//------------------------------// // Another Way // Story: A Daughter and her Dragon Side Stories: Gone, But Not Forgotten // by Level Dasher //------------------------------// “So Squirt, what’s the verdict?” Rainbow Dash asked Scootaloo, who came out of the Wonderbolts’ doctor’s office. Scootaloo shook herself. “Lungs and heart are good, reflexes fine—” “Vision and hearing in tip-top shape?” Rainbow interrupted her. “…What?” Rainbow repeated, “I said, how are the eyes and ears?” “What?” “I said,” Rainbow began with a huff, before she caught Scootaloo giggling under her breath. She smirked as she lightly pushed her sister on the shoulder. “Dangit, Scoots.” “Sorry, couldn’t resist,” Scootaloo chuckled. “They’re perfect. Legs are good, too.” Raising her eyebrows, Rainbow said, “And?” Scootaloo’s smile quickly dropped along with her head, then her eyes briefly glanced towards her back. “And I’m outta luck.” Rainbow Dash let out a sigh. “Sorry, Squirt. Give ‘em another year, then we’ll try again, huh?” “No.” Scootaloo shook her head. “I mean permanently outta luck.” She buzzed her wings for a moment. “Something about stunted growth. They won’t get any bigger. I’m a grounder for life.” Her ears flattening, Rainbow walked up to Scootaloo and put a hoof around her little sister’s neck. “I’m sorry, Scoots. Guess it just wasn’t meant to be.” “I kinda figured after a while.” A tear ran down Scootaloo's cheek. “It’s just…” She sighed. “Hearing it confirmed by another doctor… the Wonderbolts’ doctor, no less…” Choking out a sob, she finished, “…it sucks serious horseapples, y’know?” Rainbow shook her head. “I can’t even imagine. Well, c’mon, let’s go talk to Spitfire. Better for us to tell her directly than just leave and let the doc tell her.” Wiping away her tears with a sniffle, Scootaloo nodded. “Yeah. Sure.” After a walk down the hallway, Rainbow Dash approached a door to her left, then knocked on it before she opened it. Allowing Scootaloo entry first, Rainbow closed the door before looking at Spitfire behind her desk. “Hey, Cap.” Spitfire kept her eyes on the papers on her desk as she began, “You’ve really gotta let me answer before you just open the door, Crash. What if I’d had a private meeting going on?” “Given how your meetings usually go, I would’ve heard you,” Rainbow replied with a smirk. “Don’t get smart with me, Crash. I still outrank you.” Waving a hoof at her captain, Rainbow responded, “I know, I know. But now you do have a private meeting going on.” “Oh yeah?” Spitfire responded. “And why’s tha—” She finally looked up from her desk and spotted Scootaloo. “Ah, right, your sister.” Putting her papers down and leaning forward as she put her hooves together, she asked, “How’d her physical go?” As Rainbow turned to her, Scootaloo answered, “Perfectly, minus one thing.” She glanced back at her wings and gave them a buzz before turning and looking back at Spitfire. With a frown, she said, “I can’t fly. That… kinda disqualifies me from the Wonderbolts, doesn’t it?” Spitfire let out a quick breath. “Yeah, it kinda does. Sorry, kid.” Turning to Rainbow Dash, she added, “Sorry, Crash.” Then she turned back to the papers on her desk. Rainbow nodded, then turned to Scootaloo. “I’m sorry, Scoots. We tried.” As Scootaloo nodded and hung her head, she turned for the door. Rainbow looked once more at Spitfire before approaching her desk. “Cap, are you sure there isn’t something she can do? Maybe even something around HQ?” she whispered. “She could be the first flightless Wonderbolt!” Spitfire shook her head, keeping her eyes on the papers she was shuffling and her voice low as she said, “I hate to be blunt, Crash, but we can’t recruit a pegasus that can’t fly. In case you haven’t noticed, we’re flight performers. And trust me, doing grunt work around here—or desk work if she worked her way up—while she watches everypony else flying around is not the kind of environment she’d want to be in. If I cou—” She cut herself off as she stopped shuffling her papers, getting a glance at the page in front of her. “What’s up, Cap?” Rainbow Dash asked. Spitfire stared at the paper for a moment. Looking up, she saw Scootaloo turning the doorknob. “Hey, kid.” Putting her hoof down and turning around, Scootaloo looked back at Spitfire. “Yeah?” “You know some of the branches of the Wonderbolts are part of the military, don’t you?” Scootaloo nodded. “Of course, Ma’am. Rainbow Dash told me she’s part of one.” Spitfire nodded in return, glancing at Rainbow and giving her a hard stare at the same time. Rainbow Dash shook her head slightly, then Spitfire continued, “Well kid, Crash’s told me about how you move on the ground. I may not be able to accept you into our flight squad…” She held the paper in front of her again. Giving it a quick skim, she turned back to Scootaloo as a smile gradually grew on her muzzle. “…but I think I have another idea.” “Sweet Celestia…” Scootaloo shut the door behind her, panting her way up to the bar with Rainbow Dash and Spitfire and grabbing the stool between them. “A mare could get used to that.” “I take it you like the new wheels?” Spitfire asked her with a smirk as she sat down. “Damn right,” Scootaloo answered as she leaned forward on the bar and gave one last heavy exhale. “What a ride! Military equipment rocks!” “Gotta admit, Scoots, you looked impressive on that thing!” Rainbow said, nudging Scootaloo in the ribs before waving down the bartender, who immediately placed three ciders in front of them. Scootaloo smiled before taking a swig of her cider. “Thanks. Definitely better than my old one,” she said, setting her mug on the counter. Spitfire chuckled. “You could probably outrun a dragonfire message on that thing. We don’t call you our fastest runner for nothing, Buzz. And that was with your old scooter.” Leaning forward on the bar and looking at Rainbow Dash, she added, “Heck, you could give Crash’s  Sonic Rainboom a run for its bits.” “Eh, I wouldn’t go that far,” Rainbow said with a smug smirk. After a swig of her own cider, she asked Spitfire, “Glad I brought her up to HQ those years ago, huh, Cap?” Spitfire smiled and clapped Scootaloo on the back. “You better believe it, Crash. She’s one of our best recruits.” Turning back to her runner, Spitfire said, “Just don’t go careening off a cliff on that thing, alright, Buzz? It doesn’t have a parachute or anything like that.” “I won’t, Cap, I promise.”