//------------------------------//
// The Incident 
// Story: Teachings From Those Before Us 
// by TheChroniclerPrincess 
//------------------------------//

The air calmed for a moment. Only long enough for her to wipe the rain water from her eyes. A clap of thunder sounded and rang through the skies, but she felt no fear. She was strong, determined, and was taught by the best. The wind picked up again, and the rain grew heavier. She began to dive through the skies toward the falling earth pony, grabbing her by the torso and increasing her altitiude right before the frightened pony hit a nearby tree. She returned the now grateful pony safely to the calm ground as quickly as she could and lifted off again with a mighty beat of her powerful wings.

"Just one more!" she said to herself as she located the final falling pony in distress. The pale yellow unicorn screamed in horror as her very life began to flash in front of her eyes! "Dont worry! I'm coming!" With a sharp cloud busting turn and another wingbeat, she caught the unicorn safely in her hooves and began to head toward the ground. "Calm down, calm down!" The pony she had just rescued was still unsettled and had not yet acknowledged the fact that she had been saved. "It's alright. It'll be okay!"

The little unicorn finally opened her eyes to see her rescuer before her. Her eyes were wide with terror and awestruck wonder all at the same time. She closed her eyes again and opened her little muzzle to speak. "Th-thank y-you." She was still shuddering. "Thank you so much!" Small tears began to fall from the young pony's eyes, joining with the rain water as it gently kissed her face. She was returned to the gound after the most horrible hot air balloon accident that she had ever known. Looking up, she managed to squeeze out a small, "You're an angel!" Her face lit up in awe as she gazed upon the heroic wonderbolt who had just saved her from certain doom. 

"It's my job." the heroic wonderbolt replied while taking to the skies once more. She felt a deep sense of liberation and happiness forming inside of her heart. She had only been a member of the wonderbolts for a short time and she was already saving ponies from disaster. She began to think to herself, "I hope this joy never en-" She was cut off by another clap of thunder that sounded very close to her position. She lowered her altitude just to be safe. Suddenly, she could no longer see. Her vision went black and the feeling throughout her body ceased to exist. There was overwhelming pain coming from every nerve in her body! The next thing she knew, she was falling from the sky, just like those whom she had just saved. Her thoughts suddenly came back to her and she was able to think clearly, but was still unable to move or feel anything. The feeling in her wings had finally returned, but it was too late. With a feeble attempt to stabalize her landing, she crashed head first into the rocky terrain below. 

The pain was unbearable. She tore through the ground without it showing any kind of mercy to her. Both her wings were now broken. She didn't have to guess. She just knew. She finally stopped just before slamming into the trunk of a tree. Her head was spinning, and her body trembled uncontrollably. Tears filled her eyes and she let out such a mournful cry as could break the heart of anypony. "This is the end." she thought to herself while letting out a mournful whimper. "This is it." Her tears began to grow heavier as they now poured down her swollen cheeks. She gnashed her teeth for a moment, but stopped becaused of the intense pain of her fractured jaw. With a final twitch of her wings, and a heavy gasp of breath, Scootaloo passed out, laying in wait for any who might find her. . .