Challenge: Scootaloo’s First Flight

It was amazing. Beyond anything I’d ever dreamed. I’d spent months, no, years dreaming about it, building it up in my head. I was worried I’d end up turning it into something more than it could ever be in reality. Flight couldn’t be that amazing. It had to be tiring; beating your wings constantly, worrying about thermals and air currents, seeing how far you’d fall and how easy it would be to die if you messed up. It had to be a chore at best. A necessity some ponies didn’t even like.

I was wrong.

The wind pushed and enveloped at all of my feathers as a warm glove. The twisting forces driving me higher or lower with the twitch of a muscle in a dance that I knew would leave me breathless and laughing in minutes. The air across my mane pulled it with greater force than I ever got on my scooter, whipping my back in in a flurry. The sky was my canvas now. Blues and whites, swirling by me through my flight, wings pumping with abandon, I could paint whatever shapes I could think of. I realized I really was laughing.

A blur of blue, followed by a rainbow of color streaked next to me. I turned effortlessly, barreling towards Rainbow Dash. Without slowing I slammed into her chest and we went spinning through the sky, a whirling ball of hooves and mane, before she grabbed me and we righted, just as I knew she would. She was laughing too.

“You flew, Scoots! You did it! I’m so proud of you.” I could hear the conviction in her voice, the excitement that had spurred me on. Months of training, months of practice…I wanted to quit. It was too hard. I was supposed to have started when I was barely a foal. I thought it was too late and I’d never catch up. It was that same voice that kept me going; the voice that refused to accept that I’d give in. So I refused to give in. Here she was, the pony that believed in me when I didn’t. I had made her proud.

I knew my voice would betray the swelling emotion in my heart, but I didn’t care. “Rainbow Dash,” I squeaked out, “Thank you so much. Ever since my parents…I didn’t think I’d ever fly. If it weren’t for you…Oh, thank you thank you thank you!”

“Heh,” when she chuckled, her voice cracked. It stunned me. I’d choked her up as much as she had choked me up. Rainbow Dash didn’t get choked up! “You did this squirt, not me. You only have to thank yourself.”

My heart hurt, thundering in my chest like a crazy animal, from the exertion, from the success, from Rainbow Dash’s presence and words. Before I could think, it left my lips. “I love you, Rainbow Dash.”

My hummingbird pulse froze when I realized what I’d said. Sure, she was like a big sister to me; that’s what we always said, but I’d crossed a line. I could feel my blood run cold. I’d blown it. In a panic, I pulled away, but her hooves held me too tightly. In my confusion I looked her in the face. Her rose colored eyes were wet. Tears were spilling down her cheeks. Rainbow Dash was crying?

“I…I love you too, Scoots.” She hugged me close, closer than I’d ever been to another pony. I scrunched my eyes tight hugging her back. I could barely hear her over the sound of the wind and her beating wings as she whispered, “You’re more than just a little sister. When I heard about your parents…and how you’ve been living here…I…I was talking to Twi’ an’…Oh, Scoots.” Her hug was fierce. Suffocating. I never wanted it to end. “Scoots, will you come live with me and Twi’? Y-you don’t have to call me mom, or Twilight mom, or anything like that, but we can take care of you. We can be like a family.”

My heart stopped again. I was stunned. I couldn’t process it.

My dream of flying was nothing compared to my dream of having a mom again. My dream of that mom being Rainbow Dash. Of having a home. A place with somepony where I didn’t have to hurt and be afraid. The foster house kept a roof over my head and oats in my belly, but to have a home again.

“Yes, Rainbow Dash. Yes. Yes!” I cried into her shoulder as she held me, years of held in terror and loss flooding out of me in waves. When I was done, I could barely move.

“C’mon, Scoots,” Rainbow whispered, “Let’s go home. Twi’ and I can start the paperwork in the morning, so you’ll need to go back to the foster house tonight, but for right now let’s go home.”

“Rainbow?” I hardly dared to breathe as I looked back at her face; the face of an angel, a savior, here to rescue me. “C-can I call you mom?”

She gave me a wobbly smile. It was so out of place on her, but so welcome. “Only if you want to.”

I returned her smile and slowly pulled from her embrace. I never wanted it to end, but that day was one for many new things. My wings pumped and we hovered side by side. “Race you home, mom.”

“You’re on.”

Author's Note

Echriedz challenged me to write something based off of this song and the accompanying description. Scoots is one of my favorite characters and the desire to write something like this has been there, so I went for it. Much more freeform than the usual prompts, the only 'rule' was writing quickly and succinctly, with little to no planning (to give you an idea on the 4 hours rule on the other prompts and how that translates to actual work-time, this one took about an hour total).