The Little Things in Life
Sometimes the strangest things happen. You’re just living your normal life and BAM! Something random comes out of nowhere. The randomness of life may be strange, but I think that everything happens for a reason.
My name is Scootaloo. I’m pretty much the average pegasus pony, except for one thing. I can’t fly. Who knows if I ever will…
The first day of eleventh grade started out like any other first day. I walked into school early, I went into the library, the librarian and I said hello to each other, and I found a good book. That particular day I was reading a very informative book about the history of the Wonderbolts. I had already gotten to chapter five, when the door to the library opened.
I looked across the room. Who could be coming in? It was still early, and no other student ever went into the library voluntarily, besides those three nerds and that book obsessed filly.
There he was- Bronze Star, the pegasus. The school legend. Everyone wanted to be around him. Everyone loved him. Personally, I didn’t care. He was just a self centered snob like the rest of them. What was he doing in the library? I mean, didn’t he have some dumb flying routine to practice?
He came across the room and sat down at the table. I ignored him, resuming my reading. A few minutes later, he was still there. I glanced over the rim of my reading glasses to see what he was doing.
Nothing. He was doing absolutely nothing. Why would he just want to sit there with his hooves folded into his lap? I sighed, and looked away.
About fifteen minutes later, the bell rang. It was time to get ready for the first class. Bronze got up and left. I put my book back on the shelf and headed off.
I pulled a folder out of my locker and jammed it into my saddle bag, then zipped it up and headed off to my homeroom. Luckily, I had my friends, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle with me there, but the class bully, Dimaond Tiara and her 'friend', Silver Spoon was there too. I surveyed the area, to see who else I could find. Rumble, Button Mash, Twist, Archer, some new ponies... Bronze.
As I walked past him, I felt his gaze fall onto me. I quickly shuffled past, throwing my stuff onto a desk next to Sweetie Belle.
A few more ponies shuffled in, and it was time for us to recieve our schedules. Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom and I compared ours to see what classes we would be in together. Apple Bloom and I had Geometry first thing, and then my two friends had Physics while I had Equestria History. It was the break during the first to classes when it began.
"Hey Scootaloo." I heard a voice say behind me. I knew exactly who it was, so I didn't turn around. I just continued to pack my saddle bag. "How are your flying lessons with Rainbow Dash going? Oh, that's right- you quit."
I clenched my teeth, finally swiveling around to face my tormentor. Diamond Tiara stood there, with a smirk on her face. Silver Spoon stood close by, watching her friend.
"I- I've moved onto other things." I stammered, trying to defend myself.
"Yeah, running and hurdling. Pegasi are supposed to fly, you know." The pony laughed, jabbing me roughly with her hoof.
"I... I..." I opened by mouth to shoot something back, but nothing came out.
"You'll never fly, right Silver?"
"Right..." Silver Spoon said, with a hint of regret in her voice.
Before I knew it, I was standing alone in the hallway, staring blankly ahead, thinking. Maybe... Maybe I am a loser. I am a quiter, that's for sure... I thought to myself. I woke up when the bell rung for the last time, and I hurried off to class.
The afternoon sun was covered up by a large, dark cloud. I gazed up at it. If I could fly, I could move that cloud away... i continued on, kicking a rock along the dirt path that lead into Ponyville. Suddenly, I felt the warm light upon my back. I looked up again to see a blue pegasus with rainbow hair hovering there. It was Rainbow Dash.
"Hey Scootaloo." The pegasus flitted down to the ground and landed in front of me.
"Hi..." I murmured, lowering my head.
"What's wrong?" Rainbow asked. I could tell she was genuinaly concerned. "You look... down."
I was, indeed, feeling down. I told Rainbow what had happened at school, and how I felt about not being able to fly. She offered more flying lessons, but I denied. Ever since I quit, she had been asking me over and over again if I wanted to come back. I think she had begun to expect the answer.
"It's okay Scootaloo. You don't have to fly to be a pegasus." Rainbow said, tucking her wings in.
"But that's what we're supposed to do!" I exclaimed, extremely frustrated. "I.. I gotta go Rainbow."
Rainbow Dash nodded. We said our goodbyes and I continued home. In my heart I new the blue pegasus was right. I didn't have to fly to be cool, or brave. I could do just fine down here on the earth. But I wanted to fly so badly it was almost all I could think about. I had waited so long for the moment where I would finally get off the ground, but it had not come.
Soon I was on my front doorstep. I took out my key and unlocked the door, stepping inside. My mom, Blue Skies was in the kitchen putting away some dishrags and my dad, Thunderhead, was in the den reading the paper.
"Scoots, how was your first day?" Mom asked, hugging me.
I didn't want to worry my parents like I had Rainbow Dash, so I put on a fake smile and said, "Great! But I have a lot of homework to do, so...."
"On the first day of school?" My father looked over the rim of his reading glasses.
"Yep!" I replied, hurrying up the starirs. "Lots to do!"
When i got into my room, I shut the door promptly. I threw my bag down and opened it. The truth was, I didn't have homework. The teachers had basically briefed us on what we were going to learn during the year, so I pulled a few books off my shelf and sat down on my bed. i opened the first book. It was a Daring Do book. I opened it and began to read, letting myself be swept into a land of fantasy, where no one would tease me about my wings. No one.
The Little Things in Life
The first week of school, over. Finally I would have a weekend where I could just do whatever I wanted. Be however I wanted. And that's exactly what I did.
On Saturday morning, I woke up in high spirits. I was not sure why, but something just told me that day was going to be awesome. I stayed in bed for a little while, thinking about my school life before I got up. I remembered back when i was a little filly, in the Cutie Mark Crusaders. Those were good times... Even though we were pretty annoyed we weren't getting our marks. I smiled, but that smile quickly changed into a frown. I used to be so confident back when i was young. But now... I felt like that confidence was still there, but every second I wasn't able to fly just shoved it in further. I shook it off and rolled over to look at the time. It was five thirty AM.
On the weekends, I always liked to get up early. Five thirty was not early for me. I usually got up around four AM, so I could get started with my day. So when I saw the time, I shot out of bed and galloped down the stairs.
"Goodmorning Scoots." My dad was in the kitchen microwaving some leftover carrot pancakes.
"Hey Dad." I said as I grabbed a bowl out of the cuboard and filled it up with some Oat Bran. I carried the bowl over to the table and then went back over to the fridge, where I pulled out an apple. I washed it and set it down next to my bowl. The final touch to my breakfast was a cup of cider. Both the apple and the cider were from Sweet Apple Acres, and my day just wasn't the same without those two things. I sat down at the table and started eating.
My German Shepherd, Jasper, hopped down from his place on the couch and walked over to me. He looked up at me with big eyes.
"You didn't eat yet, did you buddy?" I asked him. When he heard the word 'eat' he jumped into the air barking. "I thought so." I smiled, getting up and going over to fill his bowl with dog chow.
The sun had just lifted itself over the horizon when I stepped outside. It glowed a warm orange color. I smiled, shielding my eyes from it's burn. I put on my headband to pull back my mane before I began my warm up laps.
"C'mon boy." I waved my hoof to Jasper. I began to trot at a slow pace, letting my dog run next to me.
Soon I had completed the three laps I did around my house each morning. I noticed I was barely panting at all. I had improved a lot since I started practicing at the beginning of the Summer. The sun had now risen a ways above the hills and ponies were starting to come out of their houses to start their days.
The next part of my excersize was the dynamic stretches. I kicked my hooves up high, bent and twisted, but all while moving. I had known a lot of racing ponies who did ground stretches before they ran, but I learned that you could actually hurt yourself more by doing that. When I started out with running, I had Apple Bloom's sister, Applejack teach me a few things. That was one thing I learned from her. She was pretty helpful to me.
I walked over to the bench where I had left my water bottle, took a few sips, and put it back down. I was ready to begin.
I started off at a nice easy trot, but soon began to pick up speed, until I was at a canter. That was as fast as I usually went so I could go for a while. I usually ran the whole way around Ponyville. It was actually pretty fun. I got to see all the ponies getting up and Ponyville come to life.
I ran though Ponyville square. Apple Bloom and Applejack were there setting up their apple stand.
"Hey Scootaloo!" They waved to me as I passed. I waved back, and continued on my way.
I was going to run past Sweetie Belle's house next. She wasn't awake yet; the window that was in her room was dark, but the lights in Carousel Boutique were on.
Next, I went past Sugar Cube Corner. The windows were open and a the sweet scent of cupcakes drifted out to my nose. I could see Pinkie Pie inside, swirling a spoon through some batter. She was covered in flour and icing, and so was her alligator, Gummy.
Finally, I saw the blue and purple pillars of Twilight Sparkle's castle rising ahead of me. The crystals shined in the morning sun, glinting across Ponyville. I guessed the princess was up studying.
I completed my run around Ponyville, and returned to my house. I opened the door, and headed inside.
"How was your run?" My mother asked, as she sat at the table eating her breakfast.
"Great! I've improved a lot." I exclaimed, walking up the stairs. I went into the bathroom and turned on the shower water. I hopped inside and washed the sweat out of my mane. After i got out, and went back to my room to make my bed. My day had officially begun.
