The Gift for the Pegasus: A CMC Mission

by G4PONYTales

Chapter 5 - Inner Explanations

It was Scootaloo’s alarm clock that roused her from the security and warmness accompanying her dreams. She awoke heavy-headed and weary, staring distortedly at the ceiling. After blinking a few times in an effort to stay awake, Scootaloo turned to her side and, at a slow pace, got up to get ready for school.

The heavy feeling in Scootaloo’s head felt somewhat like fatigue; it was seemingly left over from an emotional sleep that left a heavy aftereffect of numbness. It was similar to the feeling she had during past CMC meetings,when she would fall asleep in front of her friends. But this time, the fatigue was intense. It was also left over from a sleeping encounter with Princess Luna and, most importantly, Scootaloo’s inner struggles.

Scootaloo arrived at school on her scooter, more slowly than usual, with sluggishly-beating wings.

“Scootaloo! Yoo-hoo, Scoot-a-loo!”

A reactive instinct sparked in Scootaloo’s mind. At the recognition of Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon’s voices, her small wings came to a halt, bracing from her as a defence mechanism. “What is-”

Do not feel upset. The problem is not these ponies. Forget about the past, and move forward.

“Hi… Diamond Tiara… And Silver Spoon.” To her own surprise, Scootaloo forced a smile with moderate effort.

The two fillies approached Scootaloo as memories of her nightmare came rushing back; Scootaloo pictured the newspaper with the headline, and heard the laughing, before shutting her eyes tight and breathing deeply. It was a dream. My thoughts do not equal reality. Still, the pegasus tentatively scanned the playground to make sure no pony was smirking at her, then at DIamond Tiara and Silver Spoon to make sure that no newspaper was in sight.

“How are you today? I’ve been telling Silvey all about your missions, and the mission wrap-up meetings - I was there, remember? - and how organized the three of you are!” Diamond Tiara’s voice was cheery, and sugary sweet. A feeling of doubt rose in Scootaloo’s head, but she pushed it aside.

Silver Spoon spoke: “I was impressed when Diamond told me. I mean, we could all learn from you three; organization and time management, and helping others rather than yourselves.”

Scootaloo grinned, as relaxation began to settle in her. “Oh, well… I mean, thanks! Always happy to help.” Scootaloo cursed the blush rising in her cheeks, but at least it took her attention away from the heaviness that constantly resided in her head.

The bell rang for school. As usual, Diamond Tiara was the first to speak: “Oh dear, better get to class! Bye, Scootaloo! And hey - please tell us when the next mission wrap-up meeting is! And… It’s okay if Silvey comes too, right?”

“Oh… for sure.” Suspicious disbelief rose in the back of Scootaloo’s mind despite her inner reassurance that the fillies were not causes of her problems. Like many times, Scootaloo ignored her thoughts and said buy to the two fillies, before rushing to park her scooter. At recess, or some time throughout the day, she would have to schedule an emergency CMC meeting - one that, for this time, should consist of the three Crusaders alone. She would just need to find a time to tell them…

Calling CMC’s

Emergency meeting; please meet at clubhouse at 4 p.m.

One of the rules among the CMC’s was that serious matters - among them being emergency meetings - must be delivered by note, for confidential reasons. The downside of being a young filly was that most of your day was taken up by school, where there was little to no privacy or free time. That made a safe, private place to exchange discussion practically unreachable.

The CMC’s learned their lesson a year or so earlier, were searching in vain for a place to eat their lunch in private. They found a quiet place only to find Button Mash, a transfer student, playing his video games on his Joyboy a foot away. And that was the most isolated place on school property. Despite her nerves, Scootaloo chuckled at the memory.

Good thing they’d all be in high school soon, when things - hopefully - wouldn’t be so restrictive that all the young ponies were practically in chains.

Scootaloo, following the risk-taking tactics of her brave and loyal role model Rainbow Dash, had taken the HUGE risk of passing the note among her friends in class. Instinctively, the two other friends shared it among each discreetly.

Now came the hard part: explanations of Scootaloo’s inner struggles.

The two other friends arrived within five minutes of the time frame. But the the minutes had dragged relentlessly. Scootaloo, overtaken by nerves, had spent those minutes pacing, repeatedly going over what to say, and attempting to calm her racing heart.

Scootaloo could hardly remember a time when she opened herself up to other ponies. That time with with the flag-carrying routine incident had been relatively minor, and short. This time, Scootaloo was officially opening herself up, rather than seeking a small amount of condolence to get her through another month. And, despite these two ponies being her closest friends, the pegasus couldn’t help worrying that things wouldn’t turn out as needed.

The thoughts continued to race in Scootaloo’s head until until Scootaloo heard a “hi”. There were Applebloom and Sweetie Belle, side by side, at the doorway.

“H-hi girls, thanks for coming.” Scootaloo smiled wide, brightly. Her smile was incredibly wide - in fact - it was so obviously forced.

The other two friends noticed this, for they didn’t smile back. They continued to stand at the doorway, looking at Scootaloo with concern.

It was Applebloom who spoke first: “Scoot, a think we ‘ave an idea ‘bout what this meetin’s about.” Sweetie Belle nodded in agreement.

Scootaloo started, the shock breaking her smile. “W-what do you mean? You’re saying…” her eyes narrowed in suspicion. “Have you been spying on me in my sleep?” Due to her low self confidence, the very idea of being spied on while dreaming caused Scootaloo’s cheeks to flush out of embarrassment, despite the narrow stare she managed to maintain.

The eyes of her two friends widened in surprise: “What? No we- Scootaloo, we’re your friends. We don’t need to spy on you to know what’s wrong.” Sweetie Belle spoke in a sincere tone, her emerald eyes shining with concern. She came up closer to Scootaloo, who began to see her own flustered reflection in those wide eyes. “All we know is that this meeting is about you, and what you’ve been going through. What we would like to know is… what that thing is.

The three ponies sat on the floor. A brief moment of silence ensued. Scootaloo racked her brain, thinking of what to say. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and spoke:

“I.. I mentioned you spying on me in my sleep because… in my dreams, I found out the cause for my problems.” It took a few moments for the words to come out: “I have been upset about being unable to fly.” Scootaloo paused, then continued: “Because… I want to be able to fly.”

There was a pause. Then, Sweetie Belle whispered: “We know.”

Scootaloo told her friends about the dream she had, while they listened intently. About the nightmare, about meeting Princess Luna, and finally coming to a realization about her inner struggles.

Applebloom seemed more concerned about the root of the problem: “Are you sure it ain’t Diamond Tiara for making you feel bad about yerself? Because…” her eyes grew sad. “We both know what happened.”

Confusion raked Scootaloo’s mind, followed by frustration about it being so hard to get her point across. Who is to say I can’t have problems? Who is to say that just because I appeared so bright and cheerful in the past, I can’t possibly be sad now?

Ignoring the conflict in her brain, Scootaloo breathed loudly before continuing: “No, you guys, it is not Diamond Tiara.”

“But you dreamed ‘bout her, didn’tcha?” Applebloom was so persistent, it was almost as though she herself wanted Diamond Tiara to be the reason behind all this. “Yer dreams tell ya the truth, and in yer dreams, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon-”

“Applebloom. Listen to what Scootaloo has to say. Please stop blaming Diamond Tiara.” Sweetie Belle, the mediator, looked at Scootaloo. “Your problem is just that you want to fly, isn’t it?”

Any stimulated thoughts against their former rival that had begun rising simmered down, as Scootaloo forced herself to look upon the truth - the one that Princess Luna had told her. “Yes. But my dream was blaming it on Diamond Tiara and SIlver Spoon, because they…” How should I put this… “They represent how I feel. “Yes, I’ve been thinking a lot about the times they made fun of me for being unable to fly, like during our flag carrying routine and, well, maybe it is sort of their fault. But either way…”

“You just want... to fly,” chimed in Sweetie Belle. Hey eyes looked even sadder now than they had earlier. “You want to be like your role model, Rainbow Dash. Isn’t that right? Because she was in the dream.”

“...I… I think that’s a part of it.” Scootaloo’s eyes turned downcast. She then spoke quietly: They began to sting as she thought of all those times watching Rainbow Dash fly through the air, do creative swoops and swirls, control weather clouds… while she herself could barely get a foot off the ground. “Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon, at one point… they brought up that I should have started flying ages ago-”

“But what in tarnation does that got to do with anythin?!” Applebloom was now incredibly persistent to prevent Scootaloo from going down the dark path of self hatred she was already on.. “You see why I was so concerned ‘bout it being ‘bout Diamond Tiara?! She hurt you. That’s why she’s in yer nightmares, that’s why you feel so bad now!”

Scootaloo began to stiffen herself against the anger and frustration of her strong-minded friend. “Well, so what if it is? You are missing the point! I’ve always wanted to fly, even before I even knew Diamond Tiara existed! But now I’m fourteen and…” the voice trailed off into sadness. “I may… never fly.” The tears welling in Scootaloo’s eyes reminded her of that one day with Rainbow Dash, after having been humiliated by Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon: But… what if my wings never grow? What if I never fly?

Then, Princess Luna’s words came back. It felt almost as though she was speaking to Scootaloo through her head, or maybe it was just a memory:

Friendship is always key. No pony should take on everything alone. That’s what you’ve been trying to do, and your nightmare displays the outcome: You are broken inside, and desperate.

Scootaloo looked up, staring at her friends firmly. “What I need to do no is to not think about Diamond Tiara, or Silver Spoon. What would help me… would be if you helped me to fly.”

The eyes of her two friends looked wide with surprise, and some confusion. It was Applebloom who spoke first:

“Scootaloo, I need ta be honest. How can me - an earth pony - and Sweetie Belle - a unicorn - help a pegasus like you fly? A’ mean, for us to help you… I know that you have extreme ways, Scoot.”

The question left Scootaloo stumped, and somewhat defeated. Hear she had thought her encounter with Princess Luna and the advice she had received would be the answer to her problems. But now…

“You know what? I’m up for it.” Sweetie Belle stood up proudly. “I’m up for the task. It’s a CMC mission, right?” Sweetie Belle came close to Scootaloo, grinning with sparkling emerald eyes. “The princess told you that we are destined to help ourselves, and each other?”

“Yes.” Scootaloo spoke quietly. All that happened in the day was so much for her to take in, and the constant emotional roller coaster between her, defiant Applebloom, and compassionate Sweetie Belle…

“Sweetie Belle… Scootaloo…” now Applebloom spoke softly. In a voice similar to what her sister would use when about to say an upcoming sentence. “You sure ‘bout this?” There was some kind of emotion in her eyes; a mix of worry and hesitant doubt. “Cause, I don’t wanna get set on unreal ideas or nothin-”

“This is unreal? That’s like saying that our cutie marks are unreal!” Now Sweetie Belle, in her mode of being fully determined, as practically face-to-face with Applebloom as she made her point. “To say that helping Scootaloo fly is unreal is the same as saying our missions are only figments of a large dream! I mean, yes, it may sound hard, but that doesn’t have to mean we can’t do it!” Overcome now with sensitive determination to help her friend, Sweetie Belle grinned. “Applebloom. I don’t know about you, but I also got a visit from Princess Luna in my dreams at one time. And when I followed her instructions to help fix Rarity’s outfits so that she could please her favourite designer, good things happened. So who’s to say that no good things will come out of this.”

Scootaloo felt somewhat related at the sight of Sweetie Belle being so provocative; it felt almost like a dream. Hope began to rise through the heavy fog that had accompanied her throughout the day. “So… do you think you could use your magic, Sweetie Belle? To… make me fly?”

Applebloom spoke: “I’m not sure that’s a real-”

Sweetie Belle shut her with a hoof. “‘Unrealistic’, you say?” She burst out laughing, then thought for a bit: “... that said, it may be a bit hard…”

“Listen, girls.” Now Applebloom stood up. “I think it’s safe to say that I’m in on this, because I care about Scootaloo, I want to help… and although I may be hesitant, I realize that it’s two against one, and, well, maybe Scootaloo has a point in this bein’ a mission.” Applebloom closed her eyes, and sighed. “I’m in, but on one condition.”

“Yes?” Said Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo at the same time, Scootaloo only more with a determined look in her eye, adding “What is it?”

Applebloom said, concern still in her face: “Can we please try to do this safely, and not let this mission get too dangerous?”

“Y-yes, of course.” Scootaloo grinned. “No ziplining, no throwing anypony off a cliff, got it. We need to do this the CMC way.” The realization was getting to settle in: Her dream was coming true. Scootaloo would finally be able to fly. And, for the sake of the cooperation for all CMC’s, she would do it the safe way. Even if it took another year, it would happen. And I’m ready.

Author's Note:

It took two drafts to write this one without getting carried away with the emotional part. Otherwise this was enjoyable to write because I love drama.

Comments

[Haver]

Nice