The apartment was getting dark, but Scootaloo couldn't be bothered to turn on any more lights.

A faint orange glow filtered in through the edges of her covered windows from the streetlamps outside. If she pulled the drapes aside, she'd get a great view of the dumpster just across the street. Maybe the occasional tipsy pony stumbling back home after having one too many.

They weren't exactly living high in Canterlot's finest penthouses. But at least they had a place.

It was getting a bit dusty, Scootaloo realized. Probably time to clean up, but nah. She'd do that later.

Scootaloo was alone. Sweetie Belle had stepped out in a huff a little while ago. Something about needing some air, Scootaloo hadn't really been paying attention.

Fine by her. If Sweetie was going to have a hissy fit, that was her problem. Who was she to judge? Like scoring a waitress job was such a big whoop!

It wasn't like she hadn't been working her own tail off! It wasn't like she didn't know she was a waste of space! She didn't need anypony to tell her what she was doing a perfectly good job telling herself!

She was trying, for goodness' sake, why couldn't Sweetie see that?

It was just like Ponyville all over again. The constant failures, always coming back at the end of the day feeling like she'd wasted her time. All the empty applause in the square, never paying off. All the we'll-get-back-to-yous and we'll-keep-you-in-minds.

If she had known this was where she'd end up, maybe she should have stuck with the Washouts after all.

At least she had her cider bottles. There were a lot of them at her hooves, forming a wall of glass between her and the apartment. Her own little fortress of bottles. She was protected from life's miseries in here.

Safe with an old album book from her foalhood. Her hoof ran across old photos and banners. A rainbow-maned pegasus grinned from them. Scootaloo couldn't find it in herself to return it.

Why couldn't she be awesome like Rainbow?

You've got this, Rainbow had always said. You can do it. I believe in you. Ever since Scootaloo had brought up wanting to get in the daredevil business, Rainbow had been there for a word of encouragement and a helping hoof.

Rainbow had introduced her to all those ponies. Got her in front of former Wonderbolts, big-name daredevils. For all the good that did. It always started out well enough, only to come down to nothing in the end. Every single time.

She used to get so excited about that sort of thing. Maybe, just maybe, she could have had one last shot in Canterlot. She thought back to that night, on the Ponyville Bridge, trying to drag her friends along on what was sure to be a great adventure.

Nope. Just another failure.

Nothing excited her like that anymore. Not the Canterlot lights, not dreams of being awesome like Rainbow.

There was a radio in the corner that had been playing this whole while. Scootaloo only grew aware of it again as the song ended, giving way to applause that sounded unbearably loud by comparison. For a fleeting moment, she tried to imagine that it was applause meant for her.

"That was 'Nocturne' by the very lovely Fairy Tale, as recorded from her live performance at the Manehattan Center of the Arts. I'd sure say she earned the applause that night. More to come, but first, a few words from our sponsors..."

Scootaloo took a deep swig from her cider and grimaced. This stuff was nasty. Way too sweet. Nothing like the proper cider the Apples made back in Ponyville. She spared the briefest thought for Apple Bloom and whatever she was up to, but the thought quickly dissipated. Hard to think of your friends when you're too busy feeling sorry for yourself.

Her thoughts were cut short by the tinny voice that now came from the radio set. Set against the backdrop of bugles and a triumphant marching tune, it was at once familiar to Scootaloo.

"There's a team out there, and it's looking for you, if you're somepony who wants to be somepony."

Rainbow Dash?

"There's a team out there, and if you're the sort of pony never to give up? Never to back down? It's a team that's looking for ponies like you."

It was Rainbow Dash! She did voices for a few commercials, didn't she?

"Join the Royal Guard today! Be somepony! Be the pony you always knew you could be! Make a difference! Find a recruiting office near you, and start today!"

Rainbow's voice gave way to other voices on the radio, talking about sales and merchandise and all other sorts of mumbo-jumbo. But Scootaloo didn't care about that. She suddenly sat up, feeling shockingly lucid in spite of all the cider she'd had.

No, it was stupid. It was just a radio ad. Somepony gave Rainbow a bagful of bits to come into the studio for a day and record something for the Royal Guard because she was a well-known pony. That was it.

And yet, she felt like Rainbow was talking to her.

Be somepony.

That was all she'd ever really wanted, hadn't it?

Her eyes turned back to her album. Rainbow's face was still grinning at her encouragingly from those photos.

You can do it, they seemed to say. You can be somepony. I always believed in you.

Maybe she wasn't cut out for this daredevil business. Why keep bashing her head against that wall? Why not go someplace where she really could be somepony?

Someplace big. Someplace proud. Like the Wonderbolts!

Or the Royal Guard?

Scootaloo stood up, hooves a little unsteady. She walked to the apartment door, fumbling a little with the lock before she stepped out into the hall and into the chilly streets of Canterlot.

She'd have to find a way to tell Sweetie Belle about this. She wasn't going to be happy.

Author's Note

Canterlot, where I was taught all those dreams would come true
Foals and fools, silly rules of my life...