A Whole New World

29th Autumn's Dawn

My dreamless sleep was interrupted as I felt something shaking me, violently. I opened my eyes, and instinctively swatted at the source, which in turn grabbed my arm and shook even harder.

"Dutch, wake up!"

I came to my senses, and found Sarah standing over my bed, shaking at my shoulders and demanding a response from me. I lifted myself up and shook my head to get rid of the tiredness.

"Sarah, what the hell's going on?"

"This is what's going on, now get up!" She picked up my watch and shoved it towards me. I looked at it, and my eyes widened upon seeing that I had overslept, and the hands were close to reaching nine o'clock. Immediately I was out of bed and throwing my clothes on.

"I need to buy myself an alarm clock," I said as I pulled a shirt over my head and pushed my wings through the slits, "At least they know how to do their job."

"You're still relying on the rooster?" Sarah said, cocking an eyebrow.

"Hey, if it isn't broken, don't fix it, right?" I stated, "Although now it seems it's very broken."

"You got that right," Sarah said, "I'm off to the farm. If you don't want to be late, you need to get a move on."

"I'll see you there," I said as she walked out the door. I dashed into the kitchen and threw some eggs on the stove. It was going to have to be a fairly simple breakfast. Luckily, Scootaloo was ok with eggs. I walked into her bedroom and unzipped the sleeping bag, nudging her awake.

"Come on Scootaloo, you need to get ready."

She slowly opened her eyes, "Huh? What's going on?"

"We overslept," I said, my serious tone grabbing the attention of the filly, "We've got about fifteen minutes before school starts."

Scootaloo's eyes shot open and she was out of bed in a second, "What?!"

"You get your stuff ready for school, I'll finish breakfast for us."

Scootaloo was eating, washing and packing her bags so fast she was almost a blur. With seven minutes left on the clock, we finally left the apartment and went outside. Scootaloo was already on her scooter, while I was flexing my wings.

"I'll come pick you up after school, ok?" I said.

"Ok, see you later."

Scootaloo watched as Dutch ran forward a few metres before taking off, his huge wings kicking up a cloud of dust as he disappeared in the direction of Sweet Apple Acres. Remembering her own agenda, Scootaloo started buzzing her wings and sped round the corner toward the school...

...only to ride head first into a market stand.

She lay on the floor, clutching a throbbing forehead and making sure her nose and all her teeth were still intact. She shakily rose to her hooves and picked up her scooter, but her heart skipped a beat when she noticed one of the wheels had snapped off. It was unrideable, and she didn't have the time to fix it.

She began to think about running to school, but there were too many turns through the town, and not enough shortcuts to help speed up her journey. There was simply no way she would get to school on time.

Unless...

Leaving her scooter on the ground, she saw a stack of haybales next to a nearby house, and ran towards them. Her skill in parkour had improved greatly over the past week. She could go almost anywhere she wanted, thinking up new routes as she ran. But going on rooftops was something she had never done before. There was always the risk of falling, and Scootaloo didn't want to hurt herself unnecessarily.

But this was different. This was an emergency. No guts, no glory, she thought to herself as the mound of hay got closer.

Making sure her saddlebags were secure, she scrambled on top of the bales, before jumping at the drainpipe above her and climbing onto the thatched roof. It was a dry day, so it was easier to get a grip with her hooves than it would have been in the rain. She grabbed the reeds that made up the roof and quickly climbed to the top, seeing the school a couple hundred metres away. She would have to move fast.

She slid down the other side of the roof, ignoring the sting from the reeds rubbing on her fur, and at the last minute, pushed off with her hooves. She sailed through the air and landed on the building opposite. Climbing over and sliding down into the town square. She ran as fast as her legs would carry her, leaping across a fountain in a single bound and vaulting over a cart of vegetables being dragged to the market.

She had cleared the open ground now, but the school lay on the other side of a row of houses, all attached to each other. Scootaloo noticed an open window in one of the houses, and jumped through into a kitchen, eliciting a gasp of surprise from the startled, mint-green unicorn living inside.

"Sorrysorrysorry," Scootaloo said as she leapt over a table and ran towards another window, knocking the shutters out of the way as she jumped back outside without breaking stride. The school was in sight now, and she pushed herself on, despite the stitch in her chest from running on a full stomach. There was no doubt she was late now, and she could already see Cheerilee holding her back in detention. She mentally sighed; Diamond Tiara was going to have a field day.

She didn't slow down as she reached the door, instead knocking it open with a hoof and leaning on it as she caught her breath.

"Sor... Sorry I'm... late,... Miss Cheerilee." She gasped, as she looked up at her teacher.

Cheerilee sat at her desk, a look of surprise on her face as she pulled books out of her saddlebags, "Actually Scootaloo, you're the first pony here."

"Huh?!" Scootaloo looked around the rest of the classroom, only now noticing that all of the desks were empty.

"In fact, you're four minutes early," Cheerilee stated, placing the last book on her desk and walking over to Scootaloo, "Now why don't you take a minute to relax. I'll get you a glass of water."

Scootaloo nodded, panting too fast to say much more as she sat by the wall, taking deep breaths and slowing her breathing down to a speed at which she could talk. Cheerilee handed her the glass, and she gulped down the cool, transparent liquid.

"Now, why in Equestria are you so out of breath?" Cheerilee asked.

"I... I thought I was late," Scootaloo said, "It was seven minutes to nine, and my scooter was broken, and--"

"Well, however you managed to get here, you were fast," Cheerilee said, smiling, "Certainly faster than anypony else."

Scootaloo sat in disbelief at how she had managed to arrive not just early, but ahead of all the other school fillies. By the time it reached nine o'clock, every other pony had arrived, and were taking their seats in front of the chalkboard.

"Scootaloo!" Sweetie Belle exclaimed as she saw her friend, "We didn't see you this morning, what are you doing already here?"

"I overslept," she said, "I was worried I was going to be late, so I used that parkour thing Dutch showed me to get here. As it turns out, I got here a lot faster than I thought."

"Ya mean ya ran all the way from the Bannered Mare to here?" Applebloom asked, "And ya got here before us?"

"Well, I did kind of... jump over a few buildings, and through one," Scootaloo said nervously.

However, the other Crusaders were only impressed, saying "Cool!" in unison at the pegasus' acheivement before laughing. Scootaloo laughed with them as she made her way to her desk and sat down, pulling her book and pencil out of her saddlebag.

The other fillies were eager to hear her story of speed and acrobatics, and Scootaloo was more than happy to tell it to them in detail. It seemed Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon were the only fillies to seem unimpressed by her tricks, but Scootaloo didn't care. Even Cheerilee was avidly listening as she told of how she jumped through somepony's house to get to school, which caused more than a few ponies to giggle. When she finished, everypony returned to their seats. She smiled at her accomplishment, maybe when she grew up, she could show other ponies how to do parkour. It would certainly help other pegasi who had AWDD.

That was when she felt a tingling on her flank, and everypony in the room - including Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon - gasped.

I touched down at the centre of the farm and jogged into the barn, thankful that I had managed to arrive on time. Sarah was already heading off towards another part of the farm, carrying a hay bale in her arms, Don't they weigh about several hundred kilos? Applejack exited the barn and called me over.

"Glad ya'll could make it," she said, "Ah was worried ya wouldn't show up after Sarah got here without ya."

"Yeah, sorry about that. I had some problems at home before leaving." I said sheepishly, "So which field are we harvesting today?"

"Northeast side, right by the path to Ponyville." She said, and we both headed off in that direction.

Several hours and a few hundred trees later, and my shift was getting close to ending. The day had been scorching hot, and standing in the hot air under the trees had made me sweat more than usual, resulting in me taking my shirt off to work. At least I had had the sense to wear shorts.

I kicked one of the last few trees and picked up two buckets filled with apples, making my way back to the barn to store them. Once I had placed them inside, Applejack appeared from outside carrying a towel and a bucket of water. She tossed the towel to me, and I dried myself off before taking a drink from the water.

As I stood up, I noticed Applejack was staring at my chest, and I said, "Is something wrong AJ?"

"Sorry," she said, "It's just that every time ya leave Ponyville, ya come back with some new scrape on ya."

I looked down at where she had been staring, examining the six-inch scar on my chest from the bandit, before holding my arms out, "Bad-luck-magnet, remember?"

"Ah know," Applejack said, and her face fell, "Ah just can't help thinkin': What if a time comes when that luck catches up to ya? If ya know what Ah mean."

I paused, and my tone became serious, "That is not going to happen. While life may like to dump it on me every now and again, I have no intention of that happening anytime soon."

"Right," she said, before changing the subject and asking, "So how much is left on the field?"

"Just a few more trees," I answered, relaxing from my previous state, "I'll kick down what's left and bring the buckets up."

"Sarah's done with her work," she said, "I'll send her to help ya finish."

I smiled. Sarah's strength would certainly got the job done quicker.

"I'll get the last two buckets," I said to Sarah as she placed her six buckets on the floor, "You go and do your own thing and I'll see you later."

"Alright then, bye." I waved to her as she walked down the path back towards Ponyville.

As I went down to get the remaining two buckets, I saw Lyra appearing over the hill, trotting towards the farm. I waved as I made my way over, which she returned.

"Afternoon Lyra, what brings you here?"

"Just thought I'd visit my favourite human and see how he's doing." Lyra said.

"Right. Well, it's a good thing you're here, there's something I've been needing to ask you," I said, "I'll just take these two buckets to the barn, then I'll join you." I walked back up the path, unaware of Lyra staring at my bare torso.

I arrived at the barn, dropping off the buckets and shouting, "I'm done for the day AJ, I'll see you tomorrow." I got a shout of acknowledgement from the house, and returned to Lyra, putting my shirt back on and leaving the farm as she trotted next to me.

"I've got to go to the school now to pick up Scootaloo," I said, "You can come with me if you want."

"I might as well," she said, "Now what was this thing you wanted to ask me?"

"How well can you stand on your hind legs?"

To answer my question, she lifted herself up and started walking alongside me, staring down at her hooves, "Pretty good actually, I think I've got the whole thing down. I even managed to walk an entire day one time on my hind legs. They were stiff afterwards, but it was totally worth it."

"Glad to hear it. Next thing you know you'll be using magic to give yourself hands," I said with a laugh, "I had something in mind for a belated birthday present, and it would involve having to stand on two legs."

"Really? What is it?" Lyra was beaming as she dropped back onto her hooves.

"It's a surprise," I said, "Hopefully I'll have everything ready tomorrow, and I've got a day off on Sunday, so we can do it then."

We had reached the edge of town by now, and I could see Shadow Breeze approaching us from the bridge. When he reached us, he said, "Afternoon Dutch, I've got something for you," before pulling a letter out from under his wing and giving it to me. I unfolded it and began to read.

To Dutch and Shadow,
Hope you're both doing well in Ponyville. You're probably more comfortable than where I am, not that I'm complaining of course. Anyway, I'm writing this to give you some news. Do you remember that artifact we picked up from the bandit camp? Well, I did a bit of digging (as well as pestering a few senior officers) and eventually managed to find out what it is.
About a couple thousand years ago, there was an explosion in the population of cockatrices in Equestria. Within a few weeks, ponies were getting turned to stone left, right and centre. To combat the problem, the Princesses created magical objects that could counteract a cocktrice's stare when used by a unicorn.
That's what we found at the camp; a device that can turn somepony back from stone. It's supposedly the last one, after Nightmare Moon destroyed the rest, but at least it's now in the Princesses' possession, right?
That's the end of the history lesson. And don't worry about reporting back to barracks, Wingfleet told me he would send letters to everypony the next time we're needed for duty. Until then, enjoy yourselves.

Steel Sword

I handed the letter back to Shadow, who said, "Dutch, can I speak to you privately?"

"Sure," I said. Lyra had heard him too, and trotted over to a nearby fountain to wait for me, "What is it Shadow?"

"I can't help but think we wasted time and lives on that mission," Shadow said, "I mean, Thunderlane and Rumble are dead now, and for what? Some toy that the Princesses don't even need anymore."

"I understand your concern, but I don't see it the same way."

"What do you mean?" Shadow asked.

"Suppose those bandits wanted to do more than just a simple raid. With that artifact, what's to stop them from doing something like sneaking into the Canterlot Gardens and using it on that Discord statue?"

"I know, but..." he trailed off as I held up a hand.

"What happened to Thunderlane and Rumble was bad luck, you and I both know that," he looked away when my words reminded him of what happened, "But what we did at the time was the right thing. A friend of mine told me that if you don't move on from stuff like this, it'll eat away at you. We both need to grasp that fact."

I saw movement out of the corner of my eye, and looked up to see Fluttershy walking through the market, picking out an assortment of vegetables. Shadow looked in her direction too, and turned back to me.

"Go to her Shadow," I said. He looked nervous, and glanced back at her, "She can help take your mind off things."

"But..."

"Go on," I said again, giving him a motivational smile, "Good luck."

As Shadow walked into the market toward Fluttershy, Lyra and I continued on our way to the school to pick up Scootaloo. Lyra giggled as we walked, and I looked down at her in confusion.

"What's so funny?" I asked.

"Oh nothing," Lyra said, still quietly laughing, "It's just that I saw Scootaloo briefly this morning. She seemed to be in a bit of a rush as she jumped through my window."

"Wait, she did what?" I asked, stopping as she laughed again.

"I'm serious," she said, "She jumped through my kitchen window, over the table and out the other side, saying 'sorry' the whole way through. How much of that parkour stuff did you show her?"

"Only what I taught her in the dream, but she's been doing a lot of improvisation lately, almost well enough to rival a human. She seems to have taken to it like a fish to water."

"Do you think it might be her special talent?" Lyra asked.

"Maybe. At least it would mean she'll stop breaking stuff around the apartment."

The school came into view as we rounded the corner, and our timing was dead-on as the school bell rang. We heard a cheer from inside, and a stampede of fillies burst through the doors. We saw Applebloom and Sweetie Belle walk out the door behind them, closely followed by Scootaloo. She saw me immediately, and said something to the other girls before trotting over, an innocent smile on her face.

"Hey Dutch. Good afternoon Miss Heartstrings." Lyra smiled at her politeness

"Hey Scoots," I said, "How was school?"

"Oh, it was good," she said, "We did some Math, Literature, and a bit of Art before the end."

She was still staring up at me, the smile still covering her mouth, so I decided to investigate, "Alright, I'll bite. What's gotten you in such a good mood?"

I couldn't react in time as Scootaloo jumped up at and hugged my chest for the second time in a week, "Thank you, thank you, thank you!!"

Before I could even say, "Huh?" I heard Lyra gasp, and the other two fillies galloped over to me, shouting, "How did you do it Dutch? Can you help us too?"

"Wait, help you with what? I don't even know what you're talking about." I looked at Scootaloo, who had climbed up my chest to look at me at eye-level. Then I noticed something on her side, and spoke slowly, "Scootaloo, is that what I think it is?" She dropped down to the ground and stood in front of me, showing her side.

My jaw dropped.

I couldn't speak, laugh, or even gasp as I looked at the marking on Scootaloo's flank. It was a red horseshoe, with the curve facing upwards, and on either side of it were a pair of outstretched golden wings. I stared for a few seconds longer, before finally saying, "Is that a parkour cutie mark?"

"YES IT IS!" Scootaloo squealed, letting her excitement take over as she exploded with glee, "It happened after I arrived at school. I was thinking about how I could teach other ponies about freerunning after I had managed to get to school in three minutes with a broken scooter," she looked back at her new cutie mark, "I think it means that despite being limited to the ground, I can still experience the joys of flying."

"Three minutes?" I asked, still trying to sort out what she had said, "From our apartment, without a scooter, using only your own four hooves?"

"Yes!" Scootaloo shouted, her unrivaled happiness taking over as she flung herself at Lyra, hugging her too, much to the surprise of the green unicorn, "This is the best day of my life!"

Lyra giggled at the ecstatic filly and returned the hug out of kindness, "I think we can all agree on that Scootaloo."

When she let go, I said, "Tell you what, how about we go to Sugarcube Corner? We can get some cupcakes to celebrate, and maybe Pinkie Pie can throw a party for you."

Scootaloo bounced in the air, signalling that she agreed, and we made out way back to the centre of town. Scootaloo was more than happy to show us exactly how she got her cutie mark, and me, Lyra, Applebloom and Sweetie Belle laughed together at the filly's joy.

I had to agree with Scootaloo, today was a good day.