Prologue

"Scootaloo! Get over here!"

Heat Wave's voice echoed through the small house as she called for the filly in question. This had become a frequent event in the household. Heat Wave would come home, stumble through the front door, and yell at the other two ponies that he called family. Generally he was either incredibly drunk, frustrated with work, or just otherwise agitated. Low Pressure, his wife, would often stay in the kitchen and pretend to cook dinner and ignore him completely.

Scootaloo was their only child, a small filly with the energy of an entire classroom. Despite the fact that she was born with a wing deformity and couldn't fly, she was outgoing, energetic, and adventurous. Unfortunately, she was also an accident. Heat Wave and Low Pressure never meant to have a child, but they were young and in love, and thus, Scootaloo was born. This didn't really help with the abuse, however, as Heat Wave felt like life was punishing him for his poor decisions through Scootaloo. As soon as she heard that familiar drunken yelling, Scootaloo would immediately run upstairs to her room and close the door behind her, knowing that somehow, her father would find a reason to be angry with her, and come to discipline her shortly if she didn't hide herself well enough.

"Scootaloo, I swear, if you keep making a mess of this house, I will slap you into next week!"

His voice booming like thunder, Heat Wave began to make his way up the stairs. Scootaloo cowered in the corner behind her bed, sitting on her haunches and hugging her knees to her chest.

"Don't make me come in there!"

The small filly could hear his steps now, hooves thumping up the stairs and down the hall. Low Pressure could be faintly heard sobbing in the kitchen, pleading for her husband to leave Scootaloo alone, but he wasn't having any of it.

"You wanna play this the hard way, huh? Fine!"

Scootaloo's bruises began to sting. She prayed to Celestia that she wouldn't be receiving any new ones today. Tears of worry and desperation welled up in her eyes, and began rolling down her face. It wouldn't be long now before Heat Wave was in her room.

The door to Scootaloo's room swung open fast, smacking against the wall with a loud bang. Scootaloo was backed up against the corner of the room on the floor, trembling and crying in fear. Heat Wave immediately made his way over to her, picking her up by the scruff of her neck.

"D-Dad, please, no, I'm sorr-"

Thwack!

Heat Wave's hoof bashed against Scootaloo's shoulder, causing the filly to cry out in pain.

"You think you can just make a mess of my house?" he yelled into her face.

Thwack! Another hit.

"You think you can just... do whatever the hell you want?"

Thwack!

"You march yourself downstairs right now, clean all that crap up, and get out of my sight! And if I have to come up here again, that scooter of yours is going straight to the dump, you understand?"

Thwack!

With a final hit, Heat Wave dropped Scootaloo on the ground and stomped back downstairs. Scootaloo was absolutely paralyzed with fear, her heart and resolve shattered into pieces. She didn't even bother going downstairs, because she knew that by the time she got down there, her father would be passed out on the living room couch asleep. Instead, she simply curled up into a ball in the corner of her room, shivering and crying until she cried herself to sleep.

Secret Admirer

Celestia's sun shone bright over the town of Ponyville. Birds chirped and sang, ponies went about their daily business and routines, and a bright rainbow trail blazed across the sky along the outskirts of town.

"Woohoo! Awesome!"

The one and only Rainbow Dash cheered herself on as she practiced some tricks in a small field just outside Ponyville. Ever since she was accepted into the Wonderbolts reserves, Rainbow Dash was always pushing herself to become a better flyer. She would always teach herself all sorts of loops, flips, twists, corkscrews, and sharp turns in the hopes of impressing the Wonderbolts enough to become a full-time member.

That wasn't the only reason that Dash practiced so much, of course. Flying was everything to Rainbow Dash, so much so that she was rarely ever seen on the ground. If she wasn't in the skies above Ponyville managing the weather team, or in her field practicing dangerous aerial maneuvers, she was likely napping on a cloud somewhere quiet. Rainbow Dash lived to fly, even if it did get a bit lonely at times.

Lonely. That word seemed to be popping up more and more in her head. If there was one thing that always bothered Rainbow Dash, it was that she didn't have anyone who she could truly share the sky with. The Wonderbolts were cool and all, but they weren't exactly close friends or anything. Fluttershy, one of Dash's closest friends, was terrified of flying, and usually stuck to the ground. And Twilight, while definitely considered a close friend, couldn't really keep up with Rainbow unless she flew at a slower pace. It bothered Dash that she had to fly alone all the time. A wide open, limitless sky, and no one to share it with? It just didn't seem fair.

Rainbow Dash's mind soon got the better of her, as her thoughts distracted her from focusing on her tricks, so she decided to call it a day and head home. As she came down to land and start walking back, however, she heard a small rustling noise in the treeline beside her. The pegasus shot her head around to look, but didn't see anything, and decided that her mind was playing tricks on her. After taking a few more steps, she heard it again, louder this time.

"Alright, I'll give whoever's sneaking around in there one chance to come out before I make you come out!" she yelled into the trees. She wasn't scared, of course - it was far too close to Ponyville for whoever was there to be any real threat. Dash just didn't really like the prospect of being spied on. Or at least, she thought she would be mad, until she saw a familiar orange filly shyly drag herself out into the open. "Scootaloo? What are you doing this far away from Ponyville?" Dash inquired.

"Oh, h-hey Rainbow Dash! Fancy, uh, running into you here, huh?" Scootaloo stammers, trying to come off as calm and innocent. The look she was getting from Dash was telling her that it wasn't working, though, and she simply sighed and looked away in shame. "I came out here to watch you while you were flying.." she admits, kicking her hoof into the ground in embarrassment. "I'm sorry, I should've told you.."

Rainbow Dash simply blinked a few times. "Oh, well, don't worry about it, squirt. I don't mind if you watch me while I practice," she replies, tilting her head curiously. "But why didn't you tell me? I would've just flown you out here with me if I knew you wanted to watch."

"Well, you see, I.. just didn't want to bother you with it!" Scootaloo exclaims, perhaps a bit too quickly. It was a blatant lie, of course - Scootaloo knew it, and Dash probably knew it too. But the filly was too embarrassed to tell her the actual truth.

The truth of the matter was that Scootaloo was watching in order to try and teach herself how to fly. Her biggest insecurity was that, despite practically being a teenager, she couldn't get off the ground for more than a few seconds. She never understood why, either. All the other pegasi her age, and some even younger than her could fly just fine, but she could barely get off the ground. So when Scootaloo first saw Rainbow Dash fly through the sky with all that grace, confidence, and bravado, she figured that if anypony was going to teach her how to fly, it would be her. She started following Rainbow Dash to the field they were currently in, where she practices her tricks, and carefully memorizing her entire technique - how she took off, how she maintained her altitude, etc. - then she would go home and try to do it herself. This had been happening for several months now, and despite her best efforts, she wasn't really making any progress. And now that she had been discovered by Dash, she could have to give up flying altogether.

Rainbow simply shook her head at that answer. "Well, I appreciate the politeness, Scoots, but just ask me next time you want to watch and I'll come bring you with me, alright?" the pegasus offers, before starting in the direction of town again. "Anyway, I'm gonna head back and call it a day. Want a ride?"

Scootaloo's eyes lit up almost immediately when Rainbow asked her that. Scootaloo loved when Dash let her ride on her back. It was the closest to flying she ever got, and flying was all she really wanted to do. So she instantly jumped up onto the larger pegasi's back and held on tight. "Ready for takeoff, Rainbow Dash!"

Rainbow Dash grinned and crouched down. "Takeoff in three, two, one...!" With a fake engine sound, Dash lept into the air, carrying both of them up into the bright blue sky. She could hear Scootaloo laughing on top of her, and when she looked back she saw the filly had a wide smile plastered across her face. This was what Rainbow Dash wanted. Someone to share the sky with. Maybe not while that someone rode her back, but it was a step in that direction. Of course, Rainbow wasn't oblivious to Scootaloo's flight problems, and thinking about that made her realize that there was a solution to both of their problems. Rainbow Dash could teach Scootaloo how to fly.

A New Apprentice

Friday came and went quicker than Rainbow Dash would have liked it to. Being relieved of weather duties early was nice and all, but it left Rainbow with a lot of time to think. Primarily, she was tossing around the idea of being Scootaloo's flight coach in her head. Would Scootaloo even want that sort of thing? There was no doubt that the filly was a huge fan of Rainbow Dash. She was the founder of the Rainbow Dash Fan Club, and looked for any excuse to spend time with her. But Rainbow was afraid that it would be too patronizing to just outright take her in like some helpless foal. After pacing around her cloud house for some time, Dash decided that standing around worrying about it wasn't going to get her anywhere, and so she went to visit a friend about the subject.

Fluttershy's cottage was always nice because it was quiet. The small hill that it sat on was far enough away from both the main part of Ponyville and the Everfree Forest that there was rarely ever any activity nearby. It was perfect for the meadow's sole inhabitant, Fluttershy. Rainbow Dash always slightly envied the peacefulness of the area, before seconds later convincing herself that it would be too boring and forgetting about it. The pegasus landed just a few steps shy of the cottage door, and walked up and knocked with a few sharp rasps.

Several seconds later, a yellow pegasus slowly opened the door. "Oh, hello Rainbow Dash," she says in slight surprise, opening the door fully after seeing who it is. "I didn't think you'd be here today."

"Yeah, it's sort of an unexpected visit, 'Shy," she admits, a small blush coming across her cheeks. "Can I come in?"

Fluttershy nods and proceeds back into her house, gesturing for Rainbow Dash to follow her. "Oh, of course you can. Make yourself at home," she says warmly. "Can I get you anything?"

Dash simply shakes her head and takes a seat in one of the living room chairs. "Nah, I'm good, 'Shy. I'm actually here because there's something I need to ask you about." Rainbow Dash hesitates slightly before continuing. "How much do you know about pegasus wings?"

The yellow pony's eyes widen at that question. "Th-There's nothing wrong with your wings, is there, Rainbow?" Fluttershy responds in a sort of panicked tone. "Are you having trouble flying?"

Rainbow chuckles a bit and shakes her head. She could always count on Fluttershy to be paranoid and nervous. "No no, it's nothing like that. I'm talking more about fillies. You're, ah.... You know Scootaloo, right?"

"Sure, I've seen her around before. I've never really talked to her all that much though," Fluttershy replies, before tilting her head curiously. "IS something wrong with her?"

"No, nothing's wrong with her either," Rainbow Dash assures her, although now that she thought about it, it wasn't completely unreasonable. Could there really be a problem with Scootaloo's wings? It would certainly explain her constant flight problems. 'Stop making assumptions, Dash. She just needs practice,' Rainbow mentally reassured herself. "I was just wondering.. do you think there could be anything keeping her from flying, 'Shy?"

Fluttershy thinks for a few moments. "Well, Rainbow, you know that I'm a pet doctor, not a pony doctor. I don't really know all that much about pony medical problems," she admits, sounding a bit ashamed that she can't be more help. "I suppose she could have been born with a wing disability."

Rainbow Dash just blinks a few times. "You don't mean like the same disabilities that earth ponies sometimes get with their legs, or unicorns get with their horns, do you?"

"I do, actually.. Just like how some earth ponies need wheelchairs and some unicorns need magical amplifiers, Scootaloo might need some form of 'wing crutches' to help her out." As Fluttershy explains this, Rainbow Dash visibly deflates a little bit. "O-Of course, I could be wrong.. She might just need practice, you know?"

The cyan pegasus hesitates for a minute, thinking. If Scootaloo really had a wing disability, then she'd never fly, no matter how much Rainbow trained her. It would be a hopeless effort. "I see.. well, that's all I need from you for now, 'Shy. Sorry to drop in on you like this," she says with a small chuckle.

"Oh, it's no problem, Rainbow Dash. You're always welcome here!" Fluttershy responds, giving Dash a large smile.

"Thanks, Fluttershy. Now, I've gotta run, so if you'll excuse me.." Rainbow Dash gave her friend a hug goodbye, and then flew out the door. She had a small, orange filly to pay a visit to.

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Bzzzzzt!

The sound of Scootaloo's wings buzzing echoed against the walls of the treehouse. Technically, the Cutie Mark Crusaders clubhouse was a part of Sweet Apple Acres, but Applejack and Apple Bloom let Scootaloo stay in there whenever she wanted. Recently, it had become the sight of her continued attempts to fly.

Thud.

Scootaloo's small body smacked against the wooden floor, causing the treehouse to sway slightly. Frustrated, the filly stood up and kicked a bucket that was sitting in the corner. "Argh! It's no use!" she exclaimed in anger, mostly to herself. This was the sixth day in a row that she had been practicing since she had started spying on Rainbow Dash, and yet she could still barely get off the ground. It just didn't seem fair to Scootaloo. Every other pegasus her age was flying around like it was nothing, and yet she remained grounded. Scootaloo's patience had just about run out, and she sat down in the middle of the floor in annoyance.

"Having a little trouble there, squirt?"

Scootaloo immediately snapped around at the sound of Rainbow Dash's voice, who was standing in the doorway of the treehouse. "Rainbow Dash!" she exclaimed, now feeling a bit embarrassed that she had given up so easily. It definitely isn't what she would have done.

"That's right, squirt. Don't worry, I haven't been spying on you the whole time!" Rainbow insists, laughing quietly to herself. "I actually just came by to make you an offer. I heard you've been giving yourself flight lessons?"

Scootaloo frowns at the mention of her self teaching. "Yeah.. but I haven't really gotten anywhere with it..."

Rainbow Dash keeps grinning, however, and nods. "How'd you like to take some flight classes then?" she asks.

"What's the point?" Scootaloo snaps in frustration, pacing back and forth. "I'm never gonna be able to learn to fly!"

"That's just because you haven't had the fastest flyer in Equestria as your teacher!" she quips, snickering at herself. "Does that change your answer, squirt? Wanna sign up for the official Rainbow Dash training course?"

Scootaloo's eyes lit up instantly. "Do I wanna... are you serious??" she asks excitedly. "Y-Yeah, of course I want to learn if you're going to teach me, Rainbow Dash!"

Rainbow smiles, and tousles her mane slightly. "Great! In that case, meet me in my field tomorrow at around noon. We will begin the first lesson then. See you soon, squirt!" And with that, she was out the door and on her way home.

Scootaloo's heart was beating like a drum. It felt like her dreams were finally starting to come true. Her role model, idol, and borderline big Sister, the one and only Rainbow Dash, was going to teach her how to fly. If anypony could do it, it was her. Almost immediately, Scootaloo ran out of the treehouse and hopped on her scooter to go brag to all her friends.

Author's Notes:

Sorry there was such a delay between chapters this time! My uploading schedule should be back to normal now, so expect to see more frequent updates!