I Can Fly

by EvePony

Chapter Four - First Step

Scootaloo heard nothing but ringing in her ears. The loud, droning noise had been flooding her ears for a few minutes now. She thought maybe she was in the middle of waking up and sleeping, though she didn’t really recall why she was asleep in the first place. There was no memory in her mind of going home… or even leaving the weather factory!

Confused, Scootaloo tried to move around. A sharp pain in her back and chest disabled her from getting up, but it did make her more conscious. She now heard talking, which was slowly overpowering the ringing. At first, the voice was very muffled and slurred. When it became clearer, more voices were heard! She searched her mind, trying to connect the voices. Scootaloo then realized it was Rainbow Dash! Twilight too!

‘Wait, what is Twilight doing here?’ she thought. ‘Twilight shouldn’t be checking up on us just yet…’ The more curious Scootaloo grew, the more conscious she became.

When she opened her eyes, a bright light blinded her momentarily. Gasps resounded in both her ears, and she looked around. When the bright lights calmed, she saw a concerned Twilight, holding a clipboard with her magic, and a distressed Rainbow Dash, hovering beside her.

“Hey squirt, you came to!” she shouted.

“Shh Rainbow,” Twilight shushed sternly, “her senses are most likely very… well, sensitive right now. We have to be quiet.”

Rainbow carefully returned to the floor, then peered over at the dazed filly.

“How are you feeling Scootaloo?” Twilight asked, levitating a pen as well as the clipboard.

Scootaloo smacked her lips. “Not so good… I think a piano fell on me in my sleep.” She then smiled.

“Dry mouth?” Twilight asked, looking at her list. Scootaloo nodded. “Chest pains or headache?” Scootaloo nodded again. “Confusion?” Scootaloo nodded once more.

Twilight continued to jot notes, while Rainbow sat in confusion. “Twi, what does this have to do with Scoots’ health?”

After a moment, Twilight lowered the clipboard. “I am almost positive I know what happened. Do you remember what occurred before you passed out, Scootaloo?”

The orange pegasus shook her head slowly. “I don’t remember a thing. All I remember was getting on top of that cloud, jumping, then thunder and lightning surrounding me. I think I blacked out.”

“I saw the whole thing kiddo! It was kinda cool!” Rainbow said, putting a hoof in the air.

Scootaloo smiled, though she noticed her idol’s obvious concern underneath her confident mask. “So, what happened to me?”

Rainbow shot up into the air. “Well as soon as you jumped on that cloud, thunder and lightning was everywhere! You started to lift into the air, and wham! A huge flash of light shot all around. Then you fell to the ground!”

Scootaloo gawked at Rainbow, then at Twilight. “Why did that happen?”

Twilight smiled, clearing her throat. “Well, when a pony goes through a magical epiphany, as I like to call it, they usually experience the symptoms you have. The body is put under a heap of stress as the magic is released from the magical core. Yours being near your wings, since you are a pegasus, will hurt your back and chest more. Does that make sense, Scootaloo?”

Gaping at Twilight, Rainbow and Scootaloo sat a moment in silence. Rainbow had a harder time processing the whole concept of magical transformation and the science-y jargon, but Scootaloo promptly nodded.

“So… does this mean I can fly now?” Scootaloo asked excitedly as she leaned forward, quickly groaning from the pain of her movement.

Twilight rose from her seat, leaning toward the filly. “That’s what I’ve been wondering myself. When you’re feeling better, we can test what magic inside of you has shifted and been brought out.”

Nodding rapidly, Scootaloo tried once more to get out of bed, before collapsing back into her previous spot. Rainbow Dash put a hoof on Scootaloo's shoulder and smiled.

“Don’t get too excited, kiddo! We have tons of time for you to get better. You did really great at the Weather Factory, so try not to rush yourself,” the rainbow pegasus said with a gleam of compassion that was almost alien to Scootaloo. Usually, Dash has an upbeat and loud way of comforting and motivating her friends. But here, Scootaloo sensed Rainbow Dash showing a softer side of her comfort that she hadn’t seen before.

~2 weeks later~

Scootaloo took a deep breath of fresh air as she stepped across the threshold out of the hospital. Twilight and Rainbow Dash smiling by her side, she trotted along a long stretch of cloud.

“Scootaloo,” Twilight called out from behind, “are you sure you are ready to try this?”

“Aw yeah! I feel a lot better now that I’ve taken some time off, but it’s time to rev up those engines!” Scoots said, flapping her wings hard and smiling brightly.

Rainbow Dash smiled enthusiastically at her surrogate sister. “Alright, I’m going to count down from three, and you’re going to try everything you learned in our flight lessons.” Clearing her throat, she stood proudly beside the younger pegasus. With her best drill-sergeant voice, she shouted, “Ready?”

The raring young pegasus flared her nostrils and shouted back, “Ready!”

“Alright then. Three… two… one… GO!” Rainbow yelled, jumping into the air.

Scootaloo ran forward and gained speed until she was going as fast as she could. She spread her wings and started to flap, until she jumped… and fell back to the cloud with a disappointing poof.

Both Twilight and Rainbow sped over. “What happened squirt? Where’s the flying!?” Rainbow questioned hurriedly.

Twilight’s gaze hung over the filly, “It hasn’t happened yet… It seems that magical breakthrough you had was only the start to a much longer journey!”

Scootaloo sighed and face-planted into the cloud beneath her. With a muffled voice, she shouted, “How in the world will I do that?!”

Twilight looked at Rainbow with a confused expression, the pegasus returning the glance.

Author's Note:

I apologize for how long this took to get out. I have a bad habit for procrastination!

Comments

[Phetiamwantip]

I like your I Can Fly story, can't wait to see more of your chapters soon, Just take your time and keep up the good work. 👍