Lost Wing, Lost Identity

by Hopeful_Ink_Hoof

Scoota-boost

"Miss Twilight?" a voice said from behind, making Twilight Sparkle jump. Turning around, she smiled as she caught sight of the purple maned orange pegasus filly.

"Hello Scootaloo," Twilight said, "I take it you came to see Rainbow Dash?" She shifted her eyes to look around the room. First, she wanted to check the time. Twilight tended to get so caught up in her research and study that she lost track of time. It very well could be late enough that school let out for the day and she simply did not realize it. At the same time, Scootaloo could be a very impulsive filly. Like her idol, she would sometimes act without thinking. As such, it was also possible that the young pegasus had instead decided to skip school and visit Rainbow Dash instead.

The second reason was to see if whether or not Scootaloo had come alone. Most of the time, the pegasus filly was in the company of her friends Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom, and the three of them had a tendency to cause a lot of mischief. For the most part, they were well behaved foals. It was just that when together and trying to get their cutie marks, their enthusiasm to try everything that came to mind would get out of control. Twilight still remembered the mess she had to clean up after their "Cutie Mark Crusaders library assistants" attempt.

"Yeah," the young filly exclaimed, "I wanted to see her yesterday, but I had to stay after school, then there was crusading that we could not put off, and then I had homework." She spoke quickly, every word running together. "But I got everything clear for a couple hours so I can totally hang out with Dash now." The excited filly's wings fluttered as she gave a little hop at the last part. Her eyes danced with excitement as she grinned widely as she could.

"Well, Rainbow Dash is upstairs in her room," Twilight said. "It's the only one with the door closed. I'm sure she'll be happy to..." she stopped speaking as she heard the sound of hooves bounding up the stairs. She turned her head to watch the filly go, then returned to her books. Although a part of her was tempted to sneak up and listen. Unfortunately, she would most likely get caught in the act.

Scootaloo ran up the stairs, wings fluttering to try and get her to actually fly up them. She looked at the doors, finding the only one that was closed. She could barely contain her excitement as she pushed the door open and went inside.

"Rainbow Dash?"

Rainbow Dash turned from where she was sitting by the window. At the sound of her name, she turned to see the little orange pegasus. Looking at those big purple eyes and excited smile made it difficult to disappoint her. Rainbow Dash straightened up and put on her best smile.

"Hey there, squirt." The moment Dash had made the statement, Scootaloo ran toward the older pegasus and hugged as tight as she could. Rainbow Dash looked down at her a moment, then hugged back.

"I came to hang out and see how you were doing," the filly said, looking up. "So how much longer until your wings are better? When are you going to start doing your awesome stunts again?"

The question sent a twinge of emotional pain through Rainbow Dash, making her phantom wing ache with the desire to fly. Turning her head, she looked out the window a moment. A weight settled in the pit of her stomach. Fortunately, she did not feel the need to cry anymore. What she did feel was that maybe it was time to tell the filly the truth of the matter.

"Come on kid," she said as she broke the hug, "I think we should go somewhere and have a talk." She got up started heading for the door,

Scootaloo stayed where she was, blinking in confusion. As Rainbow Dash walked out of sight, the young filly got up and chased after her. Once caught up, Scootaloo followed closely as they headed down stairs.

"Hey Twi," Dash said as they walked toward the front door, "Scoots and I are going out for a while."

"Okay," Twilight responded, not really looking up from her book.

Dash was tempted to find Spike and let him know, but the pair of pegasi would probably be back before it was even noticed by the purple pony. She looked at Scootaloo and motioned with her head to follow. The blue pegasus started walking toward the door and outside.

The older pegasus stopped as she caught sight of Scootaloo's scooter. Actually, what got Dash's attention was what was attached to the scooter. A red wagon sat behind it, the handle tied to the back by a piece of rope. Rainbow Dash had seen it before. It was practically the official method of transportation for The Cutie Mark Crusaders. Dash had never seen it up close though. Usually she would catch sight of it shooting past on the streets while she sat on a cloud above it all.

"I thought maybe I could take you for a ride if you wanted," Scootaloo blurted out.

"I don't know," Dash replied. She then turned to look at the younger filly "Do you think you could handle it?" She gave a smirk, getting one in return.

Once they got going, Rainbow Dash found herself clinging to the wagon very tightly. Her eyes were wide as she held on, pressing herself as tightly against the bottom of the wagon as she could. Not the best move since she ended up feeling every bump against her stomach, her entire body jarred and shaken by the event.

Dash had no idea that Scootaloo could drive so fast. The filly had to be the fastest thing on wheels in all of Ponyville. Not as fast as when Rainbow Dash flew, but much faster than she had anticipated. It was not simply the speed that worried her since she was always moving as quick as she could. it was also the fact that Dash was not in control of the matter. Usually it was her own hooves or wings that she was using to move as quick as she could. She was relying wholly on her own reflexes and judgement to keep safe. Now she was relying on someone else.

A part of her was actually surprised to realize that she actually did trust Scootaloo enough to do this. Despite be afraid because she was not in control, Rainbow Dash actually believed that the orange filly would get the two of them around town safe and unharmed. Dash found it a little comforting to know she had so much faith in Scootaloo.

The two completed their circuit around and through Ponyville, returning to the Library without incident. When the ride stopped, Rainbow Dash hopped out and stretched her legs. She gave Scootaloo a grin.

"Not bad Scoots. You've got real talent with that scooter." The praise from Rainbow Dash go Scootaloo so excited, Dash almost expected her to explode. The older pegasus gave a quick glance at the younger's flank, noticing their was no mark on it. The filly will probably figure it out some time soon.

"Thanks," Scootaloo said, "So what did you want to talk about?"

The question made Rainbow Dash freeze for a moment. She had been so caught up in the ride she had forgotten the reason she had wanted the two of them out and alone to begin with. With a sigh, she sat down.

"Come here and have a seat." She pointed at a spot beside her. Scootaloo walked toward the spot. She looked at her idol with confusion as she moved to sit down.

Dash took a deep breath and began to tell Scootaloo the truth. She told what happened with the hospital and the loss of her wing. Dash was careful not to make it too gory, but she did explain that the word was "amputated" and what it meant. She went on to talk about the meeting with Luna and Discord, and how they could not help. The pegasus did mention that Twilight Sparkle was still looking for a cure, but Dash was feeling extremely skeptical of her chances by now.

"So," Scootaloo said, "you'll never be able to fly again?"

"Looks like it." Rainbow Dash looked down at the ground and away from Scootaloo. "Guess you're gonna want to look for a new big sister and hero to look up to..."

"No way!" Scootaloo practically shouted, "Even if you can't fly, you're still the coolest, awesomest, most radicalest pony ever! And there's no way I would ever give you up as my big sister." She moved closer, pressing herself against the older pony's side.

Rainbow Dash looked further away, keeping her face hidden. After all, it would not be cool to be seen crying.

"Heh," she sniffed, "Thanks kid." She turned to look down at Scootaloo. "You know this also means I won't be able to teach you to fly though, right?" Reaching up, she gave the young filly's mane a ruffle.

"I didn't think of that." Scootaloo shifted, sagging slightly. She suddenly perked back back up with a grin. "Maybe I can teach you to ride a scooter. Then you could start creating a whole new set of tricks and be the awesomest stunt rider ever!" She pulled away from the older one. "I'm going to go see if I can find a scooter big enough for you. See you tomorrow." Excitedly she ran to her scooter. As soon as she was on, the filly drove off as fast as she could go.

Rainbow Dash watched her go, feeling a swell of pride at Scootaloo's enthusiasm and optimism. Getting up, Dash went back to the library. Stepping inside she looked around. As she expected, Twilight Sparkle was still at her table looking through the books she got. Dash moved over to her friend, watching closely for a moment.

"So I told Scoots the truth," she said.

"Oh?" Twilight asked. She set the book down and turned to face Rainbow Dash. "What happened?"

"She went to get see about getting me a scooter so she could teach me how to ride."

"Does that mean I'm going to have to worry about getting run over by you now?" Twilight asked. Rainbow Dash looked at her a moment, Seeing the grin, she started to smile herself. Soon the two of them were chuckling.

Comments

[Soniko255485]

"Does that mean I'm going to have to worry about getting run over by you now?"

Another reason to worry for Twi.