> A wish to fly
>  by Gerpie
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> Prologue
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Have you ever felt disappointed? Not disappointed in something else, but the feeling of being disappointed by yourself.  The mere thought of it might make you feel a little down. Sadly it's something this filly pegasus has been dealing with for most of her life. There were moments that cheered her up, but behind the scenes she isn't as happy as she pretends to be, Scootaloo.  She has been teased, or what you may call 'bullied' for a larger part of her life, mainly due to the fact that she hasn't been able to fly properly. 'The flightless chicken,' some had called her. Through the days, she had started believing in it as well, disappointment filling her from within. After a while though, she had finally met two other fillies who didn't judge her for being flightless. They even created a little club together. Although it wasn't for problems like her inability to fly, it was based on finding their cutie-marks, another thing she was missing. However, if she had to be honest, that wasn't the kind of thing she worried about. Everypony gets a cutie-mark eventually, right? She hadn't heard of flightless pegasi before. But as she was now, she was giving up hope on her personal ability of flight. And as a grounded Pegasus, she looked up to those who could fly, especially those who were admirable.  For example the mare Rainbow Dash, who was possibly the fastest pegasus alive! Definitely a role-model for this filly. She was fast, amazing, and really cool too. If there was anything she would want, it would be personal training by that rainbow-maned Pegasus. She hadn't asked it yet, because she feared being refused. One day she would gather her courage and walk right up to the cyan pony! But not yet… Not yet… She couldn't muster the required courage right now. This is just a story about a little filly in her own world.

The pegasus heaved a sigh from her chest as she just sat there in her school bank, head on top of it, staring blankly forward as if she sat in oblivion. The school had ringed its bells over an hour ago, but she hadn't noticed. Either that or the filly didn't care. The sounds of hooves on wood were coming closer, but she hadn't moved an inch, until it stopped next to her, and a soft voice spoke out to her. "Scootaloo?" The mare asked softly. The filly didn't reply instantly, but only turned her face towards the mare, making a 'hmm' sound.  "Are you alright? You've been…" The mare paused for a second while staring at her. "Odd lately." She finally said, real concern hinting in the emerald green eyes of hers. The filly just sighed softly, and raised her head off the desk, gazing into the eyes of her teacher. "Yes, Miss Cheerilee, I'm fine…" The voice she had spoken with didn't sound confident in any aspect, but her teacher just nodded. "If anything is wrong, you know you can come to me. I wouldn't want you to feel bad. Besides, there's no use in bottling up feelings!" Cheerilee said with a cheerful tone to her, raising one of her front hooves to softly ruffle the filly's mane. "But it's time to go, school's out, I'll see you back here tomorrow!" She told the filly, walking away from her, her head hanging a bit low. The teacher trusted her pupils, if there really was something wrong, she was sure Scootaloo would swing by. "See you tomorrow, Scootaloo!" She called after her, but the filly didn't reply, which was a bit of a letdown for her. She didn't mind, though. She would talk to her tomorrow anyway, just to make sure she was okay.

When the filly stumbled outside of the school territory, it was still midday. The sun was getting lower, but the hint of darkness was still kept to a minimum as it kept its control over the sky. The filly paid little attention to these matters, for the thoughts that had clouded her mind did not allow her to return to reality. The filly walking by was a mere zombie, staring off into the distance. No one knew where she was walking off to. She herself didn't even seem to be in control. After a while of slow-pacing forward, she found herself on the Sweet Apple Acres farm. Not at the front or at the barn; she sat far away from either, in the protecting shadow of an apple tree. The filly just stared down, seemingly studying the short grass, but if you could look into her amethyst eyes, you would see that they were just blank. 

"You're useless! You can't even fly! And you don't have a cutie-mark? Is there anything you can do?"

Tears rolled down her cheeks. "No…" She said softly. "I don't want to be useless… I…" She just stopped talking, the tears slowly dripping off her onto the razor grassy leaves. As of late she had felt useless, but it had slowly built up to the climax she was at now. Miss Cheerilee had invited her to talk, but she didn't want to talk with anyone, anyone except for Rainbow Dash. But that mare was never to be seen, nor ever in the mood to talk to her. To her she was just a creepy kid. Yeah, she didn't have much chance with a mare such as her, way out of her reach. The filly sighed deeply, rubbing her eyes with a hoof even though she knew that wouldn't stop the tears. What was she to do? She couldn't go on like this, that was certainly not an option. Even she could see that.  Should she just continue with her life? Should she keep on trying to find her cutie mark and go to school with her friends? That probably wouldn't help her either. Then what was she supposed to do? She couldn't just run away, could she? No… She couldn't just leave her fellow friends alone, nor could she just stop with school. Imagine the punishment she might receive. Suddenly, a spark flashed in front of her. "Punishment?" If she ran away, what would it even matter?

But yet, could she really run away? After all these good times she had in the little town of Ponyville? She couldn't just desert her 'home' like this. But then again, she couldn't stay like this either.  So truly, what was a wise move here? To her, running away just seemed best for now. Yes, it did mean leaving behind her friends and her quest to find her cutie-mark, but as she was now, she could not live up to the task. In the end, she would even slow the other two down. She wouldn't have that. Their little adventures had been amazing, but she couldn't hold them back on life. She couldn't hold anyone back. And that's when she decided: yes, it was a better thing for everypony to leave this place behind, start for herself, at least for a little while. What should she bring, though? Scootaloo wasn't known for her survival skills, nor had she ever thought about depending on such a thing. She figured it would be wise to pack a few necessary things, but most importantly, she'd leave a note for the girls so that they knew what was going on. It was decided: she'd rather be a runaway than being somefilly who holds others back.