“THIS… IS… AWESOOOOOME!”
“Rainbow, you’ve said that five times already,” Twilight groaned.
“Hey, I’m not tired of hearing it yet,” Spike replied with a smug smirk, crossing his arms as he leaned against the door of the school. “And I’m in complete agreement.”
Rainbow flew up to Spike again and lifted up one of his wings. “So you did like, one or two flips for practice and then zipped right up into the air?”
Spike shrugged. “Well, yeah. Guess it was just instinct. I mean, after all this time living with ponies…” He frowned. “I thought maybe that was why I hadn’t grown them yet. I wasn’t being raised with other dragons, so I wasn’t growing up the same way.”
Twilight walked up to him and said, “That’s not a bad deduction. Being raised in an environment other than one that’s native to dragons very well could have delayed your natural growth cycle. But…” She smiled and placed a hoof on his shoulder. “Look at you now!”
Spike thrust his claws up in the air with a huge smile. “I know!” He rubbed the back of his head and blushed before he added, “Y’know, sorry I thought you were gonna kick me out of the castle, Twilight. It’s just, well, with everything Smolder was telling me about how dragons ‘worked,’ I just kinda… got stuck in that mindset.”
Smiling again, Twilight responded, “I can understand that, but that’s one of the upsides of living with ponies, isn’t it?” She pulled him in for a hug. “You know we would never do that to you.”
“I know. Thanks.”
“Well c’mon, enough of this mushy stuff,” Rainbow Dash huffed. “Let’s get you airborne, buddy!”
“Heh, don’t have to tell me twice!” Spike cried as he shot up into the air.
Rainbow cracked a huge smile. “Hey! Come back here!” she yelled as she followed him.
The rest of the group all chuckled as they watched the two fly loops around each other.
“Well, I’ll be!” Applejack said. “Kid’s a natural! Just look at ‘im go!”
“I know. He’s a better flyer than me, and it took me years to gain any confidence,” Fluttershy agreed.
“And obviously he’s better than unicorn levitation,” Starlight added.
“Well, let’s just hope that Rainbow doesn’t turn our little Spikey-Wikey into a cocky ruffian,” Rarity said with a huff.
“Oh, I wouldn’t worry about that. He’s still learning.”
“Pinkie!” Twilight cried. “Where did you come from? Where have you been?”
“I was in the shouting closet! It’s a lot of fun in there!”
Applejack cocked a brow. “In the what now?”
Pinkie put a foreleg around Applejack’s withers. “Don’tcha worry about it, AJ. It’s a secret!” she whispered sharply.
“Umm… okay,” Twilight sighed. “Wait, Pinkie, if you’ve been in the school this whole time, how did you even know about Spike’s new wings?”
“Shaky head, swinging limbs, and copter tail!” she answered readily.
“Huh?” Starlight asked.
Twilight deadpanned, “Pinkie sense. Of course.”
“Well, that and I heard Smolder talking to Spike in the shouting closet and how all the weird-looking scales on his body were a totally normal part of a dragon growing up so I figured that would mean he would get wings too,” she responded.
“That’d certainly help,” Applejack said.
“See you girls later! I’m gonna go join them!” Pinkie said as she zipped off, then appeared moments later in her helicopter contraption.
Starlight looked up into the sky as Rainbow and Spike both allowed Pinkie to join them in their sky stunts. “Umm… Know what, no. I’m not going to ask.”
“Wise choice,” Twilight replied. “Make sure you three are back here in fifteen minutes! Rainbow! Pinkie! You have classes to teach! And Spike! I need you to help me in my office!” she called up to them.
“Darling, do you really think they’re going to come down that soon?” Rarity asked.
Twilight deadpanned as she walked back into the school. “If they don’t come back on their own, I’ll drag them down.”
As the Cutie Mark Crusaders walked down the path to town, Scootaloo turned to Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom. “Hey girls, I’ve been thinking.”
“Don’t hurt yourself,” Apple Bloom snickered.
“Ha ha, very funny,” Scootaloo retorted. “Anyway, what are we doing going to regular school with Miss Cheerilee when we could be going to Twilight’s Friendship school? There’d be tons of ponies and other creatures to meet, whole new things to learn… No offense to her, but Miss Cheerilee’s class is kind of boring.”
“I don’t think we’re old enough,” Sweetie Belle answered. “All the ponies there are at least a year or two older than us. I don’t know about how the other creatures look at age in their cultures, but for us I think it’s still too early.”
Scootaloo harrumphed. “First a dictionary, then an encyclopedia. What’s the harm in just going and asking?”
Apple Bloom shrugged. “Well, true enough. I don’t see no harm in it.”
“Thank you,” Scootaloo responded, gesturing to Apple Bloom before she continued walking.
Soon enough, the three of them found themselves in the school’s courtyard, where Rarity and Applejack were sitting beside the fountain and looking up into the sky.
“Rarity!” Sweetie Belle called as she approached her sister.
“Heya, Applejack!” Apple Bloom called in turn. “What’cha lookin’ at?”
“And where’s Rainbow Dash?” Scootaloo finished for the three.
Applejack’s and Rarity’s eyes both went wide as they zipped up to the three of them, blocking their upward view.
“Hello, girls! W-what brings you three here?” Rarity asked.
“Shouldn’t y’all be out helpin’ others with their cutie marks?” Applejack added. “Or doin’ your homework?”
Apple Bloom shrugged. “There haven’t been a lot of problems to fix lately.”
“And school has been kind of boring,” Sweetie Belle added.
“So we wanted to talk to Twilight about enrolling here!” Scootaloo finished.
Rarity raised a brow. “Girls, you do understand that this is a school for teaching friendship, don't you? If there's anyone your age that's mastered that life lesson, it's you three.”
Applejack continued, “Absolutely. 'Sides, y'all do realize that it’d be your sisters teachin’ ya, right? You sure you wanna have that?”
“Sure,” Scootaloo said with a shrug. “I bet Rainbow Dash is a great teacher! Hey, where is she?” she asked again, backing up to look skyward.
Applejack zipped in front of her again. “I, uh, I think she went and turned in for a nap! Y’know, long day teachin’ and whatnot.”
“Yes, darling, I believe I saw her go… that way!” Rarity added, pointing behind her.
“…Into the school?” Scootaloo asked with a cocked brow.
Rarity looked behind her to see where she was pointing. “Err… yes! She brought a cloud into her classroom!”
“Hey, I think that’s her up there!” Sweetie Belle called, pointing up at the sky where rainbow and purple figure-eights were going back and forth between each other.
“Sweetie Belle, I swear…” Rarity mumbled under her breath.
Smiling, Scootaloo said, “Hey! Yeah! Wow, Twilight’s gotten much better at flying.” Waving, she called out, “Rainbow Dash, down here!”
The swirling stopped for a moment, then the two blurs started moving in the girls’ direction. After a moment, Rainbow Dash and Spike dropped down in front of them.
“Heya, Squirt! What are you—” She quickly cut herself off before her eyes bulged and she glanced over at Spike.
“Hey, girls!” Spike said with a smile. “Check it out! My wings finally grew in! This is awesome!” He quickly shot back into the air and left the three mares together with their respective sisters.
Rainbow Dash’s mouth hung slightly as she looked over at Rarity and Applejack.
“We tried,” they both replied in unison.
The three of them, along with Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle, slowly looked over at Scootaloo, whose eyes were bulging as her mouth also hung open.
Scootaloo’s eyes followed Spike as he loop-de-looped around the school like he’d had wings his whole life. Her expression then fell into complete neutrality as she casually walked up to the fountain behind them. Her face was then introduced to the side. Multiple times.
“WHY! DOES! EVERY! PONY! OR! DRAGON! GET! TO FLY! BEFORE! ME!”
Rainbow Dash rubbed the back of her mane as she walked up to Scootaloo. “Heh… Hey Squirt, how’d you like to, uh… molt?”
Author's Note
This is the first time I've ever tried to jump and be one of the first to get a story out based on the latest episode. I'm amazed at the reception it's gotten. I tried to put in the two things everyone is likely thinking—Rainbow is gonna be psyched about Spike having his wings, and Scootaloo is going to be absolutely mortified that he can fly before her.
Hope you enjoyed!
