Beginning of May, 1005 A.D.
Stars illuminated the forest. Fireflies made their slow and steady way to nowhere in particular. A gentle breeze gave the trees a shake, making a soft rustle as their leaves moved in the wind.
An owl, silently coasting along the currents, swiveled to look in the direction of a loud sound breaking the peaceful night. At the bright multicolored hues barreling his way, the bird of prey hooted in alarm and shot to the closest tree, holding tightly as the pegasus bolted by. She had both hooves in front of her, making her body streamlined and guiding the air flow. Dark-cerise orbs scoured the area.
“Where the hey is that squirt?”
A different breeze cut through the air, it’s haunting whisper sounding almost like words. “The river, Rainbow Dash, thou must head towards the river…!” The command was soft but firm, sounding like the night sky, shining stars and moonlight.
The brash flyer pulled up, hovering in place. “Wha-?” Dash paused mid-air, trying to pinpoint the source. When none became apparent, she shrugged. “Whatever, just another place to look.” Dash followed her nose as it picked out the water from the rest of nature. The sound of rushing water began to stand out, with a shrill shout drifting up above it.
“Heeellllp…!”
“Squirt…?” Rainbow squinted, trying to spot dark orange as she came closer.
“Aaaaaaaaaa…!”
“Scootaloo?!” The shouting, frantic and fearful, gave the pegasus the boost she needed to speed up.
Coming around towards the river, the flyer found she had made too large an arc, arriving from below and connecting with the waterfall that intersected it. A splash of orange was in free fall. Rainbow felt her heart stop even as she dived towards it. Once she felt the bundle of warmth in her grasp, she pulled up, landing several fields away from the danger.
Night life took several seconds to return to normal. The pegasi kept their voices low, not wanting to disturb the world around them and to keep their words between the two of them. With every passing exchange, Rainbow felt her stomach fill with guilt. By the end, she wrapped her right wing around the filly, pulling her closer. Her smile dropped as her mind brought back what they had previously spoke about.
“Squirt, I didn’t want to be a hovering annoyance to you. I mean, I’m your guardian right?” Dash leaned down, looking straight in the younger filly’s eyes. “I figured that means you could come to me with anything, even if was to just hang out.”
Scootaloo shook her head, face scrunching in embarrassment. “A guardian is someone who other adults go to if there’s a problem. Someone that shows up if there is a problem. It… It might be nice to have a… a kind of sister to hang out with.”
The blue pegasus nodded slowly, face thoughtful. “Sure thing kid, sure thing. But… Scootaloo, the stories weren’t supposed to make you feel like you couldn’t measure up.” The older mare bent even closer, her voice low. “They were supposed to be funny. An old tradition of camp.”
The filly couldn’t meet the reassuring gaze. “Haven’t gone camping like this before. Not that… Not that I could remember.”
“Well, we’re camping now aren’t we?” Dash smiled, getting a light chuckle back. “We’ll make up for it…” The two shared another hug, started by the older. “... I’ll make up for not always being there. I didn’t want to cramp your style.”
Scootaloo drew back, brows furrowed. “What? There’s no way you can cramp anypony’s style! You, uh, you make it awesomer!”
Rainbow laughed at the exclamation and gave the filly a gentle shake. After their laughter died down, the sky blue mare felt her attention shift towards where the camp rested. With a sigh, she stood up and nudged the filly beside her.
“Come on squirt, we should get back.” Noticing the glint of worry in purple eyes, Dash smirked. “Don’t worry, we’ll keep the why between us.”
The orange filly exhaled, the tension leaving her body. She smiled up to her hero and trotted alongside her as they returned to the campsite. The duo went at a steady pace, allowing for the younger pegasus’ shorter limbs. There was an itch in the back of the brash flyer’s mind, tugging away from her focus on returning to camp. Not used to the feel of guilt and annoyance filling her core, the older mare glanced about the forest. There was a buzz that soon filled her attention. When she realized the noise came from beside her, Dash looked towards the source and found a tiny pair of wings twitching excitedly.
“What are you thinking there Scoots?”
Hearing her hero asking a question, the younger pegasus looked up with a wide smile. “Well, I get to hang out with you!” Scootaloo gave a little jump, flapping her wings faster for a second before landing once more. “Even if it is only when you’re not flying around…”
Rainbow raised a single brow at the statement before glancing towards the sky. Feeling stress building from the lass beside her, the sky blue mare placed a gentle hoof on the smaller back.
“You know, I wasn’t always the best flyer growing up either. Though if you tell anypony, I’ll totally deny it.” Rainbow Dash smirked towards the younger, nudging playfully.
“You… You weren’t?” Scootaloo frowned, bewildered and almost disbelieving.
“Nope! I had to take special training with my dad before I really improved.” Dash’s gaze drifted unfocused, thinking of better times.
“Your dad…?”
The older mare flinched as her chest constricted, memories souring. She looked down with a pained smirk. “Yeah. One of the last few big things we did together.” She took a deep breath, corralling the flood of painful recounts. “Anyways, if you’re up for it, we could try working on your flying too…”
The Crusader felt her excited shout gather in the back of her throat as she inhaled deeply. Her eyes widened along with her smile. Before she released the exclamation, the filly dumped out the air in one flat go. “That’d be-that’d be cool.” Scootaloo coughed as the air hitched briefly, trying to keep her cool.
Dash laughed at the sight. She gave the girl a teasing noogie before placing her hoof along the orange neck, leading the way once more. Together, they walked through the barrier of foliage around the site. On the other side, they found Rarity, Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom waiting around a renewed roaring fire.
“Alright, so me and the kid worked things out, and we’re going to have a blast.” Rainbow smirked as she gave the slimmer shoulders a shake. She then looked back to the camp, doing a rapid headcount and noting a distinct lack of orange and blonde. “Hey, where’s AJ?”
“I’m afraid she hasn’t arrived yet.” The posh words held a undercurrent of worry; a layer that went unnoticed by the young mares but the older one did manage to catch it. The unicorn fiddled with the snacks roasting by the fire. “It would mean so much to me if you would go and circle around the sky to find her; that would be just wonderful darling.”
The bold flier leaned back, ears flat at the steel hidden in the friendly sounding request. Cerise orbs wide, she looked to the girls to find they were also surprised to hear the fashionista ask in such a firm manner. Dash could feel the stare weigh down her wings and gulped back her nerves. Flinging a hoof up in salute, the pegasus blasted off for the skies, twirling midair to start circling the area. She scanned the forest, eyes scrunching as she kept going.
From among the dark greens and browns there was a flash of yellow, standing out from the ground. Swooping down, her mane pushed back, Rainbow righted at the last second, using the thrill to blow away the chill from seeing steel deep inside blue eyes.
“Hey, found the squirt.” Dash kept her words short as she jerked her head back towards the camp. Applejack sighed, relaxing in place.
“That’s good. Ah thought you were supposed tah be watchin’ her.” The farmer frowned as she turned around. While the two mares trotted back, the pegasus rubbed the back of her head.
“Well, I’ve been trying. I just don’t have the years of experience like you, family-mare.” Rainbow nudged her friend, only to taper off at the deadpan she received. “What…?”
“Ya don’t learn it all at once, ya doof. It takes time. Time ya almost didn’t get because she got lost.” Applejack reached up for her hat only to pause when it met empty air. She frowned at the ground. “Oh yeah… Anyways, what happened? Why’d she run off?”
Rainbow in turn looked towards the sky, eyes unfocused. “Can’t tell you, promised the kid it was between us. Don’t worry, I’ll step up my game.” Seeing the disapproving green orbs flash with inner iron, Rainbow rolled her eyes as she cut her companion off. “Yeah, yeah, it’s not a game. I know that too. It’s just a figure of speech, sheesh.”
The two glared for a half second before breaking out in laughter. They finished the trot back and found the rest of the group still sitting where they had been left. Dash smirked bemused while Applejack was given a tackle hug by her little sister. The smirk turned more genuine when she found herself the target of an unsure grin from the small pegasus. Rainbow gave the filly a noogie and pulled her along to sit next to her as they sat by fire. The group were starting to relax, enjoying the treats prepared by the waiting ponies.
The gentle atmosphere shook when the young farmer turned to her friend with an anxious frown. “So Scootaloo, what made ya run off in the first place…?”
The orange filly glanced up to the older one, seeking help. The usually brash mare shrugged silently. When the quiet stretched out longer, the sky blue pegasus shifted in place with a roll of her eyes.
“We totally got it covered! Between the two of us, there’s nothing to worry about!” Dash slung a limb around the slimmer shoulders and gave the girl a tiny shake. They shared a grin before looking back to the rest of the party.
“Yeah! Everything’s fine!” Scootaloo’s voice cracked slightly in her excitement.
The other crusaders shared unsure glances but kept silent while the other adults sighed at the exuberant response.The group finished the late night snack and retired for the night. The fillies, exhausted by the day’s event, fell asleep first. The adults still felt residual adrenaline pumping through their veins, remaining awake for much longer.
Rainbow stayed awake, mind replaying how she had found the filly, as she remained closest to the opening. Her ears twitched at each little noise. Hooves behind her head, she continued looking at the ceiling, her own memories of flight battling with what could have happened that evening. A tiny, demur voice scolded her in the far back corner of her mind.
Unable to withstand the torment, the brash mare sat up and trotted over to the cave entrance. Taking one last look behind her, she found the apple farmer was also awake, staring at the top of the cave. They shared a glance, green orbs assuring cerise. Dash nodded once before looking back to the outside.
The night swept by slowly, clouds coming and going, blocking the sinking moon briefly. The pegasus dozed off in place even as she maintained vigil. It was as the other campers started to rouse that Rainbow jerked back into awareness. She turned in place, smiling as she received a tiny hug that was quickly let go. Orange fur showed who had given the brief embrace. Dash reached out at the last second and scuffed up the moderate-cerise mane as it passed by.
The party was more subdued as they finished their hike. The adults were mostly silent while the kids demonstrated the residential exhaustion from the night before. Rainbow watched the younger pegasus especially, starting to plan the training Scootaloo would need to fly. But her mind stayed mostly blank. How… How are pegasi trained…? There’s dad’s method, but he only did that after I could fly… She rubbed both hooves against her temples as she floated along with the group. Ugghh… I don’t remember the short training they gave in flight camp. Stupid, dumb teachers… Dumb rules… Maybe Fluttershy knows…
“Yes, I do remember early flight training… You… uh, you don’t?”
Rainbow Dash shifted in her seat, taking another sip. “Well, err, I’m just too awesome to…” Cerise orbs checked on the other. Finding no hint of amusement, the brasher mare gave up the statement and confessed. “No, I don’t. I was always on my wings, and took the test to get to the higher classes.”
“O-oh, right. Well, I could provide some advice but Twilight may have some books about the subject.” Fluttershy ducked her head, tapping her hooves together anxiously. She noticed the slight annoyance on the other’s face and cringed. “O-oh, uhm, but if you’d rather I watch and help, I could, I suppose…”
Dash sat up, ears at attention before she forced herself to calm down. Sending her gaze away from the shy mare, Rainbow instead saw the pleased gaze of her tortoise watching the two. She used her free hoof to scratch at her ears that burned at the focus she was getting from those she loved.
“I-I would really appreciate it ‘Shy. The squirt would probably like the extra support too.” The cobalt mare froze in place, eyes dilating for a second. When she saw that the other was staring into her tea, she relaxed once more.
“So you’re going to teach Scootaloo to fly? W-when were you thinking of starting the training…? Just the basics right…?” Fluttershy tried to slow her rapid heartbeat. Her mind had turned to fluff knowing that Rainbow wanted her around.
The bold mare leaned back, setting her cup on the table. She shrugged her shoulders, head tilted up to the ceiling. “Heck, the kid seems like she’s the kind to go all the way. If she could make it, maybe I could try to teach her the Bifrost method…?”
“NO!” The canary pegasus ‘slammed’ her hooves onto the table, leaning forward to the other mare. The soft thud stopped all noise in the cottage from the various animals eating. “That method is -! She’s too young! It could kill her!”
Dash blinked in surprise. Straightening up, she ignored the pinch in her chest that was followed by it plummeting towards her back hooves. “Hey, my dad taught me that. And I was even younger than Scoots. It helped me prep for my Sonic Rainboom!”
Fluttershy flinched. Timidly, she sat back down, reaching with a shaky hoof for her tea. “But you could already fly very well by that point. Scootaloo cannot. It may be a while longer for her to try that method.”
Rainbow shrugged, hooves going to hold her own cup. Tank made his steady way to his owner and rubbed the closest blue side. They sat in silence for a few minutes longer. Both mares’ faces grew warm with heavy blushes. Dash felt her hooves grow unstable while her heart and mind started to fill with anxiety. Peeking from under her bangs, Rainbow spoke softly to avoid startling the other.
“Fluttershy… Did you really have that hard of a time watching me take that training…?” The bolder mare felt timid and looked to the front door. “I thought you liked watching me train and performing…”
“I do! It’s just… that training was particularly hard to watch you go through.” Fluttershy leaned forward only to straight up with determination in her eyes. “But if… if Scootaloo makes it that far, I want to be there for you both.”
Rainbow relaxed in place with a gusty exhale. She smiled happily as she leaned back on her forehooves. “Thanks. I appreciate it.” Cerise eyes couldn’t stay still and floated over the room and canary coated mare before her. “Uh, well, I better go talk with the squirt about setting up a time to start training.”
The two mares stood up. Fluttershy tried to decide between cleaning and showing her guest out, ending up flustered and indecisive. Rainbow noticed the motion and smirked.
“Don’t worry, I’ll make sure it’s a day that you’re free to help. I- uh, I’ll come by later to talk about how to start the training…” The brash mare stared straight ahead, blush heavy on her cheeks. “See you later Fluttershy.”
The blue pegasus rushed out the door, wing draped down to cover Tank who nudged his owner encouragingly. Seconds out of the cottage, they both took off for the air, leaving the canary mare to stare up after the duo.
Scootaloo was sitting at the dining table, hoof propping up her head as she stared at the homework before her. She made small abstract doodles on the edges as she frowned. Very little of the assigned work was finished.
The brief knock at the door and mare entering inside elicited little reaction from the filly. Rainbow Dash noticed the homework and settled down beside the younger pegasus.
“Hey Scoots, whatcha got there?”
A small shrug was the sole reply.
“Is it… going ok…?”
“Meh…”
“Uhh, do you need help with it…?”
Cerise eyes watched the child who stayed silent, noting the eye roll Dash’s question received. The older mare squinted at the action and glanced to the paper. She reached out and nudged the filly. “Come on, tell me about this stuff. What is it?”
Scootaloo sighed, letting her pencil fall. “It’s just some Equestrian grammar stuff.”
“Oh.” Rainbow winced. “Well, learning proper Equestrian helps you get farther in life…”
Disbelieving purple orbs stared up at the brash pegasus.
“Look kid, even I have problems with being taken seriously because of how I speak. But they are usually too lame to matter in the long run.” Dash waved a hoof, eyes unfocused. “Except that no pony follows the exact same road as another. You might find you need to know proper Equestrian later.”
Scootaloo looked to her idol in surprise, brows raised. The two pegasi sat like that for a few more moments before Rainbow shook her head.
“Err, you know, kind of like how knowing how to fly can open a lot of doorways for a pegasus.” Dash paused briefly, checking for the reaction. Finding the filly curling up into herself with a scrunched face, the cobalt mare rushed on. “So we’re going to fix that too. Flight training starts, uh, in a week from today. If you can catch up on some of your homework that is.”
“What?!” Scootaloo sat up with forehooves pressed against the table. Seconds later, she slumped back down, tears of frustration welling her in eyes. “Then I’ll never get to fly… Too stupid to even get this homework done right…”
Rainbow sat purposely down beside the filly and pulled over the sheets. She tapped the papers in front of them.
“You won’t be able to do it unless you take the first steps. Come on, let’s start with this first one…”
It was hard, but eventually the two pegasi finished the homework. They ended up staying awake most of the night trying to get it done, and once it was, they were too exhausted to be worried about the quality. Giggling deliriously to one another, they crashed where they sat to sleep for the few hours they had left before the sun rose and woke the civilized world.
The next morning, the filly found herself wrapped up in a winged embrace as Dash snored loudly. Giving in to the temptation, Scootaloo stayed in the hug until she heard the alarm go off in her room. Dashing out of the hold, she shut off the clock to find Rainbow Dash slowly getting up with a large yawn.
“Hey kid. Hope you didn’t mind me staying the night. Guess we worked ourselves to the bone huh?” Dash smirked. “I have to get to work, but good luck today, ok?”
Scootaloo nodded and watched her hero leave before getting some breakfast for herself. She remained mostly silent during her walk to school, though her gaze was more alert than it had been for a long time. The other Crusaders noticed this awakeness and smiled warmly.
The orange pegasus was uncertain when she turned in the homework that morning. Cheerilee smiled gently at the girl and set the class to their first few assignments once they were all seated. At the end of the day, she gave back all the work the children had turned in. When she reached Scootaloo, she gave a tiny smile. Setting the paper down, she patted Scootaloo’s shoulder briefly.
“Not bad. A little more practice and you’ll have it.”
The filly flinched at the touch. She looked at the sheet and blinked in surprise. A large smiley was on the front with 13 out of 20 written just below. Scootaloo leaned back, startled. It was the best grade she had gotten in over two months. Feeling even more positive for the day, the filly left with her friends for more Crusading. She didn’t want to share the news of flight training just yet. There was a nagging feeling that it wouldn’t come true. That she was going to be let down yet again.
The week leading up to the day was full of anxiety and a tiny glimmer of hope. More homework was done, the small house lit up with more life, and the filly saw more of her idol than she usually did. Not that Rainbow avoided seeing the kid, but that she made sure to spend more direct time with the younger pegasus.
When the day of the training came, Scootaloo dreaded that afternoon. Rainbow was at their house when the filly came home. Seeing her immediately shocked the kid. Stuttering to a halt, Scootaloo felt her heart plummet for a brief second, her mind’s voices shouting how something is going to go wrong.
“Hey kid, you ready for today?” Dash said excitedly.
Scootaloo nodded, allowing her saddlebags to drop by the doorway.
“Good. You won’t need anything, I’ve got the few things we will need.” Dash held up a whistle with a stopwatch attached to it. “Let’s head out.”
The filly nodded again, not trusting to speak. She trailed after her idol as they trotted further out of town to a hill halfway between their location and Fluttershy’s cottage. At the top of the grassy hill was a blot of yellow. When the two pegasi came closer, they could identify the color as the animal care-taker herself.
“Hey Fluttershy! Thanks for coming…” Dash stood beside the other mare, pulling the whistle and stopwatch around her neck.
The canary mare ducked her head with a bashful grin. Scootaloo glanced between the two older mares, ears flicking uncertainly.
“Ok squirt, here’s the rundown.” Rainbow leaned down so she was even with the wide purple eyes. “To be able to fly really well, like me, you need your body as strong as your wings and mind.”
Spotting the confusion in the younger mare, Dash nodded slowly with a single brow raised. “Yes, that’s right. Your mind. You need to be able to think about everything that goes into flying and where you’re flying. If you fly over Manehatten, you need to know their air traffic laws with the large skyscrapers. Fly over Canterlot, and they have a whole different set of rules since the princesses live there.”
Fluttershy smiled proudly at the speech, happy to see the awe and amazement in the younger girl’s gaze. Scootaloo leaned closer, mouth falling open as a warm feeling coursed through her body. Her mind filled with wonder as she felt better about learning various subjects in school.
“So long as you keep working at your homework, we’ll start working on your physical strength. Fluttershy is my longest fan and cheer squad, she’ll be helping with training and keeping us pumped up.”
The two more athletic pegasi glanced over to the last one who waved timidly. They waved back almost as shyly before Dash covered the younger mare with her wing and pulled her further along.
“Alright, so first we’re going to work on your legs and center. You need those for take offs and landings.” She adjusted the filly’s stance into one ready for push ups. “But we, as pegasi, need to keep our bodies slim and-and uh, air-o…-”
“...Aerodynamic…”
“Thanks.” Rainbow flashed a grateful smile to the yellow pegasus. “And aerodynamic. So after these push ups to help start building that muscle, we’ll do some Pilates moves to help build your muscle control and balance. Fluttershy will be doing those with us.”
“Us?” Scootaloo glanced to the bold mare, ears fully at attention.
“Well yeah, you never stop keeping in shape. And I learned to fly differently, so I don’t know these moves.” The blue pegasus smirked. “Yeah, there are even things I don’t know. Just don’t let that knowledge get out, ok? Got a reputation to uphold.” The last two sentences were whispered to the filly with a teasing wink to accompany them.
Together, the three pegasi set out to work, doing exercises for the rest of the afternoon. While the older mares showed little strain of the poses and exercise, the filly found her muscles aching in whole new ways. Once they were done for the day, Scootaloo collapsed on the ground, exhaling in a heavy puff.
“Guess I’m not as fit as I thought…” She muttered quietly to herself.
Rainbow Dash heard however, and smirked bemused. “Kid, no one is as fit as they first thought. Besides, it takes work. And patience.”
The filly nodded as she panted heavily. Fluttershy helped the child up and together, they went to the shared cottage for the evening meal. Both of the older mares left afterwards for their own homes.
Almost seconds later, there was solid knocks on the front door. Knowing that the older mares already left and wouldn’t have knocked, Scootaloo cautiously opened the door. The sight of light-gray and olive-yellow coats outside relieved the pegasus.
“Hey guys, what’s up?” The orange mare backed up, allowing space for the other girls to enter.
“We were checking on ya.” Apple Bloom stepped forward, gaze drifting over the filly and then the room beyond. “Ya’ll been doing pretty good. Making sure it’s still going well.”
“Yeah! We-we were worried for a, a long time and we don’t want… uh…” Sweetie Belle trailed off awkwardly. She couldn’t meet anyone’s eyes. “How-how are you doing…?”
Scootaloo rubbed the back of her head, muzzle covered by a blush. “I’m… I’m doing ok. A little sore from this new training I’m doing with Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy.” She looked up to the ceiling, blush growing as her friends stared in surprise.
“Trainin’?”
“What training…?”
“Well, I’ve- Rainbow Dash is training me so I can start to fly.” Scootaloo paused, waiting for what her friends’ responses would be, when she was tackled by two sets of hooves.
“Th-that’s great!” Sweetie Belle’s face took up most of the space for a moment before being brushed aside by Apple Bloom’s.
“That’s really good Scootaloo!”
“T-thanks guys..” Scootaloo remained contentedly on the ground beneath her friends. “Uhm… You know, Fluttershy goes not only to help with the training, but Rainbow Dash said she helps, uh, encourage her during training…”
The other fillies leaned back, allowing their friend to sit up properly. Sweetie Belle stared wide eyed with red on her face while Apple Bloom remained slightly bewildered.
“So?” The young farmer tilted her head. The unicorn beside her started to draw little circles on the ground with her hoof as Scootaloo blushed harder, scratching her mane.
“Well, uh, did-did you guys want to watch next time…?”
“YES!” Sweetie Belle exploded only to shove both hooves onto her muzzle. Apple Bloom gave the filly a confused frown while Scootaloo continued blushing.
“Sure thing Scootaloo, Ah’ll be there too. Ya’ll let us know when it is…?”
“You bet!” Scootaloo managed to reign in her embarrassment to salute with a smirk. “Did you want to plan some more Crusading ideas while you’re here…?”
The other fillies perked up further and nodded rapidly. The three friends pushed the limits of their curfews to hang out but eventually had to go home for bed.
Scootaloo laid in her own bed, face turned to the ceiling, as she reflected on the warmth she felt from a full day of accomplishment. Maybe… I’m not so useless....