Login

Fast Ponies, Faster Fingers

by TheDriderPony

Chapter 1: One Last Go-Round [Comedy] [CMC] [CMC Sisters]

Load Full Story Next Chapter

“It’s just… just so hard to let go.” Scootaloo hung her head, her soaked mane hanging limply across her face.

“Then don’t!” Sweetie Belle cried, not for the first time. “Just hang on a little longer. I can fix this.”

“No. You can’t. We tried and we tried but we failed and now there’s nothing left.”

Scootaloo was tired. So tired. She’d been clutching at straws for so long that her hooves cramped in pain. She looked up at her childhood friend, noticing the moistness around her eyes.

“Hey, we had a good run, right? I had... fun. I’d like to think you did too. And... I want you to keep going.”

Sweetie Belle shook her head. “No! Don’t talk like that. I- I’m not going on without you. I can’t!”

“You can,” Scootaloo insisted, “You have to. Think of what Applebloom would say if she was here.”

She wiped away some of the water getting in her eyes and laughed, though the sound was hollow. “She’d say something uplifting. Something about the value of keeping on despite troubles. All wrapped up in a silly little countryism.”

They were silent for a time, letting no words escape as they thought of the friend they’d left behind. Scootaloo clenched her jaw in pain as more salty water ran down her muzzle. She’d have to go soon, that much she knew. But she could hold on a little longer.

“I know I’m not her, but I can try.” She took a deep breath. “Sweetie Belle. You’ve got a path ahead of you that only you can take. If I tried to come, I’d only hold you back and drag you down. I want you to promise me, no” --she cut off the impending interruption-- “let me finish. I want you to promise that, even after we part, you’ll go as far as you can. And when you get to where you’re going, you remember me. Remember me and Applebloom. Because I know you can do it and because I believe in you.”

“Scootaloo…” Sweetie Belle’s eyes twinkled like stars in the night. She tried to talk but found the words would not come. She swallowed hard and forced them out. “I- I promise. I’ll do it for you. I’ll do it for her. I’ll do it for us!”

Scootaloo smiled weakly. “There’s the Sweetie Belle I know.” She held out a hoof, though it wavered with barely the strength to stay aloft. “Cutie Mark Crusaders?”

A soft, white hoof met her orange one. “Cutie Mark Crusaders Forever.”

And Scootaloo let go.

~~o0o~~

“Bein’ awful dramatic, ain’t they?”

“Scoots especially. You haven’t been putting some kind of influence on her, have you?”

“Certainly not! Though I must agree that even Sweetie Belle is hamming it up a touch.”

The trio of sisters sat on bleachers arranged along the shore. Out at sea, Scootaloo slowly drifted as the current pulled her away. The rope she’d clutched to so tightly sagged down into the briny depths, waterlogged and weighty. Sweetie Belle cut it off as she struggled to keep the rest of her hoof-built boat from falling to pieces.

Applebloom yelled advice from the reef they’d briefly breached on, but her voice was lost in the surf and the sound of the crowd cheering for their own ramshackle-raft riding foals who were rapidly catching up to the Crusader’s early lead. Though it was the last lap and the finish line was in sight, with the oars gone and her vessel already dialing the combination for Davy Jones’ locker, the last Crusader’s chances looked grim.

“Ya think she’ll be able to pull it off?”

“I wish, but I fear not. That boat is done for and she’s not the strongest swimmer.”

“Yeah, even if they only need one team member to pass to win, I think Scoots might actually get there faster just by drifting that way.”

Author's Notes:

Original Prompt: Drifiting Away
Original Contest Date: October 6, 2019

Next Chapter: Role Reversal [Comedy] [Human] [Teen?] [Applejack] [Anon] [Rarity] Estimated time remaining: 43 Minutes
Return to Story Description

Login

Facebook
Login with
Facebook:
FiMFetch