Beyond Infinity

Scootaloo zipped through town on her scooter. She was already late for class so she had to pull some major moves to make it through the pony folk that were passing by.

“Sorry Dr. Whooves! My bad Bon-Bon! Whoa, sorry about your wig Mrs. Cake!” she called out rapidly as she zoomed through. The physical therapy session had left her drained, but if there was one thing she felt absolutely confident in, it was her skills on her scooter. She was doing well, until she nearly took out a green earth pony.

"Next time why don't you learn to DODGE?" the green pony yelled angrily.

"Sorry mister!" Scootaloo yelled back. She was almost to the schoolhouse now. "I wonder what we'll be learning about in class today..." she thought. Ms. Cheerilee's class had just finished learning about multiplication and division, and she had said that the next few lessons would be in the area of science. "Finally, I'm here!" Scootaloo exclaimed. She parked her scooter outside and slowly trotted to the door. She didn't want to cause a disturbance; this wasn't the first time she had been late because of physical therapy, and while she knew Cheerilee would understand she still felt bad about interrupting her. Scootaloo slowly walked into class and tried not to draw attention to herself. "Almost to my seat..."

"SCOOTALOO!" Cheerilee called out. Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon smirked. "Crap" thought Scootaloo.

"Yes, Ms. Cheerilee?"

"I don't appreciate you arriving late to my class. This is not the first time this has happened and I don't want to see this becoming a bad habit." Cheerilee said sternly. "But luckily for you, we're just getting started, so you haven't missed anything. Go ahead and take your seat." Scootaloo sullenly took her seat as Diamond Tiara snickered. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle turned and gave her a quick sympathetic look before Cheerilee resumed her teaching.

"As I was saying class, today we will be beginning to learn about a whole new world! We will be learning about...Outer Space! It should be very exciting!" Cheerilee said with an almost giddy grin. Her class didn't share in her enthusiasm though. Scootaloo was still trying to catch her breath, Sweetie Belle had a blank look on her face, and Silver Spoon just looked bored. Cheerilee sighed. "As you all know, we have two wonderful princesses that watch over us. Celestia controls the sun and it's movements, while her younger sister Luna controls the moon and it's movements. They each control one half of a day. However, as you may notice, there are many differences between Celestia's day and Luna's night. Can any of you point out these differences?"

Apple Bloom raised her hand. "Um, Luna's night has lotsa stars and Celestia's day doesn't have any?"

Cheerilee smiled. "Very good observation Apple Bloom! Besides the moon, Luna does a lot more work than most ponies realize. Luna designed the night sky many years ago, long before she became Nightmare Moon. Much of the beauty of the night goes unnoticed, because we ponies need sleep. All of those stars are actually other suns in outer space!"

Twist frowned. "But Ms. Cheerilee, if those stars are all other suns, does Celestia control those too?"

"Good question, Twist! We know that Celestia controls our Sun, the one we see every day, but the truth is that we don't know much about those other suns. We know that they're out there, and that some are bigger than ours, while some are smaller!" replied Cheerilee.

The class began to murmur among themselves. "Other suns?" "No way!" "I wonder if there are other princesses!"

Cheerilee couldn't help but smile again. This was exactly what she wanted to have happen. Her students imaginations were running wild and hopefully this would motivate them to go out and learn more about the world around them. "Any other differences you might notice between the Day and Night?"

Featherweight called out, "I think the moon changes; I took pictures of it one night, but it was a different shape a week later! How does it do that, Ms. Cheerilee?"

"Another great question, thank you Featherweight! You see..."

The class went on like this for the rest of the day. Scootaloo and her classmates all had excellent questions for Cheerilee. Cheerilee also went into a little detail about how the princesses did her job, and even revealed a little bit of knowledge that was amazing to the students but common knowledge to most other residents of ponyville (for example, even now that she was no longer imprisoned there, Luna spent most of her time on the moon. She even had her own palace there, as well as her own carriage that she enjoyed driving around from time to time). Cheerilee taught them about the movements of the Sun and the Moon, about how to recognize constellations, and many other things about the cosmos. After this class, many students noted to one another that Luna actually did much more work than any of them realized. Celestia had many royal duties, sure, but Luna's night sky required much more maintenance than any of them had ever realized, and that impressed them.

As the class went on, Scootaloo's mind began to slip away. She was beginning to feel the effects of the physical therapy. Her limbs began to ache and her attention continued to wane. She tried paying attention but she soon found herself imagining what it would be like to go somewhere else...to not have to deal with physical therapy, to not have to deal with the bullies, to not have to deal with the holes in her heart. Not only did she not have full grown wings, but she didn't have her cutie mark. She had no idea what she wanted to do with her life. Sure, Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and herself would probably remain good friends for a while, but what would happen when Apple Bloom got her cutie mark? And then Sweetie Belle? Or what if she got hers first? Would they still accept her as a friend? These thoughts occupied Scootaloo the rest of the class and she began to feel moody. So it came as a relief when Cheerilee called out:

"Alright class, this was an excellent lesson! You are all really smart kids and know just what to ask! But class is nearly over and I am going to give you some homework..." there was a collective groan throughout the classroom; even in Equestria, no one likes homework. "Yes yes I know, I'm such a mean teacher!" said Cheerilee with a grin. "Your homework is to talk to somepony about outer space, and see what they know! Also, you are to stay up to see the moon rise at least once this weekend, and tell me what else you see in the night sky!" At that moment, the bell rang. "Ok, class dismissed!" The fillies and colts began to file out of the classroom, but then "Oh, Scootaloo, please wait a moment."

Scootaloo glanced up at Cheerilee, then back at her friends. "You don't think she's mad at me for being late, do you?" She asked them nervously.

"I'm sure you'll be fine." said Apple Bloom.

"It can't be that bad; you know Ms. Cheerilee!" added Sweetie Belle. "Besides, being late can't possibly be as bad as the time we almost poisoned her and big mac!"

Scootaloo laughed. "Ah, you guys are right. Meet you guys at the clubhouse in a few!"

"Alright, see ya then Scoots!" said Apple Bloom. They waved to each other, then Scootaloo turned to face Cheerilee.

"What is it, Ms. Cheerilee?" Scootaloo asked.

Cheerilee sighed. "Scootaloo, this isn't the first time you've been late to my class. This has been a bad habit of yours lately. I know you've explained that you need to attend physical therapy, but can't you schedule it after class? Or not on a school day?"

Scootaloo looked down, somewhat ashamed. "Sorry, Ms. Cheerilee. It's not always up to me; Dr. Arias makes those decisions; he says he has other patients with more pressing problems." This was only partially true. While there were other ponies with more urgent problems, Scootaloo had volunteered to take those earlier appointments, so that the Doctor could give more time to patients who needed it more. She had felt bad about taking away the more convenient times from everypony else, and it wasn't their fault she wasn't growing. "I'll try and talk to him about having more appointments on the weekends."

Cheerilee's expression softened. "I would very much appreciate this, Scootaloo. I don't want to overwork you; I can only imagine how difficult those appointments are." She paused. "Is...is there anything else you would like to talk about?"

"Why don't I have my cutie mark? How can I deal with the fact that my best friends might abandon me? Who am I supposed to turn to? Where are my mom and dad? Do I have any family? What am I supposed to do with myself?" "No, Ms. Cheerilee. I guess I'll go meet Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom and try to come up with a plan for this homework."

"Now that sounds like a wonderful idea." said Cheerilee, now with a small smile on her face. "And Scootaloo...if you need to talk about anything, please feel free to come by."

"Don't worry Ms. Cheerilee, I will!" replied Scootaloo. "Bye! See you on Monday!"

****************

"So what'd y'all think about Ms. Cheerilee's lesson today?" asked Apple Bloom.

"I thought it was cool!" exclaimed Sweetie Belle. "I had no idea Princess Luna did all that! I wish we could talk to her about all of it; it would make this homework SOOOO much easier!"

"Yeah, then we'd have more time for Crusading!" complained Scootaloo. "I was talking to Pinkie Pie the other day, she was going to help us out this weekend!"

"Really?" asked Apple Bloom with a hint of nervousness. Pinkie's last attempt at helping her get her Cutie Mark sent four ponies to the hospital and shut down Sugar Cube Corner for a week.

"Yeah, but now with this homework we won't have any time for crusading!" Scootaloo said sadly.

Sweetie Belle thought for a moment. "Hey, I think I remember Rarity saying that Pinkie Pie needed to talk to Twilight about something. Why don't we go see Twilight at the library? We might run into Pinkie Pie while we're there, and even if we don't, Twilight can always help us with our homework for Cheerilee's class!"

"Hey, that's a great idea!" exclaimed Apple Bloom. "That oughta give us plenty of time for crusadin!"

"Excellent!" yelled Scootaloo with glee.

"CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS TO THE LIBRARY!"

The girls high fived and giggled as they walked out the clubhouse. They gathered their things up and headed out for the library. Even though it was a fair distance they decided to walk; it was a nice day outside and Scootaloo was admittedly still worn out from her physical therapy.

It was a beautiful autumn day. One might describe it as "crisp." Leaves were falling, the sun was shining but not too bright, there was a slight breeze but not too cold. It was just right. The girls walked and chatted animatedly about recent events, occasionally bursting into laughter causing passerby to stare. They were just about to Sugarcube Corner when Sweetie belle asked, "Hey, Apple Bloom, how's your cousin Babs doing? I miss her, it was fun having a new member here, even if for a little while and even if she was a big bully to us at first!"

Apple Bloom opened her mouth to respond but was interrupted. "Yeah, we miss the cooool Babs, too bad you lame brain blank flanks took her away from us!"

The CMC shared a look and groaned. Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon came out of the Bakery giggling and laughing at the girls. "What do you want?" Scootaloo said warily.

"We don't want anything to do with YOU girls," said Silver Spoon maliciously. "We were just wondering when cool Babs is coming back!"

"The babs we have now IS cool!" exclaimed Sweetie Belle. "You don't need to be a bully to be cool."

"Yeah, I'd rather be a blank flank than a stuck-up bully like you two!" fired Scootaloo.

Diamond Tiara looked angry. "I'd rather be a stuck up bully than a Pegasus who can't fly!"

The CMC had taken many insults from Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon, and even Babs for a little while. Even townsfolk had said mean things to them during the whole "Gabby Gums" incident, although in that case it was well-deserved. This however, had crossed the line for Scootaloo.

"TAKE IT BACK!" she yelled. She began to charge towards Diamond Tiara with no fear whatsoever. There'd be consequences, sure, but in Scoots mind there was no punishment that would change this from being worthwhile.

That being said, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle felt differently, so they immediately jumped in to restrain the fired up filly. "Just let her go Scoot, it's not worth it!" pleaded Sweetie Belle.

"You don't want ta get into more trouble with Ms. Cheerilee!" added Apple Bloom, although a little quieter than she might have been otherwise. No sense in giving Diamond Tiara any more reasons to make fun of her.

"Oooooh, I'm soooo scared!" teased Diamond Tiara. "I'm so scared of a blank-flank weak-wings!"

"Girls, please let me at her, please!" begged Scootaloo. "Please!"

"Byeee BLANK FLANKS!" Silver Spoon and Diamond Tiara high-fived and laughed at the poor fillies. Scootaloo continued to struggle against her friends, but they held her tight.

Finally, after Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon were a safe distance away, they released Scootaloo, all three of them breathing hard from the effort. "We're sorry Scoot," began Apple Bloom. "But we can't letcha go after them like that. We don't want you to get in any trouble is all."

Scootaloo didn't respond at first, the memory of what Diamond Tiara had said being etched firmly in her mind. "I know. It's just...forget it, let's just go see Twilight so we can get our homework done." She began walking in the direction of the library, not looking back to see if her friends were following. Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom shared a nervous glance, then quickly began to follow.

"She's right. I'm nothing special. I'm a blank flank pegasus that can't even fly. I'll never be cool like Rainbow Dash." thought Scootaloo miserably to herself. "I'll never be able to fly. What's the point in the therapy? It's just a waste of..."

"Hey, we're here!" exclaimed Sweetie Belle. Scootaloo glanced up. She hadn't even noticed where they were at or were they had been. Sweetie Belle delightedly began to trot to the door. Scootaloo made to follow her, but Apple Bloom stopped her.

"Are you ok Scoots?" asked Apple Bloom concernedly. "You didn't seem like yourself for a while there."

Scootaloo sighed. "I just...I just wish things were better. I wish we had our cutie marks. I wish Silver Spoon and Diamond Tiara didn't tease us. And I really really wish I could fly."

Apple Bloom put a hoof around her friend. "Ah know, but ya can't dwell on it. Ya gotta just keep moving. Like my granny smith says, nothing ever got done by standing around feelin sorry for yourself. Plus, ya got us. We'll be here for you."

Scootaloo gave a small smile. "I guess you're right. Come on, let's go get our homework done." The two girls walked to the library as Sweetie Belle began to knock.

"Come on in!" came a voice from inside. Sweetie Belle opened the door and they walked in, putting their bags down by the door. "How's it going girls?"

"Hey spike!" they all said as the young Purple dragon came walking in the room. "How are you today?" asked Sweetie Belle.

"Eh, I'm alright. Kinda bored; me and Owlicious have spent most of the day cleaning." replied Spike tiredly. "There's so much work to be done."

"Why?" asked Scootaloo in a confused tone. "Is one of the princesses coming to town or is Twilight just..."

"AAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" There was a crash, a flying Pink object came rushing through the broken window, and a purple Unicorn came bursting through the door.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" yelled the fillies and the dragon. There was a second crash, books began flying everywhere, and above the din Spike's voice could be heard. "GET DOWN GIRLS!" he dove at the CMC and got them under cover.

There was a pause. Then everypony poked their heads up. The unicorn looked furious, Spike looked concerned, and the CMC's eyes were wide with fear. They had no idea what was going on right now and an explanation probably wouldn't be a bad idea.

"PIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNKIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEE!" yelled Twilight Sparkle. She stomped over to the Pink mass, which did in fact turn out to be everyone's favorite 4th wall breaker.

"HIYA TWILIGHT!" she exclaimed enthusiastically. "That was fun, I should try that again!"

"What...exactly are you trying again?" said Apple Bloom cautiously.

"Ninja ropes!" Pinkie Pie burst out.

"Come again?" said Sweetie Belle.

Twilight responded "Ever since we went to the Crystal Empire, Pinkie has been fascinated with spies and ninjas. So she's been coming to me for information on the tools and techniques of old ninja ponies."

"Yep, and Ninja ropes are SOOOOOO much fun!" said Pinkie, bouncing up and down. "I should help you girls get your cutie marks in Ninja roping! WEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

The girls backed away nervously. "I suppose that's what you meant by helping us when I talked to you last week?" asked Scootaloo.

"Yep yep yep!" replied Pinkie.

Twilight interjected, "That doesn't mean you can just swing on into somepony's home! And there are other ways to practice being a ninja without ninja ropes, Pinkie! Safer ways!"

"Aww, but Twilight, ninja ropes are a necessary part of being a ninja!" exclaimed Pinkie.

"Pinkie, in no way shape or form are ninja ropes obligatory!" replied Twilight angrily.

All of a sudden, Pinkie began to twitch. "Uh-oh, my Pinkie sense is tingling!" she exclaimed. Everypony immediately began to duck into cover, but Pinkie quickly said "No no, we're safe here...but I get the strangest feeling that Big Mac is going to trample a worm farm! Pinkie away!" Pinkie immediately shot her ninja rope out the window and swung away.

Twilight, the CMC, and Spike stared out the window in confused silence. "Pinkie being pinkie?" asked Spike.

"Pinkie being pinkie." everypony else said at the same time.

"So what brings you girls to the library today?" asked Twilight.

"Well, ya see, Ms. Cheerilee gave us some homework for the weekend." answered Apple Bloom.

"We're supposed to learn more about Outer Space." added Scootaloo.

"Yeah, and astronomy!" added Sweetie Belle.

Twilight gave a short laugh. "Sweetie Belle, astronomy is the study of outer space. But I can help you girls with that!" she cast a quick spell and brought out several books. "These should help you girls get started. If you want, it'll be getting dark soon, and I have a telescope. If you girls would like, I can talk to Applejack and Rarity and you all can spend the night here and do research."

"Awesome, thanks Twilight!" exclaimed Sweetie Belle and Applebloom. They began reading through books excitedly. "We'll have plenty of time for crusading now!" said Sweetie Belle with glee. Twilight gave them a bright smile, but then noticed that Scootaloo hadn't shown the same enthusiasm.

"Is everything ok, Scootaloo?" she asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Scootaloo replied quickly. She ignored the books Twilight had originally laid out for them and instead headed towards a shelf that had caught her eye. Twilight shrugged. She didn't have company often so she wasn't going to complain.

The girls worked quietly for a while. Spike brought them all some juice and water but otherwise stayed out of everypony's way. Twilight quietly supervised the trio, occasionally answering a question or helping them find a book while sipping on a warm tea.. After a few hours, the girls began to grow tired. "Maybe agreeing to stay the night wasn't such a great idea." said Sweetie Belle with a yawn.

"Yeah, I'm getting kinda tired myself." added Applebloom. "What about you Scoots?"

Scootaloo didn't answer at first; she was deeply engrossed in a book; the page she was on was explaining how one became weightless in space. But then she added, "Yeah, maybe we should call it..."

"Hey girls, I think I found something interesting that might help you!" Spike interrupted gleefully.

"What is it Spike?" Twilight said, setting down her tea.

"There's a spell in this book that describes astronomical travel!" said Spike. "It sounds like you can use it to fly in space!"

"Fly in space?" asked Twilight and Scootaloo at the same time.

"Yeah!" said Spike excitedly.

"I want to try it." said Scootaloo immediately. "Can you do the spell on me Twilight?"

Twilight gave Scootaloo an incredibly nervous look. "I don't know Scootaloo. For one, I've never heard of anypony flying in space. For another, I've never tried a spell like this before so I don't know how well..."

"I DON'T CARE!" yelled Scootaloo. Everypony stared at her in shock. "I'm sorry for yelling," she added quickly. "But the idea of flying at all...just, please, please can't you try?" she begged Twilight. "Please?" Scootaloo gave Twilight a look of pure longing.

Applebloom and Sweetie Belle shared yet another nervous look. "Um, scoots, maybe we should come back tomorrow and give her time to practice." said Applebloom tentatively.

Scootaloo quickly shook her head. "No, I want to fly now!" She turned back to look at her friends. "You guys heard Diamond Tiara earlier. I'm a blank-flank lame-wings. I can't fly and I don't even have a special talent. Don't you see? This is the perfect way for me to get back at her! I can do Ms. Cheerilee's homework and show up Diamond Tiara! I need this! I need to fly!" She turned back to Twilight before either Applebloom or Sweetie Belle could respond. "Twilight, please try. Please."

Twilight looked apprehensive, but said "Ok. I'll try. Everypony, stand back." Spike, Applebloom, and Sweetie Belle took a few steps back. "This spell is difficult...but I think I can do it. Scootaloo, I need you to sit down and close your eyes. Do your best to relax; the more calm and relaxed you are the better this will work."

Scootaloo obeyed. She sat down, closed her eyes, and began to imagine herself in space. "It must be so peaceful up there...no wind, no noise, no nothing. So...calm" she thought to herself. "I can't wait."

Twilight also closed her eyes, and began to concentrate. Her horn began to glow brightly. However, it began to shine out erratically. Spike noticed it, and moved to warn Twilight, but Twilight sensed him. "Spike, sit down, I can do this." Spike didn't look convinced, but he complied.

Scootaloo slowly began to feel herself feel lighter and lighter, but she did not open her eyes. "If I'm weightless in space, this must mean I'm getting closer." she thought.

What Scootaloo didn't realize was that her body was actually beginning to fade away. As Twilight's horn began to fade back to normal, she opened her eyes, and she screamed. "SCOOTALOO!"

Applebloom and Sweetie Belle also screamed. "SCOOT!"

Scootaloo finally opened her eyes, and noticed that she was becoming transparent, and her body was floating towards the ceiling. "GUYS, HELP MEEEEE!" she cried out in panic. But there was nothing they could do. They watched helplessly as Scootaloo's ever-fading body disappeared through the ceiling. Immediately, Applebloom and Sweetie Belle charged out the door, and watched as what appeared to be a ghost of Scootaloo faded into the darkness of the night sky.