Chapters The bright sunshine burned Scootaloo’s eyes as she stared out over Ponyville. All the ponies were in a great mood, and the sounds of laughter could be heard echoing around Sugar cube Corner. Every now and then Scootaloo could hear Pinkie Pie’s hyper high-pitched voice telling everypony where things should go, and her crazy laughter every time anypony said anything that was even the teensiest bit funny.
Scootaloo shoved two balls of cloud into her ears and smiled, remembering that today was about two years after Rainbow Dash had joined the Wonderbolts.
She remembered how happy Rainbow Dash had been on that day. Anypony who had seen her would have said she was a completely different person. The way she bounced around made her seem like a professional gymnast, and she couldn't seem to stop smiling. Scootaloo couldn't have cared less that she wouldn't see Rainbow Dash as much anymore, she was just happy that Rainbow was happy, and all of Ponyville seemed to feel the same way.
As soon as Dinky and her mom had come to deliver the message that Dash was finally going to achieve the goal she had been dreaming about her whole life, Scootaloo had jumped on her scooter and headed straight for Sugar cube corner. On her way there, Scootaloo had realized just how much she loved the wind flying past her, and how the feeling of riding the scooter was so similar to flying. In fact, she was so happy that she didn’t even notice her cutie mark until Rainbow Dash pointed it out to her later; a scooter wheel with two white wings sprouting off it. They had laughed, and Rainbow had said that she was proud of her.
Proud of her.
And you know what?
Scootaloo wasn’t going to let her down.
Tomorrow there was a tryout for the ‘Junior Wonderbolt’s’. It was a training program for young pegasi that was taught by the Wonderbolts themselves. Not many ponies would be allowed to join, but there sure were a lot of pegasus ponies on the tryout list. Scootaloo of course, was one of them.
There was no way a chance like this was going to pass by her, at least not today.
There was only one thing bothering Scootaloo that day, and it wasn’t nervousness issues. It was actually her idol, Rainbow Dash. She had come back to Ponyville many times in the past two years, but Scootaloo hadn’t had much of a chance to talk to her. At first it had seemed as if Rainbow was so busy she just couldn’t find time for Scootaloo, but after a while she figured out what was really going on.
It was on a cloudy day, and it was only going to get worse with the rain planned for later. Scootaloo had been following Rainbow all around Ponyville, and after chasing her for hours, she had managed to place herself directly in Rainbow’s flight path. As she opened her mouth to ask Rainbow Dash to stop, RD just flew straight past, staring right through her. That was when Scootaloo realized that Rainbow hadn’t been avoiding her. She hadn’t been busy either. Rainbow Dash had actually... forgotten her. She had forgotten Scootaloo, the pegasus she was so proud of, after just a couple years. Of course Scootaloo had been upset, and had moped around the outsides of Ponyville for weeks. But after thinking about it for a while, Scootaloo realized that instead of just telling Rainbow Dash who she was, she was going to impress her to the point that Dash would have to remember her. And that’s exactly what she was going to do during these tryouts.
All of a sudden there was a huge crash from inside Sugar Cube corner, and Twilight could be heard yelling at Pinkie Pie. The party at sugar cube corner was supposed to be a secret, but the noise was making it pretty obvious. Scootaloo could easily figure out that the party was most likely for the pegasi in Ponyville that were competing in the upcoming tryouts. Speaking of Ponyville contestestants, thought Scootaloo, Twilight said something about only two of us. This place is small, but it isn't uninhabited, and these are important tryouts. Another crash could be heard from inside, and this time it was Pinkie yelling at Twilight. Scootaloo groaned, and decided that the noise was just too much. She spread her wings, letting the sunlight shine through her feathers, and then took off. After circling ponyville for awhile she alighted on a cloud near the Cutie mark crusader treehouse and nodded off, sinking into her thoughts.
“Scootaloo?” Scootaloo awoke to a small, squeaky voice calling her name.
“Five more minutes.” She groaned.
“Scootaloo!”
“There’s no school today, leave me alone.”
“SCOOTALOO!”
“The cake is a lie...”
“SCOOT-A-LOO!”
Scootaloo opened her eyes, and peered over the edge of the cloud.
“Sweetie belle?”
“Who else? Hurry up and come down here!”
Scootaloo dropped down to the ground, and stared at Sweetie Belle. Sweetie seemed to be avoiding her gaze, and mumbled something about wanting to see her, when suddenly she burst into tears.
“Ugh! What on earth are you crying for? Pull yourself together girl!” Scootaloo recoiled, and gave Sweetie Belle a look that clearly said ‘What in Equestria is wrong with you?’
Sweetie Belle began to try and compose herself. “Oh Scootaloo, I don’t know what’s wrong with me! I was just thinking about... about how you might leave for a while, and I was looking at our old tree house, and oh my goodness I don’t know! I was just suddenly really sad!”
Scootaloo softened a bit “Uh, you know I’m not gonna be gone that long, right? And chances are I won’t even pass the tryouts. So calm down, okay?”
Sweetie Belle smiled, and sniffled a bit. “I know, like I said, I don’t know what came over me. I came here because I have a favor to ask, you don’t mind do you?”
Scootaloo grinned. “Of course not! Anything for you.”
“Will... will you listen to me sing? I wanna sing the old crusader song, since it’s been so long. Do you mind?”
“Of course not!” Scootaloo smiled to reassure her, and closed her eyes.
“Okay, ummm... ‘Look, here, are three little ponies Ready to sing for this crowd, Listen up, 'cause here's our story... ’
Scootaloo smiled, remembering the time her and her friends had sang this song for a school talent show.
‘Feels like the sun will never come, When your cutie mark's not there So the three of us will fight the fight, There is nothing that we fear ’
They had spent so much time together, caused so many problems. She couldn’t believe that she had actually tried to sing this for the talent show. That was obviously Sweetie Belle’s talent.
‘We'll have to figure out what we'll do next, Till our cutie marks are here! ’
All those different ways we tried to get our cutie marks, Journalism, bowling...
‘We are the Cutie Mark Crusaders, On a quest to find out who we are, And we will never stop the journey, Not until we have our cutie marks... ’
Scootaloo sat there for a few minutes even after Sweetie Belle had finished, before finally looking up. “Thank you.” She said. “Even though you were the one who asked to sing, thank you.” And with that, she spread her wings and flew off towards Sugar Cube corner.
Almost all the parties in Ponyville were held at Sugar Cube corner. About a year and a half ago the Cake family had decided that they were going to Manehatten, and would be spending the rest of there days there. This had caused Pinkie Pie to burst into a fit of tears, but after about a week she was back to her normal self. Sugar Cube corner hadn’t changed much, people still went there to get all of there cakes and any treats they needed. The only noticeable difference was that orders often took longer to be delivered because Pinkie kept eating them. But overall everything tasted the same, and some ponies even thought that Pinkie was a better baker.
As Scootaloo walked through the doors into Sugar Cube corner, she was surprised to find that it was empty. She took a few tentative steps into the store, and then almost ran straight out when a bunch of ponies jumped out of nowhere.
“SURPRISE!!” Yelled Pinkie Pie, and what seemed like all of Ponyville. Scootaloo smiled, and wandered the rest of the way in, completely forgetting about all of her worries as she talked to her friends.
It was a beautiful day in Cloudsdale. The ponies there could be seen in small groups, chatting away with each other underneath the sun. Scootaloo couldn't help feeling left out as she watched all the ponies talking to each other. She never went to flight camp, mainly because as a filly Scootaloo couldn't really fly at all. Now she almost wished she had joined regardless, because then she would know somepony, or at the very least recognize something.
Regretting past things doesn't help future ones.
Scootaloo glanced up at the large stadium she would be competing in. She suddenly realized how huge it seemed, and wondered how many ponies would be watching as she performed. Scootaloo closed her eyes, and took a few deep breaths.
There's no way you're going to let something as simple as stage fright get in the way of today.
Scootaloo gulped, and then pushed down her fears as far as they could go. She took a step into the stadium, and asked one of the ponies where the participating pegasi were supposed to be. After checking off her name on the try-out list, she was pointed to a back room, and was told to wait with all the other ponies while they sorted out what was going on. She trotted into a small room packed tightly with pegasi of all different colors. A lot of the ponies had mimicked the Wonderbolt's hair styles, and she couldn't help noticing a mare her age with a rainbow-colored mane sitting atop her head.
That was me two years ago.
"Scootaloo!" Someone yelled from behind her. Scootaloo whipped around to see...
"Featherweight?" Truthfully she wasn't that surprised. Featherweight had suddenly showed interest in flying a few years ago, after a colt with a photography cutie mark came into their class. The colt had completely taken Featherweight'ss place as class photographer, so Featherweight had filled his life with flying practice instead.
"Hey Scootaloo! I looked for you at Sugar Cube corner yesterday, but I couldn't see you anywhere!"
"Uh, yeah." Scootaloo mumbled, "I sort of... left early. I didn't know you were competing!"
"Oh... well, actually, I've become pretty interested in the Wonderbolts lately. I suppose most fliers are." Featherweight smiled, and ruffled his feathers. "I actually didn't know you were here either, until I saw you, that is."
"Well, I hope you get in... you should do well. You're really good, you know." Scootaloo wished Featherweight good luck, and then slipped away into the crowd wondering if she could find Rainbow Dash anywhere. It's not like she'll remember me, but it never hurts to look for her . After looking for her through the crowd, Scootaloo hovered slightly over everypony, glancing around the room. Nope, not here yet . she thought, and began to wait.
After what seemed like forever, Spitfire, captain of the Wonderbolts began some sort of welcoming speech to everyone, which Scootaloo paid absolutely no attention too. She finally tuned back in to hear-
"And lastly, Rainbow Dash!" She must be announcing the Wonderbolts . Scootaloo shifted her position.
Scootaloo tuned Spitfire out again, and began going over her routine for the tryouts. It wasn't that complicated, but Scootaloo was sure she could do it. All of a sudden she felt like she couldn't move, and Spitfires voice seemed distant.
I'll be fine, right? she thought to herself. Nervousness never should get in the way of somepony's dream.
After a while a few pegasus ponies began weaving there way through the crowd, handing out numbers to everypony. Scootaloo looked at hers: 34. There's at least 34 contestants? Wowza.
The pegasus ponies left the room, leaving a long silence before finally...
"Contestant number one! Please come forward." Scootaloo hovered slightly to allow herself to see through the narrow doorway. She watched as contestant number one did a series of complicated flight maneuvers... perfectly. Suddenly she had a sinking feeling that whatever she was going to do wasn't good enough. She began frantically planning a new flight routine, and didn't notice anything else until...
"Contestant number twenty-four! Please come forward!" Scootaloo watched as Featherweight went through his flight routine, and she realized how much better he was. Scootaloo began wondering how you could possibly beat something like that. Rainbow Dash could . Scootaloo blinked, and then gasped. Suddenly, she knew exactly the way to beat Featherweight, and she knew that if she could pull it off she could pass the trials. The only problem was that she'd never done it before. In fact, she only knew one pony that had. But somehow, she knew she could pull it off. There was absolutely no question about it.
"Contestant number thirty-four, please come forward!" Scootaloo walked through the crowd, tried to ignore the stares everypony was giving her. She stepped out onto the stadium, and tried not to look scared.
"Phase One!"
Cloud spinning. She knew this. Scootaloo began to fly past the clouds, tilting her wings so that the air spun the clouds in a fast circle.
"Phase Two!"
The instructors seemed a bit tired by now, and Scootaloo couldn't blame them. She proceeded to weave in between the clouds as fast as she could. So far so good , she thought as she made it through phase two. Phase three was just as successful.
"Phase Four!"
Phase four. This was where the pegasi were supposed to demonstrate the hardest technique they knew. Scootaloo began with a mixture of turns and loop-de-loops, climbing as high into the air as she could. After she felt she was high enough, she looked down towards the bottom of the stadium. Everypony in the crowd was silent, and they all looked so insignificant from this high up. She tilted her head downward, and bent forward into a dive headfirst towards the ground. A wall of air began to build up around her, and she fought back, putting her entire body strength into this one routine. It seemed like forever before finally...
BOOM
It was a... Scootaloo wasn't sure. Her name wasn't Rainbow Dash, so a Sonic Rainboom didn't seem quite right. A Scootaboom? she thought. She pulled up from the ground just in time, and began to circle the stadium. Everything was easy now, it was impossible to fail. She circled around the stadium a few times, laughing as she flew in circles, laughing because of how she couldn't even believe herself, laughing at how everypony else couldn't believe it either. She finally stopped laughing just in time to come to a stop hovering in front of the judges.
There was silence, and then finally Spitfire spoke. "That was... amazing" Scootaloo grinned.
"Truly spectacular" Soarin' agreed.
"You come from Ponyville, right?" asked a familiar voice.
"Yes," Scootaloo was confused, and she stared searchingly at Rainbow, looking for some sort of recognition.
"I wish I had the chance to know you. You seem like a truly special mare." Rainbow Dash smiled politely.
"I...I- Yeah. I wish" Scootaloo looked surprised, her eyes had widened in shock, and her voice was cracked and shaky.
"Th-thank you," she said, and flew out of the room. As soon as she landed, Scootaloo closed her eyes.
How did I climb so, so, high, and how did I fall so, so, far?
Scootaloo didn't know how long she had been laying on the ground for, and she didn't care. All she could think about were those million questions racing in and out of her head as she tried to sort out what was going on.
Why did she forget me?
Scootaloo brushed some dust off her hooves, and curled into a small c-shaped ball.
Was there an accident? Does she hate me?
She shook her head.
She doesn't hate me. And I would have known if there was an accident.
Scootaloo sighed, and curled into an even tighter shape.
Rainbow's always had a bad memory, and it sometime's just takes a bit for old memories to return.
She blinked back tears. She had heard from Twilight once that you can stare at a math problem for hours, only to remember how to solve it a week later.
I'm not a math problem.
Scootaloo stared at her tail, and began to attempt to smooth all the strands back into place. The wind from her try-outs had caused her to look like a complete mess.
I am a problem though.
She closed her eyes, and began to dream about a sunny day in Ponyville she'd experienced many years ago.
Scootaloo was sitting on a cloud, watching all the pegasus fillies and colts practice their flying tricks. Somewhere nearer to the ground she could barely see Fluttershy struggling to imitate the techniques the ponies years younger than her were easily accomplishing.
"Hey, kid!" Scootaloo heard Rainbow Dash's voice from above her. "What are you moping around for?"
"I'm worthless! I'll never be as good at flying as any of the kids in my class! I wish I could fly!" Scootaloo complained.
"What, you're upset about that? Trust me kid, nopony else has the motivation you do. Whether you believe it or not, you're going to be great someday"
Scootaloo looked up to see Rainbow's face. Her blue wings were over her, blotting out the gray atmosphere, and making it seem like a sunny blue day. She was grinning, and her magenta eyes were sparkling as if somepony had sprinkled fairy dust into them. "So what do you say? Wanna practice flying with me?"
Scootaloo smiled.
"Hey, kid!" Scootaloo couldn't quite figure out who was speaking. It was a stallion's voice, someone's she'd heard before...
"Are you awake?" Scootaloo opened her eyes to find herself staring into the face of a light blue pony, with a brushed back darker blue mane.
"S-Soarin?" She asked. Soarin didn't really look like the poster of him Rainbow Dash used to have on her wall. It had been a few years since then, and the apple pie loving pegasus had gained a few wrinkles under his eyes.
"That's my name." The blue pegasus smiled. "I"m to say two things." Scootaloo stared at him, waiting.
"The first is that you made the tryouts. You're not surprised, are you?" Scootaloo forced a smile, but she did already know that she'd made it. How could she not have?
"And the second is..." Soarin's face became serious. "You knew Rainbow Dash very well before today, because she was your mentor and idol. And that's why you're sitting here looking like you were just told you'd never be able to fly again. Am I right?"
Scootaloo stared, awestruck. "How did you know that?"
"Well," Soarin began. "You seemed a bit down after the tryouts, so I asked your friend Featherweight what he knew about you."
"You talked to Featherweight?"
"Yes," Soarin continued. "I think you'll be pleased to hear he passed the try-outs also. Along with two other ponies, Firebreeze and Nightshade."
"Oh. That's good, I'm glad." Scootaloo really was happy for Featherweight, but she seriously had no idea who the other ponies were.
"Well, I'm telling you this because I think Dash should remember who you are. And I'm going to help you make her remember, no matter what it takes."
"You'd do that?" Scootaloo wasn't sure whether she'd misjudged the wonderbolt team. She looked up to them a lot, but they never seemed like they would be ponies she would feel comfortable confiding all her problems in.
"I'd do that because you're training with us now, and emotional issues get in the way of that. So for now... why don't we practice some flying?" Scootaloo blinked. Somehow... I feel like this has happened before. Whenever I'm sad, there's always somepony there to help me reach my goals. And when I'm angry, there's somepony who understands and doesn't try to pretend that everything's alright.
Two hours later the sun had hid itself behind the gray clouds being carried in by the pegasi, but Scootaloo didn't care. She was in a much better mood though, because she finally had something to do... and it was something she cared about.
I'm getting flight training... from a Wonderbolt!
Soarin arrived a few seconds later. "Hey kid! Are you ready?"
Scootaloo giggled. "Almost. But one thing first..."
"What is it?"
"You have apple pie in your mane." Soarin laughed, and shook his head until the apple pie had completely dislodged itself.
"Now are you ready?" Soarin had finally stopped laughing, and was now trying to look as serioius as possible.
"Of course." Scootaloo answered with a grin, and adjusted her focus to the course in front of her.
"Then let's get going!" Soarin gestured forward, and Scootaloo took off.
Over the next two hours Scootaloo learned more than she had in the past two weeks, and she couldn't imagine what would have happened if she hadn't.
I can do all the simple things easily, but boy do I suck!
Luckily Soarin didn't seem to care at all and was surprisingly kind when pointing out mistakes. Scootaloo started laughing as she flew faster and faster, the obstacles seeming to get easier and easier to avoid. She hardly even noticed as the sun began to set, and after a while Soarin called her back.
"Okay, that's it for today"
"But I'm not tired!" Scootaloo wasn't tired at all actually, she felt more alive than she had in a long time.
"Yeah, well too bad!" Soarin smiled while he spoke, and Scootaloo sighed.
"Why do we have to stop?"
Soarin hesitated before answering.
"Because I wanna eat some pie. Let's go."
Scootaloo burst out laughing, and fell on the ground. Rain was beginning to fall from the sky, and as Scootaloo opened her eyes it felt as if time was slowing down. For a second, she could see her reflection in a drop of rain, the reflection of a smiling, happy pony. In her reflection she saw an orange mare whose mane was mixed with some water that had pooled up beneath her. And in that moment Scootaloo realized that no matter what cause she had to be sad, there was so, so much to be happy about.
And I'm never going to forget that.
