It was another great summer day in Ponyville. Everypony was out and about running errands. The weather team called for a bit of a rainstorm later in the week, and everypony wanted to be ready for anything that had even the slimmest possible chance of happening. Me? I was enjoying the sun's rays down by the swimming hole with a couple of my friends.
"Hey, Scoots! What are ya waitin' for? Come on in! The water's great!" That was Apple Bloom with her distinctive Southern drawl. She has this knack for interrupting my thoughts.
"I'm coming, AB. Calm your horseshoes." I replied nonchalantly. I rose slowly from the sprawled-out position I had been lying in. I climbed up onto the rope swing, using my wings to push the swing back and forth. After judging that I had gained enough momentum, I waited until I had gone backwards again before giving a final shove with my wings and leaping off the swing.
I did a graceful somersault before angling towards the water. With my forehooves in front of me, I sliced into the water like a hot knife through butter. My eyes stung from the contact with the water, and the water went up my nose, making me want to cough. I swam up towards the surface of the water, using my wings like feathered fins to propel me along. When I finally broke the surface, I gulped in huge amounts of air. Sadly, Apple Bloom was nearby and couldn't refrain from commenting.
"Gee, Scoots! Ya gotta stop breathin' so hard. You're usin' up all the air!" I could have replied with a snarky comment, but I was too busy staying alive. I still managed to talk between deep breaths, though.
"AB... can't... breathe!" I couldn't seem to get enough air to my lungs. I saw darkness closing in on my vision. 'No! This isn't happening!' I thought to myself as the darkness closed in all the way. The last thing I saw was Apple Bloom's face go from joking to serious in an instant. The last thing I heard was Sweetie Belle's cry for help before I blacked out completely, falling into the warm darkness of unconsciousness.
• • •
When I woke up, I saw ponies with white coats leaning over me. I looked to my right and saw Apple Bloom sitting next to my bed. My vision was a little hazy, but at least I could see at all. When my vision was back to normal, I tried to sit up. All of the doctors, as well as Apple Bloom jumped up and looked at me intently.
"What? Do I have something on my face?" I asked. Or, tried to ask. My words came out as more of a jumble of nonsense. The ponies gathered in the small room all shared a look and sigh of relief.
"Miss Scootaloo. We have divined the reason for your sudden black out at the lake after extensive tests and lots of research." The doctor who was speaking paused briefly, collecting his thoughts. "As it turns out, you experienced a spontaneous growth in your wings and the sudden growth in your muscles drew a lot of the air from your lungs. So much, in fact, that it stopped any oxygenated blood from getting to your brain. Although your wings have grown remarkably, the wing to body mass ratio is not balanced. We have also discovered that your wings will no longer grow with the rest of your boy. Miss Scootaloo, I regret to inform you of this, but..." The doctor trailed off, collecting himself before relaying his bad news. "You will not be able to fly. Ever."
As the words sank in, I could feel my tears welling up. I made no effort to restrain them as all my dreams were crushed in one fell blow. Apple Bloom got up to comfort me, but I really didn't want comfort right now. I wanted to be able to fly. That's what makes a pegasus special. Pegasi are the only species of pony capable of flight. They cannot use magic at all, and they're not as strong as the Earth Ponies without practice. It was just too much for me to face. I couldn't face being grounded for the rest of my life. It made it worse that the doctor tried to stem the flow of tears with his words, although I could tell he was genuinely guilty about making a filly cry.
"Miss Scootaloo, it's not all bad. You can still use your wings to propel yourself, you are just incapable of flight." Then, under his breath, he mumbled, "As far as we know." Those five words gave me a little ray of hope. It still wasn't enough to stop my tears from falling on the hospital's bedsheets. I looked around at the other ponies in the room. Two of the five were pegasi. I couldn't control the anger, hatred, and jealousy toiling in my heart. I started to fall into the bitter dark of resentment towards all other pegasi that could fly. Apple Bloom's hoof on my back was the only thing that stopped me from leaping at the throats of the two pegasi doctors in the room.
"Now, Ah know that Ah have absolutely no clue how it feels to have somethin' this horrible happen to me. But Ah just want you to know that Ah'm always here for ya, Scoots." Apple Bloom spoke reassuringly, making me push aside my resentment towards my own kind and begin to embrace what I did have. Meaning Apple Bloom.
"Thanks, AB." I put more emotion into those two words than necessary and my voice cracked as I placed my head on Apple Bloom's shoulder, proceeding to cry myself back to sleep.
• • •
I woke up the next morning to find a surprise next to my bed. "Rainbow Dash? Why are you here?" I asked, completely caught off guard, first of all, by the fact that I was in my house instead of the hospital, and second of all, by the fact that Rainbow Dash waited for me to wake up so she could see me.
"Hey, Squirt. I heard about your problem. I wanted to stop by before weather duty to give my favorite follower something." As she finished her sentence, she reached behind her and picked something up off of a table. "Here. They were mine when I was your age. You might not need them, given your current state, but there's always that brief chance that it'll all work out. Besides, even if it doesn't all work out the way we want it to, you can just keep them as a keepsake to remember me by.
The object in question was an old pair of flight goggles with worn leather straps. Rainbow Dash's name was scratched onto the leather in the back. Rainbow got up to leave. "Sorry, Scoots. I'd stay with you if I could, but I got weather duty today. Just remember that if you need someone to talk to, I'm here for you." And with that, she was gone.
I got out of bed and took a quick shower, hoping the warm cascade of water would wash away all the drama in my life. It didn't work. I turned the shower off and stepped out, drying myself off before walking down my stairs. I had a quick breakfast of oats and honey before walking out the front door. 'Time to go paw miserably at the dirt.' I thought as I headed towards a hill just outside Ponyville.
-----SWITCHING POINT OF VIEW-----
I was flying around the sky, darting from cloud to cloud. Ever so often, I'd peer at the ground to see if Pipsqueak had seen me. We were playing hide and seek, and I definitely had the advantage. I could fly, he couldn't. I leaped to another cloud, glancing down to see if Pipsqueak had seen me, when something caught my eye. An orange pegasus with a magenta mane and tail sat on the top of a nearby hill, looking upset over something. I recognized her as Scootaloo almost immediately. Of course, me, being the kind pony I am, had to go see what I could do to help her feel better. But first, I needed to get rid of Pipsqueak. And I had just the way to do so.
I flew down and landed in front of Pipsqueak. As I drew breath to speak, he interrupted me. "Ha! Gotcha that time, Rumble!" He shouted joyfully.
"Yeah, you did. Sorry, Pip. I gotta get going. I saw Featherweight off in that direction, though. Maybe you could get him to play." I replied, gesturing with my hoof in the opposite direction of the pegasus I had spotted. It was just my luck that Featherweight was actually in that direction.
"Alright! Good idea, Rumble! See ya!" Pip called over his shoulder as he sprinted off towards Ponyville.
I took off and flew in the opposite direction, all the while trying to come up with an appropriate way to ask Scootaloo why she was sad. I didn't have much time, and I'm not a renowned thinker, so I decided to just be as blunt and honest as possible.
About half a minute later, I reached her. I could tell it was definitely her because when she looked up at me, I recognized her piercing purple eyes. I decided it would be better to start the conversation myself.
"Scootaloo?" I began, unsure whether to continue or not. She shifted her gaze back down to the ground.
"Yeah?" She replied with almost no emotion whatsoever. I took that as a sign to continue.
"I saw you over here looking all sad and wondered what was up." I finished. She was silent for a few minutes before responding slowly.
"I... I can't fly. I am permanently grounded, thanks to that stupid dive yesterday." She paused and looked up at me before continuing. "I don't know what to do. I'll never be able to soar through the sky like Rainbow Dash." Without thinking, I reached out and grabbed her hoof, pulling her up onto her hooves. "Uhh, Rumble? What're you doing?" She asked as I slowly lifted her off the ground.
"Helping." I replied. Then, without another word, I flew up into the sky. I could see a smile starting to form at the corners of her mouth as we picked up speed and dodged clouds while we zipped through the air. After what seemed like a twenty minute flight, I finally brought Scootaloo down to the ground. Before we landed, she caught my attention.
"Rumble?" She began, a little awkwardly. About halfway through our flight she had developed a large grin. Now, all traces of her smile were gone, and I could tell that whatever she wanted to say was dead serious. I nodded for her to continue. We were about a foot off the ground so I stopped my descent and gave her all of my attention. "Y-you know I... what I mean is..." She paused, collecting her thoughts and planning what she wanted to say. "Thank you." She said finally.
Before I had a chance to respond, she leaned forward and kissed me full on. After we broke the kiss I could only stare at her, surprised at her actions. She noticed my reaction and started tearing up. I would have comforted her if she hadn't dropped out of my forehooves and took off running towards her house. I shook myself out of my surprise and called out after her, knowing in my heart that it was a hopeless reparation.
"Scootaloo, wait!" I'm still not sure if she heard me.
I can't remember how long it took me to get home. All I remember is seeing the look on Rumble's face and running home without a second glance. I remember hearing him say something but couldn't make out what he had said. Then I remember being home, crying too hard to even acknowledge my parents. Then, finally, I remember running into my room and slamming the door, crying harder than I ever had before.
It must have been at least half an hour before I heard a gentle knock on my door. My tears had dried up long ago and left me with dry, heaving sobs. I managed to get out two words between sobs.
"Come in." I called quietly to whoever was at the door, hearing my voice crack as I started crying again. It was my mother. I'm glad it was her and not my dad, he would have just told me to pony up and deal with it. If he was here...
"Sweetie, is something wrong?" She asked. I thought about replying with sarcasm but decided not to. She was the only one who decided to attempt and comfort me after all. Through my tears, I could only manage a small nod. My mother sat down slowly on the edge of my bed before continuing. "Would you mind telling me about it?" I shook my head 'no' as I slowly composed and prepared to tell my melancholic tale. I took one last shuddering breath before beginning.
"The day started off as it usually does. I went to the top of one of the hills outside Ponyville and stared at the clouds. I wish I could fly, Mom!" My mother nodded her head and gestured for me to continue. "Well, after about an hour of staring at the clouds, Rumble flew over to me. He took me flying like any pegasi would do for a Grounded like me. I wish they'd find a cure for this already!" Once again, my mother nodded her head as I continued. "Then when we landed, I... I-I kissed him! He looked as if he had witnessed a murder! I was scared, Mom! I was scared of being embarrassed. Then, when I ran home, he called out something to me, but I... I ignored him. I was just so scared!" As I finished my story, my tears began flowing freely again. My mother's face bore a look of pure, honest sensitivity.
"Oh, Sweetie. I completely understand. You know, I went through something almost exactly like this when I was your age. I had a huge crush on this one colt in class, but when I confessed my feelings for him, he just flat out rejected me. I was heartbroken for a month. But then I met your father, and things began looking up. Now every time I look back on it, I realize that if the first colt hadn't rejected me, I would never have met your father and we never would have had you." My mom's prophetic words were as soothing as they were confusing.
I managed to get a hold of myself and stop crying. 'Bawling like a baby won't fix anything.' I thought to myself as I sat up on my haunches and gave my mother a big hug. "Thanks Mom."
-----SWITCHING POINT OF VIEW-----
I watched, still shocked as Scootaloo ran away from where we had landed after our flight. I couldn't help but wonder if it was something I said. I pushed the guilty thoughts out of my head as I flew off in the direction Scootaloo had run off in. It took me a couple minutes to fly into Ponyville. Of course, I was flying pretty slowly. 'It wouldn't be polite to just ignore a mare's (or filly's, in this case) problems. I believe I'm doing the right thing by going to apologize. I wonder how she'll react though?'
I landed in Ponyville Square and trotted off towards the part of town I decided to search first. 'I need to find Scootaloo!' I thought to myself as I started knocking on doors and asking the ponies that answered if they had seen a distraught orange pegasus filly with a magenta mane and tail and sparkling amethyst eyes. Sadly, none of them had. Within a couple hours, my search of that half of Ponyville was complete and there was no sign of Scootaloo. 'Had I imagined it all? Could this all just be a dream? No, it couldn't be. That kiss felt too real...' I thought to myself as I galloped to the other side of town. It was blind luck that the first doorstep I stumbled upon happened to be Scootaloo's.
I knocked on the door gently and waited for somepony to answer the door. I didn't have to wait long. A mare, who I could only assume was Scootaloo's mother, opened the door. We were both silent for a few seconds before I broke it.
"Good evening, ma'am. I'm looking for Scootaloo. Do you know where she is?" I asked politely. The mare gave me a look that said 'Oh, it's you.' By Celestia, if looks could kill! There were another few moments of silence as she thought about what I'd said.
"I don't see any harm in telling you. You seem like a nice enough colt. She's up in her room and very depressed about what you did to her fragile heart." She replied finally with little emotion in her voice. She saw the question forming on my lips and answered it before I could ask it. "I suppose you may come in and see her, if you must." She said with a small sigh. I nodded my thanks and stepped through the open doorway. "Her room is the first one on the left. Watch yourself in there. If you cause my daughter any more pain, I'll make sure you can't walk for a month." Again, if looks could kill.
I trotted down the hall in front of me and stopped in front of the room I was directed to. I wondered whether or not I should knock, before I remembered that knocking was the more polite thing to do and that I was trying to be as polite as possible. I knocked gently on the door three times. I opened the door at a muffled, 'Come in,' from the other side.
-----SWITCHING POINT OF VIEW-----
Rumble walked into the room slowly, obviously hesitant at first, but becoming bolder as he saw the state of disorder he had caused me to fall into. I immediately saw his features soften in kindness, his muscles relax as he trotted to my side at a leisurely pace. He didn't climb onto the bed with me, but he lied down on the floor next to my bed. I was silent as I waited for him to say something, to do anything but stare blankly at the floor. Finally, after what seemed like ages, he slowly looked up at me, his face set in a grim seriousness that warned me not to laugh at what he was about to say.
"Scootaloo, are you alright? I didn't mean to hurt your feelings. If it was something I did, I'm really sorry." He paused looking at the floor again in order to gather his thoughts. "When you kissed me, did you mean it or was it just a... a sudden impulse?" He looked at me expectantly. It took a few seconds for me to realize I'd been asked a question.
"Y-Yeah. I'm alright. As for the kiss, I'm not really sure what happened. I-I wasn't upset about something you said, though." I spoke quietly, Rumble had to lean farther upward to hear what my response was. When I was done talking, he heaved a huge sigh of relief.
"Oh, I thought it was something I did. Not that I wish it were! I'm just glad not to have that raincloud following me around anymore. Seriously, I don't know if Rainbow Dash herself could have handled that one!" Rumble spoke clearly, obviously trying to lighten the mood. Just after he finished speaking, a rainbow colored trail followed a pegasus with the same colored mane and tail as she barreled into Rumble, tackling him to the ground.
"What did you say about me?" Rainbow Dash growled in his face. Rumble clung easily to his lighthearted mood.
"Speak of the devil." He replied with a smile. I couldn't contain it anymore. I broke out laughing and both the other Pegasi in the room looked at me and smiled. Well, Rumble did. Rainbow Dash looked utterly confused. Her face was priceless! I laughed even harder, falling onto my side and rolling on the bed. I rolled so much that I fell off the bed. I could feel myself falling, my bed is raised higher off the ground than the others. It all started when I was young and my now-late older sister was telling me that a monster lived under my bed. So I asked my Mom and Dad to raise it for me, to prove that I wasn't scared of anything. Anyways, I was getting off topic. I could tell that when I hit the ground it was going to hurt. But then Rumble jumped up and flew as fast as he could to my bed to catch me just before I hit the ground.
All we could do for a while was stare at each other. Then Rainbow Dash cleared her throat noisily and Rumble let me down. We were both embarrassed. Then Rumble looks at me again, his deep amethyst eyes an almost perfect mirror image of my own.
"Are you okay, Scootaloo?" He asked uncertainly. I nodded slowly but without hesitation. We scuffed at the ground, not quite sure what to do next. Then Rainbow spoke up again.
"Okay, then. I gotta get going, so I'll let you two lovebirds be." As she spoke she lifted off and flew slowly towards the window. It took a moment for us to realize what she had said. Rumble jumped up and started after her.
"Wait, what did-"
"Later!" Rainbow cut him off and zipped away before Rumble could react.
"Come back here, Rainbow!" Rumble called after her as she disappeared around a corner. Rumble gave up and walked back over to me slowly. Now that we were both at the same height, I could see into his eyes, his deep soulful eyes. His eyes burned with a passion I've never seen in anyone, save my parents and... and... her. My older sister, older by four days, mind you. Tornado Bolt. She was a pegasus like myself, but she got thrown out of the tornado (Ironic, isn't it?) that the Ponyville pegasi used to funnel the water from the reservoir and up to Cloudsdale. Tornado Bolt was thrown into the Everfree Forest and we never heard from her again.
But enough tears had already been shed over my sister, and crying wasn't going to bring her back. So I promised myself that I would stay strong for everypony I cared for. Rumble noticed my forlorn expression. I completely forgot about him, I was still lost in thought. I didn't notice he had walked over to stand next to me until he gave me a gentle, yet strong and comforting hug. I chuckled a bit before turning to face him once more.
Once more, I was face to face with his eyes. Those wonderful, soulful pools of amethyst. His eyes held a look of genuine compassion and concern at the same time. I wish now that I could've mustered the necessary strength to tell him the story of my sister, but those eyes were so entrancing. I only managed to pull three words from my head, although they were heartfelt and sincere.
"Thank you, Rumble."
