“Scootaloo! It’s time for lunch!”

“Coming!” I responded, heading to the table. “This looks really good, Grandmare. Thank you.”

“No problem, my little filly.”

As I ate I thought of the conversation I had had with my Grandmare an hour ago. Every few months she had told me about my past. It was a story I was well acquainted with by now, but she insisted on telling me anyway because she thought it was important for me.

To start with, I didn’t have any parents. Or, I suppose, I must have had ones at some point but I was too young to remember them. I lived with my grandmare. She was an earth pony while I was a pegasus, but that didn’t bother me.

She told me that she had found me, no more than a foal, near the Everfree Forest. I had been unconscious and she got help that took me to the hospital straight away.

I was in the hospital for a few months. She came to visit me every day, playing with me and talking to me. When I recovered enough to leave, since she had been unable to find my parents, she offered to take me in for the time being until we could find them. It remained a great mystery for the next couple of years, as I grew from a baby into a filly. Grandmare spent some of her free time inquiring into me to others, but she was never able to find my parents. From what she could piece together my parents must not have been from Ponyville. Also, near the Everfree Forest in a tree was a blanket. Her best guess was that my parents had been flying too close to the Everfree Forest with me and been attacked. I had been dropped, but the blanket I had been wrapped in broke my fall slightly as it caught on the tree.

I kinda wanted to believe that was the truth, but I also kinda didn’t. If that was the way things happened it meant that my parents loved me, but that they never came back for me had to mean that they hadn’t survived the attack. Maybe they knew they wouldn’t survive, and had thrown me away to try to protect me. It may sound cold, but I don’t miss my parents. I mean, how can I? I have no idea who they are. I don’t know what they looked like, how old they were… nothing. I can’t feel bad about them, no matter how hard I try to.

Although the pony who found me was a bit old, she was every bit the wonderful caregiver as any mom out there. Even though she was an earth pony and I was a pegasus she raised me like her own child. Really, the fact that I had been found in such a state didn’t even bother me much. I don’t even remember that night. It didn’t matter.

Or, at least, I thought it didn’t. One day on a doctor visit the doctor took some x-rays of me after I told him I wasn’t flying yet. He measured the size of my wings while we waited for the x-rays to come out. When he came back with them he didn’t look happy. “Has Scootaloo ever suffered any serious injuries to her wings?” the doctor asked.

Grandmare told him about finding me abandoned and hurt, especially around my wings.

The doctor nodded sadly. “I see. That would do it.”

“What would do what?” I asked.

“You have what we call stunted wing.”

“What does that mean?”

“It can happen because of an accident, or sometimes because of a birth defect, but basically the structure of your wings has been compromised.” He placed the x-ray onto the board, and pointed out my wing structure. “If you’ll notice here, your wings are not growing in correctly. They were probably never set back correctly following your accident because you were too young to endure such a procedure safely.”

“And how is this going to affect her?” asked my grandmare.

The doctor sighed, closing his eyes for a moment. “The damage is slight enough that she’ll be able to lead a normal pony life. However, from the looks of this x-ray, her wings will never grow enough to allow for flight.”

“Oh!” I cried out, feeling a few tears coming down my eyes as Grandmare put a hoof around me and held me.

“Isn’t there anything you can do?” she asked.

“Yes,” he said slowly. “There is a surgery that can be done. However, repairing damaged wing structures is an extremely delicate procedure. One tiny little mistake, and one can lose the use of their wings permanently. I’m sorry to say this, but because of the prohibitive difficulty of the procedure only the best and most skilled specialists ever attempt such a thing. As such, the cost of the surgery will run over one hundred thousand bits.”

“One… one hundred… thousand?”

“Yes. I’m sorry, but this is a procedure in which a pegasus’ entire well-being is put at risk. There are, of course, discount doctors who will offer to do this kind of work for a lot cheaper, but I heavily advise against it. A mistake could worsen the growing in of the wing structure, causing the pegasus involved to be in constant pain that has to be remedied with a heavy dose of medications every few hours. Or, in the worst case scenario, the damage could be great enough it would require complete amputation. That’s the reality of the situation.”

I just sat there in shock. While I didn’t know too much about money, I did know that one hundred thousand bits was a lot of money. I also knew that Grandmare didn’t have a lot of money. I couldn’t believe it! I was doomed to basically be an earth pony.

The room started spinning, my breathing getting slowly heavier, until I couldn’t take it anymore. I ran out of the room, Grandmare calling after me but I ignored her. I ran out of the doctor’s office. I ran and ran and ran, not even knowing where I was going. I just felt like I had to keep running, or else I would break.

I ran up until the point that my lungs were burning and I couldn’t go on anymore. Somehow I found myself near the Everfree Forest. I wondered for a moment as I looked around if about here was where I was found, but that thought was quickly replaced with more sadness. I sat by a tree, just crying my head off.

I don’t know how long I sat there when I suddenly heard someone calling out to me. “What’s wrong there, kid?”

I looked up at the voice, seeing a mass come zooming down, hitting the ground and causing a dust cloud around her. She hopped up and zoomed around, plucking the stuff she had been carrying out of the air before it fell.

I just stared at her. The blue coat, the rainbow mane, the look of absolute confidence. She caught my attention immediately because she didn’t act like anyone else I knew. She didn’t display the usual cautious concern you’d expect of finding somepony crying. She looked smug, but not in a mean or dismissive way, like I should be grateful she had taken time out of her schedule to check up on me. She had such an aura of total self-assurance and belief in herself that it completely pulled me away from myself and what I had just heard. She was truly… majestic. “Who… who are you?” I asked in awe.

“Names Rainbow Dash! Best flier in all of Equestria.”

“Whoa!” I cried out. She certainly didn’t seem like she was lying. “Will you show me some moves?” I asked excitedly.

“Well, I don’t like to show off but… OF COURSE!” Setting her saddle bags down she flapped her wings, speeding straight up into the air, her body straight as possible to gain the most air, before suddenly turning and heading back toward the ground. She was going so fast I was afraid she was going to crash. There surely wasn’t enough time. But I was wrong! At the last possible second she turned, using her momentum to fly upside down, parallel to the ground, swerving around trees, at one point using a branch to spin around multiple times before letting go and flying back up high into the sky, making infinity symbols in the air.

I sat there spellbound. It was like she wasn’t a pony. She moved through the air like she was in complete control of gravity.

For her final maneuver she first flew vertically, making fast revolutions that quickly created a sideways tornado. She pulled off of it, and headed in the direction the tornado was going, making another tornado while staying horizontal this time. The two tornadoes met, causing a great amount of wind to scatter across the entire area.

With that she zoomed downward, and with a few quick flaps gently landed on the ground.

I was speechless for a few moments, but then I started clapping my hooves and whooping. “That was amazing, Rainbow Dash!”

“Thank you, thank you,” she said with a proud smile on her face, quickly bowing her head before saying, “Tell me more.”

I prattled on about every aspect of her maneuvers, and she just soaked in my praise. After a while she put her hoof to my mouth to silence me. “Well, I’m glad I was able cheer you up, kid. I have to be somewhere, so I’ll catch you around.” With that she grabbed her stuff and without another word she was gone as quickly as she had come in.

For a while I just stared at her until I couldn’t see her anymore. I let out a happy squeal. “That was so awesome!” I cried out, before I started running home.

When I got there I saw my grandmare sitting at the table, a sad, worried look on her face. She looked a little better when she saw me.

I spent the next ten minutes telling her about my meeting with Rainbow Dash. I just couldn’t stop thinking about her. I didn’t even know a pegasus was capable of such things.

The next day after I got home from school Grandmare said she had a present for me. She brought me behind the house, and I saw a scooter, with red handlebars and wheels, and a blue board. I gasped happily. "A scooter? You got me a scooter?"

“Scootaloo, I’m sorry I can’t do more for you, but I thought that if you can’t fly the least I can do is give you an easier way of getting around.”

“How did you get it? I know you don’t have a lot of money.” It was the same one from the store that I had wanted really badly, but it was too much for her. The cost of it was nothing compared to the wing surgery, but I know Grandmare has struggled with money a few times in my life.

“Oh, that was simple. I sold that autographed painting of the field of roses and lilies by that famous painter Spectral Paintbrush.”

As I looked toward her I felt lost for words. I felt so grateful, but I also felt guilty. I knew how much that painting meant to her. She had got it when she was just a filly herself. She had told me it was really important to her. “Y-you shouldn’t have done that. I thought that was your most precious possession.”

I looked into her eyes and I could see her endless love there as it always was. “You’re wrong, my little pumpkin,” she said, holding me close. “You, my dear little Scootaloo, are, without comparison, my most precious possession. And you always will be.”

“B-but-”

“No buts! A painting is a painting, but you are irreplaceable. As long as it can put a smile on your face the cost is well worth it to me.” She let me go, and gave me a gentle shove. “Now go on. Give it a try.”

I walked up to it, grabbing the helmet and goggles hanging off of it and put them on. I got on, and pushed off with my hoof. I felt the air curving around me, the wind whipping at my mane. The harder I kicked off the more I could feel it. Kicking off as fast as I could part of me imagined I was Rainbow Dash, flying through the air like I owned the sky.

I drove around for a few minutes before coming back to her, putting my hoof out to stop myself. Carefully putting it on its side I ran up to her and hugged her, tears streaming down my eyes. I thanked her over and over, and she just gently patted my back. “I love it, Grandmare! You’re the best!”

“I’m glad,” she responded.

For a while me and my scooter were nearly inseparable. I rode it to school, around town, around the outside of my house; just about anywhere outside, really. Soon enough the day came when I began to hate my scooter. I began to hate everything about it. The only reason Grandmare had bought it for me was because I was disabled. When I thought of that it was like riding a constant reminder of being crippled. I wasn’t angry at Grandmare, though. She had done it to try to cheer me up, but even my gratefulness to her for selling her own stuff to get it for me was outweighed by my anger.

After crashing one day I lost my temper. I didn’t want this stupid scooter anymore. I went to a cliff by the river, fully intending to just chuck the thing in there. All of a sudden I heard above me, “Look out below!”

I turned up toward the voice and let out a squeak, only just ducking out of the way to avoid being collided into. The pony crashed into the river, and I looked anxiously to see if they were okay. With a shower of water droplets a pony came rushing out of the river, spinning themselves around to get rid of the water covering their coat.

“Hey!” I cried out as now I was wet, but then I saw who it was. “Rainbow Dash!” I cried out excitedly, not even caring she had got me soaked.

“Hmmm?” She looked down at me. “Oh, it’s you. The filly from the other day. What’s up, kid?”

She remembered me! Just hearing that made me feel better. “Not much! Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I was practicing a trick and I lost control. It’s proving more complicated than I imagined.”

“What kind of trick?”

“It’s called the sonic rainboom.”

“Whoa…” I didn’t know what that was but it sure sounded cool, especially if it was Rainbow Dash attempting it.

“So whatcha got there, kid?”

Right behind me was my scooter. I felt sick to my stomach. The Rainbow Dash was talking to me, and I was terrified she would think I was beyond lame if she knew I couldn’t fly. Why else would I be riding a scooter around as a pegasus unless I couldn’t fly? “It’s nothing.” I said quickly, trying to block her view of it with my body.

My heart jumped when she simply did a quick maneuver to get behind me. “You got a scooter, huh?”

She saw it! Tears came to my eyes. She was going to hate me now! I couldn’t even explain myself. I would feel even more embarrassed to tell her the reason I had it wasn’t that it I hadn’t learned to fly yet, but because I couldn’t no matter how long I waited.

“Now that’s cool!”

“Huh?” I asked in disbelief.

“I bet you can pull off some mad sweet moves with that thing. You’re a pony with style.” She did a quick pose, crossing her hooves.

I thought I was going to faint. Not only didn’t she think my scooter was lame, she thought it made me even better.

“So what tricks can you do? Show me what the…” She drifted off, a curious look on her face. “So what’s your name anyway, kid?”

Ready to faint, round two! Rainbow Dash, the coolest pony and best flier in Equestria, wanted to know my name. “I-I’m S-Scootaloo,” I stuttered out.

“Heh! The coolest ponies always have the coolest names, don’t you think?”

“Y-yeah.” Pinch me! I had to be dreaming. It was like someone let the air out of the balloon holding all my fears, but it certainly filled right back up again with what she said next.

“So come on, Scootaloo. Show me what you can do.”

I had only ridden my scooter around. I had never attempted to do any tricks with it. But I couldn’t back down. Rainbow Dash was showing interest in me, and I couldn’t bear to let her down. Looking around I said, “Um, this isn’t really a good spot. It’s all open around here.”

“Yeah, you got a good point. Follow me.” With that she flew away, and I did my best to keep pace with her.

We come upon some woods. Rainbow showed me another trick as she swiftly dodged her way between trees before coming back to me. She was a natural athlete. She just couldn’t help herself. If she could see the potential for a trick it was like she just had to do it, to prove to herself that she could.

I tried the same thing she did. Thankfully I didn’t crash, but I was nowhere near as fast or precise as her. When I came to the end of the set of trees I turned back to wave at her. When I looked forward again my heart sank in my chest as I saw I was coming up upon a big slope. I couldn’t stop in time. The air rushed past me as the incline increased my speed. To make matters worse the hill ended in a ramp. I screamed in fear as I went flying into the air.

I looked down, and saw I was headed straight into a ravine filled with rocks. Tears came down my eyes. Not only was I going to crash and get hurt, I was also going to totally let down Rainbow Dash. I guess I really am a washout.

As I started coming down, it was like something awoke in me. My fear left me, a determined look set upon my face. Everything else faded away. I could see a path just past that ravine. If I could only get a little more acceleration I knew I could make it. Pulling on the handles of my scooter I straightened it out so it wasn’t pointing so far downward, and then… then those things that I thought were so useless actually came in handy. I don’t know what made me do it but I opened my wings, revving them like there was no tomorrow.

It was very close, but I managed to clear the gap, landing on solid ground. Thoughts of victory were quickly cut short as I saw a giant rock coming up in my path. Once more I didn’t have to think about what to do. It was like an instinct. I pushed all my weight down as far as I could before jumping up, the extra weight adding height to my jump. As I cleared that I nearly landed in a swamp, and I found that only using one wing helped me steer in the direction I wanted to go. I hit another smaller hill at an angle and I went flying, nearly falling into another swamp. It was set like a small O-shape, and I zoomed around and around horizontally for a few rotations before getting out, flying towards a tree branch. I pushed my weight forward to get lower, grabbing the branch. As my momentum carried my body up my scooter went flying into the air. Not even thinking, after a few revolutions I let go at just the right time, flying toward my scooter. I grabbed it and set myself back into an upright position. I noticed the hill I had fell down earlier, and I aimed myself at it so I wouldn’t just crash to the ground, the curve of it helping to absorb most of the impact.

As I went up the hill, right near the top, when the moment was perfect, I once again put my weight down, jumping and doing a flip before putting my hoof down to stop myself.

My breathing was heavy from the experience. It was scary! It was terrifying! It was-

“AWESOME!” said Rainbow Dash, pumping her hooves. “Oh yeah! Now that's what I’m talking about.”

I laughed nervously as I took my helmet off. “Y-yeah!” I said, my heart still racing. “J-just as planned.”

“So how was it? Did you feel it? That need for speed? The wind rushing through your mane? That indescribable feeling of excitement?”

“Oh yeah. Definitely.” I forced a smile. My hooves were trembling like crazy, and I felt like I couldn’t breathe.

“Yeah, I can see it. You’re shaking with excitement. Same with me. It’s why I just can’t stop.” Rainbow Dash patted my head. “You’re a cool little filly, Scootaloo.”

I felt ecstatic beyond words to hear such a thing from a pony like Rainbow Dash, but I started crying regardless.

“What’s wrong, Scootaloo?”

I looked up at her with sad eyes and said guiltily, “A 'cool little filly' doesn’t throw away a special gift their grandmare bought them.”

“What do you mean?”

More tears came down my eyes. “Rainbow Dash… I’m not cool at all. I’m lame! I… I…” I turned away, unable to meet her eyes any more. I didn’t want to see the look of disappointment or disgust she was going to wear when I told her. “I have stunted wing,” I said in a small voice. “My grandmare found me near the Everfree Forest as a baby, and I was seriously injured. She said both my wings were broken. I didn’t think it mattered because they healed up, but it did. We don’t have the money for the surgery so I’m probably never going to be able to fly and be cool like you.” I just broke down crying now, weeping into my hooves. I had told her when I didn’t have to, and now she would probably not want anything to do with me.

I heard the sound of her wings unfurling, and I knew she was about to leave. It wasn’t a big surprise. She had better things to do than be with someone uncool like me who would drag her reputation down. To my surprise though she didn’t fly away. With a few flaps she landed next to me, putting her wing around me. I put my hooves down, looking up at her as I sniffed. “Listen, Scootaloo,” she said gently. “You shouldn’t be ashamed of things you have no control over. It would be the same thing as if you were born with only one wing. It’s not like you wanted to be born with one wing. It’s not your fault.

“I don’t think you’re lame at all. You pulled off some awesome moves on your scooter.”

“I’ve never even done anything like that before. It was all luck.”

“So what does that matter? You still pulled off some cool moves and managed not to crash. For your first time doing that it’s pretty awesome. Most fillies your age would have crashed a few times during that. When you were coming down from that first jump and for the rest of your ride you used your wings to increase your speed and to help you make turns. Even if your wings aren’t as powerful as mine you still found your own way of making them work for you.

“You’re going to be amazing, Scootaloo. I can just tell. You just have to keep practicing so you can do those moves all the time. After all, you can’t always count on accidents.”

I felt myself settling down. “Thank you, Rainbow Dash,” I said, gratitude shining on my face.

“No problem, my little fan.”

Although I felt better I still felt some guilt. “When my grandmare heard that I had stunted wing she went out and bought me that scooter. I loved it at first, but then I just felt like it was a reminder of how I was disabled. Right before you showed up I was thinking of just throwing it in the river.”

“You’re not disabled unless you think you’re disabled! And stunted wing isn’t always a big deal. After all, I had it when I was about your age.”

“You did?” I asked in shock. I couldn’t even imagine someone like her struggling with the same thing I was.

“Yeah. It’s possible for stunted wing to correct itself, without any surgery, as the pony grows, and that’s what happened with me. Now look what I can do. It could happen to you too. So don’t give up, Scootaloo. Even if you can’t fly yet you already have your own awesome way of getting around. You should keep your scooter and ride it with pride. You have nothing to be ashamed of, because you didn’t do anything wrong. Understand?”

I nodded. “Yeah. Thank you.”

“No problem. It’s what I do. I fly the skies, and help out others. It’s all part of the awesome Rainbow Dash schedule.”

“Umm,” came a quiet voice behind us.

Rainbow Dash and I turned around, and I saw a yellow pegasus I had never seen before half hidden by a tree. “Hey, Fluttershy,” said Rainbow Dash. "What’s up?”

“No, um… you two are talking. I’ll just… come back later.” She started backing up, looking awkwardly at the ground..

“Don’t say that. What’s wrong?”

“Oh, um… Twilight was looking for you. She said the new Daring Do book came out and she wanted you to have the first copy.”

“YES!” Rainbow Dash cried out, flying and pumping her hooves. Ruffling my mane with her hoof she said, “I gotta go, Scootaloo. I’ll catch you later.” With that she and Fluttershy flew off. “Don’t forget what I told you, okay? Keep practicing and show me some new moves the next time I see you. I’ll be expecting them so you better work hard.”

I smiled after her as she left. She was, without a doubt, the best pony in all of Ponyville. NO! In Equestria! I picked up my scooter and hugged it, apologizing to it for nearly throwing it away like it could actually hear me, and headed for home.

***

As Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy flew to the library Fluttershy said, “You never told me you had stunted wing as a filly.” She let out a sigh. “Oh, even with a disability you were still always a much better flier than me.”

“Of course I didn’t tell you. I never had it,” Rainbow Dash replied simply.

“WHAT?” Fluttershy said angrily, grabbing Rainbow Dash’s hoof and yanking it hard, pulling her to a stop in the air.

Rainbow Dash looked at her questioningly. “What is it, Fluttershy? I have to get to the library.”

“Rainbow Dash! I cannot believe you! You told a flat-out lie to a child and made her believe she’d be fine when she wouldn’t. That’s the most horrible thing you’ve ever done!”

When Fluttershy spoke that plainly you knew she was angry. Rainbow Dash stopped trying to pull away, and looked Fluttershy in the eye. “It was more of a half-lie. It’s true that I never had stunted wing, but it is true that it will sometimes correct itself as the pony grows older. She looks up to me a lot. I can already tell that just from meeting her twice. And if she thought that I had it and got over it then she’ll believe that she can get over it too. I didn’t lie to her to be cruel. I just didn’t want her to give up hope, that’s all. The worst thing a pony of any age can do is give up.”

The look of rage on Fluttershy’s face left, replaced with her usual awkwardness. “Oh, I’m sorry, Rainbow Dash. That was just terrible of me to accuse you without knowing everything.”

Rainbow Dash smiled. “No prob. Way to speak up for your beliefs, Fluttershy!”

Fluttershy just blushed and didn’t respond as she released Rainbow’s hoof and continued flying, Rainbow Dash quickly catching up and keeping pace with her friend.

***

When I got to my house I put my scooter away in my room and sat in my bed, just thinking about how great the day was. Suddenly my grandmare was in my doorway. “Hey there, Scootaloo. Weren’t you even going to come in and say hello?”

I turned to her and the same guilt from before began blossoming in my chest.

“What’s wrong, Scootaloo?” she asked as she came and sat down next to me.

Without warning I was crying my eyes out. I grabbed her and began sobbing into her neck. “I’m so sorry, Grandmare! I’m sorry! I’m sorry!”

“S-Scootaloo!” I heard her reply. “It’s not that big a deal you didn’t greet me. Why are you crying like that?”

“I-I-It’s not that! It's not that! T-today I got mad and I tried to throw away my scooter into the river. I was so happy when you first got it for me, but now I just feel like it keeps reminding me of how you only got it because I can’t fly, and it hurts.”

She placed her hooves around me, picking me up a little and sitting me in her lap properly. “Oh, Scootaloo,” she said gently, “you don’t have to cry about that. I bought you that scooter to make you happy. If it’s not making you happy anymore then you don’t have to keep it.”

“B-b-but you sold something really valuable to you to get me it. I’m so ungrateful!”

She held me tighter and began gently rocking back and forth, saying kindly, “Sshhh. None of that now.”

“But-”

“No buts! I understand how you’re feeling but I already told you that you mean more to me than a silly old painting. Now just settle down and let’s snuggle for a bit.”

“O-okay,” I responded in a small voice. For the next few minutes the two of us sat there quietly, me still feeling guilty despite the love of her hold. I felt so undeserving.

“Are you feeling better yet, Scootaloo?” I heard her ask.

“No! I’m feeling worse.”

“I see. Fine, then. If that’s the way it is then I guess you need to be punished.” Grandmare let me go and set me down on the floor. Getting off the bed herself she began walking. “Come with me, Scootaloo.”

I followed after her as we headed to the kitchen. She went to a cabinet and pulled out a bag of sugar. “Why don’t you come help me bake some cookies?” she asked warmly.

“This isn’t a joke!” I said heatedly, tears brimming around my eyes. “Why won’t you just yell at me and tell me I’m a horrible granddaughter?”

“Because that’s not the way I feel at all, of course.”

“It would be one thing if I kept the scooter forever, but you sold something really valuable to you for my sake, and I was gonna throw it away! It would be a gigantic waste! You should be furious with me!”

Walking over to me she rubbed my cheek with her hoof. “That is so very wrong, Scootaloo. It wasn’t a waste at all. When I got you that scooter it put a smile on your face and filled you with joy. It cheered you up despite the horrible news you were told. That’s enough for me. It accomplished what I was aiming for, to make you feel uplifted.

“Now, no more of this sad talk. I don’t want any more tears from you. Come and help me bake some tasty treats.”

Still sniffing I nodded my head. “O-okay.” I figured that helping her out with something was the best way to repay her for her kindness. I grabbed the sugar and baking pans and together the two of us began working. I began to lose myself in the activity, forgetting my sadness little by little. I always enjoyed helping my grandmare out with baking. By the time they were all done and cooling I felt better.

She sat me down and poured me some milk, and as I bit into the warm chocolate chip cookies that same warmness seemed to enter my belly.

With a devious sounding cackle Grandmare asked, “So how are they, my little punished filly?”

I couldn’t help it. I let out a snicker. “They’re terrible! You’re a monster!”

She let out another evil laugh. “Excellent!” Taking another cookie she placed it on my plate. “Eat! Eat up!”

“No!” I said in a pleading voice. “Please don’t make me eat it!”

“Eat it!”

“F-fine.” I grabbed the cookie and dunked it, shoving the whole thing in my mouth. “Mmmm! Um, I mean ugh! So bad!”

I ate until my belly was bulging, and she didn’t once try to tell me I was eating too much, or that it would spoil my appetite. That was one of the things I loved best about her. She was just so loving. She hardly ever got mad, and when she did it was always for a good reason.

“Thanks, Grandmare!” I said happily, giving her a hug. “I love you so much!”

She returned my hug, saying, “I love you too.”

When we broke apart I said, “Guess what?”

“What?”

“I ran into Rainbow Dash again today!”

“Oh?”

“Yeah!” So I told her all about my encounter with Rainbow, about how I got to do some cool stunts on my scooter, and how I didn’t have to feel ashamed of my disability. No… I wouldn’t call it a disability. Like Rainbow Dash said, I’m only disabled if I feet disabled. I could still fly. Maybe not with my wings alone, but with my trusty scooter I could be just as awesome as her one day.

She took it all in. I’m sure I must have prattled on and on, but she just listened without interrupting until I was done. She was especially interested to hear that it was possible for my wings to still grow in right without an expensive surgery.

When I was done she said, “You sound too excited and full of energy. You’re supposed to be being punished. Come with me. I have your ultimate torture waiting.”

I smirked as I followed her to the living room. She sat down in her rocking chair. “Come on up here. It’s time for you to face the ultimate consequence. You have to… take a nap with me!”

I gasped in horror. “No! Please! Anything but that! Please no!”

“Sorry, but you should have thought about that before you decided to be so naughty.”

“F-fine. I’ll do it.” I climbed up onto her lap, lovingly nuzzling her chest a few times before laying down. “Oh, no. I sure hope you don’t do it.”

“Don’t do what?”

“Your hoof… it’s like sandpaper. I sure hope you don’t try to rub my back. It would be so painful.”

“Oh, it would, would it?” she asked diabolically. She immediately put her hoof on my back and began rubbing back and forth.

I was beyond wanting to play anymore. With a belly full of delicious cookies and the loving hoof of my grandmare massaging me I began feeling sleepy almost immediately. I nuzzled her a few times before putting my head on her lap and letting out a big yawn. “I love you, Grandmare.”

“And I love you, my little sun and stars. You light up my life every time I see you smile.”

Ignoring my tiredness for a moment I looked up at her with a warm grin, and she followed suit.

She rocked back and forth, continuing her gentle rubbing, and soon enough I was out, feeling like the luckiest filly in the world.

Now that Rainbow Dash had taken an interest in me I was determined not to let her down. Every day I practiced on my scooter, trying to do something that I thought would impress her. More often than not I fell off and crashed. Sometimes I felt like giving up again. It felt so hopeless at times. Rainbow Dash was so far above me I didn’t even know if it was possible for me to ever catch up. I had to remind myself that not even Rainbow Dash was perfect. The only reason I even saw her again was because she had messed up a trick she was working on. So I persisted, telling myself that my injuries were just proof that I was giving it my all, and one day I finally managed a trick that I had been practicing for a week. I felt so proud of myself.

I excitedly grabbed my grandmare to show off my new move.

In our backyard I took a deep breath. This was it. I unfurled my wings and took off. I jumped over a bush. Near a decent sized rock I jumped it, flipping forward so I was upside down. Taking my hooves off the handlebars I did a hoofstand on the rock before flipping off and landing back on the ground. I began weaving back and forth between trees. As I came upon a low branch I jumped off the board, doing a front flip over it before landing on the scooter again.

Heading to another low branch I grabbed it, letting my momentum push me upward. When I was almost upside-down I let go, sending myself flying backwards, twisting to turn myself forward again and kicking the board with one of my hooves to spin it around three times before hitting the ground.

Taking a deep breath I headed back towards the other low branch. I jumped up onto the handlebars before quickly jumping again towards the branch, rotating my body to do a quick hoofstand on it before using my momentum to hop off, spinning a few times to just barely land on my scooter as it passed underneath.

I skidded to a stop, panting a little. I was so glad that I didn’t mess it up for my lone audience member. I looked towards my grandmare to see her reaction. She clapped and whooped for a few seconds before she stopped, a small look of pain on her face.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah. Just old.” She let out a weak laugh. “The body ain’t what it used to be. But that was amazing, Scootaloo. I think this calls for a special reward back at the house.”

“I don’t need a reward,” I said bashfully.

“But I’ve been saving this for you. It’s the perfect time.”

I followed her back to the house. She had me sit down in a chair and close my eyes. I heard her leave the room, and then she came back a minute later. I felt her put something in my hooves. She told me to open my eyes.

When I did I stared at the piece of paper on my hooves. It was a ticket. ”The Best Young Flier’s competition?” I asked. It was dated for a month from now.

She nodded. “It’s a competition between some of the best young adult pegasi around.”

I was in two minds. On the one hoof I felt so grateful she had gone out of her way to do something nice for me. On the other hoof I didn’t know if I wanted to go with my flightless self. Seeing all those amazing ponies flying around, knowing that I couldn’t. I didn’t think I’d like it.

I decided to be honest. She had told me that if my scooter stopped making me happy I didn’t have to keep it anymore, so this wasn’t too different. “I don’t want to go, Grandmare.” I explained my reason why.

She smiled at me. “Well, that’s okay. You know, I heard from a few ponies that Rainbow Dash is entering the competition.”

My ears instantly perked up at the mention of her name. “She is?”

“Yeah. But… if you’re not interested…” She took the ticket back.

“No!” I cried out in a panic, snatching it out of her hooves and holding it close to me. “I changed my mind. I wanna go! I wanna go!”

Grandmare just laughed.

Time seemed to pass by so slowly. I couldn’t wait to see Rainbow Dash pull out all the stops, and totally own the competition.