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