Equestria, We Have a Problem!
Scootaloo was running through her mental checklist as the filly tried to steady her nerves. She had to do this, she needed to do this! It was the only way she could ever hope to achieve her dream of flying, all other options had been exhausted or ruled out.
She went over the plan in her head again while tightly adjusting her helmet and briefly looking back. A small booster device had been strapped to the back of her scooter and ahead of her lay a ramp that stretched straight up into the sky. The plan was simple, use the booster to launch herself up the ramp and jump off her scooter in mid-flight. With any luck it would be just the wake up call needed to get her wings to work, get her off the ground and flying through the sky even just for a little bit.
The tomboyish filly wouldn't have resorted to such a drastic option if not for the fact that she couldn't think of any other way to achieve her dream. True, she had accepted that she might never fly, but a part of her wasn't quite ready to give up just yet. A small but stubborn part of her being was determined to fly no matter what it took. All the doctors and experts had said there was nothing wrong with her wings and it wasn't like they didn't work at all, they worked just fine for hovering if she strained herself. But hovering wasn't the same as flying and no other pegasus Scootaloo's age seemed to have the same problem.
A small part of Scootaloo started to feel guilty, she was doing this behind her aunts' backs. And she could already remember the discussion she'd had with them just the other day about what she was about to attempt, although it hadn't started out exactly like that.
"Is there something wrong with my wings that nopony's telling me?" Scootaloo had suddenly asked her Aunt Holiday and Auntie Lofty, figuring that either of them would hopefully be truthful with her.
Aunt Holiday seemed to defer to Auntie Lofty seeing as her special somepony was more of an expert on such subjects. Auntie Lofty was quick with the blunt remark. "Of course not, slugger. Your wings work just fine."
"Then how come I still can't fly yet?" Scootaloo inquired as she looked her Auntie Lofty square in the eyes. "There has to be something I'm not doing right that nopony's telling me about."
Auntie Lofty sighed, this wasn't the first time she'd had this conversation with her niece but it never got any easier. "There's nothing wrong with your wings, you just haven't learned how to use them properly yet," She tried to reassure the troubled filly. "I promise you, now that Holiday and I are living in Ponyville full time, I'll start looking into giving you flying lessons. I still remember mine, and I was just as much of a late bloomer as you are."
But Scootaloo groaned. "You always say that but you always keep forgetting because you're busy with other things. Besides, Rainbow Dash has already been giving me lessons and I'm not getting any better. She says there must be something wrong with me if my wings can't get me off the ground."
Aunt Holiday intervened to try and dissolve the tension. "But Scootaloo, why do you care about flying? Look at all the great things you can already do. You're a natural on your scooter, nopony I know's ever as fast as you."
The filly sighed. "I know, Aunt Holiday. And don't get me wrong, riding my scooter is tons of fun. But it and bungee jumping just aren't the same compared to flying. I thought I'd gotten over it, but it really feels like I could do it if something wasn't holding me back."
Holiday simply replied. "Well I'm afraid that seeing a specialist for your wings would be very expensive. And even then it may not produce conclusive results. It could just be that there's nothing wrong with you or your wings and that something nopony has seen before is what's keeping you grounded."
"You mean, like a magical imbalance or something? Like the kind of magic that lets pegasi walk on clouds and control weather?" Scootaloo questioned. "Maybe I just need more pegasus magic in me?"
Lofty didn't seem to think so as she chuckled. "Slugger, when you were a foal you had pegasus magic to spare! You would zoom all over the place with those tiny wings of yours! You really inherited your mother's pegasus genes, and I know Holiday was incredibly relieved when she didn't have to always depend on me to catch you. If anything, that magic is what makes you a little speed demon on your scooter. Just trying to keep up with you on it makes me feel tired."
Holiday was also quick to warn. "Even if there were something wrong with your pegasus magic or your wings, corrective surgery would be expensive and painful."
"What about prosthetic wings?" The tomboyish filly suggested. "Miss. Cheerilee talked about them in school."
But Holiday shook her head. "Those would be even more expensive than the other options, Scootaloo. And something tells me you would be rather uncomfortable having metal wings attached to your body all the time. Not to mention what your parents would think, Celestia knows they worry enough as it is about you."
Scootaloo, however, stomped a hoof down! "My parents would think it was worth the cost if it meant I could fly! They don't let anything stop them! And I'm their daughter for a reason! They don't give up, and neither will I! I will fly one way or another! If you won't help me, then I'll just have to do it myself!"
Holiday and Lofty exchanged nervous glances. The look in their niece's grayish-purple eyes was a look of serious determination, the kind that wasn't easy to talk anypony out of. "Just what did you have in mind, slugger?" Lofty spoke up first. "I sincerely hope it's nothing too crazy."
"Only if you think launching myself into the air on my scooter is 'too crazy'!" Scootaloo retorted in an unconcerned tone. "It's not like I haven't done it before, how else do you think I got up to Cloudsdale to meet Rainbow Dash's parents?"
Lofty immediately put her hoof down. "Absolutely not, slugger! There's no way you're going through with... whatever it is you plan to do! You could get yourself hurt, or worse!"
Scootaloo shook her head. "No I won't, I'll be extra careful. I'll wear my helmet and everything."
"A helmet may not be enough to protect you!" Lofty sternly scolded. "I know you want to fly, but you need to ask yourself if you're really willing to risk your life to achieve it!"
Holiday was quick to add. "I'm siding with my darling Lofty on this, Scootaloo. Normally I can find her to be a bit overprotective, but in this case I think her concerns are well warranted. I'm sure that if we start saving up now and planning, we can find a way to address whatever issue you may have."
But the filly refused to listen. "That may not be soon enough! If I can't find a way to fly now, who knows if I'll ever fly at all?! Besides, I'm not stupid. I'm not gonna be like Lightning Dust and her Washouts who didn't care at all for their safety." And with that she had stormed away, unwilling to argue her point any further. Much as she appreciated her aunts' concerns she was too set in her ways to consider listening to them. Thus, the next day she slipped away before either mare was awake and set out to get everything ready.
Now a small pang of guilt was starting to creep into the filly's mind and heart, the tomboy knew her aunts' concerns were not without merit.
But it was too late, she'd already come this far and gotten everything set up. Even if she wanted to Scootaloo was convinced that she couldn't back off on this plan. She'd thought it all out carefully, she wasn't even going to launch herself that hard or that high. If there was one thing that she remembered from the occasional flying lessons Rainbow Dash had given her (occasional being the key word) it was the importance of taking small steps. As the part-time Wonderbolt had put it "You don't jump into the deep end when you're just starting to learn how to swim."
So Scootaloo fastened the straps on her helmet, making sure they were secure and that the helmet itself was on tightly. The booster was set to deploy when she kicked her scooter like she would usually do to start rolling. One kick and she would be propelled forward and into the air. The rest would be up to her wings which would hopefully start working. If not, it would most likely be a repeat of last time where she would end up stuck on a cloud and her scooter would be in pieces on the ground.
The pegasus with a coat of orange gave one last look back, as though expecting (or perhaps hoping) for her aunts or for anypony at all to show up and stop her from going through with this. But nopony came in the end. So after taking a deep breath, Scootaloo gripped the handlebars on her scooter and bending a leg, gave a kick to the back.
The booster activated with a roar! Scootaloo was propelled forward at a breakneck speed that could've rivaled Rainbow Dash's lightning fast take offs! Briefly she thought about altering the path of her scooter to miss the ramp, but she was going too fast to really plan out such an escape. She soon reached her target and rolled straight up it and into the great blue sky above!
Scootaloo started flapping and buzzing her wings almost as soon as she was airborne. She hoped to generate just enough lift to get off her scooter before it reached the peak of its ascent and the booster ran out of power. But it seemed to take longer than she had hoped for, her wings were not used to the gusts of wind from higher up and she had to expend more energy just to get them to buzz. At last, convinced that she had enough levitation and that the moment of truth had arrived, the pegasus hesitantly let go of her scooter's handlebars and started to rise into the air.
It was the greatest feeling in the world when Scootaloo felt her wings lift her to carry her through the breeze! Sure, the constant buzzing was exhausting but the thrill of flying freely for the first time in her short life more than outweighed this downside. Her eyes filled with wonder as she observed the ground below her, everypony and every building looked so tiny from so high up.
This was it! She was actually flying! Not bungee jumping, not swimming, not dreaming! Flying, and on her own power too! "This is the greatest moment of my life!" The filly thought to herself, the adrenaline flowing through every aspect of her body in a way that she had never imagined before! If only all the neighayers could see her now, if only her friends and family could see her now, they would hardly believe their eyes.
But Scootaloo hadn't been flying for very long when she started to realize that she had a small problem. She was straining herself considerably just to stay in the air, but she had no way to slow herself down and properly land! The only way she could achieve that was when she would get too tired and her wings would stop buzzing. That would mean a long, hard fall to the ground that would only end in one outcome.
There had to be another way! But what?!
Struggling to stay calm, the anxious filly tried to slow down her buzzing, so as not to expend more effort than she thought necessary. "Maybe if I just pace it gradually I'll come to a stop?" She thought to herself. She knew that was probably wishful thinking considering how much energy she was already using, but a part of her hoped that maybe it would be possible. It sure beat the alternative that kept playing in her mind.
Alas, despite her best efforts Scootaloo couldn't really slow herself down that much. It indeed wasn't until she was too tired to keep buzzing and flapping her wings that she started to descend again! Her descent became quite rapid, Scootaloo abandoning all pretenses of calm and opting to scream at the top of her lungs! She was legitimately terrified and her life was starting to flash before her eyes just like they always said it did in these situations!
As if in answer to the filly's cry for help, a lone cloud suddenly drifted into view of her grayish-purple eyes. It was moving sluggishly and didn't seem very thick, but to Scootaloo it was a hopeful life saver.
Closer and closer she came to the cloud, Scootaloo hoped in silence to not somehow pass by it. She extended her hooves to try and grasp it. When her front hooves made contact with the cloud's poofy surface she felt relieved. Never in all her life had she been as terrified as she was just now. And for a moment her worries faded away, convinced that she was safe.
It was a false hope: the cloud slowed but did not stop the tomboyish pegasus' descent. Try as she might to hold onto it her hooves just slipped on through. From there it was only a matter of time until she reached the ground, her precious scooter already there and broken into tiny pieces.
Horrified but stricken with a sense of inevitability over the fact that she could do nothing to escape her hopeless predicament, Scootaloo shut her eyes and prepared for the worst as she started to gain speed again!
There came a loud thud as the filly hit the ground, pain coursing through every inch of her body! For but a brief second Scootaloo opened her eyes before her whole world went dark and she could feel nothing at all.
She wasn't certain how much time had passed but Scootaloo eventually fluttered her eyes open again! The pain returned anew and her vision was blurry. "Where am I?" She wondered aloud as she could faintly make out the sounds of electronic beeping.
"Oh, thank goodness you're finally awake!" A familiar concerned voice called out as a sturdy pegasus and a bulky earth pony (both mares) suddenly appeared in Scootaloo's line of vision, both of whom were instantly recognizable to the dazed filly!
"Aunt Holiday? Auntie Lofty?" Scootaloo commented in a weak sounding tone of voice as her vision slowly became more focused. The pain became more pronounced.
Both aunts let out a sigh of relief. "You remember us, good. We were worried you might never wake up again!" Lofty exclaimed.
"Scootaloo, do you realize where you are?" Holiday asked her niece, sounding noticeably concerned.
Scootaloo turned her head slowly to look around, a task made difficult by the pain that refused to leave her alone. But the beeping noises, the lights, the machines, and the smells left little doubt in the filly's mind about where she was. "I'm... alive."
"Yes, but do you even realize how much you made us worry?!" Lofty scolded! "You're lucky your friends stumbled on your crash landing, it's because of them you were able to be rushed to the hospital just in time!"
Holiday was quick to add. "If you had hit the ground just a little bit harder or a little bit faster, who knows if you would've survived?!" And she then demanded. "Why in the name of Celestia would you do such a stupid thing, Scootaloo?! You scared Lofty and I half to death, we thought for sure we'd lost you!"
Scootaloo whimpered, now wracked with guilt. "I... I just wanted to fly. I did... for a little bit," She groaned. "I guess I didn't think I would, so I didn't quite plan on a way to get down."
"Slugger, trying to fly the way you did is dangerous!" Lofty sternly remarked as she trotted close to her niece. "The doctors said you'revery lucky you didn't cause any permanent injury to yourself with such a stunt. Even your wings escaped being broken, you only sprained them."
Holiday trotted close as well, but she opted to nuzzle Scootaloo with her face. "You make us worry so much as it is, Scootaloo. Lofty and I both know how much flying means to you, but we really don't like it when you do stuff like this. It's not good to try and push yourself to do dangerous stunts the way you do."
"But I flew! And I really want to fly someday." Scootaloo protested.
Lofty sighed. "And you will if you don't give up. Holiday and I didn't want to discourage you when talking about possible treatments if there's something wrong with your wings. But every possible solution comes with drawbacks, including the price. We can't just throw bits at a possible problem and hope that we find the answer," She then added. "It only gets worse when you do stuff like this. And you should know that Holiday and I aren't the only ones affected by your near death experience. When two other ponies heard the news, they said they were dropping everything to come back and see you."
The tomboyish filly sat up with a start despite the pain she was in and despite her heavily bandaged state of appearance! "Wait, you mean..." She began as her eyes grew wide!
Lofty and Holiday both nodded, effectively answering their niece's question for them.
A moment later the doors in the hospital room swung open, and in rushed a very familiar earth pony stallion and pegasus mare who looked like they had just ventured through Tartarus with nothing but the worn clothes on their backs! Scootaloo recognized them at once as her parents: Snap Shutter and Mane Allgood!
Both were very out of breath and looked exhausted! Yet both still locked eyes on their daughter as they rushed to her bedside. "Oh, thank the stars above you're alright, mate!" Snap Shutter exclaimed in relief!
"Scootaloo, you have no idea how beyond worried sick you've made!" Snap Shutter also exclaimed, embracing her daughter in a wing hug. "Oh, we feared the worst and we're so relieved that's not the case," When the hug ended she fixed her signature piercing gaze on her only daughter and questioned. "Now kindly tell us what in the name of Celestia made you think what you did was okay. Why did you think launching yourself into the air with no way to get back down again was a good idea?"
Snap Shutter nodded in stern agreement. "Scoot, you made us come back to Ponyville on our own power! Your mum had to carry me all the way 'cause the only train to Ponyville wasn't for a whole 'nother week! You'd better believe this is serious and that we want answers! Ain't been this worried about you since you disappeared before the Summer Sun Celebration all them years ago."
At that the filly felt something replace her feelings of pain and guilt (though they still lingered), confusion. "You and Mom were worried about me?"
Snap nodded his head. "Course we were, Scoot. Worried a bloody hoofful about you. Why'd you ever think we wouldn't be, mate?"
"You didn't seem particularly concerned when you wanted me to move to Shire Lanka with you." Scootaloo protested in response.
Mane sighed, her daughter had made a very fine point. "We thought it was best if our family was all together again. We missed you so much while we were on our adventures, Scootaloo. And you know we couldn't take you with us on them. If anything ever happened to you out in the wilderness, we wouldn't be able to forgive ourselves."
Snap was quick to add. "By the time we realized our mistake we'd already made arrangements in Shire Lanka. But after this little display I think it's clear to your mum and I that we need to be closer to you. Can't be counting on your aunts to do the job for us all the time."
Lofty couldn't help but tease. "You sure you want to do that? You know we bought up your old house, right?"
Holiday, however, commented with a smile. "It'll be wonderful to have you back in Ponyville again little brother. I'm sure we can make arrangements, there's lots of lovely homes out here."
Snap and Mane both nodded their heads as Snap replied. "Well, those are details to work out at a later time, sis. Besides, we got a friend to watch our place back in Shire Lanka. Might have to send her a message though lettin' her know we won't be coming back. Got a few things I ain't looking to part with, especially the old photo album."
Mane Allgood smiled. "I could always fly you back to get it, Snap."
Snap shook his head. "No thank you, mate. You know me, I like to keep my hooves on solid ground. Flying through the air even with just you, scares the living daylights out of me," Then he turned back to Scootaloo. "And Scoot, your mum and I promise that we'll look into gettin' you to see a specialist once you're back to normal. Though the doctors say that won't be for several weeks now. Lucky you didn't end up in a full body wing and hoof cast."
"Drinking through a straw?" Scootaloo nervously and reluctantly asked.
Lofty commented. "Where did you ever get that idea, slugger?"
The filly sighed. "It's a long story," Not wanting to talk about it she decided to change the subject. "Guess I'm gonna have to spend a lot of time putting my scooter back together again when I recover."
But Holiday gave a knowing wink. "Come now, Scootaloo. You've crashed that scooter so many times already that I've lost count. I should know, seeing as I've had to put that scooter back together with my own hooves," When Lofty coughed into a hoof the earth pony mare was quick to correct. "With some help from my special somepony of course."
"Let's just say a needle isn't the only thing I'm good with," Lofty smiled and then chuckled. "Holiday married me for a reason, you know. And it wasn't just because I looked pretty."
"Lofty, please." Holiday playfully waved a hoof.
Mane seemed to agree as she spoke up. "I believe you've made your point and I think that's enough for now. After all, the doctors said Scootaloo needs her rest, right?"
"You're right," Lofty agreed. "So you get some shut eye, slugger. And hopefully, from now on you won't pull these kind of crazy stunts again. You're going to give Holiday and I gray manes one of these days with how much you make us worried. And that's if you don't do it to your parents first."
Snap Shutter was quick to offer. "Once you're back to full health, mate, we'll go out for ice cream sundaes to celebrate! And I know your friends are gonna wanna throw a bash."
"Remember, Scootaloo, we all love you and we all want you to stay healthy and safe," Mane Allgood sweetly added as she and her husband departed the hospital room. "So remember that the next time you decide you want to risk your life. There are plenty of safe ways to go about it, methods that don't have to involve hospitalization and scaring everypony who loves you."
Holiday and Lofty, for their part, sat down in chairs not far from Scootaloo's bed. Lofty even pointed out. "And don't think you're off the hook just because of this hospital trip. Once you get out you're grounded for as long as it takes for your wings to heal, missy."
"Don't forget all the homework you'll have to make up while you're still in the hospital," Holiday added as a reminder. "We'll make sure Miss. Cheerilee provides it so you can stay caught up."
Scootaloo just sighed, quietly accepting her punishment. She most certainly wouldn't think of resorting to such an extreme measure again, even if it had been able to get to her fly for a short amount of time. She would have to look into safer alternatives to experiencing that euphoric feeling again, once she got out of the hospital anyway.