//------------------------------//
// 11: Sign Me Up. 
// Story: I Dreamt to Fly 
// by MrDynasty 
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Scootaloo had stuck around for the small celebratory cake that was made for her, not wanting to be rude by leaving early. It took a bit of time to eat, with the other ponies taking slices as well, since of course Scootaloo couldn’t eat it all by herself. Eventually the two pegasi had left the Friendship Castle, with Scootaloo breaking off from Rainbow Dash to hang out with Applebloom and Sweetie Belle for the rest of the day. The League was in just over two weeks, which means she had quite a bit of catch up to do if she wanted to get in.

Knowing she had an opportunity to impress everypony and especially Rainbow Dash, she trained hard the next day, tackling every obstacle she had with her new-found ability to fly head-first and making sure that there was nothing she couldn’t fly around. Any mistake in a league that was so competitive could potentially kill her chances in an instant, so minimising that chance was number one on her to do list.  The lack of Rainbow Dash accompanying her during her training wasn’t that much of a loss since it made her feel comfortable on making as many mistakes as was needed. It helped knowing she wasn’t being silently judged from the side. Of course she made very little progress in a single day, but it was a small step above the day before which is what in the end, mattered the most. 

She trained like this every single day for the rest of the week, sometimes to the point of pure exhaustion. She began to feel frustrated with any mistake she made as time went on; but knowing that she was able to fix it with enough practice is what kept her head cool. Even when she had done everything she wanted to do right, she did it again and again and again, knowing that practice makes perfect.

Rainbow Dash was concerned about how hard Scootaloo was hitting her training each day, in which it might have been damaging her health quite negatively. However she was confident that Scootaloo knew her limits, and that she was only pushing herself to them and no further. 

At the end of the week she was confident that she had made astounding progress with her flying capabilities, thinking that she could now match up to some of the competitors who would be in the League. Did she expect that she would be able to win? No, she didn’t. But being able to get past the first course with a guaranteed spot in the second would be enough of an accomplishment for her, no matter how small it might seem.






Since it was now around one week until the League started, Scootaloo figured she’d ask Rainbow Dash if she could join again as she needed her permission. She decided to ask in the morning while they were in the middle of breakfast.

Scootaloo was eating cereal again while Rainbow Dash was eating a couple sandwiches. Scootaloo’s wings did hurt a little from the excessive amount of use they were given over the past week, but she ignored it knowing that they just needed a small break. Her view perked up from her cereal and over to Rainbow Dash who was sitting at the other side of the table. “So Rainbow Dash… I just wanted to ask you something.”

Scootaloo managed to grab her attention as she looked over to her, swallowing the sandwich that she had in her mouth before she spoke. “Sure, what is it?” She asked.

With a confident smile Scootaloo asked. “Could you enter me into the Wonderbolts League? I think I could get past the first course at the least.” She leaned up a bit in her seat, hoping that she’d be allowed to compete.

While Rainbow Dash still had some concerns about how she would do, she did say she would enter her in if she still wanted to join a week before it started. “You’re absolutely sure you want to join in? You don’t have to if you don’t feel like it just now,” she said as she put down the sandwich she was holding.

Scootaloo’s view drifted a bit as she wondered how Rainbow Dash would respond to an opportunity like this, wanting to follow in her hoofsteps more than she already did. There was a small pause of thinking from her where you could practically hear the gears turning around in her head.  “…I’m pretty sure I want to. I know I should at least try,” she said in a soft tone, looking directly to Rainbow Dash again.

Rainbow Dash got out of her seat with a smile. “I suppose so, not much of a reason not to try. Let’s go and sign you up then,” she said before grabbing the half eaten sandwich with her mouth to eat it on the way to Cloudsdale. Scootaloo quickly finished her cereal and slid off of her seat, wanting to go and get ready to leave. She brushed her teeth and combed her mane, wanting to look as good as possible from the possibility of meeting any real Wonderbolts. 

Once they were both ready they set off on their way towards Cloudsdale. Of course Scootaloo didn’t need to be carried to places anymore since she could now fly herself, but she still stayed quite close to Rainbow Dash in the event that anything might happen.

It was the first time that they actually flew together without it being training, which gave them both a warm feeling of happiness in their stomachs, almost like butterflies. Minutes seemed to pass pretty quickly as they flew, getting to Cloudsdale in what seemed like no time at all despite it being a decent bit away from Ponyville.

Upon reaching Cloudsdale, Rainbow Dash took the lead and began searching around to try and find where they would sign up. She flew around and looked for a mass amount of fillies or Wonderbolts posters, those being the two things that would probably indicate where to sign up the most.

Instead of helping her search, Scootaloo floated down to the ground and decided to try asking other pegasi on where you’d sign up. It didn’t take her long before getting an answer, with a pegasus pointing over to where they had to go. She thanked the pegasus before flying up and over to Rainbow Dash and telling her where they had to go.

When they found where they had to sign up, the first thing Rainbow Dash noticed was that there was a very small queue of two fillies and their parents. She expected much more for some reason, but nonetheless they both dropped down to the ground and got in the queue. 

Scootaloo was very excited, almost not being able to stay in one place as she bobbed from side to side. Rainbow Dash ruffled her mane with a big smile, not having seen Scootaloo this excited in a long time. 

The recruitment desk was covered in all sorts of Wonderbolts decorations, from posters to flags to even trophies. There were even some of the official Wonderbolts in the area, the most recognisable of them being Spitfire and Soarin, both in their costumes. The two didn’t take long in recognising Rainbow Dash, with Spitfire trotting over and pulling her goggles up. “Is joining the official Wonderbolts too tough for ya, Rainbow Dash?” She said teasingly.

Rainbow Dash waved her hoof with a confident grin. “Pssh, you wish. I’m actually here with Scootaloo since she wanted to see good she could do,” she said, pulling Scootaloo closer to them with her wing.

Spitfire looked to Scootaloo with a soft smile. “Oh hey, Rainbow Dash told me about you. I’m guessing you know how to fly now since you’re here, good on ya!” She said lifting her hoof up. “If Rainbow Dash is the one who helped you to fly, then I bet I can expect to see some good things if you compete.”

Rainbow Dash tilted her head and fluttered her wings slightly as she spoke. “You’re going to be there? I thought you only appeared at the winners’ performance at the end of the league.”

Spitfire shook her head and motioned her hoof up. “Of course I’m going to be there, I’m the one that’s going to be leading all the fillies,” she said, putting her hoof down. “Surprised you don’t know that, Dash.” 

While Scootaloo was slightly in awe that Spitfire was going to be the leader of the league, Rainbow Dash gave a somewhat cocky shrug to her. “I should have known that, but some pony watching a bunch of fillies from far away wouldn’t look too normal don’t you think?” She said with a small grin to Spitfire.

Spitfire only nodded with a small grin back. “Point taken,” she said before the sound of someone clearing their throat interrupted her. They all looked over to the recruitment desk, where the pony sitting there was waiting for Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo to come over and sign up. “Whoops, I didn’t mean to hold you up. Anyway, best of luck to you Scootaloo, I hope to see you there,” Spitfire said, pulling down her goggles and going back over to Soarin. 

Scootaloo waved to Spitfire excitedly while Rainbow Dash pushed her up to the recruitment desk to enter into the League. What they had to answer and write down was pretty simple stuff. Name, age, their address, parent/guardian and other common personal details like that. However the pony at the recruitment station gave a weird look to Rainbow Dash as she said Scootaloo had only been flying for around a week. Nonetheless, it looked like they had gotten in and Scootaloo had a shot at flying competitively.

Even with her inexperience in flying, Scootaloo felt confident she would pass at least the first test.