Soaring Shadows

by Asterid

Just You and I, Defying Gravity

Chapter 4 – Just You and I, Defying Gravity

As the last of the food was eaten and the dishes cleared away by Twilights near limitless number of unseen servants, Scootaloo tapped her hoof against her father’s barrel, trying to get his attention.

“Yes, detjonys?” He asked, looking down into the large shimmering eyes of his daughter.

“Can we go outside and have our first flying lesson,” She asked, giving him the dreaded Puppy Dog Eyes, “Please, Daddy?”

“Ack!,” He replied, mocking a heart attack, “Tone down the cuteness, little one. If it’s alright with Princessa, we can go outside and have our first lesson.”

“Please, Twilight? Please, please, please?” Scootaloo begged, directing her gaze at the resident princess.

“Celestia, that look should be illegal,” Twilight scoffed, “Yes, of course you can. Do you mind if the rest of us join you?”

“Yay! Yes, come one lets go. Come on, come on, come on.” Scootaloo said, practically bouncing in place.

“Come along everyone,” Sombra said, leading the young filly out to the front lawn of the castle, “Best we redirect all of this energy in a more fruitful direction.”

Directing Scootaloo to base of a nearby tree, Sombra sat on his flank and gestured for Scootaloo to do the same.

“Now, Scoatalow, the first thing I want you to do is close your eyes and clear your mind,” He instructed, “We are going to have you tap into your magical core. Once you feel the energy, let it expand around you, don’t try to direct it yet.”

Closing her eyes, Scootaloo tried clearing her mind but the excitement of meeting her father coupled with the exhilaration of finally learning to fly kept distracting her. Scrunching her eyes tightly, she began taking deep breathes in and out, eventually quieting her mind enough to begin to feel the pull of her magical core. Finally forcing her way beyond the final internal hurdle, she felt the energy of her core erupt from within her as it expanded through pathways she didn’t know existed. Unknown to the filly, a dazzling corona of dark blue energy surrounded her body, emitting small sparks of static electricity.

“Well done, detjonys,” Sombra said, causing Scootaloo to open her eyes, “You truly are your mother’s daughter with that much magical potential. Now, let go of your hold, and let your magic recede.”

Following his instructions, Scootaloo closed her eyes again and forced her magic back down. Feeling the new warmth fall away, Scootaloo lay down on the cool dirt beneath her, panting softly.

“Relax and breathe little one,” Sombra said, nuzzling the orange filly, “The first time usually takes a bit out of you. It gets easier with time.”

“Tha…that was awesome,” Scootaloo panted, before shaking and standing up straight, “Ok, lets do this.”

“Really? Not feeling any fatigue?” Sombra asked, tilting his head to the side.

“Nope, I’m good, I got this!” She shouted, hoof pumping.

“Ok, summon your energy again and this time focus it through your hooves,” He said, demonstrating it for her, “Imagine that there’s a small invisible platform underneath you…”

********

As the girls watched from a respectable distance, Applejack took note of the look on Twilight’s face as she watched the large stallion interact with the small filly. AJ could see a slight smile appear on the lavender mare’s face as the feathers in her wings fluffed up unconsciously. Walking over to her friend, AJ leaned in and whispered to the princess.

“Bit for your thoughts there Twi?” She said with a smirk.

“Bit might not get you much,” Twilight replied, “He’s very calm and patient with her. It’s also interesting to see a different school of magic firsthand.”

“Yeah, he’s definitely showing he’s got potential to be a good Pa to that little filly,” Applejack said before grinning at Twilight, “He’s pretty easy on the eyes too, dontcha think?”

“Applejack,” Twilight hissed, “That is completely inappropriate.”

“Oh please, Miss Princess,” AJ scolded while wiggling her eyebrows, “Unless your barn door swings the other way, t’aint nothing wrong with admitting he’s a fine-looking piece of eye candy.”

“Yes, but he’s in my custody until I’ve cleared him,” Twilight replied with a huff, “It wouldn’t look good for me to be…appraising him like a piece of cake. Maybe when things have changed and he has proven he has reformed, if he’s still available I could consider the possibility of asking him out.”

“That there’s a lot of maybes and possiblies and could bes,” Applejack snorted, “That’s assuming that some other enterprising mare won’t see how good he is with his youngin’ and snatch him up quick fast and inahurry. I mean, he looks plenty strong. He might be able to help out plenty around the farm.”

Giving the orange farm pony a scandalizing look, Twilight turned bright red before scuffing her hoof.

“Just because I said it was inappropriate right now doesn’t mean it always will be,” Twilight said, flaring her nostrils as her wings flared, “Yes, I can admit he’s acting like a good dad right now, but I need to make sure it isn’t just that, an act. Also, I won’t deny that he’s got that dark, northern prince aesthetic going for him that is very appealing to some ponies.”

“And would you be one of those ponies, Princessa?” Called a deep irritating voice from overhead.

Looking up, Twilight saw Sombra and Scootaloo leaning over a low flying cloud they were resting on over her head. Embarrassed by her admission, Twilight tried to do her best impression of Fluttershy, trying to hide behind her mane.

“Did you know he was up there.” She hissed at Applejack.

“You betcha,” The Farm pony said with a laugh.

“Stupid meddling Earth ponies…” Twilight mumbled under her breath.

“Hey Twilight, come on up here with Daddy and me,” Scootaloo called, “There’s plenty of room~”

“Now, now, Scoatalow, I believe Miss Applejack has embarrassed the Princessa enough without your help,” Sombra said, as he stood up on the cloud, “Lets take a little flight to that cloud over there by the tree. We’ll see how long you can stay in the air before you tire out.”

Rising gently into the air, both father and daughter slowly and gently began moving through the sky towards a different cloud away from the rest of the mares and fillies.

“That wasn’t nice Applejack,” Rarity scolded, “It was simply barbaric behaving like that.”

“Simmer your bustle there Rarity,” Applejack said, “Fer one thing, you yerself were starting to make goo goo eyes at that there stallion. Fer another, if that feller knew that Twilight here was interested, he might be able to admit to hisself at least that he has feelings for our little Princess here.”

“Oh he’s definitely interested~” Pinkie Pie called in a sing song voice, “We were talking earlier and we started talking about Scoot’s mom and then I brought up Twilight and he blushed really hard and his wings shot out like WOOSH and I told him that he needs to focus on being a good daddy to Scootaloo before he could even think about trying to have Twilight be her new mama.”

Hearing the explanation from the cotton candy colored mare brought a fierce blush to Twilight’s face.

He does like me, Twilight thought, secretly glancing at the retreating father-daughter duo in the sky.

He’s got a nice flank too, purred an appreciative voice within her mind.

And he’s acting like such a good dad, giggled a voice showing the same level of excitement as Pinkie Pie.

“Time will tell if things get that far girls,” Twilight said, hiding behind her hair again.

********

As Sombra and Scootaloo flew gently through the sky, Sombra’s thoughts kept drifting to the attractive lavender mare who quite literally held his life in her hooves. Landing on a cloud floating gently over a nearby tree, He rolled onto his back looking at the clouds passing overhead, a move that was soon mirrored by his amazing daughter. For a few minutes they lay there in a comfortable silence.

“Soooooo,” Scootaloo said, finally breaking the quiet moment, “you have a thing for Princess Twilight, huh?”

“That…is not something you need to worry about right now young lady,” Sombra said, trying to hide his blush, “What about you, any young colts or fillies that I need to meet?”

“I…Rainbow Dash says that mushy feelings make you weak and distract you from other more important things,” Scootaloo quoted, a light blush shading her own cheeks.

“You put a lot of importance on what the blue mare thinks, correct detjonys?” Sombra asked, sitting up.

“Well, yeah,” Scootaloo said proudly opening her tiny wings as wide as they would go, “She was the first one to tell me she thought my tricks on my scooter looked cool. She inspired me.”

“Then perhaps you should look down there,” He replied, pointing over the edge of the cloud.

Looking over the edge, Scootaloo saw Rainbow Dash lying on her back, resting her head on Fluttershy’s rear hooves as the butter yellow Pegasus fed her jellybeans. The look of pure adoration on both mare’s faces was clear even from the distance between the large group and the cloud Scootaloo was resting on.

“She looks so happy,” Scootaloo said with a giggle.

“Yes, it looks like it,” Sombra said, wrapping a wing around the filly’s back, “Do you think she’s still as impressive?”

“Of course, nothing’s gonna change how I feel about Dash,” Scootaloo said, “She’s my big sister.”

“Then you know that having feelings for another pony does not make you weak,” Sombra said, nuzzling her, “If anything, it makes you stronger having that special some pony in your life.”

“There’s a colt at school,” Scootaloo admitted, her blush returning in full force, “He’s an Earth pony named Brick Breaker.”

“Does he know your interested?” Sombra teased, raising an eyebrow.

“No, every time I try to talk to him I feel all squiggly inside and I start stuttering and falling over myself,” She replied, hanging her head, “He must think I’m a huge dork.”

“I had the same problem when I began courting your mother,” Sombra admitted, “I felt so foolish every time she was around. Then I actually worked up the courage to talk to her and everything just kind of feel into place. You should give this Brick Breaker a chance to know the real you.”

“I will,” Scootaloo said, a devious smile on her face, “But only if you give Twilight a chance too.”

“Who’s to say there’s anything between Princessa Twilight and myself?” Sombra asked.

“I might be 14,” Scootaloo scoffed, “But I’m not blind. You smile when you’re thinking about her and she watches you when she thinks no one’s looking.”

“Well…be that as it may,” Sombra stuttered, “Princessa has made it abundantly clear that she feels such a relationship would not be appropriate until she has judged me to be reformed. I can agree, from a leadership point of view, that it would not look good for a prisoner to be courting his warden.”

“Doesn’t stop you from flirting with her.” Scootaloo groused, folding her forehooves over her chest.

“Your very blunt for one so young,” Sombra said with a laugh, “I guess I will need to work hard to show that my reformation is not a temporary thing.”

“Well, to quote my unofficial big sister, ‘Anything worth doing takes hard work, commitment, and at least 20% awesomeness.’” Scootaloo said with a giggle, “Can I ask you something serious though?”

“You, be serious?” He joked, “Who are you and what have you done with my daughter.”

“Oh haha, Daddy,” Scootaloo said, a smile on her face, “Can we talk to Twilight about you helping me with my Family Appreciation Day Project. I know she’s giving you a visitation day every week, but the project is due in 2 weeks and I want to know everything about our family that I can learn!”

“We can talk to Princess Twilight about that,” Sombra replied, “Would not want my Scoatalow to do badly.”

“There’s…there’s one other thing I want your help with Daddy,” Scootaloo asked.

“What’s that, detjonys?” Sombra asked.

“I want my school stuff to show my real name,” She replied shyly, “I…I want everyone to know me as Scoatalow Sapphire Dawn.”

Hearing his daughter say those words filled Sombra with a deep sense of satisfaction and happiness. So much so that he lifted the filly into his hooves and hugged her tightly.

“I would be very proud to help you with that,” Sombra said, his voice cracking, “I know you are starting to get a good hoof on flying with gravity magic, but will you let your Daddy carry you this time?”

“Of course,” Scootaloo said.

As Sombra knelt down, Scootaloo gently climbed onto his back and made herself comfortable between his wings. Wrapping her forehooves around his neck, she held on tightly, not wanting to fall off.

“Brace yourself, little one.” He said, leaping off of the cloud and gliding gently to the rest of the group.

Landing gently and letting the filly climb off of his back, both father and daughter walked up to the resident princess, hopeful looks on their faces.

“Princess Twilight?” Scootaloo asked.

“Scootaloo, you don’t need to call me Princess,” Twilight answered, “We’re friends. How can I help you?”

“I wanna have my records and stuff updated to show my real name,” Scootaloo asked.

“That’s a big step,” Twilight said with a grin, “I mean I can talk to Mayor Mare. Might need to send a message to Celestia to let her know there’s another Princess that’s living in Ponyville though.”

“Wait, WHAT?!” Scootaloo shouted, leaping into the air and hanging there.