Applejack was pulling a rickety wooden cart into town.
It was full of hardware this time—and not apples—although she wasn't fooling anypony.
The mare hummed to herself, smiling pleasantly under the glistening sun.
It was precisely then that she passed by underneath a flailing shadow.
And it was precisely then that—
"Hey... uh... h-hey...!"
Applejack scuffled to a stop, blinking hard. The cart rattled behind her. With a golden flick of her tail, the mare pivoted about within her reins and looked every which way.
Once again...
"Mrmmfff... hey! Hey... uh... up here... ma'am?"
"Hmmm?" Her emerald eyes blinked. She looked at the branching shadows all around her... and then she looked straight up. It didn't take long for her gaze to find mine. "Huh? What in tarnation?"
I winced upon hearing the tone in her voice. Nevertheless, I continued trembling... continued dangling from the branch that my tiny hooves were clinging to. "Uhm... hi there. Eheheh..." I swallowed a lump down my throat and attempted to play it cool. "I'd ask you 'what's up,' but I-I think we both know it's me. Heheheheh..."
"Lil' apple seed...?" Applejack took off her hat to rub her confused scalp. "What in the hay is a small pony like you doin' up in that tree?"
"It's... uhm..." I gulped and trembled some more. "It's a long story, actually..."
"Are ya hurt, darlin'?"
"Oh no. No. I'm not hurt..." I winced in spite of my bruises. Judging from the squint in her gaze, I could tell she was calling my bluff. "Well, except my pride, I suppose."
"Yer 'pride?' What on earth do you mean...?" Her voice trailed off just as her eyes did. Applejack finally took notice of a second shadow dangling a few branches above me. A lone scooter rested upside down, locked in place between several strained twigs. "Whoah nelly..."
"Wish you could have seen it," I wheezed, all the while repositioning my grip of the branches. "I got some mad air after hitting that ramp. Went a little t-too high and... well..."
"Bust my buttons!" Applejack stammered, plopping her hat back on. "A colt yer age should know better!"
"Filly."
"Oh yeah?" Applejack snapped out of it and frowned. "Yer lucky you didn't land on yer head!"
"Yeah..." I winced.
"Or worse! Skewered yerself on one of them ranches!"
"Yeah... ... ..." I winced harder.
Applejack calmed down, coasting out of mother hen mode. "But... never mind all that. What's yer name, Missy?"
"Uhm..." I shook from my grip of the branch. "Scootaloo."
"Heh heh heh heh!" She instantly chuckled.
I blinked down at her.
"Ahem. Sorry. That's just... cute as the dickens, is all." She stood up straight beneath me. "Well then, Miss Scootaloo... go on and flap yer wings and come down from there. We'll see about gettin' yer scooter in one piece next."
"I... uh..." I clenched my eyes shut. "I can't."
"Hmmm? You can't what?"
"I-I can't come down," I whimpered.
"Why not?"
My teeth clenched.
I heard her shifting beneath me.
I squinted one eye open.
She was studying me curiously from afar. Freckles glistened in the afternoon light. "You... uh... you are a pegasus, right?"
I fought a pained squeak from my lungs. "Could you... c-could you just go fetch a ladder or something?"
"A ladder...?"
"I'm sorry. I'm s-so sorry, just..." I sniffled, shivering harder and harder. "Please... h-help me get down from there and I'll never g-get stuck in a tree ever again. Never ever. I pr-promise."
"Now hold on, Scootaloo..." She waved a hoof as her voice took on a tender, affectionate tone. "It's... everythang's gonna be alright. It's... uh... perfectly natural to be scared of heights."
I whimpered again. Sweat coated my fur. A limb slipped. "Aaaah!" my voice reached a high pitch.
"J-just hang on!" Applejack's voice boomed. "I'm gonna get ya down!" She scampered to the back of her wagon and rummaged through her tools. "That's an honest-to-goodness promise! Just hold on a lil' bit longer!"
"I..." I trembled, feeling my fetlocks slipping one inch at a time. "I-I don't know if I-I c-can!"
"Hold on tight, Scootaloo!" She fumbled with a splintery, beat-up excuse for a ladder and hauled it out of her wagon with her teeth. "Rrnnnngh... g-gonna get ya down, sugarcube—"
"Gnnngh...!" I struggled to maintain my grip of the branch. The wind picked up. I felt myself slipping. "Oh Goddess..." My pupils shrank in their sockets as I felt the humid air beneath me yawning. The earth below looked ravenous, merciless, and distant. "Oh Celestia, I'm so sorry—!"
Just then, the sky thundered... which was a curious thing. For there were no stormclouds.
Fwooooooooosh!
"Hey there, Applejack!" A blue comet streaked by, trailing color. "Hey there, squirrel!" Seconds passed. The living blue throttled back with a thunderclap. "Whoah! Luna poop! What the heck's going on over here?"
"Grnnngh—Rainbow Dash? Is that you?" The farm mare below me grunted, setting up the ladder. "Could ya spot me?! This here's Scootaloo. She's stuck in the tree. I'm tryin' to get her down from—"
"No sweat. Here." A saddlebag flew through the air. "Hold my cider."
Applejack awkwardly caught it. "What the—?"
"Hiyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!" A blue pegasus beat her chest, twirled about in midair, and flew straight towards the tree trunk beneath me like a missile. WHUDDDD! She drop kicked the bark with all her might.
"Land's sakes—!" Applejack could be heard hollering.
And then...
...nothing but air.
I was falling.
"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"
A streak of color.
FWOOOOOOOSH!
I was caught in midair... swept up in sky-colored hooves.
"Guhhh!" I exhaled my lungs' worth of air, clinging to the warm embrace.
"Heheh... gotta work on that landing, kiddo..." A voice vibrated against my cheek and ear.
"Hrmmmf... huh?" I looked up, dazed and confused.
A pair of ruby eyes came into focus... followed by a flowing banner of spectral-colored mane hair. In the sunlight, she looked like a living explosion in slow motion. That's how I first remembered her... and how I would forevermore. "Scootaloo, was it?" She winked, ruffling my mane as we descended softly to the earth. "You're not hurt or anything, are you?"
I blinked at her. My ears folded back as a dumb smile crossed my lips. "Nah..." An exhale. "I'm... awesome."