Mare In Motionby TuxRugChaptersPresident of the Fan ClubMaking ReservationsShowing Up Empty-HoovedPresident of the Fan Club"Why don't you tell the princess what you told me?" "I dunno, Twilight. I can't believe I told you!" The lavender unicorn sighed. "What's wrong with learning a lesson?" "That's not it!" Rainbow Dash spread her wings to emphasize her point. "It sounds sappy! I'd rather not look like a baby, especially in front of the ruler of Equestria!" Twilight rolled her eyes. "The princess is not going to think you're a baby. Just tell her." "I learned something important, Twi. That's enough. I don't need to share it." "You just admitted it's important," responded Twilight. "Doesn't that alone mean you should share it?" The cyan pegasus tried to argue, but could do nothing but cast an annoyed stare. She scowled briefly as she tried to form a rebuttal. Failing this, she relented with a sigh. "Fine." "Great!" Twilight gleamed. "Come on! Let's go before you change your mind!" "Like you'd let me..." The unicorn trotted excitedly across the clouds towards her mentor, the most recognized political figure in the nation. Rainbow Dash walked less enthusiastically, barely lifting her hooves. She had no issues with speaking to Princess Celestia, but she had a reputation to uphold. She felt like she had been outshined. Normally something like this would scare her, but this didn't. In her mind, admitting to her pride would be a weakness, especially since she doubted she could have the same strength as the young mare she just saw perform. The sky above was mostly clear, with only the occasional fluff travelling across the calm blue backdrop. The only meaningful cloud cover was that which made up the stadium and the adjacent floating city of Cloudsdale. The pegasi did a great job preparing the weather for today's event. Disappointingly, most ponies took the weather for granted today, as was strangely common in a city made up of the weather itself. "Princess Celestia!" Twilight called as she and Rainbow neared the tall white authority. The winged, horned figure commanded a graceful and welcoming authority. The flowing pastel colors of her mane flowed behind her in the non-existent breeze. "Good afternoon, Twilight Sparkle," the princess greeted cheerfully as she turned. "Rainbow Dash, it is good to see you as well! Those were some spectacular performances today, were they not?" "Yeah." Rainbow chuckled. "Too bad I didn't get to perform! I'd have stolen the show!" "I'm sure you would, but there really is no need for you to compete here anymore." The princess smiled. "It wouldn't be fair to the other contestants anyway, right?" Rainbow passed a hoof through her multicolored mane. With her ego stroked, she nearly forgot about being embarrassed. "Anyway, princess, Rainbow has something she wants to share with you." The embarrassment returned. A bit of red appeared on Rainbow Dash's cheeks. "Oh?" The princess looked at the pegasus. "What would that be?" "Well... I was thinking about what Spitfire said about bravery." "Do you disagree with her?" The princess raised an eyebrow. "No." Rainbow paused. "I never thought about it that way. But I guess being brave doesn't mean facing danger. You can be brave without fighting to save Equestria or anything like that." The pegasus paused again and blinked a few times to try to save face. "Doing something other ponies think you can't takes a lot of guts too." The princess smiled. "I agree. I doubt anypony here today expected to see what they did." "Yeah," Rainbow spoke with a hint of a laugh. "Well, I gotta get going. They're waiting for me. See ya!" "I understand," the princess said with a nod. As Rainbow turned to head back towards the stadium, Princess Celestia spoke again. "Are you proud of Scootaloo?" Rainbow stopped and turned back around. With a large smile, she replied. "Heck yeah, I am!" ===== Four years earlier ==== "Ugh!" Rainbow Dash complained. "How much longer is this going to take?" Rainbow Dash stood in the most humiliating outfit she could ever imagine. It was pink. It was frilly. It had lace. It was something the proud pegasus would refuse to be caught dead wearing. She imagined she would re-animate herself by sheer will long enough to dispose of the dress in the event she died wearing it. She wanted to abandon her promise to Rarity two hours ago when she first saw the thing, but she couldn't bring herself to do so. Rarity was a friend, and Rainbow hated letting her friends down. Rarity stood beside the pegasus. As always, she wore her mane in pristine royal purple curls and she had made sure her pure white coat was perfectly groomed. In contrast, Rainbow Dash rarely spent much time on her appearance, since her high-speed flights always threw her mane out of place. She just chose to let her mane fall as it may today. It was by pure happenstance that the six distinct colors in her mane never seemed to mix. "It will go faster if you quit fidgeting, dear," Rarity stated as she place a pin in the dress. "I'm supposed to be clearing the clouds by now," Rainbow reminded her friend. "And I have plans for the rest of the day. I have stunts to work on!" Rarity sighed. "You moved again, darling. We could have been done twenty minutes ago." "Why didn't you ask Fluttershy to do this?" "I did, but her bunny is sick and she's nursing the poor thing back to health." The unicorn stared for a moment at her living mannequin's mane. With a sigh, she turned towards a dresser behind her and opened a drawer. Rainbow opened her mouth, but only an instant later her question was answered as Rarity turned back towards her with a hairbrush. "I am sorry, but I just cannot concentrate. Your mane is a mess today!" "Please don't." Rainbow knew it wouldn't work, but the utterance was not intentional to begin with. Even if nopony could see her right now, she was already handling more embarrassment than she thought she could handle. Rarity brought the brush to her friend's bothersome mane. As she worked the kinks out of Rainbow Dash's mane and neatened it, she presented an idea. "How about if we make a deal, Rainbow Dash?" "Anything but this," Rainbow groaned. "I will need to make alterations when the client gets here anyway, and she won't be here for a few weeks. My replacement pegasus mannequin will be here next week, so I could put this part off until then and work on other dresses…" "Perfect," Rainbow said loudly. "Let's do that." "However," Rarity added, still brushing the objecting pony's mane. "I would have to rearrange my schedule and such. You could do something else to make up for the inconvenience." "I'm listening." A bit of irritation seeped out with the words Rainbow spoke. "What do you want?" "It's not for me. It's for Sweetie Belle's friend." "Your sister's friend?" Rainbow stopped. If it was Sweetie Belle's friend, that could be either of two fillies. Rainbow didn't care for the trio too much. The three tended to spend their days doing ridiculous things just to find what they were good at, and had a habit of annoying her in the process. Rainbow squinted suspiciously. "You didn't ask me to help you with the dress just so you could make me do something slightly less embarrassing, did you?" Rarity rolled her eyes. "Of course not, darling! Sweetie only asked me this morning before she left for school. Anyway, Scootaloo's birthday party is this Saturday, and you know she would be delighted if you could attend." "No!" Rainbow spread her wings, pulling a few pins loose from the dress. "That kid? No!" "Why not, dear?" Rarity took a step back and glanced at the pins on the ground before returning her attention to her friend. "She is your biggest fan. In fact, I'm fairly certain she's the president of your fan club. You could make her birthday very special just by showing your face. Of course you would need to bring a gift, as it is common courtesy…" "No! It's great that she's the president of my unofficial fan club." Rainbow stressed the unofficial status. "But she's always following me around and bothering me! She's like a baby bird who thinks I'm her mommy! I am not giving her an excuse to stalk me!" Rainbow stopped her argument when she heard knocking from the front door. "I thought you said you closed the shop for the day." "I did. Anyway, please consider it. You could make a filly very happy on her birthday. While you think about, I will go see who is at the door." Rarity cantered through the door, making her way to the front door of her boutique. Rainbow Dash was aggravated. She didn't want to be Rarity's mannequin any longer, but she was very hesitant to spend more time with Scootaloo than she already did in passing. That little pegasus filly dropped whatever she was doing whenever she spotted Rainbow. Whenever Rainbow was on the ground and Scootaloo was nearby, the filly would soon be by her side offering streams of compliments. Rainbow Dash loved attention, but that child offered too much of it. Rainbow heard the chime of the front door opening, followed by a familiar, high-pitched, over-excited voice. She heard Rarity greet their mutual friend Pinkie Pie, and overheard snippets of a conversation involving extra cupcakes and delivering them to friends. Dread washed over the pegasus's face when she heard the next part of the conversation. The pegasus heard Rarity say, "In fact, Rainbow Dash is here too if you want to give her a cupcake now." Rainbow Dash found herself frozen, desperately trying to convince herself to make a break for it. If anypony saw her in this state, she could die from the humiliation. Unfortunately, if she ripped the dress off, she and Rarity would have to start over. There were many things in this room, but the only things large enough to hide her were against the wall. She hated it, but she stood still, hoping against all odds that Pinkie would not comment on the dress. She closed her eyes tightly. "Oooh, Dashie! You're getting married?" Rainbow opened her eyes to find a pink face inches from her own. Blue eyes danced before her, gleaming in excitement. "Omigosh, Dashie! This is WONDERFUL! Who's the lucky stallion? Oh! Who's going to be your mare of honor? Can I cater? I can make you the bestestest wedding cake you have ever seen!" The pink pony pounced around, assaulting Rainbow Dash with question after question, speaking so fast it became difficult to understand her. After what seemed like ages, the pink embodiment of a sugar rush took a much -needed breath in which Rainbow interjected. "I'm not getting married, Pinkie." Pinkie Pie's excitement instantly turned to disappointment. "Oh. I really thought it would work between the two of you." After little more than a second, Pinkie's cheer returned. "Oh well. You'll find someone way better than that loser. Plenty of fish in the sea! Except you're a pony, not a fish, so you wouldn't really want to date a fish, unless you really want to date a fish, I guess… it's important to be open-minded about romance. Oh! Before I forget, I brought a cupcake for you! It'll cheer you up!" "Uh, yeah… Thanks, Pinkie." Rainbow was shell-shocked by the rapid-fire discussion. "Just… Just set it over there." She nodded towards one of few empty spaces on the counters nearby. Pinkie turned to her saddlebag and stuck her head inside to retrieve an intricately decorated cupcake with cyan frosting matching Rainbow Dash's coat. She balanced it upon her nose as she carried it over to the counter and sat it down. Exactly how the cupcake managed to stay pristine after being jostled around in a saddlebag on the back of a pony bouncing around like a rabbit hopped up on caffeine and sugar, was the type of question Pinkie's friends had learned not to ask. Regardless, Rainbow Dash and Rarity still wondered in silence. "Okie-dokie-lokie," Pinkie said after resting the cupcake on the counter. "I'm off to deliver Twilight's and Applejack's cupcakes now! Seeya, girls!" "Bye, darling. I'll see you out." Rarity set her cupcake next to the one Pinkie left for Rainbow. "See ya, Pinkie Pie." Rainbow stood deadpan, still in her rare moment of awkward panic. Rarity assured Rainbow Dash that she would be right back, and then led Pinkie Pie through the door. Rainbow took a long, drawn-out breath. She couldn't remember the last time she had been as mortified as she was currently. By the time Rarity returned, she had made up her mind. She could not take any more humiliation today. "So, do I have to RSVP for this party or what?" Making ReservationsPonyville, having a relatively small population, bordered in size between what some ponies would call a town versus what some would call a village. As such, its single, small schoolhouse was sufficient to educate the local fillies and colts. The outer walls of the schoolhouse were light red, and each window was decorated with a pink heart at the top. A modest belfry decorated with another pink heart on each side stood atop the front half of the roof. As usual at this time on a weekday, the immediate area around the school was quiet. The playground, significantly larger than the schoolhouse itself, was vacant. Excluding the slight motion of the flag in front and the occasional sway of the weather vane atop the belfry, the school could pass for a photograph of itself. This would change with the dismissal of the class inside. The bell rang, and less than a moment later the first of the students eagerly left through a single door, ready to enjoy their freedom. Some children were ready to just head home, while others looked forward to playing with their friends. Most passed through the door single-file. A couple of more eager unicorn colts hurriedly pushed their way out simultaneously as if they didn’t want the outdoors to have a chance to escape. Among the last to leave the school were three fillies: a yellow earth pony, an orange pegasus, and a white unicorn. They stayed together as close friends do, and made their way to the road. The earth pony looked upward toward the cloudy sky. “Ah thought we're s’posed ta have a clear sky today,” the earth pony commented as she reached to straighten the pink bow in her ruby red mane. The unicorn glanced upward as well, through her pink and purple curls. “I wonder if Rainbow Dash just forgot to move the clouds away.” “That’s a bit of a hard thing ‘ta forget, Sweetie Belle! Ya think she’d notice that she’d be runnin’ inta clouds up there when there’s s’posed ta be none.” “She’s probably running late,” the pegasus suggested. “She has an audition for the Wonderbolts later this year and she’s probably busy practicing.” Sweetie Belle looked quizzically at the pegasus filly. “How do you know these things?” “I’m the president of the fan club,” the pegasus replied. “I’m supposed to know stuff like this.” “Mah sis told me this mornin’. Ah jus’ thought she’d clear the sky first ‘fore doin’ anythin’ else.” The pegasus sighed. “You’re right, Apple Bloom. I didn’t notice her in the sky during recess either.” She sat and stared up at the clouds, hoping to see a streak of color shooting by at any moment. “Wait,” Sweetie Belle said with a squeak. “Applejack told you,” she said as she pointed at Apple Bloom. “And Scootaloo knows. Why didn’t my sister say anything?” Scootaloo grinned as a blue pegasus suddenly shot across the sky, leaving behind the colorful afterimage of a rainbow-hued tail. Even as far away in the air as the other pegasus was, her speed created a gust of wind that threw Scootaloo’s purple hair out of place. Scootaloo began to count aloud as the pegasus in the sky began pushing and kicking clouds away. “One Maressissippi, two Maressissippi…” As Scootaloo counted, Sweetie Belle looked to her briefly. Sweetie Belle then looked at the sky just in time to see Rainbow Dash kick the last cloud away. “Um, Scootaloo? What are you –“ “Seven seconds!” Scootaloo jumped and buzzed her wings. “Seven seconds!” “Ah’m guessin’ that’s a new record, ain’t it?” “Yeah!” Scootaloo bounced a few more times, buzzing her wings but still returning to the ground. “I knew she was just busy. She never forgot to do the weather before!” Apple Bloom scratched at her mane as the other two began to walk down the path towards the rest of town. “Didn’t she fall asleep once after she set up th’ rain over the farm? Sis was worried Bloomberg’d drown.” “I don’t remember that,” Scootaloo countered as Apple Bloom caught up. “Maybe she was working a half day? Cloud Kicker was late the other day and Rainbow Dash had to go back and cover for her. I bet something like that happened.” “Could be. Ah do know sis wasn’t too happy with Rainbow that day, though. We were lucky Bloomberg turned out jus’ fine an’ he was still ready ta get replanted in Appleoosa.” “Wait, how do you drown a tree?” Sweetie Belle cast a confused look. “Too much water can be just as bad for plants as not enough water, right?” Scootaloo confirmed with Apple Bloom. “Yep. Overwaterin’ an’ underwaterin’ll both make a tree sick,” Apple Bloom replied. “An’ if ya overwater an apple tree, at best it won’t make much fruit.” “Oh.” Sweetie Belle moved on to a new subject. “So what are we trying today?” Scootaloo pondered for a moment. “Pyrotechnics?” “Sounds dangerous,” Sweetie Belle hesitated. “What about being pony cannonballs?” Apple Bloom laughed loudly. “Ya shoot down pyro-whatsits fer bein’ too dangerous, but yer okay with launchin’ ourselves outta cannon?” “We gotta figure out something, girls.” Scootaloo pointed at her flank. “Everypony else in class figured out what they’re good at. We’re the only blank flanks left!” “What would a pyrotechnics cutie mark even look like?” Scootaloo turned her head to Sweetie Belle as she walked. “I dunno, Sweetie Belle. Maybe a firework or a rocket or a flame or something,” she mused. Scootaloo turned her head forward just in time to stop herself from walking into somepony. She knew who it looked like, but she blinked a couple times to make sure her eyes weren’t playing a trick on her. She looked up to a smirking cyan face and magenta eyes. Scootaloo’s eyes shot wide. “I didn’t just hear you talking about playing with fireworks, did I?” “Oh, Rainbow Dash!” The pegasus filly was visibly and audibly excited to see her hero. Stuttering slightly, she added, “not ‘playing’ with them so much as learning how they work!” “Well, whatever you do, don’t do it by yourselves. I don’t want you kids burning down Ponyville.” Rainbow Dash chuckled. “If you’re serious, go find Firecracker Burst. She does all the fireworks shows. I have no clue where she lives though.” “Cool! Thanks, Rainbow Dash!” Scootaloo beamed, thankful not to be in trouble. “Hey, do you want to help us earn our cutie marks?” Rainbow Dash hid her reluctance to spend time with the trio of fillies. “Sorry, squirt. I can’t today. Too busy. But I heard I your birthday’s Saturday and my invitation got lost in the mail or something.” Scootaloo’s jaw dropped. “Can you come?” “Of course! I gotta make some time for my number one fan, Scoots!” Rainbow lied. “I wouldn’t want to miss your party.” “Oh my gosh!” Scootaloo exclaimed. She hopped around Rainbow Dash and her friends, flapping her wings frantically the whole time. The grown pegasus extended a wing downwards to block Scootaloo’s path on her third lap around the group. “What time should I show up?” “Oh!” The filly blinked a few times. “That’s right, you said you never got your invitation! The party starts at 10 AM.” “Got it, kid. A little early for me on a weekend, but I’ll be there.” Rainbow faked a smile. “Like I said, I’m busy today, so I can’t stay. Catch ya later!” Scootaloo sat and waved, dumbfounded at the event as her idol flew away. Even after Rainbow Dash was out of sight, Scootaloo continued to wave at the empty air until Apple Bloom nudged her. “Earth pony ta’ Scootaloo… Come in, Scootaloo… Ya there?” Scootaloo shook her head back to reality. She looked at Apple Bloom and pushed her away playfully. As the other two giggled, Sweetie Belle looked downward, eyebrows lowered. “I don’t think Rainbow Dash sounded too happy.” “What do you mean?” Scootaloo asked. “I mean,” Sweetie Belle continued, “she didn’t seem like she really wanted to go.” “Ah,” Scootaloo pretended to take the concern seriously. “She was probably just tired.” The trio continued on the path towards the center of town, laughing, joking, and swapping ideas for the day’s activities. As they reached a fountain in the center of the busiest part of town, they agreed on an activity and shouted it simultaneously. The cry startled several ponies, but a few that knew the three took relief in their latest idea. “CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS MIMES! YAY!” Author's Note Sorry about the delay on this chapter, everyone! I haven't gotten anything else from the pre-reader that helped me with the first chapter, so I held back on this for a while trying to find someone else to help. This chapter has been written for a while, to be honest. I'm working on other chapters right now (that's right, plural). None of the other chapters are complete yet, but chapter three is about halfway and has my priority right now. If anyone wants to pre-read, let me know by private message! Showing Up Empty-HoovedSugarcube corner’s side room was filled with ponies, presents, and birthday decorations. Scootaloo’s birthday party was in anything but full swing. Rather, it had come to a standstill as the ruckus and excitement died down to be replaced by boredom. Nopony had said a word in several minutes. Scootaloo sat with her friends at a round table. The centerpiece of the table was a large, intricately detailed sheet cake with smiling faces drawn in icing. Spaced carefully along the cake were thirteen unlit candles, which surrounded the message, ‘Happy Birthday Scootaloo’. “Maybe we should do the candles and cut the cake…” “No!” Scootaloo snapped at her friend. “She isn’t here yet, Sweetie Belle! We can’t cut the cake until she gets here!” The pegasus gestured behind her toward the empty seat to her left, which was one of only two unoccupied spaces. At each other seat sat either one of Scootaloo’s classmates, an adult, or in one seat a small dragon. Both empty seats were among the group of adults. Pinkie Pie leaned across another empty seat to whisper loudly in a Twilight Sparkle’s ear. The unicorn rolled her eyes and dismissed whatever Pinkie had said. One adult did not sit with the rest of the ponies her own age, but sat among the younger party guests. This dark raspberry-colored earth pony, known to the most of the school-aged ponies at the table as their teacher, glanced around the table before looking to the birthday girl with a comforting smile. “Scootaloo… I hate to say this, but I’m worried Rainbow Dash isn’t going to show up. Sweetie Belle’s right. We shouldn’t be waiting on her like this.” “No!” The pegasus insisted. “She promised she would come and I know she will!” “Scootaloo,” the earth pony added, leaning forward to allow the pegasus to see her more clearly past Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom. “She was supposed to be here two hours ago. We’ve been waiting nearly twenty minutes in front of this cake.” Scootaloo sat back and crossed her front legs in front of her chest. She grumbled and looked to Rainbow Dash’s vacant space at the table. “Would you listen to Miss Cheerilee?” A chubby blue colt piped up from the opposite side of the table. “Just save her a piece! Heck, it’s a big cake, save half of it!” The birthday girl glowered at her classmate and for a moment regretted inviting him. That same pony had been complaining about the wait for a while now. Then again, several of the ponies were complaining, but none of them seemed to be quite as up-front with their impatience. He even had the nerve earlier to ask Scootaloo why she invited their teacher. At this moment, however, the colt seemed to be happy with what Cheerilee was saying. “There’s a chance,” the other pony continued. “Not one hundred percent, but a chance – a big chance, that she just blew you off. We should act like she isn’t going to show, because I bet you she won’t. If she suddenly appears, whoop-de-do, hip-hip hooray! Let’s just move on!” The colt turned to the off-white pegasus next to him. “Am I right, Feathers?” When the pegasus didn’t respond, the pony tapped him, prompting a moment of brief confused panic. “Wha?” “Do you think Rainbow Dash is going to show up?” “Um…” The lanky pegasus stumbled over his words. The blue colt sighed and tried again. “Featherweight, let’s catch up. We’ve been waiting…” The colt turned around to ask Cheerilee but turned back when he remembered the amount of time the party had been at a standstill. “Oh, almost a half hour, for Scootaloo’s guest of honor. A few of us are trying to convince her to just let us carry on and have cake. Do you have anything to add?” The pegasus looked around, wide-eyed. The mixed expression of embarrassment and confusion under his brown mane stated obviously to everypony that he had not noticed much of what was happening. A slight blush began to show on his cheeks but luck favored him by preventing the other colt from noticing it. “Dude. You’re not usually like this. The boredom getting to you too?” “Scootaloo,” Apple Bloom cut in, “did ya tell Rainbow Dash th’ party was gonna be here?” The moment Rainbow Dash announced her intent to come flashed back to Scootaloo. She cursed herself for forgetting to mention that detail. Her eyes went wide as she realized Rainbow Dash might have gone somewhere else by mistake. She reassured herself with the fact that most parties in this town seemed to happen at this place. Still, she couldn’t believe she forgot to tell Rainbow Dash where to go. “Um…” Before the pegasus could respond further, the chime on the door rang. The last eight chimes were normal customers picking up treats from the bakery. Despite this, Scootaloo craned her neck excitedly to get a view of the door just as she had done every time she heard the chime previously. Nearly falling over, she managed to see the door just as it shut, and her face lit up with joy. “Rainbow Dash!” Scootaloo jumped up from her stool and ran around the table to greet the pony at the door, with her wings buzzing fruitlessly along the entire distance. “Hey, kid.” Rainbow smiled sheepishly. “Sorry I’m late… I, um… overslept.” Waiting a beat, she added, “I told you it was a little early for me on a weekend.” “That’s okay, Dash! You’re just in time for cake,” Scootaloo exclaimed as she hopped a few times. She guided Rainbow Dash hurriedly to her seat right next to her. Several ponies rolled their eyes at the implication that Rainbow Dash was not late at all. As Rainbow Dash sat down, she noticed her friends to her left, with another empty space three seats away. One friend was missing, which she marked as strange since the friend’s little sister was there. “Where’s Applejack?” Rainbow Dash asked nopony in particular. “Sis said she’d try ‘ta come, but not ‘ta wait on her since she might not make it,” Apple Bloom responded. “She has a lotta things back at th’ farm to catch up on. We got a big, las’ minute order that needs ‘ta be filled by Monday.” “Ah. Makes sense.” Rainbow Dash sat down, subconsciously leaning slightly to the left as Scootaloo sat to her right. “So,” she said, pointing towards the center of the table. “Cake, right?” “Yeah, of course!” Several seats to the left of Rainbow Dash, Twilight turned to the dragon beside her. “Care to do the honors?” The dragon stood on top of his seat to get a better angle at the cake. He inhaled, then slowly exhaled a flame over the tip of each candle expertly. Rainbow grinned mockingly once the dragon finished. “Glad you didn’t send the cake to the princess again, Spike. I’m hungry.” The dragon blushed in response as he sat down, grumbling something about the last time not being his fault. Half the table chuckled at Rainbow’s quip, while the other half sat idly wondering whether the incident was something that they would have had to witness to appreciate. Sweetie Belle stood and cleared her throat, just in time to stop Scootaloo from blowing out the candles. She looked around the table quickly, and then began to sing. “Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to y—” “STOP!” Pinkie interrupted desperately. Sweetie Belle looked at her and her eyes started to water. “I wasn’t that bad, was—” “I heard that song was COPYRIGHTED!” Pinkie yelled as she shot around the table to warn the filly up-close. “We could get sued! Or worse, we could go to jail! I’m too young and pretty for the slammer!” “Are you serious?” Twilight asked as confusion appeared on her face. “Of course I’m serious, Twilight! Do you know what they do to cute pink ponies there? Because I don’t! I’ve never been there, and I don’t know about you but I never want to go there!” Pinkie interrupted her fast-forward outburst. Her pupils constricted, her mouth stretched into a caricature-like frown, and she began to sweat as if being interrogated under a bright, hot light. “What… What if WE’RE COPYRIGHTED?” “Pinkie—” “No, think about it! If WE'RE copyrighted, we might be crossing a line by being ourselves! But I don’t know how to be anypony else!” “Pinkie, have you read any law books?” Twilight asked frankly. Pinkie thought for a moment, wide-eyed, before shaking her head. “Equestrian copyright doesn’t work that way. We’re fine.” The pink pony, whom several ponies in the room currently suspected was some level of bonkers, seemed satisfied by that explanation. She hopped back around the table and retook her seat. The smile on her face contrasted drastically with her panic that had only seconds ago become part of the past. She paused with her blank smile, staring at the cake for a few moments as wax dripped down the sides of the candles. Twilight puffed quietly, grateful that event was over. “By the way, Sweetie Belle,” she said as she turned towards the troubled unicorn. “You sang beautifully. Pinkie’s outburst was just… Something else.” Pinkie nodded. After a moment of awkward silence, Scootaloo coughed and scanned the table. “Can I blow the candles out now?” she asked impatiently. “Of course!” Pinkie exclaimed cheerfully. “Don’t forget to make a wish!” Scootaloo looked at Rainbow Dash briefly, and then turned to the cake wearing a thin smile. Despite not being the overly superstitious type, she figured it couldn’t hurt having something in mind as she extinguished the tiny symbolic flames. She paused, closed her eyes gently, and inhaled slowly. She held onto her breath a moment longer as she double-checked that she was thinking of something she truly wanted. Finding no doubt in her mind, she opened her eyes and blew out all of the candles in one breath. Apple Bloom reached behind Sweetie Belle to poke Scootaloo’s shoulder. “What’cha wish for?” Sweetie Belle’s expression pried for an answer as well. Scootaloo chuckled. “You know I don’t believe in that stuff.” “You didn’t make a wish? You only get one birthday wish a year!” As the three young ponies argued about the validity of birthday wishes, Cheerilee sliced the cake, and plated the slices. The first slice revealed two chocolate layers under the cake’s white icing. Twilight levitated empty plates toward Cheerilee, and passed the cake slices to the party guests, moving counter-clockwise starting with Scootaloo. “Besides, even if I had made a wish, I’m not supposed to tell anypony what it is! Even I know that!” Scootaloo turned towards her slice of cake, ending the conversation with a smug look of victory. She then took the first bite of cake and the guests followed. The guests conversed as they ate, both with Scootaloo and amongst themselves. For the most part, Rainbow Dash only conversed with her friends of her own age, only speaking to Scootaloo in response to a question before turning back to her previous banter. Eventually, everypony had finished their cake, and Cheerilee insisted on helping Pinkie take the leftover cake back to the kitchen. Rainbow wasn’t paying much attention, but her ears caught Cheerilee announcing that it would be time to open gifts when she got back. Rainbow Dash froze, expecting Rarity to ask something soon. She didn’t count on her abrupt silence to bring Rarity to ask right away. “You did bring a gift, right darling?” Rainbow stuttered in response. Rarity had the decency to ask quietly, but Rainbow managed to draw attention to herself regardless. “It just is not proper to arrive at a party empty-hooved,” she added with a whisper. “Hey!” Pinkie interjected. “Cut her a break! She’s still getting over the break-up!” Rarity and Rainbow both shot Pinkie a disapproving glance, although Rainbow’s scowl was much more pronounced. “Oh. You want me to keep quiet about that.” The two nodded. “Okie-dokie,” Pinkie added. “Low-key.” Rolling her eyes, Rarity hushed her whisper further. “I think I have something at home that will work, but it’s not wrapped. If you pretend you left your gift at home—“ “It’s okay, Rainbow Dash!” The two ponies turned to look at Scootaloo smiling genuinely. “I’m just so glad you came!” Rainbow Dash felt eyes watching her. Some of the fillies and colts here were fans of hers as well, and she knew any changes to her reputation would spread quickly. She chuckled uncomfortably, mentally grasping at straws trying to figure out what to do next. The last thing she wanted to do was look lame for not bringing a gift to a birthday party. She didn’t want to play forgetful by promising to bring a gift later either – that would be lame as well. “Well, Scoot,” she spoke slowly. She had to come up with something now. Twilight had mentioned something called a ‘butterfly effect’ to her a while back, but Rainbow originally cast the thought aside. “It’s not like I could wrap your gift!” It was a start, or at least it would buy Rainbow a few seconds. The problem at this point was she had limited her own options. The idea of a butterfly flapping its wings, cascading into other events until causing some disaster seemed disproportionate, but she couldn’t help but imagine it. Wait… wings? “I can’t wrap your gift ‘cuz I’m going to teach you how to fly!” Scootaloo’s eyes widened. It took Scootaloo and Rainbow Dash both a moment to process what just happened. Scootaloo, mouth agape, quickly turned to look back at the center of the table where the cake and its candles were just moments prior. She quickly turned back to her idol, sunny as the clearest sky. “R-really?” I hope not, Rainbow thought. All she wanted to do at that moment was introduce her hoof to her own face. Instead, she put on the best smile she could manage. “Of course, kid. That is, as long as your folks are cool with it.” Scootaloo buzzed her wings eagerly, gaining roughly a half an inch of clearance from the ground before returning. “There,” Rainbow explained, “is your first problem. You’re a pegasus, not a hummingbird. Anyway, flying’s got risks to it, so ask your mom to see if it’s OK before I take you under my wing or anything.” The young mare nodded and shot off towards the archway separating the party from the lobby of Sugarcube Corner just in time to catch Cheerilee and Pinkie Pie returning. Scootaloo and Cheerilee conversed as Pinkie made her way back to the table. “Wow, Rainbow Dash,” Twilight praised her friend. “You made Scootaloo very happy! I wasn’t expecting you to do that.” The pegasus coughed a laugh and crossed her feathers. She watched Scootaloo talking to Cheerilee and realized she had no idea who Scootaloo’s parents were, but she had a feeling she had just figured out part of the equation when Scootaloo started running back, still smiling. “She thinks it’s a great idea! When can we start?” Rainbow Dash looked around the room. Most of the ponies seemed to approve of her action, although a few appeared to be jealous that their gifts would not compare to hers. She was not looking forward to following through on her offer, especially since it would cut into her own practice. She offered the next Friday afternoon, stating she would meet Scootaloo outside the school, and endured the brief, uncomfortable squeeze that indicated Scootaloo’s agreement to the date. Author's Note Sorry this one took so long. I've been working on working forward, so I have bits of future chapters typed out. Hopefully this will give me plenty of chances to find where I need to do re-writes on the chapters where it really counts, and also make the delays between chapters shorter as I get deeper into the story. A few people have mentioned to me they don't understand why Rainbow Dash dislikes Scootaloo so much in the first chapter. I have already said this story will not include anything past the Season 2 finale, so based on that, the last time we saw any interaction between the two was Ponyville Confidential. Dash is still holding a bit of a grudge, but has other (petty) reasons. I have very specific reasons. I do want to thank everyone who has read, upvoted, and favorited this story. I'm trying something ambitious by my standards, and support from others directly influences how much I want to write. The story's already inside my noggin, getting it into words is the tricky par. Each email from here and Fanfiction.net, as well as the notifications on DeviantArt, still makes me very happy and motivates me to write this the way I want to tell it. Also, if you go by this publish date, Scootaloo's birthday is now March 4th. I swear I didn't plan it that way, but I think it's kinda funny that for my birthday I'm making Scootaloo happy.
President of the Fan Club"Why don't you tell the princess what you told me?" "I dunno, Twilight. I can't believe I told you!" The lavender unicorn sighed. "What's wrong with learning a lesson?" "That's not it!" Rainbow Dash spread her wings to emphasize her point. "It sounds sappy! I'd rather not look like a baby, especially in front of the ruler of Equestria!" Twilight rolled her eyes. "The princess is not going to think you're a baby. Just tell her." "I learned something important, Twi. That's enough. I don't need to share it." "You just admitted it's important," responded Twilight. "Doesn't that alone mean you should share it?" The cyan pegasus tried to argue, but could do nothing but cast an annoyed stare. She scowled briefly as she tried to form a rebuttal. Failing this, she relented with a sigh. "Fine." "Great!" Twilight gleamed. "Come on! Let's go before you change your mind!" "Like you'd let me..." The unicorn trotted excitedly across the clouds towards her mentor, the most recognized political figure in the nation. Rainbow Dash walked less enthusiastically, barely lifting her hooves. She had no issues with speaking to Princess Celestia, but she had a reputation to uphold. She felt like she had been outshined. Normally something like this would scare her, but this didn't. In her mind, admitting to her pride would be a weakness, especially since she doubted she could have the same strength as the young mare she just saw perform. The sky above was mostly clear, with only the occasional fluff travelling across the calm blue backdrop. The only meaningful cloud cover was that which made up the stadium and the adjacent floating city of Cloudsdale. The pegasi did a great job preparing the weather for today's event. Disappointingly, most ponies took the weather for granted today, as was strangely common in a city made up of the weather itself. "Princess Celestia!" Twilight called as she and Rainbow neared the tall white authority. The winged, horned figure commanded a graceful and welcoming authority. The flowing pastel colors of her mane flowed behind her in the non-existent breeze. "Good afternoon, Twilight Sparkle," the princess greeted cheerfully as she turned. "Rainbow Dash, it is good to see you as well! Those were some spectacular performances today, were they not?" "Yeah." Rainbow chuckled. "Too bad I didn't get to perform! I'd have stolen the show!" "I'm sure you would, but there really is no need for you to compete here anymore." The princess smiled. "It wouldn't be fair to the other contestants anyway, right?" Rainbow passed a hoof through her multicolored mane. With her ego stroked, she nearly forgot about being embarrassed. "Anyway, princess, Rainbow has something she wants to share with you." The embarrassment returned. A bit of red appeared on Rainbow Dash's cheeks. "Oh?" The princess looked at the pegasus. "What would that be?" "Well... I was thinking about what Spitfire said about bravery." "Do you disagree with her?" The princess raised an eyebrow. "No." Rainbow paused. "I never thought about it that way. But I guess being brave doesn't mean facing danger. You can be brave without fighting to save Equestria or anything like that." The pegasus paused again and blinked a few times to try to save face. "Doing something other ponies think you can't takes a lot of guts too." The princess smiled. "I agree. I doubt anypony here today expected to see what they did." "Yeah," Rainbow spoke with a hint of a laugh. "Well, I gotta get going. They're waiting for me. See ya!" "I understand," the princess said with a nod. As Rainbow turned to head back towards the stadium, Princess Celestia spoke again. "Are you proud of Scootaloo?" Rainbow stopped and turned back around. With a large smile, she replied. "Heck yeah, I am!" ===== Four years earlier ==== "Ugh!" Rainbow Dash complained. "How much longer is this going to take?" Rainbow Dash stood in the most humiliating outfit she could ever imagine. It was pink. It was frilly. It had lace. It was something the proud pegasus would refuse to be caught dead wearing. She imagined she would re-animate herself by sheer will long enough to dispose of the dress in the event she died wearing it. She wanted to abandon her promise to Rarity two hours ago when she first saw the thing, but she couldn't bring herself to do so. Rarity was a friend, and Rainbow hated letting her friends down. Rarity stood beside the pegasus. As always, she wore her mane in pristine royal purple curls and she had made sure her pure white coat was perfectly groomed. In contrast, Rainbow Dash rarely spent much time on her appearance, since her high-speed flights always threw her mane out of place. She just chose to let her mane fall as it may today. It was by pure happenstance that the six distinct colors in her mane never seemed to mix. "It will go faster if you quit fidgeting, dear," Rarity stated as she place a pin in the dress. "I'm supposed to be clearing the clouds by now," Rainbow reminded her friend. "And I have plans for the rest of the day. I have stunts to work on!" Rarity sighed. "You moved again, darling. We could have been done twenty minutes ago." "Why didn't you ask Fluttershy to do this?" "I did, but her bunny is sick and she's nursing the poor thing back to health." The unicorn stared for a moment at her living mannequin's mane. With a sigh, she turned towards a dresser behind her and opened a drawer. Rainbow opened her mouth, but only an instant later her question was answered as Rarity turned back towards her with a hairbrush. "I am sorry, but I just cannot concentrate. Your mane is a mess today!" "Please don't." Rainbow knew it wouldn't work, but the utterance was not intentional to begin with. Even if nopony could see her right now, she was already handling more embarrassment than she thought she could handle. Rarity brought the brush to her friend's bothersome mane. As she worked the kinks out of Rainbow Dash's mane and neatened it, she presented an idea. "How about if we make a deal, Rainbow Dash?" "Anything but this," Rainbow groaned. "I will need to make alterations when the client gets here anyway, and she won't be here for a few weeks. My replacement pegasus mannequin will be here next week, so I could put this part off until then and work on other dresses…" "Perfect," Rainbow said loudly. "Let's do that." "However," Rarity added, still brushing the objecting pony's mane. "I would have to rearrange my schedule and such. You could do something else to make up for the inconvenience." "I'm listening." A bit of irritation seeped out with the words Rainbow spoke. "What do you want?" "It's not for me. It's for Sweetie Belle's friend." "Your sister's friend?" Rainbow stopped. If it was Sweetie Belle's friend, that could be either of two fillies. Rainbow didn't care for the trio too much. The three tended to spend their days doing ridiculous things just to find what they were good at, and had a habit of annoying her in the process. Rainbow squinted suspiciously. "You didn't ask me to help you with the dress just so you could make me do something slightly less embarrassing, did you?" Rarity rolled her eyes. "Of course not, darling! Sweetie only asked me this morning before she left for school. Anyway, Scootaloo's birthday party is this Saturday, and you know she would be delighted if you could attend." "No!" Rainbow spread her wings, pulling a few pins loose from the dress. "That kid? No!" "Why not, dear?" Rarity took a step back and glanced at the pins on the ground before returning her attention to her friend. "She is your biggest fan. In fact, I'm fairly certain she's the president of your fan club. You could make her birthday very special just by showing your face. Of course you would need to bring a gift, as it is common courtesy…" "No! It's great that she's the president of my unofficial fan club." Rainbow stressed the unofficial status. "But she's always following me around and bothering me! She's like a baby bird who thinks I'm her mommy! I am not giving her an excuse to stalk me!" Rainbow stopped her argument when she heard knocking from the front door. "I thought you said you closed the shop for the day." "I did. Anyway, please consider it. You could make a filly very happy on her birthday. While you think about, I will go see who is at the door." Rarity cantered through the door, making her way to the front door of her boutique. Rainbow Dash was aggravated. She didn't want to be Rarity's mannequin any longer, but she was very hesitant to spend more time with Scootaloo than she already did in passing. That little pegasus filly dropped whatever she was doing whenever she spotted Rainbow. Whenever Rainbow was on the ground and Scootaloo was nearby, the filly would soon be by her side offering streams of compliments. Rainbow Dash loved attention, but that child offered too much of it. Rainbow heard the chime of the front door opening, followed by a familiar, high-pitched, over-excited voice. She heard Rarity greet their mutual friend Pinkie Pie, and overheard snippets of a conversation involving extra cupcakes and delivering them to friends. Dread washed over the pegasus's face when she heard the next part of the conversation. The pegasus heard Rarity say, "In fact, Rainbow Dash is here too if you want to give her a cupcake now." Rainbow Dash found herself frozen, desperately trying to convince herself to make a break for it. If anypony saw her in this state, she could die from the humiliation. Unfortunately, if she ripped the dress off, she and Rarity would have to start over. There were many things in this room, but the only things large enough to hide her were against the wall. She hated it, but she stood still, hoping against all odds that Pinkie would not comment on the dress. She closed her eyes tightly. "Oooh, Dashie! You're getting married?" Rainbow opened her eyes to find a pink face inches from her own. Blue eyes danced before her, gleaming in excitement. "Omigosh, Dashie! This is WONDERFUL! Who's the lucky stallion? Oh! Who's going to be your mare of honor? Can I cater? I can make you the bestestest wedding cake you have ever seen!" The pink pony pounced around, assaulting Rainbow Dash with question after question, speaking so fast it became difficult to understand her. After what seemed like ages, the pink embodiment of a sugar rush took a much -needed breath in which Rainbow interjected. "I'm not getting married, Pinkie." Pinkie Pie's excitement instantly turned to disappointment. "Oh. I really thought it would work between the two of you." After little more than a second, Pinkie's cheer returned. "Oh well. You'll find someone way better than that loser. Plenty of fish in the sea! Except you're a pony, not a fish, so you wouldn't really want to date a fish, unless you really want to date a fish, I guess… it's important to be open-minded about romance. Oh! Before I forget, I brought a cupcake for you! It'll cheer you up!" "Uh, yeah… Thanks, Pinkie." Rainbow was shell-shocked by the rapid-fire discussion. "Just… Just set it over there." She nodded towards one of few empty spaces on the counters nearby. Pinkie turned to her saddlebag and stuck her head inside to retrieve an intricately decorated cupcake with cyan frosting matching Rainbow Dash's coat. She balanced it upon her nose as she carried it over to the counter and sat it down. Exactly how the cupcake managed to stay pristine after being jostled around in a saddlebag on the back of a pony bouncing around like a rabbit hopped up on caffeine and sugar, was the type of question Pinkie's friends had learned not to ask. Regardless, Rainbow Dash and Rarity still wondered in silence. "Okie-dokie-lokie," Pinkie said after resting the cupcake on the counter. "I'm off to deliver Twilight's and Applejack's cupcakes now! Seeya, girls!" "Bye, darling. I'll see you out." Rarity set her cupcake next to the one Pinkie left for Rainbow. "See ya, Pinkie Pie." Rainbow stood deadpan, still in her rare moment of awkward panic. Rarity assured Rainbow Dash that she would be right back, and then led Pinkie Pie through the door. Rainbow took a long, drawn-out breath. She couldn't remember the last time she had been as mortified as she was currently. By the time Rarity returned, she had made up her mind. She could not take any more humiliation today. "So, do I have to RSVP for this party or what?"
Making ReservationsPonyville, having a relatively small population, bordered in size between what some ponies would call a town versus what some would call a village. As such, its single, small schoolhouse was sufficient to educate the local fillies and colts. The outer walls of the schoolhouse were light red, and each window was decorated with a pink heart at the top. A modest belfry decorated with another pink heart on each side stood atop the front half of the roof. As usual at this time on a weekday, the immediate area around the school was quiet. The playground, significantly larger than the schoolhouse itself, was vacant. Excluding the slight motion of the flag in front and the occasional sway of the weather vane atop the belfry, the school could pass for a photograph of itself. This would change with the dismissal of the class inside. The bell rang, and less than a moment later the first of the students eagerly left through a single door, ready to enjoy their freedom. Some children were ready to just head home, while others looked forward to playing with their friends. Most passed through the door single-file. A couple of more eager unicorn colts hurriedly pushed their way out simultaneously as if they didn’t want the outdoors to have a chance to escape. Among the last to leave the school were three fillies: a yellow earth pony, an orange pegasus, and a white unicorn. They stayed together as close friends do, and made their way to the road. The earth pony looked upward toward the cloudy sky. “Ah thought we're s’posed ta have a clear sky today,” the earth pony commented as she reached to straighten the pink bow in her ruby red mane. The unicorn glanced upward as well, through her pink and purple curls. “I wonder if Rainbow Dash just forgot to move the clouds away.” “That’s a bit of a hard thing ‘ta forget, Sweetie Belle! Ya think she’d notice that she’d be runnin’ inta clouds up there when there’s s’posed ta be none.” “She’s probably running late,” the pegasus suggested. “She has an audition for the Wonderbolts later this year and she’s probably busy practicing.” Sweetie Belle looked quizzically at the pegasus filly. “How do you know these things?” “I’m the president of the fan club,” the pegasus replied. “I’m supposed to know stuff like this.” “Mah sis told me this mornin’. Ah jus’ thought she’d clear the sky first ‘fore doin’ anythin’ else.” The pegasus sighed. “You’re right, Apple Bloom. I didn’t notice her in the sky during recess either.” She sat and stared up at the clouds, hoping to see a streak of color shooting by at any moment. “Wait,” Sweetie Belle said with a squeak. “Applejack told you,” she said as she pointed at Apple Bloom. “And Scootaloo knows. Why didn’t my sister say anything?” Scootaloo grinned as a blue pegasus suddenly shot across the sky, leaving behind the colorful afterimage of a rainbow-hued tail. Even as far away in the air as the other pegasus was, her speed created a gust of wind that threw Scootaloo’s purple hair out of place. Scootaloo began to count aloud as the pegasus in the sky began pushing and kicking clouds away. “One Maressissippi, two Maressissippi…” As Scootaloo counted, Sweetie Belle looked to her briefly. Sweetie Belle then looked at the sky just in time to see Rainbow Dash kick the last cloud away. “Um, Scootaloo? What are you –“ “Seven seconds!” Scootaloo jumped and buzzed her wings. “Seven seconds!” “Ah’m guessin’ that’s a new record, ain’t it?” “Yeah!” Scootaloo bounced a few more times, buzzing her wings but still returning to the ground. “I knew she was just busy. She never forgot to do the weather before!” Apple Bloom scratched at her mane as the other two began to walk down the path towards the rest of town. “Didn’t she fall asleep once after she set up th’ rain over the farm? Sis was worried Bloomberg’d drown.” “I don’t remember that,” Scootaloo countered as Apple Bloom caught up. “Maybe she was working a half day? Cloud Kicker was late the other day and Rainbow Dash had to go back and cover for her. I bet something like that happened.” “Could be. Ah do know sis wasn’t too happy with Rainbow that day, though. We were lucky Bloomberg turned out jus’ fine an’ he was still ready ta get replanted in Appleoosa.” “Wait, how do you drown a tree?” Sweetie Belle cast a confused look. “Too much water can be just as bad for plants as not enough water, right?” Scootaloo confirmed with Apple Bloom. “Yep. Overwaterin’ an’ underwaterin’ll both make a tree sick,” Apple Bloom replied. “An’ if ya overwater an apple tree, at best it won’t make much fruit.” “Oh.” Sweetie Belle moved on to a new subject. “So what are we trying today?” Scootaloo pondered for a moment. “Pyrotechnics?” “Sounds dangerous,” Sweetie Belle hesitated. “What about being pony cannonballs?” Apple Bloom laughed loudly. “Ya shoot down pyro-whatsits fer bein’ too dangerous, but yer okay with launchin’ ourselves outta cannon?” “We gotta figure out something, girls.” Scootaloo pointed at her flank. “Everypony else in class figured out what they’re good at. We’re the only blank flanks left!” “What would a pyrotechnics cutie mark even look like?” Scootaloo turned her head to Sweetie Belle as she walked. “I dunno, Sweetie Belle. Maybe a firework or a rocket or a flame or something,” she mused. Scootaloo turned her head forward just in time to stop herself from walking into somepony. She knew who it looked like, but she blinked a couple times to make sure her eyes weren’t playing a trick on her. She looked up to a smirking cyan face and magenta eyes. Scootaloo’s eyes shot wide. “I didn’t just hear you talking about playing with fireworks, did I?” “Oh, Rainbow Dash!” The pegasus filly was visibly and audibly excited to see her hero. Stuttering slightly, she added, “not ‘playing’ with them so much as learning how they work!” “Well, whatever you do, don’t do it by yourselves. I don’t want you kids burning down Ponyville.” Rainbow Dash chuckled. “If you’re serious, go find Firecracker Burst. She does all the fireworks shows. I have no clue where she lives though.” “Cool! Thanks, Rainbow Dash!” Scootaloo beamed, thankful not to be in trouble. “Hey, do you want to help us earn our cutie marks?” Rainbow Dash hid her reluctance to spend time with the trio of fillies. “Sorry, squirt. I can’t today. Too busy. But I heard I your birthday’s Saturday and my invitation got lost in the mail or something.” Scootaloo’s jaw dropped. “Can you come?” “Of course! I gotta make some time for my number one fan, Scoots!” Rainbow lied. “I wouldn’t want to miss your party.” “Oh my gosh!” Scootaloo exclaimed. She hopped around Rainbow Dash and her friends, flapping her wings frantically the whole time. The grown pegasus extended a wing downwards to block Scootaloo’s path on her third lap around the group. “What time should I show up?” “Oh!” The filly blinked a few times. “That’s right, you said you never got your invitation! The party starts at 10 AM.” “Got it, kid. A little early for me on a weekend, but I’ll be there.” Rainbow faked a smile. “Like I said, I’m busy today, so I can’t stay. Catch ya later!” Scootaloo sat and waved, dumbfounded at the event as her idol flew away. Even after Rainbow Dash was out of sight, Scootaloo continued to wave at the empty air until Apple Bloom nudged her. “Earth pony ta’ Scootaloo… Come in, Scootaloo… Ya there?” Scootaloo shook her head back to reality. She looked at Apple Bloom and pushed her away playfully. As the other two giggled, Sweetie Belle looked downward, eyebrows lowered. “I don’t think Rainbow Dash sounded too happy.” “What do you mean?” Scootaloo asked. “I mean,” Sweetie Belle continued, “she didn’t seem like she really wanted to go.” “Ah,” Scootaloo pretended to take the concern seriously. “She was probably just tired.” The trio continued on the path towards the center of town, laughing, joking, and swapping ideas for the day’s activities. As they reached a fountain in the center of the busiest part of town, they agreed on an activity and shouted it simultaneously. The cry startled several ponies, but a few that knew the three took relief in their latest idea. “CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS MIMES! YAY!” Author's Note Sorry about the delay on this chapter, everyone! I haven't gotten anything else from the pre-reader that helped me with the first chapter, so I held back on this for a while trying to find someone else to help. This chapter has been written for a while, to be honest. I'm working on other chapters right now (that's right, plural). None of the other chapters are complete yet, but chapter three is about halfway and has my priority right now. If anyone wants to pre-read, let me know by private message!
Showing Up Empty-HoovedSugarcube corner’s side room was filled with ponies, presents, and birthday decorations. Scootaloo’s birthday party was in anything but full swing. Rather, it had come to a standstill as the ruckus and excitement died down to be replaced by boredom. Nopony had said a word in several minutes. Scootaloo sat with her friends at a round table. The centerpiece of the table was a large, intricately detailed sheet cake with smiling faces drawn in icing. Spaced carefully along the cake were thirteen unlit candles, which surrounded the message, ‘Happy Birthday Scootaloo’. “Maybe we should do the candles and cut the cake…” “No!” Scootaloo snapped at her friend. “She isn’t here yet, Sweetie Belle! We can’t cut the cake until she gets here!” The pegasus gestured behind her toward the empty seat to her left, which was one of only two unoccupied spaces. At each other seat sat either one of Scootaloo’s classmates, an adult, or in one seat a small dragon. Both empty seats were among the group of adults. Pinkie Pie leaned across another empty seat to whisper loudly in a Twilight Sparkle’s ear. The unicorn rolled her eyes and dismissed whatever Pinkie had said. One adult did not sit with the rest of the ponies her own age, but sat among the younger party guests. This dark raspberry-colored earth pony, known to the most of the school-aged ponies at the table as their teacher, glanced around the table before looking to the birthday girl with a comforting smile. “Scootaloo… I hate to say this, but I’m worried Rainbow Dash isn’t going to show up. Sweetie Belle’s right. We shouldn’t be waiting on her like this.” “No!” The pegasus insisted. “She promised she would come and I know she will!” “Scootaloo,” the earth pony added, leaning forward to allow the pegasus to see her more clearly past Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom. “She was supposed to be here two hours ago. We’ve been waiting nearly twenty minutes in front of this cake.” Scootaloo sat back and crossed her front legs in front of her chest. She grumbled and looked to Rainbow Dash’s vacant space at the table. “Would you listen to Miss Cheerilee?” A chubby blue colt piped up from the opposite side of the table. “Just save her a piece! Heck, it’s a big cake, save half of it!” The birthday girl glowered at her classmate and for a moment regretted inviting him. That same pony had been complaining about the wait for a while now. Then again, several of the ponies were complaining, but none of them seemed to be quite as up-front with their impatience. He even had the nerve earlier to ask Scootaloo why she invited their teacher. At this moment, however, the colt seemed to be happy with what Cheerilee was saying. “There’s a chance,” the other pony continued. “Not one hundred percent, but a chance – a big chance, that she just blew you off. We should act like she isn’t going to show, because I bet you she won’t. If she suddenly appears, whoop-de-do, hip-hip hooray! Let’s just move on!” The colt turned to the off-white pegasus next to him. “Am I right, Feathers?” When the pegasus didn’t respond, the pony tapped him, prompting a moment of brief confused panic. “Wha?” “Do you think Rainbow Dash is going to show up?” “Um…” The lanky pegasus stumbled over his words. The blue colt sighed and tried again. “Featherweight, let’s catch up. We’ve been waiting…” The colt turned around to ask Cheerilee but turned back when he remembered the amount of time the party had been at a standstill. “Oh, almost a half hour, for Scootaloo’s guest of honor. A few of us are trying to convince her to just let us carry on and have cake. Do you have anything to add?” The pegasus looked around, wide-eyed. The mixed expression of embarrassment and confusion under his brown mane stated obviously to everypony that he had not noticed much of what was happening. A slight blush began to show on his cheeks but luck favored him by preventing the other colt from noticing it. “Dude. You’re not usually like this. The boredom getting to you too?” “Scootaloo,” Apple Bloom cut in, “did ya tell Rainbow Dash th’ party was gonna be here?” The moment Rainbow Dash announced her intent to come flashed back to Scootaloo. She cursed herself for forgetting to mention that detail. Her eyes went wide as she realized Rainbow Dash might have gone somewhere else by mistake. She reassured herself with the fact that most parties in this town seemed to happen at this place. Still, she couldn’t believe she forgot to tell Rainbow Dash where to go. “Um…” Before the pegasus could respond further, the chime on the door rang. The last eight chimes were normal customers picking up treats from the bakery. Despite this, Scootaloo craned her neck excitedly to get a view of the door just as she had done every time she heard the chime previously. Nearly falling over, she managed to see the door just as it shut, and her face lit up with joy. “Rainbow Dash!” Scootaloo jumped up from her stool and ran around the table to greet the pony at the door, with her wings buzzing fruitlessly along the entire distance. “Hey, kid.” Rainbow smiled sheepishly. “Sorry I’m late… I, um… overslept.” Waiting a beat, she added, “I told you it was a little early for me on a weekend.” “That’s okay, Dash! You’re just in time for cake,” Scootaloo exclaimed as she hopped a few times. She guided Rainbow Dash hurriedly to her seat right next to her. Several ponies rolled their eyes at the implication that Rainbow Dash was not late at all. As Rainbow Dash sat down, she noticed her friends to her left, with another empty space three seats away. One friend was missing, which she marked as strange since the friend’s little sister was there. “Where’s Applejack?” Rainbow Dash asked nopony in particular. “Sis said she’d try ‘ta come, but not ‘ta wait on her since she might not make it,” Apple Bloom responded. “She has a lotta things back at th’ farm to catch up on. We got a big, las’ minute order that needs ‘ta be filled by Monday.” “Ah. Makes sense.” Rainbow Dash sat down, subconsciously leaning slightly to the left as Scootaloo sat to her right. “So,” she said, pointing towards the center of the table. “Cake, right?” “Yeah, of course!” Several seats to the left of Rainbow Dash, Twilight turned to the dragon beside her. “Care to do the honors?” The dragon stood on top of his seat to get a better angle at the cake. He inhaled, then slowly exhaled a flame over the tip of each candle expertly. Rainbow grinned mockingly once the dragon finished. “Glad you didn’t send the cake to the princess again, Spike. I’m hungry.” The dragon blushed in response as he sat down, grumbling something about the last time not being his fault. Half the table chuckled at Rainbow’s quip, while the other half sat idly wondering whether the incident was something that they would have had to witness to appreciate. Sweetie Belle stood and cleared her throat, just in time to stop Scootaloo from blowing out the candles. She looked around the table quickly, and then began to sing. “Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to y—” “STOP!” Pinkie interrupted desperately. Sweetie Belle looked at her and her eyes started to water. “I wasn’t that bad, was—” “I heard that song was COPYRIGHTED!” Pinkie yelled as she shot around the table to warn the filly up-close. “We could get sued! Or worse, we could go to jail! I’m too young and pretty for the slammer!” “Are you serious?” Twilight asked as confusion appeared on her face. “Of course I’m serious, Twilight! Do you know what they do to cute pink ponies there? Because I don’t! I’ve never been there, and I don’t know about you but I never want to go there!” Pinkie interrupted her fast-forward outburst. Her pupils constricted, her mouth stretched into a caricature-like frown, and she began to sweat as if being interrogated under a bright, hot light. “What… What if WE’RE COPYRIGHTED?” “Pinkie—” “No, think about it! If WE'RE copyrighted, we might be crossing a line by being ourselves! But I don’t know how to be anypony else!” “Pinkie, have you read any law books?” Twilight asked frankly. Pinkie thought for a moment, wide-eyed, before shaking her head. “Equestrian copyright doesn’t work that way. We’re fine.” The pink pony, whom several ponies in the room currently suspected was some level of bonkers, seemed satisfied by that explanation. She hopped back around the table and retook her seat. The smile on her face contrasted drastically with her panic that had only seconds ago become part of the past. She paused with her blank smile, staring at the cake for a few moments as wax dripped down the sides of the candles. Twilight puffed quietly, grateful that event was over. “By the way, Sweetie Belle,” she said as she turned towards the troubled unicorn. “You sang beautifully. Pinkie’s outburst was just… Something else.” Pinkie nodded. After a moment of awkward silence, Scootaloo coughed and scanned the table. “Can I blow the candles out now?” she asked impatiently. “Of course!” Pinkie exclaimed cheerfully. “Don’t forget to make a wish!” Scootaloo looked at Rainbow Dash briefly, and then turned to the cake wearing a thin smile. Despite not being the overly superstitious type, she figured it couldn’t hurt having something in mind as she extinguished the tiny symbolic flames. She paused, closed her eyes gently, and inhaled slowly. She held onto her breath a moment longer as she double-checked that she was thinking of something she truly wanted. Finding no doubt in her mind, she opened her eyes and blew out all of the candles in one breath. Apple Bloom reached behind Sweetie Belle to poke Scootaloo’s shoulder. “What’cha wish for?” Sweetie Belle’s expression pried for an answer as well. Scootaloo chuckled. “You know I don’t believe in that stuff.” “You didn’t make a wish? You only get one birthday wish a year!” As the three young ponies argued about the validity of birthday wishes, Cheerilee sliced the cake, and plated the slices. The first slice revealed two chocolate layers under the cake’s white icing. Twilight levitated empty plates toward Cheerilee, and passed the cake slices to the party guests, moving counter-clockwise starting with Scootaloo. “Besides, even if I had made a wish, I’m not supposed to tell anypony what it is! Even I know that!” Scootaloo turned towards her slice of cake, ending the conversation with a smug look of victory. She then took the first bite of cake and the guests followed. The guests conversed as they ate, both with Scootaloo and amongst themselves. For the most part, Rainbow Dash only conversed with her friends of her own age, only speaking to Scootaloo in response to a question before turning back to her previous banter. Eventually, everypony had finished their cake, and Cheerilee insisted on helping Pinkie take the leftover cake back to the kitchen. Rainbow wasn’t paying much attention, but her ears caught Cheerilee announcing that it would be time to open gifts when she got back. Rainbow Dash froze, expecting Rarity to ask something soon. She didn’t count on her abrupt silence to bring Rarity to ask right away. “You did bring a gift, right darling?” Rainbow stuttered in response. Rarity had the decency to ask quietly, but Rainbow managed to draw attention to herself regardless. “It just is not proper to arrive at a party empty-hooved,” she added with a whisper. “Hey!” Pinkie interjected. “Cut her a break! She’s still getting over the break-up!” Rarity and Rainbow both shot Pinkie a disapproving glance, although Rainbow’s scowl was much more pronounced. “Oh. You want me to keep quiet about that.” The two nodded. “Okie-dokie,” Pinkie added. “Low-key.” Rolling her eyes, Rarity hushed her whisper further. “I think I have something at home that will work, but it’s not wrapped. If you pretend you left your gift at home—“ “It’s okay, Rainbow Dash!” The two ponies turned to look at Scootaloo smiling genuinely. “I’m just so glad you came!” Rainbow Dash felt eyes watching her. Some of the fillies and colts here were fans of hers as well, and she knew any changes to her reputation would spread quickly. She chuckled uncomfortably, mentally grasping at straws trying to figure out what to do next. The last thing she wanted to do was look lame for not bringing a gift to a birthday party. She didn’t want to play forgetful by promising to bring a gift later either – that would be lame as well. “Well, Scoot,” she spoke slowly. She had to come up with something now. Twilight had mentioned something called a ‘butterfly effect’ to her a while back, but Rainbow originally cast the thought aside. “It’s not like I could wrap your gift!” It was a start, or at least it would buy Rainbow a few seconds. The problem at this point was she had limited her own options. The idea of a butterfly flapping its wings, cascading into other events until causing some disaster seemed disproportionate, but she couldn’t help but imagine it. Wait… wings? “I can’t wrap your gift ‘cuz I’m going to teach you how to fly!” Scootaloo’s eyes widened. It took Scootaloo and Rainbow Dash both a moment to process what just happened. Scootaloo, mouth agape, quickly turned to look back at the center of the table where the cake and its candles were just moments prior. She quickly turned back to her idol, sunny as the clearest sky. “R-really?” I hope not, Rainbow thought. All she wanted to do at that moment was introduce her hoof to her own face. Instead, she put on the best smile she could manage. “Of course, kid. That is, as long as your folks are cool with it.” Scootaloo buzzed her wings eagerly, gaining roughly a half an inch of clearance from the ground before returning. “There,” Rainbow explained, “is your first problem. You’re a pegasus, not a hummingbird. Anyway, flying’s got risks to it, so ask your mom to see if it’s OK before I take you under my wing or anything.” The young mare nodded and shot off towards the archway separating the party from the lobby of Sugarcube Corner just in time to catch Cheerilee and Pinkie Pie returning. Scootaloo and Cheerilee conversed as Pinkie made her way back to the table. “Wow, Rainbow Dash,” Twilight praised her friend. “You made Scootaloo very happy! I wasn’t expecting you to do that.” The pegasus coughed a laugh and crossed her feathers. She watched Scootaloo talking to Cheerilee and realized she had no idea who Scootaloo’s parents were, but she had a feeling she had just figured out part of the equation when Scootaloo started running back, still smiling. “She thinks it’s a great idea! When can we start?” Rainbow Dash looked around the room. Most of the ponies seemed to approve of her action, although a few appeared to be jealous that their gifts would not compare to hers. She was not looking forward to following through on her offer, especially since it would cut into her own practice. She offered the next Friday afternoon, stating she would meet Scootaloo outside the school, and endured the brief, uncomfortable squeeze that indicated Scootaloo’s agreement to the date. Author's Note Sorry this one took so long. I've been working on working forward, so I have bits of future chapters typed out. Hopefully this will give me plenty of chances to find where I need to do re-writes on the chapters where it really counts, and also make the delays between chapters shorter as I get deeper into the story. A few people have mentioned to me they don't understand why Rainbow Dash dislikes Scootaloo so much in the first chapter. I have already said this story will not include anything past the Season 2 finale, so based on that, the last time we saw any interaction between the two was Ponyville Confidential. Dash is still holding a bit of a grudge, but has other (petty) reasons. I have very specific reasons. I do want to thank everyone who has read, upvoted, and favorited this story. I'm trying something ambitious by my standards, and support from others directly influences how much I want to write. The story's already inside my noggin, getting it into words is the tricky par. Each email from here and Fanfiction.net, as well as the notifications on DeviantArt, still makes me very happy and motivates me to write this the way I want to tell it. Also, if you go by this publish date, Scootaloo's birthday is now March 4th. I swear I didn't plan it that way, but I think it's kinda funny that for my birthday I'm making Scootaloo happy.
