It was a nice day, the sun was shining and all was peaceful across the magical land.
“I’ll race ya to the park!” the unicorn filly blurted right before sprinting off, drawing the attention of the pegasus colt.
“Hey! no fair, I wasn’t ready yet!” he said, galloping after her.
They whizzed by the urban sprawl, the unicorn slowly becoming more of a dot on the horizon.
An idea hit the colt as he ran after the filly and a mischievous grin grew across his face. He started flapping his wings and took to the sky. The wind bombarded him as he flew faster and faster.
He soon passed the filly overhead, only stopping once he reached the green oasis in the city.
The filly finally arrived at the park, she was panting and a little bit flustered.
“Hey, You cheated!” she yelled.
The colt smiled smugly, still floating in the air. “You never said anything about using just my hooves.”
The filly let out a small growl and levitated herself into the air with a purple aura. The colt was then swiftly tackled out of the sky. He let loose a series of guffaws and giggles as the filly wrestled him on the grass. She soon joined him in his mirth and they ended up laying on their backs looking up at the sky.
They laid there for a while, watching the clouds roll by, Imagining animals they saw in their shapes.
“What’s it like to fly?” the filly suddenly asked.
“what do you mean?” the colt turned his attention towards her.
“You know, what its like to be amongst the clouds, wind in your face, seeing the world down below, that kind of thing.”
The colt chewed on his cheek as he contemplated her words. “I don’t know, I guess its kinda like walking only you can see more stuff around you” The colt looked away, embarrassed that he couldn’t come up with a better answer.
The filly didn’t notice and continued to stare up at the sky. “Some day I’ll fly up there”
The colt gave her a confused look. “But how? only pegasi can fly.”
“So? I’ll just use magic or build a machine or something. And when I do I’ll be the greatest flyer in Equestria!” She struck a triumphant pose that made the colt giggle.
The filly huffed, “ Don’t laugh, I’m serious!”
“Sorry,” the colt quieted his snickering. “ You wanna go on the swings while we talk about it some more?” he said, giving her a playful smile.
The filly smiled back “Sure!”
They trotted off to the swings enjoying this beautiful day.
………………………………………………………………………….
Wheelie’s eyelids began to crack open, He saw nothing but blurry grey. His eyes began to focus, he was staring at the ceiling. He stayed like that for a while, as per his usual morning ritual, not even turning his head until a good ten minutes have passed.
When he finally did, what he saw caught him off guard, an orange filly sitting on his table watching the snow fall outside the window.
“What the fuck are you doing?” he asked before his mind could catch up with him.
The young pegasus yelped, jumping up before crashing down on the table, causing it to tip over and fall to the ground in a large crash.
The stallion soon remembered the events of yesterday, letting out a grumble before sitting up. He rubbed his eyes with his hooves before taking a gander at the mess beside him. The old chipped table was on its side with scootaloo laying in a dizzy heap beside one of the chairs nearest to the kitchen.
Wheelie slowly got up and stood the table back up right before stepping over scootaloo to get to the fridge.
He opened the refrigerator door to see what he could satisfy himself with. A couple of apples, a few carrots, a quarter full bag of hash, a half a carton of spoiled milk and three cans of beer in the back was all that lay in the icebox. While thinking, he heard the sound of a stomach growling behind him.
He grabbed the bag of hash browns and set out to cook it up. Soon, he had two small plates of hash browns made. He placed them on his back and headed for the table.
Two large purple eyes watched him as he placed each plate at opposite ends of the table and proceeded to sit down. She watched him sluggishly munch on the food, his cherry red mane falling in his dull purple eyes. He was still wearing the worn tan jacket and scarf he came home yesterday in. To Scootaloo, he looked like one of those walking cadavers from old horror stories.
“ Are you gonna eat?” he suddenly looked at her with that seemingly harsh gaze he always had, making her flinch.
His attention went back to his food as Scootaloo slowly began approaching the table. She sat down in the other remaining chair. Her mouth began to water at the plate of food in front of her, its smell seemingly overpowering the stench of the residence. She began to scarf it down as quickly as she could, she hadn’t eaten yesterday. After eating the last bite, Scootaloo was disappointed to see none of it left and turned her attention back to Wheelie to distract herself. He was still eating his food and had a little more than half a plate left. She then remembered something her mother told before she left.
“Are you really my dad?” she asked, once again staring at him curiously with those big, purple orbs of hers.
He froze for almost a split second before replying. “Doesn’t matter.”
She went quiet, but for only just a moment.
“Do you have a name?”
Wheelie looked up from his food and gave her an almost deadpan expression.
“Yes,” he said, returning his attention back to his food.
“Well um, what is it?”
“ Wheelie,” he said, not averting his eyes from his meal.
Scootaloo tapped her hooves together in a nervous in a nervous fashion. “So um, what do you like to do around here?”
“Factory work.”
“That’s it?”
The stallion let out an annoyed sigh. “No, I sit around and let fillies yap at me all the time.”
After that it was silent for almost a full minute before it was once again shattered.
“Really?”
Wheelie silently pushed his plate towards Scootaloo and got up.
“If you’re still hungry, you can have the rest of my plate,” he said, heading towards the door.
“Where are you going?”
“I’m going to go find your mother,” He opened the door. “I might be awhile so don’t do anything stupid while I’m gone.” The door slam shut and Scootaloo was alone once again. Her face fell as she listened to the hoofsteps travel down the hall.
…………………………………………………………………………..
Wheelie sat in the darkening alley way.While the snow had stopped falling, the cold convinced most ponies to stay indoors. Wheelie didn’t mind.
He took a small sip of whiskey while admiring some graffiti, growing calmer.
Wheelie knew there was little chance on finding this mare he hadn’t seen in years and he probably should have asked Scootaloo if she knew anything before he left.
“Fucking idiot,” he said out loud to himself before taking another small sip. If he wasn’t so damn nervous maybe he could have asked her before he left.
He took another sip, He could always just return, get some answers and then continue his search.
Wheelie let out a shiver but not from the cold.
There was no way in Tartarus he could return so soon with his frayed nerves..
He let out a deep breath, Wheelie was on his own for now.
Wheelie looked down the alley way, he saw a stallion harnessed to a clunky old carriage pass by. He met Leeway in a place similar to this all those years ago.
“Get the fuck out of here you loud pieces of shit before I break your fucking heads off and shove them up your asses!” My eyes were blurry from sleep.
“Thanks for scaring off those weirdos, is there anyway I can repay you?”
“It’s no problem.”
“Nonsense, how about I treat you to a few drinks and a night around town?”
“Um, huh, sure, I guess.”
She smiled
“I’m really sorry, Wheelie, but I can’t associate myself with a pony such as yourself any longer. I hope you can understand.”
“You are garbage, Wheelie Wheels, your very existence adds nothing but more filth to this world. You should do Equestria a favor and go throw yourself in a river!”
Wheelie snorted and put away his whiskey. He left the alley way, he might as well go make an attempt while he’s out.
……………………………………………………………………...
Scootaloo was sitting around making popping noises with her mouth that some might consider slightly aggravating.
The plate of food had long since been eaten and right now Scootaloo was trying to stop boredom from ending her existence.
Wheelie sure did not have many fun things inside his home, she wondered how he could stand it. She looked at the door, she also wondered when he was going to return or if he was going actually going to find her mom. Or if she could face her...
The door gave her an idea, though. She had spent most of yesterday sitting next to Wheelie’s room and didn’t get a chance to to see the rest of the building. Maybe she should go exploring! She could pretend to be a treasure hunter looking for ancient artifacts or she could be a great warrior looking for monsters to slay.
She trotted to the door and opened it. Her mind was made up, she was at least going to have a little fun before the scary stallion came back and she had to face the music.
She sneaked across the cracked wall and pretended the floor was lava, the the doors became bars and the lights became torches.
Scootaloo hurried along until the wall until she reached the end of the imaginary lava. She Hopped into a crouch shifting her eyes to see any approaching bad guys.
A creak in the floor, Booby traps! She sprinted forward dodging the flurry of arrows. A close one!
It was time for Scootaloo to get serious, She pulled out her trusty explorer hat and placed it on her head. She smirked at the puny trap and headed down the dark dangerous corridor!
Scootaloo heard the sounds of rattling chains of some far off ghouls and the creepy noises of this obviously haunted castle as she crept slowly to some stairs. No, not just stairs , a big, winding gothic stairwell. She took a deep breath, gave her wings a flutter and prepared to descend its treacherous depths.
Suddenly, the growl of some fierce monster shook the door next to the stairwell ajar. Scootaloo let out a shiver, whatever made that noise sounded terrifying. She slowly pushed the door open and peeked inside. There laying on a bed fit for a king was a vile troll! Its toothy mouth opened big and wide before letting out a hearty snore, shaking the castle to its foundation. Scootaloo fell over on her rump, dizzy from the constant assault of sawing logs but she was one not to be deterred!
Scootaloo stood up only to be knocked down by another guttural tremor caused by the old mare, er I mean troll.
“Sheesh, she sure is loud,” Scootaloo grumbled.
“Huh? Who said that!?” The landmare shot upright in her bed causing Scootaloo to jump in the air like a scared cat before darting out the room.
The landmare turned her head just in time to see the purple tail of a foal exit out her door.
“Hey, come back here you hooligan!” She jumped out of bed and moved as quickly as her legs could carry her. She flung open the door and leapt into the hallway with a snarl. The hallway appeared devoid of life, save for a single cricket making music somewhere. She glared in the direction of the crickets chirping, instantly stopping, it before turning around and looking down the stairs.
Finding nothing she let out a frustrated growl and headed back to her room grumbling irritably at whoever had the gall to disturb her sleep.
…………………………………………………………………………………….
The evening was fresh when Wheelie finally returned home. He was met with a suspiciously guilty looking orange pegasus that was sitting at the table.
“Is something wrong with you?”
“Nope, nothing happened! Nothing at all!” Scootaloo looked away and began to whistle.
Wheelie raised an eyebrow at her behavior but let it go for now. He had more important things to discuss.
“Anyway, I couldn’t find your mother.”
The young filly’s face lost some of its energy. “Um yeah, I could see that…” She began drawing little imaginary circles on the table with her hoof.
“Yeah..It turns out trying to find somepony you haven’t seen in years is…. Difficult,” Wheelie’s frown sharpened and his eyes lost a little luster. “I Probably should have asked if you knew anything before I left...”
Scootaloo sat there blankly, an awkward tension hung in the air.
“Do you know where your mom might be, Kid?”
“Why does it matter? Its not like she wants me,” Scootaloo said sharply.
Wheelie gave a menacing scowl before placing a hoof to his forehead, gently rubbing it. He took a deep breath before he spoke.
“Look kid, I don’t care about the little fucking feud you’re having with your mom. If you know anything, you’re gonna fucking tell me so I can go find that stupid ass mare, get you out of this shithole and the fuck away from me.” he snarled.
“Even if I wanted to, I wouldn’t be able to go back,” she replied a small edge of hate was unexpectedly in her voice.
“And why the fuck not!?” Scootaloo flinched backwards.
“BECAUSE I CAN’T FLY!” She yelled out, causing Wheelie to step back.
Scootaloo’s words caused a storm of confusion inside Wheelie. The filly was panting from her outburst, tears threatening to fall from her eyes. Whatever words Wheelie was about to utter became lost and he simply waited for the filly to continue.
“I tried and tried and tried but I couldn’t do, I couldn’t fly,” A stream of tears began to fall from her face. “She got really mad and said I was useless and a d-disgrace to pegasi everywhere.” A puddle was starting to form on the table as Scootaloo began to break down even more. Her brow furrowed and her expression became hard. “I don’t want to see her again, she doesn’t want me she, said so herself, thats why she left me at your door.” Scootaloo looked at Wheelie and waited for an answer when none came she continued.
“If you still want to find her she said something about moving to some cloud city. Th-the only o-one I know of is Cloudsdale so if-” The little filly was openly crying now, struggling to stay coherent.
“Forget about it, If she threw you away like trash she’ll do it again. That just how ponies are, if you’re not the way they want you to be they rather let you rot,” Wheelie’s once again lost its energy and became stone. “Besides, the skies are no place for the flightless.”
Scootaloo stopped crying, and just sat there..
With his attempt at reassurance failed, Wheelie was not sure what to do or where to go from here.
Then a thought struck him.He only had a couple of choices right now, neither of them he liked. Could he even do it? Honestly, he didn’t think he could but in a scenario like this the only thing he could do was pick the lesser of two evils.
“Um, There is something I need to take care of real quick, I will be back in a few minutes…….sorry” With a newfound determination, Wheelie trotted to his mattress and reached inside a hole in on the side. He pulled out a small bag of bits. he placed the bag of bits in his coat and trotted to the door and began to reach for the knob.
“One day I will fly.” A small voice said. Wheelie stopped moving and listened to what it had to say.
Scootaloo was standing behind him. “I don’t care what my mom, you or whoever says one day I will fly and I’ll be the greatest flyer in Equestria!” And with that she stomped her hoof with a power and determination that would make the whole world tremble.”You’ll see…”
Wheelie froze there in front of the door for several long minutes and then left without saying a word
………………………………………………………………………………….
Wheelie knocked on the simple door which was proceeded by a crash on the other side and then a series of curses.
“I’m coming, I’m coming, Hold your horses.” He heard the muffled voice of an older mare.
The door opened revealing a light blue earth pony with several multicolored hair curlers in her mane and a cigarette in her mouth.
“ You again!?” The landmare screeched “You better be here to give me the rent or you’re gonna be in a world of hurt!”
Wheelie removed the pouch of bits from his jacket and handed it to the mare. “I need to continue staying here.” he stated.
The landmare gave him a look of surprise and then a wry smirk “So ya finally decided to give in, huh? You’re lucky, I was going to buck you to the curb come tomorrow.” The mare emptied the bag into her hoof and began counting the bits.
“Ain’t enough, you’re 100 bits short, Buster!” She gave Wheelie a scowl and placed the bits back in the bag.
‘I’ll be able to give you the rest by the end by this month along with next month’s rent” replied Wheelie.
“What makes you think I’ll wait that long, huh?” the landmare gave her cigarette a long drag and blew the smoke in Wheelie’s face.
Wheelie’s face scrunched up and he let out a deep sigh, fighting the urge to break something. It made what he was about to say just a little more difficult. “ Is there anything that would make you reconsider?” He said in the most polite tone he could manage.
The landmare put a hoof up to her chin in thought before smiling devilishly. “ Well this place could use some fixing up, If you do a little work for me I might reconsider.”
Wheelie’s eyes narrowed at the old mare but he relented “ Fine.”
“Alright then, I’ll get with ya tomorrow about it. Now leave me alone, its getting late and I have things to do.” The landmare promptly slammed the door in his face.
Wheelie blinked a few times and let out a series of deep breaths before trotting back to his room.
………………………………………………..
Wheelie shut the door and headed for his bed. he sat on his be and began rubbing his temples. He reached for a bottle by the side of his bed and cradled it in his hooves. He snuck a glance over at scootaloo. She was in a corner staring forlornly at the ground.
“Did you get cold last night?” He asked, placing the bottle beside him.
“Hm?” She grumble, not looking up.
“I said, did you get cold last night.” He said with a little more volume.
“I guess…” She replied, her earlier enthusiasm seemingly lost.
Wheelie pulled of his jacket and scarf and tossed it to the floor. “ I don’t have any blankets or beds you can sleep on. You’re going to have to make due with this.”
Scootaloo looked up at the slightly dirty articles of clothing in confusion.
“I’m going to need them back in the morning when I go to work, So don’t mess them up.” He continued.
“You mean, You’re letting me stay? Scootaloo turned her gaze towards the stallion before suddenly gasping.
“Yes, for now. I’m not going to kick you to the stree-”
“What happened to your wing!?”
For as long as scootaloo had known him, she had never seen him without his jacket before and hadn’t even known he was a pegasus. Now she had a glimpse of his thin, bony form. His right wing was fine, if a little neglected for a preening. His left wing was underdeveloped and malformed, firmly held against his side, most likely grounding him for life.
“Its none of your business” He replied coldly.
“B-” she tried to protest
“I said no!” He turned away from her and began to wrestle the cap off the bottle.
His hooves wouldn’t twist the cap off the bottle and he was beginning to sweat. His heart began to race and he didn’t think he could take anymore of this day. He needed something to help him relax. Now.
Just when he was about to lose it two small hooves wrapped around his midsection.
“AHH!!” He smashed the bottle against the floor in fright, scattering liquor and glass on the floor. He began hyperventilating, Scootaloo stopped her hug and gave him a look of concern.
“I’m sorry! Are you okay?” She said quickly.
After a minute Wheelie’s breathing began to slow. “Dammit kid, what the fuck!?”
Scootaloo shrank back. “I’m sorry, I just wanted to thank you and tell you everything will be okay.”
Wheelie really did not know what to say to that.
“Its f-fine, Just don’t do something like that again, okay?” Wheelie replied shakily.
Wheelie took a few more deep breaths before taking a look at the floor . The carpet was now wet and covered in glass causing him to tense. “ I need to clean this shit off the floor, do you want anything before I start? Are you hungry?” He asked, trying to hide his aggravation.
“A little.” she replied sheepishly.
“I have couple of apples would you like them”
“Sure,” she smiled.