“One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four. That’s it, just a little more!” Rainbow Dash bellowed with a buckball coach’s energy, clopping her hooves together in a steady rhythm.
Ahead of her, Scootaloo groaned. It was a battle to keep her wing flaps synchronised in time with the beat, but she fought on, a trickle of sweat rolling down the side of her head. She was airborne, but only just, and frequently dipped low as she tried to maintain lift.
“I can’t—”
“Yes you can! Keep going, you’re almost there! One, two, three, four!”
With one last flap of her wings, Scootaloo pushed herself over the finish line Dash had marked in the mud. At last, her wings gave out, and she dropped like a stone onto the hard earth at Dash’s hooves.
“Nicely done,” Dash smiled, offering her a forehoof. “That makes a hundred metres you’ve flown: a new record!”
“Thank… you…” Scootaloo panted. Her muscles felt like they were on fire. Who knew flying was such an intense exercise? Even so, she couldn’t deny the warm sense of satisfaction she felt glowing inside her tummy. Without the amazing support of both Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and all her friends, she doubted she’d ever had made it this far.
She took Dash’s forehoof and tried to stand, but the one-two punch of worn-out muscles and slippery ground proved to be too much. Before she knew it, her hind hooves shot out from under her, and she was once more face-first in the dirt.
“Easy there, kiddo,” Dash sat down and scooped her up. “You look super pooped. How ‘bout I carry you back to the train station?”
“Yes, please,” Scootaloo croaked, her cheeks flushing red. She had reason to be proud of herself today. It had been two months since Fluttershy stumbled upon her, crying over yet another failed flight attempt. Now, she was at last starting to get the hang of things. As Dash pulled her onto her back, she used the last of her strength to wriggle up a little and rest her head on the patch of fur between her wings.
“Don’t get too comfortable, squirt,” she teased. “We’ve still gotta get back to the station before the last train arrives, and I am not flying you all the way back to Ponyville!”
“Could you fly that far?” Scootaloo heard the sarcasm in Dash’s voice, but whether through tiredness or curiosity, the gears in her head had begun to turn. “It’d be totally awesome if you could.”
“Well, I am totally awesome,” Dash thumped her hoof against her chest. “But there’s no way I could fly a distance like that. I’m a speed champ! Endurance flight is more Gilda’s thing.”
Scootaloo pondered that for a moment. Fluttershy had taught her the relation between wing shapes and flight styles, but she never considered how big the differences were.
“Do you think, one day, I could do stunts better than you?” She wondered aloud, only to shove her hoof in her mouth. “No offence!”
“None taken,” Dash chuckled. “You’re adorable, you know that?”
“I am not!” Scootaloo pouted, crossing her forehooves and looking away. “I’m cool, just like you.”
“That’s the spirit,” Dash grinned, folding her wing over to pat Scootaloo.
The two remained quiet as Dash trotted back to the station, but Scootaloo’s imagination was already running wild. Just like that day, she dreamed of herself performing to a packed stadium, twisting and turning every which way to the crowd’s delight.
It was just as Fluttershy had told her. With her short stubby wings buzzing in a blur of motion, no obstacle was too great for her to overcome. The crowd ‘oohed’ and ‘ahhed’ as she banked sharply to the left and whizzed through a tight ring of hoops. Spiralling up into a vertical climb, she looped backwards over a thick, horizontal beam, then tucked in her wings. All eyes were on her, watching with bated breath as she plunged downwards at near-supersonic speeds.
There it was. The finish line, dead ahead. At the last possible second, Scootaloo flipped around and righted herself, streaking between the goal posts as the crowd exploded with a tremendous roar. Ponies were jumping up and down in their seats, applauding and waving her team flag while cheering her name.
“Scoot-a-loo! Scoot-a-loo!”
Back in reality, the chanting came from Rainbow Dash, poking Scootaloo with her wing. And when she didn’t get a response, she upped her game with both wings, sliding under her belly for a tickle attack.
“H-hey!” Scootaloo protested, struggling to speak through her intense giggle fit. “S-stop it, Dash!”
She did stop, but only due to the unforeseen buck to the back of her head from Scootaloo’s flailing legs. “Ow, watch it!”
“Oops, sorry, Dash,” Scootaloo blushed. “I should’ve told you. I’m not exactly calm when being tickled.”
“Yeah, I figured,” Dash grumbled sarcastically under her breath. “Anyway, eyes sharp kiddo, we’re at the station, and I’ll need you to help flag down the train.”
Scootaloo tilted her head. “Why? Won’t it stop here anyway?”
“Nope, it’s a request stop,” Dash’s answer came with a slight twitch of her eye. “The train won’t stop here unless we call for it.”
Scootaloo stared blankly. She’d never paid much attention to the ins and outs of railway operation. Usually, either her friends or the guard would announce her desired destination, and she assumed Dash had done the same thing when they departed.
“Yeah, I don’t get why request stops are a thing, either,” Dash sighed and slapped her face with her hoof. “Look, my point is, have you rested up enough? You’re not the lightest kid, y’know.”
“Oh, sorry,” Scootaloo bit her bottom lip and shuffled her wings. She had been eating a few extra donuts for a pre-flight energy boost, though perhaps the drawbacks weren’t worth the benefits after all.
She took her time with the climb down. The last thing she wanted was to bust herself up again – at least, none more so than she’d already done recently. Once she had all four hooves on the platform, she looked around, but found no sign of the train just yet.
The atmosphere was tranquil. Besides herself and Rainbow Dash, there was nopony else on the platform, which she found odd since they hadn’t travelled far from Ponyville; only about half an hour away. Scootaloo knew Ponyville was just a small rural town, at least when compared to Canterlot, but she couldn’t remember the last time she’d been somewhere so… well, quiet. If she listened carefully, she could maybe hear the occasional bird chirping, or the rustle of the leaves in the gentle breeze.
“You’re not bored, are you, Dash?” she asked, looking up at her.
“Me?” Dash cocked an eyebrow. “Nah, I’m not bored. Why, are you?”
“Nuh-uh,” Scootaloo shook her head. “I kind of like the peace and quiet. Reminds me of when we went camping together. I didn’t expect you to like it, that’s all.”
“Even us action-type ponies need a bit of R&R once in a while.” A long yawn escaped from Dash’s mouth as she stretched her limbs. “If we didn’t chillax, then we’d be way too exhausted to do anything. Even the Wonderbolts need time off from training.”
A cheeky grin grew across Scootaloo’s face. “Is that why you take so many naps?”
“Hey, flying as fast as I do is hard work,” Dash raised her wings in protest. “How do you think I learn new stunts so quick?”
Scootaloo opened her mouth to retort, but paused. That question was such a non-sequitur, it seemed almost irrelevant. All she could manage as a short, “Huh?”
“Twilight may be an egghead, but sometimes her science stuff does come in handy,” Dash cleared her throat. “Without going into full lecture-mode, your brain makes shortcuts while you sleep. Makes it easier to get to the ‘I know how to do that’ part. Keep practicing over and over, and eventually your head will be like ‘I get the picture already,’ and you’ll do it by instinct. Pretty cool, huh?”
Scootaloo gave a brisk nod of agreement, though it also led her to the next evident question: “Did you wipe out a lot when you were a kid?”
“Well, duh,” Dash rolled her eyes. “I didn’t get the nickname ‘Rainbow Crash’ for nothing.”
Scootaloo looked down and shuffled her hooves. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to bring up bad memories.”
“Nah, it’s cool,” Dash wrapped her hoof around her shoulder. “I made peace with the nickname when I joined the Wonderbolts. It doesn’t make me any less awesome, ‘cause awesome is what I do. You could say I’m awesome when I wanna be!”
Scootaloo felt a strange twinge of familiarity at that last phrase, but couldn’t quite put her hoof on it.
“Everypony makes mistakes,” Dash continued. “But what separates the awesome from the not-awesome is that we keep going. I don’t know much about this ‘Dys-pax-nia’ stuff, or whatever it’s called—”
“Dyspraxia.”
“Yeah, that. Anyway, I know flying ain’t easy for you. But you’re getting better, and with an attitude like yours, there’s nothing you can’t achieve!”
Scootaloo’s eyes went wide as a broad grin grew across her face. “You mean, I could be the Wonderbolts stunt flyer I always dreamt of?”
“The sky’s the limit!” Dash poked at her chest and winked. “Literally.”
Scootaloo once more felt her face flush hot, with the addition of little water droplets trickling down her face. Wait, am I crying? This was bad. She couldn’t be crying in front of Rainbow Dash! She’d spent all this time trying to show bravery against the odds, only to fail the moment things got mushy.
“Oh, come on!” Dash groaned. “We had to be at the one station without shelter on a rainy day.”
Now that Dash mentioned it, she did feel the water drip down from on top of her head as well. For once, the rain brought her relief, the tension in her body vanishing as fast as it came. Perhaps it was time to take Dash’s advice and chillax a bit.
Sitting down, Rainbow Dash extended her wing over Scootaloo. “Shuffle under here, would ya, Scoots? You don’t want to get your flight feathers wet. Not today, anyway.”
Scootaloo looked up, and indeed, the ominous blanket of dark clouds was already threatening to extend its deluge significantly. And so, in absence of the real-life train to take them home, her own train of thought was steaming ahead at full speed.
“Hey Dash?” she asked.
“Yeah?”
“What’s wrong with flying in the rain? Do wet feathers make it harder to fly? Sorry of this is a stupid question…”
“Hey, there’s no such thing as a stupid question, unless it’s about how amazing I am!” Dash puffed out her chest as a smug grin grew on her face. It dropped after a short moment of awkward silence as she realised she didn’t answer her question.
Somewhere, a cicada chirped in annoyance.
“Oh, right, the rain flying thing…” she tapped the side of her head. “Y’know what? It’s better if I show you. Scoots, can ya shuffle back under the trees for a minute?”
“Okay!” Scootaloo chirped and hopped backward, never taking her eyes off Dash. For what she was about to witness, she didn’t want to miss a second.
“Alright, first of all, you can feel the wind flow beneath your wings, right?”
Scootaloo nodded, spreading her wings exactly as Dash did.
“The wind’s picking up, so lift off should be easy, right?” To emphasise her point, Dash performed a couple token flaps, slow and wide, and she shot up. “But I have to keep flapping. ‘Cause if I try and glide in this weather, the wind’s gonna throw me around like one of Pumpkin Cake’s old rag dolls.”
True to form, with her wings held stiff, she bobbed back and forth across the length of the platform, with only the subtlest of instinctive movements to keep herself stable.
“See, with stormy winds, a rookie flyer ain’t gonna know what to do with themselves. It’s only ‘cause I learned to micro-manage my flight feathers that I stopped being Rainbow Crash.”
The weight of that remark felt like an anchor attached to Scootaloo’s chest. That, and though her heart yearned to join Dash in the air, for once she decided it better to use her head and remain on the ground. Those subtle wing movements were an enigma she had yet to crack.
“The wind conditions aren’t terrible right now, but if it gets really bad, you could seriously hurt yourself.” Dash made a greater show of adjusting the angle of her wings as she flapped. “Wind shear is the biggest threat to any flying creature, ‘cause it’s when the wind direction changes suddenly. You don’t want to ever be caught flying low in conditions like that. That’s why when Pegasi make storms, they’re always scheduled well in advance.”
“Oh, yeah, I know that much,” Scootaloo nodded briskly. “But what about wet feathers? Is that a problem?”
“For light rain? It’s no big deal,” Dash landed and shook hers. “You can use oil to help keep your wings waterproof, but if you ask me, it feels super gross.”
“Agreed,” Scootaloo stuck out her tongue. Just the thought of having viscus, greasy oil rubbed all over her wings was enough to make her shudder. “Wait, if light rain is no big deal, why’d you shelter me?”
“’Cause it’s not your feathers that’re the problem, squirt,” Dash once again ruffled Scootaloo’s mane. “It’s your fur that isn’t waterproof. Trust me, Fluttershy would have a freaking fit if I let you catch a cold!”
“Yeah, you’re right.” Scootaloo tried not to sound disappointed, but she couldn’t deny her distaste for being babied. Yeah, she was a kid, but hardly a toddler! Just once, she wished she could be recognised as something more than just an overconfident little kid.
Then again, recklessly testing her limits was the cause of her leg injury. Maybe, she considered, Fluttershy isn’t over-protective? A bold proposal for a young teen such as herself, but that she felt was a long time coming. Fluttershy being a fellow dyspraxic pony was, of course, a central pillar of their relationship, making her more understanding than most. Yet even this acknowledgement was not enough to quench the flames of her most burning question.
“Sweet Celesta, where the heck is that train? We can’t have missed the last one!” Dash groaned. “I knew I shoulda brought a watch.”
“Well, look on the bright side. Now there’s time to show me more amazing stunts!” Scootaloo leant forward, grinning in anticipation.
Dash looked back at Scootaloo, matching her grin with the addition of an eyebrow cocked to its maximum height. “Be honest, Scoots. Is this another one of your tricks?”
“Tricks? Me?” Scootaloo raised her forehoof and scoffed in a manner that would make Rarity blush. “There’s no way I could ever prank someone like you, Dash.”
“You just want me to teach you stunts, don’t ya?”
Awww, she saw straight through me! The jig was up, though Scootaloo suspected this jig was never down to begin with.
“Never mind catching a cold,” Dash admonished. “You could hurt yourself far worse if you try stunts in this weather!”
“I know, I know,” Scootaloo’s ears fell flat. Sometimes, the heart’s desires outweighed the head’s reason. “I’m not stupid, I just… wanna know how you do it. Like, maybe I could fly better by understanding your techniques?”
Dash hummed for a moment. “Well, if you put it like that, I suppose we do have time to kill.”
Scootaloo’s expression immediately perked up. “Do you mean—”
“On one condition,” Dash cut her off. “Promise me you won’t try any of these stunts without adult supervision. Okay?”
“Pinkie Promise,” Scootaloo grinned with anticipation. This was going to be good!
Stepping clear of Scootaloo, Rainbow Dash spread her wings and took flight once more, ascending to around the two-meter mark. “Rule number one of stunt flying: keep up your speed!”
Scootaloo blinked. “But I thought stunt flying was different to race flying.”
“It is,” Dash explained. “But that’s where rule number two comes in: stay high. ‘Cause like I said earlier, if you’re close to the ground and spin out of control, you’ll earn a one-way ticket to a full-body wing and hoof cast, drinkin’ from a straw!”
Scootaloo cringed at that imagery, though complete immobilisation was hard to wrap her head around. Having a sprained leg was bad enough.
“So, you see,” Dash continued, “both of these rules feed back into each other, like a vortex. Height gives you room to recover if you mess up, and speed gives you control.”
Scootaloo nodded along, paying special attention to Dash’s position and wing beats. If she could mimic the technique, even by a little, then her dream would be one step closer.
“The first stunt most Pegasi master is called a spinal roll.”
Whizzing away, Dash banked sharply right, reversing direction to perform directly over Scootaloo. Then, once stable, she flicked her right wingtip upwards, while the other flicked down. The effect was instantaneous. Through this simple adjustment, the lift characteristics changed, pushing Dash into a horizontal spin without any loss of speed or altitude.
Naturally, Scootaloo was starstruck. No matter how many times she saw her big sister perform, her jaw always dropped at the one-two punch that was her incredible speed and finesse, all wrapped up in the big blue package of awesome that was Rainbow Dash.
“Now a lot of ponies get a spinal roll and a barrel roll confused,” Dash explained. “What I did was a spinal roll. To do a barrel roll, you change altitude while spinning.”
The proceeding manoeuvre started off the same, but even at speed, Scootaloo could see the subtle differences in her wing position. With one raised higher than the other, the aerodynamics changed, pushing her to fly inverted at her lowest point!
“A vertical loop is harder, ‘cause it’s less about the wings and more about body weight. Remember, keep your speed as high as possible, or you will fall!”
Bucking her hooves forward, Dash zipped upwards, pushing her nose higher and arching her back until she was flying beyond the vertical point. The loop only took a couple of seconds, but for Scootaloo, it felt far longer. With her mind primed to analyse and to study, she drank in the power and elegance of Rainbow Dash’s movements.
“Those are the three basic stunts any show-flyer needs to know,” Dash landed gracefully in front of Scootaloo, booping her nose just as her other three hooves touched ground. “And now we’ve come full circle. Literally!”
Scootaloo was speechless. What could she say? She could only dream of reaching that level of skill. And to think, Dash could perform in wet weather with no more difficulty than she could in dry. There weren’t enough words in the Equish language to convey how huge her admiration had become. Where had she been going wrong all these years?
No, she shook her head. This wasn’t the time for self-doubt. Until recently, she had been ignorant of her own limitations, doomed to repeat the past no matter how much she hurt herself. How could she have possibly known about dyspraxia, were it not for a chance encounter with the one Ponyville resident who shared her condition?
Enough was enough. No more baby steps. Today she would realize her potential, one way or another. Fluffing out her wings, she counted out the rhythm in her head, just as she had been practicing.
One, two, three, four…
The wind gave her a little boost, helping her to hover upwards, but at a price. She was unstable, constantly wobbling around every which way. She fought on regardless, slowly rising higher as she shifted her weight around to keep her balance.
“Scootaloo! What are you—?”
“I can do this…” Scootaloo grunted through gritted teeth. She had to do this.
One, two, three, four…
She was almost there. Just a little higher, and she could commit.
“Scootaloo, get down, before you hurt yourself!” Dash stomped her hoof, but her wings remained tucked in. Did she secretly want this as well? A question for later, as Scootaloo needed every bit of concentration to pull this off.
One, two, three, four!
There, she had it! Leaning hard to the left, she skewed her wings, stiffened her posture, and let one final gust of wind push her over. She tumbled once, twice, then, after several heavy flaps, she levelled off, just in time for her muscles to give out.
Her body went limp, and she dropped like a stone, belly flopping onto the cold, hard platform below.
“Scootaloo!” Dash dropped to her knees, scooping up little sister in her wings. “Please don’t be hurt…”
For a few tense moments, Scootaloo lay still. Then, slowly, she turned her head, looked up at Rainbow Dash, and laughed.
“I did it! I did a spinal roll! Did you see me? I really did it!”
“That was a pretty gutsy move you did there, kiddo.” Now Dash really was crying. She wiped a tear from her eye and pulled Scootaloo into a tight hug. “But please, warn me next time you try something like that, ‘k? You nearly gave me a heart attack!”
“Okay,” Scootaloo blushed as she returned the hug. “I only did it ‘cause you were watching.”
“I’ve said it before, but I’ve gotta say it again,” Dash looked down at Scootaloo with a warm, gentle smile. “You’re gonna go far, kid.”
As if on cue, the shrill whistle of the approaching steam locomotive cut their cuddling short. “The train’s here, the train’s here!” Scootaloo proclaimed, caring not for how childish she sounded. She was in a happy place with her big sister. That was all that mattered.
“Yeah, yeah, I heard it,” Dash rose to her hooves and stretched her limbs. “Better get comfy on the train, squirt. ‘Cause your wings need some serious preening.”
“Aww, do you have to do it on the train?” Scootaloo pouted. Well, perhaps one thing mattered. “It’s embarrassing.”
“Hey, nothin’ embarrassing about proper feather care,'' Dash extended a wing tip and wagged it like a finger. “Besides, the rain’s made you a mess. Fluttershy ain’t gonna be pleased after she spent the day grooming animals at the vet.”
Scootaloo let out a disgruntled huff, resigning herself to her fate. She supposed she deserved it. She’d pushed her luck far too much today. But, deep down, she knew it was for the best. Besides, she had performed her first ever flight stunt! That was reason enough to celebrate.
As Rainbow Dash flagged down the guard, the train rolled to a gentle stop, with only the rear two coaches fitting along the tiny platform.
“I love you, Rainbow Dash,” Scootaloo admitted through a long yawn.
“Hey, not so loud!” Dash retorted, looking back and forth to check nopony was in ear shot. “But, yeah, I love you, too.”
As the two took their seats, Scootaloo’s eyelids fluttered closed. She drifted off into a gentle sleep against Dash’s chest, safe in the knowledge that, today, her ultimate dream was one step closer.
Author's Note
Sometimes, you just need to write something short and sweet, based off a reference image. This is that story! Here's hoping it lives up to the original, which is in the process of re-editing!
