//------------------------------// // Chapter 3 // Story: Virtues of Harmony // by SkylertKlaw //------------------------------// Chapter 3: Scootaloo's Other Hero "So, are they still like, rooming together or something that?" Twilight asked Spike, who was riding on her back. The two of them were somewhat late for meeting up with their friends due to Spike still trying to wake up back at their home. Spike yawned gently as he stretched out on Twilight's back. "Last I heard, at least. Sky Fire doesn't seem to be in a rush to find a new house." He folded his arms, "Just as long as he keeps away from Rarity." Twilight smirked at her best friend. "Don't let your jealousy get to your head, Spike." She said, "I don't think Rarity is the one he has his eyes on." "Well, it's just the way that she reacted to seeing him, it was really..." Spike frowned, "It really had me on edge." Twilight raised an eyebrow at him. "Spike, you're not feeling competitive now, are you?" "W-What? No!" Spike answered, "I mean, why would I feel competitive against someone who made Rarity bounce up and down with glee and got everypony's attention like he wasn't even trying?" Spike's last words were said really quickly. Twilight giggled some at her young ward's jealously. She wasn't at all surprised at how he was reacting. He was just a baby dragon, so he wasn't as mature as he often pretended to be. "Oh Spike, you'll learn someday." She told him as they continued down the path. Up ahead of them, they saw Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie, and Fluttershy awaiting them at their usual spot. Twilight noticed that Rainbow and Sky Fire had not arrived yet. Obviously they hadn't arrived yet, so she wasn't too worried about why they were late. "Howdy, Twi!" Applejack greeted her, the work horse chewing on a piece of straw, "Mighty fine of you two to be here early." "Almost TOO early..." Rarity moaned, "How am I suppose to get my beauty sleep when we get up at these dreaaadful times?" "Oh pipe down, Rarity." "Pipe down?" Pinkie Pie asked, "Applejack, how can she pipe down? She's not a pipe." She turned to Twilight. "Is she a pipe?" Twilight was about to answer her question, but stopped herself halfway. Pinkie was known for asking silly questions just to see their reactions, a lesson that Twilight had learned the hard way. Spike hoped off her back, turning to Fluttershy. "I'm kinda surprised that Rainbow is late." He said, "Isn't she usually here before any of us?" "Y-Yes." Fluttershy said quietly, "But I think she should be here soon." As if on cue, Rainbow Dash flew up from behind the gang. She slowly landed on the ground before trotting her way over to her friends. A small smile was on her face. The group noticed that she had straightened out her mane, which was usually a mess due to her racing habits. "Hey girls, sorry I'm late." Rainbow greeted them a smile. "Well hello, Rainbow." Applejack smirked, "Nice hair do." "Pardon?" "Rainbow," Fluttershy smiled, "Your did your hair today." "Yeah...it's odd." Spike raised an eyebrow, "What's the occasion?" "Well I-" Rainbow started, but Rarity was over by her side, examining her mane. "Oh Rainbow, what did you do with your hair? It's so...so...magnifico!" She stated. "W-What?" Rainbow blushed in embarrassment, "I just felt like cleaning it today!" "Uh huh." Everyone said at once. Rainbow narrowed her eyes at them before tapping her front left hoof. "Hey, Sky was our best friend back then! Is it so wrong to want to look nice on a big reunion like this?" She argued. Fluttershy chuckled. "Well, I guess the point is that you certainly went all out with it." "Ha ha..." Rainbow sarcastically laughed. "This is...a bit unlike you, Rainbow." Twilight said. "I never expected you to clean up your hair for some guy you all knew back before I came around." "Yeah, just what's so important about him anyway?" Spike asked. The other girls gave him a look. He gave a nervous chuckle before hiding behind Twilight's leg. "We never told you two that story?" Applejack asked, smiling a bit, "It's actually a pretty interesting tale." Rainbow smirked before continuing for her friend. "Yeah...see, ol Sky's a bit of a hero around here." "A hero?" Twilight blinks, "I didn't think Ponyville had a hero. I mean, I knew he was part of the weather team before he left." "Oh but he was more than that, my dear!" Rarity says, "He was the leader of the team!" "And he loved to remind Rainbow of it." Applejack smirked, "It made her so jealous." Rainbow shot daggers at Applejack. "It did not." She muttered, then turned back to Twilight, "But he wasn't really the first hero of Ponyville. What he did though was nothing compared to what we did when we purified Luna." Pinkie Pie jumped in, giving her trademark wide grin. "Yep! But it was awesome! Everyone was all 'Oh no!' and Scootaloo was all 'save me!' and Sky was all 'hero time!' and we were all 'yaaaay!' and there was a big party with celebrations and medals!" Pinkie's bag exploded with confetti. This made Fluttershy flinch from the loud sound as Rainbow covered her forehead with her front hoof. Twilight frowned though at the mention of Scootaloo's name. "...You guys didn't want to mention what happened when Pinkie Pie almost said Scootaloo's name the to him though..." Silence. Twilight sighed deeply before giving them a stern look. "Girls..." Rainbow sighed in defeat. She gave Twilight a sad look. "Look, Pinkie had it right when she said Sky saved Scootaloo, but...well, let's just say Sky wasn't exactly thrilled when he got his medal for it." Spike quirked an eyebrow. "He didn't want a medal for saving someone? How does THAT work?" "Uh...let's just say that...Scootaloo got really...hurt that day." Rarity said, "It's a very long story you two, it's something that we normally don't talk about-" "OKAY!" Everyone looked at Rainbow, her eyes narrowed. "Anyway, this really isn't the right time, if you ask me. This is supposed to be a happy get together, right?" Rainbow looked a bit down before turning back to Twilight. "Look, I'll tell you all about it later, but for now, I'd REALLY appreciate it if you didn't bring it up here. Sky's...sensitive about it." Twilight nodded, smiling gently at her friend, "Ok Rainbow, I won't bring it up. Neither will you, right, SPIKE?" She stepped on his tail rather hard as she noticed his michevious grin. Spike yelled in pain as he held his now pulsing tail in pain. XxXxX As the mane group waited for the arrival of Rainbow's old friend, the Cutie Mark Crusaders were busy doing what they were usually trying to accomplish. Getting their cutie marks. Scootaloo, the group's unoffical leader, once again was going to an extreme that probably wasn't required. Tree climbing. "Come on girls, we can get to the top easy!" She said, grabbing a branch with her mouth before pulling herself up. "Scoot, we shouldn't be doing this!" Applebloom called out from below them, "We could get injured!" "Oh quit your worrying!" Scootaloo said, grabbing another branch, "I'm telling you girls, today's the day we get our cutie marks!" "Remind me why we listen to her again?" Sweetie Bell whispered to Applebloom. "I don't know," Applebloom admitted, "I've wondered that myself as well." Scootaloo didn't seem to hear them as they continued to climb up the tree. If there was one thing she was certain about, it was that today was the day they'd get their cutie marks. For such a small filly, she had more bravery than the other young ponies in Ponyville. She had to be tough and brave, ever since the day she lost her parents. She shook her head as she grabbed another branch. "Say, did I tell you two a story about when I was saved by a dashing stallion?" She asked. "Wait, dashing?" Applebloom asked, a smirk coming to her face, "Does that mean you've got a crush Scoot~?" "N-No!" Sweetie and Applebloom giggled at their friend's sudden blush. There was no harm in teasing Scoot, no matter how small. "Sorry I'm late." Sky Fire said, landing behind the ground. "Ditzy got lost...again..." Rainbow rolled her eyes at his excuse. "Why am I not surprised? So, Ponyville like you remembered it?" Sky Fire examined Rainbow's new hair do for a few seconds. Honestly surprised to see her clean up so nicely for a simple day. "All right, who are you and what have you done with Rainbow Dash?" The others giggled at his friendly tease. Rainbow smirked as well before lightly punching him in his shoulder. Sky Fire smiled after rubbing his shoulder from her light punch. "It hasn't changed a bit actually. It's nice to be home." "Good to see you're quick to settle back in." Dash smirked at him. "Come on! Let's head out to our spot, time's a wasting!" Applejack said as she walked ahead of the group. "Hey, wait up AJ!" Pinkie said, hopping along after the work horse. After what seemed like nearly twenty minutes of walking, the group arrived at their spot. Under a big tree that had plenty of shade. Unbeknownst to them though, the Cutie Mark Crusaders were climbing up the other side. Fluttershy brought up a basket onto the picnic mate. "Angel and I made a little something. I hope you all enjoy." As everyone took a smell of the food, Twilight turned to their shy friend. "It smells delicious, like all your meals do, Fluttershy." She said. "Yup! But it can't match my party cake though!" Pinke said as she pulled out a cake from her bag, in perfect shape. Everyone's mouths nearly dropped at the sight of it in such good condition. "How in the world-" Sky Fire began to ask, but Rainbow slapped a hoof over his mouth. "It's Pinkie Pie. She finds a way every time." Not wanting to push the matter any further, Sky Fire just simply nodded his head. As Rainbow removed her hoof from his mouth, the group smiled at the laid out lunch before them. Things were looking great, the weather was perfect, an old friend was back in town, and the picnic couldn't be ruined by anything. That is until Rarity noticed her little sister climbing a tree with her two friends. "Sweetie Bell! What are you three doing up there?" The Cutie Mark Crusaders froze in their tracks when Rarity let out her cry of shock. Slowly they turned their heads towards her. Sweetie somewhat trembled at her older sister's shout, but she didn't notice Scootaloo's eyes widening when she saw the pony sitting beside Rainbow. "U-Uh, we were just trying to get our cutie marks, sis! We decided that maybe we could-" "SKY!" Scootaloo squealed as she cut off Sweetie's. The small orange filly jumped down from the tree branch she was on and barreled into Sky Fire. Nuzzling his neck happily. "Oh man Sky, it really IS you! I missed you so much! I can't believe its really you, I mean, ever since you left I-" She blinked before turning back to Sweetie, who had climbed down the tree when she jumped at him. "Tell anyone what I'm doing, you're dead!" Sweetie laughed "My lips are sealed." Sky Fire gently smiled at Scootaloo, ruffling her mane some as they stood up. "You've really grown, Scootaloo. So, you're a leader now yourself, eh?" "Heh, you know it! We're the Cutie Mark Crusaders!" Scootaloo beams at him, "Its really great to see you're back!" Sweetie Bell walked up her friend's side smiling up at her sister's old friend. "Yeah. Scoot was always telling us about how a 'dashing stallion' saved her life when she was younger. Its good to meet you, I'm Sweetie Bell." "Rarity's little sister, right?" He asked, glancing back to Rarity. She rolled her eyes in annoyance at the comment. "Yes, that's her...Applejack, where's your sister as well-" "AAAAAAH!" A cry is heard up in a tree. Everyone turned their heads quickly to the tree. Applebloom was clinging onto a high three branch that was too high to climb down from. "Applebloom!" Applejack shouted, "What in tar nation are you doing up there youngin?" "Get me down! Help!" Scoot slapped her forehead with her front hoof. "Oh for..." She starts, but notices Sky Fire and Rainbow's look and quickly stops herself. "I'm on it!" Rainbow quickly flew into the air up to the three branch. Sky Fire smiled as he sits back down, watching Rainbow's moves carefully. "Let's see how Dash handles this, shall we?" Applebloom is holding onto the tree branch for dear life, shaking her entire body as she glances down to the ground. The sight of the far ground makes her clench the three branch even tighter. "I-I'm scared of heights!" She shrieked, Rainbow slightly flew over to her. "Hey Applebloom, its gonna be ok." She hoverd close to her and extended a hoof, "Just grab onto my hoof and I'll get you down." Applebloom shiverd as she glances down to the ground, then to Rainbow, tears in her eyes. "I-I can't...if I let go I-I'll fall..." Rainbow sighed and tried to think, looking for a way to help Applebloom down without scaring her. "Er...ok, I can work with that...AHA!" She flew up into the clouds and grabbed the first one she could grab. After a few seconds she brought down with a small compact cloud. "Here we are. One lift, courtesy of Rainbow Dash." Fluttershy looked at Applejack, amazed by Rainbow's creative thinking. "Wow, that's...awfully creative for Rainbow, isn't it?" She asked. Applejack scoffed. "Please, we all know who she's trying to show off to." Sky Fire watched carefully. He had to admit that he was impressed by Rainbow's quick solution. He probably would have done it different from her, but her call was a smart one. However he felt a sudden change in the wind slightly. His smile turned into a frown. "Dash, wait!" He shouted, but the wind became an even stronger force. A powerful gust blew over the group as Applebloom's eyes watered in fear. "Aaah!" She screamed, then jumped onto Rainbow's back quickly as the wind became even stronger. "Ah crud, hang on!" At first it's a bit difficult for her to deal with, but Rainbow eventually manages to maneuver to the ground gently as the wind begins to die down. "Heh..hah...s-see? No trouble at all..." Scoot and Sweetie ran up to their friend, who was very happy to see the ground once again. "Applebloom! You ok?" Both asked at the same time. "Scoot? Sweetie? Can we do something safer from now on?" She asked, still trembling. Sky Fire took a deep breath of relief, then turned to the group. "Is everypony all right?" He asked. Fluttershy walked over and quickly examined Applebloom, making sure she wasn't hurt. "She's still afraid, but she's not hurt." She looked at Rainbow, "That was some quick thinking Dash." "Ah...well, you know me. I adapt." Spike stops staring and shook his head. "Hey yeah...I know I wouldn't be able to work under that kind of pressure." Sky Fire smiled as he turned back to Rainbow. "Looks like you really adapted to becoming a leader since I've been away." He says, nudging her shoulder some, "I'm proud of you, Dashie girl." "Applebloom!" Applejack ran up and pulling her sister into a big hug, "Why in the world where you up there?" "Scootaloo, wanted to try to get our cutie marks with climbing a tree..." "What?" Rarity asked, glancing to her own little sister who folded her ears back in sadness. Sky Fire and Rainbow looked over at Scootaloo. Both of them with narrowed eyes as Sky Fire taps his hoof in disappointment at her. "Scootaloo..." "Uh..." She looks down, "I-I-I thought she was down with us! I-I didn't mean for this to..." Rainbow's face soften up and nudges her with her face gently. "Hey there. Look, we all know you mean well Scoots, but you really should try not to try such...well, daredevil antics." Twilight's and Spike's jaws drops. "..R-Rainbow?" Spike stammered. But then Rainbow smirked. "That kinda stuff is best left to ponies like me." Spike closed his mouth and smirked. "Ah, THERE'S the normal Rainbow Dash." Sky Fire smirked some as he turned back to his old friend. "Yeah, that's why it took you forever to do that one dare I made you when we were in Flight Camp." He teased, she gave a slight smirk back at him. He then turned to Scootaloo and gives her a slight smile. "As for you, young filly, Dashie girl here is right, you need to learn now to try so hard. Your cutie marks will come to you when it comes, it won't appear by doing dangerous things." Scootaloo looked down and sighed in defeat. In her heart, she knew that he was right. But her small pride wouldn't admit it so easily. "...Maybe you're right, Sky." She said quietly. Rainbow nuzzled her again. "Hey, cheer up kid. You'll get your Mark one day, you just need to start small." "Y-Yeah?" Scootaloo smiles, "Maybe I need to go on an adventure like Sky did!" Rainbow shook her head with a sigh, but smiled at her young friend. She quickly turned back to Sky Fire, with a small frown. "But seriously, Sky, where the heck've you been all this time?" For a few seconds, Sky Fire said nothing. Then he let out a big sigh before shaking his head. "I told you before, I had to settle some things before hand, more importantly I had to clear my head, you know?" He sighed again, "After what happened and all, I needed to get some sense back." "On THAT, we can agree." Everyone chuckled at this. Eventually, Scootaloo stood back up, her eyes shining brightly. "Oh! That reminds me Sky, there's something I wanted to give you. I had it on me ever since you left! I had to give it back to you." She turned to her small leather pouch and began digging through it. Sky Fire raises an eyebrow at her, but smiled. "Something that you wanted to give back to me?" He asked. "Sounds like you mean a lot more to everyone than you thought, eh?" Twilight asked, winking at him. "Ta da!" Scootaloo raised her head holding a small, gold trimmed medal-ribbon, "Its the medal you got for savin me! You left it behind when you left for some reason, so I've been taking care of it until you came back!" If there was a record player playing somewhere in Equestia, it would have made a loud scratching noise at the scene. Applejack's jaw nearly fell open as Scootaloo held the ribbon out. Rarity covered her mouth with her front hoofs, stopping a premature gasp from escaping. Rainbow looked a bit disturbed as her eyes shrunk. "Uh..." Fluttershy looked nervous, "How...uh, thoughtful of you." "What? What's wrong?" Scootaloo asked, blinking a couple of times. "Didn't you miss it?" Sky Fire is silent for the longest time as he stared at the medal she held. Memories of the night when he saved her comes rushing back to him. At first he wanted to smack it away from her, but he couldn't do such a thing to Scootaloo. Afterall, next to Rainbow, he was Scoot's idol. Eventually he smiled as he took the medal from her. "Thanks, Scootaloo, I was wondering where this thing went." He placed it on his chest gently. The rest of the group, save for Twilight and Spike, let out a huge sigh of relief at what he did. Applejack smiled before ruffling Scootaloo's mane up with one hoof. The young filly giggled as she tried to pull her head away. "That was very thoughtful of ya, Scoot." As she ruffled Scootaloo's mane, Rainbow looked back at Sky, then the medal, the thought quietly to herself. "Something's up here..." Fluttershy looked over at her. A small smile appeared on her face as she gently tapped her friend on her shoulder. "Say Rainbow, didn't you make something too?" "ERK!" She tensed up at Fluttershy's question. "W-Well, sure. I mean, this IS a welcome back party, right?" She flew over to a nearby cloud, grabbing something within it before coming back down to the rest of the group. Under her wing is a small frame of sorts. "It ain't much, though. I never was creative when it came to gifts." She admitted before giving Sky Fire his gift. The gift in question was in fact a specially framed picture of him, the gang sans Twilight and Spike and the Crusaders when they were all younger. Rainbow smiled as he observed the photo with amazed eyes. "Its the old photo we took during our trek through the the Evergreen Forest that one time. I had it framed." "Wait...you kept that old photo from our adventure?" He asked, still staring at it in amazement as he noticed it's in pretty good shape, despite being so old. "Well yeah. We had a lot of fun that day, so I figured if I wanted to keep anything that reminded me of...of the great times we all had, it might as well be this, right?" Sky Fire smiled as he placed it down gently beside him. "Thanks Dash, I was wondering if anyone took a picture from that day." He smiled before turning to the rest of them, "Don't worry, I won't leave anytime real soon. Otherwise Dashie girl here would just pull me back anyway." "Heh, you know it tough guy." Everyone has a good laugh at this A strong wind begins to pick up again. Sky Fire glances behind him to see what's causing it, but can't seem to find exactly what it is. His eyes narrow at the way that it gets stronger. "Where's that breeze coming from anyway?" Twilight asked, before one of Pinkie's ballons shocked her. "Ack! Static!" Rainbow rolled her eyes, "Ugh, don't tell me Ditzy messed up the proper wind speed AGAIN, on TODAY of all days..." "No, I made sure that she wasn't the one planning the wind speed..." Sky Fire said, shaking his head some, "Though something is causing the wind to react differently than it should..." "Hmm...who was scheduled for today's wind again?" Rainbow asked taking a clipboard from her pouch and looking it over. Then her eyes widened, "Oh lord...not THEM!" Applejack blinked as she watched Rainbow's reaction. "You didn't have them plan today's wind, did you?" Sky Fire is silent, searching is mind for who else it could be. But when he realizes who else would be good for the job, he sighed in annoyance. "You mean those three fools?" "Yeah. Its funny, ever since the Cloudsdale event, they've backed off on being jerks to ponies..." A sudden burst of wind blows by, messing up Rainbow's fine hair. "But apparently they're a bit rusty on their wind management." Fluttershy looked a bit hopeful as she shuffled her hoofs across the ground. "Well, look on the bright side, its likely not intentional since they're nice now." "Those three, nice?" Sky Fire asked. Fluttery gave a slight nod. "Oh yes. Ever since Rainbow proved them wrong by winning the Best Flyer Competition, they've reformed, so to say." Before Sky Fire could argue that the three bullies could in no way be nice, a new voice is heard from above. "HEADS UP!" Several sudden wind bursts whiz past as a dark brown pegasus with pale brown hair shows up. "Dash! Fluttershy! ...Wait, Sky? Ah, never mind not important right now." "What'd you do this time?" Rainbow asked, looking mildly annoyed. "W-Well, we were supposed to do standard breezes, but, I dunno, Score must've gotten a maneuver wrong because the winds suddenly picked up." "Is it a danger to anyone?" Sky Fire asked. "Not yet, thankfully. Score and Hoops are working on getting them under control, and I'm just going around giving people a heads up." "How was it that you three ended up directing the wind anyway?" Sky Fire stood up from his spot. "Better safe than sorry, let me and Dash come and see what caused it to pick up." "We should get everything packed up and get back to Ponyville," Twilight suggested, "If it gets out of control it'd ruin everything we've set up here." Applejack nodded. "I agree, if it gets worse than things will get bad if the wind reaches our home." "Good thinking." Rainbow turned to Scootaloo, "Scoots, you and the other Crusaders stick close to Twilight and the others, and stay indoors once you're back to Ponyville." "Got it." Scootaloo said. "I gotta report this to the Mayor. Good luck guys." Billy said as flew off towards Ponyville. Rainbow turned to Sky, smirking. "You DO remember the way, right?" He smirked at her as he flapped his wings. "I'd never forget the path, the question is if you can..." He flies off quickly, "Keep up!" "Oh, I'll do more than that!" The two of them flew off together at fast speeds to find Score and Hoops. However, no one was aware that what they would find would start a grand adventure, one that would dwarf the Nightmare Moon even ten fold. The only question was if they were truly ready to face down this foe... To be continued.