“Come on! You can do it!”
Scootaloo beat her wings as hard as she could, willing her body off the ground. The seconds ticked by as she felt the weight of her body slowly bleed away and the ground begin to drop away as her legs lifted up and brushed against the grass. She hovered for a couple of seconds before the weight returned and the ground rushed at her sending a shock through her legs as her hooves touched down once more.
She panted and held in place to catch her breath and took a moment to look around at her private practice area. Several marks from her hooves dragging across the dirt scored the area. Patches of crumpled grass marked her landings, if one could call them such. Broken twigs littered the ground from her failed attempts to take off from one of the trees in gliding attempts. All constant reminders of her past failures and how far away she was to achieving the flight she coveted.
She knocked her hooves together to psych herself up and stood ready, taking the stance that Rainbow Dash had showed her. “One more time.”
She started up her wings and took off running as she took small leaps along the way. Once again, the weight of her body slowly bled out and she found her leaps grow higher as she ran. Finally, she hovered. Her hooves dragged the ground as usual, but she was hovering again. She was doing it.
Elation coursed through her as her excitement built. She was going to fly. But her victory was cut short as it always was as her hooves kicked a rock and sent her tumbling into a thorn bush. After a struggle to escape the prickly torment she looked back at her trail. Another failure.
She gave her hooves another knock together in a final bid to maintain her determination. “One more time.”
She ran this way and that. She jumped and leapt and bounded off the trees. She pushed her wings as hard as she could to the point that they produced a buzz as the fluttered. But nothing worked. The weightlessness, the lift, the flight. All remained out of reach. She simply grew tired. Her efforts eventually led her to run headlong into a tree.
She rolled on the ground in pain, hooves holding her head and biting her tongue to keep from screaming in pain. Her head throbbed and her world spun. Her wings ached from overexertion and hurt as she rolled over them. Her body hurt from exhaustion. But more importantly, her pride was shattered once more at yet another string of failures.
After a minute of tumbling in pain, Scootaloo stopped and stared into the sky. Overhead, a flock of birds flew effortlessly across the sky, mocking her inability to touch that precious sky. She fumed at the sight and flailed about in a short lived tantrum before succumbing to the pain in her body. She placed a hoof over her eyes as she fought back the tears that began to build in her eyes.
“It’s not fair. Why do I seem to be the only pegasus who can’t fly? IT’S NOT FAIR!!!”
Her ear twitched as a noise caught her attention. She moved her hoof and looked over to see a little colt standing next to her. She scrambled to roll over and sit up, wiping her eyes and swallowing her emotions. Each movement causing her to wince from the pain.
“Who...What are you doing here?”
The colt, Rumble if she remembered right, looked at her rather worried. “I heard a lot of noise and came to check it out. I wasn’t sure what you were doing but then I saw you hit that tree.” He motioned to the tree Scootaloo had hit and caused her to blush in embarrassment that some pony else has seen such a blunder. “Are you okay?”
Scootaloo stood, despite her body’s complaining, and gently brushed herself off, avoiding the few bruises she now had. “I’m fine. Nothing wrong here.”
She turned and started to leave, not wanting to push her embarrassment any further. Anger and frustration fumed inside at the fact that her secret, special practice area had been found and another pony had just bore witness to such a spectacular failure. She felt her face flush and her eyes water again. Just a bumbling failure.
Once out of sight, she let her emotions return and the tears flow down her face as she ran home. She stared straight ahead as she ran, not daring to look up at the mocking sky. So much effort. So much determination. Wasted on a failure.
With a new day came new determination. She would fly, she had to fly. She just needed some help. Scootaloo rode her scooter over to Rainbow Dash’s house and called up, eager to see her idol. “Hey! Rainbow Dash! Are you home?”
Rainbow poked her head out the door. “Oh! Hey kid! What’s up?”
“Um…could you help me with flying practice today? Please?”
Rainbow fluttered out and hovered. Her face brought on immediate concern in the young pegasus. “Sorry kid. Got a lot going on so I’ll be too busy to help today. Maybe tomorrow.”
With that, Rainbow took off leaving a puff of cloud and her signature trail of rainbow color in her wake. Scootaloo watched for the few seconds she was visible as her idol vanished into the sky. Down heartened, but not completely defeated, she rode off towards her private practice area. Perhaps she could make some progress today and show Rainbow tomorrow. That would give her the confidence boost she needed.
When she arrived at her practice area she surveyed the scored ground. Once again, she knocked her hooves together to psych herself up. “Okay! I can do this.”
But as she set her scooter aside and removed her helmet, she remembered yesterday. The failures were one thing but the fact that another pony had found her spot and seen her fail sent worry through her. What if he came back? What if another pony saw her? What if Rainbow found her and watched one of her failures?
She shook her head and knocked her hooves together again. “Keep it together Scootaloo. You can do this. Don’t think about anything but flying.” She looked up at the sky. Flying. The only thing she needed to think about.
Two hours into her practice, nothing had changed. New score marks lined the ground and freshly pressed patches of grass marked her landings. Or more accurately, her crashes. Fresh bruises and cuts from the thorn bush made her wince with each movement. Her wings hardly moved and her whole body was sore from exhaustion. Nothing. Hardly even a hover today and absolutely no progress once again.
She stomped the ground and turned to the tree that she used for gliding practice and began climbing the ladder she had nailed into the side. She had to do this. Carefully walking out across a branch, she readied herself and prepared for the jump. Three…two…one…Go!
Instead of a gentle glide to the ground, the world rushed up and the ground slammed into her. While she was fortunate enough to have a bush below to cushion her fall the shock still twisted her front right hoof. She screamed in pain as she rolled out of the foliage. She rolled in circles, holding her hoof close, as tears streamed down her face. Another failure, another blow to her pride and dreams.
The sound of hooves caught her attention as a familiar voice called to her. “Are you okay?”
A hoof reached down and helped her up. Scootaloo sat, still holding her hoof, and looked at the one who had helped her. Standing over her, worried, was Rumble. Anger boiled in the filly that not only had she been caught again but it was Rumble for the second time. Had he followed her and been watching her the whole time?
“You don’t look so good,” the young colt said. “Come on. I’ll help you get to the hospital.”
He held out a hoof to help but Scootaloo only knocked it away. How dare he follow her and just stand there watching her as she blundered around. In her secret practice area.
“I’m fine. I don’t need to go to the hospital.”
She tried to stand but the pain in her leg caused her to yank it back to her and teeter. Rumble caught her and helped her to stand. Once again, she refused the help. She pushed him away and balanced on three legs. She glared at him.
“What are you doing here? Did you follow me or something? How long were you watching me?”
Rumble took a step back as he apologized and gave his defense. “I’m sorry! I was only here long enough to watch you fall from the tree. I came back because I saw you have so much trouble yesterday and I wanted to see if I could help.”
“Does it look like I need your help?!”
“Well you need some pony to help you!”
“And how were you going to help me?”
“I don’t know. Maybe give you some advice my brother gave me when he helped me learn to fly.”
Scootaloo steamed and hobbled towards her scooter. She did not need his help. If any pony could help her it was Rainbow Dash. Only the best flyer could help her be the best. Not this intruder. She stood for a moment and let her anger die down a bit and let her curiosity out.
“What advice were you going to give me anyways?”
Rumble shuffled in slight agitation, a bit relaxed now that she was not yelling at him. “Well, my brother said sometimes ponies have trouble doing things because they’re afraid. You might be afraid of heights, or something.”
Scootaloo steamed again. “Who said I was afraid of anything? I’m not afraid of anything! Rainbow Dash isn’t afraid of anything and neither am I!”
She worked her helmet onto her head and mounted her scooter. Just before pushing off, she heard one last thing from Rumble.
“Every pony is afraid of something. Thunderlane taught me that and I know from my own fears.”
Anger boiled in her again. She turned to Rumble. “You keep talking about your brother like he knows everything! I told you. I’m not afraid of anything just like Rainbow Dash! I’m going to be just like her so I can’t be afraid of anything!”
“But you can’t be any pony but yourself. Thunderlane-”
At the mention of Thunderlane again, Scootaloo screamed in anger. “I’LL SHOW YOU AND EVERY PONY!!! NOW LEAVE ME ALONE!!!”
Even as she saw red, she watched as Rumble became smaller. Her words had hurt him and he hung his head. He said nothing as he turned to leave. Scootaloo on the other hoof, shoved her scooter and knocked it over. She screamed and dropped to the ground and sobbed. She was angry and now sad that she had hurt Rumble’s feelings like that. She was known to be a bit hot-headed but not temperamental. Never had she experienced such anger.
After several minutes of crying, her anger had been quenched. She stood and recovered her scooter and walked home. All the while, Rumble’s words about being afraid echoed in her head. But she could not be afraid of anything. She could not afford to be. She was going to be just like Rainbow Dash and if she really was afraid of something, she was going to get over that fear. She just had to.
Scootaloo had determination in spades the next day but her motivation was almost non-existent. Her leg was feeling much better after giving it the rest of the day off and even coming to her practice spot later in the day to give it a bit of extra rest. She was even careful not to go wild and crazy in her flying attempts to make sure she did not break it with another fall. But lingering physical pain was nothing compared to the emotional pain she still bore.
Her pride had taken a serious blow the last two days and she felt more horrible today than before about yelling at and being so mean to Rumble. It was not like her. She found herself standing in the middle of the area, unmoving. Her thoughts continued to drift to her actions and the talk about being afraid. There was no way she was afraid of anything.
“Hey kid.”
In cruel irony, Scootaloo jumped and squeaked in shock at the sudden surprise visit from Rainbow Dash. Her body shook and her breathing became ragged as she turned to see her idol behind her. She quickly tried to compose herself, fighting her beating heart.
“Hey…um…Rainbow Dash. Uh, what brings you here?”
Just as she feared. Rainbow Dash had found her secret practice area. She would see the results of her past failures. The only fortunate part was that she did not arrive just as Scootaloo performed yet another failure. How did she know to look here? Why was she here?
“Well, I said I could help you with flying today. Had to get a bit of help figuring out where you ran off to.” She looked around to Scootaloo’s terror. “Sweet place. Nice and secluded. Good soft landing spots. I like it.”
Scootaloo felt her heart race. Rainbow had just seen the area and, to her amazement, had not judged her on the signs of failure. But the fact that she had gotten help to find this place worried her. Who else knew? Her secret place. Her special place. The realization hit her. Rumble.
Despite this, she pushed her worries to the side. She would deal with Rumble later. For now, she could not afford to let Rainbow Dash see her so upset. She put up an air of control, even gave an embarrassed giggle. “Yeah. It’s why I picked this place.”
Rainbow looked back at her. “So, what do you say to showing me what you’ve got so far. I want to see your progress.”
Scootaloo felt her stomach clench and her heart jump into her throat. Show her progress? Now? The past two days replayed in her mind along with the numerous other failures she had seen while alone. What progress?
Still, she steeled herself as best she could, trying desperately to look as calm and controlled as she could. “Uh, yeah. Progress. You’ll see.”
She started off by trying to hover straight up. But her wing beats were off, even alternating each wing in a bizarre flopping manner. She tried running but she only managed a skipping-like jog as she gave little hops along the way. Everything was off. Nothing worked properly. And Rainbow was watching the whole time. Finally, her wings folded in during a hop and refused to spread.
“Hey, kid. You okay? You don’t look so good.”
“What? Me? No. I’m fine. Just…I just…Give me a…”
What was wrong with her? Everything she did was wrong. Was she nervous? Yeah. Nerves. That was all.
“Hang on. I just need to…”
No. She was afraid. Afraid to let her idol down. Afraid to be a disappointment to the greatest flyer ever. Afraid to fail for her mentor. She looked at Rainbow, fighting to keep her false smile plastered on her face. Then ran.
“Scootaloo! Wait up!”
She could not turn back. She had failed her idol and looked like a fool in the process. She did not have to fall, or trip, or hit a tree. She just floundered there like an idiot acting like she could do something she clearly could not. She was a failure. And now Rainbow knew.
After a few minutes of running, Scootaloo looked back and around to find that Rainbow had not followed her. At least, not that she could see. She could not go back. She could not face her idol after such a horrendous demonstration. A tinge of anger pressed in her head. She knew who was responsible. Rumble.
Ever since the colt had seen her, she had been off. Not that she did well on her own as it was. But she had never done so horrible, even cave to nerves like she just did in front of Rainbow. His words played again in her mind. It was all his fault. He psyched her out. He made her afraid.
She headed for the school yard to start looking for him. He had found her secret practice area, revealed it to not only another pony but Rainbow Dash of all ponies, and caused her to get completely thrown off of her game. He would pay for all of that. She had no idea how but she would make him pay somehow.
Fortune smiled upon her when she arrived at the school yard and saw Rumble sitting on the teeter-totter alone. Proper thought process was thrown out as she ran up and jumped on the empty seat, sending him into the air. He recovered and hovered, mocking her even more.
“Hey! What was that for?”
“Why?!” Scootaloo’s blood boiled and her eyes teared up in a mix of sorrow and rage. “It’s your fault I looked like an idiot in front of Rainbow Dash!”
“What are you talking about?” Rumble kept his distance, hanging in the air out of reach of the raging filly.
“You told her about my secret practice area! Didn’t you?! You psyched me out with all of your talk about being afraid! It’s your fault I’ve had such a rough two days! IT’S ALL YOUR FAULT!!!”
Rumble became all but motionless, barely managing to stay airborne. His body went limp as he slowly floated to the ground. Shock and sorrow plastered his face. “I...I didn’t mean to hurt you.”
Scootaloo sniffed, trying not to lash out and clobber him. “Well you did. And now my secret place isn’t a secret anymore and I can’t face Rainbow Dash!”
Rumble found courage and stood his ground. “I didn’t mean to cause you any trouble! I just wanted to help you. Thunderlane-”
“Stop talking about your brother! Thunderlane, Thunderlane, Thunderlane! Is he all you can think about?”
Rumble’s face contorted as anger built up in him. “What about you and Rainbow Dash? Is she all you can think about?”
Scootaloo tried to respond but stopped. He was right. She talked about Rainbow Dash as much as, if not more than, Rumble did about his brother. But that did not excuse him for all of the heartache his so called helping had caused her.
“I never meant to hurt you, honest,” Rumble said before she could formulate her response. “It’s just…He taught me to fly and…when I saw you having so much trouble, I wanted to help you the way he helped me. You want to be just like Rainbow Dash. Well, I want to be just like Thunderlane.”
Scootaloo tried to speak. It made sense now. Her anger gave way to understanding and she calmed down. She could not blame him for just wanting to be like his idol the way she wanted to be like hers. But what was she going to do now? She was less inclined to knock Rumble’s block off but she still could not go back to Rainbow Dash. She got an answer when Rumble held out a hoof.
“Do you think we could try again? Maybe I could make up for the trouble I caused you.”
Scootaloo thought for a moment. He did still owe her. She still could not bring herself to go back to Rainbow for help. And she did need some help. Plus, she understood his desire to be like his brother.
“Fine,” she said. “But I better not find out you told any pony else about my secret practice area.”
Rumble put a hoof to his chest. “No pony. Honest.”
Scootaloo smiled as her rage and anger subsided before worry stepped in. She still needed somewhere to practice. She could not risk going back to her spot and running into Rainbow or finding she was still there. But as she thought, Rumble grabbed her wing with his, sending a whole new shower of embarrassment through her body.
“Come on!” he said as he led her away from the school yard.
Even with her face still flushed, she followed the colt across town. Where was he taking her? The area began to look a bit familiar as they ran. She silently begged that he was not taking her back to her spot. Begged that Rainbow would not show up. Her fears were put to a partial rest as they veered away from the direction of her spot. Eventually, they came to another area much like her practice area. One similar in far more ways than one.
Marking the ground were dozens of marks from hooves having scored the ground. Several patches of dead grass dotted the area, similar to the grass patches that resulted from Scootaloo’s falls. A bush showed signs of mangling like some pony had rolled around in it. Could this be…?
Rumble paused and looked at her, brushing a hoof across the grass in embarrassment. “Welcome to my secret practice spot.”
Scootaloo’s eyes went wide and she immediately felt a wave of regret for how she had treated him. She did not think it was possible. She thought she had been the only one. Some pony else knew of the heartache and torment of flightlessness.
“I really found your spot because it was so close to mine,” Rumble said as he looked around. He looked back at Scootaloo. “You could practice here until you feel like going back to your spot. I’ll make sure it stays as secret as ever.”
A massive smile made its way across Scootaloo’s face. She did not even try to contain her joy at all of this. A pony who knew full well what she went through every day. A pony who had an idol that he looked up to as much as she did. A place just like hers and just as secluded. And perhaps, a new friend to help her.
She rushed up to Rumble, giddy and not even in control of herself, and gave him a quick hug before leaping about in joy and spinning in circles to take it all in. She stopped and looked at Rumble to thank him to see the embarrassment on his face. Realization hit her and her face flushed.
“Sorry.” She rubbed her leg and looked down. “I didn’t mean to. I just…”
“Uh, no. Uh, it’s okay. Really.” Rumble looked around and brushed a hoof across the grass.
The two sat in silence and embarrassment for a moment before Rumble finally spoke.
“So, uh…let’s get to practicing.”
“Uh, yeah. Sounds good.”
Pushing their embarrassment aside, the two began practicing. Each technique and tip that Rumble had been taught by Thunderlane often clashed with what Rainbow had taught Scootaloo. Things were a bit slower at first rather than an outright leap into the air. But regardless, she got it. She understood. Just as Rainbow had never judged her on her inability to fly, Rumble was patient and understanding. Understanding. Something that went deeper now than anytime with Rainbow.
Rainbow had given Scootaloo every trick she knew. Taught her everything. But she had always been good at it. Rumble had not. Rumble knew the struggle Scootaloo went through every day. Not only that, Scootaloo found herself almost mesmerized as he spoke or showed her something. She found herself on occasion simply staring at him and missing something before shaking herself back to reality. Of course, even Rumble showed his signs of lack of focus. He would occasionally help her get into a flying position and just sit there, motionless. Embarrassment abounded as the session went on. They did not know why but neither complained.
After about three hours, Scootaloo took off from a standing position. She felt the weight of her body quickly wash away and the ground dip down and away farther than ever before. Before she knew it, she was hovering several hooves above the ground. A massive smile parted her face.
“I’m doing it! Rumble, I’m really doing it! I’m flying! I’m flying!”
“Alright! Just keep focused and…Scootaloo? Wait. Don’t-Ahhh!”
The joy and thrill of actually flying caused Scootaloo to lose her focus and the weight to return. She plummeted and landed in a heap, though unhurt. She sat up and checked herself for injuries. None. But she had flown. Actually flown.
“Rumble, did you see? I did it! Not long, but I actually flew! Rumble? Where…”
She looked around before noticing what was beneath her. She looked down to see the colt lying on his back staring straight up at her. Both were silent. Finally, Scootaloo rose and helped Rumble up. They brushed themselves off and sat awkwardly, staring around.
“G-good job,” Rumble finally said, mustering the courage to look at her. “You did great.”
“Yeah. Great. All thanks to you.” Scootaloo gave a few chuckles of embarrassment as they went back to staring around.
Before Rumble knew what was happening, Scootaloo grabbed him and gave him a massive hug. She did not care anymore how embarrassing it was. She was just so happy and wanted to thank him so much. She felt his hooves wrap around her as he returned the hug. Tears began to fill her eyes once again. But this time, they were tears of joy.
“Thank you so much Rumble.”
The two hugged for a while as Scootaloo milked it for all it was worth. She was happy and the hug had turned out to be a great bonus. She finally broke it as Rumble’s agitation grew. She looked at him to see his face completely flushed, eliciting a giggle from the filly.
“Um, do you think we could practice again tomorrow?” she asked. “I’m not sure I’m quite ready to face Rainbow after the bumbling I did.”
Rumble looked around, face still flushed. “Uh, sure. I-” he was silenced by a blindside peck on the cheek, causing his whole body to freeze up and practically steam. His face was so red that it was visible under his coat. He stared at the filly who only giggled and ran off.
Taking one last look back, Scootaloo saw a smile etch its way across Rumble’s face. Her own smile grew larger as she hurried home. For two days, she had seen nothing but misery. Today even had started out horrible. But, in the end, she had flown for real. And even got a little extra out of it. She gave a short skip along the way. She could not wait for tomorrow, for more than just another flying lesson.