I. Taking Wing
A young orange pegasus with a frizzy mane of dark pink hair took in the glorious sight of Sugarcube Corner, unable to stop her purple eyes from going wide as she did so; balloons, streamers and confetti fought for limited space – often overlapping until their colours seemed to blend into each other – across the fixtures and fittings of the store. The warm, inviting scent of rising dough, of cinnamon, chocolate and a hundred other esoteric ingredients harvested from the length and breadth of Equestria, filled the air.
Scootaloo felt her nostrils being invaded in the most appetising manner possible: by the numerous delicious smells and she blushed – though there was nopony around just yet to see or hear her yet – as she heard her tummy rumbling loudly in the otherwise quiet, empty shop.
Despite the fact that Sugarcube Corner was already heaving under the weight of more sugary treats than could comfortably be counted, Pinkie Pie had long ago disappeared back into the kitchen, insistent that just a few more cakes ought to do it. With nothing and nopony around to stop her from doing so, Scootaloo grabbed one the freshly-baked cookies and stuffed it into her mouth quickly; she quickly discovered that it was still just a bit too hot, and she nearly gagged as the sticky, warm sugar clung to the roof of her mouth. In a mad dash, she sprinted over to the sink and poured herself a glass of water.
As she drank the cool liquid, she reflected sagely, Well, at least I now know the real reason why the grown-ups always tell you to keep your hooves off of the snacks until everypony's arrived.
Her eyes drifted in the direction of the clock; it was just another few minutes before the first guests were due to start arriving, and in addition to the curiosity Scootaloo also felt something else taking root: nervousness. Pinkie Pie had brought her to the store a couple of hours earlier to ensure that her party file was up-to-date and that she hadn't missed any of her favourite treats. That hadn't taken long, and the rest of the time had been spent sitting and waiting.
Any party – especially one thrown by Pinkie Pie – was pretty much a public event in Ponyville; Scootaloo didn't mind this at all, as there was more than enough food to comfortably feed the entire population of the village several times over. As long as her closest friends were here, she would be happy.
As long as Rainbow Dash made it she would be happy.
She hadn't made any promises, of course; she'd explained to her that her touring schedule with the Wonderbolts was getting pretty hectic, and that they'd already had to draft in a few reserves due to exhaustion. She didn't want to let Spitfire – to say nothing of the paying audience – down. Scootaloo understood this and did not begrudge her for it.
Still, though, it would be nice if she WERE able to make it. The young pegasus fought not to get her hopes, but she knew in heart that she'd be devastated if her adopted big sister couldn't attend for whatever reason.
“Um, Pinkie,” Scootaloo said, watching the bubbly pink earth pony precariously balance a few more trays of food on an already-overburdened table, “that's probably enough now, don't you think?”
“For a birthday party,” Pinkie Pie replied, her grin managing to – slightly-disturbingly – grow beyond the confines of her muzzle, “there's no such thing as too much. Unless, you know, your stomach explodes. You should definitely stop eating before that point.”
Scootaloo smiled half-heartedly, not sure if Pinkie Pie was being serious or not. “If you say so.”
Just as Pinkie Pie disappeared back into the kitchen, the front door to Sugarcube Corner opened, making Scootaloo jump a little at the sound of the tinkling bell ringing out. Applejack and Rarity entered the shop with their respective sisters in tow.
“Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle,” Scootaloo said, calling out to her friends excitedly and scampering over to them, “I'm so glad that you could make it!” Since Rainbow Dash wasn't yet there to mock her for it, she hugged her best friends tightly.
“Wouldn't miss it for the world,” said Apple Bloom in her distinctive twang.
“No place I'd rather be,” Sweetie Belle said, nodding her agreement.
In short order, the other guests began to arrive: her parents, Rainbow Dash's friends, random ponies that couldn't resist the lure of a Pinkie Pie-thrown party, but no sign of Rainbow Dash herself. Despite her best efforts, Scootaloo couldn't help but feel a trifle dispirited, though she gamely tried to avoid affecting the other guests with her mood.
“Hey, Scoots, are you okay?” asked Apple Bloom when she found Scootaloo loitering in a corner, pretending to study an art deco print of a sundae.
“It's nothing,” Scootaloo replied dismissively, forcing a smile at her friend.
“She might still make it before the party's over,” said Apple Bloom encouragingly, knowing that there was only one thing – or one pony, rather – who could get under her friend's skin like this.
“It's fine,” Scootaloo said, just a little bit too forcefully.
“It's okay to be disappointed, Scootaloo,” said Apple Bloom, “but just don't forget that there are others who are here for you, okay?”
At that, Scootaloo smiled genuinely. “I know. Sorry for being such a downer.”
Apple Bloom waved her apology aside. “Come on, let's try some of those salted caramel cakes before they're gone.”
Fat chance of that happening. Pinkie Pie'll just go and make more of them, anyway.
Just as she was about to take a bite of the cake that she'd selected, Scootaloo felt herself being engulfed by a polychromatic tornado! What the-?” was all she managed to choke out before she found herself being spun rapidly around the store, nearly disgorging the last few things that she'd eaten in the process. When the hurricane finally abated – and her vision returned to normal – she saw a cyan pegasus standing before her with a cocky grin on her muzzle. “Rainbow Dash, you made it!”
“Sorry I'm late, Scoots,” she said with an abashed grin, tousling the filly's frizzy mane, “but I needed some, ah, help with your birthday present.”
“You being here is enough of a present.”
Rainbow Dash pulled a face of mock-disgust. “Are you getting sappy on me, kid?”
“Yeah,” Scootaloo said brightly, “and don't pretend that you don't secretly love it.”
Rainbow Dash smirked and ruffled her hair once more. “All right, everypony,” she said, cupping the hooves of her forelegs to her muzzle and hollering loud enough that all conversation in Sugarcube Corner suddenly ceased, “outside now!”
In a less-than-orderly fashion the guests obeyed her, wondering just what the heck was going on; a few stragglers stopped briefly to grab at the remaining confections, clearly worried that they might be gone by the time they returned, but a ferocious, impatient look from Rainbow Dash got them moving once more. A collective gasp went up from the crowd – and none was more excited than that of Scootaloo herself – as they caught sight of Rainbow Dash's gift:
The Wonderbolts.
They were in their flight-suits, clearly in the midst of limbering up for a routine.
Feeling slightly intimidated but wanting to make a good impression, Scootaloo approached their captain, Spitfire. “Miss Spitfire, thank you so much for coming. I know how busy you must be.”
“Hey, Scootaloo,” Spitfire replied, smiling broadly. “Rainbow Dash has told me so much about you. In fact-” she made sure that Rainbow Dash was in ear-shot when she spoke her next words, beaming broadly “-she hardly ever shuts up about you.”
Rainbow Dash's muzzle flushed crimson. “She exaggerates.”
Spitfire handed Scootaloo a pair of blue-trimmed goggles. “You'll need these.”
Accepting them with a confused look, all Scootaloo could say was, “Huh? What for?”
“Just wait.”
The next thing she knew, Rainbow Dash was lowering herself toward the ground, clearly inviting Scootaloo to hop on her back. “You'd better hold on tight, Scoots. This is gonna get … intense,” she said, grinning intensely, once the filly was secured around her.
Scootaloo did as she was bade, wrapping her forelegs as tightly as she could around Rainbow Dash's neck without causing her any discomfort.
I can't believe it! I'm gonna fly with the Wonderbolts! With Rainbow Dash!
One after another, following Spitfire's lead, the Wonderbolts took off into the air. They whirled, dived and zoomed, Scootaloo letting out delighted yelps for the entire duration of the performance. A connoisseur might have criticised it as being a little lacking in flourish, but the assembled guests – particularly the guest of honour riding on Rainbow Dash's back – had no complaints about the routine whatsoever.
Rainbow Dash began to climb a little higher; out of the corner of her eye, Scootaloo spotted the other Wonderbolts giving the air around them a clear berth. “Rainbow Dash, what's happening?” she asked a trifle fearfully.
“Just hang on. I promise you, this is gonna be awesome. Whatever you do, don't close your eyes, okay? You won't want to miss this.”
“Okay,” Scootaloo said, forcing her nervousness aside. She could only guess at what Rainbow Dash was up to, but she trusted her implicitly and would not wimp-out by closing her eyes.
Rainbow Dash reached the apex of her climb, and with barely a wasted movement she flipped back around and dive-bombed toward the ground, picking up speed at a rate that Scootaloo could only describe as alarming. “Rainbow!”
The air around her made a noise that she'd never heard before in her life; a sort of inverted popping noise, as if an explosion was being pulled inside out. After several seconds, she heard it again … but in reverse.
She wanted to close her eyes, afraid of the fast-approaching ground, but she knew that Rainbow Dash would keep her safe.
A split-second before the last possible moment, Rainbow Dash pulled out of her headlong spiral and the entire world in front of and around Scootaloo flared up in a thunderous burst of kaleidoscopic fury.
A tunnelling column of colour arced and looped around them, Scootaloo's eyes practically bulging out of her head as she tried to take it all in at once. She could make out every colour of the rainbow and more besides: hues that belonged to spectra beyond what ponykind was familiar with. The shockwave spread out for miles in every direction until it finally burned itself out and dissipated.
It was a long time before Scootaloo could speak. “Was that-?”
“-A sonic rainboom? Mm-hm.”
“Wow.”
“Tell me about it,” Rainbow Dash said with a smirk. “Thanks for helping me with it, Scootaloo.”
But I didn't do anything. Scootaloo did not give voice to this thought, but instead simply settled for smiling heartily at Rainbow Dash. No matter what she did or didn't do, her big sister was always going to inspire her.
They came in for a landing and a raucous cheer from the assembled guests went up. Scootaloo made sure to thank each of the Wonderbolts in turn for being there. Unable to contain herself any longer, she leapt into the air, her tiny wings fluttering excitedly. “BEST! BIRTHDAY! EVER!” She ran over to Rainbow Dash and embraced her warmly. “Thank you so much for doing this.” Her eyes were wet with tears of joy.
“It's nothing,” Rainbow Dash said, returning the embrace. “What's the point of having a little sister if you can't spoil 'em every now and then, right?”
The guests – Wonderbolts included – headed back inside Sugarcube Corner, determined now to finish off the mountain of treats that Pinkie Pie had prepared. Scootaloo knew that she would likely have a stomach-ache in the morning, but rapidly came to the conclusion that it would be worth it. She might never fly under her own power, but she'd witnessed the formation of a sonic rainboom. A sonic rainboom that had been created by her big sister. She would happily have sacrificed her wings in an instant just for a taste of that feeling.