//------------------------------// // Day 1: Arrival // Story: Scoot Camp // by theNDinspector //------------------------------// It was a cool, brisk morning as Scootaloo soared high in the sky. The sensation of flight was wonderful as wind whipped through her mane. The ground was far bellow, as if she was defying gravity itself. She could move in any direction she wanted to. The sky was, quite literally, her limit. She felt free. It was amazing what a pesagus could do. The sensation was so wonderful that it was worth the wait and all those years of hard work, trial and error; just to reach this point. On her way to the Wonderbolt Academy, she pondered these feelings. Then she thought about the first time in which she took flight completely on her own. *** It was a rough day. Scootaloo had tried for hours, yet she still couldn’t fly. It just wasn’t fair! She had seen newborn foals take flight and yet she was still grounded. No matter how hard she tried or how long she practiced, she just couldn’t get off the ground. Why was the universe against her? Things were looking up when she had finally got her cutie mark—a scooter wheel leaving a single lightning bolt trail. She was fantastic in extreme roller sports, almost without equal, particularly on a scooter. Yet here she was; a pegusus pony who couldn’t fly. “Listen Scootaloo, maybe you’ll fly someday, maybe you won’t. You’re all kinds of awesome anyway,” Rainbow Dash once said many years ago. Those words had made her feel better when she was a filly. However, as the years passed by, it still felt wrong. She always tried flying and studied the science and magic behind it. She even visited pediatricians in Cloudsdale several times. They all thought her case was unusual, but they could never find anything wrong with her to suggest that she would never fly. Everypony told her to give it time, but she was tired of waiting. Giving up for the day, Scootaloo decided to take her mind off of this by visiting one of her favorite places—the skate park. True, doing tricks on her scooter never quite measured up to her idea of flying, but it always made her feel better. Besides, it was fun to pretend. When Scootaloo arrived, she got on her scooter and went on the half-pipe, the rails, and even the drop-in. She completely lost herself in the adrenaline rush. Soon, she was about to head home, when she noticed that somepony had set up a ramp. ‘I bet that I can get some serious air if I go on that at full speed,’ she thought. Taking up position, Scootaloo started flapping her more grown in wings—that were still incapable of flight for some reason—and headed for the ramp. She closed in, flapping her wings harder as she got closer. The wheels hit the ramp and soon she was airborne; traveling in a perfect, arc-like trajectory. The rushing feeling of weightlessness associated with being thrown in the air soared through her body. She must have gone off the ramp much faster than she thought, because the time when gravity would start pulling her back towards the ground had long since passed. Scootaloo could hear some shouting below. She looked down and saw her friends running after her, but they weren’t getting any closer. Instead, it seemed like they were getting smaller. “What? I’m flying?!” She muttered. She looked back at her wings. They were still flapping pretty fast, but not like the rapid buzzing they usually did when she rode her scooter. Instead, it was a more steady flapping, causing her to rise in the air. There was no doubt about it, she was flying! “WOO-HOO!!!” She shouted, and then she wobbled a bit causing her to loose altitude. “Whoa!” She decided to land in the field bellow. It was not the most graceful of approaches, and her landing was more like a stumble than a stop. She didn’t even bother to brush herself off and adrenaline still pumped through her veins after realizing what had just occurred. “Whoa squirt, are you okay?” A very familiar voice asked behind her. “Rainbow Dash!” Scootaloo exclaimed. “Did you see me? I was flying!” “Yeah I did, it was awesome!” Rainbow Dash said with equal excitement. “Think you can do it again?” “You bet I can!” Scootaloo said, before running off with her wings outstretched. Soon, she took to the skies again. It wasn’t a fluke. She was flying, and what made it better was that her idol was right beside her. It was the most amazing day ever! *** A smile stretched across Scootaloo’s face. So many things happened after that day. There was, of course, the general excitement among her family and friends. She also went to Flight Camp for the first time—it was awkward being the oldest pony there other than the instructors. Then she attended Flight School and that was certainly a doozy. Yet she still made it through; and here she was, flying to the Wonderbolt Academy. Both getting her cutie mark and starting to fly were the two happiest moments in Scootaloo’s life. She thought that joining the Wonderbolts could possibly be a third. It was going to be one exciting week and she couldn’t wait. There was also something Rainbow Dash said when she had told her about the acceptance letter. *** “Sweet kid!” Rainbow Dash had said. “I think I’ll see you there near the end, but I can’t tell you more than that.” *** ‘What was she talking about?’ Scootaloo wondered. However, her thoughts were cut short when a certain mountain came into view. She’d made it; the Wonderbolt Academy. It was better than she had even dreamed. The compound was built on a flat surface at the top of the mountain; there were several fields for training, hoops to fly through, and obstacles to avoid. There were a ton of ponies too. Most were wearing blue and yellow flight suits and others were in uniform. All were going through various drills and flight maneuvers. Excitement overwhelmed all of Scootaloo’s thoughts as she got closer. She couldn’t believe that she was finally here; finally able to follow in the hoofsteps of her foalhood hero. It was something she had only dreamed about before this day. Yet, here she was, and she definitely wasn’t dreaming. “Oh, this is going to be sweet!” Scootaloo exclaimed as she touched down on the compound and headed strait to the reporting office.