Flight, Failure, Faith and Family

by 8686

Chapter 1: Invitations

Chapter 1: Invitations

"Hey Scoots, heads up!"

There wasn't time to react of course. Scootaloo barely had an instant to turn her head to look upon her fate. She caught the briefest glimpse of a pale blue streak rushing towards her at incredible speed, far too close to the ground. Then everything was a blur, and she felt more than she saw.

Felt strong hooves grasp her sides and belly. Felt a sudden lurch in her stomach as she was pulled briskly upwards. Felt her ears begin to pop from the sudden difference in pressure. Felt her eyes watering as the cool wind struck her face. Felt Rainbow Dash laughing against her back as together they soared vertically into the clear blue yonder, leaving Ponyville far below.

Felt safe. Felt happy.

Felt nothing. Suddenly the hooves were gone. Rainbow Dash was gone. She was still travelling upwards at alarming speed.

Felt scared.

She reached the zenith of her unscheduled flight and dared to look down.

Felt sick.

Much, much too far below her, the small town of Ponyville lay sprawled in its verdant surroundings. But worse than that: beneath her, and far more distant than she would have liked, was Rainbow Dash. And she was flying away, apparently having taken an interest in something over there.

Rainbow Dash had to catch her! Why was she flying away?

Scootaloo flared her wings and beat them in furious panic. She worked her muscles harder than she ever had before and in spite of the cold, felt herself sweating. She wanted to call out to Rainbow Dash but the strain from the effort of flapping was too great.

She managed to maintain her height for a precious few seconds before her wings tired out completely. Then she plummeted, helpless against gravity's merciless grip, in the direction of the unforgiving ground.

It would be okay. Rainbow Dash wasn't really gone. She would catch her. She would save her. Probably at the last second. Haha. Just like Rainbow Dash, that. She wasn't really gone.

She couldn't see her anywhere.

Felt scared.

The wind screamed in her ears and tore at her mane, taking on a sinister character now that she was headed in the opposite direction. It was difficult to see through her water-filled eyes, but she couldn't take them off the ground.

If only to see where she would eventually crash.

Would anyone even notice she was gone? The Mayor would probably just get someone to fill in the hole she was about to leave and call it a day. Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom might be sad for a while.

Felt sad. She was going to miss her friends.

A cloud drifted lazily beneath her, obscuring her view of her eventual grave. Now she felt annoyed. If she was going to crash, she at least wanted to know that she was going to crash somewhere nice. The park maybe. Although she hoped she didn't land on anyone. The last thing she wanted was for anypony to get hurt. Darkly, she mused the last thing she wanted might also be the next thing she wanted.

Here came the cloud now. Once she passed through it, she would still have a few seconds to decide if she liked where she was going to–

"Ooof!"

The wind halted its incessant screeching, and everything was still.

It had been like landing on a comfy bed made entirely of marshmallow and cotton wool. The surface felt infinitely elastic and yet the face of the cloud didn't bend nor flex at the impact, just absorbed it. It was like nothing else.

Scootaloo just lay there on her belly, stunned. Barely even winded. She considered trying to get to her hooves, but shock and adrenaline suggested that might be a bad idea so soon. Now that she was safe, in relative terms, her panicked mind slowly brought her racing thoughts to a more sedentary pace.

She was okay. She had to get down to the ground. She was going to need to find some way to signal for help.

Without warning, the back of a blue-coated, rainbow-maned head popped up through the cloud from below. It looked left, right, then at last turned around to find Scootaloo, before breaking into a triumphant grin.

"That was awesome!"

"Rainbow Dash! I–"

"Hold on, just a sec."

The head disappeared back beneath the cloud and a moment later Rainbow Dash, in all her glory, leaped over the edge from below and landed atop the fluffy mass in a casual-already-sorta-lying-down pose next to where Scootaloo was still catching her breath.

"Morning, Squirt! How was your flying lesson?"

When Scootaloo spoke, she couldn't keep her voice from trembling.

"O-Oh, awesome, uh, R-Rainbow Dash! Thank you so much!" Must just have been the after-effects of the shock. She was fine. Rainbow Dash could never know she had been scared. She had to play it cool.

"Hey, you were great. You were up there on your own for, like, ten seconds! You are definately getting better at this."

"Wow, thanks Rainbow Dash!"

"Of course, I was pretty awesome too. The way I caught you with this cloud at the last second. Pretty neat stuff, huh? Hey, Squirt, you okay? You got something in your eye?"

"Uh...no...it's just from the, uh, the wind, you know because we were going so fast." That's why her eyes were still watering. That was the only reason.

"Yeah, well, fast is the only way I go." Rainbow Dash paused. Ugh, that wasn't a cool catchphrase in the making. She shook it off. "Anyway, you'd better be ready for some more awesome fun like this if you're gonna come with me to the annual Pegasus Beach Party tomorrow!" She grinned, and looked at Scootaloo with hopeful expectation.

"The Pegasuh whuh?" Scootaloo sniffled, like her nose had got blocked up. That was weird. She didn't have a cold.

"Oh, the Pegasus Beach Party," began Rainbow Dash, nonchalantly. "Just a small shindig I've got the honour of organising this year that also happens to be the most amazing beach party ever. So? You comin' with me or what?"

Scootaloo couldn't contain a small squee. Whatever that other feeling had been it just sort of went away, replaced with pure excitement. Rainbow Dash was inviting her to a beach party! There was no way she was going to say no. "Oh, I am so there!" So much for playing it cool. Rainbow Dash was just the best!

"Awesome. Hey, I still have to go round up a few other party-guests. You wanna come with?"

"Yeah! Uh, I mean, only if you think I won't slow you down or something." She gave a nervous laugh.

"Nah, I'm pretty sure you can keep up. Come on, lets head downstairs."

Dash stood, turned and kicked downwards with her hindlegs causing the entire cloud to disapparate, literally, into thin air. For a single, horrifying moment, Scootaloo was in free-fall again two-hundred feet above Ponyville town square, exactly where she had been stood before her simple morning had turned scary-awesome. She was about to let out a scream when those same, safe hooves from earlier plucked her out of the air and guided her back to the safety of the world below. When her hooves touched the ground she breathed a quiet sigh of relief.

She couldn't imagine ever wanting to be that far away from it again.

---

With Scootaloo in tow, Rainbow had tried the library first, but Spike explained that Twilight was in Canterlot for the week, learning important...uh...princess things from the princesses. She couldn't remember. She hadn't been paying much attention during that part of the explanation. She'd asked Spike if he wanted to come along, but he declined, saying something about a movie marathon and a bucket full of ice cream.

Rarity wasn't at home, and Sugarcube Corner was closed for some reason, with Pinkie Pie nowhere in sight. So they soon found themselves at the door to the Apple family farmhouse, which was answered presently by Applejack.

"AJ! 'Sup?"

"Rainbow Dash?" Applejack asked suspiciously, before noticing her sidekick. "Hey there Scootaloo. Apple Bloom's up in her room if ya wanna go say hi."

Squirt didn't need any more encouragement. She zipped inside, quick as a flash. No doubt to tell Apple Bloom how awesome her morning had been, flying with her all time hero. Rainbow Dash gave herself a little grin, and strode into Applejack's kitchen. She spun with a flourish to face Applejack, ready to grace her with an invitation to the most awesome party of the–

"Not that I ain't happy to see ya RD, you know I am. But ya kinda caught me in a bit of a hurry here, so what's all this about?"

Dash blinked. She'd lost her place. No biggie. Hang on, where was she. Oh, yeah! ...to the most awesome party of the year! Ahem.

"So, Pegasus Beach Party tomorrow, right? You coming?"

Applejack looked at her blankly. "That's tomorrow?"

"Yeah! I know, I can't believe it's almost here either."

Applejack sighed and looked at the floor. A disappointed expression crossed her features. "I'm sorry Rainbow, but there's just no way. Maybe if ya'd given me a little more warning, but–"

"What? But...I put it on your calendar and everything!" She pointed at the calendar hung on a small nail on the kitchen wall.

Applejack glanced in the direction she was pointing, then gave Dash a deadpan look. She walked over to the calendar on the wall, but kept her eyes on her friend.

"This calendar here?"

Rainbow nodded, a little confused.

"My calendar?"

Another small nod.

"This calendar that wasn't here yesterday?"

She tapped the calendar. Emblazoned along the top edge in proud blue and yellow lettering, the word Wonderbolts screamed for attention. Beneath it stood a stallion in a blue flightsuit, striking a heroic pose. A small table of text at the bottom right proclaimed this to be Rapid Fire, and listed some basic biographical information. Name, age, signature move, likes, dislikes; the sort of stuff fans ate up. Beneath the splash page hung the thirty-one boxes that defined the month, completely devoid of entries except for one, on the 30th, circled several times:

PBP
x –RD

"Seriously Rainbow, how'd that get here?"

But she was elsewhere...

Heroically, Rainbow Dash hefted the hammer in her mouth, poised to strike the nail. This mission had required skill, cunning, and guts, and with one more tap Operation Calendar Drop would be a success. It had gone perfectly. The only resistance had been a lone, vicious guard dog that our hero had brilliantly subdued by petting it, and allowing it to lick her forelegs...which it was still doing now. Seriously, Winona, cut it out!

Rainbow Dash stopped dead as she heard heavy hoofsteps descending the stairs just outside the kitchen. A patrolling guard! If she stayed absolutely still, there was no way he would see her in her stealth outfit, concealed in the impenetrable gloom.

The kitchen light clicked on, and our hero's blood froze solid. There in the doorway stood Big Macintosh – once known as the Brawler of Baltimare, probably. He looked right at her, his expression murderously blank and his eyes aflame with total indifference.

"Rainbow Dash." He nodded. He looked from her, to the calendar, to the hammer in her mouth.

He knew her name! Someone in her organisation had ratted her out. He rolled his eyes...sinisterly.

He walked over to the wide open window on the far side of the kitchen – her escape route! – and closed it. She was trapped! Well, she'd never talk. She would die before she–

"When yer done what you're doin', could ya please leave through the door and make sure it's closed. Thank you."

The Brawler of Baltimare turned and fled ponderously back up the stairs. Ha! Take that! He was no match for Rainbow Dash. She finished securing the secret calendar to the wall, making sure it was turned to the correct page to complete her objective. Now, to make her triumphant escape through the wi– uh...the door. Better use the door this time. No, Winona you can't go for a walk now! She stealthily closed the door soundlessly behind her with a loud click, and took off into the night.

Another mission completed by Rainbow Danger Dash!

"RAINBOW!"

Rainbow Dash snapped back to the present. "Never mind that, how come you can't come?"

Applejack groaned. She clearly wasn't going to get an answer to her own question. "Mr and Mrs Cake got themselves some big catering contract in Canterlot this week. They're both so busy preparing that they've taken Pinkie along to watch the young-uns, because otherwise they're liable to either fly away or magic up some trouble. Meantime, Rarity an' I agreed to help run the Corner while they're gone, but between that an' our own concerns we're a mite busy. Make sense?"

"Uh-huh. Uh-huh." No big deal. If some of her best friends couldn't come to her awesome party, that was their loss, right? There was always next year. She'd just have to deliver the calendars two days early instead. Hold on. There was something in there that didn't quite make sense.

"Rainbow, it ain't like I don't wanna come, I just–"

"Wait a second. You're saying that Pound Cake can actually fly? Like, already?" Way to go kid!

"Yup. Not all the time, but the way Pinkie and the Cakes told it, enough to be a hoof-full. Now I hate to seem inconsiderate, but I have to meet Rarity in five minutes so we can open up Sugarcube Corner in time for lunch."

"Oh, yeah, right. Sorry. Well, I'd better go, I got plenty more guests to round up. Have a good day AJ!" she called as she took to the air and soared out of the kitchen door.

---

"Yeah! A totally awesome beach party, and she just invited me to go with her!"

"That's swell! I sure hope you get to do lots of fun things together."

"Oh, totally. In fact...Rainbow Dash...?" her voice trailed off. Through the window Scootaloo saw a multi-coloured streak, racing away from the farmhouse. Without her.

I thought we were...

"Yeah? Go on, what did Rainbow Dash say?"

"Huh? Oh. Uh...nothing." With difficulty she tore her gaze from the window and the dot that was her hero.

---

Rainbow Dash went through her mental checklist as even now she approached Fluttershy's cottage. Twilight was already gone, and if Applejack was right then not only was she out, but so inevitably were Rarity and Pinkie Pie. That was a shame. She had been looking forward to showing Pinkie what a Rainbow Dash party looked like. Honestly, why did all her friends have to pick this week to get themselves tied up with other things?

As she approached Fluttershy's cottage from above she could see her flitting hither and thither around her back garden, tending to her many creature companions. Lowering her altitude to avoid being seen, and using the cottage itself to cover her approach, she alighted quietly on the front half of Fluttershy's roof and carefully peeked over to the rear to observe the aerial ballet in all its splendour.

There was an annoyingly persistent rumour that Fluttershy was a terrible flyer. That she was so weak-winged she could barely lift herself off the ground, and when she did fly, it was a poor and short-lived affair.

It was a load of horseapples and it frustrated Dash no end. Not least because Fluttershy sometimes seemed to believe it herself.

While Fluttershy didn't generate much actual power with her wings, her real problem was that when she was nervous her wings just didn't seem to work as well. Worse, when she was very scared they tended to snap shut of their own accord and not work at all. If she ever tried to prove anypony wrong, well, inevitably ponies were watching her and she got nervous. A vicious circle. The rumours persisted. But Dash knew better – whatever issues Fluttershy had with flying they were all psychosemantic. Psychosystematic. Psycho– they were all brain issues. There was nothing wrong with her actual ability to fly.

And the proof was right here before her as, hidden behind the rooftop, Rainbow Dash watched Fluttershy going about her daily feeding routine in the place she felt most comfortable in the entire world.

She distributed various foods to her animal friends as she casually wove between the various trees, bushes, pens and perches, stringing together a series of aerial maneuvers with an effortless, slow grace that was just beautiful to behold. Then occasionally, for no other possible reason than that she wanted to, she would dart, quick as a whip to another section of the garden before lapsing into another routine of languid barrel-rolls, S-turns, corkscrews and more. The pattern was captivating, hypnotic almost, and never seemed to repeat, as though she were improvising the whole thing.

As she flew she hummed a short, tuneful ditty that only she seemed to know. A simple series of five notes that she would then repeat half an octave lower. It was nice, actually. Melodic and relaxing, and the perfect accompaniment to her graceful display.

Rainbow Dash doubted that Fluttershy even knew the names of most of the tricks she was doing. She may not even have been aware that she was doing them at all. But you couldn't be friends with as awesome a flyer as Rainbow Dash for as long as she had; couldn't have sat watching as many practice sessions as she had, without picking up a few things at least subconsciously. And whatever Fluttershy had learned, on whatever level she had learned it, she was putting it all into practice now. Except where Rainbow Dash would always be going for speed and precision above all else, Fluttershy was content with poise and finesse.

All too soon though, it ended. The feeding all done, every animal catered for, Fluttershy landed on her hooves in the centre of her garden to a chorus of happy chirruping. She smiled a contented smile and closed her eyes, apparently happy to just listen. After what she'd just seen, Rainbow Dash would give her something to listen to.

She clapped her hooves together in as loud an applause as she could muster, wolf-whistled, and gave her loudest shout of "You go, Fluttershy!", instantly drawing a panicked stare from the suddenly timid pegasus.

"R-Rainbow Dash?"

Beating her wings, Rainbow zoomed from her rooftop perch to ground level. She knew from experience that she had to catch Fluttershy quickly before she could retreat into her shell. She was already rubbing her foreleg timidly and blushing a little. She didn't have much time.

She landed in front of her friend and gave her a quick hug. "Fluttershy. That. Was. Crazyawesome!"

"Oh...um..." Fluttershy bit her lip. Dash held her breath. "Do...do you really think so?" Fluttershy smiled hopefully.

Nailed it. "Hay yeah! I loved it! Stick with me and I'll have you winning next year's Best Young Fliers."

"Oh. I don't know if I would want to do that."

Argh! Too far Dash, come on, pull it back. "Well, I guess that's their loss then, because from where I was, you looked like something special." She smiled warmly at her longtime friend.

"Aw, thanks Dashie."

Aaaand safe!

Dash followed Fluttershy into the cottage, where they exchanged further pleasantries and other pointless small-talk. It wasn't that she didn't want to speak to Fluttershy – they were friends – but she had a reason for being here and she was itching to get to the point. The other stuff could come later.

"So, are you gonna come to the beach party tomorrow?" Dash queried at a not-quite-seamless point in the conversation.

"Oh, goodness, it's tomorrow?"

"Argh! Why does everypony keep saying that? I've been on about it for weeks!"

"Yes, but you see, you said you were organising it...but you never actually said when..."

Rainbow Dash resisted the urge to point out Fluttershy's own copy of the Wonderbolt calendar adorning her wall. She could still recall the heavy scent of the stifling jungle, filled with wild creatures, as Rainbow Dash bravely– snapped out of her reverie.

"Hey, no big deal. But now you know, you can make it, right?"

"I...I don't know. Last time I went it was so loud and confusing and there were so many ponies there I didn't know. Besides, is it really right to just have a party for pegasi anymore? What if our other friends wanted to come?"

"Ugh. Fluttershy, it's not just for pegasi, it just happens to be called the Pegasus Beach Party because – well you know why. And our friends are invited, but they're all busy tomorrow!"

Fluttershy just looked away slightly, and Dash could tell she still wasn't convinced. It hurt more than she expected that, on some level, Fluttershy might not believe her.

"Come on, Fluttershy. Do you really think I'd put my name on anything like this without making sure all our friends could be in on it?"

"No, of course not."

"If you really want, I'll even give you a run-down of who can't make it and why! But I really want you to be there. Because you're my friend too. You're still my number one flyer, right?"

Fluttershy looked back at Rainbow Dash. The corners of her mouth turned up into the tiniest, yet most honest of smiles.

"That's okay, Rainbow. If it's important to you, of course I'll be there." Her smile grew. When Fluttershy smiled it couldn't fail to lift your spirits, and Rainbow Dash had to bite back the urge to leap up and scream "Awesome!" at the top of her voice. Instead, she was just about able to moderate it to,

"Thanks."

True to her word, Dash stayed talking with Fluttershy for an appropriately polite length of time, but she eventually had to leave. She had to start getting organised for the party some time after all, and she had a lot of work to do.

---

Several hours later, and Rainbow Dash was proud of how well things were coming together. There were a few last-minute items to take care of, but she could do those tomorrow. All of the major obstacles had been overcome and she was now soaring low over Ponyville, searching.

Aha! There! She spotted a large, white, muscle-bound pegasus with disproportionately tiny wings ambling down one of the many quaint streets of Ponyville. Rainbow Dash recognised him – he had been on the tornado team that the previous year had transferred Ponyville's reservoir water to Cloudsdale, and he had been a cadet at the Wonderbolt academy at the same time as Dash herself. She seemed to remember he'd been a pretty good flyer, surprisingly. She'd once heard somepony refer to him as 'Horse Power', but wasn't sure if that was his actual name, or simply a frighteningly efficient physical description. She swooped in low and fell in beside him in a lazy trot.

"Hey there! What's up?"

The stallion simply looked back at her. Apparently he wasn't much one for talking. Never mind. Down to business.

"Pegasus Beach Party tomorrow. You there?" Dash was sure she could remember him talking in the past. In fact she was sure there was something about they way he talked that should have been memorable.

"YEAH!"

Oh, right, that was it. She'd have to stand further away if she wanted to ask a follow-up question. She'd almost gone deaf.

As soon as the word was out of his mouth, the stallion looked embarrassed. At length he cleared his throat.

"Sorry there, Rainbow Dash. Just slips out. Looking forward to tomorrow. Tough to beat last year's party, but if anyone can top it, it's you."

Rainbow Dash's jaw fell open. Some crucial circuit in her brain that controlled normal response had shorted out, because she could only gawp. She must have looked unwell because when the stallion spoke again it was to ask,

"Rainbow Dash? You alright?"

She managed to snap herself out of it, shaking her head roughly from side to side.

"Uh, yeah. So, that means you're coming then?"

"YEAH!"

And normal service has resumed. "Awesome. See you there!" Rainbow Dash took to the air. She looked over a shoulder and gave a polite wave as she raced away, but found her gaze lingering on the stallion's back.

His wings were tiny.

---

Gaze downcast, a forlorn Scootaloo trudged through the streets of Ponyville. It hadn't been long after Applejack left for Sugarcube Corner that Big Macintosh had needed Apple Bloom's help to patch a couple of leaks in the roof of the barn. Scootaloo had offered to pitch in too, but it had quickly become obvious that she was out of her depth – she got in the way and underhoof more than she helped, and though they'd said nothing she was pretty sure she'd made the work much slower going than necessary, so she'd made an excuse and left them to it.

Above her the sky was starting to cloud up, and it felt like it might rain at any moment. The forecast was for rain tomorrow, but that was surely just for Ponyville and not for wherever the beach party was going on. Rainbow Dash would see to that.

The closest beach was Weston-Super-Mare, but that was kind of a dive. There was a much nicer place about an hours train ride away at Stirrup Springs and she hoped that's where she would be headed tomorrow with Rainbow Dash.

If she was going to be headed there with Rainbow Dash.

She hadn't actually seen any sign of Rainbow since they'd gotten to Applejack's hours ago, and she wondered if she'd changed her mind about inviting her. After all, she'd just flown off without a second look, hadn't she? She'd probably just decided that Scootaloo wasn't cut out for awesome beach parties after all, and figured she'd best leave her behind. Without a word. Haha. That crazy Rainbow Dash!

Her eyes started to water. Because of that wind in her face again. There sure was a lot of it around today.

"Hey, Scoots!" Rainbow Dash's voice called from somewhere on high. There was a sudden rush of air and then, as if by magic, the rainbow-maned mare was standing right in front of her, smiling. "Hey little buddy, where ya been all this time?"

You left me at Applejack's were the words that leapt into Scootaloo's treacherous mind, to her immediate horror. Fortunately her loyal mouth, on hearing the order, successfully translated the sentiment into, "I...stayed at Applejack's."

"Oh, okay. I've been busy all afternoon getting everything ready for tomorrow. Now I'm rounding up guests again, but I already know you're coming, so I gotta get back to it."

"So...uh, tomorrow then," Scootaloo asked before Rainbow Dash could vanish into the sky. "Where are we...I mean, shall I meet you at the train station?"

"Sure, that's as good a place as any," said Dash, distractedly. "2 p.m. sharp though, Squirt. Don't let me down." And then she was gone again, in search of more wayward future party guests.

Scootaloo forced a smile onto her face. Rainbow Dash was still taking her to the party. She hadn't decided to forget about her after all. Come on Happiness, where are you? Why are you hiding back there? Rainbow Dash still wants us to go to the party with her. We're going to spend all of tomorrow afternoon with Rainbow Dash at an awesome beach party! That's better, come on Happiness. You? I don't know who you are, but you're in Happiness's spot. Get out. Don't come back. There we go, Happiness. Just make yourself comfortable. Whoever that other feeling was won't be bothering us anymore.

---

Rainbow Dash couldn't sleep. That, in and of itself, was unusual enough, but the reason she couldn't sleep, she had eventually decided, was that she was worried.

Rainbow Dash did not get worried. Rainbow Dash was too cool and awesome to worry about stuff. When something happened that looked like it might be worth worrying about, Rainbow Dash just took that thing, made it twenty percent cooler in ten seconds flat, and hoped the door hit Worry's flank on the way out. Then Awesome would arrive, splash mud on Worry's coat and...

Yeah...she was worried. And she couldn't even figure out why.

She had at first naturally assumed that she was getting cold hooves about being responsible for organising the biggest social event in the Cloudsdale calendar. But then she ran everything through in her head, everything about how the party was going to go, all of the activities she'd set up, how everything was just so. No, the party was going to be epic. Of that she had absolutely no doubt.

That should have sent Worry packing. And yet there remained a sickly knot of unease in her stomach that wouldn't budge. She probed it, trying to learn its secrets.

Something that she felt she couldn't fix; something important. It had an odd, 'foreign' character to it. When she was nervous there was always an ingrained, intimate problem that was hers to grapple with and defeat. This was different. It was like it wasn't just to do with herself...

And then, as though she'd tugged on the right cord, the knot came undone.

Scootaloo.

Why can't she fly? You're supposed to be teaching her.

I AM teaching her. I gave her a lesson this morning!

Is that what that was? You threw her in the air and watched as she fell. You're supposed to help her. You're the best flyer in Ponyville and you can't help her to fly?

I am helping her!

Then why can't she fly?

She's too young.

Pound Cake can fly.

Her wings aren't strong enough.

Fluttershy doesn't need strong wings.

Her wings are too small!

Horse Power would beg to differ.

Her...She...

Stop making excuses Rainbow Dash! WHY CAN'T SHE FLY?

Rainbow Dash sat up in bed. "I don't know..." she heard herself whisper. A shiver took her. The implications were forcing their way past the veil of convenient ignorance, to the forefront of her mind.

No! I'm just a terrible teacher, that's all. As unpalatable an explanation as it was, it was infinitely better than the alternative. After all, I'm an awesome flyer, not an awesome teacher. That's all she needs. Some professional training to get her on the right track. And I know where she can get it. Even if...

Even if it meant breaking the promise she'd made to herself years ago, never to go back.

Comments

[Cold Spike]

I am too, it's well written. Its obvious Dash is way too distracted to norice any issues with Scootaloo, of which she most likely ha a lot in this story. 3254373

[Pinkshy Rarilight dash]

Fluttershy is not Psychomantic and she does not have brain issues, why would u say that I think its a bit offensive......

[IDigAPony]

Great start. Well balanced. Fun style. I think one of the reasons so many people love Rainbow Dash is that despite her high self opinion we all know that beneath is an excellent heart that is insecure and a soul that will laugh at itself faster than you can. I love it when good writers explore those secondary areas.
All the Mane 6 have their flaws but that's why we love them. The personification of feelings is a clever device and well employed especially as a character link between Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo. Great scene with Fluttershy!
You will be my first follow. Looking forward to the next chapter.

[Seether00]

More Scoot and Dash? Yes, please. And more pegasi in one place!

[OmniFox]

Bulk Biceps.

[Csquared08]

Oh, look at that. Another 8686 story starting out with great characterization. Imagine that.

No, but seriously. The characterization here was fantastic. The description had me worried Dash might be a bit off, but she was fantastic. I don't even know why I doubted you, at this point.

[plskilmeTails]

3254786 It means that it's all in her mind. She thinks she can't fly very well, so she doesn't believe in it herself. It's not saying she has a disability, or an actual 'problem'. It's just that she has a hard time with her confidence, so she lacks the confidence to fly very well in public. It's not even mean to say.