Scootaloo couldn’t wait any longer to check up on her idol, her hero, and her older sister figure. With special permission from her aunts, Scootaloo was allowed to have breakfast and took off immediately to Rainbow Dash’s house.
After a quick buzzing on her scooter across town, Scootaloo made it to Rainbow Dash’s cloudimonium, setting her scooter aside and knocked on the door. A moment later, the door opened, and instead of Rainbow Dash answering the door to her surprise, there was only Applejack standing in the doorframe.
"Applejack?"
"Howdy, Scootaloo. You here ta check up on Rainbow Dash too?"
"I am, but I never expected you to be here," Scootaloo confessed.
"It ain't just me," the cow pony said before she was suddenly obscured by a certain pink pony.
"Hiya, Scootaloo! Glad you could make it!" Pinkie Pie excitingly greeted the filly.
"Make it? Make it to what?"
"For Rainbow Dash's 'We're-sorry-for-what-happened-between-you-and-the-Wonderbolts-so-we're-here-to-show-you-we're-behind-you-all-the-way' brunch! We're making Rainbow Dash a big feast because she hadn't eaten or slept since her big blowout with the Wonderbolts team and it made me so sad to see her cry again, so we decided to make her a special meal and show her that we're by her side, no matter what happens to her!"
"Okayyyy," Scootaloo emphasized her uncertainty, "but is she doing okay? I've been up all night tossing and turning because I was worried about her."
Applejack gently nudged Pinkie out of the way to meet the filly's concerned eyes. "Honey, Ah don't know how ta tell ya this, but she ain't as alright as ya want her ta be. She destroyed all of her Wonderbolts possessions shortly after she came home last night, and spent most of the night cryin' her eyes out."
Scootaloo's heart fell to her stomach. "Is it really that bad?"
"Not as bad as that emotional breakdown she had earlier," Applejack answered. "Fortunately, Fluttershy and Rarity helped upstairs and she's sound asleep. She has been for the last couple of hours now."
Scootaloo gulped. "C-Can I see her?"
Applejack laid a hoof on her shoulder. "Ah don't know, sugarcube. Ah wouldn't wanna wake her now. She barely got any sleep from cryin' her eyes out."
Scootaloo pouted at the farm mare. "Please, Applejack? I can't stand another minute of standing by doing nothing while Rainbow Dash is going through a hard time. I'm her friend, too, you know? I should at least go upstairs and see if she's okay."
Applejack couldn't really argue with that. "Well, alright, but you jes' be quiet-like, alright?" she said, opening the door up wider and allowing Scootaloo inside. "Ah'm not sure how long she's been asleep, though. It ain't good ta wake somepony up while they're sleepin', whether they meant to or not."
"Thanks, Applejack," the pegasus said graciously as she passed through the kitchen.
Before she climbed up the stairs, Scootaloo passed the doorway into the living room where she spotted Fluttershy and Rarity crafting with a pile of scraps, holding them together with sticky paste or sticky tape. She couldn't make out what it was from where she was, so her curiosity peaked before she entered the living room with two eyebrows tilted upwards in interest.
"Fluttershy? Rarity?"
The two mares looked up from their work and met the pegasus's gaze.
"Oh, Scootaloo, hello dear. I didn't hear you come in," Rarity said.
"What are you two doing?" Scootaloo asked the mares.
"Nothing much, dear. Fluttershy are just trying to make some repairs."
"Repairs? Repairs to what?"
"Rainbow Dash's Wonderbolts collection," Fluttershy answered. "She smashed them all into pieces and left them in a pile in her room, so we swept them up and we're trying to put them back together for her."
"In the event that Rainbow Dash does change her mind and wants to rejoin the Wonderbolts, of course," Rarity added.
"How long ago did you put her to bed?" Scootaloo asked them.
"Only a couple of hours ago," Rarity said, applying the paste to a few pieces of her Wonderbolts action figures. "Poor thing was so exhausted physically and emotionally that she fell right to sleep in her bed. I suppose that's what happens when you sleep on top of a pile of scraps."
"Are you going to check on her?" Fluttershy inquired the filly.
"Yeah, I just dropped by to see how she was doing," Scootaloo said, gesturing towards the staircase.
"Okay, well try to be a little quiet, alright? I'm sure that she's still tired from everything that's happened to her."
"I'll try."
With that, Scootaloo quietly pitter-pattered up the stairs and to the second floor where Rainbow Dash's bedroom was situated to her right, the door closed all the way. As quietly as she could, Scootaloo turned the handle and slowly opened the door. The hinges creaked which made her cringe, so decided that the only way for this to go any quieter was to open the door a little faster. Scootaloo did so, and inside, she spotted the sad lump lying underneath the blankets. The sad lump, taking the form of her fallen-from-grace hero turned to her with tired eyes as Scootaloo entered the bedroom with the most concern she's never shown before.
"Rainbow Dash, are you okay?"
Scootaloo looked up to her idol and older sister figure with sad puppy dog eyes. Rainbow Dash, her eyes showing less exhaust and sleep deprivation than before, slowly registered her Number One Fan's concern. A little smile broke from the corner of her lips, but in reality, it was forced to look that way just to vainly show Scootaloo how relieved she was to see her again. Tank had just been woken up from his sleep by Scootaloo's arrival and let out a yawn, changing his glance to Rainbow Dash with as much concern as a pet turtle would show his master.
"Oh, hey, squirt. When did you get here?" Rainbow Dash asked the little pegasus filly.
"I just got here five minutes ago. My aunts wouldn't allow to get me out of bed until I got up at seven and had my breakfast, but that doesn't matter." Scootaloo said, suddenly shaking her head. "Wait a minute, that's not what I wanted to talk to you about at all. What's happened to you, Rainbow Dash? Your friends are here, and they're cooking you brunch downstairs because Pinkie Pie said they were behind you all the way. If that wasn't enough, I just passed by Fluttershy and Rarity who are trying to fix everything in your Wonderbolt that you smashed up and left in a pile in your bedroom!
Scootaloo's eyes were brimming with moisture at this point, to which she wiped away with her hoof. "What happened to you, Rainbow Dash? You used to look up to the Wonderbolts, but now you've gone and smashed everything you loved about them and you're letting your friends put them back together for you. I know the Wonderbolts haven't treated you nicely, but if that were me, even I wouldn't have broken them down."
Rainbow Dash stretched her limbs in her bed, careful not to let the blankets slip off of her and sighed, flopping back into her mattress. "Last night, Scootaloo, was one of the worst nights I've had in my life. You're right, I used to look up to those guys because they were as cool as my friends are, like you. But when they started calling me 'Crash,' I felt like I was back in flight camp as a filly, when the bullies started picking on me because I was so determined to make a name for myself as a Wonderbolts. Just to show them what I was made of.
"But they told me too late that calling each other names was just a nickname for them to remind you of the first mistake you make on your first day of the Wonderbolts. They teased me for it, I lost my concentration every time they called me 'Crash', and I was forced to clean after them because I was the worst flyer in the group. You remember how exhausted I was after I came home the first day after spending all afternoon cleaning the lockers and how I told you guys about them calling me 'Crash.' How Twilight told me to treat the Wonderbolts like my friends?"
Scootaloo nodded. "I tried just that, but I guess I took it in a wrong direction. After my second day of training flopped, they stuck a pin on my jacket that had my Cutie Mark crash into a stop sign. I was so peeved at them, I tried to show them that my name wasn't 'Crash'. That was the day before yesterday's performance, and you know that turned out, and before you say anything else, I am sorry for getting you involved in my problem, Scoots."
"It's not your fault, Rainbow Dash," Scootaloo assured. "You remember how I almost tossed my scooter out because Diamond Tiara picked on me for not being able to fly and I dragged Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle with me, right? If I were in your shoes, I would've gotten out of the way to have ponies show me my name wasn't 'Flightless' or 'Chicken' or something like that."
Rainbow Dash chuckled lightly at that. "Yeah, I can somehow see that happening." Her smile faded away almost instantaneously. "But not me, Scoots. This was different. After I got out of the medical tent, the Wonderbolts confronted me about my performance. I told them I wasn't meant to be a Wonderbolt, but suddenly, they tried to sucker up to me just because I was a 'hero' and 'Equestria's Best Young Flier' and all. That's also when they told me about the nicknames, and I just lost it completely. I quit on the spot, came back home, and smashed everything in my house related to the Wonderbolts. That's when I remembered something important that my dad told me as a filly."
Scootaloo was almost afraid to ask. "And what's that?"
"Hero worship is unhealthy," Rainbow Dash answered. "You try to be your greatest so you could measure up to be like your heroes, but when you do, they just let you down. I trained hard all my life, I met my heroes, and look at what it did to me. I'm sorry to say, but I think I just wasted my entire fillyhood over a group of plot-kissers that doesn't even feel for the lives of their fellow teammates, let alone me. I guess this is the price I have to pay for my pride as a Wonderbolt."
Scootaloo climbed at the edge of the bed, looking into her "big sister's" gaze with big pleading eyes. "But it doesn't have to end like this, Rainbow Dash! You've saved more lives than anypony I know! You became my sister, even when I was afraid to admit I was scared of your stories! You gave me the much-needed morale boost when I felt I wasn't even worth riding my scooter around! You're not afraid to take risks to prove how loyal you are to your friends or your sister! That's the kind of thing that a hero does for her fellow Ponyville ponies more than what a group of high-flying entertainers can do for the entire nation of Equestria!"
Rainbow Dash turned over in her covers and sighed. "I'm sorry, Scoots, but I've already made up my mind. I'm not going back to the Wonderbolts, and that's final."
Exasperated by this, Scootaloo stepped back from the bed and looked at her idol with disapproving eyes. "So that's it, then? You're just going to give up after everything you've done to get this far?"
"Yeah. That pretty much sums it all up."
Scootaloo's once pitying gaze turned into exasperation, and now that exasperation turned into frustration. She was so frustrated that she had trouble keeping her emotions in check, and the physical signs of such included her scrunching muzzle and more tears leaking from her eyes. She sniffled when she tried to find the right words.
"Well, then... if that's what you think then maybe... maybe your dad was right! Worshipping your heroes is unhealthy!" Scootaloo yelled, making Rainbow Dash turn to her, gaping in complete shock. "I guess that means I've wasted my entire fillyhood worshipping a quitter and a loser as well! I've looked up to you ever since I was still in my diapers! I thought you were the greatest pony who ever lived, Rainbow Dash! I thought I could look up to you as a big sister that I've never had! But now... now you just proved me how wrong I was about you!"
"But, Scoots, I..."
"Don't even say it, Rainbow Dash! I don't wanna hear anything from you right now!" Scootaloo barked, stamping her hoof. "You're not the greatest pony in Equestria, Rainbow Dash, not especially since you've given up being the pony I once knew! You were my hero! My idol! The only reason why the Rainbow Dash Appreciation Club was formed in the first place was because we appreciated you and what you've done as the most awesome pony in Ponyville! And now you're just going to give up on yourself and your friends, and that just makes me bad because I was the one who formed the club in the first place. Do you have any idea how that makes me feel!?'
"But... I..."
"Oh, just forget it, Dash! You're only half the pony I knew once upon a time!" Scootaloo marched towards the door, and stopped for only a moment before she could exit the doorframe. "Oh, and in case you were wondering, apology not accepted for having me pull off that stunt that got you quitting the team and stewing in your own juices like a sad little pony in the first place!"
Scootaloo slammed the door behind her so hard, the force reverberated throughout the house.
The force knocked over a picture frame from Rainbow Dash's dresser, and fell onto the cloudy floor.
Rainbow Dash couldn't help but turn to it and pick it up, only to see a photograph of her and Scootaloo together, smiling when they attended their first Wonderbolts show together in Cloudsdale.
She sighed, her ears folding back at yet another loss as she placed the photograph back and turned back in her covers. She pulled Tank in closer, nuzzling the top of his shell. "Well, Tank, I just lost my biggest fan and my little sister. Is there anything else that I'm gonna lose sometime soon?"
Tank yawned and laid his head down, closing his eyes.
"Yeah, that's what I thought."
Twilight fluttered her wings as she touched down at Rainbow Dash's cloudominium.
She noticed Scootaloo's scooter and helmet was just parked near the front door.
She must've dropped by sometime after Twilight left for the Wonderbolts Academy.
Just as Twilight reached the door, it suddenly flung open, scaring her a couple of hooves back when she spotted Scootaloo standing at the front door, her face twisted in a new kind of anger and betrayal. Stamping her hooves into the ground hard enough to make a few holes where she forcefully stepped, Scootaloo got on her scooter, slapped her helmet on, and buzzed her wings with the sound of a motorboat engine running.
"Scootaloo? What's..."
"Not now, Princess," Scootaloo curtly said. "I don't even feel like talking right now."
With a push from her hind hoof, Scootaloo immediately took off with her buzzing wings providing the speed needed to get away from the cloud house and quick. Twilight flapped her wings into the air and watched as Scootaloo disappeared into the distance.
"Scootaloo! Wait!"
Of course, Scootaloo couldn't wait.
She simply sped off into the distance and disappeared from sight.
Now beginning to worry for the situation, Twilight touched down and went inside the house where her friends were gaping in shock after they heard the commotion between Scootaloo and Rainbow Dash from all the way downstairs, not to mention how peeved the filly seemed when she stormed downstairs.
"Does anypony wanna tell me what just happened?" Twilight asked.
"Your guess is as good as mine, darling," Rarity said. "I'm so shocked by what Scootaloo said that I'm frozen in my spot."
"Maybe we should go up and see what happened," Applejack suggested.
Twilight shook her head. "No, Applejack. You and everyone else keep doing what you're doing. I'll go see to Rainbow Dash."
With that, Twilight went up the stairs and Applejack and Pinkie Pie resumed their cooking while Fluttershy and Rarity continued to repair the shattered memorabilia, albeit all reluctantly. When Twilight made it up to Rainbow Dash's room, she gently rapped on the door, careful not to disturb the pegasus even further.
"Rainbow Dash? You okay?"
"Go away!"
That never stopped Twilight before.
Opening the door, Twilight saw Rainbow Dash lying in her bed, curled up under her covers, a despondent frown matching her half-lidded eyes. When those raspberry eyes met up with Twilight's form at her door, she quickly turned herself over to avert that gaze. That still didn't stop Twilight from entering and approaching the mare.
Twilight laid a hoof on Rainbow Dash's shoulder. "Hey, I just saw Scootaloo ride away from here as quickly as she could. Is there something that I should know about?"
"What difference will it make? I quit the Wonderbolts, my biggest fan and little sister lost her faith in me and bailed out, but not before showing me how much of a loser I really am." Rainbow Dash released an elongated dejected sigh. "Let's face it, Twilight, I'm about as loyal as a praying mantis. All of Ponyville and beyond is probably reading how I quit the team, and now I can't show my face anywhere."
"But you haven't been outside yet."
"Exactly, because everypony will take one look at me and think I'm a loser."
"Oh, Rainbow Dash, you know that's not true. You're far from a loser and you know it."
"Oh yeah? Then please tell me why Scootaloo had to run out on me because I told her about unhealthy hero worship?"
"Scootaloo's just upset because her big sister is beating herself up over this, and she feels like you've been fighting a battle that you're always losing at," Twilight deduced. "She just needs to realize that it's not about worshipping your heroes. It's about looking up to the pony they mean the world more than everything else because that pony does the right thing and only they can teach them about doing the right thing. Do you understand?"
Rainbow Dash shrugged. "Meh, I don't care either way, Twilight. What else do I have to lose?"
"Only the love of your friends and family. Without both, you wouldn't have come this far in life."
"Yeah, only to throw it all the way just because some ponies don't lay the groundwork of their nicknaming."
"Rainbow Dash, you can't go on blaming the Wonderbolts in part for what happened," Twilight said firmly. "If you only swallowed your pride and told them how you felt about being called 'Rainbow Crash,' then things may have been different. It would have set a positive message to every Wonderbolt, cadet, and trainee at the academy about how to establish teamwork and friendship better amongst themselves. They're already starting feel that the negative message you sent across the other Wonderbolts would be that way with the academy, and all the newspapers are sending that story across Equestria even as we speak."
Rainbow Dash huffed. "I knew it would be a matter of time before that happened."
"Look, I know we can't force you to go back to the Wonderbolts and have you and Spitfire make up with each other, but we have to find a way for you two to rebuild that bridge. If you don't, then, well..." Twilight leaned forward into Rainbow's ear. "...then maybe Equestria will feel the same way that Scootaloo feels about you right now."
The same way...
That did give Rainbow Dash a bit of thought to that.
After all, she had done more for Equestria than she could have imagined, and this was her repayment to them.
A big slap across the face.
She thought about how Scootaloo acted out towards her.
If that was how she reacted to how easily she gave up, then think of how the other ponies might react.
With a reluctant sigh, Rainbow Dash turned over in her sheets. She stretched her hooves out, one by one, and used them to center herself onto her cloudy floor.
"Okay, Twilight, I'll play it your way," she said finally.
"That's just what I wanted to hear!" Twilight said, beaming with pride and triumph.
"But," Rainbow Dash interrupted as she poked Twilight's muzzle, "if something goes wrong, then it's on you, capiche?"
"No, I've only encouraged you to try and patch things up. What you do next is on you, capiche?"
"Yeah, yeah. So what's Applejack and Pinkie cooking up downstairs?"
"I don't know, but I'm not sure if they're done with the food."
"Oh we're done with the food, alright!" Pinkie Pie said, suddenly popping from behind the doorframe. "Time for some midmorning munchies!"
Pinkie Pie retracted her head out of sight while the two winged ponies followed her downstairs.
For once, Rainbow Dash accepted the fact she needed some food.
The only thing that would keep her from eating much or tasting the food was the absence of her little sister.