Flight of the Valkyriesby Prisoner 24601ChaptersThe Last of the ValkyriesCrusading...FriendlessWingsThe Last of the Valkyries"Oh, Rise through the sky, On beautiful amber wings. Light the sky on fire, With the jealousy you bring. Rise through the sky, Let your will shine through, And they'll come to accept you, Oh, young Scootaloo. For you, my filly, Are different from the rest. You can rise through the ranks, And prove that you are best. Rise through the sky, They know not who you are, But I know clear, A Valkyrie, you are. Ooooohhhhh. Ooohh." Scootaloo was being cradled in her mother's hooves as she sat in front of the fireplace. She had just finished a remedial rhyme that she sang her daughter every night. She wanted her to grow up knowing the truth. That she would never be like everypony else. She'd always be a standout. A sore thumb. But her mother knew that no matter how long it does take, she will learn to fly. It would come naturally. It always did in the Valkyries. She knew that Scootaloo, after years of ridicule and exclusion, would spout Valkryie wings like her mother's, and take to the skies. She would become the fastest, most skilled flyer in Equestria, before she even needed to practice. Her wings would stretch across the sky like the sun and moon. She would captivate her friends, and even her enemies. She would finally become accepted into society. Her mother looked down at her baby, covered by a blanket. All she saw was a few brilliant embers shining upon her glistening amber coat and purple hair. Her wings would be so beautiful. Just like her mother's. Wings resembling that of a Princess, though contributing no size improvements to the Valkyrie herself. They would match her coat, but shine five times brighter. They would spout right when a Valkyrie loses their last friends. Then they would spring from the Valkyrie's body like a horn on a Unicorn. They would create a wonderous glow, a huge flash, and then poof! Wings. Right at this moment, there came a knock on the door. Scootaloo's mother, Vespa, gently lay her child on the chair she was sitting in, tucked under a blanket. She got up, and hovered over to the door. Her red coat was somehow amplified in the firelight. As Vespa opened the door, the room was covered in bright lights. She heard shouts from an unknown stallion. He demanded money. Vespa denied. She tried to close the door, but the stallion had already stuck a light grey hoof between the it and the wall. He swung it back open again, and shouted again for money. Vespa again denied. She tried slamming the door, and managed to close it. That is, until the stalion brought down the door with a magical explosion. He demanded money a third and final time. At this point, Scootaloo was quietly sobbing under her blanket. She was a scared baby, what else was she to do. Vespa denied. At this, the stallion grabbed Vespa by the back hooves using magic, and dragged her out the door. He reassembled the shattered door, and all Scootaloo could hear were the moans and cries of her mother as the Stallion did unspeakable things to her. Then there was one last moan. One last scream. And then the sound of hooves galloping away. Scootaloo was crying now. She was even more afraid as before. Her mother had just been mugged! Scootaloo lay there, under that blanket, for a few hours, until a police squad and an ambulance showed up. The police searched the home, and found little baby Scootaloo, still crying her eyes out. Which she had. She was sobbing and whining, but no tears came from her eyes. The blanket was soaked. They took her from the home, and sent her to a Foster Home. Later, Vespa was taken to the hospital. She was bady hurt. Her back hooves bruised and beaten, and many bones broken. It was a brutal attack. So brutal, in fact, that the doctors could do nothing more to help her. She died of her wounds the next morning. And that was the end of it. That was the end of the Valkyrie bloodline. Except for little baby Scootaloo. The last Valkyrie. Now, you probably need some explanation. You see, the Valkyries are not necessarily ponies. They are heavenly beings that resemble ponies, but with inane flying skills. they could take to the skies for the first time, and automatically become a pro. except there was one little loophole: For a Valkyries wings to form, they must lose every friend they had. This was tradition. Valkyries showed up in Equestria only a few days after it was discovered and claimed. The Valkyries were the original natives, who were placed here in Equestria by circumstance, when the world was in it's infancy. There were no mountains, no trees, and no clouds in the sky. At this time, the Valkyries were not the only inhabitants. There were also the Behemoths, huge lumbering creatures with two heads, and the Sayges, magical beings from the same heavenly body as the Valkyries. The Valkyries put the clouds in the sky, and the wind in the air, the Behemoths put dirt on the ground and trees in the woods, and the Sayges brought the mountains from beneath the surface, and gems from within them. This three-way republic went well for only so long, when the Behemoths and the Sayges got into a civil war. Thankfully to the Valkyries, the war left Equestria, or in that time, Avalon, and went towards the Dragonlands and Changeling hive. They left the Valkyries alone, who now only wanted companionship.They grasiously allowed the Earth Ponies and Unicorns to inhabit, but they knew nothing of Commander Hurricane, who had already begun the return journey to bring back her people. Private Panzi couldn't be bothered to meet the Valkyries. She was only cowering in the Whendigo Cave. However, eventually Valkaries became the envy of the Pegasi, an up-and-coming new race of ponies also blessed with the ability to fly. The Pegasi rebelled. The Valkyries were unaccepted in society. They were executed, banished, and even hunted. Almost every Valkyrie that populated Equestria was either killed or driven to some faraway foriegn country. However, a stallion Valkyrie still remained in Equestria, under a disguise spell cast by his love. His name was Harley. Harley Davidson, to be exact. He lived in Equestria disguised for years. When he was finally uncovered for his true identity, he was not killed or banished; he was praised. He became a symbol of the Valkyrie Civil Rights Movement. His son, Hog, continued on his legacy. By Hog's death, Valkyries had earned their freedom to live in Equestria, but many didn't return. They thought it was all a ploy by the Equestrian government to wipe them out once and for all. Hog carried on his life in Equestria without ridicule. He married a unicorn and had a daughter: Vespa. She lived her life, too, and after a night in Las Pegasus, there was Scootaloo, named after Vespa's great grandfather, Scooter, and Scootaloo's father, Hullabaloo. And then there was that night when she was mugged. And Scoots was taken into custody. And the Valkyrie bloodline was brought down to it's last member: Scootaloo. Crusading...Equestria's scenic Whitetail Woods were quiet with the rising sun. So serene, that many could have mistaken it for a normal day. But nothing is a normal day when these three are around. Suddenly, the silence is broken by a loud bang from a few miles away, which forces the birds in the trees to take to the skies. Then there's another bang. And then another. Finally, all three little fillies fall out of the sky, smack down in the middle of the road. "Anything, girls?" Asked Apple Bloom. Sweetie Belle got up and looked at her flank. "No." she sighed. "Me niether." Apple Bloom said, standing like her friend. "Ugh. No." Said Scootaloo. She too was standing. "I guess we won't be the Cutie Mark Crusaders Cannonballs." She looked down at her hooves. "Oh, it's okay, Scootaloo. We've all had our fair share of failed ideas." Comforted Sweetie. "Yeah. All we have to do is keep at it and we're sure to get our Cutie Marks." Agreed Apple Bloom. "Speakin' of which..." She continued with an evil grin, "I think I know what we can do!" She leaned over and whispered it into Sweetie's ear. Sweetie Belle's eyes lit up. "Yeah!" She exclaimed, her voice cracking majorly, "We can be Cutie Mark Crusaders Phycics!" Scootaloo approved this idea. She shouted in exitement as she summoned her scooter from the thin air behind her, along with three helmets, and they were off, rocketing down the road to Ponyville to find Pinkie Pie. ***** Pinkie Pie was trotting around Sugar Cube Corner, with three little fillies standing in the doorway behind her. She was cheery and happy as always. "Aw, come on, Pinkie!" Apple Bloom pleaded. "Teach us how to be phycics!" Pinkie dropped the salt shacker in her mouth and turned her head-without moving her body-backwards towards the fillies. "Phycics?" She questioned joyfully, somehow extending her neck several feet to reach them, "I don't know anything about phycics." She innocently whipped her head back into position and grabbed the salt shaker off the floor, returning to work. Scootaloo was fidgeting with her hooves while the other two tried to persuade Pinkie. "Oh, come on!" exclaimed Sweetie Belle, "What about that whole 'Madame Pinkie Pie' business?" She said, putting quotations around Madame Pinkie Pie. Pinkie again shot upward, as if scared stiff. "Madame Pinkie Pie?!" She exclaimed. She quickly turned and shot at the young ones, forcing the unsuspecting Scootaloo to jump out of the room. Pinkie eyed the other two with one eye each, somehow making them split in the middle. "Who told you about Madame Pinkie Pie?" She asked quickly, in an ominous way. "Uhh..." Apple Bloom tried to speak, but the stangeness of the pony in front of her was overwhelming. Scootaloo sprang up behind her friends. "Twilight told us when we asked her about being Cutie Mark Crusaders Time Travellers." "Oh, okay." Pinkie said. She jumped back up with a smile on her face. She returned to work. After a few minutes, Apple Bloom asked again, "So, can you teach us how to be Phycic?" Pinkie became confused. "Phycics?" She asked. Apple Bloom had a feeling she knew where this was going. "I don't know anything about phycics." Pinkie said. ***** Scootaloo, Apple Bloom, and Sweetie Belle were out of ideas. They sat in Ponyville park thinking. Sweetie was singing to herself, Apple Bloom was studying the grass, and Scootaloo was pacing around, watching Rainbow Dash. Each one of them were too oblivious to see their talents, even when they were right in front of their eyes. "Girls!" Exclaimed Apple Bloom while watching a gardner. "I know what we can do!" "What?" asked Sweetie, again with a voice crack. "We can be gardners!" "We already tried that, remember?" Reminded Scootaloo, "We chopped the heads of leaf sculptures." "What about singers?" Sweetie asked. "We tried that, too, Sweetie." said Apple Bloom, "And we made fools of ourselves in front of the whole school." "Hmmm." Thought Scootaloo, looking to the skies. "Maybe we should try flying!" "Hello." Mocked Sweetie, "We don't have wings, and yours are to puny to get you off the ground!" "Good point." At this time, Zecora was walking through the park. She stopped when she saw the Cutie Mark Crusaders. She gave them a friendly greeting, "Ah, hello, my little friends, this park has many twists and bends. I've seen ponies from all around, sitting on this one ground." "Hey, Zecora!" Apple Bloom asked, suddenly obvious to the sayge in front of her, "Can you help us find our special talents?" Zecora thought for a moment and said, "I cannot help as much as you want, but I have a new tome, and go to waste, it shall not!" The CMC was unsure what this meant, until Zecora led them into her hut. There was an open book on a steeple, and as usual, a cauldron in the center. "Here is the book, I spoke about," began Zecora once the fillies were all inside, "I hope that you can figure it out." With this, she turned to a rack of spices and plants, throwing each in the cauldron. Apple Bloom saw what she was doing and asked, "Hey, what's this here?" She looked into the cauldron. Zecora answered, "It's a little experiment I'm working on, to make sure that friends don't lose their bond." "So," Apple Bloom began, "It's a potion." She concluded the obvious. "Yes." Zecora nodded. Amazingly, she only said one word! No rhyme to it! "Well," Apple Bloom began giving advice. "If somepony's gonna be drinkin' this, you may not wanna put so much thistle and Yaka bush in there." Zecora immediately spotted her mistake. "My, my, Apple Bloom, do you know more of plants in this room?" "Of course I do! Applejack's been teaching me 'bout plants since I was a baby!" While Apple Bloom went and talked with Zecora about how to prepare such a potion, the other two were observing the tome. Scootaloo was reading aloud from the section labeled 'THE UNIQUE STYLE OF THE CUTIE MARK' "Well," Began Scootaloo, "It says here, 'The Cutie mark is sought out by all young ponies, and many have formed groups to try and find theirs in masses." "Like us!" Sweetie exclaimed, again with another voice crack. That tended to happen when she was exited. But never when she sung. When she sung, she sounded like an angel. "Yeah." Scootaloo agreed. "Anyway, 'But none of these groups have ever seen success.'" Scootaloo became wide-eyed, and Sweetie gasped. This caught Apple Blooms attention. She asked," what's all this goin' on, now?" Scootaloo continued, "'The secret behind getting a cutie mark is that no two are the same. Therefore, no groups of ponies will ever achieve success, not even in team activities like acapella and hoofball. Every pony must pursue a different talent if they want a cutie mark.'" "Wow." Sweetie said, "You mean that the Cute Mark Cusaders will never find their Cutie marks?" "Not exactly." Said Scootaloo, "I think what it means is that we will find our Cutie Marks, but we'll all have different ones. And we'll have to do it seperately." This was heartbreaking to all of them, but none wanted to admit it, so Apple Bloom just said, "Well, all I know is that I know a thing or two about plants and potionmaking, so I'll stay here with Zecora." Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle agreed and left the hut, on their way back to Ponyville. Neither knew what they were going to do. All they knew was that they were going to find their Cute Marks. FriendlessSweetie Belle was walking down Equestria Avenue in Ponyville, looking for Scootaloo. She was late again for finding a talent. Even though they were devastated that they could no longer work together, the CMC were still a social group. At least, that was what Sweetie believed. Obviously, Scootaloo had been held up somewhere. As if on cue, Scootaloo dashed out of an industrial workshop. She joined Sweetie on the street, who immediately asked, "What in Equestria were you doing in there?" Scootaloo replied, catching her breath, "Turning in some blueprints. I figure I could get my Cutie Mark in inventing." "What makes you think that?" Asked Sweetie, an obvious undertone of doubt in her voice. "Well, I invented plenty of stuff! Like the Treehouse. Yeah, I designed that." She said cokily. "Hm." Sweetie said, pushing the conversation aside, "Have you seen Apple Bloom anywhere?" "No, but isn't today another one of her Zecora apprentacing days?" "Oh, yeah." Sweetie remembered, then catching the glimpse of a yellow filly with a big red bow on her head and an enormous smile charging towards them said, "Oh, here she comes!" "GIRLS! GIRLS!" She screamed. She screeched to a halt in front of Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo. Each of them had their eyes glued to Apple Bloom's flank, for there, lay a picture of a flower in full bloom. "Isn't it great?" Apple Bloom asked, obvious to her they were staring at it. "Zecora said I got it 'cuz I got a real knack for plants." The other two couldn't say a word. Here, standing in front of them, was Apple Bloom; with a Cutie Mark! "Wow, Apple Bloom!" Scootaloo was the first to speak up. She suddenly got annoyed, "Is it real this time?" Apple Bloom was offended. Here she was, exited out of her mind because she just got her freaking Cutie Mark, and the first thing Scootaloo asks is 'Is it real?'. "Of course it's real!" She snapped back, "Why wouldn't it be?" "All I'm saying is that last time you 'got' a Cute mark," She was angry with Apple Bloom now, "It turned out to be fake and cause us a lot of heartbreak." Apple Bloom was angry back, "Well, excuse me if I got desperate once, but this time it's different!" "Oh, suuurrreee it is." Scootaloo mocked, "And I'm a chicken." Sweetie Belle had had nearly enough. She couldn't stand by while her two only friends tore each other apart. "you are a chicken." Apple Bloom detested, "And this time it is different. Why would I lie to you about this, Scootaloo? We're friends." "You tell me why. And we are not friends. Not anymore." With this, Scootaloo turned her back on Sweetie and Apple Bloom, and walked back down the street, tears in her eyes. But she couldn't let them see. Apple Bloom wanted to apologize, but she was too stubborn. "You bet we ain't." She said, and walked back towards the way she came. Sweetie was left alone in the street. She didn't know which of her friends to go comfort. Both were saddened beyond help. Sweetie Belle was torn. Which did she chose? Apple Bloom, practically her cousin, or Scootaloo, the poor orphan? She chose Scootaloo. She seemed like she needed more comforting. She raced up behind Scoots. "Hey, Scootaloo," he said, trying not to get her even more upset. "Go away." She replied. ***** It had been a week since Scootaloo and Apple Bloom had their big fight, and still neither wanted to admit they were wrong. Sweetie was still in the middle of it. But Scootaloo had cheered up. Now, she and Sweetie Belle were sitting in the park, talking about their latest attempts at getting their Cutie Marks. "Well, the inventing idea was a bust. They rejected my blueprints for a flying machine." Scootaloo said. "Did you remember to draw it on blueprint paper?" Quarried Sweeite. Scootaloo shoved her face into the ground. "Well, I haven't been doing too well, either. My fasion career was a 'bust', as Rarity put it." Sweetie consulated. "Well, have you thought that you should do something other than fasion?" "Well, I have thought about singing. I'm pretty good at that. Wanna hear something?" "Sure. What is it?" "It's a poem I read in a really old book. Here goes." She cleared her throat, and in a symphonic voice, started singing: "Oh, Rise through the sky, On beautiful amber wings. Light the sky on fire, With the jealousy you bring. Rise through the sky, Let your will shine through, And they'll come to accept you, As long as you stay true. For you, my filly, Are different from the rest. You can rise through the ranks, And prove that you are best. Rise through the sky, They know not who you are, But I know clear, A Valkyrie, you are. Ooooohhhhh. Ooohh." Scootaloo was speechless. She was frozen. She didn't know where, or when, but she had heard that song. That rhyme. "Hey, Sweetie," She began, without looking up from the ground. Before she could finish, a stallion came galloping in front of Sweetie Belle. "Excuse me, miss." "Yeah?" replied Sweetie Belle unsurely. This was a peculiar fellow. She forgot all about what Scootaloo was trying to say. "My name is Armstrong. Edwin Armstrong, and I'm looking for the source of that be-a-utiful singing! Do you know where exactly I can find the singer?" "Yeah." She said again, in a sort of matter-of-fact way. "That was me." Edwin laughed. "You mean to tell me that you: a selfless little filly like yourself, are the voice behind that magnificent tune?" "Yes. Yes I do." She said, trying to portray herself as somepony who had control of themself. "Well, then, missy, you could just be the next big thing of FM radio. You see, I have a vision." He came next to Sweetie, put his left hoof around her neck, and pointed his right across the sky, "I have a vision of ponies tuning in to FM radio regularly. A set time every day, to hear you, my little filly of wonders, singing. You'll be famous!" he returned to his original place standing in front of her. "You in?" he asked. Sweetie was amazed! Right here, standing in front of her, was a stallion with the means to give her what she'd been dreaming about for months: a Cutie Mark! "Yeah!" she spurted out, with yet another crack in her voice. "Great!" replied Armstrong, "I'll see you at the radio station first thing tomorrow morning. Here's my card." He finished, giving Sweetie a card, and trotting away. "This is awesome!" exclaimed the white filly, "This is my chance, Scootaloo! My chance to become a big shot and finally earn my Cutie Mark!" "Great" Scootaloo faked a smile. ***** Sure enough, Sweetie had visited Edwin Armstrong at his studio first thing the next morning. And she continued doing so for weeks. Until one day... One fateful day... She returned to Scootaloo with great news. "SCOOTALOO!" Sweetie shouted as she charged her way through the trees towards the treehouse. There was a sign there that had been for weeks: a shillouette of Apple Bloom with a huge red slash through it. SHe climbed the physically impossible to exist steps and entered the humble club hideout. "You're not going to belive this!" "What?" she exitedly asked. She was hoping Sweetie had goten her first paycheck. Armstrong had been ging on about how he couldn't pay Sweetie every week because of financial trouble, and he always promised double the next week. Sweetie had devoted that money to either fixing up the current one, or making a completely new clubhouse. Scootaloo figured that with the money Armstrong had been promising, it would total up to at least a quarter of a million, plenty of money to buy a new clubhouse. But no. There was no paycheck. There was no money. There was only two things. Two painful little notes. Smack dab in the middle of Sweetie Belle's flank. "You see!" Sweetie shouted in exitement, turning so Scootaloo could see her new Cutie Mark better. "I got my Cutie Mark in singing!" "That's great." Said Scootaloo. This time, she couldn't fake a smile. She couldn't do anything. She just walked out. Out of the treehouse. Out of Ponyville Over to the red cliffs. WingsThe path from Ponyville to the Red Cliffs was a long one. Plenty of time to reflect on the day's events. How could her so called 'friends' do this to her? First, Apple Bloom rejected Scootaloo like last week's apple, and then Sweetie, paying no mind to her friend, decides to up and get a Cute Mark! She knew it wasn't her fault, but it still was a rude way to break the news. And Scootaloo was also mostly to blame. It wasn't right to just walk out, but she had had a pretty bad day. It all started with that talk with Applejack. That was why her wings were bruised. It all started when Scootaloo left the Ponyville Industrial Factory after turning in her latest blueprints (written on real bluprint paper this time!). She passed through the trees over to Sweet Apple Acres. It was a routine route to the clubhouse, but still one she hadn't made since the Apple Bloom incident. She passed the orchard and barn without problem, but when she got to the farmhouse, that's where the trouble started. Applejack was bucking a tree-rather angrily-when Scootaloo passed. When AJ caught sight of the filly, she stopped what she was doing, grabbed the smaller one aorund the neck, and dragged her over to the house. She threw her against the wall, picked her up again, and pinned her to the wood by the shrimpy wing. She was pressing hard. Scootaloo winced and rubbed her wing at the thought. The Applejack leaned in close, with rage in her eyes, and said directly into Scootaloo's face: "How dare you!" She increased her grip, squeezing the tiny limb against the wall. Scootaloo could almost feel the bones aching. Applejack continued, "Why would ya do that to my Apple Bloom? Huh?" Scootaloo didn't think it was possible, but AJ pressed against her wing even harder. "W-what?" Scootaloo managed to wheeze out through the pain, "W-what did I-i d-do?" "What did you do? What did you DO?" She punched the wall with her free hoof, only inces away from Scootaloo's (so far) unharmed wing. "You embarresed my little sister, you sent her home in tears, and you made Zecora distraught. What else was there? Oh, yeah, you kept Apple Bloom out of school for days, you made her sad as ever, and you made family productivity fall 80%!" "W-why are y-you d-doing this?" She again narrowly managed to say. She saw Applejack's eyes glance at her other wing once or twice, and she didn't like that idea. "Why? Why?" Scootaloo regreted asking "I'm doing this because you, you little devil, need to be taught a lesson in friendship. Now, usually, Twilight would be doin' this, but I don't care much for her roundabout way of solving things. I like my way: the painful way. Now, you need to learn that just because somepony else is better than you, that's no reason to be jealous." She sounded a little kinder, but Scootaloo could tell she wasn't out of the woods yet. "J-jealous?" Scootaloo said, "I w-wasn't j-jealous." Applejack sighed, and lessened her grip. It was still unbearably painful, but it wasn't as worse as before. "All I'm sayin' is..." She continued, all malice removed from her voice, "Ya shouldn't have jumped to conclusions. So what if she has a Cutie Mark and you don't? What's the difference?" Scootaloo didn't want to remember what happened next. But her mind forced the memories back. She was an idiot. She was stubborn. She was too thick-headed to accept that Applejack was right and she was wrong. There was no excuse for what happened next. AJ let go, dropping Scootaloo to the ground. She was the same old pony again. She turned around and went back to work. That is, until Scootaloo opened her big mouth again. "What's the difference?" She said, with an offended tone in her voice. Applejack turned around. "Now, Scootaloo, I thought we were done with thi-" "What's the difference?" Scootaloo was walking towards Applejack now, "The difference is that Apple Bloom is a lying..." "Now, Scootaloo," Applejack tried to calm her down. "...Good for nothing..." "Scootaloo!" She said again, raising the authority levels of her voice. "...Piece of-" Applejack turned around and bucked. She threw Scootaloo against the wall. The filly got up again and went dashing for the treeline. She was crying. AJ came up behind her and pushed her into the ground, and put her into a headlock. "You take that back!" she shouted. She didn't know why she did, but the next thing Scootaloo said was: "Never!" Applejack repositioned herself so that her elbow rested on Scootaloo's wing. She pushed it into the ground. Scootaloo felt like the bones were ready to snap, but before they could, Big Macintosh saved the day. "AJ!" he shouted from a few hundred meters away. Applejack turned her head, to see Big Macintosh motioning a hoof towards his direction. "You're lucky." She said as she got off Scootaloo. She spat on the ground next to her as she walked off. Scootaloo got up and ran. She still wasn't to the cliffs yet. She had to go up the path still. After that confrontation, Scootaloo was left with two bruised, almost broken, wings. She stepped over a root as she began her ascension using a worn path up the bluff. She looked to the skies, hoping to see something. She did. There were about five Pegasi flying in circles over Whitetail Woods. Oh, how she wished she could join them. ***** There she was, sitting on the top of the Red Cliffs Bluff, watching the Pegasi (Cover image). Tears began to trickle down her cheecks as she began to think. What has her life become? One week, the had two friends goofing off trying to find Cutie Marks, the next she was all alone. She didn't even have Rainbow Dash anymore. She overheard the Pegasus chatting with some friends about how annoying Scootaloo was. Now she was friendless, left alone to look into the skies, hoping to see some sort of hope. But there was nothing. Nothing at all. For hours. But then, Scootaloo looked to the ground, more tears falling from her face. She looked up to see the Pegasi again, still swirling around the air. She admitted it, then and forever: "I have no friends." She said. "Why do you do this to me?" She shouted, looking to the skies, "Why do you curse me as you do?" She was sobbing and crying now. "Why?" she said one last time before giving up. She lay down on the red rocks and cryed silently. Whoosh! Scootaloo was curious. She looked behind her, hoping to find the noise. What she did find were two huge white tendrils coming off of her back! They crackled and sizzled and banged and whooped and whized and whooshed, and almost every noise you could think off. Scootaloo was afraid now. After a few minutes of sizzling and popping, the white began to fade. Scootaloo was amazed! There, on her back, lay two huge wings! She got up, stretched them, and thought: There's only one way to find out if these are real. She took in a deep breath. What do I have to lose, anyway? And with that, Scootaloo charged, and vaulted over the edge of the Red Cliffs Bluff.
The Last of the Valkyries"Oh, Rise through the sky, On beautiful amber wings. Light the sky on fire, With the jealousy you bring. Rise through the sky, Let your will shine through, And they'll come to accept you, Oh, young Scootaloo. For you, my filly, Are different from the rest. You can rise through the ranks, And prove that you are best. Rise through the sky, They know not who you are, But I know clear, A Valkyrie, you are. Ooooohhhhh. Ooohh." Scootaloo was being cradled in her mother's hooves as she sat in front of the fireplace. She had just finished a remedial rhyme that she sang her daughter every night. She wanted her to grow up knowing the truth. That she would never be like everypony else. She'd always be a standout. A sore thumb. But her mother knew that no matter how long it does take, she will learn to fly. It would come naturally. It always did in the Valkyries. She knew that Scootaloo, after years of ridicule and exclusion, would spout Valkryie wings like her mother's, and take to the skies. She would become the fastest, most skilled flyer in Equestria, before she even needed to practice. Her wings would stretch across the sky like the sun and moon. She would captivate her friends, and even her enemies. She would finally become accepted into society. Her mother looked down at her baby, covered by a blanket. All she saw was a few brilliant embers shining upon her glistening amber coat and purple hair. Her wings would be so beautiful. Just like her mother's. Wings resembling that of a Princess, though contributing no size improvements to the Valkyrie herself. They would match her coat, but shine five times brighter. They would spout right when a Valkyrie loses their last friends. Then they would spring from the Valkyrie's body like a horn on a Unicorn. They would create a wonderous glow, a huge flash, and then poof! Wings. Right at this moment, there came a knock on the door. Scootaloo's mother, Vespa, gently lay her child on the chair she was sitting in, tucked under a blanket. She got up, and hovered over to the door. Her red coat was somehow amplified in the firelight. As Vespa opened the door, the room was covered in bright lights. She heard shouts from an unknown stallion. He demanded money. Vespa denied. She tried to close the door, but the stallion had already stuck a light grey hoof between the it and the wall. He swung it back open again, and shouted again for money. Vespa again denied. She tried slamming the door, and managed to close it. That is, until the stalion brought down the door with a magical explosion. He demanded money a third and final time. At this point, Scootaloo was quietly sobbing under her blanket. She was a scared baby, what else was she to do. Vespa denied. At this, the stallion grabbed Vespa by the back hooves using magic, and dragged her out the door. He reassembled the shattered door, and all Scootaloo could hear were the moans and cries of her mother as the Stallion did unspeakable things to her. Then there was one last moan. One last scream. And then the sound of hooves galloping away. Scootaloo was crying now. She was even more afraid as before. Her mother had just been mugged! Scootaloo lay there, under that blanket, for a few hours, until a police squad and an ambulance showed up. The police searched the home, and found little baby Scootaloo, still crying her eyes out. Which she had. She was sobbing and whining, but no tears came from her eyes. The blanket was soaked. They took her from the home, and sent her to a Foster Home. Later, Vespa was taken to the hospital. She was bady hurt. Her back hooves bruised and beaten, and many bones broken. It was a brutal attack. So brutal, in fact, that the doctors could do nothing more to help her. She died of her wounds the next morning. And that was the end of it. That was the end of the Valkyrie bloodline. Except for little baby Scootaloo. The last Valkyrie. Now, you probably need some explanation. You see, the Valkyries are not necessarily ponies. They are heavenly beings that resemble ponies, but with inane flying skills. they could take to the skies for the first time, and automatically become a pro. except there was one little loophole: For a Valkyries wings to form, they must lose every friend they had. This was tradition. Valkyries showed up in Equestria only a few days after it was discovered and claimed. The Valkyries were the original natives, who were placed here in Equestria by circumstance, when the world was in it's infancy. There were no mountains, no trees, and no clouds in the sky. At this time, the Valkyries were not the only inhabitants. There were also the Behemoths, huge lumbering creatures with two heads, and the Sayges, magical beings from the same heavenly body as the Valkyries. The Valkyries put the clouds in the sky, and the wind in the air, the Behemoths put dirt on the ground and trees in the woods, and the Sayges brought the mountains from beneath the surface, and gems from within them. This three-way republic went well for only so long, when the Behemoths and the Sayges got into a civil war. Thankfully to the Valkyries, the war left Equestria, or in that time, Avalon, and went towards the Dragonlands and Changeling hive. They left the Valkyries alone, who now only wanted companionship.They grasiously allowed the Earth Ponies and Unicorns to inhabit, but they knew nothing of Commander Hurricane, who had already begun the return journey to bring back her people. Private Panzi couldn't be bothered to meet the Valkyries. She was only cowering in the Whendigo Cave. However, eventually Valkaries became the envy of the Pegasi, an up-and-coming new race of ponies also blessed with the ability to fly. The Pegasi rebelled. The Valkyries were unaccepted in society. They were executed, banished, and even hunted. Almost every Valkyrie that populated Equestria was either killed or driven to some faraway foriegn country. However, a stallion Valkyrie still remained in Equestria, under a disguise spell cast by his love. His name was Harley. Harley Davidson, to be exact. He lived in Equestria disguised for years. When he was finally uncovered for his true identity, he was not killed or banished; he was praised. He became a symbol of the Valkyrie Civil Rights Movement. His son, Hog, continued on his legacy. By Hog's death, Valkyries had earned their freedom to live in Equestria, but many didn't return. They thought it was all a ploy by the Equestrian government to wipe them out once and for all. Hog carried on his life in Equestria without ridicule. He married a unicorn and had a daughter: Vespa. She lived her life, too, and after a night in Las Pegasus, there was Scootaloo, named after Vespa's great grandfather, Scooter, and Scootaloo's father, Hullabaloo. And then there was that night when she was mugged. And Scoots was taken into custody. And the Valkyrie bloodline was brought down to it's last member: Scootaloo.
Crusading...Equestria's scenic Whitetail Woods were quiet with the rising sun. So serene, that many could have mistaken it for a normal day. But nothing is a normal day when these three are around. Suddenly, the silence is broken by a loud bang from a few miles away, which forces the birds in the trees to take to the skies. Then there's another bang. And then another. Finally, all three little fillies fall out of the sky, smack down in the middle of the road. "Anything, girls?" Asked Apple Bloom. Sweetie Belle got up and looked at her flank. "No." she sighed. "Me niether." Apple Bloom said, standing like her friend. "Ugh. No." Said Scootaloo. She too was standing. "I guess we won't be the Cutie Mark Crusaders Cannonballs." She looked down at her hooves. "Oh, it's okay, Scootaloo. We've all had our fair share of failed ideas." Comforted Sweetie. "Yeah. All we have to do is keep at it and we're sure to get our Cutie Marks." Agreed Apple Bloom. "Speakin' of which..." She continued with an evil grin, "I think I know what we can do!" She leaned over and whispered it into Sweetie's ear. Sweetie Belle's eyes lit up. "Yeah!" She exclaimed, her voice cracking majorly, "We can be Cutie Mark Crusaders Phycics!" Scootaloo approved this idea. She shouted in exitement as she summoned her scooter from the thin air behind her, along with three helmets, and they were off, rocketing down the road to Ponyville to find Pinkie Pie. ***** Pinkie Pie was trotting around Sugar Cube Corner, with three little fillies standing in the doorway behind her. She was cheery and happy as always. "Aw, come on, Pinkie!" Apple Bloom pleaded. "Teach us how to be phycics!" Pinkie dropped the salt shacker in her mouth and turned her head-without moving her body-backwards towards the fillies. "Phycics?" She questioned joyfully, somehow extending her neck several feet to reach them, "I don't know anything about phycics." She innocently whipped her head back into position and grabbed the salt shaker off the floor, returning to work. Scootaloo was fidgeting with her hooves while the other two tried to persuade Pinkie. "Oh, come on!" exclaimed Sweetie Belle, "What about that whole 'Madame Pinkie Pie' business?" She said, putting quotations around Madame Pinkie Pie. Pinkie again shot upward, as if scared stiff. "Madame Pinkie Pie?!" She exclaimed. She quickly turned and shot at the young ones, forcing the unsuspecting Scootaloo to jump out of the room. Pinkie eyed the other two with one eye each, somehow making them split in the middle. "Who told you about Madame Pinkie Pie?" She asked quickly, in an ominous way. "Uhh..." Apple Bloom tried to speak, but the stangeness of the pony in front of her was overwhelming. Scootaloo sprang up behind her friends. "Twilight told us when we asked her about being Cutie Mark Crusaders Time Travellers." "Oh, okay." Pinkie said. She jumped back up with a smile on her face. She returned to work. After a few minutes, Apple Bloom asked again, "So, can you teach us how to be Phycic?" Pinkie became confused. "Phycics?" She asked. Apple Bloom had a feeling she knew where this was going. "I don't know anything about phycics." Pinkie said. ***** Scootaloo, Apple Bloom, and Sweetie Belle were out of ideas. They sat in Ponyville park thinking. Sweetie was singing to herself, Apple Bloom was studying the grass, and Scootaloo was pacing around, watching Rainbow Dash. Each one of them were too oblivious to see their talents, even when they were right in front of their eyes. "Girls!" Exclaimed Apple Bloom while watching a gardner. "I know what we can do!" "What?" asked Sweetie, again with a voice crack. "We can be gardners!" "We already tried that, remember?" Reminded Scootaloo, "We chopped the heads of leaf sculptures." "What about singers?" Sweetie asked. "We tried that, too, Sweetie." said Apple Bloom, "And we made fools of ourselves in front of the whole school." "Hmmm." Thought Scootaloo, looking to the skies. "Maybe we should try flying!" "Hello." Mocked Sweetie, "We don't have wings, and yours are to puny to get you off the ground!" "Good point." At this time, Zecora was walking through the park. She stopped when she saw the Cutie Mark Crusaders. She gave them a friendly greeting, "Ah, hello, my little friends, this park has many twists and bends. I've seen ponies from all around, sitting on this one ground." "Hey, Zecora!" Apple Bloom asked, suddenly obvious to the sayge in front of her, "Can you help us find our special talents?" Zecora thought for a moment and said, "I cannot help as much as you want, but I have a new tome, and go to waste, it shall not!" The CMC was unsure what this meant, until Zecora led them into her hut. There was an open book on a steeple, and as usual, a cauldron in the center. "Here is the book, I spoke about," began Zecora once the fillies were all inside, "I hope that you can figure it out." With this, she turned to a rack of spices and plants, throwing each in the cauldron. Apple Bloom saw what she was doing and asked, "Hey, what's this here?" She looked into the cauldron. Zecora answered, "It's a little experiment I'm working on, to make sure that friends don't lose their bond." "So," Apple Bloom began, "It's a potion." She concluded the obvious. "Yes." Zecora nodded. Amazingly, she only said one word! No rhyme to it! "Well," Apple Bloom began giving advice. "If somepony's gonna be drinkin' this, you may not wanna put so much thistle and Yaka bush in there." Zecora immediately spotted her mistake. "My, my, Apple Bloom, do you know more of plants in this room?" "Of course I do! Applejack's been teaching me 'bout plants since I was a baby!" While Apple Bloom went and talked with Zecora about how to prepare such a potion, the other two were observing the tome. Scootaloo was reading aloud from the section labeled 'THE UNIQUE STYLE OF THE CUTIE MARK' "Well," Began Scootaloo, "It says here, 'The Cutie mark is sought out by all young ponies, and many have formed groups to try and find theirs in masses." "Like us!" Sweetie exclaimed, again with another voice crack. That tended to happen when she was exited. But never when she sung. When she sung, she sounded like an angel. "Yeah." Scootaloo agreed. "Anyway, 'But none of these groups have ever seen success.'" Scootaloo became wide-eyed, and Sweetie gasped. This caught Apple Blooms attention. She asked," what's all this goin' on, now?" Scootaloo continued, "'The secret behind getting a cutie mark is that no two are the same. Therefore, no groups of ponies will ever achieve success, not even in team activities like acapella and hoofball. Every pony must pursue a different talent if they want a cutie mark.'" "Wow." Sweetie said, "You mean that the Cute Mark Cusaders will never find their Cutie marks?" "Not exactly." Said Scootaloo, "I think what it means is that we will find our Cutie Marks, but we'll all have different ones. And we'll have to do it seperately." This was heartbreaking to all of them, but none wanted to admit it, so Apple Bloom just said, "Well, all I know is that I know a thing or two about plants and potionmaking, so I'll stay here with Zecora." Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle agreed and left the hut, on their way back to Ponyville. Neither knew what they were going to do. All they knew was that they were going to find their Cute Marks.
FriendlessSweetie Belle was walking down Equestria Avenue in Ponyville, looking for Scootaloo. She was late again for finding a talent. Even though they were devastated that they could no longer work together, the CMC were still a social group. At least, that was what Sweetie believed. Obviously, Scootaloo had been held up somewhere. As if on cue, Scootaloo dashed out of an industrial workshop. She joined Sweetie on the street, who immediately asked, "What in Equestria were you doing in there?" Scootaloo replied, catching her breath, "Turning in some blueprints. I figure I could get my Cutie Mark in inventing." "What makes you think that?" Asked Sweetie, an obvious undertone of doubt in her voice. "Well, I invented plenty of stuff! Like the Treehouse. Yeah, I designed that." She said cokily. "Hm." Sweetie said, pushing the conversation aside, "Have you seen Apple Bloom anywhere?" "No, but isn't today another one of her Zecora apprentacing days?" "Oh, yeah." Sweetie remembered, then catching the glimpse of a yellow filly with a big red bow on her head and an enormous smile charging towards them said, "Oh, here she comes!" "GIRLS! GIRLS!" She screamed. She screeched to a halt in front of Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo. Each of them had their eyes glued to Apple Bloom's flank, for there, lay a picture of a flower in full bloom. "Isn't it great?" Apple Bloom asked, obvious to her they were staring at it. "Zecora said I got it 'cuz I got a real knack for plants." The other two couldn't say a word. Here, standing in front of them, was Apple Bloom; with a Cutie Mark! "Wow, Apple Bloom!" Scootaloo was the first to speak up. She suddenly got annoyed, "Is it real this time?" Apple Bloom was offended. Here she was, exited out of her mind because she just got her freaking Cutie Mark, and the first thing Scootaloo asks is 'Is it real?'. "Of course it's real!" She snapped back, "Why wouldn't it be?" "All I'm saying is that last time you 'got' a Cute mark," She was angry with Apple Bloom now, "It turned out to be fake and cause us a lot of heartbreak." Apple Bloom was angry back, "Well, excuse me if I got desperate once, but this time it's different!" "Oh, suuurrreee it is." Scootaloo mocked, "And I'm a chicken." Sweetie Belle had had nearly enough. She couldn't stand by while her two only friends tore each other apart. "you are a chicken." Apple Bloom detested, "And this time it is different. Why would I lie to you about this, Scootaloo? We're friends." "You tell me why. And we are not friends. Not anymore." With this, Scootaloo turned her back on Sweetie and Apple Bloom, and walked back down the street, tears in her eyes. But she couldn't let them see. Apple Bloom wanted to apologize, but she was too stubborn. "You bet we ain't." She said, and walked back towards the way she came. Sweetie was left alone in the street. She didn't know which of her friends to go comfort. Both were saddened beyond help. Sweetie Belle was torn. Which did she chose? Apple Bloom, practically her cousin, or Scootaloo, the poor orphan? She chose Scootaloo. She seemed like she needed more comforting. She raced up behind Scoots. "Hey, Scootaloo," he said, trying not to get her even more upset. "Go away." She replied. ***** It had been a week since Scootaloo and Apple Bloom had their big fight, and still neither wanted to admit they were wrong. Sweetie was still in the middle of it. But Scootaloo had cheered up. Now, she and Sweetie Belle were sitting in the park, talking about their latest attempts at getting their Cutie Marks. "Well, the inventing idea was a bust. They rejected my blueprints for a flying machine." Scootaloo said. "Did you remember to draw it on blueprint paper?" Quarried Sweeite. Scootaloo shoved her face into the ground. "Well, I haven't been doing too well, either. My fasion career was a 'bust', as Rarity put it." Sweetie consulated. "Well, have you thought that you should do something other than fasion?" "Well, I have thought about singing. I'm pretty good at that. Wanna hear something?" "Sure. What is it?" "It's a poem I read in a really old book. Here goes." She cleared her throat, and in a symphonic voice, started singing: "Oh, Rise through the sky, On beautiful amber wings. Light the sky on fire, With the jealousy you bring. Rise through the sky, Let your will shine through, And they'll come to accept you, As long as you stay true. For you, my filly, Are different from the rest. You can rise through the ranks, And prove that you are best. Rise through the sky, They know not who you are, But I know clear, A Valkyrie, you are. Ooooohhhhh. Ooohh." Scootaloo was speechless. She was frozen. She didn't know where, or when, but she had heard that song. That rhyme. "Hey, Sweetie," She began, without looking up from the ground. Before she could finish, a stallion came galloping in front of Sweetie Belle. "Excuse me, miss." "Yeah?" replied Sweetie Belle unsurely. This was a peculiar fellow. She forgot all about what Scootaloo was trying to say. "My name is Armstrong. Edwin Armstrong, and I'm looking for the source of that be-a-utiful singing! Do you know where exactly I can find the singer?" "Yeah." She said again, in a sort of matter-of-fact way. "That was me." Edwin laughed. "You mean to tell me that you: a selfless little filly like yourself, are the voice behind that magnificent tune?" "Yes. Yes I do." She said, trying to portray herself as somepony who had control of themself. "Well, then, missy, you could just be the next big thing of FM radio. You see, I have a vision." He came next to Sweetie, put his left hoof around her neck, and pointed his right across the sky, "I have a vision of ponies tuning in to FM radio regularly. A set time every day, to hear you, my little filly of wonders, singing. You'll be famous!" he returned to his original place standing in front of her. "You in?" he asked. Sweetie was amazed! Right here, standing in front of her, was a stallion with the means to give her what she'd been dreaming about for months: a Cutie Mark! "Yeah!" she spurted out, with yet another crack in her voice. "Great!" replied Armstrong, "I'll see you at the radio station first thing tomorrow morning. Here's my card." He finished, giving Sweetie a card, and trotting away. "This is awesome!" exclaimed the white filly, "This is my chance, Scootaloo! My chance to become a big shot and finally earn my Cutie Mark!" "Great" Scootaloo faked a smile. ***** Sure enough, Sweetie had visited Edwin Armstrong at his studio first thing the next morning. And she continued doing so for weeks. Until one day... One fateful day... She returned to Scootaloo with great news. "SCOOTALOO!" Sweetie shouted as she charged her way through the trees towards the treehouse. There was a sign there that had been for weeks: a shillouette of Apple Bloom with a huge red slash through it. SHe climbed the physically impossible to exist steps and entered the humble club hideout. "You're not going to belive this!" "What?" she exitedly asked. She was hoping Sweetie had goten her first paycheck. Armstrong had been ging on about how he couldn't pay Sweetie every week because of financial trouble, and he always promised double the next week. Sweetie had devoted that money to either fixing up the current one, or making a completely new clubhouse. Scootaloo figured that with the money Armstrong had been promising, it would total up to at least a quarter of a million, plenty of money to buy a new clubhouse. But no. There was no paycheck. There was no money. There was only two things. Two painful little notes. Smack dab in the middle of Sweetie Belle's flank. "You see!" Sweetie shouted in exitement, turning so Scootaloo could see her new Cutie Mark better. "I got my Cutie Mark in singing!" "That's great." Said Scootaloo. This time, she couldn't fake a smile. She couldn't do anything. She just walked out. Out of the treehouse. Out of Ponyville Over to the red cliffs.
WingsThe path from Ponyville to the Red Cliffs was a long one. Plenty of time to reflect on the day's events. How could her so called 'friends' do this to her? First, Apple Bloom rejected Scootaloo like last week's apple, and then Sweetie, paying no mind to her friend, decides to up and get a Cute Mark! She knew it wasn't her fault, but it still was a rude way to break the news. And Scootaloo was also mostly to blame. It wasn't right to just walk out, but she had had a pretty bad day. It all started with that talk with Applejack. That was why her wings were bruised. It all started when Scootaloo left the Ponyville Industrial Factory after turning in her latest blueprints (written on real bluprint paper this time!). She passed through the trees over to Sweet Apple Acres. It was a routine route to the clubhouse, but still one she hadn't made since the Apple Bloom incident. She passed the orchard and barn without problem, but when she got to the farmhouse, that's where the trouble started. Applejack was bucking a tree-rather angrily-when Scootaloo passed. When AJ caught sight of the filly, she stopped what she was doing, grabbed the smaller one aorund the neck, and dragged her over to the house. She threw her against the wall, picked her up again, and pinned her to the wood by the shrimpy wing. She was pressing hard. Scootaloo winced and rubbed her wing at the thought. The Applejack leaned in close, with rage in her eyes, and said directly into Scootaloo's face: "How dare you!" She increased her grip, squeezing the tiny limb against the wall. Scootaloo could almost feel the bones aching. Applejack continued, "Why would ya do that to my Apple Bloom? Huh?" Scootaloo didn't think it was possible, but AJ pressed against her wing even harder. "W-what?" Scootaloo managed to wheeze out through the pain, "W-what did I-i d-do?" "What did you do? What did you DO?" She punched the wall with her free hoof, only inces away from Scootaloo's (so far) unharmed wing. "You embarresed my little sister, you sent her home in tears, and you made Zecora distraught. What else was there? Oh, yeah, you kept Apple Bloom out of school for days, you made her sad as ever, and you made family productivity fall 80%!" "W-why are y-you d-doing this?" She again narrowly managed to say. She saw Applejack's eyes glance at her other wing once or twice, and she didn't like that idea. "Why? Why?" Scootaloo regreted asking "I'm doing this because you, you little devil, need to be taught a lesson in friendship. Now, usually, Twilight would be doin' this, but I don't care much for her roundabout way of solving things. I like my way: the painful way. Now, you need to learn that just because somepony else is better than you, that's no reason to be jealous." She sounded a little kinder, but Scootaloo could tell she wasn't out of the woods yet. "J-jealous?" Scootaloo said, "I w-wasn't j-jealous." Applejack sighed, and lessened her grip. It was still unbearably painful, but it wasn't as worse as before. "All I'm sayin' is..." She continued, all malice removed from her voice, "Ya shouldn't have jumped to conclusions. So what if she has a Cutie Mark and you don't? What's the difference?" Scootaloo didn't want to remember what happened next. But her mind forced the memories back. She was an idiot. She was stubborn. She was too thick-headed to accept that Applejack was right and she was wrong. There was no excuse for what happened next. AJ let go, dropping Scootaloo to the ground. She was the same old pony again. She turned around and went back to work. That is, until Scootaloo opened her big mouth again. "What's the difference?" She said, with an offended tone in her voice. Applejack turned around. "Now, Scootaloo, I thought we were done with thi-" "What's the difference?" Scootaloo was walking towards Applejack now, "The difference is that Apple Bloom is a lying..." "Now, Scootaloo," Applejack tried to calm her down. "...Good for nothing..." "Scootaloo!" She said again, raising the authority levels of her voice. "...Piece of-" Applejack turned around and bucked. She threw Scootaloo against the wall. The filly got up again and went dashing for the treeline. She was crying. AJ came up behind her and pushed her into the ground, and put her into a headlock. "You take that back!" she shouted. She didn't know why she did, but the next thing Scootaloo said was: "Never!" Applejack repositioned herself so that her elbow rested on Scootaloo's wing. She pushed it into the ground. Scootaloo felt like the bones were ready to snap, but before they could, Big Macintosh saved the day. "AJ!" he shouted from a few hundred meters away. Applejack turned her head, to see Big Macintosh motioning a hoof towards his direction. "You're lucky." She said as she got off Scootaloo. She spat on the ground next to her as she walked off. Scootaloo got up and ran. She still wasn't to the cliffs yet. She had to go up the path still. After that confrontation, Scootaloo was left with two bruised, almost broken, wings. She stepped over a root as she began her ascension using a worn path up the bluff. She looked to the skies, hoping to see something. She did. There were about five Pegasi flying in circles over Whitetail Woods. Oh, how she wished she could join them. ***** There she was, sitting on the top of the Red Cliffs Bluff, watching the Pegasi (Cover image). Tears began to trickle down her cheecks as she began to think. What has her life become? One week, the had two friends goofing off trying to find Cutie Marks, the next she was all alone. She didn't even have Rainbow Dash anymore. She overheard the Pegasus chatting with some friends about how annoying Scootaloo was. Now she was friendless, left alone to look into the skies, hoping to see some sort of hope. But there was nothing. Nothing at all. For hours. But then, Scootaloo looked to the ground, more tears falling from her face. She looked up to see the Pegasi again, still swirling around the air. She admitted it, then and forever: "I have no friends." She said. "Why do you do this to me?" She shouted, looking to the skies, "Why do you curse me as you do?" She was sobbing and crying now. "Why?" she said one last time before giving up. She lay down on the red rocks and cryed silently. Whoosh! Scootaloo was curious. She looked behind her, hoping to find the noise. What she did find were two huge white tendrils coming off of her back! They crackled and sizzled and banged and whooped and whized and whooshed, and almost every noise you could think off. Scootaloo was afraid now. After a few minutes of sizzling and popping, the white began to fade. Scootaloo was amazed! There, on her back, lay two huge wings! She got up, stretched them, and thought: There's only one way to find out if these are real. She took in a deep breath. What do I have to lose, anyway? And with that, Scootaloo charged, and vaulted over the edge of the Red Cliffs Bluff.
