying her hardest to stifle a smirk.
"Huh," Dash replied as she touched down next to Scootaloo. "Awesome! Well, the campsite is just up through here a ways."
The two pegasi trotted alongside the ravine for a few minutes until veering into the bushes on the right to reach the campground Dash was taking them to. Dash found herself visualizing that ravine in her mind over and over again, and suddenly realized that what Scootaloo did could have possibly been extremely dangerous. She was just in so much shock that it hadn't occurred to her, she reasoned. Of course, why should she expect any different from the little filly? It's not as if she was ever much of a role model when it came to safety.
The twinge of worry came back again at that thought. Was she a bad influence?
The sun was starting to fall behind the horizon when they reached the campsite. A giant boulder half-buried in the ground with a nearly vertical rock face and sheltered from the wind provided the perfect spot for a campfire. Several bunches of pine trees dotted the area around them. They took off their saddlebags and briefly stretched, enjoying the brief feeling of lightness doing so provided. After setting up the tent, setting up the campfire and preparing a meal, the sun had dipped below the horizon and the moon found its way into the nighttime sky. The air quickly cooled and the sky became dark, the sounds of birds being replaced by crickets.
Dash threw a pile of sticks onto the campfire to keep it going and sat down on a log next to Scootaloo. She thought briefly about mentioning how dangerous crossing the ravine was from before, but it seemed too late to say anything now. Choosing instead to enjoy the atmosphere, she let her thoughts disperse and focused on the cracking of the fire.
"Got any stories?" Scootaloo asked.
"Ghost stories? I've got tons of those," Dash replied.
"No, I mean regular stories."
She smiled. Memories of telling stories of her past to Scootaloo flooded into her thoughts. It had been awhile since she asked her to tell one of those stories. Back then, she was a lot more arrogant that she was on this night. "Oh, sure...how about..."
Her mind went blank. All she could think of were the constantly rehearsed stories of her "awesomeness". She didn't want to recount those memories anymore, even if they were great stories. She cringed at her past self for being so self-centered. There were some times where she didn't feel like the Element of Loyalty at all, and now was one of them.
"Well...okay, here's one," Dash continued. She told a story from when she was around Scootaloo's age. It wasn't particularly as interesting as the others she would have told before, but it was the least self-centered one she could think of. She finished the story after a couple minutes. It was fairly late now, and the fire was beginning to die down.
Scootaloo yawned and felt her eyes begin to become heavy. "I think I'm going to go to bed."
"Okay, I'll be there in a minute, squirt."
Scootaloo walked tiredly towards the tent and Dash sat in front of the campfire to think for a few more moments. She usually loved it when she called her that. Was she getting tired of it?
The feeling of worry returned again, and this time she was finally able to place it. She was worried that Scootaloo would outgrow her. She was worried that her adoration would slowly slip away forever. Before she had met Scootaloo, she was adored by everypony, but deep down she never truly felt it. Not like it felt when Scootaloo did. What if she stopped?
She kicked a twig into the fire in disgust with herself. Thinking like that was ridiculous. It felt almost as if her own self-worth stemmed from Scootaloo. From before, it came from the adoration of her peers and the onlookers who marveled at her speed and agility. She knew that wasn't true though. Her friends were the main source of her self-worth, and they would always be there for her. But it didn't help to completely shake the idea that Scootaloo might one day outgrow her.
Of course, Scootaloo would always look up to her, right? She always had, despite all of her flaws. And yet, she still couldn't shake the idea that as Scootaloo grew into young adulthood, her adoration for her big sister would gradually diminish. She was already becoming more and more mature and capable as the weeks went by. Her ability to traverse on ground was truly remarkable, not to mention her scooter skills. Scootaloo was really quite the astounding pegasus. Despite her disadvantages, she was capable of so many things other ponies weren't.
In comparison, Rainbow Dash was just really fast. A one-trick pony. Upon the realization that she was comparing herself to Scootaloo, she shut down her train of thought and put out the campfire to return to the tent. This was supposed to be a sisterly bonding trip, and it seemed like all she could focus on was how terrible a sister she was. Rainbow Dash opened up the flap to the entrance of the tent and ducked her head inside, her mind clouded with the thoughts that had been ruminating for the whole day.
Suddenly, she found herself being tackled to the ground. "Surprise!" Scootaloo yelled in excitement as she pummeled her onto the ground inside the tent and tried to wrestle. She went limp out of shock and fell onto the tent floor. Immediately, the thoughts of worry in her mind washed away as she smiled and returned the favor by starting a tickle fight. Everything that she had thought about before no longer seemed to matter.
Scootaloo always loved her and always would, and she would always love her in return.
Author's Note
Thank you for reading. It's been awhile since I wrote a Rainbow Dash & Scootaloo story 
