Too Late
After the Wonderbolts’ performance at the Gala, Scoot met up with Dash to fly home. Scoot was on top of the world, she had a great time with Sweetie and Apple Bloom, and then a pretty amazing time with Skylark. Dash seemed quiet, Scoot thought she probably had a much more boring time. But even if she was quiet, Scoot still had to talk to her. The sooner Scoot told her about Skylark, the easier it would be.
As they flew, Scoot tried to start the conversation. “I had an awesome time, thanks so much for bringing me Dash. I got to hang out with Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom, and I ran into Skylark...”
“Yeah?” Dash asked casually.
“Yeah.” Scoot smiled a little and took a nervous breath. “I even asked her out, like, on a date...”
Dash was silent.
Scoot looked over at her, worried. “Dash? I mean, you know I’ve had a great time with you, right? But, you’ve gotta be getting bored with me, and I’d kinda like to have a real marefriend, ya know?”
The older pegasus was staring straight ahead.
“Dash? Please say something,” Scoot pleaded. Dash couldn’t be upset about this, could she? They’d agreed this was just until they found somepony else, and Dash had to know how hard it would be for Scoot to find somepony, she really had to jump at any chance she got.
“We... need to talk,” Dash answered, banking to the side, towards some clouds waiting to cover Canterlot tomorrow.
Scoot followed, and landed on the clouds a few seconds after Dash.
She had barely tucked her wings in when Dash blurted out, “Scoot, I... I love you.”
Scoot’s mouth fell open, and she just stared at Dash.
Dash grinned. “I really love you. So don’t go out with Skylark. I’ll be your marefriend and it’ll be awesome.”
“But... but... why me? Why now?” Scoot couldn’t feel anything but utter confusion.
“I’ve been feeling this way for a while but I was... waiting until the time was right to tell you. Heh, you kind of made it so I had to tonight.” Dash rubbed the back of her neck nervously.
“Why?”
“So that you don’t go and fall in love with another pony?”
“No, I mean, why didn’t you tell me? Why wasn’t the time right? Why did you let me think –” Scoot remembered it suddenly, it all came flooding back. Every painful reminder that Dash wasn’t hers. Every hour of worry about seeming too clingy or about the other pony Dash would fall in love with any day now. That had all been for nothing, a waste of time. But only Dash had known that.
Scoot narrowed her eyes. “This is seriously uncool, Dash.”
“I’m sorry, Scoot... I thought you’d be happy,” Dash said, seeming pretty confused herself now.
“I thought I would be too!” Scoot snapped. “I didn’t know you were messing with me for who knows how long! How long, Dash? How long was I freaking out like an idiot while you were falling in love?”
“A month or so,” Dash said, looking worriedly at Scoot. “I didn’t know you were freaking out, you should have said something.”
“No, you should have said something! Because I was just trying to keep to the agreement that we both made. Apparently that agreement was only to make me crazy, you were allowed to feel however you wanted and I had to not fall in love with you.”
“Do you love me? Just tell me that, Scoot. I’ll make up for everything, I promise.” Dash was past worried and moving towards panicked.
“No, I don’t love you!” Scoot said with more ease then she ever could have imagined. Of course she never could have imagined being this angry at Dash. “Do you know what I put myself through, trying not to fall in love with you? All the time I spent reminding myself that this might be the last time I’d see you like this, that any other pony you smiled at might be the one you’d leave me for, all because I thought that little bit of pain was worth it to be with you...”
Dash’s eyes were wide, as if she couldn’t believe this was happening. “It’s okay now, Scoot. You don’t have to do that anymore. You can love me... Please love me.”
“It’s totally not okay! You thought I’d always be there, and I’d be happy enough just to be in the same room with you. That was what mattered, right? What about when I wasn’t with you? Did you even think for a second about how I felt? That I might want a chance to love you and know you loved me, to think that maybe we had a future together?”
“I’m sorry, Scoot. I’m really –”
Scoot just glared at her and rose into the air. “Well don’t worry about it now. You’re a jerk, Rainbow Dash. I don’t know why I ever cared about you.”
“Scoot, wait, let me explain,” Dash said, taking off as if to follow her.
“Let me go!” Scoot shouted.
She flew towards home as fast as she could. She knew she couldn’t outfly Dash, so she just had to hope that she’d made herself perfectly clear. It seemed to have worked, Dash didn’t follow her. When she got to her house she shoved open the door and flew straight to her bed, throwing herself on it and sobbing.
This was hooves down the worst night of her life. How could she have been so close to an unbelievable dream, but find it so hollow? She could have loved Dash so easily. Or she always thought she could have. She never thought that Dash could be so selfish, so unfair.
This whole thing was unfair. Dash had no right to be selfish with her love when she had everything! She knew how little Scoot had, Dash knew the dreams Scoot had given up along the way because they just weren’t possible. Dash never had to give up those dreams, is that why she just couldn’t see how much a dream like being with her would mean to Scoot?
Rainbow Dash had been flying since before she could walk, and Scoot had struggled for years to get off the ground. Rainbow Dash had large, strong wings and an athletic build, Scoot’s wings were small and any muscle she had was hard earned. Dash had been a Wonderbolt from birth. All she had to do was reach for it and it was hers. Scoot could have worked her whole life and never had a chance.
Rainbow Dash could fall in love with whoever she wanted, and Scoot had to wait and hope that someday, somepony would notice her.
And Rainbow Dash herself had noticed her, and loved her, and didn’t bother to tell her! Dash could never make Scoot a serious flyer, and she couldn’t help Scoot fly before it was time for her to figure it out, but Dash could have made a dream she didn’t even dare to imagine come true, and she didn’t. She just didn’t say anything, and would never have said anything if Scoot hadn’t threatened to actually take something away from Rainbow Dash, the pony who always got everything.
Well not this time. Scoot didn’t have a lot of room to dream, but she could dream of a marefriend who wasn’t a lying, self-centered jerk. A marefriend who would care about how she felt, and who would make sure Scoot knew how much she cared. And since Dash obviously couldn’t handle that she’d have to find another adoring fan to use however she wanted.
Not that that would be hard for Rainbow Dash.
Scoot cried herself to sleep, furious at Rainbow Dash, herself, and everypony in all of Equestria for existing in general.
• • •
Rainbow Dash opened her eyes to find she was being assaulted by the evil, painful brightness of a sunny day. She knew she had been drinking the night before, and worse then that she knew why she had been drinking the night before. She didn’t know why she was sleeping someplace so uncomfortable and bright. At least, she didn’t until somepony spoke.
“Um, Rainbow, are you awake? I mean, I’m sorry I woke you, if you were asleep that is. I just thought that maybe you would want to, um, wake up? Or at least move to the couch? Or you can stay on the floor if you want to, I don’t mind.”
The floor of Fluttershy’s cottage. That made some sense. She considered that the couch might be more comfortable then the floor, but the idea of moving meant that eventually she’d have to wake up. And waking up meant facing a world where last night had happened. Here she just felt numb, which was the best of all possible feelings given what had happened.
“I’m never moving again.”
“Oh. Okay then,” Fluttershy said, apparently content to let Dash lay on her floor forever.
“Fluttershy? What happened last night?” Dash asked. She had all of the pieces, the Gala, the cloud, someplace with alcohol, and here, but she wasn’t sure how they all fit together.
“Well, I think you had some sort of fight with Scootaloo –”
“Not that part.” Dash cringed. She remembered that part too well. “After.”
“I’m not sure. I mean, I think I’m not sure. You must have had something to drink, and you knocked on my door, and you were crying. So I brought you inside and tried to find out what was wrong, but, um, all I could understand was that you and Sco–
“Stop saying that name,” Dash growled.
Fluttershy jumped a little. “Sorry! Was that you and... somepony? Had a big fight.”
Dash sighed. “It wasn’t a fight.”
“Oh, good.”
“She just called me a jerk. Then she left me.”
“Oh Rainbow, I’m so sorry!” Fluttershy said sincerely. “I’m sure she didn’t mean it.”
“She meant it. Because I was a jerk. So I ruined everything, just like always.” Dash closed her eyes. “What’s wrong with me, Fluttershy?”
“You don’t ruin everything always,” Fluttershy said, sitting down next to her. “And there’s... well there’s nothing wrong with you.”
“Yeah, there is. ‘Cause I had the perfect pony, beautiful and fun and crazy about me, and I managed to convince her that I’m a jerk. I think that takes talent, right? I’m Equestria’s best loser.”
Fluttershy stroked her mane. “You’re not a loser. You’re a Wonderbolt...”
Dash rolled her eyes. “A Wonderbolt who’s going to die alone.”
“...and a wonderful friend. You’ve saved Equestria. You’re an amazing pony.”
“I know.” Dash sighed. “So why couldn’t I show her that? No, it’s dumber then that. She already thought I was amazing. All I had to do was not make her think I was a jerk. Why couldn’t I just not be a jerk to the one pony who really mattered?”
“Um...” Fluttershy hesitated, and then said even more softly then usual, “I don’t think you want me to answer that.”
“Go ahead,” Dash said flatly.
“Well, I think that maybe... when it comes to ponies you love, you might be a little, well... scared?” Fluttershy squeaked the last word.
Dash’s eye’s shot open, and she started to sit up. “Scared? Me? Do you know who you’re talking to?”
“The pony who didn’t want to tell the mare she loved that she loved her because she didn’t want to break up with her someday?”
“Oh... yeah,” Dash admitted, falling back to the floor. “So if that was true, that I was...”
“Scared?”
“Yeah, that. If that’s true... why? Love isn’t supposed to be scary! Nopony else is scared of love. I mean, except you.”
“I’m not scared of love. I’m scared of talking to ponies,” Fluttershy pointed out.
“Great. So literally nopony, including you, is scared of love. So why would I be?”
“Because you’re not good at it. Nopony is, really, but most other ponies can just work at what they aren’t good at until they get it right. You’re good at everything you do, so you don’t know how to keep trying something you’re not good at. It makes you feel like a failure, and you hate that.”
“Hey, I work at things until I’m good at them,” Dash said.
“No, you practice things you’re good at until you’re the best. I know you’ve always worked hard at your flying, but you were already talented. You never started out like me or Sco– other ponies, not even able to get into the air. But it seems like in love you can’t get into the air, and that scares you.”
Dash just laid there, letting her silence concede the point.
“So, um, did you want to get up off the floor? Not that you have to,” Fluttershy asked softly.
“I told you, I’m never moving again.”
“Well... I suppose I’ll just tell Angel to dust around you, in that case.”
“Sounds great.”
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And to think you had worries about this chapter being bad
hrmph... The nerve of some ponies
Blam... Nuff said
dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/emoticons/misc_rainbowderp_flip.png
MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAR
OH MY GOD MOAR PLEASE! I mean...if that's alright with you...
poor dashie, poor scoots...
keep up the great work! I hope there is gonna be a new one soon!
Fluttershy is the bestest friend anypony could ask for.
I mean, of course Dash shows up drunk on her doorstep from a terrible fight with Sco- another pony... and Flutts takes her in. Jeez, I wish I had a friend like that with a shoulder to cry on and display my feelings to...
I mean, MONSTER TRUCKS AND DYNAMITE AND MANLY THINGS YEEEEEAAAAAAAH!
Okay, down to business. Rainbow Dash, you screwed up. Now, go wallow in your own self-pity because Scoot-... that other pony... doesn't want you anymore. You should feel ashamed for letting such a wonderful friend and mare and marefriend and marefriendfriend go. Despicable.
But maybe you still have a chance if you believe!
... nah...
Well, fuck.
Not to say I didn't see this coming but, fuck.
I can't wait 'til the next chapter.
Keep up the good work!
Please man i need more! This is probably the one fic I cant put down! A very fun and exciting read
Perhaps a bit predictable, but I enjoy the suspense of knowing whats to come! I will definitely look into reading some of your other fiction! 
YES!!! i love how this chapter played out.
i wasnt expecting this conflict so soon but im so glad its here. we can get to the real fun now. 
i really wanna see how you handle Skylark. will she be everything Scoot wants in a mare or will Sky fall to the wayside? will she become a true love rival or just somepony to distract Scoot from Dash. i think im the only one that cares about Skylark though 
i sure most reading this just want Scoot to forgive Dash and live happily ever after witch i gotta admit i wouldnt mind seeing but i normally like a little fire like i posted before. 
I love this. Everything Scoots and Flutters said about Dash is correct. She has never really had to work at her goals. She was born with talent so doesn't appreciate the work others put in.
Kinda the reason she is my least favorite out of the Mane6.
Twilight is the same boat, but is my favorite because she understands that she has a gift and doesn't flaunt it.
1098669
I'm with you, RD is my least favorite out of almost anypony.
I love this Fluttershy!
Well...
I got so sucked in that I didn't comment on the previous chapter. You really had me going. The Gala was fantastic. Loved every moment of it. And by the end, I was really looking forward to the drama between Rainbow and Scootaloo.
But I'm going to have to be the one dissenting voice here. This chapter... pretty much did nothing for me.
The actual conflict was so abrupt and short-lived that it really didn't have a chance to work up my emotions. Rainbow confesses, selfish as ever, and Scootaloo immediately understands the implication. There's no muddling through their emotions here. Rainbow acts like a jerk, Scoot calls her on it, the end. Then Scootaloo flies home and – I always hate using this criticism – what follows is a terrible weight of telling. Eight paragraphs of emotion exposition, with hardly a scrap of actual emotion thrown into the mix. In the long run, I think it's good to have communicated this. It would be overly abrupt to just have Scootaloo fly home and cry, and end her scene there. We can infer a lot of the exposition here from what you've already written, but I have a feeling it's going to be important that all your readers are on the same page moving forward. That said, I would have preferred to see this handled in another way – maybe by stretching out the fight, certainly by giving it some more nuance. I recognize that there's an inherent truth to going home, crying, and sorting through all the thoughts that are tearing you up inside. I've done my fair share of that, over the years. But I think it makes for boring reading, and it loses a lot of the emotional punch that this scene really should have had.
One rather simple way in which I think it could have been improved tremendously would be to do it as internal dialogue. Throw up some italics and give us Scoot's thoughts verbatim instead of just sketching them out. Maybe model some of this around the five stages of grief, both in the fight and after Scootaloo goes home. Paint the scene with some more evocative language – similes of pain and anger. A lot of things could be done to improve this section, I think. And yes, I'm aware that this story has been sitting around for a good nine months and that you're probably not going to go back and change it, but it's something I feel like I need to talk about because whether or not you go back and apply it in this piece, it's something you can keep in mind on future stories too.
The scene with Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy was much better, I thought, though still a disappointment in similar ways. But your Fluttershy was absolutely excellent and the interaction allowed the story to be a little more active in that stretch, even if Rainbow Dash hearing about her issues felt very detatched and lacking in emotional weight.
This story has, and continues to have, a lot of potential for good emotional involvement, and I'm still looking forward to what's yet to come, but for me, this chapter just fell flat.
;-; there's the liquid pride I've been expecting. Celestia this chapter was just so depressingly amazing (sad but still an amazing chapter). I feel so sorry for everything Scoots had to go through for Dash and I love how you just pull the reader in and force the raw emotions on them making them feel every bit of Scootaloo's pain I ached inside during that fight. I also loved how you delved into Rainbow Dash's psyche about why she was scared of love. Even though its mostly true I do think Dash had to work hard at several things including the Rainboom while she was already talented at flying that was a difficult obstacle for her to overcome. This fic is just so beautiful and perfect it should seriously be on EQD if it hasn't already been featured. Sorry for these small little reviews I just wanted to show how much I love this fic I know I suck at reviewing but whatever this is just amazing
2334751 it was drunken, of course it was abrupt.
2353998 liquid pride? who are you proud of? I am not sure what feeling should condense here but it sure as Tarataros is not pride.
As an RD fan it sucks to say this but she done got what's coming to her this time.
I truly feel for poor Scoots.