//------------------------------//
// Chapter 9- A Moment To Open Up 
// Story: My Little Pony: The Test of Friendship 
// by McThriller 
//------------------------------//

Chapter 9- A Moment To Open Up

The start of a new day had arrived, the sun was just beginning to rise and some ponies in Ponyville were starting to wake early to set up their shops and start their day of buisness. Most ponies would still sleep a bit longer until the sun was completely up, one of them being Rainbow Dash.

Since her job wasn't too complicated, she would usually sleep in a bit longer but today was one of those days that had to change. Since she volunteered to get Flamebolt a job, she had to follow through with her promise and meet him early in the morning at the fountain. She regretted making that decision as she felt groggy and her eyes were struggling to stay open.

While flying into town she let out a few yawns here and there, not really feeling energized to begin her day, "*yawn* Why did I say early in the morning?" She tried to keep herself from yawning more but a couple more were able to escape her mouth as she slowly descended into Ponyville. "Maybe he'll forget and I can go back to sleep for a bit," she hoped as she landed by town hall.

The town was a bit empty at the moment and there were only a couple ponies who were out and about setting up for the day. Some were getting their shops ready while others were just wanting to get an early start to their day.

She walked away from the town hall and headed towards her meeting point at the fountain. Looking around, she couldn't find him and it seemed like she was gonna get what she wanted.

A somewhat deep voice was coming from the other side of the fountain, "*grunt*43...44...45...46" Looking around the fountain, she could see Flamebolt was in the middle of a workout. He was busy doing some wing ups and it looks like he has been at it for awhile as sweat was visibly falling from his face.

"Geez Flamebolt, I would've never taken you for an early riser," She commented but it seemed to fall to deaf his ears as he continued his wing ups.

"47...48...49...*grunt*50!" With that final push, he was able to almost throw himself off the ground with all his might as he landed on all four hooves. He finally noticed she was standing close by, his breathing was a tad heavy as he spoke to her, "About time you showed up."

"Well soooorry," she said, a bit irritated with how early she had to be awake, "I don't get up this early in the morning."

Flamebolt on the other hoof seemed to be wide awake, with his blood pumping and full of energy. "I don't have a problem with it," he shrugged, moving towards the fountain.

"How long have you been up anyways? You're covered in sweat," she noted his appearance.

"Since the sun started to rise, I guess," he answered before dunking his head into the water, it felt cool underneath and helped wash the sweat off him. He pulled his head out and shook his head as dry as he could for the moment, his mane was damp but was still able to keep it looking wild.

"That early!? No pony is crazy enough to be up before Celestia finishes raising the sun!" She shouted, this surprising news helped wake her up more.

"I've always been an early riser, gives me more time to train before anypony else is even up to bother me," he started some simply stretching of his wings.

"Is training the only thing on your mind? Don't you ever just chill out for a day?" she questioned him.

He stopped his stretching, "I'll chill out when I beat you."

"Still going on about that?" She questioned, "Well better not slack off with all that training then if you ever want to come close to beating me."

He let out a soft chuckle, "Oh I never slack off, that's something I guarantee you."

"Hmm..." Seeing him with all this confidence, she took a moment to study him.

It was clear that he had the frame of an athlete but he was bulkier than any other stallions she ever flew with, Soarin included. He obviously wasn't lying about his training cause it showed, not only that but his speed was impressive when they raced. It's possible he could get even faster the way he's committed to getting better.

"What are you looking at?" He asked, feeling a little awkward as she kept looking up and down his body..

"Oh it's nothing, just wondering how I haven't seen a pony like you around the Wonderbolts academy, or any flying competitions for that matter," she answered. "With your speed, you could get a chance to become a Wonderbolt like me!"

"Oh? You're a Wonderbolt?" he challenged.

"Heck yeah!" She stuck her chest out in glory but pulled it back in, "I mean I'm a reserve right now, but they know how awesome I am and are saving me for when a spot opens up. I'm practically already one!"

"Good for you..." He looked at the ground, lost in thought for a second before he quickly changed the subject, "Anyways shouldn't we get started? The sooner you tell me what I have to do, the sooner you can go back to sleep."

This wasn't the reaction she was hoping to get from him, she wanted to see some jealousy but he ended up looking disappointed and it seemed like the Wonderbolts have something to do with it. She wanted to ask what was wrong but figured he wouldn't tell her anything. She then remembered she had some news to tell him, "Yeah...about that...forgot to tell you that we gotta go to Cloudsdale first."

"Seriously? Why the heck do we have to go there?" He asked in an annoyed tone.

"Geez, what's got you so worked up? They needed to meet you face to face and to put you in the employment records," she responded.

He grumbled to himself, "Fine...let's just get this over with."

Seeing him acting like a grouch was not what she wanted to deal with today. She started to learn that it's best to just get things over with than to deal with his short fuse. "Then let's go."

With the two in agreeance, they flew off into the bright blue sky and left Ponyville, heading towards Cloudsdale. This was their previous home so they both knew where they were going. On the way, the two were keeping even in speed but Flamebolt decided to let himself loosen up a bit as he started to perform a few small tricks, he rose quickly into the sky but immediately stopped flapping his wings. While stalling his wings, he did a backflip and started to fall back towards the ground but with control and precision, he extended his wings and leveled himself out before flapping his wings again. He closed his eyes and let the wind guide him, his anger slowly faded away as he enjoyed the calmness the breeze brought to him. He felt at peace with himself in this moment, this was the one thing he enjoyed the most. The sky had no limit to him and was able to fly freely to his heart's content.

Rainbow Dash could see he was enjoying himself and decided to join in on the fun. She performed a tight upward half loop and ended upside down before rolling back to a leveled position. She then decided to do a couple front flips before catching herself with her wings and flapping her wings again..

Flamebolt noticed what she was trying to do and decided to make it a challenge as he stepped it up with a couple loop-the-loops, he then added a barrel roll. After performing these tricks he ascended back to her level and grinned, indicating that it was her turn to show him something.

She smirked and quickly dropped downward, building up speed while doing a continuous corkscrew. As she was getting closer and closer to the ground it seemed like she was gonna crash face first but before that she leveled herself out and extended her wings, she leaned back and was able to narrowly dodge the ground as she pulled herself back into the air. She shouted in joy as she ascended back up to his level.

They looked at each other before distancing themselves and began performing some more maneuvers. Slowly the two were becoming in sync with their movements as they mimicked one another. They started spiraling downward, matching each other's speed and crossed paths with each other before pulling back into the air. Without realizing it, they were performing moves as a duo, they were mirroring each other's movement and having a blast. It wasn't a competition anymore, it was just two pegasi having fun.

Cloudsdale was coming into view, they realized the best way to end this was to make it a quick little race and see who would land first. They increased their speed and shot straight towards the city in the sky.





(Cloudsdale)

The city was at peace and all the pegasi were starting their day like normal. But a few saw something approaching from the distance, two pegasi were coming in at high speed. One was leaving a rainbow trail and the other was leaving a trail of fire and electric sparks. The ponies saw them coming and quickly moved out of the way, giving space for them to land without crashing into anypony.

The two landed with an immense force, causing the ground to shake and a gust of wind to blow the surrounding ponies away from them. After an intense minute, everything calmed back down and the startled ponies looked to see Rainbow Dash and Flamebolt catching their breaths.

"That...was...AWESOME!" She squealed with excitement. "I can't believe what we just did! You really pulled off some sick moves up there!"

"I know right!" He replied with the same enthusiasm as her, "We were all over the sky and you were pulling off some insane tricks yourself!"

The two gave each other a hoof bump and laughed at the experience. They didn't seem to notice the other pegasi around, who were recovering from their intense landing as they continued to talk about their stunts.

For the first time since meeting Flamebolt, she witnessed a bright smile on his face as he talked about the moves they were pulling off together. It was hard to believe he was the same grouch from before, always either gloom or angry but he seemed like a completely different stallion right now and flying seemed to be the key to this.

She was actually enjoying a conversation with him which she didn't think would be possible, the smile on his face really made her see there was a different side to him. It made him look more friendly and made her feel comfortable to be around him, "Wow, I would have never thought you could smile like this."

Hearing her say that made him realize what he was doing, his heart was beating like crazy and his cheeks felt tight. He could feel the warmth spreading through his body, looking around he noticed a mirror with his reflection in it. The mirror showed him with a happy expression on his face while shining his white teeth. He quickly shoved a hoof into his mouth to hide his expression, turning away from her, he tried to calm himself down as this feeling was surprising to him. 'What in Equestria is happening to me? Why am I feeling this way right now?' 

This emotion he was feeling confused him, he never smiled like this and yet he was doing it now. Whenever he flew it was either to clear his thoughts, to focus on improving his speed, or to beat whoever he faces with determination. But this emotion was different, yet familiar to him, like a missing part of him had returned.

Watching him turn away from her brought question to what he was doing. He was so happy a minute ago and yet when he realized what he was feeling, he tried to quickly hide it from her.

He took a moment to control his heartbeat and then cleared his throat before speaking, "S-stop wasting time and lets get going." He gritted his teeth in an attempt to erase the smile on his face, as he shook the feeling away from him. He moved on ahead without giving her a chance to follow, trying to keep his distance from her.

"Wait up!" She called out, trying to catch up to him. She wondered what had just happened, they were having a nice conversation but now he's trying to avoid looking at her.

'Stay calm, forget whatever you were feeling just now. You just let your guard down that's all, flying is about being the best. Remember that.' He was deep in thought, telling himself to forget what just happened. He continued moving forward but could hear Rainbow Dash trying to get his attention.

"Hey! Will you listen to me!?" She shouted, flying in over him before hovering in his path. "What the heck was that all about?"

He grumbled to himself and moved around her, "I don't know what you're talking about."

She landed in place but quickly moved next to his side and trotted at the same pace as him, "Don't play dumb with me, you were smiling from ear to ear and all of the sudden you try and ditch me."

"I-I wasn't smiling, I just remembered a really funny joke, that's all," he told her while avoiding eye contact.

She could tell he was lying and wanted to get a straight answer from him, "Yeah right! Spill it, you were having fun flying weren't you!?"

"That's ridiculous! Why would I be having fun? I only fly to be the best!" He retorted while picking up his pace.

"Oh come on! You're telling me that you only fly just so you can be better than everypony!?" She inquired while matching his speed.

Flamebolt continued to move faster and faster until he started galloping, not only was he fast in the sky but he was also fast on hoof. Rainbow Dash was surprised she was having trouble catching up to him so she decided to use her wings to gain speed and flew right next to him, easily keeping up with him. She continued to question him until she would get the answers she wanted but he was too stubborn and refused to tell her anything.

"That's it! I've had enough of you running from me!" She shouted as she leaned her body towards him and flapped her wings with all her might, putting all her force into tackling him.

The collision wrapped them up as they rolled across the streets for a good distance. Eventually they stopped rolling and ended up with Flamebolt on his back against the ground with Rainbow Dash standing on top of him, pinning his body against the ground.

The two were breathing heavily from the chase but she ended up catching him, "I finally...got you..." Looking down, she could see he was still trying to push her off of him but she pressed him further into the ground.

He groaned in defeat, "Fine...you win..." He stopped fighting back and relaxed his body to show he wasn't gonna pull anything.

Seeing that he stopped his struggling, she released her hoof from his body and stepped off of him so he could get up. "AJ was right...you are more stubborn than a mule."

He rolled off his back and dusted himself off, he didn't bother to look at her and remained silent.

"Look, you obviously won't tell me your problem is and that's fine. Whatever your deal is, I won't ask." She walked past him and headed towards the direction of the building they needed to go to, she stopped and shouted back at him, "But if you're expecting to get a rematch from me, you're gonna have to open up like earlier! I won't race you until I meet that guy again!"

This day was already off to a bad start, Rainbow Dash had witnessed him in a happy moment and it backfired quickly as he tried to get away from it, but it was pointless to run when she's around. He followed behind her in defeat, wanting to be alone in thought again as he tried to figure out what was happening to him.

Rainbow Dash looked back to see he was following her, she smirked knowing he was going to be obedient now. She knew it probably wasn't the best decision to handle him like this but with the way he acts, it was the best she could do for now. With this silence, it gave her some time to think, 'Well at least that's taken care of. But still, there seems to be more to him than he leads on.' She remembered the tricks he was pulling off which brought more questions, 'Thoses moves he pulled off we're definitely from the Wonderbolts. Could he have been one? I'll have to ask Spitfire if she knows anything about him.'

After some time, the two arrived at their destination. The building was average size and didn't seem like it would hold many ponies in. But it turns out it was just an administration office that helps employ pegasi and keeps records of all who are looking for work. Not many ponies work in this building but they do get information to and from many areas in Cloudsdale.

Once inside, Flamebolt had to get a photo of himself and answer some simple questions before he could begin work. He didn't give out much information and wanted to keep out his identity but was required to have an ID card. He kept his grumpy look and will now be in his records for the rest of his life.

He was approved to take over for Ponyville every other day with Rainbow Dash as long as he reports to any pony within the administration. He will have to check in before every shift and report to the office at the end of every day and at the end of every week he will get his payment from the office. The two left the building with everything in order, today would be his training day with Rainbow Dash and after that he would be on his own every other day after Rainbow Dash.

"Alright, now that we got all the paperwork in, I will show you what we need to do once we get back to Ponyville," she informed him.

He gave her an understanding nod and was ready to leave Cloudsdale as soon as possible. He wasn't in the mood to protest anymore and decided to just do what he was told to do.

Rainbow Dash flapped her wings and lifted herself off the ground with Flamebolt doing the same. She decided to lead him back and was giving him some pointers on what would be the easiest thing to do on the way back.

He was looking below himself while listening to her pointers, then her words slowly began to muffle out as something caught his eye.

He saw a small obstacle camp that was filled with little fillies and colts who were practicing. He could hear a whistle blowing from the coach at the camp and noticed they were all flying through the obstacle course. He stopped in place and just levitated, looking at the camp like he was reminiscing something in his past.

Rainbow Dash was trailing on with her pointers, not noticing he had stopped for a minute until she realized she was talking to herself. She turned around and saw him floating in place while looking down at the camp. She flew next to him and wondered what his deal was this time, but it seemed like he was lost in thought again and didn't notice her next to him. She waved a hoof in his face and tried to get his attention, "Hello? You in there?"

He snapped out of his thought once he saw her in his sight, "W-what?"

"You were acting weird again, staring at that camp," she pointed a hoof at the camp below them. She couldn't help but smile at the sight, seeing all of them trying to become great fliers brought back some good memories, "Time sure does fly, I still remember how awesome I was at the-"

"Junior Speedster Flight Camp..." he interrupted her.

"Y-yeah...Wait! You were also there!?" She shouted in surprise, she never would have expected to meet somepony like him in her past.

"I wasn't around for long..." he lamented, "Besides, it was pointless for me to stay..."

"Why? Because you thought you were better than everypony?" She questioned, expecting him to act like a hot shot again.

"No...it was the opposite," he told her truthfully.

"The opposite?" She was puzzled with what he was saying.

"As in the worst, like I couldn't fly to save my life," he explained as he started to grit his teeth.

"The worst? But look at you, you totally have the speed and agility that most pegasi wish they had," she objected.

"It didn't come easy...I had to bust my flank to get to where I am now. Training day after day, night after night, pushing myself as hard as I can just to prove ponies wrong," His anger was slowly rising, "They called me an embarrassment and that I would never amount to anything. It was infuriating to hear, always getting laughed at for being weak and to never get encouragement by anypony."

Hearing him venting out his frustration and talking about his past struggles made her feel guilty in a way. If he was at the same camp as her, she should have noticed a pony like him and tried to help him through all that. But if she never noticed him, then it was obvious that she was also part of the blame.

"So now you know something about me, don't expect this to mean anything. I'm just telling you this so you hold your end of the bargain," He zipped past her and headed back towards Ponyville.

She wasn't able to get a word in before he left but remembered the deal she made, "Guess I do owe him a rematch after hearing all that." She followed him back to Ponyville at high speed so she didn't get left behind.





(Ponyville)

Some time passed and Rainbow Dash showed him all he needed to do for the job as weather pony. He would bust a few clouds from time to time and create some when needed for rain. She knew he was capable of handling this stuff and decided to let him finish off the rest of the day. She wished him luck and left to go back to Cloudsdale so she could train with the Wonderbolts. She wished she could have said something back at the camp, she felt like she owed him an apology for not helping him out back ten. He didn't seem to want to bother with any of that right now so she let him be, but this would be a good opportunity to mention him to Spitfire and see if she can find out anything else about him while training.

The day went on like normal, Flamebolt had a clear understanding on what he was doing and finished his work with no trouble at all. With that taken care of, he didn't know what to do with the rest of his free time. He could spend that time training but his stomach told him otherwise as it started rumbling. He hasn't eaten a good meal in awhile and wonders how he even lasted this long, he didn't have any money yet since he has to wait for the week to end.

"Guess I'll have to do this like in the old days...hope I don't get caught, otherwise I'll have to hear from that princess," he pondered about what he should do but his stomachs grumbling convinced him to go through with it.

He flew around town and searched for anything he could eat, he started with a few restaurants. His plan involved landing close by and hiding himself around corners of other buildings. He would scope out each restaurant and see what they had to offer, if he didn't like what they were making then he would move on to the next restaurant. He never did like the fact this was what he had to do, he can't afford anything and he sure as heck was gonna ask for help either.

He prepared to make his move, his heart raced as he waited for the moment to strike, time was starting to slow down as the beating from his heart started ringing in his ears. He took a deep breath and was about to move but something shined in his eye. The shining distracted him as he looked to the source of the light, right below him was a gold bit laying on the dirt floor. This must have been his lucky day as he looked around to make sure that no pony was looking for this bit. Once he was clear, he took the bit and searched for the cheapest item he could at any restaurant or food cart. He managed to get a cheap daffodil sandwich, it wasn't much but it would have to do for now.

"Thank Celestia for that bit! That was so much better than doing things the old way!" He was relieved that he didn't have to go through with his plan.

Now that he had something in his stomach he had to figure out what he could do next, 'Maybe I can find a good spot to workout for now' He blasted off into the sky and searched towards the outskirts for an open area.

He scanned around the town and looked for an opening away from the other ponies. As he passed by some familiar buildings he heard a loud ringing bell, looking towards the source he saw a small school. He remembered Scootaloo telling him that she goes to this school, 'Sounds like the kid is coming out of school now, guess I better keep my promise and check on her.'

He glided towards the school but didn't want to draw attention to himself, so he landed on the closest cloud and squeezed himself inside so not to get noticed. He peeked his head out and watched all the little fillies and colts leaving the school building, searching around to see if he could find the orange filly. At first, it seemed like she wasn't going to come out but finally he saw her exit with her other crusaders. He couldn't hear them clearly so he pushed the cloud lower until it was he could hear their voices.





(Crusader's View)

School was over for the day, Applebloom and Sweetie Belle were happy to have Scootaloo back with them. For the past week they decided it was best to stay away from the more dangerous activities and settle for safer ways of getting their cutie marks.

"Well crusaders, it's another great day to find our cutie marks!" Applebloom cheered.

"Yeah!" Sweetie Belle chirped.

Unfortunately, Scootaloo seemed to be distracted and wasn't paying attention to what her friends were saying.

"Uh, Scootaloo? You okay?" Applebloom tapped her on the shoulder.

"Oh right, sorry girls. I was thinking" Scootaloo answered.

"You were thinking about Flamebolt again, weren't you?" Sweetie Belle asked.

Scootaloo nodded, "I tried asking Granny Care-Care about him this morning but..."





(Earlier with Scootaloo)

The sun had risen over the orphanage, the building wasn't big but it seemed to hold all the ponies who were living there. All the little ones were eating their breakfast, many of the older ones would get ready to go to school after they finished eating while the younger ones would stay and help Caring Heart with chores. Scootaloo offered to help Caring Heart with washing the dishes before she would leave for school.

As the others left the dining room and went about preparing for their day, Scootaloo thought this would be a good opportunity to talk to Caring Heart about Flamebolt, "Hey Granny Care-Care, can I ask you something?"

"What is it Scootaloo?" She asked while washing some plates.

"Well...it's about Flamebolt..." she hesitated to say.

She stopped washing a plate, "O-oh, what about him?"

"I was wondering...how long have you known him?" Scootaloo asked with curiosity.

Caring smiled, "A very long time..."

"Really? Cause I've never heard you say anything about him before. I even looked at all the old photos of every pony you ever took care of and never saw one with him." She doubted as she turned to see her caretakers reaction.

She sighed, "It's...complicated dear, a lot happened that made it difficult to talk about."

This made her curious as she wanted to know more, "What happened?"

"I-I shouldn't say, it wouldn't be right for me to tell you without him saying anything," her expression grew into a sad one.

Seeing her caretaker like this made her feel guilty for bringing in this topic, "I'm sorry...I shouldn't have asked if it's hard on you."

Caring cupped her cheek with a hoof and smiled at her, "It's alright Scootaloo, it's in the past now. But I have to ask, why are you so curious about him?"

"Well there a lot I don't understand about him, before I even met him all I ever heard about him was that he was mean, angry, and just plain rude. But when he saved me, I didn't see any of that, he may not have been the kindest but he still went out of his way to protect me." She still remembers that day clearly and still felt at fault for his injury, "Whenever I try to ask him about himself he will always avoid the questions. He may not say anything but I always see the expressions he makes; angry...sad...hurt...even mentioning friends seems to upset him."

"Well Scootaloo, truth be told he never had a friend from what I remembered," she admitted to the filly.

"That's awful...not even one friend..." he ears dropped after hearing this.

"It was heartbreaking to see him so alone, he never seemed to fit in with anypony," the tone in her voice seemed to quiet down a bit.

"Poor Flamebolt..." Scootaloo began to tear up, she couldn't think what life would be like if she never had a friend.

"But he never knew when to give up. I remember when he was your age, he would always find a way to stay positive," her lips slowly curled into a smile, "In fact, you remind me a bit of him."

"I do?" She was uncertain what it was about herself that reminded Caring of him but did remember something he said to her, "I do remember him saying he couldn't fly like me, is that true?"

"It is actually, even though all the other pegasi around the same age could fly, he couldn't even get off the ground," she chuckled a little bit.

Hearing this news kinda made her feel a bit hopeful and that there was a pony she could relate to, "Wow, and now he's flying! He even raced Rainbow Dash!"

"Oh yes I remember you telling me, I'm so glad to hear that. He was always determined and he still is today," she seemed to cheer up pretty quickly.

"Do you know what he did to learn? Maybe I should get his advice," the little filly started to jump around the room in excitement and flapped her little wings, not flying but she hovered for a second before landing.

She giggled at the energetic filly, "Take it easy now dear, I'm sure he'll get around to telling you how he did it. But maybe you should wait a little bit, he might not be too open yet to tell you."

"Oh right...he doesn't seem to want to be around anypony anyways. In fact, he wanted to leave Ponyville right away! I hope he decides to stay even after he pays off his debt," she hoped so she could get a chance to see him again and maybe get a chance to hear more about him.

"I wonder about that...Oh look at the time, you better get going or you'll be late to school," she warned the orange filly.

"Your right! I better get going otherwise Applebloom and Sweetie Belle will worry about me again!" She shrieked as she quickly ran off to get her things. She grabbed her school supplies and was about to leave the front door.

Caring stopped her before she left, "Have a great day. Oh! If you do ever run into Flamebolt today, can you-"





(Present Time)

"And that's what she told me," Scootaloo informed her friends.

"Well I guess we learned something about him at least," Sweetie Belle noted.

"Still, it's sad to hear he never had a friend...Maybe we can help him and become his first ever friends!" Applebloom suggested.

"Maybe...but it won't be easy. We're gonna have to really convince him to give it a chance, and we have to find him first." Sweetie Belle added.

"Then it's settled! Today we're gonna find Flamebolt and show him what friendship is all about!" Scootaloo declared, feeling determined to help him out.

"Let's do it Cutie Mark Crusaders!" Applebloom cheered with the others copying her energy.

"Well, well, well, looks like the blank flanks are at it again," a voice snickered, causing the trio to stop their cheer.

Two earth pony fillies were walking towards the crusaders, one had a dark gray coat with a lighter shade of gray for her mane and tail. She wore cerulean colored glass and had a beads necklace on, her cutie mark was a silver spoon. The other had a pink coat with purple colored mane and tail with a white streak through them, she also wore a tiara on her head and had one has her cutie mark as well.

"Oh great, it's Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon." Sweetie Belle bleated.

"What do you two want this time?" Scootaloo challenged the two.

"Well we just wanted to see how poor little orphan Scootaloo was doing. Must have been quite a fright when you were attacked in those woods," Diamond Tiara gibbed at the incident.

"I'm fine, in fact I'm all better now that my leg is all healed." Scootaloo answered.

"That's good, it would have been a shame if you never came back. I'm sure your parents would have been worried about you, oh wait, you don't have any." She smirked at her.

"Would you knock that off, it's never funny to say that about her." Sweetie Belle stepped in front of Scootaloo to protect her.

"She's only pointing out the facts, she's got no parents and no cutie mark and still can't fly. I mean who could have any worse luck than her," Silver Spoon chimed in.

Scootaloo tried to ignore the insults as her friends tried to stand up for her.

"It must be so hard to be stuck with a pony like her, maybe if she didn't get out of the forest, you two would have a better chance of getting your cutie marks." Diamond Tiara snickered.

"How dare you say that! Scootaloo could have really been hurt and yet you laugh at her!" Apple bloom shouted.

The two continued snickering, "We're just teasing, besides it's not like anypony would notice. That's what the orphanage is for, leaving behind ponies who they don't want. They probably knew how pathetic she was gonna be and decided to get rid of her sooner than to be disappointed with her future failures."

Diamond Tiara hit a sensitive spot in Scootaloo, she never did know who her parents were or why she ended up at the orphanage. She always wanted to know what a family was like and would get jealous whenever she would see ponies being loved by her parents. She loved all her friends and every pony at the orphanage, but deep down she knew that she wanted a mom and dad that would give her the same love. Her eyes started to tear up, she tried to be strong in front of her friends whenever the subject came up, but deep down she would always get upset with it.

"Uh oh, I think she's about to cry now, better call her mommy." Diamond Tiara added as the two began to laugh and point at her.

Sweetie Belle and Applebloom hugged Scootaloo who was ready to let her tears fall down her face.

A loud crash came from behind the crusaders, causing a gust of wind to blow their manes over their eyes and made the two bullies stop laughing. A big cloud of dirt surrounded the object that left a small crater in the ground.

A shadowy figure walked through the cloud and revealed itself to be Flamebolt. He seemed to have left his spot in the cloud and shot straight to the ground, causing this entrance.

Scootaloo looked behind with tears in her face and her vision a little blurry, "F-Flamebolt..."

Applebloom and Sweetie Belle looked in shock as he appeared before them, but could feel something was about to happen.

Flamebolt looked at the three and saw that Scootaloo was crying and had her friends comforting her. His blood was boiling faster than it ever did before as his anger grew until he was furious. He changed his view to the bullies who were a bit shaken by his random appearance but the look on his face started to scare them a bit. He slowly walked past the crusaders who could feel the rage escaping his body, giving them a slight shiver. He approached the two fillies, his steps grew louder and more fierce as he got closer and closer to them.

Scootaloo tried to call out to him but he ignored her as he stopped in front of them. As a stallion he towered over the two and could easily squash them if he wanted to.

Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon could feel their bodies tremble as he stared them down, his face remaining enraged as his eyes stared deep into their souls. "W-Who a-are you? Did the orphan get a bodyguard now?" She hesitated to reply, still shaken by his size.

"...You think it's funny?" He slowly replied.

"W-what?" She was puzzled by the question.

"You think laughing at other ponies misfortunes is fun?"

"W-well-" Silver Spoon tried to speak but he quickly interrupted her.

"QUIET!" He yelled at them, causing every pony around to jump to his sudden outburst. "You got a lot of nerve, insulting her like that." He leaned in closer to them, "You think she wanted this? To not have what every other pony here has."

"I-I..." Diamond Tiara whispered.

"NO! Every day those orphans have to wake up, wondering why they deserved this punishment!" He shoved a hoof at their faces, "How would you like if you woke up and have no parents? Or better yet, how would you like to be thrown away and forgotten?"

Many ponies could hear his shouts as some were growing concerned as to what he might do to the fillies, "Maybe I should throw you two in the Everfree Forest and see if anypony will care. In fact, why don't I take you now and see if we can find some Timberwolves? I'm sure they would love to meet you."

"Y-you can't do that. Do you have any idea who our parents are or what they will do to you if you try to harm us?" Diamond Tiara tried to warn him, "T-They're some of the richest ponies in town and will do whatever it takes to ruin your life."

The waning didn't faze him as he chuckled, "You think I care what rich snobby ponies do to me? I've been through much worse."

The crusaders sat there and watched, Scootaloo was beginning to worry if he was actually gonna follow through with his threats.

"Ponies like you always piss me off, acting like you're better than every pony. The only reason you make fun of others is because you live a pathetic life, even making fun of them because they don't have a cutie mark is just sad for you. Especially when you have awful marks like those," he pointed at the marks on their flanks.

"H-How dare you!? These marks show everypony how much better we are!" Diamond Tiara argued.

"Yeah! Everypony knows how great they are!" Silver Spoon added.

"At what? Holding a spoon? Or knowing how to use it in a fancy way? That's quite the future you'll have," he insulted her and then got right in Diamond Tiara's face "And what about you? A stupid little tiara that your already wearing on your head," He ripped the tiara off her head and threw it at the ground.

"My tiara!" She shrieked, "Give it back, now!"

He ignored her cries, "Now you better listen, if I ever hear or see you try and do this again," he lifted up his hoof and slammed it into the tiara on the ground, smashing it into pieces. "I'll do far worse to you than this tiara."

Seeing the tiara in pieces caused her to build tears of her own as she cried, Silver Spoon tried to console her but Flamebolt threatened to start now if they didn't leave. They ran away, both scared of his threat and warning that they were gonna report him to their parents.

He looked around and noticed some of the ponies who stood there and watched the whole event, he growled at all of them which caused the ponies to all to leave the area, worrying that he might unleash his rage.

Finally with all the ponies gone, he took a deep breath and was able to mellow himself out. He turned towards the crusaders who were still huddled together as they watched him scare away their bullies, "They shouldn't bother you anymore."

"Wasn't that a bit... much? You didn't have to threaten them like that," Applebloom was the first to speak up.

"If you want a bully to stop, then you gotta give them something to fear if they ever think about trying it again," he told her.

"But you didn't have to break her tiara like that," Sweetie Belle protested.

"She said her family was rich, I bet she'll cry and get a new one quickly." he reminded them what she said, he looked to Scootaloo who rubbed her eyes and was able to stop crying, "You okay kid?"

"Y-yeah...I'm okay," she sniffled,

"You're gonna have to deal with that all the time, no matter what you can't let ponies like them bring you down," he informed the orange filly.

Scootaloo nodded, her and the rest of the fillies stood up and looked around. They noticed that everypony was gone and that they were all alone with Flamebolt now.

"Where did you come from?" Sweetie Belle asked.

He pointed right above them, "A cloud up there, I was checking the area out when I noticed you three were dealing with them."

"Aren't you worried you'll get into a lot of trouble from this? Diamond Tiara's dad, Filthy Rich, has a lot of support here in Ponyville." Applebloom warned him.

He shrugged, "Nope, I could care less what he tries to do. Besides, that princess of yours will probably be able to handle it."

"But-" Applebloom tried to protest.

"Look I don't care about any of this, I'm only in town till my debt is paid and then this town will never have to deal with me again. Now go do whatever you usually do in your group, I'm gonna go now." He turned away and opened his wings, preparing to take off.

"Flamebolt wait!" Scootaloo quickly shouted, causing him to stop. "Can you take me home? Granny Care-Care wanted you to stop by."

"But didn't we plan to-" Sweetie Belle questioned.

He sighed, interrupting Sweetie Belle "Alright fine, I'll take you back to the orphanage."

Scootaloo nodded, "Sorry girls, I promise I'll be right back. Besides, I left my scooter at home anyways so this will work out for me."

The others were puzzled as to what her reason was for this sudden change to their plans, but they agreed and told her to meet them at Rarity's Boutique when she gets back.

Flamebolt decided it was best to let her get on his back so they could get there quickly. He bent down and helped the orange filly get on and with a quick flap of his wings, he blasted into the sky and quickly zoomed over to where Scootaloo directed him.

"I'm sorry for making you do this, but Granny Care-Care told me it was important for me to tell you to meet her," she apologized.

"It's whatever, she told me to see her whenever I had time anyways. Guess it's better to do it now than later," he explained to her, keeping his focus in front of him as he searched for the orphanage.

For the next minute, they flew in silence but Scootaloo had something on her mind and this would be the only opportunity she got to ask him. "Uh Flamebolt? I need to tell you something."

She explained that she asked Caring Heart about their relationship and wanted to know why she never heard anything about him from her. She even mentioned that she learned a bit of his past of how he never had a friend or that he struggled to fly just like her and even told him about her and the crusader's plan to help with making a friend. She immediately apologized for being so nosey and shouldn't have made Caring Heart tell her about the past he never wants to talk about.

His anger was slowly rising again whenever he heard their plan but flying was helping him stay calm as he let out a frustrated sigh, "Now you too?"

"I'm really, really sorry I just-" she suddenly stopped after realizing what he said, "Me too?"

He explained his situation earlier with Rainbow Dash and that he would only get a rematch with her if he opened up a bit. He didn't tell Scootaloo what he said to Rainbow Dash but mentioned that she was just as nosey as the cyan pegasus.

"Wow, Rainbow Dash too...I'm sorry I didn't know..." Her ears dropped and felt guilty for what she did.

"It's already annoying that she's making me do this but now I gotta deal with you? This day just gets better and better," he grumbled.

"I-I just wanted to know something, ever since the day you and Granny Care-Care reunited, she has been in such a better mood. She's even singing and humming, I've never seen her so happy and it's all because of you," she admitted her curiosity.

"She...wasn't always like that?" He asked, the tone in his question sounded like he was a bit worried.

"No, she was always kind to us but deep down it felt like she was losing hope. It was like her heart was broken and there was no way to fix it again..." She explained.

"So that's how it was..." He whispered.

She thought she heard him say something but he denied saying anything. Another minute passed and the silence returned, he was thinking to himself and started to understand the pain Caring was going through all this time. Guilt started to take control as he remembered their talk at the hospital, "Alright kid, I'll tell you one thing about myself."

Scootaloo's ear perked up as her eyes began to sparkle in excitement, "Really?!"

"But you better not tell anypony else, I hate the fact I'm even doing this but since you're probably gonna keep snooping into my life, you get one from me," he gave her a strict warning.

"R-Right! I Pinkie Promise! Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye!" She recited the Pinkie Pie oath, never to tell a pony what he was about to tell her.

He had no clue what she just said but it seemed like she was going to keep her promise, "I had a dream when I was your age, I wanted to become a great Wonderbolt."

"You wanted to become a Wonderbolt too! You and Rainbow Dash have the same dream!" She shouted in joy.

"Had the same dream, now I can never look at them the same again," he informed her.

"W-What do you mean? What happened?" She asked, her joy changed to concern for what could have caused him to feel this way.

"Found out that one of the members was keeping a secret from everypony and got away with it," he responded with disgust.

"What was the secret? Who was the member?" She added more questions.

"It doesn't matter, I tried to reveal the truth and no pony believed me. Said I was trying to give the Wonderbolts a bad name and banned me from ever being a part of them," he revealed to her.

"You're banned from ever becoming a Wonderbolt!? That's horrible!" She shouted in shock.

"The worst part of it...the member was one of my role models. A pony I wanted to be like, nothing more than a fraud..." He gritted his teeth in anger, "I wasted so much of my time believing that they were this great squad, but it turns out it was just a lie."

"But Rainbow Dash...she's always wanted to be one and even got a spot in the reserves. How can you say that it's a lie? She has a clear shot of becoming a full fledged member." She retorted, defending Rainbow Dash who she looked up to.

"I'm not gonna ruin it for her, I know what I saw and lost all respect for them after that. If she wants to still be one then let her, at least one of us can keep that old dream alive..." He trailed off.

"Flamebolt..." Seeing him be this sincere, she started to think that maybe he really was wronged.

"That's all you get from me, now will you stop trying to pry into my life?" He asked.

"I will and I promise I won't say anything about this either," she wrapped her arms around his neck and softly hugged him.

"Thanks...Scootaloo..." He whispered, for some reason he felt a little lighter. Maybe he was imagining things but feeling her arms wrapped around his neck was comforting in a way.

Soon the orphanage was coming into sight, he slowly started to descend until he landed in front of the small home with Scootaloo. The building was worn down, pieces of wood were coming off and nails were sticking out. Behind the building, there was a large gate that stretched at least a hundred yards with a playground within the gate.

Now that he has arrived, it was time to see what Caring Heart wanted to talk to him about this time. "So this is where you live?"

"Yup!" She got off his back, "Everypony is probably inside by now."

The front door opened and Caring Heart appeared, she looked like she was about to run some errands as she had a saddle on her back and was holding a small piece of white paper. Her eyes were glued to the paper as she started mumbling whatever was on it.

"Granny Care-Care! I brought some company!" Scootaloo called out to her.

She looked up from the paper and saw the two in front of her. A big smile grew on her face when she saw who the guest was. "Oh Flamebolt! I'm so happy you came for a visit."