Follow The Rainbow

by UnlicensedBrony

Shortcuts [Silly]

Episode One: Shortcuts - [Silly]

“Scoots, are you sure this is a good idea?” asked Sweetie Belle doubtfully.

Scootaloo flexed her legs to make sure that the hang glider’s wings moved properly. “Of course I am! I mean, what could possibly go wrong?” There was a ripping noise as the glider’s left wing fell to the ground. Scootaloo sighed. “Applebloom…”

“Ah’m on it!” Applebloom bit off another piece of sticky tape and reattached the wing, good as new. As she stood back to check her work, she frowned at Scootaloo in thought. “Y’know, Ah don’t think this thing is safe.”

Scootaloo waved her fears off casually and approached the edge of the hill to look down over it. “You guys worry too much. We’re not even that high up.”

Sweetie Belle stepped forwards. “Well yeah, but--”

“I’ve got this, guys!” Scootaloo assured them. She backpedalled to stand at the opposite end of the hilltop as her friends watched hopelessly. “Alright, here goes…” Narrowing her eyes and crouching low, Scootaloo started a silent countdown. Ten. Nine… Three-two-one! She pushed off with her back legs and broke into a gallop. She steeled herself as she neared the edge. She jumped.

“Wow, no way!”

“Ah don’t believe it!”

Scootaloo craned open an eye. There was something wrong with this picture. There were no blood-curdling ripping noises from the glider, the wind was strangely gentle and the ground wasn’t approaching at an alarming rate. Which meant…

“Ohmygosh – I’m flying!” Scootaloo yelled. “I’m actually flying! Woohoo!” She tilted her body sideways, turning the glider’s wings so that she could pass over her gawping friends.

“Way to go, Scoots!” cried Applebloom.

“How does it feel?” yelled Sweetie Belle.

Beaming, Scootaloo turned again in midair and felt the wind against her face. “It feels totally, absolutely, super a--” Rip. “Uh oh.”

Scootaloo’s eyes went wide as she heard the dreaded sound of the sticky tape tearing off. Looking up, she saw that the glider’s left wing was missing. Looking down, she saw that she was plummeting towards the ground. “Curse you, sticky ta---ape!”

---

“…aloo-- Scootaloo--”

Scootaloo groaned tiredly and forced her eyes open, expecting to find her mom standing over her, telling her that it was time for school. Instead, she saw a mess of leaves and branches, along with some mangled contraption that looked strangely familiar. “…Oh,” she muttered.

“Scootaloo-- Scootaloo--”

“Up here, Applebloom,” sighed Scootaloo, not bothering to turn over. There was a sound of hooves crunching against grass, then a pair of gasps.

“Scootaloo!”

“Scoots, how’d you get up there?” asked Sweetie Belle. Scootaloo furrowed her brow and rolled her head out of the tree to stare at Sweetie Belle. Applebloom did the same. Sweetie Belle glanced between them a couple of times before working it out. “Oh, right!”

Applebloom shook her head and looked up at Scootaloo. “Are ya okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine.” Scootaloo sighed again. “Except that my hang glider broke and now I’m stuck in a tree…”

“Yeah, but look on the bright side,” said Sweetie Belle cheerily. “It’s an apple tree – you can have lunch up there!”

“Sweetie Belle…”

“What? I’m just saying!”

“Scoots, ya want me to get Applejack to come help ya down?”

Scootaloo rolled over and planted her hooves on some solid branches. “No, I've got it.” Screwing up her face in concentration, she beat her wings as hard as she could and leapt out of the tree. It slowed her fall so that she could touch down on the grass softly. She brushed a few leaves out of her mane before turning to frown at her friends.

“Aw, come on, Scoots.” Applebloom put a hoof on her back. “At least ya flew for a little while!”

Scootaloo shook her head and then let it hang. “Yeah – like, ten seconds…” she grumbled. “What’s the use? I’ll never be able to fly.”

“Sure you will!” Sweetie Belle chimed in. “We just need to build a better hang glider.”

“A better hang glider…” repeated Scootaloo slowly. After a moment, she looked up with an excited smile. “Yeah! A better hang gilder! This time with lots more sticky tape!”

Sweetie Belle beamed at her. “Yeah, and--” She paused mid-sentence to watch a pair of pegasi zoom overhead, towards town. When she looked down again, she was frowning. “Oh, I’ve got to go,” she said with a sigh.

“Huh? Why?” asked Scootaloo, furrowing her brow.

“Mom said I had to come home and do chores at noon – when the weather patrol starts clearing the clouds.” She pointed towards the pegasi.

“Oh…”

“But we can work on it tomorrow, right Applebloom?” said Sweetie Belle desperately.

“Right!”

“Yeah, okay,” grumbled Scootaloo. “I guess you’re going too then?”

Applebloom nodded. “Sorry, Scoots. I’ve got to help Granny with lunch.” She gave Scootaloo another pat on the back. “Don’t worry – we’ll get ya flyin’ soon enough!”

---

Scootaloo looked between the blueprint on the park bench and her new glider. So far, she’d managed to craft a leg band and half of a wing. She groaned – this took so much longer without her friends.

“Hey, squirt!” came Rainbow Dash’s voice. “Flying solo today?” Scootaloo looked up to see the most awesome pegasus in Equestria hovering above her with a smile. She put on her best pouty voice.

“No. That’s the problem,” she said shortly.

Rainbow Dash blinked. “Huh?”

Scootaloo sighed. “Nothing. Applebloom and Sweetie Belle had to go, so I’m working on my hang glider.”

“Oh, yeah? How’s it going?” asked Rainbow, alighting next to the bench.

Scootaloo hung her head. “Not so good. The old one broke and got tangled in a tree so I have to start from scratch.”

“Oh, tough break,” said Rainbow Dash, rubbing the back of her head. “Hey, wait a minute. What do you need a glider for anyway?”

“Um…” Scootaloo gave her wings a few flaps and looked at her meaningfully.

Rainbow furrowed her brow. “They still don’t work?” she said, not even trying to hide her surprise. Scootaloo shook her head and looked away. “Uh, I mean, that’s totally normal – nothing to worry about!” Rainbow Dash added desperately.

“Yeah, sure,” mumbled Scootaloo.

They were both silent for a long moment. Rainbow Dash put her hoof on Scootaloo’s back. “Hey, don’t let it get you down. Y’know what – why don’t I help you with your glider? I’ll bet, between us, we’ll get it done in no time!”

Scootaloo’s face brightened. “Really?! You mean it?” she gasped.

“Sure,” said Rainbow coolly. “Just finished weather patrol so I’ve got a bunch of spare time. Let’s see what you’ve got!”

Worries completely forgotten, Scootaloo beamed and moved to show Rainbow her progress. “Well, this is the blueprint that Sweetie Belle made. I’ve been trying to figure out how to change the wings so they don’t, you know – fall off.” She looked over at the mess of tape, wood and cloth that was her experimental new glider wing. “It’s not going so well…”

Rainbow glanced at the blueprint, then leaned in to scrutinize Scootaloo’s creation. Scootaloo watched in eager anticipation as Rainbow paced around it, looking at it from every angle and grunting on occasion. Finally, she looked up and smirked. “Okay, squirt – I’m no expert on hang gliders, but I think I see your problem.”

“You do?! What is it?” Scootaloo prompted excitedly.

“Wait here, I’ll be back in a flash.” With that, Rainbow kicked off from the ground and dashed off into the distance, returning one flash later with a strange object in her mouth. “Thish should do the trick,” she slurred, spitting the object onto the bench.

Scootaloo squinted at it. “What is it?”

“You see, your problem was that you were using regular old sticky tape,” said Rainbow sagely. “This…” She put a hoof on top of the object and smiled confidently. “Is duct tape.”

“…Duct tape?” repeated Scootaloo in wonderment.

“Duct tape,” Rainbow confirmed. “I use it all the time. It’s way cooler than sticky tape. If we slap some of this on our glider, it’ll hold it together, no problem!”

Scootaloo beheld the roll of duct tape with a slack jaw. Could it really be that simple? She was brought back to her senses when Rainbow patted her on the head. “C’mon, squirt – let’s get this thing built!”

---

Rainbow tugged on the belt and then stood back. “Tight enough, squirt?”

“Yep!” said Scootaloo, bouncing in place to check the weight of the glider. Rainbow Dash hovered up and put a hoof on one of the wings. She shook it a little to make sure it was secure, then nodded and touched back down.

“Great! I think we’re all set!” said Rainbow.

Scootaloo could barely contain her excitement. She had a great feeling about this. This duct tape-reinforced glider couldn’t possibly fail – especially since Rainbow Dash had helped her make it! Sure, the wings looked kind of funny compared to the last glider, but that just added to the style.

“Alright, you remember what I told ya?” asked Rainbow.

“The wings are an extension of my body!” Scootaloo recited. “Don’t think of it as a glider – just control it in the same way as I would my arms or legs!”

“Aaaand?” Rainbow prompted.

“And don’t forget to look cool!” finished Scootaloo proudly.

“Right on, squirt!” cheered Rainbow, patting her on the back. “Okay, let’s do this! I’ll give you a countdown.”

Scootaloo nodded and turned to face the edge of the hilltop, just as she had done before. She lowered herself close to the ground and shut her eyes. Look cool, she reminded herself. Look cool for Rainbow Dash.

Rainbow started her countdown. “Three…”

Scootaloo opened her eyes and put on her most-practiced Rainbow Dash smirk.

“Two…”

She rolled her neck and licked her lips.

“One…”

She bent her back legs in readiness.

“Go!” yelled Rainbow Dash. Scootaloo surged forwards, her hooves pounding hard against the grass in rhythm. Her heart beat faster and faster as she neared the edge. She felt herself getting lighter. This was it! She kicked off from the ground and threw out her hooves like Rainbow Dash always did.

The glider dipped downwards and went careening towards the ground. Scootaloo’s confident smirk disappeared. “No! Nonononono!” she squealed, desperately trying to pull herself out of the dive. As she was about to hit the ground, she closed her eyes and braced herself.

But the impact never came. Scootaloo forced herself to open an eye and looked around – finding, to her surprise, that the ground was a safe distance below her and she was soaring low through the sky. Her glider was intact, the wind was wafting through her mane and she was feeling the strangest sense of déjà vu. That quickly vanished to the back of her mind as she focussed on the important – she was flying!

She glanced back to the hilltop to see Rainbow Dash cheering at her emphatically. Scootaloo gave her a wave and an excited grin before remembering her lesson. She narrowed her eyes and resumed her cocky smirk as she twisted midair and looped around.

She was having the time of her life – twirling and diving and totally not almost crashing a bunch of times. And then she saw it…

The duct tape on one of her leg bands had come loose – which might not have been too bad on its own – but when she saw what laid beneath it, her eyes went wide. Sticky tape… A single strip had survived – and that meant…

Rip.

Scootaloo grabbed desperately for the tape as it flew past her ear, but it was too late. The band detached from her leg and started flapping in the wind. Her flailing attempts to reattach it were useless – the sticky tape had struck a mortal blow.

The glider spun out of control – its wings catching the wind at all the wrong angles without her guidance. Her head went foggy with all the random looping and twisting – she felt like she was going to throw up. Through the haze, she could just about figure out that she was falling – and that the landing was probably going to hurt – so she screwed up her eyes again.

It wasn’t half as bad as she thought. In fact, the impact was downright comfortable. Whatever firm but gentle pillow-thing she’d landed on was warm and smelled faintly of bubblegum. On instinct, she found herself hugging it tightly – still panicked from the fall.

When her stomach had finally settled down a little, she opened her eyes to behold a flowing, multi-coloured mane, in which her nose was nestled. “…Rainbow Dash?” she muttered.

“Who else could pull off a save that awesome?” came Rainbow’s scratchy voice. Feeling a sudden rush, Scootaloo lifted her head up a little and took in the rest of her surroundings. She was gliding quietly through the empty cloud layer atop Rainbow Dash’s back – the hang glider still mostly fastened to her back. She could feel Rainbow’s powerful wings underneath her, shifting slightly in the wind.

“You looked pretty good up there, squirt,” said Rainbow Dash kindly. “So, how did you like flying? What’d it feel like?”

Scootaloo swept her eyes over the ground far below one last time before pulling herself back down into Rainbow’s mane and shutting her eyes to enjoy the feeling while she could.

“It feels awesome.”

---

Comments

[Paton Pendeng]

... nice.

[River Road]

Especially the first half was hilarious.

[Fluttershyisacutegal]

great and funny start to the story