The Rainbow Connection

by Slippin_Sweetie

The Lovers, The Dreamers, And Me...

“Get up, wipe the dirt and mud off yourself, and try again!” barked Rainbow Dash, her voice full of that determined and motivated fever and drive.

Scootaloo peeled herself off the ground, her legs and waist burned with an intense heat and a near-numbing feeling. The young filly had attempted to do flight drills with her idol Rainbow Dash. But like all the times before, she had failed.

But just as before, she refused to let failure crush her spirit, although she couldn’t prevent the sour, bitter taste of defeat from fermenting in her mouth. Her head lowered as she let out a small disappointed sigh, scraping the layer of mud that had glued itself to her torso.

Rainbow lowered her aviators down the bridge of her nose as she winced, biting her lower lip in a moment of regret. Perhaps she had been too hard on the kid, fluttering over with a sweat towel and wiping the excess muck off the filly to the best of her ability.

“Er…take five.” she chortled awkwardly.

Scootaloo let out an exasperated chuckle, “Y-yeah…” she glanced up at Rainbow, a gentle warmth pulsating in her chest as her breath stiffened. The filly desperately fought the blush threatening to bloom across her face.

Rainbow Dash was just so…cool? Amazing? Spectacular? Awesome? Aside from her physical feats and heroics, she was fun, and the only person who seemed to actively believe in her, and not just said she believed in her either. She actively supported and attempted to train and strengthen the Pegasus’ wings and body for flight.

Perhaps both of them wanted to placate the other’s expectations of greatness, or maybe it was a mutual non-spoken idea of improving Scootaloo's motivation and self-confidence. In the back of Scootaloo’s mind was a gentle whisper of truth, telling her that she would never fly. Something that used to terrify and upset her became something strangely motivating.

To Scootaloo, it was just another pony telling her that she couldn’t do something she wanted, and Rainbow Dash told her that no one could tell her to stop believing in herself or force her to lose hope, only she could allow herself to succumb to those feelings. Lighting a flame in her heart and underneath her hooves that drove her to push herself.

But it wasn’t just the prospect of being a great flyer and Wonderbolt that made her want to do sit-ups with her stubby wings every day or lifting weights with her wings. It was to prove to Rainbow Dash she was worthy, worthy of being her protégé and to hopefully impress her enough to like her, not that she didn’t like Scootaloo already, but…she wanted her…affection.

What would she do to be Rainbow Dash’s number-one pony? Her closest friend, her main confidant, her…special somepony? Scootaloo’s eyes trailed up to Rainbow’s, a worn, tired smile crossing her lips. She had been too tired to speak, taking a moment to rest and breathe in the fresh summertime breeze. A sudden gush of water sprayed the filly, snapping out of her daydream as Scootaloo let out a surprised squeal.

“Haha! C’mon, Scootaloo, get your head in the game! Now’s not the time to be in Lala land!” snorted Rainbow Dash, resting atop a rain cloud she must have grabbed during Scootaloo’s daydreaming.

The young filly shook herself like a dog in reply, soaking Rainbow in her muddy, sweat-infused water back at the mare.

“Ack! Hey!” whined the mare, shielding her face with her front left leg.

Scootaloo giggled, “Hey, serves you right for soaking me during my rest!” she flashed a playful smirk at Rainbow, slowly resting on the ground as she let out a huff.

Rainbow rolled her eyes as she floated toward the filly on her cloud, “What was so important that you had to go off into space then?”

Scootaloo stammered, “U-uh well…”

“Oh, I get it.” Rainbow said with an ere of authority, “You’re totally thinking about the new Daring Do book, aren’t you?”

Scootaloo swallowed the lump that was forming in the base of her throat, “Yeah! Uh, which one was that again?”

Rainbow Dash scoffed, “Uh, 'Daring Do And The Secret Of The Crimson Crypt'?”

Scootaloo nervously chuckled, “Oh huh…yeah…” she sighed.

Rainbow Dash raised a suspicious brow at the filly, “Is that REALLY what you were thinking about?”

Scootaloo quickly nodded, “Yup! Positive…” she avoided her gaze, eyes resting on the dirt beneath her.

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes, “C’mon, SOMETHING is on your mind, and it isn’t Daring Do. Is it school?”

“No,” replied Scootaloo.

“Is it finding your Cutie Mark?”

“No.”

“Something about Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon bothering you?”

“Nope.”

“Ugh, c’mon, give me a hint! Is it about Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle!?”

Scootaloo laughed, “No, and no.”

Rainbow Dash groaned as she crossed her front legs and hmpf’d, “Alright then keep your secrets…but I’m going to find out!”

Scootaloo smiled, “You will, I promise…when everything is just right….”

Rainbow tilted her head curiously at the filly, “When everything is just right? What do you mean?”

Scootaloo rested a head on her hoof, wincing a bit as she put tension on her sore leg, “You’ll see, but I need to keep working til it’s all perfect. I mean, who likes a half-baked surprise?”

Rainbow squinted at the filly as she sighed, “I guess that makes sense…just don’t get yourself hurt….” her voice was unusually soft and caring in that instance; Rainbow Dash quickly realized her error and stiffened up her posture and tone, “I mean, it’d be pretty bad for your training schedule if you did!”

Scootaloo slowly peeled herself off the ground as she stretched her back legs, much akin to an old hound dog getting up to fetch its dinner, “Don’t worry, Rainbow Dash, I won’t let you down.”

Rainbow Dash grinned, “I know you won’t... Now let’s do some flapping, Jacks! On the double!”

Scootaloo felt her heart flutter; knowing that Rainbow still had faith in her felt nice. It was nourishing and filling, like a hardy meal after a long day of training. She sprouted up on her back legs, her tiny wings flapping as she did her Jacks.

“One! Two! Three! C’mon Scootaloo, let’s make it to fifty!” cheered Rainbow Dash, tweeting her whistle.

“Yes, ma’am!” shouted Scootaloo.

Author's Note:

Believe or not, I don't like Rainbow Dash as a character. This story in particular was inspired by the song of the same name sung by Jim Henson (Kermit The Frog) and my partner https://www.fimfiction.net/user/174091/ponyfag-not-brony

Comments

[zx29b]

Believe or not, I don't like Rainbow Dash as a character.

As a character, Raindbow Dash always felt incomplete to me. She spent so much of the series just bouncing the idiot ball on her head that it hardly ever felt like she was anything more complex than a dumb jock archetype. The only enduring character dynamic that she had with any of the other characters was the running competition she had with Applejack. The "reading with Twilight" thing never went anywhere, and the awesome thing that she had going with Fluttershy in Season Two when it seemed that, inexplicably, Rainbow was under the impression that Fluttershy was capable of absolutely anything and so was constantly carrying her into harm's way--that just stopped. Even more so than Applejack, Rainbow Dash felt like she never quite made it off of the drafting board.

It is certainly possible to imagine a more fleshed-out Rainbow Dash, but she has to be cobbled together from bits that were scattered across the series' run. The crippling self-doubt from "Sonic Rainboom," the supreme--maybe unwarranted--confidence that she has in her friends (Fluttershy being the prime example), the self-sufficient sense of humor with a complete disregard for whether or not anyone else is laughing that we saw in Season One, the penchant for the dramatic to rival Rarity that appeared in "Rarity Investigates!", and the lazy, irresponsible slacking that Faust imagined would, all together, make for the beginnigns of an interesting character. Unfortunately, those elements never really came together.