Earning Your Wings

by nickyv917

First published 9th of February, 2013

After seeing Pound Cake effortlessly fly, Scootaloo has had enough. She's going to learn to fly, by any means necessary.

Scootaloo is tired of being a dodo. She needs to learn how to fly. But with the help of Rainbow Dash, she might be able to defy her physical incapabilities.

Chapters 1 & 2

*dingaling*

"Hey, Mr. Cake. What's up?", Scootaloo asked, as she took in a deep, sugary breath. "Oh, good afternoon, Scootaloo. What can I do for you today?", replied Mr. Cake.

As Scootaloo browsed the Cakes' food gallery, nothing leaped out at her. She knew that she and her friends had a lot of fun planned, and she needed to be at her best. "I need something that'll give me tons of energy. Applebloom, Sweetie, and I have big plans for today. You got anything in mind?" "Mmmm.", Carrot pondered. "I have something that might be what you have in mind, but it'll be a totally new creation. You got some time to wait?" "Sure.", Scootaloo shrugged. "I'm not meeting up with them for a while. Take your time." "Great." Carrot turned to the kitchen and shouted toward the back, "Hey, Pinkie. Start preparing prototype #19. We're going full scale."

After hearing a clearly audible "WOO-HOO", Mr. Cake stepped into the back to aid Pinkie with the new creation, leaving Scootaloo in the front room. She looked around the lobby at all the confectioneries lining the walls. Jars filled to the lid with jelly beans. Candy canes in the vase in the corner. Muffins and cookies on a nearby ledge. Gingerbread creations in a glass cabinet. Scootaloo licked her lips and got a mini-sugar rush. "Heh, no wonder Pinkie's so hyper.", Scootaloo muttered to herself.

Suddenly, she heard a tiny giggle in the far corner of the room. The Cakes' baby girl, Pumpkin Cake was playing inside her little playpen. She was barely a month old, but she was already using her magic to stack a pile of lettered blocks. "So, you must be one of the new twins. Aren't you just the most adorable thing ever?", said Scootaloo, doing her best baby-talk, while ruffling Pumpkin's mane.

"Hey, where's your little brot...". That's all Scootaloo could get out before she had to duck. Pumpkin's twin, Pound Cake was whizzing around the lobby. He wasn't flying that fast, but it looked like he was flying with almost no effort. At the sight of the Cakes' winged prodigy, Scootaloo's jaw dropped and heart sunk. "Are you kidding me? How can a baby already know how to fly, and I can't even stay airborne for more than three seconds?", Scootaloo thought. Her mind was racing at a million miles per minute. "What am I doing wrong?" "Am I ever going to figure out how to fly?" "If Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon find out about this, I'll never hear the end of it."

But then, her mind focused. "This ends today." She confidently walked out the door, and headed for the outskirts of town.

"OK, Scootaloo. Here it is. The quintuple-chocolate boysenberry-jelly filled ultra-donut!" Mr. Cake announced, coming out the kitchen. "Scootaloo?" Pinkie peered out of the kitchen, with her normally-poofy hair in a net, and asked "Where'd she go?" "I have no idea, I hope we didn't take too long.", he replied, while peering out the front door in search of the bronze filly. "Well, what do we do with this?", Carrot asked, looking at the delicious creation. Pinkie's eyes lit up and she quickly responded, "I'LL EAT IT!!!" Carrot mildly panicked. "Not after what happened with the prototype!"

---

"So, have ya talked to Pipsqueak yet?", asked Apple Bloom, between sips of her milkshake. "Not yet, but the school ball isn't for another few weeks", replied Sweetie Belle. "I'll ask him soon." "You might wanna hurry. Word 'round the printin' press is that Silver Spoon's had her eye on him," warned Apple Bloom. Sweetie's eyes shot open. "Yea, I'll ask him tomorrow before school."

From around the corner, the two fillies heard a buzzing sound. It sounded like Scootaloo on her scooter, except it sounded like she was straining to pull something. Sure enough, when Scoots turned the corner, she was towing a load of equipment stacked higher than her. Among the supplies were a couple of mattresses, climbing boots, a full-sized trapeze net, some trapeze swings, and a battle-ready, non-party-related, full-sized cannon, complete with several long fuses and a couple charges.

Scootaloo drove up to the other Crusaders and parked her scooter next to her friends with a look of pride on her face. The others could tell she had something big planned, but judging by the equipment she was hauling, it wasn't going to be pretty.

"I may regret asking this, but what's with all the firepower?" Sweetie asked with a clear sense of worry to her voice. She and the others had tried going extreme for their cutie marks in the past, and they never ended well.

"Well, you girls know Blast Cap?", asked Scootaloo, excitedly. "I don't think so", replied Sweetie. "Is he that old, creepy guy with only one eye and the wooden leg?", pondered Apple Bloom. "That's him. He hooked me up with all of this great stuff." "Scootaloo, didya ever wonder why he's missin' them parts?" Scootaloo thought about it for a second, "I don't know, it never came up."

"Can someone please tell me who this Blast Cap is? You know I hate being out of the loop like this", chimed in Sweetie Belle. "Applejack told me a lil' bit about him. He lives on the edge of the Everfree Forest, sellin' bootleg explosives." "And I think we'll need that kind of power for our next cutie mark attempt", Scootaloo said, trying to finish Apple Bloom's sentence. "Which is...", the two fillies said in unison.

"CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS, CIRCUS PERFORMERS", shouted Scoots.

Normally, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle would be more than ready to jump into whatever it took to get their cutie mark. But, if it meant looking like Blast Cap, it wasn't worth it. They're plenty of other safer ways to get their cutie mark. The only problem was telling Scootaloo that they didn't want to go. It's been a long time since Scootaloo had been this excited for a mission.

"Gee, that sounds like... fun. But, I have to... um... WORK ON ZAP APPLES. Yea, I'm really close to getting my cutie mark for zap apples." "But, wasn't zap apple season was over a month ago?", inquired Scootaloo. "Ummmm, zap apples are magic. They don't go bad", Apple Bloom said. But, in her head, she was thinking, "PleasebelievemePleasebelievemePleasebelievemePleasebelieveme". "Fair enough", said Scootaloo. "If you're that close to your cutie mark, go for it." "Great, thanks, see ya later", Apple Bloom said quickly as she ran off.

"Well, Sweetie, it's you and me, just like old times. You ready to get shot out of a cannon for your cutie mark?" "Um, actually, I'm going to be helping Rarity today", Sweetie stuttered out. "What're you two doing?", wondered Scootaloo. Sweetie thought, "OK, how did Apple Bloom do this?". "Um, we're collecting... zap... gems?"

"Zap gems?", said Scootaloo with an air of skepticism. "Yea, zap gems. They're basically like regular gems, except if you aren't wearing plastic gloves, they'll zap you", said Sweetie, knowing she had successfully completed the stupidest lie ever. Scootaloo sighed, "Ok, Sweetie. Have fun with Rarity." "What?", said Sweetie, stunned that Scoots actually believed her. Not giving Scootaloo a chance to respond, Sweetie bolted before Scootaloo could tell her dumb that fib was.

Knowing she was on her own, she scooted off to the Everfree Forest ready to earn her cutie mark.

Chapter 3

It was a beautiful afternoon. Not a cloud in the sky, which, of course, meant that Rainbow Dash had done her job. And after her job was done, you could always find her napping on a cloud on the outskirts of Ponyville. It was the perfect place to get away from it all. It was pristine. Peaceful. Silent.

At least, that's what the plan was. Her dreams were interrupted by a loud, strained buzzing sound. Dash peered off her cloud, and saw little Scootaloo hauling all of her supplies into the Everfree Forest.

"Hey, Squirt. What's with the gear?", asked Rainbow, from atop her cloud. "Oh, hey Rainbow. I'm gonna use this stuff to get my cutie mark", replied Scootaloo. "Probably could've guessed that with you", quipped Rainbow, "Well, have fun. Don't hurt yourself." "Thanks, Rainbow. See you around", said Scootaloo as she rode off into the forest.

She needed to find a spot in the woods that was fairly open, but had some sturdy low-hanging branches to hang the trapeze swings from. It took some work, but she found the perfect spot. It was a spot that had been logged out, but the surrounding forest had remained untouched, leaving several branches hanging overhead. It was the perfect spot to get shot out of a cannon.

After she unloaded her wagon, she put on the climbing boots and climbed up one of the trees with a hanging branch. She attached one of the trapeze swings to the branch, and then, she did it again three more times with the other branches. Then, she aimed the cannon just above the first swing, making sure to compensate for her weight. Finally, she set up the trapeze net at the place where she thought she'd land, should she miss the swing right out of the cannon.

As she was putting everything together, she thought about just how perfect her plan was. There was a chance that she would get all three of the things she desperately desired in one stunt. First, the branches were too far apart to reach by simply jumping. She needed to be able to fly. Second, the routine she had planned was complex enough that she'd probably earn her cutie mark by the time she stuck the landing. And third, with her cutie mark and flying ability, she'd earn the respect of Rainbow Dash.

With everything set up, she set the charge, put one of the fuses into the cannon, and lit the other end. She only had 15 seconds to climb into the cannon. She quickly jumped up, and snugly fit herself into the barrel of the cannon. She began counting down. 10... 9... 8... 7... 6... 5... 4... 3... 2...

"Wait, how strong is this charge gonna BEEEEEEEEEEE?"

When the fuse ran out, Scootaloo was blasted out of the cannon. She went way over the swings, way over the safety net, and was still climbing higher. She needed a miracle, and none was in sight.

So, she started flapping her wings.

She thought, "If there's any time for my wings to start working, NOW IS THE TIME." She flapped her wings, but she didn't feel any change in her trajectory. So, she flapped harder, still nothing. She closed her eyes and kept flapping and flapping and flapping. And suddenly, she felt something.

She felt her body begin to level off. She was actually flying. Scootaloo was in a state of shock. She didn't know what to do next. There was just one problem.

She didn't know what to do next.

She started to wobble. Thinking that she wasn't flapping her wings hard enough, she trying flapping harder. But, all that did was cause her to go completely out of control. She plummeted out of the sky, right back toward Ponyville.

Rainbow was just finishing up her nap, when her ears perked up. She heard a whistling sound, and it was getting louder. She looked up just in time to see Scootaloo hurtling toward her. Rainbow leaped off her cloud just as Scootaloo flew right through it.

Scootaloo leaned her head up to try and keep from slamming into the ground. She was able to level off right before she hit the ground. But, she was still flying incredibly fast, she still had no idea how to stop, and she was still headed straight for Ponyville.

Applejack had just set up her food stand. She had brought her brightest apples, her juiciest pies, and her fritteriest fritters. She was ready for a good day. Until.

"AHHHHHHHHHH". Scootaloo was aimed right at her cart. She hunkered down, braced for impact, and began thinking about how much more she could get done if she wasn't consistently busy repairing stuff. But, the impact never came. Applejack opened her eyes, and saw Scootaloo right in front of her. Panic was still in her eyes, her wings were still frantically buzzing. But, she was flying in place. A.J. looked behind Scootaloo, and saw Rainbow grabbing Scoots' tail, while flying in the opposite direction.

"Relax your wings, kid", strained Rainbow. Scootaloo calmed down, and fell to the ground. She'd used up all of her energy, and was on the verge on passing out. A.J. gave her a cup of apple cider to pick her back up.

"I'm... sorry,... Rainbow", stuttered Scootaloo bewteen gasps of air and sips of cider. "Don't worry about it, kid. Nobody got hurt, so it's all good. I just didn't know you could fly that fast", said Rainbow. "I can't... I shot myself... out of a cannon". "Why would you do that, that's kinda insane?", said Rainbow, now much more concerned. "I told you... for my cutie mark... and...". "And what", wondered Rainbow.

"I don't know... how to... fly", admitted Scootaloo. "Well, there're easier ways to learn how to fly than shooting yourself out of a cannon. Look, if you're looking for advice on flying, I could give you some tips". Scootaloo's eyes shot open. "REALLY?", shouted Scootaloo. "Well, sure. As long as it keeps you from shooting yourself out of a cannon", said Rainbow. "OH MY GOSH, THAT'S ONLY WHAT I'VE ALWAYS WANTED SINCE I FIRST MET YOU", fangirled Scootaloo. "Ooooooook, then. Come on, Scoots. I've got a couple of ideas for you."

The two trotted off, with a smile on each of their faces. "Well, I'm glad that's all sorted out", said Applejack, "Who wants some apples?" "A.J., I'm glad I found you", said Pinkie. "I heard somepony needed energy, so I brought the quintuple-chocolate boysenberry-jelly filled ultra-donut. Now, where this worn-out pony?" "They already left, and she's all perked up now", said Applejack. "ARRRRRRGGH, WHEN AM I GONNA SELL THIS THING?"