The Wonderbolt Academy was due to give its cadets their final test in the form of an air show at Cloudsdale, and had given them a week's leave to prepare for their final training before the event. Rainbow Dash, their top cadet, had taken this opportunity to go on a camping trip in the Whitetail Woods with Scootaloo, the likes of which she hadn't had the chance to do since she had enrolled in the Academy almost two years ago. By now, Scootaloo's flying skills had improved a fair amount since she had first met her new coltfriend Rumble last year, and although she wasn't even half as speedy or agile as her idol as yet, Rainbow Dash was most impressed by how far she had come. In the past, the little Pegasus filly had rarely been able to stay in the air for more than a few seconds at a time; now she was just about able to take off vertically, stay in flight for about half an hour, and even maintain a reasonable altitude.
Throughout their camping trip, the two Pegasi practised their flying as much as they could; Rainbow Dash to perfect the stunt routine she was to perform for their test while Scootaloo was trying to improve on her own flying skills further. It was tiring work even without their saddlebags weighing them down, but they didn't mind; all that mattered to them was getting that little bit closer to living their dreams. Whenever they stopped to make up camp, they would talk long into the night about the goings-on in each other's lives and in Ponyville and Cloudsdale in general. Scootaloo was amazed – and a little concerned – when Rainbow Dash revealed that Soarin had proposed to her a few days earlier, but the rainbow-maned Pegasus mare assured her that she would still try and find time for them to hang out together.
Dusk was steadily rolling in as the two Pegasi arrived back in Ponyville. They had enjoyed their camping trip together, but Rainbow Dash couldn't help noticing that Scootaloo seemed a little quiet. Something must be wrong in the orange filly's world, she thought, for her enthusiasm hardly ever seemed to diminish whenever they were hanging out with each other; indeed the only other time she could recall Scootaloo behaving so differently was when she and Rumble had first met. But then again, she was probably just tired after their long week away – or was she?
“You okay, Scoot?” she asked casually, pretending not to worry.
Scootaloo nodded wearily in reply. “Yeah, fine,” she murmured. “Just got a lot on my mind, that's all.”
Rainbow Dash paused. Judging by Scootaloo's tone of voice, it seemed as though “fine” was the wrong way to describe her by all accounts. “Is there something bothering you?”
“Um...nothing,” answered Scootaloo uneasily.
“It's not that Diamond Tiara twerp making fun of you again, is it?”
“No, of course not!”
“Well that makes a change,” mused Rainbow Dash. “Is it because my camp-fire story scared you last night then?”
Scootaloo cringed as she remembered the nightmares she had experienced regarding the Olden Pony and the Headless Horse. These had been far too much for her to bear, but revealing her fears to Rainbow Dash had been even harder, and to this day she was still mildly embarrassed whenever her idol brought up the subject. “N-n-not this time,” she stuttered sheepishly. “It's just...well......” but she quickly tailed off.
Rainbow Dash rested a gentle hoof on Scootaloo's shoulder. “Come on, Scootaloo,” she coaxed softly, “you know you can tell me anything.”
But Scootaloo didn't reply. She simply directed her gaze towards the stars that had begun to twinkle in the night sky, deep in thought. Never for one second did she doubt what Rainbow Dash had said, but this particular issue she was going through felt far too sensitive and distressing even for her own big sister figure to know about it.
As she looked up at the sky, she noticed a small group of stars in the shape of what looked like the face of a mare – one that she somehow seemed to recognise. In her eyes, the mare framed by the stars was lemon-yellow in colour with a wavy, purple, medium-length mane, and was gazing down upon her with a sad, distant look. Scootaloo blinked away a small tear as she mirrored the mare's expression...
“...Equestria to Scootaloo? Do you read me?”
“What?” Scootaloo quickly snapped out of her trance and returned her attention to Rainbow Dash.
“Are you sure you're okay?” asked Rainbow Dash, visibly worried. “You don't exactly seem with it.”
The orange filly scuffed the ground with one hoof. “Yeah, I guess I am a little distracted,” she admitted. “I'll be okay though – really I will.”
Rainbow Dash didn't seem too convinced though. “Well, if you're sure,” she replied uncertainly. “Anyway, I'd better be heading back to the Academy. See you round, Scootaloo – and say hi to your parents for me.”
“Will do,” conceded Scootaloo with a weak smile, and with that, she turned and headed back towards home. But Rainbow Dash, on the other hoof, remained firmly rooted in place for some time after her young fan-filly had left the square, trying to work out why she had been so reluctant to talk about whatever was on her mind. The more she thought about it, though, the more ashamed she became of what she had just said; in all the time they had known each other, Scootaloo had never once mentioned her parents, so whatever troubles she was going through must have had something to do with them. But why – why would two ponies who should have cared a great deal about their own daughter be such an emotional burden on her instead? Was it merely because they hadn't paid her enough attention, or did it run a lot deeper than that?
In any event, it would certainly explain why Scootaloo had been so inept at flying before Rainbow Dash took her under her wing; most Pegasus foals would have attended some form of flight school at around Scootaloo's age, and yet the orange filly herself hadn't. This raised a great many more questions though; why hadn't her parents given her such an opportunity? Why were they letting her fall so far behind other Pegasi when she could have been one of the best flyers in her class? Why were they......neglecting her?
Neglect – the mere thought of the word shook Rainbow Dash to the core. No self-respecting parent should ever neglect their young, no matter how they felt for them. Her own father, for instance, had usually been extremely busy at the Cloudsdale Weather Factory, but he still managed to spend time with his little filly even if he was worn out by the end of his shift. Even Firefly, her mother, had given up her own dreams of being a Wonderbolt just so she could give Rainbow Dash a good enough start in life to pursue what she herself would never have the chance to do – but the way Scootaloo had been behaving, her parents didn't even seem to notice her. The rainbow-maned mare grimaced at the thought of her number-one fan sat in a corner, trying in vain to hold back tears while two older Pegasi went about their business, oblivious to the distraught filly they should have been taking care of...
Rainbow Dash returned to the Wonderbolt Academy rather late that night. She had been trying to clear her head by performing a few stunts in the air, but no matter how fast she flew, the same discomforting thoughts of Scootaloo and her parents still managed to catch up to her. Even by the time Celestia's sun peeked over the horizon and signalled a new day, the same worries that had been keeping the rainbow-maned mare awake half the night continued to plague her thoughts, and she barely seemed able to concentrate on her flight training that morning.
With their exercise completed, the cadets all stood in line as Soarin walked past them with a clipboard in one hoof, advising them on where they needed to improve. Rainbow Dash, however, barely seemed to be listening, and even when the muscular albino pony next to her gave out a gruff but enthusiastic bellow of “YEAH!” upon hearing how well he was doing, she didn't even bat an eyelid.
“...and as for Rainbow Dash, your course correction on the final hoop was a little bit off, but otherwise you did brilliantly. Keep up the good work.”
That was enough to snap Rainbow Dash out of her reverie, while at the same time adding to her concern. Was she really starting to lose her touch, she wondered?
“Remember,” finished Soarin, “we can only accept the best of the best. We only have three weeks before the air show, so I want to see you training your hardest. Dismissed!”
The cadets all saluted smartly before making their way over to the mess hall. Just as Rainbow Dash was about to follow suit, Soarin turned back in her direction; “Oh and Rainbow Dash,” he added quietly, “could I have a word with you in private?”
“Um...sure,” conceded Rainbow Dash, but she couldn't help feeling a little nervous as she followed Soarin into his office, and quietly wondered to herself whether her performance had been sloppier than he was letting on. What really worried her was the possibility of her being downgraded to wing-pony again, for whatever the two Pegasi may have felt towards each other, Soarin still had to ensure that his cadets were up to scratch.
Once they had entered, Soarin went and sat behind his desk, motioning for Rainbow Dash to take a seat as well. As she pulled up a chair in front of the desk, the sky-blue mare noticed a look of concern in the pale blue stallion's eyes which seemed to calm and concern her both at the same time. Still unsure of what he wanted to talk to her about, she waited patiently for him to speak first.
“About your performance this morning, Rainbow Dash...” he began after a long, awkward pause.
Rainbow Dash's eyes widened. “I didn't blow it, did I?”
“No, it's not that,” Soarin reassured her. “You were still way ahead of all the other cadets – it's just that......well, you seemed a bit off at breakfast, and your performance this morning was fairly modest by most ponies' standards. I had a pretty strong hunch something was bothering you, so I brought you here to avoid any embarrassing questions from anypony else.”
“Can't hide anything from you, can I, Soarin?” quipped Rainbow Dash, allowing herself a small smile. She then stared morosely down at the floor as her mind went back to Scootaloo and her parents; annoyed though she was at herself for letting those thoughts mess up her performance that morning, that annoyance paled in comparison with her worry for the little Pegasus filly.
Soarin leaned forward over the desk and rested a gentle hoof on her shoulder. “Talk to me, Dashie,” he said softly. “What's bothering you?”
At last, Rainbow Dash managed to find her voice again. “Well, Soarin, I didn't wanna drag you into this – or any of the Wonderbolts for that matter – but I've been rather worried about a certain fan-filly of mine,” she explained.
“Meaning Scootaloo, perchance?” asked Soarin gently.
Rainbow Dash nodded. “Well, lately she's been pretty distant for some reason, but won't tell me why,” she continued morosely. “I'm kinda worried it may have something to do with her parents though – in all the time we've known each other, she's never told me who they are or why they never set aside any time even to teach her how to fly.”
This revelation was met with a look of dismay from Soarin. “That can't be right,” he exclaimed.
“Well of course it's not right!” agreed Rainbow Dash feelingly. “Mine had always taken good care of me, but the way Scootaloo's behaving, you'd think hers never even looked at her! It's...it's 'Scoot-abuse' is what it is!”
Soarin gave a deep sigh as he turned and gazed out of the nearby window towards Ponyville, deep in thought. Finally, he returned his attention back to his fiancée; “Actually, Rainbow Dash, there's something you ought to know about Captain Spitfire,” he replied gravely. “I didn't really want to reveal it to anypony else for fear of hurting her feelings, but it's only fair, considering Scootaloo's supposed issues with her family. You see, she wasn't the only one in her family to join the Wonderbolts.”
“Wasn't she? So who else was there?”
“Her grandfather on her mother's side was one of the original Wonderbolts when the team was formed over sixty years ago,” remembered Soarin, “and although neither of her parents ever got the chance, she herself did along with her sister, a lovely young mare by the name of Typhoon. They enrolled in the Wonderbolt Academy at the age of twenty-one...well, nineteen in Typhoon's case, but anyway, they passed the entrance exam with flying colours and soon ranked among the best in the team. In fact, I had Typhoon as my trainer when I first enlisted in the Wonderbolts myself.”
Rainbow Dash was intrigued. “I tell you what, Soarin, I'd sure like to get a chance to meet this Typhoon pony.”
“I'm afraid you never will, Dashie. You see, after about eight years in the Wonderbolts, by which time she was due for a promotion, Typhoon discovered she was pregnant, and reluctantly quit the Wonderbolts just a few months later. She gave birth to a healthy little Pegasus filly a few weeks after the Summer Sun Celebration, a filly who now looks up to you as an idol, a hero and a sister.”
Rainbow Dash stared for a moment – and then simply nodded.
“Typhoon and Spitfire stayed in touch with each other as much as they could after the former resigned,” continued Soarin. “Such was our respect for the two that Spitfire agreed to keep us up to date with what was going on in her sister's life. Within about five years of her resignation, Typhoon was holding a few air shows of her own, many of them as a tribute to her fellow Wonderbolts – but that, and her flying days as a whole, were to come to a premature end just seven months later.”
“What happened?”
“One day, while practising a new routine, Typhoon encountered some pretty strong winds at a mountain near Ponyville and was blown off course. Before she could reorient herself, the wind slammed her hard into a cliff and sent her plummeting out of the sky. They found her body at the foot of the mountain two days later.”
The rainbow-maned mare recoiled in horror. “What then? Did they manage to save her?”
“I'm afraid not; she was pronounced dead at the scene,” answered Soarin mournfully. “Spitfire was devastated when she heard the news, and it took about a year for her to come to terms with the loss of her sister; but as if that wasn't enough, she never once wrote to the family that had been left behind by this tragedy.”
“So......you mean to tell me Scootaloo's living on her own – as an orphan?!” gasped Rainbow Dash, the shock apparent in her voice. “That's awful!”
“Actually, no, she isn't,” Soarin reassured her. “She's currently under the care of her father. He works at a slate quarry about fifteen miles out of Ponyville, according to Spitfire.”
Having pulled herself together, Rainbow Dash raised a hoof to her chin. “Yeah, I think I know what you're talking about,” she agreed. “Pinkie Pie used to live on one herself – not something she enjoyed, though.”