//------------------------------// // The Final Chapter // Story: On the Wings of a Pegasus // by Jinzou //------------------------------// "Yeah Scoots!" Rainbow shouted. "I'm so proud of you!" Scootaloo smiled warmly. She had just gotten done regaling Twilight and Rainbow Dash what she did when Tirek attacked. The rest of Twilight's and Rainbow's friend group had left, but it was obvious this place was build to accommodate all six of them. They even had thrones with their cutie marks. Scootaloo thought this was very cool. "Thanks!" Scooaloo responded excitedly, buzzing her little wings. "But enough about me, what did you two do? I bet you guys spent the whole time flattening that ugly monster thing to the curb!" Rainbow Dash chuckled awkwardly and rubbed the back of her head. "Well, it was... mostly Twilight." Rainbow Dash wilted under the mighty raised eyebrow of Twilight. "Okay, it was entirely Twilight." "Earlier today, the other princesses pooled their magic and forced it all into me. Their plan was denying Tirek that last bit of their magic so he didn't get all powerful. Then I had a giant magical battle with him, which explains all those explosions you heard. I gotta admit, it was nice to let loose for once. But it ended up in a stalemate." Twilight explained. Scootaloo beamed. "That is so insanely awesome! But why would the princesses do that?" Twillight looked at the filly quizzically. "What do you mean, why?" "Well, if they gave you all their magic they'd be useless against Tirek. So he could defeat them easily. And that would force you to fight him before he enslaved all of ponykind. But you fought with the strength of four alicorns. Yourself, and the other three princesses, and still won. If they hadn't split up all their power, they could use the same amount of magic you used to fight Tirek, but have four different angles to attack him from, making it harder for him to hit any specific one of you, and you could find his weak spots." Twilight and Rainbow Dash shared a surprised look. "What?" Scootaloo asked. "It's why the griffons lost the battle of Stalliongrad to the zebras. I pay attention in school sometimes." Twilight blinked several times. "Well... I'm not sure why they did that actually. Maybe she's uncomfortable with combat magic?" Scootaloo shrugged. "Well that one time we all saw her fight Chrysalis she went down in a couple of seconds, so that could be." "You were there?" Rainbow asked incredulously. "I was one of the flowerfillies!" Scootaloo shot back, a little hurt that her at-that-point idol hadn't even acknowledged her existence. "Oh. Sorry Scoot. I guess we were all a little distracted by Twilight going bonkers the whole time." Rainbow apologized. Twilight snickered. "Sure, I went a little overboard, but I ended up being right!" "What's that thing you always say, Twilight?" Rainbow pretended to be lost in thought. "The end doesn't justify the means?" Twilight chuckled. "Okay, fair enough. You got me." This is perfect. This is what I've been needing for years now. A truly caring family. Together. Noticing the weird smile on Scootaloo's face, Twilight paused. "Are you okay, sweetie?" Scootaloo didn't say anything, just walked over to Twilight and pulled her into a hug. The two sat there in silence for a moment until Rainbow Dash joined them, softly wrapping her wings around the pair. "I'm not great with words but I... Thank you both. I can never repay what you've done for me." The trio continued the hug for another minute, until Twilight nuzzled the filly and started whispering in her ear. "Scootaloo, Rainbow Dash and I have a very special surprise for you." Scootaloo gasped, breaking out of the hug so she could look at both her parents. "You guys are dating now?!" Scootaloo exclaimed excitedly. "I... what? No. Why does everyone keep shipping us together?" Twilight complained. "Because you guys are married?" Scootaloo laughed. "Also would be really cute together. So if not that, what's the surprise?" Scootaloo paused as Twilight adopted a rather apprehensive look on her face. Rainbow Dash looked a little less excited. "Well sweetie... Celestia informed me of a spell that can reconnect, or create new magical pathways in a pony. It's usually only used on unicorns... and is apparently agonizingly painful... but..." Twilight swallowed. "Do it! I'm ready!" Scootaloo chirped. "You don't want to... brace yourself? Or hold my hoof? Or anything?" Rainbow Dash asked. "I can take physical pain. I'm very experienced." Scootaloo simply replied. Twilight and Rainbow shared a glance at that. "Are you sure you're ready Scootaloo?" Twilight asked softly. "We won't think any less of you if say you're not ready." Scootaloo hardened her eyes and met Twilight's glaze. Twilight could see fire dancing in Scootaloo's eyes. Scootaloo nodded confidently. "If this can help me fly, I'll go through any pain." Kid's got moxie. I'm impressed. Rainbow Dash thought to herself. Twilight slowly nodded back. Lifting Scootaloo telekinetically. At first, Scootaloo just felt a nice warm feeling in her wings, but then her body was wracked with a pain so intense her vision went white. She let out a scream of agony, then bit down on her lip so hard she felt rivulets of blood dripping down her lip. Then as soon as it started, it was over. Scootaloo could help but to give a pathetic whimper as she collapsed. Twilight rushed over to her and pulled her into a hug. "Oh no, I'm so so sorry, I never should have done that. Are you okay?" Scootaloo took a deep breath, struggling to her hooves as her strength returned. She nodded at Twilight, the smile lost from her face. A moment later she flapped her wings a few times and the smile returned. "Do you think I can fly now?" "Well you recovered quickly." Twilight laughed. "I'd give it a bit of time. Keep flapping your wings, make sure you've got magic flowing in there, and how about Rainbow Dash takes you somewhere nice to test?" Rainbow Dash jumped onto the table, giving Scootaloo an encouraging smile. She leaned down to let Scootaloo climb on. Scootaloo nestled herself just above Rainbow Dash's wings and got to work buzzing her own. Rainbow turned and motioned for Twilight to follow her. The two mares trotted out of the castle. Opening the doors, both mares took to the skies. Rainbow Dash led them to a clearing just off Sweet Apple Acres. Twilight landed on the ground to watch from below. Rainbow Dash deposited Scootaloo on a cloud and prepared her speech to psych the filly up. "Listen squirt, you know no matter what happens here, your mother and I love you. And worst comes to worst? I'm not going to let you fall and get hurt. Now before you jump, I want you to do a couple things, okay?" Scootaloo nodded, shaking in anticipation. "First, when you jump I want you to close your eyes. If you look at the ground you're gonna scare yourself and do worse. Two, practice those wing flaps like we've been practicing. Don't just flail your wings about. Third, realize that no matter how good or bad of a flier you are, you're always gonna be my favorite." Rainbow Dash nuzzled the filly on that note. "But Rainbow Dash, how can I be your favorite if I don't ever get as good as you? You're like... the best." Scootaloo questioned. "Squirt, I'm gonna tell you the same thing I told you before you carried the flag. You're awesome in a ton of different ways regardless of whether or not you can fly. And, to be honest, I think you're already better than me." Rainbow Dash smiled. "Wait, what?" Scootaloo gasped. "Scootaloo, you want to know what I would do in your shoes, if I was your age?" Scootaloo nodded. "I would have given up. I would have given up so long ago. And I didn't even have to worry about abusive parents. You've taken all that life's thrown at you, and came out victorious. You've been beaten down, verbally and physically, but I still see you wear that proud smile of yours everywhere you go. Even after all the darkness you still have a pure little heart. You want to know why I know you're gonna be better than me?" Rainbow Dash leaned down to whisper in Scootaloo's ear. "Because you inspire me." Scootaloo gave a soft gasp and stared up into Rainbow's eyes. "Go." Tightly squeezing her eyes shut, Scootaloo leaped off the cloud, furiously flapping her wings. But as the seconds passed, she didn't feel the impact of her body hitting the ground, or of Rainbow Dash catching her. In fact, she didn't feel anything but air under her hooves. But that would mean... A moment later she heard two different voices cheering as loudly as they could. Feeling herself wobble around, Scootaloo slowly opened one eye and gazed down. The ground wasn't rushing up to meet her. In fact, the ground was getting farther away. Scootaloo's heart soared as she realized what she was doing. She was flying.