Getting a Ride

A moan escaped Scootaloo’s mouth, quickly followed by a yawn. In order to wake herself up, Scootaloo stretched. She sat up, rubbing her head, when she felt something on her hoof.

“Is that… sand?”

She slowly opened her eyes. When the sunlight above nearly blinded her, she shut them again as quickly as ponily possible. That didn’t stop the light from penetrating her eyelids, though.

She opened one eye, making sure not to look at the sun this time. She held her hoof up in front of her, seeing the grainy substance covering it. She looked down at the ground that she was sitting on, only to find more of it surrounding her for miles. Unfortunately, it was all there was for miles. Nopony else was nearby, and there were no buildings to be seen. She was all alone.

The sun beat down on her like a sledgehammer. If she were to burst into flames, she wouldn’t have been surprised. Her tongue felt like sandpaper, and she knew she needed water.

It had already occurred to her that she needed to find civilization as quickly as possible, and hopefully find out how she had gotten here. Without further delay, she picked a direction to walk in. Unceremoniously, she got up on all fours. The sand shifted around her, and her hooves sank in slightly. The sand practically burned a hole into her hooves, and she quickly jumped up and began flapping her wings, startled by the sudden heat.

“Yeesh, that’s hot! I’m definitely awake now!”

Fluttering for a few seconds, she reached a forehoof behind her back. The heat she felt on her back practically burned her fur off. It felt as though her back would combust any second, but she didn’t feel the heat in her back.

“Weird.”

Falling back to the ground, she immediately started galloping in the direction she had chosen, doing her best to touch the ground with her hooves as little as possible. The wind blew through her mane, and it felt great in contrast to the heated environment around her. Plus, it got her closer to her escape.

Tired, she finally collapsed on the ground. Her lungs were burning, but she couldn’t tell if it was because of her lack of air or the fact that the air she was getting was so hot. It was probably a mix of both.

Once she caught her breath, she began to realize her situation. She was in the middle of nowhere, which apparently happened to be a desert, and she had no idea how long it would be until she found another pony.

Feeling the need to cry, she closed her eyes and took several deep breaths.

“In… and out…”

Knowing she may not be able to find water for awhile, she had to preserve as much water she had in her body as she could, which meant she had to keep from crying, no matter how sad she was about being lost in the Nowhere Desert.

“In… and out…”

Scootaloo knew she would have to do anything she could to get water.

“In… and out…”

Her stomach grumbled, interrupting her breathing. She could almost feel her stomach acid burning a hole through her gut. A hole through her whole gut.

“In… and ou-” Her breathing technique was interrupting by her coughing. A small chunk of sand flew out of her mouth.

“Huh. Must have swallowed that when I was asleep earlier…”

Slowly, she checked to make sure her eyes weren't turning into sand.

“Nope. I guess I have another year for that fortune to come true,” she inferred. Two years ago, she found a fortune that said her vision would go grainy. She took it a bit too literally.

Letting her eyelids fall together again, she took one more deep breath.

“In… and out…”

She let her body simply sit still for a moment and relax. No words escaped her lips, no thoughts went through her mind, no air got to her lungs, and no blood pumped through her veins.

She promptly passed out.

The sight would have been strange to anyone who would ever come across it. Near the edge of the Nowhere Desert was a small orange filly pegasus with a magenta mane and tail. She was on her side, sleeping.

“Don’t touch my pudding!” she abruptly shouted, waking herself up. She scrambled to her hooves and remembered where she was.

“Oh. Right.”

After that short nap, Scootaloo’s gas tank wasn't so close to ‘E.’ Sure, it was in Nowhere Desert compared to ‘F,’ but she had more energy than before.

On the lower level of moderately refreshed, Scootaloo struggled to remember which direction she had been going. She looked around until she spotted a trail of hoofprints.

“Oh, okay. So I came from that way!” She swiftly turned around, only to find more hoofprints. “Huh?” It quickly struck her that perhaps somepony... “Hello!? Where are you!? Is somepony there!?”

Her ear perked up, picking up every single sound nearby. She heard echoes of her own voice, but there were few other noises. After a few seconds, she heard a tumbleweed rolling by, signifying to her that she was still alone.

She frowned, disappointed. She decided to follow the hoofprints in front of her to see where they came from. The track of holes in the sand had a solid curve to it, that much she could tell quickly. After a while, when the track’s curve didn’t change, Scootaloo looked around to realize that the hoofprints were simply going in a circle.

A wave of nervousness beat against her mental dam. Sweat began drizzling down her face through the cracks.

“Don’t worry, Scootaloo, they’re probably not yours. In fact, not even probably, they’re not yours. No, no, definitely not my hoofprints…” She chuckled nervously. “Yeah…”

She walked outside of the circle to see if she could find any of her hoofprints. Unfortunately, there were none to be seen.

The dam collapsed under all of the nervous water’s pressure. Scootaloo fell to the ground, yelling out in agony and despair.

“NOOO!” When she ran out of air to yell, she inhaled deeply and began to yell again. “NOOOO- Oh!” She stopped when she saw the end of the Nowhere Desert a few yards away. She trotted over to her grassy discovery. She took a glance around, when something back in the desert caught her eye. She trotted along the grass-desert border and inspected it closer.

“Oh, COME ON!” she shouted upon realization that she had started literally

five feet

into Nowhere.

Rainbow landed near the hospital after flying for what felt like forever.

“Sheesh, that lasted way too long! It’s almost like time froze just so somepony could have, like, a flashback or something.”

Rainbow stopped and pondered for a moment, before remembering the problem at hand. She rushed Scootaloo into the hospital, practically breaking another door off of its hinges. Upon their entry, the mare at the desk looked up from her notebook, a quill in hoof. She dropped the notebook, as her pupils grew to the size of tennis balls. She gasped so loud, Rainbow had to cover her ears. Suddenly, there was an audible thud. After a moment, Rainbow realized she had dropped Scootaloo on the floor. She smacked herself for being so stupid.

“Ow! Why did I do that?”

Not bothering to question it anymore, she picked up Scootaloo and unnecessarily told the mare she needed a doctor. The mare nodded rapidly and whistled.

Confused, Rainbow opened her mouth to ask what was happening, but was interrupted by a group of three stallions charging into the room. They took Scootaloo from Rainbow’s hooves and set her limp body into a gurney. One stallion quickly rushed in front of the gurney to pull it forwards and steer it down the hallway, while the other two pushed it from behind. Mere seconds later, they vanished around a corner.

Rainbow stood there, shocked for a moment. She shook her head and opened her mouth.

“I’ve never seen you here before. Is this your first day?”

“Yes, actually. Well, here, anyway. I used to work in a hospital back in Manehatten. I’ve worked there for years, actually. I’m kind of sad now I’ve left the place. Still, it’s not like I had any other choice. My husband moved to Ponyville about a month ago. He gave me some money to start me off with my train ticket, but not enough. I’ve had my things all packed up for a week, at least, but I only yesterday got my pay.”

“Wait, you say you’ve worked at a hospital for years?” Rainbow questioned skeptically.

“Yes. Why do you ask?”

“No reason. I just thought it was a little weird how you reacted to Scootaloo when I came in with her. I mean, it’s not like it’s anything you haven’t seen before, what with your years of experience, right?” Rainbow suggested.

The mare’s pupils dilated. Her face was starting to sweat. She spoke in a high pitched voice. “What are you-” She interrupted herself with a cough, then continued in her normal voice. “What are you getting at?”

“Nothing, nothing,” Rainbow backed off, putting her hooves in front of her and trying to look as innocent as possible. “It’s just a little odd, that’s all. That said, I have to go. I have an important thing to do. Bye!”

Rainbow quickly rushed to the door and opened it. Just before she slipped through, the mare spoke.

“Oh? What’s that?” Rainbow froze in place.

So close… she thought to herself.

“Um, I have to go… um… practice! Yeah, practice!”

“Really? Are you in a musical or something?”

“Y-yeah! Performances are really close, and I really can’t lose the part!”

“What’s it called?”

“Oh, it’s called, um… It’s called…” Rainbow looked around at her surroundings. Choosing to use the easy route and name after things in her environment, she recited what she saw in front of her. “The Nosy Hospital Employee Who Can’t Mind Her Own Business… is what it’s called. It’s actually about someone who worked in a hospital in Manehatten, and I play the part of the pegasus who brings the filly into the hospital, so getting to know you is actually going to be really useful with my method acting. Seeya!” Rainbow started to rush off once more, before being interrupted again.

“Oh, really? Maybe we could get to know each other. My lunch break is soon, maybe you could show me a good place to get food in town.”

“N-no!” Rainbow shouted.

The mare frowned. “Why not? Do you have something going on?” Her expression changed when she realized she had forgotten so quickly. “Oh, of course, you have to practice. How silly of me, I can’t believe I forgot so quickly. Are you available tomorrow?”

“If I say yes, will you let me leave?” Rainbow asked impatiently.

“Pardon me?”

“I said, um… If I had to guess, I’d say I’ll be… visiting Steve! Yeah, that’s what I said!”

“Where’s Steve? What’s the weather like there?”

“Um, it’s… east of Fillydelphia. It’s not on most maps, but the weather’s alright…”

“What makes you want to go there?”

“Um… It’s where my…um… my cousin lives!” Rainbow exclaimed.

“Oh, neat! What’s his name?”

“Oh, um… His name is, um…” What am I going to say? His name has to be something cool, but I already used Steve…

“Bob! His name is Bob!” Yeah, there’s not a name in Equestria that’s cooler than ‘Bob’!

“Cool. While we’re on the subject, I never caught your name.”

“Um… my name is… um…” Great, what am I going to say for this one? “I think the first time was when I was 13.”

“That’s an odd name.”

“Name? I thought you asked when I first cut my own mane… Anyway, the name’s Dash. Rainbow Dash,” she said, smiling proudly. “I’m the fastest flyer in Equestria, y’know!”

“Wow, really?”

“Yeah, really!”

“That’s really neat!”

“Yeah, it’s pretty cool, but I have to say my cousin Bob as at least 10 seconds cooler.”

“Pardon?”

“Wait, did I just say…?”

“Yes, I believe you did… Anyway, my name is Poetic Nurturer.”

“Nice to meet you, Poetic,” Rainbow said flatly, a bored look on her face.