Soaring Flight
"But Rainbow Dash...what if...what if my wings never grow? What if I never fly?"
"Listen, Scootaloo. Maybe you'll fly someday, or maybe you won't. You're all kinds of awesome anyway. Who's the toughest little pony in town?"
"I am."
The words danced on her lips softly as she gazed across the vast countryside that beckoned her and welcomed her. Above the countryside laid a bright blue sky dotted with white clouds -- the place that she wanted to go to, someday.
But of course, she wouldn't go without the one item she loved the most. The one item that had stayed with her throughout her life. The one item that allowed her to fly when her wings couldn't.
Her blue scooter.
Adorned with red handles and sturdy brakes, it was her most prized possession. When she wasn't hanging out with her friends, she was riding it through town, doing cool stunts and aiming to go higher and higher with every one. Someday, she hoped to touch the clouds that were way up there in the stratosphere. For now, she was stuck touching all the boring clouds in the troposphere.
But that didn't mean she wouldn't try.
Taking a deep breath, she pushed forward with her hoof and allowed her wheels to take her across grass and dirt. It was an admittedly bumpy ride, and she nearly fell off of her scooter a few times. But she had been blessed with the gift of good balance, and thus, she managed to stay on.
As she rode, her mind began to form an idea. She had heard talk of a world outside of Equestria, with countless cities and kingdoms that would make any travel enthusiast weep. Perhaps...perhaps, she could go there, someday.
Just her, a lone filly, out there in the world, riding free, making new discoveries and new friends.
Well...maybe she wouldn't be a lone filly. She had to take Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle with her, after all. They were a nigh-inseparable trio.
Sadly, she wasn't sure if Rainbow Dash would approve. Sure, the mare was adventurous, but she probably wouldn't allow Scootaloo to go to the ends of Equestria for much of anything, if anything at all. "That's for the adults", she would say. And then she'd rub Scootaloo's head, give her well wishes, and go off with the girls on yet another wild adventure.
But what if Scootaloo rebelled?
What if, right now, she decided to go through with her dream? Go back to Equestria, gather up Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle, and go off to the ends of the world? She could leave a note for Rainbow Dash, telling her that...
That...
...Yeah, no. Going on that big of a journey would require a lot more planning, now that she thought about it.
As she felt the wheels of her scooter begin to hit solid ground again, she smiled, staring at the vastness of the beyond that laid in front of her. She couldn't tell whether she was in Ponyville anymore or not. A pang shot through her heart for only a minute, a sort of gut feeling that told her to turn back before she ended up getting lost. But in all honesty? In this moment, she didn't care if she got lost. She could always find her way back home.
Her head tilted upwards towards the sky, where she spotted a few specks -- no doubt it was a small group of Pegasi. She couldn't understand much of what they were saying, aside from the usual laugh or whoop or holler. She bit her lip to keep it from quivering, her hooves gripping the scooter's handlebars as hard as she could grip them. She was happy she could use her wings as an accelerator for her scooter, because it meant that they wouldn't just be tiny useless little appendages that were nothing more than dead weights on the side of her body. And ever since she had been crowned as part of the official opening act for the Equestria Games, she had come to terms with the fact that she couldn't fly.
But that didn't mean she didn't want to fly.
She put a halt on her driving as she was nearing a thick forest. The group of Pegasi were disappearing over the treetops, and she couldn't see them anymore. As she gently laid down her scooter, she took a deep breath and opened her wings.
A soft, gentle breeze flowed through them. It tickled the feathers and the bones within. It made her mane flow elegantly, like the princesses'. Realizing that it was blowing towards her face, however, caused her to turn around so her back was to the wind.
With another deep breath, she flapped her wings.
As expected, she only hovered a little bit off of the ground. This time, however, she could feel herself being pushed forwards slightly by the breeze. It wasn't much, but it was something, and she reveled in the experience for as long as she could. She closed her eyes, imagining herself being propelled by the wind, joining that group of Pegasi and all the other Pegasi of Equestria, doing cool stunts and tricks alongside Rainbow Dash...maybe even joining the Wonderbolts. The possibilities seemed endless.
The breeze died down, and she landed with all four hooves on the ground. She expected to fall flat on her stomach, but like a cat jumping down from a high place, she pointed all of her hooves towards the ground and landed on them with grace, just as she had seen Rainbow Dash and many other Pegasi do before. Maybe it was an instinctual thing for her race. Maybe it was just quick reflexes. Who was to say.
Instead of getting back on her scooter, she decided to take a break in her travels, lying down in the right-side meadow that flanked the path heading into the forest ahead. The breeze came back, but this time, she opted to let it wash over her, not wanting to risk serious injury by letting it propel her anymore. She closed her eyes and imagined herself flying high, exceeding the speed of the princesses, the Wonderbolts, even Rainbow Dash, with them all being in awe at all the tricks she could do.
And then, the daydream shifted. It shifted to her riding along the streets of Ponyville, doing cool stunts on her scooter, her wings fluttering as she attempted to gain air for the trick she had dubbed the work-in-progress "Scootaroll". Ponies were cheering her on for what seemed like miles, especially when she perfectly stuck the landing. Her heart swelled with pride as she spotted Rainbow Dash and the girls, all chanting her name. The Pegasus mare trotted up to her, ruffled her mane, told her how awesome she was. Like a true big sister.
Scootaloo's eyes slowly opened. A small smile graced her features. She stood up, took in some more fresh air, and made her way back to her scooter. After all, if she wanted to keep going as far as she could before the magic of the princesses gently caressed the sun and the moon once again, she couldn't afford to take breaks that were too long.
As she placed one back hoof on her scooter and the other one on the ground, she stared at the forest that lay ahead. It was dark, looming, and, if she was being honest, a little spooky. But she forced herself to steel her nerves. Spooky forests were certainly not new territory to her. And after all, it was all about the freedom -- the freedom to be her own pony, who went anywhere she pleased, anytime she pleased, with anypony she pleased. It was that freedom that she craved, that she loved, that she would never ever take for granted. That freedom that she hoped would stick with her, even when she became a fully-grown mare.
Her ground-bound hoof began propelling the filly and her scooter, sending both on their way into the forest.
And beyond that? Who knew. It was just more uncharted territory for her to explore. Whether she could explore it now or when she was a little bit older, whether she went at it alone or with a few friends by her side, whether she traversed ground or managed to touch all the clouds in the sky, all she knew was that she had freedom.
And to her, that was what really mattered.