Hooves Edge

by 1joemini

New Name, New Life

"Trainin' time Yuri! Yeah I know ya' hate it! But that fall wrecked ya for a while and now that your back you’ve gotta keep sharp! Especially in this city..." He paused. "Check out the new training grounds we built ya!" He continued, "Now... Let’s get you back on your hooves!" I arched my back, stretching, trying to work out the physical kinks that I had building up over the past couple months. "First things first! Let’s see how your left leg feels... Try to do a quick jump."

I bucked up and jumped... No biggy! Did Anderson really think that Id'e not be able to jump? I mean seriously! A fall from a 4 stories building doesn't… Well, maybe he had a point. That really was a high fall, a fall that put me in the hospital for 4 months. "Okay, so far so good! Now, Crouch for me!" I did... what the hell was up with him today?

"Anderson? Are you alright? Why are you being so carful and worrisome?" I said into my headset/earpiece.

"Hmm? Well Yuri, your one of our greatest runners! I can’t have you going around hurting yourself further during training exercises!" he fibbed. It was obvious that he had something else on his mind, but I let it slide. "Alright, your job is to make it to Tory. Think you can do that?" asked Anderson in a slightly mocking tone; a tone that was seriously getting old! But that was a part of who he was! So it grew on you. "Remember! Just go with the flow” He mentioned as a final note before I began.

”Okay!" I said looking ahead of myself and taking in my surroundings. There was a gap between two roof tops. The one I was on is about 3 foot above the one I was about to jump to, the gap was only 5 foot wide. I can easily clear 15 foot gap with even heights. There was a board before me which was propped like a ramp. This jump was gunna be a sitch! I began to run, my hooves clopped along the concrete rooftop; the special horse shoes that Anderson had equipped to me were giving me amazing traction! Allowing me to grip the ground and rip forwards! I picked up my speed and jumped! Ever heard of over kill? Yea, I succeeded clearing the gap by a good 5 foot. I looked back and smirked, what did Anderson think I was? Some no talent filly? Whatever, Ill taunt him for this later. I continued, on this second roof there was a vent that stretched across the middle of the roof. It rested about 3 foot high, leaving a small opening for me to slide through. I quickly observed this and turned on my side; sliding underneath the vent and quickly going to the other side! Then i heard someone yell my name.

"Yuri! You bucked up mule!" I turned to my right and peered down on the rooftop next to me. On it was my partner Tory she stood there waving up at me.

I backed away from the roofs edge, giving me room for my jump. I dashed and clopped to the roofs edge and jumped. Time seemed to freeze! During my 4 months in bed I had been dying to fly through the air, just like this! There was no feeling like it! Oh how I envied those Pegasus who were able to escape getting their wings clipped, but those Pegasus were forced to work for Celestial as patrols and over watchers as well as News Ponies. But both those types of ponies were a hassle for Dashers like myself! The only problem with having wings is that you begin to lack leg strength since you can fly everywhere. So, in the rare occasion that I did run into one of them, generally, they were not a problem! As I finished getting my joy high, I braced for landing. I bent my legs to absorb the shock of the landing and POP!

A POP? I had been expecting to hear a loud clopping not a… Oh Luna that hurt! A sharp pain in my front right knee sent me into a bit of shock. I quickly limped over, wincing in pain from my small slip up.
"Yuri! You stupid cult!" I glanced up to see Tori's face only centimeters away from mine!
"Tori... Go fuck yourself... I hurt myself and you laugh in my face?" I began saying as I nudged her out of my personally bubble, "You can be so ruff sometimes Tori!"

Tori stood up and began to putts around me, smiling.

"What?" I asked cluelessly...

"What?" mocked Tori, "What I’m looking at is that dislocated knee of yours!"
I peered down at my knee. It wasn’t that bad, my knee was just popped out of its socket.

"Let me help you out Yuri..." Tori stated very matter of factually. She knelt down next to me and pulled a bandage out of her contrabag

[Contrabag: Standard issue Dasher Bag: Black bag with a single shoulder strap that is worn across the wearer’s chest. Usually contained Grip tape, a small first aid kit, some rope and a carabineer, bobby pins, a screw driver, and a canteen. But the bag could hold much, MUCH more than all that!]

She lifted my leg and handed me the bandage. "Bite this" she ordered. I did, was this gunna hurt this much?

"Yuri, I swear if you don’t slow down your gunna kill you’re..."

CRACK! I hollered and cried out as she snapped my leg in place.

"What the hell did I tell ya?" Tori shouted at me.

"You didn’t have to be so rough!" I retorted.

Suddenly, Tori pushed me onto my back and pinned my shoulders down with her front hooves.

"Tori! What the he-"

"Shhhh..." She said... "Don’t Talk..." She leaned the rest of herself into me. Her full weight was too much for me to lift. In an effort to regain control, I took a deep breath and tried to push her off of me! I placed my hooves on her chest trying to force her off!

"Aww... you’re so cute when you struggle..." She teased as she brought her lips closer to mine... "You know Yuri... I’ve liked you since we were cults training together..."

I already knew that! She had always had the hot’s for me! But she had never pushed this much! "O Yuri... do come here..." she softly said as she moved in on my lips.

An opening.

I stuck my rear knee right into her gut! She keeled over and braced her stomach. She looked up at me with an aggravated smirk... A challenge! I stumbled up to my feet began to dash pasted her. I ran straight for a pipe which connected this roof to another about 20 feet away. I had cleared this distance before, but with my knee braced like this, I didn't want to risk it! Not to mention I was recovering from an injury as it was! So I prepared to cross the pipe. I clipped myself onto the pipe using the contrabag’s carabineer; I slipped it on the metal of the pipe. I wobbled a bit and quickly remembered how to balance on these pipes! Just another thing that I was rusty on! Not soon after that, I continued my advance across the line. I glanced back at Tori who was trying to equip herself with Andersons special Runner Shoes. I looked ahead. At this rate, she wasn't gunna catch up! Tori may be stronger than me, but she sure as hell wasn't fast enough to catch me! Especially with this head start! Only 5 feet on the pipeline left... I leapt for it! Clop! My feet landed one after another on the roof. I smiled and peered back at Tori she was beginning to back up, having successfully put her shoes on! She shook warming up for... Wait? Was she gunna jump this?

"Tori I wouldn’t!" I warned. She just looked up and shot me a devilish smile... She began to dash towards the pipe. She leapt and landed with her hind legs only on the pipe! Her hooves grinded across the steal like it was ice! In a matter of seconds Tori was up in my face again... "How about them apples?" She teased.

"How did..? Dont the grips on your hooves prevent sliding?"

"Of course! But if you modify them to suit yourself" she hinted winking at me, "So? Do you think you can keep up Yuri?"

"Of Course!"

"Well then! BRING IT ON!"

And with that, we were off! Dashing side by side trying to see the fastest flowing path way... trying to get a hoof length ahead of the other! We were neck and neck when Tori turned and leapt on top of some air vents that lined the roof top. I continued running on the flat rooftop, watching to see why she had chosen to elevate herself above me. I refocused myself and quickly saw the building ahead of us. It was taller than the roof we were on by a good 30 foot; an easy jump, but a hard climb. I noted a pipe line stretching up the side of the building. I readied my rope and carabineer.

3. 2. 1. Leap. I jumped out and clipped onto the pipe. I slid the carabineer up and began my climb up the wall. I started getting a rhythm down, slide-right hoof-slide-left hoof; I repeated this until I was about half way up the rooftop. Halfway isn’t bad! I paused to see Tori’s progress... Shit. I now understood why she had taken the air vent. She had seen the ventilation shaft leading to the roof. I could see the entrance of the vent open and i could hear her hooves clanking inside the aluminum tube. When it comes to climbing, vents are luxury compared to pipes!
I quickly continued up the pipe working the rope with grace and practiced speed. Three years of climbing pipes just like this one was beginning to show. I reached the lip of the roof and pulled myself over. I unclipped myself from the pipe and sighed, exhausted from the climb. I looked in Tori’s direction she was looking at her watch.

“hmm… seems you’re a bit rusty” She said with a sly smirk.

“You are just relentless aren’t you?”

Anderson chimed in interrupting our bickering, “Now, I love a cat fight as much as the next guy but could we stop? Were here to make sure Yuri is okay.” I could tell he was holding back laughter, “but after seeing Tory completely wreck you on the course I don’t think your ready for anything!”

These two… It was a wonder why I never seem to get bored. “If its all the same, I’m still in recovery and…”

“and you had a head start on me!” Tory interjected with a laugh.

" Just remember, It's not a competition guys. Please just make your way to relay station O’Brien” Anders commanded, “Dinners ready.”

Author's Note:

Was the reading enjoyable? Feed back is loved!

Comments

[Helloman892]

Ok, well. Same issues as before regarding spelling, and again the grammar is rather halting. There is also a constant switch between past and present tense, for example in the first paragraph. For example,

I arched my back, stretching

'I am stretching while I arched my back' makes no sense. When reading the rest of the sentance, the reader realises that the author is rather inept and keeping in tense. You cannot have kinks building up over the last few weeks (present tense) while also having arched your back (past).
There is also overuse of adverbs such as 'quickly', though this isn't as much as a problem.
The random use of square brackets is jarring, and unneeded. We don't need to know that there is 6 meters between two gaps, nor do we need to know that a Dasher's bag is called a 'Contrabag' or that it can hold stuff. Instead, say that 'Tori pulled a bandage from the contrabag around her midsection', or similar.
This is a proofread version of this chapter, courtesy of moi.

As a side note, I quite like how Scootaloo's secondary name is 'Yuri', seeing as yuri is Japanese slang for 'lesbian'.

-Helloman892