“I dunno, I have a bad feeling about this girls,” said Spike, holding a hammer.
“Oh come on, this is foolproof, it has to work!” exclaimed Scootaloo.
“Uh…” breathed Spike, not knowing what else to say.
It was humble beginnings, but it showed great promise. The ramp they were constructing at the bottom of Dead Pony Hill was one of Apple Bloom’s finest accomplishments, cutie mark or not. The ramp was massive, equal to the hill it was built at the bottom of. Almost a full mile of incline, the slope leading upwards toward the mountain where Canterlot was situated, the peak being the mighty Canterhorn. The ramp was going to be around twenty feet tall when completed, the basic frame already constructed. Now, they were nailing into place the flat smooth wood that made the surface of the ramp.
Two fillies worked together, Apple Bloom hammering in nails, Sweetie Belle holding the nails in her magic so Apple Bloom could hammer them in. They had a good working system down, and the ramp was coming together rapidly.
Spike worked hesitantly, staring at the ramp, staring up the hill, and then staring off into the distant town of Ponyville. He pounded another nail slowly, muttering something about imminent death.
Scootaloo was carefully checking over her new scooter. It had real rubber tires, alloy wheels, a high strength body that was made out of ultra-light materials, and it was the most awesome shade of Rainbow Dash blue ever. She thought long and hard about removing the brakes, as they would just be dead weight during this endeavour.
Today, Scootaloo was going to fly. No, she was going to soar! She was going to look down upon the clouds and spit with contempt.
Today was going to be the most awesome day ever.
The Wonderbolts were going to look upon Scootaloo with envy.
The ramp was nearing completion, Spike still muttering about how Twilight was going to kill him, and the day was the perfect day to fly.
“I’m gonna start heading up the hill,” said Scootaloo impatiently.
“Alright Scoots,” Apple Bloom agreed.
“Yeah, were almost done here, head on up, good luck!” urged Sweetie Belle.
The little orange pegasus buzzed her wings and began the long slow climb up the hill, ignoring Spike’s pleas to see reason and call this off. Spike was overreacting as usual. Scootaloo knew what she was doing.
Heck, she was almost as awesome as Rainbow Dash at this point, fearless, brave, and true. She had nothing to worry about. The Crusaders had learned from their previous mistakes, this ramp looked perfect, well constructed, and solidly built.
Foolproof. This plan was foolproof. And foalproof.
Her wings buzzing, Scootaloo zoomed up the hill, slowly but surely, the hard part was getting up the hill, getting down would be effortless.
Scootaloo crested the hill and waited for the magical fireworks from Sweetie Belle to begin her flight.
The Flight of the Scootaloo.
The sun was high in the sky, a few cloudbanks strategically placed to make this the perfect day. Birds sang, bees buzzed, and soon, a Scootaloo would fly. This day just could not get any better. Scootaloo was dying of anticipation, waiting and hoping to see the green fireworks indicating it was time to go. Time to fly. Time to be a real pegasus finally.
Today, the chicken jokes would end.
Off in the distance, Scootaloo could see Ponyville, the bustling little town where she had grown up, the place where she had met her fellow Crusader sisters, and the place where she had met her idol, Rainbow Dash, the coolest pegasus that had ever lived.
Off in the distance, there was a crackling pop, and Scootaloo could see the burst of green fireworks. She grinned broadly, spread her wings, and embraced her destiny.
Flight!
The scooter began to roll…
Scootaloo felt a brief rush of fear with how suddenly the scooter had picked up speed. The trees went by in a blur, the wind stung her eyes, and Scootaloo wished she had brought goggles. Too late now, there was no stopping or turning back.
Destiny awaited!
The ramp approached all too quickly and Scootaloo realised that she had never gone this fast in her life. The scooter performed flawlessly, rolling smoothly, the off road tires working beautifully on the dirt road, and there was the satisfying “whoosh!” of air rushing past her flapping ears as she rolled effortlessly down the steep slope.
She could see Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom now, both waving, cheering her on. She saw Spike too, he had his claws over his mouth and his eyes were wide in terror.
Scootaloo was going a little fast…
Just before hitting the ramp, the world had grown strangely quiet, there was sound, but it was muted, faded, off in the distance, and Scootaloo’s vision achieved hyper-perfection. She could see every leaf, every bug, every detail in perfect clarity.
The moment was beautiful…
Scootaloo hit the ramp perfectly, the wheels rolling over the lip effortlessly, and then rolling up the ramp flawlessly, and then, in a moment of pure joy, Scootaloo bid farewell to the ground, the muffled screams of Spike muffled and muted in her ears. She could only vaguely make out what she had heard.
”Is that a mach cone?”
What a strange thing to say during her moment of triumph, Scootaloo had no idea what it meant as she soared towards the clouds.
A few moments later, Scootaloo broke through the cloud barrier, smashing through the cloudbanks, making the clouds pop like balloons as she plowed through them.
And still, onward and upward she soared, the clouds getting smaller and smaller below her, her little wings flapping with all of their might , until finally, Scootaloo reached her apex.
It was then that Scootaloo looked down at the clouds below her and realised one simple fact, a terrible fact, a fact that she had came to the conclusion of at the worst possible moment.
This was a terrible idea…
Scootaloo began to plunge towards the earth, her wings still flapping, she began her descent towards the solid ground, one thing for certain.
The Flight of the Scootaloo was over.
And possibly her life.
Scootaloo began to scream.
She had forgotten her helmet, not that it would matter.
She slammed into the clouds, realising too late that if she had let go of her scooter, she might have landed on a cloud and lived to see another day when some pegasus happened by to rescue her.
No chance of that happening now though, she looked up the clouds now above her and said goodbye to them, sorry to see them go, knowing she would never touch them again.
The earth rushed up rapidly to greet her, Scootaloo peered through blurry eyes and realised that she was looking down upon Ponyville.
She willed everything she had into her wings, trying to flap hard enough to slow her descent. She had seconds now, she could see the horrified faces of ponies all around her, round eyes, round mouths, faces frozen in horror, forehooves pressed to cheeks, the details Scootaloo felt that she had spent an hour observing happening in the fraction of a second.
The roof of a building was directly below her, and Scootaloo crashed into it at with explosive force.
The last thing Scootaloo remembered was the gooseneck of her scooter, where the handlebars were bolted on, slamming into her groin painfully, forever altering the landscape of her filly bits.
“Scoots, speak to me!”
Scootaloo couldn’t see. The room was a blurry fuzz. Her head ached and her tongue felt dry and too big for her mouth.
“Oh my gosh Scoots, speak to me!”
The voice was raspy, familiar, and full of fear.
“Scootaloo, speak to me, I need to know that you are not brain damaged!”
“Rainbow Dash?” wheezed Scootaloo.
“WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?” Rainbow Dash shouted.
“I flew,” mumbled Scootaloo.
“I saw the ramp. I saw the hill. You landed in Ponyville! PONYVILLE! Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle are probably grounded for life, Spike is probably wishing he was going to suffer lunar banishment instead of whatever horrible fate Twilight Sparkle is thinking up for him, and you…” cried Rainbow Dash, her voice hitching with sobs, “I am going to do something awful to you once you get better!”
“I feel funny,” said Scootaloo.
“I’ll say,” replied Rainbow Dash. “You broke both of your hind legs, shattered your pelvis, and broke six ribs. You’re lucky to be alive!” cried Rainbow Dash.
“That’s awesome,” muttered Scootaloo.
“No it isn’t!” snapped Rainbow Dash.
“I’ve finally done something you haven’t…” groaned Scootaloo, drifting off back to sleep.
“You crazy little daredevil, I am going to kill you,” moaned Rainbow Dash, gently touching Scootaloo’s bed, her face creased with worry.
“Today you flew…”