The cutiemark crusaders couldn’t have been more excited to receive their cutie marks if they had planned it. They were all extremely proud and ecstatic at their arrival. They had waited years for them to appear, and were caught off guard when they finally did.
However, after all the exhilaration, Scootaloo found herself at an obstacle. One that would not be easily overcome.
She had examined her cutie mark countless times, and at every one of which she found herself in a state of mixed emotions.
A red, pink, and purple patch with a wing over it, a rather simple cutie mark, yet it held a much deeper, complicated meaning for Scootaloo.
Though she was relieved and overjoyed at it’s arrival, she still felt a nagging pang of sadness along with each glance.
She had been eyeing the mark in the mirror for quite some time now. Glancing back and forth between it and the small wings she held tight against her sides.
“Some wings these are,” she sighed, letting her head hang low.
She walked dejectedly to her bed, flopping down on the pillows that sat on it.
She knew her inability to fly didn’t take away from her usefulness, and that she was still a Pegasus regardless, but it mattered to her. She wanted so badly to fly. The thought that maybe, one day she could fly with her sister, Rainbow Dash, gave her a warm feeling inside, but one question held fast in her mind.
Why can’t that day be today?
She squeezed her eyes shut, feeling the dull pain of a headache approaching. Pulling the bedcovers down, she slipped in between the mattress and the sheets, allowing sleep to overcome her mind.
She awoke, hours later. The splitting headache remained the same, if not worse than before.
“Ugh,” she moaned, dragging herself out of the bed.
She made her way downstairs, finding some medicine to help with the pain, and gulping it down with apple juice. In a few moments, the pain subsided to a more bearable state. She examined the kitchen, which to her new discovery, was very dim.
“How long was I asleep?” Scootaloo thought to herself.
She searched the wall for the clock that remained hidden in the darkness.
“Eight o’clock?” she whispered aloud. “Jeez, I fell asleep right after lunch. Did I sleep that long?”
She approached a window, opening it’s curtains, and peeking her head in time to witness the sun as it set.
“I guess so,” she shrugged.
Her eyes scanned the room over, dirty dishes formed a small pile in the sink, and fruit beginning to spoil laid on the counter.
She dreaded washing dishes, but with no one else to do so, Scootaloo cleaned the mound, and returned them to their rightful places.
She then advanced hesitantly toward the rotting fruits. Bananas and apples with bruises and moldy skins filled her nose with their stench.
“Yuck,” Scootaloo proclaimed with her face contorted.
She quickly retrieved the trash can and swiped the soiled fruits into it.
Satisfied with her work, she then returned to her bedroom, only to find herself once again examining her cutie mark.
While it gave her a sense of pride, Scootaloo couldn’t help but to feel as if it were mocking her as well. It reminded her of her best friends, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle, who each had a cutiemark to match, though the symbol on the patch differed.
“Those two are lucky,” she thought aloud, “at least their symbols are a perfect fit.”
Not wishing to feel sad any longer, she searched her bedroom for something to get her mind off her cutie mark and it’s significance, or lack thereof.
She finally settled on a Wonderbolts comic book, she lay on her bed, eyes scanning the pages’ contents diligently. A few issues later and Scootaloo grew bored.
It was getting late, but her previous sleep left her wide awake. She searched the room yet again only to find nothing to keep her interest.
She fell back onto the bed sighing, when a certain object caught her eye. Her scooter leaned against the wall in the far corner of her bedroom. She trotted over to her window, sneaking glance outside.
Luna’s moon shined bright outside, lighting up the small streets of Ponyville. She noticed no movement.
“I guess everypony’s in for the night,” she thought. “I don’t think anypony would mind if I strolled around for a bit.”
She grabbed her scooter and made her way down the stairs and out of the door into the moonlit streets.
She rode around town for a bit, her small wings propelling her at a fast rate. Eventually, her wings grew tired.
Scootaloo looked around at her location. A fountain and bench stood a few feet from her. She walked over to the bench, leaning her scooter upon it. Taking off her helmet, she sat down.
The sound of running water danced around in her ears. Looking down again, she studied her cutie mark, tears brimmed her eyes.
She spread her small wings out at her sides, though they ached from the effort, she wanted to compare them to the symbol over the patch.
She let them fall limp beside her, in defeat. She sank down onto the cold bench. Beams of moonlight reflected off of the pool of water in the fountain and danced on the ground in front of her.
Suddenly, her eyelids grew heavy. She yawned and curled into a ball on the seat of the bench. With that she drifted into a sound slumber.
. . .
Orange light glowed on the young Pegasus’s eyelids. Warm rays of Celestia’s sun fell over her back, causing her ears to tingle.
Though the wood beneath her was stiff, she still didn’t want to arise. And it seemed that she would receive her wish, until she was shaken profusely.
“Scoots!” a figure standing above her exclaimed, “Wake up!”
“Huh?” she responded drowsily, wiping the sleep from beneath her eyes.
“What are you doing sleeping out here!?” the pony scolded.
Scootaloo pried her tired eyes open to see a cyan Pegasus with definitive rainbow hair looking quite displeased.
“Oh, what are you doing here, Rainbow Dash?” she said, a sleepy grin spreading across her face.
“What am I doing here!? What are you doing here!?” her honorary older sister questioned at full volume.
“I must’ve fallen asleep here when I was out last night,” Scootaloo shrugged.
“Why were you out here last night? No, scratch that, why are you here now?” Rainbow said beginning to sound exasperated.
“Well ya see, I couldn’t sleep so I kinda just got on my scooter and rode around for a while. I stopped to rest and I guess I fell asleep,” she said sheepishly.
“Ugh,” Dash groaned face-hoofing, “Scootaloo, do you realize how dangerous that is? Come on, let’s go to my house. You can get cleaned up and we’ll finish talking about this.”
“Okay,” she replied, jumping off the seat and grabbing her scooter.
Even though she knew Rainbow Dash was upset with her, Scootaloo was excited to be going to her older sister’s house. She followed the taller Pegasus to her grand, cloud home.
Rainbow Dash then showed Scootaloo to the shower and waited on her to finish in her kitchen.
“Wonder what’s gotten into that filly,” Dash thought.
She wracked her brain for anything that might cause Scootaloo’s recent behavior.
“She seemed really happy lately with her cutie mark showing up and everything, so what’s changed?” she questioned herself.
The silence in the room was interrupted as the filly who filled Rainbow’s thoughts entered the room, mane still damp from the shower.
“So,” Scootaloo started, “what did you want to talk about?”
“You said you were out there because you couldn’t sleep, why is that?” she interrogated.
“Well, I took a nap earlier that day so I just wasn’t that tired,” she said lacking interest.
“Is something wrong, Scoots? You haven’t been acting like yourself lately,” Dash replied worriedly.
Scootaloo’s ears drooped downwards. What had been bothering her was the last thing she felt like talking about, but she knew Rainbow Dash, and that she wouldn’t give up until she found out.
“It’s just, my cutie mark,” she admitted.
“What!? But you love your cutie mark!” Rainbow said in shock.
“Yeah, it’s great and all but,” she turned to look at her mark, “how can I be happy with it when I can’t even fly?”
“Scootaloo we’ve been over this, you might not be able to fly yet, but you will!”
“Why not!?” her voice grew loud, “Why not today!?”
Her chest rose and fell quickly as she took off out the door of the cloud home. She hastily strapped her helmet on and rode off on her scooter.
Her wings buzzed behind her while rushing wind blew in her face. She wanted to get as far away as possible.
It took Rainbow Dash all of a few seconds to catch up with the small filly.
“Scootaloo!” she yelled after her sister.
However, Scootaloo refused to respond. She sped over hills, Dash trailing above her. Scootaloo pushed herself to the limit, going faster than she had ever gone before.
Through squinted watery eyes, she failed to see the rock that laid in the path of her wheels.
The scooter flew out from beneath her legs. Her front hooves shot out instinctively to protect her face. She waited for the hard impact, but never experienced it.
“I guess Rainbow Dash snagged me before I could hit the ground,” she thought grimly.
She turned to face her rescuer, but did not find her. She looked around to see Rainbow Dash face down in the dirt, and her scooter strewn to the side.
“What happened?” Scootaloo asked.
“Uh, I dove to catch you, and . . .” her voice trailed off and her face turned into one of shock.
“What!? What is it, Rainbow Dash!?” She demanded.
“Flying, Scootaloo, you’re flying!” Dash exclaimed.
“What are you talking about!?” Scootaloo argued.
She knew there was no way her sister was telling the truth. She had to be pulling her wing. Or was she?
Scootaloo looked around especially below her. The ground stood a solid two feet below her hooves. Her wings continued their usual buzzing sound as they held her position above the terrain.
Her eyes grew wide in astonishment, and her mouth dropped.
“F-flying,” she struggled to form words, “I-I’m actually flying.”
Rainbow Dash quickly joined the airborne filly wrapping her into a hug.
“You did it, squirt! Today was the day!” Dash shouted.
Scootaloo felt as if she were going to split her cheeks from smiling so hard. She finally completed her lifelong dream. She was now flying with her role model and older sister.
“I’m so proud of you Scootaloo!” she exclaimed earnestly.
Four words rang out in her mind, “Now it fits perfectly!”