The life and times of Scootaloo and her less than perfect father as they battle poverty, homelessness and personal struggle.
A bitter and hateful factory worker ends up taking care of a daughter he did not know existed. Now he needs to figure out how to raise her with little money and no experience along with fighting his own personal demons. Read about their struggles in life and how they eventually came to a little town called Ponyvile.
Rated teen for language, just so you know.
Special thanks goes to my editor Espeon In The Morning for being the coolest person. Even more thanks to my proofreader the amazingly fantastic SunX
A pegasus was working on the assembly line. His job? Putting wheels on scooters. Although, The act would barely register through the pounding headache. He wiped sweat off his brow and scratched an itch in his deep red mane, goggles covering his slightly bloodshot eyes. He sluggishly finished attaching another set of wheels to another scooter, just one more vehicle he has given the gift of movement in the several long hours he has been at the factory. The bell for the end shift rang, causing a sigh of relief from the stallion. He pulled his goggles off his head and set them around his neck.
“Hey Wheelie!” said somepony behind him. Wheelie let out an aggravated sigh and turned around. Most don’t approach the dirty grey pegasus for various reasons, and thats the way he liked it.
Behind him was one of the the new workers, a young stallion with a big dumb grin on his face. “Me and the guys are heading down to the pub, would you like to join us?” The young idiot beamed with unnecessary enthusiasm, Many of the nearby workers who saw what's happened shook their heads and gave the fellow a sympathetic eye.
The grey pegasus known by the name Wheelie barely raised an eyebrow at him. The young scrub looked around nervously. “So... umm what do ya say, pal? You wanna come?” His forehoof slowly rose up for a hoof bump.
The offending appendage was swiftly slapped away.
The scar on Wheelie’s muzzle twisted as his frown turned into a fierce scowl. “Get the fuck out of my face.” He shoved the hapless pony out of his way and made a beeline for the lockers.
“What’s his problem?” the young stallion stared off after him with a confused expression.
“Ah, don’t worry about it, kid, some ponies are just assholes. The world wouldn’t spin without them, ya know?” said one of the nearby workers who saw what happened.
“Yeah I guess you’re right…. Hey, how about you? Would you like to go grab a few drinks with us?” said the young stallion, the smile returning to his face.
The worker gave a small grin in return “Sure, I need something to relax me anyway.”
With that the two headed toward the young stallions friends, weaving through the multitude of working ponies and machinery.
..................................
Wheelie stood in front of his locker for a long time. Waves of negative emotion thrashed within Wheelie as he tried to calm them. His paranoia, hate, and rage drowned any normal thought he had at one point. His head throbbed with an unrelenting hangover as panic began to quiet. He wished everypony would leave him alone. He never got that wish of course as his boss came slowly trotting behind him
“Hey Wheels, Could you come to my office for a sec?” wheelie looked over to see an aging blurple unicorn, standing there looking at him expectantly.
Wheelie sighed. “Fine.”
They both sauntered across the factory, His boss trotting with a smug air about him. The sounds of machinery clanking stabbed at Wheelie’s head. The large factory seemed almost claustrophobic with all the ponies moving about brushing up against him. It took everything that Wheelie got to stop from letting his anxiety from taking root and getting himself in trouble again.
They came to a plain office with a few chairs and a desk with minor clutter on it . Wheelie immediately took a seat and waited for his boss to start yapping at him.
“You were late again today, Wheelie. Thats the fourth time this week,” his boss sat down in his chair and folded his forehooves together, a stern expression across face Wheelie just sat there and stared at him, refusing to say anything.
“Look Wheelie, You can’t keep doing this, If you keep this up ,you do know what’s going to happen, right?” His boss paused to wait for an answer that would never come. “I’d rather not fire you, Its hard enough to find ponies who have talents for assembly but if this happens again I’m going to be forced to let you go.” His boss fixed a hard stare on him.
Wheelie continued to frown, “Can I go now?” he grumbled irritably. His boss sighed, “Yes, you may go.” Wheelie silently got out of his seat and walked out the door.
......................................
Wheelie slid on his coat and wrapped a scarf around his neck . He closed the door of his locker and walked to the exit. He stood there in the frigid winter air of the city. A layer of snow caking the ground. contrasted with the darkening sky. The streets were empty save for a few loiterers here and there. He was glad to be out of that Celestia damned place and away from the boss he despised. Yet his head still ached… He trotted slowly down the dimly lit street and snow began to fall. He needed to drink himself into a coma.
It was a small liquor store filled with what liquor stores are usually filled with. A stallion waited patiently behind Wheelie who had placed a bag of alcoholic substances on the counter moments before. The mare behind the cash register was staring at him expectantly, somehow managing to look bored and serious at the same time. Wheelie on the other hoof was managing to not look completely dumbfounded and instead had same hard glare and frown he always had.
“Are you fucking serious?” Wheelie knew he didn’t look ancient but he might actually worry if there ever was a youngster walking around looking like him.
“Sorry sir, store policy.” said the clerk in a rehearsed fashion. Wheelie eyes narrowed on the uncaring clerk. He was certain this mare was fucking with him, probably going to go see her friends after work and tell them how she ruffled his feathers.
“ Can we cut the shit so I can go?” Said Wheelie his blood beginning to boil. The mare tapped her hoof impatiently looking unamused as ever.
Wheelie finally reached his breaking point “FINE!” he snarled. He began digging through his pockets looking for his wallet. After a minute of frantic searching he spat the wallet at the mare. “THERE! YOU FUCKING HAPPY NOW!?” he screamed at her. To her credit she didn’t even flinch when the billfold hit her in the face and landed on the counter. she simply pulled it to her, flipped it open and scrutinized the piece of plastic. “ That will be 15 bits please” Wheelie tossed the money at her and left in a huff. The stallion behind him saw that he had left his wallet behind and in an act of goodwill decided to return it to him. He grabbed the wallet in his magic and quickly trotted to Wheelie who was about to make his exit. “ Hey pal you left your-” He never finished that sentence, as soon he placed a hoof on Wheelie to stop him from leaving through the push door he promptly received a buck to the face.
Wheelie’s heart was pounding, threatening to come bursting out of his chest. His eyes darted around frantically as he spun around to face some imaginary threat. He found a neon green unicorn stallion laying unconscious with half his teeth knocked out. Next to him was Wheelie’s wallet.
Wheelie’s eyebrows slowly began to descend and furrow. In his minds eye somepony tried to rob him, hurt him and his reflexes had kicked in.
Wheelie picked up his wallet, mumbling a “Serves you right,” to the hapless stallion and quickly sped out the push door and frantically galloped down the street with his goods
The cashier sighed. It looks like she’ll need to contact a hospital. Again.
Wheelie looked up at the dirty building where his home was. It was a tall ugly reddish brown building In a severe state of decay. It was the beginning of similar structures all running down the street.
Wheelie was still panting from galloping all the way from the liquor store. He tried taking a step to the door but ended up on the floor hacking up a lung. His the world spun around a few times before Wheelie decided enough was enough and slowly got up. He grabbed the bag of booze in his teeth and went through the door.
The inside was much like the outside, dirty and smelling of moldy cheese. The place was falling apart but Wheelie was not one to care. After a swift trot up the stairs Wheelie came to an unwanted sight. The old landmare standing there next to her room with a scowl.
“Where’s the rent!?”
“Leave me alone.” he seethed trotting past her.
“ You’re two months overdue if ya don’t give me anythin’ by the end of the month yer kicked out, ya hear!”
Wheelie stopped before right before he got to the second flight of stairs, The last bit of duct tape holding the floodgates together finally tore apart.
And so something was unleashed. Wheelie spun around unable to take the situation, the ponies, the world any longer.
“LEAVE ME THE FUCK ALONE, YOU STUPID CELESTIA DAMNED CUNT, FUCK YOU!” He roared, he hurriedly ran up the next flight of stairs before the old pony could recover from his tirade. He came to another row of doors, his sat squarely in the middle. There was a small filly sitting in front of it.
“ OUT OF THE WAY, RUNT!” he screamed galloping to his door. The foal was knocked out of her stupor and quickly scrambled away from his path. He flung his door opened and quickly shut it with a loud slam.
Wheelie stood there taking deep, deliberate breaths with his back pressed against the door. His apartment was small, consisting of a kitchen a table, a chair and a dirty mattress. Well, if you’re not counting the bits of filth and refuse at least.
Wheelie began to calm himself some and began to slump down. Something caught his eye though, a piece of paper partially stuffed under the door. Finding trash on Wheelie’s floor is like looking for water in an ocean, its a given. The strange thing was that it was neatly folded in a perfect little square instead of Wheelie’s usual modus operandi of a crumpled paper ball.
He swiftly unfolded it revealing a note addressed to him and after several minutes of painstaking scrutinization he finally finished deciphering it.
Dear Wheelie,
The little brat in front of your door is your daughter.
She’s your problem now.
-Leeway
Wheelie managed to blink a few times before he lost control of his faculties and his mind went haywire. Leeway!? Brat in front of the door!? DAUGHTER!? Wheelie lost track of time for how long he stared at the note before he got his thoughts straight and came to the obvious conclusion. Somepony is fucking with him. His eyes narrowed as he thought, of course that what this all was, that little twerp outside probably set this up with her friends; learned of his old Flame from somepony or simply made a lucky guess. Yeah, that’s it, it has to be. The rage within Wheelie began to build, they’re probably outside his door right now waiting for him to poke his head out so they could throw eggs at him or harass him in some other way.
The spark once again ignited within him, he turned around and flung open the door.
“Listen you little fucking twerps! You think you can fuck with me just because……….because…….”
Outside his door wasn’t a group smirking foals ready to pelt him with rocks or gang up on him. In fact, the only thing in front of him was a small orange filly laying near a paint peeled wall sobbing uncontrollably into her little hooves.
No other sounds permeated the corridor except the distant noise of winter winds smashing against buildings.
Wheelie stood there silently, mouth agape, his anger diminishing as he stared at the quivering orange lump on the floor. Something within Wheelie stirred in that moment, something foreign and alien yet familiar at the same time.
“Hey, kid” He said finally. She continued bawling on the floor. “Hey! Quit the waterworks and listen to me!” The little filly quieted and uncovered a single, bloodshot purple eye. Purple eyes. Wheelie avoided the little filly’s gaze.
“Your Mother. What does she look like?” The orange filly blinked a few times.
“Um, sh-she’s a pegasus with a p-purple coat, orange m-mane and golden eyes,” stuttered the small foal in a barely audible whisper.
“And her cutie mark?”
“An Arrow spiraling downward…”
There was no doubt about, The filly’s description matched up with the mare Wheelie knew long ago, Leeway. His mood darkened considerably just thinking about that particular mare.
Wheelie stood there with an unreadable expression before turning around and heading back into his small apartment leaving the filly confused.
“Close the door when you come in,” said the gruff voice of the large stallion inside.
The filly gave the entrance a blank stare unsure what to do. She realized she probably didn’t have too many options. Its not like that she had anything to lose anyway. So after much internal debate, she slowly got up and walked to the door.
Wheelie had taken a seat on his mattress with a bottle cradled in his hooves when the filly cautiously crept into his home and sat in the middle of his apartment. Wheelie didn’t know what he was possibly thinking letting the girl in. He couldn’t think of anypony less suited for the task than him.
“Hey, Don’t get get too comfy, kid. As soon I get up tomorrow and gonna go find your mom and talk some sense into that stupid broad. Then you’re outta here, got it?” said Wheelie in his usual harsh tone.
The forlorn filly responded only by slumping further to the floor. When the filly didn’t reply, Wheelie let out a sigh and returned to his own thoughts. It had been a very, very long time since Wheelie actually gave a shit about something and he was unsure why he was feeling this way right now. Maybe it was because he knew what it felt like to be alone in the cold with nopony to turn to... or maybe it was simply because she looked like her.
And If it was one thing Wheelie could not stand it was to see her cry.
“Whats your name anyway?” He decided to ask her.
“Scootaloo,” She replied turning towards the window.
“ Huh….thats a funny name” He replied and promptly tilted his head back to empty his bottle.
It was a nice day, the sun was shining and all was peaceful across the magical land.
“I’ll race ya to the park!” the unicorn filly blurted right before sprinting off, drawing the attention of the pegasus colt.
“Hey! no fair, I wasn’t ready yet!” he said, galloping after her.
They whizzed by the urban sprawl, the unicorn slowly becoming more of a dot on the horizon.
An idea hit the colt as he ran after the filly and a mischievous grin grew across his face. He started flapping his wings and took to the sky. The wind bombarded him as he flew faster and faster. He soon passed the filly overhead, only stopping once he reached the green oasis in the city. The filly finally arrived at the park, she was panting and a little bit flustered. “Hey, You cheated!” she yelled. The colt smiled smugly, still floating in the air. “You never said anything about using just my hooves.” The filly let out a small growl and levitated herself into the air with a purple aura. The colt was then swiftly tackled out of the sky. He let loose a series of guffaws and giggles as the filly wrestled him on the grass. She soon joined him in his mirth and they ended up laying on their backs looking up at the sky. They laid there for a while, watching the clouds roll by, Imagining animals they saw in their shapes. “What’s it like to fly?” the filly suddenly asked. “what do you mean?” the colt turned his attention towards her. “You know, what its like to be amongst the clouds, wind in your face, seeing the world down below, that kind of thing.” The colt chewed on his cheek as he contemplated her words. “I don’t know, I guess its kinda like walking only you can see more stuff around you” The colt looked away, embarrassed that he couldn’t come up with a better answer. The filly didn’t notice and continued to stare up at the sky. “Some day I’ll fly up there” The colt gave her a confused look. “But how? only pegasi can fly.” “So? I’ll just use magic or build a machine or something. And when I do I’ll be the greatest flyer in Equestria!” She struck a triumphant pose that made the colt giggle. The filly huffed, “ Don’t laugh, I’m serious!” “Sorry,” the colt quieted his snickering. “ You wanna go on the swings while we talk about it some more?” he said, giving her a playful smile. The filly smiled back “Sure!” They trotted off to the swings enjoying this beautiful day. ………………………………………………………………………….
Wheelie’s eyelids began to crack open, He saw nothing but blurry grey. His eyes began to focus, he was staring at the ceiling. He stayed like that for a while, as per his usual morning ritual, not even turning his head until a good ten minutes have passed. When he finally did, what he saw caught him off guard, an orange filly sitting on his table watching the snow fall outside the window.
“What the fuck are you doing?” he asked before his mind could catch up with him.
The young pegasus yelped, jumping up before crashing down on the table, causing it to tip over and fall to the ground in a large crash.
The stallion soon remembered the events of yesterday, letting out a grumble before sitting up. He rubbed his eyes with his hooves before taking a gander at the mess beside him. The old chipped table was on its side with scootaloo laying in a dizzy heap beside one of the chairs nearest to the kitchen.
Wheelie slowly got up and stood the table back up right before stepping over scootaloo to get to the fridge.
He opened the refrigerator door to see what he could satisfy himself with. A couple of apples, a few carrots, a quarter full bag of hash, a half a carton of spoiled milk and three cans of beer in the back was all that lay in the icebox. While thinking, he heard the sound of a stomach growling behind him.
He grabbed the bag of hash browns and set out to cook it up. Soon, he had two small plates of hash browns made. He placed them on his back and headed for the table.
Two large purple eyes watched him as he placed each plate at opposite ends of the table and proceeded to sit down. She watched him sluggishly munch on the food, his cherry red mane falling in his dull purple eyes. He was still wearing the worn tan jacket and scarf he came home yesterday in. To Scootaloo, he looked like one of those walking cadavers from old horror stories.
“ Are you gonna eat?” he suddenly looked at her with that seemingly harsh gaze he always had, making her flinch.
His attention went back to his food as Scootaloo slowly began approaching the table. She sat down in the other remaining chair. Her mouth began to water at the plate of food in front of her, its smell seemingly overpowering the stench of the residence. She began to scarf it down as quickly as she could, she hadn’t eaten yesterday. After eating the last bite, Scootaloo was disappointed to see none of it left and turned her attention back to Wheelie to distract herself. He was still eating his food and had a little more than half a plate left. She then remembered something her mother told before she left.
“Are you really my dad?” she asked, once again staring at him curiously with those big, purple orbs of hers.
He froze for almost a split second before replying. “Doesn’t matter.”
She went quiet, but for only just a moment.
“Do you have a name?”
Wheelie looked up from his food and gave her an almost deadpan expression.
“Yes,” he said, returning his attention back to his food.
“Well um, what is it?”
“ Wheelie,” he said, not averting his eyes from his meal.
Scootaloo tapped her hooves together in a nervous in a nervous fashion. “So um, what do you like to do around here?”
“Factory work.”
“That’s it?”
The stallion let out an annoyed sigh. “No, I sit around and let fillies yap at me all the time.”
After that it was silent for almost a full minute before it was once again shattered.
“Really?”
Wheelie silently pushed his plate towards Scootaloo and got up.
“If you’re still hungry, you can have the rest of my plate,” he said, heading towards the door.
“Where are you going?”
“I’m going to go find your mother,” He opened the door. “I might be awhile so don’t do anything stupid while I’m gone.” The door slam shut and Scootaloo was alone once again. Her face fell as she listened to the hoofsteps travel down the hall. …………………………………………………………………………..
Wheelie sat in the darkening alley way.While the snow had stopped falling, the cold convinced most ponies to stay indoors. Wheelie didn’t mind.
He took a small sip of whiskey while admiring some graffiti, growing calmer.
Wheelie knew there was little chance on finding this mare he hadn’t seen in years and he probably should have asked Scootaloo if she knew anything before he left.
“Fucking idiot,” he said out loud to himself before taking another small sip. If he wasn’t so damn nervous maybe he could have asked her before he left.
He took another sip, He could always just return, get some answers and then continue his search.
Wheelie let out a shiver but not from the cold.
There was no way in Tartarus he could return so soon with his frayed nerves..
He let out a deep breath, Wheelie was on his own for now.
Wheelie looked down the alley way, he saw a stallion harnessed to a clunky old carriage pass by. He met Leeway in a place similar to this all those years ago.
“Get the fuck out of here you loud pieces of shit before I break your fucking heads off and shove them up your asses!” My eyes were blurry from sleep.
“Thanks for scaring off those weirdos, is there anyway I can repay you?”
“It’s no problem.”
“Nonsense, how about I treat you to a few drinks and a night around town?”
“Um, huh, sure, I guess.”
She smiled
“I’m really sorry, Wheelie, but I can’t associate myself with a pony such as yourself any longer. I hope you can understand.”
“You are garbage, Wheelie Wheels, your very existence adds nothing but more filth to this world. You should do Equestria a favor and go throw yourself in a river!”
Wheelie snorted and put away his whiskey. He left the alley way, he might as well go make an attempt while he’s out.
……………………………………………………………………...
Scootaloo was sitting around making popping noises with her mouth that some might consider slightly aggravating.
The plate of food had long since been eaten and right now Scootaloo was trying to stop boredom from ending her existence.
Wheelie sure did not have many fun things inside his home, she wondered how he could stand it. She looked at the door, she also wondered when he was going to return or if he was going actually going to find her mom. Or if she could face her...
The door gave her an idea, though. She had spent most of yesterday sitting next to Wheelie’s room and didn’t get a chance to to see the rest of the building. Maybe she should go exploring! She could pretend to be a treasure hunter looking for ancient artifacts or she could be a great warrior looking for monsters to slay.
She trotted to the door and opened it. Her mind was made up, she was at least going to have a little fun before the scary stallion came back and she had to face the music.
She sneaked across the cracked wall and pretended the floor was lava, the the doors became bars and the lights became torches.
Scootaloo hurried along until the wall until she reached the end of the imaginary lava. She Hopped into a crouch shifting her eyes to see any approaching bad guys.
A creak in the floor, Booby traps! She sprinted forward dodging the flurry of arrows. A close one!
It was time for Scootaloo to get serious, She pulled out her trusty explorer hat and placed it on her head. She smirked at the puny trap and headed down the dark dangerous corridor!
Scootaloo heard the sounds of rattling chains of some far off ghouls and the creepy noises of this obviously haunted castle as she crept slowly to some stairs. No, not just stairs , a big, winding gothic stairwell. She took a deep breath, gave her wings a flutter and prepared to descend its treacherous depths.
Suddenly, the growl of some fierce monster shook the door next to the stairwell ajar. Scootaloo let out a shiver, whatever made that noise sounded terrifying. She slowly pushed the door open and peeked inside. There laying on a bed fit for a king was a vile troll! Its toothy mouth opened big and wide before letting out a hearty snore, shaking the castle to its foundation. Scootaloo fell over on her rump, dizzy from the constant assault of sawing logs but she was one not to be deterred! Scootaloo stood up only to be knocked down by another guttural tremor caused by the old mare, er I mean troll.
“Sheesh, she sure is loud,” Scootaloo grumbled.
“Huh? Who said that!?” The landmare shot upright in her bed causing Scootaloo to jump in the air like a scared cat before darting out the room.
The landmare turned her head just in time to see the purple tail of a foal exit out her door.
“Hey, come back here you hooligan!” She jumped out of bed and moved as quickly as her legs could carry her. She flung open the door and leapt into the hallway with a snarl. The hallway appeared devoid of life, save for a single cricket making music somewhere. She glared in the direction of the crickets chirping, instantly stopping, it before turning around and looking down the stairs.
Finding nothing she let out a frustrated growl and headed back to her room grumbling irritably at whoever had the gall to disturb her sleep. …………………………………………………………………………………….
The evening was fresh when Wheelie finally returned home. He was met with a suspiciously guilty looking orange pegasus that was sitting at the table.
“Is something wrong with you?”
“Nope, nothing happened! Nothing at all!” Scootaloo looked away and began to whistle.
Wheelie raised an eyebrow at her behavior but let it go for now. He had more important things to discuss.
“Anyway, I couldn’t find your mother.”
The young filly’s face lost some of its energy. “Um yeah, I could see that…” She began drawing little imaginary circles on the table with her hoof.
“Yeah..It turns out trying to find somepony you haven’t seen in years is…. Difficult,” Wheelie’s frown sharpened and his eyes lost a little luster. “I Probably should have asked if you knew anything before I left...”
Scootaloo sat there blankly, an awkward tension hung in the air.
“Do you know where your mom might be, Kid?”
“Why does it matter? Its not like she wants me,” Scootaloo said sharply.
Wheelie gave a menacing scowl before placing a hoof to his forehead, gently rubbing it. He took a deep breath before he spoke.
“Look kid, I don’t care about the little fucking feud you’re having with your mom. If you know anything, you’re gonna fucking tell me so I can go find that stupid ass mare, get you out of this shithole and the fuck away from me.” he snarled.
“Even if I wanted to, I wouldn’t be able to go back,” she replied a small edge of hate was unexpectedly in her voice.
“And why the fuck not!?” Scootaloo flinched backwards.
“BECAUSE I CAN’T FLY!” She yelled out, causing Wheelie to step back.
Scootaloo’s words caused a storm of confusion inside Wheelie. The filly was panting from her outburst, tears threatening to fall from her eyes. Whatever words Wheelie was about to utter became lost and he simply waited for the filly to continue.
“I tried and tried and tried but I couldn’t do, I couldn’t fly,” A stream of tears began to fall from her face. “She got really mad and said I was useless and a d-disgrace to pegasi everywhere.” A puddle was starting to form on the table as Scootaloo began to break down even more. Her brow furrowed and her expression became hard. “I don’t want to see her again, she doesn’t want me she, said so herself, thats why she left me at your door.” Scootaloo looked at Wheelie and waited for an answer when none came she continued. “If you still want to find her she said something about moving to some cloud city. Th-the only o-one I know of is Cloudsdale so if-” The little filly was openly crying now, struggling to stay coherent.
“Forget about it, If she threw you away like trash she’ll do it again. That just how ponies are, if you’re not the way they want you to be they rather let you rot,” Wheelie’s once again lost its energy and became stone. “Besides, the skies are no place for the flightless.” Scootaloo stopped crying, and just sat there..
With his attempt at reassurance failed, Wheelie was not sure what to do or where to go from here.
Then a thought struck him.He only had a couple of choices right now, neither of them he liked. Could he even do it? Honestly, he didn’t think he could but in a scenario like this the only thing he could do was pick the lesser of two evils.
“Um, There is something I need to take care of real quick, I will be back in a few minutes…….sorry” With a newfound determination, Wheelie trotted to his mattress and reached inside a hole in on the side. He pulled out a small bag of bits. he placed the bag of bits in his coat and trotted to the door and began to reach for the knob.
“One day I will fly.” A small voice said. Wheelie stopped moving and listened to what it had to say.
Scootaloo was standing behind him. “I don’t care what my mom, you or whoever says one day I will fly and I’ll be the greatest flyer in Equestria!” And with that she stomped her hoof with a power and determination that would make the whole world tremble.”You’ll see…”
Wheelie froze there in front of the door for several long minutes and then left without saying a word
………………………………………………………………………………….
Wheelie knocked on the simple door which was proceeded by a crash on the other side and then a series of curses.
“I’m coming, I’m coming, Hold your horses.” He heard the muffled voice of an older mare.
The door opened revealing a light blue earth pony with several multicolored hair curlers in her mane and a cigarette in her mouth.
“ You again!?” The landmare screeched “You better be here to give me the rent or you’re gonna be in a world of hurt!”
Wheelie removed the pouch of bits from his jacket and handed it to the mare. “I need to continue staying here.” he stated.
The landmare gave him a look of surprise and then a wry smirk “So ya finally decided to give in, huh? You’re lucky, I was going to buck you to the curb come tomorrow.” The mare emptied the bag into her hoof and began counting the bits.
“Ain’t enough, you’re 100 bits short, Buster!” She gave Wheelie a scowl and placed the bits back in the bag.
‘I’ll be able to give you the rest by the end by this month along with next month’s rent” replied Wheelie.
“What makes you think I’ll wait that long, huh?” the landmare gave her cigarette a long drag and blew the smoke in Wheelie’s face.
Wheelie’s face scrunched up and he let out a deep sigh, fighting the urge to break something. It made what he was about to say just a little more difficult. “ Is there anything that would make you reconsider?” He said in the most polite tone he could manage.
The landmare put a hoof up to her chin in thought before smiling devilishly. “ Well this place could use some fixing up, If you do a little work for me I might reconsider.”
Wheelie’s eyes narrowed at the old mare but he relented “ Fine.”
“Alright then, I’ll get with ya tomorrow about it. Now leave me alone, its getting late and I have things to do.” The landmare promptly slammed the door in his face.
Wheelie blinked a few times and let out a series of deep breaths before trotting back to his room.
………………………………………………..
Wheelie shut the door and headed for his bed. he sat on his be and began rubbing his temples. He reached for a bottle by the side of his bed and cradled it in his hooves. He snuck a glance over at scootaloo. She was in a corner staring forlornly at the ground.
“Did you get cold last night?” He asked, placing the bottle beside him.
“Hm?” She grumble, not looking up.
“I said, did you get cold last night.” He said with a little more volume.
“I guess…” She replied, her earlier enthusiasm seemingly lost.
Wheelie pulled of his jacket and scarf and tossed it to the floor. “ I don’t have any blankets or beds you can sleep on. You’re going to have to make due with this.”
Scootaloo looked up at the slightly dirty articles of clothing in confusion.
“I’m going to need them back in the morning when I go to work, So don’t mess them up.” He continued.
“You mean, You’re letting me stay? Scootaloo turned her gaze towards the stallion before suddenly gasping.
“Yes, for now. I’m not going to kick you to the stree-”
“What happened to your wing!?”
For as long as scootaloo had known him, she had never seen him without his jacket before and hadn’t even known he was a pegasus. Now she had a glimpse of his thin, bony form. His right wing was fine, if a little neglected for a preening. His left wing was underdeveloped and malformed, firmly held against his side, most likely grounding him for life.
“Its none of your business” He replied coldly.
“B-” she tried to protest
“I said no!” He turned away from her and began to wrestle the cap off the bottle.
His hooves wouldn’t twist the cap off the bottle and he was beginning to sweat. His heart began to race and he didn’t think he could take anymore of this day. He needed something to help him relax. Now.
Just when he was about to lose it two small hooves wrapped around his midsection.
“AHH!!” He smashed the bottle against the floor in fright, scattering liquor and glass on the floor. He began hyperventilating, Scootaloo stopped her hug and gave him a look of concern.
“I’m sorry! Are you okay?” She said quickly.
After a minute Wheelie’s breathing began to slow. “Dammit kid, what the fuck!?”
Scootaloo shrank back. “I’m sorry, I just wanted to thank you and tell you everything will be okay.”
Wheelie really did not know what to say to that.
“Its f-fine, Just don’t do something like that again, okay?” Wheelie replied shakily.
Wheelie took a few more deep breaths before taking a look at the floor . The carpet was now wet and covered in glass causing him to tense. “ I need to clean this shit off the floor, do you want anything before I start? Are you hungry?” He asked, trying to hide his aggravation.
“There! Finished,” the colt backed away from his creation; a rather plain looking blue scooter that now had large plywood wings attached to it. “So, uh, what do you think?”
The filly's eyes went wide as she made a small happy gasp “ It’s perfect! Do you think it can get in the air?” She zipped over to the wings inspecting them like the masterpiece that they are.
“How should I know? You're the expert here,” said the colt, who was little annoyed that he had had to do all the work .
“Yeah but you're the architect, so can you pah-lease give me your opinion on it?” The filly looked at the colt with an expression that could bring a stone to tears.
The little colt turned away, blushing at being called an 'architect'. “Uh, well its not going to fall apart on the first go, if that's what you want to know… I think.” he began to look a little worried. “Are you sure this is a good idea?”
“A good Idea? This is probably the best idea I've ever had! C'mon don't be a chicken, if we don't do this how are we going to prove all those dummies at school wrong, well?”
“Uh, I-”
Before he could reply, the filly hopped on the winged scooter and spun the wheels in her magic.
“Time’s a wasting, Bubba! Lets get this show on the road.” She gave the slope before her a determined smirk and then unleashed her momentum.
The colt stood there dumbstruck as the filly and the scooter went racing down the hill.
“W-W-Wait for me!” the colt began his chase after the fleeting foal.
“Wake Up!”
……………………………………………………………..
“C’mon wake up!” Scootaloo shook the dull gray stallion in an attempt to wake him, as a loud continuous shrill beeping sounded out beside his mattress.
Suddenly, Wheelie’s body sprang to life, sitting up and then careening to the side, his head hitting a wall as he fell over. A flurry of foul language sprang from his mouth as he quickly sat back up, holding his head in hooves.
“What in hotfuck Tatarus is the big fucking Idea?!” He yelled, rubbing his temples.
She began to shake and pointed her hoof to his alarm clock, “Y-your alarm.” she said, finally drawing his attention to its obnoxious noise.
Wheelie checked its time, he should have gotten up twenty minutes ago.
“Shit..” he said under his breath.
He swiftly smashed the button on top of the alarm clock to stop its troublesome sound, and got out of bed.
He walked over to the pile of clothes that currently served as a nest for wild Scootaloos and hurriedly put them on. Getting his jacket and scarf secured, Wheelie headed for the door.
“If you get hungry there’s some food in the fridge. I’ll be back in a while.” His exit was punctuated with the slamming of the door that caused the small apartment to shake.
When she could no longer hear his hoof steps resound down the hall, Scootaloo felt a shiver run down her spine.
………………………….......................................
Wheelie groaned, wishing that he went back to bed. He was in the factory, his head pressed against his locker door and the sounds of machinery filled his ears. He sluggishly opened the locker, grumbling irritably about still having to work at this shitty place. Grabbing his goggles and shoved his belongings inside in one motion, he noticed something sitting on the bench beside him.
There was a plastic wrapped sandwich right there in plain view- Wheelie’s stomach growled just looking at it. The stallion that it belonged to had his back to him. He spent a long moment thinking if he could scarf it down before the stallion noticed, but before he could think about it any further the stallion began to turn around. Acting quickly, he snatched it up and shoved it in his locker, slamming it shut as he trotted off.
Over his shoulder he heard the unmistakable sounds of his theft being discovered, and tried his level best to remain nonchalant.
With his attention thus occupied, he walked headlong into another more familiar stallion.
“Oops, sorry about that bud, wasn’t watching where I was going,” said Wheelie’s boss as he rubbed his slightly bulbous nose. Noticing who he’d literally bumped into, the unicorn instantly brightened up. “Wheels! Glad to see ya, didn’t think you’d make it here this early.”
Wheelie was hard pressed to not look as annoyed as he actually felt. Shouldering the weight of the world seemed trivial in comparison.
Not noticing Wheelie’s discomfort, his boss continued the inane prattle. “It’s good thing too, I don’t think I could have covered for ya much longer. Now we just need to put that new found zeal to your work, eh?” The unicorn let out a hearty laugh, Wheelie could not help but groan.
“Well,” started the stallion coming down from his mirth, “I guess I better let you get to work, this factory does have a schedule to keep after all. Later Wheels,” he said with a friendly wink starting towards the floor at a brisk trot. When he could no longer see him, Wheelie scowled heavily.
“Prick.”
…………………………………………………………………………………..
The entire room shook, It was as if the place was experiencing an earthquake. A spider, against better judgement, had made its home right above the gaping maw of the beast. Its little web tore apart with each of the monster’s powerful breath. Every time the foul thing took in a lungful, the spider felt it like was the coming of the apocalypse. Its web snapped away snapped after one particularly ejection from the creature and the spider fell straight into the mouth of the waiting beast.
The Landmare began to hack and cough as something caught in her throat. She sat up in her bed and put her hoof over her mouth subconsciously. A loud banging came from her front door eliciting a growl from the older mare. She took time to spit in a waste basket and do a bit of stretching before heading for the waiting pony.
She opened the door to reveal a slightly roughed up Wheelie. His left eye was bruised and he was looking slightly more irritated than usual.
“What do you want!?” She shrieked irritably, a bit of flem hitting Wheelie in the face.
Wheelie’s eye twitched, the remnants of an earlier rage began to grow again.
“Our agreement. Yesterday.” He managed to say.
The Landmare put a hoof to her chin, humming in thought. Her eyes lit up when the event in question came to mind.
“Oh Yeah, Well c’mon then we don’t got all day. You lollygagged enough as it is.” She trotted out the door and beckoned Wheelie to follow.
They descended down the stairs and headed for a back room behind a counter and a little out of sight. They soon came upon the damp floor of a dimly lit boiler room.
“You see this thing here?” The landmare pointed a hoof at the nearby boiling apparatus. “Its busted, been sitting here broke for nearly a week now and I can't find that damn superintendent of mine to fix it. Now If you can get this contraption working, I'll extend your deadline till the end of this month. Understand?” The landmare spoke her last word slowly as if she was talking to an inattentive child.
Wheelie ignored that detail and walked up to the broken boiler for a better look. It was rusting near the bottom and looked several decades old. Its main body was a mess of holes, some a quarter in size while the pipes leading to it were cracked or completely broken.
“This needs to be replaced, it can't be fixed”
“Well if you can't fix it I can't give you an extension then, huh?”
Wheelie's face coiled in anger but he managed to hold his tongue before saying something he would regret. He took a deep breath and spoke “ Even if I could fix this I don't really have the tools, huh?” He parroted for some small semblance of vengeance against the crotchety mare.
“They're over there by the super's bed, you dingus!”
Wheelie cocked an eyebrow and looked around, sure enough, a mattress lay in a corner near the entrance surrounded by various pieces of junk and garbage. He trotted up to it and began to sift through the trash, trying not to contemplate why the super sleeps in the boiler room. Eventually he comes across a small toolbox and picked it up in his mouth. Headed back over to the boiler, Wheelie set the tools down and scrutinized the contraption once more. After looking it over once again, he realized fixing it wouldn't be TOO bad if he had the right tools. He did always have a knack for fixing things.
Wheelie opened the toolbox to find a couple of rolls of duct tape and a few different sized wrenches.
Perfect. Just Perfect. ….......................................................................................................................................
It had been a good hour and Wheelie was still trying to fix a the broken boiler while the old mare continued to jabber at him.
“How'd you get that shiner, anyway? Did your drunken ass fall down the stairs again?” The landmare tried to hide smirk.
Wheelie was really wishing the old croon would shut up and go take an extended vacation. Preferably somewhere on the other side of the globe.
“Yeah,” he lied, not wanting to catch any more shit from the light blue mare.
Of course, he actually acquired the injury just right after he finished his shift when a vaguely familiar stallion had confronted him about the theft of his sandwich. Wheelie told the him that he did not know what the fuck he was talking about, the stallion then called him 'a lying gimp twat' and then sucker punched him in right in the face. Wheelie's hooves still hurt from the beating he gave the poor fool.
“Hmph, sounds about right. You know I had a cousin who drank as much as you did. they found him dead in a pool of his own vomit, dumb bastard.” He heard the sounds of her trotting away.
“Good thing he was not taking care of no brat.”
Wheelie span around almost immediately. “What the fuck does that sup-”
No one was there.
Wheelie let out a heavy breath, wiping the sweat off his brow. He felt lightheaded, perhaps he should have ate something before he started working.
His eyes lit up, he still had that sandwich. Wheelie dug through his coat, pulling out the still fairly fresh meal. He carefully unwrapped the thin plastic and stared at the glistening tomatoes and cucumbers that lie within. Unthinkingly, he slowly began to move it towards his face.
And mushed it against his closed mouth.
He silently wrapped it back up and placed it back where he found it. He shouldn't be wasting food when he has so little at home. He turned around and began his work, tightening pipes and patching up holes, not really knowing what will and won't work but doing it anyway. A couple of days ago Wheelie would have scoffed at the idea of doing something like this, he would not have cared he did not have any food or if he was late to that job. Or even if he was alive the next day.
And for what? For some kid he doesn't know with a questionable relation to him?
And with that thought Wheelie just stood there, not knowing what to do.
The landmare stood there by her door waiting for him like she had nothing else better to do.
“So, is it gonna work now?” She asked as he continued past her.
“Maybe for a day, if you're lucky” he said without turning.
“Hey now, that's not wha-”
He gave her a look.
Her eyes grew wide and her mouth immediately clamped shut. After a few seconds she regained her composure and made a dignified harrumph. The land mare turned and began heading for her room “Well I guess its going to have to do but don't expect anymore freebies.” She looked back to see if he was still there.
He wasn't.
“Hmpf, Stallions. Gone as soon as you turn your back.”
The last few feet to his room, Wheelie began to feel how tired he actually was. His feet began to drag and he could swear he could feel a small ache in his bones already. With the door to his room in sight, Wheelie could almost feel what one might call hope fester inside him.
He dragged himself to the door and opened it.
The first thing Wheelie noticed that the place was a little more messier than usual. There were dead leaves and twigs everywhere. A cold chill blew through from the open window and the place was wet with snow. The refrigerator door was wide open and Scootaloo was stuck to the ceiling. She was struggling to get free when Wheelie opened the door, now she was just staring at him, eyes wide
“Why.” Said Wheelie flatly
He shut the door quietly before screaming in rage and smashing his head against it. He hit the door so hard that it broke off it's hinges and fell with a loud thud.
“AW Shit!” he clutched his now hurt head in his forehooves, A tiny stream of blood fell from his forehead. He fell to the ground on top of the door yelling his obscenities incoherently.
“Hey keep it down, asshole!” A muffled voice suddenly disturbed his tantrum, probably from a room over.
Wheelie glared at the wall where the voice originated from before he sprinted and put his hoof through it, yelling a plethora of increasingly foul language. He struggled to pull it out finally doing so with a hard tug. He stumbled backward, landing back first on the broken door giving it another long crack as he slammed into it.
Wheelie sat away from her, panting heavily.
Scootaloo was shaking, She messed up badly, the only pony that was willing to put up with her was now angry, and it was all her fault.
Scootaloo watched on, afraid to move. Wheelie’s breath became slower and more controlled and she could hear him sniffling? Scootaloo wasn’t too sure, he was facing away from her. Wheelie quieted soon enough and simply sat there for a good long while. he eventually noticed Scootaloo’s soft sobs.
She heard him mumble something unintelligible and then stand up.
Wheelie turned back around, the wind from the open window nipping at his ears. He witnessed Scootaloo on the ceiling, tearing up, shivering. He averted his eyes. Wheelie trotted up to the stuck child. The ceiling hung rather low, if somepony were to stand on their hind legs they might be able to touch it. Wheelie reached up to grab the foal.
Scootaloo squeezed her eyes shut as his hooves drew near. He grabbed her barrel and with a tug pulled her down. A large amount of thick looking goop trailed off her back. He collected some of it in his hoof sniffed it and gave an experimental taste.
Tree sap? Wheelie looked a little bewildered at his discovery, not knowing how Scootaloo managed to get that much tree sap on her to begin with.
Nonetheless Wheelie softly pressed her to his chest and walked on three legs to the sink. he set her down and removed all the dirty dishes with a loud crash. He turned on the faucet and threw in the little bit of soap he had left.
Scootaloo had stopped shaking as bad, not that she felt any calmer. She was still sniffling when Wheelie picked her up and placed her in the but now with an air of cold acceptance.
Wheelie grabbed a rag and began to scrub the sap off her fur, making sure to get the goop that was currently restraining her wings.
“Are you going to tell me what happened?” he rubbed his eye with his jacket when something a little red got caught in it, smearing a little bit of blood on the sleeve.
Scootaloo turned away not wanting to meet his eyes. “ I wanted to look out the window, I opened it and fell...I, uh hit a gooey tree branch. It flung me to the ceiling and….. I got stuck.” Scootaloo snuck a peek at Wheelie’s face only to find an incredulous look.
“You fell out the window?” He said, his voice near deadpan.
“Uh y-yes?”
It was all tough to believe but luckily for Wheelie there was a very simple way of finding out. He gave Scootaloo a long suspicious glance causing more internal panic in the filly before he walked off toward the window.
He took a peek down below at the old tree under his window. The tree below his window had been dead as long as Wheelie had rented an apartment there. It was one of those kinds of trees that sprouted one day and grew but nopony cared enough to have it cut down. It grew to moderate height before it finally kicked the bucket, a few feet from Wheelie’s window.
What Wheelie saw was not something he recognized from memory. The tree was a gooey monstrosity, sap was pouring off the various branches like a running faucet and the trunk had turned a greenish shade. On the ground, a brown earthpony was dramatically yelling at a scrawny guardspony while two unicorn colts stood nearby looking sheepishly. Wheelie gave the scene a knowing look before walking back.
Scootaloo watched him come back, his frown deepening with each step. There was no way he would believe such a story, she thought. She was going to have to do something if she didn’t want to face the strange pony’s wrath. Scootaloo could sprint towards the now permanently opened entrance if only she could move her legs.
“What the is wrong with you, huh?” he spat.
“I’m s-so-” She stuttered, her words died on her lips. Wheelie’s form seemed to grow in size and menace.
“You wanna end up another dead foal on the street? Is that it!?”
“P-Please……” She squeaked, clamping her eyes shut and awaited for the worst.
Nothing came. Wheelie was silent for a moment before letting out a frustrated sigh.
“Look, what I mean is, you can’t be taking risk like that. If you would have missed that tree you would just be another dead body for the guard to clean up.”
“You….believe me?”
“The tree outside is leaking shit everywhere, probably because of some dumb colt’s magic, so it seems likely.
He gave her a stink eye. “Although you are probably lying about the details...”
Scootaloo turned her head away, looking guilty.
“...but I guess it doesn’t matter in the end.”
Wheelie cleaned the rest of the gunk off silently thinking. He should have seen this coming, he knew that children have a habit of getting into trouble- especially left to their own devices. He was the same way when he was a lad, so why not Scootaloo? He decided then he could not keep leaving her at home with nothing to do, but he could not take her with him to work with him either. If only there was some sort of free daycare that was willing to watch the girl for a good portion of his work day.
Suddenly an idea popped up in Wheelie’s mind.
after Scootaloo was nice and clean, Wheelie set her on the floor to drip dry.
“Hey, when was the last time you were in school?” he asked.
Scootaloo shook the water off herself causing her fur to stick out. “Um, I haven’t been going to school for a few months now, Why?”
“You can’t be cooped up in this this room all the time and a school will keep you out of trouble for at least a little while," that’s what Wheelie was hoping for at least. “plus, last time I checked they usually give away free food.”
At the mention of food Scootaloo’s stomach growled loudly.
Wheelie raised an eyebrow at the girl. “You haven’t had anything to eat have you?”
She shook her head looking away, trying to hide her rosy cheeks. “I was stuck on the ceiling all day……”
Not even batting an eye he pulled out a fairly smooshed sandwich from his coat. When Scootaloo locked eyes with it she lit up with utter joy. She snatched it from his hoof, unwrapped it and immediately began chomping down on it.
Wheelie watched the filly stuff her face, his own stomach made a small growl but he ignored it. Its not like being hungry meant anything to him any more. He headed to his mattress and grabbed one of the half empty liquor bottles that lay near it.
“On my next day off we will go and get you signed up for school, Okay?” he said as he was opening the bottle.
Scootaloo met his eyes, looking a little more bright this time before giving him a happy nod.
Wheelie felt just a little bit lighter seeing the filly in such good spirits despite everything. It almost made him want to smile.
Until he saw the pony standing behind her….
He turned his head away instead turning his attention to finishing his bottle, trying not to lose his nerves.
Scootaloo gave a brief look of confusion, ending it with a shrug of her shoulders and another large bite.