Flight for a Friend

by DarkBlueDreamer

Chapter 1

Morning dawned on a clear day in late Spring, warm in the way that promises Summer will be arriving soon. The light from the rising sun crept through the cracks in the window shutters of the base of operations for Ponyville's premier disaster squad, the Cutie Mark Crusaders. The inside of the clubhouse slowly filled with the warm light, spilling first over a small fortune in discarded sheets of writing paper filled with crude scribblings of elaborate plans, decipherable only by the three fillies that made up the Ponyville branch of the Crusaders. Continuing its slow crawl across the floor, the light brushed over plates covered with muffin crumbs, a pie tin with bits of apple filling clinging to the edge and a half-eaten bowl of chips shoved roughly beneath a low table. Another pie tin, licked clean to an almost mirror polish, bounced the light upwards across the room onto a calendar on the wall showing the current month. Several days had big red "X" marks while others sported obscure pictorial notations, but one in particular was circled in red and bore the words "Scoot's Bday" in bold strokes. Satisfied with its exploration of the clubhouse, the sunlight peeking in from the window finally made its way over to one of the occupants, landing as all morning sunbeams do right on the eyes of one of the sleeping fillies.

"Ugh, why's the sun gotta be so bright?" Scootaloo complained as the invasive light roused her from her dreams. She rolled over and pulled a pillow over her purple-maned head to block out the offending beams. As luck would have it, she managed to grab the pillow currently in use by Sweetie Belle. The white unicorn soon cracked her eyes open as well, finding her horn unexpectedly digging into the floorboards of the clubhouse instead of being gently cushioned by the feather pillow she had been given to use.

"Apple Bloom, think we can board up the windows for a while?" Sweetie whined as she sat up, rubbing her eyes before pushing her sleep-frazzled purple-and-blonde mane out of her eyes. She directed a disgruntled glare at Scootaloo and the stolen pillow. The yellow-coated earth pony she addressed was lying flat on her back with her red mane pooled around her head on the floor, mouth open and drooling obliviously. Sweetie gave the still-unconscious Apple Bloom a couple pokes, then sighed and pulled her blanket over her head to try to hide from the sun. Much to her delight, it was just enough to let her begin to drift back to sleep.

"We definitely need better shutters," Scootaloo's muffled voice agreed from beneath Sweetie's former pillow. Apple Bloom merely snored briefly and smacked her lips a few times in her sleep.

Now protected from the efforts of the sun to wake them up, the three fillies did their best to catch up on the sleep they had denied themselves the previous night. The plan was as flawless as any filly could hope for, and would have worked, too, if not for the pounding on the clubhouse door that rattled the walls and bounce the forgotten bowl of chips across the floor.

"Apple Bloom! Sweetie Belle! Scootaloo!" the voice of Apple Bloom's big sister Applejack rang through the clubhouse door. Scootaloo groaned, Sweetie Belle gave an exasperated huff and Apple Bloom woke quickly, blinking the sleep out of her eyes and smoothly rolling over to stand up while absently rubbing her mouth with a fore-leg.

"We're here, Applejack! What's goin' on?" Apple Bloom called back just as loudly, blithely ignoring the groans of complaint from her friends.

"Twilight's supposed to be here fer lunch today, so we're bustin' out all the 'welcome home' recipes!" Applejack shouted back, paused, then said, "Ah'm comin' in!"

True to her word, Applejack waited only a couple seconds before swinging the door open, letting even more sunlight stream into the clubhouse. There wasn't room for the three fillies plus a full-grown mare in the clubhouse, but Applejack still poked her blond-maned head in, taking in the grumpy glare Scootaloo was giving her and the lumpy blanket that was Sweetie Belle's attempt at hiding. Apple Bloom, used to waking up quickly, was already putting a few things away and gathering up a bag of trash to bring back to the farm house.

"Everypony's gonna be there, so y'all are welcome to show up too, Sweetie an' Scootaloo," Applejack said with a tip of the light brown Stetson atop her orange-coated head, "Rainbow Dash'll be there."

That was all she needed to say, as Scootaloo popped up from her grumpy glower and rushed over to grab the bag from Apple Bloom, hurriedly stuffing anything within reach into it. The yellow filly found herself scrambling to keep Scootaloo from throwing away the entire clubhouse. Sweetie Belle popped her head out from under the blanket, blinking a few times to focus on Applejack.

"Really? That's today?" she asked, rubbing her eyes, "I'd better get cleaned up before Rarity gets here or she'll freak."

"That's why I'm here ta get y'all up. Bath’s open and breakfast is waitin', then y'all can do yer crusadin' until lunch time," Applejack finished up, the promise of more time to look for their cutie marks cheering the three fillies significantly. Certain that they were up and active, Applejack left them to their antics and pulled her head out from the doorway, turning to trot back to the main house and prep for the day's impromptu reunion of the extended, honorary, Apple family.

---

Sweet Apple Acres -- home cooking and cider. Two ingredients for a perfect weekend of relaxation for any number of ponies, but one in particular. The cause of the gathering, the purple princess pony Twilight Sparkle, lay on her side on a plush yet simple cushion sized just right for her that was set in the main room of the Apple family farm house. Her violet eyes were unfocused beneath her dark blue mane, and a blissful expression rested on her muzzle where her pink and purple highlights fluttered over her nose with her breathing. Rainbow Dash was snoring quietly beside her, her cyan form sprawled out in a rare moment of stillness, her mane and tail sporting every color of the rainbow and fanned wildly across the floor. Pinkie Pie, predictably bright pink with a poofy darker pink mane, was outside running around with the younger ponies and generally being twitchier and more energetic than any full-grown earth pony had a right to be. Fluttershy and Rarity were watching Pinkie and the fillies from beneath a tree, the former being a bright (often described as 'buttery') yellow pegasus with a light pink mane and the latter a graceful white unicorn with a violet mane of elegant curls and immaculate styling. Granny Smith was asleep in her rocking chair in the other corner, and Applejack was in the kitchen helping Big Macintosh clean up after lunch. Twilight’s happy sighs floated in through the kitchen door and Applejack smiled.

“We done good, Macintosh,” Applejack drawled, her stetson on a hook by the door and her mane pulled back even more than usual by an apple-patterned bandana, scrubbing a plate until it gleamed bright white in the sunlight before handing it over to her brother to dry. The big, red draft stallion nodded his blond-maned head as he took the plate and wiped it dry, stacking it off to the side with several others.

“Eeyup,” he replied. Big Macintosh was as frugal with words as a merchant with money, preferring to make every word count. Applejack, on the other hoof, was far less shy about chatting, and Macintosh was content to let her talk enough for the both of them.

“This was a great idea, an’ I think we’ll be doin’ it more often, having the girls over for honorary family stuff,” Applejack continued, mostly to herself while Big Macintosh nodded along silently, drying dishes as they were handed over. “Twi was so bent outta shape about bein’ a good princess lately that she really needed some time NOT bein’ a princess. Yer a real genius sometimes, Mac.”

Big Macintosh arched an eyebrow at his sister for a moment, taking a large pot from her to wipe down, and gave a short chuckle.

“Whaddya mean ‘sometimes?’” he asked teasingly. Applejack laughed lightly as her verbal jab got the response she was looking for.

“Humble too, Ah can see,” Applejack drawled sarcastically, then handed Big Macintosh the last plate and started to dry her hooves. The big red draft stallion gave his sister a big cheesy grin and finished up his half of the cleanup, then turned around to head back into the living room. He drew up short when the front door banged open with a sharp clatter. Granny Smith snorted awake briefly and spent a moment grumbling incoherently, while the source of the commotion charged through the door shouting. The commotion drew a deep scowl from Applejack who turned to follow after her brother.

“Princess Twilight! Princess Twilight!” the voices of Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo chorused just right to somehow rival the traditional Royal Canterlot Voice. Applejack rolled her eyes and opened her mouth to scold them, but she was too late to stop the girls from startling Twilight out of her post-lunch doze.

“I’m awake! What’s going on? Timberwolves? Dragons?” Twilight called out in return, head lifted and forelegs straight. Propping herself up to a half-sitting position, she looked around wildly before settling her eyes on the three fillies that woke her up.

“Girls! Y’all ain’t supposed ta go banging and shoutin’ around the house like that!” Applejack growled, stomping a fore-hoof and drawing the sheepishly apologetic gazes of all three. Keeping her face stern, Applejack walked fully into the living room.

“Oh, it’s just you three,” Twilight spoke up afterwards, frustratingly pulling their attention away from Applejack’s scolding. “I told you girls already, the tiara isn’t on, I’m not a Princess right now. Especially not here.”

“Oh, that’s right. Cuz when you’re here, yer an Apple,” Apple Bloom replied, nodding once as if she hadn’t forgotten. Scootaloo gave her a curious look, and Sweetie Belle seemed to be trying to make sense of the statement.

“What?” Apple Bloom asked them defensively, then trotted up and hugged Twilight around the neck, and Twilight curled her neck over Apple Bloom in return while the youngest Apple added, “See? Just another pony without the Princess getup. It’s like havin’ another big sister!”

“Still,” Scootaloo chimed in after a moment, losing interest in the revelation, “now that you ARE a princess, y’know, normally... Can you help us get our cutie marks? You gotta know some kinda really powerful magic by now!”

Twilight looked up and gave Applejack a warm smile and shook her head, which Applejack took to mean that Twilight was willing to field the question. Rolling her eyes, Applejack nodded and took a seat near Granny Smith to listen to Twilight and be ready to step in, just in case.

“I hate to disappoint you yet again, girls,” Twilight began, and immediately the Crusader’s ears started to droop, “but being a princess doesn’t make any difference. I’m not suddenly any better in magic than I was just because of the wings.” Twilight rustled her wings for emphasis.

“Additionally,” she continued, “not even Princess Celestia knows any magic that would make a cutie mark appear. It’s not a question of magical strength or talent at all. The spell itself, if you want to call it that, is realizing and embracing your special talent and your destiny.”

“But don’t you have magic that can change destinies? Isn’t that what happened to our sisters?” Sweetie Belle asked, peering up at her, oblivious to the sliver of pain that stabbed Twilight in the heart at the memory of that event. Mixing up her friends’ destinies, and the heartache it caused them and all of Ponyville, was one of the worst mistakes of Twilight’s life. Apple Bloom, the only one of the three to have been directly affected by Pinkie Pie’s inability to manage the apple farm, scowled at Sweetie. Apple Bloom was hurt just as badly by that mistake, even though she’d forgiven Twilight.

“Yeah, you could give us all really cool destinies with really cool cutie marks!” Scootaloo added, looking back at her own flank, imagining what she’d want. “Mine could have something to do with lightning! Or flying!”

“Girls, stop right there,” Twilight said quickly, lifting a fore hoof for silence. To their credit, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle clammed up, and Apple Bloom turned her attention from glaring at the backs of her friends’ heads to looking up at Twilight again.

“I know what you’re thinking, but it’s not that simple,” Twilight began, head and neck subconsciously mimicking a posture notable in its resemblance to Princess Celestia's own lecture pose. “First-up, ‘destiny’ is an oversimplification, but we’ll just call it that for now. Your ‘destiny’ and your special talent need to match, or at least complement each other, or you’ll only end up miserable. Case in point: When I mixed up your sisters’ cutie marks, I changed ONLY their motivation for their lives while their special talents remained the same. You ALL know how badly that turned out.”

Twilight paused for a moment and made sure that each filly nodded in understanding before continuing.

“Well, that's part of the lesson of that experience. I suppose, if I were to ignore the ethical implications, I could craft some sort of spell to assign you a so-called ‘destiny’, but if it doesn't properly match up with your special talents then you'd be miserable because you wouldn't be able to fulfil your purpose in life. Even worse, your cutie mark might NEVER appear," Twilight added, letting her voice lift with just a touch of drama. She was rewarded with suitably horrified expressions on each of the three fillies' faces.

"Besides," Twilight lowered her head to be level with her audience, "you're really after your special talents, not your destinies, so you need to work on discovering what you are good at and enjoy before you even get started on what you're going to do with your life. You're better off just having fun and enjoying your time as fillies and friends. Talents and destinies will come around eventually. Now, I certainly wouldn’t mind helping you girls learn new things. We could even set up a time once a week for me to help you! But aside from that, there’s nothing else I can do."

Twilight finished her miniature lecture with a wan smile in the face of the disappointment radiating from the three little ponies arranged in front of her. Apple Bloom was chewing her lower lip, Sweetie Belle was tracing small circles on the floor in front of herself with a fore-hoof and Scootaloo just looked despondent. Fortunately, a rainbow mane attached to the cyan head of an unmistakable pegasus chose that moment to poke her head in through the door that had been left open.

“Hey! What’s with the long faces? No, doesn’t matter. You girls wanna see my new trick?” Rainbow Dash asked roguishly, grinning like a fool and looking rather specifically at Scootaloo. The change in mood was instantaneous as the little orange filly perked up and bounced to her hooves.

“A new trick! You bet! C’mon girls!” she said, dashing out the door past Rainbow without a second’s hesitation. Apple Bloom smirked at Sweetie Belle, who shrugged a bit and then stood up. Rainbow Dash pumped her hoof victoriously once and then darted off after Scootaloo. To their surprize, Twilight also rolled to her hooves and stood up, stretching her wings.

“I suppose I should watch this as well. Knowing Dash, she’s going to want me to try it at some point,” Twilight explained with a good-natured roll of her eyes. Sweetie giggled and trotted out the door with Apple Bloom, while Applejack shook her head and stood up again as well.

“Ya be careful tryin’ to do those crazy Rainbow Dash tricks, Twi. Don’t want ya gettin’ hurt,” Applejack warned as Twilight made her way to the front door. Twilight paused and looked back over her shoulder, then laughed lightly.

“Oh, don't worry about me, Applejack. I’ve gotten used to bumps and bruises from learning to fly. Besides, it makes Dash happy, and that’s worth it to me,” Twilight replied. She tilted her head curiously and asked, “You coming?”

“Not this one. I think I’m gonna take some quiet time while th’ girls are distracted. You go on ahead, Ah’ll see ya later!”

---

How she ended up actually watching over the three fillies while Rainbow Dash did her best to kill herself with wild aerobatics, Twilight was certain she’d never figure out. As soon as Twilight had shown up with the trio in tow, Rarity grabbed Fluttershy and made noise about a missed spa date, practically begging Twilight with her eyes to play along. A little generosity being one of the pillars of true friendship, Twilight sent them off with a smile and a wave of her hoof. Now, she had her neck craned back a bit, looking up as Rainbow Dash flew loops around in the sky, carrying Scootaloo with and occasionally holding her up with a hoof or just plain tossing her upwards to give the orange filly some air time. Apple Bloom was laying on her back to one side, lazily watching the pair in the air. Sweetie Belle was trying, unsuccessfully, to do some sort of magic to a fallen leaf that had blown over from one of the nearby apple trees. Twilight was sorely tempted to help, but had been told time and again that Sweetie would ask when she wanted help.

“Say, Twilight,” Apple Bloom spoke up suddenly, pulling Twilight’s attention down from the sky to the ground again, “Ah been thinkin’. Ah know you said you can’t do anythin’ for our cutie marks, but maybe you can do somethin’ for Scootaloo’s flying?”

“Oh, yeah!” Sweetie Belle piped up, the faint emerald glow around her horn fizzling out as her fragile attention span shattered, “We’ve been trying to think up things to get Scootaloo for her birthday in a few days, and we have lots of ideas but what we’d REALLY like is to help her fly!”

“Y’see, Scootaloo just can’t fly well at all,” Apple Bloom continued, quietly even though the subject at hoof was far too high in the sky to hear them, “and me and Sweetie were thinkin’-”

“Sweetie and I,” Twilight corrected reflexively, already combing her memory for anything that might help, or books that might lend insight.

“That’s what Ah said, me and Sweetie,” Apple Bloom quipped back impatiently, then forged on to avoid further interruption, “We were thinkin’ maybe you’d know some magic to help her fly. We ain’t supposed to talk about it on account of how sensitive Scoots can be, but yer part of the family and Applejack always says never be shy about asking family for advice.”

Twilight ran her gaze back and forth from Apple Bloom to Sweetie Belle thoughtfully, meeting the unusually intense eyes of the two fillies. Sweetie was leaning attentively towards her, and Apple Bloom had managed to furrow her brow in a mix of concern and hope. After a moment, Twilight nodded slowly to them.

“I see,” the purple pony began slowly, rustling her wings briefly. “Well, I know of several spells that might help, but none of them are permanent and all of them are rather advanced. I could perhaps give one of the easier ones enough strength to last a day or two, but I’m guessing that’s not what you’re after.”

Sweetie Belle already began to look disappointed, but Apple Bloom wasn’t ready to give up yet and rolled over to sit up as she continued to press her case.

“Is there maybe somethin’ you haven’t read yet? Or maybe Zecora knows somethin’? Ah been meaning to ask her but Ah’ve been busy on the farm lately,” Apple Bloom pressed. Twilight began to tap a fore-hoof against her chin lightly, humming a little as she considered the options.

“You know, you could ask her about the Heart’s Desire potion. Though I don’t know how long it would last either,” Twilight thought aloud. Apple Bloom’s eyes widened a little as if the idea had completely slipped her mind, and perhaps it had, while Sweetie Belle gave a little groan.

“Apple Bloom got into all KINDS of trouble with that before, though,” the little white unicorn countered despondently. Twilight gave her an indulgent smile and lifted her head slightly into a lecturing posture.

“True, but she made a few mistakes. Notably, she didn’t follow the recipe and she made the potion for herself with selfish purpose behind it. Those two things combined almost always have disastrous results when it comes to magic,” Twilight stated firmly. A thought occurred to her then, and she added, “I think if you two made the potion, with Zecora advising you as to exactly how to make it, you might just get better results. Then it would be a meaningful gift you made with your own hooves. It’s probably not a permanent solution, but it would be better than nothing and it wouldn’t be me doing all the work.”

“Hey, yeah! And if we learned how to make it right, we could make it again if it don’t stick. Zecora says we gotta be careful with potions, so maybe not all the time but we could at least let Scootaloo fly now and again!” Apple Bloom hopped up to her hooves and grinned at Sweetie Belle, who began to smile back as she warmed up to the idea.

“That… might just work! Wow, thanks, Twilight!” Sweetie chirped happily. Twilight gave the two a proud smile that, once again, would have resembled Princess Celestia if another pony were around to see it.

“Why don’t you talk with Zecora then, girls,” Twilight said quickly, motioning to the sky as Rainbow Dash began to circle broadly towards them with Scootaloo on her back, “and we’ll keep it a secret until you can give Scootaloo the potion. Tell Zecora I think you can do it if she seems reluctant.”

“Thanks a lot, Twi!” Apple Bloom hopped forward and hugged Twilight around the neck, with Sweetie Belle echoing the sentiment and mirroring the hug.

“Not a problem girls. Here they come,” Twilight replied happily, and when the girls released her she stood up to trot towards Rainbow Dash. Now it would be Twilight’s turn to do some flying with the cyan speedster and a wise pony would limber up her wings before trying to keep up with the Rainbow.

---

“Ugh, pine needles and tree sap? How did this even happen on an apple farm?” Twilight groaned as she trudged across the field towards the Sweet Apple Acres’ farmhouse and a hot bath, her wings twitching and flicking in irritation, trying to dislodge the sticky substance coating her feathers.

“See? It’s not just us!” she heard Scootaloo insist from behind her, causing her to shake her head and then laugh quietly at herself. Not even half a year with her wings and she was trying to do stunts that only a pony who’d spent her entire life in the air, like Rainbow Dash, had any hope of pulling off. It was no wonder she had ended up like a Cutie Mark Crusader at the end of another crazy scheme.

“You sure you’re okay, Twilight? That was a monster of a crash landing there,” Rainbow Dash asked again, floating just above her and slightly in front of her, flying backwards. Twilight briefly admired the control and dexterity required to pull that trick off, and was certain that it would be a long time before she herself could manage something like that.

“Yeah, I’m fine, Dash, I just need a bath and some preening. The gunk in my feathers is driving me crazy but it tastes so nasty I’m loathe to use my teeth,” Twilight replied with a wan smile before adding, “Ugh, I'm so sore, too. A hot bath will be wonderful. Clearly I need more practice, but I’ll get it right someday.”

“Hey, you’re doing great! Not everypony can be as awesome as me, but I’ll stick with you until you’re at least close!” Rainbow Dash boasted, cheered by Twilight’s attitude. While Twilight really did like her new wings and quite enjoyed being in the air when she was using them, she did occasionally want to just use her hooves instead. Spending time with her friends was important though, and Rainbow Dash was so happy to have a friend to fly with, that Twilight just couldn’t bring herself to say ‘no’ if she didn’t have a more pressing responsibility. Fluttershy was always willing to cheer Rainbow Dash on, but preferred to be supportive from the relative safety of the ground and so Twilight found herself more and more often in the air.

“Yeah, you’re way better already!” Scootaloo chimed in, running up alongside her with Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle following close behind. The orange filly's wings were buzzing in her excitement.

"Thanks, Scootaloo. Flying is a LOT harder than it looks. I'm really lucky Rainbow Dash is willing to put up with me," Twilight replied, stretching her wings out briefly, wincing as a new muscle in her back complained and almost every muscle across her chest ached dully.

"I wish I could join you," Scootaloo added a moment later, "instead of just watching."

Twilight immediately lowered her head to give Scootaloo a comforting nuzzle as they continued walking, causing the filly to shy away - but not before a barely noticeable lean into the comfort.

“Hey, not in front of Dash!” Scootaloo hissed, dancing sideways out of nuzzle distance, causing both Twilight and Rainbow Dash to break out in laughter. Already embarrassed, Scootaloo glanced back behind her but Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom seemed to be involved in some deep conversation and hadn’t noticed, which at least kept her from downgrading to "mortified." Rainbow Dash drifted over to the other side of her honorary sister and flipped over in mid-air, landing squarely on all four hooves and switching to a matching walk without missing a beat.

“Don’t sweat it, squirt, you’ll get there some day, and I’ll be there when you do,” Rainbow Dash chipped in, giving Scootaloo a much more acceptable mane-ruffling with a wingtip.

“That’s right. You’ve got some good friends on your side, Scootaloo,” Twilight added, “and if there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that with good friends standing beside you nothing is impossible.”

“You really think so?” Scootaloo asked, hope warring with skepticism in her voice.

“I know so!” Rainbow Dash confirmed before Twilight could even open her mouth, adding, “Trust me! I’ve been at Twilight’s side for a while now, and I’ve seen her do plenty of impossible things!”

Scootaloo nodded eagerly, clearly willing to take Rainbow Dash’s words at face value. After a moment Rainbow Dash seemed to think of something, her ear flicking and her gaze sharpening into something even Twilight would call ‘thoughful.’

“Hey, Scoots, I’m gonna help Twilight get her wings clean. Need to make sure she doesn’t muck it up, y’know,” she said suddenly, giving Twilight’s insulted scowl a playful wink, “so why don’t you go do s’more ‘crusading’ with the other girls and we’ll catch up later.”

“Oh, yeah,” Scootaloo chirped back, coming to a stop to wave at them and whirl around to run back to her friends, “That’s not gonna be fun. Good luck and be careful with your primaries! See ya!”

Twilight shook her head as the three fillies chatted briefly before taking off away from the farm house and into the orchard. It was not long after that Twilight and Rainbow Dash were inside the farmhouse and running a bath for the sapped (in both senses of the word) princess to wash up with. Once Twilight was soaking comfortably and scrubbing herself with a brush levitating in her magical grip, Rainbow Dash leaned back against the washroom door and heaved an uncharacteristically heavy sigh.

“Something on your mind, Dash? I kinda noticed you’re not helping me with my wings,” Twilight asked, already suspecting she knew what Dash wanted to talk about.

“Y-yeah… it’s about Scootaloo,” Rainbow Dash finally managed to say, confirming Twilight’s suspicions. Equestria’s fastest flier (and premiere up-and-coming Wonderbolt, if the royal sources were correct) seldom needed any sort of privacy to voice her opinions, and there weren’t many possible subjects that she’d want to bring up today.

“How she can’t seem to fly?” Twilight asked, lifting a wing up out of the hot water to gently run the brush along her feathers, easing out the softened tree sap. The Apple family didn’t have any proper wing-care tools, but once the majority of the gunk was out Twilight could do things the ‘proper pegasus way’ and finish with her lips and teeth.

“Yeah, that’s it exactly,” Dash closed her eyes and hung her head helplessly, “I’ve tried, I really have, but I don’t know what’s wrong. She’s doing everything I’ve taught her, she’s really trying her best, but her best doesn’t even come up to my withers. I’m not gonna give up on her, never. But… I think maybe I need some help with this.”

Twilight paused in her grooming and frowned thoughtfully at this information, though it wasn't as surprising as she felt it should be. Scootaloo's flightlessness was quite well known around Ponyville, but most chalked it up to improper upbringing. There were a lot of pegasus foals in Ponyville though, and a lack of formal pegasus training didn't hold any of them back. At least, not in the same way that a lack of proper unicorn training could slow unicorn development. Twilight had made many mental notes about trying to solve the latter problem before, but she was in a rare position now: She had both resources and social status to champion a cause, and education was foremost in her mind, but that was a concern for another day.

"I'm not entirely sure it's as simple as training, Rainbow Dash," Twilight spoke again after a prolonged moment of pensive silence. "She knows more about flying terms and techniques than I do and I've been studying since I first sprouted wings. There has to be more to it."

"So, is there anything that you can do? You've gotta have something in one of your books that can help!" Rainbow Dash all but demanded, grabbing Twilight with her hooves and shaking her, sloshing the water around in the tub. Twilight's head wobbled back and forth until she stopped Dash by pressing a wet hoof to the pegasus' chest.

"Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom have already come to me with the exact same issue, actually," Twilight said, causing Rainbow Dash to sit back again and stare hard at her, chewing her lower lip.

"Well?" Rainbow demanded while Twilight was collecting her thoughts, making her roll her eyes and then switch wings to gently brush the other out, ignoring her friend's impatience.

"I'm getting to that," Twilight grumped in return, taking a deep breath before continuing.

"I suggested the girls try brewing up a Heart's Desire potion for Scootaloo, and then give it to her for her birthday. I told them to talk with Zecora and have her supervise, but that it was important for them to do the whole thing themselves. I figure a little bit of the magic of friendship could be just the thing to help get Scootaloo into the air, and once they know the proper way to do things, Sweetie and Apple Bloom can mix up another potion every now and then on their own," Twilight explained, finishing up brushing out her other wing as she finished her explanation, then ducked her head under the water to scrub vigorously through her mane.

Rainbow Dash fidgeted with her hooves until Twilight came back up and began brushing her mane out. After a moment waiting to see if Twilight would say more, she spoke up again, plaintively.

"But, what can I do?" she asked, emphasizing the personal pronoun, begging for an answer with her eyes.

"There's... not really anything more that you'd need to do. I imagine Scootaloo's friends will have it covered," Twilight replied, though she did pause in her brushing to look curiously back at Rainbow Dash.

"I'm Scoot's big sister, Twi. I gotta do something for her. I can't just... sit around and let others do all the work, not when it comes to this," Rainbow Dash pleaded, looking down at her hooves and stomping one gently against the floorboards. After another moment, she looked back up, meeting Twilight's gaze. Twilight gazed back, wishing she had some idea to suggest to the most loyal friend she had ever known.

"I'm not going to let this go, Dash, but in the interim I think it might be good for you to just help Apple Bloom and Sweetie. They're going to need to go into the Everfree for ingredients, I imagine, and you can escort them. Might not be a bad idea to be there in case a quick hoof is needed to prevent disaster," Twilight suggested, giving her friend a wry smile at the last word.

“Disaster? Heh, yeah. I mean, Apple Bloom does seem to be less disaster-prone than the others, but she still manages some whoppers. And Sweetie Belle… She’s a great kid but, y’know, anything involving her hooves…” Rainbow Dash trailed off and waggled a fore-hoof in front of herself dubiously as her ears laid back slightly against her head, the frown tugging deeper.

Twilight rolled her eyes and nodded in agreement, twisting around to scrub at her tail with the brush instead, bringing a thick-toothed pick over to work out knots that had formed from clumping tree sap.

“That’s why it’d be good to have you there with them. I know you prefer to act, Dash, but in this case just keeping an eye on things might be the best option,” Twilight added a bit of decisiveness into her tone, “While you’re doing that, I’ll start working on research to find a more permanent solution. It could be a long time, though. Let’s focus on the immediate goal: Scootaloo’s birthday.”

“I know you’ll figure something out, Twi. In the meantime, yeah, focus on the now. Maybe I’m finally getting through to you!” Rainbow Dash brightened considerably, fluttering her wings and sitting up straighter.

“No guarantees, Rainbow. But I’ll work on it,” Twilight said as she stood up in the tub and carefully stepped out, levitating towels over to dry off her mane and coat while her wings rose half-unfurled to drip dry.

“Right, right,” Rainbow Dash waved vaguely, then gave Twilight an awkward smile, “Say, do you, uh, want help preening? You’ve got a lot of wing to cover…”

Twilight gave her cyan friend a warm smile, and dropped down onto her haunches, spreading her wings out more fully.

“I’d love that, Rainbow. There’s still gunk everywhere,” Twilight replied. Social preening had been an entirely unheard-of thing for Twilight prior to earning the extra appendages. Accepted as commonplace amongst pegasus ponies, they were still rather quiet on the matter with their earth-bound cousins. Fluttershy had brought it up with Twilight shortly after her coronation, and Twilight had been eager to study the phenomenon until she realized how intimate, for lack of a better term, it really was. A pegasus had to be very comfortable with another pony before letting them touch their wings like that. Fortunately, Twilight considered Rainbow Dash a close enough friend that it wasn't an issue, and the two settled in to grooming her wings back into pristine condition.

“Ick, this stuff is nasty,” Rainbow Dash said after carefully pulling tree sap from one of Twilight’s primaries with her teeth and tongue. Twilight gave a short laugh, carefully spitting out a loose covert feather into a small pile between her fore-hooves.

“Yeah. Thanks for helping me with it,” the purple pony replied.

“No problem. Anything for my friends, and it was my trick that got you into this mess,” Rainbow said with a wave of her hoof, “Anyways, less talk, more preen. We gotta get you to the library so you can do your egghead stuff.”

With a laugh and a roll of her eyes, Twilight twisted to work on her left wing while Rainbow Dash kept up on her right, and soon Twilight was tree sap free and the two were able to rejoin the rest of the Apples for the afternoon.

Comments

[Kenshinryuu]

Awesome chapter, I can totally feel the love everyone has for one another and how deeply Applebloom, Sweetie Bell, and Rainbow care for Scootaloo.

I cant' wait to see what becomes of the other Crusaders making the Heart's Desire potion for Scootaloo combined with Twilight doing Research!

[Ko777]

Dawww