*Scootaloo POV*
Through some sympathetic nurses, who had seen how worried I was, I had learned that Rainbow Dash was stable and would be discharged in a few days. So for a while, I lived Rainbow's life. Silver-Scootaloo watched me fly around and perform stunts a few times, and then asked if I'd teach her how to use her own wings. I felt a pang; this was exactly what should have happened with Rainbow Dash and I, but still. Silver Spoon had wished to fly, so I had to make sure she got her wish. So I closely examined the wing motions which now came so naturally to me and helped her exercise her wings.
I was right there the day my body first took to the sky on its wings. The small orange wings, already stronger for all the exercise, allowed Silver-Scootaloo to glide off the verge where I had fallen so many times. After that, progress was quick. Gliding was soon second nature, and the next step- true flight- was only a short leap away.
It turned out I had been beating my wings wrong all that time. The hummingbird-like buzz of feathers which I used was tiring and not efficient to keep my body up for long. Slower, methodical wing-beats worked much better. Soon, Silver Scootaloo could fly around with Rumble and the other young pegasi while I watched wistfully from a distance.
Now, I stood in the library facing the princess of the night, telling her the story. After hearing the story, Luna sighed.
"I'm afraid I cannot help you." she said.
"Huh? Why not?" I was bewildered.
"Shooting stars which grant wishes are something even I do not understand. I have no way of causing them to appear."
"Oh." Another awkward silence filled the room.
"I'm sorry, but you'll just have to wait for another star to come around before this problem can be solved. I hope you learn from this; be careful what you wish for." The princess vanished in a flash of dark blue magic.
"Well, that helped a whole lot." Silver-Scootaloo said, her voice twisted with sarcasm.
"Shhh! Have some respect; she is a princess after all." said Rarity, her white ears twitching worriedly.
"So now what are we going to do?" Rainbow Dash rounded on me, a commanding action that made me shrink back even though she currently occupied the body of a young filly where I was an older mare. A small grey hoof jabbed at me. "You'll have to watch for a star every night and wish this whole thing back to normal."
"Are you sure there's no other way?" I turned pleadingly to Twilight. "Isn't there a spell?"
The unicorn shook her head. "I'm afraid I don't know of one, and apparently Luna didn't either. There just isn't a spell for everything."
"Y'all will just have ter be patient an' wait fer another shootin' star." said Applejack simply.
Rainbow sighed, and then turned to glare at me. "But until then, no doing anything stupid like trying to do a Sonic Rainboom, okay? They're difficult even for me, and I'd rather my body didn't end up as a totally awesome, very colourful grease spot."
"I promise." I said solemnly. Then I frowned. Out of the corner of my eye I could see that Pinkie was staring disconcertingly at me, biting her hoof and trying very hard not to laugh. Looking around, I saw Rarity hiding a smirk behind a perfectly manicured hoof, Applejack grinning widely, and Twilight letting out faint chuckles. Even Fluttershy's mouth was twitching as she desperately tried not to smile.
"What are you laughing at?" I demanded.
"Sorry." giggled Rarity. "You just sounded so... so..."
"Sincere." added Twilight. "And Rainbow never sounds that sincere."
"Hey!" exclaimed Rainbow crossly. Then even she began to laugh, and I joined in.
Silver-Scootaloo just looked around at us, her eyes glittering sadly.
After that, we dispersed to our homes. I dropped off Rainbow at Silver Spoon's house; Silver-Scootaloo gazed at the house miserably as we took off.
Even though my parents weren't the most caring, I still felt a slight pain as we touched down outside my home. The kitchen light was on; my parents often stayed up late doing admin. Silver-Scootaloo trotted inside, giving me a quick backwards glance as I took off.
Alone in Rainbow Dash's cloud home, I sat down by the window, ready for a long night of watching for shooting stars.
Hours passed slowly. I yawned, my eyes searching the sky for any flash of light. But there was nothing. As the sun began to peek over the eastern horizon, I wilted with fatigue.
I woke to a hoof prodding my nose. I opened my eyes to see Thunderlane, scowling at me. "Dash! We've got to get going- it's mid-afternoon and Sweet Apple Acres is due a downpour."
I dragged myself to my hooves and lifted my wings. I followed Rumble's brother through the sky over Ponyville. Through my sleepy daze, I saw something going on in the school yard; it looked like Diamond Tiara was back at school and was being quizzed by all her classmates. Silver-Scootaloo was standing with Applebloom and Sweetie Belle, away from the hubbub. But then my eyes shot open, and I saw Sitting Pretty leave the yard- with Diamond Tiara following. I tried to swoop down to find out what was going on, but Thunderlane stopped me. "No detours, Dash! This rainstorm is already late."
So I had to worry about why Sitting Pretty was with Diamond Tiara as I collected clouds and thumped them to make rain fall. As soon as the storm was finished, I shot away.
To my absolute horror, a stretcher was coming out of Silver Spoon's house, again carrying the still body of Silver Spoon. And again, the real Silver Spoon stood by watching, in my body.
"Silver!" I gasped, landing beside her. "What's happened?"
"Diamond Tiara." Silver-Scootaloo said flatly. "A stray dart, apparently, but I know otherwise. She did this on purpose."
"But why?" I asked.
Silver-Scootaloo turned to look at me, and something I deeply disliked was dancing in my own purple eyes. "Because I lied to her about the swap."
"You-what?" I said in shock.
"I told her that it was you, in my body, who attacked her. And that I'd prefer to keep this body, but you wanted to swap back. So she decided to get rid of 'you' and my body with you."
"But- that's Rainbow Dash!" I gasped. "Rainbow Dash is going to die!"
"No she isn't." disagreed Silver-Scootaloo. "Silver Spoon is going to die. You're Rainbow Dash now. And I'm Scootaloo. And I'll be able to fly- forever!"