A Journey Across Equestria

Scootaloo was rolling along, humming to herself as she pressed on. She shivered. It was about to rain. "Oh no..." Scootaloo murmured. She didn't bother to bring a jacket and scolded herself for forgetting the Wonderbolt jacket Rainbow Dash had given her after a show. Why didn't she bring such an important item with her? Maybe it was because the memories of Rainbow Dash would force her to turn around to run into her welcoming hooves. She couldn't go back. Not without finding her mother.

What type of shelter would she find when the only town nearby was miles away? Maybe on the bridge, there would be some rocks underneath to that she could curl up and relax, sheltered from the rain. But maybe the rocks would be cold, and some water might occasionally splash on her if she did go with the idea to stay there for a bit. Or she could go into the shade of the trees on the side of the road. Even if she didn't want to go near the Everfree forest, it wouldn't be so bad to stay there until the storm had passed. After all, she'd heard that the creepy things only come out at midnight. The sun was about to rise and the rain couldn't last that long. Scootaloo felt raindrops on her head. She turned and was somewhat shaded by the trees. She entered as far as she dared, then stopped.

Scootaloo saw a wagon, is had a red roof and cream colored walls. It was a bit familiar. Was it the home of a show pony? Maybe it was a pegasus? No, it was a magic pony. She did tricks with her horn, so it couldn't be an earth pony or a pegasus.

"Don't you dare touch my house, you roots!" A blue unicorn screeched, slapping at vines with a whip she had made with her magic. She was in a clearing, it was illuminated by fairy lights. It was completely shielded from the rain. "Back! Back!" The unicorn blasted some of the earthly tentacles with her horn. "I may have been beaten by Twilight Sparkle, but that doesn't mean you can bully me!" She cried, slicing all of the vines into tiny pieces. The ones still intact crawled back into the darkness. Beaten by Twilight Sparkle? Now Scootaloo remembered. It was that mare who used to perform in Ponyville. Trixie Lulamoon. But why was she in the Everfree forest?

"Um... Hello." Scootaloo walked into he clearing, her scooter in tow behind her.

"Eep!" Trixie squeaked in surprise, but regained her composure. "Sorry, I'm not used to visitors, nor do I want any. That Twilight Sparkle beat down messed me up a bit." She muttered the last sentence more to herself than to Scootaloo.

"You're Trixie Lulamoon. Why are you out here?" Scootaloo asked.

"You know my name? I mean... Of course you do, I'm the great an powerful Trixie! And I'm out here because I wanted to get away from it all. Let's say I've been emotionally scarred." Trixie replied, waving her hoof around.

"Me too! Well, I wanted to get away from it all as well! I'm Scootaloo! I'm going to Las Pegasus!" Scootaloo exclaimed, relieved to find that she wasn't the only one who wasn't happy with themselves. She wanted to tell Trixie why she was going to Las Pegasus, but stopped herself before she said it.

"I'm going to Manehattan. Maybe I can be a street magician or something." Trixie sighed. "But who am I kidding, even a foal could out do me!"

"I saw you fight off those vines, and that was awesome!" Scootaloo said, maybe she was exaggerating, but Trixie's magic wasn't half bad. "I mean, I can't even fly and all the other fillies can. I haven't even gotten my cutiemark yet."

Trixie smiled. It did feel nice to have somepony to relate to, after being ignored for so long. "Well, you'll get it soon. And I'm sure it'll be amazing."

This was unexpected. Scootaloo had always thought that Trixie was nothing but a self-centered mare with an ego the size of Equestria. "Thanks. I'm sure that you'll be a big hit in Manehattan." She returned the compliment.

"T-Thank you." Trixie had never been complimented by other ponies before. It was a first for her to say thank you when she wasn't being applauded by a crowd of ponies. But this felt like millions of crowds of ponies were cheering her name and clapping as if she'd just done the impossible. "You seem cold, do you want a blanket and some hot cocoa?" Trixie asked, slightly embarrassed at her sudden act of kindness. It was Fluttershy's job to be nice on the behalf of all the evil ponies, not hers.

"Sure!" Scootaloo wanted nothing more than to warm up with some hot cocoa. She followed Trixie into the wagon.

"Sorry it's a bit cramped, it was only made for one pony." Trixie apologized.

"Don't worry. It's actually very spacious." Scootaloo didn't actually think it was that small. Maybe it was just because of her size.

Trixie wrapped a blanket around Scootaloo's shoulders and levitated some hot cocoa to her. "So... you're out here all alone?" Trixie asked, sipping from her own cup of hot cocoa.

Scootaloo nodded.
"Wait, you were allowed to go to Las Pegasus on your own?" Trixie had to fight the urge to spit out her hot cocoa in shock.

"Well, I wasn't necessarily allowed to go. I sort of just got up and left. I just didn't want to be held back, you know?" Scootaloo paused and wiped some of the hot cocoa that had dribbled down her coat.

"Won't ponies be worried about you?" Trixie was genuinely concerned. A little filly travelling on her own? No, that was unacceptable.

"I don't think so. I'm just one little filly. They won't even notice I'm gone. And please don't take me back! I'll be bullied again and I'll never get to explore Equestria!" Scootaloo pleaded. Or find my mom.

Trixie bit her lower lip. On one hoof, this filly needed to be safe at home with ponies who cared about her. On the other hoof, Scootaloo wanted to have the freedom to follow her dreams, whichever ones she had. "My lips are sealed." Trixie finally replied, sighing. "But I'm going to accompany you for a bit of your trip before we go our separate ways, you know, to make sure you're safe."

"Fine by me!" Scootaloo said, finishing her cocoa. Whew. Nopony's going to tell on me. Wait a minute. Pinkie Pie! I forgot all about Pinkie Pie! She's going to tell everypony! Darn you, Pinkie! Scootaloo thought, momentarily gritting her teeth. Hold on, she doesn't know where I'm going. Her Pinkie sense isn't good enough to track a filly! She reassured herself, taking a deep breath.

"Let's go!" Trixie announced, stuffing Scootaloo's scooter and small red wagon in the back. She used her magic so that her own wagon was firmly attached to her. She opened an entrance in the trees with her horn and trotted back onto the path. Scootaloo peered out the window, it seemed to have stopped raining. She dozed off, the occasional bumps waking her up momentarily before she fell asleep again.

Scootaloo woke up at the sound of rushing water. She looked out of the window they were crossing a wooden bridge. She whipped out her map and saw that they were getting close. Scootaloo estimated that she'd need only one more day of travelling to make it to Las Pegasus. She had gotten halfway there in a day. She had defied physics, but sadly couldn't defy it enough to make her fly. It was getting lighter. Scootaloo thought she'd seen a rainbow-colored shooting star. It reminded her of Rainbow Dash. You were just seeing things, shooting stars aren't rainbow-colored and stars aren't even there in the daytime! She told herself.

The multi-colored star seemed to be heading towards Ponyville. "Sorry, Rainbow Dash. But I can't go back..." Scootaloo muttered.

"What was that?" Trixie seemed to hear Scootaloo.

"Nothing..." She quickly replied, feeling a bit homesick. But this was something she had to do. So she could get a fresh new start, and maybe training to help her fly. Maybe training from her mother. Her real[/i mother. ]Then she'd come home to Rainbow Dash a master flyer fit to join the Wonderbolts. Goodnight, Rainbow Dash. Goodnight, Ponyville. Scootaloo slept, curled up in the blanket, gently snoring.