//------------------------------//
// Chapter One 
// Story: Difficulties 
// by Blaze Spectrum 
//------------------------------//

"Why does it have to be that way?!" shouted Scootaloo.

She was in the Cutie Mark Crusaders Club House, having her own little rant. Adults got all the privileges. And you couldn't scold them or you'll be the one really being scolded. She just noticed it when she told Rainbow Dash that her newest trick didn't look quite right. And even though she added that it was still awesome, she got a ticked off Rainbow Dash drenching her with water. She had done similar things to the a few other fully grown mares and stallions but got nothing good in return.

"Can't they accept a little criticism?" she shouted, even louder.

She kicked a vase the crusaders had found while trying to become, "Cutie Mark Crusaders Miners". It was all they found, and it smashed into small fragments as soon as it collided with the ground. Angrily, she gathered up what used to be a vase and threw it all out the window, making it smash into even smaller fragments.

After that, she sat down on the reasonably rough wood floor. After so long, they haven't even polished it to make it smoother. But she didn't care, and if they did polish it, then the restored structure wouldn't feel like itself. She took three minutes to put herself together again. but even the, she griped about it.

"They can do whatever they please! I'm a pegasus and I can't even fly! We need permission, why? Can't we at least do somethings without permission? It's degrading even!"

She stomped on the floor, making a loud boom. Anyone within a kilometre's radius would have heard her rant. Luckily, the floor didn't even crack, for when the crusaders were restoring the old, beat up structure they heavily reinforced the floor. Actually, they reinforced some of everything, but most heavily the ceiling and floor. After all, how would the clubhouse been able to host the Rainbow Dash Fan Club with so many fillies and colts lined up on one floor?

By now, her hooves were sore to the point bruises would near guaranteed appear. And that wouldn't be nice, to feel a jolt of pain every time you take a step. Also, her hooves had a few small wood chips in them. She would have to remove the tiny things with a needle later. They didn't have any tweezers. 

But she got right back to her rant.

"I can't even go to a party without permission! What kind of world is this?! I thought it was a free country!"

"And test results are everything to parents. While I don't have any I've seen the look on several other fillies faces when they got their tests. Rainbow Dash, luckily, didn't care as long as the score proved she had some intelligence. (Hey! She needed somepony to sign her exams, alright?!)

She'd seen the look on Applebloom's face, Sweetie Belle's too, when they got a pretty low score. In fact, they sometimes couldn't go crusading that same night because, they got extra chores and homework.

"It's almost as if the test score is their child! Not the child itself!"

She broke the window with an aggravated kick, powered by anger. And luckily she hit the reinforcing tubes or what you call it. The glass didn't completely shatter. But it needed to be replaced anyways.

She finally decided she needed some mode of release, some way to vent.

And what not better thing to do so with her scooter?

Easy, She stormed out of the door, slowed down a little on the bend, and went down the steps. She walked up to her scooter which was parked right next to the tree. She had it for years, and yet it was still good as new. If you excuse the dirt covered tires, that is. She didn't want to think of the day she would outgrow it. The vehicle had become a part of her.

She put her right rear hoof on first, then the other. She hooked up her helmet that was hanging from the handlebars and grabbed the handles. 

She was already feeling better.

She flapped her wings as hard as she could, propelling her forward at top speed. She was quickly headed for Ponyville. Once she got there, she evaded the ponies in the street and jumped over a certain carrot stand with a enraged Carrot Top shouting at her. She swiftly maneuvered around, and trading a few insults in the process.

Finally, she jumped over a tree branch on the way back. However, this time, she got cocky enough to come up with her scooter. And got bashed in the chest.

"OW!" she shouted.

She flew away from the branch at about just below a hundred kilometres per hour. Her scooter was lucky, it only flew a few metres, but she was hurled straight into a tree. Put it simply, there was a lot of groaning.  





Once she made it back to the crusaders club house, with her scooter, which had its first dent, right below the handlebars.

She kicked the door open. And sat down to gripe some more. Apparently the crash had brought that back into her head.

"They think we're naive beyond compare, what they don't know, is that we know some things they DON'T know!"

But then she thought,"No, don't rant over something you can't change. It was that way for a reason. When you're a fully grown mare you can be as much as a jerk as you want."

But the other side whined,"But that's too long to wait for!"

"Suck it up," the rational side answered. That was enough to shut it up.

Now, she sat down. It was that way, and it always would be. Her heart rate began to begin to become normal. Her breathing became less forceful and was taking deep breaths.

"Scootaloo," she thought,"Take a deep breath, count to three. And if that doesn't work, then try it again until it does."

After five minutes of it, she had finally calmed down to her usual state.

While it wasn't easy being a child, after you think about it, being fully grown doesn't make it any easier. In fact, it isn't life isn't easy in the first place.