//------------------------------// // 29. A Morning With the Wonderbolts // Story: Scootaloo the Fugitive // by Kaidan //------------------------------// The first thing Scootaloo saw upon waking was a giant golden trophy. On the side was engraved “Best Young Flier: Scootaloo Dash.” She smiled, realizing that she would have the same last name as her idol, and now sister. A warm blanket was wrapped around her, and the cloud bed was so comfortable. Scootaloo should have been excited to spend a day with the wonderbolts, but all she could think of was taking another nap. It felt like she had only slept thrity seconds when she heard a familiar voice. “You weren’t kidding, Dash, kid’s out like a light.” Scootaloo yawned and opened her eyes. It sounded like Spitfire. When her vision came into focus she saw her and Dash in Wonderbolt outfits. She kicked the sheets off and jumped in excitement. “Spitfire! Dash!” A loud rumbling sound came from Scootaloo’s stomach. “Just in time for breakfast, Squirt. Soarin is cooking his famous chili omelettes, they’re delicious just make sure you’re not flying behind him today,” Dash said. “You’re kidding, right?” Scootaloo asked. “How do you think he makes that black contrail?” Spitfire answered. Scootaloo tilted her head and raised an eyebrow. Dash then began laughing at the joke. “I’m just kidding, Scootaloo. So, what do you want to do for your day with the wonderbolts?” Spitfire asked. “I’ll think about it over breakfast,” Scootaloo said. After breakfast, Scootaloo had put on her own Wonderbolts suit for her day of flying with the Wonderbolts. Soarin, Spitfire, Dash, and her would practice some stunts. Scootaloo had decided to spend the day learning their signature moves, as well as seeing if she could weasel some tips out of them for breaking the sound barrier. The four ponies began to fly over Ponyville. Several of the ponies from town were watching as they went about their business. “Dash, do you think they’ll show us some new moves they haven’t done at a performance yet?” Scootaloo asked. “Probably, just promise not to run off and start your own team behind her back. You are the best young flier in Equestria now,” Dash said. Spitfire had stopped ahead. “How about learning some formation flying, Scootaloo?” “Sure!” “Alright, you’ll follow Dash to get a feel for staying in formation. All you have to do is follow her. She’ll follow me and Soarin The key to stunt flying is knowing how to do a stunt flying close to another pegasus.” “That doesn’t sound too hard,” Scootaloo said. She heard Dash chuckling. “Just try to keep up then, I won’t go easy just because we’re family,” Dash said. Spitfire and Soarin flew off and did a corkscrew. Dash took off and Scootaloo nearly missed it. She followed Dash closely just behind her right wing. When Dash did a wide corkscrew, Scootaloo struggled to match the maneuver while staying near Dash’s right wing. It was a little harder than it looked, but she was confident she could handle it. Next up the Wonderbolts went through a loop, which Dash and her quickly followed. As they descended and gained speed, she noticed a cone of wind around Dash. If Scootaloo flew in the right spot, she barely had to beat her wings to maintain speed. It made flying so much easier, however if she drifted too far out to the side the air would become choppy and mess up her flying. As they neared the ground, Scootaloo had gotten a good feel for the slipstream that Dash was creating. She saw Dash look back a couple times, smiling. They landed once they’d reached the ground. “Scootaloo that was your first time in a slipstream wasn’t it?” Spitfire asked. “Yeah, Dash never taught me about that,” Scootaloo said. “Uh, I forgot.” Dash rubbed her head. “I’m used to flying solo.” “Heh, you always were a lone wolf. Looks like you’ve got a wingman now, though. You and Scootaloo should practice team flying and do some stunt shows together,” Spitfire suggested. “Can we?” Scootaloo asked. “That’d be awesome!” “Yeah let’s give it a shot. Just keep in mind it’d mean even more practice. If you noticed the slipstream, if you get out of position you can be in for a bumpy ride. That’s why you and Gale were able to go so fast, and also why you nearly ended up as pegasus-pancakes.” “I heard about that,” Sorain said. “Rumor has it the kid nearly broke the sound barrier. Aside from you, most of us have to practice a couple years to go that fast. If she starts doing rainbooms too we’ll never live it down.” “He likes to be dramatic,” Spitfire explained. “We get a lot of fan letters and requests to do sonic rainbooms. Unfortunately, the only mare who can is Dash.” “Couldn’t you teach us how to do it, Dash?” Scootaloo asked. “I tried once before, it seems to be something only I can do. It’s probably because of my cutie mark. Spitfire’s the only one who can generate her own lightning. Maybe if you get the right cutie mark, you can do some sort of Scootaloo-boom,” Dash stated. “I’m going to have to crusade for years to find a cutie mark at this rate,” Scootaloo said. Something caught Scootaloo’s eye. It looked like a brown pegasus but the size was wrong. She focused into the distance at the creature flying towards them. Dash must have seen it too, because she took off and flew towards it. Scootaloo followed Dash, and was followed by the Wonderbolts. When Scootaloo caught up she landed and listened in on the conversation. “Hey, Gilda. I didn’t think I’d see you again,” Dash said. “Hey, Dash. I was thinking about it and. . . well. . . sorry for yelling at your friends,” Gilda said. “Thanks, I expected you would have dropped by sooner.” “You know me, never was good at admitting I’m wrong.” “At least you’re back. We’ve had some bad fights at junior speedsters flight camp, but I always wondered whether we could be friends again,” Dash said. “I’d like that. I missed pulling off stunts for ponies, you’re so much easier to impress,” Gilda mocked. “Hey, Scootaloo, who is that?” Spitfire asked. “I think it’s an old friend of Dash’s. She came to town and apparently called all of Dash’s friends lame-o’s,” Scootaloo explained. “We’ve never had a Gryphon in the Wonderbolts before,” Soarin said. Gilda flew off and Dash came back. “Hey, just catching up with an old friend. You ready to do some more flying, Scootaloo?” Dash asked. “Yeah!” Scootaloo cheered.