Meanwhile...

by WatchMeShadow

At The Ponyville Library part 3

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Scootaloo
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Scootaloo waited patiently trying not to fall asleep as Twilight cleaned what remained of the test they just went through. Sweetie, Rarity, and Applebloom had already left. Spike had some errands to run for Twilight and some new issues of comics to get or something.

“Oh," Twilight said, drawing her out of her sleepy daze as she shot up at attention, "hey Scootaloo did you want to talk about something?”

“Yeah,” she answered before yawning. She was so tired. Nightmares plagued her. She'd found herself waking up screaming more than a couple times the night before. Not only that but she couldn't get Rainbow out of her mind as it reminded her of the bitter past.

“Oh? What about?” asked Twilight, while sweeping up the dirt that Scootaloo couldn’t make a dirt pony out of.

"I just wanted to tell you that I’m...” she froze, ‘I’m a coward, a weakling, not even worth... worth... I, I can’t let her know I’m scared of flying.’ She noticed Twilight staring at her in concern, “I mean..." her mind raced, "I-I wanted to get a look at that machine you have in the basement and maybe help you fix it.” It was a quick excuse that she came up with on the spot. Did she just sign herself up for work on summer break? She was more tired than she realized.

Twilight contemplated the idea for a little bit then clapped her hooves together and gave an excited squee, “Oh my gosh Scootaloo that’s brilliant, and it sounds like lots of fun. It could be our own little project.”

She smiled at Twilight's child like enthusiasm. It was a pleasant change that caught her off guard. She latched onto the feeling for dear life, “When can we start?” She asked excitedly.

Twilight put a hoof to her chin, “If I recall we shouldn’t be getting some of the replacement parts until Monday, but the rest will take a little longer so we could start on Monday.”

“Aww, alright," she resided, "Thanks Twilight!” She gave Twilight a quick hug, without even realizing she had, and quickly ran outside.

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Twilight
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Twilight was getting stressed. She had soo many things to do. First she had planned to spend most her time reading Equestria’s laws this week. She had other things planned like ‘Twilight Time’ and going to the spa with Rarity. Now that she thinks about it, she didn’t have much planned, she just knew reading all those laws would take up more time than she’d given herself. She decided to take a decent break after this week before getting back to Equestria’s laws. In any event, the CMC derailed her plans for this week pretty thoroughly. Not only did she discover a bound with them that they unofficially have, that made her feel nostalgic and just great, they also stumbled on one of the most exciting finds in her lifetime. Sweetie then proceeded to blow her mind figuratively and her machine in a more literal sense by possible having more magic than Celestia and Luna combined. Now she was stuck between wanting to make them her students officially, translating the journal of Chancellor Puddinghead, fixing the machine that got burnt out, or doing what she had planned.

Twilight made up her mind when a tired looking Scootaloo asked if she could help fix the machine with her. She was a little surprised when Scootaloo hugged her, but it left her with no doubts. She would begin the process of making them into her students officially, and continue to read Equestria’s laws. As much as she wanted to get that journal translated it was just too frustrating, even the dry text of the Equestrian laws was prefered to the kind of ‘creative’ use of Old Equestrian that Puddinghead used. She also figures that Puddingheads summary of future topics in the journal was good enough for now, as the test she just put the CMC through pretty much proved her theory about what probably happened to them. She spent the rest of her day preparing a lecture for ‘Twilight Time’ after Scootaloo left, then went back to reading Equestrian laws.

The next day Twilight got up bright and early and prepared for something a little different than what usually happened during ‘Twilight Time.’ It wasn’t long before the CMC came in and got settled in there spots waiting to be presented their instruments of learning. “Good morning, Applebloom, Sweetie, and Scootaloo!” Twilight said cheerfully.

“Good morning Twilight!” Sweetie and Applebloom said happily as they waited.

Scootaloo brought a hoof to her mouth and yawned, “Good morning.”

“Today will start the beginning of something a little different than the other times you’ve been here, because today I got a lecture set-up for each of you should you need it, all you need to do is ask and I will help you solve and understand the problem. This will go for future lessons as well. Now lets begin,” Twilight said as she levitated Alchemy supplies/tools to Applebloom and the grandfather clock still in pieces from last week to Scootaloo.

“What about me?” asked a sad looking Sweetie. Everypony focused on Sweetie as whatever she would usually do changed radically, even if the goal remained the same.

“Sweetie I would like you to come with me so we don’t disrupt Scootaloo and Applebloom while they begin…” she brought her attention to Scootaloo, “Sorry Scootaloo, I know you need help with that grandfather clock and I promise I’ll help you as soon as I can, just don’t give up yet. I know you can figure it out by yourself. You’re a smart filly,” Twilight then looked at Sweetie briefly and said, “Sweetie if you’ll follow me.” They departed from the rest, and went downstairs into the basement. “Sweetie tell me, what do you think about having as much or more magic than me?” inquired Twilight once they made it to the bottom.

“It’s scary.” Sweetie answered while looking down.

Twilight's ears perked up, “Really? And what makes you say that?” She thought Sweetie would say it was neat or something along those lines.

Sweetie slightly kicked out a foreleg, “Well, it’s just. When I blew up your machine over there,” Sweetie said while pointing to said machine, “that was a shock. When I tried levitating those bits yesterday, they just disappeared and I don’t know what happened to them. Then I remembered what you said when you told your cutie mark story; about how you turned your parents into plants, and how magic bolted out of you randomly, I just don’t want to turn anypony into a lamp or worse,” Sweetie said fearfully with pleading eyes.

Twilight was a little impressed by Sweeties forethought. She quickly gave Sweetie a hug, “Hey you don’t need to worry about that… Transmorphing spells are always temporary, and no harm will come to the affected pony.”

Sweetie hugged back, “Thanks Twilight.”

“No problem,” Twilight backed off and began, “Now, why I brought you down here is so we can talk about magic in general without distracting Applebloom and Scootaloo. So tell me Sweetie how does magic work?”

Sweetie looked hopelessly confused, “Um, aren't you the Element of Magic shouldn’t you know that already?”

Twilight chuckled, “Yes, I do; well to some degree at least, but I want to know what you know.”

“Oh, Well magic requires a lot of concentration and you’ll be able to get it to do all kinds of different things…” Sweetie trailed off as she realized she had no clue how magic worked, just that it did.

Twilight was quick to take over, “You’re partially right Sweetie. Concentration is a big part of manipulating magic. Magic is a force of nature, it’s all around us and within us. Unicorns and Alicorns have the unique ability to directly manipulate the magic within ourselves with our horns to accomplish any number of amazing feats. None of that explains how magic works though… Sadly even I can’t explain that, it’s one mystery that even the great Starswirl couldn’t solve.”

Before Twilight could continue Sweetie couldn’t help but wonder out loud, “Then why’d you ask me that?”

Twilight offered a meek smile, “I was just curious,” she was reusing a joke Celestia once used on her.

“um, okay...” Sweetie said with an confused look.

Twilight nodded to Sweetie, “It’s alright Sweetie, never be afraid to ask questions if you,” Twilight gestured to herself, “don’t know something,” she finished with a goofy smile. Sweetie noticed this and laughed getting the joke, once she was near done Twilight continued, “As I was saying, no pony knows how magic works. Yet we have several thousands of books dedicated to spells that can be cast using it. Now tell me Sweetie what does your beginners guide to spells say about casting a levitation spell?”

“Well, it says the caster must keep focus on the object to be levitated while in a calm state of mind. While doing that the caster must provide a steady stream of magic to their horn and ‘reach’ to the object.” Sweetie answered quickly.

Twilight wasn’t surprised with her quick response she knew Sweetie probable read that book three times by now, or at least understood it good enough. She could tell by Sweeties progress last ‘Twilight Time,’ they had, “Correct, now do you know what it says about the night light spell?”

“Oh oh oh, it says to think about happy thoughts while imagining your horn lit up, and to send a small stream of magic to your horn,” Sweetie answered proudly.

“Correct again, now I’m going to tell you how I cast a teleportation spell. It’s a simple enough concept, it just requires a decent amount of magic and a lot of concentration when you first try it… Not that I’m saying you should try it… I mean,” Twilight just realised she’s telling Sweetie how to do an advanced spell that could backfire horrible. She was now trying to get herself out of the hole she just dug herself; luckily, Sweetie decided to drag her out.

“It’s okay Twilight, I don’t have any intention on using my magic without you there. It’s bad enough I can make things disappear just by trying to levitate them. I do not want to find out what would happen if I tried to teleport,” Sweetie stated.

Twilight smiled gratefully at her and began anew, “Anyways, to teleport I had to think of a location and every little detail about that location. While doing that I also have to store up a decent amount of magic in my horn and think of things that’re exciting; while trying to remember the details of the location that I’m teleporting to. And let me tell you, unless you’re teleporting to an amusement park, keeping an excited frame of mind is hard while thinking of grass, trees, and a nice relaxing sunny day…” Twilight trailed off, remembering how much she use to struggle with that spell.

“My point is, it was pretty hard to do at first. Now the more I teleported the more easier it became, I’m sure you’ve noticed that while you were practising levitation?” Sweetie nodded and Twilight continued, ”A spell is not anymore difficult or easier to cast than it always has, it’s just us getting use to manipulating the magic within ourselves and projecting it a certain way. Kind of like writing. Surely you remember trying to write letters and getting better at it? That’s how our horns work, instead of writing letters to form words, it’s manipulating magic within us to form spells. Now I can cast a teleportation spell without trying to think of those excited thoughts, and with more vague details of the area around me just as long as I’ve been there and I have enough magic for the distance. I can do it pretty easily now.” Twilight finished then walked over to the a desk and pulled a feather out of a drawer with her magic and laid it on the ground next to Sweetie.

Sweetie looked astonished, “That must be why Rarity can levitate so many things, because she’s always doing it!” She looked down in thought, “But how am I gonna get better at magic, if I just make things disappear?” Sweetie questioned now looking at the feather by her hooves.

Twilight had something mind for just that question, “After I got my cutie mark I was unable to control my magic,” Sweetie looked back up to Twilight forgetting about the feather, “there was one occasion that I set my desk on fire trying to do the night light spell and a couple others that I’d rather not admit to. Celestia was there to help me out,” Twilight gave a fond smile, “and I want to be here to help you out,” it was very cute the rosey smile Sweetie was giving her now. Twilight was definitely glad she decided to make them her official students. Though she still needs to ask them. She was a little worried they’d say no. So for now she’s trying to ‘wow’ them and prove to them that she’s up for the task.

“Sweetie, look at the feather before you and concentrate,” as Sweetie did so she continued, “I noticed that you could envelope an item in your magic but when you tried to move it, it disappeared. I didn’t have the same problem with levitation you do, but I think this just might work. I want you to envelope it in your magic but don’t move it, just leave it there.” Soon the feather was covered in a light green glow as was Sweeties horn, “Now Sweetie I want you to maintain hold of the feather and close your eyes then relax,” Sweetie slumped down slightly.

“breath in… breath out… breath in… breath out, keep your eyes closed and remain relaxed. Now remember the feather in your magical grasp? I want you to imagine it on the ground next to you just like it is right now. Everything else around you is a dark void. It’s just you, that delicate feather, and my voice. I want you to reach to that fragile feather with your magic like you did not to long ago.” Twilight watched as the glow from Sweeties horn dimmed in brightness, “Now I want you to lift it to eye level so you can see it better as there’s nothing else to look at.” Twilight was glad this was working as well as it did on her as a filly. She saw the feather slowly rise to Sweeties closed eyes.

Twilight felt proud, “You know Sweetie before I got my cutie mark I couldn’t even get my magic to work. It was like I had no magic at all. That’s probably why I was so obsessed with learning everything about it that I could get my hooves on. After I got my cutie mark I had problems doing simple things like levitation because I didn’t know how to regulate how much magic to put into a spell it was always full throttle. This is a technique that Celestia has taught me and Zecora improved upon. It helps to regulate the amount of magic put into a spell. It’s something most books don’t bother to mention, because most unicorns simply don’t have enough magic within themselves to not struggle when first learning just about any new spell. Now I want you to open your eyes.”

Twilight watched as Sweetie opened her eyes to a floating feather. Sweetie was quick to squeak in excitement. Not soon after that, the feather simple disappeared from sight. Twilight had a feeling something would happen, but she didn’t know what. “I, I... what?” Sweetie questioned and blinked a couple times.

“It’s okay Sweetie, we’re making progress. I think we’ve been down here long enough. Let's go check on Scootaloo and Applebloom,” they soon began to make their way upstairs. The rest of ‘Twilight Time’ went smoothly. Scootaloo was able to figure out what was missing with the grandfather clock, but Twilight did need to explain some words to her. Applebloom was only getting closer to making an apple tree sprout out like a zap apple tree with her potions. As they were leaving Twilight couldn’t help but ask Sweetie once again not to use her magic unless she’s present.

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Sweetie was no longer grounded and the Cutie Mark Crusaders could finally get back to Crusading. After they went to Twilights to for ‘Twilight Time’ of course. They already had an activity in mind to get their cutie marks, thanks to the board game. They drew out a map the Ponyville marketplace and what they had to do to pass each obstacle. At one point they found a way up a building and two jumps to make it to the ground though the last jump was a little high for their taste so they matted the ground with hay. Today they get their extreme racing cutie marks, or at least that’s the plan.

They’re going to do the race during a prime shopping time to ensure more obstacles. Once they had the course plotted out and the rules made they practiced some of the obstacles to make sure they’re even doable. Jumping between a couple fences, crawling under a business stand, running between tents, and of course jumping off a roof low enough to just be safe.

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Dream Catcher is a blue unicorn stallion with a light blue mane and tail. His eyes are yellow and his cutie mark is an Buffalo style dream catcher. He recently quit his first job at the Hay Burger to pursue a food cart enterprise.

He had dabbled in various subjects while at college and retained what he learned pretty well. He recently paid off his debt and saved up enough to buy the cart and supplies for his business. The cart itself was made out of poor quality wood that has very little strength. It was however well made and cheap enough to replace the parts for it. The roof is sturdy and slightly slanted for rainwater to fall down. Four rounded pillars made of the same type of wood used for decoration holded the roof up. It gave the sides a nice dream catcher weave look to it. It didn’t have a way for him to go inside which was a major oversight on his part, as being in front of the product he sold but not behind something like a counter just felt odd to him. He could live with it though. Inside were four shelves in the back to hold Cinnamon Rolls, about fifty in total. Just below them was a vat of icing to dip the cinnamon rolls in. He had a nice stylized painting all around the lower half of his cart to make it look good. He also got good wheels.

His plan is to travel Equestria and sell cinnamon rolls dipped in an excessive amount of icing. Unfortunately, he choose Ponyville to start out his enterprise. The market place was packed with ponies and he needed to find a place to set up. He found that place next to a building with hay padding the ground. He’s not sure why, but the other shop owners looked at him weirdly. He ignored it. After some time he made some good sales. In fact, he only had twenty left, so he knew things were going well.

That is, until he heard a thumping noise on the roof of his cart. He looked up to see an orange filly with a purple mane looking down from the roof of the cart scanning everything below her. Before he could even ask her to get down from there; he heard yet another thump on the cart followed by a crack from somewhere on the cart. He found his voice finally when he saw who made the second noise, “Hey get off that before it breaks, it’s really cheap wood,”

The second intruder, a yellow filly with a red mane and pink bowtie responded, “Ah would but Ah’m not seeing a safe way down, and you took our safe way down.”

“I told you we should have left a sign saying to keep this spot clear,” the orange filly said.

“Yes you did, but how was Ah supposed to know somepony would park their cart right…”

*Thump, Crack* The back end of supports for the roof snapped like the third-rate wood it is. The hefty roof swung down, breaking through the inferior wood of the dreamcatcher weave design on both sides. As it did this it began to noticeable tip over and Dream quickly backed up.

“Ahhhhh!” He heard three fillies scream as the cart began to fall though that was short lived.

*Crash, Splosh* Once the cart hit the ground it basically imploded on itself, but not before the vat of icing exploded outwards.

…

“ooooo, what happened? what is this stuff?” a filly asked now covered in icing.

“Whatever it is it taste good,” another filly responds licking some icing from her face.

“Hey you’re right this is good,” yet another responded.

Dream Catcher was to put it lightly shocked. He could not handle disasters well at all. His brain basically shut down. He hardly remembers the three fillies finally noticing him and quickly running up in front of him to apologize. He hardly remembers giving them his name and saying it was okay. He began to think about what to do now. He barely recognized the fillies question on what they were covered with, only repeating their description of “white stuff” as his answer. He had more important things to think about.

He completely ignored their last attempts to talk to him. As he looked at the ruined cart he noticed the wheels were still good so he could sell those and he still had what he made from his sales. The fillies at one point or another left him alone, after being ignored for long enough. He finally had a plan of action. First, he would salvage and sell what he can, the wheels for sure. Then, he would buy a suit and take the next train out of town. After that, he would find a different profession that doesn’t directly involve carts.

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“Ah’m pretty sure it’s icing, Ah mean there were cinnamon rolls all around us on the ground,” Applebloom said while in between two other icing covered fillies. They were walking to Sweet Apple Acres to get a bath.

“Yeah, well he called it ‘white stuff’ and we should respect that; I mean, we did destroy his cart,” Scootaloo stated.

“Oh this is no fair, how come I’m always the one destroying stuff?” Sweetie complained.

“He said it was okay Sweetie, besides all of us broke it not just you,” Scootaloo responded looking across Applebloom to her.

They already figured that racing wasn’t their special talent. They decided to try and get more ideas from the board game after they took their bath. They did get some ideas for tomorrow. They weren’t as exciting as racing but they had to give them a try. Applebloom noticed Scootaloo hasn’t been on her scooter recently and got curious. Scootaloo already had a lie picked out for this question and said she lost it and not to worry about it. Sweetie and Applebloom of course begrudgingly accepted this. They’d miss being pulled by Scootaloo on Appleblooms red wagon, even if it’s temporary. Eventually, they went their separate ways as it was getting dark.

The next day they unsuccessfully tried for their cutie marks again. Everything from mowing the lawn to bush sculpting was not their special talent. The owner of the house would have been perplexed by this as her yard now looked fantastic. That didn’t stop the crusaders from walking away in shame, though they gladly did take her bits. They tried some other things like cleaning chimneys, delivering packages, and even doing the dishes at Sugarcube Corner. They didn’t get the results they were looking for, but for some reason they kept getting bits.

Scootaloo was happy more so how today went than the others. She got to spend some quality time with her best friends and earn some bits. She wouldn’t admit it to them but things have been pretty surreal for her lately and not in a good way. It was nice to have some normalcy back even if it was a little different. Once they went their separate ways she figured she’d check in on Twilight to see if things were still good to go for tomorrow, and they were.

Scootaloo was still getting nightmares about falling to her doom. At least she knew she had control whether or not they came true, but that didn't stop her from losing sleep among other reasons. Now Monday, Scootaloo was looking forward to getting her head around the machine in Twilight’s basement. Before she could make it though, she had an encounter with Rainbow Dash.

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Rainbow Dash
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When Rainbow Dash was at the hospital she scheduled a physical for next Tuesday. It’s a routine checkup that she thought was pointless but knew the Wonderbolts would consider while looking at their list of reserves. She was still put off by Scootaloo, ‘Me, a sister? Yeah right, I’m not responsible like Applejack or Rarity. I mean they run their own businesses… Besides it’s not like we have the same mother,’ She thought, though she couldn’t help but feel flattered? She still wasn’t sure what she felt.

Rainbow never had what she considered to be a family. She was an orphan for as long as she could remember. She was adopted once for about two weeks. At first she was ecstatic and everything seemed great. Then they changed. She quickly realised they were more interested in the fact she did a sonic rainboom to impress other ponies. They pressured her to do it again and when she couldn’t; they hired somepony to train her till she could. Things got pretty bad and they didn’t seem to care one bit. She refused to continue their training and acted out. They were quick to kick her back to the orphanage. After that, she didn’t think too highly of families until she met Applejack.

The first two days after the incident, Rainbow did her morning exercise routine and scattered some rain showers around Ponyville and napped. She made sure her team kept up on these as last time she didn’t a tree fell through Twilights place. There was also a lot to clean up after, regardless of their attempts to prevent that.

Friday morning while exercising she heard a yell below her and looked down to see Applebloom there. She came down to see what’s up. She quickly learned she was looking for Scootaloo who was grounded or so she assumed. Applebloom told her otherwise which left her confused. How could Scootaloo not be grounded, if her parents are supposed to be overprotective? How come Scootaloo wasn’t here if she wasn’t grounded? Did they ground Scootaloo from her? Scootaloo always watched her exercise every morning. She didn’t think anything of it the last two days she didn’t show up, because she assumed Scootaloo was grounded. She was gonna ask Scootaloo what’s going on next time she gets the chance.

The next two days were hectic as she remembered the reason why they had a big storm last summer. She had to scatter and disperse rain showers on a constant schedule, it wasn’t hard to do it just seemed to never stop. No sight of Scootaloo during her morning routines and when she has seen Scootaloo she had a schedule to keep. She had considered going to Scootaloo’s house to find out what’s going on, but really didn’t want to deal with her parents if they did tell Scootaloo to stay away from her.

Monday she didn’t have much to do so she flew around Ponyville looking for Scootaloo. As another morning without Scootaloo watching her and not knowing why gave her a nagging feeling she just couldn’t ignore. She eventually spotted her walking along the street and quickly flew down next to her. “Heya squirt where have you been?” She asked while smiling but Scootaloo kept walking a little bit before turning around.

“Oh hey Rainbow Dash, I’ve been crusading as usual,” Scootaloo replied somewhat loudly.

Rainbow stopped smiling, she didn’t like the way she answered. It sounded fine, but at the same time she found it disturbing and she doesn’t know why. It was missing something. “That’s cool, so this may sound crazy but I was worried for a second that your parents grounded you from me or something crazy like that because I haven’t seen you during any of my morning workouts lately,” she said fishing for any truth to this thought that began to plague her since she talked to Applebloom.

Scootaloo blinked a couple times before shaking her head and answering. “What no I wasn’t grounded from you, I just... I just... decided that it’s summer and I might as well sleep in while I can before school starts again.”

Rainbow pawed the ground, she just realized that she actually kind of missed Scootaloo. She wanted to prolong their interaction, “Oh, That sounds like a good plan to me... Do you want to fly around for a little bit?” Rainbow asked. There’s no way Scootaloo could resist this offer.

Scootaloo’s face lit up for a millisecond; before going to one of fear and sorrow and then back to its previous state. “That sounds like fun, but I got to get to Twilights we are gonna disassemble the machine Sweetie blew up. I’m actually looking forward to this.” Rainbow heard about that incident from Applejack.

“Oh... Okay, well I’ll see ya later then,” Rainbow replied and flew off. Rainbow felt something was off and it was driving her crazy. She just realised she could have flown Scootaloo to Twilights, well it was too late now.

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Scootaloo
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Scootaloo was left drained from her encounter with Rainbow. Rainbow had not changed and it was some comfort to know that she did care. It just wasn’t what Scootaloo really wanted and that was something her heart just wouldn’t accept even if her mind already had. She’s glad Pinkie was able to help her understand things about her past better, but she didn’t need Pinkie for this.

Once Scootaloo made it to Twilight’s, they went to disassembling the machine. Twilight had already read the manual. She described what each piece of the machines function is to Scootaloo as they went along. It was long and tedious, but Scootaloo enjoyed her time with Twilight. It was pretty much an all day project with how many different parts the machine was made of. Eventually Scootaloo found the courage to confront Twilight about her flying once they were nearly done, “Twilight, can you Pinkie promise to tell no pony this?”

Twilight looked at Scootaloo critically for a second before saying, “cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye,” while making the appropriate gestures. “Now what is so important you don’t want me to tell anypony?”

Scootaloo gulped and blurted out, “I’m scared of flying!” She waited to see if Twilight would laugh or worse give her pity then continued, “I tried to fly a couple days ago and when I flapped my wings the next thing I know I was high in the sky, really really high. At first I thought somepony had taken me up there as a joke or something but I saw nopony. I was so scared, I passed out, and when I came to I was much closer to the ground, I thought I was gonna die, luckily I was able to glide... I’m... I’m scared of my wings. I don’t know what’s wrong with me.”

Twilight looked concerned and quickly gave her a hug. Scootaloo half committedly hugged back; it was nice to get a hug, though she wouldn’t admit it. After a couple seconds Twilight detached, “It’s ok Scootaloo we’ll find out why that happened soon enough and I am sure Rainbow Dash wouldn’t mind teaching you how to fly so something like that does not happen again.”

Scootaloo previously would have loved that idea, but she just couldn’t face Rainbow, “No, I want you to teach me,” it hurt too much think about, so she didn’t. She also definitely couldn’t let Rainbow know she was afraid of flying, of all things.

Twilight looked shocked by Scootaloo’s answer, “Why don’t you want Rainbow to teach you? She’s a great teacher when it comes to flying. I thought you would’ve jumped at the chance for Rainbow to train you.”

“Because you’re a good teacher, and who better to teach me to fly then somepony who’s learning to fly themselves?” Scootaloo was pleased with her reseasoning. She didn’t want anypony to know what she’s been going through if she could help it. She didn’t need them questioning why a lack of a sister would make her feel like an empty void was in her, even if she had the perfect excuse for it. She didn’t need Pinkie for this!

Twilight looked at Scootaloo questioningly, “Well Scootaloo, if what you say is true and you suddenly rocketed into the air, I don’t trust my flying abilities enough to be able to protect you if anything like that happens again. I would feel much safer if Rainbow Dash was there.”

Scootaloo couldn’t think of anything that could argue against that. She didn’t like it, but she relented, “Fine. If she must be there, then she must be there but you’ll be the one teaching me not her.” Twilight looked at her oddly then agreed, and they went back to reassembling the machine. Once they were done they decided that Wednesday would be a good day to start flight training if Rainbow could make it.

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Rainbow Dash
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The next day Rainbow went to visit Twilight and asked if she noticed anything strange with Scootaloo lately. Twilight was quick to answer, “Well besides the fact she can now lift up boulders like they’re pebbles, yes I have noticed her acting a little strange. She has been more eager to learn engineering, even yesterday we took apart the Thaunumatic 6000... She also has been more affectionate. Why? Is there something I should be aware of?”

“No,” Rainbow said a little too fast, “I mean, I just think she’s been acting weird lately. I haven’t seen her when I get my morning workout in and she’s always there,” she said more cooly. She can’t be the only who has noticed something off with Scootaloo.

Twilight looked at Rainbow with suspicion, “Okay, Rainbow Dash I didn’t want to have to do this but you leave me no choice what is going on with you two? Because yesterday she also asked me if I could teach her how to fly I also set up our first lesson for Wednesday.”

Rainbow Dash was shocked but she quickly snapped out of it as the only logical conclusion came to her head, “Oh I see she’s planning on trying to impress me with,” but she was cut off by Twilight.

“No,” Twilight said sternly, “I asked her why she wanted me to teach her how to fly instead of you and she said, ‘who better to teach me than somepony who’s also learning to fly?’”

Rainbow couldn’t help but panic, ‘She doesn’t want me to teach her how to fly?’ Rainbow thought, ‘But, but why?’ was all she managed to think before Twilight snapped her out of it.

“Dash it’s not the end of the world, now tell me what’s going on so I can help you.” Twilight said seriously.

“The only thing that happened between us is…” Rainbow stopped. Scootaloo seemed to want to keep where she lives a secret. Mentioning that Scootaloo showed her where she lives might make Twilight seek it out. The only other thing she could think of was, “Well I told her I’m not her sister, but I don’t think that’s it I mean she didn’t seem to take it hard at all heck we even laughed it off as the stupid misunderstanding it was. We’re still good,” Rainbow said probable trying to convince herself more than Twilight.

Twilight was looking at Rainbow in shock, “I thought you decided to be Scootaloos sister as well”

Rainbow was agitated by this, “But I never said I would be her sister! I just said I would take her under my wing, she didn’t seem to take it hard at all when I told her,” Rainbow said somewhat loud and defensively. After being told the same thing for the third time. She didn’t understand why everypony seemed to suddenly think she’s Scootaloos sister, when she isn’t. Even Applejack, of all ponies thought that they were sisters.

“Rainbow. Calm. Down,” Twilight said in an commanding voice, “She obviously took it harder then she let on. She seemed pretty intent on not letting you be any part of the practice.”

Rainbow just looked at Twilight. Twilight just lied to her face. There’s no way Scootaloo would ever not want her to be part of her training, right? Before Rainbow could respond Twilight continued.

“Think of it this way, Rainbow. Fluttershy is one of your best friends long before you met me right? Well, how would you feel if she came up to you and told you she never thought about you as friend, but just somepony who she knew from flight school?” Twilight asked.

This confused and angered Rainbow, “What? Fluttershy has nothing to do with this! She would never do that because we are friends!” Rainbow half yelled.

“Rainbow, think about this for a second, If I understand this right, then Scootaloo thought for pretty much a whole year you were her sister, and then you go and tell her you’re not. What do you think that does to somepony?" Twilight tried to explain in a different way.

Having never been in a real family and being frustrated that she hasn’t got to say what she thinks happened, Twilights words went in one ear and out the other, “I don’t think that’s why she’s acting different. Something had to happen to her in the cave!” It made sense to her, after the incident in the cave Scootaloo stopped showing up to watch her practise/workout. She had to be possessed with some crazy magic like Rarity had been.

Twilight had enough, she would go to Tartarus before she let Rainbow make a huge mistake with one of her students, and the filly who looks up to Rainbow like a hero. She decided to use drastic measures to get her point across. This was going to hurt both their feelings but she felt it had to be done. “You know what Rainbow Dash? I’m done with you. If you want to act like that around everypony you meet, and not listen to reason, then so be it. Good day. We’re no longer friends.” Twilight felt absolutely horrible saying this, but kept the act up as best she could.

Rainbow was confused. Why would Twilight lie to her like this? It was almost like she meant it to. "Yeah, okay Twilight, ha ha, very funny, and I'm giving up on my goals of becoming a Wonderbolt. You can't expect me to believe that," Rainbow replied sarcastically, though some nervousness crept through.

Twilight looked back at her coldly, and said with deadly seriousness, "Rainbow, if you make me repeat myself one more time, I'll make sure you never join the Wonderbolts. As you may know I’ve been reading the laws of Equestria. Article forty-six, section four gives me as a Princess of Equestria the ability resign and demote military personnel. The Wonderbolts are part of the Equestrian military, you might argue that they’re independent but you’re wrong because article forty-seven section two gives me as a Princess the ability to forbid any citizen from joining the military. In short, I can make it so you’ll never be a Wonderbolt... Come to think of it, that’s a good idea! I should have them teach me how to fly, now get lost, because I AM DONE WITH YOU!" Twilight yelled.

Rainbow Dash was beyond shocked. She felt like her whole world just got ripped apart. How could all that time they spent together, all the things they’ve done together mean so little to Twilight? She made to respond but when she looked at Twilight she only saw a serious face just daring her to be sarcastic again. Did she even know who Twilight was?

She thought Twilight actually cared about her. She felt this once before with Gilda except it felt far worse now. She felt completely betrayed, “If that’s how you feel, then I’ll see you later or whatever,” She turned around to fly away before the tears she felt welling up in her eyes began to fall, but Twilight put a magical grip on her tail and stopped her just as she tried to take off.

“Rainbow tell me how did that make you feel?” Twilight asked while holding Rainbow in her magic.

“What do you mean, your highness?” Rainbow responded in a defeated tone as tears begin to fall, not wanted to admit how hurt she felt.

That was the last straw for Twilight. She quickly threw herself on Rainbow in a hug and apologized several times and cried a little. “I’m sorry Rainbow Dash, I didn’t mean it at all. You’re one of my best friends and don’t you ever forget that! I just did that so you might understand what Scootaloo’s going through.”

Rainbow felt comforted by this, but that awful feeling lingered. “Jeez, Twilight talk about tough love, I actually thought you… Nevermind, I think I know what Scootaloo is going through,” Rainbow said while getting out of Twilights tear filled hug, “but what do I do about it? I can’t be her sister, we’re not related.” Rainbow questioned as Twilight calmed down.

“Well that doesn’t matter, but if you won’t be her sister then have you apologized to her?” Twilight questioned.

Rainbow would argue that it does matter whether or not they’re related, but then again even Applejack didn’t seem to think it did, “No, I didn’t think I needed to, but now I can see why I will. Thanks Twilight, and Twilight, NEVER!” Rainbow struck a hoof out to Twilights chest, “Do that again,” she was still feeling the after effects of such a possible revelation.

Twilight just smiled even if she technically just got hit, “Fair enough. Just so you know I did manage to get you in on the flight training with Scootaloo, but the rest is up to you.” Twilight said in an informative way.

Rainbow thanked Twilight for doing that. Then they talked about other stuff. Apparently Twilight has a spa appointment with Rarity in a few minutes. She told Twilight about the physical examination she has for later today and thanked her again for the help. She asked if Twilight really could make it so she could never be a Wonderbolt. Turns out, that Twilight doesn’t know, and that she made it up, just to get the point across. Twilight once again apologized to Rainbow and said that she’d never do that to her. They finally said their goodbyes as Twilight had a spa appointment. Rainbow went to go get a nap and think about how she was going to apologize to Scootaloo.

End Chapter 9

Author's Note:

Hey guys, I finally got done editing this chapter, content wise that is. I sure there's plenty of grammar mishaps I would appreciate if you pointed them out, so I can get rid of them. I don't have bad grammar on purpose, I've just never been good at it.
Next non-optional chapter things get real and the sad part of this fiction will mostly be coming to a close once it's over. Which is a couple chapters after that. Then I'll be focusing on adventure.

Author's Notes:

1.“She made sure her team kept up on these as last time she didn’t a tree fell through Twilights place. There was also a lot to clean up after, regardless of their attempts to prevent that.” This is a reference to S1E8 of MLP, “Look before you sleep”
2.“She had to be possessed with some crazy magic like Rarity had been.” This is a reference to S4E23 of MLP, “Inspiration Manifestation”