“So squirt, you ready for today’s lesson?” a cyan Pegasus with a rainbow mane asked a small orange Pegasus filly with a purple mane. They were both standing in a wide open grassy field that was perfect for flying around in. And that is exactly what the Pegasus filly was hoping to do.
“Yep Rainbow Dash!” The filly said excitedly. “So what are you going to teach me today?”
“Well I figure since you’ve got take offs and hovering in the air down, we’ll work on your maneuverability in air,” Rainbow Dash said. “We’ll start here just for practice, but if you get good enough today I might take you to Sweet Apple Acres and you can practice there. Prove yourself to be a really fast learner and we might even be able to get to tricks next week when I’m done with Wonderbolt practice.”
“Think I’ll ever manage to break the sound barrier like you someday?” the filly asked.
“Heh, keep trying Scoots and you might someday manage to be as awesome as me,” Rainbow Dash said with a hoof on her chest. “But for now let’s take it to the skies.”
Both Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo took off into the skies starting what has become a routine for both of them.
After Rainbow Dash decided to take Scootaloo under her wing the thing Rainbow Dash immediately wanted to do was teach her a few nice tricks sort of like what Soarin’ taught her. So obviously one of the first things Rainbow Dash learned was that Scootaloo was never really taught how to fly yet. Of course Rainbow Dash met that with anger wondering exactly what parents wouldn’t bother to teach their Pegasus kid how to do something that she believes each Pegasus should at least know how to do even if they don’t use it much.
Scootaloo told Rainbow Dash quickly that they were just too busy to teach her how to fly and asked Rainbow Dash if she could be her teacher in order to change the subject. While it was still on Rainbow Dash’s mind, she decided to let it go for now because hey, if their busy there busy and she’ll probably be a better teacher then them anyways. And there is always a possibility that they are Earth Ponies or Unicorns, preventing them from being able to teach Scootaloo.
So Rainbow Dash immediately started teaching Scootaloo the ropes but because Rainbow Dash joined the Wonderbolt Academy and later became an actual Wonderbolt, she was starting to be only able to meet with her once a week really slowing down progress. It’s been a few years, and they have just nearly reached where Rainbow Dash originally wanted to start in. And they aren’t going to come close to it today either.
Sure Scootaloo is learning how to make some sharp turns quite fast thanks to a few techniques Soarin’ told Dash to try out when she was asking him about it; however Rainbow Dash still felt she was too stiff while turning and would most likely hurt herself if she tried maneuvering around trees. While Rainbow Dash hasn’t been letting it affect her too much, she will admit that it is annoying how slow their progress is.
“Ok that’s enough for today squirt,” Rainbow Dash said as she signaled for them to land. When they landed on the ground she sighed and said “Well Scoots, I guess we’ll have to wait until next week before we try out maneuvering between trees.”
“Aw man,” Scootaloo groaned.
“Hey kid, don’t worry about it,” Rainbow Dash said. “We can pick things up next week and hopefully get to tricks soon. It still will take you a bit to get to the more awesome tricks that I know, but hey you’re getting there squirt. Soon you might be just about as cool as I am. Almost anyways.”
“Are you sure you can’t spend just a bit more time training me?” Scootaloo asked.
“I’d like to but Spitfire would have my head if I tire myself too much. Though I’m sure I know somepony who would get a nice laugh out of that. Anyways, you can still hang out with me if ya want to.”
“Ok, I guess,” Scootaloo said with disappointment in her voice.
“Hey Scoots, how about you try and get your parents to at least keep an eye on you while you practice,” Rainbow Dash said. “They may be uncool enough to not bother teaching you how to fly, but the least they can do is actually watch you.”
“Uh…yeah…I’ll um…ask them,” Scootaloo said nervously. “Well um…see ya later Dash!” Before Rainbow Dash could say anything else Scootaloo ran away quickly.
What is with that kid? Rainbow Dash thought. Anytime I bring up her parents she immediately dodges the question or tries to change the subject. Who are her parents anyways? I’ll swing by the library and ask Twilight if she knows. So Rainbow Dash took off and went south towards town.
~
The library is located a bit outside of Ponyville Town Square and is quite easy to see because it is a large tree. So even from high in the sky Rainbow Dash was able to make a beeline for it and quickly land near it. She then proceeded to walk on in and just as soon as she walked in she suddenly saw a flash of white in front of her and felt some lips touch her’s.
Her heart immediately raced in her chest and she almost wanted to melt inside the kiss she was suddenly given. Rainbow Dash may not be the romantic type, but even she likes a nice kiss from her stallion even if she wouldn’t admit it to his face. But she has something she needs to do right now, so she wasn’t going to let it last long.
The kiss lasted a few seconds before they broke away and Rainbow Dash got a good look at exactly who kissed her. Standing in front of her with a smile on his face is a white Pegasus stallion with a blue mane. His cutie mark is the same as the Wonderbolts, and his eyes that always look tired are emerald green.
“Hey Dashie, like your surprise?” the Pegasus asked.
“Soarin’!” Rainbow Dash called out. “You should consider yourself lucky. If you were somepony else, your flank would look like Caramel’s right now.”
Because Soarin’ has met Sweet Apple Acres’ farmhoof several times before from when he was getting some pie from there, he knew exactly what Rainbow Dash was talking about. He took it with humor; however he didn’t doubt that Rainbow Dash would do that out of annoyance. That mare is not one you want to get angry any time soon.
“So what are you doing here in the first place?” Rainbow Dash asked. “If you were in Ponyville I would expect to see you in Sweet Apple Acres and not here.”
“I was in the area, so rather than spend my time looking for where you and Scootaloo were practicing, I decided to just wait at the library,” Soarin’ explained.
“And I’m sure a meeting with Twilight had nothing to do with it,” Rainbow Dash said knowing her friends well.
And Twilight picked that unfortunate time to come walking down the steps. The lavender Unicorn came down trying to pretend she had nothing to do with this meeting whatsoever. She was easy to figure out though and her forced voice didn’t help her acting in any way.
“Soarin’? Rainbow Dash? What are you two doing here?” Twilight asked. “If you’re looking for the romance section, I can lead you both there.”
Rainbow Dash groaned and facehoofed. “Really Twilight?” Rainbow Dash asked. “You’re being really obvious here. A filly could figure out what you’re doing.”
“Sorry. But when I saw Soarin’ outside the library I had to do this,” Twilight said. “I figured you’d eventually come here to see if the new Daring Doo book.”
“Actually that’s not why I’m here,” Rainbow Dash said, “I’m here to ask you something Twilight. Do you know anything about Scootaloo’s parents?”
Twilight levitated a book that was lying on her desk in the middle of the room closer to her. She opened it up and started flipping through the pages saying “No, but just give me a few seconds and I’ll find out for you.”
Soarin’ had his mouth open and was about to say something, but Rainbow Dash asked Twilight another question first. “What is with that book? How is that going to help me find anything out?”
“This is the Ponyville census,” Twilight explained as she was flipping through the pages. “Mayor Mare lent it to me for a large project I’m working on for the princess.” Naturally that means it was just a small side project that the princess requested Twilight to do in her free time.
“Why do you want to know about Scootaloo’s parents anyways?” Soarin’ asked when he finally got a chance.
“That kid’s been dodging the question every time I ask her about her parents,” Rainbow Dash explained. “And according to her, her parents are too busy to give her flying lessons. I first thought that she was just hiding the fact that they were either Earth Ponies or Unicorns, but even then they still could at least send her to flight school. That’s what I recommended the Cakes do when Pound Cake grows old enough.”
“Well they could be too poor to pay for flight school,” Soarin’ said. “So you’re probably doing them a favor by taking Scootaloo under your wing.”
“No they aren’t.” Both Soarin’ and Rainbow Dash looked over when Twilight spoke to see her looking into the book with a shocked expression. “They’re both Pegasus, and quite rich ones that that,” Twilight continued. “You might have heard of one of them Soarin’. A Dust Storm?”
Soarin’ thought for a moment. “His name does sound familiar. I…can’t exactly place it though. I’ll ask Spitfire about it when I get back.”
“So Twilight, you’re telling me Scootaloo has two rich Pegasus parents, and they haven’t bothered to teach her how to fly or pay for her to join flight school?” Rainbow Dash asked incredulously. Rainbow Dash jumped up and hovered at about the middle between the floor and the ceiling. “Somepony better give me a good reason why Scootaloo was flightless before I started teaching her or I’m going to start bucking some heads.”
“Rainbow Dash, I wouldn’t be too hasty!” Twilight called out to her friend before she did something rash. “Dust Storm apparently is a contributor to the Wonderbolts! And you don’t even know if they have a good reason for not teaching Scootaloo to fly yet. You don’t want to get kicked out of the Wonderbolts all because of a misunderstanding.”
Of course nothing Twilight said made Rainbow Dash less angry. “Well what do you want me to do?! Scootaloo was always afraid of talking about her parents, and then now I learn that they haven’t bothered to teach her how to fly even though they were perfectly capable! You can’t tell me they were worried about Scootaloo’s safety in the skies, because she would be almost safer going to flight school and learning flying from there!
Besides, without flight Pegasus Ponies have much less jobs they can do. Sure it can work if you have the right talents, but each Pegasus should at least know how to fly just in case. What kind of jerkish parents don’t bother thinking about their kid’s future? I’m almost more of a parent to Scootaloo then them right now!”
A thought crossed Rainbow Dash’s mind causing her face to go from one of anger to a sadder, thoughtful one. She landed to the ground and folded in her wings. Both Soarin’ and Twilight were wondering what exactly Rainbow Dash thought of to cause her to end her rant and land on the ground so suddenly.
“Twilight,” Rainbow Dash asked slowly, “do you have any books on law?”
“Well yes,” Twilight said as she put the Ponyville Census book down and grabbed a few books from the shelves to her left, “but what are you thinking Rainbow Dash?”
“If I can…if I have to…I need to get Scootaloo out of that home,” Rainbow Dash said slowly. She looked to the ground, thinking of exactly this meant for her. “And…into mine. And well…the best way I can think of doing that is to take it to the courts.”
Both Twilight’s and Soarin’s mouth dropped at exactly what Rainbow Dash was saying.