Catch Me if I Fall

by Shahrazad


Fireflies

skknnxx

Sweetie Belle snored softly as she settled into the guest bed. She had fallen asleep somewhere in the middle of the story Rarity was reading to her. It was a silly story about monkeys jumping and falling off of beds. Rarity used her magic and pulled the covers over her sister before opening the glass lamp on the nightstand, letting the fireflies out the window. “Sweet dreams, little one. Just remember, I’ll always be there to catch you, even if you jump off the bed,” she whispered at Sweetie Belle’s sleeping form. She kissed her sister on the forehead before leaving, closing the door quietly behind her.

~~~~~

WHOA

Applebloom tried to jump into bed, but Applejack caught her before she slammed into the headboard. Her leap was overeager and she probably would have possessed a lovely bruise had her sister not been there. “Careful, sugarcube, ya don’t want ta go to dreamland that way.”

“Thanks sis,” Applebloom said as she watched a small cloud of fireflies flit past her window from the direction of Ponyville; they headed around the edge of town.

“Don’t mention it. Ah’ll be there ta catch ya if’n ya fall,” Applejack said as she walked out of her sister’s room. The door closed with a soft click.

“Ah know,” Applebloom said as she smiled at the door and closed her eyes.

~~~~~

FLOP

Scootaloo was raw inside and out when she fell into bed, totally exhausted. Crashing into the ground multiple times could do that to you. She glanced around the room at the other bunk beds. Hers was a nice one; she had a bottom bunk with a comfortable mattress and a view out of the window. Some of the other fillies and colts in the orphanage weren’t so lucky.

Various levels of snoring issued from every other bunk. The others went to sleep after the matron killed the lights only a few minutes ago. Scootaloo still couldn’t sleep, tired as she was. She couldn’t stop thinking about flying. She stared out the window into the fields and the Everfree forest beyond.

I’m going to learn to fly so I don’t have to rely on anypony else. Even those fireflies can fly on their own, and they’re just bugs! Scootaloo thought as a little cloud of fireflies darted and swirled past her window.

~~~~~

Scootaloo looked terrible, but galloped down the track at full speed anyway. She buzzed her wings, jumped through the first ring, and closed her eyes. A quiver in her lip and a knot in her gut were the only things she could do for the painful crash landing she was about to endure. C’mon, just a little flying! Please? Just so I don’t slam into the ground. Just enough so I float on super-soft... air? Scootaloo’s eye popped open. Her wings were still buzzing and she was flying! She could see the track below her, along with all seven mini-craters.

She looked around her and the knot in her stomach did a backflip. She tried to hide her face behind her forelegs, and stopped buzzing her wings after another moment; they were useless anyway.

“Looks like you’re trying real hard here, squirt. I was wondering why little craters were appearing out here. Did it hurt when you made ‘em?” Rainbow Dash said, craning her head over her shoulder. Scootaloo fit neatly on her back between her wings.

“N-No it didn’t hurt.” She thinks I’m a dweeb who can’t even get off the ground.

“Awww, that’s too bad,” Rainbow Dash said, without a hint of sarcasm.

The statement made Scootaloo peek at Dash over her hooves. “Bad? It’s good if it hurts?”

“Yeah, well, I mean, no, it’s not good to get hurt. But I would know a little more about you if it DID hurt. Especially if it hurt a lot.” Dash was still gliding around the track through all of the rings. She wasn’t even flapping her wings. The air just seemed to hold her.

Scootaloo glanced at Twilight and Gold Feather, looking up at her from the starting line. She sucked in a breath and whispered, “It hurt... a little.” I can’t tell her it hurt a lot, she’ll think I’m a double dweeb.

“And you made six more craters anyway?” Dash queried as she was circling lower and lower.

A dweeb, and an idiot, Scootaloo admonished herself. “Yeah...”

“Awesome.”

“I guess I shouldn’t—what?” Scootaloo perked up and looked at the back of Dash’s head. They landed just behind the starting line near the others, as if Dash had planned it that way. She probably did.

“You fell down and kept getting back up. Losers stay down when they fall, winners get back up. There’s not gonna be anymore craters, not with me around. I’ll catch you if you fall, I promise.”

Dash bent her left legs and tilted her left wing down to form a short slide. Scootaloo slid off, still looking at Dash. She could see her idol in profile when her flank hit the dirt. “R-Really?” She used all of her willpower to keep her voice even and her eyes dry. She swallowed the massive lump in her throat before Dash answered.

“Every time,” Dash said as she smiled. She walked purposefully forward and turned to stand in front of the tiny class. “Okay, flight class is in session—” Twilight raised a hoof. “Yes?” Dash pointed a hoof at Twilight.

Twilight held a tense smile and tilted her head, “Where’s Fluttershy?”

“Fluttershy is taking care of some extremely important business in Sugarcube Corner. Let’s just say she is making this flying lesson safer.” From party cannons! Dash thought.

“What could she be doing at—”

“No more questions, everypony—er—everyone follow me!” Dash whipped around and trotted off at a brisk pace. She hoped by keeping Twilight busy she wouldn’t have to answer pesky questions, like why Fluttershy was delivering a metric ton of peanut butter sugar cookies to Pinkie Pie, or why those cookies were laced with sleeping aids.

It wasn’t long before they arrived at the edge of Ponyville’s pond. The water was like a massive mirror, reflecting the cattails and distant trees in it. Dash sighed and said, “Wait here,” before flying away. She returned after a few moments, piloting a fluffy white cloud. “This,” she said, patting the cloud, “is going to be our diving board.” Scootaloo swallowed and looked on as Dash stopped the cloud in front of the class. “Who wants to go first?” Twilight and Gold Feather stuck a hoof and wing, respectively, up in the air. Scootaloo looked down and made little circles in the dirt with her forehoof. Dash blinked and snorted, “C’mon squirt, you’re up!” She snatched Scootaloo up, causing her to yelp. Scootaloo found herself sitting on the cloud as Dash held out a hoof to Twilight. “All aboard, Princess, and don’t forget your cloud-walk spell. Oh, and bring the little bird with ya.”

“Do I even need it?” Twilight asked Dash. They both looked at each other and shrugged. Twilight’s horn flashed briefly before she picked up Gold Feather and stepped onto the cloud. The little bird was squawking so excitedly he was almost singing. It was a random mishmash of notes as far as Scootaloo could tell, but it didn’t sound irritating. Even when he’s screwing up he doesn’t screw up! Scootaloo thought bitterly. Dash flapped her wings and drove the cloud high into the air. Scootaloo looked around and down at the pond. It seemed to stretch far away from her, a tiny blue smudge on the green landscape below. It looked like a drop of water on a mottled green sheet of paper. She gulped and closed her eyes, trying to keep her head from spinning. Who ever heard of a pegasus with vertigo? I’m such a dweeb, Scootaloo thought to herself. As Dash pulled the cloud higher and higher, Scootaloo’s eyes shrank to pin pricks. Once they stopped, Scootaloo was sure they were in orbit above Equestria.

“Try to use the extra speed and keep your legs tucked in. Off ya go, squirt,” Dash said. Without further warning, Scootaloo felt a powerful hoof on her flank push her forward. She blinked for a second, and then the ground rushed up to meet her.

Her mind locked up and her wide, unblinking eyes reflected the tiny pond as it expanded to ten times its size. Her wings buzzed on instinct just before she hit the water with a giant splash. Scootaloo gasped as her head burst from the surface of the water. She could swear she could still see drops of water hitting the far bank from her impact. How high did I have to be to make such a big splash? She shook her head to clear the water from her face, and the fear from her head. “That was close.”

“Uh, not really. I said to tuck in your legs remember? Not flap them around like your wings.” Scootaloo looked up to find Rainbow Dash floating above her. Dash’s forehooves were on her flanks and the corner of her mouth was curling down. “Move it, squirt. It’s time for the others to jump and I want everypony to get in as much practice as we can.”

Scootaloo’s vision began to blur. I disappointed Rainbow Dash, and she gave me a direct order! C’mon Scootaloo, pay attention! But she wasn’t paying attention when Dash plucked her out of the water and began to ascend. “Uh, right, the other students... Sorry...” Scootaloo was quivering on Dash’s back, but the water wasn’t cold at all.

“Sorry? What for? You don’t have to apologize if you’re having fun. Are you gonna quit?” Dash said the word quit with venom.

“No way!” Scootaloo said. She had made craters for a week; splashing into a pond was nothing, even if it was from orbit.

“Then you got nothing to say sorry for,” Dash said as Gold Feather shot past them, chirping madly. His wings were flapping, but it didn’t do him much good. Scootaloo looked down as a speck hit the pond far below as she nuzzled into Dash’s mane. They reached the cloud a moment later. Dash piped up, “Your turn, Princess.”

As Twilight looked down over the edge of the cloud, her voice quavered, “Um, I have a few questions before—AHHHHhhhhhhhh!” Her voice fell away after Dash used one forehoof to lazily push her off the cloud.

“Don’t forget to tuck in your legs!” Dash yelled after her. Dash watched for a moment, then sighed, “Maybe she didn’t hear me? Honestly, hooves aren’t gonna help you get lift.” She turned to look over her shoulder at Scootaloo still on her back. “You still here? What’re you waiting for? Don’t you want to have fun jumping into the pond?”

“Yeah!” Scootaloo said with a fierce grin on her face. She took a mighty leap off into space and plummeted like a stone. She managed to tuck her legs in before—

SPLASH

Scootaloo huffed as she broke the surface of the water. It was fun and scary, but she really wanted to fly more than anything. Gold Feather and Twilight didn’t really seem to be paying too much attention to her. Now all I have to do is be the first to fly and impress Rainbow Dash.

SPLASH

SPLASH

SPLASH

SPLASH

SPLASH

They kept practicing until the sun went down and the pond grew cold. Scootaloo was shivering, but didn’t complain. She tried to do everything Dash told her to do: legs tucked in and her wings pointed in the direction of the air flow. That meant facing down and looking at the ground as it rushed up to meet you. Scootaloo tried, but could never keep her eyes open for long in free fall.

~~~~~

Fluttershy set down her cup of tea and looked over the table at her oldest friend. “I think they did great for their first day,” she said before adding a sugarcube to her tea.

“What? None of them flew, not even a little bit. Twilight has the wingspan, but I swear she has noodles for wing muscles. Gold Flake—”

“Gold Feather.”

“Whatever—he’s got the talent, but he won’t take direction. He’s a spoiled, arrogant little snot.” Dash snorted as Fluttershy let out a tiny gasp behind her tea cup. “And Scootaloo, I don’t know what’s wrong with that kid. She’s got wing muscles to spare. I’d like to say she has heart, but something is holding her back.” Dash put her hoof to her chin and glanced to the corner of the room. “It’s really hard to think with... that.” She gestured to her left.

Fluttershy and Dash were seated at the dining table, Fluttershy with her tea and Dash with a glass of ice water. The table was cleared and all the chairs had been pushed in to make a little extra space. In the corner of the room there appeared to be a giant pink balloon with little fat hooves sticking out and a fluffy, undersized pink tail. Every few seconds a loud, crude snore would issue from somewhere inside the balloon. “I’m sorry,” Fluttershy said quietly. “I was worried about her and I wanted to watch her to make sure she was alright.”

“Did you have to let her eat the entire batch of cookies? You said you made twenty dozen!”

“I actually made forty dozen.”

“Did you put a half sleeping pill in each one like we planned?”

“Yes.”

Dash’s mouth fell open. “Then why did you let her eat them all?!”

“Well, I didn’t want her to be mad at me, so I wrote a letter and told Spike to deliver it to her while I baked the cookies. I was almost finished baking them when Pinkie Pie burst out of the mixing bowl I was using with the letter. She was so happy to hear I was making her cookies, she said she would talk about pinkie pie promises after I had given them to her,” Fluttershy explained.

“You still shouldn’t have let her eat so many.”

“I didn’t!” Fluttershy shrank in her seat, defending herself. “I made her pinkie pie promise to only have one bite before we talked about any other promises. I thought with the plate of cookies in front of her it would make the conversation shorter...”

“Well what happened?”

“She ate one bite.”

“Right, so what happened to all the cookies?”

“Just one bite...” Fluttershy looked down at her tea and shuddered. Dash blinked once and her eyes went wide.

“That can’t be healthy. Or even possible! How...?”

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

The pink balloon in the corner of the room quivered, and the sound of a pony smacking her lips with contentment floated over the dining room. The giant pink balloon rolled a bit, and Dash could see Pinkie’s head now, her tongue hanging out and drooling. She wore a smile even in sleep, and she was still breathing, so she wasn’t dead. Dash shook her head to clear it and said, “I’ll let you worry about that. What I want to talk about is what to do with the students. This is gonna be a tough group. I think we should try a starfall.”

OOOF

The tea cup clinked against the saucer and Dash found herself on her back. Two yellow hooves pinned her to the floor. “No!” Fluttershy barked as she looked right at Dash, intensity burning behind her eyes.

“Hey, lay off me! I was just—” Dash stopped. Fluttershy was staring at her. Dash gulped and mumbled, “O-okay, no starfall.” Dash blinked and found Fluttershy back in her seat, sipping tea with her eyes closed, content. “Uh, see you tomorrow for flight practice,” Dash said as she stood and brushed herself off.

~~~~~

Scootaloo looked out of the treehouse door and into the night sky. Little points of light flickered behind slowly rolling clouds. A thick crescent moon burned brightly tonight, illuminating the countryside in a diffuse, white glow. She could see Sweet Apple Acres with all of the lights off. Ponyville had a few lights on, including the orphanage. Her ears fell as she sighed and mumbled, “They’re probably looking for me.”

Scootaloo jumped into space and buzzed her wings again. This was the seventh time in the past half-hour. It didn’t turn out any different; she still hit the ground a moment later with a thud. Groaning, she struggled to her hooves. She winced again when she found a new scrape along her flank this time. She spat out a blade of grass, shook her mane to remove any loose dirt, and sucked in a breath to steady herself. Climbing up the ramp to the treehouse was getting harder with every attempt. “I’m not giving up, no matter how many times I fall. Only losers give up. That’s what—Rainbow Dash?”

Scootaloo’s ears perked up when she saw an undersaturated rainbow streak fly overhead. “Rainbow Dash!” Scootaloo called out. She was covered in minor wounds, and bags were under her eyes, but she smiled when the rainbow streak stopped.

“Hey, squirt,” Dash said as she drifted down. “Shouldn’t you be in bed?”

Scootaloo could only see a dark silhouette with a rainbow mane. She sighed and nodded her head. “Yeah, I guess so. I just...”

“Up here, squirt,” Dash said, flying up to the treehouse window. Scootaloo had brought a small lantern with a half dozen fireflies inside. Aside from the moon and stars, it was the only source of light. “Let me get a look at you.”

With quick steps, Scootaloo obeyed, and trotted into the treehouse. She stood before the window, with Dash peering at her from outside. The light from the lantern cast deep shadows over Scootaloo’s features, which did nothing to improve her appearance. Dash’s eyes widened slightly when she saw Scootaloo and the injuries she wore. Her mane was a mess, her coat was covered in dirt and scratches, and Dash was fairly certain Scootaloo hadn’t got that bruise from flight practice earlier today. But the look in her eyes, the fire that lurked behind them made her eyes glitter with an inner light...

~~~~~

Many years ago...

Rainbow Dash darted behind the cloud sculpture in the middle of the park. Her father was calling out for her, but she just giggled and flew to the next tree-like cloud sculpture behind his back. She had just learned how to fly three weeks ago, and the smile still hadn’t left her face. She was flying everywhere now, even around the house. She knew it irritated her father when she crashed into things, but he never told her to stop. No matter how many broken dishes, cracked walls, or odd trinkets ended up on the floor, her father never told her to stop flying. He always caught her when she really fell; she hadn’t ever hit the ground at speed.

Now she didn’t need him to catch her. She could recover from a wild free fall, a tumbling arc, even a razor crosswind. She was playing an impromptu game of hide and seek with him, but he didn’t know that yet. She flew low over the wide open cloud; this was the Cloudsdale park, and there were plenty of places to hide if she was careful. She floated by a puddle and saw herself in the water.

She was scruffy—learning how to fly had given her quite a number of minor scrapes and bruises. Her mane was a mess from all the wind shear it had suffered, and she had bags under her eyes. Despite all that, she was smiling, and her eyes glittered with mischief.

She flew behind a thick cloud column, and out of her father’s sight. She glanced over the edge of the park. The ground was so far away that the trees looked like fuzzy green dots, and the rivers looked like silvery wires. A carriage whistled past, the wind tugging her mane in its wake. She always admired the pegasi who pulled the carriages; they had to have powerful wings to move something so heavy so quickly. The sun was sinking low on the horizon, making all of Cloudsdale glow with soft, golden light. Across the empty channel that served as a street, she could see her favorite ice cream parlor. Dash licked her lips as she watched the clerk trot to the front door—and flip the sign from “open” to “closed.”

“Awww, c’mon! I wanted ice cream so bad, I could scream,” Dash whined to nopony.

“aaaaaaaaahhhhHHHHHH!”

“Yeah, like that—huh?!” Dash looked up and saw a little pegasus filly with a pink mane and tail flail her wings and legs uselessly in free fall! She was going to pass right through the “street” and from there it was just a nice long drop to the ground. Without thinking, Dash shot forward.

Her eyes went wide and her heart slammed against her ribs. She stretched out her forelegs and the filly fell into them. Dash felt like she had caught an anvil. It caused her forelegs to instantly snap down. Dash grunted and clenched her teeth, pulling with all of her strength. The filly wrapped her legs around Dash’s barrel in a death grip. They fell below street level.

“Please don’t let me die!” The filly squeaked out.

Dash strained with the extra weight. “Don’t worry... I won’t... drop you.” Her wing muscles burned and her forelegs felt like the candy in the taffy stretcher. Beads of sweat rolled down her face. She gritted her teeth and focused on the ice cream parlor.

With a heave, the two fillies rose over the lip of the cloudy sidewalk and flopped onto it. Dash couldn't do anything but suck in air for several moments. “Oh, oh thank you. You saved my life.” The yellow filly hugged Dash around her barrel and quivered, sobbing quietly. “You’re… awesome.”

Dash smiled and flared her nose; between breaths, she introduced herself. “Yeah, I am awesome, thanks. My name is Rainbow Dash. What’s yours?”

“I’m… um… Fluttershy.” Her voice trailed off, but she smiled at Dash anyway.

A pink pegasus mare with a yellow mane landed heavily next to the two fillies. Her eyes were as wide as dinner plates. “You saved my daughter!”

~~~~~

Dash just stared, her face slack and her eyes unfocused. Scootaloo quirked an eyebrow and leaned back slightly. “Do I have something on my face?”

“N-no, I was just thinking...” Dash stared at Scootaloo a moment more, then nodded to herself. “Hop on squir—kid.” Scootaloo blinked as Dash held her left wing steady, like a bridge, towards the window. It was incredible how she could just hover there using only one wing. “Hurry up, it’s hard to fly this way.” Scootaloo smiled like she had just won a lifetime supply of ice cream. She darted onto Dash’s back and wrapped her forelegs around Dash’s neck. In a flash, they were aloft.

They flew in silence for a few minutes, rising higher and higher. Scootaloo held on tight, but her stomach was still. She nuzzled into Dash’s mane as she felt the powerful muscles flexing on Dash’s back and wings. She glanced down to see the lights of Ponyville shrink to pin pricks. She sighed and laid down. “Where are we going?”

Dash barked out a laugh and said, “I was wondering when you were gonna ask that. We’re going to the First Cloud.”

“The First Cloud?”

“Yeah, just an old, boring pegasus legend…” Dash let the words hang in the air with just the right amount of dramatic mystery.

Scootaloo held in a little gasp. “Tell me, please?” Scootaloo’s eyes grew wider as she stared at the back of Dash’s head.

“Well, I don’t know, it’s kinda boring…”

“Please?”

“Well, okay.” Scootaloo pumped a hoof in triumph before wrapping her forelegs around Dash’s neck again. “The legend says that a long time ago, like a really, really long time ago, when Equestria was still young—”

“Yeah? Cool!” Scootaloo hugged Dash even tighter and held her breath.

“Hey, don’t interrupt, squirt. Where was I? Oh yeah—when Equestra was young the first pegasi roamed free in the sky. They loved the sky so much, they didn’t want to sleep on the ground, but they had no choice.” As Scootaloo let out a quiet yawn, Dash continued, “Ponies didn’t have names back then—they didn’t know how to talk. They did know how to fly, though. One of the first pegasi, a mare with a golden coat and big wings, hated sleeping on the ground. It hurt her back waking up every morning on the cold, rocky ground. This was before there were clouds, before the earth ponies worked the land.” Scootaloo rubbed Dash’s soft mane as she continued with her story. “When night fell, this mare knew she was going to have to fall asleep on the rocky ground again. She was frustrated, and didn’t want to sleep, so she flew in circles as fast as she could. She was just trying to stay awake, but she got lucky.”

“What happened?” Scootaloo asked, yawning again.

“She was flying over a river near an active volcano. There were lots of volcanos back then. Anyway, without knowing it, she funneled the water into the sky all by herself; that’s how awesome she was. The volcano decided to erupt right then, scaring her away. The water fell back to earth, but not before some of it was hit by lava. It flashed into steam and created a big, fluffy, white cloud. The mare didn’t know what it was. She was curious, because she had never seen such a weird thing in the sky. She found it was super soft, and decided to try sleeping on it. In the morning, her back didn’t hurt and she found a weird mark on her flank.”

“She got her cutie mark?!” Scootaloo was awake now.

“Yep. The First Cloud, and the first cutie mark. Her mark was a cloud, obviously, and she kept making more clouds for the other pegasi. But she slept on the First Cloud every night ‘til the end of her days. It’s said that her spirit is in that cloud. She gives her strength to any pegasi that stand on it.”

Scootaloo snickered. “I don’t think an old nag is gonna help me fly; I doubt she can do anything.”

“Really?” Dash said without a hint of sarcasm. “Have you ever seen a golden cloud?”

“Yeah, there’s lots of them around sunset,” Scootaloo replied.

“No, I mean always gold. Just like... that cloud there.” They had been flying higher and higher the whole time during the story. Scootaloo could see many clouds below her, as the two pegasi were far above the cloud layer. But there was a little cloud up here, far higher than the others. Even in the dim light of the stars and moon, Scootaloo could see it was the color of wheat. She gasped, and Dash landed on the cloud. Dash sat on her flank and Scootaloo slid off, her mouth still hanging open. Dash smirked and looked over her shoulder. “So, what do you think now?”

Scootaloo flopped onto the cloud and flapped her limbs, making a cloud angel. She looked up at Dash with wide eyes. “It’s so soft, and it really is gold!” She stood up and dusted herself off, little bits of cloud tumbling from her mane and back. “Can I sleep here? Maybe soak up some flying talent? Or get a cutie mark for cloud sleeping?”

Dash laughed and shook her head. “If you could get a cutie mark for sleeping on a cloud, I would have it. Besides, you gotta get home at some point. I gotta get you into bed.”

Scootaloo snuggled into the cloud, hugging it tight. “But you told me a bedtime story, and then put me on a cloud. So...”

Dash turned and faced Scootaloo with one raised brow. “I didn’t bring you up here to put you to sleep.”

Scootaloo looked up with one raised brow as she asked, “Well, what are we doing here then?”

Dash opened her mouth to reply, but closed it while her brain paused. She looked at Scootaloo with a blank expression. She stared, unblinking for several moments. She nodded to herself, then used her wings to pull Scootaloo in close, hugging her with both wings and forehooves. “Do you trust me, Scootaloo?”

“Um, yeah.” Scootaloo was starting to sweat. She wasn’t lying, but the way Dash was acting made her heart beat and her mouth dry.

“Good. remember, I will always catch you if you fall.”

Scootaloo blinked. Dash paused again, while Scootaloo looked down and gulped. She had never been this high off the ground. Flight practice was a stair step compared to this skyscraper fall. She looked into the distance and could see the horizon; it made a frown-like shape. I can see the curve of the planet! Scootaloo realized. She could see the stars and moon; they were sharp and clear this high up. She gulped again, trying to get rid of that cottony feeling in her mouth. Dash smiled a tired smile at her, and with a tiny flick of her wings, gave Scootaloo a deft push.

And then the world flipped upside down.