• Published 19th Feb 2014
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Scootaloo's Growth: from Baby to Champion - Never2muchpinkie



Scootaloo's life starting from an attack as a baby, her adoption, and growing up through her struggles with her wings, culminating in a final race against her lifetime idol to show her worth.

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Chapter 6: Dragon attack: Scootaloo's maturity

On one of the days I decided to take off I went to see Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle. The Cutie Mark Crusaders had unofficially ended. All three of us were now sporting our cutie marks, the marks of our destinies.

Sweetie Belle, due to learning the patience to just watch and observe, as well as a desire to emulate her sister, got a dress and sewing machine cutie mark. She spent more time at her sister’s boutique, slowly increasing her skill. She told me her sister had even started letting her work there from time to time, based upon need.

Apple Bloom got four apples. At first it seemed like she would show off to Applejack, who only had three, but each of her apples was a different color: red, orange, green, and yellow, just like the ponies in her home, also symbolizing her love of her family and how she’d never let them go.

And me? Very unsurprisingly I got a scooter cutie mark. One day, after pulling off a particularly difficult move flawlessly and thinking of all the things Rainbow Dash had told me, I felt more and more that this was my trump card. It was what I was meant to do. And just like that… I finally got my cutie mark.

It’s funny how important getting a mark on my flank had filled up a lot of my attention and time back when I was younger, but nowadays I think that wanting was better than having in this case. I wasn’t upset over having it. When it appeared I was ecstatic and celebrated with everyone, but as days went on it became just another part of me like my wings and my legs and my eyes. Maybe it was because it was the end goal. Unlike my flying and scooter training, where there was always room to improve, there was nowhere else to go with this. Once you get a cutie mark the goal is met and the race for it ends.

Even though the whole reason we started our group was to earn our cutie marks by helping each other out, our friendship remained. We had been through too much together to separate now.

The three of us had all grown up, each starting to go down our own separate paths into adulthood, but we would never not be friends, just like our sisters. Each of them had their own lives, but still made time for each other.

We were walking along the edge of the forest, just talking about things on the path by the edge of the Everfree Forest. As we walked along it made me think again of how I was found somewhere around here a long time ago. So much had changed since then in so many ways. Of course there was no way to tell the exact spot I had been found. It wasn’t like it was marked with a sign or anything.

With a laugh I said to them, “Hey, do you think there are any missing chickens in there?”

They laughed back. “Or something that looks like a chicken?” responded Apple Bloom.

“That will turn you to stone if you look at it in the eye?” said Sweetie Belle.

I let out another small laugh. “We really were kids back then. We never put any thought into what we did and just generally caused trouble for those around us. Now we’ve all got our cutie marks and are heading quickly to our destinies. “

“Yeah. We aren’t nearly as dumb as we used to be.”

“That’s cuz we have good teachers ta show us the way,” said Apple Bloom.

“Right!”

As we continued along the way I heard something that made my blood run cold. A loud and ferocious roar echoed around us, and out of the woods by the Everfree Forest came a giant dragon. It was a dark green, with lighter green scales and sharp claws.

The three of us froze at first, unsure of what to do. The dragon landed in front of us with a mighty thud, shaking the ground around us, but it didn’t attack. “WHERE IS IT?” it yelled, its face right near ours.

“W-w-where is what?” I said, shaking.

“You know what I’m talking about! Where’s my baby?”

“B-b-baby?”

“I left my egg in the corner of my cave to go hunting yesterday, and now it’s gone! I know one of you ponies took it. Just like that purple pony that helped that traitor of a dragon a few years back.

“Very well, then. If you seek to hide it from me then I’ll just have to burn down the entire town.” With its head back it let out a stream of fire.

“WHAT!” the three of us said in unison.

“Starting with you three!” It brought its claw down, and all three of us scattered.

It began chasing after me. I could see two overturned trees up ahead, like the shape of an “X”. I flew towards them, heading underneath them as I flew forward. I expected the dragon to crash into the trees, but its hard head actually went through the trees. It tried to pull its head out, but it was stuck in there good.

The town was in danger, and I knew what I had to do. It was the only thing that could be done. “Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle. You two need to get out of here! I’ll hold it off.”

“W-what?” said Apple Bloom flatly. “What are ya talkin’ about, Scootaloo?”

“Yeah!” said Sweetie Belle. “You can’t fight a dragon. We have to run!”

“I can’t. There’s too much at stake for me to run. If we do nothing then a lot of other ponies are going to get hurt. Weren’t we just talking about how we aren’t kids anymore? Our sisters put their lives on the line to save Equestria a bunch of times. Nightmare Moon, Discord, King Sombra. They always faced the danger to save the others around them. Aren’t we trying to be just like them? I won’t just run away and do nothing, especially to just protect myself. It’s not Rainbow Dash’s style, and I’m not going to let it be mine either. I know I can’t fight it, but I can at least hold it off while you get the town evacuated. It’s time to put all my training to work.”

“One of us should stay with you as a backup.”

“No! All I need to do is stall until one of you can get Rainbow Dash over here to help. Even if your magic was stronger, Sweetie Belle, dragons are extremely resistant to magic. Apple Bloom’s strength is also nothing compared to a dragon. I’m the only one of us who can do it and have a shot to succeed, as I have speed and the ability to fly giving me more maneuverability to get away. If one of you stays behind I’ll be too distracted and worried to fly at my best, so the both of you need to go. I can handle this by myself for now. No biggie.”

Apple Bloom glared at me before quickly smacking me across the face. I recoiled a bit, shocked at the attack. “That’s enough, Scootaloo! What yer proposin’ is suicide. That’s an angry dragon out ta kill. Yer lettin’ yer pride speak fer ya. Ya been spending too much time with that Rainbow Dash and yer head is gettin’ just as swelled as hers. Yer not invincible and yer gonna get yerself KILLED, you moron!”

I met her eyes, rubbing my stinging cheek. “I understand why you think the way you do, but this is about much more than pride. I’m not that conceited that I think I can handle this all alone. This is about protecting lives. I don’t consider my one life more important than many other ponies. Do you remember what I said the first time we babysat Rose Blossom? I said that I’d never be able to stand it if one of you got killed because I wasn’t strong enough to help. That’s why you have to go. Now!”

Sweetie Belle looked more upset than mad as she tried to dissuade me as well. “Then you should understand that we wouldn’t be able to stand it if you got killed because we left you alone. We’d never be able to forgive ourselves if that happened.”

“If that’s what you really think then GO! NOW! The longer you wait the sooner it will escape. Do you really want your sisters to die and Ponyville to be destroyed because you were too worried about me to make sure they got to safety? We’re not kids anymore! We’re almost adults, and we need to start taking our responsibilities more seriously.

"This is bigger than any of our petty concerns. If I can distract the dragon long enough for the two of you to warn everybody then even if I die in the process and Ponyville is destroyed we’ll still have saved hundreds of lives. It's something worth risking my life for. Now for the last time get out of here! Right now!”

I saw their faces clenching up. They both desperately wanted to refuse, but they could see the truth of the situation the same as I did. There was no other way around it. “Ya better not die!” Apple Bloom said strongly, tears coming down her eyes.

Sweetie Belle threw her hooves around me. “That’s right! We’re a trio and we only work best together. We need you, Scootaloo! So you better stay alive!” With that the two of them ran off.

I heard the dragon let out a roar now that they were escaping. With a breath I saw a small flame come out of his mouth. As the tree burned it began to become more brittle until, with another roar, he pulled free of the trees he was stuck in.

I flew in front of the dragon, glad to have my friends out of harm’s way. Now there was nothing holding me back. My years of training were finally going to be used for something important. This was the biggest moment of my life. Bigger than me or anything else. Many lives were hinging on my performance here. No matter what happened I couldn’t die. I was the only who could do it. At the end of this test, assuming I survived, I’d know for a fact that I’d grown up. Everything I had strived for was alive in this moment.

“If you want my friends you’re going to have to go through me!” I expected it to attack me right away but it actually began laughing, which perplexed me given how it had just tried to kill me a few minutes ago. I guess the thought of a small, weak pony challenging a full grown dragon was humorous to it no matter how angry it was. I probably would have done the same if I was in his position.

It started running towards me and I zipped diagonally upwards out of its path. It didn’t pursue me but just kept running. My heart started racing. It was heading towards the town! I had to keep it here. If it got into Ponyville before my friends could warn anyone it would be a disaster!

I could feel an awkward smile on my face. I was probably going to regret this later but there was only one thing I could think of that would stop it. “Hey! So I bet you have a pretty big jewel stash in your cave. You sure you want to leave it unguarded?”

The dragon had just unfurled its wings and had begun to flap them when it stumbled, nearly falling on its face as it snapped its head toward me.

Putting an arrogant grin on my face I continued, “Hey, maybe there’s another egg in there. I really hope there is because I’d just love to smash it to pieces!” I let out a booming laugh.

I could see it had worked. Its eyes burned with rage as it roared. It spun around to face me, letting out a burst of flame as it charged at me.

“Come on, then, tough guy!” I said, feeling a tingling excitement in my stomach. This was going to be my third time risking my life for something. The first time was trying to rescue Rose Blossom. The second was my foolish attempt to prove to myself I could fly by going to Rainbow’s house alone. And now… now I was staring down a dragon.

It slammed its claw down at me, and I flew out of the way. When I heard it inhaling I flew straight up so the dragon would direct its fire into the air instead of near the trees. The ease with which I swerved around felt amazing, and that feeling of delight increased. The dragon was clearly getting angrier at me, its elusive prey. I couldn’t help but laugh as, time after time, I managed to avoid it.

***

Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom made it to town. “Let’s split up,” said Apple Bloom. “Like Scootaloo says we’re not kids anymore. If we just start screaming that there’s a dragon comin’ ta destroy the town there’s gonna be a mass panic. I’ll go ta town hall an talk ta the mayor. You go ta the library and get Twilight. She’s a princess now, so she’ll know what ta do.”

“Right!” Sweetie Belle responded.

When Sweetie Belle got to the library she was glad to see Twilight sitting at the table, reading a book. “Twilight!”

Twilight briefly looked up. “Hi, Sweetie Belle. I’m sorry, I’m really busy right now with-”

“There’s a dragon coming!” she interrupted.

“Okay, that’s nice but I…” She looked up from her book as Sweetie’s words registered in her mind. “Did you say a DRAGON?”

“Yes! He came out of the Everfree Forest. He thinks someone in town stole his egg so he’s coming to destroy it to punish everypony.”

“Oh, no. No no no no no no! This is bad!” She felt a panic coming on at first, but then she did the breathing trick Cadance taught her to calm herself down.

They heard the emergency alarm coming from Ponyville town hall. That was perfect. When they heard it every pony was supposed to gather there.

“Come with me, Sweetie Belle.”

“Right!”

When they got there they saw there was already a big crowd gathering around. Twilight flew up to the podium, settling everyone down. “Everyone, I have been informed that there is a threat coming to town. I need everypony to stay calm and begin evacuation procedures according to my instructions.

“My friends. Will you all come up here?” Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Spike and Pinkie Pie all came up to stand next to her.

“Rainbow Dash, I need you to gather the Ponyville Pegasi who help with weather control and make as many rainclouds as possible.”

“Got it,” Rainbow responded.

“Spike, I need-AH!”

“Ah?” Spike responded.

“I… I remember!”

“Remember what?”

“Yesterday I had a conversation with a pony about a fancy 'rock' he had found that he believed to be a piece of Equestrian history. The whole time I was looking at it I just felt something strange about it, like I recognized it from somewhere, even though I was sure I’d never seen it before. Looking at you it made me realize that it wasn’t a rock at all. It was an egg. The dragon’s egg.”

“Dragon?” cried out a pony in the crowd.

“A dragon!” said another.

“A dragon’s coming here?” said a third.

The ponies around them looked to be on the verge of panic from the sudden identification of the threat coming.

“SETTLE DOWN, Y’ALL!” Applejack shouted firmly, and the voices died out. “Twilight knows what she’s doin’. Just trust in her and we can’t go wrong.

“Go on, Twilight.”

“T-thank you, Applejack.” Twilight looked over the crowd, trying to remember how exactly the pony had looked. “Is there a pony here with a very dark blue coat and magnifying glass and map cutie mark?” There was a small flurry of conversation, but no one stepped forward. “I promise that you won’t be punished. It was an honest mistake.” Still no one came forward.

Twilight chewed on her lip and had to take some breaths again to keep herself calm. Was everyone not there? Or was the pony not from Ponyville? Well, she didn’t have the time to sit back and try to figure it out. They were on a time limit. “Applejack, I’m making you second in command here. You’ve shown you’re good at crowd control and keeping things in line. Rarity, you assist Applejack with the evacuation.” The two of them responded in the affirmative.

“Fluttershy, you go to your home and make a quick sweep of Ponyville to round up all the animals you can and get them to safety.”

“Oh, right. My animals,” said Fluttershy. “I will.”

“Spike, you send a letter to Princess Celestia and let her know of the situation and that I’m going to try to handle it myself.”

“Alright,” said Spike.

“Pinkie Pie…” She stopped for a moment as her friend had a strangely grim look on her face. Though, this being Pinkie Pie, she thought her friend might suddenly burst into laughter at any moment. “Pinkie Pie, I really need you to be serious right now. This is important.”

“I am being serious, Twilight.” Her voice didn’t carry its usual cheery cadence. “I know the damage a rampaging dragon can do from that time Spike let his greed get the better of him, and I don’t want my bakery or the twins getting hurt because of it. You want a serious Pinkie, you’ll get a serious Pinkie!”

Despite the situation Twilight couldn’t suppress a smile. As usual Pinkie did whatever she had to for the sake of her friends and family. “You make it a point to become friends with every pony who moves in. Do you know who I’m talking about?”

Pinkie’s face screwed up in concentration for a few seconds, but then she looked confused and said, “Nope. Doesn’t seem familiar to me.”

That settled that. If Pinkie didn’t remember him then he couldn’t live there. “Hmm… let me try something.” Her horn began glowing as she touched it to Pinkie’s forehead, implanting the memory of her conversation into Pinkie Pie.

“Oh!” Pinkie Pie said, perking up. “His name is Cave Digger. He lives in Fillydelphia. He works as an archeologist studying up on the Paleopony period.”

“Why didn’t you remember before?”

“Duh!” she said, but then remembered she was supposed to be serious, and said calmly, “Because he said he wasn’t going to move to Ponyville. He was only visiting. You think it’s easy remembering every single pony in Ponyville, as well as their birthdays and all the things they like? There’s only room in my head for my hometown.”

“Well, that was really helpful. Pinkie, you come with me. We’re heading to Fillydelphia to get that egg back.

“Now, all of you have your orders. Everybody move out!”

“Wait!” Rainbow Dash cried out. While they had all been talking she had looked down at the crowd, and saw Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle. Noticing that only two of their usual trio was present, and that most notably it was Scootaloo who was missing, the same pony who took after her, she got a bad feeling. If Scootaloo wasn’t there she had to be elsewhere. She had seen Applebloom with the mayor and Sweetie Belle with Twilight. If the three of them had split up and each took on a responsibility then she was certain she knew where her sister was.

“Where’s Scootaloo?”

“AH!” Sweetie Belle screamed. “I forgot! Scootaloo told us to go get you to help her. She’s stalling the dragon to buy time for everyone to escape.”

“WHAT!” Rainbow Dash yelled. She leapt into the air. She didn’t have time to scold them for their recklessness so she simply asked, “What direction?”

“That way,” Apple Bloom said as she pointed towards the forest.

“Rainbow Dash,” started Twilight.

“I’m sorry, Twilight, but my family comes first. Banish me later if you want, but I’m not letting my sister fight a dragon alone.”

Without another word she zoomed off. “You better be alive, kid! There’s still way too much you have left to do for you to die now.”

***

Phew! My excitement had long since faded out. It had been about ten minutes, I suppose. I could only guess that Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom had done what they were supposed to, and that the town was being emptied out. I wasn’t afraid. I knew that they were capable of getting it done.

At first the dragon had just wildly charged at me, swiping at me carelessly. I’m sure it was a combination of rage and thinking I was just some inconsequential fool. As I continued to elude it the dragon had begun acting smarter, trying to trap me in an inescapable position. I had a lot more close calls than before, forcing me to the full extent of my skills to keep out of danger.

I hadn’t escaped unscathed either. The edge of my tail was burnt from a burst of fire and I had a small scrape on my left front hoof from when it had grazed me with its claw. Thankfully that was the extent of my injuries but that was the point I stopped playing around. I knew that my life was in danger this whole time but I hadn’t seen the need to put my all in until that point.

I zipped around left and right as it continued its relentless pursuit, slamming at me with its claws repeatedly. It jumped at me, opening its mouth and trying to eat me. I swerved off to the side to the sound of its jaws closing right behind me. I just kept my wits about me to the best of my ability. I couldn’t afford to panic here. I was only stalling, after all. I still had a lot of stamina left. I didn’t have to worry about the finish as long as it was determined to get me. As long as it was chasing me it couldn’t go after the town. Everyone’s safety was reliant on me until Rainbow Dash arrived.

I hopped off the ground as it once again smashed its claw into the ground. I heard a whistling sound coming from the side, and it was only pure instinct that made me quickly fold up my wings and let gravity take its course. I saw its tail finish its swing overhead, coming so near I felt it sweep through my mane. Too close! Way too close.

In my distraction it very nearly got me with its claw. I hopped backward again, this time paying attention to its tail. Too much attention as it turned out, as I completely missed its other claw as it swiped at me. My eyes saw it a second before it smacked me, and all I had time to do was put my hooves up to protect my body and fly backwards a little to try to reduce some of the impact. It sent me flying backwards and my hooves burned as the momentum propelled me. I could make out a tree behind me as I spun, as well as the dragon flying after me. This was going to be a narrow escape but I had to take the chance. Angling my body so my back hooves were out I flapped my wings to try to slow myself just a bit as I hit the tree. My hooves exploded in pain for a moment before I quickly jumped off towards the sky.

It swung its tail at me again. I hadn’t recovered enough to fly out of the way. Taking a risk I turned my body toward it, grabbing its tail as it came upon me. It almost knocked the wind out of me but it finally allowed me to get some distance from the dragon. When it reached the end of its strike I released it and let his momentum propel me away before taking cover in the foliage of a tree.

I hid for about fifteen seconds, rubbing my stomach. I wish I could have hid longer. That had really hurt, but I couldn’t rest too long or it would give up the chase to go after Ponyville. I just had to think of this as a tougher Rainbow Dash. She always tested me in every possible way and was harsh in her training. She never let me just sit around for minutes to recover from an accident. This was just more applications of the knowledge she had imparted to me.

Huffing a bit I knew it was time to get back in the fight. “Come on, Scootaloo. Everyone is relying on you. Just a little bit longer. Rainbow Dash will be here soon. She has to be on her way by now.”

I flew up straight into the sky, encouraging it to follow after me. A mid-air chase was clearly to my advantage. Out in the open air I would have much more maneuverability so it would have no way of catching me. It was a lot heavier than I was so it would surely be a slower flier.

Or NOT! Despite its huge size it was actually a little bit faster than I was. It was quickly catching up to me, and I could only hope that I was correct this time as I stopped suddenly and started heading down. Just as I thought its heavier weight stopped it from halting its momentum easily, and it took a few seconds for it to stop its ascent and start flying back towards me. Now that I knew how fast it was I was taking a risk, but I was now flying straight downward. I could feel it approaching me, and I knew it was going to be a very close call. At the last second I shifted directions, heading parallel to the ground. The dragon, unable to stop himself in time, smashed into the ground.

I hoped that might be enough to stun it for a few minutes but it didn’t have any effect. It quickly got back up like nothing had happened. It jumped, grabbing at me. I jumped out of the way and back into the air. I had to do that every time I noticed it was about to breathe fire but I stayed close to the ground now. Now that I knew it was faster than I was it would be a stupid move to try to get it to follow me in the air. I had to keep it on the ground where I had the advantage of speed.

With another one of its attempts to scratch me I zipped out of the way just in time when I suddenly felt a sharp pain in my front leg. I saw it was bleeding, but I barely had time to process that before its claw grabbed me and slammed me to the ground. “That’s… cheating,” I said dumbly as I saw it had retractable claws, which is how it had fooled me.

“I’ve had enough play time with you, pony,” the dragon said in his deep rumble of a voice. “You and your whole town are going to pay for taking my baby from me.”

I heard it take in a really deep breath, saw the fire building in its jaw. It was planning to roast me alive. I couldn’t get away from it. It was too strong. And dragons are fireproof anyway so it wouldn’t have to worry about burning itself. There was nothing I could do. I only hoped everyone had gotten away.

I closed my eyes, silently apologizing to Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom.

“LEAVE HER ALONE!” I heard a voice yell. A voice I knew all too well. The next thing I knew it was like the whole world had changed. It felt like there was an earthquake, the dragon was gone, and in its place was Rainbow Dash, rubbing her head.

She pulled me to my hooves and I saw the dragon was laid out on the ground, not moving. It was still breathing, but that was it. “Whoa,” I said in awe. “You took out a dragon with one hit. That’s pretty terrifying. I didn’t know you were that strong.”

She was still rubbing her head as she said, “Not hardly. Speed increases force and impact. Dragons may be extremely tough but I guess even a dragon can’t take a sonic rainboom head-butt. This should give them enough time to get the egg. Twilight knows who it is. He lives in the next town over so it shouldn’t take too long to get it back.”

“That’s good.”

Rainbow Dash was looking at me sternly, and I knew what was coming: I had been an idiot, how dare I, could have been killed…

However, to my surprise, she didn’t do that. She hugged me, saying, “Way to go, Scootaloo! You did a great job!”

“Huh? But I thought you would be furious at me.”

“Of course I’m mad! You could have gotten yourself killed, and you would have if I didn’t show up when I did. But you thought ahead. You weren’t planning to last through it all by yourself. You planned to have me join you and help you from the beginning. And the reason I yelled at you for flying to my house on your own was because you took an unnecessary risk that put your life in danger. This was a necessary risk, as things couldn’t have gone any other way to create the best chance for everyone to stay safe. I’m really proud of you!” She suddenly wobbled and sat down on the grass, rubbing her head again. “Darn it. Dragons have really hard heads. I’m going to have a massive headache later, but it was worth it to save you.”

I jumped onto her lap. “Thank you, Rainbow Dash. Is everyone gone?”

“Twilight’s started the evacuation and following up on the egg retrieval. It shouldn’t take more than twenty minutes for everyone to get to safety.” She put her hooves around me, holding me close to her. “I’m really glad you’re alright. You’ve grown a lot, Scootaloo.”

“I was only caught because it cheated. It could extend its claws. It made me think I was out of range so it could distract me with an injury.”

“Well, you need to be more careful. I can’t save your butt forever.”

“I know that much, but I also know that there are plenty of things I just can’t do on my own. That’s why we have to rely on our friends and family. Taking on a dragon by myself wasn’t exactly an easy decision but I didn’t want my friends to get hurt, and I knew I would get too distracted worrying about them.”

It had only been about five minutes when we heard a snort behind us, then another one. The dragon was waking up already!

“Okay, resting time is over, kid,” Rainbow Dash said, getting serious as she pushed me off of her. “Listen. Whatever happens you need to stay away from me.”

“Are you telling me to go home?” I asked, feeling a little mad. I didn’t care what she said. I wasn’t leaving her alone. I wanted to see this through to the end.

“No! I need you here. I’m saying that it’ll be a lot easier for the dragon to attack us if we stay together. We need to stay split up and force it to continuously shift between targets, confusing it and lowering its effectiveness. The only reason we should come near each other is if of us is caught.”

“And what am I supposed to do if that happens? I can’t hurt it. I’m not strong enough for that.”

“Obviously. Just go for the one spot that every creature is vulnerable.”

“What’s that?”

“The eyes.”

I inwardly grimaced, but I knew it may be my only shot of helping out. “Got it.”

The two of us stood there, waiting for the dragon to get its bearings, and I noticed that we were standing side by side. The two of us were working together. She had asked for my assistance, and believed that I could help her if she wound up getting caught. It was really happening! Rainbow Dash was acknowledging that I could fight by her side.

With a mighty roar the dragon charged at us as it recognized me. “Split up, kid! Go!”

The two of us headed in opposite directions. For a moment the dragon seemed puzzled, looking between us and deciding which one to go after, its elusive prey or the one who had knocked it out. It suddenly changed directions toward me. I guess I had hurt its pride as a hunter too much. As I flew around some trees Rainbow Dash suddenly pulled up, getting in front of me and charging back towards the dragon, dodging its claws as it attacked her and heading upward to the sky, hurling insults at it as she stuck out her tongue.

It shifted targets immediately, flying up toward her. Unlike me Rainbow Dash was still a few steps ahead of the dragon in speed, easily dodging out the way. After about ten seconds I saw her look over at me, and I knew it was time to switch. I flew towards it from behind, flying hooves first, and gave it a kick to the back of the head. It wasn’t injured, but it seemed to have felt the impact. It turned around, and I stuck out my tongue and laughed at it before flying towards the ground, daring it to come after me.

It followed behind me, but it was slow, probably learning its lesson from the last time. I heard it breathing in, and I knew it was about to unleash flames. This was bad! I wasn’t in a position where I could have it redirected upwards in time.

All of a sudden Rainbow Dash landed on its snout. It paused for a second, and that was all the time Rainbow needed to give it a solid whack in the eye. The roar of pain it let out probably carried over three towns. I had to cover my ears with my hooves it was so piercing.

Rainbow let out a cry of pain and went flying. In its wild flailing around the dragon had hit her with its claw. Every part of my being wanted to zoom over to her and make sure she was okay, but I didn’t listen. She had said not to come near her no matter what. I trusted her, and I didn’t want to mess up her plan. She fell about halfway to the ground before recovering, coming back up to the level she had before.

The dragon landed on the ground, bouncing from leg to leg and holding its claws over its face. For about a minute we just rested, watching it as it recovered.

When it finally lowered its claw it looked more furious than ever. It grabbed one of the small trees nearby, and I just watched in awe as it pulled it straight out of the ground. Without warning he threw it at me. I was so surprised that I didn’t move for a few moments, before a cry of “MOVE IT!” from Rainbow made me realize that an uprooted tree was coming straight at me. I tried to avoid it but I wasn’t in time to completely get out of the way. Luckily the numerous leaves that covered it softened the blow a bit, but it knocked the wind out of me and I headed toward the ground. As I was going down I glared at Rainbow Dash, silently trying to tell her to stick to the plan. I could see her struggling the same way I had been to stay put. I had nearly hit the ground before I found the strength to right myself.

My stomach was burning. That was the second hard hit I had taken there. I was huffing and puffing and a part of me almost felt like running and letting Rainbow take care of the rest. I shook my head. No! That was unacceptable. She might need me. I couldn’t just become a wimp simply because Rainbow Dash was here. She expected me to have her back so I couldn’t quit now. I had to focus through the pain, no matter how much it ached.

Now that it had been shown to be effective the dragon started picking up things and hurling them at us. Rainbow Dash said that speed equals power, and the reverse was also true. It had a lot of strength, so it could throw things hard enough to go faster than it could go itself.

I flew up higher to give myself more time to react.

Throwing things, breathing flames, chasing us, swiping, swinging. The dragon tried all the methods it could to injure or kill the two of us but we continually survived its every attempt. Back and forth we went in our stalemate, none of us able to beat the other. How long did it go on for? Thirty minutes? An hour? I lost track of the time. All I knew was action and reaction, constantly keeping my attention on its every move so I could evade its attacks.

After what felt an eternity I heard a happy gasp come from Rainbow Dash. Though I knew it was a bad idea to take my eyes off of the dragon I still turned my head to her, wondering what had caused it. I saw her watching somewhere behind me, and as I turned to look I saw Twilight and the rest of the gang running toward us. I saw her horn glowing, and a small round object floating in front of her. It was the egg! They had got it back! A victory for us. If we gave it its child back, it would probably leave us in peace.

Maybe… hopefully...

I heard a throaty laugh, and as I turned back I saw the dragon was heading right for Rainbow Dash, who was distracted.

With the others coming I wasn’t going to listen to her orders anymore. I flew to my utmost, holding nothing back. And, somehow, I found myself going faster than it. I guess before I had been holding back without even realizing it. My desire to protect her was strong.

I saw Rainbow Dash turn towards the dragon, too late now to get out of the way. I crashed into her, pushing her out of the way just as the dragon spun its body and slammed its tail down.

It felt like a train hitting me in the back. I knew something had to have broken. My vision went black for a few seconds, and I barely had time to get my bearings before I saw the ground quickly coming up to meet me, unable to do anything about it.

With a crunch I felt my body slam into the ground about as hard as I had been knocked down, bouncing off the earth and landing on my back. The pain quickly ratcheted up to an almost unbearable level that seemed to change to nothingness. I could no longer feel anything at all. My vision was blurry, and I could see the dragon racing down toward me to finish me off. There wasn’t a thing I could do to stop it. My body was thrashed and I couldn’t move.

My eyes were closing. I was unable to keep them open, and I knew that this was the end. It’s a shame that I never did have that race with Rainbow Dash. Although I hadn’t accomplished my grandmare’s final wish… I didn’t have any regrets. I knew my grandmare, and so I knew that she would be much happier and prouder knowing I had risked my life for the entire town than to simply win a race.

I had protected Rainbow Dash, and Rose Blossom, and Star Gazer, and Cloud Hunter, and Apple Bloom, and Sweetie Belle; Pinkie Pie… Rarity… Applejack… Fluttershy… even Twilight. It was all thanks to me that nothing bad happened.

The blackness called out to me, and I couldn’t resist its invitation. Whether it was going to be unconsciousness or death I didn’t know, but either one was okay with me. I’m a hero!

***

Events changed continuously. I was flying at night in a forest. I was scootering in the middle of a summer day. I was running and playing with my friends in the snow, making snowponies. But no matter what I did I kept getting distracted. There was something wrong. Something really wrong. I could hear crying somewhere nearby. No matter where I went and how hard I tried to look still the crying didn’t get any louder or softer. It always sounded the same. Someone needed help. I could just feel it. Someone needed me. But where were they? Who was it?

The town suddenly went completely dark. There wasn’t even a star or moon in the sky. It was so dark I couldn’t see a thing. I ran around, trying to find a house and get a lantern to see. The crying was getting louder. I was getting closer.

Closer and closer. Louder and louder. So close! Where? Where I was wasn’t important now. The black began to change; first to gray, then getting whiter. Finally it felt so bright I couldn’t see.

***

When I was able to open my eyes again I felt heavy. I looked down at the edge of my bed, seeing the rainbow colored mane of Rainbow Dash, the source of the crying that had been in my dreams. She was crying so hard I thought for sure that someone was dead. Was it me? Had I died? No. I was awake, so that couldn’t be it. Was I a ghost? No. Ghosts don’t really exist.

It took three tries to get my voice to work, and even when it did it came out really raspy. “Ra… Rain… Rainbow… Dash.”

At the sound of my voice her head raised up, and I could see her eyes were red from crying. “S-S-Scootaloo… Scootaloo! You idiot!” she said, slamming her hoof on the bed. “Why? Why did you do this? You shouldn’t have done it! I’m the older one! I’M the one that’s supposed to protect YOU! It’s… it’s all my fault. It’s all my fault!” She began shaking, a new film of tears forming on her eyes before she began sobbing again.

“What’s all your fault?” I asked. As I went to move my hoof to pat her head I found that I couldn’t. It hurt too much to move it.

Twilight came up to me, and I could see the whole gang was there. All my friends and family except for Rose Blossom were sitting around the room. Every one of them was crying, but Star Gazer looked like she was the only one crying as much as Rainbow Dash. “Scootaloo. I…” She stopped. “Maybe it would be better for the doctor to explain it to you. He knows more than I do about it.”

They summoned the doctor, who came in a minute later. “Hello, Scootaloo,” he said. “First off, on behalf of Ponyville Hospital and all the patients you helped, I want to thank you for your heroic actions.

“On to business now.” I saw him take out a series of charts, placing them on the board. “These are all the x-rays we took of you following the incident. Your… your body is a wreck. Your wings, four ribs, and all four of your legs are broken. Right now we have you on an IV drip to put some painkillers in your body, to help you over the initial hurdle of recovery. It’s still too early to know for sure, but chances are, while your life is not in danger, you’re probably not going to walk or fly ever again. I’m sorry.”

“I see…” I could feel all of them staring at me, waiting for my reaction. I lifted my head up and smiled. “So then, is that all? I thought it was something serious.”

I could see the doctor looking at me strangely. As I glanced around the room all of them had that some dumbfounded expression on their faces, and it made me laugh.

“S-Scootaloo… what in Equestria are you laughing about?” Rainbow Dash asked, sounding a little angry. “Aren’t you listening? Didn’t you hear what he said?”

“Yeah. What of it? I’m laughing because it’s not a big deal.”

“N-not a big deal?” the doctor asked.

I could see that none of them understood what was going through my mind, so I decided I’d better tell them before they think the crash made me loopy. “A long time ago, back when I first saved Rose Blossom, I had to launch my scooter away to save her. I thought it had been destroyed. Later on, Rainbow Dash asked me if I would still have done the same thing if I had known it would cost me my scooter. My answer now is the same as it was then: Of course! I would always do it!

"And it’s the same for the situation here. Even knowing that I would be seriously hurt I still would have pushed Rainbow Dash out of the way of the attack every time. The whole reason I stalled the dragon in the first place was for all of you, and the whole town. I wanted to protect everyone, and not let anyone else get hurt. I wanted to protect my little sister, my family, my friends… everyone. It’s what I knew my idol would do, and so I knew I had to do it too.

“When you showed up I got to work with you side-by-side just like you always wished for me.” Happy tears came down my eyes. “And… I even got to protect my big sister as well. I protected your dream of being a Wonderbolt. Your birthday is coming up and you need all the practice you can get. You can’t afford to spend months in the hospital if you want to get into that academy.”

“Scootaloo…” Rainbow Dash responded quietly, clearly touched.

“I have absolutely no regrets about any of it. I got to use my training to accomplish something so great I never would have even imagined I’d be able to do. I’m so proud of myself I can’t even find the words for it. I got to accomplish something much bigger than a simple race with you, and I know my grandmare would be much prouder of me for that.

“What else should I do? Cry? Whine? Complain? I did enough of that when I was a brat. It might be a different story if I was dying, but I’m not. I fully believe I’m going to get out of this bed and continue on my path. Right now I’m only resting.

"Just like my grandmare said to me in her final words I don’t want to EVER give up. Giving up is the same as quitting. And like you told me before, Rainbow Dash, the mind and your attitude can be even more important than your body. I believe I’m going to get stronger and recover, and so I will. And even if I never walk again… that’s okay too because I’ll still be alive. As long as I have all of you standing by my side I know I have absolutely nothing to be afraid of. With our friendship we’ll always find a way to pull through, no matter how hard things get.”

It got really quiet in the room for a time. I think I had shocked everyone into silence. Rainbow Dash was the first one to speak up. “You… Scootaloo… you…” Then she let out a weird sounding laugh. “Oh come on! How am I supposed to feel guilty now after a speech like that, you idiot?”

“You shouldn’t. I knew what the risks were.”

“I could never think like that. My wings and flying are my life.”

“Then it only makes me even happier to have done it.” I suddenly remembered. “So what happened with the dragon and the egg?”

Twilight spoke up. “Me and Pinkie Pie managed to find the pony that had it. After we explained the situation he quickly handed it over to us, fearing it might come to his town next if he didn’t. When we managed to get back the dragon slammed you with its tail into the ground, although it had been aiming for Rainbow Dash.”

“The thought of success made me careless. I dropped my guard,” Rainbow Dash said right after.

“The dragon went after you to finish you off, but I used my magic to get you to safety. After mocking and attacking it the dragon was pretty angry at the two of you. Though it’s a method I would not have liked to use I had to wind up making a threat against the egg to get it to listen to me.

"I explained the entire situation, and in exchange for leaving the town and you two alone I offered it a special force field spell for its cave that would prevent anything non-dragon from coming through, so it would never have to worry about other creatures invading its home anymore. It took some time to decide, clearly wanting to finish up its revenge, but in the end it finally decided to take its egg back and accept my offer.

“After making sure that I kept up my end of the bargain, and after I waited for a short time to be sure it wasn’t going to back out of our deal, I brought the ponies back from their evacuation spot.

“You did a great thing, Scootaloo. Thank you! I wish I could do more for you, but I… I can’t.” She looked at the ground, wiping a tear off her face.

“Your thanks is good enough for me!” I said with a big grin.

I saw Rainbow Dash shaking. “Crying again?” I asked with a laugh.

“No.” When our eyes met I saw that twinkle in her eyes. “I’ve heard enough. I’ve watched enough. I haven’t felt this excited in a long time.” Putting her face right next to mine she stared me down, saying, “When you heal up, and you will, I’m challenging you to a race, Scootaloo! It’s time!”

My breathing stopped for a few seconds, my eyes widening. Rainbow Dash was finally acknowledging me. She thought I had grown enough to be a worthy challenge. Happy tears came down my face. That was the biggest compliment she could have paid me.

With a condescending laugh she said, “I thought you said you were done crying, crybaby.”

“These are tears of victory!” I said back.

“More like tears of defeat!”

“Oh please! You should just challenge me now. It’s the only way you’ll have a chance.”

“Yeah, right! I flew better than you when I was in diapers.”

We got in each other’s faces, staring each other down, each daring the other to blink.

“Oh, for pony’s sake! Here!” said Rarity in an exaggerated voice, and before I knew it there was a garbage can between us. “If you’re going to talk so much trash you’ll need this.”

The whole room began to crack up. Even though it hurt to laugh I couldn’t stop.

The doctor pushed us away from each other. “Okay, okay. Break it up, ladies. Don’t go getting her all excited.”

It was far too late for that. I was excited, just as much as her. I had my recovery ahead of me, but after that was everything that the last few years had led up to: my fateful showdown with Rainbow Dash.

It was a little boring being unable to move, but for the next month I had a ton of visitors. Not just my friends and family, but random ponies from around town who wanted to thank me for what I did. The second day I was in the hospital I even got a visit from Princess Celestia of all ponies, who thanked me for what I did and offered condolences for my injuries.

It took another month before I had healed up enough to go home in a wheelchair. Star Gazer and Cloud Hunter pushed me around, and they had the chore of explaining to Rose Blossom why I couldn’t run around and play with her and read her stories like usual.

I did my best to stay as still as I could, no matter how boring it seemed, wanting my bones to heal up as soon as possible. Since I had a lot of free time I tended to just think about things. Most of the time I thought about the race, but I also thought about how lucky I was, both to be alive and to have such great ponies in my life. What I was going through now was almost a repeat of what had happened to me as a baby. I had survived back then, and I was going to survive this too.

The days seemed to stretch endlessly before me. I never gave up my spirit, but I was getting more impatient by the day. I wanted to move, to get out there and run, to fly.

The day finally came when I got the casts off. It felt so strange to be free of them after so long. By believing in myself I think that I had managed to make them heal faster.

The first thing I did when I left the hospital was to go for a fly. I only went a few feet off the ground before I landed and began running. Something felt wrong. It was really awkward, like I had four left hooves. Rainbow Dash told me that it was because I had been in casts for so long my muscles had weakened from lack of use. She pledged to help me get my edge back.

Gosh! It felt so embarrassing as I tried to go through my usual routine. I couldn’t seem to do anything right and it felt like I was starting my training over from the beginning. It was like spending hours studying for a test at school, and then failing it because I had forgotten my pencil at home. Even though in my mind I knew everything I was supposed to do my body just wouldn’t cooperate.

Every day after school Rainbow Dash came to collect me, pushing me to remaster my flight moves. I didn’t mind it much. She hadn’t come to visit me much in the hospital, so I guess she had been really busy with practicing for the academy.

It had been over two months since Rainbow Dash’s birthday, and since she hadn’t said a word I finally asked her, “So when are you going to stop holding out on me? How did the Wonderbolts Academy go?”

“I got my acceptance letter over a month ago,” she said quietly, “and I turned it down.”

“WHAT!” I said. “Why would you do that?”

“Scootaloo, I’m your older sister. It’s my job to protect you. You went against that to protect me, and I can’t ever forget that. Even if I wasn’t the element of loyalty I still wouldn’t have gone. That would be the most ungrateful and revolting thing I would have ever done.”

She looked up into the sky, a thoughtful, faraway look on her face. “A Wonderbolt is an elite. Many apply, but few are considered, and even fewer ever make it. It has always been my dream to get in and become a show-pony like them, but if I turn my back on you now I wouldn’t be worthy to be a Wonderbolt. I would be a disgrace to the title. I wouldn’t be worthy to be looked up to. Every time I looked out upon the audience and saw a filly I would only be able to think of you, lost and alone in the woods of the path that is your life.”

“What do you mean, 'alone?'”

“Don’t get me wrong, kid. I know what the toddler and her parents mean to you, but they’re useless here. They’re content with just being a family and going on about their lives, only flying when they need to, and there’s nothing wrong with that. However, I’m a practically world renowned pony with tons of experience in competing.” She said it with a neutral voice, with none of her usual confidence.

“You need me now more than ever. Even if it means starting over and spending every single day together I’m going to stay with you and help you get your skill back. If it hadn’t been for you pushing me out of the way then it would be me in your spot. I couldn’t even stand an hour in the hospital, almost going out of my mind with boredom until Twilight first introduced me to the Daring Do series.

“Watching you after the accident, with that speech you gave, it made me… jealous. I’m always pumping myself up so I’ll feel confident, but you genuinely felt that way. It wasn’t fake confidence like I sometimes have. You showed me that you’ve become amazingly strong mentally and emotionally, and I kinda feel like I’m on the verge of being left in the dust by you in that regard. That was my initial reason for challenging you to a race, so I could get that feeling of superiority back over you. When I realized that I was disgusted with myself. Now my thoughts have changed. Since you were willing to sacrifice your limbs for me, I’m willing to sacrifice all my free time for you.”

She finally looked back down at me, that same deep look on her face. “I want to race you for real… as an equal.” She pulled me to her, hugging me.

I could see that she still felt guilty over what happened, and I also knew that nothing I said was going to change her mind. She was going to help me relearn to fly no matter how long it took, putting her own dream on hold for me, and I appreciated all the efforts she was taking for me.

For the next six months we had daily training. It was for much shorter periods than our usual training time, but Rainbow Dash said that she didn’t want to push me too hard having just gotten out of my casts and resuming a normal life.

Day by day I worked as hard as I could. I felt myself becoming stronger again. I started to get my timing and reflexes back through endless practice. Just like when I was training before when I was done I went home to my family to relax. Rose Blossom was happier now that she had her sister back to play with.

The day came when I felt I was around the level I was at before the dragon attack. I spent the next three months training by myself, trying to come up with tricks and techniques for our big race.

The day both of us had been working towards had come. And that realization brought about such a degree of excitement and anticipation I didn’t have words for it.