//------------------------------// // Day 5: Marathon // Story: Scoot Camp // by theNDinspector //------------------------------// Scootaloo landed after what felt like an eternity. She was closely followed by three other exhausted ponies. Scootaloo and Blue Yonder had been paired with Snapshot and her lead pony; an aqua-green mare with a blue and pink mane named Aurora. She came from far north of Vanhoover—near the Frozen North. She was usually pretty reserved—especialy when put next to her companion—but the day’s events caused both of the lead ponies to develop the most spectacular routine that they could conceive. They had been practicing for hours and it wasn’t easy. Flying with just one pony by your side was hard enough, but an additional two others made things even more difficult. Scootaloo seemed to struggle most of all. She had often found herself dropping or falling behind the others, yet she persevered and managed to keep up with the routine. But that hadn’t stopped her from feeling frustrated through the whole process. She was losing her confidence again. “Well, I suppose that’s enough for the day,” Blue Yonder said, stretching her neck and wings. “But we still have a couple of hours before dinner,” Aurora said with a slight northern accent. “Yeah, but we don’t want to overdo it,” Blue Yonder explained. “Besides, I think we have this thing down, and we could use a breather.” Everypony else agreed and they all left; going their separate ways. Scootaloo hung back a little and was very quiet. Blue Yonder noticed this and turned around. “Is everything all right?” She asked. “What? Oh…yeah, it’s fine,” Scootaloo replied a little too quickly. “Come on, I can tell you’re lying,” Blue Yonder stated. Scootaloo bit her lip. She didn’t want to admit what she was feeling, but she knew she couldn’t hide it from Blue Yonder for long. Scootaloo closed her eyes and sighed. “I don’t know if I can do this,” she finally said. “I don’t follow,” Blue Yonder said, tilting her head. “Didn’t you see me falling behind back there?” Scootaloo expounded. “Who’s to say that I won’t choke up and completely break away by the time we do this tomorrow?” Blue Yonder listened and nodded her head. Suddenly her eyes lit up. “You’ll be great,” she said. “But I think you need a confidence booster. Come with me.” *** “You got to be kidding me,” Scootaloo stated. Blue Yonder had taken her all the way over to the eastern field—straight to the Dizzitron. Scootaloo looked at the machine in disbelief. She was certain that her partner had lost her mind. “Nope, this is it” Blue Yonder replied. “This is what’s going to help you out.” “And just how is the Dizzitron supposed to ‘boost’ my confidence?” Scootaloo asked. “You did the best out of all of us on the Dizzitron,” Blue Yonder stated. “So, what does that have to do with anything?” Scootaloo demanded. “Since your feeling down, if you work on something you were great it, then you can lift your spirits; thus changing your attitude,” Blue Yonder explained. Scootaloo wasn’t buying into this reasoning. ‘It’s official, Blue Yonder has finally lost it.’ “Look, just do it okay,” Blue Yonder sighed. “It helps to work on things you’re good at too. Besides, Celestia forbid, if you do spin out tomorrow, then you can recover even quicker than before and come back.” Scootaloo looked at the Dizzitron, to her partner and back again. Blue Yonder did have a point, even if it was rather convoluted and all but lost on Scootaloo. “All right, let’s do this,” Scootaloo said. “We have an hour to kill before dinner anyway.” With that, the two cadets walked up to the machine, where Lieutenant What’s-his-name was waiting at the controls. He nodded as Scootaloo got into the slot and activated the machine. The familiar sensation of being on a roller coaster filled Scootaloo’s senses as she was rotated at an increasing speed. Blue Yonder finally gave the word and Scootaloo was flung into the sky. Like before, she stopped herself from spinning and came back to the landing strip. “You’re getting a little rusty,” Blue Yonder teased. “That was nine-and-a-half seconds.” “WHAT!?” Scootaloo exclaimed. “That can’t stand, I’m going again!” “Go get ‘em Scoots,” Blue Yonder said in encouragement. And so Scootaloo was thrown by the Dizzitron again and again. She not only improved on her time, but she also increased the difficulty to the medium setting. She slowly got better on that as well. Blue Yonder, not wanting to be left out, also took the Dizzitron for a spin a few times. The activity in this portion of the eastern field attracted some attention. The normally quiet area was then occupied by some of the film ponies, who wasted no time in getting to work in documenting the occasion. “What’s going on Cadet?” Major Soarin asked as he walked up to Blue Yonder. “I decided to help Scootaloo out by practicing on the Dizzitron,” Blue Yonder explained while watching Scootaloo come in for another landing. “I see,” Soarin observed. “I trust that things are going well.” “Yep,” Blue Yonder declared before looking at the stopwatch with spinning eyes. “Seven seconds…I think!” “Right…your turn,” Scootaloo said while taking a small breather. Soarin took over the time-keeping duties as Blue Yonder and Scootaloo continued their marathon. He was very impressed with there tenacity along with their ever improving times. Rarely had any of the other cadets come back here after their first day. To be honest, he was certain that none of them would willingly try it again unless they absolutely had to. “6.25 seconds,” Soarin declared as Scootaloo came in for yet another landing. “Very impressive. Are you finished yet? I think dinner will start in about ten minutes.” “No, not yet,” Scootaloo said. “I want to try the high setting.” Soarin was taken aback. He looked over at the lieutenant operating the controls who indicated that he could do it. Soarin then looked back to Scootaloo. “Are you sure about that?” He asked. “Oh yeah!” Scootaloo shouted as she flew back to the Dizzitron. “All right then,” Soarin said a little apprehensively. “Begin!” Scootaloo began to be spun around once again. Unlike the previous settings, she was on the rotating machine for much longer and spun far faster. She could feel her goggles press into her face, causing her eyes to water a little. She also could not keep her lips sealed whatsoever. It was as if they were held open with fish hooks and drool was flying out of her clenched mouth. Much like the previous times, Scootaloo didn’t hear anypony shout “release,” but she knew when she was. She could tell that she was flung farther and faster than before. Scootaloo had never gone this fast before. Like the other times, she reached deep inside and quickly corrected herself and used wings to turn herself sharply around. Scootaloo practically dropped out of the sky before spreading her wings to zoom back to the mountain. Her landing consisted of putting her hooves down and skidding down the landing strip—all in the blink of an eye. “WOO, that was a rush!” Scootaloo exclaimed as she fanned her smoking hooves and repeatedly stretched her wings. “Do you want to try it Blue Yonder?” “I think I’ll pass,” Blue Yonder said, staring at her wingpony in disbelief. “What was the time?” They looked at Soarin who was staring at the stopwatch; his jaw completely dropped. “Five-and-a-half seconds,” he finally said. “Nice!” Blue Yonder exclaimed before turning back to Scootaloo. “And if you can do that, then you can accomplish anything tomorrow in our performance! Why don’t we call it a night and get something to eat.” “I’m right behind you,” Scootaloo said after shaking her head and trying to walk straight. The cadets walked off towards the mess hall, leaving the film ponies to pack their equipment and Lieutenant What’s-his-name to shut off the Dizzitron. Soarin, meanwhile, continued to stare at the stopwatch reading 5.5 seconds. ‘That…that’s a new academy record!’ He thought. ‘And it was the high setting!’ *** Laughter filled Colonel Spitfire’s office. She was entertaining the mares and stallions of the 1st Wonderbolt Squadron—who had changed into some more regular uniforms. They talked about a lot of things: about how a couple of them now had a special somepony, that one of the stallions had just become a father for the first time and then about the new cadets. “I’m telling you, Silverwings will be the besst,” Captain Fleetfoot declared. “I practically taught him everything he knowss.” “Suuure you did,” Lieutenant Rainbow Dash said, rolling her eyes. “I’ve had Scootaloo under my wing since before she could even fly. She’ll totally show him up.” While the two mares argued about that point, Spitfire leaned back in her seat; a huge smile adorned her face. She missed this so much: the joy, the bickering and the recognition of being a part of an elite flying squadron. While she deeply enjoyed her position and duties at the academy, she often longed for the joy of performing and flying with others again. Far too soon, it was time for them to turn in for the night. They had a big day tomorrow and needed plenty of rest. One after another, the Wonderbolts filed out of Spitfire’s office, leaving her alone again. Spitfire sighed and opened a filing cabinent. She pulled out all of the files for the new cadets and got them ready to take final marks for their performances the next day. Once she finished putting everything in order, she also got up to leave her office. ‘Well, this is it,’ Spitfire thought as she turned off the lights and locked the door. ‘It’s time to see if you Newbies really are Wonderbolt material.”