//------------------------------//
// Journey 
// Story: Scootaloo's Flight 
// by alai20 
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	I went home in dismay, realizing that we might never see Sweetie Belle again. A Siren. Sweetie Belle had been taken by a Siren. It could have been anything but a Siren! I would even go for an Ursa Major over a Siren. All the things that Twilight had told me about these Sirens were awful. And how would I sleep tonight, knowing that Sweetie Belle is gone? I got out of bed and sneaked down the hallway to my mom’s room. She’s finally asleep. I got a piece of paper from my desk and wrote Mom, I love you. I went to get Sweetie Belle. I promise I’ll be back. Don’t look for me. I don’t want you to get hurt. I love you, Scootaloo. I went into my closet, grabbed a backpack, and started to pack for my trip. I would probably need a flashlight, batteries, food for a couple days, a jacket. There was so much I needed. And some food for Sweetie Belle would be good. She was probably tired and hungry. Blankets, rope, and water. Definitely water. I checked over my backpack, tested its weight. And headed on my way with the map I had taken from Twilight’s castle earlier.
Twilight told me the Sirens gathered in one place for breeding once a year. I only had a small window of time before Sweetie Belle would go somewhere I couldn’t get to without more supplies. I mean, I was counting on an energy bar to be enough for, say, a whole day. And with a limited supply of water, I could only go so far. I gasped, realizing my backpack I had was the same one I took on my school hike. All of us got water purifiers before the hike, in case any of us got lost. I don’t think I ever took mine out of my backpack… I took my backpack off and put it on a flat rock. I looked in my inside pocket, my side pocket… and… it wasn’t there. When could I have taken it out? Oh, well. I have enough for a couple days. I’ll just have to ration it a little more than expected.
The day got longer and longer. I walked until the sun rose, about 6 hours. I sat down on the ground to see where I was. I had surprisingly made great progress, for walking nonstop. I had stopped near a river, now I needed to figure out where at the river I was. There was a big fallen tree nearby… that wasn’t on the map. There was a cave over to my left… that wasn’t on the map either. All of the sudden, something caught my eye. A sign. There were a couple signs on the map, about 4. I approached the sign with caution, not sure what it said. It was green, with a message on it saying “Granny Jorje’s cottage, 2 miles.” In shaky, childish handwriting. I looked at the map, desperate the sign was on the map. And it was! Apparently some famous pony named Denny Hoofbeat had written it when he was a child. I compared the map with where I was, and saw that I could travel by the river for about 30 miles and I could take shelter in a cave until the next day. “Ok then, let’s get started.” I muttered to myself.
I had started out in a jog, until my energy slowly seeped away, drained by the noon sun. I had made it 10 miles, but I took too many breaks. I was beginning to get a little lazy. I needed to keep going.
Fatigue settled in. I had been walking for 4 more hours, and hunger was starting to gnaw at my stomach more and more. I had to make it to the cave by nightfall, and if I had to sprint right now, I probably couldn’t do it. Reality hit me as I realized this Sweetie Belle mission was life or death now.
Time seems to pass slower and slower the more you want something. As I thought more and more about Sweetie Belle, the minutes seemed to be hours. I saw the cave up ahead, well after I expected to get to the cave. Night had fallen about 30 minutes ago, and I was scared out of my mind. I grabbed my flashlight out of my backpack and shined it around the spot I wanted to sleep. All clear. I settled down, and the arms of sleep took me down, down into a safer place.
I was running through the woods, and I didn’t know why. My bag was gone. Sweetie Belle was by my side. I had saved her already? I thought. How could I not remember…? All of the sudden, she was torn from my grasp, and her scream was the last thing I heard.

I woke up with a start. That dream… I have to try my hardest to forget it. It had kind of thrown me off, the pain I felt when I saw her again. I continued to walk into the forest, deeper and deeper into what I didn’t know.
Time is an amazing thing. It seemed to help me today, because it went fast instead of slow, like yesterday. Pretty soon it was noon again. Noon used to be my favorite time of day. I would go out to recess, and sit under some shade with my friends and talk all day. All of the sudden, I tripped over a rock. I screamed as I saw the river get closer and closer. I can’t swim I can’t swim I can’t swim. This was the only thought that was going through my head. I never really learned to swim; there wasn’t really a need to. Now I regretted it. There was a pop and a shot of pain in my left leg. I had smacked into a log, which had suddenly broke my fall. But my leg, it was dislocated. I could tell. At least it was a minor injury. Slowly, I popped it back into place and reached into my backpack. I grabbed the med kit I had packed and wrapped my ankle. I took one shaky step, and another, and another, and another. Slowly, as I got stronger, I began to walk more normally. I looked at my map, somehow filled with confidence, and kept on walking.