//------------------------------// // L7.2 // Story: A little loopy. // by FaelaArts //------------------------------// “So what are we learning today Diamond?” Apple Bloom smiled warmly as she stood beside Diamond, who winced and looked away. After a moment, Diamond pointed toward Scootaloo’s scooter. “We could try acting fancy. But I don’t think the other two’s talents are likely to be in fancy. If I had to guess, Scootaloo’s Mark is in scooter-ing.” Diamond noticed all three cringe, and Scootaloo shook her head. “We tried that, and I don’t want to spend my life having a Mark that means I’m only good at that.” Scootaloo glared at the ground, and scuffed the dirt. Diamond sighed and put a hoof to her chin, tapping it as she mused. “I don’t know then, maybe you’re good at something the scooting requires?” Diamond looked between the three, and they all copied her action. “Maybe stunts, I mean you really like those Scoots.” Sweetie glanced over to her friend, who tilted her head and smiled. “Hey, that’s not a bad idea! An stunt-pony Mark would look great!” Scootaloo smiled and walked over to her scooter, and attached the cart that her friends normally rode in. Pausing, she blinked and remembered Diamond and Silver. “How exactly am I going to get a Mark in doing stunts anyway? I do them all the time, surely I would have it by now if that was the case.” Scootaloo waited patiently as the others considered it. “Let’s ask Rainbow Dash what cloud-based sports there are that can be done without wings.” Sweetie smiled and nodded, all taking to the idea with relish. “Alright, I’ll go find Rainbow Dash, we’ll meet in that clearing near the edge of town.” Scootaloo took the cart off once more, and hopped onto her scooter and buzzed away. Sweetie folded the paper plane up and stowed it in her hair. Taking the handle, she levitated the cart as she followed the others to the clearing. “Hey, heard you need help organising an awesome cloud-surfing course.” Rainbow Dash flew into the clearing, Scootaloo under one arm, scooter in the other. Landing, she glanced up at the sky, and nodded. “We have to clear the clouds for tomorrow anyway, I see no reason not to get an early start. I‘ll be right back.” Dash flared her wings and began to construct an obstacle course out of clouds, similar to one she had done as a filly. However, the design was fundamentally different, centering around surfing down the cloud instead of flying around them. Landing, she smirked at them as she brought down a cloud. "Hop on Scoots, I’ll show you how to make a board.” Dash waited as Scootaloo jumped onto the cloud, and began showing how to slice it into a more aerodynamic shape, compressing it to be less fluffy. Scootaloo wobbled on the board, and flapped her wings as she slowly floated around the clearing, getting a feel for it. “Hang on a sec kid, something's wrong with the cloud.” Sitting down beside the board, Dash narrowed her eyes and looked as it wobbled under Scootaloo, and frowned. “Could ya tone down the magic, sis? It’s interfering with the stuff I used to make the cloud stay in shape.” Raising her head, Dash saw confusion in Scootaloo’s face, and tilted her head. “Hold on a sec, lemme see your wings.” Dash stood up and leaned over, gently touching Scootaloo’s small wings. Breathing in sharply, she slowly brought a wing over. As the wing got within a few inches of Scootaloo’s, the cloud suddenly began to drift sideways, sending Scootaloo in the opposite direction of Dash. There was no wind. “Scoots, have you ever used weather magic before?” Dash folded her wings and nodded as Scootaloo shook her head. It was something all Pegasi were taught at a very young age, and for a very good reason. “Are ya foster parents Earth or Unicorn?” Once more, Dash watched Scootaloo nod. Walking over once more, Dash put a hoof on Scootaloo's cheeks. “There’s the reason for it then, and with Cherilee being an Earth Pony; no wonder it’s leaking out so much. Alright, listen carefully, I’m not much of a teacher so this’ll be very basic, but follow exactly what I say.” As Rainbow Dash spoke, all fillies, excluding Scootaloo, quickly got confused at everything Dash was speaking about. It passed over their heads, did a loop-de-loop, and proceeded to dump a bucket of tree sap on their heads. “Alright, now for the final test.” Dash picked up Scootaloo, and tossed her high into the air. Crying out, Scootaloo instinctively flapped her wings, and for a brief moment she continued to fall. Suddenly, she remembered what she had just learned, and gritted her teeth, and applied it. Sweetie bit her lip as Scootaloo dived down, and pulled out, doing a corkscrew as she cried out in sudden jubilation. “Heh, I wonder if she’s gonna remember we’ve got stunts to pull.” Dash smirked as Scootaloo flew around the clearing for a solid half-hour, before finally noticing they were watching her, and coming to land. It wasn’t the best landing, but she managed to avoid falling into the dirt. “Alright, time to surf those clouds, kid.” Dash sent the cloudboard flying toward Scoots, who caught it and flew toward the top of the course, smirking confidently as she looked down at it. Was this the best Dash could do? Flipping upwards, she backflipped onto the board, and dived straight into the course. Each corner felt like water, her wings barely even flapping as she used her newfound control over her magic to weave between the clouds without disturbing them. Leaping off a ramp, she backflipped once before landing on the railing, and sliding past the finish line. Jumping off the cloud, she beamed as she realised Dash was looking at her, mouth hung open. “That...Was...AWE-SOME!” Dash and everyone began to crowd around Scootaloo, giving praise. Even Diamond, who was standing slightly to the side, sent a ‘good job’ her way. As Scootaloo felt everyone praising her, and the knowledge she would never be grounded again, tears sprung to her eyes, and she looked to her flank as a tingling distracted her. It was a picture of a cloud in a half circle, forming a sharp turn like the ones she had surfed around on her way down the course. There was a single bolt of purple lightning coming out of a small orange wing. Scootaloo looked to Rainbow Dash, and realised they were both crying. But it didn’t matter. Tough ponies didn’t believe in tears, so they never saw them. While not related to getting a Cutie Mark, the sleepover at Diamonds had been the icing on an otherwise great week. Sweetie once more showed Diamond how to properly play the arcade games, and all awkwardness quickly melted away during a movie. “Why couldn’t Silver attend?” Sweetie saw the wince, and smiled apologetically in response. “Her family doesn’t think I’m a very good influence, and they won’t let her see me outside of school and afternoons.” Diamond bit her lip, and looked down to her drink. Scootaloo brought an arm around Diamond, and gently hugged her. Diamond leaned into it, not resisting. “Listen, I think I can solve that, but we need to agree to a party at my house tomorrow. I’ll handle everything.” Sweetie saw all look to her, and she smiled, leaning forward enthusiastically. All sighed, and smiled as they gave her a nod. “Excellent.” “Now you kids have fun.” Rarity smiled as they all headed upstairs, and chuckled. When Sweetie Belle had come to her saying her friend Silver Spoon wasn’t allowed on sleepovers, and that she’d promise not to make food on the weekends for a month if she helped, Rarity had been out the door in an instant. Oh, it had taken quite some convincing to get them to allow the poor filly to sleepover. But after many assurances, and an agreement to give them a discount on purchases, she had managed to get the group together. From the happy smiles on their faces, Rarity knew it was going to be a loud night. 11:58 “I’m telling you girls, something amazing happens at midnight. You’re not gonna believe it.” Sweetie pointed to her clock, and the other’s rolled their eyes. This better be good, they were really tired. “Alright we get it, let’s just watch the clock then. This better be good, ah have farm work in the mornin’.” All fell silent as they watched the clock silently tick over. It was amazing, they were silent for the entire two minutes. 11:59… 12:00 Sweetie turned toward her friends, smiling in open relief, they were still here! As they frowned at her and looked around, they didn’t seem to have any clue about what was different. That meant, she now had her friends to count on during loops, if time was still looping. Feeling tears come to her eyes, Sweetie almost missed what Scootaloo had just said. “Is it just me, or are you growing smaller?” Scootaloo looked down at her hoof as she saw it growing, and turned to look to Apple Bloom. Sure enough, everypony but Sweetie was slowly growing into adult mares. Confusion on their faces, they turned to Sweetie. However, before one could open their mouths, the true horror began. Sweetie was frozen as she watched her friends age before her, slowly turning into wrinkled old ponies. Then, they collapsed, and all life drained from their eyes. Then the eyes fell into dust, the bodies slowly losing color and fading into a uniform gray color. And then, finally, they fell to ash. All before the clock beside her clicked to 12:01. Sweetie screamed.