Dreams and Reality

by Antisocial Ind.

Chapter 5

A few weeks passed by, and Scootaloo was not happy or content in any way. She hardly spoke with her friends, didn't eat much, and never smiled. She rarely talked, and couldn't look in a mirror without flaring her wings and breaking down. Sometimes she got angry, and once even broke the mirror in the school bathroom. Either way, it always ended with her reliving that devastating moment. And Rainbow had had enough.

Scootaloo sat on her bed, head on her hooves, thinking about nothing. She heard the faint clicks of her door opening, followed by the soft patter of footsteps across the floor. She glanced to her left to see who it was; it was Rainbow Dash. Scootaloo replaced her head on her hooves. She felt a twinge of shame. A thought had crossed her mind a week and a half before that Rainbow may have been ashamed of Scootaloo for not being able to fly. When she regained herself, she was able to reason that Rainbow would never act in such a way, but it still caused her pain when she thought of it.

Rainbow sat on the bed next to Scootaloo, her hind hooves maintaining contact with the floor. She patted Scootaloo on the head, rubbing a hoof through Scootaloo's mane. She talked softly, trying to get her favorite little filly in a compliant mood by talking sweetly and establishing a connection of understanding, an old tactic used by motherly figures since before Celestia was born.

Rainbow used her nickname for Scootaloo, 'Scoots', that she only used in private, because using it in public would embarrass Scootaloo, and would make Rainbow sound uncool; but in private, that was how Rainbow assured Scootaloo that they were close. Like family. Rainbow talked about how she understood that Scootaloo was upset, how she didn't want to be social, how she didn't care about anything, and most of all how Scootaloo wanted to give up. Scootaloo's ears perked back, indicating subconscious interest. Rainbow smiled, knowing that she had Scootaloo's attention.

Rainbow stated that she had something that might make Scootaloo feel better, and pulled something off of the ground, then lifted and held it in front of her, a few inches above the bed. Scootaloo heard swishing and turned to see what made the noise; Rainbow was holding up a kettle full of water with her hoof. Scootaloo stared for a moment, cocking her left eyebrow in depressed skepticism. Rainbow, noting Scootaloo's expression, got off of the bed and asked Scootaloo to follow. Intrigued, Scootaloo obliged.

They walked down to the kitchen, and Rainbow put the kettle on the stove, adjusted the heat, and sat watching the kettle with a smile. Scootaloo waited for a few moments before she realized what was going on. She remarked sarcastically that watching water boil was on her bucket list. Rainbow struggled to maintain her smile, as it was not only incredibly disrespectful of Scootaloo to say such a thing, but it also showed how far she had fallen so as to be so utterly indifferent as to show disrespect to someone whom she held in such high regard. Rainbow told her to be patient.

After a few minutes of agonizing nothing, a small white wisp came from the spout of the kettle. After another thirty seconds, a cloud was billowing out of the small kettle. Rainbow had put her wing over the erupting cloud, catching it and compiling it. She manipulated a little over to Scootaloo who took it with interest using her own wings. Scootaloo played with the cloud for a few minutes in her hooves, marveling at how easy it was to sculpt. She made a few shapes, always returning her little cloud into a shapeless mass before starting again. And for the first time in weeks, she smiled.

Rainbow talked to Scootaloo as she played. She told Scootaloo about how a cloud will support a pegasus of any size, allowing them to support themselves by a single hoof on a cloud the size of a dinner plate if they so desired. Scootaloo wasn't really interested in what Rainbow Dash was saying since she knew most of the things Rainbow was telling her, preferring to play with her cloud tuft. Scootaloo's gaze was broken only when Rainbow mentioned that a pegasus on a cloud can control the height at which the cloud hovered.

Scootaloo looked over at Rainbow, and saw her sitting, gesturing to her own cloud with a hoof. Rainbow asked Scootaloo who said that pegasi can only fly with their wings. Scootaloo's jaw dropped, and she simply stared at the cloud, which was now in the same shape as her beloved scooter. She took in the sight as the things Rainbow Dash told her clicked into place. When she finally understood, Scootaloo's face lit up in indescribable delight.

Comments

[Rainbow87dash]

Y'know dialogue makes stories better