It was late; a little past midnight, to be more precise. Rainbow Dash's cloudy day had come to an end when Nurse Redheart said that Scootaloo would be free to go in the morning. At her request, Rainbow Dash was to stay with her all night. Discord had taken Fluttershy home and agreed to meet them at Twilight's Castle tomorrow. After grabbing a blanket and closing the door to Scootaloo's room, they sat in silence. Turning away from her older sister, Scootaloo quietly began to cry once more. Rainbow frowned.
"Sis..."
"It's my fault," Scootaloo whispered, "I wasn't good enough...I was never good enough...my father was right..."
Rainbow almost jumped out of the chair at the mention of her abusive guardian. "Scootaloo, don't ever say something like that. EVER."
"But it's true! He said I'll never be able to fly again, and he was right! It's hopeless," she said, sniffling.
"I've never heard a more false statement in my life," Rainbow countered, "You're MORE than good enough! And in terms of flying, you'll have plenty of opportunities to try again!"
Scootaloo's face told Rainbow that she doubted her statement.
"Look, Scootaloo," Rainbow said, "Ever since I found out that you couldn't fly and began giving you tips for how to get back in the air on your own, you've made tremendous progress! You went from not being able to get off the ground to get off for a couple of seconds at a time! Even if you're not soaring through the sky, that's amazing progress from when you started out!"
Scootaloo turned away shyly, beaming at the compliment before her frown returned. "But it's too late...I'll never be able to fly again, Rainbow."
Rainbow's eyes darted as she searched for words. "Then...then, I'll fly you!"
"What?"
She smiled. "You heard me. I'll fly you. You can get on my back whenever you need to so you can see how spectacular the view is above the ground. Just ask, and I'll be happy to help!"
Scootaloo smiled sadly. "Thanks, sis."
Rainbow put her arm around her.
"Hey. Even if you'll never be able to fly again, we can keep practicing to prove him wrong, 'kay?"
"Okay," she said, smiling. Rainbow's smile then faded into a serious frown.
"With that said, why didn't you tell me that you were living in Everfree Forest?! Do you know how dangerous that is at night, much less in the wintertime?" She asked in disbelief at what Discord showed her. Scootaloo sighed; she knew that question would come up eventually. Now, it was time for her to answer.
"Scootaloo?"
"Because I wanted to be...incredible..."
Rainbow's expression didn't change. "That's great, Scootaloo, but you don't have to risk death to be incredible."
"Compared to you, I do!" Scootaloo cried, "You're amazing, Rainbow Dash! You've done the impossible; I've looked up to you ever since I was really little! You keep telling me how awesome I am and how I'm destined for great things! Well, I wanna be more than awesome! I wanna do the seemingly impossible just like you!"
Rainbow's seriousness transformed into confusion. "I don't understand. You've been HOMELESS for the last four years, and you didn't tell me...because you wanted to do the impossible?"
Scootaloo nodded.
"Pegasi are usually born into well-off families, Rainbow. I was, but I left after...what happened...and you were my North Star. You influenced me to be the best I could be, no matter what others thought. You inspired me to attempt the impossible!"
Her sister stayed silent.
"That's why...I went to Everfree Forest to live there. I wanted to grow up and make a name for myself and then give you an idea of how I grew up. Pegasi everywhere say it's impossible for a homeless one to prosper. Well, I was gonna prove 'em wrong! I wanted to achieve the impossible and show it could be done...but I guess it couldn't be--"
"Scootaloo, STOP TALKING LIKE THAT!"
Scootaloo looked at her. "Like what? Telling the truth?"
"NO! Talking down over yourself! Stop it! Right now!"
She was silenced as the older pegasus spoke.
"Listen: you DID do the impossible. No one expects a pony your age to survive in the most dangerous forest in Equestria for four years! You did so battling the cold wind, freezing rain, snow, and different natural disasters! You went in determined and you went out victorious! Your passion for doing what's never been done and proving everyone wrong was your driving force! You didn't give up; you probably wanted to, but you didn't want to be defeated. You wanted to win. You challenged yourself and up until tonight, you did so magnificently. So, Scootaloo, you ARE incredible. Just because you can't fly doesn't mean you can't be great. I'm very proud of you, sis; it took guts to go through with that."
At Rainbow's words, her lips formed a broken smile as she embraced her tightly. Wiping tears from her eyes, she looked into Rainbow's red ones.
"Thanks, Rainbow."
"Just...make sure you tell someone when you're feeling down, alright?"
She looked away.
"You're too precious to lose, Scootaloo. I'd never live with myself if I found out you died suffering and there was nothing I could do to help you."
"You're the second person who's ever said that to me..." Scootaloo said with a smile."The first one was my mom."
"Well, she's right."
Scootaloo blushed.
"By the way, Scootaloo," Rainbow Dash said, "It's okay to cry. Tough ponies cry sometimes."
Scootaloo scoffed. "I'm fine, Rainbow."
Rainbow wrapped her into a tight embrace. "Are you really, Scootaloo? Are you really?"
As Rainbow's wings wrapped around her, she felt them brush the scars on her back. The mere touch brought back painful memories: years of not being loved by those who she believed would always be there for her, multitudes of teases from fellow fillies about not being able to fly, hundreds of cold nights she's slept without help from anyone, constantly risking her life every time she laid her head to sleep. Rainbow knew what was going through her head.
"Take a deep breath and let it all out, Scootaloo," she said, prepared for the oncoming torrent. Surely enough, the second she finished the sentence, Scootaloo's dam broke; she wrapped her arms around her and began to scream from the pain of the past. Her voice was muffled because she had her mouth in Dash's neck. The cyan pegasus smiled and rubbed her back, careful not to touch the scars; she felt her tears running down her body.
"I know it hurts, Scootaloo. I can't imagine what it feels like to have gone through all of it...I'm so sorry..."
"Why didn't she love me, Rainbow Dash?" she wailed with years of pain in her voice, "Why wasn't I good enough?"
"You were more than good enough," she assured the smaller pegasus, "And I'm sure she did love you. Otherwise, she wouldn't have told you what I just said."
Holding her tightly, she felt the surge of emotions going through her sister: pain, confusion, anger, sadness...all bottled up inside of her, not being able to be released under the guise of it showing signs of weakness.
"I love you, Scootaloo. Don't ever forget that," she said as Scootaloo continued to cry. "Whenever you want to talk, I'm here to listen. If you're feeling happy, sad, angry, whatever the case may be, I'm here."
With bloodshot eyes, Scootaloo looked at her. "Thanks, Rainbow Dash..."
As she fell asleep in her arms, Rainbow Dash grabbed a pen and paper and began to write a note to Twilight and her friends about the next day's activities. When she finished, Nurse Redheart knocked on the door.
"Rainbow Dash?"
"What's up, Nurse?"
"We have something that you may wanna see."
Handing her a clipboard with a bunch of notes on Scootaloo's condition, Rainbow gasped and looked at the Nurse with hope in her eyes.
"We think it's possible," Nurse Redheart said with a smile, "It just requires a quick hour of surgery."
Rainbow nodded.
"I'll be right outside, Scootaloo...sleep tight..."
Laying her down and walking out of the room, Rainbow watched with a smile as the Nurse prepared to perform an operation that would change Scootaloo's life. Meanwhile, she wrote one more note to another place which would make her number-one fan jump with joy.