//------------------------------// // Chapter 46; The Inescapable Past // Story: Working Towards The Future // by Dasponi //------------------------------// “Gliding? You’re going to teach me gliding?” Scootaloo asked Star Shine. She was on Rainbow Dash’s back as Star Shine and Rainbow Dash headed towards the cloud manor. Star Shine had taken off pretty quickly after saying he was going to teach Scootaloo how to glide and she didn’t get a chance to ask him anything until after Rainbow Dash had caught up with him. “Yeah, I got the idea earlier when I was watching the birds glide through the air. Then Rainbow kicked a cloud out from under me and I got more ideas.” Star Shine replied. “Oh?” Rainbow Dash replied, looking across at Star Shine. “Well we live in a giant house, made of clouds, in the air. What if Scootaloo falls off?” Star Shine replied. Scootaloo was very very careful to not fall off and neither her or Rainbow Dash had considered the inherent danger much. Scootaloo would always go straight inside the house so that she couldn’t risk falling off. She was also confident that Rainbow Dash would always be there to catch her. “Well then I’d catch her.” Rainbow Dash replied. Scootaloo smiled and huddled up to Rainbow Dash. Rainbow Dash giggled at the feeling but Star Shine wasn’t really smiling. “Even so I’d like to teach her. You kicking that cloud out from under me made me think it was a good idea too. Besides it’s just like flying. If she learns to glide then she can know what it feels like to fly too.” Star Shine explained. Scootaloo beamed brightly and would have jumped were it not for the fact she was on Rainbow Dash’s back. “I’m liking this idea!” Scootaloo exclaimed. She couldn’t resist jumping for joy but stopped shortly after almost falling off Rainbow Dash’s back and hearing Rainbow Dash give a few cries of pain. “Oops, sorry.” Scootaloo said apologetically as she hugged up to Rainbow Dash’s neck. “Don’t worry about it Squirt, just be more careful.” Rainbow Dash replied, giggling and nuzzling Scootaloo. “I knew you’d like the idea, so come on! Let’s get back to the manor already!” Star Shine exclaimed. He picked up his speed and flew off. Rainbow Dash made sure Scootaloo was secure and chased after him. *** Rainbow Dash followed Star Shine and soon enough they found themselves in the air above Rainbow Dash’s cloud manor. The manor was directly below them and would provide a nice and soft landing area for Scootaloo, as well as a safety net in case of emergency. Star Shine wasn’t expecting any but he wanted Scootaloo to feel as safe and comfortable as possible during the exercise. “Okay Scoots, this is going to be pretty simple.” Star Shine explained. Scootaloo was slumped on the top of Rainbow Dash’s head again. “It might sound a little scary, but trust me when I say you’re going to be fine.” Scootaloo shivered and Rainbow Dash narrowed her eyes at Star Shine. “Was that really necessary? You’ve gone and scared her now.” Rainbow Dash said, reaching a foreleg behind her back to pat Scootaloo gently. “Falling when you can’t fly IS scary.” Star Shine reasoned. Scootaloo shivered again. It was a situation she had been in before. She suddenly wasn’t very happy about the lesson in front of her. “Falling? I’m going to be falling?” Scootaloo asked nervously. As well as memories of her recent trip to the Gorge, there were much darker memories buried in her head. “Yes but I promise you’re going to be safe.” Star Shine replied and nuzzled up to Scootaloo. “So...what do I do?” Scootaloo asked, more nervous than before. She didn’t want to come across as weak and she really did want to glide, she was just hoping there was a less potentially dangerous way to do it. When she thought about it she realised there couldn’t be. She could be taught the theory all day but without putting it into practice she’d never know if she could actually do it. “Like I said it’s simple enough.” Star Shine began, backing away from Rainbow Dash and flying slightly higher into the air. “All Scootaloo needs to do is spread her wings as wide as they can go and hold them in place at the right angle.” Star Shine explained. Scootaloo sighed in relief; that didn’t sound bad at all. She could handle that easily. “After I drop her.” Star Shine added. Scootaloo did a double take and felt her heart race in her chest. “WHAT?!” chorused Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo at the same time. Scootaloo slumped down Rainbow Dash’s neck and buried herself into Rainbow Dash’s back. “I don’t want to do it. I don’t want to. You can’t make me. Don’t make me.” Scootaloo said quietly to herself, repeating the words almost as if they were a mantra. Rainbow Dash maneuvered a foreleg to bring Scootaloo around to her chest and held the still shivering filly close to her heart. “Nopony’s going to make you do anything Scootaloo, but I do promise you’ll be safe. Rainbow Dash will catch you and I’ll glide down with you. If you get scared then I can catch you too.” Star Shine explained. Scootaloo didn’t stop shaking and started repeating what she was saying louder. “Scootaloo, tell me what’s wrong.” Rainbow Dash pleaded, bringing Scootaloo up to her neck so she could nuzzle her gently in an effort to calm her down. Scootaloo still didn’t respond. “Is this because of what happened at the Gorge?” Rainbow Dash asked, venturing a guess as to why Scootaloo was behaving the way she was. After another minute or so of soothing by both Rainbow Dash and Star Shine Scootaloo calmed down. Rainbow Dash felt the wetness in her fur where Scootaloo had been crying into her. “It’s...it’s not just the Gorge...” Scootaloo began quietly. She sighed, took a deep breath, and prepared to admit to something she hadn’t thought about in a long time. “It was...something my dad did.” Scootaloo managed to say at last. “Something your dad did?” Rainbow Dash asked curiously. Rainbow Dash had guessed Scootaloo’s family life had been pretty bad but she had no idea about the specifics of it. Just that she had been left in an orphanage at an early age. Scootaloo nodded shakily. “He...he tried to get me to fly a few times.” Scootaloo said. Her voice was cracking as she was on the verge of more tears. “Isn’t that a good thing?” Star Shine ventured. He had leaned in close to Scootaloo himself. “Not the way he did it.” Scootaloo replied bitterly. She shuddered at the memory again. “Scoots...what did he do to you?” Star Shine asked nervously. He was getting scared at the implications. “What could he have done to do this to her?” Rainbow Dash asked. If something was scaring both Scootaloo and Star Shine then she wanted to know what it could be. “I’ve trained injured kids and some of them...well let’s just say those broken wings aren’t an accident.” Star Shine replied stoically, trying not to give into his emotions. There were very few things that made him angry but Pegasi parents were definitely one of them at times. He had seen more than his fair share of sorry sights. “So it wasn’t just me?” Scootaloo replied without thinking. Rainbow Dash gasped in horror and Star Shine sighed and hung his head. He rested a hoof on Scootaloo’s shoulder and looked her in the eyes. “I promise you Scootaloo, no matter what he did to you, I wouldn’t ever do something like that. I won’t even try teaching you to fly until I know you can, and I won’t let you be in any danger here. There’s a very very soft layer of cloud below us. No matter what happens, you won’t be hurt.” Star Shine explained. Scootaloo nodded and a smile briefly tugged at her lips. “I know, it’s just still so...scary.” Scootaloo replied. She shivered in fright again when she looked down. “Now that’s just silly.” Rainbow Dash replied, turning Scootaloo around so she could look her in the eyes. “I’ve never seen you be afraid of anything, certainly not heights. What about all those crazy high jumps you do on your scooter?” Rainbow Dash asked, smiling at the thought of Scootaloo riding around and performing tricks nopony who had a fear of heights would be able to. Scootaloo had almost been cheered up again and Rainbow Dash was also keen to finish the job. “I know, I know. It’s something I haven’t thought about in forever. I actually didn’t really think about it until I saw Star Shine fall earlier...” Scootaloo replied, rubbing her front hooves together nervously. “And I was fine, as you will be.” Star Shine reassured her. “Now this won’t be easy, but can you tell me what he did?” Star Shine asked. Scootaloo nervously turned her head back into Rainbow Dash’s chest. “Is it important?” Rainbow Dash asked. She wanted Scootaloo to be happy again and wasn’t enjoying the display in front of her at all. “It could be. I really want Scootaloo to know how to glide. That way she’ll even have nothing to fear about falling.” Star Shine replied, smiling reassuringly. Scootaloo looked at him and admitted to herself she had a point. This was a chance to get something off her chest, and make sure that something that had once terrified her could never do so again. Her dad was long gone, it wasn’t like he could hurt her any more. Scootaloo sighed in resignation and braced herself. “He used to throw me off a cloud.” Scootaloo admitted quietly. Star Shine sighed but Rainbow Dash didn’t seem too fazed by the idea. “They do that all the time in Flight Camps don’t they? That’s even close to how Fluttershy ended up on the ground. She fell off a cloud. She was kicked off a few before then too” Rainbow Dash replied. She knew that Pegasi did that to their children and didn’t see what could be wrong about it. It was a part of growing up to her. “Dashie there’s something you’re forgetting here.” Star Shine said. That incident was something that Star Shine was not a witness to. He hadn’t arrived at the Flight Camp until after Fluttershy had left. She had visited occasionally after landing on the ground but never come back permanently. Some Pegasi attributed her less than average flight skills to this lack of education. “I bet your friend could fly couldn’t she?” Star Shine asked. Rainbow Dash nodded; Fluttershy might have been a weak flyer, but she could definitely fly. “But, what do you think would happen if she couldn’t? What if she had fallen off that cloud, and hadn’t been able to stop herself?” Rainbow Dash’s eyes lit up as she realised the implications and held Scootaloo tighter than she had before. “He caught you though, right? He made sure there was a soft landing at least, right? He wouldn’t actually just...do that, would he?” Rainbow Dash practically begged Scootaloo. She was almost beginning to cry herself at the thought somepony could be so cruel. “He would catch me yeah, but there was a time he didn’t, and I was always scared he wouldn’t. Sometimes I thought he’d let me fall and pretend it was an accident.” Scootaloo admitted. “I never broke a wing though. Just...my legs.” Scootaloo finished with a sigh. Star Shine scowled in disgust and Rainbow Dash held Scootaloo even tighter. “I’m so sorry you had to go through that Scoots. I wish I could have been there for you sooner.” Rainbow Dash said quietly. She was crying freely at this point at the suffering Scootaloo must have endured. “It’s okay Rainbow, really. You’re here now, and that’s all that matters.” Scootaloo replied nervously. She had never really seen Rainbow Dash cry before. “And he will NEVER hurt her again.” Star Shine said vehemently. Rainbow Dash calmed down and gently released her death grip on Scootaloo. “I know...but you’ve been through so much, and I could have been there for you so much sooner.” Rainbow Dash said softly to Scootaloo. Star Shine wrapped a foreleg around Rainbow Dash and nuzzled up to her. “Don’t focus on the past so much Dashie, right now we’re working towards the future.” Star Shine said. Scootaloo smiled and so did Rainbow Dash. “Yeah, you’re right.” Rainbow Dash said, wiping her eyes with a foreleg. “Of course I am, I always am. So Scoots, are you ready for a gliding lesson now?” Star Shine asked, looking down at the little filly. Scootaloo nodded and her smile got bigger. “I’m still a little scared, but I’ll be fine won’t I?” Scootaloo replied. “You sure will, so hop up on my back and let’s get started.” Star Shine replied. Scootaloo kicked herself off of Rainbow Dash and landed on Star Shine’s back. “Well nopony I know who’s afraid of heights would do that.” Rainbow Dash teased. Star Shine and Scootaloo giggled and Rainbow Dash watched as they headed up a little further into the sky. “I’ll never let you be hurt like that again Squirt.” Rainbow Dash swore to herself quietly.