For the next few months my schedule was packed. Between going from home to home, school, flying lessons, crusader meetings, scooter practice, and foal sitting Rose Blossom, I barely had any time to myself to just rest and relax, but I didn’t regret any of it.
For the most part living in two houses actually was pretty simple. During the day, as captain of the weather team, Rainbow Dash was on cloud duty and overseeing the creation of the weather. I was usually in school during this time. After school, depending on when she finished up work and if she wanted a nap, I would go to her house. When I spent the night there she’d wake me up in the morning and take me to my grandmare’s house before heading to work.
On weekends when there was no school I’d spend the days with my grandmare. It wasn’t nearly as complex as I assumed it would be, and I got to pretty much spend an equal amount of time with Rainbow Dash and my grandmare. When I jokingly asked my grandmare what she did with all her new free time she answered me back in the same manner that it meant more nap times for her, which made me laugh.
One day I decided it was time for a real test of my abilities. I didn’t want to always wait around for Rainbow Dash to go to her house. It was annoying. Rainbow Dash said it was for my own safety and she didn’t want me to get hurt trying to get to her house because I messed up due to my inexperience along the way.
Most of the pegasi were busy making clouds for a storm the following day, so I saw it as my perfect opportunity. The sun was bright in the sky, and there wasn’t a cloud in sight besides the one Rainbow Dash’s house sat on. No backup, no Rainbow Dash as a net in case something went wrong. In other words, it was all me. It was succeed or face the consequences, and it felt like the challenge I needed to improve my abilities, just like how it was her friend being in danger that pushed her to pull off the sonic rainboom.
With a deep breath I unfurled my wings, reflecting on my lessons. Before a long flight, or pretty much any flight at your stage of development, always make sure to warm up your wings. This will also help to see if there is any tenderness or soreness before you get off the ground. I tensed my wings, and then unclenched, doing it in sets for thirty seconds, before I started rotating them in their sockets for another thirty. My wings flowed smoothly in their movements.
With a small jump to help me start I began flapping my wings. Even after your stretches give yourself a test run, as actually flying pushes your muscles harder than simply moving them around on the ground. I flew in gentle circles, mostly hovering a few feet off the ground. No strain. No pain. I was in good shape, and I was ready!
I flapped my wings harder, seeing the ground slowly getting further away before I started taking measured breaths. Until you master flight always focus on your breathing. The vast majority of crashes for pegasi just learning to fly is mentally related. By focusing on your breathing you don’t get distracted by thoughts of messing up your wing rhythm or crashing, allowing you to focus your energy on the flight itself. I tended to match my breaths to the tempo of my wings. Of course my wings moved too fast for me to breathe in time with, but I set my breathing to every ten flaps or so.
Always know your limits and don’t overexert yourself. If you try to push past your limits you’ll get yourself hurt. I knew my limits pretty well. My homework had progressed to fifteen minutes of continuous hovering before I tired. I also knew from riding my scooter that my stamina would last longer pacing myself than giving it my all and holding nothing back, so I was taking my flight nice and slow.
I could see Rainbow Dash’s house getting closer and closer, the smile on my face getting bigger and bigger. Who would have ever thought I would one day be doing all this on my own? A few months ago I sure didn’t.
It had been about eight minutes when I suddenly felt a touch of nervousness. I was wearing out already. Something was wrong. I know I can go longer than this. A stab of panic hit me, and I slapped my hoof to my head as I realized that in my careful calculations I had missed something totally obvious. I had been measuring the time for hovering alone and I forgot to account for the fact that gaining height required me to flap my wings harder, and thus use up more energy.
I shook my head hard, going back to focusing on my breathing, calming my racing heart and mind. Whatever happens… DO… NOT… PANIC! Panic and worry diminish your ability by half, both in your flying and in your ability to think calmly about your next move. It’s like the mental version of stunted wing. Only with a clear head will you be able to find your way through. After some deep breaths I freed myself of the fears trying to conquer me. I maintained my gentle ascension, knowing if I tried to rush my way up to the top I might exhaust myself in the process and then I’d go plummeting to the ground.
I felt relief as I rose above the clouds and saw Rainbow Dash’s house. I rose above it for a bit, and then tilted myself at a diagonal for my landing, no longer flapping and going on momentum alone. Just before I landed a strong breeze kicked up, my wings catching it and pushing me back and I missed the edge of the cloud by a few inches, now heading towards the ground again.
I was quickly tiring, my wings starting to ache, but I kept revisiting my lessons and planning my next move. My breathing was getting a little heavier. I knew I was starting to run out of time but I pushed those thoughts out of my head. I had to remain calm. Of course I could just head in the direction of the wind and glide down, but that would mean giving up, and I didn’t want to do that. I was so close!
Although at first it seemed the exact opposite of what I should do, I headed further downward at an angle toward the other side of Rainbow’s cloud home. The wind is always stronger the higher you go. Trying to fight it directly will only further tire you out. If you absolutely must fly in the direction of the wind then take it at an angle.
I managed to make it past her home, pulling back up now as I turned around. Now, even though I felt at the end of my stamina, the breeze was working for me instead of against me. With the push from the wind I didn’t have to flap, just float along with the wind as I angled my body to go higher.
With a soft flop I landed on the clouds of Rainbow’s home. I let out a happy whoop, cheering and hopping up and down.
Another strong sudden breeze and this time I felt real panic as I hadn’t thought to fold my wings, and as they caught the breeze they worked against me this time as I flew backwards, doing a backwards spin towards the edge of the clouds. It took all my energy but I managed to close my wings. The breeze stopped just as soon as it came and I found myself falling, nearly tumbling headfirst off the edge.
My heart was racing as I put a hoof over my chest. With a blush on my face I turned myself back around onto my stomach and started crawling toward her house, not wanting to risk being pushed off into the air again. So much for my self-assured victory. I had nearly ruined it by celebrating too soon. Even though no one else was around to see it, I still felt mortified at nearly screwing up and having to be in such a humiliating position so I could be sure I got to her house safely. Rainbow Dash would be so ashamed.
I opened her door, thankfully unlocked, and headed in, going to her room and laying on her bed. I didn’t feel quite as smug and proud of myself now. I had come this close to going over the edge, and without the strength to fly anymore I don’t know if I even would have been able to glide to the ground.
I put my head down, just trying to get my breathing under control again. I closed my eyes, panting for a little while as I stretched my weary wings before folding them back up.
I don’t know if I fell asleep or not, but the next thing I knew Rainbow Dash was calling my name. I looked up at her. “Hi, Rainbow Dash,” I said, rubbing my eyes.
She had a strange look on her face. “How did you get up here? I expected you to be hanging out with your friends until I came to get you. I don’t see a Twinkling balloon outside so did you get another pegasus to help you?”
“Well, um…” Whoops! I hadn’t thought that far along in my grand plan. I decided to be honest. “I… I made it up here by myself.” She scowled at me but didn’t say anything as I went on. “I was tired of feeling helpless and reliant on you to get to my other house so I wanted to see if I could get here without anypony else’s help.” I explained to her about how I had implemented my lessons on my flight up.
She waited until I was done talking then walked up to me and gave me a solid whack on the head with her hoof. It barely hurt, but it sure got my attention quick. “Look, Scootaloo!” she said angrily. “I don’t know what you were thinking trying to do this all by yourself! You’re still training! You’re NOT going to be an expert flier overnight. What if you HAD fallen off the edge when that breeze got you and weren’t able to right yourself in time? Do you have any idea how upset your grandmare would be if I had to go to her and tell her that you were DEAD? DO YOU? This was an unnecessary risk that put your whole life in danger and I am very disappointed in you!” With that she left the room, not sparing me a second glance.
Her words stung me to the depths of my core. And worse… she was absolutely right. I had put too much stock in my own abilities and nearly paid for it at the end. Tears came down my eyes as I let out little sobs. I sat there for a while thinking about my ride. I had done everything right… except for making sure I had someone ready to catch me if I fell. I wanted to push myself but I had put myself in danger for it. If something had gone wrong in my testing of myself everyone else that I loved would have been the ones to pay the price.
Even after the tears stopped I stayed on her bed, not knowing if I could face Rainbow Dash. It felt like a long time had passed when she came back into the room, her face neutral as she sat down next to me. “Well?” she said expectantly when I didn’t break the silence.
“I’m sorry, Rainbow Dash,” I said regretfully. “I knew I was being naughty, but I thought that I would never improve if you were always there to hold my hoof if I screwed up. I thought if I put myself into a difficult situation I’d have to tough it out. I didn’t think of what would happen if I failed, because I didn’t think I would. I really just wanted to impress you. I don’t want to hurt anypony I love, so I won’t do something stupid like that again. I promise.”
“Well, as long as you understand that…” Her face brightened. “Way to go, kid!”
“Huh?” I said dumbly.
“Look, I hate being the responsible one. It’s so totally boring having to give lectures! You’re my little sis now so I have to. I’m still definitely not proud of you for doing something reckless like this, and you better not do it again, but I definitely am proud that you remembered all your lessons and applied them on your journey. At least if you’re going to do something unsafe then you do it as safely as possible. Come here, you little knucklehead!” She grabbed me, rubbing her hoof hard on my head.
“Q-quit it!” I said, trying to get away, but I was still laughing. She was still the same old Rainbow Dash, never wanting to take anything seriously but doing it when she had to.
She made me lunch, and then had me give a detailed, in-depth account of my flight. I had told her the basics before but I had been nervous. She wanted to know everything from my thoughts and feelings during it to the flight itself. As I finished up I said, “I was sure patting myself on the back at the end, up until I nearly was knocked off by that stray gust of wind. Having to crawl back to the house to make sure it didn’t happen again sure made me realize I’m not as strong as I thought.”
“Of course you’re not!” I frowned at her, and that only made her respond, “And don’t give me that look. Kids like you always think you’re better than you are. Just because it’s me teaching you somehow you think that it automatically makes you special, but that’s not the case. You have a lot of work ahead of you. You think that just because you pulled off a simple flight like this correctly that your work is done? If you’re ever planning to get on my level you’re going to have to be more honest about your shortcomings or else you could wind up seriously injured or dead!” I could see that despite what she had said about not wanting to be too serious that she was still sore with me for what I had done.
“I don’t have any excuses. What I did was wrong, and I already promised not to try it again until I get better at flying.”
In a strangely emotional voice she put her wing over me and said, “You’re my little sister now, Scootaloo, and I wouldn’t want to see that happen to you. All that work on training you would be a waste of my time.”
Even I could tell that “wasting her time” was just an excuse. She was scared to lose me, but she had trouble expressing those feelings openly. “I’m sorry,” I said, now feeling bad again.
As we had lived together I began to see more of Rainbow Dash, and I don’t just mean that literally. I mean that I began to see her as a pony instead of just a legend. I could see that she wasn’t perfect, and had fears and doubts and flaws just like anypony else. I started to see the things she hid behind her invincible, superior attitude. Things like she would never have disliked me for having stunted wing, because she wouldn’t dismiss a pony with a disability that honestly couldn’t do things other ponies could do.
Even after getting into an excitable mood she had dropped back to big sister mode, which made me see that I had hurt her and even frightened her. It probably made her wonder what reckless thing I would try next to test myself. I had tried to hurry the process along and take a shortcut, and very nearly paid for it. I should have realized that if I wanted to make it to Rainbow Dash’s level that I should have just trusted her to guide my path instead of trying to find a different way.
“Scootaloo, you’ve got the potential, you’ve got the drive, you’ve got the attitude… but what you don’t have and desperately need is experience. Only experience will help you get to where you need to be. The more you fly and try out new things the more skill you will gain, and the more you will know what to do in an unexpected situation.
"It’s not something that can be rushed. There is no shortcut. There is no easier path. The only way you’re ever going to be truly great is through practice, practice, and more practice. That’s the way I got to the level that I’m at.
You know, I may constantly boast about how I’m the greatest flier ever, but do I always think so? Definitely not. Do I think there are other fliers or athletes out there who are even better than me? Well… not at the moment.” Her gaze lingered on me for a few seconds, a twinkle in her eye and a sly smile on her face, before she continued. I blushed at what she was implying, smiling back at her.
“The thing is, your mind is ever more important than your body in terms of ability. If you think you are weak then your body responds. That’s why I told you back then that I used to have stunted wing, so that’d you believe you’d be okay. And the opposite is also true. If you believe you are strong and can handle anything it won’t make you invincible, but it certainly helps. That’s why I always psych myself up, to try and make myself feel strong so I don’t falter. And, well, sometimes that can lead to becoming overconfident.
“One time I let my abilities go so far to my head that I became arrogant. After helping save a couple of ponies I started craving praise and attention, forgetting the reason I was trying to help ponies in the first place. It got so bad that my friends put on a big performance to humble me, pretending that a new, better mare wearing a mask was out to steal my show. In the end I became so desperate for attention and recognition I was trying to get praise for opening a jar of peanut butter.” She let out an awkward laugh at the memory.
I laughed too. "Really?"
She nodded. “When I found out that it was only them behind the mask I realized just how far over the line I’d allowed myself to go. I had gotten such a bloated ego that I did stupid things, like taking time to boast before I actually rescued anyone, signing autographs because I knew I still had time, or giving a boastful introduction before actually saving anyone.
“What I’m trying to say, Scootaloo, is that I don’t want you to make my mistakes. You have to think, and I mean really think about how your actions can hurt others, because your life is not just yours. A part of it belongs to each of the ponies in your life who care for you. Can you imagine what would happen if the Cutie Mark Crusaders lost a member, and how your friends would react? Or your grandmare? Or even our connected friends like Applejack and Rarity? It causes a ripple effect. Even if they don’t know you as well as I do they will still share the hurt me and Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom will receive, because to see their loved ones hurting is the same as being hurt themselves.
“I… I…” She hesitated, and then sighed. “Okay, fine. I’ll say it. I love you, Scootaloo! Alright? I love you, and I don’t want to see you get hurt. That would break my heart, because I was an only child and I like having a kid sister to look after and teach. I like helping to shape your life and give you the power to make your dreams come true. If I lost you I don’t know what I would do… so you need to stay safe for me, okay?” She gently rubbed my head.
I thought I heard a sniff from her, but I refused to look up at her face. I didn’t want to embarrass her if she was crying. I knew that she hated being seen as emotional. I understood what she was saying. It was something I had already mostly thought of when she had left me alone, but she needed to say it just in case I didn’t get it. “Okay, Rainbow Dash. I’ll be smarter from now on. And I love you, too! You’re the best sister a filly could ask for.” I moved my wing onto her back as well. She had opened up with a lot of things she normally would never say to make sure she got through to me, and I appreciated it.
“I’m glad. I don’t want to have to repeat myself. Now it’s almost time for my afternoon nap, so I’m going to head down and get my tanning chair. You coming?”
“Yeah!” I said.
She grabbed two chairs and flew towards the surface, me right behind her. This was simple enough. Heading down was a lot easier than going up. Since her house was pretty high up and I had my “safety net” in case something went wrong I decided to try some tricks, spinning and twirling.
She laughed as she saw me. “Is that all you got, kid? You’re lucky I’m tired and holding chairs or I’d show you some real tricks.”
I laughed back. “I’m tired too, you know.”
When we landed near the swimming hole she set up the chairs, throwing me a pair of shades as I sat down. I put my hooves behind my head, enjoying the warmth of the sun as I closed my eyes, letting myself drift off to dreams of racing against Rainbow Dash.
After I woke up from my nap I saw Rainbow Dash was already up. I told her I would meet her later and went to my grandmare’s house.
I wanted to tell her about the lesson I learned but she didn’t answer my calls. I thought it was a little strange. Where would she have gone? I looked in her room and I saw a shape under the covers on her bed. I let out a little laugh. She was just taking a nap like I was. I thought of just letting her sleep but I felt impatient. Going by the side of the bed I called her name while gently pushing her, but she didn’t respond. She could sometimes be a heavy sleeper. “Grandmare! Grandmare! Wake up!”
I paused for a moment, letting out a little sigh. Nothing. I guess I would just have to wait. Now that I was just looking at her something felt wrong. As I continued staring I saw just what it was. The blanket wasn’t moving with her breathing. SHE… wasn’t breathing.
I felt a chill go down my back, my own breathing going up. My breath came in little jerks, and I shook her hard. “Grandmare. Grandmare! Wake up!” Tears came down my eyes, blurring my vision. “GRANDMARE! GRANDMARE!
“Not now… not now,” I said in a small voice.
I felt that same body clenching sensation I had when I had first been told my stunted wing was going to be permanent, gasping for breath.
I forced my body up and crawled onto the bed next to her, still trying to wake her. I continued yelling out her name, shaking her as hard as I could, but she didn’t move… didn’t react. I buried my face in her mane and began sobbing uncontrollably.
Why now? WHY NOW? She had been with me through so much! I wanted her to see me grow up! I wanted her to see me become an amazing flier! So why now? Why did she have to leave me now? It wasn’t fair! It’s not fair!
***
Rainbow Dash flew around impatiently. “Darn it! Where is that Scootaloo?” It was almost nighttime. She had to guess that Scootaloo had just decided to sleep at her grandmare’s house that night. “Still!” she said with annoyance, “It would have been nice for her to let me know so I wasn’t waiting around here like an idiot.” Scootaloo knew where to go to wait for her, so it wasn’t like she could get lost. She waited another twenty minutes, when the last of the sun’s rays were fading, to give it up and head home, feeling annoyed at her protégé’s thoughtlessness.
Time passed into the next day. Rainbow Dash had just finished up her work for the day, ready to veg out and take her afternoon nap, when a voice called out to her. She looked down and saw Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle.
“Rainbow Dash!” came the drawl of Apple Bloom.
Suppressing a yawn she said, “Yeah? What it is, girls?”
Sweetie Belle asked, “Have you seen Scootaloo? We’re supposed to be having a big group picnic today with everyone.”
With a flash of annoyance she said, “No! That jerk. She stood me up yesterday, telling me she was going to sleep at my house and then never showed up, leaving me waiting for nothing.”
“I wonder if she’s sick. She wasn’t in school today.”
A touch of worry penetrated her mind. Usually punctual Scootaloo never showed up the previous night, and then didn’t go to school. She shook her head, dismissing her feelings. Scootaloo was probably just sick, like Sweetie Belle said. “Did you try her house?”
“Yeah, but nopony answered. That’s why we came looking for you.”
The worry returned, a little stronger this time, and she wasn’t able to dismiss it as easily as before. “Look, girls. I’ll go have a look around for her. If I find her and she’s okay than I’ll send her to your clubhouse, okay?”
“Okay. Thank ya, Rainbow Dash,” Apple Bloom replied.
“Yeah. Thanks,” said Sweetie Belle, and the two fillies ran off.
Rainbow Dash did a quick sweep around Ponyville, but it was too large of a place to investigate herself. She quickly decided to just check the most obvious place.
She flew to Scootaloo’s house, banging her hoof on the door. “Scootaloo… Scootaloo!” She knocked a few more times. “Are you in there? It’s Rainbow Dash!”
Rainbow Dash didn’t hear anything inside but she couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong. If that wasn’t the case then she could get snapped at for coming in uninvited and beat herself up later for being paranoid.
She pushed the door open, seeing no one. She closed the door behind her as she continued calling out for Scootaloo. She looked in Scootaloo’s room, and then the kitchen, still seeing and hearing nothing. Finally she came upon the last room. The door was open, and as she looked in the room she knew that it belonged to Scootaloo’s grandmare.
She felt simultaneous relief and frustration as she noticed Scootaloo lying down on a bed with something big looking under a blanket. “Scootaloo!” she snapped. She knew the filly wasn’t sleeping. Scootaloo wasn’t a heavy sleeper. “HEY! I’m talking to you!” She walked further into the room when Scootaloo didn’t so much as twitch. “SCOOT-A-LOO!” she said louder and slowly, getting increasingly annoyed. She didn’t like being ignored, and it wasn’t like Scootaloo to do so.
Finally losing her temper she went over and ripped the blanket off, and all her anger disappeared as she took in the filly’s eyes. Scootaloo had a totally blank look in her eyes. There was no life there. She instantly recognized them as the eyes of someone who had completely given up.
She turned her gaze to Peach Cobbler, and saw the mare was still as death, unmoving.
Rainbow Dash had never seen a dead pony. She had never been in a situation like this before, and for one of the few times in her life she didn’t know what to do. She just stood there, shell shocked, and her eyes met Scootaloo’s again. Every once in a while the filly would blink, but beyond that and the very slight movements of her body as she breathed she seemed almost as dead as her grandmare.
“What do I do? What do I do?” Rainbow Dash was almost in a state of panic. Her breathing was heavy. Her body felt heavy. What in the world had happened?
Instinct took over, and she closed her eyes, focusing on her breathing to calm herself just as she had taught Scootaloo. When she calmed down a bit rational thought began returning. “Have to get a doctor.”
She ran outside, intending to yell to get other ponies attention, when she saw Twilight and Fluttershy walk by, each of them with bird feeders they were going to set up for the birds around town. She felt relieved, and ran up to them. “Girls!”
The two of them turned around. “Oh, hi, Rainbow Dash,” said Twilight, though her cheerful tone dropped immediately from the look on Rainbow’s face. “What’s wrong?”
“Twilight, we need a doctor, nurse, whatever… right now!”
“What happened?”
“I just went to Scootaloo’s house, and… and… I think she’s dead!”
“WHAT!” both of them yelled, dropping the bird feeders.
“Scootaloo’s dead?” asked Twilight in a panic.
After a moment of confusion Rainbow snapped, “No! Not Scootaloo. Her grandmare. Just… Fluttershy. Go get a doctor here right away. Twilight, come with me.” They both nodded, Fluttershy running off.
Twilight’s heart was starting to race as she entered the house. She had never attended a funeral either, but she was at least more prepared for what she was about to see. She put a hoof over her mouth as she entered the room, stifling a gasp.
“What’s wrong with her?” asked Rainbow Dash.
“Why are you asking me?” Twilight asked as she saw Scootaloo’s eyes, hopeless and broken.
“Well, you’re the egghead who’s read like every book ever written. You telling me you haven’t seen something like this in one of your millions of books?”
Twilight didn’t answer, walking up to Scootaloo and Peach Cobbler. She put a hoof on Scootaloo, gently shaking her while calling her name. Like before, there was absolutely no reaction from her, like she hadn’t even noticed. “I’m sorry, Rainbow Dash. I have read a lot of books but medical knowledge isn’t my strong suit. And without knowing what happened it’s hard to speculate on why Scootaloo is like this now. It could have been some kind of attack, it could be a spell that went wrong. There are too many possibilities to narrow it down with the little information we have.”
She forced herself to focus on Peach Cobbler. The elderly pony’s face was calm and relaxed, making an attack seem unlikely. Adding to that theory, she couldn’t see anything wrong. At least on the outside. There didn’t appear to be any injuries. If it wasn’t for the fact that she wasn’t moving, Twilight would have thought she was only sleeping. She decided to just leave things to the doctors when they arrived. She certainly wasn’t going to be able to make a diagnosis with her limited knowledge. If it came down to a magical attack by a unicorn with bad intentions then she would step up to stop them, but at current there was nothing she could do.
It seemed to take forever for the hospital workers to arrive. They put Peach Cobbler and Scootaloo in stretchers, wheeling them out and taking them to the hospital.
As Rainbow Dash and Twilight ran behind the cart transporting the two, they suddenly heard voices calling them. Rainbow Dash saw it was the fillies again, this time with their sisters and Pinkie Pie. She looked after the cart for a few moments more, but she knew where it was going. She had some time. It seemed appropriate to tell them the truth. If not they would start thinking the worst.
She stopped, telling all of them to follow them to the hospital. She could see they were worried, but she didn’t know much more than them.
When they got to the waiting room they were told that both Scootaloo and Peach Cobbler were being examined.
It didn’t take long for the nurse to call them in, and the group followed the nurse into Scootaloo’s room. The filly still had that blank look on her face as she sat on her bed.
“My name is Nurse Redheart. Although I haven’t seen her often, I remember Scootaloo and her grandmare from a long time ago, so I thought I would be the best one to… to talk to you about what’s going on.”
“What is it?” asked Rainbow Dash, flying up right inf fronf of the nurse. “Was it an attack? Is she dying? What is it?” With each question she got a little more in the nurses face.
Nurse Redheart backed up a step, saying somberly, “Peach Cobbler is dead. Our examination shows that she died peacefully in her sleep. At her age it’s not surprising.”
She had expected as much. “And what about Scootaloo?” asked Rainbow Dash, closing the distance again.
Nurse Redheart backed up again, saying, “It appears to be plain old shock.”
“Shock?”
“It’s like she’s asleep while being awake,” remarked Sweetie Belle, looking worriedly at her friend.
“That… is one way of putting it,” said the nurse. “When a sudden serious traumatic experience happens, like the death of a loved one, sometimes the pony cannot handle the experience. Thus, right now she has locked herself away so she doesn’t have to deal with it. She’s basically in a catatonic state. She may very well hear everything we’re saying, but she’s not in a fit state of mind to respond to it or process it.”
“Great,” said Rainbow Dash sarcastically. “So when does she come out of it?”
“There’s no telling. It depends on the pony. It may be a few hours, a few days, months, or, in the most extreme cases, never.”
“Never? Never!” Rainbow Dash once again closed the distance between them so their faces were just an inch apart. “What do you mean 'never?' You’re doctors for pony’s sake. Isn’t this part of your job to help out? You want to tell me you can’t do anything for her?”
This time Nurse Redheart stood her ground. “I understand your frustration, but doctors and nurses are only suited to help with physical injuries. Emotional distress is beyond our ability to cure.”
“Then what good are you? You’re completely useless!”
“Rainbow Dash!” Twilight said strongly. “That’s enough.” Her horn glowing, she pulled her friend backwards as she said to the nurse, “I’m sorry about that.”
“No need to apologize,” responded Nurse Redheart. "It’s part of the job to be attacked whenever we cannot fix something. We doctors and nurses do all that we can, but we cannot cure everything. The most we can do is provide her a safe place to stay. What she needs the most now is just to have her friends stay by her side to help her through this.
“If there’s anything you need or if her condition changes, either for the worse or the better, please let us know.” With that she took her leave.
Rainbow Dash sat in a chair, turning to Twilight with an idea plastered on her face. “Hey, Twilight. You’re one of the most skilled unicorns out there besides the princesses. Can’t you use your magic to help her, like that memory spell you used to get rid of Discord’s influence on us?”
A look of distaste crossed Twilight’s features. “You want me to manipulate her memory? And just what would you like me to change? Making her forget her grandmare is dead? Or just making her forget her grandmare existed altogether?”
“Hey! I’m not saying I want to destroy her memories. She told me she was heading to her grandmare’s yesterday, so she was probably trying to deal with this all alone for almost a whole day. It’s no wonder she couldn’t handle it. If we make her forget about the death then she can experience it with all the people who love her here, so she won’t go into shock again.”
“I understand what you’re saying, but it’s not a guarantee that she won’t go into shock just because we’re around, and if that’s the case all we’ll have accomplished is making her relive the pain of loss for nothing. I’m sorry, but even if it was guaranteed she’d be fine I wouldn’t want to do it. Forcing mind manipulation for this goes against my morals.”
“So then you’re just going to do nothing?”
“I’m going to do what the nurse told us to do: be there for her if she needs us.”
Rainbow yelled angrily, kicking a tray and knocking it over. “That’s not good enough!”
“It’s going to have to be. These sorts of things take time to heal, and anyway I don’t know what the result would be if I tried to force my way into her mind. Keep in mind I didn’t actually change any of your memories. Discord implanted fake memories into all of you to get you to act in opposition to your natural element. All I did was push those fake memories aside and brought back your own memories. Even if I could manipulate things it would mean going down a dark path. Where would it stop? Just because I can do a spell doesn’t mean I should. I have to practice restraint so that I don’t abuse my powers, or else I’d be no better than Discord.”
“Whatever!” said Rainbow Dash, crossing her hooves. “I… I just can’t stand it! Scootaloo has been working her tail off for the sake of accomplishing the goal dearest to her heart. We’re alike in so many ways, and I just can’t take seeing her like this. I’m supposed to be her big sister, but all I can do is sit and wait. I’m supposed to protect her, but I can’t do anything to help her!” Before she could think to stop them, tears came down her eyes.
Fluttershy walked over, wiping the tears away before giving Rainbow a nuzzle. “Oh, Rainbow Dash. You’re wrong. Just being here for her is doing something. The same way that, when I’m around you, I don’t feel as afraid as I usually do.”
“Yeah,” said Pinkie Pie halfheartedly. Her mane was a little slumped, threatening to fall down entirely. She actually felt closer to Rainbow Dash’s feelings than the others. Her specialty was throwing parties and cheering other ponies up, but what was she supposed to do with Scootaloo in the condition she was in? Even she knew that death was not something that parties and laughter would fix, so she felt all but useless here.
Twilight walked up to Rainbow Dash too. “I know you feel upset over this, Rainbow Dash. I’d feel the same way if anything happened to you, but Scootaloo needs you right now. No one else can help her like you can.”
“You just said I’m supposed to sit and wait, and now you’re saying I’m the only one who can help her?” asked Rainbow Dash.
“Yes, darling,” said Rarity. “It’s not something you have to think about. It’s instinct. If you’ll observe.” Rarity gestured to Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom. “As you can see, both of our little sisters came to sit on our laps automatically, knowing it was the best place to be to seek out comfort. And we, just as automatically, started rubbing their backs in an attempt to keep them calm.”
“But yer different from us,” said Applejack. “Yer not a big fan of sappiness. Ya believe in confidence and toughness above most things.”
“Gee,” Rainbow Dash said dully. “You make me sound almost like an unfeeling machine.”
“No, Rainbow Dash,” said Twilight. “What they mean, or at least what I think they mean, is that the same method won’t work on Scootaloo. I’m sure you may drop your guard around Scootaloo from time to time, but in her state she’s not able to think about the softer side of you. You’re sitting here, losing your cool and crying, which goes against everything you put into your public persona. The Rainbow Dash that usually goes around town is a top-notch flier, who constantly pumps herself up and sends off an aura of confidence. You’re not showing that right now, so how is Scootaloo supposed to accept the reality of the situation if the Rainbow Dash she knows isn’t being real?”
“Yer not explaining it good, Twilight,” said Applejack. “The thing is, as the older ones, we sometimes have to put our own emotions on hold fer the sake of our siblings. As the biggest example, after me and Apple Bloom’s parents died the both of us were torn up inside. We both shared cries and sadness but, over time, as the older sister, I knew that Apple Bloom wasn’t as emotionally strong as I was, so I had to be the strong one and act like I was fine so that she wouldn’t be as worried or scared. How was she supposed ta come ta me fer help if she thought I was feeling exactly the same way she was?
“Even if ya weren’t the toughest pony around Scootaloo would still be looking ta ya fer strength and guidance. So ya need to calm down so that ya kin help her break out of the shell she’s put herself into.”
Rainbow Dash considered all that her friends were telling her. “I’ve never had to deal with something like this before. What? Just because I’m tough does that mean I can’t ever show a moment of weakness?”
“Of course you can, Rainbow,” said Rarity. “We all understand that you need some time, but out of all of us here you’re simply the best one who has a chance of getting through to her, considering she looks up to you the most. We’re all here with you too, so you take as long as you need to compose yourself.”
Rainbow Dash looked at Scootaloo, at the empty nothingness that showed on her features. Doing nothing and waiting was unacceptable to her. She was a pony of action, not a wimp to just sit idly by while others needed her help. That was why she helped others whenever she saw them in danger, and Scootaloo clearly was in danger. Maybe not physically, but she was undoubtedly on the brink of losing herself and giving up on everything she had fought for over the past year. And, as both a friend and a sister, she refused to let that happen.
“I need to be the strong one for her,” she said to herself. “I am needed here, and I can’t help her by being weak.” She closed her eyes, and began breathing in and out in measured intervals, something she had taught Scootaloo to do to calm herself. She had hardly seen the need to use it since she was incredibly comfortable in the sky. Little by little, she felt her raging emotions begin to ebb, felt like she was becoming herself again. And, when she finally opened her eyes there was a determined look in her face. “Thanks, you guys.” Her friends all told her it was no problem.
She stood up, walking over to the bed Scootaloo was sitting on. She raised her hoof, and gave the filly a hard smack on the head. As usual there was no reaction, like she didn’t feel it. “Hey! I’m not going to keep taking this forever! You think you’re just going to sit in your bed and give up like a quitter? That’s not what I spent all this time on you for! You still have a long way to go, and you better believe I’m not going to allow you to make excuses. You’re going to be at your flying lesson tomorrow if I have to drag you out of this bed and throw you off a cliff. YOU UNDERSTAND ME? I will NOT be ignored by you, you lazy brat!”
At first, there was no reaction. Scootaloo naturally blinked, but then suddenly blinked again a few times. Her eyes moved slightly toward the voice. “Yeah, that’s right! You better not ignore me! Flying lesson! Tomorrow! Same time! Same place! You got that!” Rainbow went to say more, but she was stopped by a clear reaction from her little protégé. A tear came down Scootaloo’s eye, like she was actually beginning to hear her. There was the faintest trace of life in her eyes. It was working. She just had to keep pushing. “I’m not going to keep wasting my breath on a wimp like you. If you give up here then it only means you were never worth my time to start with!” With that she returned to her seat, crossing her hooves and huffing.
All the rest of them were staring at Rainbow Dash, talking like a drill instructor, and wondering if she was maybe going a little too far.
When Rainbow Dash glanced back over at Scootaloo, she saw that a second tear had joined the first. The filly’s eyes were still on her, despite her moving. Something of what she was saying was getting into the child’s head, and it seemed she had finally entered Scootaloo’s vision to an extent. She tested it out, moving to different places around the room. Every time she looked over at Scootaloo she could see the child’s eyes looking into hers. It actually felt a little creepy in a way, as besides the movement of her eyes she was still except for the natural movements of her chest as she breathed.
As Rainbow Dash tried to think of some more things to say she suddenly felt like a lightning bolt had gone through her. Smacking a hoof to her head she said, “I can’t believe I forgot!”
“Forgot what?” asked Twilight.
“Peach Cobbler! She left me a note to give to Scootaloo in case anything ever happened to her. I don’t know what’s in it but if anything can get through to Scootaloo it would be the last words of her grandmare.”
“Yeah. That just might work.”
“It’s at my house. I’ll be right back. Keep looking after her for me until I return.”
As Rainbow Dash started to leave the room she was stopped by a noise, almost so quiet she missed it, but one that caught her attention completely like it had been deafening. She turned around, and she could see everyone was looking at Scootaloo. Like before the child’s eyes were looking at her, more tears coming down her eyes.
“I’m sorry, kid. I’ll be right back, I promise.” She felt guilty, even if she was doing what was necessary. As she slowly tried to leave the room she was stopped again by the same noise. Her head turned around as she tried to keep walking out of the room, but she couldn’t. Rainbow Dash felt her heart breaking as she saw the tears pouring down her sister’s face. Scootaloo was making noises like an infant as she strained with all her might to talk, to tell Rainbow to stay even without words. It only made it clearer that Scootaloo was still conscious to a degree. She had some awareness of her surroundings even if she was still out of it.
This whole situation was caused by the loss of someone she loved. Snapping at Scootaloo had been what had slowly been getting her attention. What if leaving caused her to shut herself away again? What if she couldn’t get through to Scootaloo a second time, and that was enough to break her spirit for good? She’d never be able to forgive herself if that was the case.
Giving it up she went and sat down on the bed next to Scootaloo, and it became quiet again. She felt certain that whatever her grandmare had left Scootaloo in her final words would help Scootaloo out of her shock, but she couldn’t leave. She smacked her head again as she realized something so obvious it escaped her attention. “Fluttershy!”
“Huh?” she responded with a jump from the sudden loudness. “W-what is it, Rainbow Dash?”
“You’re a pegasus too. Why don’t you go to my house and get the letter?”
“Oh! Um, well… I don’t know if I can make it. You know I’m not that good of a flier.”
“Fluttershy, this is important! You’ve shown to be a good flier when your friend’s lives are in danger. Well, doesn’t Scootaloo qualify?”
“Oh, yes, but, um…”
Twilight stepped between them, feeling like this was going to go nowhere. “Fluttershy, you can glide pretty easily, right?”
“Yes…”
“So how about this? I’ll teleport you up to her house and get the hard part out of the way, then all you need to do is glide down to the ground. Simple. And if you get scared coming down and your wings lock up like they do sometimes I’ll use my magic to bring you safely to the ground. That sound fair?”
“Um…” She looked at Scootaloo, sighed, then turned to Twilight and nodded. “I’ll do it.”
Rainbow Dash spoke up. “Great. It’s in the middle of the very first Daring Do book that Twilight gave me.”
“Gotcha.”
Twilight and Fluttershy left the hospital, promising to return soon.
Rainbow Dash pulled Scootaloo onto her lap and began rubbing her back like she had seen her friends do. In her mind she was wondering if that was what her friends really thought of her. If they thought the tough side of her was all she was made of. She knew that she usually played it up like she needed no one and was the strongest pony in town but she didn’t only ever feel that way. She needed her friends just as much as they needed her.
She suddenly shook her head. She knew she was getting too far into herself, and losing her focus on Scootaloo. There would be time to talk to them about that later. Right now she had to keep her attention on Scootaloo. She could have sworn, as she continued her gentle rubbing, that Scootaloo snuggled in closer to her.
Ten minutes passed before Twilight and Fluttershy returned. “We got it!” said Twilight.
“It wasn’t as bad as I thought, but it was still pretty scary,” said Fluttershy. Out of her saddlebag she pulled out an envelope. “Here you go, Rainbow Dash.”
As Rainbow Dash took it she opened it up. She considered that ordinarily she never would have done this. Even as close as they were, she still felt it was incredibly rude to go reading out a personal letter that she had no involvement in, never mind in front of all her friends, but current circumstances wouldn’t allow her to simply not do it.
After ripping open the sealed letter she unfolded the pieces of paper inside, finding the start. Clearing her throat she began reading:
“Dear Scootaloo, it’s your grandmare Peach Cobbler here. If you’re reading this then it means I am dead and that Rainbow Dash has given you the letter I told her to hold onto in case anything happened to me.
“Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about life. More specifically… the end of my life. It’s just something that comes with age. You begin to think about what you’ve accomplished and what you left unfinished. You think about how each day is a gift to be enjoyed with those you love and care for. Even though the doctors tell me I’m healthy for my age I know my end is going to come sooner or later, and I feel now that I’m prepared for that inevitable moment. I was so scared of dying before, because I didn’t know what was to become of you. However, now I know I have nothing to be scared of. You have a whole bunch of friends now, and Rainbow Dash showed she was willing to take you in. And now you’re flying like a little champion, even saving a life. It couldn’t make me happier.”
Rainbow stopped for a moment, feeling Scootaloo shaking ever so slightly on her lap. Tears were coming down her eyes again. She started making those same baby-sounding noises like before, and Rainbow Dash could see that she should continue.
“When I asked Rainbow Dash to take you in, and you came back to me wondering if that meant I didn’t want you anymore it nearly broke my heart. I can’t even begin to tell you how much I love you and what you mean to me. Although maybe that’s to be expected, considering I didn’t tell you a lot about my past. Sometimes… growing to old age can be cruel. The longer you live the more friends and connections you make with others. The cost of that love is pain. One by one, I lost my friends and family. I attended numerous funerals, but each time I bounced back, because of the people I still had left. The day came that all I had left was my husband and my daughter, and then I lost him too in an accident at the construction yard. I kept myself together for her sake, as she was only about your age at the time. For the longest time I didn’t want to get involved with anyone else, putting my all into caring for my daughter.
“I watched her grow up happy, even without a father in her life. I got good news after good news. She had graduated college with high honors. She had found a good stallion. She was getting married. She had a fantastic honeymoon. And then the greatest news of all: she was pregnant. I was going to get my first grandchild. I was so ecstatic I paid for a fancy trip for the two of them to celebrate. And… they never came home. There was a terrible accident, and all three of them died.”
Rainbow Dash took a deep breath, having to stop for a moment. Taking a quick look around she could see all of them were crying slightly like her. She had never got the impression that Peach Cobbler was so hurt inside. She knew herself that one day she’d either lose her friends or her friends would lose her. Pain is the eventual price of love. That was so correct.
Mentally preparing herself she continued on.
“It was the most devastating day of my life. It was the day I thought my heart was broken for good. I was left all alone with nobody to care about if I was alive or dead. Really, I felt like I was already dead. I couldn’t sleep properly and I just went through life for the next month without really paying attention to anything. Somehow, though, I was still alive. I guess I had been taking care of myself in some way, though I don’t remember any of it.
“I probably would have left this life full of hurt and regrets, continuing to live a meaningless existence, if it wasn’t for a certain walk I took in the middle of the night.
“Since I couldn’t sleep at night I had taken to nighttime walks. It felt better that way. It would be dark like the feeling in my heart. I wouldn’t have to worry about ponies asking me if I was okay. I had no interest in interacting with others and risking being hurt again. At least… not until one fateful night when I noticed what looked like a pegasus sleeping near the forest. At first I was going to ignore them, but as I got closer I could see that it looked like an infant.
“I went to investigate, and I saw an injured baby, her wings sticking out at crooked angles and unconscious. I got her help. I know I’ve told you this story of how I found you so many times, but I want you to understand how important it was for me and my life. From the first time I saw you cry after waking up in the hospital you awakened my natural motherly instincts. I just had to hold you and comfort you. As I held you to me and you began settling down… from that first moment I knew. I knew I didn’t want to let you go. I went to visit you every day because I finally felt like I was needed again. Little by little you wormed your way into my soul, freeing me from the black clouds covering my heart and releasing the love I had locked away.” Ordinarily Rainbow Dash would have been put-off by such a sappy line, but even she couldn’t find any fault in it. It just made so clear how much Peach Cobbler had loved Scootaloo.
“When the day came where you could go home and still nobody had come forward to claim you I was asked if I wanted to adopt you. If I hadn’t you would have been sent to an orphanage. At first I was hesitant. I was scared of losing you. I was scared of what would happen to you if I died, since you were still in recovery. But, as I looked down at you, and you started playing peek-a-boo with me… I just knew that I didn’t have any choice in the matter. Not taking you in would have destroyed me. I couldn’t imagine a life that didn’t involve you. You finally opened up my life again, and I decided to do all I could to return the favor and make sure that every day I’d give you all the joy and love I could.
“You gave meaning to my life again. Each day I took care of you felt like another step toward happiness and the sunny life I had lived before. I raised you as my own grandchild, part of me imagining you were the special grandbaby that I had never gotten to see from my daughter. I watched you grow from a helpless baby into a strong, sometimes headstrong, filly. I watched you make some important friends who understood your pain of lacking a cutie mark and resolved to work together no matter what. I watched you struggle with your stunted wing, and overcome it with the help of a certain blue pegasus.
“There will be many struggles and difficulties in the days and years to come, but I truly believe that you can handle anything that comes your way. You’ve got the heart of a champion inside you. I just know that one day, whether it be with your wings or your scooter, that you’ll become an athlete known the world over. So no matter what…,” Rainbow Dash smiled warmly as she read the rest of the line in her mind, and continued in an excited voice, “…you better make sure you beat that Rainbow Dash and show her what you’re really made of! I have the utmost confidence that one day you’ll surpass her in every way and make all your dreams come true. Nothing could make me prouder of you than that.”
Scootaloo began quivering hard in Rainbow’s lap, her breathing starting to get shorter and shorter, and then like a volcano she erupted into tears, sobbing her heart out as the story of her grandmare’s past and how it related to why she was so important, of believing in her even unto her death, finally got through to her. It built up and up and up until she just couldn’t contain it inside. She buried her head in Rainbow's chest, and Rainbow just held her back, a half-smile on her lips. She was glad that Scootaloo seemed to have regained her consciousness, but Scootaloo had still lost her most treasured family member.
Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle each hopped off their sister’s laps, jumping onto the bed with their friend and hugging her, tears streaming down their eyes as well.
It took some time for all of them to settle down. When Scootaloo finally looked back up at her this time she couldn’t suppress a real smile as she saw that, though they were sad and red from crying, her sisters eyes had regained their light.
“Rainbow Dash,” Scootaloo started.
“Yes, squirt?”
“Can… can you keep going? Is there more?”
“A little bit. Umm, let’s see…” She picked up the letter again, starting from the previous line. “And nothing could make me prouder of you than that. Even Rainbow Dash herself would wish that for you as your sister, although she probably wouldn’t want that as a competitor. But given how she plays herself up as the best flier in Equestria maybe she needs a good rival to show her who’s boss.”
She stopped reading again. “Your grandmare has really high hopes for you, kid. You better live up to them. Like I told you before I don’t ever let myself get lazy, but I sure could use a rival who’s worth my time. A certain orange-coated, pink-maned pegasus. I suppose if you ever managed to beat me it would make me work just that much harder to never let it happen again. Ponies grow by leaps and bounds when chasing after a rival with all their heart.”
“I’ll do my best. No… better than my best!” Her spirit quickly left her as she nudged Rainbow Dash, who got the message.
“Above all else, don’t you EVER EVER NEVER quit! You have so much potential inside of you that even the best flier around saw fit to personally train you and make you her sister. Work hard, become stronger, go through life with your head held high and live a life of joy. Don’t ever live a life that will leave you full of regrets.
"And, most important of all, don’t let my death be the end. I may be gone, but I’ll still always live on inside of you in your heart, unforgotten. No matter how hard things get you must keep pushing ahead. When I was on the brink of giving up you came along and showed me that my life could still go on. You’ll make plenty of mistakes along the way, but that’s a part of life and necessary for growing up and getting experience. There will be times when you’ll get discouraged, when you feel heavy and down, but you shouldn’t worry about that too much. You’re surrounded by ponies that would do anything it takes to help you. You have nothing to fear.”
“That’s right!” Sweetie Belle said.
“Ferever an’ ferever!” Apple Bloom added in. “We ain’t never gonna letcha give up. All three of us are growin’ up now. We can’t stop here without even a cutie mark to show for it.”
Scootaloo couldn’t help but let a little smile come to her lips as her friends hugged her again. “Thanks… everyone.”
Rainbow Dash said, “Just the ending left. With everlasting love and boundless pride, your grandmare forever, Peach Cobbler.”
Scootaloo sat there unmoving for a little while, a thoughtful look on her face as she absorbed what she heard. “Could you read it again?” she asked.
“Of course.”
In the end she asked for it a third time before she was satisfied. All of them stayed with her as she left her room to go see her grandmare.
***
The walk there felt like it took forever, but I had a whole group of ponies by my side to help me up if I needed it. I held my breath as I stood outside the door, gathering my courage before finally pushing it open.
I saw Grandmare there, a blanket over her and her eyes closed like she was just sleeping. Slowly I climbed onto the bed, walking over to her. My legs lost all their strength and I collapsed. I put my hooves around her neck, the tears starting again. “I love you too! I’ll always love you! Thank you for believing in me and taking care of me all this time. I… I…” I closed my eyes, but I could still feel the tears coming out regardless. “I don’t want to quit either. I’m going to do it. I’ll fulfill your final wish, no matter how many years it takes.”
Rainbow Dash came over, putting a hoof on my grandmare’s shoulder. “That’s right. I’ll be there to help her every step of the way. It’s the least I can do to thank you for entrusting me with your most precious possession.” Now she looked at me. “It’s you and me, kid. Sisters forever, through thick and thin.”
I stood back up, going over to her and hugging her now. “Thank you, Rainbow Dash. That means a lot to me.”
The next few days passed by like a blur. I can barely remember any of it. There was a small funeral service for my grandmare since she really didn’t have any relationships with anypony besides me and, to a small degree, Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie. I stayed close by Rainbow Dash during that time. The note from my grandmare was very inspirational and helped me see a lot about her I didn’t know, but… it couldn’t just erase the feeling of loss I had inside. My heart ached and burned from it, and several times I felt such a strong wave of despair threaten to overwhelm me I got scared I was going to go into that empty state again. As much as I loved Rainbow Dash she just couldn’t make up for what I had lost, no matter how kind and compassionate she tried to be.
As the days went on I could see a problem. A big problem that was going to come up the longer I lived with Rainbow Dash. And there was nothing I could do about it. No matter what I did it was going to come up sooner or later, and then my life would be ruined for good.
I left her behind at the house, now a full week since my grandmare died, and just decided to try what my grandmare did after she had lost someone she loved: I went for a walk. I didn’t know if that would help but I just went wandering around for hours, not talking to anyone else, just observing everything around me but not really seeing it.
What was I supposed to do now? I felt so lost. There had to be an answer somewhere, but it sure didn’t seem like I was going to find it by looking at trees and birds. I’m sure Fluttershy might recommend an animal to cheer me up, but I knew that wasn’t going to work.
I was pulled out of my thoughts by a voice calling my name. I turned around and my heart sank even further, if that was even possible. It was Star Gazer and Rose Blossom. She was riding on her mother’s back, holding her mom around the neck and giggling.
“Scootaloo, where have-” started Star Gazer, but then she stopped. I guess the look on my face said enough. “What’s wrong? What happened?”
My body started shaking. That burning jealously I had only felt once before came to the surface. “Shut up! Stop acting like you care! You just stand there showing off how great you are and make fun of me! I hate you!” I started running off, but not looking where I was going I tripped over a rock, banging my knees on the ground and skidding a little bit. I began sobbing before I could stop it, and the small pain was barely the reason. I curled up into a ball, trying to block out the world.
I felt a wing on my shoulder. “What happened, Scootaloo?” Star Gazer asked in a concerned voice. “You and your friends didn’t show up for your weekly foalsitting job.”
“She’s dead,” I said through my sobs. “She’s dead! My grandmare is dead!”
I heard a gasp from her. “Oh, I’m so sorry, Scootaloo.”
“My life is over! Rainbow Dash took me in, but it’s going to end terribly. I know that!”
“Why do you think that? Doesn’t she love you?”
“Of course she does! But I know her! She’s an action pony. She’s not a pony to be tied down and be a full time sister. That’s why it worked so well before, because I could go back and forth between houses as I wanted. She’s still young, and still has her job as the captain of the weather team. She also wants to be a Wonderbolt, and that’s been her dream since she was a filly. She’s not going to give it up for me. And even if she did she would hate me for it. I wouldn’t want her to do it, anyway. Because of my stunted wing I know the feeling of having your dreams destroyed. I could never force her to have that same feeling. I… I just don’t know what to do!” I hugged myself, feeling so lost.
I could feel the soft touch of something on my side. When I turned to look I could see Rose Blossom, tears coming down her eyes as she saw I was upset. She put her hooves on my face, wiping away my tears. “No cry, Scootieloo. No cry.” Without a thought I pulled her to my lap, hugging her.
Star Gazer moved around to the front of me, sitting down. I looked into her eyes, and I saw a weird look on her face. She wore a smile on her mouth, but her eyes looked sad. “Well, Scootaloo… if that’s the case then… would you like to come live with us?”
“Huh?” I said, blinking repeatedly, not sure if I heard her correctly.
“Well, I’m not going to go into the messy details but there were some complications with Rose Blossom’s birth. The two of us are alright and we’ll get to live normal lives, but because of that I was told I wouldn’t be able to have any other children naturally. So the next plan was to adopt a child. We were going to wait until Rose Blossom was at least two years old as we didn’t want her to feel neglected, and we also wanted to just enjoy the first life we created together before we took in a second. Now that things have gone this way though, circumstances have changed.”
A cold chill went through my entire body, and I felt like I couldn’t breathe properly. “B-but… d-does your husband…? Would he really be alright with that?”
“Truth be told, the two of us wished we could have had you sooner. Rose Blossom is awfully attached to you, and you’ve already shown you’re willing to risk yourself to save her. You’ve more than proven yourself as big sister material, and it would make her happy too to have you every day. And because we all already know each other we don’t have to worry about establishing relationships or feelings of neglect.
"You’re now a pony who needs a family, so the both of us would have no problems taking you in and continuing where your grandmare left off if you want us. I in no way mean to demean your grandmare, as she did a fantastic job of raising you as her grandchild, but I think every pony should know what it feels like to have a mom.”
“A… a mom?” The word caused my stomach to start wriggling, like there were worms crawling around in it. I had stopped crying.
“I’m guessing that’s what you meant by me 'showing off' and 'making fun of you.' You felt envious of Rose Blossom for having what you never did. So how about it? Will you have me? Will you join our family? You saved my daughter’s life, and now I finally have the chance to return the favor by saving yours. I’d be overjoyed to have you as a second daughter.”
“B-be your daughter? J-j-join your family?” I said slowly, looking into her kind eyes, so familiar to my grandmare’s. I started shaking again, little laughs coming out, happy tears coming down my eyes as I set Rose Blossom on the ground. I jumped up and cried out, “MOM!” I said it like I had done it all my life. I threw my hooves around her. “Mom! I finally have a mom! And a dad! And a little sister!
“My answer is YES! Yes yes yes yes yes! Infinity times yes!”
She sat down and pulled me into her lap, holding me close to her, her love being obvious. It surrounded me like a warm glove, soothing my rampaging emotions. "I’m so glad to hear that, Scootaloo… my wonderful new daughter.” She really meant it. She truly did love me.
Rose Blossom forced her way into our hug, feeling a little jealous. The two of us just let her join in. I felt so happy! It felt like something that I hadn’t even known was missing had been found.
For a while we just sat there in our little group hug, but then I pulled away first. “Well, this good news shouldn’t be kept just between us. We need to tell Cloud Hunter!”
“You’re right. Come on.”
We got up, and Star Gazer placed Rose Blossom on my back. “Hold on tight now.”
“Howd on tight!” she responded, and I felt her hooves tighten around my neck. “Go! Go! Go!”
At first I walked, not wanting her to fall off, but Star Gazer told me I could go faster, so I began trotting. I could feel her bouncing around from it, and hear her laughter as she came along for the ride. I thought of Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Rarity. Is this what it felt like to them, having a younger sister to look after? It sure felt good to me.
When we reached her house we went inside. I saw Cloud Hunter sitting back in a chair. When he saw us he greeted all of us. I was bouncing on my hooves, and he asked me what had gotten me so excited.
Star Gazer gestured at me. “Meet our new daughter!”
A confused look came to his face. “What do you mean?”
“Her grandmare passed away, and she needs a new place to live. I asked her about it, and she said she’d be glad to move in with us.”
“That’s great!” he said, jumping up. “Um… I mean, it’s a tragedy that you lost your grandmare, but I’m glad you want to come live with us.”
I ran over to him, jumping into his hooves. “Dad!” I said happily. I felt such a thrill in my tummy at being able to say those words to someone for the first time.
He held me back, and I felt that same loving feeling from him that I got from Star Gazer. So he meant it too. The two of them really did want me, and I knew Rose Blossom loved me already. And they were a pegasus family as well. I have absolutely nothing against earth ponies. One of my best friends is one and I had also been raised by one, but… this just felt right. I knew this was where I belonged. That heaviness that had been threatening to destroy me felt like it was gone.
I told them I had to leave. My grandmare had made Rainbow Dash my guardian so I’d have to get her permission to move in with them.
I ran until I saw her sitting on a cloud above me, and I called out her name. When she saw me she hopped off the cloud, and flew down to me. “Where have you been?” she snapped. “I’ve been looking all over for you. Why did you just take off like that?”
“I needed some time to myself, and it paid off a lot.”
“You sure look happy. What happened?”
I stopped, wondering if I was about to hurt her feelings. But… I knew she would understand. “I found another house to live in.”
“What?” she asked, a frown on her face. “Who?”
“Rose Blossom’s parents.”
“Oh yeah. That baby you saved. What about it?”
“Her mom said that they were looking to adopt a foal already, so when I told her about what happened to me she offered to let me move in with her as payback for when I helped her daughter.” I could see she looked a little put-out so I explained my reasons to her, about being considerate of her own dream and the joy I felt at having a set of parents.
She sat down next to me, putting a wing around me and holding me to her. “Oh, kid. Will I ever stop underestimating you? I did say I’d look out for you no matter what, but I don’t know how I would have felt about you if I had to give up my chance of being a Wonderbolt for you. I’d like to think that it wouldn’t bug me, or we’d make it work out somehow, but you make a good point. You need more than just me. You deserve to have a good, loving family. It will make things easier on both of us if we’re not together all the time, but if you ever need anything, anything at all, just come tell me and I’ll try to get it for you. Just because you have them I know it doesn’t mean you don’t need me anymore, right?”
“Of course not! I still need you just as much as before. Now that even my grandmare wanted me to become great and not quit I need a good coach. So I’ll make sure I come see you just like before.”
“That’s good to hear.
“I’ll go down to the adoption agency and transfer custody over to them.” She looked me in the eye and was quiet for a while. She ran her hoof through my mane, pushing it back a little, and said tenderly, “I’m glad to see that you’re doing better, kid. You really scared me, you know? I didn’t know if the Scootaloo I knew and loved was ever going to come back.”
“Of course I did, because I had you to help me through it.”
“Okay, squirt. Because of what happened there hasn’t been time for flying practice. You’re behind now so what do you say we make up for it tomorrow?”
“Okay.” I nodded. “It’s a deal.”
The next day, after our flying practice, Rainbow Dash gave me a set of papers to have them fill out, and soon enough it was official. They now really were my parents. Parents! I had parents now! I never ever thought I’d ever be able to have a mom and dad to call my own. All I had ever known was my grandmare for the longest time. I got a sister when Rainbow Dash offered, and now I had a family. Well… a bigger family.
Things were getting better all the time. I was finally on the right path again. The path that led to my dream. I was determined not to let anything stand in my way.
Of course, just like with my grandmare’s note, my new family wasn’t able to erase all my heartache. It helped out a lot, but it couldn’t just erase all those years of memories with her. It couldn’t erase knowing I’d never see her smile again.
I returned one last time, alone, to say my goodbyes to my old house. I went to each of the rooms in the house, just remembering everything we had done together. Her room, where I had learned to go to at night when I couldn’t sleep; my room, where she had tucked me in and read me stories; the living room, where she had let me sit on her lap in her rocking chair and nap together; the kitchen, where we had cooked together, talking about our days. I spent over an hour just trying to remember every single thing we had done together.
She had known. She didn’t know when exactly it would be, but she had known that she was going to die sometime soon and had prepared ahead so I wouldn’t feel guilty, like it had been my spending less time with her that had led to her dying earlier.
I went to my room, going to the closet and pulling a sealed bag off the top shelf. I went back to the living room, sitting in her rocking chair as I opened it up. Out of it came a white blanket that had definitely seen better days. It had been washed before it was locked away but it still had a bunch of holes and rips in it. It was the blanket she had found near where I had fallen all those years ago. As I unfolded it the pegasus wing medallion fell out of it, the one that contained the name my parents had lovingly given me. Or, at least I believed it was with love.
As I had grown I had always favored this blanket, mostly because it and the medallion were the only reminders I had that someone had been caring for me before my grandmare. While I didn’t know for sure it was my parents who had been carrying me that night, given that it had been the middle of the night and I was so young, I couldn’t imagine it being anyone else.
I wrapped the blanket around me and began rocking back and forth, and I started crying very softly. No sobbing or anything like that. I felt such competing desires of happiness and sadness that I couldn’t decide which one I felt more. I found myself wondering, as I sometimes did before, what my parents would think of me if they could see me now. Would they approve of who I was? Going by the other ponies in my life who all praised my potential I like to think they would have been fine with the way I turned out. My life wasn’t perfect, and neither was I, but I was on my way, growing stronger and smarter every day.
I would grow beyond this! If I stopped here then no one would be happy. Not my friends, not my family, and certainly not me. There were many steps ahead on the path that led to beating Rainbow Dash and fulfilling my grandmare’s last wish. I knew that wish was still far off in the future because, as Rainbow Dash had said, there was no other ways about it. There weren’t any shortcuts.
The only way I would ever reach her level was by working hard and working harder, getting all the practice and experience I possibly could. And that was going to take a lot of time. Years of time. Perhaps even decades, as Rainbow Dash was still growing too. But if that was what it took I was willing to do it. No! I was going to do it.
Having come to that conclusion I felt a lot calmer and surer about my path. There was nothing to fear, not as long as I was surrounded by so many loving ponies. I closed my eyes, feeling relaxed as the back and forth motions caused me to feel sleepy. I imagined I was on my grandmare’s lap. I could almost feel her hoof rubbing my back; almost hear her voice saying something loving.
When I woke up from my nap I felt invigorated. I was ready for more practice. I took one last look around, grabbing a bag and taking the most important things with me, like all our photographs together, the blanket and medallion, and my favorite childhood book. And, naturally, my scooter. I walked through the house, where I had first began to grow as a pony through the early stages of my life. Now I was simply heading to a different stage, where I was going to grow into an adult. Life would be different, but the love would still be the same, so I knew there was nothing to fear.
As I left I gave it a final look, telling myself I wouldn’t come back here again. Focusing on the past and sad memories would only hold me back from the future my grandmare saw for me, and I knew she wouldn’t want that. There was no one else to give the house to, so I guess technically it was mine now. It that was true then I thought maybe I would come back when I was ready to start my own family, if it was still empty by then.
I threw myself into my training like never before. It was like a never-ending passion that only straight out exhaustion could stop, but only temporarily. I took all my grief, all my sadness, all my pain, and turned it into training fuel. I had Rainbow Dash standing beside me the whole way, alternating between praise and insults. Our training sessions began getting longer and longer as I improved, and I was glad for it. Let her move success further away from me, and I’d only work that much harder to close the gap.
Just like when I first started training, I went home with my wings burning and throbbing from going longer, and I’d usually be sweating so much by the end I could probably make a river out of it. But I persevered through it all, never complaining, only focused on making myself stronger.
When I was through with training, I would go home to my family and wash up, then I’d either play with Rose Blossom or just sit on one of their laps and rest.
Before I knew it six months had gone by since my grandmare had passed, and I got a real shock when Rainbow Dash took me to our usual after training trip to Sugarcube Corner one day and I saw all the ponies I loved gathered there, yelling out, “SURPRISE!”
It was my birthday. I had been so wrapped up in my training that I had totally forgotten about my birthday. It was a great party. Pinkie Pie had set it up with her usual flair. We ate, drank, played, laughed, danced, and just had a great time.
When it was time for presents Rainbow Dash said she had a message for me. “Scootaloo, you’re only getting one present this year.”
“Well, duh. I don’t expect you to buy me a ton of gifts.”
“No, kid. I mean you’re only getting one present in total, and I’m talking about everyone else here. With your birthday coming up all of us wanted to get you something really special and valuable that you’d treasure for a long time. Sure, I could have bought it all by myself, but I asked everyone else to chip in so that each of them had a hoof in getting it for you. Each of us want to help you out, and we want you to think of us all being alongside you when you use it since we each put a part of our hearts in it.”
I nodded. “Okay. That sounds great! So come on! What is it? What is it?”
“Close your eyes and cover your face.” I complied, waiting for the signal.
When she told me it was okay I put my hooves down and gasped. “Wow! You… you got me a new scooter?” I ran over to it and examined it.
“Yeah. I noticed you’re outgrowing the one you’re using now, so I figure it’s time to put away the kiddy toy and start driving around with the big girl scooter.”
She was right. I was starting to have trouble keeping both hooves on the board comfortably, and I had to hunch down to keep a good grip on the handlebars. This one was bigger and more suited for the size I was.
A part of me felt sad about my gift though. My first scooter was a special present my grandmare had put her heart into giving me. How could I abandon it after all we had been through together? But… that was right. It was a special gift she had gotten me to cheer me up when I had first thought I couldn’t fly. Now that she was gone it was one of my few mementos of her, and so I wanted to keep it safe. Trying to ride something I had outgrown was likely to make me wreck it, and I wouldn’t be able to stand that.
Of course I knew that the scooter itself wasn’t the source of my grandmare’s love. It was still there within me, but I wanted to protect what she had left behind. Now I had the hopes and dreams of all my family and friends bestowed upon my new scooter, so it would make me much more powerful, knowing each of them had had a hoof in getting it for me. I thanked and hugged every single one of them, loving my gift. I gave it a test run, and it was the perfect size for me. It handled so smooth.
Another year passed, and each day I found myself working hard, striving toward my future self, the one that Rainbow Dash and my grandmare saw in me, tirelessly working out a few hours a day before calling it quits. Even if I could have kept going I knew that my parents and Rose Blossom would miss me too much if I spent too much time out. And the same goes for me. I wanted to have time to spend with all of them too. I didn’t want to miss any opportunities to make new happy memories with them.