//------------------------------//
// Chapter 4 
// Story: I Always Wanted to be Like You 
// by Cheezy805 
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I Always Wanted to be Like You – Part 4

They had been told the Wonderbolts had come to Cloudsdale. What had actually happened was that they had said they were going to come soon, and posters had been put up all over the cloud city.
Rumours have a strange way of only containing half the truth.
‘Well, at least we have time to prepare for this, hey Jecht?’
‘You bet’cha! I can’t wait to see what we have to do! I wonder if it will be a race or a talent competition’
‘Maybe both. Wouldn’t that be something’ said Scootaloo, thoughts returning to her once great hero, now lost to a coma. 
‘Scoots…’ Jecht barely ever called Scootaloo this. ‘You’re thinking about her again, aren’t you.
Don’t worry. I swear, we will win. It’s what she wanted and it’s what we’ll do.’
‘It’s just… I don’t know if this is what she actually would have wanted. Have I ever told you why I wanted to surpass her? Why I had to become a Wonderbolt?’
‘Yeah. She told you herself. She… wait… I never realised. How did she tell you if she was unconscious?’
‘That’s just the thing. She didn’t. Just after the accident happened, and I went to see her, I ran away. It didn’t last long. I was found and brought back. Well, when I went in to see her again, I fainted. While I was unconscious, I had a dream; a vision. She told me that for her memory to love on, I had to surpass her. Her speed lives on in me, and to complete her life goal, I had to become a Wonderbolt.’
‘So, you’ve been living off a dream?’
‘Basically… Yeah…’ she said, looking dejected. 
‘Well have I ever told you why I like racing?’ Jecht asked.
‘…No, I don’t think so.’
‘Well, you’d think it’s because of family. Everypony with potential for the last 6 generations has been a great racer in my family. I’m not doing it because of that, though. I just like to be noticed.
‘Having a family member like Spitfire has kept me shunned. Nopony ever noticed me for me; they only ever saw a relative of the great Spitfire. I race so that maybe, some day, people will see Jecht, not the niece of Spitfire. Living in a shadow… it’s not fun.’
‘I… Never knew-‘ said Scootaloo, cut off by Jecht
‘That was, until I met you! You were a great flier. You quickly rose to being one of the best fliers at the academy, and you quickly became my friend. I knew that you were my friend because we were alike, not because I was related to Spitfire. You definitely saw it, yes, I mean, how can you not; I have the flaming hair to show it’ she said with a laugh. ‘but at the same time, you saw more. You saw a pony going through something similar to what you were, and…’ she suddenly looked up into Scootaloo’s eyes ‘…Thank you’ she finished, a tear forming in her eye, a smile on her lips. 
Wow… I never thought about it like that thought Scootaloo. She’s more than a friend. She’s a sister in all but blood. 
She knew this wasn’t the time for any further comments, and instead just sat closer to Jecht, leaning her head against the other’s neck, just as Jecht had done for her, earlier.
---
The day of the Wonderbolts’ arrival grew closer and closer. For a group such as them to leave Canterlot and head to Cloudsdale, it took preparation. They were set to leave Canterlot in a week, and they would be in Cloudsdale in eight days.
Scootaloo and Jecht were both becoming nervous, and both could guess at the other’s reason. Friends as close as these could usually tell what the other was thinking, sometimes before the other even thought it.
Scootaloo was worried about what was to happen. If she lost, if she didn’t become a Wonderbolt, she will have failed Dash. This was almost definitely the only chance she would ever get. She tried not to think about it, but the thoughts invaded her mind anyway. The more she tried not to think about it, the more she thought about not thinking about it, and the more she thought about it. 
Jecht was worried about the same thing, but for a different reason. Her auntie Spitfire was coming to Cloudsdale. If she lost the race, she would slip back down to where she began. She had become somewhat infamous in Cloudsdale, and if she lost the competition, she would never be seen below Spitfire. 
They had both prepared their lunches and saddlebags for a day of training with the Junior Speedsters. After donning their matching black jackets, they sat down for breakfast.
‘Are you ready for what’s coming?’ Jecht asked Scootaloo out of the blue
‘I-… no…’ she said
‘Neither am I. Don’t worry about it! As long as we have each other, we’ll be fine!’
Sometimes I think she thinks we’re more than friends… Are we? I don’t even know anymore. I can’t say I’ve never thought about her in that way before, but at the same time, she’s my sister… sort of… thought Scootaloo.
‘Equestria to Scootaloo; come in Scootaloo.’ Said Jecht, mockingly.
‘Yeah, sorry, I have a lot on my mind.’
‘Don’t we all? I mean, we have our minds, then some blood, then a skull, and then our manes!’
‘You know what I mean’ she said forcing an angry tone to her voice, but the tone was betrayed by a grin spreading across her muzzle.
‘That’s more like it. So what’s up?’ she said.
‘It’s… I dunno… You’ll think I’m weird.’
‘Are you kidding me? I know you’re weird, so am I! There’s no such thing as normal. Just tell me what you’re thinking’ she said. She already had an idea of what she was thinking, and would gladly embrace it if Scootaloo was, indeed, thinking it.
‘You think about things too literally, Jecht. It’s just… We’re more than friends, aren’t we. I don’t know what we are any more. I-‘
‘Do you like where we are together?’
‘Well, yeah. In fact I wouldn’t mind if-‘ she suddenly cut herself off, blushing.
‘Scootaloo. I’ve known you for a year and a half, now. You know you can tell me anything.’
Anything… Can I tell her this?
Scootaloo looked into her eyes and saw something she had never seen before. She saw a tone in her eyes that said she wanted to be accepted. It said she wanted to be loved. There was no doubt that they had the same thoughts.
I can’t get sidetracked, though. I need to become a Wonderbolt. I need to… I need to have friends… When I lost the Crusaders, life was terrible. But… Oh, what do I do?
‘I… Jecht, I…’ she was still looking into Jecht’s eyes. She stared into her very soul, through the black portal encircled by a ring of pure, sky blue. 
Suddenly Jecht’s father walked in.
‘Good morning, everypony! Glad to… Oh, err, sorry. Is this a bad time?’
Scootaloo became aware that she was mere inches from the others face and suddenly pulled herself back to her half eaten breakfast.
‘Uh, no. Not a bad time. Err, I’ll see you later, I guess.’ Stammered Scootaloo, rushing out the door, blushing furiously.
She left without Jecht and flew to a nearby cloud to sit and think, still blushing. 
---
‘I’m very sorry, Jecht. I didn’t mean to-‘
‘No, dad, it’s alright. Nothing was happening, I swear. She was just, err, telling me about a new move she was practising?’
‘Jecht, I’m your father and you know you can’t lie to me.’ He said
‘Well… We aren’t together, if that’s what you’re thinking.’
This he wasn’t sure about. He could nearly always tell when his daughter told lies, which was rare, but right now he couldn’t find a trace of a lie in her voice. Well that doesn’t make sense. They wouldn’t have been that close together if it was just moves she was talking about. Unless she was talking about “other” moves he thought. But this is my daughter. I suppose I should have a talk with her.
‘Jecht, I-‘
‘Dad, I have to go to training. I don’t want to be late for the Junior Speedsters.’
‘Well. We will talk when you return home. Scootaloo too, if she will permit it. Just know this: You are my daughter and I will support you in any choice you make, no matter what.’
Jecht smiled and walked out, pausing to give him a kiss on the cheek and mutter ‘Thanks, daddy’ before leaving.
My daughter is growing up. I must have missed the part where she became so mature.
---
Scootaloo noticed Jecht standing in the doorway. Her mind still reeling at what had happened, she didn’t move. Jecht saw her sitting on the cloud, just above the house and about 50 yards away, and lazily flew up to join her.
‘Scootaloo, it’s alright. He’s fine with it… Whatever “it” is.’
‘Y-yeah… but… uhh… let’s just go to training, okay?’
They went together to the outskirts of Cloudsdale where the rest of the team was already flying around. The Junior Speedsters had a permanent booking on the Cloudsdale Aerodrome for one day a week. 
‘Sorry we’re late, coach. Family issues.’
The coach was a large grey Pegasus colt with completely black eyes, except for the whites. His mane was cut to stubble, to “reduce air-resistance”, but the team believed it had once been white, like clouds.
‘Alright’ he said; his voice hoarse and ragged from years of shouting instructions to his students, ‘get in there and do some laps to warm up those wings.’
Training went faster than usual for Jecht. She was dreading returning home for the “talk” with her father, and wanted to spend as much time at training as possible. She was so distracted, she flew into other ponies twice, much to the vocalised displeasure of the coach, and couldn’t get up to her normal speed until Scootaloo spoke to her.
‘Are you alright, Jecht? You seem distracted.’
‘Yeah. It’s just… this morning after you left dad said he wanted to have a talk with me. With both of us, if he could. I don’t know what to expect. He said he would support me through anything, but I don’t know if he agrees with choices I’m making or-‘
‘Jecht. It’s alright.’ She said, ignoring the echo in her mind of just what “choices” she was making. ‘I’ll be there for you. You don’t have to go through this alone. You don’t have to go through anything alone. I’ll be there for you, I promise.’
‘Does that mean-‘ Jecht began, before noticing that Scootaloo had already taken off.
‘Come on! I’ll answer one question for every two laps you beat me around the aerodrome!’ Scootaloo called out from above.
‘Hey, no fair! You had a headstart!’ she shouted ahead, taking off, too. She began to laugh as she caught up with Scootaloo, but the second she became level with her friend, Scootaloo put on a burst of speed. 
She could match anything her friend could. She flew faster and faster, racing Scootaloo around the aerodrome, but only beating her once by the end of training.
‘That was some good flying, once you pulled yourself together, Jecht. ‘Best I’ve seen you do, I’d say.’ Said the coach, his voice even more hoarse now that the eight hour training session was over.
‘Thanks, coach. See you next week.’
He continued down the line of students, offering advice or praise to each in turn, then they all departed to their individual homes.
‘So you said you’d answer a question for every second lap I won against you?’
‘Well, yeah, but you only beat me once’ said Scootaloo, remembering the taunts thrown at her after she had sneezed mid-flight.
‘So? I want a question answered!’
‘Well, I’ll half answer it.’
Jecht considered this. ‘Alright, but you have to half answer it. No laughing, and no awkward silence.’
‘Uh… Okay? Deal.’ Said Scootaloo, knowing what the question was before it was even asked.
‘Scootaloo… Do you…’ Jecht said, blushing more and more red the longer she took to ask.
‘Do you… L… Love me?’ she asked, immediately looking away, her normally blue face now completely red. 
She looked at Scootaloo, and saw that she, too, was blushing. She was too embarrassed and closed her eyes, facing down a bit.
Then she felt something. Another set of lips against her own. It lasted a few seconds, but felt like an eternity to the Pegasus. If this was half-answering, she really wanted to know what completely answering was.
After they broke apart, Jecht opened her eyes to see Scootaloo a couple of feet away.
‘Come on, Jecht. We’re expected home, remember?’
‘Uhh, Right. Yeah… home’ stammered Jecht.
Scootaloo winked, then took to the air; angling to their house, Jecht right beside her.
Along the way to their house, night was rapidly approaching, and the sun was setting before they arrived. I never noticed how incredible the sunset could look. It’s beautiful, and orange, and… Her thoughts trailed off as she looked to the pony next to her, her mane the exact same colour as the sunset; her mane the same colour as the opposite end of the sky. 
They arrived home right as Luna’s moon appeared on the horizon, and Celestia’s sun fell below the other side of Equestria.
Jecht’s father was waiting at the table for her, along with her mother. A mixture of vegetables and roots was boiling on the stove in fresh cloudwater for dinner. Jecht sat down opposite them, Scootaloo next to her. They all sat in silence for a few seconds before her father spoke up.
‘Jecht,’ he said ‘I have never been more proud of you than right now in your life. You have excelled at the academy, and even in the Junior Speedsters, and you have found-‘ he glanced at Scootaloo, ‘a… friend. You’re both respectable young mares, and I can foresee you both going far in this world of ours.
‘I want to have a serious talk with you. I said this morning that I would support you with any choices you make, Jecht. I did truly mean that. If you decided you wanted to go and do something else besides flying, I wouldn’t mind. It’s your choice to make. I only truly realised that this morning.
‘I’ve raised you as best I could. I could have given you anything you wanted. I could have put you into any school you wished. I could have had you in the Junior Speedsters before you could even fly, but you only ever asked for what you thought you deserved. You have worked for everything you have, even without needing to, and you have earned not just my love, but my respect.’
‘Dad, I… Thank you.’ She said, a solitary tear on her cheek.
‘Scootaloo. I have known you for more than a year now. I do not know what it is that fuels your passion for flight, but it must be strong. You came from nothing and made a name for yourself. I am equally proud of you, as I am of my own daughter, and I consider yourself as my own daughter, too. You have lived in this household for a bit over a year, now, and have always tried to prove your worth. You were self-supporting, and you supported Jecht in a time that I feared would corrupt her, and for this; I thank you.’
Scootaloo nodded to him, overcome with pride. So this is what a father is… I am not related to him, but I love him as though he’s my own father.
‘Dad…’ said Jecht, breaking the silence that had come over them. ‘Scootaloo and I… I… We…’
Her father interrupted. ‘I know, Jecht. I know. You have found yourself a pony to have a relationship with, strong enough to transcend any other, and to survive any adversity you both may face. I support your choice in this. Love was never meant to be limited. It was never meant to be only shared between a colt and a mare. It can appear anywhere, no matter the circumstances.
‘I believe that you two were, indeed, meant for each other, and I will allow you two to be with each other. Well, as though I had a choice! Hahah!’ he said, breaking the serious mood.
Everypony at the table laughed. Jecht’s mother reached over and placed a hoof to her daughters’, a loving smile on her face.
Dinner was served and they all began a conversation of their best memories together, as husband and wife, and for Scootaloo and Jecht, as friends who were meant to be more. Not a thought was spared for the mere week they had left until the competition to change their lives.




AUTHOR'S NOTE:
This is where the story spilts. I have some people saying they want a happy ending, and others saying they want a sad ending. I will make two endings. The next to come out will be happy, then sad. Read which ever one you would prefer. I will also be making happy and sad epilogues.