Scootaloo's Brother

Chapter 10 : Remember Our Parents, Forever

Soarin sighed as he got ready for Wonderbolt practice. Every year, he became really depressed on this one day. The day he and Scootaloo's parents died. If it didn't fall on a practice day, Soarin would fly to his Aunt's house and go with Aunt Lofty and Scootaloo to visit his parent's graves in Cloudsdale, Aunt Holiday having to stay behind, being an Earth Pony. But this time, it was a Wonderbolt training day. Soarin had just slipped his flight goggles over his forehead when Spitfire came in.

"Hey Soarin, nice weather, huh? Perfect for practicing." Spitfire commented

Soarin just nodded before leaving the room quickly. Soarin didn't like bottling up his emotions, but he would only feel safe to let his tears come when he was back in the Co-Captain's private room. He couldn't trust the other Wonderbolts to understand and not bother him. Soarin went outside and looked up into the air, staring at the cloudless blue sky. Soarin knew Scootaloo was probably having an easier time dealing with this than he was, she could just cry and have her friends and their aunts there to comfort her. Spitfire came out a few minutes later, the other Wonderbolts already gathered near Soarin, talking.

"Alright Bolts', line up! I want to see twenty wing-ups, now!" Spitfire demanded.

They all jumped into place, dropping to the ground and letting their wings catch them. After the wing-ups, Spitfire had them practice the latest routine she'd planned out. It involved some complicated maneuvers, and while Soarin appreciated the nice distraction it made, he couldn't focus completely on the flight routine. Soarin then nearly crashed into Wave Chill because he wasn't watching, and skidded to a halt instinctively, causing Fire Streak to actually crash into Soarin.

"Soarin! Focus! We all need to have this down, and we can't do that if you cause a ten-pony pile up!" Spitfire yelled, and Soarin shook his head, trying to clear his mind of thoughts about his parents.

"Yes ma'am!" Soarin called back, and they returned to their starting positions. After three more hours of practice, Spitfire dismissed them to eat lunch. Soarin just wanted to go into his office, where he could be alone. Soarin ran off the second he got back into the building.

"What's up with him today?" Wave Chill asked

"Do I look like I care?" Rapidfire asked, trotting past Wave Chill to get to the mess hall.

"It's probably nothing, it is Soarin; we all know how every so often he messes up during practice." Blaze commented.

Soarin didn't hear any of this as he slipped into the privacy of his office, shutting the door. Soarin sighed and went over to his desk, pulling open one of the drawers, then took something out. It was an old framed photograph of a much younger Soarin, sitting in-between his parents, Firefly and Rainy Skies. Rainy Skies, his father, had one wing draped over his mother. Soarin was cradling Scootaloo, who was a tiny baby then, wrapped up in a little navy-blue blanket that was once his. Soarin then sat down at his desk, holding the photo.

"Mom, Dad, I'm sorry. It's all my fault that you were killed. I should have done something." Soarin whispered, gazing down at his parent's smiling faces. The photo had been taken only months before the accident.

"Soarin! Practice starts up again in five minutes, get your flank out here!" Spitfire's yell came through the door twenty minutes later, and Soarin knew it would only be a minute before she came inside the room. Soarin hurriedly stashed the photo back in the drawer, then came outside.

"Finally, have you been in there this whole time?" Spitfire asked, and Soarin nodded, trotting past her. After practice that afternoon, Soarin changed out of his flight suit and went for a fly, subconsciously heading for Ponyville. Then, he crashed into Rainbow.