//------------------------------// // 28: I Learnt to Fly. // Story: I Dreamt to Fly // by MrDynasty //------------------------------// While sleeping, Scootaloo was able to sense the sudden bright flash of light that came from the newly opened blinds around her window. A small groan came from her mouth as she turned around in her bed, hoping to escape the blindingly bright morning light. "Time to wake up, Squirt! The winner's celebration is in a couple hours, so if you still wanted to go, now would be a good time to slide out of bed," Rainbow Dash said, trotting over to the side of the bed that Scootaloo was facing. Scootaloo tried to pretend she was still sleeping by not really responding to Rainbow Dash, but it obviously wasn't going to work. Her shoulder was promptly shook, making her to groan again in annoyance. "I know you're not sleeping, Squirt. I tried to get away with that when I was your age, but it never even worked once. So, rise and shine!" Rainbow Dash said, continuing to shake Scootaloo's shoulder from time to time. Scootaloo rubbed her eyes before opening them and groggily looked up to Rainbow Dash. "...Ten more minutes... I was up pretty late," she said as she tried to pull her duvet over herself more. The duvet was quickly yankd off by Rainbow Dash, who sat down at the side of the bed. "No you weren't, I usually know what time you go to sleep because I have quite good hearing. And I definitely know you weren't up after 1am. Meaning you've had at the very least, eight hours of sleep. So it's time to get up now!" She said as she smiled and waited for Scootaloo to hopefully slither her way out of bed. Despite her bed sheets no longer covering her, Scootaloo continued to lay in her bed, not budging at all. Rainbow Dash pouted and leaned over. "I'm just going to sit here and annoy you if you don't get up. Plus, aren't you hungry for some breakfast?" She said, tilting her head. After a small pause, Scootaloo leaned up and rubbed her eyes again. "Okay... I'll get up. No point in staying in bed if I'm not going to get any more sleep," she said, letting out a loud yawn. Rainbow Dash nodded and stood up. "Good! I think you've slept enough anyway," she said as she began to trot away and out of the room. "I'll be back in five minutes, and if I see you laying in your bed again, I'm going to start getting really annoying!" Scootaloo rolled her eyes and looked over to the clock on her desk. The time was around half past nine, meaning she had just over two hours before the Wonderbolts' Celebration started. She was tempted on going back to bed, even if she was only going to get a couple minutes worth of Z's. Oh well, at least she was somewhat awake now. "You know, we could still turn around if you don't want to go, Squirt," Rainbow Dash said as she was flying to the side of Scootaloo. They were both on their way over to where the celebration was being held, and Scootaloo seemed a tad bit nervous for some reason. However, she shook her head and looked over to Rainbow Dash. "N-Nah, I want to go. No reason to be mad over what I can't change. Like I said, I still need to congratulate Rumble on winning; it was quite rude of me to just vanish like I did... and it probably made me look so childish," she said as she lowered her head. Rainbow Dash prodded her shoulder with one of her hooves. " It's okay to be upset about things! I'm sure they'd understand if you just said that you got a little upset about it, no harm done!" She said, looking over to her with a smile. Scootaloo lifted her head up and gave a small nod. "I suppose; but it still made me look like a butt-hurt baby. I hope nopony thinks bad of me because of that. If they do think bad of me, at least I can try and fix it when I get there," she said as she began to look around. She forgot how soothing flying felt, the wind blowing through your mane and over your face, cooling you off in what would otherwise be a very warm day. Sometimes it was nice to just get into a rhythm and circle around a couple clouds for a while; let the time pass by letting your wings carry you around and around. She felt quite lucky knowing how to fly, despite not being able to merely two or so months ago. She began to day dream as she continued to fly alongside Rainbow Dash, letting her mind think of whatever it wanted to. She imagined hanging out with her friends again, maybe even showing off the moves she learned over the past month or so. No doubt both Applebloom and Sweetie Belle would be impressed. Sadly they weren't able to attend any of the courses she participated in, as they were all held in the middle of the sky on top of clouds. Her daydreams were cut short as she was poked by Rainbow Dash. "We're approaching the stadium, so I thought I'd snap you out of whatever was distracting you," she said as she continued to smile. Scootaloo nodded and began to speed up to reach the stadium. There wasn't really an entrance they could go through, so they had to fly up and over to see where they had to go. The entire stadium had benches that circled around a mostly hollow centre, making it look somewhat like a coliseum. It was difficult to see where they would go to sit, thanks to the large density of pegasi ponies who already occupied a great chunk of the seating areas. With a little bit of searching, Scootaloo managed to see the recognisable, combed back mane of Spitfire, along with a bunch of other Wonderbolts around her. Scootaloo tugged on Rainbow Dash's arm and tried to make her follow her down to the Wonderbolts. It didn't take that long before she landed next to Spitfire, with Rainbow Dash arriving shortly after as well. "Hey, Spitfire! Just wondering, but where do we sit?" Rainbow Dash asked, lifting up her hoof. Spitfire turned around and smiled to them both. "Oh, hey you two. Glad to see you decided to show up," she said, trotting closer to them. "I was a little worried you two wouldn't show up since you seemed hesitant to stay before." Scootaloo nodded and rubbed one of her front legs with the other. "Y-Yeah... I was a little upset. But I'm good now," she said, looking up to Spitfire with a soft smile. Spitfire nodded to her. "No worries, it's happened before. Also, there's a second reason I'm glad you decided to come here, and that's because you forgot to take the silver medal we were going to give you for coming in second place. Didn't really have time to give it to you, or Rainbow Dash, but we could give it to you after the show the three Junior Wonderbolts put on for everypony, just come back over to me when it's done," she said, turning around and trotting away. She suddenly stopped and turned around to look at Rainbow Dash. "Oh! And you both can sit over there," she said, pointing over to some of the front row seats. "The other 27 contestants who participated get to sit over there too if they decided to come." Rainbow Dash nodded and thanked her before she flew over towards the seats. Scootaloo closely followed her, as she wanted to sit beside her. They both quickly noticed that a decent amount of the contestants hadn't arrived yet, as only a fraction of the front row seats were taken. It lifted Scootaloo's mood somewhat, knowing that if she didn't show up, at least there would be a decent amount of other participants who didn't show up either. Scootaloo and Rainbow Dash found a pair of comfortable seats, sat down, and looked over to where they saw Spitfire. It looked like that's where the winners were going to come out, as there was no other solid ground aside from there and the seating areas. Scootaloo looked over to Rainbow Dash and tilted her head. "So, what's going to happen here? I'd imagine they're probably going to fly around," she said, lifting her hoof up to her chin. Rainbow Dash nodded and gave her a small smile. "Well, if last year's winner celebration is anything to go by, it's going to be a small choreographed flight with each year's winner side by side. The stuff you'd normally see the Wonderbolts doing themselves, except on a much smaller scale; physically and literally I suppose," she said, chuckling to herself. Scootaloo put a hoof to her chin. "Must be stressful, especially since they didn't have that much time to memorize it all," she said, putting her hoof back down. Rainbow Dash shrugged. "It depends, maybe it won't be that complex. Just a few circles around the place with a couple twirls and spins every now and then, that would be easy peazy," she said, gloating confidently. Scootaloo continued to look over to Rainbow Dash. "Is that what they did last year?" She asked, tilting her head. Rainbow Dash shrugged again. "I dunno, I wasn't there. I was told about it, but I was never given the specifics. Still, I doubt their routine would be super easy, especially when they're meant to represent the most awesome fliers in all of Equestria!" Scootaloo nodded. "Well, I suppose we'll see what they do, shouldn't have to wait too long now I'd assume," she said, looking towards the centre of the stadium. After a bit of waiting, a couple more of the participants from the league arrived and sat down next to Scootaloo and Rainbow Dash. Scootaloo still wasn't able to recognise any of them, even though they were practically right next to her. One of the only ponies she recognised in the league was Rumble, and they weren't anywhere in the crowd, for obvious reasons. Suddenly the voice of Spitfire could be heard throughout the stadium. Scootaloo looked over towards the centre again, where she saw Spitfire talking into a microphone. "Welcome ladies and gentlecolts! Thank you all for coming to the closing show of the annual Junior Wonderbolts league! This year's league was the most competitive yet, with 29 different participators who battled to become a part of the Junior Wonderbolts team. Those 29 were widdled down, all the way until we had our newest winner. I'd like to welcome all three of the League winners, Chip Mint, Cyan Skies, and our newcomer, Rumble!" She said as she lifted her arm up to the side and pointed over to the three fillies who were trotting over. They were all wearing the typical Wonderbolts bodysuit, along with the large goggles as well. The only way Scootaloo was able to tell who was who was by their manes and tails. Once all three of the fillies were standing next to Spitfire, she began to speak into the microphone again. "Can we get a loud applause for all of our League winners?" She asked as the crowd began to cheer like there was no tomorrow. It was quite deafening from where Scootaloo was sitting, but there wasn't much she could do about it. Spitfire raised her hoof up in an attempt to stop the cheering, only speaking again when it had stopped. "I hope you'll all enjoy this short show that these fillies have prepared for you," and with that, Spitfire lowered the microphone and trotted away from the three fillies to give them some room to start. All three fillies pulled down their goggles and got into their starting positions. Nothing happened for a couple seconds as the three began to speak to each other, presumably refreshing each other about what they were going to do in the course. Just after they were done speaking, they all shot off and began to circle around the stadium side by side. They left long streaks of multicoloured smoke behind themselves, the same type that the Wonderbolts would usually use in their shows. Scootaloo felt a huge gust of wind hit her face as they blasted past where she sat; she even had to readjust her mane from it. After circling around the inside of the entire stadium, they went back towards the centre and span around in a spiral, creating a multicoloured spiral of smoke. Their coordination seemed very well done, but Scootaloo was still able to tell which one Rumble was, not only because she knew their smoke colour, but because their trail was noticeably messier than the others. They eventually broke off from each other and began to spin around in the shape of a horizontal corkscrew, going towards the edges of the stadium again. This is where Scootaloo definitely noticed the skill gap between Rumble and the others. While the others had consistent and clean spins, Rumble's was very inconsistent, with each new spiral being either smaller or bigger than the last. Maybe it was just from a lack of practice, but it was still something she easily noticed. She didn't want to seem egotistical, but the first thought that came to her mind was "I could have done that better." But she quickly realized that it was mere jealousy that drove that statement, and not experience. She didn't know if she could do better, if anything, she'd probably do worse. Her focus went back to the show as she followed where Rumble was going. All of the fliers had turned around and started flying back towards the centre of the stadium again, but Rumble's trail wasn't looking very nice. It was all crooked and jaggedly, not smooth like the others. It was oddly sloppy compared to what she knew Rumble could do in the league, and they've had plenty years of practice as well. "...Is Rumble okay?" Scootaloo asked, tilting her head slightly. Rainbow Dash let out a confused grunt, looking over to her. "What do you mean? They seem fine to me," she said, lifting up her hoof. Scootaloo pointed to the trail that they had left behind. "Even their straight lines are off, it's oddly unlike them to be so messy. Although, I suppose I've never seen them flying with a trail before, so I guess I don't know what they flied like in the league," she said, putting a hoof to her chin. "...But it still seems to messy, especially when they're meant to be the best of the best from this year's contestants." Rainbow Dash shrugged. "Maybe they're just nervous. I wouldn't blame them, considering they have to perform in-front of an entire stadium of pegasi. Even I'd be a little nervous about performing around that many ponies, even if I wouldn't show it. Actually, I don't think I've ever been that nervous performing around crowds, I think I've always tried my best TO perform around crowds. Hmm, well I guess I've never blah blah blah blah blah blah-" Scootaloo's mind began to drift away from what Rainbow Dash was saying as she focused on the show again. As all three of the fliers had reached the centre, they all flew straight up into the sky, letting themselves begin to slowly drift upwards thanks to their momentum. The other two fliers quickly looped back around, while Rumble seemed to continue going straight up, albeit slowly. Scootaloo looked somewhat confused, not sure if that was supposed to happen. Time seemed to freeze as Rumble practically held in place at the peak of their upwards flight, when all of a sudden, they began to plummet straight to the ground, with no sign of them trying to recover."RUMBLE!" Scootaloo yelled, quickly leaping out of her seat and off of the stadium. The crowd suddenly gasped in shock and horror as something seemed to have gone wrong with one of the fliers. Spitfire seemed to notice the gasp and frantically looked around to see what caught the audience's attention. When she saw the continuous falling trail, she quickly leapt off the edge she was on to try and catch whoever seemed to have fallen. Scootaloo was already dive bombing down to the falling Rumble, barely using her wings at all to try and increase her decent. "Rumble! Lift up!" She tried yelling, but it seemed to fall on deaf ears. Rumble wasn't responding or moving at all. Scootaloo tried to get herself closer towards Rumble, only to realize that they were falling faster and faster as she tried to catch up. She wasn't fast enough, even while dive bombing. Meanwhile, Spitfire was drawing in using mostly her wings, not allowing herself to free fall completely. Panic began to course through Scootaloo as the ground approached closer and closer. Soon enough she was going to have to pull up, otherwise she'd practically be an orange paste smeared along the ground. The time she had to try and save Rumble was getting thinner and thinner. She pressed on however, trying her absolute best to catch up. Both her and Spitfire were drawing in at similar speeds, both going faster than anypony could in a normal course. Scootaloo's view began to tunnel as her entire body felt numb. The blood coursing through her veins almost becoming audible to her. Her speed began to accelerate past Rumble's fall speed, meaning she was most likely going to pass him incredibly soon. Judging by both the speed she was going at, and how far away the ground is, she has one chance to try and grab him, and if she doesn't, then it might be too late. Suddenly, in the blink of an eye, she swooped down and grabbed Rumble with her front hooves, quickly trying to curve herself up to stop them both from falling to their death. She carried the momentum from the fall into the curve, causing them to suddenly shoot straight up once the curve reached it's peak. They both sped straight past Spitfire, who looked extremely confused as to what just happened. Scootaloo had already opened her wings, trying to keep both her and Rumble in the air. After letting herself look around in a slight panic, she realized that she was now hovering in place, all while "hugging" onto Rumble. She couldn't stay hovering for too long as Rumble was quite heavy to her, so instead, she began to hover back up towards the Stadium. Spitfire was looking around in a frenzy, trying to find Rumble and hoping they didn't end up falling to their doom. It took her a couple seconds before she was able to see Scootaloo and Rumble going back up to the stadium. Scootaloo was struggling, having already used most of her strength to nab Rumble in the first place. Her ascent was slowing down considerably, and she still had quite the climb to go. She was about to call for help, but it seemed like it already came without her request. Spitfire flew up and went under Scootaloo and Rumble, allowing them both to rest on her back as she began to hover back up. The stadium was in a panic, with many pegasi flying around, presumably still looking for Rumble. It didn't take too long for Spitfire to get back up, even with the two fillies sitting on her back. She flew up to where the winners had started their show, lowered herself down until she touched the ground, then leaned forward so Scootaloo could take Rumble off of her back safely. Once Scootaloo had lowered Rumble to the ground, Spitfire quickly investigated him, looking for any signs of injury or trauma. She moved his head around with her hoof, seeing if maybe he bumped his head somewhere just before the fall. However, there was no sign of injury at all, which led Spitfire to believe that they must have just fainted. Spitfire glanced over to Scootaloo. "It looks like he just fainted, but can you keep an eye on him for a second? I need to go tell everypony that he's safe now," she said, waiting for a response from Scootaloo. Scootaloo nodded and went closer to Rumble, allowing Spitfire to quickly jog away into the nearest building. Scootaloo was surprised that Rumble was still out cold, considering he may just have fainted. Spitfire quickly trotted back out of the building with a microphone held by one of her wings. "Rumble is alright and safe, everypony! There has just been a small accident. Would Rumble's parents please come over to me," She said, lowering the microphone afterwards. While Scootaloo was still looking over Rumble, she heard her name being called. She turned around to see Rainbow Dash landing behind her, and she looked to be a mixture of both anger and worry. "Scootaloo! What did you think you were doing?! You could have gotten injured, or-or worse!" Scootaloo skipped some breaths, suddenly feeling confused on how she should feel about being told off. She looked back and forth between Rumble and Rainbow Dash, trying to think of something she could say to justify her leaping off the stadium like she did. "B-but, I couldn't just let it happen! It just felt right to try and help," She said, starting to feel lightheaded from being told off. Rainbow Dash's face scrunched up and one of her legs lifted up. "Well...well, it was dangerous! You're lucky that Spitfire was also there to save you too, otherwise I don't want to imagine what would have happened!" She said, her ears flopping back. She was about to say more, but she was interrupted by somepony else. "Actually, she saved Rumble, I didn't," Spitfire said, trotting over to both of them. "She must have seen it happen quicker than I did, that, and she was much faster than me at going straight down. I was quite dumbfounded when Rumble was suddenly snatched out of my vision; I didn't even know somepony else was going after them as well," she said, looking over to Scootaloo with a small smile. "...But, it was still very dangerous. I'd rather you have left it for somepony professional to do it." Scootaloo frowned and gained a look of annoyance. "But... I had to do something!" She said, not knowing what else she could say. Spitfire nodded, lifting her hoof up in the air. "I know! Now that I know that was you that swooped in and grabbed Rumble, I'm incredibly impressed! But I think both me and Rainbow Dash still have a right to have been worried, don't you think?" Scootaloo pouted before giving a small nod. "...Yeah, I suppose," she said, looking up to Spitfire. Meanwhile, Rumble finally seemed to be waking up as they were looking around in a confused frenzy. They were quickly calmed down by Spitfire, who went over and began talking to them to make sure they were okay. Scootaloo had to trot over to Rainbow Dash's side as to make way for Rumble's parents, who flew down next to Spitfire. While Spitfire was dealing with Rumble, Rainbow Dash began talking with Scootaloo again. "So, you actually grabbed them and pulled them up?" She asked, tilting her head. Scootaloo nodded, looking over to Rainbow Dash. "I did. I used the speed I gained when falling to curve back up, kinda like how one of the courses went in the league, but more intense, I suppose," she said, sitting down. Rainbow Dash smiled a little and sat down as well. "Well, nice to see that the league taught you what I forgot to mention," she said with a small chuckle. "Still, it was pretty dangerous to do something like that. But like Spitfire said, it was still really impressive. You seemed to spot something was wrong miles before anypony else, so it seems like you have quite the keen eye," she said, smiling more. Scootaloo lifted her hoof up and waved it around as she spoke. "I think my skateboarding is what gave me that keen eye. I was always looking out for things when strolling along, since one small pebble could have knocked me straight into a bush if I wasn't careful. But thanks, if there's one pony I'm always trying to impress, you'd probably be it," She said, giving her a soft smile. Rainbow Dash would have spoke back, but she was interrupted by Spitfire again. "Looks like everything is fine. Rumble is still in a bit of a shock from what happened, but he's awake and well. I guess we'll need to post-pone any shows we had planned with these three fillies, give them a bit more time to practice next time. But thanks for your help, Scootaloo. If I was able to have two winners per-league, no doubt you'd have been the second." she said, giving her a soft smile. Scootaloo's smile grew wider. "Really?" she asked curiously, her tail swishing slightly in excitement. Spitfire nodded. "Of course! You have a lot of talent packed into those small wings, so keep it up!" She said as she began to trot back over towards Rumble. She stopped and turned her head around to look at Scootaloo again. "I hope I'll be seeing you again at next year's league; it'd be a shame to not have you participate." Scootaloo gave a small pause as she thought of an answer. "...Of course I'll be there, no reason not to be," she said as she continued to smile. Spitfire nodded again and turned her head back around. However, she didn't even have time to start trotting again as Rumble zoomed past her and over towards Scootaloo. Scootaloo was a little surprised when she was suddenly given a tight hug by Rumble. "Thank you so much! Without you, I might have been pegasi paste!" He said, nuzzling her neck. Scootaloo hesitantly hugged him back, unsure what to do or say. "...W-Well, don't worry about it," she said as Rumble pulled out of the hug. There was a small pause of silence between the two as they looked at each other. "...Umm... oh, congrats on winning by the way. I'm sorry I didn't stick around long enough to congratulate you at the league," Scootaloo said, rubbing the side of her neck that Rumble had nuzzled. Rumble shrugged. "That's okay, I suppose saying it now is better than never saying it at all," he said, smiling to her. "...You deserved to win more than I did though. I'm not too cut out for performing in-front of a crowd... as you could probably see," he said, rubbing his neck. Scootaloo chuckled nervously. "N-nah, you won fair and square. I'll get another turn next year, maybe then I won't let my temper get the best of me," she said, giving him a small smile. Rumble nodded to her. "Well, just know I'll be rooting for you," he said, with a small pause coming straight after. "...Thank you so much for saving me though, I don't know what would have happened if you weren't here," He said, giving her another quick hug before trotting back over to his parents. Scootaloo waved to him as he left, letting herself continue to smile. She looked back over to Rainbow Dash, who also had a smile on her face as well. "Well, as long as nopony was hurt, I suppose everything is okay. Proud of ya, Squirt!" She said, giving Scootaloo a small noogie with one of her hooves. Scootaloo pushed Dash's hoof away in the middle of the noogie. "Thanks, Dash. That means a lot to me," she said, empathetically. "...So, do we go now or what?" She asked, looking around. Rainbow Dash shrugged. "I suppose we do." Two months later. "Come on, Scootaloo! We know you can do it!" Applebloom said, sitting next to Sweetie Belle as they were watching Scootaloo try to traverse the heavily concentrated area of apple trees without scraping a single one. It was the same area that she had practiced in around four months ago, except that it had changed quite considerably from when she was last there. The arrangement of trees was completely different, and the amount of them in general had stretched farther across the field. Scootaloo was standing at the cusp of all the trees, preparing herself to try and soar through them all again. She had tried several times to get through the forest, but she wasn't accepting a single mistake. She would have already finished several times over if she had just flown normally and carefully, but where's the fun in that? The only way to truly show off is to show that you can do something, and then some! A bit of cheering came from Applebloom and Sweetie Belle as Scootaloo prepared to blast off into the apple tree rich forest. "I know I can do it too, but I want to make it look better than just a casual stroll!" Scootaloo said with a small grin on her face. She placed her hooves hard onto the ground, arched her back down, and opened up her wings. A small flick of her tail and a shake of her flank preceded the sudden burst of her flying into the forest faster than what would be considered sensible. Applebloom and Sweetie Belle continued to cheer on as they watched Scootaloo begin to traverse the dense collection of apple trees. They were able to catch glimpses of her from time to time thanks to her bright orange and purple colours clearly visible through the forest. Scootaloo weaved around each of the trees that she was mere milliseconds away from hitting, doing occasional spins and poses as well for style. So far, she wasn't scraping or hitting any of the trees, just like she was hoping she wouldn't. While the trees were easy, it was the branches that threw her off every time. Sometimes they were so thin she wasn't even able to see them at the speed she was going, at least not until it was too late. Luckily, she was able to narrowly avoid each of the branches that skewed out from the trees, all while weaving back and forth with ease. It only took a couple more seconds of flying for her to suddenly burst out of the densely populated forest; it almost took her by surprised how fast she finished. However, one look at where she popped out made her realize that she must have been going at a weird angle, as she didn't actually finish the full length of trees and came out from the side, instead of all the way through. After a couple seconds of hovering in the air and thinking, she shrugged and began to fly back over to Sweetie Belle and Applebloom. Some cheering came from Sweetie Belle and Applebloom as Scootaloo came back to them. "So, did you finish without hitting anything?" Sweetie Belle asked as she sat down with a curious, tilted head. Scootaloo shrugged. "Yes and no. I came out from the side a bit too early, didn't really see where I was going. But whatever, I think that's about as much progress as I'll make today," she said, lowering herself down to the ground next to the two fillies. Applebloom nodded in agreement. "You've been at this for most of the day, so I think it's definitely time you took a break," she said, giving Scootaloo a small smile. Scootaloo nodded as well. "Yeah, and it's getting late. It's about time I headed back home since the sun is going down, and I don't want Rainbow Dash getting worried about me," Sweetie Belle stood up and stretched her limbs. "I could say the same for Rarity. Are we meeting up again here tomorrow?" Scootaloo began to hover as she shrugged again. "Nah, probably not. Don't want you two to just sit here being all bored and stuff while I practice and show off," she said, stretching her limbs as well. "Besides, I have at least 9 or so months until the next league, so I don't have to practice every single day." Sweetie Belle smiled. "Well, I suppose we'll see you whenever we see you again, hopefully soon! I'll catch you around!" She said as she began to skip away back towards the centre of Ponyville. "See ya' later, Sweetie Belle! And to you too, Scootaloo," Applebloom said, waving her hoof to her before turning around and trotting back up to Applejack's barn. Scootaloo just waved and flew away, letting herself zoom up and over to Rainbow Dash's cloud house. In the minutes that it took for Scootaloo to get back home, she sucked in the environment. The look and smell of the ground bellow her along with the tone changing sky was something quite special. Upon reaching the cloud house, she set her hooves down onto it's fluffy, outdoor flooring, opened the front door and trotted inside. She was quickly greeted by Rainbow Dash, who was sitting down on her large couch. "Heya, Squirt! Did you have fun with Sweetie Belle and Applebloom?" She asked, sitting up in her seat. Scootaloo nodded to her. "I did! I showed them some more of my moves and also practiced a bit at the same time. I tried to go through Applejack's apple tree cluster without touching anything again. I kinda did it, yet kinda not. I must have flown in at a weird angle, since I ended up only going through about 75% of the forest," Rainbow Dash shrugged and smiled. "Well, it was still something! I'd be too bulky to try and do that now, so you have it pretty easy considering your size. Still, nice to know you had fun at least!" She said, laying back on her couch again. Scootaloo wandered back into her room and eagerly jumped onto her bed, letting herself lay there and relax. Another wonderful day of hanging out with friends, and she managed to squeeze in some well needed practice for next year's league. It was only five months ago that she didn't know how to fly, and now, she could practically do it in her sleep. Maybe it was just beginners luck that allowed her to get so far in the league, or maybe she did have talent, just like Spitfire said. Either way, she still had a lot she needed to practice in hopes of winning the next one, but she has plenty of time until that. She turned her head towards her window as she continued to lay on her bed, letting herself watch the orange tinted sunset slowly edge down below the horizon. And with a small, relaxed sigh, she thought to herself. What a beautiful sunset.