Skyfall: The Crusaders

by sister_mike

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Scootaloo

Scootaloo sat on the edge of the cliff. The cliff looked over Peoplesville, the sun shining brightly over the little town. She sighed, staring down at the time, her arms propping her up behind her, her feet dangling over the edge.

It was thirteen years ago today that a terrible force overtook Earthica and set it into a frozen state. Nobody aged; nobody moved or breathed; they were all trapped in an indestructible crystal, frozen in time¬—all except she, Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom and Zecora.

Zecora had been protected by the magic of the Everfree Forest. The forest contained so many mystical properties, that Scootaloo hadn't been surprised when Zecora emerged thirteen years ago, too late to have witnessed the catastrophe. She took in Scootaloo and the CMC, and had been raising them for the past thirteen years. Now they were all grown up.

The girls had tried researching everything they could to try and free the all of the trapped people. Wouldn't it be super cool to have been the saviors of Earthica? They'd have a huge ceremony, and be awarded by the princesses and praised by everyone. Back when they were still kids, they figured that would be a sure way to earn their Creative-Marks. A hero Creative-Mark? No just everybody got a Mark like that!

But, although time kept everyone frozen, time kept moving forward. They aged; they gained their Marks, and the prospect of being heroes wasn't as important any more. They just wanted their family awake and well again. It pained them every day to see them frozen and be unable to help them.

Sweetie Belle still had the most hope. While both she and Apple Bloom completely idolized their sisters, Sweetie Belle practically visited Rarity every day. She researched every day, trying new magic spells, anything she thought would be helpful to free everyone.

Apple Bloom was less enthusiastic than Sweetie Belle. Scootaloo knew it was because she was now older than her older sister, Applejack, and in two years she would be the same age as Big McIntosh too. Apple Bloom was their food provider; she still farmed a small portion of Sweet Apple Acres. Sometimes Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo would help her out, but Scootaloo knew she liked to work the farm alone most days, and lose herself in her thoughts. Sometimes Scootaloo seriously worried about Apple Bloom.

Scootaloo herself felt useless. She felt like everyone else had a place in this ghost world, but her. Her wing twitched behind her as she moved her gaze from the town to the clouds.

Many times throughout the years, Sweetie Belle or Apple Bloom would pose a question relevant to the status of Cloudsdale; how were the Wingeds up there? Did they fall to the earth? Or did the crystal substance float on clouds? Could there be a possibility of someone alive and well up there, and just as alone as they were? Someone who was too afraid to come down to the surface and look for other survivors?

Every time one of them accidentally brought up Cloudsdale, Scootaloo would hang her head in shame. Sometimes she would just leave the room in frustration. She knew her friends didn't mean anything by it, it was merely an observation they brought up. Everyone of them was just as curious and eager as the other to find the cure to this terrible curse; who was to say the answer wasn't in Cloudsdale?

But they had no way to get up to Cloudsdale. As hard as they tried to find some sort of flying-machine to bring them to the cloud city, they always failed. And every time they failed, Scootaloo could feel the lead weight of her wings on her back. Her useless wings.

Out of all of the Winged in the world, why did she have to be the one with wings that didn't work? Why couldn't she fly? Sweetie Belle's magic worked no problem. Essentially, they were a team of one Magik and two Originals. Scootaloo's wings were useless. She couldn't fly. She wasn't sure if it was because they weren't capable of sustaining her body or they couldn't capture the air around them. It was a mystery.

It was the other mystery that the CMC—specifically Sweetie Belle—would try to solve. Sweetie Belle would try spells on Scootaloo, trying anything that she thought would help make her fly. Scootaloo had sustained many broken bones and bruises over the years.

It wasn't as if she had never tried to learn to fly. She had first been enrolled in flight school, the school up in Cloudsdale. Like any Winged, she was born in Cloudsdale. Both her parents were Winged. And although she could walk on the clouds, she couldn't fly. It was concern about her safety that her parents decided to move to Peoplesville and live safely on the ground, because if Scootaloo ever fell from Cloudsdale, she wouldn't be able to save herself.

Scootaloo knew at this very moment Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom were in the town centre visiting their sisters. Sometimes Scootaloo came with them to visit Rainbow Dash, her idol. Rainbow Dash was the coolest Winged she had ever known—even cooler than the Wonderbolts in Scootaloo's opinion. She'd give anything to fly beside Rainbow Dash—hell, she'd give anything just to hover a few feet in the air beside Rainbow Dash.

Today, on this anniversary, Scootaloo didn't feel like disrupting the family atmosphere that Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom needed. Sometimes she just felt like a third wheel while the two of them looked up at their sisters and swapped family stories. It was just another thing that made Scootaloo feel left out.

Scootaloo hated that it was such a beautiful day outside. It was as though the creature that had done this to them, wherever it was, was laughing at them. Laughing because there was nothing they could do, because they were powerless. Because they had no clue where to start looking for the cure, and had been running around in circles for the past thirteen years.

Comments

[sister_mike]

Just a small update for anyone still interested in this story..

[blastdragon]

I'm interested. I really want to know what that epic quest is that the CMC has to do. Can't see the benefits of using humans but maybe it wil come... You've got me hooked...

[sister_mike]

1503219

I'm not sure if there's any benefit to them being human, but I just wanted to try something a little different and see how it turned out

Thanks for the comment! Glad to see I've got at least one brony hooked

[easymac]

Well, three chapters in and I like what is going on, please keep up the good work

[sister_mike]

1503298

Thank you! I know it's a little slow going right now, but I'm building it up! Interesting things will happen, I assure you

[Bronyhood of steel]

glad to see an update

[mbpony 512]

...no words, just sadness for Scootaloo's peril in this one.

Yet, I also wonder, if Zecora's the only adult Pony alive, couldn't she help the girls in their quest as well ?

[sister_mike]

1781844

Mmmm... I guess she could, and it's not so much that she isn't helping, it's more that the CMC are more adamant about finding a cure than she is, so they search for one more frequently.