Scoot Camp

by theNDinspector

Day 7: Goodbyes

Scootaloo and Blue Yonder walked out of Spitfire’s office—or rather limped in Scootaloo’s case. Both were silent; still trying to comprehend what just happened.

“We did it,” Scootaloo finally said. “Despite everything that happened, we still did it.”

“I know, right,” Blue Yonder chuckled. “But this was only the first week. We still got to come back later, although you get to have a break from it even longer.”

“That just means I’m going to be behind…again!” Scootaloo moaned.

“Don’t worry,” Blue Yonder reassured her. “I’ll get you back on track.”

“Just don’t have me crash into the side of the mountain next time,” Scootaloo said smugly.

“Oh sure, I do that one time and I’m branded for life,” Blue Yonder said melodramatically before turning serious again. “I wouldn’t dream of it.”

Scootaloo laughed at her friend’s sentimentality, “Wow, we got totally sappy in there, didn’t we?”

Blue Yonder tilted her head up towards the ceiling, “Yeah, well life can get pretty sappy sometimes.”

All Scootaloo could do was smile as she turned to go outside.

“We probably should go see everypony and see how they’re doing,” she said.

Blue Yonder nodded in agreement and opened the door. They both walked out to find cadets everywhere. They were all talking with each other; some getting ready to go home for their short leave while others wouldn’t be coming back at all. Scootaloo’s and Blue Yonder’s presence drew a lot of attention since everypony was curious as to what happened. Most of them were quite surprised to learn that Scootaloo had passed and would be returning.

“Well, I guess not everypony who tries to be a Wonderbolt can be perfect,” Hot Shot said, rolling his eyes upon hearing the news.

“You know what, you’re a real plothead!” Blue Yonder snapped and pointed her hoof in the opposite direction. “Get out of here!”

“Fine,” Hot Shot huffed. “I’ll be seeing you in a few days though. So be ready, I’m not going to wait up for you.”

Blue Yonder scowled at the departing gold stallion. “I’ve wanted to say that to him all week.”

“Yeah, but we still got to deal with him,” Silverwings said as he joined the group. “So I guess we’ll be flying together later after all.”

He nudged Scootaloo in the side and raised his eyebrows a couple of times.

“I wouldn’t dream of it lover boy,” Scootaloo responded. “But I will be back, if only to smack that stupid face of yours.”

The three of them started laughing and Silverwings congratulated them on passing the evaluation.

“So are you ready to go home Blue Yonder?” Silverwings asked.

“No,” Blue Yonder answered. “I’m staying with Scootaloo until her parents take her home tomorrow.”

“You don’t have to do that, you know,” Scootaloo stated.

“Yes I do,” Blue Yonder insisted. “I helped get you into this mess; I’m going to see you out of it.”

“Fine,” Scootaloo relented, but gave a smile. “Oh Celestia, Mom’s going to flip once she sees me like this.”

They all laughed again. It certainly felt good to be among friends. Suddenly, Silverwings stopped and looked up.

“I’ll be right back,” he said as he started walking off.

“You’re not going to go mess with some other mares are you?” Blue Yonder asked lifting an eyebrow.

“No,” Silverwings said defensively. “I’m going to ask that one lieutenant what his name is. It’s been bugging me all week.”

Blue Yonder rolled her eyes as she watched him leave. She was about to take Scootaloo back to the infirmary when they ran into someone else; specifically, a purple pegasus.

“Oh, hi Lavender,” Blue Yonder said cheerfully.

“Hi,” Lavender awkwardly responded.

“So…how did your evaluation go?” Blue Yonder asked, trying to strike up a conversation.

“Okay,” Lavender said. “I passed and all, but I told Colonel Spitfire and Major Soarin that I didn’t want to continue. I was afraid that they would be angry with me for wasting their time, but they understood everything.”

“How are you feeling now?” Blue Yonder asked.

“Better, I guess,” Lavender smiled. “It’s as if a giant weight has been taken off of me; although I still have to talk to my dad.”

“Well, I’m sure you’ll do fine and he’ll understand,” Blue Yonder reassured her.

“Thanks,” Lavender said. “Look, can I talk with Scootaloo for a minute?”

“Sure,” Scootaloo said hobbling up as Blue Yonder backed away. “What’s up?”

“I’m sorry for being a big jerk to you this past week,” Lavender said, looking down at first. “Obviously you know why I was in a bad mood, but that was no excuse for all the things I’ve said—especially about your relationship with Rainbow Dash. I felt really guilty after I saw you talk with her the other day and how she was with you after the accident. She really does care for you. I’m sorry for not believing it.”

“That’s all right,” Scootaloo said. “I would hardly believe it myself. I’m sorry for everything I’ve said and thought about you too. I guess things just didn’t click between us. I’ve also had the experience of being a jerk to others yesterday when I thought that things weren’t going my way at all; so I kind of understand how you felt.”

“Yeah,” Lavender sighed. “Well, we’ll probably never see each other again—and like you said, things didn’t really click between us—but do you think we can at least leave on good terms and call it a truce?”

“Yeah, I’d like that,” Scootaloo said as she too her right hoof out of the sling and extended it towards Lavender.

“Are you sure?” Lavender said, staring warily at the braced hoof.

“Yes, it’ll be fine,” Scootaloo said feeling rather annoyed.

Lavender gave the lightest of taps in the hoof bump, but that was enough to send an uncomfortable surge of pain through Scootaloo’s foreleg. Scootaloo bit the inside of her lower lip so as not to scream out and keep a straight face.

“Thanks for helping me out the other day,” Lavender said as she put her hoof back down.

“Yeah, sure thing,” Scootaloo responded in a strained tone as Lavender left.

Scootaloo didn’t have much time to rest before somepony else came running up to them. This time it was a green pegasus.

“Oh, thank Celestia I caught you,” Snapshot wheezed. “I was afraid you left already.”

“I can’t leave,” Scootaloo stated. “The doctor wants me to stay another night to heal up before I can go, but I’ll probably have to take a balloon ride home anyways”

“Oh…right...um…sorry about that,” Snapshot said, awkwardly rubbing the back of her neck. “Anyways, I wanted to give these to both of you.”

She handed both Scootaloo and Blue Yonder a white envelope. Blue Yonder opened hers, since she had two working hooves, while Scootaloo just held on to hers.

“Hey, these are pictures from this past week,” Blue Yonder said looking through the contents.

“Yeah,” Snapshot said grinning. “I got them developed yesterday since there wasn’t much to do after…well…everything. I made copies for all of our roommates and put a group photo into the picture box.”

“Well, that’s awesome,” Blue Yonder said as she flipped through the photos.

She frowned when she found a photo of her on the floor trying to get her flight suit off. Scootaloo chuckled and Blue Yonder huffed as she continued flipping through the pictures. Soon, they found one of Scootaloo sleeping in the infirmary bed.

“Hey!” Scootaloo shouted. “You took a picture of me at the infirmary…and…am I drooling there?”

“Yes,” Snapshot snickered. “It was too good not to pass up. Besides, it’s important to have memories of everything, even if they aren’t so pleasant.”

“And now we all have proof of the 'most embarrassing moment' of this week,” Blue Yonder said as Scootaloo glared at her. “So, will you be coming back with us in a few days Snapshot?”

“Me? No,” Snapshot said putting a hoof to her chest. “It’s been great and all, but it just isn’t for me. However, talking with those film ponies got me really excited. Film Reel even told me of an internship position in their photography department, so I’ll shoot for that. Aurora will be coming back though.”

“Well, it’s been nice flying with you,” Blue Yonder said.

“Yeah,” Scootaloo agreed. “Good luck.”

“Thanks,” Snapshot said excitedly. “Ooh, Film Reel also gave me this neat camera that prints pictures automatically. Do you want to see it in action?”

“Sure,” Blue Yonder and Scootaloo said together.

Snapshot took the camera out of her saddlebag and lifted it up. Blue Yonder wrapped her right foreleg around Scootaloo’s sholders—causing Scootaloo to wince a bit. In that moment, Snapshot took two pictures—one for both of them—and two photos with a black square on them came out of a slot at the bottom of the camera.

“Hmm,” Snapshot said as the black faded away; revealing the picture. “Not as good as developing it by hoof, but it works in a jiffy—especially if you don’t care about quality. Anyways, here you go.”

Snapshot handed them the pictures and flew off.

“Maybe we’ll meet at a Wonderbolt photo shoot, or something!” Snapshot yelled back at them.

“We’ll see about that!” Scootaloo shouted back.

“Who knows?” Blue Yonder said. “We just might.”

Scootaloo smiled as she looked over all the cadets that were still at the compound. Each and every one still had a long road ahead of them with no guarantee of officially joining the ranks of Equestria’s elite squadron of flyers. It wasn’t for the feeble or uncertain ponies. The standards were high: requiring guts, tenacity and lots of hard work to achieve them. But if Scootaloo’s first week was anything to go by, then anything was certainly possible.

“Yeah,” Scootaloo agreed. “We just might.”

Author's Note:

Well, this story is finally done. I can hardly believe that it went as long as it did. I would like to thank my sister who edited every chapter of not only this story, but almost all of my other ones up to this point. She particularly showed great patience with me on this one every single time I kept bothering her about it. She's definitely awesome!

I had a blast writing this too, and can only hope that you had as enjoyable of a time reading it as I did writing it. I really love the characters and its a shame to see them go. But I guess that's what sequels are for.

---

Update: Scootaloo's story continues in A Mother's Blessing and Over Yonder.

Side story following up on Lavender: Lavender's Plight

Comments

[OneOverTwo]

Film Reel even told me of an internship position in their photography department, so I’ll shoot for that.

Ba dum Tish

[FluffyDoom]

Brilliant. This whole story has been absolutely wonderful. Save for very few grammar mistakes (but we all have those) I found everything amazing!

[theNDinspector]

4949693 Well thanks. I'm glad you enjoyed it so much.

[FluffyDoom]

4952123 I hope you make a second story!

[theNDinspector]

4955491 I do have some sequels planned, but with work and school back into full swing, it might take a while. Anything that I haven't written already, or isn't too difficult to write, will most likely be delayed a bit. But I am developing them.

[Maxxarcade]

Loved this story! I really hope to see more interaction between Rainbow and Scootaloo in the show some day too.

[Blast]

Never change, Scoot.