//------------------------------// // Chapter 60; Past And Present // Story: Working Towards The Future // by Dasponi //------------------------------// “...Is she always that...close?” Star Shine asked nervously when Pinkie Pie had left and Rainbow Dash had stopped laughing. Both of those had taken a little longer than Star Shine wanted. “Yeah she doesn’t really care much for personal space.” Twilight replied on behalf of Rainbow Dash who would continue to laugh shortly after stopping. Every time she stopped laughing she remembered Star Shine cowering on the floor and it set her off again. “Oh...good.” Star Shine said simply. He didn’t find Pinkie Pie to be too bad overall, especially given her ability to bake cakes. He just had one mare on his mind right now and didn’t need another to add to the confusion he was already feeling. “You thought she was interested in you? Oh please. Not every mare you meet is going want you.” Rainbow Dash teased, rolling her eyes. “I can think of one.” Star Shine replied, smiling and causing Rainbow Dash’s cheeks to burn a little. “And I happen to be very interested in her myself.” he added. He smiled wider as Rainbow Dash’s cheeks burned a darker shade of red. Twilight looked between the two in confusion as there was clearly information she didn’t have. She was about to open her mouth to ask for clarification when Rainbow Dash spoke up suddenly. “Well anyway, we’re here to get the brace charged and tell Twilight about it right?” Rainbow Dash said as she headed over to a table. Star Shine nodded and moved next to her and Twilight moved to the opposite side of Rainbow Dash. All three sat on their haunches and Star Shine pulled the brace out of his saddlebags, surprisingly still attached to his back after all of Pinkie’s antics, and placed it on the table. Rainbow Dash and Twilight scrutinized it while Star Shine averted his gaze from it. “So what can you tell me about it?” Twilight asked Star Shine. “Yeah you told me only you could get Scoots to fly but wouldn’t tell me what you meant.” Rainbow Dash added. Star Shine sighed and looked at the table as if it was the most interesting thing in Equestria to him at that moment. “There are things I’ve never told you Rainbow. I have a lot more in common with Scootaloo than you think. Than she thinks even.” Star Shine said quietly. Rainbow Dash wrapped a foreleg around him. It was clear he was already troubled. Star Shine leaned into Rainbow Dash and smiled up at her. “You remember that time you asked me out and I said no and you-” he began before Rainbow Dash crammed a hoof into his mouth so he didn’t recount how she had ran off crying to Twilight. Twilight raised an eyebrow at the pair. “She asked you out? On a date?” Twilight asked. The pair had seemed close but as far as she was aware they weren’t actually a couple. “Yes it was a long time ago and as you heard he said no. I got over it and we became friends. I don’t see what that has to do with anything.” Rainbow Dash replied for Star Shine, who still had a hoof in his mouth. He was used to putting his own hoof in his mouth. This was a whole other experience entirely. Rainbow Dash took her hoof out of his mouth and let him speak again. “I assure you it’s relevant.” Star Shine said. “I feel it’s time I gave you an explanation and it will get something out.” he clarified. “You see, the reason I said no wasn’t because I wasn’t interested. Who wouldn’t be interested in you? Especially somepony who had become as close to you as I had.” Star Shine said and Rainbow Dash started blushing again. “Get on with it, this is embarrassing.” Rainbow Dash said, tapping Star Shine on the back. “Oh. Sorry.” Star Shine replied sheepishly. “Well the reason I said no is because there were some things I didn’t want to tell you. Things like how come you never met my parents, or why you never even saw my house. I never had a house when we knew eachother. I lived in an orphanage back then and I just never wanted you to know. The longer you went without knowing the less you had to know, and so it just never came up even when we got older.” Star Shine explained. Rainbow Dash gently stroked his back and nuzzled up to him. “I had an idea given what Scootaloo said that time in the bath. She never said anything specific though.” Rainbow Dash said softly, sadly even. Twilight chose to watch the display and allow everything to unfold. She had learned enough about friendship to know that there were times when she should just allow two ponies to do everything on their own and not be interrupted. “Well she doesn’t know everything herself. Remember when you asked me what I did to her? I told her I was an orphan. I didn’t mind telling her because she’s one herself and knows what it’s like.” Star Shine replied. That caught Twilight’s attention. She wasn’t aware that Scootaloo was an orphan. She resolved to continue to keep her silence. “So why didn’t you tell me? Don’t you...don’t you trust me?” Rainbow Dash asked softly, afraid of the answer. She couldn’t see any other reason for Star Shine to not tell her. “It’s not that at all!” Star Shine was quick to reassure her, pressing himself tighter against her. “I trust you most of all. I really wanted to tell you back then but I was afraid.” he explained. “Afraid? Afraid of what?” “I thought you might treat me differently or pity me. I wanted you to like me for who I was and not what I was. Scootaloo wants the same and that’s why she never told anypony either until it became too much for her. I never reached that point thanks to you.” Star Shine said, smiling up at Rainbow Dash. “Of course I like you silly or I never would have asked you out back then.” Rainbow Dash replied, smiling herself. “I know I’m a very silly pony and I’m sorry I never told you before.” Star Shine said, nuzzling Rainbow Dash’s cheek. Rainbow Dash returned the nuzzle and patted him on a foreleg. “Don’t worry about it, but now you have to tell me what all that has to do with your brace.” Rainbow Dash said. “Poor Twilight has been sat there far too long.” she added, giggling as she looked across at Twilight who was sat very very still. She had been distracting herself with a lot of thinking and snapped back to reality as Rainbow Dash looked at her. “What it has to do with the brace,” Star Shine started, standing up dramatically, “is that unlike Scootaloo I wasn’t abandoned. My parents loved me deeply and actually they’re the ones who made it.” he explained. “Your parents?” Twilight asked. “Mmhmm. Another thing I have in common with Scoots is my parentage. Like her, I had a Unicorn for a mother a and a Pegasus for a father. This brace is as much a combination of Pegasus and Unicorn as I am.” Star Shine explained. “Sorry to take the conversation back a few steps Star but what happened to your parents? How come you came to Flight Camp so late?” Rainbow Dash asked suddenly as not one, but two thoughts occurred to her. Part of her was surprised she had never bothered to ask Star Shine why he was a few years older than her when he came into Flight Camp the same year she did. “Well I’ll answer the second one first. They’re kinda tied together.” Star Shine replied. “I was late joining Flight Camp because my parents didn’t want me to go. What happened to them was a tragic accident and I...I can’t talk about it.” Star Shine said dejectedly, looking at the floor again. Rainbow Dash hopped over to him and rested her head against his. “Don’t worry, nopony is going to make you talk about anything you don’t want to.” Rainbow Dash reassured him. “I couldn’t fly.” Star Shine admitted suddenly. Twilight and Rainbow Dash looked at him in shock and the gears started turning in Twilight’s head as suddenly a lot of pieces began to fall into place for her. “My parents...fell...and I chased after them, not caring I couldn’t fly. I didn’t make it in time but I gained the ability to fly. My parents kept me out of Flight Camp because I couldn’t fly but with them...gone, and with me able to fly, the orphanage didn’t see a reason for me to not go and sent me in. Nopony really questioned anything.” Star Shine explained. He knew it sounded odd for him to say he suddenly gained the ability to fly and there was more to it than that but it was too painful a memory for him to relive at the minute. “So does that mean you had…” Twilight mused aloud as the last piece fell into place for her. “Yep. I had Vacuus Medeis and I overcame it, just like I know Scootaloo can. I just hope it’s not such a Trial By Fire for her.” Star Shine replied, sighing as all the truth was out there at last. “I’m sorry Star, I had no idea.” Rainbow Dash said, hugging him tight. Star Shine returned the hug and stroked Rainbow Dash’s mane. “Don’t worry Rainbow. The only reason you didn’t know is because I didn’t tell you. Even if you can imagine how pitiful a young foal felt at being an orphan who couldn’t fly was, you can’t begin to imagine how Scootaloo must feel. She’s a fully grown filly who was an orphan BECAUSE she couldn’t fly, and still can’t. To her, nopony must ever know that about her.” Star Shine said, offering a reason for some of Scootaloo’s behaviour. “Umm...if Scootaloo asks, you didn’t hear that from us.” Star Shine said to Twilight as he remembered that he and Rainbow Dash weren’t alone. Twilight smiled and zipped her mouth shut. “So what’s so special about the brace? What exactly does it do? You said you couldn’t fly until after what happened to your parents so...did their experiments fails?” Twilight asked very carefully, not wanting to upset Star Shine by mentioning his parents again and suggesting they might have failed at something. “That? That’s a whole other story. I just had to preface it. As for the brace, well it’s not strictly true I couldn’t fly. When my parents realised I couldn’t fly they poured themselves into research. They learned everything they could about Vacuus Medeis and also about the ways Pegasi fly. Even about the ways that non-Pegasi could walk on clouds and fly themselves. To put it simply the brace is an amalgamation of the Cloud Walking spell and the Gossamer Wings spell. It runs on magic and it’s also not strictly true it needs magic to work. It’s just that it needs magic to do everything it’s capable of. It coats Pegasus wings and hooves in magic, simulating how they work in nature. It also uses magic to forcibly increase wingpower. It’s why Scootaloo’s wingpower has increased so dramatically in such a short amount of time.” Star Shine explained. Twilight and Rainbow Dash soaked up all the information. “So why was Scootaloo tired when she finished practice? Then she was fine the next day after the same amount of practice.” Rainbow Dash asked. “That’s because this thing basically simulates Pegasus magic. I already explained to you that Pegasi use magic, and one way they use it is to endure wind resistance and the extreme g-forces they would get hit by when flying.” Star Shine explained. Rainbow Dash looked lost. “Are you keeping up with all this, Miss Sparkle?” Star Shine asked Twilight. She nodded at him. “I think so.” She replied. “Wind resistance? You mean what stopped me doing a Rainboom? When I flew that fast it was like the air itself was stopping me, and I even got catapulted back a few times.” Rainbow Dash said, thinking about the problem. She didn’t know all the ins and outs of flight because the idea to learn it hadn’t occurred to her. Everything had just felt so natural. “Yes that’s a very good example.” Star Shine replied, sighing with relief that he wouldn’t have to try and explain it. “Pegasi use magic to overcome that. Not everypony can fly at those intense speeds and certainly not one who can’t fly properly like Scootaloo. Her body couldn’t hold itself in place long enough for her to take off with you moving so quickly. She used up a lot of energy just keeping herself on your back and the brace responded by just pumping more magic into her to help her cope. It tired her out more and probably helped cause the brace to run out of magic so quickly. When it’s fully charged and when she’s careful it can last up to a month.” Star Shine explained. “From what I understand,” Twilight piped up, “Vacuus Medeis prevents Pegasus magic from spreading across their body, most notably their wings. They need magic on their wings to fly, so it means they also can’t fly. But you’re saying this coats them in magic and, as it is attached to the wing, I’m guessing a majority of it goes there.” Twilight said as Star Shine nodded along. “So that would mean that no matter what, any Pegasus who wore this would be able to fly, right?” she asked, voicing a conclusion she had come to. “That’s right yes. It’s how I flew before and what I meant when I said I’m probably the only one who can make Scootaloo fly.” Star Shine replied. Rainbow Dash’s eyes lit up and she grabbed him in another tight hug. “No matter what?” she asked, nervous and excited at the prospect of Scootaloo being able to fly. “No matter what.” Star Shine replied, nodding down at her. “It’s not the same as actual flight, and it’ll feel off to her, but she’ll be able to fly until she overcomes it.” “How would she overcome it though? How exactly did you beat it?” Rainbow Dash asked. “To be honest I’m not exactly sure how. My parents left me everything they had which included all their research. I looked over it myself and from what I can gather, it takes a moment of pure unadulterated determination. A will to fly so bad that it pushes through anything. You must have felt it when you performed a Rainboom.” Star Shine replied. “What could cause something like that?” Twilight asked. “I’m not sure. Right now I’m still not even sure she’s got Vacuus Medeis in the first place. Actually I do have a little test for it.” Star Shine said. “When you charge it up, could you do what you did last time? Just charge it up for about a week or so?” Star Shine asked Twilight. “Yeah I can do that.” Twilight replied. “Why though?” Rainbow Dash asked. “She’ll have 0.1 wingpower soon enough, probably in the next few days, and then she’ll be flying. If the brace runs out of magic when she can fly then we’ll know for sure if she can fly without it.” Star Shine explained. “Will that be safe? I don’t want her to fall out the sky.” Rainbow Dash replied, worried about Scootaloo. “I know you won’t let that happen, and if you get worried then fly around the manor so that should something happen, she’ll land on the clouds if something goes wrong.” Star Shine explained. “Is there no other way to test her? What about that magic measuring thing you borrowed?” Rainbow Dash asked. She wasn’t entirely convinced that Scootaloo would still be safe. “I’m afraid that won’t work anymore. She’s been using the brace so much that she has enough magic even without the brace on. It just won’t renew itself. We can have her not wear the brace for a few days but that’s quite a wait.” Star Shine replied. “Can we please just do this my way?” he pleaded. Rainbow Dash sighed in resignation. “Okay, let’s get this over with. It’s getting late and I still haven’t had anything to eat yet.” Rainbow Dash replied, smiling weakly. Star Shine nodded at Twilight who took the brace in her magical grip and began infusing it with magic.