Chapter 181: Flight of Fancy
A few days went by and everything was quiet and peaceful across Ponyville and at the schoolhouse, the fillies had just gotten back from recess and were all in the classroom waiting for class to resume, chatting about what they were planning over the weekend, about what some believe their Cutie Mark swould be, anything that didn't involve schoolwork. As they were chatting, Ms. Cheerilee walked in, which everyone looked to her and settled down with only a few of the foals still talking, not noticing their teacher walking in.
"Alright everypony, settle down please." Cheerliee said, everyone becoming quiet as she said it. "Alright class, i have some very exciting news for you today. We have two guest speakers who have a very special announcement for all of you!"
"Oh, I wonder who it is!?" Apple Bloom said.
"Everypony, please welcome, the head of the Equestria Games, Ms. Harshwhinny!" Ms. Cheerilee said.
They all looked to the doorway where Ms. Harshwhinny was standing in looking stone faced as she walked into the school, standing before the blackboard as she faced the students.
"Thank you Ms. Cheerilee." Harshwhinny said. "Now, I'm sure you're all aware of the upcoming Equestria games that will be held in the Crystal Empire this year, where ponies from all across Equestria compete in various athletic competitions, seeking glory and a chance to face his highness, Prince Spyro, in one of the newest events that will be held in this years." Everyone looked at one another, whispering about what event that would be important enough that even the Prince would compete in it. "And now, this year, you young ones will have the opportunity to be apart of the games as well. This year, you will get the opportunity to carry your home town flag and perform a routine that best represents your home and if you manage to impress me, you will have the honor of representing Ponyville."
Everyone in the classroom gasped, hearing that any one of them woule be able to go to the Equestria games when they heard something whooshing by, everyone looking to the back window when a wave of water came in through the window, everyone bracing to get splashed, but the water dodged the kids, reforming in the air into Spyro, who was holding a flag in his mouth as he flipped all the way through the air and to the blackboard. Ms. Harshwhinny side stepped out of the way as Spyro flew through the air and tossed the flag up, spinning around as he turned the air around him into water, releasing water droplets into the air as the light shined in and hit the water, creating a minature rainbow as he grabbed the flag and pressed a button, extending the pole and planting it into the wood as the flag flapped.
"That's correct kids." Spyro said. "You will have the chance to carry the Ponyville flag to represent our home town and to perform a routine that will blow everyone away. Starting tomorrow and all throughout next week, you will need to practice your routines and perform them before judges in the Equestria games, who will be evaluating your routine compared to other routines to see which one is the best!"
"Aw yeah, this is going to be awesome!" Scootaloo said.
"Now, the routine you'll be performing must have these three requirements." Spyro said, walking to the blackboard. "You'll all form teams and come up with a routine together. It must be graceful, must have style, and above all, creative, meaning it has to be an original routine that you and your team came up with on your own. The team with the best routine will get to represent Ponyville. And the one who shall be overseeing your routines will be... me."
He then brought out a cap and a red whistle from his jacket, putting both on and blowing in the whistle, much to everyone's happiness as they all looked at him, their eyes wide with excitement, but Diamond Tiara looked annoyed.
"Yes, each of your routines will be judged professionally." Ms. Harshwhinny said. "But above all, your routines must show what Ponyville means to you. So work hard, be bold, wow me."
"But Ms. Harshwhinny." Diamond Tiara said. "Is one of the judges going to be Spyro? Because if so, he'll be in full support for Scootaloo, who is his little sister."
"I promise, my relation with Scootaloo will not hinder my decision making." Spyro replied. "Meet me after school tomorrow at three o'clock and show me what you have come up with. I'll be sure to give each of you pointers on what you could do to improve your routines. That is all. Good luck everypony and may the best routine win."
Everyone cheered as he left the room, leaving the fillies and colts to resume their classes as normal until the bell rung a couple of hours later, releasing all the foals from class as they went home to form their teams start practicing their routines while the crusaders walked out of the school house, clearly excited for the competition.
"So girls, let's try and come up with the perfect routine that will absolutely blow the competition away and wow both Ms. Harshwhinny and Spyro!" Scootaloo said.
"But everypony else will be coming up with routines that will be just as amazing." Sweetie Belle said.
"Well somepony in class is going to get to carry the flag." Scootaloo said. "And it might as well be us. And besides..." She then reached out and with the Force, pulled some flowers off of a bush and had them spin around in the air above her hoof, smiling as her friends looked in amazement. "I've been practicing my Force abilities. I'm sure we'll come up with a routine that will win us the chance to carry the flag."
"Yeah, Ah know that we got this!" Apple Bloom said, the crusaders walking away from the school house. "But we need to come up with a routine that'll be the hard part."
"Well, it needs to show what Pinyville means to us." Scootaloo said. The fillies stopped to think about what they could do, Scootaloo looking to her friends, mostly looking at Sweetie Belles horn, Scootaloo looking at her wings, and Apple Bloom not having either when an idea struck her. "I got it! Ponyville is a place where ponies and non-ponies of all kinds live together as friends!"
"Earth Ponies, like me!" Apple Bloom said.
"And unicorns like myself!" Sweetie Belle said.
"And pegasi like me!" Scootaloo said. "And let's not forget about Spike, Spyro and Octavia! We got to find a way to show all of that in our act."
"We're going to need to start making a plan." Sweetie Belle said.
"We'll figure somethin' out." Apple Bloom said. "And it's goin' to be a lot of hard work."
"And we'll need lots and lots of practice." Scootaloo said. "We might be little ponies, but our hearts are as strong as horses!"
They then continued on their way as music started to pick up, the girls looking determined as they went along.
[Scootaloo, Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle]
We're the toughest little ponies in town!
Got the moves, got the mojo,
No harder working ponies around!
We are a trio, work as a team,
We'll be the first ponies out on the flag-waving scene!
They then came over the top of the hill and over looked Ponyville, running down to begin their training, which wasn't going to amount to their practicing their routine, running across the fields doing laps before getting into a tug-of-war match with Bulk Biceps and then moving to kicking a punching bag inside of the barn before moving onto the next random training session they could think of.
We get going when the going gets tough,
We know our very best is just never enough!
We're kinda short, but so what?
We don't get defeated!
We could take a little break,
but we don't need it!
We've got hearts as strong as horses!
We've got hearts as strong as horses!
We've got hearts as strong as horses!
We've got hearts as strong as horses!
They then moved to running up and down some steps to try and imporve their stamina, though after the first few times, Scootaloo got exhausted and started crawling up them before attaching some of the largest apples Applejack had onto a stick and having Apple Bloom try to lift it, which she struggled with, so Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle bit into them and ate the apples, making the earth pony filly fly backwards as she tugged hard and fell into the mud, glaring at her friends as they gave nervous grins.
When we put our minds together,
We can achieve!
We're the Cutie Mark Crusaders,
And you should believe!
We've got determination to represent the nation,
For the win!
They continued their random routines, doing pull ups and crunches, challenging Bulk Biceps to tug-of-war again with the same result, but when he saw a butterlfy, he screamed like a little girl and ran away, making the fillies fall to the ground and look at him as he ra, the fillies laughing as he ran while they continued wiht their random exercises.
We've got hearts as strong as horses!
We've got hearts as strong as horses!
We've got hearts as strong as horses!
And we're playing to win as we gallop to glory!
We can conquer any challenge we're in,
We've got hea-a-a-a-arts, hearts strong as horses!
Hearts strong as horses!
After they were done with their song, they jumped in the air, freezing for a moment before realizing they were floating in mid air, falling to the ground with a loud thud as they groaned and rubbed their heads from the fall.
"Ugh, I really, really, hate it when those random musical numbers come up." Scootaloo said.
"Hey, at least they're fun, right?" Sweetie Belle said.
A moment later, they heard someone clapping for them, looking up to see who it was that was applauding them when they saw Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon, though they were both clapping, Silver Spoon looked nervous as they walked over.
"Well, if that's the best you got, our routine is sure to win." Diamond Tiara said, looking to Silver Spoon. "Right?"
"Oh, yeah." Silver Spoon said. "Right."
"It's sure to crush everyone else, and I do mean crush!" Diamond Tiara said, pounding her hooves together.
"Oh yeah?" Scootaloo asked. "We'll come up with something that not even your routine can beat!"
"Oh, is that so?" Diamond Tiara asked. "Well, we have something you don't. We have our Cutie Marks, Blank Flanks!"
The three fillies looked at one another's flanks, seeing that they were blank, but they didn't care as they looked at their bullies, not caring what they said.
"Just because we don't have our Cutie Marks, it don't mean we can't carry the flag." Apple Bloom said.
"Yeah, what she said." Sweetie Belle said.
"Oh please." Diamond Tiara said. "Having Cutie Markless ponies represent Ponyville is a complete disgrace. I mean, it would ruin our homes image immediately as soon as you three talentless ponies would embarass out town. So do us all a favor and just forget about the competition and let those with actual talent have the spotlight."
"Oh, we are definitely not dropping out of this event Diamond Tiara!" Scootaloo said, both ponies glaring at one another. "With or without a Cutie Mark, we're going to win this without any issue!"
"Then may the best pony win." Diamond Tiara said, turing and walking away while Silver Spoon looked to the crusaders, hesitating to follow her friend for a moment before following her.
"Hey, you girls notice how much Silver Spoon changed?" Sweetie Belle asked.
"Yeah, it's like she's no longer trying to pick on any pony." Scootaloo said. "She's actually a lot nicer than she was originally."
"Nice or not, we gotta win this thing!" Apple Bloom said. "Come on girls, I think I have an idea of what we can do for our routine!"
They all then ran after Apple Bloom to see what she had in store for them to try for their routine. The next day after school, Spyro was in front of the stage where everyone would be showing him a demonstration of their routines, Cheerilee having handed him a clipboard of the teams that everyone had formed, which was limited to two to three ponies per team and not to his surprise, he saw that the crusaders had formed a team, but to his dismay, the two school bullies Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon formed a team as well, groaning as he disliked Diamond Tiara because she continuously bullied Scootaloo, but he had to be professional and sit through their routine. Up first on the list was the Cutie Mark Crusaders, much to his relief as he awaited for them to start their routine.
"Alright crusaders, you ready in there?" Spyro asked.
"Almost!" Scootaloo replied.
"This is something we came up with over night." Sweetie Belle said. "It's not perfect yet, but we're still working on it."
"Ha, wonder what those cry baby blank flanks came up with?" Diamond Tiara asked. "Maybe it'll be a complete disaster like most of what they do."
"I don't know Tiara." Silver Spoon said. "Maybe we shouldn't be spying on them. What if we get caught?"
"What's gotten into you?" Diamond Tiara asked. "You've been acting different ever since that stupid made up holiday that idiot prince introduced. You are hardly the same pony I know."
"Well..." Silver Spoon started to say, trying to come up with an excuse when she was shushed.
"They're starting." Diamond Tiara said.
A moment later, the curtains started to pull back as Spyro watched the routine to see what the crusaders had for their routine.
"Since the dawn of recorded time..." Scootaloo started to say. "In one town of amazing amazingness, three types of ponies coexist."
A second later, Apple Bloom came walking out with green ribbons tied around her forelegs as she walked backwards.
"We are Earth ponies!" Apple Bloom said, Sweetie Belle bouncing along with a purple ribbon tied to her horn.
"We are unicorns!" Sweetie belle said as Scootaloo popped out from behind a cut out of a cloud with blue ribbons tied to her wings.
"We are Pegasi!" Scootaloo said as the next scene dropped down to show Ponyville drawn on it. "And the town where friendship reign is our home! Now welcome to the stadium, the flag of the place we love best..."
Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle held up a circular hoop with what appeared to be tearable paper on it and a second later, Scootaloo came zooming through the hoop, riding her scooter wiht the flag for Ponyville on it before launching herself into the air and sliding to a halt, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle running up and getting onto her hooves and stanbding straight up, all three standing on their hind legs as they had their forelegs out.
"Ponyville forever!" They yelled in unison as streamers shot out, surprising Spyro while making Diamond Tiara's and Silver Spoons jaws dropped at how good it was.
"Aer mui." Spyro said in the elvish dialect.
"it's still a work in progress, but we think it shows what we think of Ponyville." Scootaloo said, the crusaders running up to Spyro. "So, what do you think?"
"Well, in a professional manner, that was really good!" Spyro said happily. "And it's something you only whipped together yesterday? And you say it isn't perfect? Girls, with a bit more practice, you are sure to win the honor of carrying the flag."
"You think so!?" Scootaloo asked.
"I know so." Spyro replied, ruffling her mane. "Though your dismount could use a bit of work, you did amazing. Keep practicing that routine girls as the day after tomorrow, you'll have a shot at carrying the flag."
"Aw yeah!" Scootaloo said. "We are amazing!"
"Come on girls, let's go practice our routine some more!" Apple Bloom said as the three of them ran off, heading back to Sweet Apple Acres to keep practicing.
"I can't believe what I just saw." Diamond Toara said, looking to Silver Spoon. "Those Blank Flanks might actually have a chance at winning."
"It was really good." Silver Spoon said, looking at them as they left.
"We need to find a way to throw them off their game if we hope to stand a chance." Diamond Tiara said, glarring at the crusaders.
"But how?" Silver Spoon asked, not liking where it was going. "We can't call them blank flanks anymore. It doesn't affect them."
"Then we'll need to find a new way to get underneath their skin." Diamond Tiara said, looking back to the stage as the crusaders were cleaning up, noticing Scootaloo's wings as she smiled. "Or maybe, under their wings."
Silver Spoon looked to her friend as she walked out from behind the bushes and made their way to the stage to put her plan into motion, leaving Silver Spoon alone in the bushes as she had a bad feeling in her gut that this was a terrible idea, but followed her friend anyway. A small distance away, Spyro was jotting down what he thought about the crusaders routine, making note of their act and how they performed and what they could do to improve the act when he remembered something, reachiong into his coat pocket and pulling out the Light Wing module that he had built for Scootaloo, completely forgetting he had it this whole time, smiling as he put it back in his pocket and finished jotting down his notes before walking back to the stage to give his sister the module when he spotted the pink princess and Silver Spoon, hiding behind the stage and looking up to see what they were up to.
"You saw our act?" Sweetie Belle asked.
"Of course we did." Diamond Tiara replied. "And it was quite impressive."
"Uh, thanks?" Apple Bloom said, not sure how to take it.
"In fact, I think you're all very brave." Diamond Tiara said, walking to Scootaloo. "Especially you Scootaloo."
"Me?" Scootaloo asked. "Why would you say that?"
"Oh, you don't know?" Diamond Tiara asked, pretending to care. "I thought it was obvious. It's quite obvious to us and everypony else. Even your loving brother knows it. You're showing all three types of ponies that live in Ponyville, but you have a pegasi who can't even fly!"
She then started laughing while Scootaloo looked horrified, looking at her wings nervously, trying to tuck them in to hide them, but the damage was already done as she started to doubt herself.
"What in tarnation does bein' able to fly have to do with anythin'?" Apple Bloom asked.
"Well, it has everything to do with it." Diamond Tiara replied. "I mean, a pegasus pony at her age, Scootaloo should have been flying long ago, but she's barely been able to get off the ground."
"Just because she can't fly doesn't mean she ain't a good pony!" Apple Bloom exclaimed. "We'll still be able to carry the flag, with out without anypony on our team bein' able to fly!"
"Oh, I doubt that." Diamond Tiara said. "I hardly doubt that Ms. Harshwhinny will allow a flightless pegasi to carry the flag to represent Ponyville."
"Ms. Harshwhinny hasn't said anything about that!" Sweetie Belle exclaimed. "Besides, Spyro said our routine was amazing!"
"That's because he;s biased towards you three loosers." Diamond Tiara said. "Just because you hang around with him, he'll always be in full support of you. I doubt that Ms. Harshwhinny will even select you if Spyro is one of the judges and because Scootaloo can't fly."
Spyro was furious with Diamond Tiara, seeing how much her words were hurting Scootaloo as she looked like she was about ready to run away in tears.
"Diamond Tiara, maybe we should go." Silver Spoon said, trying to defuse the situation. "We need to get ready to show our routine."
"Yeah, whatever." Diamond Tiara said, walking away. "Good luck practicing girls. You'll need it, even if your routine won't be able to, as they say, take off."
She walked away from the stage, laughing as she went to get prepared as Silver Spoon walked after her, stopping a moment later before looking back at Scootaloo, walking to her while the girls got ready to defend their friend from their bully.
"For what it's worth, your routine was amazing." Silver Spoon said, surprising them. "And if I'm honest, I hope you girls win and get to carry the flag, whether a member of your team can fly or not." She then looked back to Diamond tiara, seeing her getting farther away and turned to run after her. "Good luck your three. And keep up the good work."
She then ran off the stage, hopping down the stairs and tripping a bit, but Spyro caught her before she could hit the ground, looking up to him and seeing the smile on his face as he set her down.
"You've definitely changed since last I saw you." Spyro said, proud of how much she changed. "Keep it up. And don't be afraid to branch out and make friends with new ponies."
Silver Spoon smiled at him, nodding her head before running off to catch up with Diamond Tiara while Spyro looked back, seeing how upset Scootaloo was, looking to other pehasi fillies as they were flying around, making her look at her wings.
"Wow, I didn't expect Silver Spoon to actually be nice to us." Apple Bloom said.
"Yeah, wonder what made her change?" Sweetie Belle said, looking to Scootaloo and seeing how hurt she was. "Don't listen to her Scootaloo. Remember what Spyro said, the routine is pretty good despite you not being able to fly."
"Yeah, but I think this rlutine could use a bit more work." Scootaloo said, looking to them. "I need to be able to fly."
"But how?" Sweetie Belle asked. "Is it even possible?"
"Even by tomorrow?" Apple Bloom asked.
"I'm pretty sure it's possible." Scootaloo said, walking over. "Maybe I can fly if I work twice as hard!" She then flapped her wings, trying her best to fly, but then she fell down on the stage, her friends looking at her worriedly. "Or maybe three times as hard."
"Scootaloo, ah don't think that's the problem." Apple Bloom said.
"Well I know one thing is for sure." Scootaloo said. "Fly is the only thing that will make this routine the best one ever! Come on girls, let's go practice!"
The three fillies then ran off to continue practicing their routine, Spyro remained out of sight, watching the three fillies run away from the stage while he looked down at the Light Wing Module he had, taking what Diamond Tiara said to heart as he walked out from his hiding spot and continued to watch the other foals routines, noting and letting them know what they could do to make them better until he got to Diamond Tiara's routine, watching it and making notes of what she could do as they finished up, the pink earth pony looking proud while Silver Spoon smiled, though was nervous as Spyro could sense it.
"Well, what do you think?" Diamond Tiara said. "Oh, I know what you're thinking, it's perfect, just like us."
"It's good I'll give you that." Spyro said. "But there's one thing I'd suggest you should change; your attitude."
"Excuse me?" Diamond Tiara asked, Silver Spoon becoming even more nervous when he said that.
"I overheard everything you said about my sister, Scootaloo." Spyro said, which Diamond Tiara rolled her eyes.
"I was only stating the obvious." Diamond tiara said proudly. "I mean, what good is it to have a flightless Pegasi represent our home."
"And what good is having a soiled rich brat represent a place where friendship thrives." Spyro said, making her gasp. "I don't know what your issue is with fillies or colts that don't have Cutie Marks or what issue you have my little sister and her friends, but there's one thing I know, that we don't need a flag bearer like you."
"Well it's not up to you now is it?" Diamond Tiara asked. "You're not one of the judges."
"Maybe not, but Ms. Harshwhinny will value my insight." Spyro said, scaring her. "I've been taking notes on everyone routines and how they act and I don't think she'll pick a team where one of their members intimidates and belittles another team to make them falter or loose faith in their own abilities."
"W-well, you can't show in your notes that you actually like their routine!" Diamond Tiara said. "You'll be seen as biased and she won't select your sister or her friends."
"Actually, I put down in my notes some things they could improve on." Spyro said. "As for you, attitude adjustment, work a little more on the dancing, and practice more on those twirls because you almost fell a few times." Diamond tiara left the stage, grumbling as she went while Silver Spoon walked after her, staying close to her friend as Spyro jotted down in his notes what he told her before looking to the direction the crusaders went, having a bad feeling about what was going to happen tomorrow. The next day, Spyro was back in front of the stage ready to evaluate the foals routines again to see if they had improved any, his clipboard out to jot down notes as he looked up to the stage. "Alright Crusaders, time to show me how much you've improved before we go to the stadium tomorrow."
A moment later, the stage lights came back on and the curtain pulled back and revealed the stage again with the same scenery as the first time.
"Ponyville!" Scootaloo said, coming down on the fake cloud. A second later, the other three crusaders came out from the sides of the stage, but they looked slugish, almost completely exhausted as if they didn't get any sleep at all. "Home of the, uh..."
"Friendship." The other two hissed.
"Oh, right." Scootaloo said. "Of friendship. There are four, uh no, three kinds of ponies." The entire routine was completely altered from what it was previously and Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle ended up bumping into one another and hitting each other due to how exhausted they looked, the routine looking to be a complete mess while Scootaloo's narrative was fumbled as she talked. To try and end it off by lifting up the hoop so Scootaloo could burst through it with her scooter, but instead of that, she tried bursting through while flying, flapping her wings, but barely being able to even punch through the ring, the two fillies dropping it as Scootaloo dropped to the ground, her wings unable to hold her as she plopped to the ground. "Ta-da. What do you think?"
"What do I think?" Spyro asked. "I think your first routine was perfect the way it was. Why did you try and change it up?"
"Well, we kinda needed to, uh..." Scootaloo said, trying to come up with a reason.
"Is it about what Diamond Tiara said yesterday?" Spyro asked, surrpising them.
"Well, sort of." Scootaloo replied.
"Scoots, your first routine was perfect, no flaws in it what so ever." Spyro said. "You should let what Diamond Tiara say get to you. She's only trying to make you look bad so she can have the honor of carrying the flag. You don't need to be able to fly to win Scoots. All that matters is you have fun doing the routine with your friends. Do you understand?" Scootaloo nodded her head, understanding what he was trying to say, but she still wanted to know what it was like to fly, willing to do whatever was necessry for her to achieve her goal. "Good. Now, i got a few more routines I need to check on, but I expect you girls to be practicing your first one and to be well rested for tomorrow. Understood?'
"Yes sir." The girls said, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle fighting to stay awake.
"Good." Spyro replied. "Hope to catch you girls brihgt eyes and bushy tailed tomorrow for the competition. Good luck girls and have fun."
He then walked away from the three fillies to go check out the progress of the other teams while Scootaloo looked at her wings as she started to panic.
"Oh, what am I going to do?" Scootaloo said. "I still can't fly and-"
"Are ya serious!?" Apple Bloom exclaimed, clearly annoyed. "Did everythin' Spyro just say go in one ear and out the other!?"
"I'm just wanting to make our routine better, that's all." Scootaloo said.
"Scootaloo, I'm too tired to keep going." Sweetie Belle said, plopping down.
"Me too." Apple Bloom said, looking annoyed. "Ah'm tired, Ah'm hungry, and Ah hate this stupid routine! It feels like it's all about you now, not about us!"
"She's right Scootaloo." Sweetie Belle said. "It's like you don't need us anymore."
"But I do need you girls." Scootaloo said. "Without you two, who's going to hold up the hoop?"
That comment made Apple Bloom yell out in frustration.
"Do ya even hear yourself!?" Apple Bloom shouted. "Ya'll are so worried about yerself and wantin' to fly that ya threw away the perfect routine that Spyro said he really liked!"
"But, i just want to make it perfect." Scootaloo said.
"All ya want to do is try and fly!" Apple Bloom exclaimed. "Yer obsession to tryin' to fly is affecting us! Ya know what, if all ya'll gonna do is ruin our chances to perform, then don't even bother comin' to the train station tomorrow!"
"W-what are you saying?" Scootaloo asked.
"Ah'm sayin' that Sweetie Belle and Ah can do the old routine without ya!" Apple Bloom exclaimed.
"B-but what about the pegasus part?" Scootaloo asked. "You can't do that without me!"
"We'll manage without ya!" Apple Bloom said, storming off.
Scootaloo watched as Apple Bloom went home, possibly to get something to eat and to get a good nights sleep, looking to Sweetie Belle.
"You're leaving as well?" Scootaloo asked.
"I'm sorry Scootaloo, but Apple Blooms right." Sweetie Belle said. "You're obsession for flying might throw away our chances to carry the flag. I'm sorry Scootaloo."
Sweetie Belle then ran off to get some rest as well, leaving a broken hearted Scootaloo behind as she looked to her friend as she tried to flap her wings again.
"No, I won't let them do this on their own!" Scootaloo said, flapping her wings. "I'll show them. I can too fly! I just need to try twenty times as hard. No, thirty times as hard!" She flapped her wings as hard as she could, flapping them as hard as she could before flopping to the ground, giving up. "Oh, what's the point? I can't fly."
Early the very next morning, Spyro was at the train station with a list of all the teams and who was all in them, waiting for the early train to the Crystal Empire to arrive and for thew teams to arrive. A while later, the foals and their parents or older siblings started to arrive, some of them looking exhausted after being woken up earlier than usual to get to the train station. As he was checking everyone off, he looked up to see Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle runnning up, hoping to get onto the train before it left while Diamond Tiara was snickering, laughing at how she managed to sabotage them while Silver Spoon looked on in worry.
"Hey girls." Spyro said, looking at them. "Where's Scoots? Running late or something?"
"Well, not exactly." Apple Bloom replied. "She's not coming?"
"What, why?" Spyro asked.
"We... told her not to come to the train station." Apple Bloom replied. "She's been so focused on tryin' to fly that she was ruinin' our chances of winnin' the opportunity to carry the flag for Ponyville."
"So, you kicked her out of your friend group, huh?" Spyro asked.
"No, just out of the routine, that's all." Apple Bloom replied. "We just-"
"Why?" Spyro asked.
"She kept on thinkin' that the routine needed her to fly." Apple Bloom said. "She kept on changin' it, thinkin' that she could better represent Ponyville if she could fly. Because of it, the routine was ruined, so we kicked her out of the team and said we could do it without her."
So you kicked her out of the team, not your friend group?" Spyro asked.
"Of course not!" Sweetie Belle said, getting defensive. "We'd never stop being her friends."
"Then why did you kick her out in the first place?" Spyro asked, making the fillies look down."Girls, the point of your routine was the friendship you all have. Ponyville is a place where all three species of ponies live together in harmony, sharing the friendship for one another. You should have kept her focused on practicing the old routine."
"We tried." Apple Bloom said. "But she started obsessin' over tryin' top fly for the routine after Diamond Tiara made fun of her... for not bein' able to fly... distractin' us from... oh, that little brat! She did that on purpose to keep us from practicin' the routine we had done the first time!"
"And we fell for it." Sweetie Belle said.
A moment later, the train whistle blew, letting them know that the train was leaving without them, the fillies running after the train to catch it.
"Wait, ya forgot about us!" Apple Bloom shouted!
"Stop!" Sweetie Belle shouted, the train having left them behind.
"Great, there goes our chances to carrying the flag." Apple Bloom said.
"Not yet." Spyro said, dropping the list. "We can still make it. But first, we need to get Scootaloo for your routine. Come on." The three of them ran off to Sweet Apple Acres to get Scootaloo and get them to the Crystal Empire in time for them to do their routine. Back at the farm house, Scootaloo was ripping down her posters, tossing them into the trash and after she did that. She threw her scooter into the trach as well, tears rolling down her face as she did that, plopping down to the ground in defeat. "Seriously Scoots? Throwing away your scooter!?"
"Spyro." Scootaloo said. "What are you doing here?"
"Came here to get you." Spyro said. "And I'm not here alone."
He stepped aside and showed that Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle were there as well. She looked excited to see them, butshe then scowled, turning away from her friends.
"What are you two doing here?" Scootaloo asked. "Shouldn't you be on your way to the Crystal Empire right now?"
"We aren't goin'." Apple Bloom said.
"Not without you." Sweetie Belle said. "The routine wouldn't be the same without our friend there to help us."
Spyro could see that tears were forming in Scootaloo's eyes, walking over and sitting next to her as he put his hoof on her back.
"Scoots, what's the matter?" Spyro asked. "Why are you so upset?"
"I... I..." Scootaloo said, turning to look at him before putting her head in his chest. "I didn't want to ruin their chances of getting to represent Ponyville because I couldn't fly. Ponyville is a place where the three pony races live in harmony and where they are all friends. I'm not a good representative of the pegasi because I can't fly."
"Oh, Scootaloo." Spyro said, hugging her. "You don't need to be able to fly to represent the pegasi."
"But, flying is the whole point of the pegasi race." Scootaloo said, pushing away and showing her wings. "Look at these wings. I can barely get two inches off the ground before falling. And you can fly and are amazing at it."
"Scoots, just because I can fly and do amazing things, you are just as amazing, even without your wings." Spyro said, walking in front of her and sitting down. "Your routine was amazing the first time because you three represent the true meaning of Ponyville, the friendship between Earth Ponies, Unicorns, and Pegasi. You don't need to be like the other pegasi to be amazing. You just need to be you, no matter what other's think. As long as you are true to yourself, you can do whatever you can, no matter what." Scootaloo looked at Spyro, tears rolling down her face as she hugged Spyro again, the two siblings hugging, but as they hugged, Spyro put the Light Wing Module inbetween her stumped wings, the module coming online as it connected to Scootaloo withut her knowing, making sure it was on her back nice and secure before ending the hug. "Now, let's get you girls to the Crystal Empire."
"But... we missed the train!" Scootaloo said. "How are we going to get there in time!?"
"Well, I have one idea." Spyro said, using his magic to bring Scootaloo's scooter. "But you're going to need this for your routine." Scootaloo took her scooter and put her helmet on, nodding her head as she was ready to go as Spyro put his sling ring on, standing on his hind legs as he spun his right leg around and opened a portal to the Crystal Empire, appearing in the center of the stadium as Diamond Tiara's and Silver Spoons routine ended. "Apologies for the interruption Ms. harshwhinny, but we got one more routine."
"Oh puh-lease." Diamond Tiara said. "Isn't there a rule against ponies being late for registration to participate?"
"Isn't there a rule against you wearing a face that ugly?" Spyro said, making her glar at him. "There's no rule against being fashionably late if there's a good routine."
"There certainly is not." Ms. Harshwhinny said. "Girls, show me what you got."
The fillies got ready to do their routine, setting everything up as Spyro walked over and leaned down so Scootaloo could hear him.
"Remember, don't think, feel." Spyro said. "Let what come's naturally come to you. Let your heart guide you."
Spyro then walked off of the stage, moving away from them as the girls started their old routine, following it like they did before with Apple Bloom walking backwards with the green ribbons on, Sweetie Belle bounicng around with a purple ribbon on her horn, and Scootaloo with the blue ribbons coming down from a fake cloud, the two other fillies getting the hoop ready and raising it up as Scootaloo came through the hoop on her scooter, zooming across with the flag on her scooter before looping around and heading to her friends. However, a random stone came up and caused her scooter to flip, sending her flying early and scarring everyone as they gasped, Scootaloo preparing for a rough landing as she braced herself.
"Light Wing Unit online!" AIVA said. "Activating!"
A second later, the lights on the device on Scootaloo's back acitvated and a pair of orange wings made of light came out and she was gliding, Scootaloo opening her eyes and seeing she was flying and looked confused, circling around while her firends and everyone there looked at her in awe, their jaws dropping as she flew past her friends and circled around.
"Wait, I'm... I'm flying!?" Scootaloo asked. "But how!?"
"Remember Scootaloo!" Spyro shouted, the filly looking down at him. "Follow your heart, not your head!"
Scootaloo looked at him, not understanding what he meant, but took a deep breath, not thinking about it as she flew around, doing what she felt was natural as she flew to her friends, stopping and shooing straight up as she spun around, spreading her wings out and posing as they all looked at her in awe, diving down towards her friends before pulling up, sliding to a halt while her friends starred at her.
"Hey, that;s your que." Scootaloo said.
"Oh, right." Apple Bloom said.
The two fillies ran to her and jumped onto her hooves, takign the same position they did when they first performed the routine and smiled.
"Ponyville forever!" They shouted in unison. "Yay!"
Everyone was in stunned silence, looking at the fillies before someone in the crowd started to clap, followed by more ponies clapping before the entire stadium joined in, even ponies in other competing teams clapped, but Diamond Tiara was starring at Scootaloo in complete shock, trying to find her voice as Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle hopped off.
"That... was... AMAZING!" Ms. Harshwhinny said, surprising everyone. "The routine was absolutely out of this world!"
"But... but... they cheated!" Diamond Tiara shouted, looking to Scootaloo's wings. "Her wings are fake! Surely there's a rule against such things like that!"
"I don't remember there being any sort of rule like that, do you Ms. Harshwhinny?" Spyro asked.
"Indeed, there is no rule against it." Ms. Harshwhinny said.
"But... but it's a machine!" Diamond Tiara shouted, looking to Spyro. "Only Spyro could make something like that to give them an unfair advantage!"
"I made it as a gift for Scootaloo." Spyro said, walking to the spoiled brat. "I made it for her as next week would be the one year anniversary of us being siblings. I wanted to give her the ability to fly, despite her disability. So no, I didn't give her an advatnage. I gave her the one thing she was denied since birth; flight."
"Yeah Tiara, lighten up." Snips said. "He just gave her some wings so she could fly. He didn't give her any advantage or anything like that."
"Yeah, what he said." Snails said.
"You should be ashamed of yourself for saying they cheated!" Another filly said.
Everyone turned on Diamond Tiara, looking to Silver Spoon who seemed nervous and kept her distance, knowing that what Diamond Tiara did was wrong and wanted to put some distrance between them, shocking the pink earth pony.
"Attention everypony, attention." Ms. Harshwhinny said, calming everyone down. "After seeing the routines and seeing Spyro's notes, I have come to a decision of who will carry the flag for Ponyville." They all looked to Ms. Harshwhinny, eagerly awaiting for her to announce the winners. And the winner is... the Cutie Mark Crusaders."
Everyone cheeredf or the crusaders for their victory, Diamond Tiara looking at them with disgust and filled with bitterness as she stormed away, Silver Spoon following close behind to leave the stadium while the crusaders went up onto the stage, Spyro standing in frotn of them as he smiled.
"Girls, I'm so proud of you." Spyro said. "You did amazing."
"Thanks." Scootaloo said, looking at her wings as they extended. "I'm still trying to figure out where these came from or how you put them on me."
"There's a small device between your stumped wings." Spyro replied. "It's made of Beskar, so it won't break easily. As for how they work, you can activate and deactivate them by just thinking about it. Just imagine them turning off and they'll deactivate." Scootaloo looked back, imagining what he said and the wings disappeared, surprisng her as she looked to Spyro. "The device is connected to you now, but if you want to take it off, just reach back and pull it off before bed and it'll come off instantly."
"I'm not so sure I want to take it off." Scootaloo said, willing the device to activate as her wings came back on. "I actually enjoyed being able to fly." She then looed to Spyro, smiling as she ran up and hugged him, which he returned the hug as he looked down at her. "Thank you Spyro. You're the best big brother ever."
"You're welcome Scootaloo." Spyro said, ending the hug.
"Hey, you girls know what this means!?" Scootaloo said excitedly.
"What?" Apple Bloom asked.
"It means we might get our cutie marks in flag carrying!" Scootaloo said, which SPyro fell down comically while the girls all laughed at him, which he joined int he laughter as they staretd making their way home.
