Valiance stadium, Crystal empire
October 1st - Year 22 under the four princesses
The air felt charged, as strong a melting pot for the magic of the realm as the city below it was for the cultures of Equestria. In recent years the Crystal Faire had gained a reputation for bringing the best aspects of the world together in a grand exchange of lifestyles and tonight was no exception. In the crystal stadium that was a landmark of the skyline, thousands had gathered to watch displays representing what made up the rest of Equestria. As the crowds cheered in anticipation as the show got underway, backstage dozens of stagehands and performers rushed to fill their roles, all except one. An orange haired, purple maned pegasus who sat against the back wall, eyes closed, taking a moment to remember what had brought her here.
"But, Rainbow Dash. What if....What if my wings never grow? What if I never fly?"
"Listen Scootaloo, maybe you'll fly someday, or maybe you wont. You're all kinds of awesome anyway."
She'd been clinging to those words for comfort for for over twenty years now and every time she remembered them, she knew Rainbow Dash's words rang true. She was awesome, in her own way. It wasn't that her wings hadn't grown with her, she had a full pair to match her strong build that any pony would approve of. However, her last worry had come true. Try as she might, as she had been all her life, she could never manage more than a weak, brief hover. Just the thought of it felt like a permanent weight on her, a constant reminder that she'd never be capable of what was second nature to her kind, a lingering question. Was it worth holding onto such a dream when it was beyond her reach?
"You're up in two minutes, miss Scootaloo."
If there was an answer, now wasn't the time to be thinking about it. Scootaloo opened her lavender eyes and nodded at the assistant who had given her the reminder before standing up and stretching. To her left sat her tools of the trade. The first, a leather helmet, coloured deep purple with a pair of blue and violet goggles fitted to it. This held a special place for her not just because it was custom made, but because one just like it was emblazoned on her flanks, a cutie mark she wore with pride.
She picked it up and fitted it into place, taking care to make sure her mane was tucked out of her eyes, before looking to the second. Her scooter, a far cry from the wooden version she used as a filly, now light grey, four wheeled and built in durable metal with red handle grips fitted for her hooves. A quick check over confirmed everything was in working order as she climbed on board and picked up the final item she needed for tonight: A flag of her hometown, Ponyville. She still remembered the first time she had carried such a flag into the arena for the Equestria games, she had done it several times for various events since and each felt as good as the first, tonight would be no different.
With a quiet whoosh, Scootaloo's wings flew open, stretching out in anticipation. Just because she couldn't fly with them didn't mean they were weak though, she'd checked and they were only slightly below the strength of an average pegasus wing. She grinned to herself and pushed off with her front hoof, using quick controlled flaps to maneuverer herself toward her entry gate. Maybe it was something little that kept her on the ground like this, maybe it was something unique to her, maybe she just needed to try a hundred times harder. Right now though, it didn't matter, the lingering thoughts pushed out of her mind as she reached her entrance and waited for the spotlight to appear on her. Right now, she had a job to do...
No, right now, she was going to do what she loved.
The lights came on over her and her wings fired up, rapid, angled flaps to get her up to speed and onto the track running the stadium perimeter, like she'd been doing since she was just a little filly. She could hear the approving roar of the crowd, the backing music she'd picked for the event, the announcers comments on her and her home. Within seconds it was all background noise to Scootaloo, she'd done this routine dozens of times. Plant her flag with the others, do some stunts for the crowd, feel good about it all. Her wings dropped back to her sides and she yanked the handle round, skidding to a stop right where they'd told her to and holding the Ponyville flag aloft. Local pride was an important part of proceedings tonight and silently hoped she was doing everyone at home proud as she planted the flag to the crowd's cheers.
Soaking in the atmosphere would have to wait a little longer though. She could see the layout set up for her in the middle of the stadium. Several bars and a ramp to ramp leap, it seemed simple, even as she started riding again to each the start point she was running the order of the bars in her head. Duck, jump, duck, duck and immediately jump, long jump, the ramp was the interesting part. It climbed to about ten feet up and covered a thirty foot gap to the landing ramp, in between was a raised hoop easily large enough for both her and her ride to fit through. She had a plan though, a new trick for the hoop she'd been practicing for a few weeks and even pulled off a few times. As she came to a halt as she reached her starting marker, she figured now was as good as time as any to make it happen.
"Alright everypony, this is going to be something special!" She called to the audience, waiting for them to quiet down some before she spread her wings and put a hoof to the ground. A few seconds later, she pushed off and let her wings take over, propelling her toward the bars. This was no different to when she was growing up, ducking branches and hopping over rocks like it was in her blood from the day she started. She was through the first section before she knew it, wings flapping in overdrive to build up speed for the ramp. The pegasus could practically hear the crowd hold it's breath as she started the climb, well she'd give them something to cheer about in a few seconds. As she felt the scooter wheels leave the ramp she pulled her body weight over to the left, heading for the hoop sideways and timing her moment as best she could while flying uncontrollably. The moment it felt right, she pushed the handlebar away from her and let go, watching the scooter spin round as they both passed through the hoop, before grabbing it as it came back round and shifting upright in hope she could stick the landing.
Time seemed to be standing still for a few moments before she felt the front wheels connect with the ramp. She leaned back and brought the rear wheels down, fighting to keep in control the whole way down as physics attempted to show her who was boss. It turned out the boss was Scootaloo as she safely skidded to a halt on the grass, punching the air in triumph as the stadium erupted in cheers and applause. A volley of magical fireworks were fired off from just outside the arena and burst into a shower of gold and blue sparkles over her head. Now she could soak in the atmosphere, the elation, the sheer euphoria of her success. Thousands of voices all showing her the answer to her question, that taking a hobby she loved and turning it into a career really had worked.
She didn't need flight to be awesome, she had made it by herself.