Things had gone pretty well for Scootaloo over the past few weeks. The way she had been living for the past few years and her history had become known to those who loved her and, best of all, they still loved her. She had gained a surrogate mother and father in Rainbow Dash and Star Shine. Rainbow Dash had even gone on to adopt her and become her legal mother. Star Shine insisted he was demoted to simply being a big brother with weird and confusing feelings for her mother. In a way it was a good job that he never claimed to be Scootaloo’s dad. Scootaloo’s mother was long gone, as was her unborn foal. Depression had taken her after Scootaloo was given up and her body had just shut down on her. She never ate, she barely slept, she just didn’t want to live anymore. Scootaloo would never know it but her mother hadn’t given her up for selfish reasons. She had done it simply to protect Scootaloo from her father. She had always had Scootaloo’s best interests at heart. Just like her new mother; Rainbow Dash. Her father was a different story altogether. All the bad things that Scootaloo thought about him were very true. As was most of what Diamond Tiara had told her about him.
He had loved Scootaloo at first. What parent wouldn’t love their child? To look into their tiny eyes and feel all the hope and wonder. To imagine what they would become when they were older. To think about what it would be like to raise them. Scootaloo could have become a great flyer. She could have joined the royal guards. It was hard to tell because of the armor but there was the odd female guard. Equestria was a very equal place after all. All the element bearers were female and no one was going to question their capacity. Not unless they wanted to be blasted with a hearty dose of harmony, which is a lot more powerful than most ponies realise. Scootaloo didn’t even have to have some kind of grand life. She could become a simple flight instructor, or work in the weather factory. Not everypony is the most important pony in the universe. All she had to do was fly.
Unfortunately it soon became apparent that she couldn’t. No matter what he tried, her father just couldn’t get her to fly. When he started the lessons he had been so happy that she was old enough to try to fly. He really did try his hardest. Then he became angry and frustrated when she failed to understand simple concepts. It was like she had no instincts or something. That was the case, but there was no way to know that for him. He saw her as a failure. An insult to his pride even. He, a mighty Pegasus stallion, had birthed a stupid chicken who couldn’t fly. That’s when his methods became a little more...extreme. She would fly, or she would die. It was the kindest thing to do. Nopony wanted to deal with a Pegasus that couldn’t fly. Then there was the incident. The time that she broke her legs. It wasn’t his fault. If she had just bloody flown then she wouldn’t have hit the ground. That excuse didn’t sit well with her mother. She was a Unicorn. She just didn’t get it. What it was like to have such an insult to your legacy right in front of your face.
Scootaloo’s mother calmed down over time and the relationship continued. Eventually she fell pregnant again. That’s when he had got an idea. A brilliant idea. To give up the little chicken. To try again with the new foal. After much coaxing Scootaloo’s mother agreed to give her up. She knew what her husband was like and in the end, felt that maybe it was for the best. That’s when the depression had hit. Her body couldn’t take the stress of the unborn foal, and she lost it. She barely held on but she made it through the next few years. That was, until the day that the letter from the orphanage arrived. The letter that told them both that Scootaloo, their little girl, was presumed dead. She had ran away from the orphanage and made it all the way to the Everfree Forest. They cried out for her to stop before she entered but she didn’t listen and they didn’t catch her in time. They braved going in a little to try and find her but they never did. After a while she was declared missing and presumed dead. After she never turned back up for a few years, she was officially declared dead. Her mother had left her father after the first letter. She blamed him more than she blamed the orphanage. It was after the second letter that she had completely shut down and eventually perished. She had lost two children in her life and she just couldn’t take it.
Her father had continued to live. He continued to resent Scootaloo and everything that she had done to him. He drank most of his days away and had spent more than his fair share of time in a jail cell as a result. He often wondered why he was still alive. Maybe his hatred was the only thing keeping him going. His hatred for a daughter who had let him down and, in his mind, cost him his wife and unborn child. Twisted, violent and drunk was hardly a good combination in anypony’s book. He felt barely anything but bitterness and resentment. Resentment towards a pony that was long since dead and out of his reach.
Imagine his surprise when he got one more letter from the orphanage. A letter telling him that not only was his daughter alive, but that she had even been adopted. The little chicken, the bane of his existence, was alive.
Alive and living in a small town called Ponyville. He knew the place. It was only a few hours away from Canterlot. His old home. He had moved far away over time. The letter was dated about a week ago, and it would take him a week to get there. He could have his revenge on the little whelp that had ruined his life.
He scraped together the money that he hadn’t spent on alcohol and dragged his flank to the train station. He bought a ticket to Ponyville. To his daughter. To this Rainbow Dash who had adopted her. He smiled to himself as he imagined what he was going to do Scootaloo. It was the first time he had smiled in a long, long time.