Scootaloo Origins

Two months later the assessor came to the slums for all the young fillies’ tests. Despite living in the slums they still had to obey the law and register any birth as well as take the test. The assessor was clearly not comfortable being there as he hurried everypony along. Scootaloo still couldn’t even take off and knew she wouldn’t make it. The sky was dark with clouds and there was the slightest of rain.

When they reached the testing arena they were briefed on what they were to do. The test consisted of three parts, firstly they were to fly through three hoops low down, next they were to fly up onto a platform ten meters above cloud level and finally they were to hover up in that area for three seconds, any pony that had been training for long enough would be able to do it and all you had to do was the first challenge and you were safe, the second and you would be able to stay in Cloudsdale and all three and you may as well be royalty. However those that failed the first one were never seen again. Scootaloo had dreaded this day for months and now it was here she realized that this was it. She was seventh in line and wished that something would happen that would help her, anything at all. The first pony went up and passed the first test easily, struggling with the second he furiously beat his wings but collapsed as soon as he reached the platform. The assessor called for the next as he stamped a pass sign onto some papers.

One after another they went always passing at least the first trial, until the pony in front of Scootaloo. She wasn’t much bigger that Scootaloo but her wings seemed to actually work. She seemed to be doing well until the end of her right wing caught on the edge of the second hoop and she lost balance and crashed.

“Next!” the assessor called as he gave the paper of the failed pony to the guard next to him who then nodded as two other guards came and took the young, crying filly away.

Scootaloo was shocked, they had always given it at least a week before they came for any failures. She had no choice, she had to run. She had always been better at running than anything else as she had stolen several bits of food and been caught often enough that she would need to be fast. She quickly looked around for a good escape route and spotted a nearby hatch which looked like it could be a drain. She stepped up to the designated take-off spot that was marked out and made it look as if she was to take off. She beat her wings and then when the assessor looked as if he was about to give up, she bolted. Nopony had expected such a bold move, even the guards who were caught unprepared and chased after her. One of the guards flew over her and dived but she jumped out of the way just in time and the guard colliding with the arena floor. She was almost there and she was lucky that the hatch was open. When she was only a meter away she slid on her back and grabbed the grate with her mouth and pulled it shut as she jumped down.

Now in the sewers she turned and ran in a similar direction to where she started running from, nopony else seemed to be following so she began to slow down, gasping for breath, she was surprised on how quickly they had given up but then she realised that the hadn’t when a large rumbling gush sounded behind her. They had opened the valve. Scootaloo ran faster than she ever had before. She tried to listen out for birds or anything else that may give her a clue as to which way to run in this labyrinth. If the torrent hit her she would be crippled at best. A moment later she ran to her right and found the end of the pipe, it was sealed by vertical bar like those from a prison. The fall may be fatal at worst but then it was that or the water. Scootaloo tried desperately to squeeze herself through but she was panicking and kept looking back at where the water was flowing, getting louder each second. She had got her head and chest through and was using her hooves against the bars trying with all her might to push her flank through. She saw the first of the ripples coming from the tunnels, she gave one final push. She began falling just as the pipes exploded with water, she didn’t even look at it while she fell. She bit her lip all the way down to try and keep herself from screaming, this way they may think she didn’t make it. She saw the lake beneath Cloudsdale and violently began flapping her wings to try and push her towards it, to her dismay it worked, she saw the lake beginning to move beneath her. It may not be the best landing spot but it was sure better than anything else around here.