Where There's Thunder
Scootaloo had been feeling, well, lonely and bored. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle spent so much time practicing their creativity and singing respectively, that it had started cutting into their crusading time, leaving Scootaloo with nothing to do. "Ugh," She groaned in frustration, "How is singing and designing going to help get cutie marks?" Scootaloo complained to herself, the irony of what she'd said lost to her. Scootaloo stood, determined to find some way to spend her time. "If their practicing things, I'll work on something too!" Scootaloo declared. "But what should I practice?" No sooner than she asked herself the question did she spot a rainbow streak darting across the sky at speeds that would turn any normal pony to mush. Scootaloo's eyes lit up, and she followed the trail.
"So you want me to help you learn how to fly?" Rainbow Dash asked. Scootaloo nodded excitedly. Rainbow Dash wasn't sure she would make a good teacher, she hadn't exactly done a great job with Fluttershy, but she couldn't let Scootaloo down could she? "You're on squirt!" Scootaloo, despite telling herself repeatedly that she wouldn't, let out a squeal of joy.
"Okay, uh, this time try to up your speed by spreading your wings out farther." Rainbow Dash suggested. Things weren't going well, Rainbow Dash knew it. Nothing they did could get Scootaloo off the ground for more than a few seconds. Scootaloo knew it wasn't going well too, but she believed that Rainbow Dash had some sort of master plan to teach her how to make it work, this rough part was just a set up for later she though. Scootaloo spread her wings as far as she could before jumping off the cloud Rainbow Dash had carried her to. She glided a few feet before crashing to the ground. Not hard, but her pride was still wounded. "You okay squirt?" Rainbow Dash asked. "Yeah, what's next?" Scootaloo replied. "Uh, I think we're done for today. We'll work some more later okay?" Rainbow Dash said. Scootaloo's face fell, "Yeah, okay."
For the next few days, whenever the other crusaders couldn't come out, Scootaloo would seek out Rainbow Dash for a flying lesson. Unfortunately, despite all the practice, she got no better. Scootaloo got more and more upset the more she failed, and it only got worse when it became apparent that Rainbow Dash was actively trying to avoid flying lessons. 'She thinks I'm a lost cause." Scootaloo thought. This however, was not the case. "I just can't face her," Rainbow Dash admitted to Fluttershy, "I don't know how to teach her. I don't want to let her down, but I don't think there's anything I can do."
Scootaloo was riding her scooter to clear her head. She didn't want to think about how she wasn't able to fly or how her idol was avoiding her, so she went faster and lost herself in the movement. Eventually she found herself a little ways out from Ponyville, but she knew she'd be able to get back just as quickly, so she didn't mind. When she could no longer focus on her scooter, she stopped; leaving her in the middle of a field. Scootaloo looked up at the clouds in the sky, depressed that she couldn't fly up to them. Scootaloo was dangerously close to thinking about how she may never be able to, when a brilliant blue and yellow streak zipped across the sky. Scootaloo watched in awe as the figure got faster and faster until it was bordering on rainboom speeds. The figure spun, twirled and shot light a bolt of lightning before slamming to the ground with more force than should have been possible without injury. Scootaloo galloped towards the figure, seeing it was an electric blue pegasus with a bright yellow mane. "Who are you?" Scootaloo asked. The pegasus turned and smirked, "The names Lightning Dust kid."
Lightning Dust and Scootaloo talked for a while. Scootaloo explained that she was having trouble flying, leaving out her practices with Rainbow Dash, as the whole thing embarrassed her. Hearing that the filly was having trouble, Lightning Dust offered to help her. Helping other ponies out wasn't normally her style, but ever since her experience at the Wonderbolts Academy, she'd been questioning her old style. Scootaloo was hesitant to accept help from Lightning Dust, feeling as though it was somehow a betrayal of Rainbow Dash. But in the end she decided that Rainbow Dash wasn't really teaching her anymore, so there was no problem.
It quickly became apparent to Lightning Dust that Scootaloo wasn't going to fly anytime soon. This was a sad thought, but Lightning Dust had another idea. "The bad news," Lightning Dust told her, "Is that you're not going to learn to fly, not from me at least." Scootaloo hung her head. "The good news is," This got Scootaloo's attention; "You might just be able to learn how to glide with style."
Lightning Dust worked with Scootaloo every day for a week. And it was starting to show. Scootaloo couldn't fly by any means, but, if the wind was with her and she kept her focus, she could glide almost a mile and land without a hitch. One day, Lightning Dust noticed Scootaloo on her scooter and realized that she had some real talent with it. Lightning Dust grinned as Scootaloo approached. "I got an idea." She said. "What idea?" Scootaloo asked. "I've seen you with that scooter of yours. You're pretty good on it. And now, you're not a bad glider either. So, if you put the two together, you just might pass for wicked!" Scootaloo's eyes widened.
Rainbow Dash was mad at herself. She'd left Scootaloo hanging, and that wasn't something you do. Rainbow Dash resolved to make good on her word and go back to teaching Scootaloo. She flew around town searching. A bunch of the town's ponies said they'd seen Scootaloo leaving for the field outside town around this time for the past few days. Rainbow Dash flew towards the field, stopping when she saw Scootaloo standing on top of a hill. Rainbow Dash was about to approach her, but stopped when she saw the look on Scootaloo's face, it was like she was waiting for something. Suddenly, Scootaloo dashed down the hill on her scooter, gaining speed every second. When she went up the net hill, she leapt of her scooter into the air. She glided for a few feet, did a mid-air triple flip, and landed perfectly on her scooter before coming to a halt. It had been amazing, and Rainbow was about to tell Scootaloo so, when she heard another voice, "That was awesome kid! Who needs to fly when you can pull something like that off?" Scootaloo blushed with embarrassment at the admiration. When Rainbow Dash saw Lightning Dust, her eyes narrowed. "You!" Lightning Dust turned to see Rainbow Dash. The shock of seeing her froze Lightning Dust in place. "What are you doing here?" Rainbow Dash questioned. Lightning Dust, unable to find her words, remained silent. Rainbow Dash scowled and pulled Scootaloo away from Lightning Dust. "What are you doing with her?" Rainbow Dash questioned. "You know Lightning Dust?" Scootaloo asked. "Oh I know her alright, and you shouldn't be hanging around a pony like her." Scootaloo didn't understand what Rainbow Dash meant, but her words sett Lightning Dust on the defensive. "What's that supposed to mean?" Lightning Dust questioned. "It means I don't like the idea of Scootaloo hanging around a pony who'd knock somepony else out of the sky just for laughs!" "I've been helping her!" Lightning Dust defending. "Helping her what? Learn how to put her friends in danger?" Rainbow Dash spat. "That was an accident and I've been helping her learn how to glide! I saw she couldn't fly so I decided it would be the right thing to do to help her! If you're so concerned about her, why weren't you helping her?" Lightning Dust spat back. "Oh don't try and make me the bad pony here. I was on my way to help her today. You don't help ponies, you help yourself!" "I'll admit I used to, but ponies change! What could I possibly have to gain from helping a little filly learn how to be awesome?" "Oh please, don't even try the 'I'm a good pony now' act. Just because I can't figure out your angle doesn't mean you don't have one!" "Stop it!" Rainbow Dash and Lightning Dust both turned in surprise to see Scootaloo. "I don't know what's going on between you two, but please stop it! Rainbow, I don't know what you think of Lightning Dust, but she's done nothing but help since I met her. Lightning Dust, I'm sorry Rainbow Dash came at you so mean, but that doesn't mean you should act just as bad." Scootaloo said. The two mares stood, star struck from being called out on foalish behavior by a filly roughly half their age and height. Scootaloo, not knowing what else to do, rode home on her scooter.
The net day Scootaloo went back to the field. She wasn't sure what she was expecting to find there, but she certainly hadn't been expecting Rainbow Dash and Lightning Dust, who just yesterday had been ready and willing to start a brawl, standing side by side, smiling and waiting for her. In truth, the feud between the two wasn't quite lain to rest, but they were willing to work together to help Scootaloo and, in time, maybe even become friends.
AN: I'm going to leave the moral here up for public debate. I briefly considered using Gilda Griffon for this, but in the end, I think Lightning Dust was the better choice. Especially because trying to right Gilda's bad seventies dialoged would be pure murder.