A loud crash reverberated through the forest as something large rumbled through, carelessly knocking down any trees that got in its way. Many wild animals ran for cover as something fast zipped past them, effortlessly driving through anything in front of it. Many ponies covered their ears as a loud piercing scream flew through the air, disappearing as fast as it appeared. Those same ponies also let out a quiet sigh. The Cutie Mark Crusaders were at it again.
With a cheer, the Super Speedy Racey Speedmobile 2000 thundered down the hill, gaining speed as it charged forward. One of several bunnies that were resting lazily jumped out of the way at the last moment, narrowly avoiding getting hit by its comically oversized wheels. It crashed into a bush noisily, spraying twigs and leaves over it's occupants, but kept going; it was going too fast to stop now. Spitting out a mouthful of leaves, one of the fillies in the cart, a white unicorn with a multi-coloured pink mane, voiced her objections.
"I'm starting to think this wasn't such a good idea."
The driver, an orange pegasus with a purple mane, spun around in her seat to face the unicorn. "Why? Nothing can go wrong Sweetie Belle, Applebloom designed this with three things in mind. Speed, Safety and Cutie Marks. Right, Applebloom?"
The last pony in the cart, a yellow pony with a light red mane and a ridiculously large bow tied into it, nodded her head nervously. "Yes, ah did Scootaloo. Well, mostly. We were running low on time, so ah cut out the second part of tha' plan."
Sweetie Belle's expression dropped at this news. "Are you saying this thing isn't safe to drive?"
Scootaloo responded before Applebloom could, cutting her off rudely, "I'm sure we'll be fine. As long as we don't crash into anything this thing might as well be covered in clouds."
Applebloom nodded, "Yea, Scoots is right, we just need ta be extra careful."
Sweetie Belle poked her head out the side of the cart to see where they were going. "In that case, we better turn quickly."
Scootaloo spun around to see what she was talking about and noticed that they were heading towards a large chasm in the ground. From where they were, Scootaloo couldn't see the bottom, and she didn't want to any time soon. "You heard her, Applebloom. Take a left."
Applebloom replied confused. "I thought Sweetie Belle was tha driver."
Sweetie Belle pulled her head back into the cart and looked at her, "No, Scootaloo's the driver, that's why she's in the drivers seat."
"This is the drivers seat? I thought it just looked cool. Besides, Applebloom's the driver, she built the thing." Scootaloo explained.
"No, Sweetie Belle's the driver."
"No, Scootaloo's the driver."
"No, Applebloom's the driver."
There was an uncomfortable silence in the cart as each of the fillies realised what this meant. Applebloom decided to sum up the situation that was going through their heads in a calm and well thought out manner.
"NO ONES DRIVING!" she screamed at the top of her lungs.
Sweetie Belle let out a scream as the cart thundered closer to the cliff. Scootaloo spun around and desperately tried to grab the steering stick. Instead, she managed to accidentally knock the stick beneath the cart, trapping it out of their reach. Scootaloo tried to reach under the vehicle to grab it, but it was too late. With a final jump, the cart went sailing over the edge of the chasm. Applebloom grabbed her two friends with her hooves and the three of them screamed in fear as the cart fell to the ground.
"Wake up, Scoots, we're alive!"
Scootaloo groaned and pulled her eyes open, and looked around. From what she could tell, she was lying in the Ponyville hospital. A small bedside table sat next to her bed, and looking past it, Scootaloo could see her friends lying in the other beds. "What happened?" she asked groggily.
"Ya bit off more than ya could chew." Applejack said, walking into the room. "What were ya thinking, riding that thing down Ghastly Gorge? You're lucky Rainbow Dash just happened ta be slacking around over there, and saw tha three of ya tumble down that cliff."
"Yea, I totally had to risk my life save you all." Rainbow said, flying in from the window. Scootaloo let out a dreamy sigh as she did.
Applejack however, was less amused. "And by that, ya mean fly ta me hollering about how ma sister just drove a racecart off a cliff."
"Well yea, even with these muscles I can't lift three fillies." Rainbow replied, flexing her arms.
The two gradually dissolved into an argument as they kept talking. Scootaloo took this moment to check on her friends.
"Are you two okay?" she asked.
"Sweetie's still asleep, but she looks fine. Ah feel a bit dizzy, but ah'm sure it'll pass."
Scootaloo continued, "Did any of use get our cutie marks?"
Applebloom bent her neck down to look at her flank. "No."
"Well, that's it then. What should we try next?"
"What do ya feel about sleeping for now? Ahm feeling awfully tired."
Scootaloo lowered her head. Applebloom was right, they needed rest, they had just been on the wrong end of one of their 'adventures'. Scootaloo rested her head on the pillow as the nurse walked into the room. "Visiting hours are over now. If you would kindly leave as I tend to the patients."
Applejack and Rainbow walked through the door, still arguing about, from what Scootaloo could hear, 'the superiority of zap apples over regular apples'. Scootaloo watched as Nurse Redheart walked over to her, hovering a clipboard in front of her face. "Welcome back Scootaloo. How did you injure yourselves this time?" she asked.
Scootaloo glanced at her friends; it seemed that Applebloom had fallen asleep in the short time since they stopped talking. Scootaloo decided it couldn't hurt to answer Redhearts questions. "We drove a race cart off a cliff."
Redheart wrote something on her clipboard and continued, "Okay, that explains the other two. So how did you get hurt?"
"I told you, we crashed." Scootaloo reiterated.
"Oh, I'm sorry. I just assumed a pegasus would fly before hitting the ground. Please forgive me." Redheart insisted.
"The truth is, I can't fly. I have trouble with the lifting off the ground part." Scootaloo mentally kicked herself. She wondered what prompted her to say that. Why did she say that?
Redheart lowered the clipboard and looked at Scootaloo, concerned. "Are you telling the truth? A filly of your age should be able to fly easily. I've seen one month olds fly, so you should have no problem."
Scootaloo quickly corrected her, "Don't worry, I've tried flying. Even gotten some lessons from Rainbow Dash. But it just feels different for me. Rainbow said that flying was the greatest feeling ever, with the wind blowing in your mane and your feathers picking up the coolest air currents. But I can't feel that. When I flap my wings, all I feel is a slight aching at their base, then I crash. I've practically given up at this point."
Nurse Redheart took out a strange metal, hammer shaped device, and asked Scootaloo to show her her wings. Scootaloo did, and Redheart got to work.
"Can you feel this?" she asked, pulling one of Scootaloo's feathers out.
"No."
"How about this?" Redheart said, tapping Scootaloos wings with the hammer.
"Still no." Scootaloo said again.
"Or this?" The nurse questioned, pushing against Scootaloo's wing with her hoof.
The orange filly shook her head.
Redheart moved away, scratching her chin. "This is very odd, Scootaloo. I'll have to consult with some of the doctors about this. Good news however. You're free to leave. I can't find anything broken so there's nearly no reason to keep you here. If you hurry, you should be able to get home before dark. Oh, and come back tomorrow so we can check on those wings again."
Nurse Redheart left the room, and Scootaloo sat there in silence for a while. She thought to herself a little, but decided that was boring and pulled herself out of bed. She silently made her way through the hospital and walked out the front door. She had stayed a lot longer than she thought, and the moon was already high in the sky. With a sigh, she started to walk, not really ready to head home. She didn't really want to return to the empty house she called a home, but everypony's got to sleep eventually. During her second lap of Ponyville though, she heard a voice calling out to her. She turned to face a mare walking towards her; Scootaloo recognised her immediately. "Oh, it's just you."
The pony walked closer, "I shaw you walking around outshide, so I thought I would bring you a coat. It get'sh pretty cold out here."
Scootaloo hadn't even noticed the cold, and took the coat. It was a little big, but it fit, so Scootaloo didn't mind.
The pony continued, "Sho what's a little filly like you doing walking out here in the cold?"
"Just thought I'd go for a walk." Scootaloo lied.
The mare looked down at Scootaloo disapprovingly, "Shcootaloo, I know many ponies in this town look down at me. But many forget I am shtill a mother. So why don't you tell me what'sh wrong?"
Scootaloo shook her head, "I don't want to talk about it." She announced hastily.
"Keeping it in won't help anypony, Shcootaloo. Just shtart at the beginning." The pony mentioned.
"I can't fly. And without parents I'll never get into flight school to learn. And it's cold. And my wings hurt. And I don't want to go home."
The pony looked at Scootaloo, and said sadly, "Shcootaloo, I think it's time to tell you the truth. Come inshide, it's warmer. I think it'sh time to tell you everything. Starting with the first and lasht time I met your mother." The pony turned and made her way towards one of the houses. Scootaloo thought about running at this point, but the mare had intrigued her, so she followed silently.
Once they were both inside, Scootaloo closed the door behind her and took a seat. The owner of the house sat opposite her, sipping on a drink she poured for herself. They both sat there in silence, letting the warmth of the house heat them up. The pony was the first one to speak. "Let's try to keep this quiet, Shcootaloo, My daughter is shleeping just upstairsh."
"You mentioned my mother, did you know her?" Scootaloo asked, secretly hopeful.
"I shaid I met her once. Yet despite thish, yes. I knew your mother better than I know mosht of my friends."
"What was she like?"
"She was a brilliant mare. A loving mother. A truly unique pony fighting againsht the cards fate had given her."
"And you knew her all this time? And never told me?" Scootaloo asked, slightly angry.
"I made a promishe to her. One I intend to keep tonight. But before I continue, Scootaloo, you need to undershtand that it was a dark time for both of ush, and the mare in the shtory is your mother at her worsht. If you wish to leave now and keep whatever perception of her you have, I won't shtop you."
"I want to hear this. I need to know about my parents!" Scootaloo exclaimed.
The pony leaned back in her chair, and began the story for Scootaloo. "It was roughly shix years ago, and I was on the end of a bad...experience...when I met your mother."
A flash of thunder lit up the road in front of me, casting shadows in the form of terrible monsters. I keep walking though; no monster is going to be scarier than the one behind me. The rain pelts my face and my mane runs into my eyes, causing the road to bend in twist in front of me.
Great. The one day the stupid pegasi finally schedule a rainfall, and I'm stuck in the middle of it. It occurs to me that I don't know where I'm going.
Away. I think to myself.
Before long, I find myself standing on the bridge leading out of Canterlot. The rain has caused the river beneath it swell to dangerous levels. I stop my running to look over the edge. The flowing river. Nothing can stop it, slow it or contain it, yet it makes its way past obstacles peacefully. Always going over or around those weaker than it. It would almost be poetic if it weren't so dangerous at the moment. A thought enters my head then. A dark, evil thought that gives me the creeps, even now.
You could jump. I stare down at the water, my reflection destroyed by the rushing water.
It would end your problems. I pull myself onto the rail and glance down at the water. Nothing would survive a drop like that.
JUMP NOW! I close my eyes and lean forward, waiting for gravity to do its part. Before it does though, a voice calls out to me, snapping me out of my trance. I fall backwards onto the bridge. Looking around, I search for the pony. She sees my concern and steps out of the shadows. She's wearing a cloak that hides her cutie mark, but I can clearly see she's dark purple, with an orange mane. I turn my back to her and face out once again towards the river.
She didn't like this. "Hey, I'm talking to you! Listen to me."
Spinning my head around to face her, I see she's got a knife tied to one of her hooves. GREAT! Now I'm being mugged!
She shouts to me, "Your bits or your life." She grimaced, maybe she thought that sounded too corny.
I sneer back at her, rage filling me, "Obviously both those things don't mean much to me, else I wouldn't be out here about to jump."
Her confidence wavered, but I pushed on, taking out my bag of bits. "Course, I could still give them to you. Granted you follow my request."
She snapped back at me, "And whats to stop me just taking them by force?"
I give a laugh, a true one, I haven't laughed like this in a while, "I can see it in your eyes. You wouldn't do it if there's a safer way. Besides, a murder attracts more attention than a simple robbery."
She let out a defeated sigh and moved closer, taking a spot just a hoofs reach away from me. "What do I need to do?"
"I just need someone to talk to. To clear my mind." I say. Are you insane? You can't tell this thug about yourself.
"Well, that's simple enough. As long as those are all bits, I'm all ears." she says to me.
Sighing, I decided to start at the very beginning, back before everything went wrong, back when things were simple and made sense. "Do you remember when we were young fillies? Our parents said we could do anything, and I believed we could. Nothing was out of our reach, any goal was attainable, any wish could be fulfilled. Sometimes I wish we could go back to those times."
The mare next to me spoke up, cutting me off. "I wouldn't know. My mother wasn't around when I grew up, not that you could blame her. My father wasn't exactly the most friendly pony in town. Still, I was determined not to let this keep me down."
My heart softened towards her a little, "Yea, sometimes I wish my parents were gone, it would make some conversations easier."
The mare just nodded.
I faced back out over the river. "As I grew older, I came to realise that what they said, while not complete lies, still weren't the whole truth. There were other factors that played into what you could do, other ponies, money, fame and most importantly, cutie marks."
I noticed a slight nod next to me again. "Hey, no need to tell me. I was born on the bottom, discovered my cutie mark when I made the most important decision of my life. Leaving home."
"I don't suppose you could show me it?" I asked, hoping to get something to identify her with when the royal guards got involved.
"Nice try, buddy. It won't be that easy. So what's yours? Fruit farmer?"
I closed my eyes, "I'll get to that. While we're on the subject, I was bullied a lot in for not having a cutie mark at all, something that stayed with me for a long time in life. I would also find my way to this bridge after the abuse. I have many memories on this bridge. It was here that I met the second biggest monster of my life." I paused to make sure my guest was keeping up, "When you're young, you expect monsters to be fearsome, giant beings of darkness and nightmares that disappear as soon as you close your eyes or turn the lights on. It isn't until you get older that you realise that these monsters can appear as the most innocent of us. For me, this monster took the form a magnificent gentlepony. My first love."
The mare untied the knife from her hoof, Odd, that didn't make much sense, I thought, and she pulled the hood of her cloak off. I could see that she had beautiful purple eyes, like her fur. She faced me, and I saw such grief on her face. The two of us just stared at each other for a minute, before I continued, "He was everything a young filly could hope for in a pony. He was charming, handsome, smart, funny, looked past the fact that I still hadn't earned my cutie mark, and above all, a slimy piece of rejected rainbow, hardly worthy to so much as look at a proper mare." That last part came out a bit louder than I intended, and I blushed.
The pony looked back over the gushing river, and responded sadly, "Hey, I feel you. I remember my first love. I've been with a lot of stallions since then, but he will always be the most memorable to me. I needed a place to stay, and he was the only one who would take an orphan off the street. It was too good to be true, and I quickly found out it was. He was a nice stallion, but when I needed him most, he left me."
I cautiously placed a hoof over her back, she didn't seem to mind, so I continued my story. "We dated for several months, and even made plans for marriage. I was so happy then, I believed I had love all figured out, but on the day we broke up.....We both said some things we regret. He let slip that the whole thing was ploy to..to..how do I put this politely?"
The would be thug under my hoof let out a laugh, "You can say sex you know? Or made love, had relations, had coitus, screwed around or simply banged."
I could feel the blood rushing into my cheeks at the mention of all these words. "So continuing, I was distressed. I had no where to go at that point, barely any money to my name, a broken heart and a wish to forget. So I wound up where all fallen lovebirds go. A bar. I woke up in the morning lying in a gutter. Last night was a blur and I was now fully broke."
The purple mare next to me shifted, throwing me off balance. "I know the feeling, one I've faced myself many times."
I felt a smile grow on my face, This is somepony who gets it. I have the feeling we could be good friends. I removed my hoof from her back and stated, "Excuse me, what exactly does this have to do with me?"
The pony stopped abruptly, and looked down at the pegasus who had interrupted her. "Well, Shcootaloo, if you would lishten carefully, you might already know where this is going. Never the lessh, I will eventually get around to it."
Scootaloo lounged back on the carpet. "I just don't see what's going on. Who's this mysterious mare? Is it my mother? Where does that put me? Who's my dad?"
The pony in the chair let out a giggle, "Alwaysh impatient aren't you? Let me jusht get comfortable, since you already interrupted my story." The pony stood up and walked into the next room. Scootaloo was left sitting alone in the spacious lounge room. She stood up, her wings aching as she did. She decided to pass the time by examining the room. There were several framed photos of the pony and her daughter. Scootaloo sighed, they seemed so happy together. Scootaloo wondered why her life couldn't be like that. Why did she have to live the way she did? It just didn't seem fair. She was stuck struggling trying to figure out where her next meal would come from, while this foal got whatever she wanted on a whim. And Scootaloo didn't even know why. It just didn't seem fair. Shrugging sadly, she pulled a cushion off one of the chairs and made herself comfortable again, just as the pony walked back into the room, carrying a glass of red liquid in her mouth. She sat back down and glanced at Scootaloo. "Are you ready to continue the shtory?"
Scootaloo simply nodded.
"Now where were we?"
I removed my hoof from her back and stated, "It wasn't all bad though. Unbeknown to me, I had met somepony that night, the largest monster I would ever face." I stopped and directed my attention to the pony next to me. "Before I continue, I must ask, why are you out here mugging helpless ponies? It just doesn't seem to fit you."
"And just how would you know what fits me?" she asked me.
"It's a lot of little things. Like your eyes, or the fact that you removed your knife. Somepony like you shouldn't be out here."
There was an uncomfortable silence as my words hung in the air. The other pony carefully picked up the knife sitting on the edge, waving it around in front of her. Suddenly though, she threw it into the river. The shining waters engulfed it and it disappeared beneath the mud. I just stared at her as she looked out over the bridge. A moment passed, neither of us said anything, so I added, "Well, I guess I'll just continue then."
"My daughter." The pony next to me said quickly. The tone in her voice had changed. It was softer, more refined. I looked at her, and she looked at me, I could see grief in her eyes. "She's sick. Dangerously sick. This is the only way to get enough bits for the operation."
I felt a pang of sadness. "What's wrong with her?"
"Enfeebled Airfoil Disability." she replied simply.
When her response was met by my blank look, she decided to elaborate. "Weak Wing Disease. Her wings don't receive signals well enough to lift her into the air."
"How old is she?" I asked.
"Only two, but she's already the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. She deserves so much better than someone like me."
A gave her playful kick in the side, "Don't be that way. I'm sure you do the best you can."
My playful jab was met with a full on kick to the face. I went flying to the ground and slid backwards when I landed. The rocks on the path cut into my skin, and the mare was standing above me, an angry scowl on her face. She looked down at me and shouted, "Don't say that about me. You don't understand any of this. I could do so much better, be so much better, but I don't," she stopped for a moment and faced away from me, "And worst of all, I can't figure out why. I want to do my best, but something is always stopping me. I try to get a job, fail. Try to appeal for charity, fail. Try begging, fail. Turn to crime, and on my first try I've thrown away my weapon, befriended and, pretty much de-friended my victim and I still don't have a single bit to show for it. Some parent I turned out to be."
I stand back up. I'm pretty sure half of me is a wreck after a blow like that, and I see something red running down my face in a puddle's reflection. I walk over to her and half heartedly deliver a kick into her chest. She goes down, and I can't help but feel a little better. "That was for kicking me. Now let me help you up."
She looks at me confused as I help pull her back to her hooves. Once we're both back up, I return to my spot overlooking the river, and she does the same. We both sit there in wordless silence. I decide one of us needs to break the silence, if only to relieve the tension, so I say what's on my mind. "I think it's pretty noble that you're still trying. If you keep at it, I'm sure it'll all work out."
She let out a sigh, and answered depressingly "It just gets tough some times."
I'm cautious about putting my hoof back across her back, considering what just happened, but I decide to anyway. I like to think it helped both of us relax. Eventually, the rain starts to get heavier, so I decide that I should continue my story.
"Well, I don't know what you've been through in life, and I'm sure that nothing I could say would make it better, and anything I say will probably pale in comparison, but let's continue my story."
She lets out a nod, and I start talking again. "Where was I? The bar right?"
She nods again, so I go on, "After I woke up in the gutter, the first thing I remember noticing was the fact that I had lost my bits. I wasn't so concerned about that after I noticed the second thing. My cutie mark."
"So what does it represent?" she asked me.
"Later. I remember rushing home, despite what some would describe as 'a complete and total invasion of all things alcohol' in the form of a massive hang over. My parents were less than enthusiastic about my talent, and the state that I appeared to them in. We got in a fight, which ended when the two of them kicked me out, saying something about how they would never raise someone with such a vulgar talent. I felt betrayed, worse than that, alone."
I stared out across the river, not realising how much saying this hurt. My partner shuffled uncomfortably, so I fought together the courage to continue. "Distressed, I ran here. The place I always wind up in. To my surprise, there was someone else here, looking out over the water. Not willing to let something like this stop me, I made my way next to him. And he recognized me!"
I looked over to the pony next to me. She was just staring into the water below us, until she noticed I had stopped talking. She spun her head up to look me in the eyes, and took advantage of the silence. "Excuse me, you said before you felt betrayed? I just wanted to..to comfort you about that. I know the feeling."
"Ahh, don't worry about it, it was ages ago. I got over it." I lied, struggling to sound convincing.
She saw right through my act, and responded loudly, "DON'T YOU LIE TO ME! You don't just 'get over' something like that, I should know." she lowered her voice, "It just never gets easier."
I pulled myself closer to her, I could sense this was a touchy topic, but I went for it anyway, "You want to talk about it?"
She smiled, "Sure, why not?" she shuffled closer to the edge, and started talking. "It was a long time ago, nearly three years. I was staying with my friend. A stallion of high regard. At this point in my life, I was known around Canterlot as a bit of trouble maker. This came back to bite me one day, when the guard showed up at our house. There had been a robbery, 3000 bits were stolen and two ponies were in critical condition. They thought I was somehow involved. They came inside, and dragged me out, kicking and screaming. Eventually, they asked the stallion whether he thought I was telling the truth. 'Stop them! Tell them I was framed, that I'm innocent!' I yelled at him. And to this day, I still don't know why he said no. Maybe he thought I was guilty, maybe he just didn't like me, I'll never know. I escaped the guards in desperation, and went on the run, staying where I could and struggling to survive. Then, my foal came."
The pony managed to fight back tears, and I found myself doing the same. "I managed to work my way into a hospital under a false name. When all was said and done, I held in my hooves the most beautiful foal I had ever seen. She was so innocent, so young, she had the chance to be anything in the whole world, yet she was stuck with me. And to make matters even worse for my sad, pathetic life, the doctor's quickly diagnosed her wing disease. They said it would cost about 2500 bits to fix. I didn't have that kind of money, all I had were my wits, and now, a filly. I wanted to give her a name that would stand out, one that would possibly make up for the hardships she would face. After much thought, I decided, Scootaloo."
I nodded, feeling water gather in my eyes. "After the Wonderbolt?"
She nodded sadly, "Even if she couldn't fly, at least she could share a name with the one of the fastest fliers in history."
The conversation ended, and the two of us just sat there. The rain lightened up, and a ray of light managed to pierce the clouds. It sparkled against the river, making a symphony of flashes and colours. Both of us wanted to continue, but the moment was just so peaceful. For a minute, I forgot the reason I was standing there in the first place, and I can only assume the same happened to her. I took in a deep breath, the smell of the rain was the most wondrous thing. Eventually though, we both felt that we needed to leave, and end our conversation for good.
I asked awkwardly, "Should I finish?"
"Fine with me, my stories just about over."
I took in another breath, "Alright then. The pony at the bridge. It turns out he was one of the ponies I had gotten drunk with at the bar. He was surprised to see me, and listened to my story. Upon hearing I was out of a job and home, he offered me both. He was head of a vineyard, and needed someone to test the batches of wine. I accepted gleefully, and went to work immediately."
I looked over the raging river, and continued, "Over the months, I found myself attracted to this pony. Even though I was still shaky from my last attempt at love, I decided to give it another shot. I asked him out, and he accepted. The two of us went out for a while, and eventually, a special night came. I had been trying to avoid it, but it was unavoidable in the long run."
The pony next to me let out a sigh, "I think I see where this is headed." she said simply.
I cracked a smile, despite our grim conversations, "Yes, it was finally time to....well...you understand. Unlike last time, I didn't hold back, and it was a great night."
I felt hot tears of rage enter my eyes. "THEN THE NEXT DAY, THE BASTARD FIRED ME! AND EVICTED ME! WITH A CRAZY CLAIM THAT I WAS STEALING BITS FROM HIS COMPANY!" I shouted.
I breathed in deeply a few times, and regained my calm composure. It wasn't easy, this topic was more touchy than I thought it was. The rain falling on my head seemed to have a soothing effect. "That was about two months ago. And that leads us to why I'm here today, standing on the edge of a flooding river, getting mugged. I just came here from the hospital."
I turned to stare her in the eyes. "I'm pregnant."
She stared back at me blankly, and eventually burst out laughing. Through fits of laughter she managed to apologise. "I'm sorry...I'm sorry, but," she stopped laughing. "We're both in the same situation. I have a daughter to take care of, no job, no permanent home, no parents to help me and a very limited knowledge of what I'm doing." Her voice turned to whisper, and I missed what she said, but it sounded something like, "I've got nothing."
She perked back up quickly though, "And you, born into what I can assume is a high standing family, are in nearly the exact same situation. I find that to be just the funniest thing I've ever seen. Or heard."
I decided to change the subject, "So, mugger, just this once, what's your Cutie Mark?" I asked, generally curious this time.
She smiled and removed her coat, "Well, you earned this one."
I looked at her flank, her cutie mark stood out clearly amongst her purple coat. It was an orange hoof, running at full pelt, kicking up a cloud of dust as it did. I simply stared at it for a moment, before asking, "What does it mean?"
She moved her wings in a shrug, "Best guess I got is it represents my ability to run from problems."
"You don't run from your problems, you work to fix them, regardless of the cost."
I turned to face her, and saw tears in her eyes. "You don't know me. You probably never will."
I placed my hoof on her side, "Come on friend, keep your head up, things will get better."
"Shining Dawn. My names Shining Dawn." she said hastily.
The rain stopped, and another beam of light shot down on top of us, revealing our every movement. I looked at her, and added, "Well then, Shining Dawn. The rains stopped, the day is new, the bars are open and things are looking up. How do you feel about meeting here again on Saturday?"
She shook off my hoof, and walked towards the edge of the bridge. Pulling herself onto the railing, she extended her wings. A tear ran down her cheek as she spoke. "I'm sorry friend, but I can't handle this. I've tried all I can, and failed each. You though, you still have a chance to make this right. Go out and make your foal happy, when it comes. And if, at any point in the future you meet an orange pony called Scootaloo, I want you to tell her that her mother loves her more than anything in the world, and that she's sorry she couldn't do better. Tell her this story."
Ending her sentence, Shining Dawn leapt off the end of the bridge. I remember standing there, waiting for her to flap her wings, and fly over the bridge. But she never did. She never did. I remember running to the edge, and searching for her. She was gone. The flowing river had claimed her. I realised then that my poetic statement had been wrong. The river didn't pass by obstacles peacefully, it took what it wanted and forced the rest away, never to be seen. Whittling away even the strongest of ponies.
I don't know how long I sat there, expecting her to fly back up like nothing had happened, but she didn't. Eventually, I rose to my feet, and turned away. The thought of jumping never even occurred to me. The rivers already taken enough today. I walked away slowly. I wasn't sure where I was going, what I was going to do, or how I would fix my problems, but none of that mattered. On that day, I made a vow to myself. I said aloud, "I will give this foal the greatest up-bringing ever seen, in honour of Shining Dawn. I vow this upon my cutie mark and my name, Berry Punch."
And with that, I wandered into Canterlot, with a new perspective on life.
The purple pony in front of Scootaloo took a sip of her wine. She looked down at her knowingly, "And I think sho far I've done a pretty good job of that. Regardlessh of what shome would call a drinking problem."
Scootaloo closed her mouth quickly, she opened and closed it a few more times, attempting to make words, but only squeaks managed to come out. Eventually, she found her voice. "And you knew all of this ever since you moved here?"
Berry Punch took another sip, "Understand Scootaloo, that I wasn't sure you were ready for thish. I meant to tell you, ever since we firsht met, but I kept putting it back, day after day, until it eventually faded away. Until today that ish."
"So my mother is.....dead?" Scootaloo asked slowly.
"Sadly, yes, Shcootaloo." she said.
Scootaloo felt a red hot ember growing in her chest, "And I'll...NEVER fly?"
Berry petted the pegasus on her head, "Now, I never shaid that. Enfeebled Airfoil Disability is something that can be fought. It won't be easy, in fact, it'll be one of the toughest things you do, but you could shtill fly."
The orange filly cheered up a bit at this news. "And my father, he might be alive?"
Berry put her glass down. "Now that Scootaloo, ish something you will need to find out yourself."
She stood up, and looked down at Scootaloo, "Now you are free to shtay here as long ash you need, but, the sun ish rising outshide. The rains stopped, the day is new, the bars are open and things are going to get better. Now, why don't you tell me why you were wandering around outshide late at night anyway?"
The two of them talked for several hours, neither wanting to stop. Eventually though, as all good things must, it was stopped by a sound from upstairs. Ruby Pinch walked downstairs, rubbing her eyes. She was confused when she saw the filly in her house, but not alarmed. Berry and Ruby walked into the kitchen to make some breakfast and Scootaloo took this moment to leave the house.
Two of her friends were still injured, and despite these new revelations, she wasn't about to leave them. She smiled as she walked though. She liked to think she had learned a lot that day, and while the path would be hard, she was confident she would be able to walk it.
"Shining Dawn." she said to herself. "Wherever you are now, I hope you're happy, and know that I don't blame you." Scootaloo stopped and stared at the sky for a moment. She swore she could see a purple pegasus staring down at her, but when she looked again, it was gone. Scootaloo looked back down at the path and started walking again, not caring what the future held. Eventually, she broke into run, her orange hoof kicking up the dust as she ran.
