Scootaloo's Summer

by Kasper COEI


Chapter Six

“One, and two, and one, and two!” A rhythmic voice called out. It seemed to echo through the green pasture and engulf any other noise present, despite it being only just louder than ‘talking voice’. The pony making it was Rainbow Dash. Her red eyes moved up and down with the figure they were locked onto, watching every slightest movement it made.
“Come on, Scootaloo! Don’t slow down now, you’ve got ten more!” Rainbow Dash seemed to cheer the words. She watched as Scootaloo, who was on the ground, arms folded and her wings keeping her up, nodded. Scootaloo was doing wing pushes, which were push-ups via wings rather than arms. There was a very concentrated look plastered over her face as she continued.
“One, and two, and one, and two!” The blue pegasus continued the pattern. After a few moments longer of this chant, she smiled, saying, “Good! All done!”
The gamboges filly let her arms out, pressing her hooves against the ground. She held herself up with her arms, and let her wings rest. She pulled them against her side. As she stood up and wiped small traces of sweat off of her forehead, she heard Rainbow Dash begin speaking again. Her ears twitched and were held up as she listened to her mentor.
“Alright, Scootaloo. You just finished a consecutive thirty-five wing pushes.” Rainbow Dash began walking around Scootaloo in a circle, slowly, eyeing the young filly. “That’s way past what I thought we’d get you to in a week.” She continued, stopping for a moment behind Scootaloo. From this angle, Rainbow Dash could clearly see Scootaloo’s back. The blue Pegasus took a step toward Scootaloo, looking down at the wing muscles that had quickly developed on the filly. She seemed to nod in satisfaction. She took a step back, continuing to talk.
“This is also way past what you need to be able to fly.”
Scootaloo’s head shot around, staring at Rainbow Dash with hopeful eyes. Had she heard right? Fly? Way past what was needed? Before Scootaloo could ask, “Really?” Rainbow Dash had already answered with, “That’s right, you heard me.”
Scootaloo couldn’t hide her joy; She immediately bounced up and down, cheering “Woohoo!” It didn’t last very long, however. As she noticed the blue Pegasus silently watching her, an indifferent expression on her face, the filly stopped. She stood still again, assuming Rainbow Dash had wanted her to.
Without giving a nod of approval, or a shake of disappointment, Rainbow Dash continued her slow venture around Scootaloo—now started over because Scootaloo had turned and faced her.
“You’ve got the endurance, and now the strength. We’ve got a decent breeze going, which will keep you in the air when you get there.”
Scootaloo’s mind was buzzing with excitement. She became unfocused from Rainbow Dash for the prospect that she’d be flying soon. Her! Flying! She’d been dreaming of this for the longest time, especially considering all the other Pegasus colts and fillies she knew could fly—or at the very least, travel a short distance off the ground. It was her time to shine! Where would she fly first? Who would she tell first? It was all so exciting!
“Scootaloo!” Rainbow Dash’s voice was suddenly next to Scootaloo’s face, her mouth near the filly’s ear. “You listening?”
Scootaloo jumped, her mind being brought back from her imagination. She slowly and nervously shook her head. “N-n-no, s-sorry,” She began, stammering, “I-I was thinking about f-flying and spaced out.”
Rainbow Dash smiled in understanding. She nodded her head. “No need to freak out,” she began explaining, her voice having a slight sound of sympathy. “I understand being excited. Heck, when I was told I’d finally be off the ground for the first time, I couldn’t pay attention to my coach, even when he had to bump me across the shoulder to pay attention! I ignored pretty much everything he said—or anyone said, for that matter, until I flew for the first time that day.”
Now, it was Rainbow Dash’s turn to get lost in thought. She had a look of wonder in her eye, as if she were re-living the day she’d first flown.
“When he first told me, I was in total bliss. I was about ready to jump straight off the cloud he’d situated me on, knowing nothing about proper in-flight wing control, aerial balance and maneuvering, the ability to judge wind… Nothing. I just wanted to feel the wind under my wings, as I’d often done before by opening them on windy days… But I always had just stood on the clouds when I did it. But this time, I just wanted to feel the winds under my wings without the ground under my hooves.”
Scootaloo’s wings slowly unfolded, and she looked back at them. She knew exactly what Rainbow Dash meant—she often would stand on windy days with her wings open, to hope to feel what it was like to fly. She wanted to know the feeling without ground underneath her.
Rainbow Dash continued, “When he finally got my attention for the few seconds he had, he just showed me how to hold my wings when I jumped. Just so that I would hover—not fly and do loops, not make a sonic rainboom… Just hover and slowly float down. Start from square one. I think he realized he needed to satisfy me just a bit before he could get more proper instruction in. When I finally jumped…” She paused. Her own wings opened, and she flapped them softly. The dirt underneath her unsettled, and some dust was tossed about. It wasn’t a bother to her or Scootaloo, however.
“It wasn’t at all like I imagined. It was a million times better… The feel of flying, soaring, of… Of defying gravity itself, letting nothing bind you. It’s not really easy to explain…”
The rainbow-maned Pegasus let herself stare off for only a moment more, before looking down at Scootaloo. She could tell from the gamboge filly’s eyes that her storytelling hadn’t helped the restlessness in Scootaloo.
“But enough talk! Let’s get those wings of yours to get you off the ground!”
Scootaloo nodded excitedly. Her wings fidgeted at her sides, and she had a hard time controlling her excitement. She managed, however, using most of her concentration; what little she had left was left on Rainbow Dash.
“Now then. You’ve watched plenty of other Pegasi fly, right? Or at least take off?”
“Yeah, of course!” Scootaloo turned her head slightly. She obviously did! After all of those times she shared with Rainbow Dash through the ye—oh, yeah. Rainbow Dash didn’t know, she remembered. Scootaloo was following her secretly… But still, there were plenty of other Pegasus in Ponyville. It should be obvious she had.
“But have you watched them closely?”
“N-not closely, no.” Not except for you, Scootaloo added in her head.
“Well then. Let me show you how you actually fly. You see,” Rainbow Dash opened her blue wings, extending them far out. She held them parallel to the ground. “you’ve always done this, because it helps you propel on your scooter.” She began, slowly for demonstration, lifting her wings up and down. They never strained to go further out, nor did they fold in—they stayed at a relaxed length out. “This creates a double-push, in a sense, which is great,” She stood up on her hind legs and began beating her wings faster. She couldn’t sit still while doing this, and began running on her hind legs because of it.
“When you’re on the ground, at least.” She dropped to her front legs, again, and trotted back towards Scootaloo. Scootaloo had turned, and watched Rainbow Dash as she made a little way off.
“And that won’t work in the sky, right?” Scootaloo asked the rhetorical question—of course it wouldn’t. Otherwise, Rainbow Dash wouldn’t be bringing it up.
“Exactly. Now, what you need to do is imagine…” Rainbow Dash looked up to the sky in thought. She was searching for a good analogy. “Imagine that you’re swimming.” She decided.
The blue Pegasus flapped her wings, and quickly left the ground. She hovered only a few feet above the floor, however. She continued speaking to Scootaloo, while moving forward ever-so-slowly. “Lifting off and flying up is similar to doing a front-stroke.” She began using her arms in mid-air to mimic a swimmer. She extended forward, brought her hoof down until it was extended to her hip and past, and brought it up again. When she brought her hoof forward, however, she didn’t re-trace her steps backwards. She brought it up, right against her body, to simulate creating as little friction as possible.
“When you push or propel yourself forward, you’re making a full stroke through. When you’re bringing your wing or arm back up, however, you fold it into your body to make sure there’s as little resistance as possible. It makes sure that you don’t just push yourself right back down.”
Scootaloo nodded again. Despite her eagerness being a distraction, she listened to Rainbow Dash’s advice with fierce intensity. She watched as Rainbow Dash lowered herself to the ground again, and walk over to her.
“The only difference with swimming and flying, however,” the larger Pegasus again opened her wings. She slowly closed them half-way, and brought them straight up, where she extended fully. She brought her wings down to the floor, where her feathers rested upon it, and then curled her wings back into her body—only halfway, still. She let them again raise to the sky.
She repeated this process many times, letting Scootaloo make a note of each movement. And she did—Scootaloo paid attention to each muscle movement, the point when Rainbow Dash’s wings pulled in, and how close to a 90-degree upright her wings created upon finishing the revolution.
Eventually, Scootaloo said with an air of confidence, “Alright, I think I’ve got it.”
Rainbow Dash folded her wings against her body. “Go for it, kid. Show me the form, slowly.”
Scootaloo quickly and skillfully replicated Rainbow Dash’s movements. It took only moments to satisfy the blue Pegasus.
“Alright, then. I want you to face the wind,” Rainbow Dash paused so that the gamboge filly could do so. “And begin doing what I told you. But for real this time. Do it hard, do it strong… But don’t go super-blazingly fast, like how you do on your scooter.”
Scootaloo could feel her heart pounding, and she almost felt dizzy. It was finally time! She was going to fly! After all this time, all this waiting, all this dreaming… She opened her wings. She took a deep breath. She lifted her wings, slowly, bracing herself to begin the pattern. Suddenly, a thought took over Scootaloo’s mind—what would she do when she got in the air? Rainbow Dash hadn’t told her! Should she try and fly forward, or go straight back to landing, or… It was too late to think these things, however. Her body had begun working against her, and she’d already begun flapping. They were soft flaps—not containing the strength needed to lift the filly.
“Harder!” Rainbow Dash half-commanded, half-cheered.
Scootaloo surged her wings, and suddenly, the floor was no longer beneath her. As the gamboge Pegasus lifted higher and higher off of the ground, she could feel, faintly, a stronger pull growing. She continued her climb, however. Despite her excitement and fear working together to force her eyes closed, she kept them up. She stared wide-eyed at the ground.
Ten feet! Twenty! She had to be somewhere just over that, above the ground! And she was getting higher! She couldn’t stare at Rainbow Dash to look for a sign of joy—she could only watch her rise for a moment longer, before looking up and around at the world she was now entering.
“Scootaloo!” Rainbow Dash’s piercing voice jolted Scootaloo out of her thought, and the surprise caused Scootaloo to falter. Her left wing froze for a moment, and Scootaloo nearly fell out of the sky—due to some unknown luck, she regained balance.
“Scootaloo, hold your wings out perfectly straight, like when you hold out weights and don’t move your wings!”
“Perfectly straight, got it!” Scootaloo nearly panted the words. Flying was surprisingly tiring—despite Scootaloo not finding it a strong fatigue, she was definitely feeling slightly winded. From the top of her wing’s climb, she let them fall out to her sides, perfectly straight and perfectly still. She expected herself to falter some way, and so she waited.
But nothing happened. More time, and still nothing happened.
Scootaloo stared forward. She was hovering in mid-air! The breeze was holding her in place. Her smile grew wide—enough to make even Pinkie Pie gasp in astonishment.
Suddenly, she heard Rainbow Dash’s voice again beside her.
“Hey, Scoots! You’re flying!”
“Y-Yeah…” Scootaloo nearly whispered her response. She expected herself to scream it out with joy—but she was caught in awe at the experience. She looked forward, staring at the open sky. She looked to her left, the side opposite Rainbow Dash. She stared towards the horizon for a few moments. And then she looked toward her right, at Rainbow Dash. A sincere smile was on the pegasus’ face.
“How d’you like it, Scoots?”
Scootaloo was quiet for a moment, before looking down at the ground underneath her. She was slowly growing closer to the floor. She thought of the feeling of absolute freedom leaving her, of the ground returning to under her hooves.
“It’s… It’s unreal, it’s slightly scary, it’s exciting… I really, really love it!”
“I thought so! Now, Scootaloo, flap more and get high, if you can! The sky’s the limit for right now! I’ll tell you how to get back down when we get up there!”
Without warning, Rainbow Dash shot upwards. Scootaloo watched as Rainbow Dash flew straight-up with minimal effort, her entire body aiding in the climb. It was completely unlike the method that she’d told Scootaloo to fly—body fairly still, wings parallel to the floor, and appearing to basically stand in the air.
Scootaloo suddenly had a determined look over her face. “If she can do it…”
Scootaloo knew this would end badly. Almost all odds said so… But there’s that one, single shining hope. The one that Scootaloo would herself hope for. Scootaloo thrust her wings down, and attempted to climb vertically as Rainbow Dash had. She could feel herself slowly climbing. A single flap, a double flap, five, six… and suddenly, she could feel the wind against the back of her head. She was falling, and backwards.
She plummeted the short fifteen feet she’d been from the ground back to it, landing with a thud. Just before landing, she flapped a single wing, throwing her right-side up. The jolt disoriented her, and her vision became blurry for a moment. By the time she’d closed her eyes, shook her head, and opened them, clearing her vision, she saw Rainbow Dash’s hooves in front of her. As Scootaloo looked up from where she lay, she saw Rainbow Dash peering over her. There was neither disappointment nor approval in her indifferent gaze.
“Ambition will get you far, kid,” she began, as if sounding praiseful, “but as far as it might take you, it’ll send you straight back down to where you started if you go too far its path.”
Scootaloo let out an audible groan, resting her head on the ground. She followed with a ‘huff’ of self-disappointment.
“But enough philosophical moments, here. Get back up! You’re gonna get back in the air for a while longer, yet.”
“You’re not… mad at me, for ignoring what you said? To just climb up?”
“Of course not! Everypony takes a tumble like that for one reason or another, and everpony gets a little rebellious once or twice. But I’ll sure-as-hay be mad if you don’t pick yourself back up, and work until you’ve got this thing down!”
Scootaloo quickly sat up, and stood up. “You got it!”