//------------------------------// // Chapter Twelve: Open and Honest // Story: CMC: Training is Magic // by Cold Spike //------------------------------// “Uh, are you sure ab- about this?” Scootaloo stuttered, glancing all around her. She gulped and looked down for the seventh time as her hooves teetered on the very edge of oblivion; she and Rainbow stood on a massive cloud that had been placed high above the ground. Rainbow merely rolled her eyes and jumped off before swiftly and safely landing on the ground. “Yep, and it’s barely taller than your treehouse, Squirt. Just jump, and I’ll catch ya if you don’t fly, I promise,” she declared with an honest smile. Reluctantly, the filly gave a shy smile in return; but couldn’t help let out another loud gulp once she looked down again. The ground seemed farther away than she’d care to admit and, despite what Rainbow declared, it seemed way taller than their dinky little treehouse. “Big sis, have you seen Scoots anywhere? I wanted to… um, well, have you seen her?” Sweetie asked urgently while butting her head between her big sis and a dress she had been altering. “Um, well no. Have you tried, uh-” Rarity in blinked in confusion. “Where does she live again? I’m sure she’d be at home, right?” Sweetie nodded and ducked away. “Yeah, I think she lives just past your boutique. I’ll be back in a little bit if that’s okay?” Sweetie asked while looking up with her adoring eyes. Rarity smiled and went back to her work. “Of course dear, just be safe- oh and tell Scootaloo hello!” “Got ya!” Sweetie called back but frowned once she reached the door. “If I find her…” she added under her breath. Just outside, Sweetie Belle was already starting to have her doubts as she shut the front door. “Past the boutique…” she muttered and looked behind her, finding no collection of buildings that could even be defined as a home. She figured that checking each and every one, or at least asking somepony if they knew of a Scootaloo would be her best bet, but then she remembered something. “She said she also lived near Bubbles… oh, Scoots, which one is it?” she asked herself. There was no more hiding the truth from herself; something was up with her friend. She took a seat and pondered what to do and where to look. “I could waste my whole afternoon going door to door…” she muttered thoughtfully with a sigh, but then she glanced back over toward the center of the town. With a wide smile, she stood up and began to canter off toward it. “Or I could ask a certain mare about her,” she announced with a smirk. You wanna keep things secret from us? Fine, but don’t think you can hide from your best friends! She neared what she presumed to be the mailmare’s abode and stopped to take it in. A two story building with a traditional Ponyville-style thatched roof along with a white picket fence; it didn’t seem any different than any other home. “Doesn’t look like any pegasus lives here,” she noted, but glanced at the mailbox and gave it a firm nod. As she passed it and cantered over to the front door, she glanced one final time at the emblem of soap bubbles that had been neatly painted on the side of their address space. “Sure seems like the place, though.” She knocked three times and waited. When the door open, she was forced to back up in fear as the filly who opened it immediately hopped forward at her. “Oh my Celestia! Are you here to give me my free dresses?!” the filly asked while hopping up and down. She then frowned and looked all over, not paying even one bit of attention to the slowly backing away Sweetie Belle. That was until she turned to glare at her. “Wait, where’s your sister at?!” “Um… at work?” she said uncertainly. “And what free dresses?” The filly sighed, turned around and swiftly shut the door without another word. Sweetie Belle resisted the urge to facehoof and proceeded to slam her hooves angrily on the front door. “Hey! Hey, you come back here!” The door swiftly swung open, revealing the strange filly who stared at her with a dull, almost soulless expression. “What?” Sweetie Belle sighed and shook her head. “I was wondering if Bubbles was home?” “Why?” “Well she’s been teaching Scootaloo and--” “Oh, you mean my new big sister?!” she asked rather excitedly. For a single, solitary moment, Sweetie’s mind blanked as the words echoed in her head. New sister… Her mind raced with so many conclusions that she had trouble keeping up. She’s kind of a silly filly, maybe she just likes calling her that? Like with Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo? “Um, yes? She’s an orange-coated filly with wings. Have you seen her, lately?” “Mhm! Mommy said something about her practicing with her other sister. I think she’s near that beautiful cloud mansion!” “Right, um, thank you!” Sweetie called back and waved. “Sure, tell big sis to come back for dinner. It’s almost ready!” she exclaimed then shut the door before Sweetie could even process that. Or she’s keeping a big secret from us, Sweetie Belle thought rather darkly. She made a long beeline for Rainbow’s mansion. She started looking around for either of them and then she swiveled her head up and gasped. There, standing on the very edge of a cloud base that was quite high off the ground, was Scootaloo, who seemed quite ready to jump. Without thinking, she shouted out to her, “Wait! Don’t jump!” Perched on her cloud, Scootaloo gasped upon hearing her friend’s voice and her hoof slipped through the edge of the cloud. She flailed about and tried in vain to flap her newly-healed wings, but all they managed to do was keep her afloat for all of three seconds before she dropped and began falling faster and faster. Sweetie saw her very short life flash before her eyes as Scootaloo’s now limp body began to grow larger and larger, falling directly above her, but the unicorn didn’t possess near enough time to move out of the way. “Scoots!” she screamed over Scootaloo’s constantly squealing voice of terror and then gasped again when she suddenly stopped. Opening her eyes, she found Rainbow Dash had flown in, and now had her friend clutched tightly within her grasp. “You both okay?” Rainbow asked and they both nodded in an instant. “Good. Don’t worry, kid, we all make mistakes and fall the first time. For the most part, anyway,” Rainbow said rather sagely. She then gently placed Scootaloo back on the ground with Sweetie Belle and waved to the two. “I’ll go set up a safer spot, be right back!” she exclaimed and flew off before Scootaloo could protest. The two fillies stared at one another in awkward silence. Scootaloo sighed while Sweetie Belle studied her curiously. After a few moments of watching Rainbow move clouds around, the marshmallow coated filly spoke up, “Um, so how’s flying going?” “Oh, uh, great! Rainbow’s finally teaching me to fly! It’s… a bit scarier than I thought it would be, though,” she said while glancing up at her cloud mansion with a nervous gulp. “How’s your magic going?” “Pretty okay, I guess. I haven’t actually done anything new since we last… talked,” she said and trailed off awkwardly upon remembering that painful conversation. Scootaloo nodded. “Um, there was a filly living in Bubbles’ place-” “You mean Dinky?” Scootaloo interrupted. “Yeah, her. She said to… come home for dinner soon?” Sweetie Belle asked while looking at her with that same curious gaze. The pegasus filly buttoned her lip as her eyes widened in surprise. “She also said that you were her big sister now?” “Um,” Scootaloo uttered, but quickly buttoned her lip again. Of all the things she could have responded with, it was an unintelligible response; something that was both meaningless and gave Sweetie Belle all the information she needed. Scootaloo bit her lip and realized her mistake instantly. “Scootaloo,” Sweetie asked while glancing up at Rainbow, “what’s been going on with you? What are you hiding?” she asked in the kindest, most gentle tone that she could muster. Before she could respond, Rainbow landed and smiled at both of them. “Alright, I think I set up something that should give you a bit more confidence in the air,” she stated and had both look up at the assortment of clouds that had been stacked below one another at various levels. “This way if you fall, another cloud should easily catch ya. Ready?” she asked excitedly. Scootaloo turned to face Sweetie Belle with a solemn glance, but Sweetie surprised her by giving her a playful nudge and a smile. “Go up there! Come on, Scoots! Show me what you’re made of!” Wordlessly, Scootaloo nodded and climbed onto Rainbow’s back. They waved and Sweetie Belle watched them fly off, though she didn’t leave. “I can be patient, Scoots. But once that lesson is over with, it’s gonna be time to spill the beans,” she said with a wide smirk and took a seat in the grass to watch the show. “You can do it! Go Scoots!” Sweetie squeaked up at her. “Nice! Got a cheering crowd,” Rainbow said with a chuckle. “Right, so remember what I said about steering,” she asked. Scootaloo nodded. “Just flap harder on my left or right wing to turn. I think I got that, at least… “ “Hey, you can do this, kid. I’ll be in the air if you need me, ready to catch ya at a moment’s notice. Though, heh, I doubt I’m gonna be needed,” she noted and Scootaloo nodded since she’d stacked nearly ten different clouds under the top one. “Right,” she replied and readied herself. She stretched her wings and rolled her neck with a satisfying crack. “Here goes nothing!” she yelled comically and jumped as far out as she could. Her wings kicked into overdrive the second she left the safety of her cloud platform, but she quickly willed them back to a relatively safe speed capable of full flight. She opted to stay afloat in a straight line, pumping each wing in perfect unison while the wind flowed over her fur. Just as Rainbow had demonstrated, she kept her forehooves evenly placed at her side and did her level best to position her back hooves so they remained straight and never unbalanced her. Just as both pegasi had instructed, everything seemed to be more about logic and less about the actual magic at work, though she could still always feel a gentle breeze of something pulsing through her skin; something that wasn’t just blood and her muscles at work. Each time she would flap, the strange, alien feeling would intensify, giving her a pure feeling of elation. She flapped again and dared to make a right turn away from Rainbow by forcing her left wing to pump harder and faster. She smiled with a successful right swivel around her instructor and made another turn to straighten out. “Go Scoots! Keep flying!” Sweetie Belle called and starting cantering forward to follow. “Woot!” Scootaloo yelled and smiled down at her. She hopped onto the first set of clouds for a quick break before quickly jumping off and fluttering her wings harder and faster than she ever had before. Feeling a tad more confident, she dived through another cloud and carefully swiveled her wings at a slight angle to let the wind flow all around her. She began to pant from the exertion and sighed when she quickly realized she wouldn’t be spending much longer in the air. As a last ditch effort to stay afloat, she quickly landed on one of the last clouds and jumped off, feeling truly free for the first time since she could remember, this only lasted mere moments before she swiftly landed right at Sweetie Belle’s hooves. She panted and breathed for several moments and then smiled brightly at her friend. “Nothing,” she said and took a few more breaths of air, “to it!” Sweetie Belle leaped forward to tackle her friend and gave her a nice tight squeeze of a hug. “Nice going, Scoots!” “Heh, thanks.” As Rainbow Dash started to fly toward them, Sweetie Belle leaned into her ear to whisper, “I expect an answer to my question the next time we’re alone. Got it?” she asked rather sternly for a smiling, hugging filly. Scootaloo gulped and nodded. “Good!” Rainbow landed then bowed to Scootaloo, giving her a long, proud smile. “Nice job, sis! You flew for a full minute! You’ll be an expert in no time!” She announced and high hoofed her. “Heh, you’re looking pretty tired, though,” she noted to the panting filly. “Uh, I’ll be fine. Can we go again?!” “Um, don’t you need to go home for dinner?” Sweetie reminded her, nodding to the setting sun. Scootaloo ignored her and gave Rainbow a pleading look, her eyes opening as wide as possible. The teacher merely chuckled and shook her head. “Sorry, kiddo, I don’t want your, uh, mom getting worried about ya. There’ll be plenty of time to practice tomorrow.” Scootaloo swiveled her head back and forth, giving both Rainbow and Sweetie the biggest puppy dog eyes in all of Equestria, but no dice as each shook their head rather sternly. “Okay…” As they walked on, Scootaloo couldn’t help by shook Sweetie Belle nervous glances while her brain tried desperately to think of a way out of telling her the simple truth. Bubbles barely believed me… why would she be any different? Scootaloo lay on her brand new bed and sighed. Dinner had been nice, and it was a bonus when her brain finally realized how easy getting food would actually be from that point on. She was even munching on a few cookies; a luxury to be sure. She smiled after munching on her fifth cookie. “I’m gonna get fat,” she said, but shrugged and shoved in another. Her mind began to linger until reality snapped her back in the form of a cute little filly trying to swipe at her treats. “Get your own,” Scoots said while sticking her tongue out. “I already am!” she replied cheekily and tried to swipe at them again, only to have her efforts foiled as Scootaloo effortlessly flew a few feet above her and landed on a shelf, her cookies stashed behind her wings. “No fair!” Scootaloo smiled then took a huge bite out of another cookie. “Seems pretty fair to me!” Dinky snorted then smiled up at her. “Alright, you asked for this!” she yelled. Dinky closed her eyes while concentrating for a few solid moments; Scootaloo tilted her head in confusion until finally, she opened them. Dinky’s eyes were so amazingly wide that calling them puppy dog style pupils would have been an understatement. “Ah! I have to shield my eyes!” “You can’t! Nopony escapes my cuteness! Nopony!” she yelled. “What is going on in here?” Bubbles demanded while glaring at both of them. Dinky stopped her cuteness based attack while Scootaloo pointed down at her accusingly. “She keeps trying to cute me to death!” “I did not! She won’t share cookies with me!” Bubbles glanced at both fillies, sighed and then flew a few feet into the air with a smirk. Scootaloo blinked before realizing that she had borrowed a few cookies to give to her daughter before wordlessly leaving the room, still smirking. “...Did that just happen?” Scootaloo asked. The only reply she got was a rude little filly, wordlessly munching on her new snack. She still had three full cookies left, meaning it wasn’t a total loss, so she shrugged. “...Moms… they’ll be the death of me,” she replied in a melodramatic tone, akin to Rarity’s demeanor. Sighing, she slowly got down from the shelf while carefully balancing her remaining plate of cookies with one of her wings. Not like I’d call her mom or anything… she thought gloomily; the very thought filled her with strange feelings. She slowly started walking upstairs when she suddenly heard some rustling which ordinarily wouldn’t have bothered her if not for the slight vibration of her balanced plate of cookies. Blinking in confusion, again, she turned back, her eyes widening in shock at the few bits of crumbs left of her once plate of cookies. She grit her teeth, her anger boiling into one solitary thought: “MOM!” she screamed without thinking. Later that evening, Scootaloo continued to ponder on the last few days. She’d gone from living on her own, minding her own life, to awkwardly bunking up in a little filly’s room with a mare she barely knew all because of one stupid little bully. Her mind wandered in circles before she quite literally shook her head to clear it. “I just feel so… stupid,” she said suddenly with an exasperated sigh. She glanced outside and her eyes followed the sun’s steady path to the edge of Equestria. The shadows and darkness began to creep up around all of the buildings, projecting ponies scurrying to their homes for the night. Scootaloo blinked upon nothing a strange green light illuminating the pathway to her new home. “Huh?” It was Sweetie Belle, her pristine horn bright lighting the way through the darkness. Scootaloo watched her unicorn friend canter up to her window, take a seat and wait. She wasn’t sure if she could be seen, but Sweetie clearly wasn’t gonna budge. After several minutes of this, Sweetie began impatiently stomping her hooves into the ground over and over while constantly glancing right in Scootaloo’s direction. With a long sigh, the pegasus stood up and began walking. “This should be fun…”