Scootaloo zoomed along, desperate to get somewhere safer as quickly as she could. She had no idea why, but she felt unsafe, like she was being watched. There was a rushing river right under her and she had a feeling something bad was going to happen involving the large body of water below her. The path was getting narrower and narrower. She should have guessed that it was on the side of a mountain. Las Pegasus was probably mostly traveled to by chariot, so nopony knew of this trail. Scootaloo nervously glanced around. The creepy trees weren't lining the road any more, but that didn't put her at ease.
"Whoa!" Scootaloo's scooter went over a big rock, causing her to tilt. She tried to keep going, hoping that she could upright herself, but she was wrong. She was falling, frantically flapping her wings in hopes of miraculously learning to fly. She screamed as she fell to her possible doom. Rainbow Dash, Rainbow Dash, Rainbow Dash! Scootaloo thought, thinking she might be saved. But she wouldn't be. All Trixie said about the fear factor was fake.
Scootaloo could've sworn she had seen Rainbow Dash ripping through the skies, a trail of color following her. "Scootaloo?! Scootaloo?! Where are you, squirt?!" She called. Scootaloo figured her friends ratted her out, telling Rainbow Dash that she had left. Rainbow Dash was obviously worried sick. A cloud of guilt hovered over Scootaloo. She hit the water, making a loud splash. Rainbow Dash must've been too far to hear it, because the last thing Scootaloo saw was her flying away, probably back to Ponyville.
Scootaloo held her breath, shutting her eyes. She felt for her belongings, grabbing onto her bag. She scrambled around for her scooter with no luck. She was running out of air, she had to swim to the surface. Scootaloo didn't have much experience swimming, she never thought she'd need to. And Rainbow Dash even told her all she'd need to be was loyal and a great flyer, not a good swimmer. She had to put the little knowledge she knew of the water sport to use. She kicked off from the ground, starting to flap her small wings. She managed to break through the water. She gasped for air. It seemed to be starting to rain. She should've checked the weather forecast before leaving, that was for sure. She pushed her hair out of her eyes. She visually searched the river for her water, but didn't see her scooter. "Well, there goes my mode of transport..." She groaned. She figured she'd have to pay for a train with the little bits she had. That would've been a better idea in the first place, but Scootaloo figured that a filly all on her own wouldn't be allowed on without an adult. She would have to probably sneak onto one.
Scootaloo put on her backpack, folding her wings. She looked up at the sky. Storm clouds were blocking the sun. Maybe this was a sign, that it wouldn't be as easy as it had been getting to where she was now. She wouldn't just be able to get a free ride from somepony else. She sighed, turning onto her back and closing her eyes. She remembered the days with her fellow crusaders, Rainbow Dash, and everypony living in Ponyville in general. She even missed Diamond Tiara, even if she was a bully. Scootaloo felt like she was about to sink, but didn't. She bobbed in the water, gently being carried by the current.
Scootaloo frantically waved her arms, emerging from the water. She must've fallen asleep somehow and sunk a few seconds ago. She quickly swam to the other side, spotting a cave. She could camp out there for a bit, before she was ready to resume her journey. But of course, she'd need to find a way to resume the journey without her scooter, which would prove a difficult task. There was barely anything or anypony for miles. It would take her weeks to get to Las Pegasus, months maybe. She climbed into the cave, spitting and coughing out water. "Hello??" Even if it seemed like there was nopony else in there, Scootaloo just wanted to make sure. She didn't want to get into any trouble.
"Hello!!" A melodious voice sang out. It wasn't Scootaloo's voice echoing. There was somepony there with her. Scootaloo cautiously stepped forward, noticing that there was some water in the cave as well. It was up to her knees, inches away from her stomach. Some water from the river must've ended up here.
"Whose there??" Scootaloo asked, trudging forward.
"Whose there?" The other voice repeated, asking her own question.
"I asked first!" Scootaloo picked up the pace, she was getting curious.
"Well, okay! I'm Aqua. Now, who're you?"
Aqua. This pony's cutiemark must have been something related to water. "I'm Scootaloo. Wait, what are you doing in here?"
"I live here. Well, I live around these parts." Aqua replied.
"Oh, so you're just hanging out here?"
"Guess so."
Scootaloo walked through a tunnel, finding the owner of the voice. A mermare. It was a mermare. "A mermare?? I... I... You aren't real... You're just old pony tales."
"I am real, silly!" It was filly with a light blue coat with striking blue eyes. She had a straight blue mane dripping with water.
"You have my scooter." Scootaloo saw that Aqua had her scooter.
"Is that what it's called? I came here ten minutes ago and found this thing. It's very interesting." Aqua used her tail to push Scootaloo's scooter over to the other side of the small pool.
Scootaloo pulled it out of the water, setting it to the side. "So, you live around these parts?" She asked.
Aqua nodded.
"Well, how far am I from Las Pegasus?" Scootaloo figured that Aqua might know the answer, even though she lived underwater.
Aqua swam to the left side of the pool, pulling a lever and revealing a map of Equestria. "Well, you went down this river..." Aqua said, tracing her hoof across the map. "And you went down to this side." Scootaloo had seemed to have gone the wrong way down a fork in the road somewhere down the line, because when Aqua gave her the answer, she wasn't happy. "You've actually went the wrong direction here. But if it makes you feel any better, it would've taken you a day to get to Las Pegasus even if you did go the right way, maybe even two."
"Ughh!" Scootaloo sat own at the edge of the pool. "I'm cold, tired and hungry!" She hadn't had anything to eat since Ponyville, that wasn't counting the hot cocoa she had at Trixie's though.
"Well, you can come to my house. We have tons of food there and some space for you to sleep!" Aqua suggested, getting a bit excited.
"But I have to get to Las Pegasus soon." Scootaloo protested.
"I can get you there faster than you can get there on scooter."
"Okay..." Scootaloo was fine with anything as long as she could get to her destination.
"Yay! Follow me!" Aqua dove into the pool, motioning for Scootaloo to follow her.
"But I'm not a mermare. I can't breath underwater." Scootaloo hesitated.
"Just dive in! Trust me. Would I let you drown?" Aqua said.
Scootaloo barely even knew this filly, so Aqua's question didn't really make sense. Maybe you might. Scootaloo mentally answered, but jumped in anyways.