Flying high - Falling deep
Scootaloo could not wait for it. The day was almost there – the day she would learn how to use her wings to fly, to fly through the sky. She knew she was on the way to Equestrias best flyer. Just like her idol, a Pegasus with cyan fur and a mane in the glorious colors of the rainbow, the bearer of the element of loyalty: Rainbow Dash. Scootaloo looked up into the sky as her idol flew over her head and pulled off a loop. Scootaloo was watching her and dreamed of herself, flying together with her idol.
But till the little filly could fulfill this dream, she had a long way to go, and a lot of things to learn, beginning with the learning to fly in the flight camp of Cloudsdale. It would not be long till the camp began, and she was excited to go there, even if she didn’t know what would be waiting there for her. She hoped the best and tried not to think what would happen if she failed. Suppressing such thoughts, she looked forward till she finally learned how to fly.
She couldn’t think about anything else than the camp, and then the day finally came: She walked with Applebloom and Sweetie Bell to Sugarcube Corner, as an official looking Pegasus stepped in front of her. “Let me guess. You’re Scootaloo, am I right?” The little filly, who didn’t know what was happening, just nodded unsecure. “I guess so.” She said. The Pegasus lookeded her, and then he nodded. “I am supposed to take you to the flight camp. Please follow me now.”
Scootaloo turned around to her friends and was trying to say something, as she got overwhelmed by both of her friends trying to hug her at once. They fell over and landed on the ground as a pile of ponies. Applebloom, who was the first who got on her hooves again, was sweeping through Scootaloos mane. “You’re learning how to fly like all those other Pegasus ponies! Probably even like Rainbow Dash!” The official looking pony coughed. “Indeed, your friend will learn how to fly. But only if we go now, we’re already late.” Applebloom and Sweetie Belle both nodded, and Scootaloo waved goodbye to them. She could feel the looks of her friends on her, as she went with the official looking pony.
It was a long way, and Scootaloo was just trotting next to her guide. “Where are we going?” She asked, but she didn’t receive an answer. He just remained silent the entire walk. Soon they had left Ponyville and went into the field outside of Ponyville to join a group of Pegasus ponies, who were already there. The one who lead Scootaloo there gave her a sign to wait and talked to another, even more official looking pony, who was obviously the one in charge here. In one hoof he was holding a clipboard and crossed something on it. Then he walked in front of the group of fillies they had gathered.
“Everypony, listen. Welcome to Cloudsdales annual Flight Camp. Here, you will learn to fly in a proper manner for a Pegasus of Cloudsdale. Are there any questions?” He asked as he was done speaking, and a little filly, one with a light blue fur and mane, raised a hoof. “Where exactly is the Flight Camp? I just see fields around here.” The instructor smiled at her. “That’s a good question, indeed. The Flight Camp is located on fixed clouds above your heads. You will be taken up there now, one at a time. But don’t worry about falling down. My coworkers here are experienced with this.
He waved with the hoof at the other official ponies around him, and they started grabbing the young fillies under their arms and flew up with them, and Scootaloo was amongst the first. She felt how she got lifted from the ground and up to a group of clouds. On those clouds were some tents assembled, and she could recognize a racing track with some obstacles on it. “This is probably the final test.” She thought to herself.
She felt the soft clouds under her feet as the Pegasus, who was carrying her, dropped her on the clouds and turned around to get another filly up to the camp, while Scootaloo hopped up and down on the clouds. They were softer than a bed. “I guess this is why Rainbow Dash is always napping around on those clouds.” She muttered to herself, looking quickly around her if somepony could have heard her, but there was nopony around, until another filly got dropped on the cloud next to her.
He saw her before, it was a pony with turquoise fur and mane. Scootaloo saw her around earlier, and now she was dropped next to Scootaloo on the clouds, her eyes were widening as she felt the clouds under her hooves. She just stood a while there and didn’t notice Scootaloo at first. When she noticed the young filly, she quickly lowered her look down to the clouds under her hooves.
So Scootaloo had to walk up to her and to start a conversation. “Hello, I’m Scootaloo.” She introduced herself, but she just received a soft squeak. The turquoise pony just looked to the ground. “Hey, come on. I will not laugh at you, I promise!” Scootaloo didn’t give up getting to know the other pony. Having a friend here wouldn’t hurt. Scootaloo smiled at her, trying to encourage the shy pony.
“Raindrop. My name is Raindrop …” The turquoise pony finally said. “Hey Raindrop. No need to be shy. I …” Scootaloo couldn’t speak further, as the cloud now quickly filled with ponies in all colors. “Well, we’ll talk later then!” Scootaloo said and saw how Raindrop was nodding. The instructor they’ve met earlier arrived, and with him another pony: An athletic and fit Pegasus with a brown fur and mane, who looked very proud of his stature.
The instructor placed himself on a stage in front of the young fillies. “Everypony listen!” He was yelling at them, and all talking suddenly came to an end. “Welcome to the Pegasus Flight Camp. This here –“ He pointed with a hoof on the Pegasus who arrived with him. “-this is your coach until you leave the camp. His name doesn’t matter to you, as you will only call him ‘Coach’ as long as you stay here. Do you have any further questions?”
As nopony raised his or her hoof and remained silent, the instructor was nodding. “Good luck then, young ones.” He spread his wings and took off. Still, nobody talked. Scootaloo was looking over to Raindrop, who looked kind of lost in the mass. The coach didn’t waste time and started shouting at the fillies. “In one line! Now!” The group almost immediately turned into pure chaos, but somehow they managed to form a line.
“You call yourself a Pegasus?” He shouted. “I’ll make a Pegasus out of every pony who stands here in front of me!” He marched down the line, looking at every single filly there. He stopped in front of Scootaloo for a second, and then he went on. He stopped again in front of Raindrop, and looked at her for a longer time than anypony else. Scootaloo looked down the line and saw that the knees of the filly were shaking, and that she was scared. The coach just looked at her, and Scootaloo thought she could see something like hate in his eyes, and then he went on walking down the line.
As he looked at all of his students, they were sent into the tents, at least two of them for each tent, sometimes even three or four fillies for one. Scootaloo shared her tent with Raindrop. “It could be worse.” She muttered, as the coach read out loud the list who would have to share a tent together. The inner side of a tent was furnished simple: A single bed for each of them. And that was all. “Well … I thought of a bit … more.” Scootaloo said that more to herself than to the pony next to her. “I wonder why Rainbow Dash never told me about that Camp here.” It was the first time that Scootaloo got a real reaction from Raindrop, as she heard Rainbows name.
“You know Rainbow Dash?” She asked, her eyes widened to a maximum of excitement. “Uhm … Only a little bit …” Raindrop almost jumped in circles around Scootaloo. „I am such a big fan of her! Can you introduce me to her when we get out of the Pegasus Flight Camp? Pleeeeeeeease?” “Yeah … I think I could do that. But hey, are you from Cloudsdale?” Now it was Raindrops turn to look with big eyes at Scootaloo. “Aren’t all Pegasus ponies from Cloudsdale?” Scootaloo shook her head. “I’m from Ponyville. How is life in Cloudsdale?”
They spent the time till the evening with talking about Ponyville, Cloudsdale and how different their homes are – and about Rainbow Dash. It appears that everypony in Cloudsdale was talking about the Sonic Rainboom of the Best Young Flyers Competition, as Rainbow Dash rescued the Wonderbolts and Rarity. They kept talking till the sun went down and it got dark and they got sleepy. Tomorrow would be another day.
When Scootaloo and her new friend woke up in the next morning and went outside of the tent, the coach was already waiting for them. “Slept well?” He asked them – and he had some kind of a dangerous undertone in his voice. “Well, you’re too late. As punishment for being late you both will run twenty rounds of that track over there.” He pointed with the hoof on the track Scootaloo saw when she got dropped on the clouds. She looked at the coach and figured it would be better if she didn’t say something.
So, she simply nodded and went to the track as she was told to, followed by Raindrop. They started running the circles. They were longer than they seemed, and soon they couldn’t run anymore, but they couldn’t take all twenty rounds of the track like their coach told them to. They just said down for a second and to catch breath, as he came over to them. “Don’t you dare to just sit around!” He was yelling. “Keep on running or you will take forty rounds!” He then turned his back to them and went away again.
Scootaloo and Raindrop where looking at each other. They stood up, but didn’t run at first. They caught some breath and went on. There was no possibility to take forty rounds of the track. As the coach came back to them, the other students were following him. “And this,” he said, “is how we treat ponies who don’t follow the rules.” Scootaloo could feel the looks of the others on her, as she kept on running. “You two can stop now.” Both, Raindrop and Scootaloo fell down on some clouds. “Did I say you could lie down?” He shook his head and answered his own question. “I think not.”
He raised one of his hooves, as if he wanted to hit one of the little fillies, but lowered his hoof then again and he smiled. “Well, just start with the first day of your training then. Follow me, now, every one of you little fillies.” They moved to a free space on the cloud. They had to place themselves in rows. Scootaloo and Raindrop were still exhausted from the runs on the track, but they still did their best to pay attention and follow everything the coach told them to do.
“Stretch your wings.” They obeyed. “Close your wings.” They obeyed. At least he gave an example to every single exercise. Now flap with your wings once.” They obeyed. “And again.” They obeyed. A grin was appearing on the face of the coach. “And now … keep it up until I say stop.” They obeyed.
As long as they were here, they would obey him, if they didn’t want some extra “exercise”. He knew this. And so did ever filly in the group since that day. And Scootaloos question, why Rainbow Dash never told her about the Pegasus Flight Camp was answered. At least she thought that it was answered.
As time went by, they had to exercise more, longer and harder, now trying to fly in dry runs. It was the same every day, until one day. They were standing in a line once again, and the coach was walking up and down in front of them. “Well, most of you did a good job here.” He was stopping at the lower end of the line. “Today is your final test. Only those who have success there are allowed to call themselves rightfully a Pegasus of Cloudsdale. Everypony who fails will be an outcast forever.”
The coach turned around. “This is the final training for you ponies now. You see the loops up there?” He was asking the fillies, and all nodded in a single move. The Coach pointed on a ramp. “You go to this ramp when I call your name. You will take off, fly through the loops, and then you will close your wings and fall down to the ground. Shortly before your nose hits the ground and you might hurt yourself, open your wings again. If you can do this, you will pass the test. Did you understand this?”
“Yes!” They all said in a chorus. Scootaloo was standing next to Raindrop, who she befriended with in her time in the camp. They both had to take unnecessary treatments. Hours of running in circles, extra flight rounds, sometimes it happened that the coach even hit them. But they got through together. Without the other, they thought, they wouldn’t have been able to stand through all the mistreatment that had happened to them since the came into the camp.
The coach was starting to call out their names.
“Azure Wings.” A blue Pegasus stepped in front of the group and up to the ramp. She took off, flew through the loops, then performed the dive and opened her wings just a second before she hit the ground.
“Summerwind.” This was a large stallion with a fur in the mixed colors of orange and brown. He stood upon the ramp and took off. He performed the task just as the Pegasus before him.
“Seabreeze.” A light blue pony stepped on the ramp, took off … and crashed down almost immediately onto the ground. But nopony seemed to care about her, besides of some Pegasi who flew down and removed her from the field. Scootaloo just hoped they went to look after her.
“Raindrop.” She could see her new friend gulping and moving with shaking knees to the ramp. Scootaloo could see that she was more than just nervous. She couldn’t bear the look at her friend, while she took off. Scootaloo just looked into the visitors who came to watch the fillies taking their final test. She could see clearly the rainbow-colored mane in the first line now. Rainbow Dash was here, and she watched every single filly taking their test.
Scootaloo was so focused on Rainbow Dash that they didn’t notice how Raindrop crashed. She couldn’t open her wings in time and dropped hard on the ground. Scootaloo didn’t notice it at first, but when she did, she wanted to fly down and help her friend, but the coach hold her back. She looked up to him, but he just shook his head and kept her back. Scootaloo could only watch as the Pegasi removed Raindrop from the field. “You will see her again soon enough.” She looked at her coach as he was saying this, and could see a grin on his face.
“Scootaloo.” The coach pushed her forward. “Now it is your turn.” Scootaloo went to the ramp. She stretched her wings as they got taught. She could feel the ramp vibrating when she took off. She could feel the looks of the entire audience on her, and this made her nervous. She was watching carefully where she flew, she tried to fly perfectly through the loops, but she suddenly hit one of the loops and got knocked out of her course. She couldn’t catch the fall again and hit the ground, a wing got buried under her body as she hit the ground and a flash of pain ran through her body.
She looked over to the visitors who watched them, but she was especially looking for Rainbow Dash. As she saw her idol in the crowd, her eyes filled with tears. Rainbow Dash was not showing a single sign of affection to her fail, but she turned away and left the group of viewers to take off and fly away. Scootaloo didn’t care as two Pegasi came over to lift her up and carry her away. She looked over to the coach who had trained her for this single moment, and she could see an evil grin on his face, as he kept on calling out the names.
The noise of the viewers and the coaches voice were fading away, the further Scootaloo got carried away. The Pegasi roughly threw Scootaloo in a tent far away from the others. She stood up and tried to move the wing which got buried underneath her, which just concluded in a flash of pain rushing through her body, so she quickly stopped trying again. She looked around in the tent and saw that Raindrop and Seabreeze, the pony who crashed first, were also there. Raindrop looked sad about Scootaloo being here. “So you also failed your test.” She said with a sad undertone in her voice.
Scootaloo nodded. “Why is it important anyway? It’s just a test. What could possible happen in the worst case?” One of the Pegasi, who were standing in front of the tent, was looking inside. “Shut your mouths, you worthless ‘Pegasi’!” He almost spit out the ‘Pegasi’, and went outside again. Scootaloo looked at her friend, and then they both looked at the third pony in the tent. Seabreeze was lying on the ground and slept. She took the hardest crash of the three fillies, she looked like she hit the ground face first, while Scootaloo just had a sprained, or possibly broken, wing and Raindrop just a few scratches. Scootaloo and Raindrop looked once more at each other and also were laying down on the ground, trying to sleep.
They had a rude awakening, as somepony woke them up through shouting. “Wake up, you worthless ponies! It’s time to go for you!” Scootaloo knew the voice from somewhere, but she just couldn’t recall from where while she was still sleepy. “I said, get up!” Scootaloo felt how somepony was kicking her in the flank, and he or she didn’t do this very gentle. As a conclusion, Scootaloo was awake now and looked up. A Pegasus dressed in a suit was standing in front of her. A hat covered most of his face, but she could still see that the fur of this one was a light cyan. Which just made Scootaloo curious who was in this suit and hat before her, and she knew that she probably wouldn’t like the answer to this question.
Whoever this was, he weren’t nice to the three fillies. They got pushed out of the tent into a dark and cold night and almost immediately grabbed by other suited Pegasi, but unlike the one who woke them up, they were wearing facemasks instead of a hat, but weren’t more gentle than the Pegasus with the hat was when he woke them up. The Pegasi who grabbed them followed the one with the hat who lead them as they took off of the cloud.
The little fillies could feel the cool air of the night rushing through their mane and fur, but they were far too scared to actually enjoy it. They were flying on a very high altitude which made it impossible to see the ground. Soon, Scootaloo could make out a cloudy building in the distance, and the Pegasi in the suits were heading straight there. As they came closer to the building, they could see that the clouds of which it was made had almost the same color that the dark night they were flying through.
The whole building, which was reaching high into the sky, was made of dark storm clouds and caused the little fillies to feel like something evil was waiting there for them. Scootaloo could feel fear in the depth of her heart. If Rainbow Dash just were here, she would rescue them from those evil and vile Pegasi for sure.
The three fillies were dropped in front of the main gate of the building. It was reaching so far in the sky that they just have to be far away from Ponyville or Canterlot Castle now, since none of the three fillies had seen this building before. The Pegasus with the hat landed in front of them and just pushed the gate open. He made an inviting gesture. As the fillies didn’t move at first, he was hitting them with the hoof on the back of their heads. “Move or we will make you!” He said.
They slowly started to move inside, as the Pegasus smacked them again. “Move faster!” He was yelling at them, an angry undertone in his voice. As soon as they had passed the gate, he closed it again. There was no way out but flying. Scootaloo tried to move her wing and made a grimace as the pain hit her. Not as hard as before, and she would be able to fly if she had to, but not for very long.
The inside of the building was just as dark as the outside. And it smelled of rotten carrion, which didn’t help to make them feel a little bit safer. The Pegasi who carried them to this place stayed back at the gate and left the fillies with the Pegasus who led them here in the first place. He lightened a torch and threw it in front of them. For only a short moment, Scootaloo could see the face of the Pegasus: It was the instructor who picked her up back in Ponyville.
The torch fell down until they couldn’t see it anymore. “This is your last chance.” The Pegasus said to them. “Fly high -“ He was pointing into the darkness above them. “- fall deep.” Now he was pointing into the endless dark below them. “It is your decision. Besides, this smell in here … those are the worthless Pegasi who didn’t make it. This is your final chance to proof your worth as Pegasus.” With those words, he was turning around and leaving the fillies alone in the dark. They looked up and could see some platforms of white, soft clouds up there, but they had no idea how far up this goes. Neither how far down this building reached.
They also didn’t know what would wait up or down for them. But according to the words to the Pegasus who led them here, they just assumed that they are supposed to fly up there. As Scootaloo saw how far the platforms were from each other, she had to think about her sprained wing. She wouldn’t make it from one platform to the next. “I can’t do this.” She looked to the ground as she said this.
Scootaloo could feel some tears in her eyes – and she let them run freely, in the hope that neither Raindrop nor Seabreeze would see them in the dark. She knew exactly that she couldn’t even make it to the first platform with her sprained wing, trying to move it hurt. Scootaloo could feel the tears running over her face as she was looking down to the ground. The three fillies stood for a while in the darkness, and none of them said something.
Scootaloo caught herself as she thought about what Rainbow Dash would do in such a situation, she wouldn’t let herself be stopped by a simple sprained wing. Scootaloo could catch a glance of a tear rolling down Raindrops cheek as she looked back. Scootaloo could see it in her eyes that she knew about her sprained wing and what it meant for her friend.
Unlike Raindrop, Seabreeze didn’t know about Scootaloos sprained wing. “Well … If we want to get out of here, we will have to fly up there.” She said, but as she looked to the others, she saw the tears on Scootaloos face and how she shook her head. “I … I can’t fly up there.” She responded. “My wing is sprained. I can’t make it all alone.” She was still looking on the ground, even as she said this. She raised her head again as Seabreeze stepped in front of her and Raindrop. “Well, then we two have to help her to get out here. We won’t leave her behind.” Scootaloo could see how Raindrop nodded. “We all will get out here together.” Raindrop said.
“But how we’re going to help her?” Raindrop was about to ask, but got cut off by Scootaloo herself. “I will fly as far as I can. Just try to catch me if I fall down.” The both others nodded, and spread their wings. Even Scootaloo spread her wings, even if it did hurt. She pulled herself together and took off with her friend on the way to the first platform. The pain was almost unbearable for her, but she tried her best to keep on flying.
She just had to make it, she will proof that she can do it. She will proof it to everyone, to her friends, the Pegasi who brought them here, and to Rainbow Dash, who left the final tests as Scootaloo failed. And she would proof it to herself. Despite of what they said of that test and how important Flight Camp was, she would still become the best flyer in Equestria. They reached the platform and landed upon it.
“This isn’t as hard as I thought.” Raindrop said. Scootaloo shook her head. “We’re not out of this building yet. Keep on flying.” They flew from platform to platform, and between each one of them the distance seemed to get longer. Scootaloo almost thought that she couldn’t take it anymore when she spotted a light almost right in front of them. “We’re almost there!” She yelled to her friends, who were flying a bit behind of her to catch her in case her wings gave way and she would fall into the dark.
Scootaloo was also the first who reached the top exit, which practically was just a hole in the ceiling of the building, despite her sprained wing. She stood on the top of the building, feeling the cool air again. Feeling the wind rushing through her mane again was a pure relief. She took a deep breath. Finally she could get rid of that foul smell inside of the building. She turned around to look after her friends. And immediately froze as she saw the Pegasus who was standing on the top with her.
The athletic and trained Pegasus, who turned Raindrops and Scootaloos lives into hell the whole time they were in the camp. The same Pegasus who was calling them to their failure in the final test they had to take. The coach was standing up there, just looking at Scootaloo, and he slowly moved over to her. Scootaloo knew that his weren’t a good sign that he was here. As he reached her, he lowered his head to hers and whispered in Scootaloos ears. “That was actually a good job, what you did here. Too bad that nopony will ever know it.”
In the meantime, Raindrop had reached the exit on the top, but as soon as she had seen and recognized their coach, she also stopped in her movement, as well as Seabreeze who just appeared a second after her. Their former coach wasn’t wasting time and lifted his hind leg and kicked Raindrop straight in the face. She was staggering backwards and dropped down through the exit again. Seabreeze was trying to get away, but she was too slow and received a kick into her mid-section, which took her breath away. The next kick knocked her out and she went straight down to the ground.
Scootaloo could do nothing but watch, as the Pegasus knocked her friends out and let Raindrop fall back into the building. She wouldn’t survive the fall. “Why are you doing this?” She asked the other pony, which just let out a malicious laugh. “Why? Because you’re worthless. You call yourself a Pegasus? You can’t even fly properly. This was your last chance to proof your worth. And I’ll take care that no Pegasus will make it through here, once he or she reached the top. Your adventure ends here.”
He kicked her into her mid-section, like he did with Seabreeze. Scootaloo could feel a flash of pain running through her body, and how she fell onto the side. The coach was standing in front of her. She almost lost her consciousness, but just almost. She could see how the coach lifted the body of Seabreeze and threw her back into the building again. Scootaloo didn’t feel fear. She felt nothing. Her mind and her body were completely numb. She could see how blood ran down her flank from the coaches’ kick in her mid-section. It didn’t hurt at all.
Scootaloo thought about her two friends who are now most likely dead, since she couldn’t imagine how somepony could survive a drop that deep. She thought about her friends in Ponyville and what she experienced with them, and she was asking herself if Applebloom and Sweetie Belle had found their cutie marks till now … or what they were doing in this moment, if they thought about her.
She looked over to the coach, who was slowly approaching her. She could see how he lifted his hoof to knock her out completely. She closed her eyes and expected the hit, but it didn’t happen. Instead, she heard how somepony was knocked over and as she opened her eyes again, she couldn’t see anypony around.
The blood was still running down her flank, and she would surely bleed out if nopony would take care of her wound. In the end, she still lost her consciousness and the world around her faded away into darkness, but just before she was passing out completely, she could feel that somepony lifted her up and flew away. Later, she woke up in Ponyvilles hospital. But nopony was answering her question how she got there in the first place.
But sometimes she could see a certain, cyan colored Pegasus with a mane in the colors of the rainbow looking at her in a sad manner, as if she knew what she went through – and how it feels to lose newfound friends.
