Scootaloo looked down at the ground and gulped. What was only five feet at the most seemed like a long way to fall to the young pegasus. A cyan mare stood beside her on the soft cloud with wings outstretched. Mimicking her mentor's pose, she glanced up to see cerise eyes looking down at her. "You ready, kid?"
Fighting back a tear, the orange filly nodded ever so slightly. She looked back at the ground and her mane blew into her face as Rainbow lifted off the cloud into the sky. Taking her time, Scootaloo tried her best to lift herself off the cloud. Her wings fluttered behind her as they struggled to lift her weight. After what seemed like an hour to the weak filly her hooves finally lifted far enough from the cloud that she could no longer feel the wisps of vapor coming off its cool surface.
Her eyes were shut tight in concentration as she tried to lift herself higher into the air. With a few encouraging words from her idol, she opened her violet eyes to stare straight ahead at the cyan mare a short distance away. She smiled slightly, knowing that she had done it. She was actually flying! And then she looked down.
Her deep purple irises shrunk to the size of a pin and everything went quiet. She felt the feathers brush against her sides as her wings clamped shut and she started to fall. The ground that had seemed so far away before was rushing up to meet her and she would make impact at any moment.
Awaiting the inevitable, Scootaloo covered her eyes with her hooves as the wind whistled past her ears. When the whistling stopped, she slowly opened her eyes to find herself held in the forehooves of one Rainbow Dash mere inches above ground. The mare was giving her a look that said 'What gives?'. With a small smile and a feeble "Heh.", she jumped down. "I think it's time to take a break, don't you?"
"I guess. See you later, Scoots."
The filly watched as the cyan pegasus became a dot on the horizon, her rainbow trail slowly fading out in the sky. Quickly strapping on her helmet, she grabbed her scooter from a nearby bush and hopped on. She raced through town as fast as her somewhat tired wings would allow, headed towards the outskirts of the Everfree Forest.
Fluttershy was humming a soft tune to herself as she floated slowly around her cottage, inside and out. She was going about her daily chores, feeding her animal friends and checking up on the ones that were hurt or sick. Just as she was about to head back outside to gather the eggs from her chickens, a quiet knock sounded from the front door. With puzzlement written across her features she set the basket down and let herself fall the three inches so she was standing on the floor. "Just a moment!" she called quietly, making her way forward.
She opened the door to reveal an orange pegasus filly with a flattened purple mane, no doubt because of the helmet hanging from the handle of a nearby scooter. "Hi, Fluttershy," the filly greeted without her usual enthusiasm, "Mind if I come in?"
"Of course not, Scootaloo. Is there anything you need?" The buttercream mare moved out of the doorway so the filly could enter the somewhat noisy cottage.
"I was kind of hoping I could, maybe, ask you a question?"
"Um, sure, I guess." She replied softly, closing the door as she turned to look at the filly.
Scootaloo looked up at her and she could see barely contained tears shimmering in the filly's violet eyes. She walked over towards the couch and the filly followed, hopping up beside her as she took a seat. "So, what did you want to ask?"
"I was just... I was, um... that is I..." the filly looked down as she spoke, wringing her hooves.
"Is something wrong, Sweetie?" Fluttershy asked, putting a wing around the young pegasus' shoulders.
"Kind of... maybe...." Her words faded into silence again as the unshed tears pooled up in her eyes. "Is it wrong for a pegasus to be scared of flying?" The question was so soft, so similar to the way that Fluttershy spoke that she almost missed it.
Taking a moment to come up with an answer, Fluttershy slowly started to move her wing up and down Scootaloo's back to comfort her. As the silence grew, the filly looked up at her. As her teal eyes met the orange filly's own violet ones a small tear trickled down the younger pegasus' cheek. Letting her instincts take over, Fluttershy pulled the filly into a hug and wrapped both her forehooves and wings around the small form as more tears fell from the filly's eyes.
"Sh, it's okay." she whispered, immediately resorting to humming a soft song.
Eventually, Scootaloo pulled away from Fluttershy. There were stains of darker fur on both cheeks from the streams of tears. Her eyes still shone with sadness, though by now the fountains of tears had run dry. "Scootaloo..." Fluttershy said softly, causing the filly to look up at her.
"Yes, Fluttershy?"
"Don't ever think it's wrong to have fears. Everyone is afraid of something, or a lot of things..." she trailed off, her voice growing quiet for a moment. "Do you remember when every pegasus got together to make that tornado over a year ago?"
"Yeah..." Scootaloo replied, not seeing where Fluttershy was going with this.
"There were quite a few weak pegasi there, right?"
"Well, yeah. But have you ever seen all that many pegasi flying around like Rainbow Dash all day? Of course a lot of them are going to be weak."
"True, but did you ever think about why they don't fly and why they live on the ground and not in cloud homes?"
"Come on! You really expect me to believe they're all scared of flying? I highly doubt that."
"I wouldn't go so far as to say they're flat out scared to fly, Scootaloo, but I know most of them. Almost every pegasus here in Ponyville doesn't like to fly for one reason or another."
"And how is that supposed to make me feel any better? I actually like flying, I'm just..."
"Scared? So was I when I was your age. And..." she paused, glancing around cautiously to make sure nopony else was nearby. "...do you want to know a secret?"
Scootaloo nodded, eyes shining with her usual curiosity. With one last cautious glance around the room, Fluttershy pulled the filly a bit closer with a wing as she leaned down. "Rainbow used to be scared of flying too." she whispered into the filly's ear, causing her to pull away in surprise.
"Really?!?"
With a small smile, Fluttershy nodded. "Yes, she was. But you know what? She got over that fear and became the only pony capable of performing a sonic rainboom."
"How? How was she able to become such a great flyer if she was scared?"
"She overcame her fears by practicing each and every day, no matter what. She was a lot braver than me back when we were fillies, that's for sure. I had barely started to fly by the time I got my cutiemark." Then, as an afterthought she added, "And I think I was even a bit older than you."
"Really? You were older than me when you got your cutiemark?"
"Oh, yes." Fluttershy nodded for confirmation. "At least a year older, if not two. Do you know why?"
The filly shook her head and smiled, as if begging for the story to finish. "I didn't get my cutiemark until then because I never faced my fears. I feared everything under Celestia's sun, and I mean everything. I barely left my home in Cloudsdale I was so scared. Then my parents forced me to go to Flight Camp and one of my greatest fears came true. But Rainbow Dash defended me from the heartless bullies and we both earned our cutiemarks. Her because she overcame her fear to defend a friend, and me because I realized that everypony, every creature, has fears.
"The best thing you can ever do is admit your fears, Scootaloo. Never let them go so far as to consume you. I wish I had someone to teach me that when I was your age. So, feeling a little better?"
The filly nodded and hugged Fluttershy. "Thanks, Fluttershy. But," she pulled away and looked up. "what should I do? I mean, how can I overcome my fears like Rainbow Dash? I really like flying and want to be as good as her one day, and I don't know if I can."
"Well Scootaloo, if you want to fly then you need to face your fears. Just remember, fear is normal, and a young pegasus' fear of flying even more so. It's nothing to be ashamed of. In fact, Rainbow might even be willing to help you if you told her about it."
"You really think so?"
"Of course. Now, why don't you go try to find her and talk to her about it, hmm?"
"Sure thing." Scootaloo hopped off the couch and raced over to the door. "Oh, and thanks again Fluttershy." she said before stepping outside, jumping onto her scooter and racing off towards town in a search for her idol.
"You're welcome, Scootaloo." the mare replied as she closed the door.