Scootaloo's mind went into overdrive. 'I can't believe it! Dash kissed ME!' The younger mare's heart sped and suddenly the world seemed brighter, sounds seemed more beautiful, colours seemed more vibrant...but despite the joy, Scootaloo felt...wrong. 'This...this is what I wanted right? So why am I not enjoying it as much as I should?' Scootaloo broke the kiss and looked away when she saw Rainbow's confusion.

"I-I'm sorry Dash...but I can't do this."

"What do you mean?"

Scootaloo took a breath and said, "I thought I would want this...but it doesn't feel right. Not because we're both mares but...I dunno."

"But I thought you loved me." Scootaloo turned her head and gazed at Rainbow, surprise in her eyes. "Y-you knew?"

"Yea? I've known for quite awhile now. I gotta say, you're cute when you're flustered." Scootaloo's surprise swiftly became anger.

"You knew this whole time and it didn't occur to you that should've told me that YOU KNEW?! Do you know how hard things are for me right now? Do you know how long I've tried to get your attention or have you notice me? Do you even care?" Dash finally managed to find her voice in time to answer.

"Of course I do!" Scootaloo just rolled her eyes.

"Yea, sure you do. Of course you care!" Scootaloo was right in Dash's face now. "For years I've tried to get you to notice me and my affection for you, but you never seemed to care. You always had something more important to do or somewhere to be every time I tried to bring it up! Do you realize how much sleep I've lost or how many tears I've shed because of you? NO, you DON'T!" Scoots took a few breaths before turning away and walking off. "I'm sleeping on the other side of the cloud...I need to be alone."

Dash stood there over and landing in front of the orange mare. "Don't you DARE accuse me of not caring! I care about my friends, Cloudsdale, Equestria, and a ton of other stuff! I'll stand by all of those things no matter what."

"Caring and being loyal are two different things. Besides, I know that when you're with Fluttershy and all them, you're constantly trying to make yourself stand out or make yourself look better. You don't care about anypony but yourself." Scootaloo made her way around Rainbow and kept walking. Needless to say, Dash was furious.

"I care about Applejack!"

The younger mare just turned and with a cold stare asked, "Then why aren't you two together?" All the anger in Rainbow's eyes drained away in an instant.

"Low blow.." The cyan pegasus mumbled, trying to resist the urge to tear up.

"It's also the painful truth." Scootaloo continued to walk to her destination on the cloud while Rainbow simply sat there, a single tear escaping her eye.

~~~~

The next day, the pair continued Scootaloo's training with Dash staying silent unless she was scrutinizing something Scoots had done wrong. The orange pegasus could practically feel the sting in every word that left Dash's mouth. 'Well...there's not much I can do about it now. I'll apologize when the weekend comes.' Scootaloo thought as she ran a course designed to kept her off the "ground" by forcing her to use her wings to get from one platform to the next. The young mare grit her teeth as she approached the last section.

In order for her to make it to the last platform, Scootaloo would actually have to fly instead of just using her wings for extra height in a jump or for added momentum for a running jump. Scootaloo excelled on the course as a whole, but she could never make the last jump, always falling when her wings refused her commands to fly. With a deep breath, Scotaloo jumped and spread her wings.

She decided to glide about half way before attempting to flap her wings. The result was the same as usual: failure. Scootaloo fell until she hit the familiar lump of cloud below her. Scoots gave a frustrated sigh, smacking the cloud before saying, "Can't I just move on to something else and come back to this?"

"No." Before Scoots could saying anything back, Dash was gone. The orange pony gave an irritated huff as she tossed her mane out of her face and started to climb the stairs that would take her back to the beginning.

~~~~

"Ugh! This is so stupid!" Scootaloo cried out angrily. She had failed the course for what had seemed like the hundredth time that day. In a fit of rage, Scoots spun and kicked out with her hind hooves at the base of the platform that mocked her. However, to her surprise, was the small poof sound she heard when her hooves connected. Scootaloo turned back around and saw a chunk missing from the cloud. Every other time the young flier had tried cloud manipulation, her hooves would either pass through the cloud, or they would connect as if the cloud were solid as if it were stone.

"Well, at least you're making SOME progress." The smile that had surfaced on Scototaloo's face disappeared when she heard Dash's voice. "We're done for the day." Scootaloo looked and saw Luna's moon begin to grace Equestria as Celestia's sun was bidding it farewell for the night. The orange mare sighed and headed for the stairs for the final time.

~~~~

When Scootaloo awoke the next day, she could immediately tell something was wrong. 'Dash isn't shaking me awake and it's much later than it usually is when we start...' The orange pony stood up and gasped at what she saw. Somehow, she was now far above the training cloud on a cloud that was hardly bigger than she was. Fear rose in Scootaloo chest as she tried to find any source of Rainbow Dash. "R-Rainbow Dash? What's going on?" The sudden answer that came almost immediately afterwards made Scoots shout in surprise and nearly fall off the cloud.

"It's a progress test." Rainbow Dash slowly flew out from below the cloud and continued talking. "This is a test used in every Flight School in Cloudsdale. It'll measure how much progress you've made in terms of flight. You'll have to fly from here, to that cloud over there." Scootaloo followed Dash's hoof and saw a cloud the size of a speak in the distance hovering at the same height as the cloud she was on.

The orange mare nodded hesitantly before nervously asking, "Umm...since we both know that my flying skills are next to none, perhaps we could maybe-"

"No. I'm not going to change or modify the course in any way, shape, or form. And you aren't allowed to back down either. Now get going, and don't worry about falling. The cloud will stop your fall as usual." Scootaloo swallowed the fear in her throat and hoped Dash couldn't hear her heart hammering in her chest or her knees knocking together as she approached the edge of the cloud. However, despite her overwhelming fear, a thought ran through the mare's mind as she gazed at the seeming infinite expanse below her.

'I bet this sight would be really beautiful if I were here under different circumstances...Equestria is spread out below me, the sun is shining warmly, the clouds below are peacefully hovering...' After a moment, Scoots shook her head. 'No more stalling. You can do this. Just glide most of the way across and then try to fly the rest of the way.' Scoots gave a small smile at the idea, at least, until Rainbow seemed to read her mind.

"And no gliding. This is a flight test, not a gliding test." Fear came rushing back into Scootaloo's body. The mare took one more look over the edge of the cloud and noticed that she was much higher up than she originally thought.

'Okay...you can do this Scootaloo. You can fly!' The young pegasus took a step back before running forward and jumping over the side, flapping her wings as hard and as fast as she could. When the usual sense of free-falling didn't become immediately apparent, Scoots couldn't stop the grin on her face as she slowly opened her eyes. "I-I'm doing it! I'm flying, I'm-" At this point, Scootaloo's wings quit working due to the over-exertion of her flying. "-falling!"

Scootaloo immediately began falling, panic spreading swiftly through her orange body. She tried to flap her wings again, but cried out as intense pain lanced up and down her wings. The orange pony blinked away the pain tears and screamed for her older counterpart. "Rainbow Dash! Help!" However, no cyan blur came rushing to help her, no rainbow streak came flying to rescue her. Scoots felt tears in her eyes as she continued to plummet and cry for Rainbow's assistance.

The orange mare began to flail in panic, hoping that it may at least slow her decent. However, it was clear that she wouldn't be slowing down any time soon. Scootaloo felt the tears leave her eyes and become lost in the wind as fear overtook her mind. Finally, the pain, exhaustion, and rapid loss of altitude combined with Scootaloo's short, quick breaths of panic made the pony close her eyes as she drifted into unconsciousness.

Dash watched it all unfold from Scootaloo's destination, a small look of irritation on her face. "Hmm...looks like she gave up." Rainbow had seen the younger pony stop moving and had interpreted it as defeat on Scootaloo's part. The cyan pegasus sighed, flipping her vibrant hair away from her face. "Guess I should start heading down." Dash stood and lazily began to fly down from her perch. As she continued her descent, Rainbow glanced down and saw that Scootaloo was about to make contact with the cloud. "And here I was, thinking that she was determined." Dash mumbled in both frustration and disgust.

However, a small voice spoke up in her mind. 'You know that isn't very fair. Don't take your anger out on her. You brought those words upon yourself and you have nopony to blame but yourself. If you keep this up, you'll do something you regret.' The Element of Loyalty just rolled her eyes and kept going, her eyes scanning the infinite expanse that was the sky. However, a large puff of white caught Dash's attention, causing her to look down. Her eyes widened in horror at what she saw.

A hole had appeared where Scootaloo had hit the cloud, allowing the young flier to continue to fall. "Hold on...she should've screamed or started doing something..." Realization hit Rainbow like a thousand thunderheads. "She isn't moving or screaming because she isn't awake!" Rainbow's wings snapped to her sides as she dove before flaring open to help her gain speed.

As Dash continued her dive, she felt a familiar sense of resistance as the air began to cone around her. "Hold on squirt! Dash is coming!" As the last word left her mouth, the cyan pegasus broke through the barrier and a spectrum of colour exploded behind her as she left a rainbow trail. However, it was quickly becoming clear that even with the tremendous burst of speed gained from the rainboom, the ground would meet Scootaloo before Rainbow could catch her. "No...no no no no no!"

Dash strained to get more speed, even as pain was starting to form in her wings. The cyan pegasus struggled to keep the pain in check, only wincing when it was becoming too much. "C'mon stupid wings! I need to go faster!" Tears were racing from Dash's eyes to become lost in the wind that roared past her. Rainbow knew that Scootaloo was going to die...and that it would be all her fault. She had allowed her anger and jealousy get the best of her, and now Dash was going to pay the price. Rainbow closed her eyes and hoped that Scootaloo wouldn't feel any pain as she...passed on.

One second...two seconds...three seconds

The cyan flier cracked an eye when there was no heart-wrenching snapping of bone, no gut-twisting sound of blood exploding from the body due to pressure. With her eyes fully opened, Rainbow was able to see why. There on the ground was Scootaloo, wrapped in the hooves of Fluttershy. "Flutters!" Dash hurried the rest of the way down and landed in front of her friend. "Thank Celestia you were-"

Rainbow's sentence was cut off as she staggered back a step from the force of the yellow hoof that had struck her face. Shocked, Rainbow looked up at her friend's face and was afraid of what she saw. Tears were freely flowing from Fluttershy's eyes while she wore a face of rage. Rainbow had seen Fluttershy annoyed and even angry, but she had never seen the shy pegasus this furious.

However, what scared Dash most wasn't the expression on Fluttershy's face, but rather the fact that Fluttershy had hit her...and that it had hurt. Never in all their years together had Rainbow Dash EVER seen the timid pony raise her hoof against another pony, and that frightened Rainbow more than her worst nightmare.

"What is WRONG WITH YOU?!" Fluttershy accused, making sure to keep Scootaloo close to her.

"I-I just.." Rainbow's sentence died in her throat as she tenderly touched where she had been hit, wincing as she did.

"You know full well that she can't fly very well, and you KNOW that the Distance Flight is only for pegasi about to graduate from Flight School! Honestly Rainbow Dash, how could you be so reckless?" Dash desperately wanted to say something, anything to defend herself, but found that she had lost her ability to speak, or even move as she was locked within a Stare so powerful and intimidating that Rainbow wouldn't wish it upon Nightmare Moon, King Sombra, or any other villain the Elements had faced in their lives.

"Did you even think of taking the correct safety precautions? Obviously you didn't because even I can tell that you haven't been doing routine maintenance on the cloud, and even then, where are the back-up clouds that are there in case something like this happens?" As Fluttershy spoke, she carefully lifted Scootaloo onto her back and covered the young mare with her wings as best she could.

"Do you have any idea how this could affect her wings? She'll be lucky if she can even USE them after this! I don't know what happened up there, but it's no excuse for letting this happen." Fluttershy turned away from the cyan pegasus and began walking. It was at this point that Rainbow had finally regained her ability to create words.

"But Fluttershy-"

"No! I don't want to hear ir Rainbow Dash! You've made some pretty stupid mistakes in your life, but this is definitely the worst." Fluttershy turned her head and with cold teal eyes whispered angrily, "I hope you're proud of yourself." With that, Fluttershy took off for home, taking care not to jostle the unconscious mare on her back too much.

Rainbow remainded motionless as she watched Fluttershy gallop off with Scootaloo on her back as her mind tried to make sense from what had just happened. Eventually, a single tear ran down her face. Then another, then it was followed by another. Finally, Dash's body unlocked and the pegasus collapsed, weeping. For the first time since Applejack left her three years ago, Rainbow Dash cried loudly and openly while the sun continued to shine as if nothing could go wrong in the world.

~~Two days later~~

Scootaloo's eyes slowly fluttered open as she woke from her heavy slumber. Naturally, she scanned the room she was in sluggishly as her mind tried to get up to speed. With limited mental prowess, Scoots deduced that the room she was in was quiet, comfy, and homely. There were various knick-knacks adorning the room, adding to it's already humble feeling. Next in her thought train was the bed. It was ridiculously soft and inviting, nearly prompting the orange pegasus to drift back into sleep's embrace.

As Scootaloo became more awake and aware, she began to truly listen for any kind of sound for an indication of where she was. All she could hear other than the occasional bird chirp was her own heartbeat and thoughts. 'Where am I? It seems awfully familiar but I can't quite put my hoof on it...' After a few moments of raking her mind, Scootaloo sighed as she kept drawing a blank. 'Guess I'll have to worry about the where later. Perhaps I should focus on what happened.'

Memories of her falling towards the ground and passing out before then swam in the mare's mind and she couldn't help but shudder. "Then...am I...dead?" Scootaloo pinched herself, wincing slightly as she rubbed the tender spot. "Guess not." Scoots looked around the room a bit longer before her gaze was drawn to the clouds lazily floating by outside the nearby window. "I wonder how those clouds are moving on their own?" The orange pony pondered aloud.

The urge to get up and check came and went as Scoots continued to lay in the bed, enjoying the stillness of the world around her. 'I wonder though...How exactly did I get here? Did Rainbow Dash save me? No...she couldn't have or else I'd be in a hospital right now or something, not somepony's home.' The orange mare tried to remember anything after passing out and all she could come up with was a fuzzy noise that sounded like somepony yelling into a pillow.

With a quiet sigh, Scoots gave up trying to figure out what the thought was. The young pony's thoughts turned into idle ones, thinking of things like what the other Crusaders were doing, or whether or not it would be busy at the flower shop. Eventually, Scootaloo's thoughts turned to Fluttershy. 'I wonder how she's doing? Probably fine other than me hindering her love life...Hmm...how do I go about addressing that? It's not exactly a casual topic. And how in the world to I tell her that I...like her too?'

Scootaloo knew she couldn't just be blunt and say something like, "Hey, this is crazy, but I think I love you back." However, she also didn't want to prolong it for too much longer and keep Fluttershy in that pain. The mare was so deep in thought that she didn't hear the delicate hoofsteps on the wooden floor. "Scootaloo?"

The sound of her name snapped the orange pegasus back to reality and saw Fluttershy staring at her, standing at the top of the stairs that led into the room. The familiarity of the scene finally clicked within Scootaloo's mind. 'That's why it looks so familiar...this is Fluttershy's room...in her house.' Scoots didn't say anything right away, instead prompting to move and sit up. However, Fluttershy moved quicker and gently pushed her back down. "Don't move around too much. You've been out for awhile."

"How long was I out for, a few hours?" Fluttershy seemed hesitant to answer the younger pony's question, but eventually yielded.

"Two days..." Scootaloo's eyes widened and she kicked off the blanket and dodged Fluttershy's grabs before rolling off the bed and onto her hooves. She didn't make it more than a step before collapsing to the floor as her legs became wobbly and gave out on her. Thankfully Fluttershy moved and caught her before she hit the floor. "Careful. You haven't been on your hooves for the duration of those two days so they might be a little...numb." Scoots nodded and struggled to get up before allowing Fluttershy to assist her.

"Out for two whole days...what exactly happened to me?" Fluttershy was quiet for a moment, as if collecting her thoughts before speaking.

"Well...I don't know all the details, but I'll tell you what I know. I was out for a walk when I thought I'd come check up on you and Rainbow. As I was headed towards the cloud, I saw you falling. At first I thought Rainbow would help you...but after you fell through the cloud I knew I had to act. I have never flown so fast in my life and I didn't know if I was going to make it to you in time..."

Scootaloo could see that this was distressing the kind mare as Fluttershy's mind acted out what would've happened should she have failed to catch Scootaloo. So, the orange mare gently put her hoof on Fluttershy's and said, "But you did get there in time, and for that I'm eternally grateful."

Fluttershy smiled warmly and whispered, "Thank you." The two sat in silence for a good ten minutes before a word was spoken. "So...if you don't mind my asking...what exactly happened up there?" The yellow pegasus asked, albeit hesitantly. Scootaloo looked down and was silent. "I-I'm sorry I asked. You don't-"

"No, you're fine. I'm just...playing it over in my head is all." Scoots explained. She took a breath and continued. "It was...Monday I believe...Dash told me that she had known about my feelings for her after she...kissed me." Scootaloo saw Fluttershy tense up and wanted to apologize, but instead kept going. "After she told me, I kinda flew off the handle and chastised her for it and of course she snapped back at me. Then, when she said that she cared about Applejack...I called her out on it."

Fluttershy gasped quietly, but said nothing, instead taking in all the information. Both mares were silent again as they went over their thoughts. However, the silence was broken by Scootaloo's stomach. The orange mare laughed awkwardly and asked, "So...can I maybe have some lunch?" Fluttershy laughed and nodded, helping her younger counterpart off the bed and down the stairs into the kitchen. Scootaloo fought the tingling sensations that quickly attacked her legs as she walked around.

"Where's Star?" Scoots asked, noticing the lack of a fox within the home.

"She's out with some of her friends. I told her to go out for a bit...she never left your side when I brought you here." The yellow pegasus said, grabbing various things with which to use.Scootaloo just nodded and continued walking around the kitchen, trying to rid herself of the tingling that plagued her. When she was satisfied, Scoots hopped up onto a chair and waited.

'Maybe I should say something? I need a way to break the ice...' Before Scootaloo could continue that particular train of thought, a bowl of vegetable soup was placed in front of her, steam rising from the bowl and into Scootaloo nose, making her mouth water.

"Is this okay?" Fluttershy asked as she placed a bowl down for herself.

"Yes. Thank you very much Fluttershy." Scootaloo blew on the soup a few times before taking a spoonful into her mouth. The warmth quickly spread through her body as she swallowed, making her shiver internally in delight. The pair ate in a silence, but for different reasons. Fluttershy's was a content silence, one that she was used to and Scootaloo's was from being deep in thought. When they had finished, the yellow mare took the bowls and placed them in the sink to be washed.

Scootaloo on the other hand headed for the door. "Thank you ever so much Fluttershy, I really appreciate everything you've done for me...but I need to be heading home. I have some...things I need to sort out." The orange pony opened the door, but found she couldn't cross the threshold of the home. So, she took a step back and tried again with the same result. "What the? Why can't I leave?" Scoots asked herself quietly.

"Because you're afraid." Scoots turned and saw Fluttershy standing beside her, looking off into the distance.

"Afraid?"

"Mhmm. Think about it. You nearly fell to your death and despite being unconscious for the actual event, you're still going through the shock of a near-death experience." Scootaloo said nothing, instead staring at the lazily floating clouds. "Those are Everfree clouds." Fluttershy said, noting the younger pegasus's interest in them.

"Huh? You mean like from the Everfree Forest? How?"

"I'm...not entirely sure how they form. But since I live so close to the Forest, I see them every so often if they make it this far. Watch." Scootaloo followed Fluttershy's hoof to a solitary cloud. The cloud darkened rather quickly, going from a pale white to a storm grey and began to quiver before simply popping with a crack of thunder. "Since Everfree clouds aren't pony-made, they are unstable outside of the Everfree Forest and as such, cannot survive very long outside the foreign environment of the Forest."

"Wow..." Scootaloo said, watching another cloud follow suite and pop with a crack of thunder. It wasn't very loud, but still audible to the two pegasi standing in the doorway. The pair stood there and watched the clouds before Fluttershy took a breath and said, "C'mon. I need to change your wraps and work on your wings."

"Huh? What do you mean?" Scootaloo turned to look at Fluttershy, but also saw the answer to her question. Her wings were completely wrapped in medical tape to keep them from moving. Fear swiftly rushed through Scootaloo's system at the thought of her wings being messed up permanently. However, reason found a spot in her thinking as she noticed there was no blood.

"Wait...there's no blood or anything. Why do you need to change them?" She asked Fluttershy. The older mare said nothing, instead pointing to a plush rug in the centre of her living room.

"I know, and I still need to check your wings. There were in pretty bad shape." Panic came back and flooded Scootaloo's mind as she laid down on the rug as instructed by Fluttershy.

"W-what exactly do you mean?" Scootaloo almost didn't ask the question, but figured that it'd be better for her to know so she didn't jump to conclusions or think up crazy theories.

"Well...due to the stress and exertion, you pulled, strained, and tore a few crucial muscles needed for flight. Plus, your feathers were in tatters and bent all out of shape. Finally, you had a few fractures on your wing bones. I wrapped them after Aloe and Lotus helped me with your muscles and after I treated the bones."

"Aloe and Lotus? You mean the spa sisters?" Scootaloo asked in confusion, trying not to cry out in pain as she felt every little one of Fluttershy's touches.

"Mhmm. Not many ponies know it, but they're actually Orthopedic Specialists, highly renowned from where they come from. Anyways, they taught me what I should do so I could care for you here and not move you around from place to place." The young mare nodded and bit her lip as Fluttershy continued her care. "I'm really sorry if this hurts." Pain kept exploding in Scootaloo's mind as time went on and every little grunt or groan she let out was quickly apologized for on Fluttershy's part.

Finally, when Fluttershy finished, she re-wrapped Scootaloo's wings while the young pony panted, wiping away the sweat beads on her brow. "Sorry..."

"It's alright...I think...I think I'm gonna just...go back to sleep if that's okay...." Scootaloo mumbled as her eyes closed and she went back to sleep. Fluttershy smiled and carefully loaded Scootaloo onto her back and replaced the young mare in her bed.

"Rest well Scootaloo." Fluttershy whispered before kissing the mare's forehead and quietly heading back downstairs.

Author's Note

Good news everypony! Are you ready? Here goes...*takes a deep breath*

MY COMPUTER IS FIXED! Thanks to my friend, an admin of the page (https://www.facebook.com/mlpfimcolgate), I can now work again! So much happiness right now! Be sure to give him some thanks since he fixed it!

Anyways, I should be able to start writing and updating semi-normally again. So to all of you, and I know I've said it a bunch, but thank you all SO MUCH for your patience.