//------------------------------//
// Back On That Horse 
// Story: The Minific Collection 
// by Slate Sadpony 
//------------------------------//

Back On That Horse

Scootaloo flapped her wings as fast as she could. The wheels of her scooter whined as she propelled herself towards the concrete ramp. The handlebars gripped firmly in her hooves, she gritted her teeth and narrowed her eyes, bending her knees to absorb the minor bounces and shocks that hit her as she approached her goal.

The lift of the ramp hit her wheels with a shock. Horizontal momentum became vertical propulsion, and her legs buckled with the sudden change in force. Her wings ached, but she refused to give up. She leaned in to the handlebars, trying to shift her center of gravity forward, to make herself "fall" in the direction she wanted to go.

Of course, try as she might, she could not fall "up," and when her scooter left the ramp, her rising soon gave way to falling. The horizon began to take up more and more of her narrow view, and the ground went from passively retreating to aggressively advancing. Time was short, and grass was coming at her quickly.

Kicking her legs as hard as she could, she began to make the scooter spin, making the platform rotate around the handlebars. This shift in balance and center of gravity made her wobble, but still, she kept at it. Once. Twice. Three times. She was almost there!

But before the scooter could make a fourth rotation, Scootaloo found herself in contact with the ground. She had been so focused on the timing and placement of the kicks that she hadn't realized she had already fallen too far. The scooter hit first, bouncing out of her grasp and flying off into the field, twisting and spinning wildly. Scootaloo tried to put down her hooves, to catch herself in the fall, but all she managed to do was turn a belly-flop into a rolling, tumbling spin.

When she finally came to a halt, she saw the world inverted, the sky peeking out from between her back legs while most of her view was dominated by the thick grass she'd crashed on to. Righting herself, she examined the damage. Scrapes here and there, but nothing serious. Still, she slammed her helmet down on the ground, burying her face in her hooves.

"Are you okay?"

Scootaloo looked up to see a familiar blue face staring down at her. "Not really."

Rainbow Dash landed, putting her hoof on Scootaloo and examining her. "Awwh it's just a scrape. You can take it, you're the toughest filly I know!"

"It's not that." Scootaloo retrieved her scooter, surprised to see it had likewise suffered only minor damage. "I've been trying to do a 1080 all day, and all I get for it is bruises."

"Eh, you just got your pride wounded. And you know what's the best medicine for wounded pride? Getting back up." Rainbow Dash picked up Scootaloo's helmet, holding it out to her.

"Easy for you to say." Scootaloo took her helmet, setting it on her head. "Since when do you faceplant?"

"Since whenever I was your age. Here, lemme show you something." Rainbow Dash moved in close, lifting the portion of her mane that covered her lower neck.

"Sweet Celestia!" Scootaloo gasped as she saw a horrid, jagged scar almost a full hoof-length in size.

Rainbow Dash removed her hoof, letting her mane fall back down over the scar."When I was your age, I was obsessed with flat spins. The school's front windows though...Oh man, there was blood everywhere, and everypony was screaming..."

"Were you okay?"

"I'm standing here aren't I?" She put a hoof around Scootaloo's shoulder, hugging her close. "Yeah, it hurt, and the stitches were super itchy and definitely not cool. But I kept at it, and you've seen me go in and out of a flat spin like nopony's business. I can even do it in freefall!"

"If it's okay with you, I kind of...Don't want to get hurt like that."

Rainbow Dash sniggered. "You won't, not while I'm watching anyway. But if you're going to show off that 1080 to all your friends like you wanted, you'd better get back there and try again." Rainbow Dash righted the scooter and pushed it towards Scootaloo.

Scootaloo gulped, looking back at the ramp behind her. Somehow it looked taller from this side. Scarier. But she hopped on her scooter and pushed, moving towards the long paved portion to try again. She had to.

Rainbow Dash took to the air, grinning. "Don't worry! I'll catch you!"