It was a beautiful day in Cloudsdale. The ponies there could be seen in small groups, chatting away with each other underneath the sun. Scootaloo couldn't help feeling left out as she watched all the ponies talking to each other. She never went to flight camp, mainly because as a filly Scootaloo couldn't really fly at all. Now she almost wished she had joined regardless, because then she would know somepony, or at the very least recognize something.
Regretting past things doesn't help future ones.
Scootaloo glanced up at the large stadium she would be competing in. She suddenly realized how huge it seemed, and wondered how many ponies would be watching as she performed. Scootaloo closed her eyes, and took a few deep breaths.
There's no way you're going to let something as simple as stage fright get in the way of today.
Scootaloo gulped, and then pushed down her fears as far as they could go. She took a step into the stadium, and asked one of the ponies where the participating pegasi were supposed to be. After checking off her name on the try-out list, she was pointed to a back room, and was told to wait with all the other ponies while they sorted out what was going on. She trotted into a small room packed tightly with pegasi of all different colors. A lot of the ponies had mimicked the Wonderbolt's hair styles, and she couldn't help noticing a mare her age with a rainbow-colored mane sitting atop her head.
That was me two years ago.
"Scootaloo!" Someone yelled from behind her. Scootaloo whipped around to see...
"Featherweight?" Truthfully she wasn't that surprised. Featherweight had suddenly showed interest in flying a few years ago, after a colt with a photography cutie mark came into their class. The colt had completely taken Featherweight'ss place as class photographer, so Featherweight had filled his life with flying practice instead.
"Hey Scootaloo! I looked for you at Sugar Cube corner yesterday, but I couldn't see you anywhere!"
"Uh, yeah." Scootaloo mumbled, "I sort of... left early. I didn't know you were competing!"
"Oh... well, actually, I've become pretty interested in the Wonderbolts lately. I suppose most fliers are." Featherweight smiled, and ruffled his feathers. "I actually didn't know you were here either, until I saw you, that is."
"Well, I hope you get in... you should do well. You're really good, you know." Scootaloo wished Featherweight good luck, and then slipped away into the crowd wondering if she could find Rainbow Dash anywhere. It's not like she'll remember me, but it never hurts to look for her. After looking for her through the crowd, Scootaloo hovered slightly over everypony, glancing around the room. Nope, not here yet. she thought, and began to wait.
After what seemed like forever, Spitfire, captain of the Wonderbolts began some sort of welcoming speech to everyone, which Scootaloo paid absolutely no attention too. She finally tuned back in to hear-
"And lastly, Rainbow Dash!" She must be announcing the Wonderbolts. Scootaloo shifted her position.
"I'm sure that all of you pegasi will someday grow up to be great fliers! We hope to help you all with you goals to become...."
Scootaloo tuned Spitfire out again, and began going over her routine for the tryouts. It wasn't that complicated, but Scootaloo was sure she could do it. All of a sudden she felt like she couldn't move, and Spitfires voice seemed distant.
I'll be fine, right? she thought to herself. Nervousness never should get in the way of somepony's dream.
After a while a few pegasus ponies began weaving there way through the crowd, handing out numbers to everypony. Scootaloo looked at hers: 34. There's at least 34 contestants? Wowza.
The pegasus ponies left the room, leaving a long silence before finally...
"Contestant number one! Please come forward." Scootaloo hovered slightly to allow herself to see through the narrow doorway. She watched as contestant number one did a series of complicated flight maneuvers... perfectly. Suddenly she had a sinking feeling that whatever she was going to do wasn't good enough. She began frantically planning a new flight routine, and didn't notice anything else until...
"Contestant number twenty-four! Please come forward!" Scootaloo watched as Featherweight went through his flight routine, and she realized how much better he was. Scootaloo began wondering how you could possibly beat something like that. Rainbow Dash could. Scootaloo blinked, and then gasped. Suddenly, she knew exactly the way to beat Featherweight, and she knew that if she could pull it off she could pass the trials. The only problem was that she'd never done it before. In fact, she only knew one pony that had. But somehow, she knew she could pull it off. There was absolutely no question about it.
"Contestant number thirty-four, please come forward!" Scootaloo walked through the crowd, tried to ignore the stares everypony was giving her. She stepped out onto the stadium, and tried not to look scared.
"Phase One!"
Cloud spinning. She knew this. Scootaloo began to fly past the clouds, tilting her wings so that the air spun the clouds in a fast circle.
"Phase Two!"
The instructors seemed a bit tired by now, and Scootaloo couldn't blame them. She proceeded to weave in between the clouds as fast as she could. So far so good, she thought as she made it through phase two. Phase three was just as successful.
"Phase Four!"
Phase four. This was where the pegasi were supposed to demonstrate the hardest technique they knew. Scootaloo began with a mixture of turns and loop-de-loops, climbing as high into the air as she could. After she felt she was high enough, she looked down towards the bottom of the stadium. Everypony in the crowd was silent, and they all looked so insignificant from this high up. She tilted her head downward, and bent forward into a dive headfirst towards the ground. A wall of air began to build up around her, and she fought back, putting her entire body strength into this one routine. It seemed like forever before finally...
BOOM
It was a... Scootaloo wasn't sure. Her name wasn't Rainbow Dash, so a Sonic Rainboom didn't seem quite right. A Scootaboom? she thought. She pulled up from the ground just in time, and began to circle the stadium. Everything was easy now, it was impossible to fail. She circled around the stadium a few times, laughing as she flew in circles, laughing because of how she couldn't even believe herself, laughing at how everypony else couldn't believe it either. She finally stopped laughing just in time to come to a stop hovering in front of the judges.
There was silence, and then finally Spitfire spoke. "That was... amazing" Scootaloo grinned.
"Truly spectacular" Soarin' agreed.
"You come from Ponyville, right?" asked a familiar voice.
"Yes," Scootaloo was confused, and she stared searchingly at Rainbow, looking for some sort of recognition.
"I wish I had the chance to know you. You seem like a truly special mare." Rainbow Dash smiled politely.
"I...I- Yeah. I wish" Scootaloo looked surprised, her eyes had widened in shock, and her voice was cracked and shaky.
"Th-thank you," she said, and flew out of the room. As soon as she landed, Scootaloo closed her eyes.
How did I climb so, so, high, and how did I fall so, so, far?