//------------------------------// // It was only me cheering // Story: Life in a slower lane. // by JuyUnseen //------------------------------// It was only me cheering The smell of baked goods guided Rainbow Dash’s nose to the confectionary. The building of Sugarcube Corner was a rather impressive structure, looking like it was built of nothing but enormous slabs of gingerbread and held together by frosting that must have come from a tube the size of a steam engine. Two soft chimes signaled the cyan pegasus’s entrance to the store, the first from the door opening, and the second from it swinging back shut. She found herself in a small room, surrounded by jars of sweets lined up into rows on wooden shelves, with a counter at the other end of the room. In front of the counter sat something that made her stop dead in her tracks. --- Scootaloo and Pinkie’s conversation went on for quite some time. Topics came and went with no apparent discretion as Pinkie talked and talked, and Scootaloo, who seemed to be taking after Fluttershy in this regard, was content to listen. Pinkie Pie’s endless stream of one-sided conversation was in a place somewhere between the myths about seaponies and why she thought that there were creatures from another dimension watching the ponies of Ponyville at all times, when two chimes rang out into the room, signaling the arrival of a new customer. Pinkie jumped at least four feet in the air to display her excitement. “RAINBOW DASH! HI!” She leapt across the counter and over the now frightened orange filly in order to tackle her friend to the ground, as was one of her usual greetings. Dash looked completely stunned. “W-wha?” Was all that she could croak out. Pinkie smiled. “Why so surprised? I always tackle you this time of year.” The hot pink pony got off of her friend, dusting herself off, “It’s my special way of saying I missed you over the Winter.” Dash said nothing, staring past her exuberant friend. Pinkie waved a hoof in front of the cyan pegasus. “Hello? Dashie? Anypony home? It’s me, Pinkie. You’re bestest friend ever?” Dash stepped around her friend, moving towards the filly at the back of the room. She opened her mouth. Nothing had prepared her for such a sudden meeting. She tried to think of what to say. Something nice. Something cool. Something…. “S-squirt?” That was not the sort of thing she wanted to say. Scootaloo looked her over. The multi-colored mane, the sleek, cyan body, the powerful wings, yes. It was defiantly Rainbow Dash. And she had called her Squirt again. “Hi Dash.” Scootaloo mumbled. Dash shuffled her hooves nervously. This was awkward. Good job. she thought to herself, You spend the WHOLE winter planning what to say, and now that she’s here you can’t say a thing. Think THINK! You look so uncool right now. “How’s it hangin’?” NO! WRONG! WRONG! “I’ve been-“ The filly was interrupted by a very loud, very pink pony. “Me and Scootaloo have been talking about ALL SORTS of things! We’ve talked about Sugarcube Corner and how much we love cupcakes and where to buy alligator food and what we did over the winter and how much fun Fluttershy is and…” She rambled on and on, fully unaware that the other ponies had long since left the room. --- “PUT ME DOWN!” Scootaloo yelled at her cyan captor. “Sorry…” Rainbow Dash set the struggling filly on the ground outside the confectionary, “I just… though we should talk someplace less… loud.” Scootaloo stared at her old idol for a moment before bursting out laughing. “you sound just like Fluttershy! What happened to you over the Winter?” Dash looked crestfallen. “I-I’ve been looking for you…” These were the last words Scootaloo expected to hear from this pegasus. “For me?” The orange pony was a mix of emotions. Confusion, embarrassment, awe, wonder, they all mixed within her. “Why?” “Do… do you remember that night? T-the one where I… where I yelled at you?” Scootaloo looked down, sadness overtaking her other emotions. “I can remember many times you’ve yelled at me.” She looked up again, harsh sarcasm tainting her voice, “You’ll need to be more specific.” Rainbow Dash flinched. “T-the last time… right before Winter…” the pegasus was acting uncharacteristically timid. Scootaloo wasn’t sure of what to make of Dash. The blue pegasus was different than she had remembered. Could one season change somepony so much? “Yes…” Scootaloo’s voice grew softer, “I remember… Why?” “I’ve…” Dash thought hard about what to say next. She wanted to sound cool, but every way she could put this sounded sappy. “I’ve been thinkin’… I… Look, I didn’t mean all of that. I was just…” It was rather strange to watch. Apologizing almost seemed to hurt the blue mare. Dash took a deep breath. “You disappeared. And after that… it seemed like everypony stopped cheering for me. I… I stopped feeling… awesome…” She sighed, “I’m sorry. I really am. I didn’t mean to scare you away from my practices… I didn’t mean to make you feel unwelcome around me…” Scootaloo couldn’t believe it. Rainbow Dash was apologizing. Apologizing for the exact wrong thing. Rainbow Dash was apologizing because SHE was hurting. She didn’t even CARE that Scootaloo had been left there crying in the forest. Right then, with Rainbow Dash acting timid, Scootaloo felt rage rush through her. She felt like she could throw all her emotion at the sorry excuse for a mare. She was certain Rainbow Dash would take it if she did. No. No. That isn’t me. “Rainbow Dash, you know why everypony stopped cheering?” Dash looked confused. “Why?” “Because they weren’t cheering to begin with. They knew you were good at your tricks. They knew you were fast. They knew you were ‘awesome’ but they weren’t cheering.” Scootaloo glared at her for a moment. “Only I was cheering. Nopony else.” Scootaloo turned and picked up her scooter, but after a moment turned back. “And by the way. I live with Fluttershy now, and she’s better to me then you’ve ever been.” Scootaloo flapped her powerful wings, and was gone with only a trail of dust floating in her wake to signal she was ever there. Rainbow Dash sat there, dumbfounded. She stared down the road, searching, hoping that the filly would return; that her anger had just been a mean joke. Nothing came. A teardrop hit the ground. Rainbow Dash’s face was that of a broken pony. For the first time in a long time, she was truly crying. “What did I do wrong?” No answer came to stop her tears. --- Scootaloo threw her scooter to the ground. Of all the things she could have said. She was trying to make HERSELF feel better! “WELL GUESS WHAT!” She yelled down the path back into town, “I’M OVER IT! I LEFT ALL OF THAT BEHIND! I DON’T NEED YOU!” She was breathing heavily. It felt good to vent like that. She took one more deep breath and headed back towards the town, this time with a destination in mind. She had a talent show to sign up for. “I’m going to make Fluttershy proud.” She whispered to herself. --- Dash flew home slowly, her wings were too tired to lift her off of the ground. “Buck.” She muttered to herself. Her house was no longer an option for the night. With a sigh she turned towards the large oak tree in the middle of the town. She knew Twilight would give her a bed for the night. She had sat in the middle of the road crying for a good ten minutes. She hadn’t been sad like that in years. So many questions floated around her mind. What did I do wrong? Why does she hate me? Why Fluttershy’s house? Rainbow Dash slowly trotted up to her bookish friend’s house, and raised a tired, melancholy hoof to knock on the door. She hadn’t felt this way in a long time. Not since her time alone on the streets of Cloudsdale. Author's notes: Yes, I know I that making Dash an orphan also will probably piss a lot of people off. Please don't kill me. please?