A Filly's Wings

by LunarShadow

Rating: everyone
Tags: Spitfire, Slice of Life, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Cutie Mark Crusaders
Length: 6582

Scootaloo Learns Value in Wings

Scootaloo goes to the park with her fellow crusaders to see the Cake's new foals. When she meets them, she notices that Pound Cake can already fly. This reminds her of her own inability to fly. She leaves the park depressed. However, a visit from Spitfire gives her an idea.

Published 2012-01-23 03:00:53 UTC
Last updated 2012-01-23 03:00:53 UTC

Chapter 1

A Filly’s Wings

One would have thought that Scootaloo would have had to strain to pull the wagon with her scooter. By now, however, she was used to hauling around her two fellow crusaders. Instead, her attention was focused on making the ride as smooth as possible for the two fillies in the wagon. Scootaloo could hear the excitement in Apple Bloom’s voice as she chatted with Sweetie Belle.

“Ah can’t wait to see the Cake’s new foals. Ah heard that they had a unicorn and a pegasus. Ah wonder how that works.”

Scootaloo turned to face her companions. “A pegasus? Really? Cool! A town like Ponyville could always use more pegasus.”

“Pegasi,” corrected Sweetie Belle. “And wat—” Sweetie Belle grabbed Apple Bloom, a look of sheer terror on her face. Apple Bloom likewise grabbed Sweetie Belle. They cried out in surprise and alarm.

The scooter swerved as Scootaloo sharply turned the handlebars, barely missing a lamp post. Scootaloo rolled her eyes. “Relax guys, I got this under control. As long as I’m steering, you’ll never crash... too hard. Now, where did you say the Cakes were bringing their foals?”

“The park.” Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom responded simultaneously.

“Oh!” Scootaloo took a sudden right as to not miss the path into the park. She slowed the scooter down while she scanned the surrounding area for any sign of the Cakes. Finally, she spotted them under a tree just off the path.

As Scootaloo stopped the scooter, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle hopped out of the wagon and galloped towards the Cakes, eager to see the new foals. They quickly reached the tree and immediately began looking around for the babies. Scootaloo joined them a few seconds later.

“Um... well, hello there Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo. Eager to see the new foals like everypony else?” Mrs. Cake smiled brightly at the eager fillies. She called over her shoulder, “Oh Carrot Cake, we have some ponies here that want to see the twins.”

The group saw two foals charging down a nearby hill towards Mrs. Cake. They were followed by Mr. Cake, who was panting heavily. The foals reached Mrs. Cake and jumped onto her back where they immediately started playing with her mane. Mr. Cake arrived seconds later.

Sweetie Belle giggled into her hooves. “D’aww. They’re so cute. What are their names?”

Mr. Cake, who had caught his breath, pointed at the pegasus. “This is Pound Cake.” Pointing to the unicorn, he said, “And this is Pumpkin Cake.”

Scootaloo reached her hoof out towards Pound Cake, but quickly pulled it away as he tried to smack her. “Heh, feisty, ain’t he?” She backed up a bit and examined him. She leapt back in surprise as he suddenly flapped his wings hard and began to hover.

Apple Bloom laughed at Scootaloo’s surprise. “And active too apparently! Ah didn’t know pegasus—”

Sweetie Belle cut Apple Bloom off. “Pegasi! The plural of pegasus is pegasi!”

Apple Bloom glared at Sweetie Belle before continuing. “All right, Ah didn’t know pegasi could fly at such a young age.”

Scootaloo had remained silent, staring in disbelief at the hovering pegasus. Finally, she sputtered, “Wha... ho... how? Pegasus don’t usually learn to fly until they’re much older.” She stared at her own wings. “But younger than me...” she trailed off. She sighed and kicked at the ground.

Mrs. Cake patted Scootaloo on the back. “Don’t worry dear, I’m sure you’ll get to flying someday. I’ve seen you riding that scooter of yours around town, and you do it very well.”

The other two crusaders chimed in. “Ya, we don’t know what we’d do without you and your amazing scooter skills!”.

“Ya, I guess you’re right. Anyways, we came here to see the foals. What should we do?”

The two foals suddenly took off galloping at full speed towards the hill. Mr. Cake groaned and turned over onto his back. “I’m beat, how about you three go chase them? It seems to be their favorite activity.” He smiled in relief as the crusader’s looked at each other and then ran off after the foals.

The crusaders easily caught up with Pumpkin Cake. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle grabbed her and fell into a heap, giggling. Scootaloo ran past them, a smile appearing at the corner of her mouth, determined to catch Pound Cake just as quickly.

Galloping as fast as she could, Scootaloo caught up to Pound Cake. She jumped up and tried to grab him. However, he flew just out of reach. “Come on Pound Cake! Come down, I wanna play with you, not chase you!” She jumped into the air, straining her wings in an attempt reach the giggling foal. Pound Cake was in hoof’s reach, but just when she reached out to grab him, gravity caught up and slammed her into the ground face first. Rubbing her throbbing nose, she looked back up at Pound Cake and groaned. “Come on, that’s not fair!”

Pound Cake stopped flying, a look of amusement twinkling in his eyes. He pointed at Scootaloo and giggled before shooting off back towards where his sister and the other crusaders were rolling in the grass. Scootaloo looked at her wings, her eyes furrowed in determination. She took a running start and jumped into the air. She managed to hover for several seconds but her wings gave out, proving once again that gravity was a harsh mistress. Face stuck in the dirt, she didn’t even bother to pull herself free.

Why can’t I fly? Why can he fly so easily but I can’t? It’s not fair! When I do it, all I get is a mouthful of dirt. Lifting herself back up, she spat out the dirt and growled in frustration. She trotted to the top of the hill the chase had led her to. Sitting down, she watched her friends play with the foals with a mixture of jealously and sadness.

Looking at her wings, the jealously faded, replaced by depression. Now that Scootaloo looked at them, her wings did seem kind of thin and boney. Looking back at the group, she sighed and got up. She walked over to the group and looked away while scratching the back of her neck.

“Hey guys? I’ll see you guys later. I... umm... have to go check on something. You guys have fun playing with the twins.” Righting her scooter, Scootaloo buzzed off before either of her friends could object. She angled towards Sweet Apple Acres and the Cutie Mark Crusader’s clubhouse. It was almost like a second home to her and she knew that it was the perfect place for when she wanted to be alone so she could think.

What does it mean to be a pegasus?

Scootaloo felt tears forming in her eyes, and she wiped them away. Why am I crying? Is Pound Cake flying really getting to me that much? She found herself so focused on her thoughts that she failed to notice the normally tantalizing aroma of Sugarcube Corner. She also passed by the fountain without pausing to admire herself, like she usually did. She even abstained from jumping the dirt pile left over from some construction project. Even though the pile was awesome for doing tricks off of and she thought about doing something to wow the ponies around, her heart just wasn’t in it.

Finally, she reached the gate to Sweet Apple Acres, and she paused for a second to admire the fields of ripe, red apples before continuing on towards the clubhouse. Instead of taking an apple like she normally did, she passed through the orchard, no longer interested in them. As she buzzed past the trees, the clubhouse appeared in the distance.

After reaching the clubhouse, Scootaloo jumped off her scooter and slowly walked inside. She walked to the window and rested her head on the windowsill. She sadly looked to the sky as if the clouds would answer all her questions. Why can’t I do that? I’m old enough and the best I can do is buzz around on a scooter. At this rate, Rainbow Dash will ignore me in favor of the ‘more skilled fliers.’ Are wings really all that great if I can’t even use them? Why? The questions ran circles around her mind, and no answers came to her.

Sighing, she got up and went to her corner and rummaged around under a pile of discarded papers and ideas. Finding what she was looking for, she dragged an old, tattered, teal blanket from underneath the pile. She felt that maybe a nap would help clear her mind and put her into a better mood.

Taking the blanket to a small cot she had managed to convince the others to put in; Scootaloo tossed up the blanket and dove under as it fluttered down to cover her. She closed her eyes, and tried to clear her mind. However, a single image kept appearing. Pound Cake was hovering in the air, pointing his hoof at her and laughing, mocking her. The taunting was relentless.

Scootaloo waved her hoof in the air angrily. Why can’t you just leave me alone? Why can’t you just stay away?

The thought trailed off and everything became hazy as the burst of anger faded. “May... maybe I wasn’t supposed to be... born... wi... with...” Scootaloo mumbled as she drifted off to sleep. A single tear slid down her cheek.

“Hey.”

Scootaloo felt somepony jabbing her in the ribs with their hoof. “Just a few more minutes...” she mumbled into the pillow. “I promise... I’ll get up in a bit.”

“Hey!”

The prodding became shaking and Scootaloo tried to sink deeper into the cot. “Go away! I’m tired... just leave me alone to my—” She interrupted herself before she told the other pony about her depression. The other pony didn’t need to know that.

“Hey Squirt! Come on now, don’t be like this.”

At the nickname, Scootaloo’s eyes shot open and she rolled over. She found herself staring directly into the eyes of Rainbow Dash. Leaping back, she cried out in surprise. “Gah! Rainbow Dash? What are you doing here?” She took deep breaths to try and calm her rapidly beating heart.

Amused by Scootaloo’s reaction, Rainbow Dash backed up and laughed. “Heh, I haven’t seen somepony act that surprised since Nightmare Night!” Rainbow Dash fell to ground rolled around, laughing even harder now.

Though tears of mirth could still be seen in her eyes, she finally calmed down. She pulled Scootaloo out of bed, set her on the ground, and said, “As for why I’m here, I was showing Spitfire around Ponyville and thought she would like a tour of Sweet Apple Acres.”

From just outside the door, a quizzical voice drifted in. “Hey, uh... Rainbow... can I come in now?”

“Ya, come on in Spitfire. I just wanted to make sure the clubhouse was clear.” Rainbow Dash winked at Scootaloo, who watched the door in sudden anticipation.

Could it really be? Would Rainbow Dash actually show off the clubhouse to a Wonderbolt? Sure enough, through the door stepped the one and only Spitfire. Scootaloo gasped in amazement. The yellow mare with the flame orange mane looked so different when she wasn’t wearing her Wonderbolts costume. Scootaloo tried to speak, but no words came out. All she could do was stand there, mouth opened wide.

Spitfire leaned closer to her “Well, hello there. I’m Spitfire, and you are?”

“Scootaloo.” She snapped out of her astonishment long enough to blurt out, “But why would a famous Wonderbolt like you come here?”

“Rainbow Dash and I became good friends after the Young Best Fliers Competition. She invited me up to show me around Ponyville. I didn’t have anything going on today...” Spitfire shrugged. “She remembered this awesome clubhouse. She told me that you helped restore it, too. After looking around, I think you did a really good job.”

“Thank yo...” Scootaloo paused for a second. “I mean, ya, It wasn’t really just me though. My friends, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle, did a lot of the work too.”

“Mind if I take a look around?”

Scootaloo nodded.

Walking around the small room, Spitfire examined the posters on the wall. She paused in front of the drawing of Rainbow Dash that Scootaloo had done awhile back. She picked up and examined some of the discarded crusading plans. Her eyebrows raised as she came across the hang gliding sketch.

Please don’t ask about that. Please, I don’t want her to know I can’t fly. Scootaloo laughed, trying to make light of the plans. “That was for my friends.”

Rainbow Dash trotted over to the pile of papers and grabbed them. She went back to the door and sat down, examining the plans. A small grin appeared on her face and she softly giggled.

“Heh. Wow, there are some crazy cool ideas in here. Though, I gotta ask, Why are so many of them about flying? Hang gliding, hot air balloon, sky—”

Scootaloo cut in. “So Spitfire, what do you think?”

Rainbow Dash opened her mouth to finish the question, but closed it with a huff. Her smile turned into a small frown, the look in her eyes betrayed her annoyance.

Spitfire set the plans down and smiled at Scootaloo. “I think you guys are doing a good job trying to find your cutie marks.” She trotted back over to Rainbow Dash’s side, and whispered a few things into Dash’s ear. Dash nodded and walked out the door.

Scootaloo grimanced. I hope I didn’t offend her too bad by cutting her off. Hopefully Spitfire told her something to make it all better. She dashed to the window to watch her idol fly back towards Ponyville.

Spitfire nodded in satisfaction and trotted over to Scootaloo’s side. “So, you seem depressed. Why?”

Scootaloo stared at Spitfire. “How did yo... I mean, what makes you think I’m depressed?”

Spitfire bent down and wiped a tear from Scootaloo’s cheek. “You sounded sad when you tried to shoo Rainbow Dash away. And the tear stains on your cheeks give it away. Which tells me something is wrong.” Spitfire turned to face the wall, a sort of sad look on her face. “You know, Rainbow Dash has been doing more than just showing me around Ponyville. She’s been telling me about some of the other ponies.””

“I... I don’t want to talk about it.” Scootaloo plodded to the cot and hopped on.

Spitfire sighed and followed Scootaloo to the edge of the cot. “Look, I know that some things are harder to talk about than others, but you can’t just keep it to yourself. I’ve learned that it can eat at you until you just break down.” Her hoof came to a rest on Scootaloo’s shoulder. ”Come on, you can tell me anything. Talking about it might help you feel better.”

Scootaloo turned away. “No, it’s... embarrassing. You’d think I was a failure or something.”

Spitfire laughed lightly. “Heh, no pony is ever a failure. Even if you told me you couldn’t fly, I wouldn’t think that.”

Scootaloo tensed up and held her breath. “What’d you say?”

Pulling back her hoof, Spitfire looked at Scootaloo in surprise. However, she recovered her composure quickly. “I said even if you couldn’t...” She trailed off for a second. “That’s it, isn’t it?”

Nodding slowly, Scootaloo sighed in defeat. “Ya, that’s it. Someone I know recently had foal twins. One of their foals is a pegasus who can already fly. I mean, look at me. I’m in school and can’t even fly. How sad is that? What’s the point of having wings if I can’t use them, right?”

Spitfire stared at Scootaloo in shock, her mouth hanging open. “What’s the point? What sort of talk is that? If I had more time, I could spend all day talking about flying.” She raised her hoof to her chin in a thoughtful gesture. “Though, that might just be for me, I guess. However, since I don’t have the time, I’ll give you the short version of the lesson before I leave.”

“Wings aren’t just for stunt flying. Some of the best fliers I know didn’t start flying until right around your age anyways. Take Soarin’ for example. When he was a colt, they put him in a school for ‘special’ fliers because he couldn’t even hover. But even then, his wings meant the world to him. Now look how he turned out. Second only to me in the Wonderbolts!”

She paused before continuing. “I guess whether wings mean something or not is really up to the individual pegasus. After all, wings are only as useful as you make them to be.” She took a few steps towards the door. “Anyways, I have to go; Dash is waiting for me.” Before she left, she took one last look at Scootaloo. “One last thing before I go. I guess what I was trying to say was that the importance of wings is something you’ll have to discover for yourself.”

Scootaloo watched Spitfire fade into the distance.She went back into the clubhouse and flopped down on the cot, covering herself with the tattered blanket. She turned to the wall and shut her eyes tightly, trying to sleep. However, the conversation she had just had kept bouncing around in her head. Two phrases in particular stuck out. ‘Wings are only as useful as you make them to be’ and the ‘importance of wings is something you’ll have to discover for yourself.’

“But, I’ve been trying to make my wings useful.” She tossed and turned, unable to get comfortable. “I’ve been trying to discover what’s so important about wings,” she mumbled. The blanket seemed unbearably hot all of a sudden and she jumped out of the cot, frowning in frustration. “What if I was supposed to be a unicorn or an earth pony?” She stomped around the clubhouse, trying to think of something, anything to ease her mind. She stopped in front of the map of Ponyville and stared. Her eyes were drawn to the many circles and X’s that dotted the paper. One stood out, the library was circled extra boldly.

Suddenly, a stroke of brilliance struck her. “I know! I’ll ask Twilight Sparkle. She’s gotta be the smartest pony in all of Ponyville. Maybe she can even help me discover what I’m supposed to be!”

With that, Scootaloo jumped out of the cot and ran outside. She hopped on her scooter and flapped her wings as hard as she could. She wanted to make it to the Ponyville library as fast as possible, even though it was only early in the afternoon. A small smile played on her lips, a determined look in her eyes. I’ll find out the truth yet!

“You want to know if ponies could be born the wrong race? You mean, a pegasus pony that should have been born a unicorn?” Twilight looked at Scootaloo in confusion. “Why would you want to know something like that?”

Impatiently, Scootaloo flipped through a random book, hoping to find a clue anywhere. “Ya, exactly. I want to know if it’s even possible. If it is, I think I might have been born the wrong type of pony.”

Twilight started to speak, but Scootaloo cut her off. “Look, I even have my argument all planned out! You see, the Cakes’ new foal, Pound Cake, is already flying. He’s only a few months old, right? Even Rainbow Dash didn’t start flying that early. She told me once that she started flying at four years old. Other pegasi learn to fly when they’re about five. I’m sitting here at eight years old and I can’t even hover yet. You see? I was probably meant to be a unicorn or an earth pony.”

Twilight sighed and levitated several books down. She opened them and quickly skimmed the first page of each book. She frowned as she finished and sent them flying back to their original spots. “I’m sorry Scootaloo, but I don’t think that’s happened before. Those books were all I have on foal birth. There was nothing in the table of contents in any of them about being born the wrong type of pony.”

Groaning in disappointment, Scootaloo flopped to the ground. “But I still think I was meant to be something other than a pegasus. Couldn’t you ju—”

“No.”

“Please? I really don’t need these wings.”

“While there are spells meant to change a unicorn or a pegasus into an earth pony, I’m not going to take away what you were born with.” Twilight trotted behind the front desk, a look of disapproval in her eyes. She turned to stare at Scootaloo as if to say, This argument is over.

Scootaloo trotted to the desk and put on the cutest look she could muster. “Could I just be a unicorn for one day? Please? Just one?” When Twilight raised her eyebrow skeptically, she said, “I’d even take being an earth pony for a day.”

Twilight shook her head and let out an exasperated sigh. “You aren’t going to give up, are you? Just how important is this to you?” One look into Scootaloo’s eyes told Twilight that it was indeed, very important. Hanging her head in defeat, she walked over to a bookshelf full of spell-books. “Fine, maybe you’ll learn something from such an experience as this. I can’t give you the magic of a unicorn, but I may have a spell book around here somewhere with a spell to turn you into an earth pony temporarily.”

While Twilight searched the bookshelf, Scootaloo bounced around in silent excitement. She attempted to keep her wings folded down in preparation for being an earth pony. Despite her best effort, her wings still flared out.

Twilight found the book she was looking for and set it down on the desk. She flipped through a few pages before she found the right spell. While she read it, she beckoned Scootaloo over. “Okay, this spell shouldn’t be too hard. It’ll give you one full day of being an earth pony. After that, your wings will return. Now, I’m only doing this for you because I think you’ll learn a valuable lesson. I won’t be doing this for you again, understood?”

Scootaloo nodded impatiently. “I understand, just please hurry!”

Before she began, Twilight checked the spell book one last time. Turning to Scootaloo, she closed her eyes in intense concentration. The magic off her horn began to grow blinding and sparks flew from the tip. Tendrils of magic snaked out and spun around Scootaloo, lifting her into the air.

Scootaloo watched as the magic completely engulfed her and she lost view of the library. Looking down, she found that her hooves were no longer touching the ground. Looking to her back, she watched in amazement as her wings appeared to dissolve into nothingness, though she felt nothing, not even a small tingle of pain.

Finally, her wings completely disappeared, and she felt herself being lowered to the ground. The cocoon of magic faded from around her. Once again, she found herself staring at the library. Only this time, Twilight had flopped onto the ground, panting in exhaustion. The book on the table had been knocked off the desk and lay on the ground in a heap.

Slowly, Twilight stood up. “There, you’re an earth pony now. Remember, you only get one day. Please, try to learn something. This would make an excellent letter to the Princess.”

Scootaloo barely paid attention. All of her focus was on her wingless back. “This is so cool! I can’t wait to show Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle!” She dashed for the door, remembering to thank Twilight just before she left. “Thank you so much Twilight, you’re the best!”

Hopping on her scooter, Scootaloo instinctively tried to flap her wings. Oh ya. Duh, no wings. She put her hoof down and pushed. She could feel the strain in her leg muscles. The scooter started rolling way too slowly in her opinion.

This is going to be a long trip... isn’t it?

Scootaloo pushed the scooter up the path to the park. It had only taken her ten minutes, but it had felt longer to her. Sweat dripped from her forehead and she immediately jumped off her scooter to go find a fountain to dunk her head in. Spotting one, she dashed towards it and dove in. The cool water felt good on her aching muscles and she sighed in contentment. After that, she felt ready for another long ride, but first she had to look around for her friends. They weren’t hard to find.

She found that her fellow crusaders hadn’t left yet and were still playing on the hill, though the Cakes had long since returned home. Setting down her scooter, she galloped towards her friends. She could hardly contain her excitememt as she started to bounce. Her eyes lit up as her friends noticed her, who smiled and waved. She skidded to a halt, showering dirt all over the them.

“Hey girls! Check this out.” As Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle cried out in surprise and shielded their faces from the dirt. Scootaloo turned her back to them and reared up. “Sorry about the dirt, but look! I’m an earth pony!”

“Wha...? How in tarnation did you manage that?” Apple Bloom stammered as she shook off dirt. Sweetie Belle just stared in shock.

Prancing around her friends in excitement, Scootaloo explained, “When I left the park, I went to go take a nap. Then, Rainbow Dash woke me up and introduced me to Spitfire! Can you believe it? Spitfire! Anways, me and her talked for a bit and it got me thinking. What if I wasn’t meant to be a pegasus pony? So I went to the library and convinced Twilight to make me into an earth pony.”

“Forever?” Sweetie Belle gasped.

“Naw... just for the day. She said something about learning a lesson.” Scootaloo stopped bouncing around her friends and leaned low to the ground in anticipation. “Anyways, what’s on the schedule for finding our cutie marks?”

Apple Bloom looked thoughtfully to the sky. “Well... um... Oh! Ah know! Big Mac said something about pruning some of the apple trees. We could try that.”

Sweetie Belle looked at Apple Bloom skeptically. “Are you sure that’s safe?”

“Of course it is. We’d only go up into the trees to mark the branches that needed to be cut. Applejack wouldn’t let us near the sharp tools anyways.”

Scootaloo looked at her companions eagerly. “Well, what are we waiting for? Let’s go!”

All three shouted simultaneously, “Cutie Mark Crusaders, apple tree pruners!”

They dashed towards where Scootaloo had left her scooter. However, Scootaloo remembered that she had left the wagon back at the club house. They looked at each other and shrugged.

“Sorry girls, I guess it just slipped my mind.”

“And anyways, you don’t have your wings to pull us anymore.” Sweetie Belle pointed out.

“I guess there’s that too, but we can walk, right?” The slightest tinge of a frown creased Scootaloo’s face and the disappointment could be heard in her voice. She felt that pushing the scooter around was way to slow. The thought of walking or running didn’t appeal to her. “We’d best get walking. It’s gonna take a long time to get there.”

Both Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle gave Scootaloo a weird look before starting off towards the farm. “Don’t worry Scootaloo, it’s not that long of a walk.” Sweetie Belle called over her shoulder.

Scootaloo glanced towards the sun and groaned as they finally arrived at Sweet Apple Acres. “How long did it take us to get here without the scooter? An hour? Two?”

“Ah don’t think so, Scoots. The sun has barely moved.” Apple Bloom shaded her eyes and looked into the sky before turning back to her companions. “The markers we need to mark branches should be in the barn. We left them there yesterday after marking some trees.” Apple Bloom led the way across the yard and into the barn.

When they came out, each had a marker in their mouth and a determined look in their eyes. They followed Apple Bloom to a group of trees, where she spit out her marker and began examining the surrounding area. She frowned and shook her head as she walked from tree to tree. Her friends stood by and watched curiously.

“Uh... Apple Bloom? What are you doing? And where is Applejack or Big Mac? Shouldn’t they be helping us?” Scootaloo asked.

“Ah’m looking for marks. We mark each tree that needs to be pruned. Then we come back later and mark which branches need to be cut. As for AJ and Big Mac, they’re probably in another part of the orchard doing the same thing we are.” Suddenly, Apple Bloom cried out in excitement. “Here’s one we can mark!”

Looking up into the branches, it occurred to them that they would need a ladder to reach the branches. Apple Bloom stomped her hoof in frustration at the delay. “Come on! Hurry, we’re gonna need a ladder!” She galloped back towards the barn.

Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle sighed and followed after Apple Bloom. They retrieved the only ladder they could find in the barn. Coming back, they set it up under the tree, but found that it was too small for Apple Bloom to reach. They flopped onto the ground and groaned in defeat.

As Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle pondered what to do next, Scootaloo decided to give it a try herself, determined not to let the height get the better of her. “Come hold the ladder for me; I think I know how I can reach the branches that need marking.”

Apple Bloom and Sweet Belle exchanged looks of doubt, but held the ladder. Scootaloo ascended to the very top and reached as far as her hooves would stretch. She stood there for a second, trying to give her wings a small flap for a boost up before remembering, Oh, ya. I don’t have my wings until tomorrow.

She looked down at her friends and shrugged. “Sorry, I guess I forgot that I didn’t have any wings.” She descended the ladder and sighed.

“So I guess this means we can’t get pruning cutie marks now?” Sweetie Belle asked.

Apple Bloom frowned at Sweetie Belle. “Waddya mean we can’t get our tree pruning cutie marks? There are other trees in the orchard. Just gimme a minute to find another one with lower branches.” She grabbed the markers and galloped off towards another part of the orchard, a determined look on her face.

Scootaloo shrugged at Sweetie Belle, grabbed the ladder, then hurried to catch up to Apple Bloom. They caught up to her just as she grinned triumphantly and swiped the marker across one of the apple trees.

“There! This one needs prunin’ and the branches are low enough for us to reach with the ladder!” Grabbing the ladder, she set it up and scrambled into the tree. “Come on up! There are lots of branches to mark. We’re sure to get our cutie marks!”

Sweetie Belle glanced nervously at the ground. “I don’t know, I’m not really good at climbing trees. I’ll just... uh... levitate stuff up to you.”

Scootaloo rolled her eyes. “Whatever suits you.” She climbed up the ladder and stationed herself one branch higher than Apple Bloom. “Hey, float up some markers, will ya?” She shouted down to Sweetie Belle.

A pair of markers floated up and Apple Bloom snatched one out of the air. Scootaloo reached out and wobbled on the branch. She tried to stabilize herself by flapping her wings, but once again, remembered her wish. With a cry of surprise, she fell out of the tree. She hit the ground with a grunt of pain.

Standing up, Scootaloo grimaced and rubbed her side. She was already beginning to bruise. “I’m all right guys.” She tried to put on a brave smile. “I just forgot about being an earth pony and couldn’t keep myself steady.”

“Scootaloo, you seem to be forgetting about your wings a lot. Are you sure getting Twilight to turn you into an earth pony was a good idea?” Sweetie Belle gave her friend a concerned look.

Putting on her most convincing smile, Scootaloo said, “What? No... I’m sure of my choice. It’s would just... just... just take a while to get used to.”

Apple Bloom called down from the tree. “Why’d you make that choice anyways?”

“Um... You see, normal pegasus can usually fly way before my age. Look at Pound Ca—”

Sweetie Belle cut off Scootaloo, glaring fiercely at her. “You mean this is all because Pound Cake can fly already? He barely knows what he’s doing, just like Pumpkin Cake can do amazing magic, but doesn’t really know what she’s doing. They’re just foals! They do things that they see others do with unexpected results.”

Scootaloo looked at Sweetie Belle, the confusion clear in her eyes. “You mean this is just a phase the foals are going through? Pound Cake won’t be able to fly when he grows older?”

“No, I don’t think so. I think he’ll have to actually learn, just like every other pegasus. I think you just let this get way out of hoof. Anyways, you do use your wings for a lot more than Pound Cake does.” Sweetie Belle took a deep breath in preparation to launch into a list. Before she could start, Scootaloo cut in.

“Like what? I barely did anything.”

Sweetie Belle let out the breath and looked at annoyance at Scootaloo. Apple Bloom picked up the lecture.

“For starters, you do so much with that scooter of yours. I missed you jumpin’ that dirt pile by the fountain when we were comin’ here. Also, that last tree we were at, you could of gotten up if you had your wings. Lastly, just now you fell out of the tree ‘cause you rely on your wings for balance.”

“Ya, but—”

Sweetie Belle glared at Scootaloo. “No! This has just been you feeling bad for yourself. You rely on your wings more than you realize.”

“I guess.”

“No, no guesses. Come on, you’re lost without those wings. We’re going to Twilight Sparkle and we’ll get her to give them back.” Sweetie Belle grabbed Scootaloo’s tail and started dragging her away.

“Hey now, that isn’t necessary!” Apple Bloom quickly grabbed Scootaloo’s tail from Sweetie Belle and dropped it. “Scootaloo can walk just fine, but Ah do agree with Sweetie Belle. We’re going to go see Twilight Sparkle right now.”

Sweetie Belle grunted, turned and began walking towards town. Both Apple Bloom and Scootaloo stared after her, surprise etched in their face. They had not expected Sweetie Belle to blow up over Scootaloo’s idea like that. The shock quickly wore off and they galloped to catch up.

“You want me to give back your wings now? Why certainly. I can do that.” Twilight grinned smugly as she levitated down the spell book she had gotten the original spell from and flipped it open. She read a few lines before turning back to Scootaloo and the Cutie Mark Crusaders, adopting a more serious tone of voice. “However, before I give your wings back, you have to tell me what you learned.”

Scootaloo thought for a minute. “Um...”

Twilight stopped her. “One second, this will make an excellent lesson to write down and archive. Let me get a piece of paper and a quill.” She rummaged around for a second under the desk before emerging with the quill and some paper. “All right, go.”

Scootaloo had by now thought of what she wanted to say. “I know it’s only been about two hours, but I learned a lot. When I left the library, the first thing I tried to do was buzz around on my scooter like usual. I had already forgotten I didn’t have wings. I thought it was hard work to push myself all the way to the park. From that, I learned wings aren’t just for flying. I relied on them to make travel so much easier.”

“Once I got to the park, I learned that my friends rely on my wings just as much as I do. Without them, we spend so much time just walking. We would miss out on so much crusading! It felt like forever to get to Sweet Apple Acres.”

“At Sweet Apple Acres, we tried to earn tree pruning cutie marks. But the first tree’s branches were just out of reach. If I had had my wings, I could have reached the branch. Then when we finally did get into a tree to mark the branches, I fell out because I was all wobbly.”

Scootaloo turned to her friends and beamed. “And you guys really helped too! Without you, I would still think that wings were useless.” She turned back to Twilight. “Oh, and before I came to you, I got to talk to Spitfire. She said that wings are only as useful as I make them. I took that the wrong way.” Scootaloo looked away and shuffled her hooves. “I should have thought before I acted.”

Twilight smiled widely at Scootaloo. “Well, it certainly does sound like you learned a lot. I think that you learned enough for me to give you back your wings.” She reread the note and then levitated it to Scootaloo. “All right, everything seems to be in order. Now, about those wings...” She trailed off as she turned back to the book to refresh herself again on how to reverse the spell.

Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle backed away as Twilight turned to Scootaloo and closed her eyes in intense concentration. Tendrils of magic snaked from Twilight’s horn as the spell worked its course.

Quickly, the tendrils of magic swirled around Scootaloo, encasing her into a cocoon of magic. The magic flowed around her, but she closed her eyes and just let the feelings it caused to wash over her. Suddenly, she felt herself falling. She hit the ground with a thud as she opened her eyes and found herself standing back in the library.

Checking her back, Scootaloo cheered as she found her own wings there. Her eyes lit up and she broke into a grin “Alright!” She flexed the wings and gave them a few experimental flaps. It all felt natural to her. She ran outside, only barely remembering to give her thanks to an exhausted Twilight. Hopping on her scooter, she buzzed around, cheering. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle joined her with their own cheers. They rushed over and immediately began poking at her wings, giggling in giddy excitement.

“It’s great to see you with your wings again! Does this mean we can go give pruning another try?” Apple Bloom exclaimed.

“Oh ya! Let’s do it!” Scootaloo said as she skidded to a halt right next to her two friends.

They smacked hooves and shouted, “Cutie Mark Crusaders, tree pruners!”

Scootaloo smiled confidently at her friends as she took off again. As she led them back towards the farm, she looked up into the sky. She swore that for a second, she could see a yellow mare with a flame-orange mane watching her from behind the single cloud in the sky.