Rumble sat with the girls for lunch, idly nibbling away while they talked.
“I think Thunderlane might be on to something,” Sweetie Belle said. “If there is something medical going on, you should see a doctor.”
“But Rainbow Dash never made me see a doctor. She’d know if something was wrong with me.” Scootaloo’s wings twitched as she ate.
Apple Bloom winced. For once, though, Diamond Tiara beat her to the punch. “Not if she got scared. If she was worried it’d turn out you really can’t ever fly-”
“Don’t say that!” Scootaloo shouted before taking an angry bite out of her lunch.
Rumble stayed out of it. He had no say in the matter, anyway.
“She didn’t mean it like that, Scootaloo,” Silver Spoon said. “She just meant that maybe there’s a reason Rainbow Dash wouldn’t take you to a doctor. I mean, we do all get check-ups in school.”
Apple Bloom had to concede there. “Good point. But then maybe it’s something else.”
Scootaloo rolled her eyes. “Like what? I’m doing everything Rainbow Dash tells me to, how she tells me to do it. Why wouldn’t that work?”
Rumble’s ears twitched. He’d been asking himself that very question for a while now.
“What do you think, Rumble?”
The boy looked up. Both the Cutie Mark Crusaders and the Sugarlump Rumps were all staring at him. He didn’t even catch who’d asked the question. “What?”
“I’m asking what you think,” Sweetie Belle said.
“About what?”
“About me not flying. This was your idea,” Scootaloo replied. “Do you think Thunderlane noticed something about me and he’s not telling?”
Rumble looked up to where his brother was. “No. If something was wrong, he’d have told you right away. My big brother doesn’t do sugarcoating.”
“What about you?” Scootaloo asked. “Do you think anything’s wrong?”
He shook his head. “I can’t really say. I was focused on getting my move right, I wasn’t paying attention to you, sorry.”
“Could you maybe show me how it’s done?”
Diamond gulped and quickly finished her meal.
Rumble’s ears did a twitch and a quiver, before he smiled. “Sure.” He put his lunch down and started flapping his wings in place, getting him off the ground by a head’s height. “Just like this.”
Scootaloo stared at him blankly. “And how are you doing that, exactly?”
“I don’t know. I just am: flap wings, lift off, keep flapping to stay up, slow down to land.” He landed and sat down again, continuing to eat.
“Does it have anything to do with your sweet buns, maybe?” Sweetie Belle asked.
He blushed and froze. “My whatnow?”
“Your sweet buns. You know, the stuff you eat.”
“Oh. Umm, it might, but it shouldn’t. Only dedicated athletes really need to watch what they eat. Regular ponies that eat regular ought to be able to fly regular.”
Apple Bloom looked at Diamond Tiara, noting the girl’s growing distress. Was she scared of the boy, somehow?
“So what do you do, then?” Scootaloo asked.
“I just flap my wings and focus,” Rumble replied.
“No, I mean besides that. Ponies never see you around town. What do you do, like, when you’re not flying?”
“Why do you ask?” He got another bite of his lunch.
Apple Bloom looked to Diamond again. The pink filly was shivering at this point. Rumble’s eyes darted to her for a second, and she stopped shivering, almost by force. Definitely something about him that made Diamond uneasy.
Scootaloo smiled nervously at him. “Well, it’s just that, you know, me and the girls have been helping out other ponies, like Diamond Tiara and Dinky Doo. We thought, since you’re trying to help me out, maybe we could return the favour?”
Rumble swallowed the last of his bun. Everypony else had finished by now, too. He took a long swig of his sports drink and raised an eyebrow. “I don’t think I understand. What would I need your help for, exactly?”
“Come on, Rumble, you must have noticed,” Scootaloo said with a groan. “You know, so you can be like us?”
“Like… you?” He blushed. Sweetie Belle caught the scent of his cold sweat.
Scootaloo winced and looked away. “You know, everypony else here is the same, except you? You really can’t take a guess?”
His ears fell flat against his head, and he looked down at himself. “Oh, yeah, like that. Of course.”
“They mean you’re the only blank flank here,” Diamond Tiara blurted out.
Scootaloo groaned. “I was trying to be delicate, Diamond Tiara.”
“Obviously, Diamond Tiara,” Rumble said. “I’ve been a blank flank for as long as I can remember. What does that have to do with anything?”
“We figured that since you didn’t get your cutie mark after you helped out at that tornado thing-” Scootaloo started.
He cringed like he was being stabbed in the chest.
“And we kinda beat you during that flagbearer competition-”
Diamond Tiara followed suit.
“Maybe your special talent involves flying, but it isn’t flying. So, seriously, what else do you do besides flying?” The little pegasus filly looked him over again, as if hoping to find some clue in the hairs of his shiny, soft-looking coat.
He thought long and hard, and Diamond Tiara’s body stiffened.
“Nothing that I’d get cutie marks in,” he replied.
“Are you sure?”
He nodded. “I’m pretty sure you don’t get cutie marks for eating and sleeping, yes.”
“But what about your hobbies?” Scootaloo asked.
“What do you mean?”
“What do you do for fun?”
“I fly.”
Scootaloo groaned. “What do you do for fun when you’re not flying?”
Rumble shrugged. “If I’m not flying, I’m not having fun.”
She shook her head in confusion. “You don’t ride a scooter?”
“No.”
“You don’t play hoofball?”
He curled his nose in a mix of disgust and embarrassment. “No.”
“You don’t even dance?”
“I am not a dancer,” he said with his jaw clenching.
The Cutie Mark Crusaders exchanged a glance at that.
“Maybe that’s why you don’t have your cutie mark yet,” Sweetie Belle said. “Whatever your special talent is, you haven’t been trying it. You haven’t even given it a chance.”
“I’ve given plenty of things a chance, Sweetie Belle. It hasn’t worked so far. Why would I keep trying something if I know it won’t work?”
“Because a cutie mark is what makes a pony complete,” Apple Bloom said. “It makes you happy.”
“No, it doesn’t,” Rumble retorted. “You’ve got it backwards. You’ve always had it backwards. You don’t get to be happy because you have a cutie mark. You find what makes you happy first, and then you get your cutie mark. It’s not the what, it’s the when that counts. I know that, and I’m pretty sure you’d know that by now, too.”
“Sorry. We’re just trying to be motivational and stuff,” Scootaloo said.
He groaned. “Don’t be sorry. Motivating is a lot harder than it looks.”
“So... what would make you happy?” Sweetie Belle asked. “When do you think you’d get your cutie mark?”
He looked up at the sky again. “When I’m a Wonderbolt stallion. Then I’d get my mark, for sure.”
“Oh. Uh, any other ideas? I think making you a Wonderbolt is kind of a tall order, Rumble, even for us,” Scootaloo noted. “At least this quick.”
“I know. So just let me get there on my own, and you girls can keep helping other foals, ones with smaller orders.”
Thunderlane and Rainbow Dash flew down to the kids once their lunch was done and they’d had some time to discuss.
Rainbow smiled at them, just barely keeping her tail from wagging. “Okay. Scootaloo, Rumble: me and Thunderlane have been talking and-”
“We’ve decided to switch things up a bit,” Thunderlane finished.
“Switch things up?” Rumble asked. “How?”
“Rumble, Rainbow Dash will be taking over coaching you for a little while. Scootaloo, you’re with me,” Thunderlane explained.
“What? Why?” Rumble’s voice squeaked again, his eyes wide with what the girls presumed was boyish embarrassment.
“Because Rainbow Dash is better at rescue stuff and making split-second decisions,” Thunderlane replied. “And she’s better at the showpony side of Wonderbolts stuff. You’ve got the technical stuff down already, she can show you something new.”
“And Thunderlane thinks he’s better at the technical stuff, Scootaloo,” Rainbow Dash said, before thinking it over more carefully. “Well, he is better at it. You need somepony technical, so it’s either gonna be him or Twilight Sparkle.”
Scootaloo gulped. “I’ll take him over Twilight, then.”
The stallion snorted. “Gee, thanks.”
Rumble grumbled. “So, you know how to do a pony glove catch? You can show me?”
Rainbow Dash nodded. “Of course. I do it all the time.” She leaned in to whisper. “And while we’re at it, I’ll fix your performance issues, too.”
The boy blushed and looked at the ground. “If you say so.”
Diamond Tiara winced at the sight of him. Silver Spoon quirked an eyebrow in confusion.
Thunderlane cocked his head towards the edge of town. “Come on, Scootaloo, let’s get you to the pond. We’re going to want to do some tests first.”
“Tests?” Scootaloo asked.
“And you are coming with me, Rumble,” Rainbow Dash said. “Um, staying, I guess. We’ll start with the catch and get to the showy stuff once that’s done.”
“Where are we going?” Silver Spoon asked.
“I think I’ll stay here and watch Rumble some more,” Sweetie Belle started.
“No, no, bad idea.” Diamond Tiara immediately got behind the girl and started shoving her forward. “Rumble’s, like, a strict and disciplined athlete. You wouldn’t want to break his concentration, would you? Heheh, he might have an accident or something. Can’t have that. No sirree.” She chuckled nervously.
“Oh, right.” Sweetie Belle got up, leaving Diamond to fall over and get a mouthful of grass.
Silver Spoon picked her up, even more confused. “What’s going on with you and Rumble?”
Diamond Tiara looked around furtively. “I just really don’t want to get in his way, that’s all. Bye Rumble, good luck!” With that, she bolted.
Rainbow Dash leaned in to her new charge once they were clear. “That’s pretty impressive, you know. Diamond Tiara doesn’t act like that around just anypony.”
“I know,” he replied flatly. “So, umm, what do we do first for warmups? Corkscrew practice? Falling practice?”
“Is that how Thunderlane teaches you?”
“Yes.”
She leaned back with a smile and a wave. “Well, good news, Rumble, because now you’re taking lessons from me. And I don’t do things halfway: I do it all in one go. So let’s see what you’ve got, and we’ll see if you’re Wonderbolts material yet.”
Rumble’s stomach groaned at that, but he was already in launching position; head low, blank flank high, wings spread, legs relaxed, ears tilted slightly backwards, nose flared ever so slightly.
It was a sight Rainbow Dash was not used to seeing on a pony that young, and outside of competition. She picked up the Earth pony doll and weighed it on a wing. “You use a life-sized doll for practice? This thing weighs about as much as a real filly.”
“So?”
“So, if you’re gonna use something like this, why not go the extra mile?”
“I couldn’t find anything close enough. So, can we start now, please?”
“Okay, show me what you got. Pull!”
When the herd of fillies and one stallion made it to the pond, and after Scootaloo had taken a detour home to get a towel, Thunderlane took position beside the water and cleared his throat.
“He-hem. We’re going to be doing some basic fitness tests first, to make sure we know what works and what doesn’t. Now, I don’t know how Rainbow Dash trains you, but I don’t go around barking orders. You’ll get enough of that at Flight Camp. We’re going to be doing this nice and slow, make sure we don’t miss anything. Today is strictly prep work, laying the foundations. Do you understand so far?”
“Yes, sir!” Scootaloo saluted him.
“Good. Now, that said, I’ll be expecting you to do exactly what I say, when I say it, if you can do it. If you think you can’t do something I tell you to, let me know. Knowing exactly what you can and cannot do is crucial. Likewise, if I tell you to keep going when you’re tired, you’re allowed to quit and take a break anyway. I don’t want to waste your time, I’m sure you don’t want to waste mine, no hard feelings. But keep in mind that if you do decide to stop, the consequences are on you. It’s the same as with any other training: you skip out on anything, it’s your fault you’re not getting stronger. You take responsibility for what you do. Are we clear on the quitting part?”
“Crystal.” She gave him a curt nod.
“Perfect. We’ll start with some swimming. You know how to swim, right?”
“Yup.”
He smiled and nodded towards the pond. “Hop into the water, then, and start flapping your wings. Do some laps.”
Sweetie Belle quirked an eyebrow, taking a seat on the shoreline with the rest of the girls. “Are you sure this will work?”
“We have to make sure her wings are strong enough to push her forward first. Swimming’s a good way to check,” Thunderlane replied.
Right at that moment, a loud buzzing and thumping caught the ponies’ attention. The buzzing sounded something like a motorboat. And much like a motorboat, it splashed them all as it whizzed by.
Thunderlane shook off the water. “Okay, that answers that question. Scootaloo! You can stop now!”
Scootaloo slowed down her buzzing and paddling and swam back to shore. “Was that good?”
He ran a hoof down his mohawk to get his mane dry, before trotting to a nearby tree. “Perfect for a first try. Next, I’m going to need you to swim with just your wings. No paddling with your arms or legs. And no super speedy flapping, either, just calm and strong flaps.” Thunderlane reached into a hole in the tree trunk and pulled out a swimming board. “Here, use this.”
“Why is there a board in a tree?” Silver Spoon asked.
“Pinkie Pie put it there, obviously.” He tossed the board to Scootaloo. “For swimming board emergencies. Now, Scootaloo, just lie down in the water, arms out on the board, legs stretched.”
“Like this?” She took the board and got into position.
“Straighten your back out some more, tense up your belly if you have to. You want this to be as hard as a plank.” Thunderlane patted his own belly to demonstrate, then waded into the water to check her posture up close. “Good, like that. Now flap with your wings, slowly. One, two, one, two.”
Scootaloo did as she was told, but it wasn’t moving her this time. She just bobbed up and down.
“Not like that. Row with your wings, make circles. Fold your wings in when you go up, fold out when you catch the water, push.” Thunderlane did the same motion, right beside her, and kicked up a wave as he did. “Up, catch, push.”
“Up, catch, push,” Scootaloo repeated, going forward. “Up, catch, push.”
“Good, exactly like that. Now do some laps around the pond, work those wings. That’ll tell us if it’s a strength problem or an endurance problem. And don’t kick your legs; you want to put all the weight on your wings, that’s how you fly.”
Scootaloo got into the rhythm of it quickly enough. Her private dance practice in front of the mirror had prepared her well for this sort of teaching. It was nice, too, the water holding her up, her friends standing there, watching.
“Come on, Scootaloo! You can do it!” Sweetie Belle called out.
“Yeah, like, just keep swimming!”
And there was Diamond Tiara’s clumsy attempt to help. It was okay, though. Diamond probably wasn’t used to it, after all, except maybe around Rumble.
Yeah, this isn’t so bad. Maybe Rumble was on to something.
I wonder how he’s doing?
The doll plummeted down.
In one smooth move, Rumble dove behind the falling doll, turned so his belly would face the thing’s back, spread his arms, gently caught the thing underneath the shoulders, then turned upright and pulled up with plenty of airspace to spare.
He flew up to his instructor, ears perked in anticipation. “How was that?”
Rainbow Dash was flabbergasted. “Wow. You really are good. Why did it take you so long to get it right before?”
He smiled nervously. “Umm, I was just trying to do it right so the girls would see. So Scootaloo wouldn’t get the wrong idea, you know? Wonderbolts lead by example, after all.”
“Uhuh. You could have done it the way you did just now, that was fine,” Rainbow Dash argued.
“I don’t want it to be fine; I want it to be Wonderbolts level. You know what that’s like, don’t you?”
“Actually, now that you mention it…”
“Oh, Rumble!”
He froze in mid-air. “Uh oh. Hang on.” He dove back down to the ground, spiralling as he went with the doll in his grip.
“Huh?” Rainbow Dash flew down to greet the mare who’d interrupted their practice. “Oh. Hello, Missus Rich. What brings you here?”
The pink snob of a mare curled her nose at the sight of Rainbow Dash. “I was looking for my daughter. She was supposed to be with you.”
Rumble turned his head towards the outskirts of town. “Diamond Tiara left for the pond, Missus Rich.”
“And whyever would she abandon you like that?”
“Thunder-” Rainbow started.
“Thunderlane is taking over training Scootaloo for today,” Rumble interrupted. “Diamond Tiara wanted me to practise with Rainbow Dash, without any of the other girls distracting me. So she kinda herded them away for me. They’re watching that now, so I can have some peace and quiet.”
Rainbow’s eyes widened. That almost sounded like he didn’t want the girls there at all.
“I see. More Wonderbolts rescue training, I presume?” Spoiled Rich asked.
“Yes, Ma’am. The glove catch: catching a falling pony from behind, so they don’t get the sudden stop and whiplash. It’s a very advanced move, not something that’s easy to teach, lots of little details that have to be just right. Only the best flyers can pull it off. Right, Rainbow Dash?”
Rainbow shook her head to snap out of her daze. “Uh, yeah. Very complicated technique, lots of little things to worry about.”
“Ah, well, I suppose that’s all for the greater good, then, I won’t keep you. Still, I shudder to think how those girls have… affected my little Diamond. I hope they don’t rub off on her again.” Spoiled looked in the direction of the pond. At least, she figured she was; she never went to such a mundane place herself.
“She’s not getting too close, Ma’am. She’s just trying to play her cards right. You know how it goes,” Rumble said with a smile. “They might be useful someday. They got me another Wonderbolt to practise with, after all.”
Rainbow Dash would have picked up her jaw, if she could remember where she’d left it.
“Indeed.” Missus Rich smiled, though it was hard to distinguish from a sneer. “Thank you, Rumble. It’s so nice to know my little girl has at least one proper winner in her inner circle. If you see her, tell her to meet us at Daisy’s for tea, would you? We’ll be eating dinner in Canterlot tonight, with Fancy Pants.”
“Will do, Ma’am.” He bowed his head.
“Good day, Rumble, Rainbow Dash.”
“Yeah, good day,” Rainbow barely managed to say.
Once Spoiled Rich was out earshot, Rainbow Dash erupted. “What was that all about?!”
Rumble reflexively held his arms up. “Umm, I told Spoiled Rich where her daughter was?”
“Not that. All that ‘Oh, Diamond’s just playing her cards right’ and ‘Lots of little details to get right’ talk. Where did you get that?”
He tilted his head, confused. “Umm, from Diamond Tiara. We hang out sometimes, remember?”
Oh yeah, Apple Bloom mentioned that. Weird, that doesn’t add up so much it’s easy to forget. “And you’re going to dinner with Fancy Pants in Canterlot?”
“No, Diamond Tiara is. I’m not invited unless she needs a chaperone.”
“Then why would her mom mention it to you?”
“So I’d be reminded her family is important enough to be eating dinner with Fancy Pants in the first place, of course. That’s how high society ponies act. I just hang out with Diamond Tiara, I have for a while now.”
“Since before or after she decided to be nice?”
“Since before. Way before.”
“Uh, okay. Why?”
He shrugged. “Because her mom likes me, obviously. The Riches try to make Diamond hang out with any pony they think is important, or a winner. There aren’t a lot of ponies in Ponyville good enough to walk through their doors. Turns out I happen to be one of them.” He smiled proudly.
“So Diamond picked on you, too, huh?”
“No? She never picked on me. She wouldn’t dare.”
“Huh?”
He stared at her blankly. “You’re not listening to me, Rainbow Dash: Diamond Tiara’s mom likes me. She likes me because of how good I can fly already. She always gives me compliments, and pointers for practice. She says I’m a real winner, Wonderbolts material, even.”
Rainbow cocked her head towards town. “So you didn’t mean that? About the girls just being useful to you, or to her?”
“Of course not; I’m not a monster. But sometimes ponies have to pretend to be something they’re not, to get ahead. That’s just how it works. She taught me that, too.”
“I don’t know, Rumble, I wouldn’t trust her to make that kind of judgements about you. I don’t think it’s all that healthy, listening to a mare like that. She’s the kind of pony that can suck all the fun out of you.”
“At least she notices me,” he muttered under his breath.
“What?”
“What? Are we gonna keep going now?”
“Yeah, let’s keep going. We’ll do some test runs next, see how you measure up against me.”
Rumble smiled. “That sounds fun.”
“Yeah, you would think that.”
“Okay, so your wingpower is fine, endurance isn’t a problem, let’s see how well you can float,” Thunderlane started, taking the board away and pulling the girl to the deeper end. “Can you stand here?”
“I don’t think so. Yeah, barely.” Scootaloo let herself sink. Her hooves touched solid ground, but she had to crane her neck to keep her snout above water.
“That’s good. We’re gonna check your flotation now. Flap your wings up and down, slowly, like before. Try to stay in place, make little circles. Let your arms and legs hang, just like before.”
With a minor grunt, Scootaloo took off and started flapping so her upper neck was above water, too. “Like this?”
Thunderlane flashed her a friendly smile and walked away. “Exactly like that. Now just keep doing that until you sink.”
“Got it. Wait, what?”
“I need to know how long you can stay afloat, and how well you handle the heat being drained from your body.” He got out and shook himself dry again. “It’s okay, I’ve got my eye on you. The water’s too shallow to drown.”
“But won’t that wear out my wings?”
“Yeah. It’s supposed to. Just keep going as long as you can. Call out when you get too tired to move, or too cold.”
Sweetie Belle nudged Diamond Tiara. “Umm, just out of curiosity: what was that with you and Rumble again?”
Diamond chuckled nervously. “Eheh, what? Oh, nothing, nothing.”
“You sounded pretty nervous when we were gonna watch him instead of Scootaloo. Why?” Apple Bloom asked.
“No real reason. I just didn’t want to bother him.”
“You didn’t pick on him, did you?”
“What? Me? No, never!”
“Yeah, we never had any trouble with Rumble,” Silver Spoon said. “Why would we? He’s, like, the single coolest boy in town.”
“Try the only cool boy in town,” Diamond muttered under her breath.
“So why wouldn’t you want us to keep watching?” Sweetie Belle persisted. “Is it because that doll he tosses looks kind of like you?”
“What? No, that’s just a coincidence. It’s umm, because, like, Rumble has… he gets antsy sometimes when ponies watch. Especially me.”
“Didn’t bother him while he was practising with Scootaloo.”
“Me or my mom. It’s a long story,” Diamond said.
“No, it’s not,” Thunderlane interjected. “It’s a very short story. My little brother is a perfectionist when it comes to showing off. The Wonderbolts make everything they do look easy. He wants to be a Wonderbolt, so he tries to make everything he does look easy, too. Sometimes that takes him longer, especially with a crowd watching. Never figured out why, though. It never lasts once he gets the move down. He’s a fast learner when it comes to that stuff, you know.”
“Hey, there’s an idea,” Sweetie Belle said. “Maybe Rumble’s talent really is performing.”
“Yeah,” Apple Bloom said. “Maybe he just has stage fright. If we could get him to dance, he’d get his cutie mark for sure.”
“Wait, you want to what?” Diamond Tiara started.
“Get him to dance, help him get his cutie mark. You know, kinda like we helped you, and Twist, and Dinky Do,” Apple Bloom explained.
“Err, okay, helping is fine, but what makes you think dancing would help?”
Apple Bloom shrugged. “He mentioned to me that he doesn’t dance, ever, and just now he said he doesn’t have any landbound hobbies. Did you see the way he reacted when we suggested it? He must have a really bad case of stage fright.”
“Umm, that wasn’t stage fright. That was just him being a boy who doesn’t want to get dragged into anything embarrassing. You don’t wanna make Rumble dance, trust me. Rumble is not a dancer,” Diamond said.
Thunderlane chuckled. “She’s right. My little brother is a lot of things, but ‘dancer’ is not on that list. Even if you could get him to do it, he wouldn’t get his cutie mark.”
“A little help?!”
“I’ve got you, Scootaloo!” Thunderlane hovered over and pulled the pegasus out of the water. “How are your wings feeling?”
“Stiff, and cold.” She shivered, her wings shook even more than the rest of her did.
“Okay, good. I just need to check your pulse, okay?” Thunderlane reached out with a hoof, waiting for the okay.
Scootaloo nodded, and the prodding began.
“Any stings? Any shots of pain?”
“No,” came the calm reply.
“Here? Here? Here?” He went past the shoulder joint of her wings, the underside, then the soft spot; the tender blind spot on her back.
“No, no, and no.”
He gestured to her sides. “Stretch out your wings, please. Take a deep breath and hold it for me?”
Scootaloo sucked in a big gulp of air and held it, swelling her cheeks. Thunderlane kept a hoof on her throat and leaned in so he could hear. “And breathe out.”
“Phew.” She blew it out with a sigh of relief.
“Keep blowing,” he said, keeping a close watch on her wings. “Until you run out.”
“Haaa…” Scootaloo kept going until her lungs were emptied.
Thunderlane withdrew his hoof and scratched his head. “Huh. No wheezing, no cramping, no obvious blockages. I was sure it had to be that. You can breathe now, Scootaloo.”
The filly needed no more encouragement than that. “Phew. Can I dry off now?”
“Hmm? Yeah, sure. Wrap up, keep warm. I gotta think.”
Scootaloo wrapped herself in her soft towel. It wasn’t long before she was joined by the Cutie Mark Crusader Pony Oven Squad (‘Yay’ optional), leaving her sandwiched in between two warmer fillies. “Thanks, girls. So, what’s wrong with me?”
Thunderlane sighed. “Nothing is wrong with you, Scootaloo, that’s the weird part. You’re not underweight or overweight, your wings are strong as anything, your flotation is fine, your thermoregulation isn’t out of whack, and there’s no signs of respiratory or cardiac problems. Do you know if any issues run in your family, by any chance?”
She shook her head and pouted. “Not really, no. I never asked. Do you think that might be it?”
“Honestly? It’s the only thing left, but no, it’s probably nothing serious, either. If it was, it would show, after all that. You can relax: as far as I can tell, you’re a fit and healthy young pegasus.”
“That’s great news,” Diamond said. “So you are normal after all.”
“Except for not being able to fly,” Scootaloo hissed.
“Right. Sorry.”
“Though there is one more thing we haven’t tried yet,” Thunderlane said. “Your magic. We haven’t tested your magic yet.”
“You can test magic?” Sweetie Belle asked. “Umm, doesn’t she need a horn for that? Or don’t you?”
“No, it’s easy enough to check. Pony magic is a body skill, Sweetie Belle, unicorns just focus it more. Scootaloo, when you dream at night, do you ever remember flying? Can you fly in your dreams yet, I mean?”
“All the time,” Scootaloo replied.
“Yeah, she flew when that Tantabus thingie came to Ponyville. And before that, when we all dreamed of princess Luna,” Apple Bloom replied. “You flew like it was nothing, Scoot.”
“Oh, good. Very good,” Thunderlane said, pondering. “Umm, if you’re warmed up again, Scootaloo-”
“I’m ready!” She burst out of the towel and pony-based heating system and bolted to right in front of the stallion, giving him a salute.
“I think I’m starting to see why Rainbow Dash likes you so much,” he joked. “Last thing we’re gonna do today. Breathe in deeply for me. Put one hoof on your chest, here. Breathe in deep, so this hoof doesn’t move. Got that?”
Scootaloo did as she was told. “Okay, doing it.”
“Now move the hoof lower, to your belly. That has to move with your breath. In, and out.”
“In… and out…” Scootaloo nodded.
“Good, just like that. Now, part two: think back to when you flew in your dreams, try to feel out what it’s like to float.”
“Umm, I’m not sure if I can. It was a while ago. And I was asleep.”
“Then try to remember what it was like to float in water just now. Feel it out, your whole body getting lifted up. Spread out your wings and feel out the pressure. Feel the lift.”
Slowly, carefully, Scootaloo spread her wings out. “Like this?”
“Exactly like that. Now close your eyes, take a couple more deep breaths. Feel yourself becoming lighter. You never had any problems pulling your friends with your scooter, right?”
“Right.”
“Same thing, same magic,” Thunderlane explained. “Just relax and let that flow through your body.”
“I think I’ve got it?”
“We’ll know in a bit. Start flapping your wings, slowly, like you’re trying to float in water. I’ll give you the rhythm. One, two, one, two.” He tapped the ground with a hoof, letting the girl get a feel for it.
She flapped her wings slowly and steadily, right along with the rhythm.
“One, two, one, two…”
Sure enough, it worked.
Scootaloo rose up from the sandy shore, slowly floating up to Thunderlane’s chest height, then nose height, past his eyes, his ears. She didn’t see it, she was too focused on the sheer effort of staying relaxed.
“Oh, my gosh, you did it!”
“What?” Her eyes snapped open.
Thump! Like an anvil, she landed on her hooves. “Apple Bloom?! Why did you have to go and distract me?”
“Scootaloo, calm down,” Thunderlane interrupted.
“But she stopped me, I was flying!”
“No, you were channeling, with your eyes closed. That’s not the same thing. If you want to fly blind, we have special schools for that,” he said calmly, but curtly. “But then you’re going to need a seeing eye bat.”
“But, but…” She looked to her left wing, then her right. Neither of them was busted, so she was good to go. “Hnngg! Hnnngg!” Buzzing and revving her wings like crazy, she tried to hop and jump to get airborne again.
“Scootaloo, stop,” Thunderlane said.
“But I’m so close, I’ve almost-”
“Scootaloo,” the stallion commanded, stomping a hoof down. “I am telling you to stop. Don’t make me tell you again. Please? We don’t want to waste each other’s time, do we?”
She shook her head and wiped away a tear. “No, sir. But I was so close.”
“I know. But you need to calm down and listen to me, okay? What you just did wasn’t flying. It was magic practice, unicorns do that too. Flying isn’t something you do when you’re half asleep, you need to be awake and aware for it. If Apple Bloom hadn’t said anything, I’d have called you down myself.”
“But…”
“It’s okay, Scootaloo. Really. You did great. Now we know your magic isn’t the problem, either. You have plenty, more than enough to work it into flight.”
She groaned. “But I still can’t fly?”
“Not yet, no. But we’ve only been at it for under half a day. All the obvious stuff is out of the way now, everything a regular doctor would check you for, even a pegasus doctor. Whatever is keeping you down, it’s something small, a minor detail. You’re a fit and healthy pegasus, and nopony’s going to tell you otherwise.”
She sat down. She felt Apple Bloom’s plodding hooves behind her before she heard them.
“Gosh, I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to.” She lay down next to her friend, careful to keep her head lowered so Scootaloo looked down at her.
Scootaloo suppressed a growl. “I… I guess it’s okay, right? I wasn’t supposed to be flying for real yet?”
“Not this soon, no, that’s what I keep trying to tell you,” Thunderlane replied. “We’re just doing prep work today. Laying the foundations is critical and your foundations are good. You did well, honest. Wonderbolts don’t lie about achievements.”
“So what do we do now?” The pegasus filly asked.
“Now? Now I need to really think about what else could be keeping you on the ground. You’re too healthy to not be able to even hover properly. I’m sure once you do take off, at your current level, you’re going to be tearing up the skyline in under a week. That alone should make you feel better.”
“It does. Thanks, Thunderlane.”
He pondered it as the other girls herded around her and offered their own assessments of how high she’d gotten. She was well above the standard for her age, definitely at the level of a little ace, good enough to compete in her age group, if her age group had any competitions to begin with. And yet she was held down. She couldn’t even hover properly, and at her age, that was not normal, not with everything else about her being the way it was.
It just doesn’t add up.
She has magic, too, so it can’t be that. She can channel magic, at least. So why can’t she use it yet?
She is a fit and perfectly healthy young pegasus, she should be able to.
Unless...
Perfectly healthy? Nah, couldn’t be.
Rainbow Dash had to stop herself from chuckling when Rumble came in just behind her after yet another flight around the course. He wasn’t even winded. “Well, your speed’s good, so let’s try something fun and fancy. I’m going to demonstrate a little something called the High Speed Strut,” Rainbow Dash said. “It’s a strut. At high speed. It’s not that complicated, technically, but it’s kinda hard to do at the right rhythm, so don’t feel bad if you can’t do it the first time.”
“Okay,” Rumble replied. “How do you do it?”
“Like this.”
Rainbow Dash flew off the track and came in with a swoop, kicking up dust with her wings as she bounced her hooves off the ground, going at a breakneck speed. She skidded to a halt right in front of the colt.
“Don’t worry if you have to slow down; you’re only a little squirt after all.”
Rumble gritted his teeth and bolted. He came in with the same swoop, bounced his hooves off the ground in the same strutting motion, and came to a clean dead stop right in front of the mare. “Like that?”
Rainbow blinked and shook her head. “W-wha…”
Rumble tilted his head. “Was that bad? Should I try again?”
The mare nodded. “You can do that again?”
Without another word, he did just that. He zipped past, strutting like a pro, never missing a beat, never dragging his hooves, never so much as wincing at the strain on his little wings. Again, his stop was technically perfect: one powerful flap of the wings, no drag, hardly any noise, even. The only thing out of place was his face: he looked too normal. A strut like that had to be done with a smile, or a smug expression, even closed eyes if the pony was feeling particularly daring.
“Was that better?” Rumble asked.
“Better? Better? That’s amazing!”
He chuckled bashfully. “Really?”
“Totally! That’s the sort of move that gets you noticed, squirt.”
“Oh.” He winced and looked at his hooves.
“Is something wrong?”
“Umm, no. It’s just that… are you sure that move was good?”
“Of course it is. I mean, aside from your face. When you do that kind of move, you should smile.”
He smiled, but it was obvious he had to force it. “Heh, okay, I’ll err, I’ll keep that in mind. Anything else?”
“No, you’ve pretty much got it. As a matter of fact, I think we might need to check your wingpower next. If you’re that fast already, you might be ready for the more advanced stuff.”
“I thought that move already was advanced?”
She rolled her eyes. “Yes, but more, like, advanced advanced. Not, umm, middle of the road advanced.”
“Okay. What do I do?”
“Get a flying start from the other side of the field, and blow me over.”
He raised an eyebrow. “You want me to whatnow?”
“Blow me over. Make as much wind as you can to push me back. Impress me,” she said petulantly. “You want to be a Wonderbolt, dontcha?”
“Yes,” he said meekly, that high-pitched voice of his almost cracking again. “I want to be a Wonderbolt stallion.”
“I can’t hear you,” she said with a sing-song voice.
“Yes. I want to be a Wonderbolt stallion,” he repeated.
“Good. One thing you gotta remember: Wonderbolts can blow everyone away. So give it your best shot, and try to blow me away. Simple, right?”
“And do I have to smile while I’m doing it?”
“It’s gonna be hard work, so do whatever feels natural. Just make it look cool. Okay, squirt?”
Rumble bit his lip, but nodded. “Got it.”
He flew up to the other side of the field. Revving his wings up, he swung his body into full motion and bolted.
Rainbow Dash closed her eyes and prepared herself for a gentle breeze. A foal his size, he’d have no trouble blowing the seeds off a dandelion, or cooling her off a bit.
Fwoomp!
She found herself shocked. The wind had been hard enough to blow her tail back, move her mane ever so slightly. That wasn’t what worried her.
She looked down at her hooves. Her right hooves, back and front, had taken a step back.
He was strong enough to knock her back. Not a lot, but enough to knock her over if she didn’t brace herself.
His wingpower was strong enough to knock over a grownup. He could blow the shingles straight off a roof if he wasn’t careful. That wasn’t the sort of thing kids his age were supposed to be able to do. Even Thunderlane hadn’t been pulling stunts like that when he was little.
Thinking back on it, that was the sort of thing she used to do when she was his age.
“How was that?” Rumble asked.
“Umm, that was… good,” Rainbow Dash said, shaken. “Does Thunderlane know you’re that strong?”
He nodded and looked up with a tiny, but genuine, smile on his lips. “Uhuh. He always tells me I’m a champ. But it’s not like he wouldn’t say that even if I wasn’t. What do you think?”
“What do I think? What do I think?! Rumble, you’ve got a crazy high wingpower! Six or seven, easy. Most kids your age are stuck at two or three. That is very cool of you, to get it up like that. You must be maxed out on speed, too, huh? Any higher and that little body of yours might crack.” She chuckled nervously. “Either that or you end up doing a Sonic Rainboom, like I did.”
He blushed. “You really mean that?”
“Of course I mean that. Why haven’t you ever shown that off?”
He gulped. “I don’t know,” he lied. “I guess it never occurred to me.”
That was somewhat confusing to the mare. “Well, why do you want to be a Wonderbolt, then? If you don’t wanna show off, why be a showpony like them? What’s your motivation?”
He smiled. “I want to be a Wonderbolt like you, or Thunderlane. I want to help other ponies, like you do. I don’t want to be a showoff; I want to be an inspiration. I want ponies to look and me go ‘Wow, that stallion’s really awesome, I wonder if I can do that.’ And I want to tell them that they can.”
She chuckled. “Go on. Is that it?”
“I want to be the stallion other ponies look up to, the one they think of when they’re down, the one to make them realise that if I could do it, so can they. It doesn’t have to be much, I just want a little bit of umm, I want to have a voice, you know?” Again, he squeaked as he said it.
She nodded and prodded his chest. “See, that right there is your problem, Rumble. You want to have a voice, but you’ve already got a voice, a good one. You’re just not using it.”
He furrowed his brow at that. “How’s that?”
She withdrew her hoof and flew up, making him look up even higher at her. “You can do stuff no other kid in town can, but you never show it off! And you should! You’re already good enough to be an example. Ponies would look up to you if they knew how good you were. You’d be the most popular pony in class if you just learned to strut your stuff.”
Rainbow Dash was so busy flying around him and throwing her head back and gesticulating that she didn’t notice the little annoyed snort that Rumble had for a reply. “You really think ponies would admire me if they saw me, right now?”
“Yes! You’re an ace flyer, you should start acting like one. Stop hiding it all in your little shell.”
He tensed up at that. “I’m not sure if I really can stop that, Rainbow Dash.”
She landed to face him. “But you do want to be a Wonderbolt some day, right?”
He gulped and nodded, shaking ever so slightly. “Yes. More than anything in the world, I want to be a Wonderbolt stallion.”
“Then you’re going to have to get used to the idea that you already are Wonderbolts material. And that includes not being afraid to show your stuff. You know what they say: Wonderbolts lead by example.”
His stomach knotted at that. “Yeah. They do. But what do you think I should do, then?”
“Have you ever done a routine? Like, a show for ponies to enjoy?”
Again, his stomach knotted. “Maybe once or twice.”
“Think you can remember how that routine went?”
“Yes. It went pretty badly.”
She groaned. “Says you. But can you remember how to do it?”
He nodded. “Yes. What does that have to do with anything?”
“You’re not used to performing, are you?”
He looked away. “Umm… depends. I can perform just fine, really. And I can smile when I have to.”
“But you don’t think it’s fun to perform, do you?”
He bit his lip. “It is kind of scary, sometimes.”
“Because you’re scared you’ll mess up?”
“Uhuh. Wonderbolts don’t mess up. I can’t afford to mess up, either.”
“There you go. Sounds like stage fright and nerves to me. I’ll do what I can to get you over that, but I can’t do that without getting you on stage. So how about you go rehearse your routine, and be ready to do it in front of the girls, tomorrow.”
“You want me to do my old routine, the bad one? In front of the girls?”
“Yes. If you want to be a Wonderbolt, you have to learn how to get into character. I’ll tell you whatever’s really bad about your routine, what needs changing, but you’ll need to at least try to make it look good. Loosen up a little, show them how much fun you’re having. Show off some of that spunk of yours. You wouldn’t want to finally make it big and have ponies think being a Wonderbolt isn’t any fun, do you?”
He looked away and lowered his voice to a shy mutter. “No.”
“Didn’t think so. So tomorrow, we’ll fix your performance issues. I think you’ve got the thrust of it for now, but you’re done for today. You’re going to want to rest up. I’ll see you first thing tomorrow morning. For now, class dismissed.”
“Okay. I’ll go tell Diamond Tiara her mom asked for her.”
“You do that. I’ll talk to your brother, see where we can go. He should be doing the afternoon run over Sugarcube Corner by now.”
“Okay. Bye!” With a wave and a flap, he was off.
Good enough dedication, but a little bit of a performance problem. Nothing I can’t fix.
Thunderlane flew past Town Hall and towards Sugarcube Corner. He’d done his usual rounds, Rainbow Dash would probably come looking for him once her own afternoon run of the clouds was done. Scootaloo would most likely be distracted by her friends, and Rumble.
He had plenty of time.
Let’s see, should be right about… there.
He’d seen Scootaloo race across town plenty of times, of course. Most of the time he hadn’t paid much attention to the girl. But he was paying attention now.
And while ponies liked to joke about Thunderlane being lazy, they never joked about him being inattentive. Not like he cared about it, either way; he had an elephant’s skin like that. He set down in front of his target and looked up.
Number 43, on Horseshoe Avenue, the place with the columns. Scootaloo’s place.
He had an elephant’s skin, and an elephant’s memory to boot.
He knocked on the door, finding no doorbell. “Hello? My name is Thunderlane, I’m Scootaloo’s new flight coach. Hello?”
The door opened of its own accord. No telltale glow of magic, no gust of wind blowing in, but that wasn’t saying anything.
Carefully, gingerly, he stepped in, before calling out to whomever might be listening. “Hello?! Is it okay if I come in?”
No response. No neighbours to ask, either.
Well, the door’s open. If anyone asks, I’m investigating a potential domestic problem in my Wonderbolts capacity. I just hope whoever lives here doesn’t outrank me.
He stepped in, still making sure to call out.
“Hello? Is anyone here? I’d like to ask a few questions about Scootaloo. I’m helping her out with her flight problems, but there are a couple of things that I kind of need to know. It’s pretty important, for her sake, I mean.”
Still no response. He went through the hallway and passed what he figured was the girl’s room, judging by the Wonderbolts posters and the small, single-pony bed. He furrowed his brow at the one oddity in the room, though.
Why is that shelf up so high if she can’t fly? Wouldn’t she need something to reach?
He shook his head and kept going. “Hello? Anyone?”
He stopped when he saw.
“Oh, hi there. Err, don’t panic, please, I’m not here to steal anything. I just wanted to ask a few questions about Scootaloo, about her flying. The door was open, and, umm…”
He bit his lip. Awkward silence fell.
“I guess we both have some explaining to do to each other, huh?” he said.