Spellbound Fireflies (8 page)

Rainbow was having trouble containing her laughter, her whole frame shaking.  She doubled up her efforts in the massage, dragging satisfied moans from the unicorn.  Twilight’s limbs officially stress and soreness-free in her expert opinion, she kissed the right hoof and curled up next to the mare.  “Feelin’ better?”

“…You are just made of awesome.”

Rainbow lost all control over her laughter and hugged Twilight close, her mirth spilling loudly into the room.  Twilight joined in, snuggling into her marefriend and giggling madly.  She floated the blankets back over their bodies and huddled close as their laughter died down.  Rainbow grinned warmly at her in their embrace and asked, “So really, what’s it gonna mean for Scoots?”

“Hmm…it probably won’t go quickly.  Math shouldn’t be too big of a problem, since she’s good at it to start with. We’ll just need to figure out a few different tricks to make it go smoothly.  Reading and writing will be a lot harder for her, but with some practice, she’ll get better at it.”

“Mmm, that’s good.”  Rainbow nestled into the pillow, limbs firmly wrapped around the unicorn.

Twilight’s growing smile was filled with affection.  “Thanks for coming over.  You always make me feel better when something’s bothering me.”

Eyes fluttering between half open and closed, Rainbow murmured, “No problem, Twi’.  I like stayin’ over here.  This place feels more like home than home does.”

Snuggled together under the blankets, Twilight watched Rainbow Dash slowly fade from consciousness, her marefriend’s breathing evening out and the grip slowly slackening around her middle.  As the daredevil neared the cusp of sleep, Twilight urgently whispered, “Rainbow?”

Startled from drowsiness, Rainbow Dash jerked and blinked at Twilight.  “Hmn?”

“…Will you move in with me?”

Several breathless moments passed as the two mares stared into each other’s eyes.  Wordlessly, Rainbow brought her lips to Twilight’s muzzle and pulled her marefriend into a deep and yearning kiss.  They held each other close in the dark library, exchanging silent promises and unvoiced fulfillment.  Every second of contact was a thousand screams of ‘yes’, and every ‘yes’ was answered with relief and joy.

When at last they broke apart, gradually surrendering to sleep as they laid tangled in each other’s limbs, both mares were thinking about the fastest ways to collect Rainbow’s belongings in the morning.

A gentle knocking drew Cheerilee’s attention to the classroom door; the smiling face of Twilight greeted her through the small window.  She glanced up at the wall clock and smirked.  
‘Punctual to a fault.’
  “Alright class, time to go home!”

The squeaks of sliding chairs on wood filled the room, a babble of voices transforming the space into merry dissonance.  The teacher stepped quickly to Scootaloo’s chair and leaned in close.  “Hang back a minute, Scootaloo.”  At the filly’s expression, she smiled warmly.  “Nothing bad, don’t worry.”  She glanced meaningfully at the door, drawing Scootaloo’s attention to Twilight.  The unicorn stood aside to let the rush of foals past.  She had a tentative vulnerability in her expression and body language that made Scootaloo want to giggle, so she busied herself with straightening her desk.

Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom got to the door and hesitated, glancing questioningly between Twilight, Cheerilee, and their third confederate.  Twilight bent down and whispered to the two fillies, a small pouch of bits floating out of her saddlebag.  Grins spread across their faces and they bolted from the room, money in tow.

Free of classmates, Scootaloo quirked an eyebrow at her teacher and tutor.  Cheerilee smiled at Twilight.  “I’m glad you could come down, Ms. Sparkle.”

Giggling, the unicorn said, “Twilight’s fine.”

Scootaloo scratched at her neck.  “Uh…what’s goin’ on?”

Smirking, Cheerilee sat on her haunches next to Scootaloo’s desk and beckoned Twilight with a hoof.  “Well, Scootaloo, Twilight told me she’s been tutoring you for about a month now and she wanted us to have a meeting to discuss your progress and see how you’re feeling about things now.”

Twilight sat next to the earth pony and nodded gently.  “Don’t worry, Scootaloo.  I won’t keep you from your friends or your flying lessons for very long.”  She turned to Cheerilee.  “How are things going?”

Smiling, Cheerilee flashed a conspiratorial wink at Scootaloo and trotted over to her desk.  “I think the best way to answer that is to give Scootaloo a sneak peek at her last math test before everypony else gets theirs back.”  She brought the sheet of paper back in her mouth and set it down on the filly’s desk.

Scootaloo’s eyes went wide.  Bright red ink boldly proclaimed her score across the top.  “I got a B plus?!”  She pumped a hoof in triumph, practically vibrating in her seat.  Cheerilee and Twilight exchanged delighted grins.

Cheerilee lifted the test back in her teeth and carried it to her desk.  “Your math scores have improved considerably in the last month.”  She eyed Twilight, directing her statements to both of them.  “You still need to work on fractions; that’s your weakest area at the moment.”

Twilight nodded, clearing her throat gently.  “How about everything else?”

Sitting back with the group, Cheerilee said, “Well, Scootaloo will have to fill us both in.  Math was the only subject I had real concerns with, and she’s really turned that around.”  She smiled proudly at the filly.  “So how have you been feeling about other subjects, Scootaloo?  Has getting the reading assignments earlier been helpful?”

She shrugged.  “I guess.  It still takes a long time; I just have a chance to read everything.  I mean, sometimes I had trouble getting stuff finished before it was due, but now I can get through all of it.”

Twilight set a hoof on her shoulder.  “We’ll keep working on reading speed.  In the meantime what’s important is that you’re not struggling to get through your subjects.  Are there any times in class it’s a struggle?”

Scootaloo shook her head, but didn’t meet Twilight’s eyes.  Cheerilee grinned in satisfaction, but as she went to stand Twilight raised a hoof.  She frowned in concern and leaned in close to the filly, her voice low.  “You sure?”

Raising her head, she searched Twilight’s face and took a steadying breath.  “Well…It’s not really the work.”  She glanced nervously at Cheerilee, then back at Twilight.  “I get everything early and have extra time now and…and everypony looks at me funny.  Like I’m cheating, or…”  Ears falling as low on her head as they could and gaze drifting downward, Scootaloo sighed slowly and ran her hooves sheepishly over her desk.  “…Or like I’m stupid.”

Twilight frowned, exchanging a worried look with Cheerilee.  She opened her mouth, but Scootaloo continued before she could say anything.

“I don’t think there’s anything you can do about it.  I’ve talked to Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle about all this and they understand, I think…but I don’t wanna announce it to everypony.  It’s bad enough that I still haven’t got my cutie mark.”  She looked up from her desk, meeting Twilight’s eyes.  Twilight saw a deep vein of frustration tunneling into the little filly in her features.

Scootaloo shook her head forcefully, glaring balefully at her desk.  “It’s just like everything.  Everything’s harder than it should be.  I can’t do math without rewriting every question, I can’t read a page without going over it three or four times, I can’t learn to fly without making up for years of lost time, and I can’t find my special talent.”  She stamped her hoof on the wooden surface.

Twilight and Cheerilee looked to each other, jaws slack.  Twilight turned to her student and placed her hoof back on the pegasus’ shoulder.  Scootaloo shrugged it off and then flinched.  She grimaced, meeting the unicorn’s face with a pleading expression of apology.  Twilight gave her a sad smile and Scootaloo hung her head in defeat.  “…I…I’m sorry, Twilight.”

“Hey…”  She lifted Scootaloo’s chin.  “It’s okay.  You have every reason to feel frustrated and angry.  We’re all here to help you, though.  Rainbow Dash, Ms. Cheerilee, and I are all rooting for you.  We want you to succeed and we’ll do whatever we can to get you there.”

A half-hearted smile on her muzzle, Scootaloo nodded weakly.  The classroom door banged open, startling the three ponies.  Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom bounded in, both with an ice cream cone to their muzzles and a third floating in a small field of magic in front of the unicorn filly.  Scootaloo’s face lit up and she jumped from the desk.  Smirking, she asked Twilight, “What’s with you and ice cream?”

“What?  Everypony likes ice cream.”

Scootaloo giggled and raced to join her friends, heading out into the early afternoon.  Twilight’s call of, “See you at the park!” barely reaching the trio as they rounded the corner towards the pegasus’ scooter.

“Alright!” Scootaloo chimed, chomping into her cone, “We’ve got about an hour before I’m s’posed to meet Rainbow Dash for my lessons, let’s get some crusadin’ in!”

Their cheer was cut short by Rumble tentatively peeking around the corner of the schoolhouse.  When he saw Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle, a shiver ran up his spine and for a second Scootaloo thought he was going to run for it.  The colt shook his head and stepped slowly to the group.  He cleared his throat and quietly asked, “Apple Bloom?”

Pink coloring her cheeks, Apple Bloom trotted up to him and offered a nervous smile.

Rumble rubbed at the back of his neck and looked at the ground.  “My, uh…my brother was gonna take me to the lake to go swimming and I was wondering if, uh…if maybe you wanted to come?”

Apple Bloom, her face bright enough to light up a moonless night, looked back to her friends questioningly.  Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle exchanged a knowing glance and waved her off.  She turned back to Rumble and chimed, “Sure!”  With a coy smile and a wave to the other two, Apple Bloom trotted off with Rumble.

Scootaloo shook her head, finishing off her ice cream cone and exclaiming, “’Bout time!”  Sweetie giggled.  “Well, there goes crusadin’.  Call it a bust?”

“We could just hang out, Scoots.  I hardly ever get to spend time with you anymore.”  She stepped over to the scooter and looked at her friend expectantly.  “C’mon, let’s go for a ride around town like we used to always do.”

Scootaloo grinned and hopped onto the scooter, Sweetie Belle climbing up behind her and grabbing onto her waist.  She buzzed her wings and took off like a shot, careening away from the school and down the streets, weaving in between small groups of ponies and laughing.  Further into town the hoof traffic picked up and Scootaloo dropped her speed down to dangerously fast, weaving indiscriminately through side streets and alleys.

“So how’re your flying lessons?” Sweetie asked over the rush of wind.

Scootaloo turned a sharp corner, making the unicorn tighten her grip to keep from sailing off.  Scootaloo’s laughter slowly dropping and she pressed her mouth into a thin line.  “Well…It’s hard.  Like, really hard.  I thought it’d be better when I stopped hurting for days after a workout, but Rainbow Dash just makes each one more and more intense.  Half-way through I’m dizzy and feel like I’m gonna barf.”

Sweetie Belle frowned, at a loss for what to say.  After a few moments she settled on, “Wow.”

“Yeah.”  She weaved through a crowd in front of the vegetable stands in the market and launched down an alley way.  “I trust Rainbow, though; she always stops me before it gets really bad and has me take a break.  And it’s working, too.  I’m way stronger now than I was before we started and I can run faster for longer, jump higher, and I’m even better at sports.  I feel healthier most of the time, too.  It’s just…”

Holding on quietly, Sweetie Belle felt the speed slowly bleed from their movements; the wind pulling at her mane a little less, the signs they passed becoming easier to read.  “…What’s wrong?”

Scootaloo sighed, bringing the scooter to a stop in the middle of an alley.  She turned to the unicorn, chewing on her lip.  “…If…If I still had my parents, it wouldn’t be this hard to learn, Sweetie.  I’d probably already be flying.”  She slowly sat on her haunches, scuffing her forelegs on the cobbled ground.  “Everything’s harder than it should be.  If I’m not catching up on flying, I’m catching up on math, or reading, or…”  She looked balefully at her bare flank.  She turned back towards Sweetie Belle, her expression tired and drawn.  "Or I’m catching up with figurin’ out who the heck I’m s’posed to be.”

Sweetie Belle’s mouth opened, her throat working as she searched Scootaloo’s face.  She sunk to her haunches and curled her tail around herself, wracking her mind for something to say.  “…I…I’m sorry about your parents.”

Scootaloo smiled sadly.  “I know you are, Sweetie Belle.”  She lowered her head.  “I just wish it didn’t make everything so hard.  I’d be flying already and…Sweetie, you should have seen how little time it took Twilight to figure out I have dyslexia.  I would’ve known years ago if I had
real
parents.”

Brow furrowed, Sweetie scooched closer.  “Are you having trouble with the Takers?”

She looked away, her eyes unfocused and introspective.  She took a slow breath.  “…You know how when Rarity’s in the zone or whatever and no matter how much you try you can’t really get her to pay any attention to you?”

Sweetie raised an eyebrow.  “…Yeah, she gets like that sometimes.”

“D’you ever get so frustrated you feel like breaking something, just to get her to
look
at you, even if she’s angry?”

Sweetie Belle grimaced, looking away from the pegasus.  “…Yeah.”

“…What if you did that and all she did was glance at you like maybe you were a bug and go back to work?”  She turned back to Sweetie Belle, her face set hard.  “And what if she was like that
all
the time?”

Gaping, Sweetie Belle shrunk back from her friend.  “I…I dunno what to say…”

Scootaloo looked stricken and dropped her head.  “I’m not tryin’ to make you feel bad.  It’s just…Mr. and Mrs. Taker don’t give me trouble.  They barely look at me.”  She stood slowly, climbing back onto the scooter.  “It makes sense that everything’s hard when nopony cares.”