Foreword: Warning! This was based off of the song "Everything You Ever Wanted" by Hawk Nelson. Due to technical difficulties, the lyrics are no longer posted. But if you want a deeper understanding of the story, I suggest you go and listen to it. It's an awesome song. ^_^ Enjoy!
..:..:..:..:..:..:..:..:..:..:..:..
Scootaloo walked along the dirt road, head hanging, wings tucked by her sides. The rain pounded against her skull, weighing down her coat, mane, and tail, but she didn’t care. Nothing mattered anymore.
To the small pony, hope was the most dangerous thing in the world. More deadly than a cockatrice, more painful than the slow and painful death at the hands of a changeling. Hope was the things that filled her wings with wind, that got her eyes to light up, got her heart beating with excitement…then let her tumble back to earth, refusing to support her. Oh, wait, that wasn’t hope.
That was Rainbow Dash.
That afternoon, Scootaloo had been waiting for her mentor to teach her the art of flying. Her idol, the one she adored, had finally agreed to instruct her on how to be the second-most-awesome pony ever. The small orange pegasus had been sitting in the grassy field, by herself, for seven hours.
Sometimes, Scootaloo wished she knew what Rainbow Dash was thinking. It would be so much easier to know if the older pegasus even cared. On the rarest of occasion, when she was feeling so down it felt like she would never see the sun again, Scootaloo dared to think that…Rainbow Dash might not even care about her. Why else would she stand up the small filly so many times?
..:..:..:..:..:..:..:..:..:..:..
After half a year, nothing had changed.
Scootaloo plopped down in the middle of the path, refusing to budge an inch. The snow fell around her, creating a perfect blanket of white serenity. Not even the birds dared to destroy the perfection with their stick-like feet. Scootaloo, on the other hand, didn’t feel the same reverence as the rest of the creatures did.
This was the umpteenth time that Scootaloo had been abandoned, forgotten, by her idol. This time, it had been for forty-eight hours; the filly had resorted to building a snow-cave, hoping that Rainbow had been too busy with the snowstorm that she was waiting to come for her. Scootaloo had been hunkered down in her small cave of ice when Fluttershy trotted past, reporting the cyan pegasus was at the bar, and had been for several hours.
In the half a year, Scootaloo had grown an incredible amount, even for a pegasus. Her height would have just reached Rainbow’s brow, and her wings were more than big enough to carry her through the air. Despite all that, she had been holding in all of her impatience, waiting for Rainbow Dash to finally mentor her.
‘They don’t call them vain hopes just for fun.’
Tears began dripping down Scootaloo’s face, creating small dents in the snow-covered ground below her. She shook with frustration, lifting her wings from the sides of her body, rocketing into the fields of white. She zipped and twisted in the air, ripping chasms in the white blanket with her speed. She was unaccustomed to the thrill of flying; for the first time in her life, her small wings were supporting her body, allowing her to zoom in fascinating patterns.
She was about to whoop with joy when she collided with a tree, creating a small crack in the frozen bark. ‘Stupid steering…’ she thought dejectedly, sliding into the snow once more. ‘Stupid tree…’ She dug her hooves through her mane, which was greasy and now filled with twigs, getting all of the dead foliage out.
‘Stupid me…’
Scootaloo curled against the safety of the trunk, no longer caring whether or not she froze.
All of that time, spent obsessing over Rainbow Dash, trying to gain her attention, could have easily been spent doing something productive. Scootaloo realized that. Of course she did. She’d have to be blind not to see it. Even so, she wasted all of her time trying to impress the only pony she ever idolized.
..:..:..:..:..:..:..:..:..:..:..
Scootaloo turned lazy circles in the air, her wings pumping up and down with ease. She studied the spring fields below; different flowers which Scootaloo couldn’t place bloomed both in the wild and in ponies’ flowerboxes. Then again, she never learned the flower names that well; she could barely point out a dandelion, even years after she had graduated school. But that time had been spent, not hitting the books, but flying.
Flying had become second nature to her, as easy as breathing by this point. She glanced down at her wings, feeling her chest fill with pride as she observed the elegant feathers, the orange color that always shone like the sunrise in the light of day. It had been years since they achieved that wonderful sheen…
Since Rainbow Dash left for Cloudsdale to become a Wonder Bolt.
She recalled the night that she refused to sleep, thoroughly convinced that Rainbow Dash would come for her the next day, and she would be wide awake to receive her hero. Of course that day never came. Scootaloo now realized that it was a vain hope long before she gave up waiting. Scootaloo put it down to her stubborn pride; she knew she was just deluding herself. Nevertheless, dreams die slowly.
Even now, as she circled Ponyville, she kept a lookout for that telltale rainbow streak, proclaiming her idol returning. Scootaloo glanced towards Cloudsdale, like she often did when she wasn’t paying attention. The floating city was still there, the cloud columns rising into the sky. If Scootaloo paused to listen, she swore she could hear the sound of Rainbow Dash’s Sonic Rainboom. When she closed her eyes, she could see her friend rocketing towards her, ready to apologize and catch up on the last eleven years. Of course, that never came true.
But she was still waiting.
..:..:..:..:..:..:..:..:..:..:..:..:..
As Scootaloo kicked off her work boots, shedding her clothes and falling into bed, she groaned as her bones protested any movement. Don’t be fooled; she loved her job. Performing in front of all those ponies, hearing the cheering in her ears…there was nothing like it. She was simply following the call of her cutie mark: a scooter wheel with wings on either side. But it was still like she was living the dream.
Scootaloo wondered, as she normally did when staring at her ceiling in the middle of the night, what Rainbow Dash was doing. Was she enjoying herself, performing with the Wonder Bolts? Or was she staring at her own ceiling, wondering what her tiny protégé from so long ago was doing?
Scootaloo remembered the day that she discovered Rainbow Dash had gone. Or, rather, the day before.
The small filly had to ask Fluttershy to ferry her up to the cyan pegasus’s house, because her was had been far too small.
“Rainbow Dash…?” she had called, peeking her head into the massive house. The clouds that made up Rainbow’s house were masterfully sculpted, bringing a Cloudsdale flare into the Ponyville residence.
Scootaloo’s call was answered with a loud bang from the back room quickly followed with a blue head poking around a corner. Rainbow Dash had black circles under her magenta eyes and a cooking pot on top of her head.
“Oh, squirt! Whadya need?” she asked, chuckling nervously.
“Oh, well, I just wanted to see you. You’ve seemed awfully busy lately, so I thought I’d drop in.” She tried to puff out her chest and stretch her tiny wings, as if saying “yeah, I flew here”.
Rainbowdash hadn’t been fooled for a Canterlot minute. “Fluttershy brought you, huh?” Scootaloo deflated, nodding glumly. “No prob, kid,” Rainbow laughed, throwing her arm around the small filly. “Why don’t you sit down on the sofa, and I’ll be out in a sec. I just gotta finish up some stuff real quick.”
Scootaloo nodded, hopping on the couch quickly. However, her adrenaline had been coursing through her veins because of the excitement of the trip there, leaving her with a tremendous crash to deal with. Her eyes started to droop slowly, and she rested her tiny head on the clouds, drifting off to sleep.
When Scootaloo awoke, she found the house deserted. All of the furniture was gone, and the bed had been stripped, and Rainbowdash was nowhere to be found. The little pegasus had been crushed. She sat on the edge of the cloud where Rainbow Dash’s house rested, bawling and screaming at the world. Why did everyone she ever cared for have to leave? First her parents disappeared, then Sweetie moved with Rarity to Canterlot, then Applebloom went to Appaloosa with her family, and now Rainbow Dash had abandoned her.
Was there something wrong with Scootaloo? Was there a reason no one wanted to be with her? Was she defective? The small pegasus lay there, tears making the cloud beneath her turn gray.
..:..:..:..:..:..:..:..:..:..:..:..:..
At the age of twenty-five, Scootaloo was happy. No, she didn’t have a stallion in her life. Or a mare. No fillies or colts to speak of. But she was still happy.
Watching the fall leaves turn different shades, she recalled the Crusaders and herself romping through giant piles of leaves, squealing as the dead leaves leapt into the air. They had all been so care-free back then, never thinking about the consequences of their adventures or what tomorrow would bring.
Watching the leaves, she also remembered the Iron Pony Competition. Her beloved Rainbow Dash had competed in the Running of the Leaves, that one year that she and Applejack had tried to discover who the stronger pony was. Scootaloo had been rooting for Rainbow Dash the entire time.
Over the years, Scootaloo had started to wonder if it was her fault that Rainbow had left. After all, she had a ton of friends. She wasn’t lacking admirers. There hadn’t been a single down point in Rainbow’s life that would make her want to leave Ponyville. That is, until a certain pathetic pegasus showed up on her doorstep. Who knows, maybe Scootaloo was the one who finally pushed Rainbow out the door…
Of course, these were the thoughts of a silly little filly. They had been discarded a long time ago, along with her small wings. Now she knew that it was her big-time dreams that had pushed her out of the small-time town. It was no fault of Scootaloo’s. But still, the orange pegasus couldn’t help but wonder if her idol, even after all these years, was coming back…
..:..:..:..:..:..:..:..:..:..:..:..
Scootaloo once again fell into bed, staring at the ceiling. Her heart still pounded with the exhilaration of performing in the stadium. Feeing the wind flying through her mane as she flew through the air, twisting and diving, wowing the audience… She was quite certain that nothing could compare. Nothing else could take her breath away quite like that.
A knock at the door interrupted her thoughts. ‘That’s odd. Nopony comes to visit at this time of night.’ She rose from her cloud bed, opening the door and peeking into the hall. What she saw made her jaw drop, her wings going limp at her sides.
A blue pegasus stood there, her multi-colored mane and tail matted and full of knots. Small wrinkles, probably from flying at high speeds, creased her face, giving off the illusion of age. What betrayed that illusion, however, was the playful glint in her eyes, giving off the impression that she was, in fact, a young pony in an old mare’s body.
Okay, so maybe there was one other thing that could take her breath away like performing.
And that one thing was standing in the hallway, grinning sheepishly at her.
Before the pony could even stutter an apology, Scootaloo propelled herself out into the hallway, screaming “Rainbow Dash!” Scootaloo threw her hooves around the older mare’s neck, bringing them both to the ground.
Scootaloo ran her hooves through Rainbow Dash’s coat, still trying to decide whether or not she was hallucinating. As the older mare wheezed below her, she decided that she was, indeed, sane. She got up, offering a hoof to the fallen pegasus. Rainbow Dash accepted it, levering herself onto all fours.
Scootaloo couldn’t believe her eyes. The pegasus who she had idolized for years, who she had cried over, who she had wished she could meet again for decades, was there, in the hallway, refusing to meet her eyes. Rainbow Dash was here.
Without giving Scootaloo a chance to pepper her with questions, Rainbow Dash squared her shoulders, staring at the orange pegasus in the eye. And the four little words brought tears of joy and sorrow to Scootaloo’s eyes.
“Sorry I’m late, Scoots.”
..:..:..:..:..:..:..:..:..:..:..
AN: I might do a sequel in Rainbow Dash’s perspective, I might not. But I’d need a song for that. If you have any suggestions, I’m open to them. ^_^ Also, sorry for the bad quality of this chapter; I wrote this in a very short amount of time.
Author's Note
I've decided that I am doing a sequel to this. It will be from Rainbow Dash's perspective, and it will cover why she left while still remaining loyal to the beloved little filly. ^_^ Also, sorry for the bad quality of this chapter; I wrote this in a very short amount of time.
