Chapter Five

The Decision

Celestia's morning sun shone brilliantly upon Ponyville. There were many different kinds of buildings and homes here. However, one in particular was set literally above the rest. There drifted a large formation of clouds shaped to look like a gorgeous mansion. It had large, compacted cloud pillars, falls and fountains that ran with rainbows, and two very special pegasi snoozing on the top floor.

These two pegasi were adoptive sisters, but they were closer than any other pair in Ponyville; even above Applejack, notorious for her near impeccable sisterly guidance skills. The reason for this is that the two pegasi were alone in this world when it comes to family, save for each other.

The younger of the two with a coat of orange and a mane a vibrant magenta was nestled into the arms and wings of the older who had a bright cyan coat with an extremely rare rainbow colored mane.

The previous night, the two sisters had had horrific visions of the other leaving them. Only one was known to both, however; the older pegasi's dream was kept secret, locked in her mind.

The mare's eyes slowly flittered open, the sounds of her sister's cries still fresh in her memory. She lifted her head slowly, showing a wide yawn to the rising red sun.

She was never a morning pony, and this morning in particular was dreadfully slow. She hadn't had much sleep the previous night, only getting about four peaceful, healthy hours of it. She shook her mane about to free the strands of hair of the sweaty clumps, to no avail.

The cyan pegasus looked down at the orange one curled up next to her. The older's wings were stretched out, wrapping around her sister, creating a shield from the evil of their nightmares. She unwrapped and folded them back in, slightly wincing as her muscles were finally allowed to relax after being stretched out for so long.

After getting her wings comfortable, she gently shook her sister in an attempt to wake her. "Come on Scootaloo, time to get up, you have school today," she said, breaking through the thick cloak of sleep that enveloped the filly.

"Nngh, come on Rainbow Dash, five more minutes…" fussed Scootaloo, turning over in dissent. Dash gave a wry smile and exhaled sharply. Her sister was going to get up whether she liked it or not. After some struggling, Dash was able to get the limp wad of lead securely on her back.

Dash strode out into her kitchen area, and flopped her sister down onto a chair. Scootaloo was now awake with her eyes half open. She stood up in her chair and turned around to speak with her sister.

"Hey Rainbow Dash?" she began. Dash turned around with a box of "Pony 'O's" in her mouth which she retrieved from the pantry.

"Hermm?" she replied.

"I think I know what I want to do," said Scootaloo.

Dash was in the middle of pouring cereal into two bowls when she heard this. She set the box down, left the bowls, and walked over to an adjacent chair to hear the decision. If Dash had fingers, they'd be crossed.

"Umm, I gave it some thought, and I decided," started Scootaloo. This was a big decision, possibly the biggest in her life. "I've decided that I want to fly."

On the inside, Dash was overjoyed. However, she kept a calm outward appearance. The only indication of her approval was a small, happy smile. "Oh yeah? What makes you want to give up scootering?" she inquired.

"Because flying is what pegasus ponies are meant to do. I mean, what kind of pegasus pony would I be if I stayed on the ground, riding around on a slow little scooter? I don't think it's that practical compared to flying. I know it's what I do, and what lets me pass the time, but if you think about it, flying is so much better. Plus, I get made fun of for it now, imagine what I'd get when I'm older." Scootaloo chuckled a bit at her last notion. She was playing it cool, but in her mind she was suffering from the knowledge that she would have to give up her hobby.

"And also…" added Scootaloo, "I had that dream again."

Dash's eyes and ears perked. "Why did she have to go through that again?" she wondered.

"But don't worry. This time, when I was kicked off," started Scootaloo. "I flew." She twisted her face upward into a big smile, and continued. "I flew high above the clouds, zipping around and having fun, and being free."

Dash winced when Scootaloo said "kicked off", but she was happy to know that her dream turned from a heart-wrenching nightmare to a blissful state of joy. Dash reached over and tousled Scootaloo's mane. She got up, and returned to pouring the two bowls of cereal.

After pouring the milk, she grabbed one bowl and set it down in front of her sister who began to slurp at it hungrily. Dash grabbed her own and set back down in her seat.

She made sure she had Scootaloo's attention before shooting her a challenging look. The two pegasi's eyes narrowed as the idea for a food race crystalized in their minds.

At the sound of an imaginary whistle, the two began digging in ferociously, spraying milk and cereal about. After thoroughly making a mess, they both brought their empty bowls down onto the table at the same time. After holding each other's menacing gaze, their façades began to break down. They started laughing and giggling uncontrollably. After calming a bit, they got up and set their bowls in the sink.

After walking out to the front porch, Dash turned to her sister. "Alright Squirt, ready to go down?"

"Yeah let's hurry, I might be tardy if we don't leave now," replied Scootaloo.

Dash nodded, grabbed her, and fluttered down to the earth below. The surface was foggy, so it was difficult to make things out. After searching a bit, they found the tree that had the blue scooter propped up against it. Scootaloo walked over to her most prized possession, and rode it back to Dash with a sullen look on her face.

"You sure about flying? Like, is that your final decision?" asked Dash. Scootaloo nodded and looked up at her sister, noting the apologetic look on her face. Scootaloo was beginning to like this side of Dash. Her sister was acting more compassionate towards her compared to how she acted two weeks prior.

"Yeah, I'm sure. I'm gonna miss my scooter, but I guess we all have to grow up sometime," said Scootaloo with a somber look on her face.

"Well," started Dash. "If flying is your final decision, then this is the last day you should ride that thing. We want your muscles to balance out as soon as possible, so keeping the problem ones immobile for the most part is probably a good idea. Come on, let's head into town, you're gonna be late."

The pair started out slow, but one look at each other made them put on another challenging face. Then they were off like rockets. The two faded into blurs resembling their colors, and Dash made sure they were neck and neck the whole way.

The sisters eventually reached town, where they immediately began to cause a rumpus. They narrowly missed several pedestrians on the way to the school house on multiple occasions, but they miraculously made it without anyone getting hurt.

The two skidded to a stop in front of the school house, and they immediately yelled "I WIN!" simultaneously. After holding another gaze, they broke down into laughter.

Scootaloo was having more bouts of laughter in the past several hours than she would have normally had in an entire week. She was really starting to like this new life of hers. After saying their good-byes, Scootaloo went into the large red building, and Dash took to the skies.

She had some work to do.

It might not be the choice you would have picked, but this is my story so deal with it. I apologize for not updating as much as I have recently, my schedule got super busy in the space of a couple of days. Please review!

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