A bright yellow pegasus mare with an indigo mane trotted towards the exit of the waiting area, and into the flying zone, just as the previous pony had done. By now, the procedure was quite understood.

It was early morning, and the tension in the waiting zone filled the air.

Several pegasi waited for their turn, stretching, talking, and preparing to perform for the judges.

Among the ponies remaining still in the waiting area, there was a certain orange pegasus, her violet mane straightened and no longer curled upwards in her previous style.

All the ponies currently in the waiting room had a mentor, just as all the ones previously in the waiting room did.

This particular pegasus had no mentor.

Scootaloo stood tall and proud, a numbered patch placed over her cutie mark.

It read:

15.

Her brain was clear, her mind strong.

She opened her wings, stretched them from side to side, and then rested them back against her hips.

She broke into a very low to the ground hover, stretched her hooves out again in the air, then descended back to the cloud floor.

She focused her bright purple eyes on the exit, awaiting the moment that she would walk through it herself.

Slowly, while standing in place, Scootaloo closed her eyes and began to think.

She began to think of her accomplishments. She thought of her life. She thought of her friends.

She thought of her mentor that couldn't be here today, but that Scootaloo was sure she was watching from a distance.

She smiled.

It was a bright and sunny day, a soft breeze blew, and the heat was soothing.

Upon a cloud elevated above Ponyville, there lay a light blue cyan pegasus, a rainbow mane ruffled over her eyes as she napped.

Scootaloo rode her scooter quickly under the cloud, and began shouting upwards:

"Rainbow Dash! Wake up! C'mon, wake up!"

Slowly, Dash cracked open her eyes and sat up, stretching her back and wings.

She looked down at Scootaloo, who had a gigantic smile from cheek to cheek, and laughed.

"Wow, squirt," she began, "you really can't wait any longer, huh? Not 'till after... maybe I finish my nap?"

Scootaloo shook her head side to side, still grinning hugely.

"Waiting? There's no time for waiting! You promised today would be the day!"

Rainbow chuckled again to herself.

"I know kid, I know, I'm just messin' witcha'. I'm coming down right now."

Scootaloo hopped in place as Rainbow hovered downwards, right in front of where she stood.

"Rainbow Dash! What's up?"

"Oh hey kiddo, not much," Dash replied, still smiling at how happy her little follower was to see her.

Dash began again.

"So, you ready to earn a cutie mark today?"

Scootaloo jumped into the air, flapped her wings hard, and hovered a bit in excitment.

"Of course I am! I've been waiting for this moment all week, and I know how cool you are, so I figured, 'gee, if anyone can help me get a cutie mark, it'd be Rainbow Dash,' so then I asked you a week ago and you said yes and I mean I knew it'd be awesome but now that the day is actually here I'm so excited and-"

Rainbow Dash held up a hoof, giggling, and began talking.

"Woah, woah, woah, hold your horses there, kid. I understand, no need to explain. Besides, we wouldn't wanna waste any more time of the day of your cutie mark, right?"

Scootaloo closed her mouth and nodded smiling.

"Okay then," Dash said, "follow me. I have someplace I wanna take you to work on getting your cutie mark."

Scootaloo looked up at Dash with curiosity.

"Where?" She asked.

"Don't worry," Rainbow said.

"You'll see."

Scootaloo got back on her scooter and followed Dash.

Scootaloo remained solid and in good spirits as she waited for her number to be called.

Scootaloo went over her flying routine through her head one last time, making sure she had everything committed to memory well enough to perform it.

Scootaloo took a few steps towards the exit and took a peek outside.

It appeared the previous pegasus had just finished her routine.

The 3 judges held up score cards. They read:

4

6

4

The pegasus began crying in her hooves, and slowly flew back to the waiting area.

She knew that an averaged score of 4.5/10 would not get her into the Speedstars. She tore the number off of her flank, galloped to the entrance of the waiting room, and left in tears.

Scootaloo, slightly shaken by the display, began to get slightly nervous.

What if she ended up the same way, and what if she failed and never get into any flying groups, and what if-

Scootaloo's thought process was broken by the announcer calling the next performer. A black pegasus colt with white hair stood up on his hind legs, ran towards the exit, and jumped out into the performing area and began to fly.

Scootaloo quickly shook the doubt out of her mind, and went back to her solid mindset.

You can do this, she thought to herself.

You can do this.

After going on for what seemed like ages (to Scootaloo, anyway), Rainbow and Scootaloo arrived at a stone valley, hundreds of feet deep. They were at the top.

Scootaloo unmounted her scooter.

"Rainbow Dash, what's going on?" Scootaloo began. "What the hay is this place?"

A good distance away, a stream of hot water flew up from a crater-like hole, then sizzled back down. Scootaloo figured it was some kind of hot spring or geyser.

Dash smiled and began talking.

"This here is Ghastly Gorge, Scoot."

"Ghastly what now?" Scootaloo said in confusion.

"Ghastly Gorge. It's where I come whenever I need to think or when I need to focus. I think this would be the perfect place to earn a cutie mark, if I might say so myself," she said.

Scootaloo looked around. The place was all stone, had a very cold look to it, and seemed like the exact place you wouldn't want to earn a cutie mark in. She wasn't so convinced.

Still, she went along with it.

"So, Rainbow Dash, where do we start?"

"Well," she replied, "you've told me you can do some basic tricks and flight, right?"

Scootaloo shook her head up and down a few times.

"So, let's see it then, Scoot."

"Okay!" Scootaloo said.

She jumped into the air, and flapped her small wings with great effort. Sure, she could fly well, but it was no doubt harder for a filly, as their wings are smaller than a full grown pegasus mare.

She gained some altitude, dove down diagonally, pulled up into a loop, did a few barrel rolls, then reverted back to a hover, slowly gliding back down.

"Well well well," Dash began, "that was a good start. Why, you'll have a cutie mark in no time!"

Scootaloo blushed a bit at the compliment.

"So, seeing that, I know that you know basic form for loops and twists. That being said," said Dash, taking off into the air, "Maybe we should start working on some stuff that's a little more..."

She paused for a moment.

"...advanced?" she said with a wink.

"Oh, yeah!" Scootaloo said excitedly, "that sounds totally awesome!"

"Heh heh," Dash chuckled, "good."

Scootaloo flew up into the air and got level with Dash.

"Alright, just watch what I do, and try to follow."

Dash proceeded to perform an advanced combination trick; she dove, did a few front flips as she fell, straightened out, pulled up into a loop, then another loop, dashed out straight, and then finally ended the trick by closing her wings, spinning and flipping at the same time, and reopening her wings in a flash just before she touched the ground.

Scootaloo was in awe; how could she ever do a trick like Dash just did?

Dash, giggling at Scootaloo's dropped jaw, spoke.

"C'mon squirt, your turn!"

Scootaloo doubted she would get the trick down right away, but started off anyway. She successfully dove and did a few flips as she fell, but lost her balance in the final flip, flew out of control, and regained her balance a few feet above the ground.

Rainbow Dash was trying her best to hold in her laughter, and Scootaloo just rolled her eyes at her, smiling.

She flew back high up and tried again.

Time seemed to slow down as Scootaloo waited for her name.

She was filled with mixed emotions.

She felt like she owed so much to Rainbow Dash, and that she needed to repay her, right here, right now.

Frantically, she began to think how she could make it up to her hero.

And that was when she decided.

Her regular flight plan for the auditions ended with a suicide dive with plenty of tricks before she reached the arena floor.

Instead, she decided that she was going to replace it with a much different trick.

A Rainbow Dash signature move.

Well, this was it. Scootaloo stretched herself one final time, trotted towards the exit, and leapt out into the warm morning air.

She flew out into the performing arena.

The arena was somewhat cylindrical, but the walls of the arena didn't extend too far into the air, and the top of the arena opened into the sky above it. Scootaloo thought that the arena appeared to look somewhat like the same arena that Cloudsdale held the annual Best Young Flier's Competition in.

Rainbow Dash had won that competition once, she recalled.

The walls were circular, and it contained a flat floor made also made of soft clouds, clouds that would support a pegasus standing on it, but that looked as if they could easily be broken through. Protruding out of one of the parts of the wall, there was a small platform with a desk plant atop it. At this desk, there were 3 judges, waiting for her.

She flew out towards the judges, then landed on the cloud floor before them.

"Name," One of them said.

"Scootaloo," she replied.

"Hometown?" another asked.

"Cloudsdale," Scootaloo said.

"Reason for seeking partaking in the Junior Speedstars?" the 3rd one asked.

Scootaloo paused for a moment.

Then she spoke.

"To make somepony proud," she said.

The judges ruffled a few papers, took a few notes, and then one spoke:

"Alright, Ms. Scootaloo, you may begin," he said firmly.

Scootaloo nodded her head and flew high into the sky.

Now for what seemed like the hundredth time, Scootaloo rose back into the air to try the maneuver again, very frustrated.

She had already nailed down the dive, the flips, and the 2 loops, but when she closed her wings to fall and perform the final part of the trick, she would always chicken out and open her wings back up. No matter what she tried, she couldn't get herself to do it.

Rainbow watched contently as Scootaloo tried again.

Just as she had done several times before, she had no trouble until the part we she had to drop with her wings closed.

Once again, she opened her wings in fear.

She came to the ground, let out an angry grunt, and stomped her hooves.

"I'll never get this trick right! No matter how many times I try, I'm still no good!" Scootaloo said, upset.

Dash flew over to comfort her.

"Hey, squirt, take it easy on yourself, no one can just perfect every detail of a brand new trick in their first couple of tries," Rainbow said sympathetically.

Scootaloo didn't want to listen. She had been practicing the trick for so long, without success of finishing it correctly, and was beyond reasoning.

"So what? I didn't take 'a couple' of tries, I took a bunch! And I still couldn't do it! How am I supposed to earn my cutie mark if I can't even do one cool trick?"

Scootaloo flew towards her scooter, teary eyed.

She started riding away, looking down at the ground.

"I'm sorry I wasted your time, Rainbow Dash..."

"Hey, kiddo, wait!" Dash yelled after her.

"Why should I?" Scootaloo retorted, her eyes still fixed on the ground. "I'm no good!"

Dash's voice was more urgent now.

"No, kid, really, wait! Watch where you're going!" Dash yelled.

"Huh?" Scootaloo said.

She looked up to see that she was heading straight for the spring they had noticed on the way in. She tried to avoid it, but it was too late.

She was shot up high into the air by the blast of water, still atop her scooter. The fountain of water fell out below her, and she was a rather high distance into the sky.

She began to fall.

Scootaloo clutched her scooter, scared out of her mind. She shook in the air as she plummeted, unsure of what to do. The spring had caught her by surprise, and she was still somewhat paralyzed and dazed with fear and adrenaline.

The eruption of the geyser had filled her ears with a ring for a few moments, and it wasn't until this buzz subsided that Scootaloo heard Rainbow's voice as she shouted to her:

"Hey, try it again!"

Scootaloo shook herself back to awareness and, falling fast, shouted back.

"What the hay are you talking about? Are you crazy? Help me! I can't fly holding this heavy scooter!"

"Do the trick again! You've got your scooter this time! It'll feel more natural! Trust me!"

It took Scootaloo a few moments to realize what Rainbow was saying, but when she did, she was still mildly high in the sky...

In fact, from how far away the ground seemed to Scootaloo, it seemed to be the exact altitude from which she had attempted to pull off Rainbow's stunt several times before.

Nervously, Scootaloo proceeded to start the first part of the manuever, and started flipping through the air as she fell, her hind legs pressed tightly against the bottom of the scooter as she did so.

Scootaloo had reached a decent altitude to begin her performance.

Okay, Scootaloo thought to herself.

Here goes nothing.

Scootaloo flipped her body so that her head was toward the ground and her hind legs towards the sun.

Swiftly, she dove, accelerating faster and faster as she fell.

After a few seconds, she began flipping and flipping, so fast that she became an orange and purple blur as she dropped. The judges smiled and wrote down a few notes.

After Scootaloo could flip no longer without making herself dizzy, she straightened out her body and flapped her wings very strenuously, cutting downwards through the sky at an alarming rate.

The wind blew past her ears and through her mane, whistling as it went.

Then, just as she was level with the judges again, she pulled up tightly into several loops, and used the momentum from the loops to shoot back up higher into the air again.

This time, however, she truly went up and up; she could hardly make out the arena by the time she was as high as she wanted to be.

She inhaled a deep breath, and prepared herself for the last part of her act.

"This one's for you, Dash."

Scootaloo shot like a bullet down back towards the arena, working her wings as hard as her mind allowed her to.

The cold wind stung her eyes as she flew, the air chilled her body, and her wings felt very hot. Still, she accelerated faster and faster.

A small, slightly rounded cone began to form around Scootaloo as she flew.

Scootaloo's felt her wings were melting at this point, but she didn't let herself stop.

There was too much to lose if she did.

"I... won't... let you... fall... this time... Dash..."

She pushed her wings further and harder yet, and she began to feel the pain even in her back.

Suddenly, the cone sharpened from a rounded point to a spiked point.

She was now getting very close to the performing area, and the judges could now see the cone as well. One took off his glasses in disbelief, to make sure his eyes weren't playing game on him. He found that they weren't.

Tears flew out of Scootaloo's eyes and evaporated in seconds.

The wind screamed past her.

Finally, with one last push, Scootaloo increased her speed, and her wings felt like they had deteached from her body.

She broke the sound barrier, and the cone erupted into a blinding spectral beauty of violet and orange.

As Scootaloo flipped, the added weight of the scooter caused her to flip faster and quicker than she had before.

Rainbow watched as Scootaloo became a twirling blur. A slow smile crept onto her face.

Then, when Scootaloo saw she was nearing the ground, she straightened out, and with all her might, pulled up with her wings.

With the heavy scooter being held by her hooves, it was physically agonizing as she curved back upward into the sky. Her scooter nearly brushed the ground.

Like she had done before, she pulled up into the first flip, then the second, but this time, she added a third! Now elevated above the ground once again, Scootaloo flew out straight, carrying her scooter with her as she flew.

Rainbow Dash now had the goofiest, biggest smile drawn upon her cheeks.

"You got this, kid!" she yelled to her fan in the distance.

Scootaloo, shaking, was now nearing the final part of the advanced trick.

She hovered, scooter in hooves, and with the shut of her eyes, placed her feet on the scooter.

She closed her wings.

After falling for a second, she looked out to her left, expecting to see that her wings had instinctively opened again.

Except, they weren't open.

Scootaloo blinked a few times to make sure she wasn't hallucinating or something of the sort. Had she really...?

She had.

She had done it.

She'd managed to keep her wings closed. She felt safer closing her wings when she had her hooves on something solid rather than in the air; in this case the Scooter provided that sense of safety.

Finally, Scootaloo flipped and twisted at the same time as she fell with her wings tucked, just as Dash had instructed her to do.

As she was just about to hit the ground, she opened her wings and pushed hard.

She was hovering(though sinking ever so slightly) literally a few inches above the stone floor.

She hovered downward, let her scooter down, and slowly planted her hooves back onto the ground, panting heavily.

She'd done it. She'd completed the trick that Rainbow had taught her; in a single day, no less!

A few feet away from Scootaloo stood an ecstatic Rainbow Dash, smiling with tears in her eyes.

"H-hey kid?" she said happily.

"Yeah?" said Scoot.

"Look at your flank, squirt."

"What are you talking about Da-

Scootaloo gasped.

A slick black scooter wheel with ice white wings shooting out of the sides and a violet streak of lightning shooting from the wheel was emblazoned on her flank.

Her cutie mark.

It was there.

Scootaloo looked as if she were about to explode.

Suddenly, she darted at full speed towards Rainbow Dash, tackling her to the ground.

They laughed as they rolled a little bit on the ground, and finally they came to a stop.

There they laughed more and smiled together, laying on the ground.

"I knew you could do it, squirt." said Dash, embracing the filly in a great hug.

"Thanks Dash. You don't even know how much I owe you!" Scootaloo replied.

"Eh, don't mention it kid, you did it yourself up there," she said, grinning.

Scootaloo rested her head on Dash's belly.

She let out a few tears of happiness.

"I love you, Dash."

"I love you too, squirt."

The judges could not believe their eyes.

One of them had a large smile on his face, while the others' jaws were dropped in amazement.

Scootaloo, a large purple and orange trail painting behind her as she flew, crashed straight through the cloud floor of the performing area. She flew all the way down to the ground, and pulled up just above the earth. She glided right above the dirt, and she was so close to it that she could have touched it if she so desired. The charming aroma of the blades of grass filled her nostrils as they whistled past her face and mane. Scootaloo closed her eyes for a moment, relaxed.

For the first time in a while, things actually felt like they were going to be alright. She had lost so much in a matter of days...

...but yet, as Scootaloo realized in that very moment, she still had so much to gain, so much potential to reach, so many dreams to chase...

...and she knew that she would never stop until she caught those dreams, until she gained all she could, until she reached her full potential.

She would do it because she made a promise, a promise to the one mare who meant everything to her.

And it wasn't a promise she ever intended to break.

She soon snapped her eyes open once again, curved back upwards, and flew back up in an arch over the arena, leaving a purple and orange rainbow hanging over the place.

She gradually decreased her speed, and slowly hovered back over the performing area.

As she descended, a smile slapped on her face, she noticed that literally everyone was staring at her; the judges, the announcer, even the remaining pegasi that were to perform next.

She giggled slightly when she saw this.

At last, she reached the cloud floor where she had started, and landed.

For a long while, the judges just stared at Scootaloo, and she returned the stare.

Finally, the one who was smiling spoke.

"Ms. Scootaloo, I have no idea what that, er- maneuver you just performed was called, but..."

He paused for a second.

"I think I speak for all of us when I say that was the most magnificent flying display I have seen in my life. Am I right?" he said, motioning towards the other judges.

They both nodded their heads in agreement.

"Ms. Scootaloo, I think I can safely say that after a performance like that, you can consider yourself on the Junior Speedstars flight team."

Scootaloo just nodded her head, tearing up in joy.

"Ms. Scootaloo..." the judge began again.

The three judges each held up a scorecard.

Each had a number on it.

They read:

10

10

10

"...fabulous job."

"Thank you." replied Scootaloo, firmly.

"Come back at the same time in 3 days, and we will announce who has and who hasn't made the cut- expect yourself to have had made it."

Scootaloo nodded again, extremely happy.

"Thank you so much."

She looked up once more at the purple and orange rainbow that she had created over the stadium.

She bade them farewell and flew away, still looking at the rainbow.

She sped away down towards Ponyville, and quickly landed right near the ponyville cemetery.

She ran as fast as she could towards a familiar looking gravestone, a cloud with a bolt of rainbow lighting shooting from it painted behind the writing.

Scootaloo started to speak.

"Rainbow Dash, I did it..." Scootaloo began.

"I made the team..."

Scootaloo got not response, although she knew Dash was listening.

She lay down on the dirt, resting her head right next to the gravestone.

"Guess what? I did a sonic rainboom for the tryouts today! I did a sonic rainboom, just like you! And this is just the beginning! I'll get better and better, and I'll join the Wonderbolts, just like you wanted to!"

Silence.

Scootaloo calmed down slightly more, her voiced softened to whisper, and she stared directly at the headstone.

"Rainbow Dash, none of this would have been possible without you. Never forget that."

There she sat for a long while, laying in silence with her fallen companion, sharing her happiness with her.

Finally, Scootaloo nuzzled the gravestone one last time and got up.

"Thanks for everything, big sis."

"I love you..."

Then, slowly, Scootaloo began walking away, bittersweet tears falling to the ground.

She turned around one final time and whispered,

"...and I'll never forget you."