“Watch out! Cutie Mark Crusaders coming thro-ough!”
It was a new day, and already, it was a new mission. Scootaloo, seemingly her old self again, was ambitiously pulling the two other crusaders to their next mission, on her scooter. Her scooter, which defined who she was.
I’m a pegasus who can’t fly… but my wings help me on my scooter but without my scooter…
Just as she had for the many, many times that the self-doubt had come up, Scootaloo shook off the plaguing thoughts, and focused on what was awesome. The awesomeness of her scooter. The awesomeness… of being a crusader.
“Coming thro-ough! Weeeeeeee-”
“Alright, we’re here!” Scootaloo’s wings stopped beating, causing the scooter to slow down. Then, she began beating her wings the opposite direction; not to fast, so the scooter would head the opposing direction, decreasing in speed… and come to a stop.
The proud pegasus wiped beads of sweat from her forehead before hopping off the scooter. The two other young crusaders dismounted, and assessed the location of their new mission.
It was the Ponyville gym.
“So, you come here every day, correct?”
“Yes.” Their client, Bladerunner, grinned proudly. “This is practically my second home; I feel so free when I’m on the treadmill”.
“Is that all you do? Just the treadmill?”
“Well, I do sometimes do weights… but I just prefer to run, you know?”
Bladerunner then stepped onto the treadmill, and spead it up so fast his legs became practically invisible when he ran with so much speed and agility…
Chipcutter flew when he sculpted, with so much speed and agility………
As Scootaloo shook herself from her thoughts - she didn’t want to be caught spacing out again - The small but fast earth pony Bladerunner stopped, barely panting. He then glanced hopefully at his flank, sulking when there was still nothing there.
“Do you really think that running is your special talent?”
“I know it is! I love to run.”
“But does anypony else know?”
“No, uh... nopony else but me; I consider it my personal private time. My private time to just be me.”
Scootaloo had another flashback about her own experience with her short-lived term “private pegasus time”...
Maybe if I give myself private time to fly… and flying can be my private time! Maybe if I try… just a little harder… Ooof!
At the mention of Bladerunner running in private, the three great minds chimed together. Scootaloo, despite the busy memories of her trying to get her cutie mark in flying - a pegasus talent just as running could be an earth pony talent - she spoke for her friends:
“What about if somepony else knew how good you were? Like… if you went to a competition?”
Bladerunner looked up thoughtfully. “I never really thought of that... “ he then glanced at the two CMC’s. “Do you really think so?”
“For sure!” Sweetie Belle and Applebloom chimed. They then elaborated on how the presence of other ponies can help influence a cutie mark while Scootaloo, once again, got dragged into her stubborn thoughts…
Why can’t flying be apart of my cutie mark?
I’m almost fourteen. I should be able to fly, just like Bladerunner can run, because he’s an earth pony and I’m a pegasus and…. that’s just the way things are!
“Sooo, Scootaloo?” The two other CMC’s looked expectantly at the slightly withdrawn pegasus. We shared our stories about our sisters getting their cutie marks in the presence of other ponies, so why dontcha share yur’s?”
Scootaloo had been spaced out but alert when Applebloom said that it was leaving her family in Manehattan and running into the embrace of her family at the farm for Applebloom to get her cutie mark, and when Sweetie Belle said that Rarity found a rock full of diamonds, fell in love immediately, but didn’t get her cutie mark until after she presented her new fashion ideas in her costume designing for the school play. Scootaloo knew that, for the sake of her mission, she had to tell the story of her role model and mentor Rainbow Dash which, due to the closeness of their relationship, the CMC’s would sometimes call her sister.
Normally, Scootaloo would be ecstatic to retell the story of the bestest, fastest flier in Equestria. But this time, as seemed to be the case these days, a troubled thought came into her head:
Except… she was so much cooler than me before I turned thirteen… so am I really still worth being called her figurative sister?
Scootaloo didn’t have time to coax the thought out of her head and remind herself that Rainbow Dash thought she was awesome just for being her; this was a mission, and she needed to speak.
So, softly-spoken to the surprise of her friends, Scootaloo replied: “Oh, yeah, that’s right. My sister Rainbow Dash didn’t get her cutie mark for flying, despite knowing how good a flier she was, because she needed to race with other ponies and perform a sonic rainboom to realize how much she lived for flying….” As a lost Scootaloo told the story that Rainbow Dash had narrated countless times, she couldn’t help but… wish that she could perform a sonic rainboom too.
“Scootaloo… are you sure about this?”
“Uh… yeah, sure! Maybe jumping from a cloud will get me my cutie mark in flying… just like Rainbow Dash!”
“But… a hate ta say this Scoot but…. ya can’t fly.”
Scootaloo grinned. “Who’s to say I can’t try?”
The small winged pegasus stood on a cloud, spread her wings, and took off… only to land in the parachute that had gotten her to that cloud in the first place…..
Back at the clubhouse, Scootaloo managed to stay awake - she didn’t want to be excused again or for her friends to worry too much about her - she nodded and smiled when necessary.
“So, it looks as though we successfully completed a mission, simply by encouraging a pony to push themselves a bit more to discover something about the talents they know they have, in order for them to get their cutie marks.” Sweetie Belle beamed.
“Gee, girls. Ain’t that seem to be the type a’ thin’ we need ta do? Not ta mention, when we think about our sistas and how they got their cutie marks, it just seems to be the way to get a cutie mark in general.”
Scootaloo wanted to say that she was happy they all had such a brilliant idea to tell the stories about their sisters - and her figurative sister - from the perspective of pushing yourself to discover yourself, but she couldn’t help but think that the idea had been her friends’, while she seemed almost absent from the mission.
So who was to say she deserved to be at the meeting?
Diamond Tiara was, once again, sitting on the sidelines. And she was the one who mentioned the obvious: “Scootaloo, you seem awfully quiet. Is something wrong?”
Applebloom started to look concerned. “Diamond Tiara has a point. You sure don’t seem yurself…”
For how long? This weekend? This month? Ever since Scootaloo reached age fourteen - the age when most fillies tended to mature - and realized she may never fly?
Scootaloo resisted the urge to glance at her wings, which had barely grown with her size. “I’m… fine I… really am.”
“Well, in any case,” Diamond Tiara stood up, and stretched. “It’s been really fun being with you girls this weekend, but I’m expecting Silver back today.” She flashed a bright white smile. “Thank you ponies so much for letting me see the treehouse, and I hope to see you soon. And if it’s okay… maybe I can bring Silvey next time?” Then, without waiting for a reply, the the reformed rival winked at the CMC’s before bolting out of the treehouse.
“So… what do ya girls think about Diamond Tiara… suddenly bein’ here?”
The three CMC’s were having a snack at Sugarcube corner, to end their busy mission-filled weekend.
Sweetie Belle glanced around, making sure the two former rivals weren’t around before she giggled: “It’s been… a little bit weird, to be honest.”
The two CMC’s looked at Scootaloo, who seemed to appear neutral despite her two friends giggling at the bizarreness of Diamond Tiara being among them. “What ‘bout you, Scoot? Yur the one who invited Diamond Tiara so eagerly into our treehouse ta begin with… not ta put ya on the spot or anythin…”
Scootaloo snapped to attention. “What, me? Really? Of course I don’t find it weird, she’s our friend, after all.” The pegasus grinned widely to hide the confusion in her head. “Besides, I invited her because we ran into each other outside, and she asked me and… I didn’t want her to feel left out.”
“Well, that was very nice of ya, Scoot, but uh… we were wonderin… have ya been happy ta have Diamond Tiara around?”
“Oh, look who it is”, said Diamond Tiara as she came up to the three friends with Silver Spoon, as always, by her side. “It’s three blank flanks.
“And not to mention…” Silver Spoon grinned widely. “the wingless dodo!”
“Hahahahahahahaha-”
Scootaloo shook herself out of an unpleasant memory, before replying: “No, not at all. I’ve liked having her around. She’s our friend, right?” Scootaloo then went back to taking long sips of her milkshake.
“Well, she is our friend now, and ya do have a point… but the two of us have been talkin’ an’ we can’t help but wonder…. If having Diamond Tiara around… ain't doin’ ya such a favour?”
Scootaloo jerked up in surprised shock. “What makes you say that?”
Sweetie Belle began to appear genuinely concerned. “Scootaloo, we know you haven’t been feeling yourself lately. At first I thought you were coming down with something. But over the weekend you haven’t exactly been… enthusiastic during our missions.”
Shock shook Scootaloo. “Seriously?”
Applebloom continued: “We’ve known ya fer years, Scoot. And we know ya haven’t been yerself. An’we can’t help but wonder… if it has ta do with havin’ Diamond Tiara around so much.”
“Uh, Applebloom, what are you trying to say?”
“Well, don’ get me wrong, she is our friend and all… and nota bring back bad memories but… surely ya remember all that mean stuff she would say about chya….”
“Oh, hey girls!”
“What do ya want, Diamond Tiara?”
“Oh, nothing really… I think your flag-carrying routine is absolutely amazing, and so creative!”
“Uh…. thanks?”
“Except… it’s so brave of you to represent three types of ponies… with a pegasus who can’t even fly!”
“Hahahahaha-”
“Scootaloo, listen. We’re your friends, and we can tell that you aren’t feeling right. And I’m not talking about coming down with something.”
Scootaloo sighed loudly. What could she say? The only thing to do… was to be honest.
“Honestly guys, even I don’t know what’s going on with me. It’s just… so hard to explain.” Scootaloo forced a laugh at the whole thing. The laugh hardly ceased the worry on the faces of her two friends. But despite it all, she continued. “Honestly. I think I’ll be fine. It’ll pass. Maybe it’s…” she began to whisper: “My teenage hormones kicking in.” This, to Scootaloo’s relief, got some giggling. “But you know something? I want to have Diamond Tiara around. She is our friend, right?”
“Yeah, but-”
“Applebloom, I know what you said about… all that stuff. But that’s past. And I think having Diamond Tiara around as a friend, rather than an enemy… Will help me to make peace with her. And forget about all that past stuff. Because trust me. That’s past.”
“Well, if you're so sure…” the two friends glanced at each other, before Sweetie Belle continued: “But… please. Trust us to tell you if you really feel bad. Because if so, we want to help. And we’d do anything we could.”
“Honestly,” chimed in Applebloom. “Just give a holler, and we’ll be right there!”
Scootaloo smiled for real, despite herself. She was so lucky to have such great, loyal friends, despite how pathetic she feels. “Thanks, you guys.” Scootaloo embraced her friends before she could finish another dark thought.
That night, the young pegasus lay in bed, wondering about the true root of her feelings.
The explanation for hormonal issues back at Sugarcube Corner had been a white lie. It could be hormonal issues… but maybe not.
What Scootaloo had felt over the past few days - over the past few years - was gradual buildup of… something. Something within her that just… wouldn’t go away, no matter how hard she tried. She only knew that much. Scootaloo had never been a very self-aware pony, so it was hard for her to realize why something seemed to be… missing.
Maybe... it really is related to having Diamond Tiara around? Scootaloo throughout the day, had been plagued by memories of confrontations with the formal filly-tormentor. From being called a blank flank… To being unable to-to-
Scootaloo tried hard not to finish the thought. Regardless, other dark thoughts came up; flashbacks of being tormented by Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon for who she was…
Wingless dodo-blank flank!.... Like, is this your home? Why here, and not Cloudsdale, where you belong! Go back to where you belong! Wingless… Can’t even fly…
Fatigue began to kick in, and Scootaloo’s mind went blank.
Then, like that day at the treehouse and days preceding that… her mind grew heavy with sleep.
The exhausted, weary pegasus drifted off while staring at the dark hallway through the wide door frame. Her one last thought was a wish. A simple wish that she had some pony - Rainbow Dash, Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, or just any pony - here right now to say everything would be okay…