January 9th
Ponyville had an air of difference surrounding it. For the first time in years, most of the elements were off on another adventure or five. Or maybe it was just the bout of winter fog that had been brought in overnight. Scootaloo shivered slightly as she walked through the marketplace, noting that a lot of ponies had elected to stay indoors. At least that meant less time spent getting a snack, she thought to herself as she headed for the apple stall. Bounty was manning the stand today, though he looked a lot more sullen and withdrawn than usual, a far cry from the energetic workhorse she recognised.
"Morning, Bounty."
"My name's Sh-Oh, err, I'm...Still here." Bounty jerked his head up and shook it in confusion, the familiar gleam came back to his eyes as he noticed Scootaloo.
"Okay...Just gonna let that go by." She eyed him slightly warily before picking out an apple and paying for it. The two of them didn't exchange a word after that, both of them feeling so awkward they could almost taste it. It was almost a relief to be able to head off again, the fog was started to lift by now under the watch of the pegasi and more ponies were starting to venture out for the day.
The weather was still murky as Scootaloo headed just outside of town. Odd, normally by ten in the morning the fog was just about clear and it wasn't like the Ponyville weather team to miss a spot like that. Whatever was up, Quick had asked to meet her out here...Wherever here was in this cloud. Then again, maybe she didn't have to be restricted to the cloud. Scootaloo unfurled her wings and looked at them in thought. She'd probably get into trouble if the fog was still meant to be there but...No, it wouldn't be worth a moment's validation.
"Quick? You around?" She called, looking round fruitlessly.
"I'm here, somewhere," Quick's voice called back from somewhere to the right. Scootaloo walked round for a minute before spotting a silhouette and darting over, thankfully it turned out it was Quick Fix, shivering slightly himself. "Geez, I'd forgotton how bad the winter cold was when you mixed in a fog cloud."
"Did you expect this when you asked to meet me here?" Scootaloo glanced back at whatever was meant to be back there, only to see Quick was grinning.
"Actually, yes. I asked the weather ponies to leave this cloud here for training purposes. You wouldn't believe how hard it was to get them to agree...Anyway, this is crucial to seeing where we are. I said training, it's kind of more a test, I've seen you've built up the endurance for hovering now your body is ready. Now we're going to try out your fine control."
"You, think I'm that ready?" Scootaloo glanced away again and bit her lip, unable to hide the nerves. She couldn't deny her improvement was there, the fact she'd practiced a few times at home and hadn't crashed into anything. All the same, tests made her anxious.
"Scootaloo, I have faith in you, you already know what you're doing. Just go up above the fog and try to find me again, they told me it'll be easy to clear so don't worry about pushing yourself. You may take off when ready."
This was it, time to take what others took for granted and finally make it her own. Scootaloo's wings shot open and she relaxed, letting instinct take over. She started flapping slowly, building up momentum before pushing off the ground and climbing above the fog cloud. When she thought about it, this was surprisingly easy, at which point she almost overbalanced and dipped back into the fog. Better not to think about it right now, flying was what pegasi did, what she did, better to leave it to her subconscious for now.
"Okay, Quick, here I come." She called, manoeuvring round to listen for hints of where he was. He hadn't been kidding about the fog either, even her regular wingbeat was blowing it about beneath her. It was almost effortless to start beating it away, relaxing even, to find out what it was like to be a pegasus all over again. Something inside her stirred, a feeling within her very soul that she knew had been lying dormant for this very moment.
A need to fly.
Even the parts of her that were thinking by now didn't mind as her body laid out into a flying position and started to circle the fog cloud. Her flight was slow and uneven but it was enough to make a start on reducing the fog to a fine mist. Scootaloo let out a small whoop of joy, slowly letting her focus return as she looked round. The area was still quiet, to her silent relief, some ponies might get the wrong impression from seeing her suddenly flying like that.
"Scootaloo? You doing ok out there?" Quick's voice brought Scootaloo back to reality. There would be time to play around later. Her weight shifted and she turned sharply into the cloud, almost dropping to the ground again as she misjudged her timing. Not a problem, she thought to herself, she had time to stop before finding Quick...Unless he on her flight path. The thought had barely left her mind before the fog in front of her became a silhouette, which became her crashing into him before either of them realised it. The two of them hit the ground and skidded to a stop, both wincing at the impacts.
"That...That was awesome!" Scootaloo forced herself back to her feet and pumped her hoof in the air, still running off the adrenaline in her system. Quick was a lot slower in getting up, slightly winded but still managing to crack a smile at the sight of Scootaloo skipping round, managing to dissipate the rest of the fog surrounding them.
"I take," He started, stopping to get another breath in. "Take it you did better than we thought?"
"I flew! I actually flew! This is the best day ever!!" Scootaloo cheered, still not winding down as she hugged Quick. "Thankyouthankyou! I gotta tell everypony!" She ran off for town at full pelt, leaving Quick to gather his thoughts. Granted, he hadn't really been able to see anything where he'd been standing but he knew that you couldn't get a reaction like that when you were faking.
"Well, I think we've done it. She's right as well...Best day ever." Quick smiled to himself and started to head back to town as well. He was still willing to keep coaching if Scootaloo so desired but they were surely over the worst now. She was able to handle the basics of flight and he really did seem able to fix other ponies. They just had to keep pushing and make sure it stuck now.
Trixie blinked slowly at the sight in front of her, Scootaloo was hovering just off the ground, darting from side to side, her motor mouth going at a pace to match Pinkie's hyper moments. The unicorn was barely able to understand a word she was hearing, eventually putting a hoof up to get her friend to stop for a moment.
"Take a breath, let me try and catch up," She waited as Scootaloo landed and got some air back into her system, the adrenaline finally running down. "Now, try and say it again slowly."
"Okay, okay...Quick got me practicing hovering and I, I got swept up the moment. Instinct came in and I...I was flying, I finally did it, I was doing what I was meant to."
It took a moment to click together in Trixie's mind, slowly she grinned and put a hoof round Scootaloo's shoulder. Scootaloo grinned in return and hugged Trixie back, waiting until they both had all four hooves back on the ground before stepping back.
"Well, Trixie, we made it happen! Frankly though, I'm just happy enough it happened, with or without help. Alright then, you pick the drinks."
Trixie nodded and headed back into her house. Scootaloo followed, heading into the kitchen as Trixie got a pair of bottles out from the fridge and brought them over to the table.
"I got these on recommendation, been saving them just for today." Trixie sat down and passed a bottle over to Scootaloo, undoing the cap and sniffing at the contents.
"Let me guess, Berry Punch's product? I'm not surprised you'd go for the best," Scootaloo relaxed and opened up her bottle, glad she had something like this to unwind with. "You know something, Trixie? I don't say it enough but, I'm really glad we're friends." Trixie smiled softly and nodded.
"I'm happy to have you as a friend too. You know I was worried I wasn't going to be accepted by anypony even after I switched to the Great illusionary artist, Trixie. The fact you kept giving me work, well it means more than I can say."
"Hey, you're a talented unicorn, not to mention a pleasant one now you've dropped the bravado. I'm sure Ponyville has accepted you as well, considering they let you live here. Come on, you're just like the rest of us these days."
Trixie's smile grew slowly and she relaxed in her seat, bringing her bottle up. Scootaloo did the same, nodding as they clinked their bottles together.
"To friendship."