Faith and Trust
It was a boring day for Scootaloo; boring and lonesome. Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom were busy helping their sisters, Rainbow Dash was on cloud duty, and her aunts... Well, they were never around for her. With nothing to do, Scootaloo had decided to take a walk near the woods. It was getting late, the sky beginning to take on a red hue, but she didn't care. She stopped to gaze up at the setting sun. She always loved watching the sunset; watching how it painted the sky in such beautiful colors.
She saw a small group of Pegasi passing by; they seemed to be chasing each other through the pinkening clouds. Scootaloo felt her little wings fluttering subconsciously. She wanted so badly to fly up into that beautiful sky; every other Pegasus could, so why couldn't she? She gritted her teeth and fluttered her wings with as much strength as she could muster, but to no surprise, she only lifted a couple feet off the ground. With a dejected sigh, she went over to tree and slumped against it.
Scootaloo had accepted the fact that she was unable to fly, but that didn't diminish her desire to. Maybe then she wouldn't be so lonely. Maybe then Rainbow Dash could spend more time with her, teach her all her cool tricks. Maybe then her parents... Scootaloo buried her face in her hooves.
Then there came a voice. "Why so sad?"
Scootaloo jumped in surprise at the sudden voice. She turned around and saw a pair of eyes looking at her from the shadows under the trees.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you." The creature stepped out of the shade. It was a funny little thing, bipedal and covered in fur. It was quite small, only half Scootaloo's height.
Scootaloo was a bit taken aback; she had never seen such a creature in her life. "Umm, w-who are you?"
"My name is Mr. Widemouth, because you see, my mouth is wide." It was true, the creature's mouth was quite large compared to his body. In fact, quite a bit of him was disproportionately large compared to his body; his head, his ears, his eyes; but his mouth was certainly to most distinctive.
Scootaloo wiped her eyes and smiled politely at the little stranger. "Hi, Mister-uhh-Widemouth, my name's Scootaloo."
"Scootaloo." Mr. Widemouth seemed to taste the word on his tongue. "Well, again, I'm sorry for startling you."
"Oh, no, it's fine," Scootaloo waved it off, not wanting to admit to just how scared she had been from the out-of-nowhere greeting. "You just caught me off guard a little."
"I was just wondering what was bothering you." The creature said in a sympathetic tone. "You seemed upset."
Scootaloo blushed a little; she wasn't the type that liked to talk about her feelings, especially to a complete stranger. Still, the creature seemed friendly enough and she had been rather lonely. "Upset? Nah, no, I was just thinking about... stuff."
Mr. Widemouth hummed in interest and looked to the sky. "It's a beautiful sunset; why don't you fly up onto a cloud to get a better look? Maybe that would cheer you up."
Scootaloo cringed and turned away. "Yeah, well, that's kinda the problem."
The creature said nothing as if waiting for the filly to continue.
With a huff, Scootaloo turned back to the creature and pointed to her wings, flapping them to show her point. "See? I can't fly."
Mr. Widemouth gasped and nodded in understanding. "Oh, I see. Is that why you're upset? Being a Pegasus that can't fly can't be easy."
"Of course, it's not!" Scootaloo snapped. "Flying is what Pegasi are supposed to do, so why can't I?! It's all I want to do! Then I could go into the sky like I've always wanted and I could train with Rainbow Dash and my parents would like m-" She stopped when she realized how much she was spilling to this little stranger. "S-Sorry, I didn't to... I just needed to vent to someone."
"Oh, that's alright." Mr. Widemouth reassured, petting the filly's shoulder. "I want to help you, Scootaloo."
The filly laughed bitterly. "Thanks, but I don't think anyone can help with this."
"Oh, but I can." The creature said excitedly. "I know a way to make you fly!"
Scootaloo perked up, looking to the little creature in disbelief. "What? Wait, seriously?!"
Mr. Widemouth nodded, a big warm smile on his face. "Yes, there is a place I sometimes go to. It's a special place. There's a little pool there full of strange magic, magic that can heal. I've seen it before; I've met many little friends like you that I've taken to that little pond. Blind ones who could suddenly see; lame ones who could suddenly walk; and yes, even little Pegasi, like yourself, who couldn't fly... and then they could."
Scootaloo was in awe at this. It was hard for her to believe it; she had accepted the fact that she would likely never be able to fly. And now, this little creature claimed to have the answer to her prayers. It was incredible and she desperately wanted to believe it. "Well, where is it?!"
The creature made a gesture to follow him and started to walk into the woods. "Follow me and I'll show you."
Excited, Scootaloo fluttered to the edge of the woods, but found herself hesitating. She was tremendously excited at the prospect of being able to fly, but deep down, she felt it was just too good to be true. When the creature beckoned her again to follow, she shrugged off those thoughts. It couldn't hurt to at least try, she figured. Mr. Widemouth seemed about as threatening as a bunny (less so if counting Angel) and all she had to do was take a dip in a pool. Yes, it was certainly worth a try.
Night had fallen by the time they had reached the place Mr. Widemouth had spoken of. The entire trek through the woods, Scootaloo had talked half to herself and half to the little creature about the things she could do when she could fly; that is, assuming this would indeed work. She couldn't shake that feeling in her stomach that it would be all for nothing, but Mr. Widemouth reassured, asking her only to trust him and have faith.
It wasn't a terribly dark night nor was it very bright. Luna's moon was half covered by a blanket of clouds, yet still shown enough to reflect the pool. It was indeed a small pool, no more than ten feet in diameter. It sat in front on a short wall of rocky earth, a very thin trickle of a waterfall dropping into it. It sat next to a cliff that overlooked a good chunk of the land between Ponyville and Canterlot, which Scootaloo could make out the outline of in the distince. It was a lovely place; Scootaloo imagined Sweetie Belle would really like it. Still, it didn't strike her as something particularly magical.
Mr. Widemouth led the filly to the pool. She looked down at the indistinct reflections of herself and the smiling creature. "This is the pool? It doesn't look very magical to me."
"Looks can be deceiving," The creature retorted. "Some of the most magical things are hidden in plain sight. All it takes is faith and trust." He gestured for filly to go into the pool.
Scootaloo took a deep breath and plunged into the pool, accidentally splashing Mr. Widemouth, who shook his fur dry like a dog. The pool was quite shallow, with Scootaloo needing only to stand to bring her head out of the water. After a short moment, she turned to Mr. Widemouth, who had just finished drying himself. "Is it supposed to be working now?" She asked impatiently. "I don't feel any different."
"Faith and trust, Scootaloo." The creature reminded her. "The first part is trust. Close your eyes."
Scootaloo obeyed and closed her eyes.
"Think about flying. Imagine becoming one with the wind and sky. Imagine how proud Rainbow Dash will be; how proud your parents will be."
Scootaloo's heart raced as she allowed herself to imagine it all. It made her feel so many things. Sad that she couldn't. Scared that she never could. Overjoyed that she could very well be about to.
"That's it. Focus on that wish. Now, flex your wings; let them feel the water like they'll feel the air."
Scootaloo obeyed and flexed out her wings. They felt stronger somehow; almost like she was already flying. Was it working?
"You feel it, don't you? The pool working it's magic?"
Tears rolled down Scootaloo's cheeks, a smile on her face. "Yes. I-I feel it."
"Perfect; you're ready."
At these words, Scootaloo's eyes shot open and quickly jumped out of the pool, flapping her wings as soon as they wer eout of the water. When nothing happened, she realized her wings were too wet and flapped them faster to dry them, only to once again just hover a couple feet.
"Not yet, Scootaloo." Mr. Widemouth said. "There's one more part to make it work. Like I said, the first part is trust. The second part is faith."
The filly shook her dry and gave the creature a questioning look.
The creature smiled and gestured for the filly to follow him. He guided her to the edge of the cliff. "All you have to do now is take a leap of faith."
Scootaloo slowly looked from the creature to the sheer drop below her. In the dark of the night, she couldn't even see the bottom. Her blood ran cold as she returned her look to the creature. "You... You want me to jump?"
Mr. Widemouth nodded excitedly. "Yes, that's how the magic works. Don't worry, you'll be safe. I've had a couple of Pegasi like you come here and when they jumped, they flew long before they could hit the bottom."
Scootaloo gulped and returned her look to the long fall in front of her. She imagined jumping off only to catch herself on her magically repaired wings, flying over to surprise all her friends and family. She also imagined what would happen if she jumped and didn't fly.
Mr. Widemouth had moved behind her and gave her a nudge forward. "Go on."
Scootaloo dug her hooves into the ground at the nudge and looked back at the little creature. "I-It's a really long way down."
The creature's face twitched in what looked like anger; his smile suddenly seemed more forced. "Well, of course, it is. If it weren't high, then it wouldn't be a leap of faith and the magic wouldn't work."
Scootaloo bit her lip and looked between the drop and the creature. "Maybe some other time. I don't think I have enough faith for this." She tried to move past Mr. Widemouth, but he cut her off.
"I thought we were friends, Scootaloo." The creature said with a snarl. "Friends trust each other, don't they? You want to fly, don't you? So, jump!"
Scootaloo backed away from the scowling creature only for a hoof to meet air. Terrified, she tried to move around Mr. Widemouth, but the creature was surprisingly fast and kept himself in front of her; keeping her between himself and the cliff. Had he always had such long claws? Had his teeth always been so sharp? Had he always had that evil gleam in his eye?
Still, he was a small creature and she made to jump over him. As she leapt into the air, she felt a small, furry yet surprisingly strong body collide with hers. She felt claws dig into her sides, pulling her down.
Then he pushed.
And she fell.
Scootaloo screamed as she fell from the cliff. Down and down she went, the rush of air deafening the world to her. She flapped her little wings in vain, hoping to at least slow her descent, but slow it did not. She could barely hear her own screams as they echoed against the face of the cliff. She dared not open her eyes.
Before she could hit the ground, she felt arms wrap around her and hold her tight. The fast descent stopped as the pony holding her gently lowered to the ground.
"Scoots, what the heck were you doing?!" A familiar voice laced with anger and worry questioned.
Scootaloo opened her eyes and to find herself looking at a cyan coat of fur. Shaking, she looked up to see ruby eyes under a rainbow mane looking at her. "R-Rainbow Dash?"
"I've been looking for you for hours! No one knew where you went off to! Then I hear you scream and see you falling off a freaking cliff?! What the heck were you...?" Rainbow stopped her scolding when Scootaloo burst into tears and buried her face in Rainbow's chest, clinging to her tightly. Rainbow sighed and rubbed the shaking filly's back and mane. "I'm sorry, kid, I didn't mean... You scared me is all."
Scootaloo didn't respond; she just hugged her sister and cried.
Neither said anything for a long moment until Scootaloo felt rather than heard Rainbow gasp. "Mother of Luna..."
Scootaloo glanced up to see Rainbow looking at something ahead and turned her head to see what it was. At first, she saw nothing aside from the face of the cliff and cluttered rock formations at the base of it. Then the light of the moon reflected the distinct white color and she saw it. Bones; the remains of dead ponies. They were unorganized and seemed to have been picked apart by predators, so it was hard to say how many there were; but from the size of the bones, most of them were around Scootaloo's size. And from the place and shape they were in, it seemed that they had fallen from the same place that Scootaloo just had.
"Let's get outta here." Rainbow said before taking off.
Scootaloo wanted to tell her about Mr. Widemouth, and about everything he told her and tried to get her to do, but she found herself unable to speak; too shaken and scared. She would tell her later, when her nerves were settled.
As they flew back to Ponyville, Scootaloo peaked around Rainbow Dash at the cliff, her eyes on the top where she had left Mr. Widemouth.
And from the cliff, he watched them go.