A week later I got a pleasant surprise. My friends Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom said their sisters had invited them to watch the meteor shower later on that night, and they asked me if I wanted to go too. I got my grandmare’s permission to go out.

When it was nighttime, when I’d usually be asleep, I felt too excited to think of conking out. I headed out to the hill they told me to meet them at before and found my friends. There was a big blanket set up, with snacks and punch. That was where I met my friends sisters, Rarity and Applejack, as well as their sisters friends, Fluttershy, Twilight Sparkle, Pinkie Pie, Spike and Rainbow Dash. Wait!

“Rainbow Dash?” I said, my mouth hanging open.

“Oh, hey,” she responded. “What’s up, kid?”

I immediately turned to my friends. “Your sisters are friends with Rainbow Dash, and you never told me?”

"We didn't even know you knew her," said Sweetie Belle.

"We don't know her all that well ourselves," said Apple Bloom.

I decided to let it go. I didn’t want to start a fight with them. We all ate and drank and I got to know all of them a little better. Twilight was a smart pony who lived in a library and was Celestia’s student; Applejack worked hard on her farm and considered her family and friends to be the most important to her; Pinkie Pie was a rambunctious ball of energy who loved throwing parties and making ponies happy; Rarity was a fashion designer looking to be recognized everywhere; Fluttershy was a quiet and, well, shy pony who liked caring for animals; Spike was Twilight’s assistant and a pretty darn good cookie maker; and, of course, Rainbow Dash was just the most amazing flier ever.

I wanted to chat with Rainbow Dash but I was suddenly feeling bashful about it. I wish I had my scooter so I could show off my tricks, but I guess that would be a little rude to put the focus on me when we were in a group.

The meteor shower was really incredible. It was something you sure didn’t see too often. According to Twilight it only happened once every one hundred years. I got to sit next to Rainbow Dash as we watched what seemed like countless meteors cross the sky. It was so beautiful.

Two weeks after that I ran into Rainbow Dash again much like before, only this time she didn’t come so close to hitting me as she hit the ground.

“Rainbow Dash!” I cried out as she picked herself up.

She shook off the dust on her, then said distractedly, “Hey, Scootaloo.”

“I’m so glad to see you! Just like you said I’ve been practicing every day since the last time we met, and I’ve got some moves to show you!” I beamed, my voice full of pride.

“Yeah, that’s nice,” she said indifferently. “Don’t care. Got better things to do than watch your dumb filly tricks.” Without another word she jumped into the air and started flying away.

“B-b-but… but I practiced so hard!” I didn’t mean to start sobbing, but her dismissive response of telling me she didn’t care about all my hard work really hurt my feelings.

She stopped in mid-air and came flying down in front of me. She pointed her hoof at me, snapping angrily, “LISTEN, SCOOTALOO!” I cowered, backing up a step. Her body tensed and she gave me a funny look. She closed her eyes, took a few deep breaths, and then took a step forward and put her hoof on my neck. This time, much gentler, she said, “Listen, Scootaloo. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you but I really don’t have time to watch your tricks. The competition is only a few days away and I still haven’t perfected my signature move.

“The Best Young Flier’s competition has some of the best pegasi in all of Equestria. Princess Celestia herself is one of the judges, and tons of pegasi are going to be watching.” She let out a sigh. “If I can’t get this move right by competition day my whole act is going to fall flat and I’m going to look pathetic. I just feel really frustrated. I didn’t mean to take it out on you.”

That made me feel a little better. “You know, my grandmare bought me a ticket to the show. At first I didn’t want to go.” I fluttered my wings a bit. “Can’t fly, you know. But when I heard you were going to enter I really wanted to see you. Is it that, um, booming-sonic-rain thing?”

“The sonic rainboom,” she corrected. “And yes, it is. It was how I got my cutie mark in the first place. As a filly I managed to fly so fast during a race I created a sonic boom and rainbow at the same time. From time to time I tried to do it again, but I never could. When I heard about this contest I knew that it was what I wanted to show off. I figured that with a deadline coming up it would give me the drive I needed to pull it off again, but so far no luck. No one else has ever managed to pull it off, and I know that if I could just do it one more time that I would be the winner for sure.”

She let out another sigh, and then she said to me, “So you’re going to come too, huh? I think that would be wonderful. Are you going to cheer me on?”

“Of course! I’ll try to scream the loudest for you.”

She finally let out a little laugh and smiled. “That’s good. I could sure use some support from my number one fan.”

I blushed. I felt like it went throughout my entire body. Number one fan. She had called me her number one fan! She bid me farewell as she left to continue practicing. After that I returned home in a daze.

I was so excited the night before the contest that I couldn’t sleep. I still didn’t know what a sonic rainboom would look like, but if it was Rainbow Dash doing it I know it would look amazing.

My grandmare rented a Twinkling Balloon for me since I couldn’t fly, and it was only then that she told me I would be going alone. I was surprised. I thought she would be coming to watch the show too but, as she pointed out, she was an earth pony, and thus couldn’t walk on clouds. She had known that and bought me the ticket anyway. She said she knew I’d be fine.

When the balloon arrived I got off, following the line of pegasi. I handed in my ticket when it was my turn, and I was directed to a cloud to sit on, my heart beating quickly in my chest with my excitement. I couldn’t wait to see the sonic rainboom. I was sure Rainbow Dash had it down pat by now.

I watched pegasi come out, one after another, each showing off pretty good moves. However, I had faith in my Rainbow Dash. After a while though my enthusiasm waned a bit. Where was she? According to the program we had been given she was supposed to have been the second one to come out. However, thirteen ponies had already came out and shown off their moves. I wondered if something had happened to her. What if she had gotten sick? What if she had gotten hurt and couldn’t be in the competition?

Just as I was starting to get scared out came Rainbow Dash and… Ra-ri-ty? I couldn’t believe my eyes. Rarity had wings! Not regular pegasus wings. They looked like butterfly wings. What was Rarity doing in this competition? She wasn’t even a pegasus! I don’t care if she had wings now. She was a unicorn. How dare she try to show Rainbow Dash up?

I was so busy being angry at Rarity and hoping she’d fail all her tricks that I nearly missed Rainbow’s performance. I saw her weaving in between clouds, looking so awesome, before going back to glaring at Rarity. Then I saw her spinning clouds, which looked so cool, before Rarity blocked my view again, and I had to resist the urge to yell out “Boo!” After all, I didn’t want Rainbow Dash to think I was criticizing her.

Rainbow Dash was definitely on top. I saw both Rainbow Dash and Rarity heading up high in the sky. Rarity stopped, but Rainbow kept going. I heard Rarity bragging, wanting everyone to look upon her, and I felt so angry I hoped with all my heart that she’d lose those fake-looking wings and just fall flat on her face.

The next thing I knew Rarity’s wings disintegrated, and now she was plummeting toward the ground below. I had changed my mind now. I hadn’t really wanted her to fall. I was just upset. “RAINBOW DASH!” I yelled. “HELP!”

It was either my screaming or Rarity’s that got her attention. She turned around, racing toward her friend as the Wonderbolts flew down to save her themselves, but Rarity was flailing around so much she knocked out all of them on accident. Now there were four of them all headed to the ground. They were all going to be hurt and possibly die.

If there was anybody, any pony, who could possibly get them all out of this alright she was zooming down toward them right now. But could even Rainbow Dash save four ponies at once? ITears came down my eyes. “Please, Rainbow Dash!” I said quietly. “You have to save them.”

I saw something strange happening around Rainbow Dash. The air in front of her was warping, and it became more pronounced the faster she flew. Was this it? That sonic rainboom she had been talking about? But what if she couldn’t do it? What if she failed?

Right then I remembered something. I had told Rainbow Dash I would cheer the loudest for her. She had said she might need the encouragement of me, her number one fan.

That’s right! I didn’t have time to be scared or feel sorry. This was Rainbow Dash! She would save them. Putting my hooves around my mouth I yelled out as loud as I could, “GO, RAINBOW DASH! YOU CAN DO IT! I BELIEVE IN YOU!”

Rainbow Dash suddenly vanished with a rainbow colored explosion. An immense wave of air pushed my mane back and nearly knocked me off the cloud I was sitting on. I looked down to see only what looked like an expanding rainbow heading to the ground so fast my eyes couldn’t keep up with it all. The three Wonderbolts and Rarity vanished too just before they hit the ground, and now the rainbow was heading upwards. As it did I saw Rainbow Dash, awesomeness ponified, was what was leading the rainbow, holding Rarity with the three Wonderbolts on her back.

So that was a sonic rainboom. It was the most spectacular, most incredible thing I’ve ever seen! I screamed myself hoarse cheering for her. And, as I knew all along, she was crowned the champion of the Best Young Flier’s competition. Happy tears raced down my eyes. This was truly one of the greatest days of my life. I knew now after seeing that that no pony would ever be able to match Rainbow Dash in coolness.

The day after the competition I combed all of Ponyville looking around for Rainbow Dash so I could congratulate her personally.

I finally found her in the library, reading with Twilight. “Hi, Rainbow Dash. Hi, Twilight.”

“Oh. Hi, Scootaloo,” said Twilight. “Have you come for a book or something else? Or rather, someone else?” She laughed as she looked over at Rainbow Dash.

“Rainbow Dash!” I said.

“What’s up, kid?” Rainbow asked distractedly.

“I just wanted to tell you how amazing you were at the competition. The way you swerved around the clouds, and spun them around, and how you finally pulled off the sonic rainboom! That was the best. I knew the whole time you were going to win!”

“Well, thanks,” she said, not having her usual confidence when I praised her. “Listen, I was so nervous before the competition that I couldn’t even concentrate on reading. I’m hoof deep in the newest epic of Daring Do, so do you think you can give me a few more days until I see your moves? I don’t think I’m going to be able to put this book down. It’s the best one yet.”

“Oh. Okay,” I said. I was a little disappointed, but she had been very polite about it, so I couldn’t get too upset. Besides, I remember the way she had reacted when I tried to approach her before when she wasn’t in the mood. If she was going to evaluate my moves, I wanted her to give me her full attention and honest opinion.

A week went by. I decided that since I had extra time that I should get some extra practice in. I had seemed to pick up Rainbow’s habit of seeing possible tricks everywhere I went, and most of the time I went for them. Oftentimes I pulled it off, but I also crashed quite a bit too.

I was swerving around other ponies, came upon a low branch and jumped it, landing back on my scooter at just the right time, before coming upon an overturned cart. No backing down! With a small hop I used the cart as a ramp, flying up into the air with a loud, “Woohoo!”

“Nice moves, kid,” came a voice right next to me. I turned and saw Rainbow Dash flying upside down with a drink on her belly, hooves behind her head like she was trying to nap in mid-air, and I felt my heart shine with pride.

“Nice moves? Rainbow Dash thinks I have-oof!” She had taken me so by surprise that I forgot about my landing, and I crashed into a bale of hay. “… nice moves,” I finished as I pulled myself out, just avoiding a cow trying to eat my tail.

I was so excited I couldn’t stop gushing at the clubhouse later. “Rainbow Dash said I have nice moves!”

“She really said that?” asked Sweetie Belle.

“Yeah!”

“That’s great, Scootaloo,” said Apple Bloom.

“I know! Isn’t it? It’s like she practically told me she wanted to take me under her wing, teach me everything she knows and be like my big sister!”

Apple Bloom looked at me uncertainly. “Well, I don’t know about all that.”

“Hey, it could happen. Right? I just wish I had more chances to spend time with her. We keep running into each other by accident. I mean, you guys are so lucky. Your sisters are friends with Rainbow Dash so you have a much better chance of seeing her than I do.”

“Hey!” Apple Bloom said. “I got it!”

Apple Bloom proceeded to tell me she and her sister Applejack were going camping for the weekend, and she’d see if she could get Rainbow Dash to come along so I could come too.

Sweetie Belle had to do some convincing to get Rarity to come, but after that the sisterhood campout was on! Of course, me and Rainbow Dash weren’t sisters but I thought that if I could show her how cool I was she’d want to spend more time with me. And then after that… well… maybe she’d come to see me as a little sister.

In the end, most of it was a disaster. The first day was good. We all got to talk and hang out. I got to strut a bit on my scooter. Everything was going great, up until it got dark. At night Rainbow Dash started telling spooky stories about this crazy mare called the Olden Pony who stalks ponies, thinking they’ve got her horseshoe. I did my best to play it off like they didn’t get to me and mocked my friends to cover up my own fear. I didn’t want her to think I was a coward. Even though I got to sleep in the same tent as Rainbow Dash I was still too afraid and wound up to actually fall asleep. When I finally passed out I had a nightmare of the Olden Pony coming after me.

I scootered and walked around half-asleep the rest of the next day until we found a spot to rest for the night.

More spooky stories. This time it was about a headless horse who attacks lost ponies. She claimed that it haunted the woods we were camping out in. I was so terrified that I couldn’t even think of trying to sleep. I did my best to try to get everyone else to stay up too, but eventually they all conked out, leaving me all alone. Soon enough I fell asleep too, too tired to stay up.

This time I dreamt of a headless horse coming after me, just like the story. Just when it looked like it was about to attack me it disappeared, and in its place: “Princess… Luna?”

She nodded. “As the princess of the night it is my duty to enter your dreams and help you to sleep soundly. However, when you awaken, the thing you are most frightened of will still exist.”

I feebly said, “The headless horse?”

She knew better though. “Hmm, is it really the headless horse who frightens you the most?”

I rubbed my hoof against my leg. “Well, I’m scared Rainbow Dash won’t like me if she finds out that I’m not as tough as I make myself out to be.”

“Everyone has fears, Scootaloo,” she said firmly but kindly, “but they must be faced head-on. If you avoid your problems the nightmares will only continue.

“Face your fears!” she said as she began to fly away.

I found myself back in the cave, and I saw it had just been another nightmare. I decided to get up and make sure the headless horse wasn’t around. I was near the mouth of the cave when I heard a strange sound, a high pitched cry.

I was certain I was hearing the whinny of the headless horse! I jumped, grabbing my scooter and determined to get away from her. After nearly crashing several times I fell off the edge of the path, just barely grabbing onto a tree branch as my scooter went tumbling down below into the water. I called out for help but no one came. To make matters worse the branch was breaking. I yelled out louder, hoping that anyone, except the headless horse, would come to my rescue.

The branch broke and I fell into the water. The water wasn’t all that deep, but it was fast moving and I didn’t have the strength to fight it. I came upon a waterfall, but just after I fell over it I felt myself being lifted into the air before being set down in a clearing.

Rainbow Dash looked furious. “What were you doing out here in the middle of the night!” she snapped.

Tears came to my eyes. They stopped when I suddenly saw Princess Luna reflected on the moon, telling me it was time to face my real fears. I knew it was time to come clean, but I didn’t want to.

“I’m so, so sorry, Rainbow Dash! All I wanted was for us to be able to spend some more time together so you’d wanna hang out with me, teach me everything you know, and become like my big sister!” A look of shock crossed her face. “But then you started telling all those spooky stories. I thought I heard the whinny of the headless horse so I ran out here by myself, and I guess you know the rest.

“I guess I’m just not brave or cool, after all,” I said dejectedly as I took off my helmet.

A warm smile crossed her face. “Look, I’m gonna tell you something, but if you ever tell anypony else I’m gonna deny it. The first time I heard those stories…,” she looked around to make sure no one was listening, “… I was scared too.”

“What?” I asked in surprise. “You… you were?”

“Yeah.” With typical Rainbow Dash confidence she continued, “I got over it pretty quick because I realized that even if there were such a thing as a headless horse, I could totally take it on.”

Her face had that tender look again. “So, you’re looking for somepony to take you under their wing, huh?”

“Mmm-hmm.” I nodded hopefully.

“Hmmm… yeah. I might be up for something like that.” She put her wing around me, pulling me right next to her. “Just as long as you don’t go falling into any more rivers in the middle of the night,” she said with a laugh.

“It’s a deal.” I said, laughing along with her as we snuggled.

It was quiet for a time. I was just glad to have Rainbow Dash by my side, willing to teach me to be an amazing flier like she was. Rainbow Dash was the one to break the silence. “Hey, Scootaloo. I want to tell you something.”

“What is it?”

“We’ve only met a couple of times now, but I can see you hold me up as your role model.”

“Is that okay?” I asked, wondering if she was changing her mind.

“Yes…” The way she drifted off made me unsure. “Scootaloo, I think you could be a great flier one day, maybe even as good as me.” Hearing praise like made my heart swell up with joy. “Right now your wings are too weak to get you off the ground, and your stunted wing could get in the way of that.”

“Yeah,” I responded, letting out a heavy breath.

“However, even if you get all better and you follow along in my hoofsteps that’s all you’ll ever be seen as. Ponies will just see you as a second Rainbow Dash.”

“That would be the COOLEST!” I cried out.

Rainbow Dash broke out laughing. “Oh, gosh. I forgot I was already talking to a little Rainbow Dash. What I mean is that even if you one day pull off a sonic rainboom no one is going to really remember you for it.

"Oh, sure, they may be really impressed that a second pegasus pulled it off, but most likely the first thing they’d do is dismiss you entirely by commenting how somepony else could pull off the same move as Rainbow Dash, because all you’d be doing is copying something I created. On accident, mind you, but still my creation, and now I can do it all the time. Um, yeah, anyway… getting off topic.

"Anyway, since you have so much potential, your legend shouldn’t simply be to stand in my shadow. You should create your own legend, and stand with me side-by-side.”

“What do you mean?”

She let go of me, flying away for a few seconds. When she returned she had my scooter with her.

“Oh!” I cried out. I thought it was gone.

“At first I thought you were on this because it was so dark, but when you weren’t there I knew you had to be close by.”

She set it down, and then sat next to me again. She pointed at it and said, “Now that’s what I mean.”

“Huh?” I asked, not understanding.

“I’m saying that that could be your legend. Even if your first time doing moves was all an accident you still felt something deep inside of you awaken that made you focus even though you were afraid, and that was what allowed you to pull it all off without crashing once. Like I said when I first saw it you found a way to make your wings work for you even if you can’t fly yet. The reason we all have different cutie marks is that we each have our own destinies and our own skills. Maybe you’re destined to be the world’s greatest scooterist.”

I didn’t like the way this conversation was going. My stomach felt heavy as a tear came down my eye. “Does this mean you’re not going to teach me how to fly?”

“When did I ever say that? You should listen more to what I’m saying, kid. There’s no reason for you not to fly if you have the skill, but I’m saying it might not be the destiny you’re headed towards. Being able to fly alone doesn’t make one a great athlete. You don’t have to look any further than Fluttershy to know that. Also, look at Applejack. She’s an earth pony, but she competes in rodeos and even gets some first place medals.

"But unless you can someday pull off something even more powerful than a sonic rainboom then you’re never going to be really remembered for flying because my legend will always be in your way. You may do your best, and pull off some truly spectacular moves, but somepony is always going to say, 'Well, it wasn’t as amazing as a sonic rainboom.' That’s why I’m telling you to find your own unique way to shine. I saw that you’ve improved a lot since the first time you rode your scooter. You’re more confident, and now you can do your techniques on purpose rather than by accident.

“Teaching you to fly will only help your scootering ability, because if your wings become stronger you can flap them harder, and of course that means a lot more speed. And any disciple of Rainbow Dash loves lots of speed!”

“Yeah!” I cried out. It all made a lot of sense to me. The more I improved my flying the better I could ride my scooter, and the more I improved at my scooter the better I could become at flying. It was a win-win situation no matter how I got around. And… it seemed kind of scary to think of trying to outdo Rainbow Dash. She was the best flier in all of Equestria. I hadn’t even gotten myself off the ground yet.

However, like she told me, I could still ride my scooter and learn lots of cool moves. Who knows? Maybe someday Scootaloo would be a name as well-known as Rainbow Dash. I was a tiny bit disappointed that I may never be the great flier she was, but I could still become great in my own way. Well, with the world’s greatest flier as my trainer, how could I possibly go wrong?

In the morning we finally reached the peak of the falls. Sweetie Belle called sister teams, starting a race to the top of the falls. I felt so proud, now that I finally had a sister to race with.

With her usual confidence Rainbow Dash said, “They think they can beat the two of us?” She unfurled her impressive wings.

I did too, fluttering them. Rainbow Dash picked me up, balancing me on one hoof as we flew towards the falls together. It was a truly amazing feeling. It was like I was actually flying! I didn’t feel afraid at all, because I knew Rainbow Dash wouldn’t let me fall. In the end we got there first as we had a definite advantage over the running ponies. The two of us celebrated together, and that ended one of the best weekends ever.