//------------------------------// // Ascension // Story: Sadness is Universal // by DubstepIsAmazing //------------------------------// Scootaloo's yawn followed her eyes fluttering open. She was still at the base of the tree that she fell from. A couple of feet away from her was a faceprint, reminding her of the previous night's efforts. Her lips began to quiver again...so it wasn't a nightmare. "I still...can't...fly..." she whispered, burying her face into her hooves. Her watch read 9:30 AM; her birthday started nine and a half hours ago. She had missed the deadline for being able to fly by; she couldn't even get off the ground. Suddenly, she shot up, with a determined look on her face. "I won't take failure for an answer...I WILL FLY," she tried assuring herself, but deep down, she knew the truth. She couldn't bear to face Rainbow again without having learned how to fly. "WAIT A MINUTE!" Scootaloo realized. She was supposed to meet RD in 30 minutes at Sugarcube Corner with the rest of the Crusaders for a Birthday Breakfast! Pinkie Pie made the daily special her favorite breakfast in her honor: a stack of Chocolate Chip Pancakes topped with whipped cream and three strawberries, all with a load of syrup running down each pancake. Standing up quickly, she came to the conclusion of what meeting RD met: she'd eventually have to tell her that she still couldn't fly. "Oh yeah," she muttered as she started up her scooter, heading over to Fluttershy's place to freshen up. Although Scootaloo slept in Everfree Forest, the massive amount of animals in Fluttershy's sanctuary made it near impossible for her presence to go unnoticed by any of the animals. Of course they didn't mind sharing, but when Fluttershy realized it, she was very worried for her safety. She offered Scootaloo her cottage anytime she needed it, but Scootaloo preferred not to use it. Why? She's a pegasus; she's tough. Desperate to keep Rainbow's admiration, she begged the yellow pegasus not to tell her about her situation. For safe measure, however, Scootaloo was given a key and unlimited use of the guest bedroom whenever she wanted a roof over her head. Scootaloo pulled out her key and smiled. "This key'll finally be useful! Then I can get my sweet, sweet pancakes!" The thought of her stomach soon being filled with a chocolatey sensation lifted her spirits a little. As her scooter zoomed past the trees, her thought went from pancakes to her scooter. The only reason she had it was because... She stopped at the edge of the grove and once again, put her head between her hooves. Her eyes snapped shut; the tears had approached again. She felt them against her eyelids, begging for them to be released. Whenever her eyes closed, she was taken back to the previous night. The faceprint in the ground symbolized her failure for that night. In fact, there were various spots in town that had her faceprint, some deep, some with matted grass. It depended on how high up she went. "Nonononononono..." she said, shaking her head as she parked her scooter and entered the backyard of Fluttershy's sanctuary. "You're a teenager now! Buck up! You still have a future! It's not ruined if you...c--can't...fl...fly..." Tears rapidly approached her eyes as she trotted past all of the sleeping animals to Fluttershy's backdoor. After getting inside, she instinctively made her way to the background to brush her teeth and wash her face. As she did so, a mental slideshow of the day's events played in her head. First breakfast at Sugarcube Corner, then Rainbow Dash would treat them all to a matinee of the new Daring Do movie (Rainbow had gotten her hooked on the series), a lunch at Twilight's castle where Spike was going to prepare a meal for her with Pinkie and Twilight, a spa session with Fluttershy, and to top it off, Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo would go to Cloudsdale at dusk, and as soon as the sun disappeared, they were going to jump off and fly above Equestria side-by-side. "Well...nothing's wrong with taking ONE item off my to-do list for the day..." she sighed. "You're missing something, Scootaloo..." a snarky voice said from...inside her mouth? "UGH!" Scootaloo took out her toothbrush to see a small face on the head of it. It had two horns, red eyes, a mouth with a sharp tooth protruding out of it, and a small beard. "FINALLY! It was disgusting in there!" She rolled her eyes. "Oh, hey, Discord." "Hello to you too, my dear Scootaloo! Happy birthday!" "Thanks." She put the toothbrush away and grabbed a washcloth, only for Discord's face to appear on there too. "So, you ready for the big finale for the big one-three? Flying side-by-side, all across the skies of Equestria!" Scootaloo looked away. "You can fly...right? Thirteenth birthday means you should be able to fly, right? It also means that if you can't you're stuck..." "WHAT DO YOU WANT, DISCORD?" Scootaloo yelled, not needing to be reminded. She was sad enough as it was. "If you can't fly..." he began, "Then tonight surely means certain death for you..." Scootaloo froze, waiting for him to continue. He rolled his eyes. "Hello? NO FLYING, JUMPING OFF A CLOUD TOWARDS THE GROUND? Consider it the biggest and last faceplant of your life--" "I get it," she muttered. "You could always cancel..." "NO!" Discord smiled. She cleared her throat. "No. I can't cancel. Do you know how much it means to me that this happens? Do you know how long I've been practicing for this moment?" "And that resulted in...what exactly?" Scootaloo left the bathroom and walked towards the door with Discord following her. "Well, you may want to think of something soon. Me, Fluttershy, and everyone else are going to be there for your 'big moment'." Scootaloo gasped, causing him to chuckle sinisterly. "Don't worry, I have no tricks up my sleeve. And I know that you can do this all by yourself...toodles, Scootles!" He said before vanishing. Walking back to her scooter, she knew she had to think of something. And fast. At Twilight's castle... Spike woke up exhausted, as he did every night for the last week. He had been awakened by the voice of Twilight, telling him to get up so he can prepare Scootaloo's lunch. He gasped. "SCOOTALOO'S LUNCH!" He raced to the kitchen to see Twilight and...Rarity? "Finally, Spike! What took you so long?" Twilight asked. Spike frowned. "What's Rarity doing here?" "I'm here to oversee the aesthetics of this delicious feast you're preparing for Scootaloo, my dear. Now, let's get started, shall we?" "Where's Pinkie Pie?" "She's serving Scootaloo breakfast as we speak," Rarity stated, matter-of-factly. "Well, then why start now? I haven't had breakfast yet," Spike said calmly while frowning at Rarity. "I see. Get some breakfast then, darling. I'll be in the kitchen looking over your plans." Spike nodded and went past her to get some gems before heading upstairs. "Oh, and Spike?" "Hm?" "Are you alright? I hope my letter didn't--" "I'll be back soon, Rarity." He shuffled up the stairs with his meal in hand and closed his door behind him, leaving a confused Rarity at the bottom. It wasn't like him to be so...well...dejected. Usually, he woke up, ready to take on whatever the world is challenging him with. This was different. This wasn't Spike. Upstairs, Spike looked himself in the mirror. There were bags under his eyes, he had lost a shade of green in his pupils, and his frown populated his face. "Alright, time to suit up," he muttered before splashing water on his face. His eyes became brighter and his frown was replaced with a smile. "It's Scootaloo's birthday and Rarity will be around you the whole day. What more could you possibly want?" He scoffed. "To go back to sleep," he answered with a roll of his eyes before eating his gems and going downstairs. "Hey Spike," Twilight said, "I just came up with a great idea! Since Scootaloo's going to be flying tonight, why don't you go with her? You two are kinda close, right?" He shook his head. "Yeah, but I'm pretty sure this is a moment for her and Rainbow Dash." "Good point, good point. Never mind, then." Sugarcube Corner Parking her scooter at the steps of the store, she saw that the inside of the building was completely dark. She knew that Pinkie had planned a surprise party the second she stepped inside the store, so she took a deep breath, went up the steps, and opened the door. As if on cue, the lights flicked on, and confetti cannons shot out purple and orange confetti, purple and orange balloons populated the store, and in the center of the store was a banner that read "Happy birthday, Scootaloo!" "HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SCOOTALOO!" Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Apple Bloom, and Sweetie Belle emerged from their hiding spots with the biggest grins in the world. She made her best smile and gasped. Rainbow flew to her and immediately embraced her. "Happy birthday, squirt! Ready to celebrate?" "You...bet!" she said, feigning enthusiasm as her sister embraced her above the ground. "Great," Sweetie Belle said, "You have cards from nearly everyone in town! Tender Taps, the Pie family, Gabby, Featherweight, even Diamond Tiara!" She held up a plain piece of paper that said, "Happy birthday." in cursive with Diamond Tiara's signature. Scootaloo's smile fell a bit. "IS THAT THE BIRTHDAY GIRL???" Pinkie yelled before rushing over to her and giving her a bone-crushing hug. "HAPPY BIRTHDAAAAAAAAYYYY!!!" She said. "IWASGONNAGOTOFLUTTERSHYSHOUSEATMIDNIGHTTOGIVETHISTOYOU! THAT'S HOW EXCITED I WAS!" Oh yeah, she doesn't know either... Scootaloo thought. "Ya ready for tonight? I can't wait ta see ya fly!" Apple Bloom said. Scootaloo froze. "Ye--yeah! Duh! You better believe I am," she lied. "Good, cause I can't wait to do it with you! Let's eat!" Rainbow Dash said before carrying a worried Scootaloo to her warm stack of pancakes. Back at Twilight's Castle... "Okay, Spike, here's what I'm thinking," Rarity said to Spike as he took out the supplies, "We make Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwiches with a figure of Scootaloo engraved on each sandwich. A gallon of grape juice will be the drink, all topped off with rainbow ice cream to signify her relationship with Rainbow Dash. What do you think?" "Sounds good," Spike said, pulling out a loaf of bread, "Do you think we should have some chips with it? What's her favorite brand?" "Easy! Crunchy Clops!" The two spun around to see Pinkie Pie with a bag full of pots, pans, and ingredients. "What? I left Sugarcube Corner about two minutes ago! The castle is literally a one-minute walk!" "But...never mind. What do you think of our plan?" "Hmm...PB&J sandwiches, grape juice, and rainbow ice cream...seems like it's missing something...but what?" Pinkie slammed her hoof on the table. "CANDY! Luckily, I got a ton in my bag!" "Ooh, perfect! Spike, can you go to Cloudsdale and get the rainbow ice cream?" Spike looked dumbfounded. "But I wanted to help you guys! By the time I get back, it'll be done! I made this menu from scratch, and--" "For me?" Rarity fluttered her eyes knowing it was a clincher for him to do it. However, to her surprise, Spike simply rolled his eyes and left the castle. "RARITY! FOCUS, WE NEED TO BE DONE BEFORE THE MOVIE ENDS!" Pinkie yelled, as she dumped out the contents of her bag and placed them on the table with amazing speed and without misplacing a single one. Outside the castle, Spike was beginning the flight to Cloudsdale before he encountered none other than Discord. "Hey-ho, Spike! How's your day coming along?" "Fine, just going to get some ice cream." "I see, I see. Hey, how's Rarity doing?" He asked with a smile. Spike almost fell to the ground. "You win her heart, yet?" "Leave me alone, Discord." "Why? Your poem didn't work? I would've thought that would seal the deal with you two!" Spike looked to the left and saw that Discord that transformed into the letter 'F'. "What're you doing?" "Just paying my respects to your dead attempts," he chuckled before Spike increased his speed.