Chapter 1
Take These Broken Wings
“And if you three don’t come up with a somewhat interesting story by tomorrow, I will write the ‘Gabby Gums’ column myself.” A pink filly said scornfully as she paced around the room, occasionally pushing her signature tiara back atop her sleek purple and white mane. Her eyes radiated fury down towards the three cowering junior journalists who attempted to avoid her menacing gaze.
“Fine!” a young crème earth pony spoke up, stepping forward slightly. “Yah can write the stupid column, see if we care!”
The pink filly’s smile leaked with acid and the girls felt sick as they knew that Diamond Tiara would not let them go quietly.
“If it is really what you want,” she mocked, “but I have something that may make you change your mind. Remember how I told Featherwieght to document everything? Well…” the filly threw a brown Manilla folder on the ground in front of the
schoolfillys and she evilly admired the three photos that tumbled out.
“She wouldn’t… would she?” Sweetie Belle whispered.
“oh I most certainly would,” Diamond answered instantly, “Let’s see now… what would be a fitting title for each…?”
“Uh-oh…” Scootaloo muttered.
“Perfect! Ah, ‘Sweetie Belle, An Insult To Fashion’!”
The unicorn cringed and looked at the ground.
“’Applebloom Exclusive!: Baby Pics Revealed!”
The earth pony gave a little growl and pounded the ground with her hoof.
“And last but not least, ‘Birds Laugh At Local Pegasus, Scootaloo After Falling From A Tree’!”
Scootaloo blushed a brilliant scarlet and looked at her tiny wings as if they were useless weights stuck to her back.
Diamond Tiara Leant forward, scooped up the original photos and handed the girls a single black-and-white copy of each.
“Use these to keep you motivated, because if you don’t pull through, these pictures will be in the newspaper for all of equestria to see!” The pink filly stifled an evil laugh before turning to sit at her temporary desk.
“Now get out there and get me some stories!”
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“What a way to go…” Sweetie mumbled as she, and the other two crusaders walked around what seemed to be a fairly deserted ponyville.
“Ah say we let her post those pictures!”
The Unicorn and Pegasus exchanged looks of uncertainty as Applebloom continued speaking.
“Y’all know how we embarrassed Everypony by posting their personal stories? Well, tah make ‘em see we’re serious about bein’ sorry, we let Diamond post ours!”
Sweetie Belle nodded gravely, accepting the consequences of their actions. Scootaloo didn’t seem so quick to join in.
“You can’t be serious!?” She said warily, “Your pictures aren’t bad at all! But mine… if that thing was posted, Everypony will think im a failure to all living pegasi!”
Applebloom raised an eyebrow. “Why? Because you face-planted in the mud?”
“Yes! Wait what? No! have you seen this photo properly?”
Applebloom shook her head and looked at the photo closely. Yes Scootaloo had fallen out of the tree, sure… but the earth pony knew that wasn’t the thing bothering her.
“Yah wings are movin’ pretty darn fast but yah face-planted anyway…. Does that mea—“
“That I cant fly?!” Scootaloo cut in, g her head on a tree over and over. “Im such an idiot! A Pegasus who can’t fly! Stupid, Stupid, Stupid!!”
“Yah aint stupid Scoots.”
“Yeah I am!” the Pegasus screeched, “Heck, the Cake’s baby Pegasus can fly better than me! Oh, and ya wanna know what else?! Their unicorn can fly better than me! Unicorn!! They don’t even have wings!”
Scootaloo stopped butting her head against the tree for a moment to inspect the quite large black and blue bruise that had formed on her forehead. The pain hadn’t yet inflicted the filly, as she just kept trotting around the tree before finally kicking it with her front hoof.
“We do not care that you cannot fly, Scootaloo.” Sweetie Belle caringly noted.
“I care! I CARE!!” the orange filly screamed before storming off, hooves clacking on the pavement heavily as she went. Sweetie began to trot after her troubled friend but Applebloom held out her hoof. The white unicorn looked at the crème pony with concern in her eyes, but Applebloom dismissed it, carelessly.
“She’ll be fine. Yah know what’s she’s like,” the filly said reassuringly, tossing her earthy-red mane out of her eyes, “She’ll come ‘round eventually.”
Sweetie Belle nodded, but thought otherwise. “Yeah, I know her all right.” She mumbled, “She will go and do something stupid just to prove a point.”
“Ah guess yer right. Oh horseapples! Yah don’t think she’ll go jumpin’ of a cliff do yah?!”
The unicorn looked instantly alert but then calmed down and shook her head. “She may be really dumb at times but you know she’s too chicken to pull something like that off.”
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“Well, here goes nothing…” the pegasi mumbled as she stared over the edge of what looked like a ravine from her point of view. Scootaloo knew that if she really could fly, she would do it unconsciously to save herself from hitting the ground.
“Okay…” Scootaloo stepped back a few steps and prepared to leap. “Three… Two……… One!” she yelped and ran forward, tripping over a lone piece of wood and entangling herself in some kind of rope. She tumbled off the edge and hit the ground hard, her back making a soft cracking sound as it collided with the earth below. The pegasi let out a scream as a sharp pain made it’s way from her spine up through her shoulder. She had only jumped off the clubhouse roof, not a cliff, and she still felt like a failure. As she curled up in agony, she accepted the fact she couldn’t fly. Never.
“Scootaloo? Are yah all right? Ah heard screamin’!”
Without moving any part of her body, Scootaloo managed to raise her pained gaze to meet that of Applebloom’s. Sweetie Belle Curiously trotted forward and nudged her friend with her hoof and the pegasi winced under the pressure of contact.
“Uhh… Applebloom…. She is not moving….” Tears welled in Sweeties eyes, “Is she…. I-is she dead?”
“What? No! she aint dead yah dummy. See she’s breathin’”
“but not moving…. I think something is really wrong….”
“yah think?”
The voices eventually droned out as Scootaloo closed her eyes and drifted out of consciousness. The next few minutes passed as a blur as she was tossed around by ponies barking stern orders and sirens wailing faintly in the background but these, too, disappeared over time. Lights dimmed around her and she could feel herself being lifted by a pair of strong hooves. She struggled but all will to fight dispersed as she looked to see who was confronting her. All pain left her trembling body for those precious few seconds that she looked into the rosy-pink eyes of the cyan pony.
“R-Rainbow Dash?” she said quietly, but her voice was lost almost as quick as she had found it.
“Y-yeah, im here. The doc will be back with your x-rays soon kid, your gunna be fine.”
Nurse Redheart walked into the room with a folder in her mouth, shaking her head sadly.
“What’s the news?!” Rainbow questioned, accidently squishing Scootaloo’s arm. The filly winced; tears forming at the corners of her eyes but she dared not cry in front of her idol, so she kept up a somewhat happy appearance.
“Oh crap!” Rainbow instantly changed her choice of word after the nurse gave her a stern look. “I mean uhh, sorry kid.”
The nurse placed the folder on the table next to the bed where the pegasi was resting. She had fallen asleep shortly after her confrontation with Rainbow. The nurse pulled out multiple black images which appeared to be that of a wing bone.
“She obviously has fractured bones in both wings which is not really a problem. plenty of bed rest and they should heal fine…” the white pony paused and a hint of uncertainty in the room made the cyan Pegasus think otherwise.
“There is something else isn’t there?”
Nurse Redheart looked at Rainbow, then to Scootaloo, who was snoring soundly.
“Actually, miss Dash, there were some things on the x-rays that caught my attention. Other staff are still trying to find the cause, but we think it is a genetic condition.”
“What? Condition…?”
“can we talk about this outside?” the nurse whispered, fearing that her patient might wake up suddenly and hear what she was about to say.
The Pegasus athlete nodded, running her hoof through the filly’s bright purple mane before finally leaving her bedside; half-reluctantly before following the mare outside.
“okay, we’re outside. Now what?”
“well I found young Scootaloo has some wing deformaties that have made t very difficult for her to fly and I am surprised they didn’t break sooner due to all the scooter accidents she has. You see, miss Dash, the bones in her wings are extremely weak, therefore they are not growing properly or producing the correct flight feathers. Once the fractures heal, she will still be able to use her wings but I am afraid she will never be able to fly. She will be grounded… for life.”
“Is there any way?”
Nurse Redheart thought for awhile but then shook her head sadly. “even with harsh regular training, she will only be ablte to hover for a few seconds, but no more.”
Rainbow dash held her head in her hooves, tears forming in her own eyes, but none were visable as the yellow, orange and red tendrils of her mane covered her face slightly.
“I-I was gunna teach her so much…. About flying…. About Cloudsdale…. But now I’ll never….”
“I’m sorry.” Nurse Redheart whispered before walking off sadly.