Spellbound Fireflies (21 page)

Scootaloo gaped at her mentor.  “
What?!
”

Chuckling, Rainbow explained, “Yeah, you could’a gotten up in the air and done some real flyin’ at eighty a minute; if ya had all your wing positions down then you’d have done fine. But,” she prodded Scootaloo in the chest with her hoof, “I know you.  ‘Fine’ isn’t your style.  Goin’ over a tree or two and landin’ out of breath wasn’t gonna cut it, and you
know
it.”

Scootaloo blinked slowly as her heavy breaths from the exertion gradually evened out. Eventually she nodded.

“You’re like me, kid.  If you’re gonna do somethin’, you won’t put up with just bein’ okay, or pretty good.  You wanna be the
best
at it.  If we got ya up just as soon as we could, you wouldn’t be the best; you’d be kinda clumsy, you’d get tired soon, and it just wouldn’t be that much fun.

“This test proved a couple’a things, Scoots.”  Rainbow began pacing back and forth, her chest puffed out like a drill sergeant.  Scootaloo could almost see a team lead pony uniform and badge on the mare.  “We know you can handle a take-off, and not just any take-off, but a
rough
take-off.  We know you can fly for a long time without gettin’ tired.  We know your wings are strong enough to handle most weather that’d get thrown at you, and we know your body’s strong enough to handle heavy winds and altitude changes.  It’ll take a lot of practice for you to be
awesome
in the air, but gettin’ there is gonna be a lot easier now than if we did the minimum and called it good.”

Scootaloo shook her head, trying to process everything Rainbow was saying.  “All that from two-hundred wing-ups in five minutes?”

“That was just the last part,” she answered with a fond smile, “I’ve been keepin’ track of how much you can bench with your wings, how fast you can turn in the air, wing-position accuracy, all of it.  Heck, that spinnin’ take-off thing we did last week was a G-force test.  Everythin’ was there to measure somethin’, and you did it all with flying colors.”

Rainbow boldly extended her hoof towards the filly, who numbly extended her own limb.  Rainbow shook it emphatically.  “Congratulations, Scoots.  You’ve passed the official Wonderbolt Required Fitness Test.”

Scootaloo’s mouth fell open.  “The…Wonderbolt’s Test?”

Rainbow nodded solemnly.  “If you were tryin’ out for the ‘bolts, you’d pass the physical.  You’re not old enough of course, an’ there’s more to the ‘bolts than just bein’ able to fly.  Gotta follow orders, follow flight patterns, memorize formations, all that sorta stuff.  An’ ya need to be able to give ‘em a lot of your time…” A shadow passed over Rainbow’s face in a barely glimpsed instant.  Scootaloo blinked, but it was gone and Rainbow was beaming at her again.  “But all that aside?  You could be a Wonderbolt right now, Scoots.”

Scootaloo felt her legs grow even weaker.  She nearly sunk to the grass as the weight of Rainbow’s words settled over her.  “I…” she breathed, “I don’t know what to say…”

“You don’t need to say anything,” Rainbow beamed, “I’m so proud of you.”  She closed the small gap separating them and swept Scootaloo into a hug.  “You take these couple’a days and relax.  Do your stretches every night, maybe every morning, too, but take it as a victory, alright?  Celebrate some, stop thinkin’ about all this trainin’ and have some time to just hang out.”  She dropped her voice to a whisper meant only for her pupil.  “Maybe talk to a certain filly you got your eyes on.”  Scootaloo went rigid in the hug and Rainbow stifled a laugh.  She sat back and raised her volume back to normal.  “When you’re all the way feelin’ better, I’ll take you flying.  We got a deal?”

“I…”  Scootaloo’s voice wavered and a tear rolled down her cheek.  She wiped her face with the back of her hoof and sniffed her snout clear.  A wobbly smile spread across her muzzle and she nodded.  “We got a deal.”

“Awesome.”  Rainbow ruffled Scootaloo’s mane into further messiness and stood up.  “I know you’re gonna want to go flyin’ as soon as possible, but give yourself a chance to heal up.  I don’t wanna hear ya askin’ for at least two days, got it?”  She grinned, warm and affectionate, and scooped the stopwatch off the ground.  “I’ll see ya then, Scoots.”  Turning, Rainbow winked at Twilight and cantered back to the bench.

Twilight stepped forward and hugged the filly, whispering, “I know you like the tutoring, but take a break anyway.  You’ve earned it, Scootaloo.  I’m proud of you, too.”

“Thank you,” she whispered.

Twilight stood and quickly joined Rainbow Dash, drawing close and keeping her voice low.  “You just made her day.”

“
She
made her day,” Rainbow corrected, lifting the saddlebag and dropping it around her marefriend’s neck.  Her tone became reserved and tentative.  “C’mon, Twi’, let’s go back to the library.  I’ve…got something I wanna show you.”

“Oh?”

“You’ll see.”  She lowered down and Twilight climbed onto her back.  With a powerful sweep of her wings, the pair flew up and out of sight.

Apple Bloom’s smile was painfully big.  “That was incredible!  How’re ya feelin’, Scoots?”

Shaking the haziness from her head, Scootaloo moaned, “Tired.  And sweaty.”  Her friend giggled.  “I think I’m gonna go jump in the lake now.  Wanna come swimmin’?”

Apple Bloom started to nod, but caught herself.  “…Aw, man.  I almost forgot about Mac’s cart!”  She cringed.  “Sorry, Scoots.  I was almost late comin’ here ‘cause I lost track of the time fixin’ it.  I should really get back to it; he’s gonna need it in the mornin’.  ‘Nother time, okay?”

“Sure, AB,” Scootaloo said with a tired sigh, “I’m probably not gonna be much fun anyway; I might fall asleep floatin’ on my back.”

Chuckling, Apple Bloom gave Scootaloo another hug.  “Don’t you dare forget to tell me when you’re gonna fly, ya hear me?”

Scootaloo grinned.  “I promise I’ll tell you.”

“Alright then.  I’ll be seein’ ya, Scoots.”  She smiled and waved, heading back through the park in the direction of Sweet Apple Acres.

Scootaloo closed her eyes and flopped onto her back.  A low and tired, but contented groan shook her chest and she tried to fold her wings back up.  They moved in jerky spasms at her sides and it took far longer than it should, but eventually she managed the task.  She mumbled incoherent complaints and debated trying to stand again or just crawl on her belly to her scooter.

After a pained and arduous journey rolling over, she seriously considered crawling, but decided a pony cut out for the Wonderbolts was better than that.  Once she was on her tremulous hooves, wavering dangerously side to side, she wished she had been more humble.  With tiny, controlled, and aching steps, she made her way down the hill and back to the bench.  Throwing her upper body over the handlebars, she used the scooter as a crutch, half dragging herself along the path deeper into the park.  Each minute turn in the path was a monumental strain across her shoulders to shift the front wheel’s direction, and every inch of incline was a mountain for her to climb.

At long last, the glittering sheen of the lake came into view and a beleaguered smile spread across her muzzle.  Moving off the cobbled path, Scootaloo’s progress became slower, but less bumpy, and she resolutely pushed across the grass until she reached the shoreline.  She dropped to all fours, letting her scooter tumble over, and haltingly waded into the lake.

Sweet, soothing, wonderful coolness rushed over her hooves, then her fetlocks, then up to her belly.  Scootaloo lifted her legs from the mucky lake bed and half submerged into the lovely water, bobbing to just below her chin on the surface.  “Ahhhh…”

She rolled through the water until she was floating face-up along the surface, all four legs spread widely away from her barrel and idly paddling her across the lake in meandering circles.  She spread her wings underwater, feeling the gentle current flow through and around all her feathers.  Gentle ripples splashed against her sides and winding channels ran along her wings and back, the tiny motions eroding Scootaloo’s pain and massaging her stiffness away.  She closed her eyes.

Floating in serenity, Scootaloo drifted in and out of conscious thought.  With her aches dulled to distant throbbing, her thoughts became a hazy cacophony of relief, happiness, excitement, and a lingering sense of melancholy that no matter what she had accomplished…that meant she was done.  A queasy worm of discomfort pulled at her belly and she grimaced.

Training every other day with Rainbow Dash had become ingrained routine for the filly.  She could set a watch by it if she ever wore one, and as hard as the sessions were, they had become the very structure of Scootaloo’s week.  A couple days of a break before flying was something she could put up with.  But never having another session again?

A small whimper of disquiet escaped her snout.  She scrunched her closed eyes tight and shook her head.  She didn’t want to think about it.

Flipping back to her belly, Scootaloo opened her eyes and sunk into the water halfway up her muzzle, watching the surface dance away in jittering cones with each exhalation.  
‘If training’s over,’
she thought,
‘When am I gonna see Rainbow Dash?’

As soon as she thought it, Scootaloo felt silly.  A self-deprecating chuckle made tiny waves in the lake as a flurry of memories passed over her mind.  The hollow ghost of Rainbow’s voice echoed, teasing,
‘You’re not gonna be one of those lazy pegasi that never trains, are ya, Scoots?’
  Scootaloo’s grin turned challenging and she shook her head, sending out a babble of rippling water.  
‘It’ll take a lot of practice for you to be
awesome
in the air.’

‘I’ll take you flying.’

“That’s what she said,” Scootaloo murmured to herself, half the words being swallowed and turned to bubbles by the lake, “Take me flying.  Not finish the training, not that I’ll be done; she’s gonna
take me flying.
”

‘’Course, Scoots.  I’ll never leave ya hangin’.’

“I know,” Scootaloo beamed, “You never have.”  Propelling herself up, she heaved in a deep breath of air and dived down into the depths of the lake, racing to the bottom and along the almost alien ground.  Fish darted away at her approach in the hazy, shadowy, silent world of water.  She felt her mane and tail swirl behind her and cool wetness between every hair of her coat.  On a single breath, she lapped the lake bed and rose from the middle in a shot.  When she exploded to the surface in a corona of thrown water droplets, she felt like she had been reborn.

Excitedly, she swam back to the shore.  Her wings were on fire, but the rest of her—mind, body and spirit—felt fresh and new.  She clambered onto land and shook the running water from her body like a dog.  Grabbing her scooter and climbing on, Scootaloo kicked her way across the grass and back to the path, heading back towards town.  She had a wild desire for adventure; an impulse to just go wherever her scooter took her.

“I did it!” she shouted to the world at the top of her lungs, “I’m gonna fly!”

“Scootaloo!”  The distant voice, pitched high with excitement, answered her call and Scootaloo dropped her gaze from the sky to find the source.  Sweetie Belle rushed up the path at a gallop, her giant smile plain across the fifty-odd yards separating them.  Scootaloo kicked along the ground to meet her, watching her grow in clarity as they drew closer.  Glittering specks of excitement made Sweetie Belle’s eyes dance with light as her curly mane whipped in the breeze.  Dumping her scooter just before they met, she heard Sweetie Belle yell, “I got it!  I got my cutie mark!”

Scootaloo’s wide eyes fell to Sweetie’s flank as the filly turned and skidded to a stop.  A pair of beamed notes, the same shade of purple as the streaks in Sweetie’s mane, sat suspended in a glittering green cloud to match the unicorn’s magic.  Scootaloo thought her face might split from her smile.  “You did!”

“Oh, it was amazing!” she squeaked, “My sister got this new portable stage set-up for fashion shows that has a built-in sound system and she said I could be the first to test it!”

“So what happened?”  Scootaloo leaned forward with interest, hanging on her friend’s every word.

“It had these portable microphones for it, and I really wanted to do somethin’ special, so I started practicing using a few at the same time and holding all of ‘em in my magic.”  As she talked, she bounced in place.  “I couldn’t hold ‘em right at first, but I practiced as hard as I could with Twilight until I got it down!”

Spinning in a circle, Sweetie crooned, “Oh, I wish you were there, Scoots!  I got up on that stage an’ started singin’…I had all the microphone’s floating all over the place so I could move around an’ switch between ‘em without missing any notes, and I had ‘em dipping and weaving with the beat!  It was exactly like I imagined it, and you should’a seen my sister’s face!  She was so proud of me, like I was really on stage for a whole crowd!”

Scootaloo’s already painful grin grew even wider.  “And you got your cutie mark?”

“Just as I finished, Rarity jumped up and stomped her hooves and there was a flash!”  She turned again, beaming at her flank.  “I use magic to help me sing; that’s my special talent.  I’m
so excited!
  I always loved singing!”

“I love your singing,” Scootaloo said plainly, no real thought passing through her head as it left her mouth.

Sweetie Belle’s throat stopped working for a moment.  She turned back to face Scootaloo straight on, her eyes shimmering wetly above her pink cheeks.  Breathlessly, she asked, “Do you really?”

Scootaloo blinked.  “Of course I do.”

Shutting her eyes, letting the tears escape down her face, Sweetie Belle tackled Scootaloo around the neck in a hug.  “Thank you!” she squealed, giggling in delight.

A rush of joy, light and transcendent, flooded Scootaloo’s mind.  Her laughter joining in with her friend’s, Scootaloo hugged Sweetie Belle back.  “I’m just so
happy
for you, Sweetie!”  She lifted Sweetie Belle off the ground with her forelegs and swung her in a circle.  Despite the long day, despite her soreness, Sweetie Belle could have been lighter than a feather.  The little unicorn’s mirth grew louder as Scootaloo looped her through the air.