“Okay Class, that's the end of school today, I hope you all have a wonderful weekend! Don't forget to do your homework assignments!” Miss Cheerilee said, as the school bell rang out. The class full of colts and fillies running out the door, into the warm summer afternoon.
Scootaloo stepped out into the summer air behind them, a warm breeze blew across her back and over her wings. She fluttered them in the wind, watching as the other pegasi in her class took flight and flew home. She sighed heavily.
“Hey! Hey, Scootaloo! You ready fer some after school crusading?” Applebloom called out, as she ran over to her, leaping on her back. “Ah reckon we can get our cutie marks for sure today!” She rocked Scootaloo back and forth, as Sweetie Belle ran over and joined in the fun.
“No thanks girls, I'm not in the mood today.” She replied, as she got onto her scooter and rode away, wings buzzing furiously.
“What's the matter with Scootaloo?” Sweetie Belle asked.
“Beat's the heck outta me. Maybe she's just tired or something. Looks like it's just the two of us crusading for our cutie marks then!” Applebloom replied, and the duo ran off in the direction of their clubhouse.
Scootaloo rode as fast as her wings would propel her, the wind blowing through her mane, the scenery blurring past her as she sped by. It was the closest she ever got to feeling like she was flying. She longed to experience it for real one day. How she hoped she would be able to. Every time she felt embarrassed by her inability to fly, she had to ride as fast as possible, to prove she could be the fastest flyer. One day.
After a few minutes riding, she came to a small wooded area she always stopped at after school. Her private flying space. A high tree canopy shielded her from being seen by any nosey ponies, saving her embarrassment when she failed. She jumped off the scooter at full speed and leapt into the air, flapping her wings furiously, hoping to just stay aloft for a few seconds, anything. Anything to give her hope.
She hit the ground hard with a thud a mere moment later, the wind knocked out of her on impact. She lifted her face out of the dirt, and groaned. She rolled onto her back and gazed up at the clouds, floating past in the sky.
One day. One day, I'll be up there, moving those clouds about, soaring through the sky. It has to happen. She thought to herself. She hoped it would be true. It had to come true, or else she'd never live down the shame, of being a flightless pegasus. After a moments rest, she picked herself up, dusted her self off and went to retrieve her scooter from the bush it had crashed into. As she pulled it from the bush, untangling it from the branches, she heard a voice, whimpering.
“Hey, is someone there? Are you watching me?” Scootaloo said, trying to place the source of the voice, afraid someone had witnessed her failed flight.
“Please Help me.” the voice said, barely a whisper. Scootaloo began looking through the bushes, and to her surprise, laying right in the middle of the thickest bush, was a small brown pegasus, a blonde mane rolling down her back. She looked a few years younger than Scootaloo, far too young to be out alone.
At the sight of this small pony she reached into the bush and gripped her mane tightly, pulling her free. Scootaloo dropped her on the ground in front of her, spitting out the loose hairs that came from her mane, and watched as she slowly stood up, shaky on her feet. The small filly looked up at Scootaloo, wide eyed.
“Thank you for helping me out. I got caught in the bush, and couldn't move.” She said timidly, her voice cracking as she spoke. Scootaloo stood there, watching as she flapped her wings to check for injuries.
“What are you doing out here alone, kid?”
“I... I was on Cloudsdale, learning to fly, when I fell off the edge of a cloud. I fell into these bushes on the way down, and got stuck. My parents don't know I'm down here.” She said forlornly. “Hey, you're a pegasus too! can you fly me back up there?”
Scootaloo began to feel embarrassed, and looked down awkwardly, beginning to blush.
“Sorry kid. I don't know how to fly yet.” She admitted, her voice barely a whisper.
“You don't know how to fly? Why not?” she rudely asked.
“Look, I just can't okay?” Scootaloo blurted out. “Come with me, I'll find someone in town who can take you back home. Then you'll be back where you belong, and out of my way.” Scootaloo went to pick her up in her mouth again.
“No, stop! I don't want anyone finding out I'm here, or I'll get in trouble. Please, can you look after me while I learn to fly? I'm nearly there, watch.” The small filly started flapping her wings, and began to hover slowly off the ground, before lowering herself back down again.
Scootaloo stood staring at this filly, shocked at her abilities.
“What's your name, kid?” She asked, barely masking the jealousy in her voice.
“I'm Alpine, but my friends call me Alpie. What's yours?”
“Scootaloo. Nice to meet you Alpie.” She said, looking at the filly sitting on the ground, who was now staring up at the sky longingly.
As Scootaloo stood there, staring at Alpie, who had pushed her abilities, only to fail, she felt a connection. She saw the filly in herself, who had always wanted to fly but never made it, the filly no one ever helped, no one supported, who got got mocked by her friends. The filly who needed someone to care for them.
She had to help her out.
“Okay Alpie, lets do this your way. But if you can't fly back by the end of the day, I'm getting someone to take you back. Deal?”
“Deal!” she replied, and began jumping up and flapping her wings, trying to master flight. She wasn't bad either, she could hover above the ground for at least a minute, her small, brown wings blurring as she flapped them vigorously. But each time, she had to rest after a short burst of flight. When she wasn't trying to stay aloft, she managed to move forward a few feet, before ultimately falling down when her wings failed her.
Scootaloo was worried by this, as even if she could master flight in the short time period, she would probably grow tired long before she reached Cloudsdale, and would risk falling to her death. But As much as she wanted to help, Scootaloo knew she was unable to help at all, given how little she knew about flying, beyond what she had learnt from Rainbow Dash, which wasn't a lot unfortunately.
Alpie would stand primed, flap her wings furiously, and jump into the air to get herself higher off the ground. Once up, she was putting all her might into her wings, her face straining, eyes clenched shut. She would always manage to stay up for a few seconds longer each time, before falling back down to earth again.
“Try not to put so much effort into it, you'll only hurt yourself. Flying shouldn't take all of your energy to do.” Scootaloo said.
Alpie looked over to her, and nodded her head. She jumped up into the air again, and this time flapped her wings at half the power she had been using. To her surprise, she was still staying up.
“See, it's easier this way. Now focus on moving about more, instead of gaining height.”
Alpie nodded again, and began to fly around in small circles, trying to move about with more precision. She was still a bit clumsy, and would wobble as she had to balance wing power with the wind, but she was getting better. She landed slowly again, and folded her wings away to rest. She walked over and sat down next to Scootaloo under the tree.
“Thanks Scootaloo. Do you think I'll master flight by the end of the day? After all, I'm not doing too great. I can't get very high at all” She said, her voice squeaking again. She lowered her head to the ground, and nudged at a small, broken twig that had been caught in her tail when she crashed into the bush.
“Maybe I should just get one of your friends to take me back. It'd be easier I guess.” She said, her voice barely a whisper.
Scootaloo looked at her, she was frowning, her eyes looking glazed over, as if she was giving up. She knew she had to help the filly out, to get her confidence up.
“No. You're going to fly by the end of the day, and you will fly back on your own. I promise.” Scootaloo said, her voice determined and strong willed.
“When I was your age, I had the same problem. But I didn't have anyone to teach me how to fly, no one ever believed in me. Well I believe in you Alpie, and you will fly by the end of the day. All we need is the confidence of another, and we can do anything.”
Alpie lifted her head and looked up at Scootaloo, smiling.
“Thanks Scootaloo.” She said. “You're right.”
She gave Scootaloo a brief hug, and then than ran back to the middle of the field, took a deep breath, and flapped her wings, lifting herself off the ground without jumping. Scootaloo smiled as she did so. All it took was the confidence of another, and she believed in herself that little bit more.
“Hey, Scootaloo.” Alpie spoke up mid flight. “Didn't your parents help you fly when you were younger?” She looked over to see Scootaloo's frowning face. “What's wrong? Did I upset you?”
“Nah. It's not your fault. Truth is, I don't know who my parents are. They left me when I was barely a year old, and I've been alone ever since. I didn't have anyone to teach me to fly properly, so I was sent to live on earth. I was too much of a risk, living on the clouds and being unable to fly. The day they flew me down to earth, on the back of another pegasus was the most humiliating thing ever. So I know why you want to fly back on your own. I really do.”
Scootaloo began to tear up as she remembered that fateful day, the day she had to leave her beloved Cloudsdale. She hoped to return one day, when she was strong enough to do so. Stronger than wing power alone.
“How about you then, what are your parents like?” she asked, wiping the tears away from her face.
“Oh, yeah they're great. My dad works in the weather factory, and my mum is always cooking yummy treats. They wanted me to fly as soon as possible, so I could travel when I was older. I want to make them proud by flying back on my own, to show them I'm all grown up.” She said, her voice squeaking slightly.
“I just hope they're not worried that I'm gone. I didn't mean to fall off the cloud, but it just blew away from underneath me when I was learning to fly. I miss them a lot.”
Alpie landed, and looked up at the sky again, tears were rolling down her face.
“I'm sorry you don't have any parents Scootaloo. I don't know how that feels, but I feel sad enough just being away from mine I hope one day, you find yours. Or at least someone who makes you feel safe again.”
Scootaloo walked over to Alpie, and picked her up in her arms, hugging her tightly. She knew that feeling of being alone. She didn't want anyone else to suffer like that.
“Hey, Alpie. You'll be back with them before you know it.” She said, smiling at her.
***
After several hours of trying, Alpie had learnt a lot more than earlier. She could now fly higher and higher, even though she had to stop and rest on the trees a few times. But she was able to fly around in circles and move about easily enough. She was still shaky when a cross wind blew, but it was as close as she would get.
“Come on down Alpie. You're about ready, I think you just need to take a break now. You've been flying for hours, and you're tired. Have a rest, and you'll have the energy to fly back on your own.”
She said, watching the filly fly down from the highest tree, landing on the ground in front of her. They walked over to a shady tree, and sat down underneath it for an hour, looking at the clouds blowing past.
“Do you really think I can do it?” She said, looking up at the cloud formations, blowing about gently in the breeze.
“I think so. You can fly as high as you want now, and you have no problems moving. Just remember, if you get too tired, don't panic. Open your wings to glide back down to earth. You don't have to rush.”
She looked up at Scootaloo' approving face, and smiled.
“I know you probably don't want to talk about this, but why can't you fly yet?” She asked again, wondering how she had been taught so much by a flightless pegasus.
Scootaloo looked down at her. She felt relaxed with the little filly by her side. She took a deep breath, and sighed heavily.
“I just never had anyone to believe in me. The only person who tried to teach me, didn't give me the time. They thought it should be second nature. When I failed, again and again, they got fed up. They left me to go fly on their own and have fun.” She said, her voice began to choke, as she held back tears.
“She. She just didn't care enough at the time. The one time I flew for a few seconds, she dismissed it as being nothing. It made me feel horrible. I gave up after that. Then I was sent here.”
Alpie looked up at Scootaloo, to see tears streaming down her face. She cuddled up to her side and gently stroked her hoof. Scootaloo smiled at her compassion.
“So, since then, I've just been living here, and never quite felt the confidence to try again. I've just not had anyone believe in me enough, to make me want to try.” She looked up at the sky, and saw a lone pegasus fly past at full speed, barely giving his ability of flight a thought. Alpie looked up at the pegasus flying by, then looked at Scootaloo, seeing a sad frown on her face.
“But one day kid. I'll be ready. Don't you worry about me.” She smiled. “Now, you ready to fly back on your own? It's going to get dark soon.” Scootaloo rubbed the mane on Alpie's head playfully.
“Okay. I'm ready.” Alpie said, standing up, and walking to the centre of the trees, flexing her wings, in preparation for the flight. “Thanks for believing in me Scootaloo. I believe in you too, and I hope you find that confidence to help you fly one day.”
She stood firm legged on the ground, and looked up into the sky, the sun was slowly setting. She lifted her head upwards, took a deep breath, and turned to face Scootaloo, who was looking on, tears in her eyes.
“Well, I guess this is goodbye then. Come visit me in Cloudsdale, when you can.” She said, and began flapping her wings furiously, as she ascended into the sky, slowly flying higher and higher, getting further away than Scootaloo's sight would allow.
“Yeah. Bye kid.” Scootaloo replied, looking at her wings, flapping them ineffectively. “Some day.”