Success

by BronyWriter

Praise

A small bell chimed above the door as Scootaloo pushed her way into Sugarcube Corner. She took a deep breath, and for the first time in a few days, she managed a small smile. The feeling of the warm bakery combined with the pleasing smell of the rows of baked good behind the glass counter caused some of the tension that had been a constant companion since the flight test fade away.

"Scootaloo! Hey, Scoots!"

Scootaloo's smile widened a bit more when she turned to the source of the voice and saw Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle sitting at a corner booth waving at her. Sweetie Belle had a tall vanilla milkshake in front of her, while Apple Bloom had chosen a blueberry scone and a cup of coffee. Black, if Scootaloo remembered right.

"Hey, girls," Scootaloo replied, sliding into the booth next to Apple Bloom. "Sorry I'm a little late, but I got a bit of a slow start today, and it's been throwing everything off."

"Aw, not worries, Scoots," Apple Bloom said with a wave of her hoof. "We haven't been here that long anyway. We just got our stuff, so this is actually pretty good timing."

"Yeah, I haven't even finished my whipped cream yet!" Sweetie Belle scooped a bit of whipped cream off of the top of her milkshake with her straw and poked some on Scootaloo's muzzle. "See? Just got it."

Scootaloo giggled and wiped the whipped cream away with the back of her hoof. "I'm glad you haven't been waiting too long. I know you hate drinking cold coffee, Apple Bloom, though you I could never figure out why you take it black."

"Ah don't." Apple Bloom nudged the coffee cup. "Started drinkin' it with two sugars now."

Scootaloo frowned and tilted her head. "Huh. That's weird. When did you start doing that?"

"'Bout six months ago," Apple Bloom replied. "Gave it a shot and liked it well enough that Ah just kept on goin' with it."

"Dang, it has been a long time," Scootaloo said with a shake of her head. "Last time we got together, you swore you'd never drink anything but black coffee. Now here you are with two sugars! What's next? Is Sweetie Belle going to start eating plain oatmeal for breakfast?"

"Now that one won't ever happen," Sweetie Belle said before popping the cherry on top of the mound of whipped cream into her mouth. "I know that ponies change, but that's too ridiculous."

"Well, we'll just have to get together more frequently than once every six months, then," Scootaloo said with a nod. "Otherwise, who knows what you two will be like?"

"Who knows?" Sweetie Belle said with a shrug. "But who cares about that right now? We're here to celebrate you! You passed your flight test!"

"And Ah bet ya worked up an appetite flyin' all the way here from Cloudsdale," Apple Bloom chimed in. "Go on, get somethin' ta eat. Our treat."

Scootaloo flinched back and flattened her ears. "Oh, no, I couldn't ask you two to do that for me. I'm not all that hungry and--"

"Hogwash. Stop tryin' ta be polite, and eat up." Apple Bloom turned to the counter and waved. "Hey! Pinkie! Scoots here is real hungry!"

Pinkie Pie's ears instantly perked up, and she bounced out from behind the counter with her usual huge smile. The years had washed off of her, and she seemed like the Pinkie Pie Scootaloo had always known growing up in Ponyville. Always there with a smile and the offer of some kind of baked good.

"Hey, Scootaloo!" Pinkie said as she stopped right in front of their table. "Been a while. Congrats on passing your flight test!"

"Thanks, Pinkie," Scootaloo replied with a small smile. "It was nothing."

'Aw, don't sell yourself short, Scootaloo!" Pinkie Pie replied. "I'll bet you did a super amazing job and the judges were like 'wow! That was the best flight test we've ever seen! Make this awesome filly a manager at the weather factory at once!'"

Scootaloo snorted and shook her head. "No, I landed and they instantly called the next pony."

"Well, it's probably what they were thinking, but they just didn't want to make the other ponies who hadn't taken the test yet feel bad," Pinkie Pie said.

"Well maybe, but they're not tripping over themselves to make me the head of the CWC," Scootaloo said. "Rainbow's probably going to pull some strings to get me some entry level position in a few weeks here. You know, just something to get my own bits while I think of what I want to do with my life."

"In the meantime, this filly here is hungry," Apple Bloom said, motioning to Scootaloo. "Our treat."

"Oh, no, seriously, girls, I'm not that hungry," Scootaloo insisted.

Sweetie Belle sighed and shook her head before throwing her foreleg around Scootaloo's shoulders. "Scoots, you don't have to lie to us. We're your friends, and friends make sure that their friends are okay, and right now, you're in the best confectionary in all of Equestria with the offer to get whatever you want. If the issue is that you don't know what you want and are just trying to be polite, we'll just have to order you one of everything and see what you like best."

Scootaloo raised an eyebrow and looked at Apple Bloom, who gave her a mock serious nod. A glance over at Pinkie had the same result. After a few moments, she groaned and facehooved. "You girls are the worst. How could you threaten me like that? Me? Your friend?"

"Looks like she can't decide," Apple Bloom said with with a sad shake of her head. "Welp, guess that makes it pretty easy for us. Pinkie--"

"Alright, alright, fine. One hot chocolate and a lightly toasted chocolate chip croissant."

"Coming right up! We've got a batch of those going right now, so I'll get that to you in a few minutes," Pinkie said before bouncing back to the front counter.

"See? Was that so hard?" Sweetie Belle said before pulling her milkshake back over to her and licking up some of the whipped cream that had started to melt. "You need to loosen up a bit. You look like you did when you'd fail one of Miss Cheerilee's tests. Glum for the rest of the day."

"Yeah, what's got ya down, Scoots?" Apple Bloom asked. "Everythin' alright?"

"Orion didn't make it," Scootaloo said, her voice barely above a whisper.

The jovial mood of the other two instantly evaporated. Apple Bloom froze as she reached for her coffee, and Sweetie Belle gasped and put her hooves up to her mouth, tears beginning to form in her eyes.

"Oh my gosh, I'm sorry," Sweetie Belle squeaked. "We didn't mean to make you--"

"It's fine," Scootaloo muttered with a wave of her hoof. "I should have told you two earlier." She sighed and thunked her head down on the table. "I guess... I guess I just thought that if I wrote and told you two about it, it'd become real. I'd have to face that it wasn't some nightmare that I can wake up from. I think I always hoped that I'd walk out of my house one day and he'd be there, smiling that confident smile at me that I liked. He'd been given a second chance to take his test, or they'd accept that he just wanted to help somepony. That's what it all boiled down to. The first filly broke her wing trying some of the maneuvers, and he wanted to help her instead of taking the test, so they just failed him instantly and... that was it. By the time I'd finished my test, he was gone."

"Wow," Apple Bloom muttered. "Ah'm real sorry, Scoots. We're sorry we made fun of you a bit. If there's anything you need..."

"Thanks." Scootaloo squeezed her eyes shut to prevent the tears that had formed from spilling out. "I always thought we'd be together forever. Even if we didn't become each others' special somepony, I thought we'd at least always be friends. Nothing against you girls, but you're not pegasi. Things are a lot different up in Cloudsdale, and he just... got it. He got me."

"Yeah, I know how that goes," Sweetie Belle said, idly stirring her milkshake with her straw. "I'm glad that the pony tribes are united and all that, but there's still stuff about being a unicorn that the two of you couldn't understand. I could talk to you about the struggles with getting your magic in late and you'd generally understand, but you two could never get it."

"Same here with earth pony magic." A slight frowns creased Apple Bloom's face. "Though Ah still haven't ever figured out why they do the whole flight test and banishment thing. Ah mean, Sweetie Belle's magic came in a little late, but there wasn't some big test that she had to do in Canterlot where they would have banished her to, Ah dunno, some farm where Old Unicornia used to be, or somethin' like that."

"Well, a lot is at stake with pegasi," Scootaloo replied. "If we're not at the top of our game, the weather would go completely out of control, and you wouldn't be able to farm anything if we just left everything the way it was, or... I dunno, you wouldn't be able to farm as much stuff. Equestria would collapse without us, so we have to be perfect. If it isn't just the strongest and best pegasi that help Equestria, we all fail." Scootaloo quietly sighed and shook her head. "Or... I dunno, that's always how it's been explained to me. Something like that."

"But without earth ponies, there's no food to grow period," Apple Bloom said. "That's the whole point of the Hearth's Warming play, remember? We're all our best if we work together with the other two, so it ain't like pegasi are the most important tribe."

"I know, and that's not... I mean... that's not quite what it mean. It's..." Scootaloo groaned and leaned back in her seat, staring up at the ceiling. "If there's a bad harvest, that sucks, but it's not the end of Equestria. Imagine if we had a pony who failed her flight test... I dunno, working in the Cyclone Room at the weather factory. Ponies could get really hurt. And... You know..."

"Sooo maybe just don't give that pony a job in the Cyclone Room," Sweetie Belle said. "Not every pegasus works for the CWC."

"Right, it's just..." Scootaloo growled and straightened up. "It's hard to explain. Maybe Rainbow Dash could do a better job of it than me. She's worked at the CWC for a while now, and she's the most awesome pegasus there is. She could explain better."

"Ah dunno," Apple Bloom said with an uncertain look on her face. "Ah've had a few pegasi try ta explain it ta me, but it ain't ever really made much sense. Some ponies are better at stuff than others, and some just don't pick up on stuff so fast."

"Like me and my magic," Sweetie Belle chimed in.

"Right. Doesn't make Sweetie Belle a failure, and she don't need ta be banished because of it. Everypony is different."

"Yeah. It's especially weird that they banished Orion because he was trying to help somepony," Sweetie Belle said. "You'd think they'd be really impressed that he wanted to take care of her. Ponies like that benefit any society."

"Yeah, but she failed her flight test, so..." Scootaloo groaned and waved her hoof. "Again, Rainbow Dash could probably explain it better."

"If you say so," Apple Bloom said, exchanging a glance with Sweetie Belle. "Banishing ponies is just weird. How come nopony has ever tried ta come back from where they send them? And where do they send them anyway?"

Scootaloo shrugged. "Some Old Pegasopolis territory, I think. I dunno. Nothing I could find on a map. Nopony really thinks about it up there. 'Don't fail the Flock or you'll get banished' is essentially something we take with our foal food. I've never really thought about it too much. Nopony does. There's a story we hear that a reporter tried to find out exactly where they get sent once, but since she was betraying the Flock by trying to help flood our society with failures by bringing them back from banishment, she got banished, too."

"Is that a true story?" Apple Bloom said with a raised eyebrow.

Scootaloo shrugged. "Dunno. It's one that every pegasus has heard a hundred thousand times at least; enough that I don't really bother thinking about it all that much."

"And here we are! One hot chocolate and one chocolate chip croissant right out of the oven!"

Scootaloo flinched back at the sudden appearance of Pinkie Pie, but before she could react, Pinkie had placed her order on the table.

"Oh, uh, thanks, Pinkie. It looks great."

Pinkie beamed. "Yeah, I hope you like it. We're trying out something new with the croissants, so let me know if you like them."

"Will do, Pinkie," Scootaloo said, picking it up. "It looks delicious."

"Cool! If you like it, I'll give you a couple more to take up to Rainbow Dash." At that, Pinkie seemed to deflate a little, and her wide smile fell slightly. "And tell her to not be such a stranger. We'd be happy to see her again. Really happy."

"Oh, um..." Scootaloo averted her gaze to the table. "Yeah. Will do."

The group was silent for a few moments as Pinkie walked back to the counter. Apple Bloom broke the silence first. "Yeah, Applejack was tellin' me ta tell you that, too."

"Same with Rarity," Sweetie Belle chimed in. "And I know the rest of them feel the same. My sister won't say what exactly made them fall out, but since then, the other five have started growing close again these last few years. Rarity said that they'd love to see Rainbow Dash again to try to mend things."

"Yeah, Rainbow Dash doesn't really talk about that kind of stuff to me," Scootaloo said. "I don't know what happened either, and I'm sure that she'd like things to go back to the way they were, but she's... I dunno, really busy, I guess. She has a lot of responsibility at the CWC, and a lot of days are her getting up, going to work, coming home from work, then going right to bed."

"She could at least write every once in a while," Apple Bloom grumbled.

Scootaloo flinched at that. "Y-yeah. I guess. And I'll try to get better at writing to you two as well. The last few months have been kind of rough. Wish I could come down and see you more, but that'll be especially hard once I get a job."

"Ah know, and we'll do our best to write to ya, too." Apple Bloom smirked and crossed her forelegs. "And it'd probably make you write back. Make sure you wouldn't 'forget'."

Scootaloo snorted and rolled her eyes. "As if I'd forget you two. I'll try to make it down to see you more often."

'Aww, you girls are the best!" Sweetie Belle squeed before grabbing the other two in a tight hug. "Cutie Mark Crusaders forever!"

"Forever!" Scootaloo and Apple Bloom replied.

It's not like I really have anypony up there, Scootaloo thought.

* * * *

Scootaloo took a deep breath and adjusted her white workers outfit and hard hat.

"Alright, day one at the CWC," she said to herself. "Goal: survive the first day. Next goal? Survive the second."

It wasn't the best pep talk, but Scootaloo decided that it would do. She stepped out of the locker room and followed the signs to the Rainbow Room. The other ponies were already going about their business in the never ending grind of making the beautiful rainbows for all of Equestria. Before she could truly take in her surroundings, she heard a shout.

"Hey, newbie! Scoots, or whatever. Head up to Station One. We got some Spectra coming in!"

Scootaloo nodded at him and flew over to Station One just as a door opened in the ceiling, lowering a large, battered container covered in old, dry Spectra; the mixed colors creating a sickly black color on the steel walls of the vat. The machine lowered the vat to above Station One, then with a shout of "clear!" from one of the ponies, the bottom opened up, dumping pure Spectra into the hole in front of the gathered ponies.

Scootaloo stared deep into the depths of the pool of pure color as the workers around her gathered their tools. It was unlike anything she had ever seen before. Even the bright colors of Rainbow Dash's mane couldn't compare to the bright red Spectra in front of her.

One of the workers next to Scootaloo noticed her staring and let out a small chuckle.

"It's really beautiful, isn't it?"

"Yeah," Scootaloo whispered as she stared, transfixed. "Beautiful."

Comments

[Unity Bringer]

I loved reading more of this story!

[Twisted Code]

I actually started tearing up a little at Scootaloo's rationalization because of the "fourth wall knowledge" we all have. That was painful, and so well done.
Likewise with Rainbow Dash's falling out with the other elements. Only hinted at, but you knew what you were doing with it.

[overdue]

i wonder why no non-pegasi are trying to stop the banishment practice, it seems like it would be more of an issue somewhere so tolerant as equestria

[Indigo Storyheart]

I think this needs either another chapter or a sequel story where Scootaloo ends up working in the factory and maybe even becomes the successor. It would be such a difference from the original sequel where she is some defeated.... I'm not sure what. Prisoner? Ghost? Hallucination? Anyways, just something to think about

[Rubystars]

I like how her friends are trying to deprogram Scootaloo from the brainwashing a bit. The isolation from them is probably deliberate on Cloudsdale's part. They wouldn't want the brainwashing broken after all.

Also the story does feel a bit incomplete. Scootaloo never finds out how the rainbows are made. She never finds out why Rainbow Dash has changed so much, etc.