“Scootieloo!” Cried out Rose Blossom. “Where are we going?”

“Just to the park, Rosie,” I responded. “I gotta get my scooter practice in for today.”

“Yay!” She cried out happily. “I love watching you. You go like this! And this! And this!”

I let out a little laugh at her rambunctious nature as she did little spins and acted like she was doing scooter tricks. It really reminded me of the way I used to be. Rose Blossom really looked up to me. After all, I had been caring for her since she was just a baby, starting out with me saving her from a fall and foalsitting her almost every week after. She was almost six now and pretty soon she would enter elementary school.

When we got to the park I told her to sit on the bench and I’d give her a show. She sat down instantly, a mile-wide smile on her face as she waited. Once again I couldn’t help but be reminded of the way I used to admire Rainbow Dash. I strived so hard to be everything she was, until she finally set me straight and told me that I should be my own pony, not just a copy of her. And she was right. My cutie mark attested to that. My destiny was to be an amazing scooter rider. I could be a professional racer, or be a delivery pony and transport items for other ponies. There were so many paths ahead of me to choose.

I DID beat Rainbow Dash in that race a week ago, but just like she told me about herself, I wouldn’t let that make me lazy. I still had a long, long way to go if I ever truly wanted to be her equal.

With a determined look I gazed down at the area of the park in front of me, plotting out my course. Taking a deep breath I began my usual warm-ups of wing stretches and measured ins and outs of breath. Revving my wings I kicked off, racing down the small hill of the path. I headed towards the pond to my left, and just before I hit the water I jumped, doing five front flips before skidding across the last part of the pond. Seeing another small hill ahead I jumped it, twirling around in rapid rotations before approaching a tree. As soon as the board hit a branch I put out one of my hooves and jumped, flapping my wings hard as I gained more air and did horizontal spins until I neared the ground. Straightening myself out before I hit the path I pushed my scooter forward, quickly rotating to throw my scooter ahead of me with the momentum. Jumping off the ground and flapping my wings hard I caught up to my scooter, jumping off the board and doing a handstand on the handlebars. Feeling daring I took off one of my hooves, laughing because of how much I enjoyed riding my scooter. As I came upon another small hill I pushed off, backflipping back onto the board and laying down upon it facing the opposite direction, pushing myself up on my front hooves and using my back hooves to steer it back towards Rose Blossom. Timing it perfectly I jumped off, doing several more backflips before twisting on the last one to stand back on it properly. Putting out my hoof to slow down I skidded to a stop right in front of her.

Rosie clapped her hooves so hard I thought they would fall off, cheering and screaming her little heart out. I let out some happy giggles as I bowed to her. For the third time I was reminded of my younger self. I thought of the day I had first met Rainbow Dash and had asked her to show me moves, and I had reacted much like my sister did.

I wiped my brow, letting out a little pant at my exertion. Setting my scooter against the side of the bench I sat down next to her. “How was that, huh?”

Rosie quickly jumped into my lap. “That was so amazing! Oh my gosh! That was the most amazing, most spectacular thing I’ve ever seen! No wonder you beat Rainbow Dash! You’re so much cooler than her.”

Holding her to me I smiled and laughed as I let out a small sigh, thinking it would be pointless to try to change her mind. After all, no one could have done that for me at that age. The parallels between me and Rose Blossom were obvious to me. We were a lot alike in so many ways. I didn’t mind, of course. Just as Rainbow Dash had said about me, I liked having a little sister to look after and care for. Things with my new family had worked out better than I had ever dreamed.

“Scootieloo?”

“You do know my name is SCOOT-A-LOO by now, don’t you? You’re almost ready for school, you know?”

“So what? My name is ROSE Blossom, but you like to call me Rosie, right? So I’m just trying to be like you. Because I love you so much, sis!” She looked up at me with bright eyes, before throwing her hooves around me and holding me tight.

I felt a few warm tears come down my eyes. “I love you too, little Rosie.” I felt her settle into me farther as my heart swelled with all my affection for the little munchkin.

After a few more seconds she pulled out my hold and looked up at me again. “So, sis?”

“Yes?”

“Do you think I can be cool like you?”

“Of course you can, if you work at it. Just practice really hard.”

“Can I ride with you for a little while? I really want to see what it’s like. It looks like SOOOOO much fun.”

“Hmmm. I don’t know. I wouldn’t want you to get hurt.”

A dejected look replaced her joy. “Is that a no?”

“Well…maybe for a little while, but I can’t do most of my usual stunts. For those I need to be in total control. But I can do some simple stuff if that’s okay with you?”

Rosie’s eyes lit up with delight. “Hooray! Let’s go! Let’s go!” Jumping off the bench she pulled me hard with both her front hooves.

“Okay! Okay! Give me a sec, will ya?” Standing up I walked over to my scooter, setting it up. “Okay, now stand behind me and put your hooves around me really tight and DON’T LET GO no matter what! Got that?”

“Right!” She said with a nod, shaking with anticipation.

Once again I was reminded of myself, first of getting to do a sonic rainboom from Rainbow Dash’s back and then of how excited I was of getting to do it later.

Once I was sure she was securely on behind me I tested my wings. I didn’t want to be constantly hitting her with them, after all. Thankfully my wings were far enough out on my body that I didn’t have to worry about that. I kicked off, flapping my wings much slower than I would have usually. I didn’t want her to fall off and get hurt from an unexpected burst of speed.

As we went down the hill I jumped off, thinking of doing a front flip but deciding against it. Instead I just landed right on the ground. I aimed for another hill, jumping and getting as much air as I could. I did three slow rotations before landing back on the ground. I continued doing simple tricks, Rosie laughing and calling out “MORE! MORE!” all the while, until on one of my comedowns I accidentally pushed too far forward and Rose went flying into the air. Quickly jumping off with all four of my hooves I flapped my wings, catching her before she hit the ground.

Rosie was laughing away, but my heart was racing. “Okay, squirt. I think that’s enough for now.”

I fully expected her to pout and complain, but all she did was smile. When I set her down she threw herself at me again and hugged me. “Thank you so much, Scootieloo! You’re the best sister ever! I love you!”

“I love you too, sis.” I saw her grin disappear. “What’s wrong, kid?”

“Scootieloo…do you think…I mean…can we…”

“Come on, Rose. Spit it out.”

“Could you teach me how to ride a scooter? I don’t even care about flying. I just want to be just like you! So I want a scooter too.”

“Oh…um…I guess. But we’d have to talk to mom and dad about getting you one. This one is too big for you. You wouldn’t be able to ride it right.

“So you wanna just go home for now so we can ask?”

She nodded her head hard. “Can we ride home? You don’t have to do any tricks. I just wanna ride some more with you. I don’t ever care what we do as long as we can spend time doing stuff together.”

“No problem. I don’t mind that. Let’s go.”

As we rode home I thought about how there wasn’t a day of my life I wasn’t glad that I had been the one to rescue Rose Blossom. Sure, sometimes she got on my nerves like sisters do, but most of the time she was a big ball of love just looking for a target to unleash it on, and most of the time it was me. She was always asking me to read her stories, or napping on my lap, or sleeping with me at night. She could never get enough of me. It really was an amazing feeling…being a big sister.

When we got home we found mom and dad in the kitchen, making some lunch.

“Oh, hey, you two,” Said mom. “You’re home early. I thought you’d be out later.”

“Well,” I said, “Rosie here has a request.”

“Yes, sweetie?”

“I want a scooter just like my big sister!" said Rosie. "Then I can race around and be just like her!”

“Rose…,” Started dad, “I’m afraid we just don’t have the money for that right now. We have bills that we have to pay and we can’t afford to get a brand new scooter for you.”

As expected she started bawling and pleading and begging. I wasn’t sure what to do. I didn’t want to leave her like that, but I couldn’t help her. I didn’t have the money for a new scooter either.

I felt like there was a lump in my stomach as an idea came to me. I couldn’t give her a brand new scooter…but I could give her a used one. I took a shuddering breath and said, “I remember now. I can give you a scooter, Rose.”

Her sobbing stopped almost instantly. “R-really?” She sniffled.

I nodded. “Come on.” I walked toward my room, her anxiously following behind me. I opened my closet, and with a heavy feeling I slowly rolled out the scooter my grandmare had given me all those years ago. The memories I had with it came flooding back. I didn’t know why it felt so painful. I had already decided back when I got my new scooter that it wasn’t the scooter itself that was important. All that really mattered of what she had left behind is what she had given to me: an open heart full of love. And yet…and yet…to think of allowing someone else to have this most precious memento, someone who had no idea what they were doing and might cause it to get destroyed…

I saw her eyes light up with pure joy, one of those gigantic smiles on her face as she hugged it like an old friend, just like I had done with it a few times. Then she ran over to me, and I saw happy tears coming down her eyes. “Thank you so so so so so so so so much, sis! This is the best present ever! Oh, I want to go ride it right now! Come on, Scootaloo. Let’s go!”

Without another word she rushed out of the house, leaving me alone. I felt like I couldn’t breathe, feeling one of the scars on my heart crack open a little. I sniffled, feeling the tears well up inside.

A short while later I saw Mom at my door. I saw her give one look at me, and then she turned towards the hallway and called out, “Honey, would you look after Rose Blossom for a bit? I need to talk to Scootaloo.” I heard him reply that he would.

Mom came in and sat down on the bed. She patted the area next to it, and I moved automatically, sitting down next to her. “What’s the matter, Scootaloo? You made your sister’s day with that.” I continued sniffling, holding back the tears that wanted to come out. I felt her put a wing around me and nuzzle my face. I heard the sound of Rosie laughing and playing outside, sounding cheerier than I’d almost ever heard her.

“Scootaloo…you faced down a dragon for the sake of the entire town and to keep everyone safe from it until things could be settled. But even so, I have to say that what you just did was the bravest, most unselfish, and most wonderful thing you have ever done. You took a gift from the heart, something that meant the world to you, and you gave it to someone else, not knowing what is going to happen to it. That took a LOT of courage, and I am so proud of you for that.”

My whole body clenched, my breathing shortened, and before I knew it I was sobbing into her body, her words meaning so much to me.

When my weeping settled down a little I looked up at her and muttered, “Being stupid.”

“You’re NOT being stupid. It was a tough decision you made, but you did it for the sake of someone you loved. You are a fantastic big sister, and I’m so glad to have you every day. Rose never would have been the wonderful child she is without your guidance. We owe you a lot for saving our child back then, and you continue giving us gifts all the time just by being your wonderful self.”

I sniffled, wiping my face. “W-well, you gave me a home to live in when I needed it. You gave me a mom and dad to love, and a sister to take care of. It means a lot to me too.” I hopped off the bed, walking near the window. It had gotten quiet now, so I wonder if Rosie had gotten bored already, or maybe dad had taken her to the park. “I am being dumb. When all of you gave me a new scooter for my birthday I was happy and sad. I was sad because I had to put my old scooter away. I grew up with that scooter. Of course I had Applebloom and Sweetie Belle, but that scooter was like my best friend for years. I liked flying, but I LOVED riding my scooter. Now that my grandmare is gone it’s one of the few things I have left of her. I told myself that it was okay, that I had other things to remind me of her, that her love would always be inside me, but it just wasn’t enough. When I passed that scooter over to Rose it felt like my heart was breaking in two. It hurt me so much.” I felt more tears come down my eyes.

As mom went to say something I heard a small voice. “Scootieloo?”

I turned toward the door and I saw Rose Blossom there, and I saw she looked upset. She looked like she was about to start sobbing too.

She walked into my room with the scooter, walking towards the closet and putting it away. She turned to me, tears now streaming down her face. “You can have your present back. I don’t want it anymore. I’m…I’m s-sorry I made you cry and hurt your heart. F-f-forgive me?” She asked in a shaking voice.

I realized that she had heard my crying fit and what I had just been saying. She cared more about my happiness than her own. She didn’t want to do anything to hurt me.

I started crying along with her as I sat down, holding her to me as she sat on my lap. “Yes, Rosie. I forgive you. I love you! I really do.”

“I love you, too!”

For a while we were both crying wrecks. As I began to calm down again I felt a shift in my thoughts and emotions. Seeing Rosie’s totally unselfish way of giving up her heart’s desire simply to cheer me up meant a lot to me. She really did mean everything to me, and I would do anything it took to keep her safe. That was absolute. And if she was going to follow in my hoofsteps than she was going to need the right equipment.

I didn’t want to be selfish either. As I stood up I went back to the closet and took out my old scooter. It had been well loved. I had done repairs to it over the years, so it was still in good shape despite its copious use. My grandmare had given me this scooter as a gift from her heart. I had a lot of my heart invested in this scooter too, and just like with my new scooter where everyone had played a part in getting it for me, I wanted to bestow my hopes and heart upon my old one…and give it freely to someone who needed it.

“Rose Blossom…this is for you. This scooter is very important to me, so you need to take good care of it.”

She shook her head. “I don’t want it anymore!”

“Yes, you do!” I said firmly. “I know you do, because I know how wonderful it feels to have and ride a scooter. You need one too, so you can ride alongside me as my sister. And maybe one day you’ll have your own scooter cutie mark like me. I know I started crying before, but I can’t keep holding on to this forever. Someone has to ride it and enjoy it, and I want that pony to be you, sis. I’m really grateful to you for choosing to give it back to me, but I WANT you to have it. I want to see you use it and grow up with it just like I did. I want to see what you can do, and I’ll be alongside you every step of the way to teach you and keep you safe.

“Now, c’mon. Go throw your helmet on and let’s go practice, sis.”

“Are you sure?” She asked, still looking unsure.

“Yes! I’ve never been more sure of anything in my life. I want you to have this scooter. I promise.”

Finally, she took it from me. “Okay,” She said, a grin coming back to her face. “I super-duper promise I’ll take as good care of it as you did, that way I don’t ever have to hurt your heart again.”

I patted her head a few times. “Thanks, Rosie. That means a lot to me. You ready now?”

She nodded hard. “Let’s go have some fun!” She ran out of the room with the scooter, me following after her.

The two of us stood outside, helmets on and side by side. “Alright, kid. We’re gonna take it slow for now, but soon enough you’ll get used to it and maybe we can start you on a trick to practice.

“Now, open your wings and kick off.”

“O-KAY!” She cried out.

The two of us took off, traveling slowly through our yard. I was now feeling confident in my choice to freely give her my old treasure. I thought it was wonderful that it was finally getting some use again, even if it was by someone else. But it was a someone else I loved to death. So that was okay.

I wasn’t afraid anymore.

It seemed like just another day. I got up, had breakfast, went to Ponyville High, and practiced on my scooter for a bit. Time passed by in a blur. Then I returned home and I found out things would never be the same. I saw some ponies I had never seen before in my house, along with a sobbing wreck Rose Blossom, and I knew instantly that something had gone very wrong.

When she saw me she came running over, crying her eyes out as she held onto me with all of her strength. I tried to focus on comforting her, but I didn’t know what all the fuss was about. Had there been a fire? Or something important stolen?

Then they gave me the news. Star Gazer and Cloud Hunter, Mom and Dad, had died in an accident. I collapsed to the floor, my mind screaming NOT AGAIN!

“Scootieloo!”

As I curled up and shut my eyes tight I thought about how all I wanted was to just enjoy my life. Why did ponies I loved have to keep dying?

“Scootieloo!”

It wasn’t fair. I was too young to manage a house and care for Rose Blossom all by myself.

“SCOOTIELOO! SCOOTIELOO! SCOOTIELOO!”

I heard a voice calling out to me, felt myself being shaken hard. The sounds of crying faded away, and I opened my eyes to see Rose Blossoms face right in front of me, looking worried. I quickly looked around, and it was dark except for the illumination of the moon. It had only been a dream. Just a stupid nightmare. It hadn’t been the first I’d had recently. This one was just the worst.

“What’s wrong, Scootieloo?” asked Rosie. “I was just going to get some water and I heard you crying and talking in your sleep.”

“I…I…” I took a deep breath. “I’m…it’s nothing. Just a nightmare. Thanks for waking me up.”

“No problem!” Rosie said with a bright smile, hugging me hard. “I’d do anything to help you, Sis. Because you’re so helpful to me. I’ve been having so much fun learning to scooter ride with you…even if I do crash half the time.” She let out an embarrassed laugh. “Oh, well. I’ll get better with more practice.”

She stood up, giving me a quick kiss on my forehead. “I’m going to get my water and go back to bed. I hope you have some better dreams, Sis.” With that she left, and I slowly heard the sound of her hooves receding.

I lay in bed a long time, unable to fall back asleep. The memory of my nightmare was overpowering me. When I had lost my grandmare everything had changed. I had been so devastated that I had gone into a comatose state, and even after that it took me many months to recover and shift my thinking. This family taking me in had saved me from myself and the despair that wanted to engulf me.

Why? Why was I suddenly having these nightmares now? After years of having moved on past my first big loss why was it that these fears were invading my nights?

I started crying again as the image from my dream came up again, of Rose Blossom holding me tight and looking to me for support to help her after being told our parents were dead. Every day there was a possibility that that would become a reality. Just like how one day, after leaving Rainbow’s house on a regular day, I returned home to find someone I loved dead with no warning.

After tossing and turning for over fifteen minutes, trying to drown out the images that refused to leave me, I finally gave it up, and left my room. I debated on going for a nightly fly, but ultimately I knew that wouldn’t change a thing. I headed over to Rosie’s open door and gently knocked on it. She mumbled a bit, before I saw her move up slightly, looking at me with half-lidded eyes. “Yeah, Scootieloo?” she said, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.

I walked into her room, sitting on the side of her bed, feeling like the weight of the world was on my shoulders. “I…I need your help.”

I think she could tell what kind of mood I was in, because she instantly came out from under the covers and sat on my lap, putting her hooves around me. “What’s the matter? Did you have another nightmare?”

“No… it’s the same one. It was really, really bad. The worst one I’ve ever had. And I’m scared.”

She looked up at me, trying to be encouraging. “Come on! You fought a dragon by yourself. What’s scarier than that?”

I couldn’t answer. Rosie… she, just like me at her age, had never experienced the loss of someone she dearly loved. She couldn’t understand the utter devastation of feeling how deeply it scars you; couldn’t understand that feeling of knowing you’d never be able to talk with and play with and laugh with and receive comfort from someone who you invested a large portion of your heart to. “I don’t want to talk about it, Rosie. Right now I just need you to believe it was that bad and be there for me. Please!”

I could see a strained look on her face and a few tears came down her eyes as she resisted breaking down herself. She was trying to be strong for me despite her own hurt at seeing me in pain. “Of course I’ll always be there for you. I love you so much! I’d do anything for you, because I know you’d do anything for me.”

After a minute I asked, “Rosie… do you think I could sleep with you tonight?”

Despite herself, that brought a small giggle from her. I’m sure she was finding the role reversal amusing. She was usually the one who came to my room wanting to sleep with me because of either nightmares or not wanting to sleep alone. “Of course you can. My bed is your bed.”

“Thank you, Rosie. You’re a great sister.”

“You’re not so bad yourself,” she said with another small laugh. The two of us got under the covers side by side. “Don’t be afraid, Scootieloo. And you don’t have to cry, either. I know I’m not as big or strong as you but I love you and will do anything for you. So don’t be afraid of those silly old nightmares.” I felt her hold tight to me just as I did to her. “I’ll protect you, Scootieloo. Okay? So you don’t have to be afraid anymore, because I’ll keep watch over you and make sure you sleep soundly.”

I squeezed her tightly, letting out a little sob. “Thank you, Rosie. That means a lot to me.”

Just having her next to me, her comforting words hovering over me and her hooves around me, made me feel a lot more relaxed and not as afraid. I slowly calmed down, my thoughts beginning to quiet, and a short while later I was out, having a deep and dreamless sleep.

When I woke in the morning I still felt her holding me. Rosie was snuggled in tight to me. I thought she was asleep too, but when I moved her eyes instantly opened, looking red with fatigue. In a drowsy voice she said, “Is it morning yet?”

“Yes, kid. It is.”

“Thank Celestia,” she said with a sleepy groan. “Now I can finally sleep.”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“I stayed awake all night.”

“Couldn’t you sleep?”

“That’s not why. I chose to stay awake.”

“Why’s that?”

“Because I said that I’d protect you. If you started having any more nightmares I wanted to be sure I was right there and awake so I could wake you up again.”

My face clenched up as I began crying again, throwing my hooves around her for her considerate action. “You didn’t have to do that, Rosie.”

“Yes, I did! I love you too much. I don’t ever want to see you sad or upset.”

My heart filled up with all my love for my little sister. It was things like this that made me adore her so much. She was so unrelenting in her affection.

“I’ll go get you some breakfast, then you can go back to sleep for a little while. Remember, you only have a week left until you start school.”

Despite her fatigue I saw a big smile come to her face. “I’m really excited about that. I can’t wait until I meet all those new kids. Maybe I’ll find a scooter buddy and we can race and be rivals just like you are with Rainbow Dash.”

“That would be lovely. Just remember to always play fair in a race. That was an important lesson Rainbow Dash taught me. I was so fixated on winning that when we first started racing I was thoroughly miserable. It’s not about whether you win or lose. It’s about doing your best and having fun. So long as you can do that losing doesn’t matter.”

I went to grab Rosie’s breakfast. When I got back I could see her half-asleep and dozing off. She gratefully ate and drank her breakfast.

When she was done I gave her forehead a kiss as I rubbed her tummy a bit. “Thank you, Rosie. I mean that! I really needed it.”

A tearful smile came to her face. “I’m glad I can help you sometimes, after all the things you do for me.” Her eyes closed for a moment before she shook her head, trying to shake the sleepiness off.

I pushed her down onto her pillow. “Go to sleep, Rosie, and have some good dreams for me, okay? I’m going to school now, but what do you say we go to the park again later?”

“O…kay…,” She responded slowly, closing her eyes. I grabbed her favorite stuffed animal and placed it in her hooves, smiling as she held it tight to her. It was a teddy bear with an orange coat. It originally had brown hair, but she had dyed it purple and named it Scootie, saying it was so she could always have me with her at night even when she didn’t come to sleep in my bed. The depths of her love for me never ceased to warm my heart.

I still had a few minutes until I had to leave so I just rubbed her mane until I heard her breathing change and knew she had fallen asleep. She was always cute to me, but she just looked so adorable when she was sleeping.

“I’ll see you later, Rosie,” I said in a whisper as I left the room and headed to school.

The next few days I was too scared of sleeping alone to stay in my room at night. The days were normal, but I kept feeling afraid that something bad was going to happen soon, and I don’t know why. I knew Rose could tell something was off about me, but she was so excited and keyed up about school that I kept it from her. She got so upset the first time without even knowing the details. I didn’t think she could handle that truth.

I kept thinking of telling Mom and Dad, but I hid it from them too. I knew that they’d reassure me and tell me it would all be okay, but it felt like saying it out loud, letting my fears out, would somehow make them a reality. So I hid it from all of them.

The night before Rosie’s first day of school I decided to sleep by myself again. I hadn’t had any more nightmares so I thought I’d be okay. She said that she was going to miss having me as a bedmate, but she’d come and visit sometimes. I saw her bright smile and I followed suit. I kissed her goodnight and went to my room.

I took my books out and did a little more of my book report before packing it away and going to bed.

I had another nightmare. It wasn’t as bad as the last one. This time it was even worse! I was just having an ordinary outing at the park with my family. We were having a picnic under a tree. The pegasi were setting up for a storm. Lightning began crackling. One hit the tree next to us, causing a large portion of the tree to break in half, crushing all three of them.

I woke up, feeling cold all over and sweating. Again! I had a nightmare again! The instant I decided to sleep alone those horrible images came to me. It had started the day after I gave Rose my scooter and began training her in scooter riding. At first it wasn’t that bad, but each one was steadily worse.

I really, really wanted to go to Rosie’s bed to sleep, but her first day of school was in the morning, and I didn’t want her to be exhausted by spending the night awake to make sure I was okay.

I left the house, flying up into the air. I didn’t even care where I was going or where I was heading. I just flew as hard as I cou;d, trying to outrun my fears. I felt like I had regressed back to the frightened, worthless filly I used to be.

I flew and flew until my wings burned and I couldn’t stay in the air anymore. I was panting like crazy but it had only slightly alleviated my fear and pain. I collapsed onto the ground, staring up at the moon. A memory came back to me then. I remembered Princess Luna coming into my dreams, saying she was supposed to protect ponies from nightmares. I guess she either didn’t have time to get to every single one, or I just wasn’t asleep long enough for her to help.

Princess Luna had said to me back then that as long as I didn’t face my fears the nightmares would continue. Back then it had been about me not feeling good enough for Rainbow Dash to see me as anything special. I had finally confessed that to her, and she made me her sister. Following that my nightmares did stop.

But how was I supposed to do that here? What I was afraid of was my family dying or getting seriously hurt. How was I supposed to face that unless it actually did happen? I was so unsure of what to do, and I didn’t like it. My path had always been so clear for the past few years. Now I felt like the path had suddenly disappeared. Had I hit a dead end? Was there anything I could do about it?

I lay on the ground for a while, catching my breath. When it was back to normal I stood up and started the walk home. I had flew straight the whole way, so I knew I had at least an hour walk ahead of me, but I didn’t think I was going to get any sleep tonight.

I looked up towards the clouds, feeling that I needed to talk to Rainbow Dash about this in the morning. She had taught me so much about being tough. I think I needed another lesson from her. I really hoped she would be able to tell me what to do.

When I finally got home I don’t know how much later I was exhausted. My head felt so empty, and I sank into my bed, unable to stay awake any longer.

I woke up in the morning feeling so excited. I didn’t think I had ever felt this excited in my whole life…well, except maybe for watching Scootieloo beat Rainbow Dash in that race. That was so awesome! My big sister is the best! Seriously, no one is as cool as her. And now she’s trying to teach me to be cool too! Now I was going to school, and maybe I’d meet some friends like hers.

I got up, checking my saddle bag to make sure I had all my supplies, before heading to the kitchen to get my breakfast. I saw Scootieloo at the table, facing away from me. “MORNING!” I cried out happily. I saw her jump, and Mom and Dad both said good morning back. “First day of school! I’m so happy! I can’t wait!”

“Well, you better wait until you get some breakfast in your tummy,” said Mom. “You don’t want to go to school on an empty stomach or you won’t be able to concentrate.”

“Yes, Mom!” I sat at the table and gave my big sis a big smile.

She looked back over to me and gave me a small smile. She wasn’t looking so good. I felt some of my happiness leave. “You okay, Scootieloo?”

“Um… yeah. I… stayed up too late trying to finish my book report. I’m just a little sleepy.” She rubbed her eyes before taking another bite of her breakfast and closing her eyes as she rested her head on her hoof.

“Hm…” I thought it was a bit more than that. I wondered if she had another nightmare because I hadn’t been there to protect her. Nah! She knew she could always come to me or Mom or Dad if she was having problems. She wouldn’t lie to me. She could always stay in my bed if she had any problems.

I ate my breakfast in a rush, eager to go to school. When I was done I asked Scootieloo, “Are you still gonna take me to school today, or are you too tired?”

“I said I would, Sis, and so I will.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah,” she said as she stuffed her last bite in her mouth. When she swallowed she said, “Come on. Go get your helmet.”

“ALRIGHT! Let’s do it!”

I went to my room and grabbed the scooter that she gave me. I loved it so much. It was the best gift ever! She had told me how important it was to her, so I had been taking good care of it like I promised. Every time I was done riding it I made sure to check it for any cracks or problems, and then scrubbed it clean. I know I didn’t have to wash it every time, but I wanted to prove to my awesome sis that I was taking my promise seriously. She had trusted me with the most important thing she had, and so I would do anything to protect this piece of her heart. I didn’t want her to cry over it anymore.

As we headed out I unfurled my wings and kicked off. The feeling of the air rushing past me was something I never got tired of. I had Scootieloo by my side in case I messed up, so I wasn’t afraid at all. I only felt excitement and adrenaline rushing through my whole body. The path we were on was straight, but I wanted to do something a little more fun before we got to school, so when I saw a hill I headed toward it, jumping and letting out a shout of pure joy as I flew through the air.

“Rose!” I heard Scootieloo suddenly cry out. “Push forward!”

“Hmmm?” I looked and saw I was heading right toward a tree branch. I pushed the handlebars forward to go lower. As I passed under it I felt like doing one of my sister’s tricks. I took my hooves off the handlebars and grabbed the branch as I kicked the scooter forward. As I rotated around I let go, and as I went flying I felt a thrill in my tummy as I landed back on the scooter just before it hit the ground.

I slowed down and come to a stop, beaming with pride. “How was that, Sis? Not bad, huh?”

Scootieloo came to a stop next to me, but she didn’t look happy. “Rose Blossom! What were you thinking? It’s still too early in your training for you to try pulling off a stuff like that. You could get hurt! Don’t do it again!”

I let out a sad sigh. “Sorry, Sis.” I kicked off again, going slower than before. I knew she was tired, but she didn’t have to get so mad. It had been great riding scooters with her but she didn’t want to teach me anything. Or at least it seemed that way. All we had really been doing is riding on the ground, and sometimes she’d let me jump a hill. I hadn’t complained because I still had fun, but I thought she would be glad that I had pulled off a trick like that.

It was quiet for the next few minutes before Scootieloo said, “I’m sorry, Rose Blossom. I didn’t mean to snap at you. You always talk about how you love me too much to want to see me hurting, and I feel the same way about you. I don’t want you to attempt a high level trick like that until you’ve had more practice. You’ve been so eager for school you don’t want to have to miss it because you broke a leg trying out a stunt you’ve never attempted before, y’know.”

“Okay,” I said quietly with a shrug.

“Come on, Rosie. Don’t be mad at me. I said I was sorry.”

I cheered up a little. Whenever she called me by my full name it usually meant she was angry. If she was calling me Rosie again it meant she had calmed down. “Are you sure you’re okay, Sis? You can tell me anything. That’s what a good sister does, and you always listen to me whenever something bad happens.”

For a moment I could have sworn she looked like she was about to cry, but then she suddenly rushed ahead, saying, “Catch me if you can!”

I laughed, flapping my little wings hard. I guessed I had just imagined it. I closed the gap, but just before I touched her she was suddenly coming to a stop. “We’re here, Rosie.”

I looked over at the schoolhouse, my heart beating fast in anticipation. I gave her a big hug, and she threw a hoof around me too. “I’ll see you later, sis. I’ll do my best!”

“Be good for the teacher. Miss Cheerilee was my teacher when I was younger, so you behave yourself, young lady.”

“I will, Scootieloo! Goodbye for now.”

“G-good… bye…”

I felt her shudder, and she hadn’t sounded right when she had said goodbye. I backed up from her, trying to see her face, but she quickly turned away, turning her scooter around.

“Why are you upset, Sis?”

She didn’t turn around, but she did answer me. “I… I’m just so… proud of you. And I’m going to miss you.”

That didn’t seem quite right. She went to school during the day so she didn’t see me in the mornings anyway. I could tell that something was bothering her, but I didn’t know what it was. Well… she did say she was really proud of me. I know that mom got teary eyed and emotional sometimes when she was proud of me for something. I don’t know. Maybe I was just thinking about it too much. We were the closest sisters around. She wouldn’t hide anything from me.

I was just being silly. I should be focusing on all the new kids I was going to meet instead of finding ways to make myself miserable about something that was wrong. She was just tired. “I’ll see you after school! Goodbye, Sis!”

She gave me a wave before she took off. Without flapping my wings I just kicked off the rest of the way there until I came to the door. I saw a rack on the side of the school where the kids could put their bikes and scooters and stuff, but I didn’t want to leave it outside. It was too important for that.

I felt really, really thrilled to see a scooter already sitting in the rack. Someone else liked scooters too. Maybe I really would get a scooter buddy. I wondered how good they were. Maybe they could take lessons with Scootieloo too. Maybe they already had an older sibling who taught them and we could do it all in a big group. I didn’t even know if they had an older sibling but I was sure that in a race Scootieloo would beat them easy.

As I opened the door and walked in I saw ten other kids were in seats already, chattering away. I hadn’t had too much of a chance to play with other foals before this, so I already knew I wanted to be friends with all of them!

At the front of the class was the teacher, Miss Cheerilee. She looked cute. She had a purple coat, with a mix of two different kinds of pink for a mane. She looked really friendly.

As I went to the front she looked down at me with a great big smile. “Well, good morning!” she said. “How are you today?”

“I’m doing great!” I said with a huge smile. I liked her already. “I’m ready to learn and make friends!”

“Well, that’s great! I’m glad to have you as one of my students with that attitude. What’s your name? I’m Cheerilee.”

I knew her name already, but I knew she was just being polite. “My name is Rose Blossom, but my sister always calls me Rosie. You can call me that if you want.”

“Well, thank you. I’m honored.” I saw her look over at my scooter, and her grin faded a little bit. “We don’t allow vehicles in the classroom. We have a rack outside for those, and you can use your scooter during recess.”

I thought she would say something like that. “I know, but I can’t put it out there.”

“Why not?”

I took in a deep breath and then said in a rush, “Because this scooter was a very special gift and it used to belong to my sister and it was her gift from her grandmare and her grandmare died so it was really important to her and she didn’t want to give it to me but she did anyway because we didn’t have the money for a new one and she wanted to make me happy and then she started crying because she was afraid I was gonna break it and break part of her heart so at first I tried to give it back but then she told me she wanted me to have it and made me promise to take good care of it and I have but it’s really important so I don’t want to risk it getting stolen and hurting her heart again because it’s irreplaceable and I don’t want to ever make my sister hurt.” I gasped in another big breath. “So that’s why I want to keep it inside.”

At first she looked confused, but I think she understood what I was saying. “I understand. You want to keep it safe for your sister’s sake because it’s one of the things her grandmare left behind.” I nodded. “Well… I guess I can make an exception for that. You can put it in one of the corners of the room by my desk, but this is a privilege. If I catch you trying to mess with it before recess that privilege will be revoked, okay? So just be a good student and we won’t have any problems.”

I put the scooter in the corner like she said, then ran back over to her and gave her a big hug. “Thank you, Miss Cheerilee. My big sis was right. You are a great teacher!”

I saw her blush a bit. “Why, thank you, Rose Blossom.” She looked down at me, a curious look on her face. “For some reason I feel like I’ve seen you before. I would think it would be difficult to forget such a distinctive mane and tail combination. I just can’t put my hoof on it.

“Oh, well. Maybe I’ll remember it later. For now please head to your seat. Class will be starting in a few minutes so take this time to meet some of your fellow students.” She directed me towards one of the seats. Mine was the second seat in the second row.

As I sat down I joined a conversation between a unicorn filly and a pegasus colt about what they liked. When I started talking about my love for scootering the colt’s eyes lit up.

“You like to scooter too?” he asked.

“Yeah! It’s so amazing!”

“I know, right! I brought mine to school too.”

“That’s YOUR scooter out there? You wanna ride them during recess?”

“Sure! I’m Rock Climber.”

“I’m Rose Blossom.” I turned to the girl he had been talking to. “And who are you?”

“I’m Sun Glimmer,” she responded.

“Wanna be friends?”

“Sure,” she said with a smile.

I smiled too. Not even in class for five minutes and I already made two friends and a scooter buddy. School was AWESOME!

Sun Glimmer was a light yellow with a mane that was pretty much the same colors as Miss Cheerilee. Rock Climber was a blue-gray, with blue eyes and a dark blue mane.

While we were talking I noticed an earth pony who wasn’t talking to anyone. She was probably shy, so I invited her over to our group. She looked nervous at first, but I kept pushing her to talk and made sure she felt accepted into our group until she settled down a bit and started opening up, then she sounded normal and seemed to be having a good time too. While we were talking I found out her name was Honey Drop. She had a light green coat, with a yellow mane and purple eyes.

Now I had three friends! Scootieloo would be so proud of me. I couldn’t wait until I got home and told her.

After all the seats were filled Miss Cheerilee called on the class to quiet down. “Good morning, everyone!” she said with that bright grin of hers. “I look forward to getting to know all of you, so I thought I’d take the first half hour to ask all of you to come up to the front and tell us a little about yourself.”

One by one she called out each of my classmates. Honey Drop looked petrified when Miss Cheerilee called her up, but I pushed her to go up and so did Sun Glimmer and Rock Climber. She looked reassured to have all of us encouraging her. She still sounded a bit nervous when she walked up to the front, but I kept rooting for her. Quietly, of course. I didn’t want to get in trouble and lose my special privilege. By the end she seemed to have gotten over her nerves, but she still looked relieved when she headed back to her seat.

“You did great!” I whispered.

“Thanks,” she whispered back.

She called on me next. I wasn’t scared at all. I hopped my way to the front, feeling so alive. “Hello, everyone!” I called out with my biggest, brightest smile. “I’m Rose Blossom. I live with my mom and my dad and my big sister. My mom is named Star Gazer and my dad is Cloud Chaser. They’re really fun and great to be around. My big sis is named Scootaloo. She’s the best sister around because she always spends time with me and plays with me and now she’s teaching me how to do tricks on my scooter. She gave me her old one and I’m taking real good care of it because I promised her I would and it means a lot to her.

“Scootieloo once fought a dragon!” I saw them gasp and ooh and aah, and one of them asked me what happened. “She kinda lost, but only because she pushed someone else out of the way and took an attack meant for them so they wouldn’t get hurt. She was in real bad shape for a while. She broke all four legs and her wings. She’s doing okay now, though.”

“Oh!” I heard Miss Cheerilee’s voice behind me, sounding like she had just discovered something. When I turned to look she said, “I remember now.”

“Remember what?”

“I remember where I’ve seen you before. But I’m sorry. You’re in the middle of your introduction. Don’t mind me.”

“Okay.” I turned back to the class. “I’ve lived in Ponyville all my life. I like the ground and I’m not all that interested in flying. After watching my sister race against Rainbow Dash and saw all those amazing tricks on her scooter I know that’s what I want to do too.

“I haven’t had any real friends to play with around my age before this so I hope all of us could be friends. My sister’s friend Pinkie Pie says you can never have too many friends, and I feel that way too. I’ve already made friends with three of you.” I looked over at Rock Climber, Sun Glimmer, and Honey Drop, and they all nodded back at me. “Let’s all give it our best, everyone, and learn all we can so we can be just like our heroes!”

I heard Miss Cheerilee laugh. “I have to say, I don’t think I’ve ever had a student as enthusiastic as you about learning. Let’s just see how long you keep that enthusiasm.”

I turned back to her with a grin. “My big sis says if you’re going to do something then you should do it all the way and have fun with it. If I have to go to school then I’m going to do my best and have lots of fun doing it.”

“I like your attitude, Rose Blo… Rosie.”

I liked hearing her call me by my nickname.

After everyone else went up she started teaching us about stuff. Class passed by pretty quick as we learned about Equestrian history, math, spelling, and other stuff.

When Miss Cheerilee called out for recess all of us got up and started heading outside, but she stopped me. “Rose Blossom, can I talk to you for a minute?”

My heart started racing. I hadn’t done anything wrong, had I? I had been good! Had I broken a rule without knowing it? It was only my first day. Surely she would give me a warning first.

I went up to her desk as she went into one of the drawers. I heard rustling papers for a minute until she finally said, “Ah! Here it is.” She handed me a folded up newspaper article. “Not too many of my students wind up in the newspaper. I’ve saved this one since your sister used to be one of my students.”

I could see I wasn’t in trouble, but I didn’t see what something that Scootieloo did in school had to do with recognizing me. As I unfolded the article I saw two pictures. The first one was of Scootieloo as a filly, holding a baby me. The second one was of our mom hugging her. It didn’t look familiar to me. I mean, I was only a baby so I wouldn’t remember something that happened that long ago, but I’d never seen these pictures before.

I looked at the caption up top. “Ponyville’s newest little hero.” I already knew Scootieloo was a hero. She fought a dragon and protected Ponyville from being destroyed, but she wasn’t this tiny when it happened. I went over to my desk and sat down, and began reading.

“This reporter has seldom seen the likes of the courage and selflessness displayed by this orange filly named Scootaloo. Star Gazer, the mother of baby Rose Blossom, said that she was walking her daughter in her carriage when she got too close to a hill. As the carriage went down the hill Scootaloo chased after it on her scooter. She wasn’t in time to stop it before it hit the peak and the baby was launched high into the air, the filly chasing after her. Discarding her scooter for greater control she attempted to catch the baby, but missed. But Scootaloo wasn’t ready to give it up just yet. She began racing down towards the descending baby without a thought to her own safety.

“Catching the baby right before she hit the ground she attempted to pull up but the effort proved too much for her and she ended up falling back down towards the ground. In order to keep Rose Blossom safe she flipped herself onto her back to make sure only she took any injuries as she hit the ground. Scootaloo rose, a little banged up, but safe. The grateful mother ran over to grab her child, clearly overjoyed at her safety, before passing her child over to her husband Cloud Hunter, and both filly and mother were crying up a storm as they celebrated a rescue that blows this reporters mind.

“I only had a short chance to interview her before she became overwhelmed and a friend or family member whisked her away, but she said she strove so hard to save Rose Blossom because she used to have stunted wing when she was younger, and didn’t ever want anything like that to happen to another pegasus. It warms this reporter’s heart to have been there to witness this act of incredible bravery and selflessness.”

I set the newspaper down. Scootieloo never told me this story. My memories of my babyhood were very blurry. I guess I just didn’t think too much about the fact that Scootieloo didn’t always live with us. Since I had pretty much grown up with her as my big sis it just never occurred to me before this.

I felt a bit cheated. Scootieloo had been keeping something from me. I thought we were close enough that she would tell me everything. I would have been amazed at this story, of hearing how Scootieloo saved me from serious injury. I guess it explained why mom adopted her into our family.

Something else came to me. Looking up at my teacher I asked, “Miss Cheerilee, what’s stunted wing?”

She smiled down at me. “Well, that’s a great question. Stunted wing is, obviously, a condition that only occurs in pegasi. When something is 'stunted' that means it has stopped growing or has only grown in a little bit. So, with that information, stunted wing means that a pegasi’s wings have not grown in correctly. It can lead to them not being able to fly at all, or severely limiting the distance and time they can fly. It can sometimes sort itself out for a lucky few, but most of the time it requires surgery to fix.”

Scootieloo didn’t tell me about that either. Now that was two things she had hidden from me. And with her behavior today that might be three things. I didn’t like it. I guess I would just have to get an answer out of her later. Right now I wanted to go play with my new friends.

“Thank you, Miss Cheerilee, for showing me the article and answering my question.”

“No problem, Rose Blossom.”

“I’m gonna go play.”

“Have fun.”

“I will.”

I went and grabbed my scooter, heading outside and looking for Rock Climber. I saw him just kicking off in slow squares, looking bored. He perked up when he saw me. At first me and him just rode slowly as we talked. Sun Glimmer and Honey Drop were playing ball with another group of kids. Honey Drop didn’t seem as nervous as before.

“Hey!” I said. “You wanna race?”

“Bring it on!” he said back.

With a laugh I unfurled my wings and began revving them and took off. After about ten seconds I turned to look at him but he was way behind me, looking a little confused. Now I felt it too. I slowed down until I caught back up with him. “What’s wrong?”

“What are you doing?” he asked. “Why are you using your wings?”

“What do you mean? That’s the best way to build up speed. Scootieloo has a scooter cutie mark and that’s what she always does.”

“Oh,” he said, looking a little down. “My brother never told me about that. I thought you were only supposed to use your hooves.”

“How old is your brother?”

“He’s about twice my age. He’s in high school.”

“So is Scootieloo. Maybe they’re in the same classes.”

I was feeling excited, but Rock Climber still looked upset. “What’s wrong?”

“My brother is a good scooter rider too, and we were supposed to be having lessons like you with your sister, but… well… he’s been busy with his new friends so he hasn’t had much time for me. And the time we do have together… well… um…”

He looked really out of it now. I didn’t know things were that bad. “Hey, would you like to come over to my house after school?”

“Huh?”

“If your brother is too busy then maybe you could join me in my lessons with Scootieloo. I don’t know if she’s gonna be able to do it today because she didn’t get a lot of sleep last night, but we can both learn together. That would be so much fun.”

“I guess…”

“Come on. I’ll show you how my sister taught me. Just unfurl your wings and take a few breaths to steady yourself. Center your balance as you put both hoofs on the board, and then take off.”

It took him a few tries to do it. He was so used to using his hooves that he kept trying to use them instead of his wings, losing his balance and making himself fall off. I had to stop myself from laughing. I know that’s a mean thing to say, but I felt kinda relieved that there was someone worse than me. It only meant that Scootieloo was doing a good job of teaching me.

He did get it after a few minutes. And he saw how much more speed and control he had using just his wings for power. He still had trouble controlling things and with falling off. I thought to myself that maybe I had been wrong. Scootieloo had been teaching me well. I was just being impatient.

Picking himself up once again Rock Climber dusted himself off and said, “I think I’m gonna take you up on your offer. I definitely need some help.”

“Sounds great. I’ll help you practice for now.”

For the next ten minutes we practiced together. I tried to match his pace so he could watch what I was doing.

We had a little bit of time left after that so we joined Sun Glimmer and Honey Drop in playing ball until Miss Cheerilee called us back in to continue class. I placed my scooter back inside by her desk.

A scooter friend! I was so happy! We could play every day and learn and compete and be friends and rivals. Maybe one day I’d actually surpass Scootieloo. That would be so great.

School was just terrible. I was half-asleep as I went through classes. Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom were concerned for me. They could tell something was wrong. I tried to play it off and avoided telling them the truth. I don’t really know why, but I just felt like Rainbow Dash was the only one who could help me find out what was going on with me. She had always had the answers before about how to be strong and brave.

After school I was so relieved. I had slept through my lunch period, thankfully nightmare free, and so I was starving. I raced home as fast as I could. When I got in the kitchen I gave mom a quick hello before going into the cabinets and stuffing whatever I could find in my mouth.

After I had gotten some food in my belly I felt a little better. I wanted to leave to visit Rainbow Dash right away, but I figured it would be kinda rude to Rose. “Hey, Mom, is Rose home yet?”

“She’s in her room. She’s been waiting for you. She brought a friend along with her.”

A smile came to my face despite myself. She had a friend already.

I headed to her room, hearing laughter and talking. “Hi there, Rosie! How was school?”

Rose looked ecstatic as she raced over to me, nearly knocking me down as she hugged me. “Hi, Scootieloo! This is my new friend Rock Climber.” She pointed to a colt sitting on her bed. “He likes to ride scooters too. See? I really did get a scooter buddy.”

“I’m happy for you, Rosie. Nice to meet you, Rock Climber.”

“Nice to meet you too,” he said, hopping off the bed. “Is it really true that you beat up a dragon?”

I let out a small laugh. “Rose, what are you telling kids about me?”

“I didn’t say that, exactly,” Rose said back.

“I fought a dragon who was bent on destroying Ponyville because someone had taken its egg. But when I say fight, I don’t really mean that I was trying to fight. I was only trying to distract it long enough for the town to be evacuated so that no one would get hurt if it did make it to town.”

“Still, that’s a really brave thing to do,” said Rock Climber. “She told me you got hurt really bad.”

“Oh, yeah. It took me over a year to get back to top shape. I had to stay still so I could recover, and since it took a while I lost almost all my muscle and skills and had to relearn almost everything.”

Rosie spoke up again. “Rock Climber’s brother likes to ride scooters too, but he’s been too busy lately to teach him, so I was hoping Rock Climber could join us for our lessons, since you’re so good at it and all.”

“I wouldn’t have a problem with that, but I’d have to get his parent’s permission first. And today isn’t the day for it, Rose. I’m still kinda tired and I need to see Rainbow Dash. I just wanted to see how school was.”

“I understand,” she responded. “School was great! Miss Cheerilee is a great teacher.”

“I’m glad you had a good time.” I gave her a hug. “I have to go now, Rosie. But maybe tomorrow we can begin our team lessons.”

“Okay.”

Grabbing a few snacks I left the house, trying to replenish my strength along the way as I flew up to Rainbow’s house.

I searched around for her, finding her in her room reading a Daring Do book. “Hi, Rainbow Dash.”

She lowered it a little, saying, “Hey there, kid. What’s up?”

“I need to talk with you. I’ve been having a problem I think only you can help me with. Can we go for a fly?”

She placed a bookmark in the page, and then stood up, a concerned look on her face. “Sure, kid.”

Heading outside we began flying. It was quiet for a few minutes, Rainbow not pressuring me to start. Finally, I told her what had been troubling me the past week. I told her everything, of giving away my old scooter and the feelings it had brought about, of the nightmares I had been going through, and my uncertainty of what to do.

When I was done silence once again reigned. This time I was the one who didn’t intrude on the quiet, just waiting for her to respond. When she finally spoke her words were said like a joke. “Well, Scootaloo, I think it’s obvious what the problem is.”

“And what’s that?”

“Well, you’ve turned from the toughest around into a big, fat coward!”

My face grew hot and my body tensed. I started falling down as I stopped flapping until I pulled myself back up to her level. “Excuse me?”

Still with that mocking tone she said, “What? Don’t tell me you were expecting me to give you the answer everyone else would give? You know me better than that. I’m not gonna give you the 'Oh, poor baby' routine. You’ve lost sight of yourself again, just like before our race. You don’t want to face your real problem, so now you’re suffering for it.”

I growled softly, rage slowly building up inside me. I was tired and out of it. No, I hadn’t expecting an overly pity-filled response, but the way she seemed to be ridiculing me was making me angry. “Why do you say that?” Speeding up from my anger she kept pace with me.

“It’s simple. You don’t trust your sister at all to be able to take care of herself. You’re trying to force her into a tiny box where she will be 'safe and secure,' and thus you’re trying to stunt her growth. That’s a pretty horrible example to send as a big sister.”

I saw red as I rammed into her. She fell down a short way before coming back up to my level. I had hoped that she would lose her grin, but her smirk was only bigger now.

“Well, given how quickly you attacked me it means you’re defensive about it. And if you’re defensive then it means you think it’s true.”

“Shut up! How dare you criticize me? What do you know about how I care for my sister?”

“Only what you tell me, and it’s obvious from your words. You took after me when you were younger, and so I’m sure Rose is following the pattern by trying to be like you. Because you’re afraid that she’ll get hurt badly if you start training her to do things like you do you seek to minimize her skill and just take things easy. Instead of letting her jump hills and do spins you want her to just drive around on a flat surface… because it’ll make you feel better. That just shows how little faith you have in your sister.”

Looking a little more serious she continued, “I had great faith in you, Scootaloo. That’s why I took you under my wing. That’s why I pushed you to your utmost limits constantly and never took it easy on you. I knew you had the skill within you. I just had to bring it out so that you could see yourself as I saw you. I respected you enough to push you as hard as I could so that way you could give full flower to your skills and bloom into your best self. Because of that you were able to save a baby; you were able to distract a dragon; you were able to beat me in a race. Do you think I did you wrong, Scootaloo?”

My feeling of irritation began eroding away. “No… though sometimes I thought you went too far you always had my best interests at heart. You were an amazing and inspiration sister.”

“Why, thank you. So now we turn to the next generation. What are you doing for Rose Blossom? Of course I understand that you don’t want her to get seriously hurt. I never intended that for you, and it doesn’t serve anyone’s purposes. However, you can’t compress your sister and expect her not to rebel.”

“Rebel?”

“Exactly.” The smirk had returned to her, and for some reason that condescending look made the anger flare back up in me. “Of course, what do I know, right? I mean, if Rose takes after you then I’m sure she won’t ever be dissatisfied that you’re not moving along in training fast enough, and decide to go off on her own to do it herself. I’m sure she won’t ever be like you, who, despite being a novice flier, decided to fly all the way to my house despite the great danger involved if you couldn’t handle it. Nah, she won’t ever try to put herself in a position where she’ll have to either die or tough it out because you wouldn’t do her the honor of trusting her enough to be able to conquer adversity.”

Twisting around she suddenly did a one-eighty. “Well, that’s all for now. I want to get back and finish my chapter. I’ll see you around, Coward-loo.”

As she zoomed off I raced after her, flying to my utmost. I didn’t have to take her taunting. I had been the one who risked everything for Ponyville. How dare she condescend to me? Just as I was about to slam into her she flipped around again, grabbing both my hooves and pulling me to a stop as I struggled to hit her.

There was a serious look on her face now. “Don’t get mad at me for spitting the reality of the situation if you never wanted to hear it in the first place! You asked for my opinion on the matter, and I gave it to you. You should know me well enough by now. I don’t sugarcoat the facts or demean you by giving you anything less than the blunt truth.

“The way things are going now you’re putting your sister in danger, and one day in the near future, if you keep this up, your sister will push herself too far without your guidance because you refuse to see her as an equal. When the day comes that Rose is seriously hurt or killed because of your negligence you’ll feel far worse than you do now, because you could have prevented it by showing the same respect for her that I always did for you.” She released me. “Think it over and let me know when you’re going to go back to who you really are. Because right now, here in front of me, all I see is a sniveling baby who wants everyone to feel sorry for her. I’ll catch you later… coward!”

She left me hovering there. I couldn’t muster up a response. I felt drained again. I went back to my house. It was totally empty.

I sat on my bed for a time, trying to process what I was told. I couldn’t concentrate, though. Every time I started to think through the message she had given me I would see that joking grin on her face. “Coward-loo.”

“Rainbow Dash!” I said angrily.

“Coward-loo. Coward-loo. Coward-loo.”

That word echoed in my head. I recognized some truth in her insult, and it only made me more furious. I lost my temper entirely, unable to get that word to stop repeating itself.

I began picking up some of my things and throwing them, heedless of the damage I was doing to my room. When I ran out of things to throw I threw myself on my bed, slamming my hooves onto the bed repeatedly like a little kid throwing a tantrum.

I ranted and screamed and cursed Rainbow Dash with every single bad word I knew.

After I don’t know how much later I finally burned my emotions out, and I just sat there on my bed, panting and looking up at the ceiling, feeling empty and devoid of everything.

“Coward-loo,” I said softly, a tear coming down my eye.

Me and Mom and Dad left the house to go visit Rock Climber’s parents. They were nice. They were happy like Scootieloo that he had already made a good friend and had no problems with him joining me in my lessons.

When we left we went to the park to practice our skills. Mom and Dad left to go do some grocery shopping. We had a few hours together before dinner so I intended to make the most of it. I did my best to help him master his balance the way I was taught. The wings were really important in that regard. If you felt you were tilting to one side you could slow down or stop one wing to give yourself a breeze to center yourself again. I had certainly crashed enough to have mastered that skill, because getting hurt stinks.

I wondered if Honey Drop or Sun Glimmer would show up. Before school ended I had told them we would probably wind up at the park. I didn’t want my new friends to think I thought Rock Climber was more important than them. I only made him a priority today because we shared a common hobby and that was really exciting to me.

While we were practicing I told him more about Scootieloo and the fun we had. I thought in exchange he might tell me about his brother, but he had gotten really quiet again. He looked either mad or upset, or maybe both. I saw he didn’t want to open up about his brother, so I dropped it. Even though I stopped talking about it though he didn’t regain his spirit.

I decided to call a break. We sat down on a park bench nearby. There was no one else around. I was getting concerned now. He looked really troubled and about to cry. He just sat there kicking his hooves and looking at the ground. I grabbed one of his hooves in mine and I said, “I know we only met today, but we’re friends, aren’t we? Won’t you tell me what’s wrong? I promise I won’t get mad or upset. I just hate to see you so sad.”

His face scrunched up, and I saw a few tears come down his eyes before he wiped his face, shaking his head. He turned away from me, but I refused to let go of his hoof when he tried to pull it away. I held tighter, wanting him to know I was there for him. That’s what a good friend does.

It was quiet for a few minutes, with nothing but the chirping of birds interrupting it. Finally he turned back to me, a guilty look on his face. “Rose… I… you… can I... if I tell you a secret do you absolutely promise you won’t tell anybody?”

“Pinkie Promise,” I responded. “Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.” I went through the motions as I had learned from Pinkie Pie.

He seemed relieved, but he grabbed my hoof so hard it hurt. “I… I… I’ve been doing something bad. Really bad.”

“Something bad? Like what?”

He opened his mouth to speak several times, but nothing came out. Finally he said, “You won’t tell anyone? Nobody? Not even your sister or our friends?”

“Of course not! I made a promise. Whatever it is you did you can always find a way to fix it, even if we have to work together to do it. I’ll stick by you no matter what. I would never leave a friend behind. Scootieloo never did and I won’t either.”

He began crying again, but this time he didn’t turn away or try to hide it. “Rose… I… I… me and my brother-”

“OH YEEEAAAHHHHH!”

Rock Climber went still as a statue as a group of three pegasi came racing down the path. One of them suddenly stopped as he came near the bench, the other two following suit.

The first one who stopped took off his helmet. “Well, well, well. What do we have here, baby bro? You on a date? Awww, how sweet.” The other two ponies laughed.

I saw Rock Climber blush and refuse to look up. “It’s not a date,” he mumbled.

“So this is your brother?” I asked. He was almost pure black.

Rock Climber looked like he wished he could be anywhere else but there and didn’t answer. The stallion looked at me. “That’s right. What’s it to ya, half-pint?”

“Hey, you don’t have to call me names. I have a name. It’s Rose Blossom.”

“Names Thunder Storm. This is Midnight Dream and Heavy Downpour.” He looked around me and laughed again. “Is that piece of junk what you call a scooter? Do you even have any talent with it?”

My heart began racing. I was getting angry. He was insulting Scootieloo and I didn’t like it. “Yes! I do! Wanna try me?”

The three of them snickered. “Sure, kid. Wow me.”

I grabbed my scooter, ignoring Rock Climber as he tried to tell me to stop. I wasn’t going to let them insult the best teacher I’ve ever had. Placing a hoof on the board I took a few deep breaths to help me focus, then placed my other hoof on and unfurled my wings. I took off, heading to a nearby hill. I glanced behind me and I saw all three of them smirking at me. They were so sure I was going to crash and make a fool of myself. I’d show them.

I hopped the hill, doing a few spins before landing back down on the ground. I hopped over a pond, spinning halfway around. When I landed I was going backwards. I fanned my wings in the opposite direction, keeping my eyes on what was behind me. I slowed down when I came near an incline, then let gravity start pushing me forward again.

I flapped my little wings to their utmost as I raced ahead. I didn’t care about the risk involved. I was going to prove that I could be just as good as my sister. I hopped back over the pond, doing a front flip. I just barely managed to stick the landing. I rushed toward a hill, jumping towards a tree. She had told me not to do it, but I wanted to impress them. I had done it before, so I knew I could do it again. I had to.

I tilted myself forward so I would get lower, grabbing onto the tree branch and launching my scooter forward, just as I’d seen Scootieloo do plenty of times. I spun around the branch a few times, and then let go. I had released myself just a little too soon. I flapped my wings to get a little more air and momentum, landing back on the scooter a little before it hit the ground.

I rode back up to them, and I was delighted to see all of them looking at me with shock now. I felt so proud. I had protected Scootieloo’s honor. “How’s that?” I asked smugly. “Not such a piece of junk, is it?”

Thunder Storm began laughing. “Oh, I’ll give you credit where credit is due. You’re much better than I expected. Certainly more talented than this one.” He roughly rubbed his hoof through Rock Climber’s mane.

Rock Climber looked hurt, and I realized I had gone a little too far in trying to impress them. I had made him look bad in front of his brother. He hopped off the bench, grabbing his scooter and walking off.

“Wait!” I said.

Thunder Storm flew over and blocked his brother. “Where are you going? You just gonna run off and let a girl get the better of you like this? Don’t be a wimp. Go show her who’s boss. Unless, of course, you’re too chicken.” His friends made chicken noises.

Rock Climber turned around, and all I could see now was fury. It almost looked like hate. He probably felt trapped. He didn’t want to let his brother down, and he probably didn’t think he could beat me either since he hadn’t been training like I had. I felt my heart breaking in two for him. No wonder he didn’t want to talk about his brother before.

“Well, let’s go!” Rock Climber said angrily. “Let’s just race already. We’ll do one lap around this path.” He pointed an area around the path, a pond, and some hills.

Scootieloo’s honor suddenly seemed unimportant to me. They didn’t even know who Scootieloo was. Rock Climber was hurting, and that was what was important right now. No matter how the race went I had already resolved to let him win. I couldn’t bear to see his pain, and his brother probably wouldn’t let him live it down.

At Thunder Storm’s signal we took off. “Good luck, BABY bro.”

I saw him tense up, and I couldn’t help crying a little bit. He didn’t deserve to be treated like that. I tried to talk to him, but he wouldn’t look at me. I held back so that he could keep the lead. At least he had seemed to have gotten the hang of using his wings for acceleration. He hadn’t fallen down yet, at least.

When we reached around the halfway point we came upon a hill. I had to speed up then so I could make sure I would make it. If I made it too obvious I was holding back it would only make them pick on him even more.

I was even with him now. I tried talking to him again. “Don’t listen to them, Rock Climber. You’re a great friend. So what you’re not that great with your scooter yet. I couldn’t do anything when I first got mine. You’ll get better with Scootieloo’s lessons and then you can really show him.”

He finally turned back to me, looking even angrier than ever. “Oh, will you SHUT UP about your stupid, PERFECT sister!” Before I could react he kicked me.

I got knocked off course, falling over and hitting the ground repeatedly as I went down the other side of the hill. I let out a pained groan. It had knocked the wind out of me. My ears were ringing, and I couldn’t get up. I felt stunned, glad I had been wearing my helmet. I had some double-vision, so I closed my eyes.

I heard the sound of cheering and whooping. I didn’t know why. I looked up with one eye, things still looking a little blurry. I saw Midnight Dream standing over me. “Well, good try, but you failed. We have a winner.”

That didn’t bother me much. I had wanted him to win, but he didn’t have to hit me.

“And to the winner goes the spoils. Too bad, loser.”

What did that mean?

My heart began racing again as I made out Heavy Downpour with my scooter! The next thing I knew all four of them were taking off.

I tried to force myself up but it only made me feel dizzy.

No. No! This couldn’t happen. I promised I would keep it safe. I promised!

Soon enough they were out of sight. Me and Rock Climber had shared one last look before he was gone, and I had seen that same arrogant smirk on him that his brother had worn.

I talked softly, feeling myself lost, repeating the words I had said the day she given me this most precious gift. “Don’t worry. I super-duper promise I’ll take as good care of it as you did. T-that way… that way… I won’t… won’t… ever have to hurt your heart again.” That numb feeling inside was going away. My scooter had been stolen. The one I gave my word to keep safe had been taken from me. Scootieloo was going to hate my guts and disown me as a sister.

It felt unbearable. Tears began coming down my eyes, one after the other. These little tears gave way to uncontrollable sobbing. Scootieloo was never going to talk to me ever again! I had broken my promise!

What was I supposed to do now!

Rose Blossom is the focal character here

I don’t know how long I had been crying when I felt a hoof on my shoulder. I heard a voice asking me if I was alright. NO! I wasn’t alright! Nothing would ever be alright again!

She pulled me up on my hooves, but when she let go I fell back down. I didn’t feel any strength at all in me. I had given my word I wouldn’t hurt my sister’s heart again by keeping the gift she had given me safe. Now it had been stolen.

I felt myself being picked up, and then I was placed on a park bench. I saw a kind looking face looking at me. She was a light green with a grayish and white mane. I think her name was Lyra. “What happened?”

I tried to speak, but the words wouldn’t come. Rock Climber’s face appeared in my mind, and a burst of rage wiped out my feeling of weariness. I began shaking I felt so mad. “My friend betrayed me!” I yelled. “That jerk! I tried to help him out, and he threw it back in my face! I tried to be a good friend for him because that’s what you’re supposed to do, and he backstabbed me!”

Lyra sat down on the bench next to me, placing a hoof around me. “I’m sorry, kid. I’ve known that feeling before. It’s never easy to be betrayed by someone you care about.”

“Rose?” I heard someone call my name. I turned to look, and I saw Sun Glimmer and Honey Drop approaching. Of course they would show up NOW, when everything was over.

They came up to me. “We heard you yelling. Are you okay?”

I hopped off the bench, my eyes burning as tears starting coming down them again. I got in their faces, screaming, “No! It’s not! It’s all your fault! Why couldn’t you have gotten here sooner? Some friends you are!”

I could see the hurt looks on their faces, and I was glad. They should feel bad.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” said Lyra, pulling me back. “Just because you’re mad it doesn’t mean you should take it out on others. If one of your friends hurt your feelings does it make you the better pony to do the same to your other friends?”

My anger was quickly replaced with guilt. She was right. My legs began shaking as I lost the strength to stand.

“What happened, Rose?” asked Sun Glimmer. “I thought you were supposed to be riding scooters with Rock Climber.”

“Oh, we were!” Now the anger was back. I stood back up. “His brother and his friends showed up, and started making fun of him. So he took it out on me by kicking me off my scooter. Then they stole it and ran off!”

The two of them gasped. “But… but… why would he go along with that? I thought he was our friend.”

“Well, we were wrong! He’s just a giant jerk, just like his brother! I saw him when they were leaving. He looked back at me, looking happy as anything.”

“Well, that’s terrible!” said Lyra angrily. “Rose, did you happen to get their names?”

I thought for a minute. “Thunderstorm was his brother’s name, and the other two were Heavy Downpour and Midnight Dream.” I described how each of them looked.

“Them, huh?”

I looked at her, confused. “You know them?”

“They’re a group of scamps. They’re always causing trouble around town. They have this hideout on the edge of town overlooking a cliff by the water where they hang out. I’m sorry you were a victim of them. I’m waiting for my friend Bon-Bon. I’ll see if I can find her, and then I’ll go tell the mayor about this.

“You’ll be okay now that your real friends are here.” She patted my head and walked off.

Honey Drop sighed. “Rock Climber seemed like such a nice pony.”

“I thought so too,” I said roughly. “But I guess he was just hiding his true colors.” I thought of something. “Right before his brother showed up he was about to tell me something really secret. He said he had been doing something really bad, and it had something to do with his brother. I don’t know exactly what he was going to tell me, but he looked really upset. I guess it doesn’t matter now what the secret is.” I really didn’t know how I felt at the moment. Anger and despair were both fighting inside me, leaving me feeling almost numb because they were so evenly matched.

“So, are you going to tell your sister?” asked Sun Glimmer.

“Are you kidding me? I can’t tell her. She’d bite my head off!”

“She looked really cute in that newspaper article. She saved you and she saved the town from a dragon. She’s obviously got the hero thing down. That pony told you where they hang out. If you tell Scootaloo she’ll go get it back for you. It’s not like you were being careless with it. You were attacked and robbed. Scootaloo can’t get mad at you for that.”

“I agree with Sun Glimmer," said Honey Drop. "She’d probably just be happier you weren’t seriously hurt.”

“I guess you’re right," I said. "I’m gonna go home now, then. I’ll see you girls later. Could you stay around here for a little while just in case Lyra comes back?”

“Sure.”

I ran off until I had left the park, then headed west. I had a pretty good grasp of Ponyville. I was pretty sure I had seen that place Lyra had talked about. It was an abandoned warehouse that used to be set up for storing products. I felt a little bad about lying to my friends. I knew they just wanted to help but I had been the one who allowed my scooter to be taken, so it was my responsibility to get it back. Scootieloo had been hiding things from me too, so I didn’t know how she would react. I do know she would get upset. Even if she didn’t blame me I was sure she wouldn’t trust me anymore.

I would handle this all on my own. If Scootieloo could save my life as a filly then I could surely do the same.

It took a while to get there. I was panting and my legs were throbbing by the time I got close. I took a rest and headed toward the building. Just as Lyra had said it was on a cliff overlooking the water. The building was looking pretty run down. I got down on the ground and began crawling up to the top.

When I was almost there I began hearing voices and laughing. They were in there. And that meant my scooter had to be in there! I was taking it back whether they liked it or not! There were plenty of broken windows around the place. I just had to be careful and not do anything stupid. I was going to get my property back, but I knew I couldn’t fight three older boys, although I was sure I could take down stupid Rock Climber. I headed around to the back of the warehouse. I took a chance and lifted my head, peeking into one of the windows. I let out a sigh of relief. There was a pile of rotting pallets blocking my vision, which meant they couldn’t see me either. I looked over the window to the ground. I saw some big pieces of glass on the floor. I lifted my hoof, carefully entering the warehouse. My heart began racing.

I moved very slowly, careful with each step to keep as quiet as I could. I looked around the pile, and down near the front I could see the four of them. And sitting on the ground was my scooter! It was closer to me than them! They probably didn’t really care about the scooter. They just wanted to hurt me.

My heart stopped for a second as Rock Climber looked over in my direction. I quickly hid again. I heard a small mumble that I couldn’t make out, then one of the boys said, “What?”

This time I could make out his response. “I thought I saw something. Probably just a bird or something.”

“I hope it’s just a bird. Nobody messes with us!”

I waited a few minutes. Soon enough they were talking normally again, so I felt safe to continue on my mission.

I stayed out of sight of the middle, taking the long way around until I spotted the scooter again. All I had to do was grab it, head back the way I came, and I would be home free!

As I neared it I looked around to see where they all were. The three older ones were talking and laughing, but Rock Climber was just looking down at the ground and kicking his hooves like he had been doing before. He had that same look of wishing he could be anywhere else. I didn’t understand why. I thought he was happy he was such a brat.

None of them were looking towards me. This was my chance.

I tiptoed out into the open. I wanted to rush, but I knew that would only make noise and ruin everything. I lifted my scooter up, backing up gently.

Rock Climber suddenly spoke up. “Big Bro?”

“What is it, pipsqueak?”

“I’m glad that you took me along with you, but… um…”

“Spit it out, will ya? Stop talking like a baby.”

“Sorry… well… when… when are we going to give Rose her scooter back?”

The talking stopped instantly. I stopped mid- step and looked over at him, wondering what had gotten into him.

“What do you mean, give it back? We’re not. She was being a cocky brat, so we’re teaching her a lesson.”

“But… but… it’s something real important to her. It was a gift from her sister, and she got it from her dead grandmare. It’s a precious memento. We can’t hold onto it.”

My mind was telling me to move, to just get it over with. All any of them had to do was look over and I would be caught. My body stayed put even knowing that. I was trying to figure out his game. He had went with them and smirked at me to add insult to injury. Now he was feeling bad? Or maybe he just didn’t want to get in trouble. That would make sense. We were classmates, after all. He couldn’t avoid me.

I had to cover my mouth to stifle a gasp as Thunder Storm pushed Rock Climber off the box he was sitting on. “Man, this is why I always call you a loser. You’re too soft. What, are you upset because your girlfriend is all sad?”

Rock Climber stood back up. “But we can’t just-” He stopped talking, his eyes going wide.

It took me a few moments to realize why. He was looking right at me. I had forgotten I was completely exposed and in the open. I gulped, rushing back behind the thing I had been hiding behind before. My heart was racing. I had to get out of here now! Before he sold me out.

“Can’t just WHAT?” asked Midnight Dream. “And why do you look so afraid?”

“Um… um… no reason. I... I… just realized that I was wrong. Being such a goody-goody is no fun at all. L-let’s go out and do some bad things." I heard the sound of running hooves, and the sound of a door opening. “Come on! Let’s get out of here!”

It was quiet again. Good. They were going to leave.

“Hold on now. Something ain’t right.” I heard Thunder Storm say. “She’s here, isn’t she? That’s the only reason you’d be so worried.”

Uh-oh. No more time to be concerned about caution. I raced toward the window I had come in on. In the limited light I crashed into something on the floor, tripping and knocking things over.

It only took a few seconds before the three of them were in front of me, blocking my path as they formed a circle around me.

I swallowed hard. I was trapped.

Rose is still the POV character here.

I heard a knocking on the front door, but I didn’t have the strength to get up and answer it. After a little while I heard the door open. I suppose I should have gotten scared, but I felt nothing at all. I heard hooves approaching my room.

“There you are,” said a voice I knew all too well. It was Rainbow Dash. I turned my eyes slightly. When I spotted her in my vision I felt a flush of anger flare up inside, but then it faded out after a second and I stopped caring. I saw her look around, and she let out a little laugh. “Well it looks like someone got all hot and bothered over my words. That’s good.”

Once again I felt rage come forth at her words, but like before it quickly went away before I could do anything with it. With the little bit of energy I had I deliberately turned on my side, not wanting to look at her.

I heard the sound of her hooves coming toward me, and then she sat down on my bed. “Scootaloo, you know how I feel about you, don’t you? You’re the only pony that I could openly come up to and tell them that I love them. I care deeply for you and your well-being.

“I wonder if you remember what I said to you that day after you saved Rose Blossom? About why I didn’t interfere despite your inexperience with flying.”

I let out a sigh. In a bland tone I responded, “Blah blah, it was my rescue and my chance to prove what I could do. So why should you interfere? Blah blah blah.”

“And do you remember what I said after that? I told you that if I didn’t think you could handle whatever came your way I wouldn’t have bothered training you in the first place. You’ve always had a thirst to prove yourself, so you always pushed yourself as hard as you were able, and you grew strong from it.

“Those words I said to you a little while ago were deliberate. I was trying to make you angry. Anger can be useful and fill you with energy. Despair brings about a feeling of powerlessness and drains your energy. I had no fear in saying them, though, because like I said before I know you could handle it.

"Your grandmare had the utmost confidence in you. In her last words she said that she was certain that one day you would surpass me and grow into your own pony. You succeeded in that. I also have that same confidence in you, that you’re far stronger than you realize. As I said the day of the race you laughed when you were told you might be crippled for life after being hurt by the dragon. You were satisfied simply with the number of lives you had protected. I could never have done that.”

I felt her pull gently at me, and with a touch of reluctance let her lift me up. She pulled me to her, and gave me a strong hug. “Hang in there, Scootaloo. You’re made of more than this. This isn’t enough to break you. I know that for sure.”

I hugged her back, starting to cry again. I stayed in her hug for a while. “I guess I came to you specifically for a reason. I may not always like what you say, but you do say what no one else would have the courage to.”

She rubbed my back as we continued our embrace, not letting me go until I settled down.

“Scootaloo, I can’t entirely understand your feelings. I’ve never lost someone I loved yet. But after you lost your grandmare and you went into your shock coma I grew extremely worried for you. When the nurse said you might never come out of it I was devastated. I would guess that the feelings I had then were maybe half of what you had gone through.

“You know full well that I’m not always as strong as I make myself out to be. You know my weaknesses more than anyone else. I also know you like a book, so I’d never push more on you than I thought you could handle. When the day comes, assuming it isn’t you that goes, I trust that you’ll be there for me when I lose one of my friends or parents.”

“Of course!”

“In regards to your situation, you need to do right by Rose Blossom. You don’t want her to get hurt, but that’s precisely why you need to give it your all in teaching her. If you constantly protect her then she won’t develop the skills to succeed and will one day be faced with an obstacle she can’t overcome because of it. Think of how many hundreds of times you fell flat on your face before you finally managed to fly. And even on your first time you got so distracted at success you nearly crashed into a tree. You don’t have to be like me. You don’t have to yell and scream and demean her. But you should push her to be the best she can be, otherwise you do her a disservice.”

A dead serious look on her face now she said, “Scootaloo, are you truly ready? Ready for your third teacher?”

Confusion went through me, both by her change of attitude and her words. “Third teacher?”

“Your first was your grandmare. She taught you about love and living well. She gave you the emotional attributes you needed to interact with others.

“I was your second, who gave you the physical skills to conquer any challenge and be brave and courageous. With these attributes from your two teachers you have everything you need to move on to your final teacher. The third teacher is the master you will follow the rest of your days. You will never stop learning from it, just as I do every day.”

“Someone who knows more than you and my grandmare? Just who is this 'third teacher?' ”

“Not a who, but a what. The third teacher is life. Life will constantly throw obstacles and twists and turns in your path. How you react to those and how you go forth on your path will determine how happy or miserable you will be.

“In the end, Scootaloo, you only have two choices. You can give in to this despair from the past, let it conquer you, and abandon loving anyone or anything the rest of your days... or you can push past the fear to risk losing someone else you love while living to the fullest. Those are the only two choices you have. You can either embrace life and risk the hurts and pains it brings about, or you can run away from life and live as a shell. What choice you make here will determine whether you face life with dignity or fear.

“If you continue on as you’ve been doing the past week, then the choice you will make is obvious, and it will mean all the time I spent on you was worthless, and you are worthless. Your past deeds will come to nothing and you’ll be forgotten. Your family will cease to know you. If that’s the path you want to take then I can’t stop you. However, I know for sure that’s not the choice you’re going to make.

“It takes courage to live, and you have that in spades. Giving away your old scooter reminded you of how temporary life can be, and how things can change in an instant. That distracted you, and has made you fearful of the possibility of losing those you love. However, you overcame that fear before when you moved in with Cloud Hunter and Star Gazer and Rose Blossom. So if you did it once before, then I know you can do it a second time.

“I believe in you, Scootaloo! You will get past this. If the worst happens then all of us will be there for you and help you endure.”

“I know, Rainbow Dash. It’s just a hard thing to accept that. It hurt so badly the first time. It just feels like the second time will break me for good.” I began shaking as I cried some more. “Hold onto me, Rainbow Dash, And never let me go! Help keep me from snapping into pieces.”

Rainbow Dash put her hooves around me again, pulling me tightly to her. “There, there. It’s okay. I’m here for you, just as I always have been before. I won’t let life destroy you. You may be feeling down now, but you’ll conquer these fears just like you’ve conquered every challenge I’ve put in your path.”

I closed my eyes, my shivers slowly stopping. In my mind I flashed back to my fillyhood, of being held by Rainbow Dash just like this during some of my bad days in the past. Back then I had been so weak… so inexperienced. Now I was almost an adult, and I had done so much. I wasn’t the weakling I was back then. I was so much more.

I took a deep breath, feeling strength beginning to go through me. I pulled myself away from her, getting off the bed and getting on the floor. “Thank you, Rainbow Dash. For reminding me of something I was on the verge of losing sight of.”

She smiled back at me. “No problem, Scootaloo. Now that’s the look I like to see. You’re ready to fight with the world again.”

I heard the front door open, and after that voices in the kitchen. I left my room, Rainbow Dash behind me. I saw Mom and Dad with some groceries. “Hello, Scootaloo. And hello, Rainbow Dash. How are you?”

“Doing good, ma’am,” responded Rainbow Dash. “Your little filly here was just having some doubts. Because she’s nothing without me I had to come save her AS USUAL!”

“Hey!” I responded, giving her a playful shove. “Don’t forget who saved your tail from a bunch of broken bones. I’m not a filly anymore. Granny!”

Rainbow Dash laughed, and we playfully roughhoused a bit before Mom giggled and said, “Alright, you two. None of that in the kitchen.”

“Yes, Mom,” I responded, sticking my tongue out at Rainbow. “Lucky my mom was here to save you.”

“You wanna take this outside?” Rainbow asked, putting on her tough girl act.

“I’m sorry, but I am above such things,” I said in a detached, regal voice. Adopting a normal tone I said, “Not today. I have to go see Rose. I said I would help her and her new friend in their scooter lessons. Do you know where Rose is, Mom?”

“Oh, yes. We went over to meet Rock Climber’s parents, and the two of them are off riding scooters at the park.”

“I need to go talk to her. I’ll see you guys later.”

“Okay. I’ll catch you later, adult.” Rainbow snickered. “It just doesn’t sound right that way.” She gave me a hug. “You’ll always be a kid to me.”

“I know,” I said, hugging her back.

I hugged Mom and Dad as well, and bid them farewell as I left. Unfurling my wings I took to the air, heading to the park.

I did some laps around, scanning the ground for any sign or Rose or her friend. I didn’t see them anywhere.

“Hey!” I looked down to see two fillies waving at me.

Heading to the ground I said, “Yes?”

“Are you Scootaloo?”

“Yes, that’s right. How can I help you?”

“So you're Rose Blossom’s sister.”

“Ah,” I said, understanding. “Are you some of her new classmates?”

“Yes, I’m Sun Glimmer, and this is Honey Drop.”

“Nice to meet you,” said Honey Drop.

“Same here,” I responded.

“So where’s Rose Blossom? I thought she’d be with you. My mom said she was at the park with a friend of hers.”

The two of them now looked confused. “That’s strange,” said Sun Glimmer. “She said she was going back home to tell you.”

“Tell me what?” The two of them exchanged looks of fear, and I didn’t like it one bit. “Tell me WHAT?”

“Well… uh…some bullies knocked her off her scooter and stole it.”

It felt like my heart had stopped for a moment. My whole body went tense. I let out a growl. No one picked on my sister and got away with it!

“Who was it? And where is she?”

Sun Glimmer described the three stallions to me, and how Rose had left them. “She said she was going to go home to tell you so you could get it back.” She let out a gasp. “Oh, no! No, no, no!”

“WHAT?” I snapped at her.

“This pony Lyra said that they had a hideout at the edge of town, on an abandoned warehouse overlooking a cliff by the water. I think she lied to us and is trying to get it back by herself.”

I almost started hyperventilating I started breathing so hard. In my mind I heard some of Rainbow’s speech come back to me. Rose was trying to be stronger than she actually was. She was in danger!

“Thanks for telling me,” I said, jumping into the air. “Go back home. I’ve got it from here.”

“Are you gonna be okay alone?”

“Don’t worry. I know these guys. They’re in my school and they’re a bunch of pushovers. They can’t handle me.”

I took off, flapping as hard as I could. “Darn it, Rose! What were you thinking? You better be okay. I don’t want to lose you!”

I’m so scared right now. I’m surrounded by a group of bullies, and nobody knows that I’m here. My heart is racing and I feel like I can hardly breathe.

“Well, well, well. What have we here?” said Midnight Dream. “Followed us all the way here, huh? I admit you got some spunk, kid. But secret agent time is over.”

I looked around for an escape route or something I could use as a distraction. I didn’t see one. Desperate I jumped, trying to fly. I only got a few feet off the ground before I fell. Now I kinda regret not taking Scootieloo up on her offer to show me how to fly.

The three of them laughed. “Now that is just pathetic,” said Thunder Storm. “My brother can fly better than you. I guess you’re not so talented after all.”

As a last resort I jumped forward, landing on one of their heads. I quickly maneuvered so I could jump off behind them and began running. I heard them right behind me. I ducked around things, knocking over whatever I could grab to try to slow them down.

“Block the door!” I heard one of them yell. Out of the corner of my eye I saw one of them abandon the chase to close the door.

As I rounded another pile of stuff I saw Rock Climber in my path.

“Stop her!” I heard Thunder Storm say.

He looked more scared than I did. Despite what he had done to me he had at least tried to cover for me. Didn’t stop me from tackling him out of my way. He didn’t even try to defend himself.

I heard Thunder Storm insult his brother for being useless. I ran towards the window I had come in from. I saw a flash of movement overhead, and Heavy Downpour landed right in front of me. I skidded to a stop, but it was too late. He grabbed me and picked me up. I tried to escape, but he was too strong. He walked over to one of the support beams, and together him and Thunder Storm tied me to it.

I strained to my utmost, but I couldn’t get away or break the rope. When I saw that it was useless I stopped trying and just started crying. All I had wanted to do with my life was be just like my big sis. I wanted to make her proud of me as I grew into a hero like she was. Some hero! I was a failure. I couldn’t even protect what was important to me or keep my promises.

That empty feeling was back again. I felt completely drained.

The three of them came up to me, mocking me and laughing at me for my failure, depleting my spirits further.

Midnight Dream stood right in front of me, touching my mane. I tried to pull away, but I could barely move my head. “Look at this stupid mane. Aw, it’s just like a little rose.”

“And her name is Rose Blossom,” Heavy Downpour said mockingly. “How incredibly clever.”

“Hey, boys. I think it’s time we water the garden. I mean, this rose isn’t going to grow without a little moisture, right?”

At first I had no idea what they meant. Then I heard a sound that was horrifying to any girl, before I screamed in disgust as he spit in my hair. The other two followed suit. I felt so dirty as I felt it began running down my mane.

Rock Climber joined the group. He still looked afraid. “H-hey, isn’t that enough? You already stole her scooter and scared her enough she won’t tell anyone. Can’t we just let her go now?”

Once more it became stone silent. Thunder Storm turned to his brother and said harshly, “Your turn.”

“No!” He shook his head rapidly. “I don’t want to do that.”

Rock Climber flinched as his brother glared at him. Thunder Storm walked up to him, saying, “Who do you think you’re telling 'no' to? YOU decided to come with us here, and if you want to keep spending time with me you’re going to join in with the group activities so I know you’re not gonna tattle on us. Are you a squealer?”

“N-no!”

“Then get in there and prove it! Now!” He roughly pushed Rock Climber towards me.

Rock Climber very slowly came near me. I just closed my eyes as I cried. I could feel him in front of me. I could feel his breath on my face.

I opened one of my eyes slightly. Rock Climber looked absolutely terrified and unsure of what to do.

“Well? We’re waiting!”

He turned his head slightly towards his brother, then back to me. He put his face near mine. Great… he was just gonna spit right in my face. He quickly whispered in my ear, “Pretend to be really, really grossed out.”

I barely had time to wonder why when I heard him gargle some spit and hock it. I felt nothing at all. He had missed. His comment suddenly made sense. I squealed and yelled and shook as much as I could.

The tension in the warehouse broke. Midnight Dream and Heavy Downpour began laughing hysterically, and Thunder Storm patted his brother on the back. “Oh, man! Right in her ear. That was awesome! That’s my brother!”

I could see Rock Climber look awkwardly at me, looking close to tears. He clearly took no pleasure in the praise. I was losing my anger and blame for him, starting to see why he had turned from a good friend to a bad friend. His big brother was a horrible influence on him.

Thunder Storm dragged his brother away back to the boxes they were sitting at before. As they were walking I heard him say, “Don’t worry. We’re not going to hurt her. She just needs to learn that we’re not to be messed with. So she can just stay there for a few hours. Or maybe overnight.”

My heart jumped at that statement. I didn’t want to be here all night!

One of them suddenly called out, “Hey! Look what I found. This is going to be useful.” Midnight Dream turned around, and my heart sank as I saw what he had in his hooves. It was a pair of scissors.

“Hey, you’re right,” said Heavy Downpour. “I think we may have watered the garden too much. I think it needs to be trimmed down." They started walking towards me again. Even though I knew it was useless I still tried to escape. I pulled, trying get my hooves free but the rope was too tight.

As they got near to me I suddenly heard a giant clang of metal and the door of the warehouse fell off its rusted hinges.

Everyone turned around. In the sudden bright light I strained my eyes, trying to see who it was. When my eyes adjusted my heart soared as I saw Scootieloo. I have no idea how she found me, but it didn’t matter. My hero was here.

“You wanna tell me why you’re picking on my sister?” I could see her shaking, but I knew she wasn’t afraid. Her voice was strangely calm though.

Thunder Storm said, "Aw, we were just playing with-”

He didn’t get to finish. With a speed I could barely keep up with she rushed forward, twisting in mid-air and bucking him with her back hooves, sending him flying near me. She spun in mid-air, landing on top of him.

She placed her hooves on his neck, pushing down. Scootieloo looked angrier than I had ever seen her. If looks could kill everyone in Ponyville would have died right then. That’s how mad she looked to me. Even when we got into fights she still had a bit of kindness to her. There was none of that now. All I saw there was plain old hatred.

“You want to talk garbage now? Go ahead and try, you jerk! I don’t want to hear anything you’ve got to say. No one hurts my little sister. You understand me?”

“Hey!”

“Look out!” I said as I saw the other two coming up from behind. Without turning around she jumped up and bucked both of them at once, sending them flying into some storage crates. I actually flinched a little as I heard Thunder Storm let out a gagging gurgle as Scootieloo had put all her weight on his neck to do it. I had never seen Scootieloo get violent before. She was actually choking someone. I hoped she wasn’t actually planning on killing him. Even I didn’t want her to go that far.

“Stop it!” yelled out Rock Climber, trying to pull her away. “Stop hurting my brother!”

I gasped as Scootieloo glared at him. She wouldn’t attack a colt my age, would she? That would make her no better than them, no matter how mad she was. “Stop it, Scootieloo!” I said strongly. “That’s enough!”

She turned her gaze to me, then back to Rock Climber and moved her hooves a little so Thunder Storm could breathe. In an unnaturally composed voice she said, “Go untie my sister and get the scooter, and I’ll consider letting this piece of trash go.”

He rushed to obey. When I was free I ran over to my sister, grateful tears running down my eyes. Rock Climber came back with the scooter, and she got up off of Thunder Storm. “Get on, Rosie.” I climbed up onto her back. “Mark my words well. If I ever hear of you hurting or picking on my sister again I’m not going to take it easy on you the next time. You’re just a group of idiots who think you’re hot stuff with nothing to back it up. I actually worked for everything I have. I’ve spent years and years of my life perfecting my skills.

“I don’t expect my lecture is going to do anything to change your attitudes, so I’m out of here. I have better things to do with my time than waste it with you losers.”

Picking up the scooter she began flying, me holding onto her neck. I gazed back at Rock Climber as we took off. It felt like an echo of before, when he had looked back at me when he left. Our eyes met for a moment, and I found myself feeling bad for him. Then she took off.

As we were heading home I began sobbing as I held onto her. I felt so relieved and so upset at the same time.

When we finally got there she took me to my room. Our parents weren’t there, so I guessed maybe they were still out shopping or something.

She set me on my bed. At first she looked happy, but then her eyes narrowed. “Rose Blossom, what were you thinking?” snapped Scootieloo. “Why did you go off on your own and do this yourself? If you had come to me and told me this in the first place this never would have happened. Explain yourself!”

I felt so small because of her accusation. “I… I just… you… you told me that that scooter was real important to you. I didn’t want to hurt you.” I felt ashamed.

“ARE YOU STUPID?” she yelled. She looked almost as angry now as she had at the boys. She was shaking she was so mad, and I was afraid she was going to hit me. “Do you think for even a single second that I value that scooter more than your LIFE?” I gasped as she picked it up and chucked it at the wall as hard as she could. I heard the sound of it smashing, and a few seconds later one of the wheels rolled into my hoof. “This scooter is NOTHING! NOTHING compared to you.

“You should be smarter than this. I know I’ve taught you better than that. What were you thinking? HUH? Answer me!”

I looked down at the ground, picking up the wheel, feeling broken up inside. My fear was going away as I started getting angry. I glared at her, saying, “I was thinking that you’re a big fat liar! You said we should never have secrets between each other, but you’ve been hiding things from me.

"You’ve changed, Scootaloo. All of a sudden, since you gave me that scooter, you haven’t been acting like yourself. You’ve been getting mad and upset more. You won’t teach me any tricks like you said. You treat me like a baby and a brat, and now you trashed the special gift you gave me. The one that you CRIED HYSTERICALLY about because you didn’t want it to get hurt. NOW LOOK WHAT YOU DID!” I threw the wheel at her as hard as I could, hitting her on the chest. “You ruined it! I HATE you, Scootaloo!”

And with that I turned away from her, fuming.

Rose’s words stung me to the depth of my core. She had told me she loved me countless numbers of times, but even though we had had plenty of fights over the years she had never once said that she hated me, and they hurt more than anything. My family was everything to me. I needed their love and support to be strong. Hearing her say she hated me felt like it was going to break me right there.

Rainbow Dash’s words came back to me, then. She had told me that if I didn’t shape up that Rose Blossom would do as I did long ago and go off on her own to prove herself. And here was living proof of her words. I had been treating my sister as just a child. I wanted to keep her safe, so I had been afraid to give her more than a gentle push in her training. Rainbow Dash had been unhesitatingly tough on me, and it made me grow much stronger than I had been in the past. But I hadn’t been willing to do that for Rose. In trying to protect her I was only driving her away. If I had been honest with her and trusted her like she and Rainbow Dash had trusted me then this never would have happened. It was my fault.

Bending down I picked up the wheel Rose had thrown at me, and I felt a deep pain in my heart. I looked over at the scooter, and I saw that all the wheels had popped off. The piece that held the wheels had cracked and broken, but the board and handlebars seemed fine. With one act I had tarnished both gifts; the one given to me by my grandmare, and one given by me to Rose. I had lost control.

Tears began streaming down my eyes. “Rose Blossom… we need to talk.” She didn’t respond. I hadn’t expected her to. “You’re right about everything. Since the day I first gave you the scooter my grandmare gave me I have been having bad dreams. Each night they got worse.

"The night that you came to wake me up and I slept with you I had a nightmare that I came home from school and you were there sobbing. I found out that Mom and Dad were dead.” Rose turned her head slightly towards me. “Last night, my first time sleeping alone again since that first nightmare, I dreamed we went on a picnic, and a tree fell on all of you, leaving me alone.”

She turned around to me now, and said angrily, “Why didn’t you just tell me? I knew something was wrong! But you kept lying and making excuses!”

“I didn’t want you to stay awake all night. I wanted you to enjoy your first day of school.”

She walked up to me and slapped me with her hoof. The pain was minor. I was actually more shocked than hurt. She was shaking and crying. “THAT'S NOT AN EXCUSE! All the time you tell me you want us to be close sisters and we shouldn’t keep any secrets. If one of us has a problem, we should always tell the other so we can work through it and feel better. That’s what YOU told me. I’ve always kept my word. Even if I didn’t feel like talking about it right away I knew I could at least come to you for comfort. But you’re breaking your own word, lying and keeping the truth from me.

“Miss Cheerilee showed me an article she had saved from back when you were in school. Were you ever planning on telling me about saving me as a baby? Or about having stunted wing?

“Don’t you love me? Or am I just a big joke to you? I guess you never trusted me after all. You’re not Scootieloo anymore. You’re just plain old Scootaloo. And after lying and keeping secrets from me I don’t even know if that’s really your name. Go be a hero to someone else. You’re not MY hero anymore. I don't even think we should be sisters anymore.”

If I had thought I couldn’t feel worse I was proven wrong. My vision went blurry as she turned away to leave. Tears began running down my face. It quickly gave way to sobbing. I lay on my bed, tremors running through my body as I completely lost it. My heart burned as I held myself, the world feeling so cold and empty once again as I had lost my biggest supporter.

I felt something pulling at me, and I opened my eyes to see a blurry Rosie. She put her hooves out to me. I didn’t question. I just held her to me, apologizing as often as my breathing would allow.

I don’t how long I cried, but it was probably around ten minutes. The whole time we never let go of each other. When I finally began to settle down Rosie said, “I’m sorry too. I also got mad and said some things I didn’t really mean. I could never hate you, and you’ll always be my hero and sister.”

It relieved me so much to hear that. “I love you, Rosie. I mean that from the bottom of my heart.”

“I love you too. I said I wasn’t going to hurt your heart anymore, but I did anyway. I shouldn’t have said those things to you.”

“It’s okay, Rose. I forgive you.”

“Well, I don’t forgive you.” She didn’t say it with any anger. She stated it plainly.

“Why not?”

“I’m not gonna forgive you unless you promise me that you won’t keep any more secrets from me when you’re feeling hurt or scared. We’re a team. You were the one who taught me about love and being tough. If you can’t be honest with me then how am I supposed to trust you? I know there are some things that you won’t be able to talk to me about because I won’t understand. But why do I have to understand everything? Sometimes we just need someone to listen to us talk.”

I took a deep breath. “Yeah, you’re right. I can’t promise I’ll tell you everything that goes wrong, because sometimes we need a little privacy. And some things are simply beyond what you can handle. That’s not your fault. You’re just a lot younger than I am. However, I do promise you I’ll tell you whatever I can. And to start with I’m going to start taking your scooter lessons more seriously.

"While you were out having your adventure I went to talk to Rainbow Dash. She always tells me the truth, even if it’s a harsh truth, because she knows that it’s for my benefit. She scolded me for being so lenient with you and that my trying to protect you was doing more harm than good. And she said I wasn’t being a good sister to you and that would wind up with you getting in over your head or in a dangerous situation you couldn’t handle because of false confidence. And she was right. It’s a good thing your friends were still hanging around the park when I got there.”

Letting her go I told her to stay there while I left the room. I wrote a note to our parents that we weren’t going to be there for dinner and I would explain things when I got home.

I returned to my room, throwing on my saddlebag after throwing a small bag of bits in it. “Come on, Rose Blossom.”

“Where are we going?” she asked as she hopped off the bed.

“You asked about the past and want me to trust you, so we’re going to start now so I can repair the cracks in our relationship. You own a large portion of my heart, so I cannot afford to lose your friendship.”

So the two of us went for a walk around town. I gave her my life story. I told her about my mysterious beginnings, of being found injured by the Everfree Forest, and of never getting to know my birth parents. She looked upset at that. I knew the feeling. Up until I had been adopted I didn’t know what having parents felt like.

I spoke of getting adopted by my grandmare and raised by her; I told her about being diagnosed with stunted wing and believing I would never get to fly; I told her about meeting Rainbow Dash, and how she had quickly became my idol and eventually my sister, and how she had unintentionally helped cure me, as well as my many flying lessons.

Then I got to the part she was especially interested in: my saving of her. I still remembered that day vividly. What had pushed me so hard wasn’t honor or recognition or a desire to impress Rainbow Dash. In those moments, when adrenaline rushed through my body and time slowed down to a crawl, all I was thinking about was saving another baby from having to suffer through the fear I did for all those years.

I was still new to flying at that time, so I screwed up the landing and had gotten hurt a little bit, but it didn’t matter because she was safe.

After that I got to foalsit her almost every week because I felt a connection with her. She had been the first life I had saved. She was the one who made me see that my life really was worth something, no matter how small and insignificant I felt, because I had able to protect her from a terrible fate.

Then I got to the harder topics. I told her about my reckless decision to fly to a great height alone because I felt confidant I could do it, and of how Rainbow Dash had royally chewed me out for it. I had deserved it for not considering the consequences of failure. I tried to impress upon Rose the parallel between that situation and the one she had been in.

For the next part I had to sit down. I told her about coming home to find my grandmare dead, her last words to me, and of how devastated I had been afterword.

Just when I felt I was about to be crushed by despair…that’s when Mom and Rose had come to save me. Star Gazer offered to let me live with them, a life for a life, to repay the debt they felt they owed me. It wasn’t out of duty that they did it, but out of love. They loved me for saving their daughter and taking an interest in her welfare, so they knew I would be perfect big sis material.

I continued on with the rest of my history, but more summed it. Rose knew more about that time since I was living with them. Throughout she kept being interested, looking utterly fascinated.

When I was done she just looked out at the world, a thoughtful look on her face. “Wow… I knew you were cool before, but now I think you’re super-duper awesome times infinity!”

I let out a laugh. “Thanks, kid.” I mussed up her mane a little.

“Hey!” she said with a giggle. “I have to say I’m sorry about Rainbow Dash.”

“Oh? Why’s that?”

“Well… I knew you spent a lot of time with her, and she was your other sister, but I always thought she was just so full of herself and not that impressive. But it was with her help that you became the hero you are today. Rainbow Dash is pretty awesome too. If it wasn’t for her you would have been a lame, flightless blank flank the rest of your life.”

“Don’t I know it,” I responded, knowing it was true. “So as for you, I think we’re gonna alter between scooter lessons and flying lessons every day. Or maybe we could just split the time fifty-fifty.”

“But I like to scooter. I don’t care about flying.”

“This isn’t up for debate!” I said sternly. “In case you weren’t paying attention, being able to fly is an essential skill if you want to become a master scooter rider. Strengthening your wings leads to harder flapping and thus greater acceleration. I’ve always been too gentle with you. That needs to stop. I’m not going to go as far as Rainbow did with me, but I’m your older sister and you’re going to listen to me whether you like it or not. I’m not letting you get into danger by being unprepared for what’s out there.”

Rose looked a little mad at first by my attitude, but then her face lit up. “Okay, Scootieloo. You win.” An uncertain look came to her face. “I guess I’m just scared. If I go high up in the sky and lose control I’ll go splat on the ground and die. Or break a lot of bones.”

“You don’t have to be scared, Rosie. You’re not starting out with stunted wing like I did, so you’ll probably get the hang of flying much faster than I did. Flying is a process that’s worked on in many steps. Flying up to the clouds isn’t something for brand new fliers like you. For now you’re just going to focus on getting off the ground at all. You’re got to be super tough and brave if you want to succeed, because you’ll fall flat on your face just as much, if not more, than when you began learning to ride your scooter. But after a while it becomes natural.

"So now what do you say we get some dinner? I’m hungry.”

“Sure!”

We went out to eat, just telling silly stories and making jokes, and I felt more normal and relaxed than I had all week. I had found my courage again; the courage to face life. I felt pretty certain that, tonight, the nightmares would finally stop.

I felt so happy sitting there chatting with my big sister. The stuff she had told me was so amazing and remarkable. I could hardly believe how much she had gone through. Scootieloo was acting like her old self again. She looked so much happier now. I’m glad she was feeling better now.

I was happiest about her trusting me and telling me about all the adult stuff she had struggled with. As we had both thought before I didn’t understand all of it, but it was enough that she had told me.

When we finished our meal she took me over to a sports shop. She bought a few things as I looked around.

After that we went home. We went to my room and she took out the bag from the store. She left my room and came back a minute later with a few tools. She replaced the pieces that had broken and reattached the wheels. She looked sad again as she worked. I could understand her feelings. She felt bad for getting so mad she broke something that meant a lot to her. I had gotten upset at her too for breaking it because I had put my heart into it just like she had. I placed a comforting hoof on her shoulder. “Don’t get upset, Scootieloo. You’re gonna make it good as new again.”

She sighed. “I know, Rosie. But you also know now how much this thing means to me. You know why I cried when I gave it to you, and why I wanted so badly for you to take good care of it. And then I went and threw it at a wall. It was stupid and immature of me. Even with all I’ve done and all I’ve experienced… I still have a lot of growing up left to do. In some ways I guess I am still just a kid.”

Scootieloo looked like she was in a funk, just staring at the scooter unmoving. I tried to think of something to say. This felt like another thing I didn’t really get. “Well, um… I was stupid and immature today too. I should have trusted you to be there when I needed you, even if you would have gotten upset with me when you heard about what happened. We all do stupid stuff sometimes, but we all forgive each other for it because we’re family and love each other. So cheer up. Your grandmare wouldn’t want to see you get upset over this.”

Scootieloo looked over at me, and gave me a quick hug. “Yeah, you’re right. I shouldn’t beat myself up. I should learn from this and try not to make the same mistake again.

“Okay, now it’s time to teach you how to do repairs. Even if something breaks you can always replace parts here and there.” So she instructed me in servicing my scooter. She went to grab her own scooter, and showed me step-by-step how to disassemble and reassemble a scooter. She was so fast at it I had to tell her to slow down so I could watch what she was doing. It took a while, but I finally got the hang of it. One final time I took it apart and put it back together without asking her for help once. She congratulated me and clapped her hooves, which made me feel proud of myself.

We sat and talked some more. Mom suddenly knocked on the open door. “Hello, girls. Rose, you have a visitor.”

“I do?” I asked. Who would be visiting me now?

I followed mom to the living room, and I felt my stomach tighten as I beheld Rock Climber.

He looked awkwardly at me and said, “Hello, Rose. Do you think I could talk to you in private?”

I wasn’t sure of my feelings towards him right now. Neither me nor Scootieloo had told our parents what happened, so I wasn’t sure how to respond to him without making them suspicious in some way. “I’ll be right back,” I said, not giving them a chance to respond as I ran back to my room.

“What’s wrong, Rosie?” asked Scootieloo.

I was panting and my emotions were going all over the place. “He’s… he’s here!”

“Who? Not Thunder Storm?”

“No, his little brother. Rock Climber.” An angry look came to her face, but she managed to turn it more neutral. “He says he wants to talk to me. What do you think I should do?”

“That’s up to you to decide. You said on the way home that Rock Climber wanted no part in humiliating you and tried to get them to release you. Whether he did it for your sake or just for his own is up in the air. The fact of the matter is that you’re going to have to face him in school the rest of the year. You can choose to ignore him, or you can renew your friendship if he expresses regret.

"You complained earlier that I have been treating you like a baby, so I’m not going to tell you what to do. I’m going to let you try and handle this on your own, and trust that you’ll make the right decision. For now, at least, I think we should keep what happened today between the two of us so you have the chance to resolve this privately between you and him. Once we get our parents involved there will be no going back. They’ll start filing complaints and it’ll just turn into a big mess.”

“Okay. I agree. I guess I should hear what he has to say. I’ll go outside to the back. Can you go stay in one of the trees outside or something? I don’t think Rock Climber will hurt me right outside my house, but his brother might have forced him into it for revenge."

“Okay, kid. I’m also curious what he’s going to say. He seems to have gone off on a bad path. However, he didn’t seem like a bad kid when I was talking to him earlier.”

“Yeah, I know. In school he seemed like a great friend. I thought he’d be my Apple Bloom or Sweetie Belle. Oh, well. Go ahead. I’ll be out in a minute.”

Scootieloo flew out the window, and I saw her fly to a tree nearby.

I headed back to the living room. As soon as I saw him again that mix of indescribable emotions burst forth again. It was like a mix of liking him and hating him and feeling sorry for him simultaneously.

I walked past him and said, “Come on. Let’s go outside to the backyard.” I was glad my voice came out pretty normally. He followed me outside to the backyard. I looked around for the tree Scootieloo was in. I found her after a quick search. If anything happened I wanted to know what tree to run to.

Away from my parents I didn’t have to keep so much control of my emotions, and I said roughly, “So go ahead. Talk!”

He looked nervously at me, and then he looked down at the ground. “Rose Blossom, I’m sorry about what happened today. I never wanted this to happen.”

For some reason my emotions exploded. I shoved him hard, almost knocking him over. “Sorry? You’re sorry! You think that just makes everything better? You kicked me off my scooter and got me hurt. You ran off with those jerks and made sure to give me a happy grin to rub it in when you took off with those three jerks. I TOLD you how much that scooter meant to me, but you didn’t care. You’re just as bad as your monster of a brother! So you know what? You can take your apology, and shove it! Go find some other pony to betray.”

With that I turned my head away from him and began walking back to the house.

“Rose Blossom… how much does your sister mean to you?” His voice was shaking and he sounded on the verge of tears.

I turned back to him and said, “Everything in the world. She’s my hero and everything I want to be when I grow up. And what does that have to do with anything?”

“And what would you do if… if-if-if the only way you could spend time with her was to do something bad?”

“So is that your excuse?”

“I’m not making any excuses!” he yelled out, and now the tears had begun to pour down his face. “Please! I’m not asking you to forgive me or be my friend anymore, or to ever talk to me again after this. I’m only asking you to listen. Please, Rose. I’m begging you. ”

I sighed. I guess I’m just a sucker for a crying pony, no matter how mad I get. “Fine. I’ll listen to your story, but don’t expect anything else from me. It doesn’t mean I’m going to forgive you.”

“I know…” He let out a deep breath, and then continued, “My brother didn’t used to be like that. He used to always spend time with me and teach me about lots of cool stuff. He liked to show off his talents and I’d always admire him and I wanted to be just like him too.”

For a moment he smiled, but then it quickly faded as he looked back at the ground. “But things changed last year. He suddenly stopped wanting to spend time with me. He kept pushing me away and telling me I was just a bother to him and he had better things to do with his time. At first I didn’t know why he suddenly started acting this way.

“Those two friends of his sometimes came to pick him up to hang out, but they never stayed at the house. More changes started. He would be more rebellious and disrespectful to our parents, and sometimes he would sneak out when he wasn’t supposed to leave the house. It was like he had suddenly become someone else entirely. When I asked them about it my parents said it was just a phase he was going through as he began growing up and wanting freedom. I thought it was more than that.

“One day I followed them because I thought I wanted to see what they were up to, and if I could maybe join in. I was so shocked and surprised at what I saw. One of them was talking to an orange vendor, one of them was looking around, and my brother was throwing oranges into a bag. Then they took off.

“I couldn’t believe what I had just seen. My brother was stealing. He had never done that before. They went into a small alley to begin eating their stolen stuff, and I came in and confronted them. I told them I was gonna tell our parents. My brother got really mad. He picked me up and held me against a wall. He threatened me that if I dared tell Mom or Dad that he was never going to speak to me again and he’d go around showing everyone this embarrassing baby photo of me. He sounded so scary that I lost all my courage. I barely spoke to him lately as it is.”

Guilt shined on his face as he said, “And that’s when I made my first bad decision. I asked him, if I kept my mouth shut, if he’d let me start hanging out again with him from time to time. I just... I missed him so badly I didn’t even care what we did, as long as we got to spend time together. They talked it over, and when he finally came back he told me that as long as I kept the secret he would."

"Mmm..." I could identify with that feeling. I had said the same thing to Scootieloo, though I wouldn't have meant doing bad stuff.

“When we came home that night he almost seemed like my old brother again. I guess he wanted to stay on my good side so I’d keep my word. He told me about school. He used to be a shy pony, but that year some of the popular kids took an interest in him, and his reputation went up because of it. He started making a bunch of new friends, but those two were the biggest hotshots and nobody wanted to mess with them. All of a sudden he went from being a quiet nobody at school to one of the most popular kids there. The fame went right to his head and he began getting arrogant.

“Over the next couple of months I did a lot of things I’m not proud of. Heavy Downpour and Midnight Dream were fond of stealing and vandalism. Whenever my brother let me come along he forced me to participate in their activities in some way. He said that if I really meant what I said about not telling then I should share some of the responsibility. No one likes getting in trouble, so if I did something bad too it gave me less of a reason to rat them out.”

Tears began streaming down his eyes again, and his legs began shaking like he was going to fall down. “So I stole. I broke stuff. I painted graffiti on walls and houses. My conscience bothered me a lot at first, but soon enough I started having fun doing those things, because whenever I did them my brother became so happy. He showered me with praise and patted my shoulder and for a short time it was like the old days where I spent time with him."

Although I didn't agree with his actions I was understanding him more and more. He loved his brother so much he'd stoop to anything for his praise and approval. I'd like to think that I would never do the same, but I loved Scootieloo more than anything in the world. If it was the only way we could spend time together...

"One day when they were stealing some food I was on lookout close by. The shopkeeper caught them in the act. I suddenly got an idea. I ran forward, and I lied. I put on the waterworks and begged him not to be mad. I made up some story about how we were really poor, and I had been so hungry. My three brothers had only wanted their younger brother not to starve. I brought the shop owner to tears I was so convincing. He commended the three of them for looking out for their family, but that stealing wasn’t the answer. He did give us some free food though.

“When we got back to the hideout all three of them congratulated me and praised me, making me out to be a hero. Before this Heavy Downpour and Midnight Dream had both seen me as a pest and hadn’t really wanted me in their group. They changed their mind after that. They saw that I could be useful. Since I was just a little kid adults would let me get away with stuff the older kids wouldn't have been able to.

“During the day, when we had our 'fun,' I had stopped having any doubts and just did whatever they told me. Getting to hang out with the older boys and be fully accepted by them meant a lot to a kid like me. However, I had trouble sleeping at night because I knew that what I had been doing was wrong.

"I soothed my conscience by telling myself more lies. I asked myself what was a few things or food here or there. The pony wouldn’t notice if we only took a couple. We didn’t break anything too valuable, so what was a few bits to replace it? How much work could it possibly take to do a little repainting?

“Little by little I started changing too. I began getting snippy with my parents just like him. I began refusing to do what I was told, following after my brother. I didn’t feel too bothered by what we were doing because what we did never actually hurt anyone. Sure, it may get them upset, but they’d get over it soon enough.

“Things changed, though, because of you. You began telling me about how Scootaloo was so great and courageous and powerful, about the special scooter she had passed on to you, and how she always had time for you. You… reminded me of the past, before my brother met those guys. You made me realize how much I had been ignoring what my heart was saying. When you promised me that you wouldn’t tell anyone what I was about to tell you I felt so relieved. I wanted to tell you all this before, but then they showed up."

So that was what had him so worked up at the park. He had been about to tell me about what he and his brother had been up to.

“My head got all mixed up. In one way I saw how much my brother had changed, and so I felt mad at him. I also felt that same guilty burning feeling inside, because I thought of all the bad stuff I had done so I didn't lose my brother’s attention.

“When you showed me how much better you were than me at scootering, and then my brother made fun of me and had us race, I got so furious when you started talking about your sister again. I promise I never intended to knock you off like that. I only wanted to hurt you a little bit. I was so angry right then that when you fell down I felt nothing at all but satisfaction. And then they stroked my ego by cheering me like they had before. My conscience didn’t protest at all right then, and I felt glad that you had been knocked down a few pegs.

“After a little while, when we had arrived at the hideout, I started feeling bad again. I realized just how much what happened had to have hurt you. And then when you actually showed up I was scared of what they would do to you. When they tied you up and my brother threatened to leave you there overnight, and then joined in in spitting in your mane, and especially when he tried to force me to do the same, I also realized how different his friends had made him. He showed absolutely no doubt or guilt at all. That scared me more than anything."

"Rock Climber..." I remembered the expressions on his face in the warehouse. He had looked terrified, especially when his brother forced him to spit at me.

“After you and Scootaloo left and he recovered a bit we left too. Once more he threatened me to keep my mouth shut and to deny everything if we were accused. When we got home he went to his room. When our parents asked what was wrong with him I started to lie, but my heart burned too much.

"I was sick and tired of what I had been doing. I was disgusted with myself for doing so many bad things. I couldn’t bear to tell them one more lie. So I told them the truth. I told them everything that we had been doing. Our parents were furious. They gave him a really long lecture, punishments... everything they could do. Most of the time he just looked furiously at me, like he wished he could beat me up.

"Even if meant he would never speak to me again, I… I… I couldn’t just watch my brother turn into a monster anymore.” And with that Rock Climber collapsed onto the floor and began sobbing.

I didn’t hesitate. Rock Climber had bared his soul to me and spoken from his heart. I had no reason to doubt his apology was genuine or that he was trying to deceive me. The pain in his words was so deep I couldn’t stop crying myself. I went over and gave him a big hug. I held him through his tears until he ran out of them and he just let out shuddering breaths. “I believe you,” I finally said. “And I forgive you.”

“You shouldn’t!” he said loudly. “I’m a terrible person and a horrible friend. I don’t deserve to be loved after everything I’ve done.”

Before I could respond Scootieloo swooped down from the tree she was sitting in. “You’re wrong!” she said strongly. Rock Climber wasn’t expecting her, and he tried to stifle his crying. “You don’t understand just how wrong you are. You are very brave.”

“S-Scootaloo…” he said, giving a sniff. “W-what are you doing here?”

“Rose had me listening in. We just wanted to make sure your brother wasn’t trying for round two.”

“Oh…”

**********

“Hey, Rose. Come here for a sec.”

“Yes?” she responded, walking towards me.

“Would you mind if I played the role of big sister to your friend here for a little while?”

“N-no!” she responded strongly. “Why do you want to do that?”

“Because I think he needs some good advice and building up after all the put downs and eroding of his self-esteem from his brother.”

“I don’t want you to do that!”

“Why not?”

“Because you’re my big sister.”

I had to suppress a laugh. Rose was actually jealous and being possessive of me. “Don’t you care for your friend? He needs some help from someone who understands. Don’t be stingy.”

She looked behind her at Rock Climber, then back at me. “Just for tonight?”

“Just for tonight,” I responded back.

She sighed, and said, “Okay.”

I went over to Rock Climber and pulled him back on his hooves. “Come with me. Let’s have a little talk, you and I.”

I saw him look uncertainly at me. “You’re not still mad at me, are you?”

“Not at all.”

So we went for a walk around the yard. “I don’t approve at all of the way your brother has been behaving. I can’t find it in me to forgive him yet, but I understand why the both of you acted the way you did. I’ve been there myself when I was about your age.”

“You have?” he asked.

“I was part of the school newspaper, along with my two best friends. Since we couldn’t fit all our names on the articles we made up a pseudonym of Gabby Gums. A few days after we started two of our classmates got gum stuck on themselves. They made a big mess of it and actually got themselves stuck to each other. It was really funny, and we posted the picture in the paper along with an article about it. The article was a hit in class, and the two of them found it funny too, and liked that they got in the paper.

“One of my friends sisters saw the article, and she found it hilarious and said she wanted more stories like it. So we left the schoolyard behind and began finding more juicy, gossipy stories. As we began printing more stories the school newspaper grew beyond the school to the regular newsstand.

"We grew more and more popular, but to keep printing stories ponies would want to read we began going into our family and friends private lives. We used embarrassing photographs our photographer took, and sometimes plain made up lies to go with it. Anything to get others attention. The three of us tried once to do a plainer story with just an interview, but the editor-in-chief rejected it as boring.

“Back then we were set on doing whatever it took to get our cutie marks, so we figured if gossip was our special talent then we had to do what was necessary to get our marks. Just like you, what we were doing was bothering us deep down, but we ignored the guilty feelings because we wanted to remain popular. Even though we only used a pseudonym and nobody knew personally who Gabby Gums was, the popularity of the columns and how many ponies wanted to read them stroked our egos enough that we suppressed our feelings of thinking that our columns were probably hurting other ponies feelings."

"I... I didn't think that you were ever like that," said Rock Climber. "After everything Rose said about you you seemed almost perfect."

I chuckled. "Well, that's the way Rosie sees me, but everyone has flaws. After we got home from the warehouse we got into a fight with each other."

"You did?"

"Yeah. I was mad at her for going alone, and she got mad at me for keeping a secret from her."

"I see. I guess everyone has their problems with siblings sometimes."

"Too right. I would never claim to be perfect."

"So what happened with the column?"

“Well, we went too far one time, and it led to us getting exposed. We printed a page of a diary that belonged to my friends sister. Since Sweetie Belle worked on the paper Rarity guessed that her sister was responsible. When word got out who the mystery writers were we suddenly went from popular to the most hated ponies in town. Even though everyone loved reading about everyone else’s secrets, none of them liked it when the horseshoe was on the other hoof. Even our own families were furious with us. Apple Bloom’s siblings were furious, Rainbow Dash was furious with me, and everyone around town wouldn’t look at us.

“To make matters worse our editor refused to let us resign. She blackmailed us with some embarrassing photos of us our photographer had taken, telling us that if we quit she’d run those pictures to humiliate us because “if Gabby Gums really does go into retirement, then I’m going to need something to fill that empty column space.”

“So now we were faced with a tough decision. Did we save what little reputation we had and ignore our conscience again by writing another column, or did we do nothing and insist on quitting and let ourselves be humiliated for a change?”

I could see Rock Climber was looking at me with rapt attention. He seemed to have forgotten about his own situation for the moment. “So what did you do?”

“As we sat in our clubhouse we debated over the matter for the next couple of hours, unable to see a way out. Finally, though, we made a decision. We didn’t do either of the options. We took a third option. We made the right choice and wrote another column.”

Rock Climber stopped walking, looking strangely at me. “Hold on! That was the right decision… to go embarrass somepony else?”

“Come on. Keep walking with me and let me finish.”

He hesitated for a few seconds, and then he kept walking, catching up to me. “So who did you write about? And why was that the right thing to do?”

“Because the ones we wrote about… was us.”

“You?”

“That’s right. Just like you we had reached a point where we could no longer appease our consciences with lies and excuses. So we came clean, openly and completely. We posted our picture and confessed to our deeds, promising to respect other’s privacy and not to engage in hurtful gossip anymore. We asked for forgiveness for shaming and mortifying everyone, and we put our quills to rest. After it was printed we took a copy and showed it to our loved ones around town, and they did forgive us for finally doing the right thing. And boy was it a load off of us.

“To summarize, I can understand the feeling of having quick popularity go right to your head, just like it did to your brother. And I can also understand the feeling of ignoring guilt and pushing ahead with something that you know is wrong because you want to be liked. What we did was wrong, pure and simple. But we learned from it, and became better ponies for it.

“Rock Climber… you also did something wrong. You got swept up in wanting to spend time with your brother because he began ignoring you in favor of spending time with ponies his own age. You wanted it so badly you were willing to do whatever it took, even if it meant stealing or vandalizing other pony’s property. You fed your aching conscience with lies to make yourself feel better.”

As we returned back to his own actions his shame became prominent again. “However… while what you did will never be the right thing to have done, it stopped being wrong too when you finally made a new choice: the right choice. You finally confronted the feelings inside you, and found them unbearable. You had to get the truth out or it would have broken you.

"You should be proud of yourself for coming to that decision. You have done some bad things, but they are no worse than some things I did as a filly. You are not your actions. Just because you did something bad does not mean that you are irrevocably evil and don’t deserve love and affection. It just means that the choices you made at the time were not the correct ones. You're a good kid. You understand that? You did the right thing today.”

He had stopped walking again. Tears welled up in his eyes as his body clenched, holding back his emotions as he turned away. “N-no,” he muttered through clenched teeth.

“Look at me!” I said sternly, grabbing his snout with my hoof and pushing his head until our eyes met. With a tender smile I said as kindly as I could, “You… did… the right …thing! And you need to accept that. We all make mistakes. When you’re willing to admit it and try to fix things that’s when you become worthy of forgiveness, and those who love you grow proud to see you maturing. Just like I see it now. You don’t have to beat yourself up anymore. You are a wonderful boy, and you need to see that.”

He couldn’t hold them back anymore. Tears came down his eyes before he began sobbing again, hugging me like his life depended on it. “T-t-thank you, Scoo-scootalo,” he sputtered out through his sobs.

I put a hoof around him lovingly. “You’re welcome.”

I felt a strange sensation. When I looked up I could see Rose glaring at Rock Climber with a look like hatred. Her mouth was just a thin line and she was shaking a little.

I had to suppress another laugh. Rosie was feeling so jealous right now of sharing me with someone else. Maybe I shouldn’t have actually said I was going to act as a big sister. That probably would have prevented Rosie’s feelings now.

Rock Climber settled down after a few minutes. He let me go, and wiped his face. “Scootaloo?”

“Yes?”

“Thank you again. Ever since I told the truth I wasn’t really sure if I had done the right thing. My brother looked so mad at me. I don’t think he really is going to talk to me anymore. That makes me so sad.

"Scootaloo, do you think my real brother is ever going to come back to me? The one he was before he met Heavy Downpour and Midnight Dream?”

I closed my eyes for a moment as I let out a heavy breath. “To be perfectly honest-”

“That’s a no, isn’t it?” he said accusingly as he began crying again, looking heartbroken.

“Let me finish, kid. I can’t give you an answer, but you shouldn’t feel guilty for exposing your brother’s behavior to your parents. Keep in mind what you said to Rose. You didn’t tell on him because you wanted to be mean, or in revenge, or just to see him get in trouble.

"You said when you saw him tie up Rose and threaten to leave her overnight and then spit in her mane without any sort of remorse or guilt that that scared you most of all. You knew that your brother had changed due to the influence of his friends, but this was iron proof that he had gone past the limit of what you could allow. Here he was actually willing to bring harm, even if mainly emotional, on a pony half his age. You were scared of losing your brother entirely to his new behaviors.

"You can be sure that your brother is going to be extremely mad at you. He’s in big trouble, and your parents aren’t going to let them interact anymore and keep closer tabs on his activities. How he reacts to this is what is going to determine whether he continues down the wrong path, or whether he wakes up to how much he had to change to fit in.

"He could decide to go on full rebellion mode and become worse than he is now, or he might decide that he had been doing the wrong thing just like you did and shape up. I don’t know him well enough to know what he will do. What I do know, however, is that he has been a bad influence on you by pushing you to do the same unlawful activities he and those other two were into.”

Rock Climber looked at the ground again. He gently kicked one of his hooves, and I could feel he had a question on his tongue. “What is it?”

He looked back up at me. “I… I know that this is something I shouldn’t ask, but… I… I mean…” He began blushing.

“Yes? The worst I can do is say no.”

“Do you think I could spend some more time with you? Right now my brother isn’t going to want anything to do with me, and I don’t think I can stand being home for the next couple of days because he’s so mad. You… you sound a lot like how my brother used to be, and I need someone like you right now. You already said before that I can join in on your scooter lessons. Do you think you could be my big sis for now until my brother makes up his mind?”

His question took me by surprise because it was so unexpected. Someone I had just met today was asking me to be their big sister. I truly felt honored and touched. I felt bad turning him down. “I’m sorry, Rock Climber, but I don’t think I can do that.” The disappointment on his face was intense.

“Scootieloo!” Rosie said scoldingly, rushing up to Rock Climber and giving him a hug as she sat on her back legs. Putting one hoof on her side she said, “How could you be so cold and heartless? I thought you were better than that!”

I blinked. “Whoa, whoa, whoa! When did I suddenly become the bad guy here? You were the one who got all upset over sharing me. I just didn’t want to upset you again right after we made up.”

“Well, that was then, and this is now. Rock Climber needs a cool older sibling right now to talk to, and he couldn’t have picked a better one.” I smiled at her compliment. “Yeah, I did get a little upset and jealous, but then I started thinking about what you were talking about. You understood his feelings because you went through something similar in your past. So I understand Rock Climber’s desire too, because I had been missing you. You seemed so different all week you didn’t feel like Scootieloo anymore.”

“Rosie, are you absolutely sure this isn’t going to bother you?”

“Not at all.” Her certain response of being uncertain made me laugh. “I think I am going to get jealous and upset more, but I still want to share you with him. After all, it broke your heart at first to share your scooter with me, but then you felt glad you did it. And if I want to grow up and be cool like you then I have to do what you do. It may hurt a bit not having you all to myself, but I want to have Rock Climber hang out with us.”

I smiled warmly down at her. “Rosie… you’ve grown up a little. I’m proud of you.” She blushed brightly at my compliment, beaming back at me. “Well, that settles that, then.”

Rock Climber looked up hopefully. “Does… does that mean…”

“That’s right, kid. For the time being you now have an older sister.”

“Woohoo!” he cheered, running over to me and hugging me again. “I promise I’ll do better than before.”

“Good. So are you still feeling guilty?”

He closed his eyes, making little thoughtful grunts, then said, “A little bit. I’m not all better yet. I still need some time. But your words helped a lot. Now I see why Rose is so cool and tough if she has a sister like you.”

Rose had had a mixed expression on her face, like she wanted to pull Rock Climber off of me, while at the same time just feeling happy for his happiness. However, when she heard him say that she shined with pride.

“So, how was that for the first day of the school year?” I asked, shaking my head. “Certainly full of a lot more excitement than I had back then.”

“Tell me about it!” Rose said wearily.

“But tomorrow will be better!” Rock Climber said excitedly. “I can’t wait to start my lessons with a real pro. You even have a cutie mark in scootering so I know I’m learning from the best.”

“Thanks, kid.” I patted his head a few times. “It’s starting to get late, so I think I better take you home.”

“Okay.” I got down on the floor and he climbed onto my back. After we took off I said a quick goodbye to Rosie and got directions from him.

This was going to be a crazy week, I could tell already. However, I welcomed the excitement. I had been feeling so down in the dumps all week I was ready for things to pick up again.

When he pointed out his house to me I flew a few hundred feet away from it before I landed. He got off my back before asking, “Why did you land so far away?”

“It’s for the best. I don’t think I should be too close to your house today. I’m sure your brother is still fuming, so I don’t want him to see me. That could cause some problems.”

“Oh…yeah.”

"I have something I need to say to you.”

“What’s that?”

“I just want to repeat what I said before, because this night and probably the next few days are going to be the toughest. You should expect a lot of opposition. Thunder Storm will most likely call you a traitor and a promise breaker. He may attack you physically or break your stuff. He may yell and scream at you and do all he can to make you feel as terrible as he can.

"When that happens I don’t want you to doubt yourself. Don’t give in to his taunts or words and become consumed with guilt and misery. As I told you before, you did the right thing. True love isn’t just doing whatever the other person wants. True love is stopping someone you love from doing something risky or dangerous, because you can’t stand to see them harming themselves.

"It can take courage to go against people you don’t like, but it takes a whole lot more to go against someone you truly care for. Unfortunately, as I also said before, we don’t yet know whether this punishment will make him worse or make him better, but you may well have saved your brother’s life tonight.”

“Why do you say that?” I could see the doubt in his face.

“If he found enjoyment in what he did today when someone just happened to intrude in their private spot, then maybe they’d take it a step further and abduct other ponies to toy with them. And then maybe he’d go a step further and beat them up. Each time he pushed past and ignored his feelings he could go one step further down a path of no return. Because of your great love for your brother you finally put a wall in his path to stop him from getting any worse. You’re a hero! You may not be a flashy hero who the whole town loves, but…” My mind turned to me saving Rose Blossom as a baby. “If you can save even just one life, then that makes you a hero.”

“Thank you, Scootaloo.” He seemed reassured.

“No problem. Just hang in there and I’ll see you again tomorrow.”

“Okay.” He ran off, and I headed for home.

When I got there I spent some time with Rose Blossom. I couldn’t suppress my many laughs. She was being very clingy. She followed me around the house, and kept trying to get in my lap every time I sat down. It was so adorable.

When it was time to sleep she surprised me by backing off. When I got under the covers she came in to say her goodnight. “Thanks for saving me today. I hope one day I can help save someone too.”

“You saved me today.”

“How? What did I do?”

“You saved me from myself. Rainbow Dash partially snapped me out of it, but you finished my return back to myself. I don’t know what I’d do without you. You’re always calling me your hero. However, Rosie, I mean it from the bottom of my heart when I say that you’re my hero too.”

Grateful tears came down her eyes. “Thanks, Scootieloo.” She gave me a big hug. Getting serious she said, “Are you going to keep your word this time? If you have any nightmares tonight I want to know. I won’t spend the whole night awake like last time. I just want to know that you’re going to ask for help when you need it.”

“Yes, Rosie. I give you my word.”

“Okay, then. I’ll hold you to it.” She put on a huge grin as she walked away. “Goodnight!”

“Goodnight, Rosie.” I just lay in my bed under the covers, and began thinking of how wild the day had been. After a while though, my sleepiness began drowning out thought. And soon enough I was asleep.

And what do you know. This time I made it through the night nightmare free.

In the morning I woke up feeling well-rested. Scootieloo hadn’t come to wake me up, so I trusted she had slept through the night too.

I went to her room and her bed was empty. I headed to the kitchen and I saw her sitting there eating breakfast just like yesterday. “Morning!” I said.

Scootieloo turned to me with a calm smile. “Morning, Rosie!”

That was all I needed to see and hear. She was fine. I didn’t need to ask if she was alright. I greeted Mom and Dad too and went to eat my breakfast. When I was done eating I went to grab my stuff for school.

I took out my scooter, then I hesitated. After what happened yesterday I wasn’t sure I should take it with me again. After debating with myself for a few minutes I was still unsure what to do. I wanted to continue practicing with Rock Climber during recess, and since the two of us were going to have lessons today I thought we could just go right to my house after school.

“What’s the holdup, kid?” I heard Scootieloo ask as she came into my room.

I made my decision then. I put it back in the closet. After what happened yesterday I was sure Midnight Dream and Heavy Downpour would probably want revenge.

“What are you doing, Rosie?”

I turned to Scootieloo. “I don’t want to break my promise again. It got stolen yesterday, and I don’t want to take that chance.”

Scootieloo gave me a warm smile. “I’m touched, Rosie. Really. I’m glad you’re so committed to keeping your word. However, you should still take it with you. I’m taking you to school again. And after school you can just stay in a more populated area of town. If you never take it out because you’re afraid of something happening to it then what was the point of taking it in the first place?”

“I… I guess you’re right, but… but what if it gets stolen again?”

She gave me a sideways grin. “Then I’ll get it back.”

I didn’t ask for more details. “Soooooo… yesterday, you didn’t care about the scooter at all when you came to save me?”

“Not at all. When I was told you were knocked off your scooter and had it stolen the first thing I thought was that I wasn’t going to let them get away with hurting you. Of course I wasn’t going to just let them keep the scooter. It meant too much to leave it behind, but if things had gone a little differently and it looked like I was going to be overpowered I would have grabbed you and ran.

"Like I said yesterday, and many times before, this vehicle has been with me for many years. It’s been my partner through thick and thin, from back when I was still weak and pathetic. But in the end it’s just a board and a few pieces of metal stuck together to allow you to get around quicker, and do tricks and stunts if you’re so inclined. It doesn’t have feelings, doesn’t feel pain when pieces of it break, or have a mind of its own. You do, Rose.

"I would sooner destroy it completely or give it away myself than allow harm to come to you. You are far more important than the memories of the past, because if I lost you then you’d just become a memory. And that would just be too sad.

“So, to give a complete answer to your question, you and that scooter are both extremely important to me, but if it had to come down to one or the other I would choose you every time. There is absolutely no contest. None! At all. Whatsoever.

“Did that answer satisfy you, Rosie?”

“Yep!” I said happily. “However, I’m still gonna take care of it the best way I know how.”

“Good. Now let’s go before you’re late.”

“Hey, Scootieloo?” I started as I followed her out of my room with my scooter.

“Yeah, Sis?”

“Do you think we could see Rainbow Dash today?”

“Hmmm? Why her?”

“I just want to thank her for being so helpful to you. And since you told me how great a flier she is I figured she could help in my flying lessons… if she wants to, that is.”

“Well… I guess I could work that. I also need to see her to let her know that I’m doing better today. I’ll give her a quick visit after school to see if she’s available. For now, though, we better hurry before you’re late. You don’t want to be late on your second day. It doesn’t look good.”

“Right!” I nodded. “Let’s hurry.”

The trip to school was a lot better than yesterday, since I knew Scootieloo had gotten over her troubles. Since I wasn’t worried about her the two of us went a lot faster. When we arrived I gave her a hug and went inside. I put my scooter in its spot by Miss Cheerilee’s desk and went to my seat.

Sun Glimmer and Honey Drop were there, but I didn’t see Rock Climber yet. I apologized to them for yelling at them yesterday when they had had no idea what was going on. They forgave me, and then Sun Glimmer asked if I had gotten a new scooter or if we had recovered the one that had been stolen. Just as I began to tell her the door opened again.

Rock Climber came rushing in, panting as he went and sat down in his spot next to me. “Oh, man!” he said. “Just in time. I thought for sure I was going to be late.” He turned to me. “Hey, Rose.”

I went to greet him back, but Sun Glimmer said angrily, “You’ve got a lot of nerve after what you did yesterday. I’m going to get you expelled!” She raised her hoof and shook it, saying loudly, “Miss Cheerilee! Miss Cheerilee!”

Rock Climber looked desperately at me.

“Yes, Sun Glimmer?” she said.

“Rock Climber-”

I quickly reached over, laughing nervously as I pulled her hoof down. “It’s nothing! We got it!” Turning to Sun Glimmer I whispered, “Knock it off!”

“Well, alright then,” Miss Cheerilee responded.

Sun Glimmer gave me an odd look. “Why are you protecting him?”

“Yeah!” said Honey Drop. “He knocked you off your scooter and stole it.”

Getting off Sun Glimmer I said, “Because he made it up to me. I don’t have time to tell you everything before class starts, but he’s a dear friend. Yesterday he protected me and tried to save me from those guys when I went to get my scooter back. And afterward he apologized and explained a lot of things to me about why he acted the way he did. So don’t be too mad at him.”

I could see the both of them didn’t look convinced, but they didn’t look quite as mad as before. “Fine, then,” said Sun Glimmer, crossing her hooves. “I’ll wait until I get an explanation later, but if I don’t like it I’m gonna tell the teacher all about what you did and make sure you get in big trouble. Fair enough?”

Rock Climber nodded. So did I.

During recess the four of us went off away from the other kids. There the two of us gave Sun Glimmer and Honey Drop the whole story of what had happened yesterday. Rock Climber brought himself to tears again as he talked. As his emotions began taking hold I could see Sun Glimmer lose her glare. Honey Drop had seemed uncertain, but when she saw Sun Glimmer looking bad for Rock Climber’s story she too looked sympathetic.

When he was finished he said, “I know I did a lot of wrong things. I feel terrible over it. But I want to start over. Scootaloo really is a great role model. When she heard my story she didn’t yell at me or try to make me feel worse. She told me a story from her past, of when she also let fame and popularity go far enough to her head that she began ignoring her feelings too to hold onto it.

"Just like with me it eventually caught up to her, and then she resolved to make things right and not do what she had done anymore. She forgave herself and moved on. She inspired me, and reminded me what an older sibling is supposed to be like.

“I’m grateful for her advice. She told me that once I acknowledged that I was doing the wrong thing and told our parents about what we had been up to that that’s when I finally did the right thing. She warned me that my brother was probably going to try all that he could to make me feel guilty over what I had done. I’m glad I had the warning. Thunder Storm glared at me all night. Every time I walked in the same room as him he wouldn’t take his eyes off me. I thought for sure he was going to jump over at me and beat me up. I was so scared.

“When it was nighttime and I was getting ready for bed he came to my door. He called me so many mean names and said so many hurtful things.” His eyes became unfocused as the memory came to him. “He said I was a traitor and a jerk and a lot of curses I don’t feel like repeating. He said he didn’t consider us brothers anymore and not to ever ask him for anything ever again. He said that if I was on fire and he had the only water around for miles he wouldn’t put me out.” He sniffed, tears beginning to brim around his eyes.

“By the time he was done I was feeling lower than I had ever felt in my life. I began wishing I hadn’t spoken up. I felt like the most terrible pony in the world. All the excuses and lies I had told myself came back. Just when I felt I was about to lose it…”

He stopped talking, looking up at the sky as a breeze ruffled his mane, “That’s when I heard Scootaloo’s words. She had warned me that he was likely going to attack me emotionally as payback because he was so mad. But she told me I should hold onto the reasons I had spoken up in the first place and I shouldn’t feel I had done the wrong thing, because I may have saved my brother’s life.”

“What do you mean?” asked Honey Drop. “How would that save his life? He wasn’t in any danger.”

“My brother changed to fit in. When he told me that I could hang out with him if I kept quiet about what they had been doing I changed to fit in too. Little by little my guilt faded while we were doing their version of 'fun.' Scootaloo feels that if my brother had gotten to the point where he could tie up and spit on a defenseless filly then maybe he would keep getting worse and worse until he would be completely gone, because no one was doing anything to stop him.

"She said it was a brave and heroic action that I did, and I shouldn’t forget that.” The despair on his face vanished as he grinned. He let out a breath. “She pointed out that this may not save him if he’s determined to hold onto his friends and popularity, but I hope he will return back to the way he used to be. If I can do it then why can’t he?”

I considered Rock Climber my friend. For his sake I really did hope that Thunder Storm would learn a lesson from his punishment. I didn’t dare go over to his house so long as he was still angry. I don’t know if I wanted to forgive him, but I didn’t think I would ever forgive Rock Climber either until he came to apologize. I didn’t know right now what I would do if he did apologize. Scaring me was one thing, but spitting in my mane was just DIS-GUST-ING!

Oh, well. It would probably we a while before it happened anyway. At least Sun Glimmer and Honey Drop forgave Rock Climber and our friendship circle was back intact.

After school Rock Climber said he had to go check in with his parents and he’d meet me at the park later. I rode my scooter home as fast as I could, making sure to look out for Midnight Dream or Heavy Downpour. Thankfully I got home without any trouble.

Scootieloo was home when I got there. “About time!” she said impatiently. “I’ve been waiting for you. Are you ready?”

“I just walked in the door. Give me a few minutes.”

“I know, I know! It’s just that after all the craziness of yesterday I’m eager to get out there and exercise.”

I laughed. “I know that feeling. Rock Climber said he’s gonna be there later. He just wants to tell his parents where he’s going.”

Setting down my bag I ran over to her and gave her a big hug. “I’m so proud of you, Scootieloo.”

“For what?”

“For being a hero to whoever you can. You should have heard Rock Climber talking about you today. He told us about what you said when you dropped him off at his house. His brother did give him a really hard time that night, but when he remembered how you called him a brave hero he didn’t let his brother’s words get to him.”

“I see. Well, that’s great. It’ll take some time for things to change. For now all I can do is try to replace what Rock Climber lost from Thunder Storms irresponsible choices. All I can give is advice and love. That’s what I got from my two teachers. So now that I have it it’s time to pass it on to the next generation that will come after us. Who knows? Maybe you and Rock Climber will be the next heroes of Ponyville and save everyone with your talents.”

“I doubt it. I can barely fly or ride a scooter. I don’t think I’ll ever be as amazing as you.” I let out a sigh.

“Rosie, you need to listen to me more. If you really think I’m that amazing then why don’t you take my words seriously?”

“What do you mean?”

“Think about what I told you yesterday. I used to be just a loser. My wings were all but useless because of my stunted wing. At that point I never thought I would ever be anything special, or that Rainbow Dash would ever want our relationship to be more than casual acquaintances. But Rainbow Dash adopted me as her sister, and I wound up saving you.

“We all start out weak little fillies and colts. But after learning from our teachers we grow up, get stronger, and fulfill our destinies. You’ll do it too. You just need to BELIEVE!” She placed a hoof on my chest. “It doesn’t matter how much I believe in you or praise you if you don’t believe it yourself.”

I smiled. “Thank you, Scootieloo. You’re right. I’ll try really, really hard so I don’t let you down.”

I said a quick hello to Mom and Dad as I went and threw my stuff in my room, and then I left with Scootieloo as we rode off to the park.

When we got there I saw someone waiting for us. It was Rainbow Dash. “There you two are!” she said. “I’ve been going bored out of my mind waiting for you guys.”

“Rose had school,” Scootieloo responded. “I had to wait for her to get home.”

“Is that right?” She looked over at me. “Hey there, squirt. Scootaloo said you wanted to talk to me.”

“Yes, I did.” Propping my scooter against a bench I ran over and gave her a big hug.

“Ummm… what are you doing?”

I looked up at Rainbow Dash, and she looked confused. “Didn’t Scootieloo tell you?”

“Tell me what? She just popped in this morning and said she wanted me to meet you at the park after school because you wanted to tell me something.”

“Oh.” I let her go. “I guess I should explain first.” So I told her about how the scooter incident yesterday and how me and Scootieloo got in a fight about her treating me like I was just a weak kid. When I started talking about that I saw Rainbow give Scootieloo a shrewd look.

“I know, Rainbow Dash,” said Scootieloo. “You were right… I admit it. If I had been honest with her from the start like I should have been then this never would have happened. She would have known she could come to me and I would have helped her. That’s why I resolved to do better. I want to start her on flying lessons, just like I used to do. She refused at first, but then I became firm with her and told her I wasn’t giving her a choice. Flying is an essential skill for a pegasus, and it was what allowed me to save her as a baby, so there’s no excuse for her not to learn it.”

A cocky grin on her face, Rainbow Dash said, “Oh, so you’re just passing her off on me to teach her because you still don’t have the backbone to be tough on her?”

“Not at all,” Scootieloo responded. “I just want you to be here to give advice, and to help out a little if necessary. I would consider myself an above-average flier simply because my skills are in athletics instead of a simpler field, but my biggest skill is in scooter-riding. I freely admit you’re still a much better flier than I’ll probably ever be, so you’re simply the best to have as a co-coach."

“Alright, kiddies. I guess I can lend a hoof here and there.”

“Thanks, Rainbow Dash!” I said. I tried to grin as I kept talking, but I’m sure it looked kinda forced as I continued. “Well, I have to be honest. Before Scootieloo told me about what you did for her I didn’t think you were all that special. I mean, I know you could fly really well but I… well… I just thought you were an arrogant show-off. But now I know better. You’re super cool, and you kinda helped save my life. Since you trained Scootieloo and Scootieloo save me, then you are part of the reason I didn’t get hurt. So thank you, Rainbow Dash.”

Rainbow Dash laughed. “Arrogant show-off, huh? I guess I can see why you would think that.”

“Well, Rosie,” said Scootieloo, “Rainbow Dash actually could have saved you. She chose to believe that I would succeed instead of swooping in and rescuing you herself. And if you really think about it… that saved me another time. If Rainbow Dash had rescued you then she would have gotten all the credit for it. Then I wouldn’t have begun foal-sitting you, and then when I lost my grandmare I wouldn’t have been able to move in with you guys. That one decision of trust wound up shaping my entire life.”

Rainbow Dash got a thoughtful look on her face. “Huh… I never thought about it that way.”

“You’re right!” I said excitedly. “Because of you trusting in Scootieloo it led to the two of us becoming sisters and family and living together.

“Rainbow Dash?”

“Yeah, squirt?”

Looking up at her I started speaking, but the words caught in my throat. I looked away towards a tree. “Do you think… I mean… can you… can we…”

“Come on, kid. Spit it out. Just say what you want to say.”

“Well… I was just thinking… you and Scootieloo are sisters.”

“Yes…?”

“And me and Scootieloo are sisters too…”

“Annnddd…?”

I finally looked back at her. “Will you be my big sister too?” Rainbow Dash blinked, looking surprised. Before she could say anything I began talking quickly. “I mean, if you’re Scootieloo’s big sister, and she’s my sister too, then doesn’t that mean you should be my sister too? And you’re the one who trained her and made her an amazing pony and helped her find how talented and special she really was and saved her life and helped her save a bunch of other lives. I want to be amazing like Scootieloo, and she wanted to be amazing like you. Now she is. I want that too! I want to be special and help save others too, so I know you can help me.”

Rainbow Dash closed her eyes, a serene look on her face. “Another little sister, huh? You remind me of Scootaloo at that age. You’re hungry for strength and the skills to pursue your dreams. You want to be recognized and esteemed and rise above your current station in life.

“Sisters? Well, why not?” Putting a wing out she placed it around me, and I walked toward her, hugging her again.

I have another sister! I’m so happy!

Scootaloo watched the heartwarming sight of her sisters hugging each other, thinking back to that moment for herself where she had asked Rainbow Dash the same thing. Rainbow Dash had reacted much the same way. A little surprised, but quick to accept. Rainbow had told her about being an only child and glad to have a little sister to take care of and teach.

She truly felt glad for the two of them, but… she was ashamed to admit it to herself, but she couldn’t deny that a part of her also felt jealous. She thought she understood why Rose had gotten so possessive yesterday. She didn’t want to lose Rose to Rainbow Dash. She knew she was overreacting, given that she lived with Rose and that her sister would never abandon her, but she couldn’t squash the feeling inside of her.

She sighed. Even Rose had taken it better than she had. After initially getting jealous she had decided she didn’t mind sharing her sister with her classmate because it was necessary.

Rose looked joyful as she and Rainbow Dash hugged. When Rainbow Dash let her go she raced over to Scootaloo, nearly knocking her sister over as she jumped at her. “Whoa, Rosie!”

“Scootieloo! I have a second sister!” she said ecstatically. “This is so amazing! Now I’m definitely going to be the most awesome filly to come out of Ponyville since you. I’ll have the two best teachers around to help me get all the skills I need. The number one flier and the number one scooter rider. Give me a few years and I’ll probably get better than both of you.”

“Excuse me?” Scootaloo and Rainbow Dash said at almost exactly the same time.

Scootaloo rubbed her hoof through Rose’s mane with a laugh as she said, “Getting a bit ahead of yourself, aren’t you, Rosie? But that’s a good attitude. Fight hard for success. You’re at least right that with the two of us you can’t go wrong.”

“Rose!”

She turned around as a voice called her name. She saw Rock Climber riding toward her. He skidded to a stop nearby. “Hey, you made it!”

“I got lucky. I got out of my house quick before my brother could try giving me a hard time again.”

“You must be the little trouble maker, huh?” said Rainbow Dash.

“Trouble mak-” He stopped speaking, his eyes going wide. “I-I-I… hi?”

“What’s wrong?” Rainbow asked, an eyebrow going up.

His face went red, and he let out a strange noise as he suddenly ran away, hiding behind a tree.

The three girls looked at each other, not understanding his reaction. “I’m gonna go talk to him,” said Rose Blossom. “He’s my friend, after all.”

Going behind the tree she saw him panting and looking like he was hiding from a terrible monster. “What was with that?”

Rock Climber said, “D-did you see who that WAS?”

Her eyebrow rose. “That’s just Rainbow Dash. What’s the big deal?”

“W-what’s the BIG DEAL?”

“Yeah, she’s Scootieloo’s big sister. And as of today she made me her sister too.”

His mouth hung open, and it took him a few seconds to reply. “Are you serious? How did you manage to nab two heroes as sisters?”

“Well, the three of us aren’t birth sisters, but it doesn’t make us any less family. So why are you freaking out so much over Rainbow Dash? Scootieloo is just as much a hero as she is and you didn’t freak out over her.”

“Well… back when I was just a baby, like one or two years old, my parents took me to the Best Young Flier’s competition. When she pulled off the sonic rainboom I was so amazed. That sonic explosion was so powerful as it went across the ground. The rainbow trail following her that she traced across the sky was so pretty. It’s stuck with me a long time. When I would get scared sometimes at night I would think of that rainbow and how happy I felt, and I would feel better.

"I’ve seen her around town many times saving and helping other ponies. I’ve tried talking with her a bunch of times, but I was always too nervous. I love riding my scooter, and I don’t want to give it up for anything, but my big dream for the future is to become one of the Wonderbolts, just like her dream.”

“Rainbow Dash is just a pony, like you and me. Come on. I’ll introduce you.”

Rose pulled at him, and reluctantly began walking. He blushed the whole way there, excitement and nervousness coursing through him. He looked at the ground until he could see the blue colored legs of Rainbow Dash. Only then did her look up, forcing a smile. “H-hello.”

Rose spoke up. “This is Rock Climber. He’s one of my classmates and friends. The reason he ran away is because he secretly has a huge crush on you.”

Rock Climber’s face went beet red. “I didn’t say that! Don’t lie!”

Rose was laughing hysterically at her friends distress, and even Scootaloo and Rainbow Dash couldn’t suppress a few giggles.

When Rose got her laughter under control she wiped away the few tears that had formed and said, “I’m kidding. He’s just a bit shy on meeting his hero. He was there when you performed the sonic rainboom at that competition. Even though he was only a baby he remembered it all the time and it helped him sleep at night.”

Rock Climber spoke now. “I… I really admire you and your skills. I want to be a Wonderbolt too when I grow up, so I’m going to work really, really hard so I can have a shot.”

Rainbow smiled. “A hope for a future Wonderbolt enrollment? You’re a kid after my own heart.” Getting a little more serious she said, “I heard about your 'activities,' and I can’t say I approve.”

He blushed again, looking over at Rose. “I thought you promised not to tell anyone.”

“Oops!” Rose responded. “Well, you never got to tell me before your brother showed up, so I didn’t really remember that that was what I promised not to tell. You only told me after everything happened, and you didn’t ask me not to tell again.”

Rainbow said sharply, “I’m speaking! And I expect you to look at me when I’m talking to you!” Rock Climber quickly snapped his head towards her, and her gaze softened. “Better. Now, I can understand a bit of how you felt. I also let my pride get to my head and began acting irresponsibly so I can’t judge you too harshly. However, if you want training you better hold onto your new way of thinking. I’m not going to train an unrepentant hoodlum.”

“Y-YOU’RE going to train m-me… personally?”

“I’m already about to help train Rose. What’s one more pony?”

Rock Climber’s legs went weak. “Pinch me. I must be dreaming,” he said joyfully.

“You shouldn’t be convinced you’re dreaming just yet. Come here.” Her statement confused him, but he walked forward until he was in front of her.

Rainbow Dash put a wing over him. “Scootaloo told me how she’s acting as your big sister for the time being to help build you back up and reteach you how to behave. So if you need any further incentive not to go back to the way things were how would you like to add me to your list of temporary big sisters? After all, those who have me as a big sis always turn out awesome, because I myself am awesome.”

Rock Climber went stone still, unbelieving of what he had just heard. His childhood hero wanted to be his big sister? Now he was sure he was dreaming. He suddenly felt like he was made of putty as he slipped to the ground, his face resembling Pinkie’s “nervicited” look.

“So I’m guessing that’s a yes?”

He nodded, a dreamy look overtaking his features.

“Good. So now the first order of business…” She coughed a few times to clear her throat, then said loudly, “GET UP AND GET READY TO TRAIN!”

Her sudden change in attitude shocked him out of his reverie. He quickly got back up on his hooves.

“Rose Blossom, go stand next to your friend!” When she did Rainbow said, “I’m going to say the same thing to you two that I said to Scootaloo back when I trained her. This is training, not super easy fun time. You should work hard, and have a little fun if you can, but I’m going to tell you how it is. If you make a stupid mistake or slack off then I’m going to let you know it. Only by pushing you to your limits will you break past them and reach the pinnacle of your abilities and get strong like the two of us.

“Buuuuuutttt… I think I’m going to hand the reins over to Scootaloo for the time being. After all, she is the one who planned this training session, and I want to see if she can actually be tough on her family for the sake of helping them. So let’s see what you got, kid.”

Scootaloo walked forward until she was next to Rainbow Dash. She took a deep breath. She felt a little nervous. “Okay, um… students.” She shook her head, feeling annoyed that she was getting so worked up over impressing Rainbow Dash again. That was something she thought she had left behind a long time ago. Trying to ignore Rainbow she said in a calmer voice, “Okay, today we’re starting your joint lessons. I’ll be helping out mainly with scooter training, and Rainbow Dash with flying training, but I at least can teach both if Rainbow isn’t available, since I’m a good flier. I’ll try and teach you the way I was taught, so I may have to get a little tough on you both.

"Really, though, I think you won’t need my lecturing to excel. After all, the two of you both have someone you want to impress, do you not? So naturally you’ll want to beat the other one to show how impressive you are. After all, as Rainbow told me all those years ago, ponies grow by leaps and bounds by trying to catch up to someone they respect. My goal was to surpass Rainbow Dash and beat her in a race, so I tried my hardest to get stronger.

"As for you two, you can still strive to catch up with me and Rainbow Dash, but I think you’ll work even harder than I did back then to make sure you keep the edge on each other.”

Rose Blossom and Rock Climber shot each other a smug, defiant look, as if to say, “Bring it on!”

“So to start with we’ll do something Rose at least is familiar with. Breathing exercises.”

“Gotcha,” Rose said easily. She had that down pat by now.

Rock Climber raised his hoof. “I already know how to breathe,” he said, barely suppressing the exasperation in his voice.

Scootaloo laughed. “Of course you do, but this is controlled breathing.” Closing her eyes she said, “Follow after me. Take a deep breath… slowly and calmly...” She inhaled, holding it for a few seconds before releasing it. “Count to three in your mind, and then let it go. Then repeat this for about ten sets.”

Rock Climber complied at first, but irritation quickly set in. On his third out breath he let out an annoyed grunt as he expelled the air. Impatiently he said, “Can we just get on with the lesson? This is boring and lame.”

Before Scootaloo could respond Rainbow Dash said angrily, “Is that right? Then I guess you must think I’m boring and lame too, as I just happened to be the one to teach her these exercises.”

Rock Climber blushed brightly and quickly backtracked. “I-I mean… um… I…that was great. In, out, in, out.”

Rose Blossom laughed, and then Scootaloo said sharply, “Rose Blossom!” She quickly stopped giggling, looking contrite. “Since you seem to find this so amusing, why don’t you inform your buddy over there what the purpose of the exercise is to see if you’ve been paying attention.”

Eager to prove herself and that Scootaloo was a good teacher she said, “Breathing is the way to get yourself in the right state of mind for training. If you’re angry or upset or overly confident or excited you’re more likely to make a mistake. The steady breathing helps to calm yourself and get yourself focused on the task at hand.

"I haven’t started flying yet so I don’t know about this part, but she told me that the breathing also is a necessity when you’re learning to fly because new fliers always get nervous about crashing. If you focus only on your breathing you stop focusing so much on the thought of screwing up and falling, so you don’t get distracted.

“So how was that?” Rose Blossom asked with a grin.

“Very good, Rosie,” Scootaloo responded, smiling too. Turning to Rock Climber she said, “So there we are. It’s a training skill that is invaluable in your arsenal. If panic begins to set in then you need to go back to basics and focus on your breathing. But enough about the reasons. Go back to your practice and see if it doesn’t make you feel calmer when you’re done.”

So the two children started the exercise over. This time Rock Climber made it all the way to the end. When he was done he said in a gentle voice, “Yeah, you’re right. I do feel a lot lighter.”

“Good. The next step is wing stretches. It’s the next vital step that you should always take before flying. It helps to see if you have any injuries that may hinder your ability to fly.”

Following her example the two kids stretched out their wings and rotated them in their sockets.

“So now it’s time to learn to fly. Don’t get discouraged if you fall a bunch of times. It took me several hundreds of tries before I could actually get off the ground and actually fly. Of course I did have stunted wing, so the two of you should have your first fly a lot quicker than I did. Hmmm?” She noticed Rock Climber looking away out of the corner of his eye, like he wanted to say something. “Yes, Rock Climber? I can see you have a nagging thought pulling at your lips.”

He turned his eyes back to her. “I’m not saying anything. I don’t want anyone getting upset at me again.”

“Just speak your mind. I promise not to get mad.”

He shrugged. “Fine, then. I admit I didn’t know about flying warm-up, but I can already fly.”

Rose Blossom turned towards her classmate. She did vaguely remember Thunder Storm saying that his brother was a better flier than her, but she thought he was just trying to be a jerk. “Are you any good?”

“I said before that my dream is to be a Wonderbolt when I grew up, didn’t I? So I’ve been practicing flying for a long time. Of course it was only last year before I had developed the strength to get off the ground for more than a few seconds.”

Rainbow Dash stepped forward. “This sounds interesting. So you claim you can fly? I doubt it’s anything special. Let’s test you, shall we?” Unfurling her wings she turned to a cluster of trees. “See if you can do what I do.” She took off, weaving in-between each tree until she had wound up on the other side of the patch.

Rock Climber’s heart was pounding. Rainbow Dash wanted to test him already? He let out a heavy breath, feeling way too nervous to even attempt such a thing. He’d just make a fool of himself.

Just when he thought he was going to snap from his raging emotions he called to mind the lesson he had been taught just a few minutes ago. He forced his breathing into a pattern. At first it was very short because of his nerves but after about thirty seconds his breathing started to get deeper and deeper until it was normal. Then he continued until he felt calm enough to proceed. After that he tested his wings again.

Both Scootaloo and Rainbow Dash clapped their hooves, proud that he at least had learned from the experience and was already applying his lessons.

In a calmer state of mind he took one last breath and jumped off the ground, flapping his wings. He wobbled a little at first, but then he began flying forward at a slow but steady pace. As he came upon the trees he headed to the right and then began alternating wings to help him make the curves around. The pattern was almost like infinity symbols that didn’t end but instead pushed forward. When he hit the peak of the upward movement he would tilt his body the opposite way, then when he reached the bottom he would tilt his body again and focus on the wing that was going up. He looked like he might fall at any moment, his movements very jerky, but he made it to the end without hitting anything, landing in front of Rainbow Dash.

The three others were momentarily speechless. Rose Blossom found it hard to believe he was that much better at her at flying despite being the same age. Scootaloo was comparing how good he was compared to how hard she had had to work to make anything of herself. And Rainbow Dash was just plain impressed. She honestly hadn’t thought he’d be able to do it. When he had said he could fly she thought he just meant he could hover a bit, but he was way above that.

She found herself getting excited. Although she wouldn’t say it out loud to avoid insulting Scootaloo she thought that Rock Climber showed far more promise in flight ability than her sister did. If this display was any indication then she was sure that when he was properly trained and given a few years of practice he would be a formidable opponent indeed.

“Good job, kid!” Rainbow said, patting him on the back. “I guess I do have to admit you can fly.”

Rose Blossom was frowning now, feeling jealous. “Hey! I can fly too. I can be just as good as he is!” She had just unfurled her wings and was about to jump when the sharp voice of her sister stopped her in her tracks.

“Rose Blossom!” Scootaloo said warningly. “After the discussion we had yesterday are you really going to put yourself at risk by doing something reckless when you yourself know you don't have the skill?” Rose Blossom growled, folding her wings back up and pouting as she sat and crossed her hooves.

"Scootaloo suppressed a laugh. “Don’t sulk, Rose! Everyone has different talents. I mean, don’t forget that you’re still much better at scooter riding and tricks than he is. Isn’t that why he got mad at you yesterday, because he knew he couldn’t compare to you in that regard and felt embarrassed in front of his brother?”

Rose’s eyes shifted between Rock Climber and Scootaloo, and she slowly uncurled herself with a grin. “That’s right! I did do that.”

Calling the other two over Scootaloo said, “So it seems we’ve seen where each of your talent resides. Rock Climber already has a knack for flying, and Rosie is better at scooter riding. If you don’t like that then work to change it. Besides being a sister and a friend, Rainbow Dash was also my rival and I was determined to beat her. Until recently though she certainly didn’t consider me a rival because I didn’t yet have the skill. By the time I began my training Rainbow Dash was already at her peak. You two are both young and the same age, so you shouldn’t have such a big gap to clear to beat each other. If each of you puts your whole heart and soul into your training then I don’t know who is going to be better at either scootering or flying.”

“Let’s do our best,” said Rose Blossom. “I’m not going to let you get better than me at scooter riding. After all, my older sister is the best one around and I live with her.”

“So?” said Rock Climber. “I’m not gonna let you get better than me at flying. With some skill already and Rainbow Dash teaching me I’ll surely keep the lead over you.

“Good luck. You’re gonna need it.” She put her hoof out.

“Right back at ya!” He pounded her hoof with his.

Once more the two kids met eyes, a challenge burning within them. Both of them not only wanted to impress one of their teachers, but to beat each other as well.

“So I guess…we’re rivals now,” said Rose Blossom.

“I guess we are,” he said with a laugh.

A month has gone by. Me and Rock Climber have been working our flanks off, doing our best to improve. We had training sessions ever other day for two or three hours. The two of us were dead set on not only maintaining our advantage at our better skill but beating the other one at theirs. Scootieloo told me she sympathized with me in that regard.

We continually pushed ourselves in our training almost to the point of exhaustion. So many times I would be panting and my wings would feel sore and I’d feel like I’d want to take a rest or quit for the day and all it took was one look at Rock Climber and I’d refuse to stop. I’d feel recharged again for a while. I’m sure it was the same for him. I tell you, whenever I went home after training my wings were burning. I’d have to ride home using just my hooves for acceleration because they felt so sore.

Scootieloo gave us both lessons on improving our wing muscles so we’d have more stamina. I paid close attention to those because even if I couldn’t beat Rock Climber at flying I still just wanted to be able to fly.

I had to fight not to get discouraged. Even though both Scootieloo and Rainbow Dash gave me plenty of pointers and tips, and even showed me what to do a bunch of times, I just couldn’t seem to get the knack of it. My wings just weren’t strong enough yet. On the other hoof though I could see Rock Climber wasn’t improving too quickly at scooter riding. I wondered a bit if that was because he was just more interested in flying because of Rainbow Dash or if he just was a slow learner for it.

Sometimes my friends would come to watch us. On the days we didn’t have training the two of us would play together, the four of us. Honey Drop and Sun Glimmer had a connection just like me and Rock Climber with their interests, so they could do their own thing even without the two of us.

I found out that, just like me and Rock Climber, Sun Glimmer also had in mind an athletic pursuit. She wanted to be in a circus and be an acrobat. On the days she would come watch I could often see her practicing climbing trees and doing spins and twirls as she swung from tree to tree.

Poor Honey Drop though seemed to be left out. During a break in one of our training sessions I went up to her. She was sitting all alone, just watching us all without participating. “So what are you interested in?” I asked her.

She shrugged. “I like watching all of you. It’s fun!” She looked unsurely at the ground. “But I’m not much of an athlete myself. All of you work so hard… but I have absolutely no idea what I want to do. I mean, each of you already has a plan for the future. You want to take after your sister and be a master scooter rider and save people. Rock Climber wants to be like Rainbow Dash and become a Wonderbolt. Sun Glimmer wants to join a circus and entertain people. But I… I just don’t know yet.” She sighed. “Maybe I can get a cutie mark in being a loser.”

“Don’t say that!” I said sharply. “You’re our friend. You’re not a loser. You just haven’t found what makes you special yet. Not everyone knows so quickly. Do you have any brothers or sisters?” She shook her head. “Well, what about your parents?”

“I… I guess I just want to do something simple, where I won’t have to be seen by a lot of people. I… I mean I know it doesn’t seem like it when I’m around all of you, but I’m really shy. If it hadn’t been for you inviting me to your conversation back on the first day of school I don’t know if I would have said a word to anyone all year.

"When Miss Cheerilee asked me to come up and talk about myself I thought I was going to die of embarrassment.” A small smile came to her face, tears brimming at the corners of her eyes. “And then all three of you began cheering me on, telling me I could do it. Because I have you guys I’m a little less nervous, but I still just want to take things easy.”

“You’re welcome,” I said with a grin. “So maybe we just need to work together to help you find something you enjoy. What’s the rush? I mean, all four of us are still blank flanks. And that’s okay. I’m not too fussed about a cutie mark yet. I just want to become the best I can be.”

My next words were cut off as I heard a scream behind me. I turned and my heart skipped a beat as I saw Sun Glimmer heading to the ground from a high branch. None of us were close enough to get there in time. Even so, I began running toward her.

She stopped suddenly, an inch from the ground. At first I thought I was seeing things, but as I looked closer I could see a purple aura surrounding her.

I looked around for who had saved her, and to my surprise as I turned around I saw it was Honey Drop. She looked just as surprised as I was. The glow faded, and Sun Glimmer dropped the last little bit onto the ground.

“Wow!” I said happily. “You used magic!”

“I… I don’t know how. I… I just saw my friend in danger and I didn’t want to see her get hurt.”

“Well, that’s a good thing, isn’t it? You can be our safety net. If we look like we’re gonna fall from too high you can save us. That’s how you can be of help in the group.”

“But I don’t know how to control it!” she said nervously. “I don’t want you to be doing dangerous things deliberately because I don’t know if it’ll always happen.”

“I know that.”

Sun Glimmer and Rainbow Dash both came over. Sun Glimmer hugged Honey Drop, thanking her for the rescue.

Rainbow Dash congratulated her too, then said, “I overheard what you said. Since I just happen to be in good with the resident magic master I suppose I could put in a good word for you with Twilight to give you some lessons.”

I saw Honey Drop’s mouth open wide in shock. “P-P-Princess Twilight? As in the alicorn who specializes in everything magic and friendship related? Oh, I can’t. I’m not good enough for that.”

Rainbow Dash sat down in front of Honey Drop so she was on her level, looking her in the eyes. As opposed to when she dealt with me and Rock Climber her voice was very gentle and kind. “Listen to me, kid. You are better than you think you are. Even if it was only an accident you still unlocked your power to protect someone you care for. That is the essence of the magic of friendship.

"One of my friends was just like you. She was very shy. She didn’t think she was anything special. But whenever danger reared its head and it seemed like all us 'tough' ponies couldn’t handle it then it was like she became a different pony. She would be strong and assertive and face down the danger for the sake of us. You’re no different.

“So don’t go telling me you’re not worth it. You ARE! You’re worth more than you’ll ever know. If you ever want to unlock your true potential you need a good teacher. I’m the best flier around, so I’m the one teaching about flying. Scootaloo is the best scooterer around, so she’s the one teaching about scootering. So then, if you want to learn to control your magic so you can protect your friends, then you want the one best suited to the task. Twilight is a good friend of mine, from way back when she didn’t even have any interest in friends and was in no way, shape, or form ready for the duties of being a princess.

“You’re going to be great, Honey Drop. You just need to believe in yourself first. I believe in you, and I know Twilight will make a great teacher for you. I’ll put in the word for you today, because I believe you’re worth it.”

Honey Drop closed her eyes, her face clenching as she began crying, putting her hooves to her face as she shook. Both Sun Glimmer and I put a hoof around her as she became overwhelmed with her emotions.

Scootieloo and Rock Climber came to see what the fuss was about. When he saw she was crying Rock Climber also joined in in hugging her.

When she finally put her hooves down she looked at all of us gathered around her and said gratefully, “Thank you. Thanks, all of you! No one… no one’s ever said something like that to me before. My… my parents are always super busy and don’t pay much attention to me, so I never really get told encouraging things like this or have strong loving hugs. It… it means so much to me.” A few more tears came down her face as her grin grew larger.

“No problem, kid,” said Rainbow Dash. “It’s just what I do. I try to pass my awesomeness on to the next generations. Scootaloo here is my biggest success.” She put a hoof around Scootieloo, mussing up her mane with the other. Scootieloo laughed, telling her to quit it, but I could see the compliment meant a lot to her. “Your turn, Scootaloo. After all, you’re helping to train the next generation too.”

Scootieloo addressed the four of us kids. “Well, Rose Blossom already knows this story, but I’m sure she won’t mind hearing it again.

“I used to be the biggest loser this side of Ponyville. Because of an accident when I was just a baby my wings were messed up badly. I thought I was going to be flightless the rest of my life, but everything changed when I met Rainbow Dash. She was the one who encouraged me and spurred me on and taught me everything I know about being strong. She adopted me as her sister despite only meeting me like four or five times, because she said she had seen a pony that was close to giving up and she didn’t want to see that. It was because of her training that I managed to save Rosie over there.

“I was still new to flying, and Rose was only about half a year old at the time. A baby carriage went over a cliff. I just happened to be there, and I saved her from crashing into the ground. Following that rescue I began foalsitting her every week because I didn’t want to lose contact with the first pony I had saved.

“And you want to know what’s the most important part of the story?”

“What?” we all asked.

“Rainbow Dash was right there when it happened. She was already a master flier. It would have been easy for her to save Rose Blossom. It would have just been one more save to her in a long line of heroic acts. But when she saw me going for it, determined to protect Rose from harm, she did nothing. Nothing at all. When she told me that I freaked out, asking her about what if I had failed. She shushed me, telling me she hadn’t butted in because… she believed in me. She trusted that I would succeed. Her faith in me made me feel so much better about myself. It made me see that I could be special and heroic as well.

“I only really thought about this yesterday, but that one act of faith influenced my entire life. When I lost my grandmare it nearly broke me. I had had her since I was just a baby, and it felt too overwhelming to deal with. Even though Rainbow Dash offered to take me in I knew eventually things wouldn’t work out. She still had too many things to do to bring her life to a halt to care for me all the time. When I next ran into Rose Blossom and her mother, Star Gazer, I told them about what happened, and they offered to adopt me into their family. I never regretted it. Having the three of them in my life, having a family, made all the difference in my recovery from my heartache.

“And if it hadn’t been for that then Ponyville would be a pile of cinders right now. That dragon who was dead set on destroying Ponyville because someone stole its egg would have burned it to the ground if I hadn’t been around to distract it long enough for Rainbow Dash to show up and help me keep its attention on the two of us until they could find the egg.

“Basically, what all of this amounts to is… never underestimate yourself. One small act could have an effect far beyond what you could expect. So don’t ever feel that your efforts are wasted, for you may wind up saving someone without even knowing it. Be tough, be strong, be kind, be amazing, and grow into your best self. If a pathetic loser like me could do it then I know all of you can do it too if you just work hard at it.”

I felt so lucky at that moment. Scootieloo was just so great. She could sure give a speech. I felt more determined than ever to excel.

“I may still be a kid in high school myself, but I feel like I’m becoming part of the old generation already. I never would have thought I’d suddenly be mentoring students. I don’t regret it. I’d love for all of you to excel at your chosen field of expertise.”

“Nicely said, Scootaloo,” I heard Rainbow Dash say. “So what do you say we go meet the princess now?”

“I’ve met her already!” I said to the others. “She was there when Scootieloo and Rainbow Dash had a race. She’s really nice. She isn’t stuck up or scary at all. You wouldn’t even know she was a princess if you didn’t see her horn and wings.”

“That’s right, Rose.”

The six of us left the park and headed to the library. Even though it had been all but destroyed following Tirek’s attack she had spent a lot of time repairing it. I heard she just didn’t feel comfortable sleeping in a big castle and preferred to just live a simple life. Well, as simple a life as you can lead as a princess, I guess.

Rainbow Dash knocked on the door, and Spike answered it. After seeing who it was we were invited in. I looked around as Spike called out for Twilight. The walls were all crammed back to the brim with books of all different colors, shapes, and sizes. I could see a lot of love went into the reconstruction.

When Twilight came down from the second floor part that overhanged the rest of the library she greeted Rainbow Dash and Scootieloo, than addressed the rest of us. “So what brings all of you here today?”

Rainbow gave Honey Drop a small push forward. She looked nervous and scared again, looking at the ground as she mumbled something I didn’t catch.

“Come on, Honey Drop!” I said encouragingly. “Princess Twilight is really nice. Just talk to her.”

“Yeah,” said Rock Climber. “I was really nervous when I first met Rainbow Dash, but like Rose Blossom told me she’s just a pony like you and me.”

Twilight sat down. “So your name is Honey Drop?” she said kindly.

Honey Drop squeaked, her cheeks going red at being addressed by name. She gave a quick jerk of her head.

“What’s on your mind, Honey Drop? Can I help you with something?”

Rainbow put a hoof on her shoulder when she didn’t respond and still wouldn’t look up. “Think of why you want what you want. Let them be your strength.”

Honey Drop took a big breath, and I saw her glance first at me, and then over to the other side at Sun Glimmer and Rock Climber. She looked up at Twilight, and in a small voice she said, “I would like some training… I mean, if you have the time.”

“Training for what?” asked Twilight.

“For my friends.” Her eyebrow rose for a moment. “No, I didn’t mean... I mean, it’s for me for my friends. I mean, I’m a unicorn. But, I mean, you already know that. Or, um, maybe you didn’t because you’re not paying attention. No! I don’t mean… I’m not saying you’re being rude. It’s just… I… um…” She looked at the ground as she began crying. She was getting so flustered I began feeling bad for her.

Twilight walked forward until she was right in front of Honey Drop, and then pulled the surprised filly to her, giving her a big hug. She looked frozen, not knowing what to say. “It’s okay, Honey Drop. You don’t have to get so worked up. I’m not gonna yell at you for asking a question. I wouldn’t be a good princess of friendship if I did. I welcome all the little fillies and colts, all those who desire knowledge and have the drive to seek it. So don’t cry. I’m not upset with you.

“Yes, I may be a princess, but don’t think that means you have to bow down to me and treat me like I’m better than you. I’m not that way at all. You are just as important as me. Maybe even more so. You are one of the special ones who will inherit the magic of friendship, if your encouraging friends are any indication.”

She released Honey Drop and then lay down on the ground so she was at eye level with her. “Now… what is it you want to ask me?”

Honey Drop sniffed, wiping her face. “You too, huh?” she said. “You, and Rainbow Dash, and Scootaloo, and my friends. All of you are just so kind to me.”

“That’s what being a good friend is all about.”

Looking at Twilight again she said in a calmer voice, “Rock Climber, Rose Blossom, and Sun Glimmer all have talents in athletic areas. Today while Sun Glimmer was swinging from tree to tree she went too high and fell. I didn’t want her to get hurt, but I was too far away to do anything. All of a sudden I felt this weird sensation inside of me, and the next thing I knew my horn was lighting up and Sun Glimmer stopped.

“Rainbow Dash said I should ask you for magic lessons. I… I want to be able to protect my friends!” Her voice carried more strength than I’d ever heard before. “I need to be able to control my power so that I can save them when they need me! Please!”

A serene look came to Twilight’s face. “No matter how busy I could possibly be I would never think of refusing to teach someone for such a noble reason. Your magical ability will prove to be of great use with a bit of training. In fact… I have today off. I was planning to just take today to relax before I resumed my royal duties, but I found something much more important to do with my time.”

“Are you sure? I don’t want you to be exhausted tomorrow.”

“Don’t worry about me. You just work hard. Magic is about will. If your will to aid others is strong you will progress quickly. You have a heroic heart. It will be an honor to teach a student like you.”

Honey Drop began crying again, but she looked happier this time. She threw herself at Twilight, hugging her and thanking her over and over.

We bid farewell to Honey Drop as we headed back to the park to finish up our training. Her last words stuck with me for the rest of the lesson. “Don’t worry, guys! I’ll work just as hard as you and I’ll be there to save you when things get tough.” There was a look of confidence in her face, and her voice was strong. I knew that, just like me, Rock Climber, and Sun Glimmer, that she was on her way to greatness too. The four of us were going to be unstoppable in a few years. No matter how bad things got, as long as we worked together, our friendship would carry us through everything.

Today is the best day ever! It took a whole lot of practice and experimentation, but today I finally flew! It took me two months since our training started, but I did it! I had been doing all my homework for wing training and watched Scootieloo and Rainbow Dash a lot, and the day finally came when I unfurled my wings, jumped into the air, flapped hard, and… I flew. I didn’t hit the ground. I stayed in the air and managed to fly a few hundred feet before I lost control and landed back on my hooves. I was so proud of myself! So was Rainbow Dash and Scootieloo and Rock Climber. It had been a lot of work, but I had finally done it!

They took me out to Sugarcube Corner to celebrate and I was so unbelievably happy nothing could take the smile off my face. I know I was getting way ahead of myself but I began picturing myself saving a little kid just like Scootieloo had done for me. After all, what better way did I have to repay her for what she had done than to take my lessons to heart and use what I learned to help others?

Sun Glimmer didn’t have a formal teacher like us, but she read a lot of books on the subject and visited the circus a bunch to learn more about being an acrobat.

Rock Climber was really getting along in his flight training. He gave it his all to impress Rainbow Dash just like I did for Scootieloo. He listened to Scootieloo and worked hard with her, but it was obvious he was putting more priority into flying.

Honey Drop was the biggest surprise of all. Following her lessons with Twilight she started acting a little differently. When we went to the park to practice I could see her constantly sitting by herself, her face always straining as she tried to force herself into the flow of magic within her body. At first she could only pick up small things like a stick or a pencil, but eventually she could lift up a pony.

She was really trying hard to improve because she didn’t want to let us down. She was determined to be there for us if she needed to, and she didn’t want it to be just a lucky accident that unlocked her full magic power. She wanted to be able to do it all the time. She carried herself differently. She looked a little more confident. When I talked to her about her lessons she said that me and Rock Climber were right. Twilight was just a pony like the rest of us, and she was really nice and patient.

School was also going good. The four of us were all but inseparable when it came to class assignments. We would sit at a park bench and do our homework together before starting our lessons. I never would have imagined that life could be this amazing. It was all I ever could have dreamed.

In our third month we had a little bit of an issue. While all of us were practicing Thunder Storm came up on his scooter. He was all alone and looked annoyed. “Yo, Rock Climber. Mom wants you home right now. Says there’s something important. Let’s go.”

I felt irritated at him for showing up, considering he had never apologized for what he had done. All the same, I wasn’t about to start an argument in front of everyone. Being that he was here I guessed that his grounding was over. I personally felt it should have been longer.

Rock Climber barely acknowledged his brother. “Why should I believe you? Now that you’re finally allowed out again you suddenly show up and want me to go alone with you somewhere? I don’t trust you. If Mom really wants me to go home I’ll go with Scootaloo or Rainbow Dash.” Anger began creeping into his voice. “After all, they’re not the ones who tried to push me into being a criminal like you. THEY have treated me right and showed me how much fun life could be. Unlike YOU! You’re just a selfish brat who cared more about your friends than your own brother. THEY’RE my real siblings! So you can just get out of here!”

Thunder Storm looked furious. “You little creep!” My heart skipped a beat as he took a threatening step toward Rock Climber.

That was all it took though. In an instant both Rainbow Dash and Scootieloo flew in front of Rock Climber, glaring at Thunder Storm. “Don’t even try it!” said Scootieloo.

“That’s right. You’re not laying a hoof on my little brother,” said Rainbow Dash.

Despite the tenseness of the situation I could see a faint smile and a blush come to Rock Climber’s face because of Rainbow’s words.

Thunder Storm had a sour look on his face. Apparently even he was smart enough to know he couldn’t beat the two of them. With a growl he rushed off.

Rainbow Dash picked up Rock Climber, flying a few feet into the air as she spun him around. “ALLLL-RIGHT!” she said loudly. “Now that’s what I’m talking about. Way to stand up for yourself, kid! I’m proud of you!”

As she landed I could see him blushing even more, looking quite pleased with himself. “T-thank you, Rainbow Dash. I… I’ve kinda been wanting to say that to him for a while. I guess I just needed to be around the bravest ponies around to get the courage up to say it.” He looked at the ground again. “For a few days after the first day of school I really wondered whether I had done the right thing in telling our parents what we had been doing. Even though I had been feeling sick to my stomach thinking about all the wrong things I had been doing I ignored those feelings to spend time with him. He was so furious I thought for sure he was going to beat me up in the middle of the night so I made sure to lock my door.

“He got grounded for three months, and our parents put him on community service duty. Also, they forbid him from hanging out with those two guys anymore. They went to the school and kicked up a big fuss and all three of them got expelled for a short time. It didn’t stay that way since they hadn’t really been doing anything bad at the school itself, only in town.

“As for me… my parents considered my guilt punishment enough. They said that because he had been setting a bad example of how to behave it was only natural what I had done. I felt so terrible about what had been going on I was a wreck as I was telling them about it. I just couldn’t live with that weight over me anymore. I’m sure you remember, Rose and Scootaloo. After my parents finished scolding my brother I asked to come visit your house so I could apologize to you for what happened, and they let me. I felt so terrible I said that I didn’t feel I should be loved anymore and that I was just a terrible pony overall.”

He closed his eyes as he lifted his head, taking in a deep breath as a breeze ruffled his mane. When he opened his eyes he looked calm again. “I don’t have any doubts any longer. My brother may hate my guts, but I don’t even care anymore. I have two older sisters now who taught me what being an older sibling is really about. They don’t make you do bad things to get to spend time with them. They have time for you and give it without any conditions. They compliment you and raise you up and make you feel like you’re special and the most important thing in the world. They have tons and tons of love and care and concern whenever it’s needed.

"I don’t know if my brother is ever going to get it, but it doesn’t really matter to me. I’d rather spend my time with the two ponies who want to teach me about doing the right thing, instead of spending time with three ponies that only saw me as a tool to be used for getting out of trouble.

“Thank you! Thank you. I mean that from the bottom of my heart. I love the both of you so much for everything you did for me.”

I felt so happy that he was so happy. At first I had been a bit jealous of sharing my sister with someone else, but not anymore. If it hadn’t been for Scootieloo taking him under her wing, and then Rainbow Dash on top of it, he might have still been doing the same old things. He would have continued breaking things and stealing things, his heart burning in shame all the while.

I saw Rainbow Dash smiling, a few tears running down her face. “You’re welcome… Rock Climber.” I was a bit surprised. She hadn’t called him a kid. Even with Scootieloo she usually didn’t address her by name. I guess when things were serious she stopped with the nicknames and just called other ponies by name.

Scootieloo walked up to him, giving him a hug. “You’re welcome, Rock Climber. It’s been an honor teaching you. You’re a hard worker and you learn quickly. And having someone to compete against has given Rosie a lot of inspiration to do her best too. You keep her on her hooves, and help her push herself.”

“That’s right!” I said. “You’re doing great! So who cares what he says?”

“Come on, kid,” said Rainbow Dash, wiping her face. “I’ll take you home. And if he gives you any trouble… you know who to call.”

Rock Climber laughed as he nodded. “Yep!”

When we had finished our fourth month of training the gap in our skills was bigger than ever. More and more it seemed like our rivalry was destined to be like Scootieloo’s and Rainbow’s. I was getting better at flying and staying in the air, but I still preferred to stay on the ground and just ride my scooter. Don’t get me wrong. I did enjoy flying, and I was glad I was learning the skill, but scootering was just more for me.

On the other hoof it was the exact opposite for Rock Climber. He was constantly flying around whenever he got the chance. He hung on every word of advice from Rainbow Dash about dealing with weather conditions, or improving endurance, or whatever else she went on about. Like me he didn’t slack when it came to his training with Scootieloo, but his heart was obviously more set on flying.

Since we were progressing pretty well Rainbow Dash suggested that we have a race to really get the adrenaline pumping and see who had the bigger drive in their training. I think it was a matter of pride for her. Basically, both she and Scootieloo had a “favorite student.” So beyond our race I think she was trying to prove who was the better coach as well. Since I was so dedicated to my scooter riding and not as much on flying it was more like I was only being trained by Scootieloo. It was the same for Rock Climber. He put more of his focus on flying, so Rainbow was the one he spent more time with.

The thought of a race was exciting. I couldn’t wait. Following Rainbows explanation she plotted out the course for us. It was going to be one big lap that circled most of the park. Once she was done showing us she landed back on the ground and said, “Now… don’t forget the most important thing. HAVE FUN!”

Scootieloo walked up next to her and said, “That’s right. Do your best, push to your utmost, DON’T CHEAT, and give it your all. But, as Rainbow says, the goal is not the win. It’s about having a blast while doing it. You were there for my race, Rosie, so you know what I’m talking about.”

I nodded. I turned to Rock Climber and said, “Rainbow Dash challenged Scootieloo to a race after the dragon attack. When the race started Rainbow Dash quit shortly after it began.”

“NO WAY!” he replied. “I can’t see that.”

“Scootieloo was being a big sourpuss. She was looking so angry and impatient that she wasn’t even getting any enjoyment out of her first big race, and with her biggest rival to boot. She only cared about winning, and so she wasn’t having any fun.

"Rainbow Dash quit to force Scootieloo to see that that wasn’t how a race should be and to shock her out of her bad feelings. It took a little time, but Scootieloo got the message, and after spending a little time with her family and doing her breathing exercises the race began again, and this time she had a blast. She did all sorts of tricks and I think it was the most amazing race I’ve ever seen. It was very, very close, but Scootieloo won by a hair.”

“Awww,” Rock Climber said disappointedly. “You LOST?”

“It was bad luck on her part,” said Scootieloo. “When I launched my scooter to do a trick she descended at the same time. Having to dodge out of the way cost her a few precious seconds that allowed me to win. The thing is… Rainbow Dash could have very easily won the race from the beginning. She isn’t just bragging when she says she’s the fastest around. Her sonic rainboom attests to that.

"However, as we pointed out, the goal of the race wasn’t simply to win. As Rainbow put it anyone can win at anything because we all have different talents. A true athlete doesn’t strive to simply win, but to win with style and give your audience a show to remember. So every time one of us got the lead we’d begin showing off our moves for the benefit of our watchers.

“That’s why we’re saying not to focus so much on winning. After all…” I saw her gave a cocky smirk toward Rainbow Dash. “It’s going to take at least three races before Rainbow takes the lead on me.”

“Three?” she responded. “Have you forgotten how to count? It’s only two, and that’s because I let you have the victory. If I had kept going you would have gotten hurt.”

“Did you forget? You quit the race the first time around, making me the victor. Then I went and beat you in the race the second time around. That makes two wins for me!”

Rainbow Dash’s eyes narrowed. “Oh, please! Are you that desperate you have to use some verbal trickery to get a second win? You know I only did that for your benefit. I could have won the whole race easily with the way you were acting.”

“Yeah… but you didn’t!”

The two of them kept exchanging verbal taunts at each other, and I began getting a little nervous. I said to Rock Climber, “I don’t know if I want to try and race anymore. If this is the way they’re acting now one of them is going to get really upset at whoever loses.”

“Yeah, I know,” he responded. “What if they really start fighting and beat each other up? Maybe we should just have a race by ourselves.”

I heard the sound of two voices laughing, coming from Scootie and Rainbow Dash. Rainbow Dash said, “We heard that. You don’t have to worry so much. Whoever wins we’ll still be sisters and friends.”

“That’s right,” said Scootieloo. “We’re just engaging in some friendly trash talking to psyche ourselves up. After all, we were your trainers, so your performance here is also a reflection on our skills at teaching. We’re not actually mad at each other.” She put a hoof around Rainbow Dash, and Dash did the same to her. They sure seemed like they were telling the truth, so I didn’t feel nervous anymore.

My first race. I had been working really hard for this. I was ready!

I felt like a nervous wreck. My heart was hammering in my chest. It was my first race, my first chance to really put my training to the test. Rock Climber was next to me. When I looked over at him he looked over at me too. That was all it took to settle my nerves. There was no way I was going to lose to him! Scootieloo was an excellent teacher, and I was going to prove she was better than Rainbow Dash through my efforts today.

We didn’t have a big crowd there. Since we were still so inexperienced the two of us decided to only have our teachers and friends there. We were anxious enough about things already. We didn’t want to mess up because we got scared of too many watchers.

****

Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo were watching the two restless children, eager to begin. “Don’t take it too hard,” said Rainbow Dash.

“Take what too hard?” responded Scootaloo.

“Her defeat, of course.”

“Rosie isn’t going to lose.”

“Rock Climber isn’t either. I mean, it must be painful, to know you only won by blind luck, and now my student is going to trounce yours.”

Scootaloo’s eyes narrowed. “Rose is your student too, just like Rock Climber is mine.”

“Oh, of course, but it’s obvious the two of them both have different interests and goals. After all, do you see Rock Climber riding his scooter? That shows where his mind is at. So a second victory for me.”

“A second victory?”

“Yep! I really won our race because I held back for you, and Rock Climber is going to beat Rose. This is going to be awesome. Don’t cry too hard when you’re exposed as inferior to me again.”

Scootaloo knew Rainbow was only trash talking but it still got on her nerves. She would show her cocky sister! Walking over to the two children she said a little roughly, “Rose Blossom! Come over here!”

Rose said quickly, “Coming, sis!” She ran over, and the two of them walked away from the rest of the group. “What’s up?”

“I think it’s time to put Rainbow Dash in her place. You’re a hard worker, and I fully believe you can win this!”

“Thanks!”

“However, I want to give you an edge. I’m going to give you the secret that will ensure your victory. That’ll wipe that smirk right off her smug face.”

Rose’s grin faded as she looked suspiciously at her sister. “No!” she responded forcefully.

“No?”

“You said yourself that cheating is bad! I don’t want to cheat. I wouldn’t feel like I really won.”

“Oh!” Scootaloo replied, realizing. “I’m not asking you to cheat. I would never urge you to do that. It has nothing to do with an unfair advantage. All you’re doing is employing strategy. That’s not against the rules. Race smart and victory will be yours. And what I’m going to teach you is a basic racing strategy anyway. Nothing improper or dishonest in it. In fact, just like your breathing exercises and wing stretches are the most basic pre-athletic moves, this strategy is the most basic racing move. And if Rainbow didn’t teach Rock Climber about it then it’s his loss.”

As she told Rose Blossom what to do she began giggling, loving it. “That’s great! He won’t know what hit him! Just when he thinks he’s won than BOOM! I’ll come from behind and win!”

Scootaloo felt really pleased as Rose returned to the starting line. She couldn’t suppress her grin as she went to stand right next to Rainbow. Her arrogant sister was about to get a nice wake-up call.

“So what were you up, Scootaloo?” asked Rainbow Dash. “Advising her to give up now to avoid being humiliated?”

“Something like that,” Scootaloo responded with a nasty giggle. She couldn’t wait to see Rainbow’s look of despair when Rock Climber lost. It was going to be so satisfying.

“Alright, then. Let’s get this thing started already! I’m tired of waiting for the trouncing.”

Scootaloo clenched her mouth shut, trying to avoid bursting out in gales of laughter. The triumph was further away than her sister thought. Just when it seemed victory was in her grasp it would be yanked out from under her.

When she got her emotions under control she said, “Come on, Rose! You can do it!”

Rose looked over to her and waved. “I know! Because of your advice I can’t lose!”

“Don’t listen to these deluded fools,” Said Rainbow Dash confidently. “You’ve got this!”

“I won’t let you down!” Rock Climber said loudly, unfurling his wings and doing a quick backflip.

Sun Glimmer and Honey Drop were off on the other side of the track. “Wow, things are getting really intense here,” said Honey Drop.

“I know,” said Sun Glimmer. “Who do you think is gonna win?”

“I don’t know. I’m kinda hoping it’s a tie, that way neither of them has to feel upset they lost.”

“I still think neither of them would be happy with that. OH! I don’t know who to root foooor. I want them both to win.”

Rose Blossom closed her eyes, going back to her most basic lesson of preparing for exercise. When Rock Climber saw her begin her breathing exercises he followed suit, and the rest of them became quiet to let them prepare.

After a few minutes they were suitably focused. The two of them looked at each other again, feeling the spirit of competition rapidly building inside of them. Rock Climber put his hoof out to her, saying, “Do your best, even if there’s no way you’re gonna win.”

“Right back at you!” responded Rose Blossom, meeting his hoof.

Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo each got on either side of the path in front of them. “Ready!” said Rainbow Dash.

“Set!” said Scootaloo.

Together they said, “GO!”

*****

The two of us took off, Rock Climber flying forward and me scootering.

After a few hundred feet the two of us looked at each other again. A feeling flared up in my tummy, of excitement and wonder, but also a strong desire to win! I wanted to win! With my sisters strategy I was sure the victory was in the bag already. Even so, I didn’t forget that we were also supposed to be showing how far we had grown. I couldn’t just focus on getting to the finish line. I had to also show off what I had learned so far.

I turned off towards a hill, jumping it and doing five front flips before landing. Up ahead I saw Rock Climber twisting and spinning like a top.

I pushed on ahead to get the lead, searching for a bigger hill. I jumped over a small fenced area with flowers growing, flapping my wings hard for more air. My heart was going hard in my chest. I was so excited. This was great. Now I know how Scootieloo felt when she was racing Rainbow Dash. For the pride of my sister I was going to triumph!

I headed for the hill in the distance. When I reached the top I pushed my scooter forward, rolling with it until I got in a position to throw it forward. I jumped into the air, flapping my wings as I raced toward it until I landed on it again.

Next I headed towards a tree. I was more confident this time around. Just like I had seen Scootieloo do hundreds of times I grabbed a branch and rotated until I could throw my scooter upwards. With another rotation I let go. With careful timing I managed to do the same for the tree in front of me, grabbing my scooter by the handlebars with my back hooves, thrusting my hooves forward to get it even higher, managing to do the same thing for the third tree in the path. After that though there were no trees to head for so I simply threw it upward one more time, flying towards it and landing on it as I did diagonal spins until I was near the ground. I nearly missed the timing and almost landed on the edge of the scooter. The impact jarred my teeth and made my hooves ache a bit. I wasn’t used to going that high. But at least I could do it.

Just like with my two mentors, me and Rock Climber went back and forth, each showing off. Rock Climber got into cloud manipulation and complex aerial acrobatics. Well, complex for his age, anyway. Rainbow Dash had done more impressive stunts.

When we were on the last third of the race I slowed down my speed and focused less on tricks, taking things easy. When Rock Climber saw me falling behind he looked really satisfied. He let out a big laugh and seemed to ignore stunts too to simply go full blast towards the finish line.

That was okay with me. I expected him to do that. I continued at my relaxed pace, not too slow but not too fast. I took a quick look towards Scootieloo and Rainbow Dash. Both of them looked so smug.

As I come upon the last part of the race I could see I was catching up to Rock Climber. His pace had slowed considerably. It was time to put the plan into action for real. I began going full blast and holding nothing back. As I came near Rock Climber I could see he looked shocked.

I heard Rainbow Dash yell, “Speed it up, kid! She’s gaining on you too fast.”

I rocketed past him, and I could see him trying to rush, but he was much slower than before. He was panting and looked like he was about to fall out of the sky. At that point it was no contest. Just as she said I breezed past him and crossed the finish line before him to a thunderous cheer by Scootieloo!

She looked so happy as she raced over to me, pulling me out of the scooter and flying into the air as she let out a happy yell. “You did it! Way to go, girl!”

As she set me down I could see a downtrodden looking Rock Climber feebly cross the finish line. As soon as he was across he landed on the ground and folded his wings. “Sorry, Rainbow Dash… I lost.”

“Oh, don’t worry about it!” I said, patting him on the back. “I just got some good advice that gave me an edge.”

“And what was that?” asked Rainbow Dash, an edge in her voice.

“She told me to just relax and slow down near the end before speeding up again so that way I’d have enough energy.”

Rainbow’s eyes narrowed. “Oh, really?” She turned to Scootieloo and said angrily, “Is that what that was all about? Using a cheap trick to win?”

“Cheap trick?” responded Scootieloo with an innocent tone that sounded so sarcastic I almost laughed. “I believe it’s called 'pacing yourself.' As a great racer I’m sure you’ve heard of it.”

With a quick growl she said, “Of course I have!”

“I mean, if you didn’t teach Rock Climber about conserving his energy for the end then I guess maybe we know now for sure who the better coach was. So that makes yet another win for me. Don’t take it too hard. Everyone can’t be as good as I am.”

“Oh, so THAT’S what this is about? You dirty cheater! You deliberately set it up so Rock Climber would fail! I’d expect better of you, Scootaloo!”

“Oh, so now it’s my fault he got all cocky and arrogant when he saw Rose falling behind? He was the one who burned himself out by going all out. Rose was just doing what any intelligent racer would do… when instructed properly.”

I started to get a cold feeling in my chest. This was starting to get personal. Before when they had been trash talking they had sounded serious but there was a joking look on their faces. Now they both looked mad. They had both said they wouldn’t get upset no matter who won.

I gasped as Rainbow shoved Scootieloo and called her a bad name, and then again when Scootieloo did the same thing. They started yelling at each other and I didn’t know what to do. How could I stop them? I don’t know!

“What do we do?” Rock Climber asked in a panic.

“I… I don’t know! We have to stop them.”

The two of us ran up and tried to break them apart. They seemed like they were about to get into a hoof-fight. The two of them ignored us and pushed us out of the way.

“Now what?” asked Rock Climber.

“Um, um, um…” I gasped as I got an idea. “Follow my lead.”

“Okay.”

I put out my hoof to him and said in an overly loud voice, “Rock Climber, I had a great time racing against you today. You were a tough opponent. Even though I won I still think you’re really good.”

I think he got what I was going for. He put his hoof out too, meeting mine. He also was practically yelling to be heard over them. “I had a real fun time racing against you too, even though I lost. We should do it again sometime.” He moved forward and hugged me, and I followed suit.

As we broke apart I noticed a strange quiet had settled over the area. I looked and saw that Scootieloo and Rainbow Dash were still in each other’s faces, hooves raised, but they were both looking over at us. They slowly moved away from each other, and the both of them looked really guilty.

“Heh,” Rainbow Dash laughed, but it didn’t sound real. “Look at us, Scootaloo. Our students are showing more sportsmanship than we are. It’s not good.”

Scootieloo sighed. “You’re right. I’m sorry I let my temper get the better of me.”

“And I let my pride get the better of me. We need to do better than this. We’re supposed to be setting the examples here, not be schooled by these little whippersnappers.” She put her hoof out. “Sisters?”

“Sisters!” Scootieloo responded, meeting her hoof and then hugging her just like me and Rock Climber just did.

Rainbow Dash walked over to us. “I’m sorry, you kids. We just made ourselves out as liars and hypocrites. We said it wouldn’t matter who won but the two of us were both focusing more onourselves and foolish pride instead of on the real stars of the day.”

“Yeah,” said Scootieloo sheepishly, walking over too. “I wanted you to win, Rose, mainly because I wanted to shove it in Rainbow’s face rather than because I wanted to see you excel. It was wrong of me to have that attitude. If there’s anything we can say in our defense it’s that… simply put, we are not perfect. We may be more grown up, but we can also be mean, rude, spiteful, and stupid. Can you forgive us?”

I nodded quickly, giving her a hug. “Of course I do, Scootieloo. You forgive me for stuff all the time, so I can do the same for you.” I went and gave Rainbow a hug too. “I forgive you.”

Rock Climber gave Scootieloo a hug while I was busy with Rainbow, then he hugged Rainbow too. “You are forgiven.”

They both seemed relieved. Rainbow said to him, “Rock Climber, I had planned on giving you something only if you won, but I see now that that is a disrespectful attitude and unworthy of the lessons we’re trying to teach. Besides, you did win.”

I felt my eyebrow raise, and Rock Climber said, “But Rose Blossom crossed the finish line first.”

“I know that. But do you remember what I said to you yesterday? It isn’t about winning, but being stylish while you’re doing it, and having fun. You showcased your lessons very well, and you had a lot of fun doing it. That makes you a winner in my book. You and Rose Blossom are both winners. You should be proud of yourselves for how far you’ve come in such a short time.

“So are you ready for your presents?”

“Yes, please!” Rock Climber said excitedly.

Rainbow Dash went to the table that had her saddle bag and took out what looked like a rolled up piece of paper. When she placed it in his hooves his face was blank, but then he looked a bit confused before looking awkwardly away from her, his eyes going in several different directions. I could kinda understand his feelings. The edges were crinkled and ripped a bit, and the poster had yellowed a bit from age.

“You look so disappointed,” said Rainbow Dash. “What’s the matter?”

“W-well… I… I don’t want to sound ungrateful but… an old poster? Is that all I get? You made it sound really important.”

Rainbow smirked. “Before you start thinking I’m just playing a cruel joke on you why don’t you try opening it first?”

When he opened it he let out a gasp, and I saw his mouth and eyes open wide. “T-this is…”

I went to stand next to him to see what it was. I saw a picture that had about twenty ponies in Wonderbolt costumes, along with a bunch of names written across it. In the top left corner it said, “To our biggest fan Rainbow Dash. Always fly high!”

“That’s right!” said Rainbow. “When my parents took me to the Wonderbolts Derby when I was just a filly that was what inspired me to want to become just like them. That was what got me into racing and wanting to train to be a great flier. At the end of the show they picked out one lucky kid in the audience. Can you guess who that was?”

“Y-you?”

“That’s right. My heart was racing like crazy to be right in front of every member of the Wonderbolts. I got to ask a few questions of them, and then they gave me a poster autographed by every one of them. It’s been hanging on the wall of my room ever since. When I moved out of my parent’s house and moved to my own place in Cloudsdale I took it with me there. It served as my inspiration. Any time I began getting discouraged or thought I couldn’t manage it I would look up at the ceiling and remember that day, and those negative thoughts would go away.

“Now… I’ve come far enough that I don’t need it anymore. So… I entrust this to you to serve as your inspiration and encouragement as you strive to soar high and become the next greatest flier. I trust that you’ll keep this precious memento safe and you won’t let anything happen to it.”

“I… I can’t take this! It’s too important to you!”

"It’s because it’s so important I want you to have it. I wanted to show you how much faith I have in you. Scootaloo trusted Rose with the scooter her dead grandmare gave her. She gave Rose a gift close to her heart and trusted her sister to take good care of it, because she knows how much it means to her sibling. So I thought I’d do the same. You deserve it. Believe it!”

I saw Rock Climber start shaking. Tears came down his eyes as he looked up at her. He wiped his eyes and sniffed, but more just started pouring down his face.

Rainbow gently pried the poster from him as she said, “Watch the waterworks, kid. You don’t want to go ruining it already.”

He let out a choked laugh before throwing himself at her, thanking her over and over. I couldn’t stop a few tears coming down my own eyes. He just looked so happy and touched.

Rainbow Dash put a wing around Rock Climber as she rubbed his head. “There, there,” she said softly. It was, I think, the first time she had used such a tender tone with him.

After a few minutes she gently pushed him away. “I have one more gift for you. I hope this time you won’t mind that it’s used.”

He shook his head as he wiped his eyes. “Nope! As long as it isn’t a used tissue.” All of us cracked up.

“No, it’s not a used tissue. Close your eyes.” When he did she went back in her saddlebag. She took something out and put it around his neck. “Okay, you can look.”

When she stepped away he looked down and saw a pair of goggles. “This was my very first pair of flying goggles. Having these with me always psyched me up and got me in the mood for flying. If you’re planning on being a Wonderbolt you’re going to need them.”

He let out a joyful laugh, grabbing the goggles and putting them on his face. I couldn’t help but snicker as they fell right back down.

Rainbow laughed too. “Same with me when I was a filly. They were way too big for me too. Even so, I would wear them around my neck every time I went flying because it reminded me of what I was fighting for. Just knowing that one day I’d grow enough to get the chance to wear them was enough to fill me with inspiration. Maybe it will be the same for you.”

He looked down at his neck, staring intently at the goggles. “I can feel it,” He said confidently. “I’ll become a champion flier no matter what it takes! I’ll become the second greatest flier in the world!”

“Don’t you mean first?” I asked.

“Of course not. Rainbow Dash is number one!”

“I’m glad to hear that.” Her mood suddenly shifted as she let out a little sigh. “There is… one more reason I gave you those gifts today.”

“What’s that?”

“I’m not going to be training you anymore, so you can just use those as a memento of me.”

“W-W-WHAT?” he said loudly. “WHY? I thought that you… that you…” He began crying as he turned away from her, unable to finish.

When Rainbow started talking to calm him down he turned to her, saying angrily, “W-why are you abandoning me? That’s not how a sister is supposed to act! You’re… you’re as horrible as my brother!” With that he ran way behind a tree.

I could see Rainbow really looked hurt by the comparison. I don’t blame her. That would offend me too. “Let’s just leave him be for a few minutes,” I said. Everyone agreed with me.

By the time we were going to go to him he suddenly came out from behind the tree. He was looking down at the ground as he came up to us all. Sitting down he said simply, “Why?” His voice didn’t have any emotion. He restlessly fiddled with the goggles around his neck.

Once more going into her saddlebag she took out an envelope. Opening it up she pulled out a folded sheet of paper and handed it to him. “Read it,” she said. “Then you’ll understand.”

Unfolding the letter he said in a bored voice, “ 'To Miss Rainbow Dash, we hereby decree that your application to join the Wonderbolts reserve squad…' ” His eyes went a little wide, and interest sparked in his voice as he finished, “ '…has been approved!

“ 'Please respond back at your earliest convenience of when you can arrive in Cloudsdale for your intensive training regimen to build up your skill, stamina, and endurance, as well as to test whether you are truly competent to move on to the Wonderbolts proper in the coming months or years. Given the recommendation of current Wonderbolts leader Spitfire your prospects look good, but there is no special treatment. You must go through the regimen just like every other pony that comes through here.

“ 'Hope to see you soon.

“ 'Sincerely yours, The Wonderbolts Academy Committee.' ”

He looked up at her, all his sadness gone. He was actually shaking a bit he looked so excited. “You’re in! You’re in! You’re finally going to become a Wonderbolt!”

“I already sent in my reply a few days ago. However, before I went I wanted to test you and see how you’ve improved. And so, as of tomorrow. I’m going away for a few months. Because of the promise I showed with the Sonic Rainboom and at the academy they’re going to give me a shot at the big time. I’m going to be living in Cloudsdale as they give me training, test my flying ability, my capacity to lead and to follow orders, my personality… everything that they want to know about in a potential Wonderbolt candidate. I’m going to be swamped with work so I won’t have the time to give you the proper attention you deserve. It would be an insult to train you half-heartedly.”

She walked over to Rock Climber and hugged him with both her wings and her hooves. “I’m very, very proud of you for all your hard work. Just like with Scootaloo I can see a great potential inside of you just waiting to be brought out. Just like her you’re going to be great and be one of the next heroes of this town. It’s an honor having you as my little brother.”

Rock Climber had been lightly crying, but that last sentence made him rocket up to full-on sobbing as he held her back.

I was a little sad too that she was going away. She was a stern teacher for sure, but she was also very kind when the occasion called for it. I was going to miss her, but I knew Rock Climber admired her and would miss her more. Those two gifts she gave him… I knew he would take care of them like his life depended on it. It was the same with me and Scootieloo's scooter.

After a few minutes Rainbow Dash rubbed his mane and said, “Even though I’m going away that doesn’t mean your training is over. You’ll continue on with Scootaloo. I expect you to give her the same level of dedication and respect that you gave to me. Got it, kid?”

He nodded, still within her grip. With a sniff he lifted one of his hooves and wiped his face. “S-since I have so much potential for flying I’ll try to get even better than Scootaloo before you come back.”

That made Rainbow crack up. “That’s the spirit!”

I laughed a bit too. “Looks like you got some competition,” I said as I turned to Scootieloo. She looked upset, and I immediately felt bad for laughing. “S-sorry.”

Scootieloo shook her head. “That’s nothing. I don’t care about that. I… I just didn’t know that you were going away, Rainbow Dash.” I felt a pain in my heart. She was actually crying about it.

Rainbow Dash gently pushed away Rock Climber and walked over to Scootieloo. “Oh, what’s wrong? Are you going to miss me?” She sounded in high spirits. “Or are you just jealous I haven’t given you a special going away gift too?”

She let out a laugh that sounded more like a groan. “O-of course not. I am going to miss you. When I had my race with you it felt like I had grown up and finished needing a teacher to train me. Even so, just having you here helping to teach Rosie, and me helping her, and getting to work alongside you to shape her future… it just reminds me of the good old days. I’ve really enjoyed working with you again, that’s all.

"You’ve been with me since I was just a filly, teaching me and making me a better pony. Even if it’s only going to be for a couple of months I’m going to hate not having you here to guide me when I make a mistake.”

Rainbow was giving her a big hug now. “Chin up, Scootaloo. You’re going to be training the kiddies in flying now as well as scootering, so you have to keep your spirit strong.”

“But you’re a much better flier than I am! I can’t teach them like you can!”

“Maybe not, but you can teach them well enough. As I’ve said to you before I never push more onto you than I think you can handle. If I didn’t think you could do it then I wouldn’t ask you to do it.

“And… well… I’m gonna miss you too, kid. I have to do this, though, regardless of either of our feelings. Do you remember why you wanted to move in with Star Gazer and Cloud Hunter in the first place instead of staying with me? Well, rather, one of the reasons? You said you didn’t want to have my dream end by becoming a full time sister to you. This is everything my life has led up to. Now it’s time to pass the reins on to you. You can handle this. I know you can!”

Scootieloo settled into her hold, closing her eyes. “I… I know, Rainbow Dash. I’ll do my best.”

Scootieloo always seemed so strong. Because of her story I now know how much family means to her. Even if she doesn’t see Rainbow Dash as much as she does us, the two of them have a really close relationship too. I can understand how she feels. I’d hate to be separated from Scootieloo for even a single day, let alone a few months.

When she let go of Scootieloo she came to me next. “Sorry, Rose. I don’t have any super special presents for you. I had expected Rock Climber to win. All the same I can see you also have a special potential in you as well. Your goal, just like Rock Climber’s, is to beat your sister. Became an even more talented scooter rider than her and surpass everyone that has come before you. I am confident you can do it if you just put your mind to it and push hard. Never quit and never give up until you show her up. Even if I didn’t like losing to her in our race I still was filled with so much pride for Scootaloo for winning. She’ll feel the same way about you when you pull it off.”

I nodded. “I’ll do my very best, Rainbow Dash.” The two of us hugged.

“Okay, then. Scootaloo?”

“Yes?” she responded.

“You brought up the good old days. So why don’t we relive them a little more? These two deserve a nice reward for all they’ve accomplished, so what say we head to Sugarcube Corner and celebrate?”

“Sounds good.”

When we got to Sugarcube Corner I was surprised to see how decked out the place already was. At first I thought it was all for us, but I learned a little later that it was also for Rainbow’s farewell party.

All of us had a good time. Pinkie Pie had gone all out and really outdone herself. It was okay that we weren’t the main focus of the party. It was still enjoyable regardless.

By the time things were wrapping up I was nearby Scootieloo when she said to Rainbow Dash, “So do you really want to send yourself off with a bang? I think you should give Rock Climber one more present.”

“What’s that?” she responded.

“Well, you’re gonna need some ropes. Just think of how you fixed my wings. He’ll never forget it. I can still remember that moment very well.”

Rainbow Dash had a huge grin on her face. “Aw, yeah! Let’s end this party on a big note! Hey, Rock Climber!”

“Yeah?” he responded, running over.

“Hop on. We’re going outside for a fly. Everyone else, come on too.”

I could tell Rock Climber was excited to be flying with her. I got excited too when I go scootering with Scootieloo, so I could understand how he was feeling.

When all of us went outside I saw Scootieloo begin tying Rock Climber to Rainbow Dash, tying his back legs to her front ones. I wondered what she had planned. It seemed like it had to be a little dangerous if they needed the added security of the ropes.

“Well, kid? Are you ready for the flight of your life?”

“YEAH!” he yelled. “Let’s do it!”

“Okay, then. Make sure you hold on really tight and don’t let go no matter what.”

“Got it.”

Rainbow unfurled her wings and took off into the sky. She went straight up, higher and higher and higher and higher until I couldn’t even see her anymore. I didn’t know what she was planning.

It took almost thirty more seconds before I started hearing a strange noise in the sky. I could see a strange distortion up above in the air, getting bigger and bigger. It quickly turned rainbow colored, and I let out a squeal as I was nearly knocked to the ground by a gigantic wave of air that felt like it flattened my mane.

I squinted upward at the sky and my heart felt like it was soaring. It was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. I knew immediately what it was: the sonic rainboom. A rainbow colored circle was expanding in every direction into the horizon, and I could see a rainbow trail following Rainbow Dash everywhere she went. It was the first time I had actually seen one.

A short while later Rainbow Dash slowed down and came to a stop on the ground. However, the rainbow trail still sparkled marvelously.

Rock Climber looked completely out of it. I actually thought he was dead for a few seconds he looked so dazed.

Scootieloo helped untie him and he fell off Rainbow’s back onto the ground. Or, he would have if Scootieloo didn’t catch him first. She gently placed him on the ground. It took a little while before he could speak.

His eyes were only half-open, and he had such a look of joy and contentment on his face I’m sure that if he had still been mad at Rainbow that she was leaving he would have forgotten all about it by now.

“That… was… amazing!” he cried out joyfully. “Oh, man! Words… words can’t even… even describe it.”

“I’m glad you enjoyed it, kid. Make me proud and try to pull it off yourself one day.”

“I’ll do my best, Rainbow Dash.”

As he went to get up Scootieloo put a hoof on him. “Slow it down there, Rock Climber. Rainbow gave me that same gift when I was just a filly and it took me a while to get up without feeling dizzy. For now, just relax and reflect on how much you loved it.”

He looked like he wanted to argue on getting up for a moment, but then he gave in.

***********

Later that night Rock Climber was in extremely high spirits. He had had the most unbelievable experience of his young life. He grabbed some tape and taped the poster Rainbow gave him to his ceiling, humming to himself all the while.

He was still wearing the goggles she had given him, giggling happily as he pushed them to his face. He didn’t think anything could break his spirit now.

At least until he heard a knock on the door. His brother came in the room, asking, “Can we talk?”

Rock Climber’s face scrunched up a bit. Just what he didn't need right now. “What do YOU want?” he said angrily.

Thunder Storm looked a bit mad at the response at first, but then it faded into neutrality. “Maybe it’s hard to talk about.”

In a bored voice Rock Climber said, “Well then why don’t you go away until you know what you want to say? I’m busy.”

Again a flare of rage built up inside him. “Look, kid, your two 'sisters' aren’t here to save your flank right now, so you should can the attitude.”

A slight fear came to Rock Climber as he acknowledged that point. “Well… what is it? All of a sudden after ignoring and wishing for bad things to happen to me all of a sudden you’re here to talk? What could you possibly have to say?”

“Well… I guess… maybe… it’s hard to miss the changes in you lately. Even when I’m not in the same room I can constantly hear you talking about training and Scootaloo and Rainbow Dash and Rose Blossom and all that. And especially about having two older 'sisters.' So maybe… I’m just a little jealous.”

Rock Climber’s eyes narrowed to slits. “Jealous? Jealous! ARE YOU KIDDING ME? Like that’s my fault! If you had been doing what you had supposed to have been doing from the start we never would have broken apart like we did! YOU were the one who chose to commit all those crimes with your new 'friends.' YOU were the one that said I was just a bother and who had better things to do with your time! YOU were the one who dragged me along in your crime spree and tried to get me to enjoy it! Now you’re jealous that I have two REAL siblings who treat me right and teach me all the stuff YOU should have been teaching me? You’re pathetic!

“I can’t stand you! It’s been FOUR… MONTHS! FOUR MONTHS! You haven’t apologized once. You made me feel like you were going to kill me. While we were out having our 'fun' you treated me horribly. You called me all sorts of bad names, like 'idiot' and 'useless' and worse, you constantly hit me, and only considered me useful to trick people into not being that mad if we got caught stealing.

“DO YOU KNOW HOW ALL THAT MADE ME FEEL? IT MADE ME SICK TO MY STOMACH WITH GUILT! Every night I went to sleep my mind would spin with all the bad things we had done that day. I knew it was wrong! I knew it, and yet…” Tears came down his eyes, a mix of anger and sorrow. “And yet I... I still went along with it anyway, because I loved you and just wanted to spend time with you.

"You took advantage of me and stopped caring about me for the sake of those two idiots. THAT’S NOT WHAT A BIG BROTHER IS SUPPOSED TO DO! A big brother is supposed to teach their younger brother to do the right thing, not teach them how to be a thug!

“I don’t even consider you my brother anymore! You’re the worst pony I know, short of those other two morons! I HATE YOU! I HATE YOU! And I never want to see you again!” He turned away from Thunder Storm and began sobbing on his bed. Those thoughts were all things that had floating across his mind the past few months, but he kinda felt ashamed of them.

Thunder Storm stood there for a while, unsure of how to respond. If he was going to do something he would have to go for it. Sitting down on the bed next to Rock Climber he grabbed his brother and set him on his lap, putting his hooves around him.

Rock Climber went still, the hiccupping of his sobbing slowing down. He didn’t want to put forth the effort to escape.

“I deserved that,” said Thunder Storm. “I know I did, and it was a long time coming. For a long time I didn’t want to acknowledge I had done anything wrong. I stubbornly insisted I was right, and that you were just the tattletale brat who was a terrible brother. Of course it’s the opposite. I was the terrible brother. I’m actually kinda glad that Scootaloo began mentoring you, or else I might never have gotten it.”

Rock Climber didn’t respond. He just sat stiffly and didn’t move.

“Hearing about you training with Scootaloo and Rainbow Dash only made me angrier. On top of being a 'traitor' you also got off scot-free without any punishment and you just adopted an older sister, then another one a day later. You began training with them to improve your skills, and when you’d come home I’d have to listen to it. It only made me angrier and closed my heart off further. I really did feel that I hated you the past few months.

“Once my grounding ended and Mom sent me out that day last month to take you home I once more found my heart hardening against you because of how you snapped at me. I wanted to hit you so badly right then, I admit it. And then when I began walking toward you both Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo immediately jumped to your defense. That frustrated me to no end.

“Everything frustrated me. School. homework, ponies... everything. I’ve been so full of rage lately I can’t even explain it. Some days I would come to watch your training. In secret, of course. I didn’t know why I was doing it. I guess I was just curious… or looking for some dirt on your teachers. Something I could use against them for revenge. I saw how completely happy you were in your training, working so hard and straining to be your best. It took me a while before I could even acknowledge what I was actually feeling inside.

“Earlier today I came to watch your race. I was surprised at how far you’d come. Again, it made me mad. But, in actuality, I wasn’t really mad at you. I was, as I said before, jealous. In the back of my mind I was thinking, 'I should be the one teaching him about that stuff. Why are they doing my job?' I wouldn’t admit it to myself at first.

"After Rainbow Dash gave you those two gifts of the poster and the goggles, and talked about how much faith she had in you, again I got mad. When I heard she was leaving I felt satisfaction at first to see you heartbroken, but then came a new feeling, the one I’ve really been feeling all along: guilt.

“I remember the two of us used to talk about everything. When I’d have a bad day at school I could come home and rant and rave and you’d be there to listen. I was a loser at school. I didn’t have any friends at the time. I was shy. I had trouble opening up to other ponies. Most of the school already thought I was a loser. Then… for some reason… two of the popular ponies took an interest in me. I’m sure you can guess who?”

Rock Climber squirmed a bit in his lap to get into a more comfortable position, but otherwise gave no indication he was listening.

“They invited me to hang out with them. I thought I was dreaming. Someone wanted to hang out with the biggest loser in school? I gladly took them up on their offer. They had me sit at the 'cool' table at lunch. It was like a dream come true. The two of them encouraged the others not to ignore me. I didn’t know why they were being so nice but for that one glorious afternoon I felt like I actually mattered. After lunch tons of other ponies began taking an interest in me. They had noticed me sitting at the popular table and that instantly gave my popularity a boost. After all, if I had been invited to sit there then that had to mean I was someone important, and no one wanted to ignore the popular kids.

“It felt great. For once I didn’t dread going to school. I was cool by association. For the next few days they kept inviting me over to hang out with them. I was on cloud nine. Things were the best they had ever been.” The happiness in his voice evaporated. “Then… that was when IT started. It amounted basically to blackmail.”

Rock Climber looked up a little, but still didn’t say anything.

“Basically they wanted something but didn’t want to pay for it. They were planning to steal it. Thing is, though, they needed a lookout, someone to take the fall if things went wrong. If they succeeded, or if I took the blame if they failed, they would guarantee my continuing ascension to popularity. If I refused they wouldn’t do anything to me but they would withdraw their support.

“I had been a good pony before, so naturally I was hesitant and didn’t want to go through with it. But… but… I had had a taste of being important, and I didn’t want to lose it so quickly! I wanted it! I didn’t want to be seen as just a loser my whole life! I pushed down my guilty feelings and agreed to help them.

“It all went off without a hitch. I distracted the shop owner while they went and grabbed what they were after. Afterward they looked so happy, patting me on the back and congratulating me and, true to their word, they sang my praises and I moved up in the popularity ladder. I still felt a little bad over what I had done, but I thought it wasn’t such a big deal. I made a justification that if he had just had lower prices then they wouldn’t have had to steal it in the first place.

“They kept pushing me to do stuff with them… their brand of fun. I wanted so bad to believe they were really my friends and cared about me. They just wanted to help me loosen up and stop being so stiff on the rules. They wanted me to be more assertive and not just lie back and take all the negative things. If someone made you angry it’s fine to break their stuff or paint graffiti on their property. Every time I began backtracking and wanting to stop they brought up the threat of yanking away the comfy position I had been enjoying. They would see to it personally that I lost all my new perks and that I would be seen as even lower than I had been so far. Because of that I was trapped. I couldn’t take it back anymore.

“I grew to enjoy what we were doing. It gave me a rush to do all these bad things, to avoid being caught, or to laugh at a successful raid. In other areas, though, I began getting worse. I put off school work, I began treating you and our parents like dirt. Everything became only about maintaining my status in school, no matter what form it took.

“That day you caught us I felt so furious and scared that you would ruin everything. I managed to talk them into letting you hang out with us because then you would have a lower chance of tattling on us. If you got to hang out with some older kids I figured you’d go along with whatever we did because of how much you missed spending time with me. I treated you nicer to stay on your good side, but I also became pretty vicious to you. All those names I called you and all those times I attacked you, what I was doing to you was really what I wanted to say and do to myself.

“I messed up big time. I recognize that now. I did get a swelled head and considered my standing at school more important than family. I did commit many crimes and probably caused a lot of pain and suffering for others. I know I caused that in you. I did horrible things because I didn’t want to be seen as a loser. I got so bad that you abandoned me for a few others who deserved to have you more than I did. I’m… I’m sorry. I’m sorry, Rock Climber! I’ve been an absolutely horrible big brother. I can see it now. Can you ever forgive me?”

Silence reigned in the room but for the sound of their breathing. Thunder Storm waited patiently. From his position he couldn’t make out his brothers expression. Three minutes passed. Five minutes. Ten minutes. Fifteen minutes. And through all that time Rock Climber didn’t say a word. He just remained silent and unmoving.

Finally, after about twenty minutes, Thunder Storm began getting discouraged. “I understand,” he said quietly. “It’s still too soon. I’ll leave you alone.”

As soon as Thunder Storm removed his hooves from around Rock Climber’s stomach the colt’s hooves immediately came up, grabbing his brothers hooves and placing them back around his stomach, the most movement he’d made since their discussion began. “Don’t go,” said Rock Climber in an uncertain voice. “You hurt me, you know that. You hurt me really bad. You called me terrible names and shoved me and hit me and pushed me into your terrible actions because you knew I would do bad things to spend time with you. I can kinda understand how you’re feeling because you did those bad things for the same reason.

“I’m still very angry at you. You hurt my heart very badly. I’ll accept your apology, but I can’t just forgive you… just like that. You need to earn my trust back. To start with I want three promises from you.”

“And what are those?”

“If you really mean what you say, if you’re really sorry and want to change, then first I want you to promise you’ll stay away from Midnight Dream and Heavy Downpour. Stay far away from them and others like them.

“I’m not the only one you need to apologize to. You hurt a lot of other ponies but you paid for that through your community service. There’s still one pony, though, you haven’t done anything for. You need to apologize to Rose Blossom and Scootaloo too for the pain you caused them.

“And third… third…” He stopped, tears beginning to run down his eyes.

“Yes?” said Thunderstorm.

He pulled himself out of his brother’s hold and turned himself around so they were face to face. “Third… I want us to spend time together again. Just the two of us… doing the right things like we did before.” Despite his words of not forgiving easy he just couldn’t feel angry at the moment. “I missed you, you jerk! I never hated you! I never stopped loving you! I still love you now! I love you so much!

"I’ve been waiting for you to come back. My real brother! Not that jerk you’ve pretended to be the past year.” He buried his head in Thunder Storm’s chest, starting to sob. It became deeper and deeper until he could barely breathe. His body shook with his tremors, squeezing his brother like his life depended on it.

Thunder Storm felt tears come down his own face, feeling like a monster. He let himself get swept away in his emotions as he lost control too. He had scarred his brother so bad, and pride had blinded him to that fact. He hugged his brother tight to him, trying to make him feel precious. He had been such a fool.

When the two of them settled down a bit Thunder Storm said, “I promise you, right here and now, that I will do whatever it takes to earn my place back as your brother. My reputation is dirt back at school because of what happened, but I don’t care about that anymore. I finally remembered what’s really important: you.”

Rock Climber looked up, wiping his face as he looked into his brother’s eyes. He let a small smile come to his lips. For the first time in a long while he thought he saw love there, instead of all the anger and rage and frustration. Maybe his brother was ready to change after all. Nuzzling his brother he said, “I’ll hold you to that.”

In the morning I looked in the mirror, seeing my orange face staring back at me. I let out a sigh. Rainbow Dash had came over for breakfast. She had just let a few minutes ago. I felt a lot of pressure on myself. It was now solely my job to train the kids and make sure they excelled. I didn’t know if I could handle all of it. I would do my best, but I missed her already.

I opened the faucet and put my hooves under the jet, cupping a little water before throwing it on my face. As I shut the water off I said to myself, “Just gotta stay strong… for Rosie’s sake.”

I went to school. Nothing too different there.

After school I felt like a bundle of nerves as I went home to collect Rosie and the two of us went to the park. When I got there I saw Honey Drop, Sun Glimmer, and Rock Climber were already there. When he saw me he ran over to me, looking on top of the world.

“Hey, Scootaloo!” He threw himself at me, giving me a quick hug. “Look!”

I looked down at where he was pointing and I saw him wearing his new goggles.

“Wearing those already, huh?”

“Yep!” he responded with a huge smile.

“I’m… surprised.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know. I guess I just thought with Rainbow Dash away for training you’d be a bit more down in the dumps.”

“I might have been, but something really, really good happened yesterday. I got my old best friend back.”

“Well, that’s nice.”

I saw some of his excitement disappear. “I invited him to come here today. He’s a bit nervous because you don’t like him. Can you just promise me you’ll give him a chance when he shows up?”

I looked at him questioningly. “Sure, I promise. But… why would he say I don’t like him? Do I know him?”

“Yes.”

I went through my memories of the past year. I couldn’t think of a single pony I had fallen away from lately, never mind one that Rock Climber knew. I guess I would just have to wait.

“I’m gonna go get him, okay?”

“Sure.”

He went running off, and Rosie asked, “Who is he talking about, Scootieloo?”

“I don’t know." I shrugged. "I really don’t.”

While I waited I told Rosie to start her warm-ups. Honey Drop was practicing her magic like usual. She had really improved in the past two months because of her lessons with Twilight. She had used me a test subject last week and she was much better at controlling her levitation magic.

Sun Glimmer was turning out to be a natural athlete as well. She could go from tree to tree almost effortlessly without touching the ground.

I heard Rock Climber’s voice after a few minutes. I turned to see who this 'lost friend' was and my heart skipped a beat as I saw Thunder Storm. Rock Climber was riding on his back, looking on top of the world.

Rock Climber's expression just didn’t process in my mind. I immediately felt angry, and I could see Rose shudder as she hid behind me. “What are YOU doing here?” I snapped.

“Scootaloo!” Rock Climber said pleadingly. “You promised you’d give him a chance. He finally apologized to me and promised to do better yesterday.”

“Why should I care about that? I don’t want him here!”

Now he sounded angry. “So are you just a hypocrite, then? Like when you broke your word of not getting into an argument with Rainbow Dash over the race? You said to me back on the first day of school that even if I had been doing the wrong thing I stopped being wrong when I admitted I had been doing something bad and wanted to change.”

I let out a small groan through my clenched teeth, feeling trapped by my own words. “Fine, then. Speak.”

Thunder Storm said, “First off, Scootaloo, I want to thank you for taking such good care of my little brother. He needed someone like you around while I was off being an idiot.

“I know I hurt you, all three of you, with my actions. It’s no excuse for what I did, but I felt trapped in the cycle.” He began explaining what had prompted him to begin his bad behavior. Though their motivations were different his reasons were similar to Rock Climber’s. “In the end I forgot what was important. I cared more for my popularity than about my brother and my family. Seeing you taking care of him and doing the things I should have been doing made me jealous and opened my eyes to my true feelings.

"I hated what I was doing but I felt so trapped. In a way I just accepted my new way of being because I thought it was too late to change. I stopped fighting, and I set a bad example for Rock Climber to follow. At the moment I barely deserve to be called his brother anymore. I admit it freely. I’m a big jerk and a scumbag. I’ve done many bad things to ponies who didn’t deserve it and I feel like the worst pony in the world.

"I think that is probably why it was so hard to come to grips with what I’d been doing and to see it as wrong. I didn’t think of myself as a bad pony, so in order to keep that self image I had to delude myself with excuses and justifications for my behavior to avoid being crushed by the guilt.

“I don’t have any more excuses. What I did was wrong, plain and simple. Rock Climber has every right to hate my guts, but… for some reason… he still cares about me.” A few silent tears came down his eyes. “He still loves me and wants to start over… even if I feel I don’t deserve it.”

Rock Climber looked upset as Thunder Storm cried. He looked over at me. “Come on, Scootaloo. Can’t you forgive him? For me? I don’t want him to be all upset like I was.”

I let out a heavy sigh as I closed my eyes. “Look… my feelings on the matter are irrelevant. I can see you do understand the gravity of what you’ve done and want to make reparations, and I’m glad for that. Rock Climber has been my foster brother for the past few months and I was delighted to mentor him.

"I told him I would stay that way until you made up your mind on whether you were going to let being held responsible for your actions redeem you or make you more bitter and heartless. I personally forgive you for it, because if you regress and want to start a fight I could kick your flank from here to Baltimare.

"However, Rose is a different story. You terrified her, you upset her, you spit in her mane and then were about to help chop it off before I showed up. You refused to accept any guilt or responsibility and were still cold and ruthless to your brother for a while. I can let that go, but I refuse to let you talk to her right now. I don’t want her to feel pressured to put on a smile and say everything is all right.

"Rosie needs some time to think things over and come to her own decision, without any pressure or pleading. That is the most I can give you right now.

"I’ve been training your brother for four months now, and I feel I know him very well. I’ll be able to tell if you start mistreating him again, even if he says nothing at all about it. Sometimes all it takes is to see the expression on a pony’s face to see how they’re feeling deep inside and how much they’re hurting.”

“I understand,” said Thunder Storm. Turning his head a little to Rock Climber he said, “Well, that’s two promises down. I know you have to get your training in right now, but when you’re done just tell me what you want to do so I can fulfill number three, okay?”

“Sure!” Rock Climber said happily, jumping off his brother’s back. The two of them nuzzled each other. Once more I saw such an intense joy on the colt’s face. His bond with his brother clearly meant a lot to him. No matter how much me and Rainbow Dash had done for him I knew his love for both of us combined wouldn’t match up to his love for his brother. It made me more convinced that Thunder Storm was being sincere, but I wanted to give Rosie more time to make up her mind.

Thunder Storm waved goodbye and flew off. Rock Climber ran over to me, looking completely at ease, his face lit up like a unicorn horn. “Scootaloo… I can’t tell you just how glad I am.” Happy tears came down his eyes. I couldn’t but feel a few warm tears come down my own face. “I finally have my brother back. My real brother. The one who loves me and cares for me and would do anything for me. The one who wants to teach me the good things. The happy one who just wants to spend time together. I thought for sure he was gone for good.”

Although I was happy I felt a cold pit in my stomach. I truly hoped with all my heart and soul that Thunder Storm was being completely serious. To think of him betraying his brother again was heartbreaking. I didn’t know if Rock Climber would be able to take it. If he destroyed his brothers happiness again… then me and him would have a few words. Words like “punch” and “kick” and “beat-down.”

Rosie came around in front of me and hugged me. “Thank you, Scootieloo. I… I’m not really ready to forgive him just yet. But if you hadn’t said anything I probably would have just said I did to avoid him getting mad.”

“No problem.” To the two of them I said, “Well, let’s begin our training. Let’s get flying out of the way. Rainbow put her trust in me so I’ll do my best to teach you as good as she would.”

“Right!” they responded.

*******

Six months after she left Rainbow Dash returned. She had done such an outstanding job at the academy that she had been given a recommendation to move to the Wonderbolt’s proper. She was full of boundless energy and joy as she flew around in her new Wonderbolt’s costume. She had finally achieved her dream. I was so happy for her!

Thunder Storm kept to his word as far as I could tell. Rock Climber would tell me about the fun times he had with his brother whenever we started training and never seemed too upset. I’m sure the two of them had their little spats just like I did with Rose, but they always made up afterward. One day Rosie finally worked up the courage to allow him to come to training. She was still nervous about him at first, but he did what he could to earn her trust and get on her good side. It took her about two weeks before she finally dropped her guard around him.

I think that seeing the two of them racing each other, Rosie looking ecstatic as she did her best to beat her friends older brother, was what finally allowed me to fully forgive him. I no longer had any doubts about his sincerity.

Time passed by. Almost a full two years since Rosie had first gone to school. I was close to graduating and being done with school for good.

I had an issue that had to be worked out, so I headed to my mom’s room.

“Mom, can I talk with you?”

“Of course, Scootaloo,” She responded. “What’s on your mind?”

“I have a big decision to make, and I’d like your advice.”

“I see. Let’s go to my room and you can tell me all about it.”

So the two of us headed to her bedroom. I sat down on the edge of the bed, her sitting next to me. I hesitated, unsure of how to start. Mom waited patiently. Finally I took a deep breath and said, “I had an interesting day at school today.”

“And what made it interesting?”

I faltered again. It was difficult to bring up what I wanted to say because I was so uncertain, both of what I wanted to do and how she would react to my news.

She put one of her legs on me, gently rubbing my back. “Come on, Scootaloo. Don’t clam up. You know you can tell me anything. I’m your mom. You have no reason to be afraid.”

I felt a small smile come to my lips. “Yeah…I know. You’re right. Well, I met someone who gave me an offer." So I began telling the story of how my day went.

**************

It was just after last period, and like always she hung around with some of the other kids for a little while she warmed up to practice with her scooter. There was a blacktop area where the other students played sports. She flapped her wings as she headed towards the school wall and did a small jump, pulling back so she was almost vertical. Taking her hooves off the board she placed them on either side of it, and flapped her wings hard as she ran up the wall. When she reached the top she kicked off with both hooves and did a backflip.

After doing a few spins she twisted so she landed on top of the metal fence that surrounded the blacktop area, skidding across it. When she reached the end she jumped off hard, once more flapping her wings to her utmost, heading towards a tree nearby. Landing on a branch she immediately put one hoof on it and jumped off to another branch on the tree next to it.

With a combination of scooter throwing, front flips, and back flips. she continually went back and forth between each tree until she reached the top, then she jumped backward, back towards the top of the metal cage, skidding in the opposite direction until she was about to hit the wall. She pushed forward at just the right instant, putting her hooves on top of it and doing a hoof stand with the scooter before pushing up hard and doing a spin to get back on the scooter, rushing forward and jumping off to the ground, flapping to reduce the impact.

She heard the thunderous applause and gave a bow. Ponies always got a hit out of her tricks.

When things settled down a little a stallion approached her that she had never seen before. He was a red pegasus with a gray mane and a flaming wheel cutie mark. He looked too old to be at the school. She was pretty sure he wasn’t a teacher. “Hello, there. May I ask your name?”

“I’m Scootaloo,” she responded. “And you are?”

“Name’s Flame Dust. I was watching your performance and I have to say I’m really impressed. That was quite a show.”

Scootaloo nodded her head to him and said, “Thank you. I aim to please.”

“I was just wondering where you train.”

“Oh. Well, everywhere I can, I guess. Near my home, at school, out at the park...”

He let out a laugh. “No, no, no. I mean, what school do you train at? Who was your teacher?”

“Um… no one really. My big sis Rainbow Dash taught me to fly, but besides that everything I’ve done I’ve learned through intuition and trial and error.”

Flame Dust looked amazed. “You’re kidding! That’s hard to believe.”

She turned to the side a little. “Hey, I didn’t get this cutie mark for nothing! A scooter rider was what I was always meant to be.”

“I agree. So are you a senior?”

“That’s right. Why do you ask?”

“So what are your plans after graduation?”

Scootaloo felt a little uncomfortable with the questions because she wasn’t sure why he was asking. “Don’t know. I didn’t put much thought into it. I’ve never left Ponyville before. I guess I’m just going to get a job so I don’t burden my parents and then… I guess I’ll have to see where life takes me after that.”

“Well, that’s no way to live. Listen, I’m in town to visit my cousin. He’s graduating this year too. I don’t know if you’ve heard of them out here, but I’m one of the scouts for an athletic group called the Blazing Wheels.”

“Well, no… I haven’t heard of them. Who are they?”

“They’re a traveling sports group all about scootering. We’re all looking for the best of the best. We’re searching for more members to expand our repertoire of techniques and to put on a more entertaining show.

“Even from the little I’ve seen you clearly show a lot of promise and I’m certain you would get accepted in. Why just stay in Ponyville your whole life? Don’t you want to get out there and explore life? There’s so much you haven’t seen yet. You could be great. All your traveling expenses would be covered by our sponsors, and of course you’d make a percentage of all our profits from each show.

“You could be great, Scootaloo. You could be famous the world over as an amazing scooterist. Someone with your level of talent surely must be looking for some competition.”

Scootaloo looked unsure. “It’s certainly nice of you to offer but, um… well…”

“Ah!” said Flame Dust. “You don’t know if I’m on the up and up? Forgive me.” He went into his saddle bag and pulled out a newspaper. “Well, as a pegasus I’m sure you’ve heard of the Wonderbolts before.”

“Of course. My friend is a member.”

“Then this will be easy. This is an article from our last show in Los Pegasus.”

Scootaloo took the paper. There was a photo of a skate park with all sorts of ramps and ponies in flashy looking outfits. She read the article praising the spectacular spectacle. What really caught her attention right off was the headline. “The Wonderbolts of the scooter world.”

When she handed the paper back he asked, “So, are you convinced?"

“Yes… I believe you are who you say you are but… it’s not just that. There are still issues with my family. I don’t know if I can just leave. I need some time to think it over and discuss it with them.”

“Of course. I understand. I have to head back after the graduation, so that leaves you about a month to make your decision. I hope you make the right one.”

**************

“So that’s what happened.”

“I see,” Mom responded. “And?”

“I think it’s absolutely amazing! This is probably the greatest, most amazing thing that’s ever happened to me. I could finally really be recognized for my scooter ability. I could become famous. I could travel all over Equestria! I could entertain so many people! Maybe I could be an inspiration to hundreds by sharing my story of coming from nothing, and how hard work and believing in myself made me who I am today. I could meet other ponies who share my interest and are hard-core into competition. It’s all so amazing and I want to do it! I want it more than anything!” I let out a sigh as I finished.

“Buuuttt?” Mom said.

“But… there’s reasons I don’t want to do it too! The reason I moved in with you and Dad and Rose Blossom after my grandmare died was because I needed family nearby to care for me and my broken heart. I don’t know if I can leave you behind. It feels selfish to go out into the world when all of you will miss me. Rose, especially, will take it really hard.

"If I’m out in the world I don’t know if I can trust all the ponies around me, and maybe I’ll get taken advantage of without my support group near me to pick me up if I fall. I don’t know if I can trust this group and its members. I don’t know if I can handle it. I know I’ve mostly been going off on my own for years in Ponyville, but this is my hometown. I know it like the back of my hoof, as well as nearly all the ponies here, even if not by name. Everything will be so new and different and I’m kinda scared about it.”

I put my head in my hooves for a little while, taking some deep breaths. I turned to her and said, “What do you think I should do? Should I go for it or not?”

Mom was quiet for a while, just silently meeting my eyes but not saying anything. When she finally spoke she said, “I can’t tell you what to do, Scootaloo. You’re an adult now and you have to make your own decisions. This is a choice that can affect your entire future, and only you can make it.

"A lot of children go out into the world once they grow up, to push past the former boundaries of childhood to see what is out there. Some choose to just stay near to home and get their own place. All I can say is that no matter what happens me and your father will respect your decision whichever way you decide. We’ll support you one hundred percent.

“However, as you pointed out, you have until graduation to decide. This isn’t a decision that can be made in just an afternoon. If you have doubts about the group then study up on them and their members to see if they seem legitimate. You have time to weigh your options and look at the pros and cons of both and see which one wins out. Follow your heart and it won’t steer you wrong.”

I let out a little chuckle. “I guess I should have known you wouldn’t give me the answer. I guess you’re right. I should just take my time for now. I still have over twenty days to decide on a course of action. Thanks, Mom.”

“You’re welcome.”

“Oh! Please don’t tell Rosie about this.”

“I won’t.”

Days went by, and all my thoughts seemed to have gone toward the biggest decision of my life. Whether to go for my dream and leave my family behind, or to stay in Ponyville, and everything would stay the same as it always was. I couldn’t seem to push one way or the other. Every time I started veering towards a decision I seemed to immediately backpedal and return to indecision. I just didn’t know what to do!

Naturally Rose noticed my distraction. I knew she would. It wasn’t really like I could hide my irritation. On the fourth day since asking our mom for advice she came to my room one night. She didn’t look happy. “So what’s going on?” she said, an annoyed tone in her voice. “I’ve been waiting, but you’re breaking your promise again. I gave you some time, but you never came to me for help. I’m not stupid. I can see how out of it you’ve been.”

“I’m not breaking my promise,” I said plainly. “I told you back then that I wouldn’t always be able to tell you everything, but I’d tell you what I could.”

“So what? I can see you’re hurting about something, and I want to know what it is. You think you’re gonna feel better holding everything inside?”

“I already talked with mom about it, Rosie.”

“It’s ROSE! ROSE Blossom, thank you very much. I told you before I’m not a baby!”

I suppressed a laugh but I still felt a smile come to my face. No doubt about it. Rose had definitely developed some attitude. With both me and Rainbow Dash as teachers it was no surprise. She had gotten a bit “smarter” recently. Since she was “grown up” she insisted that I stop calling her Rosie and she had stopped calling me Scootieloo. I kinda hoped it was just a phase, the naturally rebel years of kids, because I still found it way too cute to want it to stop.

“Sorry. Rose Blossom. I have to make a big choice by graduation and it’s bugging me.”

Rosie looked at me with defiance, clearly wanting to push the issue. That expression slowly left her face to be replaced with an uncertain one. “As 'little kid' Rosie I guess I would have to keep asking and bothering you because I’d think I’d have to know everything that was bothering you to help you. But as 'grown-up' Rose Blossom I guess I’m mature enough to know that you’re not always going to come to me for every problem. I guess I should just be… understanding, and accept that you don’t want to tell me. I should just… give you a hug, tell you I love you, and that I’m there for you to support you, even if I don’t know exactly what’s wrong.”

“That would be lovely, Rose.”

She walked over and sat next to me, doing exactly what she said. I had hoped she would sit in my lap, but that was another no-no these days. That was too babyish too, just like sleeping with me at night was.

I held her back, feeling her love and warmth. I still felt so unsure of what to do.

Every day the deadline inched closer, and the more antsy I became over the phenomenal pressure surrounding me. Sad to say, I began snapping at other ponies more often, sometimes for the slightest things. I always felt ashamed afterward and apologized when I realized my mistake.

I finally said to myself I had to make a choice, and make it now. Make it, and commit to it. Otherwise, this was going to drive me insane. I noticed that because of my increased stress and sadness Rose was clinging to me much like she had before when she was younger.

Two weeks before graduation I went to Mom and Dad and gave them my decision. I told them I wasn’t going to do it. I didn’t think Rosie could handle not having me around. I mean... I could always… try to find something else to do… I guess. Scooter related, I mean…

Just like that the pressure evaporated out of me. However, while I thought making the choice would cause all my problems to disappear too that wasn’t the case. I felt like I couldn’t muster up the energy to do anything. I walked around in a daze, everything feeling meaningless to me. I tried to squash the feelings within me, but I was wholly unsuccessful. I couldn’t ride my scooter or train Rosie without thinking about my missed opportunity. I felt so frustrated. I had made my choice! It was the best choice for everyone involved! SO WHY? WHY DID I FEEL THIS WAY?

It was a few nights later when Rosie came to my room again like before. “Scootaloo… can we talk?”

“I guess so,” I said in a bored voice.

“Not here. Come with me.”

I sighed, forcing myself up. She took me outside, flying up to the roof. I couldn’t understand why she wanted to talk on the roof, but then again it wasn’t important. Nothing felt important these days.

She lay down on the roof, me next to her. I put my hooves behind my head and looked up at the stars and moon floating overhead.

“Scootaloo… Mom wanted me to talk to you.”

“Why?” I asked.

“She told me about the choice you were trying to decide on. She told me what you decided… and why you said you decided it.”

I turned a little to her, feeling a pit of… of… I don’t know. I didn’t know really how I felt about it. A pit of something was in my stomach.

She took a really deep breath and asked, “Eleven days until graduation. Are you leaving the same day?”

I looked at her again, fully this time, and said, “I thought Mom told you what I decided.”

“I know. And you decided a lie.”

“How is that a lie?”

“Because you’re unhappy! You’re moping around the house and school and not putting any effort into anything. So you want to try to tell me you think you made the RIGHT choice? I know Mom told you the same thing you tell me when making a choice: follow your heart. I can see where your heart is in this. You WANT to leave and give yourself a real test of your abilities. You’ve given up on surpassing Rainbow Dash at flying, so now you’re just focusing on trying to beat her at what you ARE best at. But you’ve never had anyone to compete with in your OWN field of skill. You've never had someone to compete with in scootering.”

Rosie sat up, curling herself into a ball as she placed her front hooves around her back ones. “I really appreciate that you cared enough about my feelings that you were willing to give up your dream to make me happy, but I can’t accept that. Not if you’re just going to be miserable the rest of your life thinking about it!

"You NEED to do this! If you leave you may find that it’s not as enjoyable as you thought. You may find that your teammates are jerks. You may find you don’t really care for crowds and being a celebrity. You may find that you miss us way too much and want to come home.

"If you go, you may decide you don’t like it and return home. But if you just stay here in Ponyville and don’t give this a shot you’re going to spend the rest of your life wondering how your life would be if you went for it. You’ll regret it forever. You’ll become resentful of me for holding you back from your destiny.

“I want you to be happy, Scootaloo. I want to do things to make you smile and laugh and have the most fun of your life. For a long time it was trying to become as good as Rainbow Dash that did it for you. After you beat her in that race you decided family was more important and you began spending more time with us. Now I see where your heart is going.

"If I said I wasn’t going to miss you a ton I’d be lying. It’s going to be lonely around here without you. Still… with the way you’re acting you’re already gone. You’re already not here anymore. You’re acting just like you did when you began having those nightmares of us dying.”

She scrunched up further so her face was on her legs and her voice came out muffled. “Go on! Get out of here! Go fulfill your destiny. I… I don’t need you! I’m grown up now. I can train by myself. You didn’t need a teacher to become as good as you are. With my friends, and Rainbow Dash when she has the time, I will do fine.”

I could hear a shakiness in her voice, and I was pretty sure she was crying. I could tell it was killing her inside to tell me to leave. We had been inseparable for so long.

I didn’t care if she felt too mature for it. I leaned over and picked her up, placing her on my lap facing me as I held her. I held onto her strongly as I began crying. “You’re right, Rosie. This isn’t what I really want. I do want to see what I’m really made of, to compete against the very best of the scooter world… to see if I’m really worth anything against a fellow scooterist. I was mainly holding back simply because of you, and I didn’t get any enjoyment out of that choice. I’ve been chasing a dream since childhood, and it’s finally time to get in the race.”

She was quiet in my hooves. She didn’t fight or assert her independence. I guess she was taking it hard. I was struggling with the thought myself. “I can’t lie, Rosie. You’ll be on my mind every day. I guess just like when Rainbow Dash got her acceptance letter to the Wonderbolts Reserves that it’s beyond personal feelings. No matter how much we don’t want to be apart I have to go. It’s not going to be easy, but it has to be done.”

“Promise me one thing, Scootaloo,” she said quietly.

“Yes, Rosie?”

She looked up at me with a smile, wiping her face of a few tears. “If you’re going to go then I want you to take this all the way! Don’t you dare come home until you’ve kicked the flank of every two-bit scooterist who thinks they’re hot stuff or even thinks they can compare to you. Beat everyone and become the best in the world, Sis!”

I let out a chuckle. “I’ll do my very best to make that a reality. And I’m sorry, Rosie. After all, we got into that fight because I didn’t trust you to be able to handle the truth. In my mind you were weak. If I had come to you back when you first asked, and told you the truth about thinking of going away, a lot of this could have been avoided. I thought for sure you’d insist on me staying so I didn’t want to feel pressured to give in to you.”

“It’s okay! I forgive you.”

I felt energized again in the days leading up to graduation. Rosie was clingier than ever, knowing we only had a limited amount of time before I left town. We left Rock Climber, Sun Glimmer and Honey Drop to their training so I could spend the coming days with my family.

When the day arrived my mind and heart were going in all sorts of directions. I was happy and sad, upset and joyful, scared and excited. I kept going rapidly from one emotion to the next because I knew what was coming the next day.

The ceremony was good. I put on my cap and gown and came up when I was called.

After all the speeches were over me, and our family and friends, headed to Sugarcube Corner to celebrate. I fully participated. After all, this would be my last party in Ponyville for quite a while.

I felt glad to be ending this chapter of my life. Now came the most exciting chapter of all! Or at least I hoped it was.

In the morning I met up with Flame Dust as he instructed. Everyone important to me showed up to send me off: Rainbow Dash, Mom, Dad, Rose Blossom, Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, Twilight, Spike, Fluttershy, Applejack, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie.

When he saw me with my scooter he said, “Oh, you don’t need to bring that. We’re top of the line and will get you a brand new scooter.”

“That is unacceptable,” I said firmly.

“Why is that? Is it pride because you want to pay for it yourself? You’ll make up for it in other ways."

I shook my head. “It’s not about pride over accepting charity. I have no doubt you could provide me with a scooter that’s ten times more expensive and sturdy than this one. However, I’m going forward with this scooter, or I’m not going at all.”

A look of confusion came to his face. “Why is it an issue?”

“This scooter was given to me on my birthday, the very first one after I lost my grandmare. Before that I rode my old scooter, the one she gave me, every day. Every single one of the ponies you see behind me chipped in to get this for me.” I patted my scooter lovingly. “Before they gave it to me I was told that each of them contributed to it and put their heart into it. That has been what allowed me to excel, because I believe a piece of my family is with me everywhere I go.

“If you want to see my very best I’ll accept no other vehicle. I’d never perform as well with a scooter devoid of love. This gift means a lot to me, so it’s the only one I want to ride. With this I’ll perform to my utmost and I’ll succeed always. I’ll be better than anyone else, because the strength and courage and power and love from my family and friends will always be with me no matter how far apart we are, and that is a bond I don’t ever want to lose or break.”

I saw a tear come down Flame Dust’s eye. “I see. I understand now. Keep it then.”

“Thank you.”

Rainbow Dash came up to me and hugged me. “So you’re really leaving, huh?”

“Yeah. But I’ll be back some day. Watch over the kids for me.”

“I will.”

I let out a small laugh. Trying to adopt a cocky attitude I said, “Going to a group called the 'Wonderbolts of the ground?' I guess I beat you again. How long did it take you to become a Wonderbolt again?”

She let out a small laugh too. Just like me her heart wasn’t in it. “I’ll miss you, kid. Make me proud. Don’t you dare lose to anyone!”

I hugged everyone, thanking them for their help and support, leaving Rose Blossom for last.

“This is goodbye for now, Rose.”

She was acting nonchalant and aloof. She gave me a small hug with a single hoof. “There, you happy? Now quit your stalling and get out of here. Your destiny awaits!”

“Oh, no!” I said, feeling a sudden happiness go through me. “You’re not getting out of it that easy!” I grabbed her and flew up into the sky, hugging her tightly and spinning around. "You're going to hug me whether you want to or not!"

I saw her struggle not to laugh as I placed her back on the ground. “Don’t do that! I told you I’m not a baby! Don’t be doing sappy stuff like that in public!”

The big tough girl act again. “Okay, Rosie… sorry. Rose. Rose Blossom. I’ll see you around, kid. Do your best and become stronger. Surprise me when I come back.”

I ruffled her mane a bit and began walking away towards Flame Dust. I let out a small sigh. This was what I wanted… didn’t stop me from being a little scared. But I knew I could handle it.

I grabbed my scooter from against a tree. “Goodbye, everyone!”

Getting on my scooter I kicked off, laughing to myself. I just hope my excitement lasted. I knew I was going to be missing my family before long.

I had only gone about a thousand feet when I heard it: a voice calling my name.

I put my hoof out to slow myself and turned to see Rosie flying towards me. “Wait!” she yelled. "Scootieloo, wait!"

She nearly knocked me to the ground as she flew into me. I looked down and saw tears streaming down her eyes. “I… I promised myself I wouldn’t cry. I promised I wasn’t going to cry until you left because I didn’t want you to have second thoughts. B-but… but…” Her eyes clenched shut. “But I’m gonna miss you so much, Scootieloo! I love you, Scootieloo! I’m not too grown-up yet. I’m sorry for acting like a brat! You can call me Rosie if you want! Be-because you’ll always be Scootieloo to me!”

She began bawling in my chest as I started crying too. I put my hooves around her and let myself go. “I’m gonna miss you too… little Rosie. I love you so much. That’s why I have to go. So you’ll have a big sister worth bragging about. If I stay here all I’ll be teaching you to do is give up on your dreams and not to care about what’s important to you.”

“I love you, Scootieloo!”

“I love you too, Rosie! Forever and ever! Thank you for everything. I never would have come this far without you by my side.”

The two of us just held each other, the only things in each other’s worlds at the moment, and bawled like babies. I prolonged it as long as possible, wishing the world would stop at that moment so I would never have to let her go.

When I finally composed myself I let her go, sniffing. I didn’t want to hold off any longer. If I didn’t go right now I was sure I wouldn’t be able to make myself leave. Grabbing my scooter I zoomed off as fast as I could, forcing myself to leave what I knew behind for the sake of my own dream. A part of me wanted to turn around, to give Rose one more hug… one more kiss. But I ignored it. I had to ignore it… no matter how much I wanted to just turn around and forget the whole thing.

No, this is not the ending. One more chapter and the epilogue left. =)

Scootieloo is gone. Scootieloo… is gone! Waking up, that’s the first thing that comes to mind. She’s gone and I don’t know when she’s going to come back. I have to force myself out of bed. I barely slept last night. I felt so sad and lonely that I went to sleep in my parents room. I fell asleep crying in my mom’s hooves.

I had encouraged her to go. I had told her to leave. I wanted her to be happy. I wanted to see her achieve her dream. I did it for her. But now I miss her so bad it hurts! I can’t believe she’s not here.

I grabbed my saddlebag as I walked downstairs to the kitchen, seeing my parents eating breakfast.

I sat down at the table. Before I can even get a word out I began sobbing as I place my head in my hooves. This ache in my heart is unbearable. I want her back! I want her back NOW!

Dad walked over to me and put me on his lap, holding me to him. I held onto him tightly, my emotions bursting forth with all of my pain. I couldn’t even hold any of it back. My body shook and I gasped in what little oxygen I could between sobs.

I don’t know how long it went on but eventually my emotions burned themselves out. My head hurt from the intensity of my crying fit.

“Rose… it’ll be okay,” said Mom as she rubbed her hoof through my mane. “You just have to take things one day at a time. I know you didn’t want her to leave but she’ll become a better mare for it. She’ll grow exponentially and become the pony she was always meant to be. And as her sister you’ll follow in her hoofsteps and become great like her. Isn’t that an exciting thought?

"Maybe one day you’ll be a Blazing Wheel too. The best one there ever was. But if you just spend all your time being sad you know Scootaloo isn’t going to be happy about it. She wants you to be happy. You want her to be happy. That’s why you encouraged her to leave. So don’t become overwhelmed. I know how deep your bond was with your sister, but you’re not alone. Me and your father, Rainbow Dash, and your three friends will all be there to support you during this time. You just have to let us.”

I looked up at Mom and Dad, and I started feeling a little guilty. “I… I’m sorry. I don’t mean to make it seem like I don’t love you guys too.”

“I know, Rose,” said Dad, rubbing my back as Mom continued rubbing my mane.

I closed my eyes as I rested against his chest. For the longest time Scootieloo had always been the priority. I would go to her when I was happy, when I was sad, when I was mad… you name it. I shared everything with her, only going to our parents when she wasn’t around. It wasn’t that I didn’t care about them, or that I didn’t trust them or anything. I just felt the most comfortable with Scootieloo. I guess I was just going to have to learn how to rely on them again while she was away.

After about ten minutes my emotions had settled enough that I felt almost normal. I wished I could have just stayed in their embrace and enjoyed their love for a while longer, but I had to get to school.

I was going to get my scooter, but… I didn’t think I wanted to ride it today. It would just remind me too much of Scootieloo. So, for the very first time, I flew there. After the usual warm-up exercises I took to the air and zoomed off towards school.

School didn’t go so well. In the safety of my parents comforting hold and loving caresses, Scootieloo not being there felt easy to take. Without them, the world felt so cold and empty. Even my friends couldn’t shake me out of it.

I felt irritated. I couldn’t focus on my work. I wanted to start crying again, but not in front of everyone. I snapped at a few ponies for bothering me. Worst of all, about halfway through the school day Honey Drop tried to be supportive of me. I had just been passively listening, but when she brought up Scootieloo’s name I lost it. I yelled at her to shut up and flipped my desk over before getting up and kicking hers over too.

When Miss Cheerilee went to scold me for it I yelled at her too that I didn’t want to hear it and I just went into a corner to shut her up.

I was dimly aware of her calling an early recess. She came over to me and put a hoof on my shoulder. “What’s going on, Rose Blossom?” she asked with concern. “This isn’t like you. You’ve never done anything like that before.”

I threw her hoof off me and walked further into the corner. “I’m punishing myself! Do you mind?”

I heard the sound of more hoofsteps approaching, and I heard Sun Glimmer say, “Miss Cheerilee, Rose Blossom is sad because her sister isn’t here anymore.”

I heard a gasp, and she responded, “She died?”

“No!” I said loudly, spinning around. “What are you, STUPID? Does 'NOT HERE' automatically mean DEAD? DON’T SAY THAT! DON’T EVER SAY THAT! Scootieloo can’t die! She can’t! I’d never forgive her for that.”

Rock Climber spoke up next. “Scootaloo was given an offer to join a scootering group outside of town. At first she turned it down because she didn’t want Rose to… well, to act like this.”

“So why did she leave if she knew the effect it would have on her sister?” asked Cheerilee.

“Rose Blossom was the one who told her to leave. She wanted Scootaloo to be happy, and she clearly wasn’t with her first choice. I… I think it’s a lot harder on her because of that.”

Rock Climber was right. I was kicking myself for telling her to go. My anger began fading away as I fell sobbing onto my teacher, my second time today. How was I going to handle this for months or even years if I couldn’t even make it past the first day without being a crying wreck? This was hopeless! It was impossible!

Just like with my parents she held me securely to her, rubbing my back as my emotions overflowed. All my friends came over and hugged me too Even Honey Drop came, and after I had just been so nasty to her.

Just like before, with time and caring friends, my emotions burned themselves out and I began calming down. I pulled myself from Miss Cheerilee’s grip and I said, “Thank you… all of you. I’m sorry.” I let out a sniff as a few more tears came down my face, “Sorry for being such a jerk. I just didn’t think it was going to be this hard! I’m sorry I yelled at you, Honey Drop.”

She walked over and gave me a big hug. “It’s okay, Rose. I forgive you.”

It was my second breakdown today, but I didn’t know if it was going to be my last. It felt like all I was doing was just holding back the inevitable. I could try not to let it bother me, but I knew it would soon enough.

I spent the rest of the recess period being fawned over by my friends and teacher, and even asked to spent some more time in her lap. I felt a little embarrassed to ask though. I had been getting so uncomfortable being held and babied. I wanted to be seen as more than just a little kid. I wanted the same kind of respect and admiration Scootieloo had. I’m already two years older than she was when she saved my life, but I haven’t done anything remotely impressive besides train.

I managed to make it through the rest of the school day with no more problems. Rock Climber asked me if I was going to be there for training that day. I told him I didn’t want to go. It would just remind me more that Scootieloo wasn’t around.

When I got home Dad was at work, but Mom was home. She was sitting down writing something. It was a little rude but I didn’t say a word as I pushed her backwards and hopped into her lap, hugging her as I let out a big sigh.

She didn’t sound bothered as she said, “Rough day?”

“Rough? It was terrible. In a few more days, at least, I won’t have to worry about school anymore until after summer. But that just means all my days are going to be empty. I don’t know if I’m going to last until Scootieloo comes home. I appreciate your help, and my friends are helpful too, but my life just seems so incomplete without my big sis. I think you could help hold my heart together.”

“Well, thank you, Rosie. Oh, I forgot. You’re just Rose now, right?”

I shook my head. “No,” I responded, feeling irritated again. “A big girl wouldn’t be this weak and pathetic. I deserve to be called Rosie.”

“Don’t say that!” she said sternly. “You’re not weak OR pathetic. Missing someone who’s not around is a perfectly normal response, especially for ponies as close as you two were. Scootaloo was around your age when her grandmare died. She was affected by it so hard she went into a coma to keep from snapping, and afterword required all of us to help her cope until she could accept her loss. So, after talking so much about how you want to be just like your sister, and how brave and tough and strong she is, are you trying to say that she's weak and pathetic?”

I let out a huff. “That’s not the same! Her grandmare didn’t just go on vacation. She died. Scootieloo knew she wasn’t coming back no longer how long she waited. I know Scootieloo will come back.”

“It’s not as different as you think, Rose. Keep your chin up. You’re stronger than you know. If you heard Scootaloo’s life story then you know how little faith she had in herself when she was younger. She thought she had no value and she could never match up to Rainbow Dash. But… she did. She surpassed every one of her expectations and came out triumphant. You’ll do it too.”

“I do feel better, just sitting on your lap and being close to you.” I closed my eyes and gently nuzzled her. “You always smell like freshly picked flowers and love.”

My head bobbed a little with her movements as she laughed. “So what does love smell like?”

I was stymied for a few seconds before I responded, “You!” My quick joy faded. “I really do feel good sitting here with you, but I can’t spend every minute of every day sitting with you, even if I wanted to.”

“That’s true. But we can spend what time we can together, hmm?” She put her hooves around me and held me to her. She began singing a song to me as she rubbed my back.

It took me back, back to my young, young days, where I was only a toddler. I couldn’t remember it clearly. It was more a vague memory that made me feel calm and that the world was right. I very nearly fell asleep as she sang several lullabies to me. I felt peace in my heart. It was a lovely time.

It lasted me the rest of the day, but unfortunately it didn’t last. A few days after school let out for summer I got a visit from Rainbow Dash. She asked me to come out with her. I wasn’t really in the mood but I went with her anyway. She flew up into the sky and I followed along with her.

“So what’s going on, Rose Blossom?” she started. “You’ve been shirking your training. I don’t appreciate that.”

“I’m just not ready yet!” I responded, getting defensive. “Riding my scooter and going to training both remind me of Scootieloo. It keeps hurting so much.”

She let out a laugh. “You’re still such a kid. Maybe I’ll start calling you Rose Baby from now on! Hey, that has a nice ring to it. Rose Baby, Rose Baby, Rose Baby!”

My emotions instantly switched from sadness to anger. “You shut your mouth!” I screamed. I flew hard into her, trying to hurt her. How DARE she talk about what she knew nothing about! She had no idea of the hurt I was going through!

“That’s better!” said Rainbow Dash. “Just like with Scootaloo I know that anger is more useful than despair. At least when you’re angry you’re full of life and energy.”

Some of my fury disappeared, one eyebrow going up. “Always with the tricks with you.”

“Of course.” She smirked. “I always want the best for my sisters. Tell me. Scootaloo has gone away to train and follow her dream. YOU pushed her to do it because you knew it was the right thing to do. NOTHING you do now is going to change that. So pretty much you have only two choices now: You can sit and mope and whine and cry and let your skills get rusty and let all your training go to waste, or you can rise above these feelings and do what needs to be done.”

“And what 'needs to be done?' ” I asked in a sarcastic voice.

“Why, you need to move forward and beat Scootaloo. I gave Scootaloo the same speech when she was your age. I’m harsh on you because I respect you and know you can take it. I know this isn’t enough to break you. You can copy Scootaloo in everything she does, but you will NEVER be her. The only thing you can ever hope to be is a carbon copy phony. It’s time to cut the apron strings and grow up, Rose. You’re not a baby anymore. You’re growing up.

“If there is one thing I can recommend you do copy from Scootaloo it’s what she did after losing her grandmare. She turned her despair into inspiration. She took her grief and pain and all the negative things and got rid of them by throwing her whole heart and soul into an activity. Namely, scooter practice.

“If you stop here just because Scootaloo isn’t going to be here to hold your hoof every step of the way then you’re a loser and not worth my time. In fact, even if Scootaloo came back right this very minute you’d still be a great big loser because all you’d do is go right back to relying on her for everything. You talk a big game of being mature and grown-up, but all I see before me now is a baby and a coward.”

I let out a growl. Her comments got under my skin so much I wanted to hit her! But I knew that’s what she wanted, so I wasn’t going to give in to her.

With a big smirk she continued, “Something wrong, Rose? You don’t like hearing a great big helping of the truth, do you? So what is it you’re gonna do? You can go back home now and go back to being a crybaby brat, or… you can prove me wrong. You can grow and excel and reach an even higher place than Scootaloo. You really going to tell me you’re going to be satisfied just letting me insult you and belittle you and mock you, and you’re not going to do a thing about it but prove me right? Huh… Rose Baby.”

I felt like I couldn’t get enough oxygen in my system. My breathing was short and shallow and my head was pounding. I turned to her and said in a growl, “YOU’RE ON! I’m going to demolish you and everything you stand for! I’ll be great! Greater than anyone else! Even Scootieloo won’t be able to beat me by the time I’m done. I’ll become so great that other ponies will say, 'The Wonderbolts? The Blazing Wheels? What’s that?' So you can shut your mouth, Rainbow Dash! Because I’m not a baby! And I’m not going to take your smart-mouthing!”

“Good! That’s what I want to hear. I’ll expect you at the park soon.” She took off ahead.

I turned around, pushing myself to my limit as I headed back home. I was furious. Furious in a kinda good way. I slammed the door open of my home, racing to my room and getting on my scooter, then zooming off to the park. I’d show her! I wouldn’t ever give in to her! No matter how hard it gets I’ll keep pushing ahead and I’ll become better than everyone else that came before me! I owed it to Scootieloo. She was surely doing her best to become great where she was, so I had to train even harder than she ever did!

When I arrived at the park I saw Rainbow Dash waiting for me. “So what’s first, OH SO GREAT RAINBOW TEACHER?”

She let out a laugh. “Well, besides training I think there’s something else we have to work on.”

“And what’s that?”

“Well, kid. You seem a little… incomplete right now.” Coming over to me I felt her tap my flank.

I looked over. I hadn’t given it much thought, but all four of us were still blank flanks. That was the first step in overtaking Scootieloo and Rainbow Dash.

From that day forward I attended every one of my practice sessions. I practiced every day for hours, even when Rainbow Dash and my friends were busy. Just like Rainbow said, having something to focus all my energy on really helped to cool my emotions. I’d go home feeling proud of myself. Having an outlet for all my painful emotions worked wonders on my mood. Of course I did still miss Scootieloo a ton, but I wasn’t letting it hold me back anymore. Every time I started getting too deep into my sadness I’d see Rainbow’s mocking face in my mind, and my misery would instantly turn to rage.

A month after Scootieloo left I finally got a letter from her! In fact, three of them. She had written each of us an individual letter. When Mom told me about it I was so quick in taking it from her I nearly ripped the letter in half. I was in such a rush I could barely get the thing open. When I finally got it out I read her words.

******

“Dear Rosie,

How are you? I hope you’re doing well. I’ve adjusted to this new life, but it’s a struggle every day not being around you and everyone else. I tell you, though, the training they’re putting me through is like nothing I’ve ever had before. They’re putting me through the ringer, testing me in every conceivable fashion and pushing me to my limits and beyond. It’s such a rush to finally be given an experience that challenges me to this extent.

“My teammates are really nice. Intense types, just like me. They remind me a bit of Rainbow Dash. They’re hardcore competitors. We spend hours every day just challenging each other to every type of trick, twist, jump, turn… every single possible thing.

“They’re really impressed at how good I am, considering I never had any formal training. In fact, I’m actually better than a few of them. Not all of them. There are a few of them who are running circles around me no matter how hard I push myself. You don’t know how glad I am to write those words. I never knew just how good some of these ponies are. It gives me something to work towards. If I was the best as soon as I got here then it wouldn’t be much fun.

“I have to thank you, Rosie, for encouraging me to go. I’ve never felt such a sense of fulfillment in my entire life. I know that this is where I’m meant to be. I belong here with my teammates. All of us push each other to do our best, because no one wants to be seen as the worst one there.

“I’m determined to be the best there one day. Now I know I have something high to strive for. Just like you requested I’m going to do every single thing I can to improve and show all of them just how good I am.

“I love you, Rosie! I miss you so much, and I can’t wait to see you again! Write me when you get the chance and let me know what you’ve been up to since I’ve been gone. I can’t wait to hear from you!

“Soar high, zoom ahead, and become so good I don’t even recognize you by the time I see you again.

“With boundless love, your big sister forever, Scootieloo.”

********

Tears came down my eyes. Scootieloo was having the time of her life. She’s constantly being challenged and striving to improve. I no longer regretted telling her to leave. I felt so happy for her happiness. I had to keep pushing ahead myself. I couldn’t let her get too far ahead.

When I saw my friends for our training I read them the letter.

“Listen up!” I said. “I think it’s time for all of us to stop being children and really think about our future.”

“What do you mean, Rose?” asked Rock Climber.

“The four of us are best friends. Except for our family we know each other better than anyone. We trust each other. I think we should make our own athletic group.”

“Like what?” asked Honey Drop.

“The Wonderbolts are only about flying. The Blazing Wheels are only about scootering. Do you know what they’re missing? VARIETY! We have a scooterist, a flier, an acrobat, and a magic user. Together we can put on a show that combines all of these aspects. We may be young, but we are not without talent! We’re going to show all of them that we can be just as good as them!

“What do you say?”

The three of them cheered.

I wasn’t going to fall behind to my older sisters just yet. Like Rainbow Dash said, I couldn’t just be Scootieloo’s shadow my whole life. I had to get out there and do my own thing.

The future awaited me, and I was going to chase after it, body and soul, until I caught it.

One chapter left! And it's going to be a doozy! I hope all of you enjoy the ending.

We get to see Scootaloo perform! =)

It’s been six months since Scootieloo left. I had continued diligently practicing. We talked back and forth with letters as much as we were able. She’d send me pictures of her in her racing outfit, and I’d send her pictures of myself. It was the closest we could get to actually talking.

One morning I was heading out to do my training with my friends. I had just left the house and was about to take off on my scooter when I heard a savage yell above me and I felt something grab me and lift me off the ground.

I let out a scream, about to cry out for help, but when I looked up to see what had me I let out a loud gasp. It was Scootieloo! She was sporting an open mouthed grin, showing off all her teeth as she looked warmly at me.

I flapped my wings and hugged her in mid-air and said, “Scootieloo! You’re back! I’m so glad!”

“That’s right!” she said. “Oh my gosh, Rosie. I’ve missed you so, so much! You have no idea!”

“I missed you too!”

“I thought I’d surprise you, so I didn’t tell you I was coming. I’ve felt so excited to be able to come home again.”

“You’re… you’re not quitting, are you?”

“Course not!” she said, squeezing me tighter. “Not even close. I’ve been training like there’s no tomorrow. Now that I’ve built up a good relationship with my teammates and showed them I’m committed, determined, and dangerous, they finally want me to participate in a show. However, I told them I wasn’t doing it unless it was in Ponyville. I want all my friends and family to be there when I finally live out my dream. I tell you... the moves we’ve been practicing are insane! Especially the final act! It will blow your mind! Can’t tell you about it though. No spoiling the fun.

“At first they were a little hesitant of shifting their schedule for me, but I showed them how profitable it would be. I told them about me fighting a dragon and being a huge town hero. That’s going to draw a big crowd. I figure that if I do great I want my hometown to know I haven’t forgotten them in my success. And if I do horrible and make a big mess of things that’s okay too. At least they’ll be more forgiving here because of my hero status.”

“I bet! But I know you’re gonna do great! So when’s the show?”

“Tonight at seven. They’re going to be spending most of the day setting things up and advertising the show. They told me I could have the day off to come visit you guys since it’s been so long.”

When she finally set me down and let me go I said, “Hey, Scootieloo!”

“Yeah, Rosie?”

I gave her a smug look and said, “You’re not the only one that’s been keeping a big secret until we could meet up again.”

“Oh? And what’s that?” In response I shifted to the side and she gasped. “Rosie! You got your cutie mark!”

“That’s right!” I said with pride, looking over at my mark. “Now I really can say I’ve grown up.”

She came up and looked closer at it. My cutie mark was of a scooter surrounded by a heart, with rose petals around it in five different colors: orange, blue, gray, green, and yellow.

“So what does it all mean, Rosie? I can tell what the scooter is about, but those are some crazy flower colors.” She laughed at the end.

“The scooter is about my true potential. Like you, I’m destined to be an amazing scooter rider. The heart and the different colored petals show how I’m connected to every one of you. All of you loved me and showed me what path to take. Just like a rose each of you played a part in helping me bloom and to know what I should do with my life. You’re all a part of me and in my heart forever for what you did. I didn’t get to where I was alone. I did it with the help of my friends and my two sisters.”

I saw Scootieloo smile warmly at me. “I see. Just like me you now have a piece of your family with you wherever you go. So that’s what the different colors stand for. One for each of us.”

I nodded. “After you left I was heartbroken. Rainbow Dash was the one who snapped me out of it. She knows exactly what to say to get you mad and to push to do your best. She started calling me Rose Baby for a while!”

Scootieloo began cracking up, erupting into hysterical laughter. “R-R-Rose Baby! Oh, that’s a riot!”

I guess I should have gotten mad, but I had missed her too much to get upset. “Oh, yeah. I do believe you went by the nickname of COWARD-loo for a little while.”

She wiped her face of some tears that had formed from her laughter. “True enough. So you became determined to prove her wrong?”

“That’s right! I began taking my training super seriously. Rainbow was impressed at how hard working I became. Rock Climber got all jealous and began working harder himself.

“After I got that letter from you I knew even more that I had to work even harder. I’m not going to just sit around and let you wipe the floor with me forever.”

Scootieloo was still smiling, but her eyes seemed kinda unhappy. “I’m so glad to hear that you’re doing okay without me. That makes me feel better about being away. But… I’m also a little… sad. Rosie… you’ve been growing up without me.”

“Well, like Rainbow said about you, she told me I couldn’t just be a copy of you. I had to stop being so dependent on you so I could become good on my own merits.”

“Don’t get me wrong, Rose. I don’t want you to be solely reliant on me for everything. I’m just upset that I missed the biggest milestone of your life. I wish I could have been there when you got it.”

I gave her a shove. “Oh, stop getting all down in the dumps. It’s just a cutie mark! And if you hadn’t left I wouldn’t have had to learn to be strong on my own, so it might have actually taken a whole lot longer for me to get my cutie mark if you hadn’t left.

“You’re a part of my cutie mark, and I’ll always be thankful for all your help, but I need to keep pushing ahead on my own.”

I let out a laugh. “Come on! I’m gonna go really surprise Mom and Dad.”

“Oh, no! What’s going on in that mind of yours?”

I let out a sinister cackle, feeling a twisted grin come to my face. “Oh, you’ll see. Don’t come in until I call you, but stay near the door.”

Scootieloo let out a laugh. “Oh, boy!”

I went back inside the house. I saw Mom sitting at the table reading a book. She turned to me. “Hey, Rose. You’re back already? Did you forget something?”

I glared at her and adopted a snobby, disrespectful attitude. “No! I found someone to hang out with and I’m letting them in the house whether you like it or not!”

I could see a spot of puzzlement by my attitude before she got angry. “Not with that attitude you’re not! You send them home right now! I think maybe you need to spend some time in your room before you decide to speak like that to me.”

I let out a sigh. “Alright, then,” I said in a small voice. With a smile on my face I turned to my sister and pulled her into view and said, “You heard her. You have to leave now, Scootieloo.”

Scootieloo waved with a chuckle and said, “Hi, Mom.”

The expressions on Mom’s face were priceless. It went from anger to surprise to joy. “Scootaloo!” she cried out, jumping up out of the chair and running towards us. She nearly knocked Scootieloo over in her haste as she hugged her daughter. “I’ve missed you so much!” She was crying already. “You have no idea.”

I heard Scootieloo laugh a bit before saying, “I’ve missed you too, Mom, but if you don’t ease up a little I’m not going to be able to breathe.”

I saw her release her grip a bit before she turned to me with a shrewd expression. “I suppose you think you’re funny, Rosie.”

I smiled my widest smile. “Yep, I am pretty funny.”

“You little scamp! I suppose you’ll find it much more hilarious when I really do send you to your room and don’t allow you to see your sister during her visit.”

I quickly gave her a puppy dog pout. “You wouldn’t do that to me… would you?”

“Of course not.” I saw her let go of Scootieloo and look her up and down. “You still look pretty much the same on the outside, but I’m sure there’s a world of difference on the inside, if your letters are any indication.”

“Maybe, maybe not," she replied. "I guess you’ll just have to wait and see. My very first performance is tonight.”

“Tonight? Really? I’m so excited!”

“You should be. I’ve worked hard for this.”

I heard Dad’s voice as he walked into the kitchen. “Is someone here? I thought I heard… Scootaloo? Scootaloo!” Just like Mom he nearly tackled her as he ran over to her and hugged her.

I was crying now. The family was back together. All four of our members were together. This was the way things should be. I hugged Scootieloo too, and Mom hugged her again.

Looking up I could see Scootieloo’s eyes were closed, tears coming down her eyes. “This,” she started quietly, “I’ve missed most of all. The hugs that only a family can give. I’ve worked my hardest to make something of myself since I was a little filly and I thought I wasn’t anything special. But I’d give up all my talents and my cutie mark if I had to choose between that and all of you. My grandmare… Rainbow Dash… and now you. All of you have been so loving and supporting. All of you mean the world to me. Like Rosie’s cutie mark I’ll always have a piece of you guys inside me wherever I go. That’s why I refused to let them buy me a new scooter.”

“I love you, Scootieloo,” I said warmly, squeezing her tightly.

“I love you, Scootaloo,’ said mom.

“I love you, my wonderful daughter,” said dad.

Our group hug lasted for a while. None of us wanted to be the first to break it apart. It was probably about ten minutes all of us stayed clustered together. When we finally did let go I could see a look of peace on Scootieloo’s face. I knew the feeling.

I let out a breath and smiled. “Come on, everyone!” I said. “Come with me! I want to show all of you something. Especially you, Scootieloo.

“I haven’t just been sitting on my butt and doing nothing while you’ve been gone. Me and my friends have been working on putting together our own group which showcases all of our talents. I’ve been hesitant to show anyone our act because we’re still in practice in getting things just right. But you’re here today, and I want to show you how far I’ve come. I know I’m not as skilled as you yet, but I’ve been working hard to improve in my own way.”

“I can’t wait to see it, Rosie!” she replied. “I want to see for myself how much you’ve grown.”

I jumped onto her back, gently holding her around her neck. “Come on, Scootieloo! Go! Run!”

“Since when did I become your taxi?” she asked with a giggle.

“Hey, less complaining, more running.” I was grinning from ear to ear. I didn’t know if anything was going to be able to take my smile today. Everything just felt so right with my sister back.

“Fine, then. Hold on.” She reared up, and took off running, Mom and Dad not far behind. Mom was carrying my scooter for me.

“Woohoo!” I cried out. “Faster, faster!” I didn’t care if I sounded like a little kid. Scootieloo just had a way of bringing out the child in me.

When we got to the park we headed to our usual training spot. I saw my friends and yelled out, “HEY! Look who’s back!”

My friends turned to me and I saw their faces light up. They ran over to her and hugged her, then began plying her with questions. She answered, looking around at the three of them.

“So all three of you have been growing up too? All of you also got your cutie marks.”

Rock Climber had a cutie mark of a rock with a pair of wings. His symbolized his drive and determination. No matter how much of a weight was upon him he was determined not to falter and to fly to towards the sky. Sun Glimmer had a ring on a string like they have in the circus, showing her acrobatic skill. And Honey Drop had a net, symbolizing her desire to be a safety net to her friends, someone they could depend on when they were in trouble.

After chatting for a bit I spoke up. “Come on, all of you. Let’s go show her what we’ve been practicing on!”

“Okay!” they replied.

I took my scooter from my mom, my heart beginning to beat faster in my chest. I did my warm-up exercises as I prepared. My first audience. My first real demonstration of my talents. With my sister nearby I felt so much more courageous.

I headed to my spot, turning to my friends, and they nodded.

**********

Honey Drop was off to the side, but the other three kids split up and took off. Rock Climber jumped on top of Rose as she slowly flapped her wings. Sun Glimmer ran forward, jumping first off of Rose’s shoulder, flipping rapidly, before doing the same to Rock Climber until she landed on top of their group. As they passed a high tree branch she stuck out her hooves and grabbed it, Rock Climber holding onto her as she flipped and threw him into the air before rotating around the branch a few times and jumping off herself, twisting her body and spinning like a drill towards him. Rock Climber caught her on his back, and she jumped off of him towards a high branch, doing single rotations before throwing herself at each lower tree branch. Rock Climber headed lower, grabbing Rose Blossom as she came near a small hill and flipping her upside down.

Near the bottom of the tree Sun Glimmer launched herself off a branch, passing under Rose as she landed back on Rock Climber. The colt raced towards Rose who had just landed, the two of them heading towards each other. Rose Blossom jumped, flipping herself halfway forward and doing a hoof stand on the handlebars. Just as the weight began to press the scooter forward Sun Glimmer jumped , also doing a half-flip and landing with her hooves on top of Rosie’s before hopping off again onto the board of the scooter, launching Rose backwards. Sun Glimmer immediately jumped off the board towards Rose Blossom, grabbing her and twisting around to throw her back towards the scooter before landing on Rock Climber. She jumped as he twisted and did a one-eighty, him flying upside down now. She landed back on his stomach as she kept jumping and doing flips, landing on his now outstretched hooves each time as they headed back towards Rose Blossom.

Sun Glimmer jumped forward off Rock Climber, overshooting Rose Blossom and heading head first towards the ground. Scootaloo gasped, hoping her sister would somehow get there in time. There was a glow in the air before a net appeared surrounded by a purple glow. Scootaloo saw it had been cast by Honey Drop.

Sun Glimmer bounced out of the net and it disappeared as she landed on the back of the scooter. Rose headed towards a hill, jumping off it and doing a front flip. As she began turning Sun Glimmer jumped into the air. She kept pushing off and doing half-flips, heading higher towards a flying overheard Rock Climber. At first Scootaloo thought she was actually jumping on air, but looking closer she could see Honey Drop continually providing little platforms for her to land on. When she was high enough Sun Glimmer was grabbed by Rock Climber. He threw her up on top of him as they headed towards the ground towards Rose Blossom. Once they were close enough Rose grabbed onto him. They headed towards a tree branch, the two pegasi flapping their wings hard for the most speed.

When they reached it Sun Glimmer grabbed onto it. With the momentum Rose Blossom went flying into the air with the scooter. On the next rotation Rock Climber went, and then finally Sun Glimmer. Rose did a few rotations before landing back on the ground, her two teammates following suit. Rock Climber landed on the handlebars and Sun Glimmer on the back of the scooter as they headed back towards their audience.

*********

I was panting a little as we finished up. It was such a rush. I looked anxiously at Scootieloo to see what she thought of it. Her mouth was hanging open a bit. She suddenly began laughing, and that hurt more than anything. I thought we had done great.

“Rosie, Rosie, Roooosie!” she suddenly said, clapping her hooves. “That was incredible!”

I let out a sigh of relief. She had liked it.

“Your teamwork was flawless. You’ve been working really hard to improve. I can see that clear as day. I’m really proud of you. The level of trust and coordination all of you displayed is nothing short of perfection.”

My heart shined with pride and a huge smile lit up my face. “Thank you, Scootieloo.”

That was the first highlight of the day. We spent the rest of the day together playing and joking and laughing and talking. At five o’clock Scootieloo had to excuse herself. Even though the show didn’t start for two more hours she wanted to be there early to make sure everything was set up. Before she left she provided us with enough tickets for all of us and our parents. I left to give Rainbow her ticket, and she came back with us.

At six thirty we headed towards the arena. I couldn’t believe how many ponies had shown up. I think maybe the entire population of Ponyville was there. Outside the stadium I could see the advertisement for the show, and Scootieloo’s face was the main focus. I guess she was right. Hero status had brought in a big crowd.

My heart was racing again as we were shown to our seats. She had secured us the best seats there. I was bobbing up and down on my hooves, eagerly anticipating the show. I couldn’t wait!

So yeah. I decided to split the ending into two chapters so Rose can get the recognition she deserves, and Scootaloo can get the same.

Time passed by, me getting more impatient by the second to see Scootieloo perform. For a group that was said to be as good as the Wonderbolts in terms of skill I had no doubt that this was going to be the biggest event of my life! I’d see what I had to aspire to. I wanted to see how much Scootieloo had improved and see what kinds of teamwork they employed in their moves.

Bored, I decided to look around a bit. The stadium was set up like a gigantic theatre. The stands for the audience were like a piece of cake with a slice cut out. We were also higher up than the rest of the place, I guess to avoid any audience member getting hurt if an accident happened. The last part was covered by a curtain, where I thought all the racers were supposed to come out. In the center was a bunch of inclines and slopes, some of which went up to the ceiling of the track that had been set up. The wood of the tracks must have been manipulated with magic because it was kinda translucent. It wasn’t completely see-through. I think that was also for the benefit of the audience so they didn’t miss anything because they weren’t in the best spot to see what happened.

FI-NAL-LY, after like one hundred hours, a pony came out towards a microphone stand set on a podium. It was a unicorn stallion. He lifted the microphone with his magic, and he began talking.

“GOOD EVENING, PONYVILLE!” he roared. “How are you doing tonight?” A cheer went out throughout the crowd. “That’s what I thought! But I think by the end of this you’ll be feeling even better.

“My name is Sound Explosion, the announcer for this evening. I’ve been following the Blazing Wheels almost since their inception. They’ve quickly been rising up in the world. After only a sparse three years of performances, to have been given such a lofty tagline as 'The Wonderbolts of the ground' is nothing short of spectacular. We are pleased to present a once-in-a-lifetime show that is guaranteed to blow your mind! So how about we bring out these phenomenal athletes for your viewing pleasure? Give them a cheer and show your support!”

Another roar went out in the crowd, me joining in.

“Alright then! Without further delay let’s bring out the stars of the day. After all, you didn’t come here just to listen to my big mouth. To start off with, for those who don’t know let’s have a quick run-down of just who’s going to be performing tonight. First off, the leader of the Blazing Wheels: Razor Wind!”

A pony come racing out from behind the curtain. She was a greenish-blue with windswept looking hair.

One by one he introduced ponies to applause as they came out from behind the curtain and stood next to one another, until…

“And finally… our last and newest member… someone who really needs no introduction here in this town. The dragon tamer herself: Scootaloo!”

The screams and cheers and hoots that went through the crowd then surpassed every one that came before and went on longer too. I screamed my head off in my support as Scootieloo came out. She waved to all of us, then to the rest of the crowd.

When things finally settled down again Sound Explosion said, “There you have it folks. The fifteen members of the Blazing Wheels. Please, take your positions and show the audience why you’re worthy of your title.”

I really liked the outfits they were wearing. They wore a black bodysuit with racing stripes across them that ended in a wheel on fire.

The fifteen pegasus ponies all went to different parts of the arena.

“All right, everyone! Are you ready for a show?” Cheering went out through the crowd. “Oh, come on! That was pathetic. Let’s try this again. ARE YOU READY FOR A SHOW?” This time cheers burst out throughout the audience.

I turned to Rock Climber and he had a twinkle in his eye and a huge grin. I knew the feeling. I couldn’t get annoyed at the announcer. He was making me burn with anticipation.

“Alright, then! Without further ado! We present you with Equestria’s premiere scooter group. On your mark, get set, GO!”

As one all fifteen of them unfurled their wings and zoomed forward. I kept my eyes on Scootieloo at first, wanting to see this show she promised. I quickly noticed that it was impossible to simply keep my eyes on her. Just like me and my friends with our performance they never acted as individuals. Each of them constantly interacted with another member of the team.

They continually did things that made my jaw drop and frightened me as well as thrilled me. That they were called the Wonderbolts of the ground was definitely not an exaggeration. To start with all fifteen of them rode up the walls of the arena and began defying gravity by racing around ON THE CEILING! All of them being pegasi definitely helped out in that regard. They came close to crashing into one another before all of them jumped off, flipping and heading towards a ramp to absorb the impact of the fall.

I saw ponies wall jumping as they raced their scooters back upward and at the end jumping off towards some of their brethren, meeting each other’s hooves, momentum spinning them around until they had switched places. I saw two ponies grab onto each other so that they were in a small pyramid, one’s handle bar on top of the others and they kept jumping and flipping each time as they took the others ones place on the ground. I saw one set of ponies that looked like twins actually exchange scooters! The one near the ground hit a ramp and as she went up launched her scooter into the air as the other one let her scooter go from the ceiling. Both of them got onto the others scooter as they continued in their tricks.

I saw the same thing happen in a different way to another set of ponies. The two of them were coasting along the wall going horizontally. The two of them looked like they were about to crash when the both of them suddenly jumped off their scooters, avoiding each other by a hair as they each landed on the others scooter. The two of them put their hooves behind themselves to grab the handlebars, now going backwards. They each headed towards a nearby ramp and threw the scooters into the air, flying towards each other as they both landed back on their own scooter.

I saw two ponies heading right toward each other. One of them jumped his scooter, but he was only high enough that he was still going to knock the other one out. The one still on the ground jumped off his scooter, doing a few front flips, landing on the stallions shoulder before jumping and flipping until landing back on his scooter on the handlebars. As it tilted from the impact he did a quick front flip jump to slam it and cause it go flying in the air from the impact towards a mare overhead. She flipped upside down and caught his scooter on her front hooves before using her back hooves to throw her scooter at him. He flipped upside down and maneuvered the scooter back underneath him.

Each move they did was so precise that it looked like being just a second off would have ruined any of them. It was crazy. I had never seen scootering on this level. My heart began beating faster and faster. A mile-wide smile pulled at my lips and it wouldn’t go away. This truly was the most exciting thing I had ever seen. Watching Scootieloo’s race with Rainbow Dash was good, but even that couldn’t compare to this.

As I kept watching they continued doing more and more elaborate moves. Each time my heart jumped for a second when they would get too close to one another. For the next thirty minutes I was treated to a show that really did blow my mind.

At the end all fifteen of them jumped off ramps and headed towards the center of the area. I had to resist the urge to look away. They came so close to having a massive pile-up, but as usual they showed they had everything under control. Unharmed, all fifteen of them landed, putting their hooves out to stop themselves. When they did, once more the audience screamed and shouted and whooped and hollered.

My heart was nearly beating out of my chest. I felt so lively and full of energy I almost wanted to just run out and go ride my own scooter. That was such an incredible rush!

When things quieted down again the announcer began to speak. “Well, there you have it folks. The Blazing Wheels truly do light up a path of skill and determination that few can match.

“But… what do you think makes a good performance? What makes a show the best you’ve ever seen? For the performer, the one who dazzles the audience, that is an important question. What is it that they fight for? For prestige and appreciation? For applause and fame? To prove their own self-worth? To live out a dream?

“How about having an audience that feels that they paid the right amount for the viewing privilege? After all, what good is our group without a FINE AUDIENCE SUCH AS YOURSELVES TO WATCH US?” Clapping went on throughout the crowd.

“Well, I can tell you with certainty that that last one is certainly NOT what WE are going for! We don’t care one bit about an audience that feels they paid a good amount for their ticket.” I heard the audience nearby begin mumbling to each other. That felt out of place and rude to say. “Do you know why that is? Because we are the best of the best and we settle for nothing less! We don’t want you to go away here tonight feeling it was well worth the money. We want you to leave here tonight feeling like you grossly UNDERPAID! We want you to feel like the ticket for such a performance should have been two… five… TEN TIMES the admission price! We want an audience that leaves feeling fully satisfied that they got the absolutely positively BEST thing of their lives! Do you think we have kept to that promise so far?”

I yelled out in appreciation with the rest of them. I really liked this guy. His voice was smooth and he knew how to bring about a reaction in the crowd.

His voice suddenly got quieter and more solemn. “Of course, there are some who do not agree with that assessment. There are those who feel we are hackneyed… stilted… boring… that they could do anything we do. Do it, and do it BETTER. To which we say… bring it on! For any of you in the audience who has any doubt about who the true best scooter group in Equestria is we are going to put on a show that will prove without a doubt that there is no one better than us at what we do.” He moved around on the stage as he continued. “But… what is it, you may ask? After pulling off such moves just a little earlier what is we could do that would perfectly show the word impossible is just that: a word? It doesn’t exist in our world.”

He suddenly twitched a bit, turning toward another part of the audience. “W-what was that?” I felt my eyebrow go up. No one else had said anything. Now he was looking afraid. “W-what did you say? You… you can’t REALLY mean that? You want them to do the next part of the act… blindfolded?”

A collective gasp went throughout the crowd. I felt like my stomach had worms inside as a blazing fear erased all my previous excitement. That WAS impossible!

“Blindfolded, you say? W-why, that’s just crazy! It’s insane! It’s…” I saw each of the Blazing Wheels pull off something from their necks that I thought was just a scarf. In a confident voice he finished, “…and its right up our alley.”

Murmuring went throughout the crowd. I could see the nervousness and the fear around me. Mom and Dad looked uncomfortable.

“Is something wrong?” asked the announcer in an amused voice. “You suddenly got so quiet. Is that the voice of doubt I hear? Doubt that we are not, in fact, the best of the best who treat impossible like a game?”

I wanted to scream at that guy now! It had nothing to do with confidence. I KNOW Scootieloo is a top-notch scooterist. So are all her teammates. But what he was proposing was just reckless!

“I see. I suppose we shall have to convince you once again just WHY we deserve the glory of being compared to the Wonderbolts.

“Of course a simple blindfold is not good enough. A blindfold can slip.” One of the fifteen put on what looked like a face mask but without any eyeholes. “As you can see their faces are completely covered with the exception of their snout so they can breathe.

“Before we start I must warn all of you not to attempt this at home, outside, or anywhere else. This is an exceptionally dangerous act. The slightest mistake could lead to more than just a broken scooter. It could lead to a broken wing, or leg, or even… death.”

I shuddered at the last word, feeling a couple of tears come down my eyes. I didn’t like this guy anymore. I just felt more and more afraid. I kept picturing Scootieloo after the dragon attack where she was covered almost head to hoof in bandages and casts.

There was a silence in the area. The feelings were so heavy it was like I was having trouble breathing.

“Well, then. We’ve kept you waiting long enough. Let’s begin.” The one pony took off his mask and all fifteen of them began moving around to different spots of the arena. I examined Scootieloo’s face. She didn’t look nervous or scared. BUT I WAS! She put on the mask just like all the rest of them.

“It looks like we’re all set! Show your riveted audience just what you’re truly capable of!”

I tried to swallow but my mouth felt too dry. My body was shaking ever so slightly. I hoped nothing was going to go wrong. I couldn’t bear the thought of Scootieloo getting hurt like that again.

At the announcer’s command they all took off. I kept my eye on Scootieloo. At first all of them just did really simple things. They went ceiling riding until they reached the bottom and none of them were that close to each other. After about three loop-de-loops they suddenly shifted tactics and began heading for ramps and jumping off of them.

Right off the bat there was a near collision between Scootieloo and another pony. My heart was racing and I thought I was going to have a nervous breakdown as I kept watching. I couldn’t look! But every time I turned away because I was too nervous I’d suddenly hear a loud gasp and my head would shoot up to make sure Scootieloo was still okay.

None of the tricks they did were anything spectacular compared to what they had put forth earlier, but the sheer fact that they were completely blind doing it was awe-inspiring. I couldn’t explain it, but… while I was still terrified I also felt so excited. Something about the danger involved was making me shiver in excitement. There were so many close calls, but they always seemed in total control.

“T-this is unreal!” said Sun Glimmer.

“No kidding!” said Honey Drop.

Rock Climber’s mouth was just hanging open, beyond comment. Mom was pretty much the same.

Dad said in a shocked voice, “I’ve never seen anything like this! H-how many hours of practice did they do to memorize a blind performance?”

Rainbow Dash looked amazed, but I could also see some jealously there as she said, “It… it’s not…not THAT impressive.”

I began laughing and felt such a thrill in my tummy. No doubt about it. Scootieloo truly was the best! Not even Rainbow Dash would attempt such a thing! She had truly risen far above everyone else.

At the end all fifteen of them headed towards a ramp in the middle of the arena. All of them headed upwards, spinning around, and coming to a stop after reaching the bottom. The crowd erupted into such a cascade of sound it was nearly deafening. It surpassed every cheer that came before it. Ponies whistled and scream and hollered and clapped and stomped their hooves for over five minutes.

The show of a lifetime. A mind blown. Scootieloo sure hadn’t exaggerated. All I had done was sit in my seat but I felt exhausted just watching the performance.

Once things quieted down a bit Sound Explosion spoke up again, “There you have it folks. Now let me ask you all here today: Is there any doubt left in your mind that we are the one TRUE scootering group in Equestria?” More shouting followed. “Each of these fifteen ponies here today are truly exemplary examples of the value of determination, hard work, and belief in yourself. Let’s give them a round of applause.”

All of us clapped our hooves together and I was so happy I was crying.

“Now, before we end the show for tonight let us hear from our newest member. A Ponyville native herself, all of you know her already: Scootaloo.”

I got so caught up in my enthusiasm of praising her that I didn’t even notice when everyone else had stopped until Rock Climber elbowed me. It was only when I stopped that I noticed everyone staring at me.

I was so embarrassed. I didn’t want to ruin Scootieloo’s big moment. When I turned to look at her she didn’t look mad. She had this dreamy smile on her face and she beckoned to me. At first I was hesitant, but she nodded and I self-consciously began flying toward her, aware of all the eyes following me until I was next to my awesome big sis.

Scootieloo took the mike, looking happy. “Thank you, Sound Explosion.

“I’ve never had much in life. I’ve never been super-rich, or had a ton of possessions, or lived in a mansion. What I did have, in spades, was love. I grew up without any parents. As a baby I was adopted by a lovely mare who took me in when I didn’t have a home and raised me as her own granddaughter.

“Because of an injury I suffered as a baby I developed stunted wing. For those that don’t know, it’s a debilitating ailment of the wings that only affects pegasi. I thought for sure that I would never be able to fly and that I was only going to be a loser my whole life. But once again my life was changed forever because of a certain blue pegasus named Rainbow Dash. She helped me overcome this disease of the flesh and taught me not only how to fly, but to be strong and go beyond what I thought I was capable of.

“The biggest example of that? She’s right here.” Scootieloo put a wing around me. “This is my little sister Rose Blossom.” I blushed as she introduced me to everyone. “When she was only a baby, about half a year old, she went careening down a hill in her baby carriage. With everything I learned I, without hesitation, did my utmost to protect her so she wouldn’t have to suffer through what I suffered through as I grew up. It was a really close call, and because of my inexperience I still crashed, having to turn over onto my back to stop her from getting hurt.

“After my grandmare passed away I was in a deep pit of despair. The world seemed so cold and lonely. Who came and saved me when I needed it the most? Why, Rose Blossom and her parents." She tightened her wing against me, and I gave her a quick nuzzle. "After saving her life I began foalsitting her for the next year, becoming close with their family. When they heard what had happened Rosie’s mom didn’t hesitate. She welcomed me into her family with open hooves, returning the favor of saving their child by saving me.

“My life hasn’t been easy. Fighting a dragon certainly wasn’t a fun experience, especially when it took about two years to recover and begin getting my skill back. However, I don’t regret any of it, because the only thing going through my mind during that battle to keep his attention on me was to protect every one of you!” Ponies began clapping for her again. “Because of the help of everyone else this wilting flower blossomed and grew into a pony others would respect.

“So, whatever happens, always take the time to do good deeds for others. It may come back to you in unexpected ways. Never give up on yourself or your dreams, and keep your family close by to your heart. If you can do that you’ll always prevail.

“This chapter of my life has been very exciting, and it’s been an honor to be able to perform for you tonight. Don’t forget though that the next generation is always striving to catch up to us. Case in point…” I started as she suddenly grabbed me in a hoof and pulled me up to her. “Rose Blossom here is in the middle of putting her own team together with her friends.”

She gestured to them, and just like with me the three of them hesitated before coming down. All of them looked nervously at the crowd. “Unlike our team and the Wonderbolts they’re going for a variety of talents. They want to employ scootering, flying, acrobatics, and magic into one act. I got to see their performance today, and in just the six months I was gone they really got their act together and gave me a preview of their performance. It was one of the most impressive things I’ve seen already, and they'll only improve over time. In just a few years these children will be the ones who will be known throughout the town.”

My cheeks grew red hot. I covered my face in embarrassment to hear her praise me in front of everyone.

“What do you say? Can we get a cheer for the next generation of talents that will rise up in Ponyville?”

I smiled awkwardly at the applause. I really had expected just a slight bit of polite applause because it was Scootieloo herself that asked for it, but they cheered almost as loud as they had for her and the other Blazing Wheels.

“Thank you all, for supporting me where you could, and for giving me the opportunity to show what I could do. Have a great night, everybody!”

When we left the arena I pushed Scootieloo hard. “I can’t believe you just did that!”

“Did what?” she asked in a voice that was far too innocent.

“You know what!”

“What’s wrong, Rosie? I just wanted you to get a taste of how great it feels to be appreciated for your efforts. Now ponies know to look out for you and watch your growth. And I thought getting a taste of being on stage will give you enough of a mental image to never stop your momentum, so you’ll keep pushing ahead no matter how bad it gets.”

“Oh… well… I…” I felt like I wanted to still be angry but I couldn’t quite manage it. My mind went back to standing on the stage in front of the huge crowd and hearing all the ponies cheering and applauding and my heart began speeding up. I did like that image. It only made me want to get even better.

Rainbow Dash grabbed Scootieloo and put her in a headlock, roughly rubbing her hoof through her mane as she laughed. “You little psycho! BLIND SCOOTERING? I thought I was hardcore, but I guess I finally have to hand that title over to you.”

“H-hey! Quit it!” she responded, giggling too.

“Gosh, Scootaloo,” said Rock Climber. “You guys really are the best in the world. No matter how good I got I don’t think I’d ever have the guts to attempt something like that.”

“Same here,” I said. “Please tell me you’re not going to do that in every show! I swear I felt like my heart was going to stop like a hundred times during that. I was crying and shaking at first. That dumb announcer certainly didn’t help! “The slightest mistake and they could be crippled or die.” That really got me afraid.”

Scootieloo just smirked like she wanted to say something, but she didn’t respond. I guess I’d just have to wait until she told me. As we planned before all of us headed to Sugarcube Corner to celebrate her successful show.

The usual crowd was there: Scootieloo and her two friends, our family, Rainbow Dash and her five friends, Spike, and my friends. The only kinda new faces were the parents of my friends as well as Thunder Storm.

Mr. and Mrs. Cake had everything set up. When we were all situated and the partygoers had separated into little groups to chat and eat she pulled a few of us off to the side: Our parents, me and my three friends, and Rainbow Dash.

“Listen, all of you,” she said quietly. “I’m gonna tell you a secret, but you can’t tell anybody else. I’m not really too concerned about it getting out, but my team doesn’t want it becoming public knowledge. I really feel the fewer people who know the better, but I don’t want all of you worrying about me.”

She pulled out the mask she had worn at the show and handed it to me. “Go ahead, Rosie. Put it on.”

“Me? Why?”

“Just do it, squirt.”

“Fine.” Taking it from her I set it over my head. I had to close my eyes as it neared them. Even though I knew I couldn’t see my eyes opened automatically when I was done. I immediately began laughing. I couldn’t believe it! I could see almost perfectly through the mask. You couldn’t tell until you placed it right up to your eyes, but the material was translucent.

“What’s so funny, Rose Blossom?” I heard Rock Climber ask.

“The material is see-through when you put it on. They weren’t riding blind at all.” I took off the mask and I saw mixed expressions from the crowd. Mom and Dad and Honey Drop looked relieved. Rainbow Dash looked both put-out and relieved and her expression kept going back and forth. Rock Climber and Sun Glimmer looked disappointed.

“So you cheated and lied?” Rock Climber said in an annoyed voice. “You deceived the whole audience.”

“When did we ever claim we were blind?” Scootieloo answered. “All he said was that we were going to be wearing blindfolds. It was your assumption that we were more handicapped than we actually were.

“That was the explanation he gave for the act. He knew it would give our reputation a big boost because no one else would be able to imitate it. That’s why it was supposed to be kept a big secret.”

Rock Climber still looked mad. “YOU were the one who taught us that you should always play fair and not cheat. That’s not an excuse!”

Scootieloo chuckled. “Would you like to try racing around wearing that mask? It’s not as simple as Rosie makes it out to be. It’s hard to tell when you’re just being stationary, but the see-through part really fades when you’re moving. The air created by racing around constantly pushes and pulls the mask around your face, obscuring your vision. It’s not quite blinding, but it really does amp the difficulty up a lot. I may be hardcore, but I’m not THAT hardcore.”

Rock Climbers face softened just a bit before he grabbed the mask from my hooves and put it on himself. He began flying around for a bit. He crashed into a wall and then the staircase, and I winced. He crashed into things five more times before he gave it up.

When he came back to the group he had removed the mask already, letting out a little groan of pain. “Y-you’re right. That wasn’t as simple as I thought it was going to be. I don’t know if I could get used to flying around like that.”

“It did take a lot of practice. Half the time it felt like I might as well have been blind. We could see juuuust enough to know what we were doing, but that’s about it.”

“Well, real or not I’m just glad Scootieloo is safe,” I said.

I saw Rainbow Dash was smiling now, that usual competitive smirk when she saw a challenge to be met. “I think I’m going to get me one of those. I can’t keep letting you get the upper hoof on me like this. I don’t care what your grandmare’s note said. There’s no way I’ll let you 'surpass me in every way.' ”

Scootieloo giggled. “Go for it, Rainbow. At the least you’ll always have an edge in flying, but flying just isn’t as important to me anymore as it was when I was a kid. I don’t need to be able to fly to impress everyone. I can still kick your tail without it.” She gave a huge grin back.

Rainbow chewed on the inside of her cheek, looking like she was going to start something. After a few seconds she said in a calm voice, “I would ask to take this outside so we can settle this matter once and for all, buuuuuttt… tonight is your night. I wouldn’t want to, you know, crush you utterly on the night of your first big performance.”

I thought they would go through their usual trash-talk contest for a while but Scootieloo suddenly gave Rainbow a hug. “Well, thank you, Sis. I owe the majority of my success to you. You were my goal for the longest time, and it was only because you were so far above me that I got some proper training and pushed so hard to impress you.

“Another race, huh?” I saw a dreamy, thoughtful expression on her face. “It has been a while. About two and a half years. Maybe it’s about that time to go at it again. But… like you said, that’s a discussion for another day. Right now I’m just happy to be with all the ones I love and to have your support for my hard work.”

Rainbow returned her hug. “You know it, kid. I’ll always be right by your side whenever you need me. I’m really proud of you for all that you accomplished. You may not be a better flier than I am, but in everything else I believe you have succeeded. You have truly surpassed me. Your grandmare would be proud to see you as the mare you are today.”

I saw tears come down Scootieloo’s eyes as she let out a quick breath. “Thank you, Rainbow Dash. I was thinking the same thing.”

We partied for the next few hours, having a blast until it hit midnight. I wasn’t used to staying up that late but it was one of the best parties I’ve ever been to, because Scootieloo was back.

I was half-asleep as we began walking home. I could barely keep my eyes open, and Scootieloo noticed when I nearly walked headfirst into a tree. She took pity on me and put me on her back the rest of the way. I was grateful for her help.

I dozed the rest of the way there, only noticing we were home when I stopped feeling the night breeze. With Mom or Dad’s help, I didn’t know which, someone took me off her back.

I felt a gentle shaking nudging me from sleep. I opened one eye and saw Scootieloo looking happily down at me. “Hey there, sleepyhead. I was just wondering…”

“Y-yeahh-hawwww?” My response turned into a big yawn. “What is it, Scootieloo?”

“Well… I only have about a month here before we move on to the next city. I don’t know when we’re going to be back in Ponyville again so I want to spend as much time with you as possible. I know you hate me babying you lately but I’ve missed you so much I don’t want to miss even one minute of time we could be spending together. It doesn’t have to be every night if it makes you uncomfortable, but,just for tonight,for old time’s sake, would you sleep with me tonight?”

As tired as I was that brought a grin to my face. I couldn’t say no to her. I wanted her first day back to be perfect, so there’s no way I’d turn her down. I nodded. “Okay. Let’s go.”

“Thank you, Rosie.”

Carrying me in her hooves like a baby I snuggled into her as she opened her wings and flew us to her room.

Setting me down she got into bed next to me, hugging me tightly to her. I felt her warmth and love next to me, the security of being held by someone who loves you completely with their heart and soul and won’t let anything bad happen to you. I don’t know if I’d ever get tired of it. Even if it was a little babyish to sleep with my big sis I didn’t care. Even if she hadn’t asked me I probably would have asked her for it. I missed this so much, just like I had missed her.

I knew she was going to go away again soon, but she was here now, and that was all that mattered to me. I held onto her too, never wanting to let her go or be apart from her. My sister meant everything to me. She was my whole world. And I didn’t care if that was a childish thing to say. I’d always depended on Scootieloo to help me before.

I may have been forced to learn how to deal with not having her around all the time before, and I’d have to do it again once she left. For now though… I was content. My world was complete. My life was complete. All that I ever needed or wanted was right here in my hooves, and I’m sure it was the same for her.

“Scootieloo?” I said, my voice muffled a little by being snuggled into her chest.

“Yeah, Rosie?” she said dreamily.

“I love you!”

I felt a hard squeeze from her. “I love you too, Rosie. Forever and ever.”

It had been two weeks since the show, and I had been feeling so content and joyous. I was glad I was getting time to spend with Rosie and my parents. I didn’t know when exactly we were going to leave so I made sure to make the most of this opportunity.

The four of us were sitting at the kitchen table and talking about little inconsequential things, just enjoying the presence of each other’s company, when there was a knock at the door. “I’ll get it,” said Mom, getting up and leaving the room.

She came back shortly, saying, “Scootaloo, you have a visitor.”

I looked over at her. “I do. Who is it?”

“I don’t know. I’ve never seen her before. Probably just a fan of yours.”

“Well, show them in. I’m not doing anything too important at the moment.”

“Okay, then.” She left again and came back with an elderly mare. Her coat was a bluish-white, while her mane was white with a tinge of faded red.

“Hello, there,” I said, smiling at her.

“You… are Scootaloo?” the mare asked.

“Yes, that’s right. And you are…?”

“My name is Diamond Mint. I saw you in the paper. You and your teammates took some crazy risks in your show. Blind scootering. Never heard the likes of it before.”

I saw Rosie smirk at me out of the corner of my eye, but she didn’t spill the secret. She got up and said, “Here, you can take my seat. Please sit down.” I was quite pleased by her good manners.

“Thank you, child,” said Diamond Mint, sitting in the seat next to me. She took out a newspaper from a bag and I saw the piece about my show and the little inspirational speech I had given.

“Coffee?” Mom asked Diamond Mint.

“Yes, thank you.” Mom poured her a cup and she took a sip, asking, “So I read that you grew up without parents. You seem to have them now.”

“Yes, that’s right,” I said with a smile. “These have been the best years of my life.” I grabbed my sister and set her on my lap. “This is my little sister Rose Blossom, but I like to call her Rosie. And that’s my dad Cloud Hunter and my mom Star Gazer.”

“Nice to meet all of you.” She took another sip and asked, “So… what happened to your birth parents?”

I felt a bit confused. Not by what she asked. It was a perfectly natural follow-up question. What got me was the intensity of her gaze as she awaited my answer. It felt like she was boring into my soul and it made me uncomfortable.

“Well… I don’t know. It was about eighteen years ago now, when I was just a newborn basically, that I was found on the side of a road by the Everfree Forest. I was in critical condition. A pony called Peach Cobbler discovered me and brought me to the hospital. Later on, when she came upon the site where I had been found she discovered a blanket caught in a tree that suggested that I had been dropped. The blanket likely slowed my fall just enough that I didn’t die.

“While I recovered she came to visit me every day and play with me. When I had healed up enough to be released no one had come forth to claim me as their child, so she adopted me and became my grandmare. She was so sweet and loving and she made me feel oh so special. I was very stubborn and headstrong, full of childish pride. But with her… she managed to get me to just let go. I could drop my pride and cry around her. She made me so happy and she was as good as a parent to me.” I felt a few warm tears start sliding down my face. I let out a little sigh as I continued. “She died a few years back. It was so unexpected. Without warming I came home and she was just gone. She had died in her sleep.”

“I’m sorry for your loss.”

“Thank you.”

Diamond let out a wistful sigh. “It’s funny how becoming famous can change your whole world.” I felt confused again. Her statement had nothing to do with the topic we were just discussing. “I certainly never expected this, and I still don’t know if I believe it myself. Scootaloo isn’t all that common a name, but even so… I wonder why anyone else would just happen to call you that name.”

I could feel my eyebrow go up. It felt like she had just gone off into another world. “Umm… excuse me? What are you talking about?” She reached into her bag and pulled out a photograph. When she handed it to me my eyes went wide, and I immediately grew apprehensive. I saw a picture of a pegasus baby on a blanket laying on a bed that looked suspiciously like me. Orange fur, purple eyes, a pink-purple mane and tail, and also slightly spiky hair.

I looked up at her and with some anger asked, “Where did you get this? Why do you have this?”

“So even you think so, huh?”

“What are you talking about? Are you some deranged stalker? Why do you have a baby picture of me?”

“Why else? What other reason could there be?”

I pushed Rosie off my lap and onto the ground as I stood up and said loudly, “WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT? I want answers, and I want them now!” I slammed the table.

In response to my outburst she went back in her purse and took out an envelope inside a sealed plastic bag. “I’ve kept this for a long time. This brought me the most joy of my life when I got it, but that joy ended when what was promised never came.

"The answer you’re seeking is in there. It doesn’t matter what I say. You wouldn’t believe me if I tried. But maybe if you read that you’ll be convinced.”

She handed the envelope to me. I still felt angry but if this was the way of getting my answers I’d have to deal. Opening it up I saw the paper was yellow and faded with age, much like Rainbow’s Wonderbolts poster that she gave to Rock Climber. Unfolding it all the way I began to read.

*******

Scootieloo looked so anxious and mad and confused. I wasn’t surprised. I kinda felt the same way. Who was this lady, and why did she have a picture of Scootieloo as a baby? What was she after?

I guess I would just have to listen to what was in the letter.

“Dear Mom,” she began, “It’s your favorite daughter here. I know. I know. I’m your ONLY daughter. It never gets old, right?”

“I have the most fantastic news for you. The event we’ve all been waiting for is here and gone. Today we welcomed into the world our new lovely little baby Scoot… a… loo…”

She hesitated at the name, and I was trying to figure out what was going on. As she continued the bored and annoyed tone began to change to interest.

“She is just the cutest little thing. Well worth the pain it took to birth her already. Mom… you don’t know just how happy I am to finally have my first child. She’s got smooth orange fur, the cutest little nose, beautiful purple eyes, a purple mane, and a tiny little snout. Her wings are so, so tiny. Oh, just thinking about her now is already making me emotional.

“We’re gonna have a long life ahead of us, spending joyous times together and teaching her how to be amazing just like you did for me. We’re gonna be really busy for the next month or so but I’ll definitely make time to come visit you when things settle down.

“Oh, I can hardly contain my excitement for you. I know you’re going to love our little Scootie. Well, while we can’t be there right now to visit I hope that this picture will tide you over until we get there.”

Scootieloo flipped the page and I saw her freeze up. Her eyes went wide and she stopped breathing for a few seconds. She suddenly jumped up, knocking the chair she was sitting on over as she let out a sharp gasp and began crying. Her hoof went to her mouth as she backed up from the table. She began saying, “No! No! No!” over and over, shaking her head, and each time it became a little more passionate and painful. Her voice became so thick with emotion it started cracking, more high pitched than I had ever heard from her. She collapsed onto the floor, letting out a loud wail as she began sobbing hysterically, curling up into a ball and rocking back and forth.

I had never seen Scootieloo like this. She had completely lost it. I turned to Diamond Mint and glared at her. How dare she cause such a reaction in my sister! I grabbed the letter, intending to either rip it up or crumple it into a ball. Curiosity overwhelmed my desire for revenge. I wanted to see just what could put her in such a state.

I looked down at the letter, and just like with Scootieloo my anger evaporated on the spot. A lot of the reactions she had I had too. I understood now why she was so badly affected and I felt myself start crying too as I looked at the lone picture taped to the page.

“S-Scootieloo,” I said, restraining my tears. “This is…these are yours…” I was having trouble speaking. I knew how much this meant to her. “These are your parents! Your birth parents!”

I heard two gasps as mom and dad both reached for the paper at almost the same time. They had been a little left out of the conversation.

I turned to Diamond Mint and saw she was crying now. “So… that… that makes you…”

She nodded. “That’s right. I’m her grandmare.”

Scootieloo suddenly got up. She ran over to Diamond Mint and hugged her. “Grandmare!” she cried out as she lost herself in her emotions again. “You found me! You finally found me!”

“Yes… I found you,” she replied lovingly, hugging Scootieloo. “When I saw your picture in the paper I almost fainted. I kept telling myself over and over that it was impossible. You couldn’t possibly be my long-lost grandbaby. But too many things pointed in that direction for me to ignore it; You looked exactly like an older version of the one in the picture, your name was the same, the missing parents.

“I got a letter from my daughter about eighteen years ago, telling me that you were healthy enough for travel and she was going to be leaving to visit on a certain day. I waited… and waited… and waited… but she didn’t come. I assumed at first that she got delayed. Maybe bad weather where they were, or sickness, or a minor accident.

“The letters I sent back were never answered, and that’s when I began getting worried. After about three months of no responses I finally left to go to their house to see what had happened to them. The trip was very hard on me. I didn’t have a lot of money to spare and I’ve never been much for long trips.

“When I got there I went to their home and asked one of the neighbors about them. All he knew was that they had said they were going on a trip to visit me and hadn’t been back since. I asked around town just in case and got the same response. No one had seen them.

“I actually did visit Ponyville on my way home. I didn’t want to expect the worst so I hadn’t brought along a picture. I missed you… I could have had you this whole time if it wasn’t for the slightest of mix-ups.”

“W-what was that?” asked Scootieloo, looking shocked.

“Since you were traveling as a group I thought for sure that if something happened to you that you would have stayed in a group, either alive or dead. I asked about my daughter and my son-in-law at the hospital, but they hadn’t had anyone meeting the description. When they told me that I was sure that it would just be a waste of time to ask about you. I went on my way home with a heavy heart…”

Diamond Mint was crying again, sadness in her voice. “I never stopped hoping. After the first year without any sort of news about you I thought for sure that something terrible had befallen all of you. Even so, so long as your bodies weren’t found I could still entertain the hope that one day you would show up. You kept me waiting a long time… but now I finally found you, and it seems you’ve grown up into a wonderful mare because of all those who have stood beside you and supported you. The amount of love you share in this family is obvious. There was so much affection and pride and respect as you introduced your family to me.”

“Thank you. All of them deserve it.” Scootieloo finally let go of Diamond Mint and the two of them just looked at each other for a short time, uncertainty on their faces.

I felt a little confused. Why were they being so silent now? Mom suddenly stood up from the table. In a quiet voice she said, “Come on, Rose. Let’s leave these two alone for a while. They have a lot to talk about.”

Dad got up too. “I agree.”

“B-but I don’t want to leave!” I said strongly. “Why should we be left out of the loop?” Mom ignored my protest, picked me up bodily, and simply carried me out of the kitchen to the living room, me kicking and fighting to get out of her grip.

Mom sat down and set me on her lap. “That’s enough, Rose! Stop acting like a toddler.”

That stung my pride a little and I stopped fussing. “Why should we have to leave? What’s the big deal? Is there some big secret they’re going to tell each other we’re not supposed to hear?”

“It’s nothing like that, Rose, and you know that. They just deserve some privacy. Scootaloo just had a major event happen to her. A long lost family member has shown up on her doorstep and she finally knows what her parents look like. She needs some time to process this and it’s not going to help by us being there. If she wants us to know what they talk about she’ll tell us later.”

I sniffed, feeling tears start streaming down my eyes. “S-so maybe I want to listen in because I’m scared!”

“Scared of what?”

“Scootieloo is ALREADY not going to be around much because of the Blazing Wheels and the shows she’s going to put on. What if… what if she picks her REAL grandmare over us and NEVER comes to visit?” I began weeping as I buried my head in her body.

“Oh, Rosie,” she said, holding me and rubbing my back. “Do you really have that little faith in your sister? Do you really think that’s she’s just going to forget about us and abandon us after everything we’ve gone through together?”

“B-b-but her grandmare probably isn’t going to live much longer! All of us are still pretty young. She’d probably make spending time with her grandmare a priority so they can catch up before she dies.”

“Your sister is smart and strong and talented. I’m sure she can juggle family life and work responsibilities.”

I sniffed, taking a shaky breath. “I… I guess you’re right.”

****

Me and Diamond Mint both kept squirming, both seeming to want to be the first to let the other one talk. I felt like there were worms crawling in my stomach. Finally I said, “Tell me about my parents.” She nodded. I closed my eyes as she began talking, envisioning the picture of them in my mind. As she told me about them I couldn’t stop a fresh round of tears from sliding down my face.

“Your mother’s name was Autumn Leaf. Her cutie mark was a cloud pouring down rain over a flower bud. She deeply loved nature. She loved playing out in the rain and splashing in mud puddles as a kid. As she grew up she still loved being under a light downpour and enjoying the feeling of the rain coating her body, knowing the growth that it brings. In the sun she cared for flowers and plants, planting trees and creating beauty. She was very outgoing and could strike up a friendship with just about anyone within a few minutes of conversation. She was very loving and affectionate, both to me and anyone else she met.

“Your father was called Sea Skimmer. His cutie mark was of a body of water and a swim cap. He loved swimming and was very competitive at it. He had a fan in your mother, and for one of the few times of her life she was shy. She could talk with him well enough, but every time she thought of pushing their friendship to the next level and being romantic she’d chicken out. He finally saw the signs and asked her out on a date. That night she ranted and raved about their experience. I’d never seen her so happy.

“After just six months of dating they were so deeply in love that he proposed to her right in the middle of a public square for all to hear. The boldness of his action and how he wasn’t afraid to show how much he cared for her made her accept.

“They had a grand old wedding. They weren’t rich but they said the love they felt for each other made up for it in spades. It was the happiest day of my life to see my little girl all grown up, dancing away, at the peak of her life.

“The two of them moved out into Trottingham, getting their own place. Trottingham held a special significance to your father. It was the host of the Equestrian Games when he was young. He had lived there as a child and when he saw the swimming portion of the games he decided that’s what he wanted to do with his life.”

“Six months later I got the letter that she was pregnant. Halfway through the pregnancy they found out the gender of the baby through an ultrasound. After arguing over names for a while they finally decided on Scootaloo. I sent them some baby supplies and an engraved pendent with your name on it along with an insulated blanket.”

That sounded familiar. I suddenly got up and went running to my room. I began rummaging through my things until I found it. I zoomed back to the kitchen and took out my two childhood mementoes and set them on the table.

“Those...,” she started, her eyes wide. “You… you have them? You have them still?”

I nodded. “My grandmare found them. They were the only things of mine that were there. I’ve wondered for so long about who my parents were, and those felt like the only clues I had. Of course they didn’t really tell me anything, but I wouldn’t get rid of them.”

I saw a film of tears form in her eyes. “Now… I’m fully convinced. I had a tiny bit of doubt left but now that’s all gone. You’re the only one who could have those things, so you must be my granddaughter.

“So… what have I missed? What has your life been like?”

I recounted my life to her just like I did with Rosie. My injuries and stunted wing, growing up with my grandmare, my fears and doubts, my sisterhood with Rainbow Dash and my condition being cured, my training to be strong, saving Rosie, losing my grandmare, my despair at my loss, being adopted by my new family, the dragon fight, my race with Rainbow Dash after I recovered from my injuries, and then how I focused on family and helping Rosie to excel. I ended it with how I had come to be in the Blazing Wheels.

She was quiet for a time when I was done. “You’ve been through so much throughout your life. You overcame unbelievable odds to grow far beyond what you thought you were capable of, and achieved all your dreams. I’m relieved. Despite all the pain and the hurt you’ve grown into quite the mare. My only regret is that I wasn’t there for it all.” The light went out of her eyes. “You’ve lived a full life, Scootaloo. I guess I don’t really have any role to play for you, or any important life knowledge to impart. You already have a wonderful family. Maybe it’s time for this old fossil to crumble away and go back to her lonely existence back home.”

“WHAT?” I said, slamming the table as tears slid down my face. “How could you say that? There is PLENTY of importance in having you here. Do you know how long I’ve wanted to meet my family? I love Peach Cobbler and Rainbow Dash and Rosie and Star Gazer and Cloud Hunter just like they were family, but you’re my first blood relative I’ve met. I want to know it all! I want to hear more about my parents and about you. I want to know you’re doing well.

"I don’t care if I’ve only known you for two hours. YOU’RE MY FAMILY, now and forever! I love you, darn it!” I snapped, slamming the table again as I heard my voice crack. “I’m not just going to tell you to go on away. What kind of pony do you think I am? Do you think for even a second I would consider my other family better just because I’ve known them longer, or because they’ve been there through all my ups and downs?

“You’re my grandmare! You’re my family! And I love you! I’ve just met you, and I’m not going to lose you now after just meeting you. You said you have 'no role to play?' ” Is that a joke? You came all the way here from your hometown just to see me. You answered the biggest question of my life! You…”

I sniffed, having to take a few breaths to stop from sobbing. My voice was thick with emotion as I continued, “You showed me what my parents looked like. You showed me that my parents DID love me and they didn’t just throw me away because they didn’t want me! Do you understand how that makes me feel?”

My voice sounded like a croak at this point. “It’s been long forgotten and in the back of my mind for over ten years but a part of me always wondered whether my parents abandoned me. I wondered whether they hated me and just decided to get rid of me easily by discarding me by the Everfree Forest. Every once in a long while my mind would turn back to that question. I would try to believe my parents wanted the best of me, but not knowing for sure there were also times where I would think they never wanted me in the first place.” I buried my head into my hooves, my body shaking as my emotions overflowed again. I could barely contain them.

When I got a little under control I came out and said, “My parents loved me! They loved me! You don’t know how big a relief that is. And now that I know what they look like I know where to direct my love.” I wiped my eyes as I pulled the letter over to me and looked at the picture again, my heart bursting with powerful emotions. There was some sadness again at knowing I would never actually get to meet them in real life, but I now know the truth about how they felt about me. The adoring faces on the two of them made me wish I could jump into the picture and hug them and tell them about myself.

Diamond Mint reminded me of my other grandmare. Old ponies pass away for various reasons, but a part of me is convinced that my grandmare would have lived longer if I hadn’t started living with Rainbow Dash on a temporary basis from time to time. I wasn’t going to make the same mistake with my only living family member!

“MOM, DAD, ROSIE! Come in here!”

The three of them came into the kitchen. Mom and dad sat at the two open seats, and I set Rosie on my lap again. I felt a strong feeling of determination. I was going to protect my family, no matter what the cost. “I have a big favor to ask of all of you.”

“Yes?” Mom responded.

“I want Diamond Mint to live with us!” I could see a look of shock come to my grandmare’s face before she began crying, a warm gaze on her face.

“I’ll find some kind of job in town, but I’m quitting the Blazing Wheels!” I heard all of them gasp.

“S-Scootieloo… you can’t!” Rosie said in surprise. “It… it made you so happy.”

“Circumstances change. I told you before on the day I came here that family is the most important to me and I’d throw away all my skills and accomplishments to protect that bond. I lived my dream! I got to stand in front of a huge crowd and show off my talents for everyone. I got to hear the cheers and the screams and the joy of hundreds. I got to give a speech that may inspire others to follow in my hoofsteps and not give up. That is enough for me.

“It’s true that before I left to join them I really wanted to go, but now that I’ve gone and experienced it I don’t think I want to spend the rest of my life traveling around Equestria to practice my art. Because I was gone I missed you getting your cutie mark. And you’re still young. There is still much you have to learn. You yourself said that the reason I should go is to learn new things. I did. I learned many new things. I learned I wasn’t the best scooterist in the world, but there is always time in the future to worry about living an intense life when you’re more able to care for yourself.

You also said that if I went I may find I didn’t care for it and want to come home. If I hadn’t gone then yes, I would have spent the rest of my life wondering what it was like. But now I know, and now I want to come home and spend time with my family again. Only getting to see you guys for a month out of the year is not going to work out for me. And now that I’ve been spending time with you again I’m not ready to give you up. These six months I’ve been gone I’ve missed all of you so much. To think of having to wait another six months or more before seeing you all again is unbearable to me.

“And so… I’m going to quit and make you the priority again.”

Mom spoke up. “What are you going to do about a room?”

“Hmmm?”

“Well, to be blunt we only have three bedrooms. If you want Diamond Mint to live here you’d have to do something about that.”

“Oh…” She had a point.

“Scootieloo…” came a voice from my lap.

“Yes, Rosie?”

“I love you a ton, and I missed you a ton when you weren’t here. I know we agreed you could baby me a little while since we thought you’d be leaving soon. If you wouldn’t mind then… maybe I could move in with you. I don’t have that much stuff. Then she could move into my room and have a room here.”

“Rosie… you’d do that?”

“I know how she feels. My heart felt like it shattered for those first few days after you left home. I know how much it hurts not to be around someone you love. I don’t care if you spoil me and make me feel more like a little kid.” She turned herself around and hugged me. “I just want you back for good. I agree with you. Having you gone for another six months or so would be unbearable to me too!”

“Well, it’s settled then. All that remains is for us to get your stuff from your old house, Grandmare.” Grandmare looked so joyful.

“We can worry about that another day though. For now… welcome home, Grandmare! Welcome to the family!” I was glad my parents were so cool with the idea of my grandmare moving in. But…of course they understood as well as I did the importance of family. They would never hurt me by denying me that pleasure.

I suggested that all of us go out to get something to eat after her long trip, and she agreed. Family together, family forever. That’s the way it should be. That’s the way it should always be.

All of us got up and began getting ready. As we were about to leave I said, “Hold on!” I went to the kitchen one last time. I picked up the letter and once more looked at the picture of me and my parents. I felt joyful tears coming down my eyes as I smiled down at it.

I gently rubbed my hoof over their faces, my heart feeling complete at last. “Thank you, Mom and Dad. I’m sorry you couldn’t be here to raise me, but I’ve grown up and learned all the things a daughter should through the kindness of many others. I’m not perfect, and I make mistakes, but I’m sure that you would tell me you’re proud of me regardless if you could see me now.”

I set it down, feeling a boundless joy running throughout my body. My parents loved me. They had loved me! I knew what they looked like! And I even had some new family! I was back home! I had Rosie and Star Gazer and Cloud Hunter and Rainbow Dash! I had a huge family that all loved me with all their hearts! I had achieved all my hopes and dreams for the future! What more could a parent possibly need to be happy for in their child?

I raced out of the house, jumping into the air and racing towards the sky, yelling out to the sky my glee. My life was complete at last.

“Keep watching me, Mom and Dad!” I said passionately towards the heavens. “I’ll continue to excel and make the most of my life!”

I did flips and twists and turns, so full of energy I had to do SOMETHING with it or I would have burst.

When I finally settled down a little I headed to the ground and I could see all of my family smiling and crying a little. They were sharing in my joy, no doubt about it!

“Let’s go!” As we walked I just couldn’t sit still. I was still so amped up that like a dog I kept running laps around the group.

“S-S-Scootieloo!” Rose Blossom said with a laugh. “S-stop that! You’re too old to be acting like that!”

“Why don’t you come make me, Rosie?” I laughed back.

She began chasing me. I just ran faster. The two of us began racing, going faster and faster until I suddenly stopped and she ran right into my hooves.

I hugged her tightly to me. “Oh, Rosie. You have no idea just how happy I am right now.”

“I can tell! I’ve never seen you like this before.”

As we went through town I got my usual compliments for the show. After thanking them I introduced them to my grandmare. I just couldn’t keep it a secret. I wanted EVERYONE to know.

After eating we just spent the day together. Nothing could keep me from smiling and giggling the whole day. Truly… this was the best day ever!

Later on, after we got home, we moved Rosie’s stuff into my room. We would have to get another bed for her to sleep in soon enough, but for now neither of us had a problem sharing a bed.

I went to see my grandmare in her new room when she excused herself to go to bed. “Just coming to say good night.”

She looked over at me with a smile, hugging me as I got close. “Thank you, Scootaloo. Thank you! You’ve made an old woman’s heart soar again.”

“No problem. You did me a big favor today.”

She let out a small laugh. “Yes, you were just a huge ball of energy today, weren’t you? Are you usually like that?”

“No. Not at all. Everything today is because of you. You brought me contentment, peace, serenity… I never would have ever expected to meet any of my birth family before this.

“My grandmare told me the story of how I was found every few months. She told me about how she wasn’t my real grandmare, but had only adopted me. She didn’t want to be deceitful. When I was younger I didn’t really get it, but each time she told me the story I would understand a little more. Now I understand everything.

“I’ll never know for sure just what happened that night. I don’t know why I survived and they didn’t, but I choose to believe they died trying to protect me. They didn’t do a perfect job, as I got hurt pretty bad, but I rose up above all my limitations and surpassed them, becoming someone that others can look up to and respect.

“Goodnight, Grandmare, and have some sweet dreams.”

“That won’t be necessary,” she said, tears coming down her eyes. “You’re already a dream come true, and you’ll always be there in the morning when I wake up.”

“True enough. What do you say I introduce you around to my closest friends and relatives tomorrow?”

“That sounds great. I can’t wait.”

I gave her a kiss and left the room, heading to my bedroom. Rosie was sitting there waiting for me. “You ready to sleep?”

“Yeah. In a bit.” I went into my drawer and pulled out the letter she gave me. I reread it and then flipped the page over to the picture of me and my parents. Once more my heart was filled with joy. “Goodnight, Mom and Dad.”