Our Time to Fly

by Shokinaw

Chapter 9: Learn the Rhythm

The early morning air was cold and it rushed against orange fur and feathers as the young pegasus soared high in the sky towards Old Lake. A short pink hue was left in her wake as her mane and tail whipped back and forth in the blasting wind. Scootaloo pushed and pushed, her wings straining, a humming blur of motion as she shot across the heavens. It felt amazing, it was everything she wanted it to be! The wind ringing through her head now felt like it belonged there, mixing in with the cascade of sounds flooding her ears as she flew. The sky called out and she was answering, closing her eyes and letting instincts take over, free to move however it wanted. Indulging in a long relaxing breath of fresh air, filling her lungs as full as they were able, and then releasing it all in a short puff. A determined pair of eyes flew open and she was on the move! Darting downwards and then upwards, a spiraling plunge followed immediately by a hurtling somersault throwing her high into the sky. There she laid upside down, relaxing her body completely as it came to the peak of its launching arch, and then letting gravity take her into freefall, before righting herself and taking off again towards her destination.

“Sweet moves Squirt!” The voice from overhead caught her attention as her idol and Team Captain rocketed past. The one and only Rainbow Dash seemed almost like she tore through the sky, her mane leaving it’s streak behind her for tens of meters, a spectrum of colours unique to very few in all of ponykind’s history.

“But don’t be late! If Spike beats you to the lake you’ll never live it down!” Dash laughed as she called out, easily provoking her protégé. Predictably the prideful fledgling flier rose to the challenge and hurtled herself forwards towards the lake.

Try as she might Scootaloo never had a chance of catching up to her childhood hero, and somewhere deep inside, there lay hope she never would. The speeds Dash could attain even casually at this point in her life would be hard for any pegasus anywhere to match. When her coach went all out she could physically rupture the sky sending a sweeping ripple of rainbows far and wide across the horizon visible to all of Equestria! A champion of speed and accuracy, Rainbow Dash was thoroughly untouchable.

The two pegasi arrived on the cliff side the fledglings had previously dubbed ‘the High Dive’ to find themselves alone with no sign of the third member of the team. Dash frowned at the thought while scanning the skies for his lumbering form.

“Normally Spike's here by now, even if he is tired.” Scootaloo frowned, “Do you think Twilight kept him home?”

“She better not have. The vet said he was good to go yesterday, and we have a lot to do without a lot of time to do it in. At least Pinkie Pie’s here.”

Dash waved to the gleeful pink pony that was currently too preoccupied to respond or even notice their arrival. Looking like she was currently having the time of her life down in the lake, moving along in the water at a tremendous speed, whooping and hooting while making two meter long jumps out of the surface only to duck back beneath the waves a moment later, leaving a large splashes in her wake.

“Okay… never seen her do that one before...”

“I’ll go check it out!” Scootaloo raced down beside the speeding mare as she rose to the surface once more. “Pinkie Pie? What are you doing?”

“Hi Scootaloo! How’s it go-” Pinkie managed to get out before splashing beneath the lake surface again, only to rise again moments later to finish her broken greeting, “-re waiting for you!”

“Well we’re here now. That’s amazing! How are you doing it?” The young pegasus moved closer to the water, trying to figure it out.

“I’m not do-” Again she was cut off by slipping beneath the rushing waves, to resurface and complete her sentence. “-iding Spike!”

“Spike?” Scootaloo looked around for her tardy teammate, but the only thing that caught her eye was the length of boulders sticking out of the lake up ahead, lined up fairly neatly by the last avalanche from the cliff above. Her eyes went wide and she began to shout, “Pinkie Pie! You’re heading right for the rocks! You gotta stop!”

“Don’t be silly Scoo-” Interrupted once more, Scootaloo began panicking for her as Pinkie made no attempt to turn or weave away. “-be alright!”

“No wait! Pinkie!” She scooted off ahead and landed on the outcrop of rocks, waving frantically in warning, “Stop! Look out! You won’t make it! Pinkie!”

Rainbow Dash watched the young pegasus waving on the rocks and understood the situation, she launched herself off the cliff, diving down to help pick up speed, and blasted along the surface of the water, attempting to catch her friend before the inevitable crash.

Instead of heeding any warnings however the random pony simply took as deep a breath as she could and ducked under the water once more, but much longer this time. There could be no more warnings now. Scootaloo continued her waving in vain, knowing that Pinkie could not possibly see her gestures anymore. There was little choice but to stand there stunned, awaiting the impending doom of everypony’s favourite party pony. Instead she was greeted with a massive erupting geyser of water and shadow, as a creature twice the size of any pony launched itself from the water. Leaping over her head, it almost seemed like time slowed to a still allowing her to scrutinize every detail of what was taking place. Gallons of water fell all around her, drenching Scootaloo completely as if a sudden storm was taking place just for her. Only this storm cloud was covered with detailed purple scales and bore wings. It felt so surreal, like she could reach out and touch him.

Off to the side Rainbow Dash was holding Pinkie who’d fallen off before Spike could make the headlong jump over both the rocks and Scootaloo. They were able to catch the sight of the young dragon arching over the younger pegasus as she was reaching up towards him, an enormous splash of water in his wake, crashing against the rocks.

“Woa~oah.” The astonished friends uttered quietly together in unsuppressed awe.

The moment ended and Spike plunged back into the water on the other side. Scootaloo fell back on her rump, still stunned by what just transpired. It was a worried Spike that broke surface again as quickly as he could manage. He climbed halfway out on the rocks to check on her.

“Oh gosh! Are you okay? I didn’t see you there until last second! I didn’t get you did I?”

“Uh... no, I’m alright.” Scootaloo actually patted herself down to make sure herself, and shook her head. “I think so anyway. What the horse feathers was that about?”

“I was just keeping up with some swimming lessons. Pinkie and I have been jumping the rocks since she got here. I’m getting pretty good, even if I do say so myself.” He grinned cockily.

“Yeah well, next time wait til I’m outta the way.” She smirked, “Just because you’re all healed up doesn’t mean I have to be broken in half to balance it out.”

“Well thank you both for the early morning heart attack.” Dash hovered over her two fledglings, softly setting down Pinkie Pie on the rocks beside them. “I think we can all say we’re awake now. I knew you’d be a holy terror when you weren’t half asleep, Spike, but that isn’t exactly what I had in mind.”

“Pinkie and I were just playing around, it isn’t our fault you guys are blind and somehow missed the fact she was hanging onto one of my spines.” He stuck out his tongue at Dash for effect.

“You’re just lucky that’s one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen.” She retorted with a snort.

“I know! I was all like, ‘Hi!’ And Scootaloo was like ‘Cool!’ and I was like, ‘I’m riding Spike’ and she was all ‘Rocks!’ and Spike went SPLOOSH! And me and Dashie were totally ‘woah!’ And now I just want to see it again!” The excitable pink pony ended with a pleading look.

“Maybe later Pinkie, I got some fundamentals to go over with them first, a lot of fundamentals.” Spike pulled himself out of the water completely to stand beside Scootaloo as his Captain unconsciously began using her teaching tone of voice. He held some suspicion that she wasn’t even aware she had one. Whenever that authoritative edge leaked into her voice though, any smart fledgling would shut up and take notice.

“Anypony will tell you that flying is easy to learn, but takes a lifetime to master. You two had a hard time on just the learning side of things, so hike up your tails because we’re about to get down and dirty. Practice is the only true teacher in this line of work; I’m just here to let you know when you’re doing it wrong, and showing you some basic techniques used to help you practice.”

“What kind of fundamentals are there?”

“Several Spike. First and foremost, there’s gliding. It’s normally the first step into the air, but you guys decided to go against the grain and skip right to flight. I can respect that. Throwing convention and commonplace out the window is just my style anyway.” The Captain beamed her approval at her students. “But that doesn’t make gliding any less important, and you’re still going to need it to stand a chance. Being able to full out fly will give you an edge in learning it, but it is essential that you’re able to glide and glide well. By that I mean it is one of the primary qualifiers that you will be scored on during whatever show we’re going to put on at the competition.”

 “So we’re going to be scored on all the fundamentals?” Nervousness leaked into Spike’s voice. He was never actually graded on anything before. Being privately home schooled by royalty and apprentices of royalty left him in a constant learning environment, but there was simply never a reason to see how much he retained as long as it was enough for their needs. Being a dragon had also disqualified him from most any official competitions he had any interest in outside of recreation. The idea of somepony else being able to come in and tell you that you failed at something was a foreign concept to him, and if asked he would have preferred to keep it that way.

“You got it. There’s four basic qualities you will be scored on: Gliding, landing, formation, and control. You two have landings nailed, sealed, and pinned down for the count. At the competition only the top tier teams will even think about landing straight down, and both of you can pull that off in a tailspin without blinking. Scootaloo, you have control down already if what I seen you do this morning has anything to say about it, and Spike you will not only have control soon, you’ll probably be better at it than any pony ever could be. Your wings give you a huge advantage over pegasi in that area.”

“So what we really need to learn is gliding and formation?” Thinking out loud to herself, Scootaloo’s expression twisted into one of confusion. “But what about speed? Doesn’t that count for anything?”

“It used to. It was decided when I was still a filly that fledglings and young fliers shouldn’t be focused on speed because it had a higher chance of injury.” Their Captain turned away, as she scowled upwards and away towards Cloudsdale. She refrained from mentioning the rule was put into place the year she entered the Fledgling Flier Competition and had cost her the title. She also didn’t bother to mention the rule was implemented again in the Best Young Flier’s Competition the year she signed up for it. The rule didn’t stop her from winning, but the fact was somepony out there was trying to hold her down. Somepony with a lot of sway on the racing committee.

“In any case, our mornings from here until the day of competition will be purely devoted to gliding and formations. That should give us all the practice we need to pass the qualifiers. Our afternoons will be my personal favourite: stunt training. Qualifiers will get you into the games, stunts will get you noticed. Wow factor is what wins the cup every time, and we’re going to have to use every advantage we have to even be a contender. Remember, every other team will have had a full year’s practice at flying. Their Captains were choosing their teams last fall, right after the games. You two only have one season under you. It’s going to be an skyward battle because experience wise they already have the edge.”

“What are we going to do for stunts?”

“No clue Spike, our afternoons will be spent brainstorming ideas for a stunt show. There’s more than one way to bag this trophy. Rarity almost won over me with that dance of hers int the Young Flier’s Competition. Most just pick out something that will show their ability to fly combined with their natural gifts, that’s why I chose an obstacle course. In the end the ones that blend it the best will reap the rewards. Unlike the Young Fliers Competition though, the Fledgling Fliers is team orientated. So we need to figure out the best way to blend our flight skills, advantages, and talents.

“But I don’t even know my talent yet!” Scootaloo whined.

“You and me both sister, unless you count writing letters or, just recently, swimming. I can cook decent enough too I guess. Is there a way to incorporate archiving books? I’m really good at that.”

“And that’s why we need to brainstorm.” Dash rolled her eyes at Spike’s sarcasm. “We’ve gotten this far by winging it, and I plan on following what works until some other options come our way. You two both did a great job of getting past the walls that kept you from the sky. We need more of the same line of thinking here. Ask your friends about ideas, explore your advantages, and either look for a way to use what you know, or use what you know to look for a way. Each afternoon we’ll take all those ideas and try them out. We’ll work on what works and cut the ideas that don’t. We have a real chance for a victory here team, so don’t let the odds fool you! Have faith in yourselves, and faith in your friends. Keep your hopes high, and we can pull a win out of this, I guarantee it!”

“Yes Captain!” The fledglings stood up a bit straighter and gave a salute.

“That’s more like it. Now get on that High Dive Fledglings! Let’s get this training day started!” She finished with a blast from her whistle and her students took off to cliff edge.

Slowly nibbling away at some toast, Twilight Sparkle stared across the table at nothing at all. Well not nothing exactly, there was an awkwardly empty chair on the other side. It was a jarring contrast to how she awoke, feeling ready to take on the world. Now she sat at in a mostly dark library eating a small lukewarm breakfast feeling very alone. She had woken up earlier than necessary this morning. Applejack was busy dealing with an excess of farm chores so there would be no gem gathering that day, even so Twilight Sparkle’s morning routine of getting up at daybreak was already ingrained enough to have her wide awake before the rising sun had a chance to fully peak over the horizon. It was okay though, it allowed her a chance to get ahead of her checklist of daily chores, and this was the most well-rested she felt in weeks! She had headed down stairs expecting to greet Spike who would probably have breakfast ready.

Instead of a young dragon and a grumpy ‘Good Morning’, all that awaited her was an unlit library and a plate of fried grass paddies and hay chips, covered to keep the heat in. A card was left saying where he had gone, but there might as well not have been one. There was only one place he would go this early in the morning, only one place he would go at all anymore. Her cheerful mood was dampened into a disheartened one so fast, she could almost feel the whiplash.

Twilight was well aware of the reasoning that had lead to this situation. It was a sound explanation, really. They hardly spoke in the mornings what with them both being so tired lately, so why wait around? Why not just head off early and begin the day? Spike was probably really excited; an actual flying lesson was about to take place! Everything to this point had just been preparation for today! It was logical, it was reasonable, it was sound in every way she could think of. So why did it bother her so much?

It was cold. A shiver traced along her skin beneath her fur. She looked towards the fire place where dark green coals glowed hungrily in the dim light. A log was magically lifted from the neat pile along its side, and fed itself to their undying appetite. A flame immediately sprung to life, leaving warmth creeping up her side. The flames crackling and popping echoed throughout the empty building, but its emanating heat didn’t seem to affect the cold pervading her heart. It was the first time since she left Canterlot she felt truly alone.

Just her and a cooling breakfast surrounded by thousands of books with no interruptions, no distractions, and no commotions. No family or friends… just Twilight Sparkle and her workload for the day ahead of her. It was her first time since her arrival in Ponyville she started feeling homesick. It was strange, she had been very alienated among the ponies of Canterlot, not by any fault of theirs as they had tried to include her many times over, Twilight Sparkle just always preferred work over social events.

But she was also never alone in her work.

Spike was always at her side, organizing books, cleaning up after her, locating essays, and missing volumes as she frantically studied whatever thought had come in passing. Before Spike, there was always her parents and Shining Armour, the brother to surpass all older brothers. He was a constant stable source of encouragement and inspiration that she could achieve anything. At his side Princess Cadence provided a female perspective on life, held all her most guarded secrets, and was always glad to share as much time as they could together. Not to mention Princess Celestia herself who had taken Twilight under her wing, her idol and motivation for studying and working so hard was to prove her worth to the Celestial Goddess who put so much faith in her. Certainly not the most sociable of ponies in Canterlot, at the same time Twilight never had any shortage of friends at her side. Quite the opposite, she had always strongly suspected that it would be very difficult to ever find ponies that could match the standard of friends she had already gathered! Not in her wildest dreams could she have imagined the quality of ponies in a foreign, little rural town on the outskirts of the most dangerous forest Equestria had to offer.

This morning, with Spike out of the picture and the strange quiet that set in around her, it was the first time Twilight Sparkle ever felt like a recluse, like her family was too far away. She missed them. She missed him. His grumpy, tired demeanor as he struggled out of bed, the weight of his footsteps creaking along the floor, the fumble of dishes and hiss of the stove as he cooked, the crack and crunching of gem shards as he ate in silence beside her. It didn’t matter that they hadn’t said much in the mornings in these past couple months it was enough that he was there, his presence alone was all the good morning she needed.

Twilight missed his words too, however. Those easily motivated mood swings he was prone to when she revealed what was ahead for the day were a source of encouraging joy. The constant prattle filled with silly ideas, jokes, and prideful remarks were a constant alleviation of the stress that threatened to rule her life. His confidence in her abilities often surpassed her own; he took so much pride in her magical talents that belittling them in any fashion would be treated like a shot directly against him! It would be like insulting a child in front of its parents. In a way it was true after all, now that the thought came to mind, he had as much to do with raising her as she had with him. Spike often pushed her into situations where she would have to face her weaknesses like social gatherings and meeting new ponies. He was always calming her down when plans went awry, and warned her when she took on too much at once. He would even immediately seek out help when things went beyond either her or his control.

She was his greatest pride and he was her closest friend. Growing up some day was of course inevitable, and Twilight knew it was coming soon, but the idea that they could ever become distant had never occurred to her. Now it was beginning to happen, and she wasn’t entirely sure what to do about it. Could she wait another month or two? The competition would be over then, the training will calm down then right?

Once you know you can go anywhere whenever you want, the whole world opens up. He’s already planning frequent trips to Canterlot, who knows where that will lead or who he’ll meet along the way? It’s a big sky up there after all.

Rainbow Dash’s words from the other day floated through her head. Twilight pushed her breakfast away, no longer feeling hungry or chipper. Spike wasn’t just family; he was the only family that had come with her. Her parents and teacher were left behind in Canterlot and her older brother and sister-in-law were off running the Crystal Kingdom. How would she cope with not having any family around at all? The feeling when she first heard that Rainbow Dash was going to leave after the suspension was coming back to her now. There wasn't much she wouldn't do to stop it, even if she had to race to the ends of the world. But then, all the wishes in the world wouldn’t stop Rarity from moving to Canterlot. When Rainbow Dash finally took her place she so desperately wanted among the Wonderbolts, she’d be gone too.

A quiet knock sounded against the library door, and Twilight shelved these feelings for another time. Taking a deep breath and sliding into a more welcoming expression suitable to greeting a friend, she moved to open the door. The quiet knock came again before Twilight felt ready enough to deal with the rest of her day.

“Good morning Fluttershy.” Her voice was full of false cheer and she hoped it didn’t show through. “You’re really early today!”

“I-is that a problem? I can come back later if you want.”

“Not at all! It’s actually good to see a friendly face right about now.” Twilight responded a bit too quickly, and knew it. Mentally chastising herself, she tried to avoid Fluttershy’s inquisitive glance. “Please, come in.”

Twilight stepped aside to let the demure pegasus and her entourage of animals pass by, hoping to also side step any curiosity of her slip up. The well trained animals began to spread throughout the library, opening curtains, dusting, collecting books, sweeping the floor with their tails, and proficiently cleaning every nook and cranny of the tree with practiced teamwork and ease. Twilight watched them work, and listened to their pleasant tweeting and chittering, no longer having to fake her smile as she closed the door behind them. Just dispelling the quiet, lonely gloom over her home was enough to put her in a better mood.

“So what brings you by so early?”

“Snails came by my place this morning and said everything would be ready at the farm by this afternoon. I thought that if we started early we could be there for it… I mean… if you want to be there for it.”

“Snails? Why was he up this early?”

“Different insects are active at different times of the day; it would be easier to talk to some of them this early.”

“Hmm, that makes sense I suppose, I really wasn’t expecting anything like that from him though.” Her magic enveloped her plate of cold breakfast, moving it towards the trash and scraped it off as she began to join the animals in the cleaning. “Well I better be there for it, considering I don’t even know what it is. Getting information from that pony is like trying to pry open a rusty lock.”

“Oh yes, he often has trouble trying to say what’s on his mind.” Angel bunny hopped over from the kitchen table where he had been cleaning, and passed the note Spike left behind to Fluttershy. Her brow furrowed as she read its contents before peeking back at the unicorn that was now going over the pile of returned library books. “I remember when I had that much trouble speaking to other ponies.”

“I don’t think you can really consider them the same thing.”

And here we go again. 

Deliberately avoiding looking from her books, Twilight stamped them one by one, before her magic slid them into their place upon the surrounding shelves. Pointedly keeping her eyes pinned to the pages before her, knowing all too well what was happening here. Fluttershy was going to make another attempt of convincing her that Snails would make a great assistant. Twilight was not going to fall for it. This particular element of harmony had been slipping subtle hints for the past few weeks towards this end. Subtle manipulation didn't suit the meek pegasus, and Twilight was sure her friend wasn't trying to be manipulative. It was just that she truly felt that this would be a good arrangement. The librarian disagreed with this stance vehemently. Worse, this time Fluttershy was comparing Snails to herself, one of her closest friends and Twilight was not amused.

“You have trouble speaking to others because you're shy. Snails is a lot of things, but shy isn’t one of them.”

“I-I guess not…” Fluttershy admitted as the years played back in her mind, “Maybe things are different for him than they were for me. When I first arrived in Ponyville, I don’t think I managed more than a few words, not even to the relatives I was staying with. Even Pinkie Pie didn’t know I was living in town for months after I moved here. She only found out when Rainbow Dash first showed up.”

“You managed to elude Pinkie Pie for months?” That drew Twilight’s attention away from the books, “I didn’t even think a week was possible! I was only in town for half a day before she broke into my home and invited every pony in town inside. I didn’t even tell her where I was staying come to think of it…”

Don’t get curious, the more she talks the more ground you’ll give.

“How did you do it?”

A mental image of Twilight's curiosity whistled innocently, poorly hiding a broken baseball bat behind her back, with the image of her reason lying broken and unconscious on the ground beside her.

“She just never really had the chance to know… I was so excited to see the animals here that with each new day I would spend sunrise to sunset along the forest trails meeting all kinds of new friends. But animals are very quiet and shy around strangers, and you have to be ever so careful not to scare them. Ponies aren’t at all like animals. They can be loud and happy even with ponies they don’t know, and I’m so used to my furry little friends that I can find another pony's forwardness a little frightening at times.” She finished while shuffling her feet in embarrassment after admitting to her shortcomings. “Even now I sometimes find ponies a little too invasive, and I’m not sure how to respond.”

“See? That’s nothing like Snails. He isn’t reserved, if anything we’d be better off he was. Questioning that foal is like tightrope trotting above a labyrinth. Keep it a direct route, as simple as possible, and tread carefully otherwise you’ll end up lost and confused, while running around in circles looking for your answer.”

And I doubt very much the Princess forbid my magic studies so I could replace them with trying to decipher that mess of pony.

Twilight smiled, glad to know her sense of reason had not suffered permanent injury.

“Well I guess… the reasons are a little different.” A sense of empathy tugged at Fluttershy’s heart strings as she thought about the young unicorn and his relatable social troubles as she turned to look at the floor. “But it seems like it ends up the same. Neither of us really knows what to say to others, except where I found so many good friends to share my life with, and he only managed to find one.”

“You really feel bad for him, don’t you?” Seeing her friend’s troubled features left her own heart needling her. Adversely her reason was sending up huge warning signals.

Wait, what are you doing? Stop! It’s a trap!

Against her better judgement she stood up to offer Fluttershy a comforting hoof on her shoulder. The shy pony turned to meet her gaze with an overpowering look of genuine sympathy, the heartfelt expression making the request that Fluttershy herself would never voice. It was with admirable effort Twilight strained to delay her answer in attempt to give her reason enough time to combat against this overwhelming force that threatened to leave her plagued with the most useless assistant the world had to offer.

Yeah, about that… Curiosity just carries a bat; Friendship drives a crazy train! She isn’t known for stopping first either. I’m out of here.

“Ugh! Fine.” With a long sigh Twilight flew a white flag in her mind. “I’ll ask him if he would like to help me here at the library.”

“Really Twilight? I mean, I know that would be asking a lot of you, especially right now… Are you sure?”

“No.” She replied shaking her head, “And I have some conditions. First he has to actually want to work for me, two it’s a trial period only. If he’s still more hindrance than help before Spike gets back, he’ll have to look somewhere else.”

“O-okay,” Fluttershy nodded hugging Twilight quickly. “I think he’ll surprise you.”

“Yeah, right.” Twilight rolled her eyes wondering just what it was she was getting herself into. “I still don’t get what it is you see in him. He isn’t anything like you at all, you know that right?”

“Well… yes, I know. We have very different dilemmas.” She slipped Spike’s note against her friend’s hoof. “But it did lead us both to the same problem. At the end of the day we both ended up lonely.”

Staring down at the simple note, Twilight now fully understood why Fluttershy was being far more stubborn about the subject this morning. It wasn’t just Snails she was worried for. She smiled softly and looked up to one of her best friends.

“And the best cure for loneliness is having somepony by your side, right?” Twilight finished the thought. “I suppose I could lend him a hoof with that.”

The beaming smile glued to Fluttershy’s face was the only reply needed.

Ugh. There was no better description for the morning’s flight practice. Rainbow Dash was sitting down while overlooking the lake below, running through all the issues she had with their rehearsals. Her fledglings were off for lunch, gathering the props and items they’d need for the afternoon’s free flight exercises. They’d probably be back shortly, but for now she only shared the bluff of the cliff with Pinkie Pie who was currently amusing herself by failing to set up the hot air balloon so she could take her cheering efforts to the sky. It mercifully gave Dash the time she needed to concentrate on coming up with some ideas on how to deal with the very real problems formation flying was going to cause them.

Formation was obviously not going to be their strong point on their qualifiers, she could tell that much already. As competitions went, the Team Captain flew point and their fledglings took up wingpony at their sides. This was because the Team Captain was the coach and therefore the most experienced, trained, and strongest flier in the group. The more experienced the leader, the easier it was to glide behind them as their fledglings took advantage of the upwash of wind current left in the Captain’s wake. It made a lot of sense in nearly all situations.

This normality, however, did not suit her unique team at all. The usual way of things simply didn’t account for a dragon being part of a flight party. Rainbow Dash was easily far faster and more experienced, but there was more going on here. Spike would hardly benefit at all from the upwash of wind left behind by her tiny wings, there was just too much of him! Also, it turned out that dragons were natural gliders. He was keeping his wing beats aligned with hers perfectly every time, but it was purely and obviously only for show! The extra joints in his wings were made for holding and controlling the wind beneath them, while his tail slowly and languidly swished behind him. With every change in wind and direction his wings would tilt and move, almost lazily capturing the updraft and holding himself up with ease. He could hover in the same spot for hours and never have to tilt his wings more than a few inches. At the slow pace of gliding he never actually had to flap his wings at all.

And then there was that whole brute force of strength dragons came with. Spike was a scrawny shrimp of a dragon, but he was still a dragon. The upwash left behind by his wings would leave anypony gliding in his wake with hardly any drag at all! He was basically the all round perfect point flier for anything as long as it wasn’t a fast stunt of some sort. The problem was he was too perfect. It would look unnatural to any pegasi watching, especially with the amount of extra weight that made up a dragon.

As much as he tried to explain his theories on how it all worked, it was all kind of lost on her. Something about dragon flame and gasses that were lighter than air and stuff. What she did manage to pick up from it was that the more dragon fire he had in his belly, the easier flying became for him. Learning everything about her teammates was a Captain's duty, but she wasn’t going to like it. On the other hoof, Twilight was probably going to be excited enough about the discovery to write it all down for her anyway. Maybe she could convince her to make an easier to read version for herself? Somehow, she guessed reading a book on dumbed down dragon science was not going to be near as cool as the Daring Do series. The things she had to do for her fledglings.

Bleh.

Then there was Scootaloo. Scootaloo was an impatient and impulsive flier, and it showed even when she was gliding. She was great at picking out her rhythm now, but whenever she had to fly at somepony else’s wing pace all sense of grace and style disappeared. She would wobble shakily in the air as she tried to put herself in perfect position to catch the upwash. The idea of depending on somepony else for most of her flight was too foreign for her. Often uncertain when she found the perfect position, she had a tendency to wait too long before using a wing beat. The hesitation, in turn, forced her to make several more wing beats in a row just to retain the right height of the formation. Those extra wing beats would cost them.

In any case the two fledglings were just too vastly different in ability when it came to gliding. As much as she hated to admit it, Spike actually made her gliding skills look bad let alone poor Scootaloo's. This is what she hated about the routines in these competitions. The rules and policies often overruled good flight practice! If you were going for a glide or a lengthy flight in the open, the largest and strongest glider would take point, and you would simply switch places when faster, more erratic flight was needed. Displaying this formation was a necessity though, in fact it was normally a huge deal!

Many of the fledgling flight shows were usually synchronized, gliding dances, similar to earth pony figure skating. Smooth flowing movements that would build up to flashy stunts and cool moves, usually to the tune of some musical score of some sort. This was because the gliding part was easy for fledglings to pull off, it gave them the rest they needed so they could concentrate on perfecting advanced manoeuvres. There had to be a way around it, she would have to break open the rule book and read it in its entirety.

Bleh, more reading.

Now it was science and rules, what was next? Arcane magic studies? Every job had its downfalls, but at least as a weather pony she never had to stick her nose in a book. She’d have to ask Twilight about this stuff later.

Happy to be interrupted from her thoughts, Rainbow Dash turned to look when Pinkie started waving excitedly as Spike came into view over the tree line. She had to take a second glance before recognizing the orange light that flitted beside him. Pee Wee. She cracked a smile. Spike hadn’t brought the firebird along since Fluttershy started working with Twilight at the library. What was it Spike had in mind for the show? She had to admit, a phoenix would certainly add something new nopony had seen before. She frowned as she looked on the horizon for her other fledgling, but never caught sight of her. That was weird. 'Late' is not a term that described Scootaloo, and she was usually more gung ho to go than Spike would ever be.

“Hey look! Scootaloo brought Apple Bloom and a funny-looking surf board!” Pinkie gasped loudly in sudden surprise, “Are we going surfing?! That’s great! I stashed a surfboard here just in case we’d ever need one!”

Dash looked over as Pinkie Pie flipped over a boulder where there was indeed a surfboard in pristine condition lying beneath. Deciding to stow the question of why you would need a surfboard up on a cliff rather than down by the lake, she instead looked towards where her excitable friend was waving a second ago. Sure enough, Scootaloo and Apple Bloom were walking out of the Whitetail Woods happily chatting away.

That explained why she didn’t see her in the sky. Wait a minute… that was no surfboard! She grinned slyly as she took in the flaps running along it's side. There were a lot of things Rainbow Dash didn’t know about the world, but when it came to flying she could be considered a master of the field, and she knew a pair of wings when she saw them. She also knew immediately what the two had in mind, and could tell already that the flaps looked awkward, unbalanced, and she bet the weight was off. But it would do for now, it would most definitely do. Their formations were going to need a work-around, but the show they would put on was going to blow the judges away. A thrill of excitement tingled its way along her fur, as she hovered off the cliff and dove down to meet the fledglings by the lake shore. This was going to be awesome!

“You brought books?!” The glare Dash fixed the dragon with managed to wilt him to the point he seemed smaller than her. “The firebird I get, that’s an awesome idea, but books? How exactly is a book going to help you practice? You don’t need ‘How-to-Fly’ manuals anymore Spike, you already know how!”

“It’s not a flight guide!” He protested quickly, “Just give me a chance to explain, it’s a book about Princess Celestia’s phoenix!”

“Her phoenix?” Apple Bloom cut in just as annoyed, if not more so than even Rainbow Dash. The dragon’s insistence on taking the time aside to discuss these books of his was time she really didn’t have to spare. Finding free afternoons were a rare treat, normally reserved for holidays now. “What’s her pet gotta do with yer flight show?”

“It might have everything to do with it, if you let me get a word in!”

“Well spit it out already! Some of us actually wanted to fly today.” Just as impatient as the others Scootaloo was more irritated with the arguing that was made this stupid meeting last longer then necessary than she was with Spike's choice of help. When even Rainbow Dash had shown her excitement over the strange strange board, her own doubts about putting it to use vanished completely. She was expecting her Captain to have some hesitation about it, but instead she seemed almost as spirited as Apple Bloom about the idea! It was everything she could do to not take it for a spin right now!

“I’m trying, if you’d stop interrupting for half a second!” Spike crossed his arms in a huff. He knew his team would probably be against the idea at first, but this was a lot more resistance than he thought there would be. With Apple Bloom here too, and all three of them on his case about it, he was beginning to regret bringing the pile of books along after all. Twilight would have listened. He was certain of that. Admittedly she tended to jump at any ideas that involved books. He passed a book to each one of his teammates, Pinkie Pie stared over Rainbow Dash’s shoulder and Scootaloo shared hers with Apple Bloom.

“Now, you just said this morning that we had to come up with ways to blend our talents and work together right?” Spike turned to look at his Captain. “I don’t know if this’ll work, but I was thinking maybe we could make the stunt show like a re-enactment of an excerpt from this book. Specifically the part where the dragon is chasing Philomena through the skies, and the pegasi are trying to stop it. The book doesn’t go into too much detail on it so we can put our own spin on things to include showing all our talents. It was written centuries ago, but I was thinking we could, I don’t know, modernize the story up a bit.”

“A re-enactment? So, like a skit?” Dash rubbed her chin in thought.

“Yeah! At least that’s the idea I was going for.”

“Its… actually got some merit to it. I’m impressed Spike, you thought of that just this morning? I thought finding a theme for the show might be the most difficult part of this whole thing!”

“Well… you can thank Twilight for that, I guess. We read it together all the time when I was a hatchling. I pretty much have the whole thing memorized.” He smiled fondly at his own volume, it looked far more worn and well read than the copies he had handed to his team.

“She used to read you this when you were a baby dragon?” Scootaloo frowned looking up from the bookmarked page, “It says here the dragon got killed in the end!”

“Yeah, I guess that part is pretty extreme in hindsight, but I didn’t care. There aren’t a whole lot of books out there on dragons, so any book that included them at all caught my interest. I think she downplayed that part as much as she could too, but when we were talking this morning this is all I could think about. So what do you think?”

“Ah like it, it’s right dramatic-like and action-packed, Ah’m sure it’d be a real crowd pleaser.”

“It’s definitely worth looking into, but it’s a little too early to set our sights on any one particular thing. At the same time, this is one starting point that’ll be hard to top Big Guy. Good job.” With an annoyed look, she tossed the offending reading material it at Pinkie Pie’s head behind her, disregarding whether she was ready to catch it or not. “One more for the pile, who knew Captains had to do all this reading?”

The surprised pink pony fell over backwards, fumbling the book several times before managing to catch it.

“Alright Fledglings, lets get this show in the sky. Spike, I just want to see you practice formations with Pee Wee for the rest of the afternoon. If you want to tell this story right, a lot of it will depend on how well you and that bird fly together. You know the story best so try to find a flight pattern that works best for both of you, and matches the book as best you can. If we want this to happen, the speed and pacing of our show will directly depend on you two. Now get up there and give it a go!”

“Yes Captain!” With a quick salute Spike took off into the sky with Pee Wee not far behind behind.

“Now, about you two and this board idea, do you think you can pull it off?”

“Not sure Captain. This will be my first time trying.” Scootaloo held the board awkwardly.

“Alright then, since Spike is just practicing flight patterns I’ll help you two out. I’ll chase down the board whenever you wipe out. You’ll probably want a helping hoof to keep that board in the air at first, so get a running start off the High Dive.”

“Yes Captain!”

It was well after lunch before Twilight was satisfied enough to leave the library in Fluttershy’s hooves. Checklists were all completed and each priority duty had been crossed off with a flair. The building was cleaned even to her high standards, the books were organized, and they mailed all the letters to the overdue accounts. All that was left to do was to mind the librarian’s desk and assist anypony that had need or want for a book. This was something she was sure Fluttershy was capable enough to see to, especially with Owliscious at her call to offer advice if needed.

The rest of the day could be devoted to whatever idea she could come up with to free the farm from its financial troubles. This afternoon specifically would be seeing what Snails had been up to all this time. Her mind turned to the young pony and she felt herself shudder as she recalled her promise to her friend. She didn’t want to be lonely, but she wasn’t entirely sure that it counted as not being alone even if Snails was standing right next to you. While Spike considered her lectures boring half the time, and usually replied with some form of pun or sarcastic remark, he still listened. Snails was well known for zoning out and paying no attention at all.

All previous engagements with Snips and Snails had left her fairly critical of the two. She forgave them for the Ursa Minor incident, after all they were still colts at the time. But it wasn’t the last time they’d found themselves on the hard side of one of her glares, and by that point she felt they were old enough to know better. The largest one that came to mind was the ‘Flea Market’ they had put together. She had no idea what the two had been thinking. She hadn’t been in the mood to ask either. Somewhere along the road they’d gotten it in their crazy heads to sell fleas at the local Sunday market. Some kind of contest they’d arranged with Filthy Rich’s daughter.

It was more then them of course. It was some juvenile bet between most of their class. One of them was winning, and Twilight never really bothered to figure out who. Their contest wasn’t the real issue that concerned her. It was the results that made her cringe. To increase their sales and to defeat their long time rivals the Cutie mark Crusaders had come up with an idea, they’d enchant their produce to attract more ponies over. Of course one being from an apple farm, and the only unicorn there being musically inclined, a chorus of singing apples was soon attracting ponies to their stall. It was a good idea honestly, she figured that’s why Snips and Snails decided that the reason their product wasn’t selling is because the fleas weren’t magical enough.

The resulting plague of magically enhanced fleas had sent ponies fleeing for the hills! Of course this only spread the fleas to the ponies on the hillsides too. It took another trip to Zecora’s to find some way to get the fleas off everypony’s back, and a search that lead Twilight and her friends right to Equestria’s borders to find the ingredients they needed. For weeks everypony in town had to suffer through one of the worst infestations Ponyville had ever experienced as Twilight and her friends searched near and far to gather enough ingredients for every single pony in town.

“At least Rarity enjoyed the profits.” The distracted unicorn sighed out loud to herself. Everypony in town had to shave their manes and fur before they could be sure the nasty little insects were gone. It was the only month, to her knowledge, in the history of Ponyville that all of the residents all wore clothes. The memory finished playing out in her mind as she came around the bend, only for it to be rekindled anew. Snips was there leaning over the fence along side Applejack as they watched Snails wander about back and forth in the cornfield, anxiously looking this way and that.

"Hey there, Twilight. We've been waitin' on yah, Snails says he'd be about ready to get this whole thing started when yah arrived."

"He was waiting on me?" Twilight answered the farm pony with a questioning look, "But Fluttershy said he wouldn't be ready until afternoon."

"I guess they showed up early." The pudgy unicorn answered for her and pointed towards the field where his best friend was standing still, his head now stooped low against the dirt, his horn glowing an eerie green.

"Who showed up early? And what's he doing?"

"Not sure, but he's been saying that he's been waiting for them for weeks." Taking a moment to consider his friend, Snips turned to the ever busy librarian, "I've never seen him so worked up over something before. You really oughta go talk to him."

"And the sooner the better." Applejack added with an annoyed look towards Snails. "Big Macintosh has tah keep movin' round these fields with the harvester. If this starts taking any more time than it already has, that colt'll be slowin' us down instead of helpin'. He won't let anypony near this whole area! If this weren't part of yer plans, Ah'd have already sent him on his way."

"Alright, I'll go see what he wants. You two wait here." With that she made her way around the fence and over to the curiously still stooping young unicorn. "Snails? The others said you wanted to see me?"

"Shh!" He put a hoof to his lips, before waving her over and pointing to something in front of him somewhere in the tall corn stalks. Rolling her eyes, she trotted over, but what she saw gave her pause. Bugs, insects, arachnids, worms, bees, beetles, butterflies, everywhere she looked, on all sides! They were even filling up the trail she'd unkowingly made into their midst. Now she admitted to a fear of snakes, but insects and all their ilk weren't exactly her cup of tea either. And the hundreds gathered here were no ordinary versions of their individual specimen either. Indeed, each seemed huge in caparison to their usual species. They also seemed to show no fear of her, instead their looks held some amount of disdain as she tread past.

"Snails, what is all this?" She whispered, uncertain why she felt the need to, while still looking around at the hundreds of strange beady eyes watching her.

"Shh!" Stooping his head low, he closed his eyes solemnly. This wasn't exactly the answer she was looking for, and Twilight Sparkle did not like being hushed! But it was then she finally took full notice of his pose. He wasn't just stooped into the dirt... he was bowing! As if before royalty! She looked around again for confirmation. The really big bees... were they all queen bees out of their hives? Maybe they Queen ants from deep in their holes as well? Were they all the respective leaders of their own kind? Were they glowering at her like this because she wasn't showing proper respect? Hesitating only slightly before she bowed herself, she tried to copy Snails. It was difficult to keep her eyes closed in front of so many bugs, nor could she stop her tail and ears from twitching a little as she imagined them taking this chance to crawl all over her. They both stayed there bowed for a few minutes before she felt Snails stir beside her and heard him whisper from the side of his mouth.

"Dah, aren't ya gonna answer?"

"Answer what? I didn't hear anything."

"Oh yah!" The rather dim-witted unicorn tapped his horn goofily and tried to concentrate very hard, his horn's light slowly grew as his magic chugged and chugged away, it gained more and more power even though the streams of it moved very slowly. She flinched a moment as it tickled her own horn, surrounding it.It was several long awkward minutes before he finished his spell, and he looked quite pleased with himself once it was completed. "Dere, dat oughta do it."

She let him have his little victory, not sure what spell he just enchanted her with. Trying to analyze it with her years of research as her guide wasn't easy. She just couldn't concentrate with all the chatter going on around her.

Wait, chatter?

Opening her eyes, she watched as the bugs seemed to be talking to each other. They were all conversing back and forth, mostly of the strangeness of this meeting, of the stranger’s arrival, and how such a thing that hasn't happened for hundreds of generations. Some made whistles and chitters that were translated magically into her ears, but most spoke in gesture, action, and strange melodic high-pitched sounds she'd never heard tell of before. She felt them rather than heard them, and yet she still couldn’t understand most of them. Where once she stood in a quiet field, now it felt like being stuck in the middle of a loud and crowded big city sidewalk. And then, somewhere in the midst of all the noisy hustle and bustle of the insects and arachnids, some strange thing sounded loudly, and all became quiet.

In front of her, high upon the top of a corn stalk, there now stood a cricket. Not just any cricket though, a gigantic cricket! Indeed it was easily up to her knee! It stood there with a regal presence looking over all that had gathered, standing very proud as she spread out her wide wings for all to see. She seemed quite pleased with herself.

"There now." She clicked, "That will do. Even with the Colt's spell, how will she ever hear any of you with all this bickering? Even the Colt himself would have a difficult time."

"That's not saying much." A large mantis seemed to smirk, if a mantis could smirk, "There isn't much the Colt doesn't have a hard time with."

A chorus of laughter among the gathered pests spread, and Snails looked very sheepish, though he let the jab roll off his back like he did everything else in his life.

"Yah, sorry ‘bout dat, Twilight." He apologized while sounding quite cheerful and not sorry at all. He looked up to the large cricket treating her with his usual goofy laugh and smile, "My fault, I forgot again."

"Think nothing of it Colt." The cricket seemed to genuinely regard him with a warm smile. "You have been there countless times for us all, I believe we can allow a few indiscretions on protocol. Indeed it is to you we owe this strange gathering, the likes of which has not been seen since the days of Sombra and his rise to power. It shall be a day for us all to remember, though its purpose seems a simple affair."

"Dah, shucks." His goofy smile turned into an embarrassed one.

"And to you, Mare, who has called on us through the Colt, I give greetings. I am the decided speaker for the many." The cricket made a wide gesture to the gathering of what Twilight decided were royal versions of each of their kind at this point. "Long has the Colt toiled in our favour, put up with our bickering in his ears when no other of your kind could hear, or listen to our pleas. Little has he ever asked in return, but now he does ask, and now it is all of us who have answered. While it is no small thing he asks, it is a very small thing that will result if I am to understand. The saving of a simple apple farm in a small town, was it?"

"I, uh... yes. I mean your um-" Her words tumbled out clumsily as she was still a little stunned by all this, but she caught herself quickly, racking her brain for a fitting title. Fortunately, she hadn't been brought up around the courts of Canterlot without learning a thing or two about mannerisms and protocol around royalty and noble lords. "Your Excellence, I am honoured to be allowed before you. Please forgive me my misconduct before your gathered court. I meant no offense."

"And none has been taken. We are aware of pony tendency towards ignorance of our ways. We had you at a disadvantage, but it is this very problem that brings us to our purpose here, and to this quaint little farm of yours."

"Yes! Sweet Apple Acres, your Excellence. It is in trouble you see-"

"We understand your pleas well enough." The cricket turned her head away, raising one of her feelers to cut her off. "There are already many that have left these fields simply upon the request of the Colt. We are the ones that stay, we are the ones that will not leave without compensation! Much has the Colt done for us, but little have the ponies! Long have we been beneath your notice, and now through the Colt, we have voice! We shall be heard, Mare, lest not only will your farm come to ruin, we will swarm it this very autumn! Not a leaf would be spared, let alone your crops!"

"Please! No! Don't hurt the farm! We really didn't mean to ignore you, it's just that-"

"Save your excuses." It took a great deal of willpower to hide the glare that threatened to overtake Twilight's features at being cut off again. "We know well your ways, and we are hardly without fault. Long have we battled for territory among each other, and long we shall battle still. If our affairs mean little to ponies, then I will share with you this. The affairs of ponies mean even less to us. We are gathered here not to condemn, but to speak. Rare it is that we could talk with ponies, and we will not waste this chance. Speak we will, and we must be sure that we are heard! This is the true meaning behind our threats, and they are nothing more than for our certainty that you will take our bargains seriously."

"I-I see. Then what can we do in return? If it's within our power, I'm sure we'd be glad to do whatever we can."

"Very good, I am glad to hear you are amiable enough to hear our terms. You ask us for your homes, Mare, but your request will come at the price of ours. What we ask is simply for a new home of our own. A small area of land, somewhere near water. Plowed, tilled, and farmed, the fruits of your labours specifically for us. If this can be done we will move to this land and remain there for every year this effort is continued. While we live there we shall eat only of that land, and we shall protect and help your lands from others of our kinds that would steal it from you and us, alike."

"We can do that!" Twilight smiled brightly. It wouldn't be a hundred percent productivity like she was first hoping, but she had to admit that estimate was always a little out there to begin with. Like this, however, it would increase the speed of the harvest, without having to look for bug bites, and may even increase the amount of product they did make with the insect's assistance, and it would continue for who knows how long! "I'll tell Applejack right away!"

"Then we are in agreement! We shall search the nearby land for the home we will wish to have. Upon that time we will send message to the Colt, and he will in turn send message to you."

"Thank you your Excellence, and to all of those gathered here. And should you be able to use our help further, please continue to make requests through the Colt. We may not have been aware of you before, but you'll find ponies make great friends when we are."

"I will look forward to our growing relations." The regal cricket bowed slightly and then took a high leap into the air, before flying away. The queen bees flew away as well, and the ant queens were carried off by their entourage of soldiers. The other leaders of insects, worms, and arachnids began to disappear into the cornstalks and the surroundings. Twilight let out a long breath, and turned to look at the goofy unicorn beside her.

"Told you! I said it would be AWESOME!"

"Definitely." There was no question about that, she stopped to consider him a moment. Somehow, this silly unicorn before her, barely out of his colt years, had gathered the equivalent of leaders of warring nations to his side for a peaceful gathering, and then inspired the making of a treaty that would save Sweet Apple Acres for years to come. He'd been working so long beside them, in fact, that it only took a few weeks to prepare the gathering. She shook her head. There was so much to do now, so many things to consider between insect and pony. It really was amazing!

Her ears drooped a little as she recalled her disdain for him. He may have been a little on the dim-witted side, but there was much more to him. It wasn't like her to believe bad things about anypony, but Snails had always seemed like he was lazily going nowhere at all. Now she never felt more wrong about anything in her entire life, but there was a way she could make it up to him. More than one. And Twilight Sparkle always repays her debts.

"So Snails, I was meaning to ask, would you be interested in a job?"

Apple Bloom, Pinkie Pie, and Rainbow Dash were sitting down by the lakeside in the middle of some discussion she couldn’t hear. Less than a week ago she would have thought they looked pretty small from this height. Less than a week ago she had grown accustomed to heights much higher than some small cliff overhanging a lake. Less than a week ago she had also found her wing rhythm, and now she spent most of her days flying among the clouds. How did it change so much? How was it, that after years of trying with everything she had and failing utterly each time, it all so easy now?

One of her two best friends in the world had discovered the secret to her Sky Call, and now every time she felt that call there was a way she could answer with a leap into the winds and blast off into the heavens! Less than a week ago Sweetie Belle had left. A life long friend who left the sky itself as a farewell gift. Scootaloo adjusted the red fabric on her foreleg, not for the first time that day. Getting used to it being there wasn't as easy as she thought it'd be, never quite sure if she’d gotten the knot right that Snips helped show her how to tie. The fabric was folded up wrong, and didn’t quite display the icon of the Cutie Mark Crusaders that it bore beneath the folds. It didn’t matter. All that mattered was that she knew it was there.

Scootaloo set her sights straight, attempting to focus on the cliff edge before her. In the distance a purple dragon was popping in and out of clouds, chasing after a streak of fire. She took a moment to stare at the silhouettes and shadows on the clouds as they danced to the flight of their light source. That dragon she had known just as long as she’d known Apple Bloom, but had only befriended him a few short months ago. They were unalike in so many ways, and even so they still shared so many of the same problems. Searching for a dream to follow, the drive to be a part of something larger than themselves, he was a kindred spirit in just as many ways as he was different. He only started all this training to learn how to fly to Canterlot, and now, he was only finishing it for her. No, not quite, it was also for their Captain. He wanted them both to shine. He was doing all this for his friends, giving his all for his team.

The thought made her smile. She was a part of a team again.

There was something wet in her eye, she closed them to wipe the offending thing away. She took a long, deep breath, blocking out the goading her Captain was shouting from below in attempt hurry her up. It was done to provoke her when she looked hesitant or nervous, to encourage her to step up to whatever challenge she was presented with. But it wasn’t nerves that held Scootaloo back now. She was coming to terms with something that was a long time in coming.

Watching the Cutie Mark Crusaders drift apart little by little had torn her up inside. For the longest time they tried to pretend like it wasn’t happening; like it was still their school days, and they were just being delayed until the evenings for random reasons. The reasons weren’t random though. Life was moving them forward no matter how much they were trying to dig in their hooves. Apple Bloom was probably right about her Cutie Mark, that it didn’t appear because she didn’t want it to. But there was more reason than just distaste for the idea that she’d be grounded to her scooter her whole life. That was certainly part of it, but it wasn’t everything either. It was also because she was scared. She was scared of losing them. If she found her Cutie Mark they wouldn’t even be able to pretend to be a team anymore.

And that was just it. Even though she dragged it out as long as possible, life never stopped pushing them along. Time kept to its slow march and they had begun to lose each other anyway, only now they ended up with nothing to show for it. All the time they had spent questing for their Cutie Marks, and Scootaloo had never achieved hers. They were never able to claim the triumph of having found them together, and now with Sweetie Belle gone, they never could. That victory was lost to them. Sweetie Belle had left her with the greatest farewell gift a pony could ever give, but with her, she had taken their team away, whether they wanted to admit it or not.

Now she had a new team. Her idol, her hero, and now, her Team Captain, had taken her under her wing, and was counting on her to take home the championship. Her new teammate braved the Everfree Forest because he promised to help her as much as he could. He risked his life to give her the chance she asked him for.

Opening her eyes once more, she focused once again on the cliff in front of her. Her grip on the board tightened, and she noticed the quiet around her. Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, and Apple Bloom were now silently watching from below, they weren’t cheering anymore. They were just watching with smiles as wide as the sky itself. She didn’t know why, and it didn’t matter. Scootaloo took another deep breath as she bent down, tensed, and prepared for a sprint towards the cliff edge. The wind began to rush through her ears, the sky was calling, and her mind gave it words.

“Scootaloo, it’s time to grow up.”

She took off. Charging with everything she had towards the cliff edge, she made one small, well-practiced hop at the last possible moment before landing again, then, with all the might she could muster, she followed it with a second gigantic leap sending her off the ledge! The loud wind rushed through her fur as she pressed her body against the board. It wobbled wildly as the wind took it.

Steady, steady, keep it steady.

She slowly planted her hind hooves in the pedals near the center of the board, and began trying to stand upright. She was surprised how easy it was, how instinctively it came to her. A memory of thousands of days and nights as she drove through the streets and roads of Ponyville stuck out in her mind. The wind was whipping her mane and tail back and forth, the sweat was pouring off, and her wings were buzzing behind her. It was all coming back to her now, memories of everything. She could hear them all cheering as she shakily rose to her hind hooves on the board. It was rumbling wildly beneath her as it lifted along the wind, her wings were a blur, propelling it forward. It was difficult to keep her balance, and the board’s wings shifted awkwardly at best, but there could be no doubt. It was working.

It was more than just working though, she was also gaining height! Putting her weight on the back end of the board tilted it upwards, her wings beat fast enough, strong enough, to keep pushing her upwards at a low angle. An idea occurred to her, a mental picture invaded her mind and the wonder that came with it began to take her. She wanted to try it, everything in her told her to give it a shot. The board had already been successfully tested now, she could land and everypony would congratulate her. But that wasn’t her way, was it?

It isn’t enough just to do it. If you’re going to do something, do it with everything you have and don’t leave anything behind to regret.

It was a memory of her own words in response to something Spike had once asked. She was never more certain about them than she was now. Leaning forwards and pressing back, pointing the board up at as high an angle she could manage, Scootaloo began to climb higher into the air. She climbed up and up as far as she could. The cold air filled her lungs as the young pegasus rose higher and higher into the sky, until finally she hovered even above the cloud cover. There she stayed, trying to hover in place, wobbling backwards and forwards in the turbulent winds that strayed among the clouds. From left to right, her head whipped back and forth, scanning for something among them. There had to be one around there somewhere, a cloud that would be perfect for the stunt playing out in her mind. None seemed to stand out.

“Scootaloo! What are you doing? Go back down, everypony’s waiting for you!” It was Spike’s voice that interrupted her thoughts, and she looked at him and the young firebird at her side, hovering there easily. Taking a moment, she studied the firebird, then she smiled. If she couldn’t find the perfect cloud than maybe they could make one.

“Spike! I need you to shape a cloud for me!”

“What? I’m not a pegasus Scoot, I’m a dragon! I can’t control the weather!”

“I know! Clouds are basically just fog right? You’re a dragon, use your dragon breath!”

“Okay, I’ll try I guess… what do you want it to look like?”

“A ramp.” She smiled deviously as she pointed. “Do it to that big puffy one below us!”

“A-are you sure? That sounds really dangerous!”

“Just do it, Spike!”

He gave her a worried glance, but this dragon was Twilight Sparkle’s assistant, one of the greatest practitioners of the arcane arts to ever have graced the land of Equestria. He was used to bizarre, dangerous ideas, and as far as he could see, even if she wiped out it would be relatively harmless with Rainbow Dash and him on side to make sure she was safe. It was a tame request compared to what Twilight would have asked.

“Okay! But be careful!” Pushing forwards until he was over the cloud in question, he then twisting in the air before diving straight down. Swallowing a deep a breath as he plummeted downwards, he inhaled the thin air deep into his stomach that roared with flame. Rumbling vibrated through him from inside, the gasses quaking beneath his scales as he dived into the cloud. He could feel the heat of Pee Wee directly on his tail as the little phoenix chased after him, thinking they were still playing some form of a game. The mix of gasses stirred within before igniting, and threatened to explode out of his maw in a raging inferno, instead he shaped his mouth to let out a controlled gout of green blaze that seared the sky. Half of the cloud was vaporized before he swooped out of the dive, pointing the remnants of the fire blast flame away.

He took a moment to hover beside it, surveying his work, but not quite certain of what it was he should be looking for. Glancing up to Scootaloo for her appraisal, he watched as she gave him a wild grin and gestured for him to get out of there. Figuring this meant she was pleased with its shape he quickly moved out of the way.

The gigantic cloud ramp curved upwards straight back up into the sky, a little larger than she first anticipated, she wasn’t sure if it would work. Maybe the board would even pass right through its fluffy surface, or maybe it would send her rocketing to the moon! She didn’t know how to tell what would be solid to a pegasus and what wouldn’t, but she did know a sure way to find out. Pulling down her flight goggles, Scootaloo brought her weight to the front of the board and plummeted full tilt towards the slope.

Then the world distorted around her. Instead of getting louder the rush of wind died in her ears, instead of speeding up the dive seemed to slow down around her, instead of a brand new experience everything seemed old and familiar. The talented young pegasus was no longer miles and miles above the ground, she was back her old scooter again. It wasn't the feeling of a weird and wobbling board beneath her as it impacted against the base of a cloud that smelled strangely of fire, instead it felt like her wheels hitting the base of the old hill near the clubhouse. Scootaloo wasn’t shooting herself back up into the sky at some outrageous speed, a streak of orange in a sea of white and blue, only ramping off the hill as she always done. Closing her eyes again, feeling the air all around her, the winged pony let the feeling soar ever higher and higher. The sensation of flapping that was tugging irritatingly on her foreleg suddenly give way, at first it was a relief to be rid of the unnatural thing that was ruining this miracle tied to a moment. Then her eyes widened as she remembered what it could be. Whipping her leg back to catch it in vain hope to snatch at it, the fabric had already blown too far out of reach! 

Now the world finally caught up to her, Scootaloo was traveling at speeds she couldn’t handle, and her hind hooves slipped from beneath her. The board went sailing away, and she felt the thundering winds come back; flooding her ears and leaving the world spinning around her. Vertigo fought to take her, sending her into a tumble as she struggled to find her wing rhythm again. All of her focus disappeared with that piece of red and gold cloth wafting around far below. It's the only thing she could see, the only thing that seemed to matter.

Why?

The question in her head didn’t cause her a moment’s pause. Quickly scanning her surroundings, she tried to make mental notes of everything around her before training her eyes back on the leg band lest it get lost in the wind. The board was coming back down, and she’d have to time this just right.

Didn’t you just decide that you wanted to grow up?

Tucking in her wings and her legs, her tail swished from side to side to help control her dive. Gravity took her and she felt the vertigo lessen as she began to straighten out. As long as she wasn’t flying under her own power the sky call would go quiet. She leaned herself towards the direction she guessed the spinning board would fall.

The time of Cutie Mark Crusaders has already passed.

The board was spinning too erratically for her to easily snatch it out of the air. Through clenched her teeth she began to force herself into a tailspin to match the board’s rapid rotations, allowing her to pluck it out of the air, and hug it tightly to herself.

Wasn’t it all just pretending now anyway?

She strained in vain to stop the spinning with her tail. The strength just wasn't there, not to bring both herself and the board out of a spin! Scootaloo felt her stomach turning with the endless spiral, growing even worse as she tried to focus her eyes back on her missing accessory.

Why not just let it go?

No! She would NOT just let go! Growing up didn’t mean letting go of your past, it meant learning from it! She didn’t care if the reasons for the Cutie Mark Crusaders had become meaningless, because even if the reasons were fake the feelings were real. Even if their goals had changed and grown over time, they were still a team. Even if it wasn’t their Cutie Marks they were searching for, they could still be Crusaders. No, it wasn’t that they could still be Crusaders; it’s that they were still Crusaders. She narrowed her eyes. There was a glimpse of red and gold below the clouds.

We’ll always be Crusaders.

Her wings sprang out and the strain against them instantly knocked her backwards and up so hard that she thought they were going to tear right off! But it had managed to slow down the spin to a more tolerable speed. Only a moment, that's all she needed, just a moment to help aim her dive. She practically threw herself towards it in a diving maneuver. An orange and purple streak was left behind her, like a comet and its tail hurtling towards the ground. The clouds around her tore apart in her wake. Coming up fast was this symbol of her youth that darted back and forth on a breeze. It took all her strength just to reach out against the wind which pulled violently against her foreleg. The awkward form she now made with one leg sticking out sent her into even more of a spin. Her eyes stung, her head spun, her breath held, her teeth clenched, the speed of the spiral was tremendous, and she had to fight just to remain conscious! Then came the wet fabric slapped against her outstretched hoof.

'I' will always be a Crusader.

Scootaloo stuffed it between her and the board quickly in attempt to safeguard her precious treasure. Gasping for air that just didn’t seem to come, and her eyes rolled up to the back of her skull. This was it, this was her limit. She hoped it would be enough. Her world fell away and darkness took her.

The speeding form of a dragon came diving after her. The scene had unfolded before him, though he wasn’t sure what to make of it. Ramping the cloud as she did was probably the most awesome thing he thought he’d ever see! But then she twisted backwards for whatever reason, and the board flew away from her. At first he thought it was a wipe out and he had already begun moving in for the save, but she had more surprises in store. Next thing he knew she was dancing in the sky with her board, twirling with it like two dance partners clutched together in gravity’s grip.

Maybe it was all just another stunt she had in mind? The hesitation slowed him down, and she had already hit terminal velocity and was caught in a dizzying spin. Spike couldn’t fly faster than gravity could pull, not like Rainbow Dash. There was no way he’d be able to catch up, but he still wanted to see what she was trying to do. Entering into a spiraling comet-like dive, that looked utterly awesome, he was sure this was just some fantastic stunt she dreamed up. The swooping dragon slowed down again, and it would cost him. When she’d gotten beneath the clouds she’d sent herself into even more violent spin and then her body went limp. There was no mistaking that for a stunt! But now it was too late to catch her!

Their Captain was already in the air, but he recognized what she was planning. Rainbow Dash was going to catch the falling pegasus as directly as she could, there was no time for anything else! But at the rate they were going that would probably leave them both with awful injuries, especially with Scootaloo still spinning as she was. If only she was within reach! He was already going the same speed as her, so he’d be able to gradually control their descent! If he could just get close enough, if she would just slow down somehow!

Pee Wee was diving beside him, just as distressed over the situation. The intelligent little bird was chasing the falling pegasus just as hard as he, a little fire streak in the air, far more proficient at flying than either him or Scootaloo. An idea! Would it work? He’d never tried it on a living creature before... But Pee Wee was a phoenix; it wouldn’t hurt him at all if it didn't work. It was worth a try, anything was worth a try right now!

Swallowing the rushing air deep into his gullet, he sent it back out as quickly as he could, a rush of green flame blasted his pet, and then it disappeared much to it’s own surprise!

The young firebird found itself directly beside Scootaloo now, and it wasted no time to think about what just happened. Instead it snatched one of her wings in its talons and flew upwards, trying with all its might to pull her up. Stretching her wing out, slowed their fall, but not by much. Not by much, but it was enough. Spike was close now, very close. He pulled his head back again, and then let out another gout of magical dragon fire that enveloped them both. A few moments later and he felt a sickening torrential storm in his gut. Sick to the stomach he had never felt so full, and then the gasses deep inside him forced themselves out in a belch that went unparalleled by any that had come before in his life. Loud and long it reigned over them all, leaving him on the verge of vomiting. At the end of the disgusting display the bird and pegasus appeared in a flash right in front of him. As quickly as he could, he attempted to collect himself, reaching out to hug the spinning pair tightly to his chest. His wings went out and he pulled out of the dive, his mighty dragon strength easily pulling all three to safer speeds. Below him Rainbow Dash diverted her path, instead snatching the newly dubbed ‘sky board’ from its doom, a far easier task.

Spike and Dash landed together beside a cheering Apple Bloom and Pinkie Pie, setting down their passengers and luggage carefully.

“That was amazing Spike, I didn’t know you could do that!” Pinkie Pie jumped circles around the young purple dragon, filled with glee and relief.

“I didn’t know it either!” He barely managed to cough out, his throat felt incredibly raw. His pet phoenix flew around him in a couple circles before perching on his shoulders, chirping triumphantly. Grinning at the gloating bird, he scratched the back of its neck affectionately. “Yeah, Pee Wee, you did great too!”

“You both did. What was that filly thinking?!” His Captain glared at the form at her hooves. “She coulda got herself killed with that stunt!”

“Ah think she was trying to catch up to this...” Apple Bloom answered, having been checking up on Scootaloo, who was now sleeping peacefully in the sand. She pointed to the red and gold leg band still clutched tightly in her hoof, the symbol of the Cutie Mark Crusaders laying proudly open. The country pony smiled at the thought that Scootaloo had risked everything for it, at the same time she’d berate her as much as everypony else the moment she woke up. Losing a friend over a missing leg band was a poor bargain. Then she noticed something else, something utterly incredible.

Words left her as she began jumping up and down with Pinkie Pie, pointing to her friend’s rump where a picture was starting to appear. Everyone stared as the picture of a white cloud arching in the shape of a ramp with a board rocketing off it began colouring itself in on the fur of her flank.

“Yah did it Scoots! Yah finally found yer talent!” She tackled her unconscious friend, and hugged her as tight as she could. The sleeping form in her grip made gurgled gasping sounds.

“You might want to give her some air there, Apple Bloom.” The experienced pegasus chuckled while gently pulling her fledgling away from her friend’s death grip, who let go somewhat reluctantly. Rainbow Dash ruffled Scootaloo’s mane with her hoof and leaned in to whisper in her ear. “Way to go Squirt. I’m proud of you”

A smile spread across her muzzle in her sleep, her wings flapping slightly as she pulled the leg band closer to her chest.