No Worse Want

by RaylanKrios


Measured Fear

Ever since she’d arrived in Ponyville, first as Princess Celestia’s student and point mare, then as princess in her own right, Twilight had enjoyed a good relationship with the town’s government. Part of what kept that relationship from devolving into jurisdictional chest thumping was Twilight’s deference to Mayor Mare’s authority. She was happy to help with special events like Winter Wrap-Up, but no matter how much she might have enjoyed scheduling trash pickups or itemizing expense reports, Twilight’s role wasn’t to help run the town. It was just as well; she didn’t want to would put some useful pony out of a job or distract herself from spreading friendship. After finishing her correspondence to Manehattan, this train of thought led Twilight to regret the brusqueness of her letter to the Mayor, and to schedule a courtesy meeting.

Town Hall closed at five o’clock, but being a princess meant Mayor Mare would keep it open for Twilight, and she wouldn’t be taking anypony else’s appointment. Still, after a full day, she would be eager to get home, and Twilight didn’t begrudge her getting straight to business. “I understand you’ve taken over our Foal Services office.” Her words weren’t hostile, but there was an underlying note of concern to them.

Twilight’s eyes went wide and ingenuous. Was Mayor Mare worried over the rest of her bailiwick? Was that really foremost on her mind right now? “I was doing some research and I… well I noticed that the Foal Service office had no dedicated staffers or even a budget.”

“It hasn’t needed one. We haven’t had a case of a child needing foster care in years,” the mayor said, flexing her shoulders ever so slightly.

Aside from its being demonstrably untrue, Twilight found that answer incomplete and unhelpful. “But what about parents looking to foster or adopt? Surely there are ponies in Ponyville who need an advocate.”

“There are,” the Mayor hedged, probably for the sake of their privacy. “But when they do, we direct them to Canterlot’s Foal Services office. It has a dedicated staff and more resources.”

“What about foals in Ponyville who might need foster care in the future?” Incredulity was beginning to crack Twilight’s voice.

“Twilight, it’s a small town. It doesn’t make sense for me to spend our limited resources on an office we can outsource to a larger city.”

Twilight could have sworn the the Mayor was talking down to her, but loathe as she was to admit it, she couldn’t exactly argue with the Mayor’s point. Eliminating an agency that could be outsourced to Canterlot made fiscal sense, even if it was morally suspect. “Are any records kept at all?”

“I think we’ve had a few cases in the last ten years. You’d have to check the archives.”


Normally, Twilight was never quite as happy as she was when she was poring through old records, trying to glean new insights. But whether by design or happenstance, Scootaloo had picked the perfect place to not generate a record! Ponyville was too small and out of the way for its little hospital or police force to receive a dedicated alert. Digging through an old box, however, Twilight finally found Scootaloo’s forgotten Amber Alert: a vanilla piece of paper with her picture, her last known location, and most importantly, her case number, which Twilight eagerly scribbled down for future reference.

Her search of the archives didn't yield anything else helpful so Twilight crossed the hall to current records office, where she found Scootaloo’s school registration. She couldn’t help but feel a little impressed that a child as young as Scootaloo had the presence of mind to register herself for school. Where her parents’ signature was supposed to be were a pair of illegible scrawls. Twilight wasn’t sure how Scootaloo was able to get the clerk to file the papers, but ultimately it didn’t matter. With a valid school registration and no officers of the city aware she was a runaway Scootaloo could hide in plain sight.

She registered herself for school. Those words rattled around Twilight’s brain. At Scootaloo’s age, scholarly though she was, Twilight had never thought about how students ended up in school. It was just something that happened. But Scootaloo had to think about that, and where her next meal might come from, and what to do if a cold snap hit town, and a million other things that little fillies all across Equestria didn’t worry about because that was their parents’ job. Twilight felt a growing ache in her chest and sat down, unable to continue her search.


“All done, Mr. Craft,” Scootaloo called out as she put the last of the winterizing caulk back on its allotted peg. There was usually a certain level of clutter to the hardware store aisles but considering how long it took her to put everything back Scootaloo wasn’t sure if the coming storm was inside the shop or out. “Sorry I took so long,” she said as she brought a few wayward boxes of nails to the front of the store.

Sturdy took the boxes and placed them on their shelf.  “You can do it fast or you can do it right, ‘less you're running a race.”

“I know, Mr. Craft. I still didn’t think it would take this long.”

Sturdy took a look at his now organized eighth aisle and nodded approvingly. “Ya did good,” he said with a smile. “So, you think that dragon’s passed by yet?” Sturdy drawled, reaching for his change drawer.

“What dragon?”

Sturdy began his count of Scootaloo’s wages. “The one you're hiding from.”

Scootaloo’s ears folded back against the top of her head. “Oh, that one. No it's still out there.”

The shop owner pushed ten bits across the counter. “Y’know I've been around the block once or twice, seen a few things, but I've never seen a pony who could face down a dragon all by herself.”

“Rainbow Dash could,” Scootaloo shot back, even though she knew that wasn’t the point.

“You'll have to show me your sonic rainboom someday then,” Sturdy replied, not missing a beat. “In the meantime you got ponies who would help you, but ya gotta talk to them.”

For a moment Scootaloo considered spilling her guts. Maybe Sturdy could help her, maybe he’d give her an actual part time job.  He wouldn’t adopt her, probably, but maybe he knew a cheap room she could rent. But she caught herself before her fantasies got the better of her. “I don't feel like talking.”

Sturdy studied Scootaloo, his eyes traveling up and down, his lips pursed, finally he nodded. “Fair. I know a bit about wanting to go it alone too.” Sturdy exhaled a large breath of air.  “I know I got no cause to tell ya what you should be doin, but I want you to make me a promise anyway. If this thing gets too big, you tell someone; doesn't have to be me, but it's gotta be someone. Deal?”

Scootaloo took a moment to respond. It wasn't a binding agreement of any sort, but it still felt serious. “Deal,” she said softly.

Sturdy nodded once, sealing the pact.