Gentle Feathers and Falling Hard
Author's Note
*I only own the ideas for the story. All My Little Pony characters, places, etc. belong to Hasbro and DHX. My Little Pony All Rights Reserved.*
Chapter 1: Why?
Chapter 1: Why?
Scootaloo was happy that she was able to help her friends with the cheer for the Equestrian Games. She had a blast. She got off the train with Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Rainbow Dash. She had spent the rest of the day in the Cutie Mark Crusaders clubhouse after getting her belongings from her old bedroom. The truth was, Scootaloo had nowhere to go. She was alone. An orphan pegasus. Heck, she didn't even know her parents at all! And only she knew that fact. Not even Rainbow Dash knew.
Scootaloo decided that she would stay here.... again. Most of the time, she had to look for a good place to stay; a dark ally way, the clubhouse, anywhere that would be good. She decided not to go back to her old house, since nopony used it anyways. So, Scootaloo hung out with her friends for the rest of the day, until it was dawn. Every pony went home, but Scootaloo went to the clubhouse to retrieve her belongings. She then hid in a bush until it was dark.
"Okay. I'm all clear!" Scootaloo whispered to herself before going into the clubhouse as quietly as possible. She left her belongings next to her, pulled out a pillow and sleeping bag before getting on the floor and curling up for a good night's rest. Scootaloo dreamed about many things that night; Rainbow Dash, her friends, having fun. It was all good until she thought of something that Diamond Tiara had said: 'a pegusus who can't even fly!' Those words echoed in Scootaloo's head for a while, which caused her to toss and turn. She eventually woke up and sighed sadly.
"Why?.... Why can't I fly?...." Scootaloo asked herself, feeling sad she couldn't do what other pegasus fillies could do. She hated it. She hated how she was the only filly would couldn't filly, and yet the one pegasus Scootaloo looked up to the most was the one who had done the legendary Sonic Rainboom. It was true, Rainbow Dash had said for her to just be herself, but how could she do that when all she could do was flutter? It wasn't fair!
Scootaloo thought hard about how she could fly. Anything to get her in the air! Luckily, she had a small notebook and pen with her that she brought from her old room. She started to write down many different ideas, starting with how to get into the air. Scootaloo plotted out in her head what to do... mainly activities on her own without Apple Bloom or Sweetie Belle knowing.
"First, I'll ride my scooter so I can go really fast, then use a hill as a ramp to get airborne! Also, safety pads might be a good idea if my plan doesn't work out..." Scootaloo told herself as she scribbled down her brainstorming thoughts. So far she had come up with a parachute, cannon -specifically Pinkie Pie's party cannon if she let her use it-, a fast go-cart .... if any existed... and of course, jumping off a building. Not exactly "safe" options for a filly to do, but she would take precautions before doing something dangerous. But it would be nice to see if she could get some form of lift.
Hopefully, this will work... it has to..." Scootaloo told herself sadly, hoping with all her heart that she would be able to fly. She wanted more than anything to fly. Just to get up into the clouds, that's all she wanted.
Scootaloo put the notebook and pen into her bag, before cuddling up in her sleeping bag. The weather was decent, but still cool enough for Scootaloo needing to get warm. She also found that by tucking her back legs close to her chest helped with the warmth. Scootaloo slept soundly, getting warm with every passing minute. Eventually, she drifted off into sleep.
Scootaloo woke up as she was still in her sleeping bag. She got up and went outside to find her scooter. The pegasus pony went to grab her helmet and pads from her bag, before setting off on her scooter. She wizzed by ponies snd buildings, trying to get as fast as possible. Soon, she used her wings to flutter and speed up as she accelarated. She was getting close to a hill. This was it! She flapped faster and faster until she was going as fast as she could! The wheels of the scooter hit the hill, sending her flying into the air. Scootaloo let go of the handlebars, feeling the wind go through her legs and hooves as she soared! It felt amazing! Suddenly, her feeling of glee and happiness turned into one of horror as she quickly approached the ground, the handlebars lowering, and getting out of her reach. Scootaloo quickly grabbed them, but was a second too slow...
"Ahhhhhh!" Scootaloo screamed as the scooter toppled, the metal handlebars hitting the ground along with her hooves, her helmet hitting the ground hard! Scootaloo was sent flying and toppling into the ground and air as she was sent foward with her scooter. Every impact felt like she was being hammered into the ground. The scooter cruising along with the filly as the metal parts hit her body. Poor Scootaloo was sent crashing seven or so times, batting her body until she collided with a tree.
"Owwwwww!" Scootaloo whined, feeling the pain coursing through her body, as if she had gotten beat up by some bully pony... or rather had a nasty fall. Scootaloo looked to the side behind her to see her scooter had taken a bad fall as well. The handlebar had come loose, the wheels spinning, and metal parts of the scooter -such as the neck going up to the handlebars- was crushed by the impacts. The filly fried to get up, only to feel every bone and muscle acing and feeling pain throughout her body. She was just glad her safety tools had done there job. But Scootaloo knew she would need help. She was badly hurt.
"Help! Somepony! Anypony?" Scootaloo cried out as a croud of ponies rushed over to see the injured pony, hoping they could help her. The last thing she heard was a familiar voice calling her name...
"Scootaloo..."
Scootaloo woke up with a jolt and screamed, hoping the accident was all a dream, thank goodness, it was. Scootaloo took deep breaths in and out, trying to calm down. Eventually, she did. Thinking about her nightmare, Scootaloo realized she hadn't thought about a save landing for her dangerous stunts. She then got out the notebook and pen again, and wrote down items like grass, hay, and other small items. Heck even pillows would work. Once she was done writing down ideas for her landings, she put the notebook and pen away again, then fell back to sleep. Luckily, her dreams this time were sweet.
Gentle Feathers and Falling Hard
Chapter 3: Going for a Rush
Chapter 3: Going for a Rush
Scootaloo ran into town, her sleeping bag over her shoulder. She then scootered over to an allyway and dropped her sleeping bag off in a box. A box that held some of her other belongings. In fact, this allyway was Scootaloo's backup "home" apart from the CMC's clubhouse. After making sure she had everything, Scootaloo scootered out of the allyway and throughout Ponyville. She decided to check her list again and scootered over to a bench.
"Let's see what I put down last night. I got go-cart, jump off building, parachute, cannon, and ride scooter over hill. Hmmmm, I think a go cart would be first, then jump of building, then a cannon, then a parachute, and if none of those work, my scooter. Okay, I know what I need to do!" Scootaloo told herself after checking her list. She remembered how Rainbow Dash had helped her with her cart for the Derby Racers event, so she decided to go see if she could find it. Luckily, she knew two ponies who could help.
"Hey Rainbow Dash!" she called to the cyan pegasus that was flying past the bench. The rainbow maned pony looked down and flew over to her little friend.
"Hey Scoots. What's up?" Rainbow Dash asked curiously.
"Do you know where the go-cart is that we built for the Derpy Racers event?" Scotaloo asked with excitement. Rainbow Dash thought for a minute before remembering something Cherliee said.
"Actually, I think they all went to that filly go-cart place just outside of Ponyville. Check there. Last I checked, I think all the carts were given away for that purpose. Good luck!" Rainbow Dash replied before rubbing the orange filly's head, and flying off.
"Go-cart place. Got it!" Scootaloo said before gathering her things and running off. True to Rainbow Dash's word, she found the go-cart place, and it was still open.
"Hello young one. What can I do for you? My name is Bruff" an green pony with a sapphire blue mane asked her. His eyes were green too, snd he wore an outfit that seemed to belong to the store.
"Hi, I'm Scotaloo. I heard that go-carts were given here from the Derby Racer event. Do you still have them? Can I drive?" Scootaloo asked hopefully. The pony laughed and smiled.
"Of course! Which cart did you want?" Bruff replied before guiding the filly outside to the race course.
"The orange Phoenix one please. How many bits is that?" Scootaloo said, not sure how much the ride would cost.
"Five bits. Stay here, I'll get the cart ..." Bruff said. Scootaloo looked through her bag and got out five bits, paying Bruff. As he left to get the go-cart, another pony walking up to Scootaloo. An earth pony who was bright orange with a red mane and tail came up to her. The mane of the pony was spiked up and back, and she had brown eyes.
"Welcome to 'Filly Carts A Go'. My name is Fira Wheels. You know, like 'your on fire!!!'. I'm going to help you with your ride. You know instructions and such," the female pony said to Scootaloo before they shook hooves.
"Thank you. I'm Scootaloo. So Fira, I picked the Phoenix cart. I actually drove it in the Derby Racer even last time," Scootaloo told her.
"Cool! Well, I just want to remind you of the safety features so you don't get hurt. You understand?" Fira responed. Scootaloo nodded.
"Got the cart!" Bruff said as he pushed the cart from out of the back to the driving area. Scootaloo got in, buckled up, put on her helmet and waited for instructions.
"Good. Just going to make sure your belt is tight, good. Helmet is on right, good. Now, the left petal is for slowing down or breaking. Right petal is to go faster. And don't worry about crashing, that's what the tires are for around the course. And this cart now comes with shock absorbers too. Green light means go, red light means stop and come back to the start, yellow light means you got 30 seconds left to drive. Hold on!" Fira said to the filly before pulling on the cord that started the engine. She then opened the gate and waited for the all clear. A set of lights were abovee her head as well as around parts of the course too. Her hoof went up.
"Okay ... Go!" Fira said as the light turned green. Scootaloo pushed the right petal and was off!
"Wahooooo!!!" Scootaloo screamed as she increased the sped of the cart. She of course knew to slow down enough to not go wild and miss turns in the course. She went forward, left, right, in a circle with a hard turn, right, left, hard turn right, hard turn left and then back to repeating. The cart was still fast, and she was loving the rush! Boy this was fun!
After what felt like only a few minutes though, a yellow light shined. she only had thirty seconds left! Scootaloo gave it all she got and tried to go through the course one last time! Luckily, she made it! A separate gate opened and she drove through it, slowing down as she went. She soon came to a stop, as the light shined red.
"Yes! Great job kid!" Fira said after Scootaloo got herself out of the cart.
"Yeah. You really knew how to drive!" Bruff complimented her. Scootaloo high hoofed the two employees.
"Thank you! Both of you," Scootaloo said as she smiled.
"No problem Scootaloo! Want to stay and have some lunch? We're pretty slow today. Not many fillies coming to drive," ofered Bruff.
"Sure. Thank you," Scootaloo said before she and her new friends went to get washed up.
Scootaloo and her friends then sat at a table and ate some mushroom, and bean pizza. As they talked, Bruff and Fira told Scotaloo about how they got interested in go-carts, and how they came to work there.
"Cool. I just came here because I felt like I needed something to give me a rush! You know, something exciting to do," Scooraloo told Bruff and Fira.
"No worries Scootaloo. We understand," Fira replied calmly. After they finished there pizza, Bruff paid the bill .... he told Scootaloo it was his treat ... and after talking a little more, Scootaloo left and said goodbye.
"Well that was cool. But I want to feel the rush without feeling like I can't go as fast as I want! Oh well, go-carting was close. Next up, jump off a building, or a cannon. Hmmm," Scotaloo told herself after marking go-carts off her list.