"Come on, it's not that far."
Scootaloo moved to the lip of the ravine and looked down. She swallowed nervously. It looked like a drop of maybe ten, twelve feet. The bottom was soft mud, with a little creek running through. The fall wouldn't kill her, but it might hurt.
"You can do it! I believe in you, squirt!"
Scoot turned her head and looked over her shoulder. Rainbow Dash was standing there beaming at her. She peered into the ravine again, feeling a knot form in the pit of her stomach.
"I don't know, it's pretty far," she muttered, half to herself. "And it looks like there might be rocks at the bottom."
The older pegasus sighed heavily, sounding impatient.
"If you don't think you're up to it, squirt, that's fine," said Dash.. "It's just..."
Scootaloo wheeled around. The knot in her stomach tightened when she saw the expression on Dash's face. She looked bored. Even worse, she looked like she was trying to hide it.
"N-no!" cried Scoot. She puffed out her little chest, trying to sound more confident than she felt. "I can do it! It's just...well..."
She trailed off, involuntarily glancing over her shoulder at the ravine again.
Dash sighed heavily a second time. Her eyes darted upward for a moment, probably checking the position of the sun. Scoot felt the knot in her stomach tighten again, and to her dismay she could feel tears forming in her eyes.
Why do I have to be such a wuss? she thought angrily.
"Look, squirt, it's cool," said Rainbow Dash. "You don't have to make the jump if you're scared. I won't tell anypony."
Scootaloo bristled at the word 'scared.'
"I'm not scared!" she objected.
Dash went on as if she hadn't heard her.
"I mean, I helped you set up the ramp and everything, and I brought the camera like you asked...but whatever. If you don't want to do it, that's cool."
Dash glanced skyward, more deliberately this time, and Scoot's eyes followed hers. The sun had moved considerably further west.
"Anyway," went on Dash, "I've got a Wonderbolts practice I need to get to, so if you're not gonna jump..."
She trailed off, shrugged, and turned to go.
"Wait!"
Scoot trotted anxiously towards her. Dash turned back around.
"Let's do the jump!" Scoot blurted out.
Dash looked doubtfully up at the sky again. There was still plenty of daylight left, but the sun was well past its zenith, and the shadows of nearby trees were growing long.
"Come on! We've got plenty of time!" Scoot said quickly. "I'll just do the jump real quick, and then you can go to your practice!"
Rainbow Dash glanced doubtfully at the shoddy-looking ramp the two of them had hastily constructed that afternoon.
"Well, if you think you're up to it..."
Scoot puffed out her chest again, trying to appear more confident than she felt.
"Yeah, I can do it! No problem!"
Her fear temporarily forgotten, Scootaloo scrambled quickly up to the top of the ramp where her scooter was waiting.
A brief gust of wind ruffled her mane, and she felt the flimsy structure wobbling slightly underneath her. She looked down and swallowed. She wasn't even that high up, but somehow the ravine seemed even deeper and wider than it had from the edge. The ramp swayed a little in the breeze, and she jolted, trying to steady herself.
"Come on, squirt!" her idol called impatiently from the ground. "You jumping or not?"
The bored look on Dash's face drove a spur into Scootaloo's flank. Swallowing again, she strapped her helmet onto her head.
"You can do this..." she muttered to herself.
She took a deep breath. Her tiny, stunted wings began to flutter. She held the scooter in place for a second, building up power.
Then, she kicked off.
For a moment, her troubles were forgotten, and the world ceased to exist. There was only the rush of adrenaline; the crisp, late afternoon wind in her mane; that thrilling sensation of leaving her stomach behind. The scooter rolled forward at lightning speed. She didn't even notice the ramp swaying anymore. Nothing could scare her.
She was invincible. She was the wind.
The edge of the ramp whooshed by, and suddenly there was nothing underneath her. She careened upward in a graceful arc. The land began to spread out below her, extending further and further the higher she ascended. Dimly she was aware of a camera flashing somewhere in the distance. Her heart swelled with pride.
I'm doing it!!
The chasm of the ravine yawned open below, but she scoffed disdainfully at the thing that had terrified her only moments before. She was going to make it. She was the wind, and nothing could stop her.
Suddenly, she noticed that her momentum had slowed considerably. She looked down and realized in a panic that she was barely even halfway across. She flapped her wings as hard as she could, trying desperately to move herself forward, but it was no use. It was like she was frozen in place. Then, she felt herself beginning to lose altitude...
*BOOF*
Scoot shook her head in a daze. She had no recollection of where she was or how she got there. One minute she was in the air, and the next...
She struggled to her hooves. She felt mud caked all over her coat and in the parts of her mane not covered by the helmet. Her scooter was jutting out of the soft mud a few feet away. The creek trickled pleasantly around it.
"Haha! Wow, you really biffed it!"
Scoot heard laughter from somewhere above her, and looked angrily up at the source. Dash was standing at the tip of the ravine, cackling away. When she saw Scootaloo's expression, she put a hoof over her mouth to stifle her laughter, but the damage was done.
"Sorry," she said. "Here, you want some help?"
She flapped her wings and rose into the air, but Scoot waved an angry hoof.
"I can do it!" she muttered crossly.
"Let me get your scooter at least..."
As Scootaloo struggled to pull herself up the slippery edge of the ravine, Dash glided effortlessly down and retrieved her scooter. She set it down on the grass beside her as Scoot stood at the edge, panting with exertion.
"Did you...*huff*...get a picture...*huff*...?"
Dash snickered. She immediately tried to stifle it, but Scoot noticed, and it hurt worse than any of her bruises.
"Yeah I got a picture, but...uh...you probably don't want to see it..."
Scoot glowered at the ground and said nothing.
"Well anyway, squirt, this was fun, but I need to get to my practice..."
"I'm going again."
Without waiting for a response from Dash, she grabbed her scooter and scrambled back up to the top of the ramp. This time she didn't hesitate. With a huff, she fluttered her wings as fast as she could and kicked off.
The ramp whooshed by, but she felt none of the exhilaration of before. Her entire being was focused on traveling as fast as possible. She ducked down, pushing her weight as far forward as she could and trying to make her body as aerodynamic as possible.
With a rush she careened out past the edge of the ramp. The ground spread out beneath her as she arced out across the ravine.
Yes!
It looked like she was further than she was the last time. She was actually going to make it...
*BOOF*
*SPLAT*
She pulled herself up out of the mud, spitting. Some of it had gotten into her eyes that time. She angrily wiped it away with her foreleg. She felt tears running down her cheeks.
Stupid dirt making my eyes water!
She wiped her eyes again, and clambered back up the side of the ravine. Dash had already retrieved her scooter.
"Squirt, listen..."
Scoot turned her head angrily away, closing her eyes and trying to hide her tears. Without a word, she grabbed the scooter and stomped angrily up the ramp again.
*WHOOSH*
*BOOF*
*SPLAT*
She was back in the mud.
She clambered back up the side of the ravine. She was limping a bit now. Her left wing felt tender. Tears were streaming from her eyes now; she couldn't stop them. She hoped her face was dirty enough that Dash wouldn't notice.
Dash wordlessly retrieved her scooter and set it down, looking like she genuinely felt sorry for her. Somehow that was even worse than being laughed at.
She grabbed her scooter and ran up the ramp again, tears flying behind her.
*WHOOSH*
*BOOF*
*SPLAT*
*WHOOSH*
*BOOF*
*SPLAT*
*WHOOSH*
*BOOF*
*SPLAT*
*CRACK*
Scootaloo spat out mud.
She'd lost count of how many times she'd landed there. Bitterly, she realized she was in nearly the same place every time. She'd never even made it over the creek. No matter how many times she tried, she never made it any further.
Her wings were aching. Her left hind leg hurt for some reason. She ignored it.
I can push through the pain! No matter how many times it takes, I'm going to get this...
"Uh, squirt?"
Scootaloo looked up. Rainbow Dash was standing at the edge of the ravine, looking down at her. She couldn't read her expression.
The light had faded considerably. Shadows were longer, the bottom of the ravine felt darker and cooler. The setting sun blared out behind Dash, silhouetting her. She looked so cool, standing there...
Scootaloo sniffed and wiped her tears away.
"Listen, I'm really sorry..." Dash began. "...but I'm really late. If I miss another practice, they're gonna bench me at the show this weekend."
With a single, powerful flap of her wings, she took to the air. Scootaloo watched wordlessly as she passed over her, clearing the ravine in the space of half a second. She glided easily to the ground on the other side.
She cast a sad glance at Scoot, lying on her back in the mud.
"You want me to help you out of there first?"
Suddenly furious with her, Scootaloo waved a hoof and looked away, hoping the darkness would hide her tears.
"Just go," she said flatly.
Dash opened her mouth as if to say something else, then apparently thought better of it. She hesitated for a moment, and then turned to go.
"We can practice this some more tomorrow if you want," she called out as she rose into the air. "I promise!"
She bolted away, leaving a rainbow-colored streak behind her. Scoot watched the afterimage fade away into the horizon.
She lay there for awhile, listening to the wind and the insects and the soft trickling of the creek. The shadows slowly elongated, the ravine grew darker and cooler. Overhead, the sky faded slowly from red to purple. Her body hurt all over, especially her leg.
By and by, the first of the evening crickets made a tentative chirp, followed by another, and another. Scoot lay there, feeling nothing.
Finally, she summoned the resolve to try and clamber to her hooves.
"AAAAAAH!"
Her scream echoed across the empty landscape.
Immediately she dropped back down into the mud with a soft plop, staring in horror at the weird angle of her rear leg.
"R-RAINBOW!!" she cried out. "SOMEPONY! ANYPONY!!"
Silence.
Scootaloo sniffed. The crickets chirped happily around her.
"I-I think I broke my leg..."
There was no answer but the song of the evening crickets.
~End~
