//------------------------------//
// Tribute 
// Story: Sparkle Dash Family:  TMP Stories 
// by ssjgokillo 
//------------------------------//

The Sparkle Dash Family

Prompt # 353:  This is not the Greatest Fanfic in the World, no, this is just a tribute.

Disclaimer:  I do not own My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic

        Scootaloo stretched her wings behind the curtain of the stage.  Any moment now her name would be called, and it would be time to show her stuff.  She had to be prepared, in top form.  She couldn’t mess this up, she wouldn’t let herself mess this up!  

        She gave her wings another once over, making sure each feather was in place and looking good.  No mistakes, not before, during, or after the show.  Her mom had drilled that concept into her head relentlessly.  Simple things could cause horrible things to happen in the air, especially when flying at the high speeds Scootaloo preferred.  Always better to be safe then sorry, her mom would say during their flight training.  It never ceased to seem strange to hear those words come from her mouth.

        Everything looked to be in order.  She was rested, her wings were stretched, and she had finished going through her mental preflight checklist.  Her mom had made her recite it every time Scootaloo went flying, until she could almost do it in her sleep.  If her mom’s jokes were to be believed, sometimes she did recite it in her sleep!  Of course, she could have just been trying to embarrass the orange pegasus.  Her mom was like that.

Finally, she went over her routine in her head.  She’d been practicing for weeks, tweaking turns and different ascent and descent vectors until everything was perfect.  She had crashed more than a few times in the course of perfecting this routine.  Every night she would come home, bruised and tired from a day flying and crashing, and feeling exhilarated as each time she came closer and closer to what she wanted.  Everything had to be perfect, she wouldn’t accept anything less.  That was another thing she had picked up from her mom.

From both of them.

Finally, she heard her name announced.  This was it, time to show her stuff.

She flew through the curtains, hovering in place before them for a second so the crowd could see her.  Her mom had told her she looked “awesome” in her custom flight suit, a gift from her Aunt Rarity.  The gasp she got from the crowd seemed to prove her mom right.  The purple fabric clung to her body, but the multicolored streak running down the sides was unmistakable to any fans of flying.

There was no time to waste basking in the crowds admiration for her figure and outfit however.  She only had a little bit of time to pull this routine off if she wanted it to go off without a hitch.  And she had to, she just had to!  It had to be perfect!

She took off at speeds so blazing, she left a trail of purple fire in her wake.  Her mom had taught her how to do that, how to channel the innate magic pegasi had to cause an effect similar to that the Wonderbolts used.  She had been surprised at first that her mother had worked it out, not being a pegasus herself.  But she shouldn’t have been, in all honesty.  After all, there wasn’t a more magical unicorn in all of Equestria than her mom.

She flew straight towards a set of cloud posts she had set up beforehand.  She began weaving between them, never slowing her speed, leaving her trail of purple flames floating in the air in her wake.  Her mom had warned her how hard this part was, that she had to tilt her body just enough to get around the posts without losing speed, while at the same time tilting far enough away to keep from clipping any of the posts.

It had taken her almost a month of practice to do it.  Now it felt second nature to her.  Weaving amongst the pillars was almost relaxing at this point.  At least in practice.  Now it was nerve wracking, like the first day she had attempted the stunt.  She was almost waiting for her inevitable slip up, to not tilt her body far enough, and go spiraling off to the side.

But she didn’t.  She cleared the last post, to the cheers of the crowd.  But she wasn’t done yet.  She flew towards another set of clouds, and gave herself a brief second to check the sun.  It was beginning its descent, she was right on time.

She flew to the first cloud, and began to fly around it in an ever tightening circle.  She kept going faster and faster, until the cloud was spinning and covered in her violet flames.  It looked like a mini-purple star, spinning across the darkening sky.  She sped to the next cloud, and repeated the process.  Faster and faster, remembering her mom’s story about how she had lost control trying to perform a trick very similar to this one.  Her mom had laughed at the memory, but Scootaloo didn’t have that luxury.  She had promised herself, this would be perfect!  Finally, the cloud was covered, a smaller fast spinning orb of purple flames.  She flew over to the third and final cloud, and although she was starting to get dizzy, began to fly around it.  She glanced over at the sun as she did so.  It was setting faster than she had anticipated.  She’d have to hurry.

With a burst of speed, she flew faster and faster around the cloud.  Finally, it was covered and spinning just like its brethren.  The crowd gasped in amazement as the clouds spun near each other, sometimes almost seeming to crash before spinning off and around each other.  They were going wild.

The sun was setting now, casting it’s orange and violet colors across the sky.  This was it, time for the grand finale. 

Scootaloo flew up higher and higher, until the Cloudesium below looked like a child’s model.  This was it, she had practiced and practiced, and never pulled the trick off.  But she was going to do it.  Right now.

She dove, folding her wings in to reduce drag as she shot down like a hawk.  She kept gaining speed, going faster and faster as she got closer and closer to the Cloudesium.  She could feel it, the cone of energy forming around her.  It was a barrier, one she had never been able to break before.  It would always cause her to bounce off, snapping back and to go tumbling through the air.

Scootaloo grit her teeth  Not Today!  She kept going faster and faster, her will itself seeming to drag her forward.  The cone around her began crackling with intense energy.

And then, it happened.

She broke through the barrier, and a massive boom echoed throughout the area, knocking some ponies clear out of their seats.  From the point where she had passed the barrier, a ring of colors expanded, blending and moving into the twilight sky.  Behind her, a rainbow trail had replaced her purple flames, and she flew it over the Cloudesium, doing some loops for good measure.

Finally, she landed, and looked at her handy work.  The sky was filled with both the colors of the setting sun, and the colors of that she had produced with her trick.  The clouds she had spun captured the light, reflecting colors upon the ponies below.

The crowd was silent for all of a moment, before erupting in thunderous cheer.  Had she not known what it was, Scootaloo would have thought someone else had just pulled off a Sonic Rainboom.

But that wasn’t her trick.  It was her mom’s trick.  This, this was something special, a combination of the things she learned from both her moms.

This, this was the Aurora Boom.

And as the crowd shouted her name, thudding their hooves against the clouds in applause, her eyes sought out the two who this had been for.  Her parents, Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash, were staring at the sky in awe, tears of happiness and love falling from their eyes.  They got the message.  Everything had been perfect.

It had to be, after all, this was all simply a tribute to the best parents in the world.