Gliding Through Dreams
By: Radiogenicpony
I walked up to the edge and jumped. The cliff was fifty feet high, at the bottom an endless expanse of green with a brown line running through it.
Appleloosa.
I was about twenty feet from the ground now, so I spread my wings open wide and I started to lift higher over the trees.
I felt free. The scenery began to change as I passed over the apple orchard. A great distance below me, Dodge Junction was visible, then Ponyville came into view. Down below, I could see Applebloom running down the road to Sweet Apple Acres; to my right, Rainbow Dash snoring away on her bed; and off to my left, my cloud home floated on a summer breeze, just as carefree as I was.
The house was a small thing resembling the cottages in its vicinity. It hovered just below the town’s roofline. A set of cloud stairs leading to the ground allowed me to get in and out without having to fly. I could see the spot on the roof where I would watch Rainbow Dash practicing for the Wonderbolts.
Off to my right I saw Rainbow Dash flying out her window to join me. She reached me and started flying beside me. I was high above the town with my hero right by my side.
I was soaring, soaring over Ponyville. I was gliding, gliding through dreams.
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I woke up.
The previous day’s excitement still had my head spinning like Applebloom in an ultra-pony roller derby, refusing to let me sleep. I needed to fly.
I ran up to the roof of my house, I had been up here countless times before, but this time I wasn’t going to watch a certain cyan pegasus fly. This time I was going to fly!
I took a running start and spread my wings.
I was only airborne for a few seconds, but it was an amazing few seconds. I flew, and I could do it again.
I bolted off toward Sweet Apple Acres, past Ponyville. I looked to my right, and I could see Fluttershy’s cottage.
It was past midnight, but I could see older mare out feeding all the nocturnal animals that were in her care.
“Hoo! Hoo!”
Fluttershy had looked up at the noise to see an owl on its perch… and me off in the distance.
“Scootaloo? Scootaloo,” Fluttershy called from her doorway.
With only a moment’s hesitation, I turned around and walked toward her cottage. I suddenly wished I had my scooter, but I had left it in my room when I glided down from my roof.
“Scootaloo, what are you doing out this late?” questioned the gentle mare.
“I couldn’t sleep,” I said. “I need to fly.”
“It’s late, Scootaloo. You need your rest.”
“I know,” I sighed, “but I feel the urge to fly now more than ever.”
“You’ve had an eventful day, learning to glide and all,” Fluttershy confirmed. “That accomplishment is one that makes all pegasi want to take to the sky, but you really need to get your rest.”
“Could you teach me the next step of how to fly?” I asked hopefully. “I’m sure I could get to sleep if you taught me just a little more.”
I had learned my lesson yesterday, and I would listen to everything Fluttershy said. I knew what happened when I took matters into my own hooves.
“I’m sorry, Scootaloo. You need a few days more of gliding practice before we can move on,” the mare replied sweetly, though it only made me feel sour.
“Oh,” I replied in a low whine that caused all who heard it to cringe. It was the only response I could give.
As I turned to leave, I heard a faint rustle behind me. I looked back and saw Fluttershy’s animals gathered around her with sad looks directed at me. A raccoon turned to Fluttershy, squeaked and chattered a few times and gestured towards me. She nodded back, apparently understanding what it was trying to say.
“Scootaloo… we can start training first thing in the morning… and if you want, you can sleep here tonight.”
“No thanks. I mean, I’m happy to take you up on the offer to train in the morning, but I’m still too excited to get any sleep.”
With that, I took my leave and was out on my own again.
As I continued down the road and into Ponyville, I looked up towards the sky, longing to soar through the air. Suddenly…
“No, move those storm clouds to the left.” I immediately recognized the voice of Rainbow Dash.
“My left or your left?” sounded a pegasus I didn’t recognize. Then again it was past midnight, and I was tired, even if I couldn’t sleep.
“It’s the same left!” Rainbow Dash groaned, clearly agitated.
“Rainbow Dash! Hey, Rainbow Dash!” I said, unable to contain myself.
“Huh, oh… hey, kid. You’re not still upset about before are you?” came the reply.
“Huh? Oh, no it’s fine.”
“Good. Shouldn’t you be asleep kid? It’s past twelve.”
“Oh, I couldn’t sleep I’m too excited about flying.”
“Well, that’s understandable. Anyway, you should stay indoors, there’s a scheduled shower tonight, and I wouldn’t want you to get caught in the rain.” Rainbow Dash warned.
“A lot of good that will do me. I live in a cloud home close to the ground,” I scoffed.
“Well, you had better find someplace where you will be safe from the weather. We have quite the downpour scheduled for tonight.”
“Yeah, I think I know someplace I could stay.” I replied.
“Ok, Rainbow Dash, we are cleared for the storm in five minutes.” said Thunderlane.
“All right Thunderlane, you know what to do” stated Rainbow Dash. Then, directing her attention toward me, she said, “I gotta go kid. Don’t get caught in the rain.”
With that she dashed off, and I continued toward Sweet Apple Acres.
Just as the rain was starting to drizzle, I reached the CMC clubhouse door. Pushing open the door, I walked inside… I was not alone.
“Scootaloo?”
I turned around to be greeted by a surprised Sweetie Belle.
“Sweetie Belle? What are you doing here?”
“I’m trying to learn how to use magic. I got a stack of books from Twilight all about how to perform basic magic spells. What are you doing here?”
“I couldn’t sleep because I was too excited. I started walking this way and then had to take shelter from the storm.”
“Hey, since you’re here, can you help me with some spells?”
“I don’t know Sweetie. I’m not a unicorn.”
“Come on,” she pleaded. “It will be fun!”
“Well… ok.”
“Great!”
“What’s first?”
“Well, first we have to read all these books.”
I started to wonder whether I’d made the right decision.
With a sigh of defeat, I said, “All right, Sweetie. Why don’t you just read out loud?”
That earned me a quizzical look from Sweetie Belle.
“So we’re on the same part.” I clarified
“Oh, ok.”
As Sweetie Belle started to read, I dozed off twice, only to wake to find Sweetie Belle glaring at me. The third time, she just sighed and let me sleep.
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I looked over to Rainbow Dash flying next to me. She gave a smile and asked me one thing.
“Scootaloo, why do you want to fly?”
I stared at her blankly for a moment.
“What I mean is ‘what is your specific reason to fly?’ Every pegasus has one - what’s yours?”
“Flight is the thing that defines a pegasus. Every pegasus flies,” I responded.
“That’s not what I meant. You need to find your own reason to fly; without that, you’ll never get off of the ground.”
“I guess my reason is… the need to take to the sky, and the freedom that it brings.”
“Better, but every pegasus feels that. You need to find something specific to you.”
I took a look around me at the world passing by quickly. It made everything seem blurry. It seemed surreal, and it seemed dreamy. That probably was because this was a dream, but nonetheless I knew my reason.
I turned back to Dash, who was looking at me expectantly.
“My reason to fly is to feel the blur of motion as I speed though the sky. It is to experience the surrealness of soaring above the clouds. My reason to fly is the indescribable feeling of gliding through dreams.”
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Authors Note
You are the reason I write, the reason I do anything actually. Everything I do, I do you’re the entertainment of others. My previous projects had gone unnoticed, I was starting to give up the thought that I could entertain anyone. I was still working on my projects though, in hope of someone coming across them one day. (All my completed projects can be found by following the links to my youtube and deviantart pages). When I started writing I thought that nobody would ever read my stories, but when I published my first story I was shock at how many people read it, let alone enjoyed it. Stay tuned for ‘With a few Small Flaps’, the next story in the series .Thank you all. And special thanks to my pre-reader Cormac McCloppy.
