Beneath Scootaloo's point of awareness were the expected orange hooves that looked like they belonged to a pony. “Can we just skip ahead to the part where I recognize that it's me?” a voice that sounded like Scootalo's asked.

As if to obligate her, she first became aware of her heartbeat, then her breathing. She flexed the muscles in her forelegs and felt them respond. The jarring motion in her bone as she stomped them on the ground brought her firmly back to her senses. There was one feeling she hadn't felt, though, which was pain in her injured wing. She opened her mouth to tear off her bandages.

“And just what do you think you're doing?”

Scootaloo jumped. “Mom! You're back quickly.” She drooped her ears and crouched low.

“I didn't have to make any stops this time. But honestly, you don't have to cower as if I'm some sort of monster.”

“Uh, sorry.” Scootaloo got back up and scratched at her mane. She looked Celestia directly in the eye and twisted her neck around to tear at her bandages again.

Celestia's eyes narrowed. “But I didn't say you could do that.”

Her mother's firm, commanding voice was well practiced from centuries of ruling Equestria. It could order armies and decree the laws of the land. It was more than enough to reprimand Scootaloo, who froze. “But, mom–”

“Don't you ‘but’ me young–” Celestia stopped herself mid-rant and closed her eyes and took a deep breath. When she spoke again, her voice was much softer. “Look, I know you're eager to try out what you've learned, but you still have to take your injury seriously or you could do permanent damage to your wing. I'm sorry but you'll have to wait the full three days just to make sure that you're recovered.”

“Three days?” Scootaloo groaned. “I don't think I can wait that long.”

“It's not that bad, dear. You've already waited ten years. Three more days won't hurt you, but not waiting can. Do you really want to risk ten more years of being grounded on a little bit of impatience?”

“Uh, not when you put it that way...” Scootaloo drooped her head in defeat.

“It's okay, dear. Three days will pass before you even know it.” Celestia bent down and ruffled Scootaloo's mane with her muzzle. “Come on, let's take you home. Your friends are probably looking for you by now.”

“Okay...” Scootaloo prepared to hop on her mother's back, but paused. “Wait, I want to grab a souvenir first.” She glanced around the room and her eyes caught on the shattered stalagmite. Walking over, she opened her mouth to pick up one of the glassy blue shards. She wound up with a wing in her face.

“Fossilized rainbow isn't something that you should put in your mouth, Scootaloo,” Celestia chided.

“Ackpth.” Scootaloo spat out a white feather. “Sorry.” She scooped up a pile of the shards with a foreleg and held them to close to her as she scrambled to get up on Celestia's back. It wasn't easy and she nearly dropped them, but she managed to climb up on the large white alicorn with her prize secured.

“Are you ready back there?”

Scootaloo nodded, but Celestia didn't respond. “Yes,” she added when she realized that her mother didn't actually have eyes on the back of her head.

Celestia's leap into flight was so fluid that Scootaloo hardly noticed it. That was good, because with one of her forelegs tied up holding rocks, her grip wasn't solid. Celestia enwrapped them both inside of shimmering, yellow shield.

Alert this time, Scootaloo watched as the rainbow river splashed and parted around their protective barrier. A prismatic current battered at them and tried to pull them down, but the shield was strong and they passed through unhindered. Shortly after leaving, Celestia let her protective bubble expire.

“Wow! That was awesome!” Scootaloo twisted around to watch the colorfall retreat behind them into the distance. From this side, it didn't look any different from any of the other dozens of colorfalls scattered throughout Rainbow Falls.

“I'm glad you enjoyed it,” Celestia said.

Scootaloo blinked. She watched clouds as they flew past. Where before the sight of flying had been painful to bear, she now felt exhilarated. The sky would be hers. Her heart beat fast in her chest. Anticipation was killing her. She yearned to fly now that she knew she could.

And she did know.

It was odd, in a way. Just this morning, she'd been thoroughly convinced that she'd never be able to fly in her whole life, but now she was convinced of the exact opposite. It was obvious when Celestia pointed it out, and she'd even done the math... “Say, mom, why did you make me go through all of that?”

“All of what?”

“All that math, I mean. Wouldn't it have been a lot faster just to point out that my wings are a lot stronger flying forwards than up?”

“It would, but then I'd have missed out on tutoring my favorite pupil.”

“Uh...” Scootaloo frowned. Something about that statement felt off. “You're not just saying that because I'm your daughter, are you? Everypony always says that Twilight's your favorite student.”

Celestia giggled, which resulted in some uneven wingbeats. Scootaloo tightened her grip on the sparkling, flowing mane and tried not to drop any of her glassy blue stones. “I think in this case it's best not to declare a favorite. Twilight's a wonderful pony. She's always so enthusiastic and eager to learn but she doesn't ever question me like you do. She'd much rather go out of her way to accommodate my mistakes then to actually call me out on them.

“One time, I wrote '2+2=5' on the blackboard and left her alone. She practically tore her mane out fretting over that, and the next day she brought me a twelve page report explaining why that statement was actually true.”

Scootaloo snicked. “Yeah, I could totally see her doing that.”

“It's very cute, but it does get frustrating. Truth be told, I'd rather have a student who knows I'm not perfect.”

Scootaloo's smile faded. Celestia wasn't perfect all right. Based on what she'd said this morning, all Scootaloo had to do was to look in a mirror and Celestia's imperfections would look back at her...

“Mom, when we get back to Ponyville, can you drop me off at the clubhouse?”

“Wouldn't you rather go straight to Twilight's place? I'm sure your friends will want to see you.”

“Well, yeah. I do want to see them too, but I still want to keep things secret and it's better not to be seen together if we can help it.”

“Oh, that.” Scootaloo couldn't see her mother's face, but her tone dropped. “I suppose you're right. It is, after all, what I suggested long ago.” Celestia sighed. “But I don't think you should keep this secret forever. I'll respect your wish if that's what you want, but I think it will be better in the long run to get things out in the open.”

Scootaloo wasn't so sure of that. Being revealed as the hidden daughter of the Sun Princess would draw a lot of attention, and not in a good way. There'd be paparazzi, she'd be swamped with starstruck ponies, her friends would treat her differently, and there'd also be the ugly matter of her origin story. Scootaloo was the living embodiment of Celestia's flaws. Her mother might still love her anyway, but no, it was better to keep that box unopened.

Pulling herself out of her dark thoughts, she watched the clouds stream past. There were a lot more of them now but it didn't matter. The wind whipping by would soon be at her own command. The knot of anticipation ached within her. She yearned to fly, and be free. Three days might as well be three thousand years.

“Are you thinking about your father, Scootaloo?”

“Well, I am now.” Scootaloo still watched the clouds zoom by. Her mother's mane whipping in the wind tickled her nose. She sneezed, and had to shuffle her position to avoid falling off or dropping any of her rocks.

“Are you okay back there?”

“Yeah, I just got some hair in my nose, that's all.” The clouds noticeably slowed and Scootaloo felt annoyed. She liked going faster. “Mom, do you think I'll ever get the chance to meet my father?”

“Hmm, now that you mention it, I think I can arrange for it without drawing suspicion.”

“Really?” Scootaloo's eyes and ears perked up. She hadn't expected that.

“Yes, but I'll have to talk with the mayor again when we get back to Ponyville. It might not be for another week or two, but you'll recognize the opportunity when it arrives.”

“Talk with the mayor? But don't you have to be back at Canterlot by dusk? It's getting late.”

“Really? It doesn't look much past noon, to me.”

“What?” Scootaloo looked behind her. Instead of seeing the sun laze by the clouds, it was missing. She looked up. Sure enough, it had gone the wrong way and was now roosting directly on top of the sky. “Mom, did you just...?” It shouldn't have bothered Scootaloo, but it did. She wasn't sure why, but the thought of her mother whimsically whisking the sun around made her uneasy.

“Don't worry about it. It's just my way of telling Luna that I'll be late. I'll put the sun back where it belongs when I return to Canterlot, and we can run with longer nights for a few days to balance things out if we have to.”

“Ah.” Scootaloo didn't really understand, but it sounded as if her mother knew what she was doing.

With the sun directly overhead, she looked down and watched their shadow race along the clouds. The ground was hardly visible now except for a few holes here and there. It was hard to tell where they were. A pair of pegasus ponies trying to break up the cloud bank respectfully bowed as Celestia passed. Scootaloo shrunk into her her mother's mane, hoping not to be seen.

“Mom, are we there yet?”

“Yes, actually. Hold on tight. I'll bring us down fast.” Celestia tucked in her wings and plunged through a hole in the cloud cover.

Scootaloo gulped and clutched her rocks and her mother's neck tightly. She heard the whistling wind whip past. It rustled her tail, but she was buried too deeply in her mother's mane to feel it otherwise. The pit of her stomach sank in response to the freefall. It was a terrifying sensation, but she knew she was safe. She forced down her instinctive terror and exhilaration washed over her. Flying was incredible.

Celestia spread her broad wings wide to their full extent. Scootaloo nearly had the wind knocked out of her as the breaking force pressed her against her mother's back. She heard the 'clack' of hooves hitting the ground and slowly looked up. The landing was abrupt, but smooth. If it wasn't for the noise, she could have believed they were still in the sky.

Celestia lowered her head, and Scootaloo hopped off. Her collection of fossilized rainbow shards clacked in her grip when she landed.

“Thanks, mo–” Scootaloo felt a pang of panic and snapped her jaw shut over that slip of her tongue. She glanced around nervously but relaxed when she saw nopony else. “Uh, thank you, Princess Celestia.” She forced a wide grin to allay any possible suspicion. Celestia smiled back. “I, um...” Scootaloo sniffled. Perhaps the wind in her face had made her eyes water more than she'd thought. “I guess you'll be off now?”

“Yes, sorry.” Celestia sighed. She lowered her head and brought it down to Scootaloo's level. Due to the filly's small size, it almost looked as if she were bowing. “But I do want to thank you too. It's not often that I get such quality time with... one one my subjects. I enjoyed the experience very much and I hope you learned a lot from it–”

“Yes, I did.” Scootaloo nodded vigorously.

“–but alas, my duties await and I must depart.” Celestia gave her daughter one last peck on the forehead. “I love all my little ponies,” she said softly, with a wink. Rising up to her full height, she spread out her wings and took off. Her very impressive wingspan stirred up some dried leaves. “Take care, Scootaloo, and don't forget to write.”

“I won't!” Scootaloo waved as her mother, Princess Celesita, flew off. She kept waving even after the vanishing speck in the sky was no longer visible.

Watching her mother fly off like that immediately brought back to mind the exhilarating sensation of flight. The anticipation knotted in her stomach and she ground her teeth. It was such cruelty that she'd have to wait three whole days before she could take another shot at it herself. Of course, with her mother gone, there wasn't anypony around to stop her from tearing of her cast and flying right here and now. Next Chapter: Overcast Estimated time remaining: 41 Minutes