Scootaloo is sick and tired of being the only pegasus filly around who doesn't seem to be able to fly. So, she decides to seek some help. Everypony knows that Snowflake shouldn't be able to fly at all, what with his ridiculously tiny little wings. So, naturally, she decides that if anypony is suited to helping her get in the air at last, it's him.
Snowflake doesn't want to teach Scootaloo. What he went through to get airborne is something he never wants anypony else to have to go through, especially a little filly. Unfortunately, he's up against Scootaloo, perhaps the most stubborn pony in Equestria when it comes to sticking to her wrong-headed decisions.
But, if she's going to insist, then at least he can make sure she does it properly... besides, if he tutors her, she'll surely quit after seeing how much effort it requires, right?
Then again, she gives up on individual pursuits... but the Crusade is eternal...
Read it here
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Tropes found in this story include:
- Artistic License – Physics/Square-Cube Law: Based on pure biology, Snowflake still should never be able to fly. Muscle strength is proportionate to the cross-sectional area of the muscle, while weight is proportionate to its volume, so Snowflake would get heavier faster than he gets stronger. Even adding in earth pony magic doesn't help. Since
Word of God confirms that it works as a multiplier on a pony's natural strength, Snowflake should still have a better chance of flying with a slimmer physique (Less weight to lift in proportion to muscle strength.) However, the official word is that we're looking at flight through channeled magic — Snowflake just believes it's due to strength. - Becoming the Mask: Initially, Snowflake is determined to just use his training to push Scootaloo into quitting. As the chapters go by, he starts to think more and more seriously about taking her under his wing for real. Ultimately, when Scootaloo finally realizes some of the real reasoning behind why Snowflake is the way he is, she stops trying to build herself up to his levels — but retains him as a physical teacher and a sort of surrogate big brother/father figure.
- Body Horror: The picture of a newly born Snowflake. It's so horrifying that the sight of it terrifies Scootaloo, and when she finally puts together the pieces between that picture of Snowflake then and the way he is now, she flees. It's implied to be the real reason why she finally calls it quits about trying to get quite as powerful as Snowflake.
- Basically, Snowflake's wings suffered multiple, irreparable breaks during birth, to the point where portions of them were amputated. What ponies see now is what was left. When Snowflake said he had no choice other than extreme muscle development in order to gain flight, he meant it.
- Call-Forward: Snowflake and Fluttershy discuss Filthy Rich's tired, weary reaction to Diamond Tiara's claims and comment that he may be coming to a realization about her Spoiled Brat nature — setting up the events of A Confederacy of Dunce Caps.
- Cool Big Sis: The ending of the story implies Snowflake has become a Spear Counterpart to this for Scootaloo, given he gives her an outlet for her physical training, keeps her distracted from the Crusaders by having fun, hangs out with her, encourages her in her hopes of flight and even tutors her in schoolwork.
- Determinator: Scootaloo and Snowflake are both Determinators, in their own way. In fact, it's spelled out as literally being Snowflake's cutie mark; he will always find the effort needed to power on through and achieve something. In the final chapter, Fluttershy theorizes that Scootaloo may actually have the same mark — but she's also too impatient to properly realize it.
- Foreshadowing:
- The story points out that unlike the vast majority of pegasi, Snowflake has absolutely no claustrophobia: if anything, he finds the experience of being in his basement to be a comfortable one. As it turns out, there's a reason why he has no issues with being within the earth — he's a hybrid, a pegasus imbued with the essence of an earth pony.
- It's also pointed out that Snowflake and Fluttershy have an unusually strong, sibling-like bond, even considering they were midwifed by the same pony. It turns out that they're both hybrids and, more importantly, the essence used in them came from the bodies of earth pony siblings.
- Happy Ending: The final chapter is really an unabated string of positive outcomes. Though Diamond Tiara does get Snowflake in trouble with the police, Filthy Rich clears him of all charges. The other ponies stop being terrified of Snowflake for the fact that he's hanging around Scootaloo and in fact he receives a sudden boom of business. Scootaloo finally realizes that she doesn't want to go to the extremes Snowflake did, which he wanted to keep her from doing since the start, but still wants to hang around him as a sort of surrogate big brother figure. And through that bond, not only do the two have a real intergenerational friendship going, but Snowflake is slowly weaning her away from the destructive antics of the Crusade.
- Kids Are Cruel/Teens Are Monsters: It's revealed that the ponies most open about teasing Snowflake for his appearance tend to be the younger ones, although the adults are hardly any better.
- Won't Take "Yes" for an Answer: In the very first chapter, Snowflake confirms that there's absolutely nothing wrong with Scootaloo's wings; she's just a naturally slow developer, and she'll certainly be flying on her own within the next few moons. Angry, frustrated and impatient, Scootaloo refuses to listen; it's when she threatens to go and try her own take on strength-building that Snowflake finally relents and agrees to teach her.
