Passing The Test
“Hey squirt, let’s have a bit of fun today,” Rainbow Dash said after a hasty knock on the door to the Cutie Mark Crusader’s club house. Scootaloo flung open the door to see the mare’s coy smile. That smile remained as Rainbow Dash watched the filly dart from corner to corner. The mare raised her hoof and said, “Whoa there squirt, calm down. What I mean is how about we relax a bit today? You know, ‘loosen up.’ Grab your scooter.”
Leaves blew past the pegasus filly while she sat on the dirt path and smiled. She bolted outside and made it down the ramp before her idol left the interior wooden floor of the small tree house. Scootaloo had her scooter well in hoof. Her hearty smile remained as she said, “I’m ready whenever you are, Rainbow Dash.”
Quiet snickers and cheers came from both ponies. Their journey took them down the long scenic dirt path towards Ponyville. The coy, athletic mare increased her speed. Each time it increased, more and more, she witnessed the the pegasus filly catch up. A small brown satchel around Rainbow Dash’s neck swayed in the wind.
Scootaloo’s eyes focused on the pathway, but kept a keen watch on the pegasus that flew beside her.
“Watch this!” Scootaloo said with an enthusiastic shout. She rocketed forward. Her scooter left the ground and her eyes dilated; the small patch of dirt in front of her formed a natural ramp. Wind ruffled the feathers on her wings. She opened her eyes, and elation came as the hairs on her coat stood on end. That elation ended in unison with the swift “thud” of Scootaloo landing her scooter on the ground. “That was awesome! It felt like eternity before I came down that time!”
Rainbow Dash gave her number one fan a swift, quick pat on the head after the little pegasus removed her helmet. She grabbed Scootaloo, placed the filly on her back, flew into the air, and plopped down on a cloud that overlooked a peaceful horizon near Sweet Apple Acres.
“One day, you’ll achieve your dream.” Rainbow Dash said before she gave a quick smirk. “I just have a quick question for ya.”
“…” Scootaloo said nothing. She tried to contain her excitement. With a swipe of her hoof against her mane, the pony looked at her idol. “What ya want to know?”
“Let me see here… what is Men-thyl as-e-tate?” Rainbow Dash said while she rummaged through her brown satchel. “I’m just curious about it. ‘Egghead’ was mumbling about it.”
“How am I supposed to know about Menthyl Acetate being a chemical component that contributes to the smell of peppermint – Hey, how did I know about that?” Scootaloo said while she scratched her mane. “That’s some weird ‘sciency’ question that would be up Apple Bloom’s way since she’s making potions.”
Rainbow Dash continued to rummage through her bag. She peppered the pony beside her with question upon question. Through her snickering, she wiped away a tear that began to form. Each question came back right. The filly soon buried her face into the clouds.
“Sorry for laughin’ at ya squirt,” Rainbow Dash said, her attempt to stop those quiet chuckles futile. “Scootaloo, I wanted to give a rather innocent test.”
Scootaloo’s ears perked up. She pulled her head out of the clouds, raised an eyebrow, and then rubbed her hoof against her chin, “But you hate tests.”
“True, I hate tests. There are times when they are an absolute ‘must.’ I needed to see if you had the keen mind and eyes of a pegasus.” Rainbow Dash tapped on Scootaloo’s head before she pointed at her eyes, “Like me, you can discern little things around you.” Rainbow Dash’s jovial smile ended while she looked toward the horizon. “You passed an even better test than I could have given you though. I caught something I hoped to never see in Ponyville. I saw you, Apple Bloom, and Sweetie Belle behind Mr. Breezie’s. That pony tried to get you to smoke some cigs.”
“O, right,” Scootaloo said as she shied away. “That stuff they teach us in school about ‘losers don’t smoke’ thing is rather lame. To be honest though, I didn’t want to try it since Ms. Cheerilee told us about Nacreous and her—“
“She was a great flier,” Rainbow Dash said. Her eyes fixated on the horizon.
“Rainbow Dash, don’t you trust me? I mean, I would never do anything to embarrass you.” Scootaloo said.
“Embarrassment?!” Rainbow Dash said. She turned her head and faced Scootaloo. “This isn’t about something stupid as embarrassment, kid! You have your whole life ahead of you. I just want you to know there are consequences for bad choices.”
“If made the right choice, why are you getting so angry?” Scootaloo said before she buried her head in the clouds again. “What do you want from me?”
Rainbow Dash pulled the pegasus out of the cloud and sat beside her, placing a wing over the pony. The mare and filly watched as the light ran up the trunks of the Apple Trees on Sweet Apple Acres. “You did make the right call squirt, and just chalk this up to that ‘sisterly love’ thing Rarity and AJ call it. I’m hard on you because temptation will always be there. Anyways, we’ll leave it at that. Let’s get ya home, squirt.”
Air flowed between each feather of Scootaloo’s wings. Rainbow Dash brought both of them back towards the ground. Scootaloo looked towards Rainbow Dash and raised an eyebrow. “Hey, I’m just curious. Could you help me study for the upcoming test with Ms. Cheerilee? I kinda need some help, heh heh.”
“Didn’t study?” Rainbow Dash said as she stared at the filly.
“N-nope,” Scootaloo said while she looked off to one side,” we kinda got side tracked a bit. I know Apple Bloom studied by having notes taped to apples in the orchard by Applejack. Rarity gave Sweetie Belle some notes when they were making dresses. I kinda got left out of the mix.”
“Ok, squirt. Let’s get some studying in.” Rainbow Dash said.
The ponies darted down the path back towards Ponyville, Rainbow Dash flashing some cards in front of the filly’s eyes.
Scootaloo arrived at her house and stretched out her wings alongside her idol. She removed her helmet, placed it on her scooter, and brought both inside. Before shutting the door, the filly looked towards Rainbow Dash and said, “Umm, can I ask a question?”
“Shoot,” Rainbow Dash said.
“Can I meet Nacreous one day?” Scootaloo said. She watched her idol give a melancholic smile. “Did I say something wrong?”
“Naw squirt, you’re fine. I’ll take you to meet her some day.” Rainbow Dash said before she leapt into the sky and flew off, giving Scootaloo a friendly wave before she did it. The mare sat on a cloud and watched the sun move into the distant horizon, while the moon rose in the other. “I hope you don’t mind a visitor. I guess I’ll see you tomorrow, mom.”