With These Wings

by xara

Disaster

The roosters along the neighboring farms crowed a sunrise welcome as the rested inhabitants of Ponyville stirred from their soft linen beds. Drops of dew lined the blades of grass and flowered petals of gardens, parks, and rolling fields, but the mostly clear skies promised a warming that would make for another perfectly pleasant day. At Sweet Apple Acres, a small house in Ponyville, and the Filly & Colt Orphanage, three fillies woke and rose with the excitement that only another day of fun and friendship could promise. Apple Bloom, descending the staircase of the Apple's house to find her sister's smile and a bowl of hay and juice both welcoming her, could hardly finish her breakfast quickly enough. Sweetie Belle, by contrast, preceded her parent's wakening and, happily singing a rousing tune in her lovely, practiced voice, served her own meal but attacked it with no less ferocity. Though she lived in a small orphanage's community, Scootaloo was as happy as could be to eat under the watchful, but soft eyes of the caretaker.

As each of them finished, they plopped their bowls and cups into their respective sinks for a quick rinse and dry. Sister, Parents, and Caretakers alike could all be quite stern on the matter of cleanliness when it came to dishware. Apple Bloom gave her mane a quick brush and retied the lightly colored ribbon she was so fond of. Sweetie Belle took longer with a brush; after all, with a sister like Rarity who had every hair carefully aligned, she often took special care with her own mulberry and rose-colored mane. Scootaloo, well, she dusted hers back with a hoof and just might have caught a glimpse of it in a passing mirror, but not all filly's priorities turn out the same. Sooner or later, though, all of them finished their preparations, packed a light bag, and blew out the door. It was time to meet up - though none of them yet had their cutie marks, it wasn't for lack of trying, and that day promised to be another adventure, if not a successful pursuit of their special talent.

Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom were happy to trot along on their hooves over the dirt or cobble-lined paths that made up most of Ponyville's travel routes. Scootaloo, though, a sturdy helmet atop her head that was carefully buckled beneath her chin, flapped her furious, saffron-colored wings at a speed that turned out a light droning sound. Four hooves standing firmly on a light blue scooter with a small wagon tied behind it, she blazed along the roads, dodging perambulating ponies and upsetting carried loads, sipped drinks, and startled citizens. Being such a familiar sight, however, most had learned to associate the approaching hum with the disaster-on-wheels and sprung to the sides accordingly.

At such a pace, Scootaloo was easily first to arrive at the park the Cutie Mark Crusaders had chosen for the day's activity. She skidded to a halt, but winced as her little right wing fanned out to aid in stopping power. She flexed it a bit, but the rising soreness that had crept up diminished, and she shrugged with both shoulder and wing, dismissing it. She hopped off the scooter, leaving it propped against a handy, nearby oak tree. She hoofed open the sack she had placed in the wagon, pulling out a short list of events the Crusaders might or might not try out that day, weather, time, and inclination permitting. Weather! she thought. Inside the pack was a small calendar; though the calendar was printed annually, each week the Pegasi of the area posted in the Ponyville town square the planned sun, rain, and everything in-between days. Today was still marked as 100% sunshine, so that was good.

Small hoofbeats sounded nearby, and Scootaloo smiled, seeing Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle, clearly having converged along the path, approaching the park together. "Hi, Scootaloo!" they called out together, and she rose on her hind legs and waved both forehooves in greeting. The pair drew close, and the three fillies gave each other their customary greeting, including a mutual high-hoof in the air. Each of them spoke excitedly about the day's plans, and it wasn't long before they had rushed off together, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle being pulled along in the wagon, the brisk wind ruffling their manes as the reigning scooter speedster zipped them to their goals.

Jumping jacks, hopskotching, and dodge ball didn't result in cutie marks. Nor did boating, fishing (purely catch and release!), or swimming. Or brushing, for that matter, when Sweetie Belle insisted on straightening up after drying off from the dip in the lake. Sweetie Belle suggested they try to find precious gemstones, but after moving a lot of dirt and finding nothing but rocks, that idea was tossed. Trying to win at cards against some of the town's retired elders at the cafe was a bust.

After a particularly grueling physical effort using most of a playground as an obstacle course, Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom were hopping back into the wagon, but Scootaloo paused. Her wing was feeling sore, again, not unusual after a long day of zipping and running about as they had been doing, but this felt a bit sharper than mere tiredness.

Apple Bloom noticed the pause and spoke up in her light drawl. "You feelin' okay, Scootaloo?" she asked.

Scootaloo's first notion was to laugh it off, which she did. She knew that Rainbow Dash; champion flier, Wonderbolt hopeful, and all-around majorly awesome pegasus, had done a lot more strenuous and heroic work in her time. "Oh, I couldn't be better - I just thought maybe I'd worn you two out already!" The girls bonked her gently on the backside with their hooves and the trio started giggling. "Get movin', ya horsebrain!" chuckled Apple Bloom.

They took off at lightning speed. They'd finished their cutie mark trials for the day; no success, as usual, but it had been fun, so they were going to end it with some hayshakes in town. The landscape blurred and houses zoomed by. Raising her head to enjoy the feel of the rushing wind, Scootaloo noticed a light rainbow trail keeping pace above them. "Rainbow Dash!" she cried in glee. Turning over in mid-air, the blue-coated, rainbow-haired mare noticed her young idolizer and her companions, smiled, and gave a sharp salute before taking off higher in the air towards some pesky, lingering clouds. Scootaloo beamed in pride, hoping that it wouldn't be long before she got to spend some more time with her sister-adoptee.

The hayshakes, cool, thick, and tastetastic, really hit the spot. Conversation between the trio turned to Silver Spoon and Diamond Tiara, who had become snotty once again when a new 'blank flank' had arrived at school. Her family had recently moved here, and the Crusaders were optimistic that the new arrival would be open to joining the club. Babs Seed had inducted two members of her own at her recently-established branch of the CMC, wasn't it just wonderful how the idea was taking off? At this rate, being a Crusader would be the cool, hip thing to be, and those two sourpuss fillies would be the ones pouting.

Delicious desserts downed and dusk threatening to approach soon, Apple Bloom wished the others a fond farewell - she had to return to the farm and knock out a few chores. Scootaloo offered Sweetie Belle a lift; her parent's house was pretty much along the way back.

The young filly Belle, tired from the day's running, laid on all fours on the wagon. Scootaloo flexed once again and took off in a burst of speed. They almost ran into a started Twilight Sparkle, whose levitated book (something about history, no doubt), was caught in the wake and almost smacked into her surprised horn, but she smiled and magicked it forward as she walked towards her own home.

Trees passed by as the skirted around town, when...

Crack! Not a noise, but the soreness and sharp pain that she had felt earlier suddenly crested straight to the front of Scootaloo's mind, and she let out all her breath in a half-cried gasp as a wave of pain erupted from the base of her right wing. It drooped almost immediately as her muscles spasmed and she lost control over its flapping. With one wing's motions blocked, and the other still buzzing strongly, the scooter and wagon careened to the right as she lost balance. Sweetie Belle, almost frozen in shock, grabbed the sides of the wagon in fear.

The sharp turn swung the wagon out; the scooter grinding into the dirt as a high-velocity spin began. Overturning itself, the wagon spilled Sweetie Belle front-first into the path, and she slid painfully across pebbles and sticks, too shocked to cry out. The scooter flipped, sending Scootaloo tail-over-head and rolling off the path, tumbling towards the base of a maple tree, which she struck and then lay still, moaning.

Sweetie Belle struggled to rise to her feet. Being propelled across the path, a few pebbles had driven across her coat, leaving long scratches which welled with tiny drops of blood in a few places, including her face. She spit out a mouthful of dirt and dust, coughing for a few moments, but she didn't seem to have broken or sprained anything. Dazed, she looked around in a bit of confusion, then remembered her friend. "Scootaloo!" she choked out, and spun to look at the wreck behind her. The wagon and scooter had collided as momentum brought them together again, and a few wheels were still spinning upright in the air. She saw the pained form of her friend piled at the tree, and, stumbling a bit, rushed over there.

"Scootaloo! Are you hurt?!" she called out, wanting to touch hoof to her friend but afraid to do harm.

Scootaloo, her eyes clenched shut, did her best to respond. "W...wing...can't...move," and stopped, pressing a hoof to her mouth and biting it, both sobbing and shrieking.

Sweetie Belle did the best thing she could think of. She dashed a few feet back to the road and screamed. "HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELP!" she cried, her singing voice tuned to a glass-shattering pitch and volume. A few hundred feet away, ponies lifted their heads and listened to the call.

The Carousel Boutique was not far away, and Rarity, hunched over one of her sewing machines, could not help but immediately recognize her little sister's piercing cry. The fabric forgotten and the machine stopped, she strode full-force through her shop, sending tailoring objects flying to walls and floors and a scared Opal to cower under a cabinet. Her horn glowing, she cast the door open so hard it nearly splintered when it struck the wall.

Rainbow Dash, lightly napping on a bit of leftover cloud, was also alerted. Transitioning into full flight in seconds, she zoomed towards Sweetie's alarm. She got there just ahead of the land-bound ponies who came galloping to the site, each of them with looks of concern plastered about their faces.

Sweetie Belle didn't wait for anyone to speak up, but turned her shriek into a desperate explanation. "SCOOTALOO...HURT HER WING...CAN'T MOVE!" her lungs bellowed. "I'M OKAY," she added, though the scratches and swelling skin declared otherwise. "HELP HER!" she entreated.

Dash zipped towards the fallen filly, worry gnawing at her core. It'd only been a few weeks since she and Scootaloo had really started bonding, when she'd agreed to take the kid under her wings, in several meanings of the phrase. What with attending Wonderbolt flight camp soon after that, they hadn't had much time to spend together. She feverishly hoped the filly wasn't badly injured.

Scootaloo seemed to have passed out, the pain from her wing overwhelming her senses. Dash moved in closer. Left wing looks okay, she thought, but Scootaloo had fallen upon the other. With her hoof and muzzle, Dash gently rolled the filly over. She paused in growing horror. Scootaloo's right wing was clearly damaged, the feathers misaligned at the base in a wrong angle. Just picking her up was clearly not an option.

Rarity thundered through the pony crowd like a raging bull, stopping in front of Sweetie Belle, her lilting voice fringed with panic. "What happened, Sweetie Belle? Are you okay?" Her little sister, tears in her eyes, caught her up in a big pony hug and sobbed with her face buried in Rarity's mane. Rarity, trying to eye her sister for damage, knelt her hind legs and drew her fore legs around the little filly, murmuring comfort.

"We need a stretcher! Or levitation!" shouted Rainbow Dash from under the tree. A few unicorns from the crowd came forward, horns pulsing in light glows as they moved to the filly's front and back. Dash spoke up again. "Careful...careful! Her wing is broken. We need to get her to the hospital, quickly, but do it without nudging her around." She stamped the ground with meaning, her heart racing. The unicorns nodded, and the soft glow from their horns enveloped Scootaloo, working together to raise her in the air. At a slow trot, they began flying her towards the local hospital. Rainbow Dash, galloping on her legs a distance away before taking off in flight, so as not to disturb the levitation, flew towards the hospital and bucked the doors hard, startling the nurse at the front desk.

"We've got a filly with a broken wing coming in!" she announced in a fast cry. The nurse, recovering quickly, buzzed the doctor.

The unicorns with the floating burden came through a minute or so later. Behind them, Rarity, with a sniffling Sweetie Belle beside her, followed. A few other concerned citizens had milled about, but considered things to be under control and were slowly dispersing. A light tan Earth pony with silvery hair had picked up and scooter and wagon and laid the slightly-bent contraptions to rest against the wall before looking around and backing out respectfully. The Doctor, a pair of glasses resting over his eyes, came through the admittance doors and looked at Scootaloo. "Okay. Bring her in. Second room on the right, here." The Doctor and the unicorn carriers disappeared through the doors along with Scootaloo.

Rainbow Dash made to follow them, but a bulky nurse carefully obstructed the way. "Not now, Rainbow," she urged.

Dash looked ready to bowl the nurse over. "I need to..." she started, but the nurse interrupted. "Let them work! Stay here. Wait. We'll let you know what's happening as soon as possible, I promise," she said, tendering her words with a bit of knowing compassion. Dash, too worried to argue further, stood in place as the nurse also went through the doors.

Rarity had taken Sweetie Belle to the couches in the waiting room. Rainbow Dash, looking at the same time both dejected and furious, came over to them and with a flash of anger kicked the wall. "What the hay happened?" she demanded.

Looking stern, Rarity responded before Sweetie Belle could. "Rainbow Dash! I know you're worried, and I am too, but don't you dare take such a tone with Sweetie Belle! She's been quite scuffed up herself, and yelling simply will not improve the situation!"

Dash let out a snort, but shut her eyes and took a deep breath. "Okay. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to...to yell. Could you tell me what happened, Sweetie Belle?"

The other young filly, eyes red from her earlier weeping, stuttered out a reply. "We were just...scooting along, she was going to drop me off at home. I don't know what happened then, she kind of gasped, then the scooter and the whole wagon went out of control and before I knew it we had both been tossed." That was apparently the best answer Dash would get for now, as Rarity shook her head to stave off further inquiry. Another nurse came into the room and walked over to the three. She looked Sweetie Belle over, spoke to Rarity, then took them two of them off to an examination room to fix up the scratches and bruises the filly had suffered.

Dash sat alone in the room, listening to an old clock ticking.

She hoped for things to be alright.

Comments

[PinkieShyFan]

Your writing is good and this story is really holding my interest. I can't wait for more!

[xara]

1961153
Thank you! Hopefully it won't be long, since I have a good idea where I'm going.

[John Tannius]

Scootabuse at its best... Looking forward to reading the rest.

[Fluttershyisacutegal]

interesting start