//------------------------------// // Rarity:Assistant Flight Coach? // Story: Just One Little Lie // by PonySage86 //------------------------------// "I'm sorry Darling, I must have misheard you." Rarity says with an uneasy laugh. "I could have sworn you asked me, a unicorn, to teach Scootaloo, a Pegasus, how to fly." She laughs again. "Something I'm sure I don't need to remind you, I can't do." "No, no, I don't want you to teach Scoots how to fly." Rainbow Dash assures. "I want youto help me teach her how to fly." "Rainbow Dash." Rarity groans. "When you proposed this in front of the spa you said it wasn't going to be a big deal." "To be fair, that's what I said the last time I needed a favor and now you're my Marefriend." Rainbow shrugs. "But that's beside the point, this really isn't a big deal, I'll handle all the teaching and practicing." "Then why am I even here?" The Fashionista questions. "In case I miss something." Rainbow answers simply, then begins surveying the hill without noticing Rarity's raised eyebrow. "So, I guess I should go over what I wanna do today, come on Rare." Both mares begin walking around the hill, discussing the training plans. __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ CUTIEMARK CRUSADER'S CLUBHOUSE "I have a serious question." Scootaloo says with a baffled expression while looking around the clubhouse. Scootaloo looks over at Sweetie Belle as she tiphoofes her way around a sleeping nest of snakes(Non-Poisonous) while balancing a tea tray on her head, a crudely made pair of shoes making both tasks difficult. Looking at Applebloom , Scootaloo sees her fellow crusader wearing a green clown wig and red nose while holding a pocket watch and standing on a box of maple syrup. Scootaloo herself is covered in flour while holding a pair of cymbals with dripping painted pictures of apples on them. Scootaloo puts the cymbals down before throwing her front hooves in the air in exasperation. "What in the world were we even trying to earn??" Applebloom looks behind herself to see a group of ants walking in circles around a chess board with small blocks of wood carved slightly in the shape of the games pieces. "I honestly got no idea." The youngest Apple mutters. "I think we had a lot of ideas." Sweetie Belle whispers as she finally escapes the nest of snakes without waking any. "But we only had so much time before Scootaloo's practice so we combined them all." A glance around the clubhouse causes the young unicorn to frown. "I uh, I think things got away from us a bit." "Oh that's right." Scootaloo says in alarm. "It's almost time for my practice, We should get going." "Uh Scootaloo." Applebloom interrupts. "Ain't you forgettin' the wall?" The young cowpony asks, causing Scootaloo to look at the doorway of the clubhouse, only to see it blocked by a wall poorly yet somehow sturdily constructed out of rocks and sticks. "Sides, we're gonna need to clean this place up." Applebloom concludes while looking at the mess around the small building. "Aw man, what do we do? This place will take forever to clean." Scootaloo pouts. "Well maybe we can handle it." Sweetie Belle offers. "If you're careful you can get out by using the window, then me and Applebloom can clean up while you're at practice." "Are you sure it's ok?" Scootaloo asks with hesitation, she looks to both of her friends who nod. "Thanks, you girls are the best!" She exclaims as she makes her way to the window but turns around before leaving. "Hey, don't clean up the whole place ok? I'll finish up after my practice as a way of saying thanks." And with that promise Scootaloo hops out the window and heads towards a hill outside town. "Applebloom." Sweetie Belle whispers while looking uneasily at the green and scaly floor. "These snakes look really comfortable, what do we do?" "I don't know about you Sweetie Belle." Applebloom says with a shrug. "But I'm gonna leave that one up to Scoots." ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ A HILL OUTSIDE PONYVILLE Eagerly Scootaloo barrels up the hill, though the run from the clubhouse was long, Scootaloo's excitement at her up coming lesson has caused her body to ignore any fatigue. Running at incredible speeds for her size Scootaloo makes it to the top of the hill, only to come to a screeching halt just before running into somepony. Scootaloo blinks at couple times in confusion at being face to face with a snow white unicorn. "Oh hello there Scootaloo, how are you dear?" Rarity asks with a smile to the perplexed Pegasus filly. "Oh hi Rarity." Scootaloo says awkwardly. "Uh, what are you doing here?" "What a coincidence, I was wondering the same thing myself." The Fashionista says with a little giggle. "But Rainbow Dash simply insisted I be here." "She did?" Scootaloo tilts her head. "Why?" "She thinks I can help with your practice somehow, so I shall do my best to do just that." "Well ok, if Rainbow Dash thinks it'll help." Scootaloo says hesitantly. Well, that's about what I expected. She sounds about as confident with this as I do. Rarity thinks to herself. Before any conversation can continue a loud voice comes from the sky. "I'm back!" Rainbow Dash shouts as she lands with a thud in between the two other ponies creating a dust cloud. When the dust settles Rainbow Dash can be seen holding four traffic cones stacked together. "There you are Rainbow Dash, you really shouldn't fly off without a word like that." Rarity scolds in a friendly way. "My bad. Hey there Scoots, glad you're here." Rainbow Dash walks over and ruffles the filly's hair, she then looks behind her pupil. "No entourage with you today Squirt?" "They had some things to take care of, so it's just me today." Scootaloo explains. "Well, ok. Anyway Scoots, I see you've met my Assistant for today" Rainbow Dash says with a smile at Rarity. Scootaloo puts on a fake frown. "Aw man, you brought your Marefriend? You two aren't gonna make out the whole time are you?" A moment of silence follow that comment before Scootaloo and Rainbow Dash begin laughing like crazy. Rarity just looks away in a huff. "Well I never." "Relax Rare, it's ok." Rainbow says as her laughs subside, she then looks at the young Pegasus. "Alright Squirt, it's time for business, let's get all the jokes out of our system cause this training is gonna be serious...... Probably." "Let us skip any jokes that will be made at my expense please." Rarity says with slight annoyance in her voice. Scootaloo looks between the mares before settling on Rainbow Dash. "We should just get started then." Rainbow lets out a little chuckle before signaling both ponies to follow her as she heads down the hill. She places two traffic cones down a distance apart before flying a ways down and placing the other two, She then returns to her two companions. "Alright, let's get started. Before anything else Scoots, we're gonna do our warm ups. Show me what you can do." Scootaloo stretches her wings a few times before dropping to the ground, then she flaps her wings before having them touch the ground. Finally with some effort Scootaloo uses her wings to push herself a little bit off the ground, she goes back down and then pushes back up. Rainbow Dash and Rarity just watch, Rarity recognizing the action as similar to push-ups but with her wings instead. Scootaloo continues her wing-ups, as Rarity assumes their called, for awhile, eventually Scootaloo stops and stands back up with heavy breaths, considering the small size of her wings Scootaloo's total count of fifty wing-ups is impressive. "Not bad Scoots, that's five more than last time." Rainbow Dash remarks. "Your wings gotta be tired though, so we're gonna give them a break for right now. That's where these cones come in." Rainbow Dash gestures to the cones she set up. "Training today is really going to tire your wings so when you're to tired to train those, we're gonna train the rest of you." Rainbow explains as her and Scootaloo stand next to the closer of the cones. "These two mark the starting point, while the other two mark the end, going back and forth between the cones in gonna be a lap. We'll do three laps together, then we'll move on to our next wing exercise." Rarity had to admit it was an interesting idea, train your wings till your exhausted then train your body until your wings are better. The Fashionista stood back and watched as the two Pegasus stood at the starting markers ready to run. But Rainbow Dash got out of her ready position and looked at the pale unicorn with a raised eyebrow. "Rare, you waiting for an invitation or something?" The ace flier inquires. "Um... What do you mean Darling?" Rarity responses with confusion. "You're my Assistant Coach right? So you're part of this too." "Oh no, no, no. I'm perfectly fine right here." Rarity assures. Scootaloo giggles. "Come on Rarity, you chicken?" Rarity glares at the young filly. "bawk bawk bawk." Scootaloo mocks. "I am not afraid of your little track." The Fashionista huffs. "I'll have you know I participated in the Sister Hooves Social, which was an obstacle course of sorts." "That's great." Rainbow Dash says with a smile. "Then this should be a breeze, come on." Rarity just eyes both Pegasus before sighing and walking over to the start markers. "Oh very well, but I'll only run one lap." Rarity claims with defiance as she gets ready to run. All three ponies take there places and wait for a few moments, and though no signal was given all three take off at the same time. Rainbow Dash easily takes the lead at first, quickly gaining distance from the other two, Rarity tries her best to keep up but stays behind as she runs neck and neck with Scootaloo. The three ponies near the end markers with Rainbow arriving first and quickly turning to head back, Scootaloo arrives next with Rarity right behind, while trying to turn around Rarity's perfect mane falls out of place and covers one of her eyes. The Fashionista tries to continue but her lack of vision keeps her from running to quickly, getting frustrated Rarity uses her magic to throw her hair out of the way only for her jaw to drop as Scootaloo has gained a tremendous lead on her. Narrowing her eyes Rarity makes her legs go faster as she sprints to catch the filly, Rarity barrels ahead and catches up right as Scootaloo begins to turn for the second lap. The Fashionista skids to a stop at the markers as her and Scootaloo exchange a glance, both look out to see Rainbow Dash maintaining her lead. To the surprise of both ponies Rarity gives a nod and Scootaloo grins as the Fashionista runs off toward the end markers with the young filly close behind. What had started as a simple three lap exercise quickly evolved into a full-blown race. Rainbow Dash, becoming wary in the ninth lap looks back quickly to see that Rarity and Scootaloo were continuing to close the gap, the determination on both ponies faces pushing them to keep running faster. Turning at the end markers and hurrying back Rainbow Dash pushes herself harder, When she makes it back to the start markers to start lap ten she's surprised to see both other ponies hot on her trail. Though no rules had been stated all three racers knew this was it as they rush forward as fast as their legs will carry them. Rarity, her hair blowing behind her and a slight smile on her face skids to a halt while turning around at the end markers. Rainbow and Rarity are neck and neck as they take off like rockets towards the finish line. Rarity continues running, her smile growing the closer the finish line gets, a sudden weight on her back surprises her for a moment before she feels another weight jump off her head. Both mare's jaws drop as they see Scootaloo bound of the top of Rarity's head and buzzing her wings as quickly as possible she gives herself some extra lift. The young filly lands on the ground and skids along it, passing the starting markers mere seconds before the older ponies cross it themselves. "Wow, That was awesome Scoots!" Rainbow Dash exclaims with pride as she ruffles the little filly's hair. "Most impressive Scootaloo." Rarity says while using her magic to straighten her mane. "Such a shame we have no prize to give you." "Don't worry, I've got an idea." Rainbow Dash says with a wink. "But for right now lets just back to practice." And as the practice continued whenever Scootaloo's wings got tired another race was had, no definitive winner was shown though as Scootaloo won some races, Rainbow Dash won others and Rarity to her own delight won some too. She runs across the finish line at the end of the final race of the day. "Oh dear Darling, this really isn't your day." Rarity says in a teasing voice. "You've lost to both your pupil and your marefriend." "Hey, that's fine by me." Rainbow says in a calm voice. "You know if I used my wings you'd stand no chance." "Oh just let us savor this Rainbow Dash." Rarity pouts. "When else will me and Scootaloo get the chance to say we won a race against you?" "I don't know about you girls." Scootaloo pants heavily. "But I feel great! And tired." Rainbow uses her wing to steady Scootaloo and chuckles. "That's alright Scoots, our next activity isn't to stressful." "Next activity?" Rarity asks. "Rainbow Dash we talked about the practice before Scootaloo got here. I thought we'd done everything we talked about." "Oh we have." Rainbow says with a nod. "This ones a surprise." The Ace Flier looks to her pupil. "Scoots, you remember when Derpy interrupted out last practice and I had to go to Cloudsdale?" The filly nods her head. "Well before she showed up I said I had one last thing for you that practice. Well this is that thing." Rainbow Dash leads her two companions up the hill until all three are standing on the top. "I'm really proud of how hard your working Squirt, but your wings aren't quite good enough to fly yet." Scootaloo looks downcast but Rainbow lightly bops her on the head to get her attention. "But I think their definitely good enough for this." Rainbow Dash gestures and both other ponies look at where she points. All they see is the slope of the hill and grasslands. Rainbow Dash laughs at their quizzical expressions. "Come on girls this is easy." Rainbow Laughs. "Scoots I'm gonna teach you how to glide!" Scootaloo looks at Rainbow with wide eyes. "Really!?" The filly beams at her coach. "You betcha Squirt. Now get ready, I'll give you some tips and show you how it's done." After a brief talk with her pupil Rainbow Dash readies her wings and jumps off the top of the hill, her wings catch on the wind and she floats down slowly and she moves forward, she lands a long way from the hill and then flies back. "You give it a try now." Scootaloo beams at the two mares with her before readying her wings and leaping off just like Rainbow Dash did. Only to fall down and tumble down the hill. Scootaloo picks herself up and heads back up the hill, she readies herself again only to fall again. Scootaloo continues persistently to get gliding right, sometimes she just falls, others she tries flapping her wings only to fall and only occasionally does she glide for a foot or two before inevitably falling down once again. No matter how many times she tumbles down the hill, Scootaloo picks herself up and tries again. Eventually, with a concerned look that Scootaloo doesn't see Rainbow Dash blows her whistle. "Alright Scoots, we're gonna take a short break then get right back to it." Rainbow announces, Scootaloo nods and lays down on the hill, Rainbow Dash signals Rarity and the two older mares move a distance away to talk. "Rainbow Dash is something wrong?" Rarity asks upon seeing her face. "I don't get it Rare, training was going so well today and Scoots wings work just fine, she can even hover a bit now." Rainbow mumbles. "She should be able to glide and if I can help her do it she'll be so close to flying." "Well you're the expert here." Rarity says. "Do you have any idea what could be wrong?" "I got nothing." Rainbow grumbles in defeat. "Her wings are good, she's determined, she wants it more than anypony I've ever met and she's trying so hard. I can't figure it out." Rainbow just scratches her head as Rarity ponders the predicament. "She is trying so hard." Rarity whispers while looking at Scootaloo lay on the grass. The Fashionista raises an eyebrow and shrugs. "Maybe she's trying to hard?" She offers, a suggestion the Rainbow immediately scoffs at. "Are you kidding? Trying to hard? What does......that......even.........mean....." Rainbow trails off as she talks, her eyes becoming distant as if she's thinking about something long ago. Slowly a smile begins to form on her face. "Well how about that, She's overthinking it." Rainbow's smile grows as her voice rises. "She's trying to hard because she's overthinking it!" Rainbow looks at Rarity with a grin. "She's Overthinking it don't you get it!" Rarity just looks at her confused, then her eyes widen when Rainbow grabs her shoulders. MWAH! Rainbow delivers a quick kiss to Rarity's cheek. "Rarity you beautiful mare that's it! I'm so glad I brought you!" The flight coach then runs over to her pupil leaving the now beet red unicorn alone. "Scoots stand up! I've got it!" Rainbow exclaims, causing the filly to jerk up in surprise. "Huh? Got what Rainbow Dash?" Scootaloo asks. "You my little friend are overthinking this whole thing." Rainbow Dash announces. "Gliding isn't really something you need to think about, it's the wind and gravity at work, so I have a plan." Rainbow Dash smiles at the little filly. "I want you to try again, but this time, don't think about anything. You can't think about 'oh I hope I get it this time' or 'maybe if I move my wings that'll help' or especially 'I need to do this or I'll never fly' " Scootaloo just stares at her coach who has apparently been reading her thoughts. "But Rainbow Dash, how am I supposed to not think?" The filly asks in confusion. "Hmm, how to explain this." Rainbow mumbles while racking her brain, she looks around and her eyes fall on Rarity, she smiles a big smile as a light bulb goes off in her head. "Thanks Rare! You've done it again!" Looking away from the perplexed unicorn Rainbow looks at the perplexed filly. "I wanna tell you a story Scoots." Rainbow Dash sits down and Scootaloo moves closer to listen, Rarity almost sits down but one look at the ground convinces her to keep standing. "I've told you about when I did the Sonic Rainboom at the Best Young Fliers competition right?" Rainbow asks her pupil. "Yeah, you saved Rarity andthe wonderbolts! It's such a cool story!" Scootaloo says with enthusiasm. "Yeah, it was pretty cool." Rainbow says with pride, she then coughs and returns to her story. "But here's the thing Scoots, before I did that, I was scared, stuff I should have easily been able to do during my routine I kept messing up." "Wait, you were scared?" Scootaloo asks with wide eyes. "You messed up?" "Well yeah, I'm not perfect Squirt." Scootaloo just stares at Rainbow Dash, clearly not believing her. "Trust me ok?" "The thing is, I couldn't do the Sonic Rainboom cause I was psyching myself out, I kept thinking about what'd happen if I messed up or failed. I was so worried about what ponies would think I just couldn't do it." "But then I saw Rarity falling." Rainbow's voice taking on a more serious tone. "What ponies thought, whether I could do the Sonic Rainboom or not, that didn't matter anymore, I had to help Rarity, I had to save her.. And the Wonderbolts." Rainbow looks at Scootaloo with determination. "That's why I could do it, I wasn't thinking about what could go wrong, I was focused, focused on one thing, saving the life of somepony I care about." Rarity watches the Pegasus talk, a faint hint of red still on her cheeks. Rainbow Dash stands up with a smile. "When you think to much about what could go wrong it's actually more likely it's gonna happen. You gotta stay focused Scoots, I want you to try gliding again, I'm gonna be with you. Just focus and you're gonna do fine." Rainbow Dash walks over to the edge of the hill. Scootaloo stares after her coach, looking nervous. "Scootaloo dear, what's wrong?" Rarity asks while walking up to the young filly. "I would think you'd be rather inspired right now." "Well, it's just that-" Scootaloo looks away. "-What am supposed to focus on? What if I mess up again?" Rarity raises a hoof and waves it slightly. "Tut, tut, tut. None of that." Rarity jokes. "Come now Scootaloo. Just do your best, me and Rainbow know you can handle this." "Thanks Rarity." Scootaloo smiles, then beams at Rainbow Dash. "I'm coming Rainbow Dash!" Mare and filly stand together on the hill, Rainbow Dash hops off and flaps her wings to begin hovering in front of her pupil, with encouraging words from her coach the filly hops off to, focusing on Rainbow Dash the filly's wings instinctively move to catch the wind. Scootaloo faces forward, looking at her coach as the older mare urges her on. Scootaloo doesn't feel like much time passes before her hooves touch ground, bracing herself for the tumble down the hill Scootaloo closes her eyes, only for the tumble to never come. Scootaloo opens her eyes slowly and sees flat ground around her and Rainbow Dash. Blinking in disbelief Scootaloo turns around and her jaw drops, the hill she used to be on was far behind her, she'd landed past the end markers for the race from earlier. "Wow." The Filly whispers in amazement. She feels her hair being ruffled while Rainbow Dash laughs. "That was impressive Squirt." Rainbow beams to her pupil. "I'm proud of y-" "Scootaloo!" Both Pegasus turn to see a snow white unicorn running quickly toward them. Rarity skids to a halt in front of them. "Scootaloo that was amazing! You're incredible!" The Fashionista exclaims with a wide smile. "Thanks you guys." Scootaloo says with a smile. "This was the best, most fun practice ever!" The filly beams at both mares. Rainbow Dash smiles but raises an eyebrow. "We're not quite done yet Scoots." Rainbow announces, she gestures back to the hill when her two companions look at her. "Don't you wanna try gliding without my help?" All three ponies smile as they race back to the hill one more time. _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ THIRTY MINUTES LATER: IN FRONT OF THE PONYVILLE ORPHANAGE "I still can't believe I did it!" Scootaloo exclaims, her wings buzzing with excitement and lifting her slightly off the ground. "I'm proud of you Squirt." Rainbow Dash says with a smile. "It was very impressive Scootaloo." Rarity compliments. "Thank you for everything Rainbow Dash." Scootaloo looks at Rarity. "You too Rarity, I had an amazing time." "You get some rest Scoots, you've had a big day." Rainbow Dash says while ruffling the little filly's hair. Scootaloo tries to wave her off but a yawn stops her, her exhaustion from the work out today catching up. "Thanks for walking me home." Scootaloo says with a groggy voice. "I'm gonna get some sleep now." Scootaloo waves goodbye and heads inside, she pauses before the door fully closes and looks at Rarity. "Oh Rarity, tell Sweetie Belle I'll clean the clubhouse first thing in the morning." Rarity nods and Scootaloo closes the door, Care Giver can just barely be heard welcoming her back. Rainbow Dash and Rarity begin walking, Rarity with some cheer in her step. Rainbow Dash chuckles and bumps the Fashionista. "See? I knew you'd have fun." "Well I'm not sure I'd call this romantic, but yes, I did enjoy myself very much." Rarity says with a giggle. Rainbow Dash just rolls her eyes. "Please, I'm the master of romance." "Oh, yes indeed." Rarity teases. "Then we'll see what you do next time." Rainbow stares at her with a light red on her cheeks. "Planning the second date already?" The ace flier asks with a small smile. Rarity looks away. "Oh well, uh... Let's not get ahead of ourselves. So what now Rainbow Dash?" Rainbow scratches her head at that question. "Hmm, well-" Rainbow Dash ponders, Suddenly a voice calls out to the two mares. "Oh! Rainbow Dash! Rarity!" The two ponies in question turn to see Fluttershy approaching them, Discord trails behind with a pout. "We just got back from visiting Morning Dew, how have you been?" "Had a great day Shy." Rainbow Dash explains. "We helped Scootaloo learn to glide." "That's so great." Fluttershy exclaims. "I bet she was bouncing off the walls." Both mares nod in agreement. "So Discord." Rainbow Dash says, turning her attention to the Draconequus. "You met my mom huh? How'd it go?" "Oh, just wonderful." The Chaos Lord says, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "Dashie your mother is positively demonic-" Discord coughs loudly. "I mean 'delightful'." Rainbow stares at Discord for a moment before just shrugging and returning her attention to Fluttershy. "So what are you two up to now?" "Well actually Discord offered to take me out to lunch." Fluttershy explains. "He said he was struck with the idea while we were in Cloudsdale and thought it'd be fun." "Sounds good Shy, but I gotta go." Rainbow Dash announces. "I got some stuff to take care of in my house that I really gotta get working on." "I suppose I should head out as well." Rarity comments. "I'd like to start working on some new dresses." Each having their own plans, the three mares (and Discord) exchange goodbyes and then head off to their plans. Not long after, Rarity arrives at her Boutique, heading into her studio she sits down at a table to work on ideas. Almost immediately an idea sparks in her mind, levitating a pencil she carefully begins drawing lines on the paper. Memories of the wonderful day play in her head as she works, Rarity hums a happy tune as she gets lost in her work, idly thinking about what's in store for tomorrow.