//------------------------------// // Pegasus Magic [Slice Of Life] // Story: Follow The Rainbow // by UnlicensedBrony //------------------------------// Episode Seven: Pegasus Magic - [Slice Of Life] Scootaloo gasped as she saw movement in the corner of her eye – a shadow shooting past. She spun around to see what it was, only to find that it was just another trick of the light. In the Everfree forest, those were aplenty... But they weren't all just tricks – you never knew when a monster was going to jump out and eat you! Of course, Scootaloo had never actually seen that happen, but she'd heard stories about it plenty of times... Still feeling very uneasy, she turned to Rainbow Dash. “Are you sure we're going the right way?” she asked. “I feel like we've been through here before...” “…‘course I'm sure! I wouldn't bring you in here if I wasn’t!” said Rainbow proudly. “Okay, sorry...” Scootaloo muttered. “Can you tell me where we're going yet?” Rainbow shook her head and smirked. “Nope, it's a surprise. But it's awesome – totally worth the wait, I promise.” Bemused by Rainbow's strange secrecy this morning, Scootaloo frowned. She didn't bother asking again – Rainbow looked determined not to give anything up. With a huff, she went back to scanning their surroundings for any creepy things preparing to ambush them. They walked in silence through the ominous darkness for minutes longer before Rainbow finally came to an abrupt halt and Scootaloo almost bumped into her. “Aha! This is it!” said Rainbow, poking her nose through the bush just ahead. Scootaloo made to do the same, but a hoof held her back. “Wait a sec...” “What?” said Scootaloo, cocking her head as Rainbow turned to meet her eyes. “Alright, before we go down there, you've got to make me a promise,” Rainbow said, looking oddly serious. “You can only ever come here with me or Fluttershy. Nopony else unless I say so. And definitely never on your own.” Scootaloo wasn't quite sure how to answer that. “Uh... okay?” she tried. “Why not?” “First, because it's dangerous in here and you need somepony to watch your back. And second, because you need another pegasus with you for it to work.” “For what to work?” said Scootaloo, utterly lost. “You'll see, just hold on a sec,” said Rainbow. “Now, do you promise or not?” Scootaloo's eyes went wide and she nodded emphatically. “O-Of course, I promise! I won't come here without you or Fluttershy.” Rainbow's serious frown twisted into a much more familiar smile. “Great! Now let's stop wastin' time and get in there!” With that, Rainbow pushed aside the foliage and let Scootaloo climb through into some kind of huge, bowl-shaped clearing. She was stood on the outer edge, looking down into a swirling mist which obscured the base. “Whoa... what is this place?” “I don't know,” said Rainbow, coming up beside her and giving a nonchalant shrug. “The place isn't the important thing. That is.” She thrust a hoof towards the middle of the clearing. Scootaloo squinted, but whatever Rainbow was pointing at must have been hidden by the mist. “...Something in there?” Scootaloo guessed. Rainbow shook her head and pointed again. “That stuff down there, that's not pony-made mist like the stuff they have up in Cloudsdale. It's called fog. And nopony knows what makes it, but it only happens in the Everfree.” “Okay... so what's special about it?” asked Scootaloo. Rainbow smirked. “That is the awesome part. Follow me!” Before Scootaloo even had time to speak, Rainbow had turned and starting trotting down the steady slope into the fog. Scootaloo wasted no time in giving chase as quickly as she could... She followed Rainbow further and further down into the basin. With every step, more of the forest seemed to fade into an all-consuming grey. It was a little unnerving at first, but as the fog got thicker, it started to seem less like an obstacle and more like a giant, fuzzy… ‘blanket-thing’… A faint, but constant tingling sensation spread throughout Scootaloo's body, just as Rainbow – and she in turn – began to slow down. When Rainbow had stopped completely, she turned to smile at Scootaloo. “Alright, this should be far enough.” Scootaloo looked around the area. Everything beyond a few big strides' distance away was totally obscured by the fog, so all she could see was the dark, damp grass around them. “Far enough for what?” she asked. Rainbow met Scootaloo's eye again. “You remember what you said to me the other week? That, for your birthday, you wanted to be able to fly, on your own, just for the day...” Scootaloo's mouth curled into a sheepish sort of smile. “Yeah... but I know it was silly. Your present was awesome anyway--” “I know,” Rainbow interrupted, waving a hoof in front of her. “But hearing you say that got me thinkin'. There's no unicorn magic that can make you fly – well, not that Twilight knows about anyway, and she knows about pretty much everything, right? But then I thought 'what about pegasus magic?'.” Scootaloo furrowed her brow. “Pegasus magic?” “Yeah, you know – the same stuff that lets us walk on clouds,” said Rainbow. “It works in more ways than that, though – like my Sonic Rainboom, remember?” Scootaloo nodded emphatically, grinning wide at the prospect of seeing another sonic rainboom.... Rainbow just chuckled and waved a hoof around in an arc. “Check it out – the fog is like cloud-stuff, only thinner... sort of--” She broke off and turned her lip up in thought. “Uh, y'know, I'm not so good at the sciencey stuff. Why don't I just show you?” “Okay,” said Scootaloo with another nod. Trotting over to Scootaloo's side, Rainbow unfurled her wings and flapped them experimentally. “Okay, it's pretty simple – just unfold your wings like this...” Scootaloo did so, stretching her wings out to the side, as Rainbow was. “Good,” said Rainbow. “Now, jump.” “...Jump?” Scootaloo repeated. Rainbow gave a curt nod. “Yup, that's it.” Scootaloo cocked her head in question, but eventually shrugged it off and did as she was told. She bent her legs, licked her lips and pounced forwards, landing soundlessly a second later. She looked back at Rainbow for approval, but only received an eye roll in return. “My bad,” said Rainbow. “I meant 'jump up'.” “What--” “Come on, jump! You'll see!” Rainbow urged, the grin on her face telling of her excitement. Gulping down her reservations, Scootaloo turned her gaze upwards. She bent her legs again, shifted her flank a little, then finally kicked off from the ground, throwing her forelegs out in front of her to try and get as much height as possible. A strange, stomach churning feeling came over her as something seemed to go terribly wrong – nothing was pulling her back down. Glancing around, she found herself floating about a pony's height off the ground, and she was actually rising higher, albeit very, very slowly. Panic taking hold, she started flailing her hooves about in vain. “Wh-What's going on?!” “Cool, right?” said Rainbow, smiling proudly up at her again. “What do I do?!” said Scootaloo hurriedly. “How do I get back down?!” Rainbow chuckled. “Hold on, I'll show you...” She adjusted her own wings and then kicked off from the ground, floating slowly upwards until she reached eye level with Scootaloo. “Alright, I'm here – try to stay cool and watch me, okay?” As difficult as it was to 'stay cool' when you were randomly floating away, Scootaloo tried her best to do as she was instructed. It took some doing, but she eventually managed to get her hooves under control – bringing them to rest beside her chest. Rainbow smiled at her. “There, that wasn't so hard, was it? Now, watch this...” She angled her wings ever so slightly and started kicking out, as if she was walking. It looked incredibly weird, but it seemed to be working – Rainbow was changing direction in midair, beginning a large circle around Scootaloo. “See? It's like walking. Only, you don't step on anything... Go for it!” As the ground itself started to fade into grey beneath her, Scootaloo felt a fresh wave of panic setting in. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath... 'Rainbow Dash is here, she'll look after me,' she told herself. 'Rainbow Dash is here...' Opening her eyes, Scootaloo set them firmly on what little she could see of the ground and made to walk towards it. As she kicked out her first hoof, she lurched backwards and gasped as she backflipped in midair. “Gah! Rainbow Dash!” she squealed. A pair of firm hooves grabbed her around the middle, stopping her mid-flip. “I got you, squirt,” she chuckled. “And that's why you need another pegasus. Can't have you floating off in here.” “This stuff is weird,” said Scootaloo, frowning at her. She wasn't even sure whether they were the right way up anymore... Rainbow smiled knowingly. “Yeah, it is. It'll take some getting used to, but it's worth it...” Her smile twisted into a smirk. “I mean, you're flying, right?” Scootaloo's eyes went wide as she processed the information. She was off the ground, weightless... and when Rainbow Dash let go of her, the two of them still floated there, side-by-side. She grinned. “Oh wow! You're right!” she said. “I'm flying, I'm flying!” In her excitement, she kicked out, sending her floating backwards. Rainbow made to grab her again, but stopped when she noticed that Scootaloo was giggling. “Woohoo! This is so awesome, Rainbow Dash!” she cheered, bouncing all over the place as she kicked out her hooves in a vain attempt to regain some sense of direction. “I know, right?” came Rainbow's smiling voice from just behind her. “It took some time to find a place like this that wasn't too deep in the forest, so this is kind of a 'late' birthday present, I guess.” Scootaloo would've offered a grateful smile, if she could've figured out how to turn around... She dodged and weaved about the air, at first just enjoying the feeling, then trying to learn how it all worked. Hours might have passed in there, with Scootaloo floating about and Rainbow following close behind to catch her if she slipped up. Eventually, she started coming to terms with how to angle her wings to change direction. Other than that though, it was all still a mystery, but she was having the time of her life trying to figure it all out... “Hey, squirt,” said Rainbow, interrupting the silence that had fallen between them for the longest time. Scootaloo twisted her body around to smile expectantly at Rainbow, kicking her hooves a little to keep herself roughly in place. Rainbow was smiling at her hopefully. “...You like it, right?” she asked. Scootaloo opened her mouth to cheer 'yeah!', only to close it a moment later, in favour of offering Rainbow an honest smile and a nod. “Best birthday present ever.” ~FIN