Scootaloo landed on the cloud Rainbow Dash had been watching her from, breathing heavily. “Good job, squirt!” Rainbow praised, ruffling the filly’s mane, which brightened Scootaloo’s mood a bit.
“Thanks. Could I maybe, take a break? I’ve been practicing, for what feels like, hours now…” Scootaloo asked, panting between practically every word she spoke.
“I don’t know, Scoots. You really need to get this course down.” Dash queried.
“I do have it down! I’ve literally done it blindfolded!” Scootaloo argued. She took another breath, and calmed her temper. “C’mon, I deserve a little break, don’t you think?”
Dash looked at the filly and thought for a moment. “Alright, but not too long.”
Scootaloo let out another breath, this one of relief. “Thanks.”
Once that was settled, Scootaloo collapsed onto the cloud, leaving her laying on her back. For a moment, she simply stared up at the starry night sky. Another long sigh escaped her. “..Dash?”
Rainbow looked down at her sister. “Yeah?”
Scootaloo sat up, and made eye contact with her idol. “Why do I have to work so hard for this test? I mean, I know it’s important, but do I really need to train this much?”
“I know it doesn’t seem like that big of a deal, but it is. If you fail, they’ll…” Dash paused, pondering an excuse to give. She knew what really happened, but she couldn’t tell Scootaloo, even if a part of her wanted to so she would know how important it really was to pass. “…you’ll be exiled. You know that.” She finally said, remembering what had always been told to the foals that asked. “Do you wanna be exiled?”
“No! It’s just, I don’t know how much more of this I can take. At this rate, I’ll be too tired to take the actual test when the day comes.” Scootaloo complained, momentarily looking back at her wings and fluttering them. She then looked back at Dash, who was now looking at her with a raised eyebrow. “Okay, maybe I won’t be that tired, but still! I’m convinced you’re working me too hard.”
Rainbow sighed. “Look Scoots, I’m aware of how hard I’m pushing you, and I understand you being upset about it, but if you don’t do your best on this exam, you’ll be exiled and I’ll never see you again.” She validated. She then continued, her tone softer. “Your test is in a week, and I don’t want this to be the last few days I get with you.”
“Me neither. I’m sorry I’ve been whining and skipping practices, this is just...a lot of pressure. I mean like you said, if I don’t do perfect on this test, I’ll be sent away from Equestria, let alone Cloudsdale. I’ll never see you again, or Orion..” Scootaloo shuttered at the thought. She hated the idea of never seeing the two most important ponies in her life ever again because of one test.
“And you don’t want that, do you?”
Scootaloo quickly shook her head.
“Exactly. I know it’s a lot of work, but I promise it’ll be worth it. You just gotta trust me, alright?” Dash promised, getting a smile, followed by another light nod, from Scootaloo in response. Rainbow smiled back and pulled Scootaloo into a hug, which the filly gladly returned.
“I love you, Scootaloo. Remember that.” Dash cooed, stroking the filly’s magenta mane.
“I love you too Dash.” Scootaloo replied, hugging her sister tighter, savoring the hug.
Eventually they broke apart, and Dash, putting her typical competitive face back on, gestured towards the exam course. “Clear, fly, fall, complete.”
Scootaloo rolled her eyes and groaned, “Fine.” before slowly getting up and walking towards the starting ramp.
~
Scootaloo awoke to the blaring sound of an alarm clock. She scrambled out of bed to turn it off, and once she did, she was tempted to just go back to sleep. That’s when she remembered, however, that today was her flight test.
At that thought, she quickly got out of bed and raced to the kitchen. “No wonder I set an alarm!” She thought as she flew through the hall. She never set alarms to wake her up unless it was for something important. Any other day she would just wait for Rainbow to wake her up.
Once she got to the kitchen, she called out to her sister, who she expected to see right away. “Don’t worry Rainbow, I’m up! Sorry if I’m a little-” she cut herself off when she looked around the empty room. Rainbow Dash was nowhere to be seen.
She landed on the cloud floor and walked further into the kitchen in confusion. As she walked past the eating table, she caught a glimpse of a small piece of paper sitting on it. She turned and looked down at it, reading the print.
~
Scoots,
Sorry, I had to get to work, I don’t think I’ll be able to watch you at the exam. But I’m sure you’ll do great, just remember everything I taught you. I’ll see you either tonight or tomorrow and we’ll celebrate then. I believe in you kiddo. Praise the flock!
Love you!
- Dash / Best Sister Ever ;)
~
Scootaloo frowned. She had hoped her sister would be there to support her. Either way though, she knew Dash was counting on her, and she wasn’t gonna let her down.
She was now looking forward to after the test when her and Rainbow would celebrate and do whatever they wanted together. She just had to pass her test, then all this pressure would be off her, and she would officially be part of the flock.
~
After a quick breakfast, Scootaloo sped towards the front door, barely stopping herself in time to not ram into it. She grabbed her saddlebag, which Rainbow had pre-packed for her, and bolted out the door.
She didn’t get too far before crossing paths with her best friend Orion, who was also on his way to the test. Scootaloo saw him from a distance and called out, “Orion!”
Orion turned and smiled at Scootaloo, waving back to her. “Hey Scoots!”
He flew over to her, and they started flying together. “You ready to blow every pony’s minds?” Scootaloo asked with a chuckle.
“I don’t know how you’re so confident about this.” Orion said, “What if we fail? What if one of us fails, and we never see each other again? What if-”
“Relaaax, Orion! We’ll be fine!” Scootaloo insisted, cutting off her friend’s worried babling.
“How do you know for sure?”
“Well, I don’t, but I have confidence in both of us.” Scootaloo said assuringly, “You know, you really need to learn to have more faith in yourself. You’re a lot better at flying than you think you are.”
Scootaloo looked at Orion. He was looking towards the ground, but she could still see the small smile that had crept onto his muzzle. “And hey,” she continued, “After the exam, you can come to my place if you want. We can play games, do whatever really.” She shrugged.
“You sure Dash won’t mind? She doesn’t seem to, well, like me too much.” Orion’s smile faded, being replaced by a more unsure look.
“Don’t worry, I don’t think she’ll be home until tomorrow. We got the whole night to ourselves.”
“If you say so. That does sound pretty fun.” Orion said, nodding to himself.
“So you’re in?”
“I’m in.”
“Alright, and then tomorrow, maybe you could celebrate with me and Dash. I don’t think she’d mind.” Scootaloo then suggested.
“Maybe we should just have our friend celebration tonight, and you and Dash can have your own celebration. I don’t wanna intrude on your sibling time.”
“Oh, yeah, maybe that would be better. Well okay, we can just hang out tonight then!”
“Sounds like a plan.” Orion gave another quick nod, and once that was settled, they flew in silence until they arrived at the area the test was taking place. They landed near the entrance gate, and for a moment, simply stared at it. Then they looked at each other, and Scootaloo smiled, repeating her first question. “You ready for this?”
“I don’t…” Orion began, but he paused. He decided to push his insecurity to the side for now, and try to believe in himself like Scootaloo had encouraged. He nodded, this one firm. “Ready.” He said confidently, now smiling back at the filly.
They turned back to the gate, and Orion started walking forward, but he stopped when he noticed Scootaloo wasn’t following him. “Scoots, you comin’?”
“Yeah! Just give me a second.” She replied. Her back was now facing him, and she was looking around at the amazing city that was Cloudsdale. Her home. After this test, she would be a real citizen of this maretropolis. She would get a job and help in any way she could. Maybe she’d even be able to work with her sister, if she was lucky.
“Scoots!” Orion’s voice snapped the orange pegasus out of her trance. She turned to face the colt, who looked slightly impatient. “I think it’s about to start!”
“Okay! Coming!” Scootaloo called back. She turned to look at the cloud city one last time, before gliding over to Orion. They glanced at each other, smiled, and walked through the gate.
Author's Note
Hello person reading this! I hope you liked this little story. I personally love the Rainbow Factory story, so I just thought I’d write this because…why not? XD
If you haven’t read Rainbow Factory…well I don’t really know why your here…BUT if you haven’t, I highly suggest you do! It’s one of the best stories I’ve ever read, especially when it comes to horror. Major props to Aurora Dawn for writing it! <3
That’s pretty much all I have to say. Thanks for checking out my story! I hope you liked it, and have a great day!
