//------------------------------// // Attempts // Story: Queen Scootaloo // by thedarktome //------------------------------// The patients walking through the hospital's halls in a straight line, making conversation and such about things they've seen on TV, in books, and other things. But some of them were talking about the girl on the other side of the hall being held by two nurses with rounded plastic cuffs on her wrists with scars, scratches, a black eye, and bites all over her body. Scootaloo continued walking with her eyes to the ground, letting the nurses take her to wherever they were going. They turned another corner that led into another hallway with a set of double doors at the end. Definitely a large area. One of the nurses who were guiding her along pulled out a radio from his waist, putting it up to his mouth. "Patient U.P. 2057 arriving at cafeteria." He put the radio back down while they stopped at the doors. "Alright, we're setting up." Scootaloo groaned noisily, attracting attention from everyone. That was the first sound she made ever since being in there for three hours already. That was something at least. They stopped at the doors with the nurses having a much firmer grip on her shoulders as they opened up. The group she was walking with moved towards the food and make themselves some lunch. "Are you going to eat?" One of the nurses asked as they escorted her inside. Of course she didn't respond. They already knew the answer based off her situation. She wasn't. "Okay, well you need energy and nutrients. We're going to hook you up to an IV." The room they were in was already packed. It had another group in there that consisted of girls, most of them casting sideways glances at her. Clearly uncomfortable of her scarred and damaged orange skin along with the slight scowl. They sat her down at a table by herself that had an IV pole next to it before they lifted up her right arm and adjusted the entrance tool used to position the IV tube. Once it was correct, they grabbed the tube that was wrapped around the pole, unwrapped it, and poked it inside. She was confused, although she didn't show it. They could've done that in the room. Why'd they bring her down here with these people? "You're probably wondering why we brought you down here." Scootaloo glanced up to see Dr. Martina standing there before she looked back down at the cafeteria table. The doctor took a seat across from her and set down her clipboard. Then sighed and clasped her hands in front of her with a gaze focused on Scootaloo. "We brought you in here so you can get used to being with other people. We know your background. Living by yourself since you were five, going through the trash to survive. No child should have to live like that. At all." Scootaloo continued ignoring her. There was nothing wrong with her. And they knew that. "You have, officially, the worst case of Child Abandonment the country has ever seen," she continued. That caught her attention. She glanced up in interest, not getting where she was going with this. "I've just been notified of it. The FBI are actively doing an investigation on you and who you were living with years prior to now. Do you remember your birthday?" Scootaloo held up four fingers, closed them for a moment, then opened them again, giving her a clue as to the date since she didn't want to talk. The doctor nodded, understanding what she was telling her. Most children did that whenever they wanted to speak but was too traumatized to actually do so. She wrote down April fourth on her notes before continuing. "Your real name. Is it really Scootaloo?" Scootaloo pulled in her lips before lifting her arms and gesturing for the clipboard. She handed it to her, including a pin with a tip on it that was mostly covered by rubber. A stylus pen. She turned the clipboard around and wrote down her real name on an empty area before handing it back to her, letting the doctor look at it and paint her face with a smile. "Amaryllis. That's really pretty." She put the clipboard to the side and looked back at the patient. "Do you know what that is?" Scootaloo didn't respond like usual. "It is a bulbous flower, shaped like a narrow bell. It's really beautiful. They come in all types of colors and they smell really good. Embrace your name, Scootaloo. There's nothing wrong with it." "That's the name they used when I was taken advantage of," she whispered. The doctor widened her eyes, finally hearing the girl's hoarse voice. It sounded so void of life. Like there was nothing else left in her that she could fight for. "That shouldn't have happened to you," Martina said quietly and sadly. "That shouldn't have happened to anyone. According to my notes, it says here it happened twice. One this morning. Is that correct?" Scootaloo only looked at her for a moment before a tear slipped out and rolled down her face. She then nodded her head and looked back down at the table. Dr. Martina wrote that down in confirmation with the rest of the stuff. "Okay. Let me tell you why I'm here at this moment," she said, capturing her attention again. "Soon, not today, not even this week more than likely, the law will come question you when you can talk about it. I am also required to warn you that some things might become public. It usually happens with everyone in here, although to a certain degree. It just goes to their families. We've seen it happen plenty of times. But you having no family and being put into the state with absolutely no record, barely a full name, no official schooling, they will try to put you into an orphanage of some sort to try and get you adopted. Either that or a group home. Primarily, it's up to them. But you do have a say-so in the matter. So they will likely try to put a message of some sort through the news to help. "Also, since this is the worst case of Child Abandonment the nation, not the state but the nation, has ever seen, it will be a media subject. A heavy topic. Most of it will be leaked underneath our noses. Like a dripping faucet that you have no idea about. The state will purposely let out some things just to get them off their backs and leave you to your treatment. Hopefully there will be no problems in that regard. They're just nosy. We're also doing an investigation and search on, and for, your original parents to find out if they have any place in your life. And if they were the ones who abandoned you. If so, they will be going to prison for a very long time. Even with a trial. "The state will be investigating your attempted suicide as well. I was told you were in Canterlot before you went to Trottingham. The police would like to know how you got there. Can you tell me?" Scootaloo was just staring at her emotionless, no tears, no motion, barely any breathing. She sighed heavily before raising her right arm with the IV in it, sticking her thumb up. "Hitchhiking, okay." She wrote that down while the girl put her arm back in place. Some of the other patients were sitting around her unknowingly listening in. Some just had expressions of pity on their faces while others felt the same way without revealing any sort of expression. "We also got your.....test results back. No diseases of any sort, nor an early sign of pregnancy. You're clean in that regard, thank goodness." Scootaloo sighed in relief while Zo was just screaming in her head quietly in frustration. She wanted this vessel down and to the ground, not boosted and put back up. She had to do something and she had to do it soon. "You will spend most of your time here in the observation room," Martina continued. "Considering that you are a U.P., or Unstable Patient. If something happens to you, we'll know. You'll be under close observation. Do you understand?" Scootaloo whimpered before nodding her head. "It'll all be over soon, Scootaloo. I promise you that. Everything has to come to an end." She grabbed her clipboard and stood up at the same time her group had to throw away their trash and get ready to leave. The nurses assigned to her took out the IV in her arm before grabbing her other arm, calmly placing the plastic cuffs back onto her wrists. They stood her up gently and led her towards the doors with the others, making sure she was calm and didn't flip out, which was standard for Unstable Patients. The doors were unlocked and the group walked out into the hallway, Scootaloo herself on the opposite side of it. During the trek, she looked around the area, darting her eyes left and right to get a feel of the place. There were a few nurse's desks situated around the floor, obviously being around in case something went down, as well as a few things for the floor as entertainment. There was a sign that read "Gymnasium" overhead, pointing down towards another hallway. She liked to do tricks on her scooter, but that was undoubtedly one of the things that was NOT allowed in this building. Would it hurt to bring it in? Yes. There was another sign that read lounge and library. Even Observatory, whatever that was. It probably didn't mean 'Go on the rooftop and look around'. It was probably more like 'go in a room and look out a window at the city you could be in right now.' Just thinking about that made her upset. But besides that, everything else was pretty lonely. There was nothing else to do and she definitely wasn't going outside anytime soon. She grunted in frustration. If those "friends" of hers had just left her alone, she wouldn't have been in this situation. Being admitted to the hospital, being stuck with needles, raped again, poked around, and nearly committing suicide. They were all to blame. The rest of the group continued walking past as the nurses stopped at the observation room, which was far different than 'Observatory', unlocked it, and led her inside. One nurse stood at the door while the other led her inside and took off the cuffs. "We'll be back for dinner. At that time you'll be sitting with some more girls." The nurse left and closed the door behind him, which beeped and clicked, reminding Scootaloo that she was locked in again. In a room all by herself where no one could hurt her anymore. The scene in Trottingham was enough to shake some people. Seeing a girl plummet down to her death and then caught by some....THING that had grabbed her and taken her somewhere was enough to make some people cry. Some in relief and more in fear. But for some people, this was just the beginning. News had spread unfortunately about the fact that a girl was grabbed from falling to her death by "Two Bat Creatures", along with the interaction of individuals who all had a twin, except three. Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, and Discord, who all have gone back to Equestria through a portal that Discord created. The rest of the Equestrians decided to stay behind to help solve the mystery of whatever the heck Zolan was after. Right now, they were situated in Applejack's barn, trying to create a plan to figure out what to do and how to begin. Sitting on haystacks or other things, listening in. Beside her counterpart, Princess Twilight pulled out a pen and paper. "Okay. We all know there is a maniac pony out there, on Earth, who is doing Dark magic and going after Scootaloo. So far, we know that the Orb of Zebrica is 'in the betrayed one's home'. But that's it. We have no idea where Scootaloo lived before." "She could have possibly been a nomad," Sci-Twi suggested. "Or she could have lived in the Everfree Forest, which sounds like where something magical would dwell or be left in. But that's too far. Even for Scootaloo." "She could always ride a bike there," Rainbow Dash added from the top of a haystack, getting their attention. "She always loved riding bikes, skateboards, and of course scooters. That's why we called her Scootaloo. But unless she had an electric high-speed one, which I really doubt, then there's absolutely no way she could've gotten down there." "It is too far," EQG Applejack agreed. "So she might've put it somewhere 'round Canterlot here." "Yeah, but where?" Both Raritys asked. EQG Rarity inputted, "The city is filled with forests, parks, and any other place that have trees. I for one am not so keen on going through the woods, but it's for little Scootaloo." "Yeah, me neither," Ponyville Rarity said, looking at her nails. "Shouldn't you girls be in school?" "School let out Friday," Anemone clarified, running her hand through her sister's hair. "So their break just started for....." "A month, school is stupid!" Ponyville Pinkie shouted from above. They all looked up to see the party girl sitting on top of a beam way above their heads. "How'd you even get... You know what, I'm not even going to question it," Sci-Twi said, waving her hand with a slight chukle. "Two Pinkies is like having two crabs nip at your ankle. You don't know why they're doing it." "But back on topic," EQG Pinkie said, leaning on Princess Twilight. She smells like cotton candy. How? "We need to know what to do in case the police come. We're being actively sought out by those guys because of Amaryllis and Anemone. Even though they saved Scootaloo, they'll want to know what 'those things' were. So they're probably tracking phones, faces, and anything else related to us. I'm surprised they haven't even gotten here yet." "Dagnabbit, Pinkie!" EQG Applejack yelled. "Now they might get here because you just said it. Have you never heard of jinxin'?" "Of course I've heard of a genie. What, do you think I'm Rarity or something?" She pointed at the fashionistas right across from her. "No, she said, jinxing," Rainbow said calmly. "It means when you say something's going to happen and then it does at that exact moment." "So you mean like how I just said the police are coming and now they're waiting to rush into the barn right now?" "Wait what?!" "Nobody move! Nobody move!" They all looked towards the doorways. A group of SWAT ran into the building, holding up weapons towards the group. They all put their hands up, Pinkie jumped down from the beam per the orders, getting in the same position as the others, while Anemone put Amaryllis behind her back, putting magic into her hands. Some more police rushed into the building from behind. It being a barn, it had two entrances. And the thestrals didn't see what was behind them. They shot some type of needle into both of them, making both of them yelp. Anemone shot a beam of magic at them, hurling two back and out of the barn. Some more police ran inside before they could run away and tackled them both to the ground while the others were being put in handcuffs. "What are you doing?! Get off of them!" Princess Twilight yelled. The police didn't listen instead pulling up all the teenagers, and freaking out a little since they all had a twin of some sort. Down to the same clothing. "You have the right to remain silent," the officer holding the princess said. "Anything you say can and will be used against you in the court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be provided for you. Do you understand the rights I have just read to you? With these rights in mind, do you wish to speak to me?" "Yeah! Are you nuts?!!" Rainbow Dash yelled as they were led out of the building. "Why'd you shoot Anemone and Amaryllis?!" Outside, there were a ton of police cars. Ranging from the paddy wagons to the average cruiser, along with more officers waiting by them. They must've brought the whole city! "Why are we being arrested?" Both Twilight's asked. "You will find out once we are at the station." Twilight looked back to see the thestrals completely knocked out and sleeping on the ground before they were hoisted into a truck that pulled into the building, with handcuffs on their wrists and behind their backs. "They are not going to like that," she muttered before they were all pushed towards the van. "I'm still trying to figure out what in Equestria we did." "Same here." They all looked to the side to see Principal Celestia and Luna in the back of a police cruiser. "What?! You too?!" Ponyville Rarity asked as they were waiting to be led inside the truck. "I think they tracked our faces through that video that was on the internet and are now thinking we had something to do with Scootaloo's suicide attempt," Luna explained. "That's what I think. Celestia believes they think you are part of some genetic mutation program or something. I mean it sounds....reasonable, I guess?" They were forced to cut the conversation short when everyone was pushed into the large truck and the doors were closed. "Well... You jinxed it, Pinkie," Applejack spat out. "I hope you learned your lesson." "Hey, at least they're not—" "Don't. Even." Anemone woke up tiredly, her mind fuzzy of what happened. She opened her eyes slowly, revealing the slits for the pupils and her attentiveness. She moved her eyes, trying to figure out what happened before her mind went back to Amaryllis. And the raid. She gasped and sat up quickly, looking around to find her sister. Who knows what the hay these people were going to do. She realized she was in some type of large cage that had an electronic lock on it. Definitely not getting out of there. It was in a brightly lit and large examination room, completely white with led lights above them. There was also an examination table on the left, right in the middle. She shook that off. Wasn't important right now. Well, it sort of was, but not as important as her sister. Across from her there was another cage with another thestral in it. "Amaryllis! Amaryllis, wake up!" She grabbed hold of the cage only to step back from the shock that it gave her. It was electrified. "These people are nuts!" Amaryllis groaned before she sat up slowly, rubbing her head and opening her eyes. Anemone noticed that her large wings weren't visible but there was some type of belt wrapped around her mid section. She looked down at her own body, seeing the same thing. She could've easily pulled it off since it was straining on her wings. But if she did, they would touch the gating and shock her. Anemone groaned before looking at her sister who was standing up, looking around. "Don't touch the cage, it's electrified. Remember what Twilight said? About how they use a different source of energy?" Amaryllis nodded. "That's what this is. It's some type of energy. And it's dangerous." "Okay. But why are we in cages?" She asked, scared out of her mind. "I...I-I don't like this. Not at all." "Me neither." Anemone turned her head towards the door, spotting movement out of the small glass window. "There's people out there. Hey! What are you doing let us out!!" She pointed a finger at the door and summoned a bit of her magic, shooting it past the cage and into the door with a loud clang, leaving a scorch mark in the process of trying to get someone's attention. It must've worked because someone peeked through the door and said something. "Who... Who are they?" Amaryllis asked, backing up a little bit. "I don't know, just be ready." Both of their hands started to glow, Amaryllis' more because she didn't actually know how to use her magic. The door made a click before it opened slowly, allowing whoever to slide inside. It was three people in white lab coats with name tags holding clipboards along with two more policemen. Anemone raised an arm towards her sister, attracting their attention, and diminished the glowing, motioning for her to do the same. Amaryllis was shaking in fear, but went ahead and did it anyway. The lab coats all stopped in front of their cages, looking closely at them. "Hello," One of them said slowly. A man. They must didn't know they spoke English. "My name is Doctor-" "Dude, just talk normal. We're not aliens, come on," Anemone said clearly, making them all look at her strangely. Amaryllis looked down at the cage she was in. Why the heck were they even in there? "Umm... Excuse me?" She said, getting their attention. "Why exactly are we in cages? Did we do something wrong?" "Umm... Well..." One of the doctors stammered, a woman. She was light blue with green hair. "We need to keep you in here to see if you're dangerous or not. We don't know—" "Screw that, where are our friends?!" Anemone yelled, pointing a glowing finger at the doctors. "You better not have hurt them or so help me...." The police at the door put their hands on their weapons, but Anemone didn't back down. Her sister looked on in fear, not knowing what those things on their hips actually did. "Your friends are just being questioned, that's all," one of the policemen said. "You guys should really let us out, there is more going on than—" The youngest started to say. "Amaryllis, don't say it!" Her sister scolded before redirecting her attention to the doctors. She lowered her hand and stopped the magic before the policemen relaxed. "Why are we here?" "Well, since you're something that we've never seen before, and DOING things we've never seen before, we want to get a reading and understanding of you," the woman said. "Not happening." "I'm sorry?" "You are not going all egghead on us. We've been there, done that, no more." Anemone sat down, Amaryllis doing the same while the doctors came over to her. "Ma'am, you're something the world has never seen." "And it's going to stay that way. If not, I have a lot of magic with your name on it. With ALL your names on it." She waved her hand at the people in the room. "Why are our friends being questioned?" Amaryllis said sadly. "They didn't do anything wrong. You guys came in with... Whatever those things are." She pointed at the guns on the officers' waists, making them all look at her strangely. "You don't know what these are?" One of the doctor's asked. "No, now let us out!" Anemone yelled, firing a bolt of magic at the clipboard in his hand. He yelped and dropped it once it caught on fire, stepping on it trying to put out the flame. Once it was extinguished, they looked at her strangely. "Anemone, stop," Amaryllis ordered. "If we want to get out of here, we have to ask them nicely. Can you please let us out? We did absolutely nothing wrong. We did something right. We saved a life and—" "Wait a second," one of the doctors said, coming closer. He was a weird looking man. A blue beard and blue hair, with white skin. "You look like that girl that was in Trottingham." The other doctors came closer to her, trying to get a look. "Get away from my sister!" Anemone fired another beam at him, hitting him in the rear, making him yelp and the rest to back away. "What the heck do you think you're doing? Get away!" "Subject 1 is more aggressive than Subject 2," the woman said, writing something down. "They're apparently siblings." "We're not subjects," Amaryllis said. "We're... People. Not... Specimen." "You know what that means?" Her sister asked her. "Twilight taught me some of the words here. I'm getting the hang of it so far. Specimen are organisms used for study. If we were back in...you know where, we'd be called thestrals. But here, we're called....bat people I guess." "Wait," the woman said, turning to Amaryllis. "What are you called again?" "Wow, you guys sure get picked up fast." They all looked up to see Discord relaxing on the ceiling, eating an apple. He was facing down, looking at the display intrigued. "I've been up here this whole time, thanks to a little birdie who saw everything." "Where have you been?!" Anemone yelled, standing back up. "Twilight and the others were taken! Where are Princess Celestia and Luna?" "How is he even up there?!" One of the doctors asked. "That defies physics!" Discord just stared at the man. "Uggghh, you remind me of the princess, jeez louise." He snapped his fingers, making the cages disappear and removing the belts restraining their wings. "Oh, don't be surprised if everything out there is fantastic and beautiful. Celestia gave me permission." "You made it a chocolate wonderland, didn't you?" The oldest said blandly. "You know it. Hold on, let me get rid of these party poopers." He snapped his fingers, turning the policemen's guns into fried chicken. "You boys need to stop playing with your food. It's made for serious situations. Now eat and enjoy the show. Good luck ladies. Celestia and Luna are looking for the....uggh...elements," he spat out. "Just because I'm on your side doesn't mean I enjoy those things as much as you ponies. Now go already, what are you waiting for, a kick?" Discord summoned a boot from behind both of the girls, punting them in the rear and towards the doctors who backed away. "Oh my god, they're loose!" The policemen yelled. He looked back up for that person wearing all black, only seeing nothing. "And that guy is gone!" Anemone summoned her magic and pushed the group out of the way, allowing them access to open the door and out into complete chaos. There were roses flying around, water coming out of fountains that were turning into flowers and floating upwards towards......the pink clouds, and a bunch of ducks waddling through the halls. "Come now, little duckies," Discord said, leading the trail of ducks towards a different hall, he stopped once spotting the two thestrals. "Ah, there you are. The exit is right over there." He pointed towards the other end of the hall where there was a door. The two thestrals ran towards it and burst through, scaring those in the area before sprinting for the glass doors. They crashed straight through them and soared into the sky, looking around. Luckily, they were still in Canterlot. Amaryllis could tell because of the Doughnut Joe's yards away from where they were. "We're still in Canterlot," Anemone confirmed. "But the others are still missing. We have to find them and fast. We have no idea what they're doing to them...or asking them." Amaryllis nodded before they flew around, hoping to find some clue as to what happened to their friends. And hoping that they weren't hurt. "Can you tell me your name?" A detective said inside the dimly lit room, only lit by an overhead lamp. In front of him was a stainless steel table with a folder on it, obviously for notes. In the corners were two police officers, obviously keeping watch over everything that was going to happen in there. "Pinkie Pie!" The Equestria girl said happily. He wrote that down before asking his next question. "Do you know why you are here?" "Noperooney! Is it for a party, because I'm good with parties! I once planned a party for my friend Twilight. She does NOT like them, only likes science, which is just CRAZY! One time I asked her why she didn't like parties and she gave me this long lecture about how parties make you lose focus and that focus is a key part in our society. And I was like, You don't party?! She said nope! So I went back to school, grabbed a bunch of balloons, banners, cake, cupcakes, drinks, chips, chairs, movies, games, markers, spray cans, and my friends. Then we threw a huge bash and welcomed her to Canterlot!" The detective just sat there frozen with his mouth open, eyebrow raised, and the pen poised above the paper. *** "My name is Rarity, and I'm from Canterlot. I wish to be a designer and put my fashion all over the world! Right now darling, I am only known locally through friends, family, and recommendations. But I would like to expand to another city at least." The detective and the police in the room just stared at the Ponyville native nonchalantly. "I did not ask you a single question yet." "Oh... Well now you know." *** "My name is Applejack," Ponyville Applejack introduced happily. The detective wrote that down before asking his next question. "What do you do for a living, what are your hobbies?" "Well, I buck apples and sell 'em. We have the best tastin' apples in all of Ponyville." "You... 'buck' apples?" He repeated confusedly. "Yep," she answered, nodding proudly. "My family grows the best apples in Equestria. We make Apple Pies, Apple Crust, Apple Fritters, Apple Cakes, Apple...." "Uggghhh," the detective groaned, dropping his head down onto the table as she droned on. *** "What is your name?" "Rainbow Dash," she answered depressingly. He wrote down some things before looking at her closely. "What are your interests, hobbies?" "Sports." He wrote that down before continuing with the questions. "What is your relationship with everyone else?" "Friends and girlfriend." He wrote that down before he continued, asking her a question he deemed important in this investigation. "Who is... Twilight Sparkle? That name was mentioned a lot when I asked everyone else." "My girlfriend and the Princess." He stopped writing and looked up at her. "What? Princess?" "Yes." "What do you mean 'Princess'? This isn't a fantasy, kid." Rainbow rolled her eyes and huffed. "What, have you been living under a rock, G-dude? You just hit two thestrals with needles and they are probably out cold right now. They are our last hope to save this world and you just destroyed it man." The detective just sighed and wrote down some more things. This girl was obviously crazy. *** "What is your name?" "Princess Twilight Sparkle." "Are you dating Rainbow Dash?" "No, that's Twilight Sparkle." "But you're Twilight Sparkle." "No, I'm Princess Twilight Sparkle." "So you're a Princess or somethin'? What is that like a... Role? A name used for a play at school?" "Nope. I'm the Princess of Friendship." The detective just shook his head slowly, not understanding what the heck she was talking about before a new voice showed up. Two new ones. "Wow, it's so dark in here. How can you write in this light?" The police and detective in the room looked around before the overhead lamp was turned up to a bright light, hurting their eyes and revealing two women in the corner. "There that's better. Twilight, what happened?" Celestia asked, walking over to her student. Luna was still in the dark, blending in in case things got ugly. "We went back to the barn and you weren't there." "Who are you, get out of here, we're in the middle of an interrogation!" The detective yelled, standing up. "WATCH YOUR TONE!!" Luna yelled coming out of the dark and using her royal canterlot voice, shocking the detective and officers so much he they yelped and covering their ears. The princess of the night walked towards the younger princess with her sister to address her. "Discord is getting out the thestrals while me and Celestia have teleported the elements and natives out of here. We're leaving too." "No you're not," one of the policemen in the room said, walking towards them before there was a crack and a flash of light. They covered their eyes before letting down their hands to see them... Gone. "Ehere'd they go?! What just happened?!" "I...have no idea," the shocked detective said before he got back up and rushed out the door. He ran towards the room where everyone else was being held before he pushed the guards aside and opened it. It was completely empty. "They just vanished?!" All the policemen ran towards the room to see that it was completely empty, no evidence they were even in there. What just happened?