//------------------------------//
// 11. Flying with style. 
// Story: Scootaloo the Fugitive 
// by Kaidan 
//------------------------------//

	
The door to the basement unlocked and light flooded in. A unicorn filly strained to see through the light. "What do you want?"

A colt trotted down the stairs towards the unicorn. "It's your lucky day, you're free to leave the orphanage."

"Where's Gerda, this is another cruel trick isn't it?" The filly backed away against the bars of the cage she was in.

Boulder walked up and unlocked it. "Nope, Gerda left instructions in case she didn't return with Scootaloo. I run the orphanage now, and you're free to go. She said you would know what to do."

"Scootaloo."

"Huh what about that loser?"

"All these years, she escaped and left me behind. Gerda told me all about it, and now I'm going to make Scootaloo suffer." 

The unicorn ran up the basement steps and out of the orphanage. Boulder just stood there in shock for a moment. Looking around the dank basement, he realized just how twisted Gerda was. This went beyond skimping on meals to make more profit, or harsh discipline to ensure good order.

He walked out of the orphanage and headed for the outskirts of Canterlot. "I did what you asked. Consider the orphanage mine now, the guards have been snooping around and if I see you in this city again I'm turning you in. Goodbye Gerda."






Dash and Scootaloo were on a hill near the ghastly gorge. It was far enough away from any of the dangers, but still had a decent downhill slope. It was here that Dash had been teaching Scootaloo some of the finer points of flying. Dash had often wondered what it would be like to have a sister, and hadn't really considered that she would ever get married and have foals. Having this situation thrust on her had turned out to be fun. Scootaloo still idolized Dash, and Dash still got to enjoy the hero worship. There was also something new, a deep sense of caring for each other. If all families were like this, then maybe it wouldn't be so bad to settle down one day.

Scootaloo had finally walked back up to the top of the hill. "How was that?"

"That was good Scoots. Remember not to flap too quickly, you just need to keep your speed up and let the wind do most of the work for you. It'll help you fly farther until we get your muscles built up."

"Ok, so what next?"

"Well, I'm going to have to figure out a training schedule. We'll have flying practice before school; I usually take care of the weather and take a nap in the morning. After school I guess you can do whatever, but we'll have to do some flying in the evening too."

"That sounds great!" Scootaloo was sweating, and could feel her muscles aching in her back. She was used to using a certain group of muscles to propel her scooter. Now she was using a different set of muscles to learn to fly. They were burning now, but it was too fun to quit now. She would probably be too sore to move in the morning, but she would gladly be sore for months to experience the thrill of flight.

"So you ready to head home Squirt?"

"Yeah, I'm pretty hungry."

"Well, climb on I'll give you a lift."

"Actually, I want to try it myself." Scootaloo grinned and spread her wings, hiding the soreness as best she could.

Dash chuckled. "Pretty brave words there Squirt, I like it. There's an air current near the mouth of the gorge that'll help us get altitude. Follow me, we'll glide up and then fly over to my home." Dash jumped into the air and lazily glided down the hill.

Scootaloo gave herself a running start and jumped in the air. She held her wings steady as long as she could, gliding towards the air current. She saw Dash start flapping and gaining altitude, until it looked like all she had to do was glide in circles while she rose in the air.

Following her path, she gained altitude on her small wings, intent to keep up with her hero. She could feel some of the warm air around her and started circling, but didn't seem to be gaining much altitude. Scootaloo had nearly exhausted her energy, when she finally relaxed and started to glide. She thought she would end up back on the ground, but by taking it easy the current finally began to life her up.

Before she knew it, she was high in the air alongside Dash. "Good job Squirt, air currents are important for long distance flight. Now we'll just glide back to the house." Dash drifted out of the air current and angled to cross Ponyville.

Scootaloo followed on exhausted wings, loving the feel of the wind through her mane and already thinking about going to bed early. She would have never imagined that some preening and encouragement from a good friend would be all she had needed to fly. After being beaten up and having her wings clipped at the orphanage, she thought she might never fly. It turned out that she just needed the confidence to dive in.

Dash was getting further ahead and Scootaloo couldn't maintain her glide. She began flapping to gain some speed, when she felt a muscle seize above her shoulder blade. Within seconds the cramp was unbearable, and Scootaloo had to fold in the wing to try and relieve the pain.

"Dash! Help!" Scootaloo was falling towards the ground, barely controlling her descent with one wing. She struggled to prevent spinning out or falling like a brick, but it was a losing battle. Looking around she couldn't see Dash, and then something came up from behind and under her. Dash lifted upwards catching the filly on her back.

"You ok Squirt?"

"Yeah." Scootaloo tried to flex her right wing and cried out in pain. "I think my muscle is cramped, I can't extend my wing."

"Hmm, I probably pushed you a little hard today; this was our first day flying."

"It was so awesome though, we should do it again tomorrow!"

"I like the enthusiasm; you'd make a great Wonderbolt someday. I think first you need to learn your limits. I won't be upset if you're too sore to fly yourself home after training. And if you get hurt, you won't get to fly at all."

"I guess you're right." Scootaloo frowned, but cheered right back up when she saw Ponyville passing by below her. The only thing that mattered was that she was flying, and the world was hers now.

"We're here. Head on up and take a hot bath, as hot as you can stand it. It'll help relieve your sore muscles, and if you need I'll get some ice afterwards. Believe it or not, I know a thing or two about sports injuries."

"Huh, I thought you were more into flying and stunts and saving ponies lives."

"And what do you think I do after I crash land in Twilight's library? I still have plenty to teach you Squirt; now get going while I reshape some clouds to form a room for you."

"Ok!" Scootaloo trotted up the stairs and into the bathroom. Before long she had drawn a hot bath, and felt like she would dissolve in the hot water. It was so relaxing that every ache melted away, until she floated there in pure bliss. She nearly fell asleep, before climbing out and deciding to find a place to curl up and sleep. She quickly dried off with a towel. Yawning, she wiped her eyes and grabbed a toothbrush off the counter. She decided Dash wouldn't mind, so she brushed her teeth with her toothbrush. Heading downstairs, she found Dash kicking a few last clouds into place.

"Wow, you can reshape clouds just like that?"

"Yeah it's pretty easy. The only hard part is getting the right type of cloud to build with this far from Cloudsdale."

Scootaloo examined the room. It was small, but still bigger than anything she had before. The bed was the same fluffy cloud from Dash's room, and her scooter and helmet rested in a corner. There was a set of clouds that were shaped, and functioned as, a set of drawers.

"Are you ok Squirt? You look pretty tired."

"Ye--" Scootaloo yawned. "--eaah. Do you have that blanket?"

"It's upstairs, here I grabbed you a protein bar. They don't taste great but they've got all the oats and stuff your muscles will need to rebuild stronger."

"Sure." Scootaloo flopped on the bed and took a bite out of the snack. "Ew, peanut butter."

"Heh, I'll get you some water too. I'll be right back with the blanket."

Scootaloo laid on the bed marveling at how good the soft, fluffy cloud felt on her sore muscles. She stretched her wings slightly, and rolled over. Scootaloo was used to it being hard to find a comfortable position, Pegasi had several pressure points. On a normal bed, it was hard not to pin your wings against the bed. It was not only uncomfortable, but most Pegasi quickly panicked when they couldn't stretch their wings. The cloud allowed her to push her wings out to a comfortable position.

Scootaloo still felt the knot in her sore muscle, but it was easy to ignore. She was so relaxed, and the day had been so wonderful, that she fell asleep before Dash returned.

Dash walked back into the room to see Scootaloo passed out on the bed. She had finished half the protein bar, and the other half laid on the bed. Picking it up, Dash brushed off the crumbs. She then lifted the blanket up and tucked it around Scootaloo. Dash set the glass of water on the dresser in case she woke up.

Standing there, Dash watched the slow rise and fall of the filly's chest. "You did well today Squirt, you made me proud." Dash wondered what more she could say or do for the filly, before remembering what her father had always done. Leaning over, Dash kissed Scootaloo on the cheek. "Sweet dreams."