//------------------------------// // The Thorn // Story: Growth through the Thorn // by Soniclink137 //------------------------------// A few minutes earlier “Thanks for the pie Applejack,” Soarin’ said after he finished stuffing his face into a plate of apple pie. “Uhh…no problem Soarin’,” Applejack said. It didn’t matter how many times the copper colored earth pony saw Soairn’ chowing down on one of her pies like it’s the only thing saving him from death, it always surprised her. She should be flattered that somepony likes her pies so much but still it sometimes just weirds her out. “Anyways, we should probably get back ta work. We can only keep Big Mac away for so long and you and Ah both know when he gets back he’ll insist ta do the work.” “Yeah we should,” Soarin’ said. But before either of them got up they heard the front door slam open and two pairs of hooves running across the wooden floor. The kitchen door was the next thing to burst open so Soarin and Applejack looked over to see what exactly was going on. Apple Bloom, who happened to be carrying a saddle bag, and Sweetie Belle were at the other side of the door looking frantic. “What goin on you two?” Applejack asked. “Ah thought y’all were supposed to be at Rarity’s place.” “Soarin’,” Apple Bloom panted. “S…S…S…Scootaloo!” “What about Scootaloo?” Soarin’ asked. He was starting to get really nervous based on how frantic their speech is. “She…she…she,” Apple Bloom started but she was hardly able to get a word out no matter how hard she tried. “Just come here!” Sweetie Belle yelled out. “Now!” Soarin’ and Applejack both got up which signaled Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom to show them the way. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle quickly ran back the way they came with Applejack and Soarin’ in hot pursuit. They eventually burst outside at which Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom immediately pointed their right hooves towards the sky. Outside there was snow blowing all around, to the point where it looked like there was a mini blizzard all around Sweet Apple Acres. The snow that Sweetie Belle originally managed to clear out was once again covered up. Vision was obscured in white because of the blowing snow. It was pelting the four ponies. And all if it was coming from a fast stream of spiraling wind, leading upwards towards the clouds. With the top of that stream pointing up to an orange pegasus filly that was going higher and didn’t look like she was going to stop. “Scootaloo!” Soarin’ yelled out. His heart was beating faster than he would ever thought possible. Not only was Scootaloo at a point where she looked like she didn’t know what she was doing, but this was way too familiar to Soarin’. The look of how it is outside, what Scootaloo was doing, everything reminded Soarin’ of something he would rather forget. And it’s because of that Soarin’ is completely paralyzed. “Soarin’ ya gotta do something!” Apple Bloom said. She looked up to see Soarin’ staring at Scootaloo, but otherwise he wasn’t doing anything at all. “Soarin!” Apple Bloom yelled again trying to snap him out of it. “Soarin’ what’s the matter with y’all?!” Applejack asked. Soarin’ continued to be oblivious to all noise around him until Applejack gave him a quick kick in the side. That managed to snap Soarin’ out of it and he shook his head to get a thought in his brain. “I’m on it!” Soarin said as he spread his wings and took off. He flew up to where Scootaloo is as best as he could considering there was high winds surrounding him and pulling on him at all sides. As Soarin’ got up closer to Scootaloo the winds were becoming more intense but that didn’t stop the Wonderbolt. He went over towards Scootaloo’s location fighting the winds as best as he could. Soarin’ eventually got close enough to Scootaloo to see the orange pegasus well enough to notice the details. Her purple mane was moving being blown into a mess, even worse than it usually was. There were also several white splotches all around her body and wings from the snow that hit her. Her eyes were closed, yet she must still be conscious because her wings were still flapping frantically. But Soarin’s trained eye from working with Wonderbolt trainees could tell that her wing speed was slowly decreasing which worried him greatly. “Alright Scootaloo just a few seconds,” Soarin’ said even though he was pretty sure Scootaloo couldn’t hear him right now. “I’ll get you out of there.” Scootaloo was spinning clockwise so Soarin’ flew around here counterclockwise to counteract it. He flew against the wind no matter how strong it was using all of his Wonderbolt training to combat it. Eventually the winds were getting less strong and Scootaloo was spinning slower and slower. As soon as Scootaloo was done spinning she stopped moving her wings and Soarin’ fell under her so she wouldn’t fall to the ground. Soarin’ slowly floated Scootaloo towards the ground. After Scootaloo stopped spinning the wind she wiped up died down along with her so Soarin’ didn’t have to expend much energy getting Scootaloo to the ground. As soon as he landed he grabbed Scootaloo into his mouth and placed her on the ground in the snow. Once Scootaloo was in the snow she opened her eyes and started looking around, but she seemed so disoriented while looking around. “Scootaloo!” Soarin’ yelled. “S-S…Soarin’?” Scootaloo asked. She looked around disorientingly a bit more before her eyes finally locked on Soarin’, though not really on his eyes. At that point in time, all the fear that hit Soarin’ when he saw Scootaloo could have hurt herself, all the pain from seeing that move be used once again, and all the anger from the memories he had all combined and he just blew up. “Scootaloo what were you thinking?!” Soarin’ asked harshly. “Rainbow Dash and I told you that is a dangerous move, we told you shouldn’t try that until you’re a better flyer! What in the world made you think to try it?! Do you realize what you could have done Scootaloo?! You were high in the sky and you didn’t look like you were going down any time soon! You could have flown too high and been unable to breath! You could have seriously hurt yourself, or even killed yourself Scootaloo!” “Soarin I’m…sorry,” Scootaloo said. She looked like she was just barely able to hold back the tears that were in her eyes. “I-I thought…” “You thought you were invincible! You thought you were able to do anything you wanted to! It didn’t matter how good you actually were, you thought you were good enough! You overestimated yourself and could have hurt yourself or other ponies!” “I…I…” Scootaloo’s voice was started to sound weak but Soarin’ kept on pressing. “Scootaloo you’re coming straight with me! We’re going back home and when we get there, your grounded!” And just like that all eyes were on Soarin’. Even though he was surrounded by only earth ponies and unicorns, besides Scootaloo, they all gasped at what he said. Grounding in terms of an pegasus punishment means that the disobeying pegasus kid will usually have their wings tied up so they can’t fly and they will sometimes be taken somewhere on the ground where they will be safe, yet not very accessible except for by sky so they can be in solitary while they think about what they’ve done. Pegasi on the coast will usually use abandoned islands for that purpose, though they usually won’t go that far away just to make sure their kids don’t get hurt by attempting to swim. It was a punishment that was seldom done, only for breaking very severe rules. Soarin’ himself was surprised at how he was acting right now. Scootaloo was the closest thing Soarin’ had to a daughter, at least right now since he didn’t know whether Rainbow Dash was going to have a filly or a colt. And even though he hadn’t adopted her for long he still wanted to make her as happy as he could to counteract where he got the poor filly from. But the pain just made him lose all sight of reason and even though Scootaloo was next to tears he just couldn’t help it. “Soarin’ she was just trying to help!” Sweetie Belle said as she walked over to Scootaloo’s left side. “Yeah. We were just tryin to clear up all the snow for ya,” Apple Bloom continued for Sweetie Belle as she walked over to Scootaloo’s right side. “We wanted ta help you guys make this place look good for Big Mac and Fluttershy’s weddin.” “And Scootaloo tried that move because she wanted to clear out the snow quickly,” Sweetie Belle said. “We were going to surprise you with it so we wanted to get it done fast.” “Soarin’,” Applejack said as she walked up to face him. “Ah ain’t the one ta talk to ya about your family, but Ah think Scootaloo has learned her lesson mighty fine.” Soarin’ looked over at the filly who was still trying not to cry, though her face was down. “Yeah Ah mean, she did mess up but Ah’m gonna bet half of Sweet Apple Acres she ain’t about ta try it again.” Soarin’ looked at Scootaloo and he calmed down. Seeing her face and really taking it in caused him to finally stop his anger, and then he felt really bad about himself. He felt bad about letting his past make him act so harshly to Scootaloo. “Scootaloo…” Soarin’ said in as calm of a voice as he could make. “I’m…I’m sorry.” Soarin’ walked up closer to Scootaloo and then crouched down to her level. Soarin’ took his right forehoof and put it under Scootaloo’s chin. He gently lifted that chin up to have Scootaloo to look into his eyes. “Listen, I was just worried about you,” Soarin’ told Scootaloo. “You looked like you were about to lose consciousness up there and then who knows what would happen after that. And this whole situation…I’m sorry Scootaloo. I…just overreacted.” Scootaloo was still silent though she didn’t look like she was as sad as she was before. Maybe. Soarin’ couldn’t exactly tell because he wasn’t that good with emotions but he thought Scootaloo was a little less sad. “Well…at least I got somepony that worries about me,” Scootaloo said. “Hey Scootaloo, how about I take you home, but instead of grounding you, let’s warm you up,” Soarin’ said. “You’re still going to be punished, but you’re not grounded.” “I…guess that’s fair,” Scootaloo said unenthusiastically. “Come on Scootaloo let’s get going,” Soarin’ said. “You can climb on my back for now until you’re ready to fly again.” Scootaloo nodded and climbed back on to Soarin’s back. Before taking off though Scootaloo looked over at Applejack. “Sorry but I…gotta take care of this,” Soarin’ said. “I’ll be back to help out tomorrow.” “Don’t worry about it,” Applejack said. She looked over at Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle. “By the look of things Ah got me a few extra helpers.” “Aw man!” Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom both said at the same time. Apple Bloom continued, “We were only doin this because Scootaloo wanted ta get you to let her stay here durin Pinkie’s and Braeburn’s weddin.” “Girls!” Scootaloo yelled from Soarin’s back, the energy back in her voice. “We’ll talk about it later,” Soarin’ said. He then saluted in Applejack’s direction before taking off back towards Carousal Boutique to find his wife. ~ “Come on come on!” Rainbow Dash yelled. “I’m working on it,” Pokey responded. He was finally working on adjusting Rainbow Dash’s dress after having finished a few other projects first. Yet now that he started the pregnant mare lost all her patience. “Well move faster already!” Rainbow Dash yelled redundantly. “Rainbow Dash, I’m not Rarity,” Pokey said. “So I’m not going to go as fast as your used to her going. Just wait a second.” Rainbow Dash huffed and walked over to the right wall to wait. But naturally that lasted about five seconds before she lost all patience again. Soarin’ and Scootaloo just walked in when Rainbow Dash lost it again and yelled. “Move faster Pokey!” Rainbow Dash yelled out in desperation. “Faster!” “I told you I’m working as fast as I can!” Pokey responded back in anger. He noticed Soairn’ and Scootaloo walking in. “Why don’t you just go home and I’ll have it done by tomorrow. Plenty of time before the wedding.” Rainbow Dash huffed and wanted to yell some more at him but when she saw her husband and adopted daughter she decided to cool it. “Fine I’ll go,” Rainbow Dash said as she walked to where Scootaloo and Soarin’ were standing. “Uhh Rainbow Dash…” Soarin’ started. “We’re going,” Rainbow Dash said as she passed by Soarin’ and went out the door. “Alright Rainbow Dash,” Soarin’ said not wanting to annoy his wife any father while she was angry. He turned around and followed Rainbow Dash out. “Rainbow Dash we need to talk about something,” Soarin’ said. “Scootaloo here, disobeyed our orders and nearly hurt herself doing a flight technique she shouldn’t have.” “What?!” Rainbow Dash asked. She looked up at Scootaloo. “Scoots are you ok?” Of coruse, Soarin’ thought. The normally easy going colt yells at Scootaloo yet the pregnant mare who looks like she's ready to kill me everytime I interrupt her on something minor doesn't. I fell even worse now. “Of course I’m ok,” Scootaloo said. “I wouldn’t be here otherwise.” “Anyways…” Soarin’ continued, “Luckily I’ve already got an idea. Scootaloo here will help me set up for Fluttershy and Big Macintosh’s wedding.” “Aw man!” Scootaloo said. “Aaand," Soarin' continued, "you are going to be going with us to Pinkie and Braeburn's wedding, whether you want to or not. But because I will admit I was too harsh without explaining why I was harsh before. So I'm not going to tie your wings up Scootaloo, and so long as you do a good job, you're not grounded."