Learning To Laugh Again
A Cupcake Chronicles Side Story Series
by milesprower06

Part 7

Rainbow left Surprise's store and went out to the market square with Cirrus. They went to the closest tea shop, and sat down to discuss what was wrong.

“So what's happened with Scootaloo?”

“She had a doctor's appointment today. I was beginning to become concerned with how old she was getting without being able to...well...fly. So we took to get her checked out, and...”

Rainbow was pretty sure she knew what was coming. One in every 500 pegasi were diagnosed with it.

“Underdeveloped primaries?” Rainbow asked. Cirrus gave a sad nod.

“The doctor said that aside from short bursts of low hovering, it's doubtful that she'll fly at any point in her life.”

“Oh, she must be devastated.”

“Yeah...pretty much. So that's why I came here. She really looks up to you. I figured if anypony can help soften this blow a bit, it'd be you.”

“I'll certainly try my best, Cirrus, but...well, I just hope you realize that it could be a bit awkward.”

“I know, but I don't know who else to turn to.”

Scootaloo sat on the edge of the bed in patient room 15 of the Fillies and Colts wing of Ponyville Hospital. She had never before felt so mad at the rest of the world than she did right now. All because of the piece of paper beside her on the bed right now. She glanced at it hatefully, wanting to disintegrate it just by her leer.

“Hey there, squirt.”

The filly turned to see her idol in the doorway. She couldn't even bring herself to smile, or even greet Rainbow.

“I can imagine you're not having the best of days.” she continued, coming into the room.

“Ya think? Mom sent you in here to try and cheer me up, right? Don't bother, Rainbow Dash. It just...wouldn't feel right, to be happy during a time like this.”

“So being bummed out and pouting at the situation is supposed to make everything fine?”

“No, but it's better than pretending that everything is fine. I'm a Pegasus. I'm supposed to fly. But for some reason my body has decided against that. So what am I supposed to do? They don't exactly have special positions for flightless pegasi up in the weather factory.”

“I doubt that the fact that you look up to me is the only reason your mom wanted me to come see you. It wasn't too long ago that I was in the same situation as you. If I recall, you were the first pony that started to help me feel better about a situation that I was angry at, but couldn't do anything about.”

As Rainbow remembered how Scootaloo encouraged her to try swimming to get over her grief, she was hit with inspiration.

“But, ya know...I guess some life lessons you have to learn yourself. So if you think that sitting here being mad at this unfortunate doctor appointment is going to help, then I'll leave you to it. But when you get out of here, I'll be waiting out in the lobby for you. There's somepony I want you to meet, just in case your pouting plan doesn't quite work out.”

With that, Rainbow turned away and exited the room. She returned out to the lobby, where Cirrus was filling out paperwork. She turned to Rainbow when she saw her approach.

“Well, how is she?”

“It's gonna take a little more than a pep talk from me, I'm afraid. But I do have an idea. Any idea when she'll be out of here?”

“They're still waiting on the last set of test results. They're pretty certain that it's UDP, but they need this last test to be absolutely 100% and send us on our way. Shouldn't be more than an hour.”

“Alright, that sounds good, might be just the time I need. I'll be back in awhile.”

With that, Rainbow trotted out of the hospital and went back into town, to find Surprise starting to close up shop for the day.

"Hi there Rainbow. Everything alright with Scootaloo?"

"Not exactly. Listen, I remember something you told me back in Las Pegasus, and I was wondering if I could get your help with something."

Scootaloo waited in the examination room for 50 more minutes. The doctor and her mom signed off on the last form, and she was finally released, with her next check-up scheduled six months from now. Not that she cared in the slightest at the moment. They began to make their way out of the lobby. As the outer double doors parted, Cirrus tried to console her daughter.

"Now sweetheart, I know it feels like it can't get any worse, but things will start to look up, you'll see."

"Oh yeah? Like when?" Scootaloo pouted.

"Well, like now."

They crossed from the building interior to the front walk. Cirrus lifted Scootaloo's chin, and pointed out by one of the benches.

Rainbow Dash waved to her, waiting with a white pegasus with poofy blonde hair. They both stood on scooters, and Rainbow had Scootaloo's waiting next to her by the bench.

"Hey there squirt. Figured it was a beautiful day today, perfect weather for some riding. What d'ya say?"

The filly looked at her scooter, still pouting.

"Rainbow..."

"Oh come on, Scoot. No matter how bad a day you're having, are you seriously saying you're gonna pass up zooming through town with your most favorite pony of all time?" Rainbow asked, nudging her in the side. She didn't smile just yet, but the pout began to leave her face as she looked to her mom.

"Go and have fun. I'll be waiting for you at home."

With that, Rainbow Dash and her companion mounted their scooters, putting on the helmets they were also given along with the rentals.

"By the way, Scootaloo, this is Surprise. Surprise, Scootaloo. She's new in town."

Scootaloo gave a simple "hi" as she got up on her own scooter, donned her helmet, and kicked off the ground. Rainbow and Surprise followed, and Rainbow quickly went ahead of her down the front walk.

"I know you can go faster than that. Now use those wings like you always used to." Rainbow encouraged.

Scootaloo did no such thing, continuing to kick off the ground to gain momentum. Rainbow half-expected this. She came back down the sidewalk, and got behind Scootaloo, pushing the back of her scooter with the front of hers.

"Guess I'm gonna need you to give you some encouragement then, because I know you can do better than that."

Rainbow used her wings to pick up speed, and instead of making a left turn towards down, she made a right, into Whitetail Woods. With Surprise keeping a small pace behind, Rainbow continued to pick up speed, until she got fast enough where she knew Scoots would have to use her wings.

"Rainbow, knock it off!" the filly protested.

"Suit yourself, kid." Rainbow Dash said with a shrug, and backed off just a hair, leaving Scootaloo to her own momentum. The filly began to falter in her balance, and like it or not, she was forced to use her wings to steady herself as they curved into the woods. This close to winter, nearly every tree was bare, and most of the leaves had blown away or rotted back into the ground.

Rainbow came up next to her, matching her speed.

"That's not so bad, is it?" she asked.

"This isn't gonna fix things, Rainbow!" Scootaloo shot back, her wings buzzing behind her.

"What needs fixing? You're doing a great job!"

Barely a half-mile ahead, Scootaloo saw a vacant campsite with logs around a fire pit, and turned her left side of her scooter against her forward momentum, digging her tires into the ground and bringing her self to an expertly braking halt. Rainbow wasn't expecting this, and had to turn around, and completed the trip back just as soon as Surprise also came up to the campsite.

Scootaloo took off her helmet and dropped it to the ground, walking up to Rainbow who was just getting off her scooter.

"My wings aren't meant for riding a scooter. They're meant for flying!" she yelled, before turning her back and sitting on a log, staring at the empty fire pit.

"Listen Scootaloo. I want to show you something. I invited Surprise along for a reason."

Surprise, who left her helmet by her own scooter, came up to Rainbow and Scootaloo, turned to the side, and unfurled her wings. Scootaloo studied them for just a moment, and her eyes widened.

"You too?"

Surprise nodded, folding them back into her side.

"Yep. Ever since I can remember. Not all winged creatures are meant to fly, Scootaloo. I've been enjoying my life here on the ground just fine."

"And you're wicked on that scooter of yours, squirt. I can never be as good as you, or as fast, because my primaries would eventually take me up in the air if I used them hard enough. But you...you can get speed from those things in a way I can't. So what do ya say?"

Rainbow picked up the helmet, and put it in Scootaloo's lap.

"Show us what you can really do. I know you can do it."

Scootaloo, for the first time since beginning this ride, gave a small smirk, and put her helmet back on while Rainbow and Surprise returned to their scooters. The purple-haired pegasus took off first, followed by Surprise, with Rainbow Dash taking up the rear. They began to pick up more and more speed, and they came to the more winding sections of the trail. With every turn, Scootaloo didn't slow down much, leaning into the turns, at times going up on two wheels, leaving dirt and pebbles in her wake. The wind rushed through her hair as the older pegasi had to work to keep up with her.

Up ahead, Scootaloo spotted a low hanging branch that was just the right height for one of her favorite tricks. But she had been tweaking it a bit, and decided to show her two riding partners what she could really do. She leaned forward, buzzing her wings harder than she ever had before, and picked up the most speed she could as she quickly approached the branch. At the last moment, Scootaloo released the handlebars and leapt off of the board, continuing to lean forward and followed it into a forward flip as she vaulted over the tree limb. Once she cleared it, she spotted her scooter still going directly beneath her, and grabbed the handlebars a split second before her back hooves hit the board. The landing forced her to drop to a knee, but she stayed on her scooter and kept her balance as she continued zooming through the forest. She heard Rainbow and Surprise cheering behind her, and she kept her pace just slow enough so they could keep up. Her heart was pounding. She had been practicing that trick for weeks, and she had finally managed to land it! She jumped over rocks and stumps, she grinded against the occasional bench on the side, and took corners faster than she had previously dared. This was such a euphoric high. Due to her high speeds through the forest trails, they came out on the other side in just over 10 minutes. Scootaloo skidded to a halt next to one of the benches, finally out of breath. Surprise and Rainbow came up right behind her.

"That was incredible!" Surprise cheered.

"What did I tell ya, Scoots! You're amazing on that thing!"

The filly smiled, still catching her breath.

"Thanks...Rainbow. Maybe you're right, I don't have to be in the air."

"There's no 'maybe' about it. If you don't believe me, just look at that!"

Rainbow happily pointed down at Scootaloo's back legs. The orange pegasus looked down, and her heart skipped a beat as her mouth hung open.

There, on her flank, was a flaming scooter wheel.

As much as she didn't want to tear her gaze away from it, for fear it would disappear, she looked back up at Rainbow Dash with tears welling up in her eyes. She jumped into her, wrapping her hooves around her neck and broke into sobs of joy.

"Thank you thank you thank you so much!!!" Scootaloo cried happily.

"Congratulations, Scoot." Rainbow replied, returning the hug.

After squeezing her as tight as she could, Scootaloo released her, and then offered Surprise the same, who happily accepted it. Then, soon enough, her tears of joy was replaced by excitement that she didn't know what to do with.

"Oh my gosh, I've...I've gotta go tell mom. Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle! Everypony!"

"Well what are ya waiting for? A written invitation? Go on!" Rainbow said with a chuckle.

With that, Scootaloo was off on her scooter with a flash, racing into Ponyville.

"I have to be perfectly honest. I was totally not expecting that. Thank you so much for your help." Rainbow said to Surprise.

"It was nothing." she replied with a smile.

"Are you kidding? That kid's gonna be smiling for days! This wasn't nothing."

Rainbow then offered her own hug to Surprise.

"You're gonna be a great friend, I just know it."