Rainbow Dash flew silently through the air, her rainbow mane and light blue fur contrasting with the dark night sky.
The pegasus was humming idly to herself, when a soft cry picked up in her ears. She looked around for the source, eyes landing on purple mane. It was nearly invisible to the untrained eye.
"Who could that be?" Rainbow asked herself as she began slowly flying down.
She landed without a sound, folding her wings at her sides. She slowly began trotting up to the sobbing filly, reaching out to place a hoof on their back.
They jumped and turned around, showing Rainbow the puffy and red eyes of her familiar "little sister."
"Scootaloo," Rainbow nearly shouted upon seeing the young filly.
"R-Rainbow?"
"Yeah, it's me."
Scootaloo's eyes began to water as she threw her hooves around Rainbow's neck. She sobbed into her chest as Rainbow rubbed a hoof up and down her back.
"It's ok, Scoots. It's ok."
Rainbow nuzzled the filly and sat her down, wrapping a wing around her as she took a seat next to her. Scootaloo was still sniffling as she hugged the feathery appendage closer.
"Now, why are you crying out here all by yourself?"
Scootaloo was about to cry again, but Rainbow's stern yet caring glare made her keep it in. She took a deep breath and began to pour her heart out.
"I can't fly, ok?! And I'll never be able to!"
"Scootaloo, that's not-"
"Yes it is! All I can do is hover less than a foot in the air, before crashing back down. I'm a failure!"
Rainbow was about to say something, but nothing came to mind. Scootaloo didn't notice and continued to rant.
"I'm nothing like you! I-I can't do barrels rolls or dives! I can't even fly up to a cloud! My wings are useless, I should have never been born with them."
Something went off in the back of Rainbow's memory when she saw feathers fall from Scootaloo's wings. She suddenly thought of something to cheer her up or help her at the least.
"You know, I didn't always have these beautiful blue feathered wings or this rainbow mane."
"Of course you did. You even performed a Sonic Rainboom with them," Scootaloo murmured deadpanned.
"But, long before that, I wasn't as awesome as I am now."
"Not helping."
"Sorry, anyway, let me tell you something about my past, Scoots. But my name wasn't always Rainbow and I didn't always have these feathers."
Filly Rainbow Dash flapped her wings as hard as possible, but still only got about half a foot off the ground. She sighed and plopped back down to the cloudy ground.
"Why can't I fly?"
Her mother, Aurora Dusk, wrapped a pale blue hoof around her daughter.
"Now don't say that, Snowy! I'm sure you can do it."
Snowy sniffled and looked into her mothers pink eyes.
"No I can't! I don't create the Northern Lights like you or make shooting stars launch like dad! I don't even have colors in my mane."
Snowy's mane was white, while her mother and father had vibrant manes. Aurora had a rainbow mane made of the brighter colors of the rainbow, fading into each other, while Star had a normal rainbow mane.
"My wings are useless, I should have never been born with them."
Aurora was shocked. Her tomboyish daughter had just said one of the worst things she could possibly think of.
But, the mare sighed, looking out of the window to see the sun finally set over the horizon. She huffed and got up, stretching a bit.
Her eyes landed on Snowy, who was sniffling again.
"I guess it wouldn't hurt to let you watch your father launch the stars."
Snowy's face brightened immediately and she wrapped her hooves around her mothers. Endless amounts of, "Thank you!", poured from the young filly's mouth.
"Well, come on now. He should be starting soon."
Aurora bended down, allowing Snowy onto her back. Snowy bounced up and down excitedly as Aurora lead them out to the roof.
"There he is, Snow!"
Snowy looked up to see a lone cloud high up in the air. A pony could clearly be seen perched atop it. He unfolded his wings and began flying downward with such speed.
"Watch."
"Ya don't have to tell me twice!"
Snowy watched her father, Star Strike, as he started to gain speed. A barrier was forming in front of his hooves, but he continued to fly.
"Almost there! Come on, dad!"
Star continued to flap his wings until he finally broke through the barrier, creating a giant white wave and now a glowing trail following behind him. He went from star to star at blinding speeds, telling the sun princess that the stars were ready for the new ones.
The trail ended with the same cloud he started with. One at a time, the stars blew up and became smaller stars. Some of the star bits flew off, creating the shooting stars.
"Isn't it a beautiful sight, Snow?"
"Sure is, mom."
"That's gonna be me one day," Snowy thought to herself.
Aurora lifted Snowy onto her back and flew them into the house. Instead of landing, she flew them up to Snowys bedroom. She opened the door and set the filly to bed.
"But I'm not tired," Snowy said, yawning mid-sentence.
"Yes you are, my darling little Snowy Dash. Get some sleep now, ok?"
Snowy nodded, her eyes no longer fighting to stay open and slid down safe and sound. Aurora kissed her forehead before turning off the light and walking to her room, finding Star muzzle-first on one of the pillows.
"You're filled her head with dreams, ya know," Aurora said, getting into bed.
"Is that a bad thing?"
"No, no. I'm just saying that, but she is getting discouraged about flying."
Star's head shot up from the pillow, locking eyes with his wife.
"What do you mean?"
"Today she said her wings were useless and that she should have never been born with them."
Tears suddenly pricked at the sides of Star's eyes, but he shook them away.
"There is no way, Celestia send me to the moon if I'm lying, that our daughter won't be amazing."
"I-I know. Let's just make sure we don't let her get hurt in the process."
"Yeah, alright."
Star kissed his wife goodnight before curling up next to her. He sub-consciously wrapped a hoof around her.
"Is it true? Does our little snowflake...think she'll never fly?"