Since the beginning of recorded history, birds and ponies were able to soar together in the sky. However, there are some birds that do not posses this gift. Ostriches, chickens, and kiwis are just a few examples of flightless birds. The question is, if they were born with wings, why can't they use them to fly? Scootaloo has been asking this question all her life. To her, a flightless Pegasus is just another earth pony. Her wings didn't function like normal Pegasi. At one point, she tried living like an earth pony, but her body was built for flying and couldn't not do the hard labor that an actual earth pony can. She felt completely worthless, who would have a place for a defective Pegasus in this world?
It wasn't until recently when she found a sliver of hope, a chance to redeem herself. She figured out a way for her to experience th joy of having the wind rushing through her mane. Scootaloo found herself a long rope, a bucket of large nails, and a shovel.
The next morning, Scootaloo decided to skip school. What she wanted out of life was way more important than any lessons Cheerilee could possibly teach her. She knew what had to be done. Scootaloo placed all of her tools onto a small wagon, the same wagon she used to shuttle Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle around in. She took a deep breath and headed for h camping grounds she had been at with the crusaders and their sisters a year ago. She knew that she'd find what she needed there. After all, she'd already had fallen off a cliff there once before, there's no reason it shouldn't be there still.
As Scootaloo made her way to the edge of the ever free forest, she looks back at the town of ponyville, her home. She sighed, wondering if she would ultimately miss it. Of course she'd miss the Cutie Mark Crusaders, but that wasn't enough for her to stay. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle are great ponies, the best friends Scootaloo could have ever asked for. However, if she was to achieve her goal, those two would have to be left behind.
The forest wasn't scary to her anymore. The last time she was in the forest, Rainbow Dash had scared her to the point of total and utter restlessness. It took Scootaloo another three hours before she finally reached her destination, the cliff that she had fallen down one year ago. Her legs were aching from the hike, but she didn't care. She wouldn't need them for what she was going to do.
Scootaloo approached the cliff and looked over the ledge. There was no water at the bottom. Upon closer inspection, she saw that just upstream was a fairly large and impregnable beaver dam. Call she could think about was the hope that they saved some of the small trees for her to use.
Scootaloo took the shovel out of the wagon and went off to find a tree that she could easily carry. It wasn't long before she came across a pine tree that was no more than four and a half feet tall. Scootaloo nodded, affirming that this was the perfect tree. She then took the shovel and stabbed the ballade into the earth around the base of the tree and began uprooting it. The whole process from finding the tree to getting it completely out of the ground took about an hour. Scootaloo was absolutely determined on seeing her goals met so she worked much harder and faster than she would for any other situation. Even though she was tired, she knew that she would need many more trees before she could move on to he next step.
Scootaloo repeated this process twenty more times. Her work took her through the night and into the next day and about nine hours later, she looked at the pile of dug up trees and felt that this was enough. She was proud of herself for accomplishing this much in the amount of time it took. Despite having much more left to do, the filly decided it would be best if she got some rest for a little bit so that she can work even more efficiently.
Scootaloo laid back on the grass beside the pile of trees and slowly, her eyes began to close. Soon enough, she was asleep. Scootaloo dreamed of the same thing she always dreamed, flying high in the sky above the clouds without a care in the world. She was always so happy in hr dreams that whenever she woke up from them, she'd be thrown back into the nightmare she called reality.
The young Pegasus awoke to see that the sun was just peeking over the tree tips. She figure it must have been around six or seven in the morning. Regardless, Scootaloo had work to get back to.
Scootaloo took the rope she brought with her and tied one end around a large rock near the cliff and the other around the trunk of one of the trees she house just dug up a few hours earlier. She then dropped the tree over the ledge. When the rope was taught, Scootaloo carefully slid down with the hammer and a few nails clenched in her teeth. Once she made it to the tree at the end of the rope, she placed the nail on one of the roots and began pounding it with the hammer. Once the tree was firmly in place on the cliff side, Scootaloo climbed back up the rope to repeat the process. Many hours later, she was hammering in the last nail on the last tree. Scootaloo climbed the rope to the top of the cliff for the last time. She looked down to admire her work, and then jumped. She saw the trees rushing past her as she fell and could feel the wind rushing through her mane. She had completed her task. She finally flew. The thought that the gratification of all her hard work would be short lived made her a little sad, but she was still happy that, even though she's not actually flying, it feels like it to her.
Everything seemed to move in slow motion. As Scootaloo neared the ground, she closed her eyes and let another tear fall. It was a tear of joy and sadness. She tightened her eyelids and body as she braced herself for the impending impact.
