At this altitude, the air was thin. But over the years, Rainbow Dash’s lungs had gotten so accustomed to the elevation that she had developed a deep-seated affection for it. This was her home outside of home.
The sound of her wings flapping developed an easy rhythm as she ascended higher and higher. She extended her forelegs out on either side as if she was walking an invisible tightrope, keeping her body vertical as the clouds masked her view of the pale-green meadow below.
An ‘o’ formed on her lips as she sucked in a breath of frigid air, eyes closing for a moment in pure bliss before letting the air back out in a long exhale. Her breath turned to mist in front of her, a light breeze blowing the condensed vapor back onto her face. She breathed it back in, repeating the cycle over and over until she had reached the count of sixty, and then she looked back down to the earth.
The ground was invisible, completely obscured by a layer of clouds now far beneath her. Rainbow Dash smirked.
Her wings flapped at an almost lethargic pace. Both forelegs remained extended for balance, keeping her perpendicular to the ground that was now over a mile down. She breathed in again, but instead of exhaling, she held the icy air in her lungs.
Her forelegs fell to her sides. She pressed them tightly against her cyan coat, and after one more flap, her wings followed suit. The air she had been holding in her lungs escaped from between pursed lips.
She dropped.
Nothing was audible except for the roar of air cascading over her ears. Eyes closed, she concentrated on keeping her body motionless, forcing herself to keep her wings pressed against her back and submitting to gravity’s pull. For a minute, her fate felt entirely out of her control.
Then…weightlessness.
The sensation of falling, of her insides rising in her chest, disappeared. Replacing it was the feeling of floating in empty space, with nothing but a net of air holding her in place.
She counted back from ten.
Nine… eight…
Her lips mouthed the numbers, eyes never opening. She had to time this perfectly.
Seven…six…five…
Her wings twitched at her sides, awaiting release. They wouldn’t have to wait much longer.
Five…four…three…
She stretched her forelegs out in front of her.
Two…
She pivoted her body forward, rolling in midair until her head was aiming down at the earth, diving headfirst with her forelegs extended in front of her head. The pegasus opened her eyes.
One…
The ground was so close that she could practically make out each individual blade of meadow grass bowing and swaying in the breeze.
Go.
Her wings shot out, lithe back muscles flexing and veins on her neck looking fit to burst. She flapped with all her might, projecting her body forward and out. The tips of the meadow grass reached up to brush against her underbelly, and she careened toward the ground with eye-blurring speed.
But just as her body was about to strike the ground, she angled her wings parallel to the meadow, pulling up at the last possible second.
Had Rainbow Dash been flying over sand, she would have turned it to glass.
The meadow grass underneath her did not stand a chance, uprooted and hurled aside as she tore over the landscape, leaving a straight line of black soil in her wake. Wings flapping relentlessly, she didn’t slow down.
She was heading straight for Ponyville.
…
Scootaloo gripped the handlebars differently today. One foreleg rested on top, as usual, but the other one she placed under the bar. It was the only way she could grip it without pressing on the bruise on her foreleg.
Her leg kicked back tiredly on the dirt road, propelling herself forward in tune with her buzzing wings. Occasionally, she readjusted her hoof on the handlebars, grunting every time she was careless enough to touch it on the metal. It was going to be a few days before she could use her leg normally again.
The schoolhouse was only a few minutes away. Unease gnawed at her stomach, and acid rose to the back of her throat. No matter how many times she came to school marked up, she always felt the same trepidation; they’d find out. It was too obvious this time, she’d tell herself. They’d suspect something, and they’d find out.
But as soon as she arrived at the schoolyard, she always managed to push it all into the background. Nopony ever saw her sweat; show off your colors proudly, and nopony would ever be the wiser. Nopony ever was.
In the midst of her thoughts, she caught a movement out of the corner of her eye in the direction of the meadow. Her back hoof dragged on the dirt to bring her scooter to a stop, and she peered out into the expansive field.
It was little more than a blur, but it was soon readily apparent that it was getting closer to her. She squinted, watching it with a close eye. Whatever it was, it was moving extremely fast…
Her eyes grew wide with astonishment as she noticed the rainbow-colored streak the blur left behind. There was only one thing it could be: Rainbow Dash.
Scootaloo watched with amazement as her surrogate sister screamed across the ground from right to left, moving diagonally over the landscape. The pegasus filly gave a tiny flutter of her own wings from excitement; even being a spectator to Rainbow Dash’s awesomeness was enough to fill her with glee.
Unfortunately, she was only able to watch the show for a little while longer. As the blur that was Rainbow Dash approached Ponyville’s outer limits, she noticed the other pegasus slowing down considerably until she came to a halt in midair, hovering several meters above the ground. Scootaloo was a little too far away to call out to her, but she watched Rainbow Dash from the road for a few seconds longer before she gave her scooter a kickstart, heading on her way. Scootaloo looked over her shoulder one last time, trying to catch one last look of her idol before she was lost to view.
She nearly fell off her scooter when she saw Rainbow Dash zooming straight for her.
“Squiiiiirt!”
Rainbow Dash shot past, skidding to a halt on the road in front of Scootaloo. The pegasus filly gave a whoop of surprise, putting her right hoof over her heart.
“Squirt!” Rainbow Dash beamed. She was panting from her earlier exercise, but that didn’t stop her from having the usual pep in her step as she walked over to her. “What’s up?”
“Sheesh, Rainbow Dash!” Scootaloo retorted back, sounding upset but smiling nonetheless. “You scared me!”
The elder pegasus laughed. “Haha, yeah… Sorry ‘bout that.” She messed up Scootaloo’s mane. “Saw you riding to school, so I thought I’d drop by to say hi to my ‘little sister’ before she got there.”
Hearing the word “sister” uttered from her idol’s mouth lifted Scootaloo five feet off the ground. It had been some time since that fateful camping trip where Rainbow Dash had offered to take Scootaloo under her wing, but it was a fact that was sometimes still hard for her to believe.
“Oh, well…” Her heart beat faster with contained joy. “Th-thanks, Rainbow Dash…”
“Don’t mention it. Oh, and I almost forgot to ask; are you still coming on Friday?” Rainbow Dash implored with a cock of her head. Scootaloo gave her a blank stare.
“Friday? What’s on… oh yeah,” Scootaloo remembered. Her eyes brightened. “Yeah, of course! Getting flying lessons from you? I wouldn’t miss it for the world!”
Rainbow Dash chuckled. “Alright, Scoot, sounds good. I’ll catch ya later— whoa.”
She was about to fly off when she stopped herself mid-flap. Scootaloo already gave her scooter a kickstart, but she stopped herself again. Rainbow Dash stretched her neck out, looking at Scootaloo’s underarm. She grimaced.
“Dang, Scoot… how’d you get banged up?” She pointed to the large splotch of black and blue under Scootaloo’s arm. The filly’s breath caught in her lungs.
“Oh…” Scootaloo looked down to where Rainbow was pointing. When she saw the bruise, she instinctively went to cover it up with her other hoof. “This?”
“Yeah, that.”
Scootaloo swallowed her nervousness. It had been awhile since she had been put on the spot like this…
“Yeah, I, uh… I messed up on the landing when I was doing a jump on my scooter yesterday, and the wheels kinda hit a rock, so… I flew over the handlebars and… yeah.” A timid smile accompanied the conclusion of her story.
Rainbow Dash sighed with relief. “Oh, thank goodness. I thought maybe you were having problems with bullies or something like that…”
“Bullies? Oh, pfft,” Scootaloo scoffed, shooing an imaginary fly away from her face. “Nah, that’s not a problem. Just another scooter accident… ”
Rainbow Dash tousled Scootaloo’s mane again with a good-hearted chuckle. “I always knew you were tough as nails, Scoot. And you know what they say: no pain, no gain! I mean, as long as you don’t get hurt too bad… Heck, I remember banging myself up like that more than a few times when I was your age. Now look at me.” She gestured to herself with a flourish of her wings, making the pegasus filly giggle.
The sound of the school bell traveled a half-mile down the road. It was muffled by the long distance it had to travel, but both ponies heard it nonetheless. Rainbow Dash’s pupils dilated with surprise.
“Uh oh… did I make you late for school?” she asked. Scootaloo shrugged.
“Nah, don’t worry about it… Miss Cheerilee’s pretty chill about tardies and stuff like that…”
Rainbow Dash frowned. “Are you sure, Squirt? I can tell Miss Cheerilee it was my fault if you want…”
“Nah. I’m fine,” she insisted. “But I really should get going… no offense…”
She buzzed her tiny wings to propel her scooter forward. Rainbow Dash waved at her as she went away. “None taken, Squirt. Have a good day! And remember, three o’clock Friday!” She called out a last reminder.
Scootaloo was still moving forward, but she replied back over her shoulder. “Thanks, I’ll be there!”
She gave her wings one more buzz, zooming off in the other direction. Rainbow Dash waited until the filly had disappeared from view before she flew away, heading back to town.
“Can’t wait, Squirt. Can’t wait.”
...
Slouching forward in her desk was her usual posture, but not today. The bruise on her underside pressed up against the edge of the desk every time she leaned too far forward, so she was forced to sit up straight in her chair. Needless to say, it annoyed her a lot, but in a sense it was a good thing because it forced her to stay awake despite only getting two hours of sleep the night before.
“Now, could somepony tell me what the root of this number would be?” Cheerilee asked, tapping the number “144” on the board. Several foals and fillies raised their hooves, but she looked them over, not calling on any of them.
“How about somepony that hasn’t contributed so far today… Scootaloo? Could you tell us?” She asked the pegasus filly sitting near the back of the room. Scootaloo jumped at the mention of her name.
“Hmm, what? Wh-what was the question?” She asked, rubbing her tired eyes. Cheerilee frowned, but repeated the question calmly.
“Could you tell us the square root of this number, Scootaloo?”
The filly looked at the number on the board that Cheerilee was pointing to. She stared at it with her mouth open, but no words came out.
“Uhh… square root…” She thought hard, trying to remember the day’s lesson before this point. Cheerilee waited patiently, giving Scootaloo plenty of time to think.
But after nearly half a minute had elapsed, Scootaloo asked her, “I, uh… what's a square root, again?”
A chorus of snickers sounded from all around the room. Cheerilee’s ears fell back on her head, discouraged that her student had not been listening, but as soon as she heard the laughing, she immediately became aggressive.
“Now, that is enough. I do not EVER want to hear laughing at a fellow classmate for any reason. Are we clear?” She asked with venom in her voice.
The class fell silent. Cheerilee glared at all of them.
“I said, are we clear?
“Yes, Miss Cheerilee,” the class said in unison, averting their eyes in shame. Scootaloo slumped in her chair in spite of her bruises.
Rrrrringgg!
Saved by the bell. Scootaloo exhaled with relief.
“Okay, students, that’s all we have time for today. Now remember to study for the quiz on squares and square roots for tomorrow! It’s going to be a tough one!”
Her students groaned, but she ignored them, smiling warmly at each one as they walked past. “Have a great day, and remember to get a good night’s sleep!”
Scootaloo could have sworn Miss Cheerilee was looking straight at her when she said that. She avoided eye contact with her, keeping her gaze low and on the floor.
“Hrey, Scroot,” somepony with a familiar country twang piped up from beside her. Scootaloo turned around, seeing Applebloom with a notebook in her mouth and putting it in her saddlebag.
“Oh, hey, Applebloom,” Scootaloo rubbed at the bruise under her arm. “What’s up?”
Applebloom closed her bag. “Nothin’ much, just wrote up an extra set of notes for Sweetie Belle. Ah’m gonna bring ‘em over to her right now. You're coming with, right?”
Scootaloo nodded right away. “Yeah, of course! Oh, and thanks for taking all the notes today. I dunno, I’m just kinda… out of it right now.”
“Um, excuse me Scootaloo, but could I see you for a minute?”
It was Miss Cheerilee. Scootaloo stopped, lowering her head. She grimaced; it was a sentence every foal dreaded to hear from a teacher. Applebloom smiled an apology to her as she inched toward the open door.
“Ah’ll… Ah’ll wait out here for ya, okay?” She walked out, leaving Scootaloo alone with Miss Cheerilee. The little filly turned around with great reluctance, as if expecting to see a monster standing right behind her.
But all she saw was the smiling mare sitting behind her desk. Miss Cheerilee motioned to her for her to take a seat up front.
“It’s alright, Scootaloo. You’re not in trouble, don’t worry. I just wanted to talk to you about a few things.” She pointed to the desk directly in front of her. Scootaloo’s mind was put relatively at ease by this statement, but it didn’t stop the nervousness from lingering.
“Okay…” She moved to the desk indicated, sitting herself down in a careful manner to avoid putting pressure on a mark closer to her flanks. Miss Cheerilee’s brow furrowed at her.
“You alright there?” she asked. Scootaloo smirked, ignoring the dull, throbbing pain and pushing it to the background.
“Yeah, I’m fine. You know how it is.” She smiled to assure the teacher she was fine. Miss Cheerilee shook her head.
“Ah, yes… but you really should be more careful when you’re on that scooter… I’ve seen you riding out there, and it’s a miracle you haven’t broken every bone in your body considering all the crazy tricks you do.”
Scootaloo forced out a laugh, hooves fidgeting under her desk, out of Miss Cheerilee’s view. “Well, you know what they say…" She remembered Rainbow Dash's words from that morning. "No pain, no gain.”
Miss Cheerilee sighed. “Yes, yes, I suppose you’re right… but that’s not why I wanted to talk to you today, Scootaloo.”
The mare watched as Scootaloo shuffled in her desk. She took it as a sign of nervousness.
“I wanted to talk to you today about your participation in class…” she stated. She was not scolding the girl in any way, but rather, her tone conveyed genuine concern. “I’ve noticed that you seemed to be having trouble focusing on what I’m teaching. And it’s not just today… all last week you seemed to be having trouble. Is that wrong of me to say, Scootaloo?”
The filly shook her head. “No, you’re right. Sorry…”
“And it’s starting to affect your grades as well… they’re slipping, Scootaloo. You’re not failing, but you certainly are not performing at your best, either,” she added. Scootaloo slouched in her chair.
“Oh. I didn’t know that… I just haven’t been sleeping very well lately.”
Miss Cheerilee listened to her student’s explanation for her unusual behavior; the girl’s vague reason was not quite enough for her. She wanted to know more.
“And why is that, might I ask? Have you not been feeling well?” she probed.
Scootaloo shrugged with nonchalance. “Yeah, I’ve been feeling fine. Really, I have, I’m just…” She looked down at the big mark underneath her foreleg. “It’s… all the bruises made it hard to sleep last night, so…”
Miss Cheerilee groaned, exasperated. Scootaloo made a pained expression, sinking down in her chair again as she prepared for the inevitable lecture she was about to receive.
“Scootaloo… I don’t know how many times I’ve had to tell you to be more careful on that scooter of yours,” she began, “and I know I just talked about this to you a minute ago, but… Scootaloo, you can’t just keep doing what you’re doing and expect not to get seriously hurt one day. You might think right now that it’s only bruises, but if you’re not careful, one day you could end up with broken bones. Or worse!”
She shuddered at the thought. Scootaloo, on the other hoof, was unaffected by it. She had heard this same speech one to many times. And while she knew Cheerilee meant well, hearing it yet again only served to annoy her. Anger her, even…
“I know, Miss Cheerilee, I know. I’m sorry.” She tried her best to sound sincere. Miss Cheerilee breathed deeply, looking Scootaloo directly in the eyes.
“I forgive you, Scootaloo. But… I’m afraid that last time was your final warning. I think I’m going to have to talk with your father about your… daredevil tendencies.”
As soon as the sentence had left her mouth, Scootaloo’s nonchalance instantly went away, replaced with pure horror. She sat back up in her desk.
“Wait… wait, no, no! I thought you said I wasn’t in trouble!” She cried, indignant. Miss Cheerilee shook her head rapidly.
“You’re not, Scootaloo! I’m not talking about a parent-teacher conference for bad fillies, I’m just saying that I think I need to tell your father—”
“No, you don’t need to! You don’t! I promise not to crash on my scooter any more, okay?” Scootaloo was practically begging her, now. “I’m gonna be more careful from now on, I promise!”
Miss Cheerilee was taken aback by the distress of Scootaloo’s response. If she hadn’t known better, she would have thought Scootaloo had just been suspended from school.
“Shh, relax, Scootaloo! All I want to do is make your father aware of—”
But Scootaloo wasn’t listening. She talked over Miss Cheerilee, eyes shiny as they began to well up. “No, you don’t need to tell him! I’ll be more careful, I won’t do tricks any more, I’ll focus in class, everything!”
Miss Cheerilee looked into the distraught eyes of the filly in front of her. The girl’s pale purple irises pleaded with her, her pupils expanded with fright. The mare did not know what to think of all this, but seeing Scootaloo acting the way she was, she decided to consent to the girl’s wishes just this once.
“Okay, Scootaloo,” she relented, “I will give you one last chance. But if I see you come to class again, bruised everywhere… I’m going to mention your grades to your father. Again, not to get you in some sort of trouble, but just to let him know how it’s affecting your studies. Okay?”
Scootaloo closed her eyes, sucking back the tears that were threatening to fall down her cheeks and breathing a sigh of relief. “Okay, got it. Thank… thanks, Miss Cheerilee. I’ll be more careful, honest.” She said in earnest.
Miss Cheerilee nodded at her in approval. “Alright, Scootaloo. I think that’s everything.” She turned around, grabbing the chalkboard eraser and proceeding to wipe off the board. “You’re free to go, my little pony.”
Realizing she was dismissed, Scootaloo did not hesitate to get up from the desk, making a beeline for the door. Miss Cheerilee smiled; she could tell Scootaloo had been waiting for her to say that for a long time.
“Have a good day, Scootaloo!” The filly heard her teacher call out behind her. Scootaloo turned around as she went out the door, waving back to Cheerilee.
“Thanks... y-you, too.”
She exited the classroom, leaving Cheerilee there all by herself. After she finished erasing the board, the schoolteacher sat down at her desk, staring at the several rows of desks which were now empty. Resting her elbows on the table, she tapped her hooves together and held her head up with her forelegs. She sat there for quite some time, not budging in the slightest and looking straight at the desk Scootaloo had just been in.
She could still see the terror in that filly's eyes.
…
“So… what’d she say to you?” Applebloom asked Scootaloo as they walked side by side through the schoolyard. Scootaloo rolled her eyes.
“Oh, you know… just stuff about how I need to be more careful on my scooter and all that…” She kicked a pebble. Applebloom regarded her with an amused expression.
“Again, huh? Well, Ah mean, yeah,” she laughed, “You do kinda show up to school with a bunch of nasty lookin’ scrapes and bruises, like, every other week. Ah don’t blame her for wantin’ to getcha to stop bein’ so crazy.”
Scootaloo grunted in reply, kicking another pebble in front of her hoof, this time much harder. It shot up in the air, landing many meters away. Applebloom shot her friend an inquisitive look.
“What?” she asked innocently. Scootaloo shrugged.
“Nothing,” she retorted. “I’m just… not feeling that great right now. Is it… is it okay with you if I just grab my scooter and call it a day? I mean, can you drop by Sweetie Belle’s by yourself, just for today?”
Applebloom cocked her head to the side. They had been going together to visit Sweetie every day since the day of the rattlesnake bite, and this would be the first time one of them couldn't make it.
“Umm… yeah, Ah guess. You sure? I mean, if you ain’t feeling good…”
“Yeah, I’m sure… sorry, Applebloom,” Scootaloo apologized. “I’m just feeling really crummy right now.”
“Nah, that’s okay. Ah’m sure she’ll understand. Don’t want to get her sick, too.” Applebloom smiled as they began to part ways. “See yah tomorrow! Hope you feel better!”
“See yah! And thanks!” Scootaloo yelled back to her. She moved over to her scooter, which she had left lying down on the dirt on the far end of the yard after recess. “Oh, and tell Sweetie Belle I said hi!”
“Ah will!” Applebloom shouted back. They waved to each other, and Applebloom walked down the street, leaving Scootaloo alone on the yard.
All of her other classmates had walked home or been picked up already, leaving her there all by herself. Scootaloo eyed her helmet and scooter lying there, side by side on the dirt of the yard. After putting on the helmet, she grabbed the handlebar with her good foreleg—the one without the bruise—and set it upright on the ground, stepping onto the platform with her front leg. She was about to hop on.
Then, inexplicably, she stopped herself.
For a while she just stood there, not moving an inch, staring at the blue painted scooter. She looked at the fine wood finish, now covered in nicks and bumps from frequent use, and the once-shiny red wheels now made dull from wear and tear.
For a reason she could not explain, something was swelling up inside her. Akin to the throbbing of her bruises, but it wasn’t pain. It was heat.
Rage.
It built up slowly, the veins on her leg bulging as her muscles tensed up. Teeth audibly scraped against each other, and her foreleg gripped the handlebars tighter and tighter until it turned blue from the lack of circulation.
And then, she let it loose. The pegasus filly threw the handlebars down, and the scooter clattered against the dirt.
"Raaagh!" A high pitched roar escaped her as she kicked out at it, her hoof making a dull smack as it connected with the platform’s hardwood surface. She kicked it again, even harder than the first, and then again, punctuating each kick with an angry shriek. The scooter just lay there, accepting its master’s treatment without complaint.
Scootaloo switched to stomping on it now, slamming her hoof down on the scooter's metal neck. Her vision became blurred with tears, causing her hoof to sometimes miss its mark, but she did not stop. The scooter clattered against the ground with each strike, jerking left and right with the force of every hit it was dealt.
At last, after a full minute, Scootaloo stepped back, chest heaving as she panted for air. The scooter was several meters away from where it had been at the beginning, pushed across the ground during the course of the beating. Looking down, she noticed her hooves were covered in even more bruises than before, and as the adrenaline started to subside, she began to feel them in full.
On a set of shaky legs, Scootaloo hobbled over to her fallen ride, wincing with every step she took. The scooter waited for her in silence, a few new marks adorning the finish, but otherwise unharmed.
Once she reached it, she propped it back up, standing on the wooden platform, and with a kick of her back hoof and a buzz of her wings, she headed for home.
…