• Published 27th Jun 2012
  • 9,029 Views, 288 Comments

Best Young Flyer - bookplayer



Scoot trains with Dash to be Best Young Flyer, but could something more develop?

  • ...
15
 288
 9,029

A Chance

“Good job, Windy, you almost had it!” Scoot called to the filly who had just tried and failed to fly through the low hoop she had set up. The kid managed to jump and grab the edge, wings fluttering madly as she tumbled through it. “Blizzard, you’re up next.”

Blizzard stared at the hoop, a determined expression on his face. He jumped up, flapping his wings, and his hooves brushed the edge of the hoop. Then he jerked upwards, hovering in the middle of the hoop.

Scoot’s mouth dropped open. He was flying. His face was scrunched up, all of his concentration was on his wings, and she was almost afraid to make a sound in case he lost it.

The other kids didn’t know that though. “Ohmygosh! Bliz, you’re flying! You’re flying!”

Blizzard opened his eyes cautiously, then looked to Scoot with a wide eyed smile that she’d never forget. “I’m flying!”

Scoot grinned so big that she almost started to tear up. “You sure are, kid! I knew you could do it!”

She flew up in front of him, a few feet away, and stretched her forelegs out. “See if you can come forward. Tilt your wings... that’s right.”

He flew into her outstretched forelegs, and she pulled him close. He was grinning, and started crying against her.

“That was amazing, Bliz! You’re awesome! You can fly!”

The class was going wild with excitement, and Blizzard managed to stammer out. “This is the best day ever, Miss Scoot.”

“Yeah, it is,” Scootaloo said, honestly. Everything was coming back to her, the meadow and the feeling of air under all four of her hooves, the wonder, freedom, relief, and pure utter joy she felt that day so long ago. Dash’s shouts of celebration as she darted around Scoot with pride and excitement, promises of the Best Young Flyer crown and the Wonderbolts. The younger pegasus had never wanted that to end, she never wanted to land.

She still loved flying, but nothing had ever matched the passion she had that day. Until now. Until she saw it in the face of the little white colt in her forelegs who’d just had the whole sky open up to him. Flying wasn’t a way of getting around, it wasn’t just fun. Flying was everything, it was life, it was happiness. Blizzard knew that today, and now Scoot remembered.

She looked down at the rest of her class. They all seemed happy for Blizzard. There might have been a little envy there, but she saw something in their faces that was more important than that. She saw hope.

She landed, bringing Blizzard back down to the cloud. “Okay kids, I think Bliz deserves some congrats!”

The foals cheered while Blizzard beamed proudly. Scoot waited for them to finish before she went on. “Today was Blizzard’s day! I told you guys it would come. And I’m telling you now, it’ll come for each and every one of you. You just have to keep working until your day gets here, but it’s worth it! It’s so worth it. Bliz, tell everypony here if it was worth all the work you’ve done to get to this day.”

“Every single second! I would have worked a billion times as hard if I had to, just to feel like this!”

“You’ll still have to work, if you want to be good at flying one day. But that’s worth it too. Now if you guys are ready we’ll get back to work today. Tomorrow I’ll bring in a special treat to celebrate. How’s that sound?”

Scoot was met with more cheers and happy nods. She started up the practice again, but her students had a fresh excitement in their practice, and her calls of encouragement had a new honesty. She hovered around the cloud because she had to feel the air around her wings and couldn’t stop grinning, thinking about the happy day of her first flight, and looking forward to the days each of these young foals got their chance for that.

Once class finished for the day Scoot hurriedly cleaned up her training space. There was no question about her plans for the evening, she promised her class a treat and cupcakes seemed like just the thing. Not only that, but a flight down to Ponyville seemed like a treat just for her today.

She was just fluffing the last section of cloud when she heard a voice behind her.

“Um, hi Scootaloo, I heard your class cheering today. What happened?” Skylark asked.

“Blizzard learned to fly! It was amazing,” Scoot said, still grinning hours later.

“Good. Cool. Has he got forward and backwards movement yet?” Sky asked, a small smile on her face.

Scoot raised an eyebrow. “He just got lift, Sky. Like, two hours ago. He’s got a little bit of forward, but, I mean, he flew!”

“Well he has wings, right? That’s what’s supposed to happen,” Sky said, a little confused.

Scoot just stared at her. “You... don’t get it.”

“No, I mean, I get it,” Sky hurried and said. “You’re proud! And you totally should be! You’re such a great teacher.”

“Nah... he was ready. I just got to be there.” Scoot grinned again at the memory. “Anyway, I’m getting the class cupcakes, so I have to make a trip down to Ponyville. Wanna come?”

“All the way to Ponyville? Tonight?” Sky said uncertainly.

“Yeah. It’s not that far, we’ll be back before dark,” Scoot said with a shrug.

“Well, I guess.”

“You sure?”

“Sure. It’s just a lot of flying for one evening.”

Scoot eyed the hesitant pegasus. “You don’t have to come if you don’t want to.”

“No! No, it sounds... kinda fun? Let’s go!” Sky replied with a overly cheerful smile.

Scoot smiled back, and took off for Ponyville with Sky right behind her. The trip was slower than she would have liked, and Sky occasionally mentioned what a long flight it was, which was kind of annoying. She avoided pointing out that the flight would be shorter if Sky would just fly a little faster. Scoot was nowhere near the fastest flyer around, and she knew Sky had to have at least an eight wingpower to be a flight school instructor. It was like she just didn’t feel like flying, something Scoot couldn’t understand right now.

They arrived in Ponyville, and Scoot got a box of cupcakes along with one each for her and Sky to eat before they headed home.

Scoot downed her cupcake in two bites, while Sky nibbled at hers.

“Isn’t this the best cupcake you’ve ever had?” Scoot said, enjoying the familiar surroundings.

“It’s good,” Sky said with a shrug. Then she glanced up, over Scoot’s shoulder. “Hey, isn’t that your friend, the Wonderbolt?”

Scoot’s eyes went wide, and she turned to see Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie standing at the counter, waiting for Mrs. Cake. “Oh, yeah. Um, hi Dash! Hi Pinkie!”

Dash looked between Scoot and Skylark, then raised her eyes. Pinkie, on the other hoof, bounced right over. Dash followed cautiously.

“Hi Scootaloo! Who’s this?”

“This is Skylark, she’s a friend from Cloudsdale.”

“I love making new friends!” Pinkie informed Skylark, who smiled politely.

“What are you guys doing down here?” Dash asked casually.

“Cupcakes,” Scoot said, motioning to the bakery box sticking out of her saddlebag. “I have a celebration tomorrow. Remember that colt in my class I told you about, Blizzard? Well... he learned to fly today!”

Dash’s face broke into a huge grin. “That’s so awesome!

Pinkie hopped up and down. “It’s super duper looper awesome!”

“I wish I could’ve been there. You must be so excited!” Dash said, flapping into the air.

“I am! He was so happy, and the class was amazing, they all know they can do it now.” Scoot was grinning again, something about Dash’s enthusiasm brought back her own. “I can’t wait for the next foal to fly, this is such a rush.”

“It’s the most amazing feeling in the world, isn’t it?” Dash asked.

“Yeah, it is,” Scoot agreed.

Dash shook her head. “There’s nothing like a kid learning to fly to make you remember how much you love it. It’s like a sonic rainboom goes off inside them and hits everypony around who has wings, and suddenly you totally feel like just being in the air is the coolest thing. You see flying the way they see it, and it’s so awesome that you never want to land. At least, that’s how I remember it when...”

She smiled at Scoot. “That was one of the best days of my life.”

“That day was kinda okay,” Scoot said, still grinning.

Dash laughed. “I thought you were gonna faint in the air.”

“I can’t believe I didn’t. And now I know how you felt. It’s so cool.” Scoot unconsciously started to open her wings.

“Just thinking about it makes me want to fly,” Dash said, glancing between Scoot and Sky. “Do you guys wanna come and fly in the park with me? Pinkie doesn’t mind watching. We can just do some tricks and have a good time.”

“How about it, Sky?” Scoot grinned at Skylark. “Wanna come and fly with a Wonderbolt?”

Skylark considered it for a moment, then said, “We have kind of a long flight home, don’t we?”

“I guess,” Scoot said, her face falling. “Sorry, Dash.”

“Okay. You guys have fun,” Dash said with a shrug.

“Yeah... Um, do you wanna come watch me train tomorrow? I wanna get some practice in.” Scoot actually couldn’t wait to practice for the competition, it was exactly how she wanted to be flying right now.

“Sounds good,” Dash said cheerfully.

“Great! See ya then.” Scoot smiled. She started towards the door, Skylark following behind her.

“Wait!” Dash called. Scoot stopped and looked back, and Dash turned to Pinkie. “Hey, Pinkie, got a card I could have?”

“Birthday, get well, congratulations, wedding shower, sorry about the mess, baby shower, new puppy or kitten, sympathy, Hearth’s Warming, Hearts and Hooves Day, Friday, or blank?” Pinkie asked.

“Congratulations,” Dash answered with a smirk, and the pink pony pulled a card from seemingly nowhere and stuck it in her hooves.

“Where did that come from?” Sky asked, confused.

“Pinkie,” Dash and Scoot answered at the same time.

“Me, silly!” Pinkie added, as Dash took a pencil in her mouth and started writing something on the card.

“No, but I mean –”

“It’s Pinkie Pie,” Scoot whispered. “You don’t ask. It’s just... Pinkie Pie.”

Skylark gave Scoot a strange look, then turned to Pinkie. “Miss Pie? Where did you pull that card from?”

Pinkie took a deep breath, then started, “Well, once I was in Hoofington, and I saw a store that sold balloons! Nothing but balloons! And I thought ‘I love balloons,’ so I went inside, and the owner had this dog, and the dog was kind of shaggy. And shaggy dogs are so cute! They’re just like little balls of fur! And the dog’s name was Filbert. And I –”

Scoot put her hoof to her face in frustration as Sky became more confused by the minute and Pinkie got no closer to answering her question. Dash finished filling out the card and handed it to Scoot. She looked down at it.

“Congrats on flying, Blizzard! I’ll be watching for you at Wonderbolt try outs. Your friend, Rainbow Dash.”

Scoot smiled at Dash. Dash hadn’t asked how good Bliz was, or even if he wanted to be a Wonderbolt. It didn’t matter, Scoot knew Dash just wanted to give the kid permission to dream. She wanted to be a part of the sky opening up for a foal she’d only seen once for a few minutes.

Scoot’s thoughts tried to turn this into an amazing gesture of generosity, but she pulled them back. It wasn’t that amazing, it was just a nice, friendly thing to do. Keeping those oversized thoughts in check, she really looked at Dash.

She was pretty, and fun and talented. She actually spent a lot of time and energy making sure other ponies thought she was fun and talented, now that Scoot thought about it. It was no wonder Scoot bought into it so thoroughly, Dash practically begged other ponies to think she was awesome.

That was a little sad, that a pony who really had so much going for her couldn’t just let other ponies see it for themselves. Scoot was glad she could see that now, but she found herself just as glad that those things were really there. Dash really was a friendly, fun, talented pony.

Scoot suddenly realized that she was staring at Dash, who was staring back confused. Scoot almost laughed at Dash’s expression. But instead, she just turned to where Pinkie was still talking to a dazed Skylark.

“So then I found a bit on the ground, and I thought ‘I could buy a grapefruit with this!’ So I –”

“That’s awesome, Pinkie, but me and Sky have to be getting back to Cloudsdale. You can finish the story next time.”

“Okey dokey lokey! It was nice meeting you, Skylark!”

“Um, yeah, it was, um...”

“Later, guys!” Scoot said, nudging Sky out the door. Outside they took off in the direction of Cloudsdale.

“Is there something wrong with that pony?” Sky asked, once they were in the air.

“She’s Pinkie!” Scoot explained again. “I tried to warn you. Everypony in Ponyville knows that you don’t ask Pinkie Pie how she does Pinkie Pie things.”

Skylark rolled her eyes. “I’m so glad I grew up in Canterlot. I can show you a bakery in Cloudsdale next time, there’s nopony like that there, and you won’t have to fly as far.”

Scoot glanced at Skylark. On the one hoof, Pinkie could drive a pony crazy. And Skylark might have just been too tired from work for a flight to Ponyville. And a pony didn’t have to love Sugarcube Corner cupcakes. And maybe she’d just never seen a foal fly for the first time, so she didn’t know how amazing it felt.

On the other hoof, Scoot was pretty sure she should let Skylark know there wasn’t going to be a next time.

• • •

The next afternoon, Dash laid on a cloud and watched Scoot go over her routine again and again. The Best Young Flyer competition was the next weekend, but Scoot was practicing with a smile on her face, probably still feeling the love of flight from that foal learning to fly. She was flying perfectly, too. Dash wished she would try the star with that kind of feeling, but she knew better than to bring it up. Besides, she had other things on her mind.

The biggest one was the discussion she had with Spitfire that day. Spitfire was retiring, and she wanted to know if Dash wanted to apply to be captain. There was a strong hint in the conversation that Dash had a very good chance and should think about it seriously, and Dash was.

A few months ago, there was no question. Keep flying for the top. Who cared about the long hours, it wasn’t like she had a family or anypony who needed her around. She could sneak a few hours to spend with her friends every week, and she would be captain of the Wonderbolts.

But that was a few months ago. Before she remembered how nice it was to have somepony always there for her, somepony she could always be there for. Before she remembered how to really have fun doing the things she loved with somepony she loved. When she was with Scoot, every minute seemed awesome and she didn’t want to give up any of them.

But she didn’t have Scoot anymore, so becoming captain seemed like the logical thing to do. It also seemed like a huge letdown. Dash didn’t accept a letdown, she always went for what she wanted if there was a chance she could get it. All she needed was a chance.

Scoot finished and landed, and Dash grinned at her. “It looked awesome. Best you’ve ever flown.”

“Thanks!” Scoot said with a smile, taking a drink from her water bottle as she caught her breath.

Dash tried to sound casual and said, “How are things with Skylark?”

Scoot paused a minute, and sat down across the cloud from Dash. “There aren’t really things with Skylark. She’s nice and all, but we didn’t have a lot in common.”

“She wasn’t that hot, either,” Dash added.

Scoot stared at her for a moment, then laughed. “She’s okay.”

Dash smiled and shrugged. “You can do way better.”

“Not happening, Dash,” Scoot said with a smirk.

“Hey, I wasn’t even talking about that,” Dash said, and decided a change of subject was in order. “How is Blizzard doing? Did he like his card?”

Scoot smiled and seemed to relax a little. “I think he’s having it framed. He’s still on top of the world.”

“He should be. It’s an awesome time for him,” Dash said.

“It’s an awesome time for me too,” Scoot said. “How long does this take to wear off? I never want it to end.”

Dash laughed a little. “I don’t know, a few weeks? Then everything goes back to normal, except that there’s one more pony who can fly.”

“Yeah, but that kid has a lot ahead of him. By then he’ll probably move to a different class so he can learn the good stuff.”

“That part’s fun too. It’s too bad you don’t get to train them all the way.”

“Are you kidding?” Scoot grinned. “This is awesome. I wouldn’t give it up for anything.”

Dash smirked. “I don’t know, I had a lot of fun teaching you everything you know about flying.”

“Yeah, you did teach me everything I know. Except the slalom, I learned how to do that on my own. I remember, you always said you would teach me, but there was always another trick you wanted to show me...Wait.” Scoot grinned at Dash. “You can’t do a slalom, can you?”

“Of course I can!” Dash protested. “They’re just boring.”

“Uh-huh. Sure,” Scoot said with a smirk.

“I can do a slalom. I’m a Wonderbolt.

Scoot raised an eyebrow. “Even if you can now, you couldn’t then.”

“I could have...” Dash said. “I mean, if I had wanted to.”

“Without clipping the poles?” Scoot asked.

Dash gave an impish grin. “...most of the time?”

Scoot laughed.

“Hey, I just have big wings. That makes it a lot harder. I was, and still am, an awesome flyer,” Dash added quickly.

“I never said you weren’t,” Scoot pointed out.

“And slaloms are dumb anyway.”

Scoot raised an eyebrow. “You put one in my routine.”

Dash laughed. “Well, they aren’t as dumb when you do them.”

“Cause I can do them?” Scoot teased.

“That does help a little,” Dash admitted. “Besides, I put one in my Best Young Flyer routine anyway. Everypony who can fly knows how tough it is.”

Scoot smiled. “Well you won, so you must have done it right.”

Dash blushed a little. She’d been hoping to get Scoot through the competition without admitting the details of her own Best Young Flyer win. “Um... not so much. I clipped it.”

“Seriously?” Scoot said, more amused than surprised.

“Heh, yeah.” Dash rubbed the back of her neck. “Then I kinda tossed a pinwheel cloud at Princess Celestia.”

Scoot raised her eyebrows, still smiling. “You did win, right? You didn’t just beat somepony up and steal the crown, did you?”

“I won fair and square!” Dash said with a grin. “I totally saved Rarity, and a few Wonderbolts, and did a sonic rainboom! Those slips were just nerves.”

Scoot just smiled at her.

“What?”

“Oh, sorry. I’m just thinking about some stuff,” Scoot said, shaking her head.

Dash thought that sounded like a good sign. She took a breath and said, “I’ve been thinking about things too. Scoot, I need to talk to you about something.”

Scoot’s face fell. “Dash, don’t. Between you and Skylark I’ve had a rough couple of weeks. And I have the competition coming up... I can’t deal with this now.”

“I know. And I know you shouldn’t have had to deal with that stuff, and I know it’s totally my fault.” She looked down, to avoid those big violet eyes. “But I need to make a decision, and I need to know something from you first.”

“Fine. But you’re not gonna like the answer,” Scoot said sternly.

Dash nodded. “That’s fair. Spitfire is retiring at the end of the year. I need to know if I should go for captain of the Wonderbolts.”

“Um, yeah?” Scoot sounded surprised. “Just for the record, if somepony offers you a million bits you should take that, too.”

Dash shook her head. “It’s not as simple as that. I mean, it’d be cool, don’t get me wrong, but it’s a lot of extra work. Spitfire never had a marefriend or coltfriend, I’m not even sure which way she goes, she was married to that job. I could do that, I mean maybe it would be a good idea. It’d save other ponies a lot of trouble. But it’s not what I want.”

“What do you want?” Scoot asked.

“I want to be with somepony who reminds me how much I love flying. I want to lay in bed with somepony ‘til noon, talking and laughing about silly stuff. I want to fly with the Wonderbolts and party in Ponyville, and more than anything I want a pony who can be there with me for all that. And if there’s even a chance, a tiny chance, that I might have that pony someday, I don’t want to be captain, because I don’t want to miss a minute of it,” Dash said, feeling like she just put her heart, her whole future, in Scoot’s hooves.

Scoot just whispered, “What you did really hurt me. I know you didn’t mean to, but it still hurt.”

“I’m sorry, Scoot. I was dumb, and I was... scared. And I can’t promise you I’ll never be dumb or scared again.” She sighed. “This is for the best, isn’t it? ‘Rainbow Dash, captain of the Wonderbolts’ has a nice ring to it, and I won’t have time to hurt anypony.”

They were quiet for a few minutes, while Dash tried to convince herself of what she just said.

Finally, Scoot said softly, “I didn’t say there’s no chance, ever. I just wanted to make sure you knew that just because we’re cool now, it doesn’t mean that I forgot. But what I said still goes, I can’t make a decision now. I have the competition coming up, and I have to focus on that, not untangling ten years of mixed-up feelings.”

“You’re absolutely right, Scoot,” Dash said. She knew she had to change the subject quickly to keep Scoot from thinking too much about it now, and taking her new found hope away from her. “You nervous about this weekend?”

Scoot shrugged. “A little. But it helps that I’m not expecting much. I’ll just do my best.”

“Scoot, I saw your best today, your real best. I can tell you that whatever you want to reach for is yours,” Dash said honestly.

“I know it’s weird to you, Dash, but some ponies just can’t reach it,” Scoot said with a little laugh.

“You are not some ponies, Scootaloo. You are every bit as good as I am,” Dash said, looking her in the eye.

Scoot looked confused and said, “I know. I... I should be going. School tomorrow, ya know.”

Dash nodded. “Have fun. I’ll see ya at the competition?”

“I’ll be there,” Scoot said with a smile as she gathered her saddle bags. Then she took off for her little cloud house.

Dash just laid back on the cloud and thought about the conversation. There was a lot about it that was kinda confusing, but the most important thing was crystal clear: there was a chance.