//------------------------------// // Decisions Decisions // Story: Queen Scootaloo // by thedarktome //------------------------------// After the questioning and Scootaloo was left in her room, she sat on her bed and started thinking. What would become of her once she got out? Where would she go? Could she get a job? Schooling? A life that she never had? Or was that all over? She sighed and sat up in her bed, worry on her mind. Everything was happening so fast. One minute she was hanging out with friends, the next she was stuck in a facility for a month as an "Unstable Patient". This was getting out of hand really fast. So fast, that it worried her. Would she even survive out there? Only time could tell. And the time was agonizingly slow. After going to sleep and waking up the next day, she went ahead and took a shower. Avoiding all the bad parts of her body that were sensitive to the touch. And there were a lot of those. The scars went back all the way to nine years old actually, the first three from being attacked by a dog. Somehow, she was able to escape that. The second time was by two dogs. After that, she just assumed that fate definitely hated her for some reason. For what, no one would ever know. She just knew it was that. The rest was from the humans' beating, stabbing, and raping her. Of course after that she lost all self-esteem to the point where she would just start adding her own scars. There had to be at least fifty big and small ones on her, mostly on her front, less so on her back. Things like that just naturally happened to her. Sighing, she turned off the water to the shower and grabbed the towel on the rod above her, drying herself off in the tub. She didn't feel comfortable being so exposed like that around where people could see her. The only bit of privacy she really had was in the shower, and even then she was afraid someone could just walk in and yank open the curtain. There was no door! She had a really REALLY bad case of anxiety. During the time she was in the shower, she kept her eyes on the curtain and the shadows that were on it. If they moved, she stuck her head out of it, making sure no one was there. And if they were, she'd scream. Just a precaution. Thankfully no one had wandered in. After drying herself off, she checked out some of the bathroom items she was given. She hadn't actually been able to take a bath there after arriving three days ago, she didn't really feel comfortable doing it. But now that she did, it felt good. After putting on the deodorant and such, she put on the clothes she was given. New ones, finally. It wasn't a gown anymore, instead it was a pair of drawstring white pants and a white short sleeve shirt. It was made out of some type of paper and plastic. Apparently, the patients weren't trusted enough to be put into any kind of fabric. Says a lot about what goes on in here. Not really a surprise, it was a psychological ward. Soon she walked out of the bathroom and rubbed the gash that was turning into a skin covered digout on her face. The cut would always be there, it would just match her face color instead of what was underneath. The pink of flesh and red of blood. It would probably take a month or two to get to that point, but it doesn't matter, her face was never going to be restored. She flopped down onto her bed and laid back, waiting for the nurses to come in, slap on the cuffs, and take her to breakfast beside, not with, but BESIDE the rest of the unit. She finally figured out where she was. They called it "Unit F". So original. It stood for freakin' female, that wasn't creative at all! Well...it must not be safe to try and be creative around a bunch of girls that are violent, suicidal, or both in her case. And probably in another's in this hospital. Had to be, she couldn't be the only one.....right? Getting tired of thinking of the ward, she turned her thoughts to something that had her on edge throughout this whole experience. Zo. She has not spoken at all since the last time they talked. And that was four or three days ago. Rainbow said that she's a sneaky character, so she's either planning something or just digging through her mind or something. She is Equestrian, she could probably do that. Question is...just what was she looking to do? The door beeped, signalling that someone was walking in, thus catching her attention. She sat up as it creaked open, revealing Violet Twinkle and Misty Flyer, both offering her a smile. "Good morning, Scootaloo," Misty said calmly. "You ready for breakfast?" Scootaloo stood up and offered out her wrists without answering. Violet stepped forward and softly place the cuffs on, locking them in place comfortably. Secured, Scootaloo lowered her arms and allowed herself to be guided slowly towards the door. Misty stepped aside, letting the two out before closing and locking the door back the way it was before, then going over and standing on the left side of Scootaloo. The other girls were already there, looking at her before they began walking towards the cafeteria again. After making it to the room, they all went and got their food. The nurses asked Scootaloo if she would like the food or the tube and she said doughnut. They chuckled, remembering the first time she tasted those. While Misty took her to her seat next to the other three girls, Green Rush, Loud Symphony, and her secret acquaintance, Icy Spring, Violet went to grab her breakfast. "Good morning, Scootaloo," Icy greeted from her right. Scootaloo glanced over and gave a small smile. "Good morning," she replied, albeit quietly. Maybe one day she'll talk at full volume again. But it was obviously not happening any time soon. "Did you sleep well?" Scootaloo shrugged before a plate of food was sat in front of her, stacked with three doughnuts, eggs, and something else. She picked up a utensil and started eating while they continued. "Yeah, I don't know what to make of my night either," Loud Symphony agreed, taking a swig of Apple Juice. "When I sleep, I like to have the moonlight hit my face. It's really relaxing. But....I don't have a window, so.....yeah." "Seriously. Do you have a window, Scootaloo?" Green Rush asked. The girl stopped chewing and looked up before giving the world's most smallest of nods that could be noticed. "What? I just have three walls and a door." "I don't think this place was made for fun," Scootaloo commented between bites, surprising them all that she actually spoke again. "Well....I still think I could use a TV," Loud Symphony muttered, crossing her arms and looking away. Scootaloo smiled and let out a faint chuckle, that no one else noticed but Icy, before finishing off her four doughnuts. Icy smiled before she resumed her food as well, letting her two friends argue about the room arrangements. "Is this really happening?" Rainbow muttered to herself that same morning, placing her hands on both sides of her head and pacing around in her room. "This is so not happening. Why is she doing this? I didn't even do anything. That lady is nuts and she's making me nuts too. Oh my god, I'm talking to myself right now, how worse could this—nope! No, don't even say that, something bad might happen! Like Pinkie Pie crashing through that window, coming out the closet with a cake or something. That's far worse than....nevermind, I'll take Pinkie Pie crashing through windows scaring the speed out of me than Zolan blackmailing me to either betray my friends and save Scootaloo, or have Scootaloo disappear from my life forever to save Equestria and Earth. What is she even planning to do with Scoots?" Finally taking a breather, she sat down on her bed and buried her face into her hands and screamed loudly. "Why is this so hard?!" "Rainbow, be quiet!" Her mother yelled from downstairs. Sighing, she removed her hands from her face and looked at the mirror across from her. "What am I going to do?" She whispered. "I can't just leave Scoots behind. But I also want to be able to find out who did this to her. But even if I did, I'll possibly lose Scootaloo, Twilight, the others, and something else she didn't tell me. That's a really bad sign." Before she could think more on it, her phone vibrated, making her look down. Her girlfriend was calling her, probably important. It could be another lead! Picking it up, she answered it and placed it to her ear. "H-hello?" She answered carefully. "Hey, Rainbow!.......Uhhh....you okay, you sound distressed." Twilight was at her house with the others, discussing more ideas. The only person not there was Rainbow. She had her on speakerphone so everyone could hear her. "I-I'm fine, I'm fine. W-What is it?" Rainbow ran a hand through her hand, trying to get it back to being smooth. "Well, we're all waiting for you to come over so we can start brainstorming our next step. Are you coming?" Rainbow's mind blanked, having totally forgot about everything else they were doing today. "I, ummm.....I don't know, Twi. Just start without me." "Rainbow, darling, are you sure you're okay?" Rarity asked, concerned. "I'm fine, I'm fine, just....do what you're....doing over there." "Rainbow, I don't rightly believe you," Applejack asked suspiciously. There was a click and then the dial tone, meaning she hung up. "Did she just hang up in the middle of a conversation? Don't tell me somethin' else is goin' on, I can't handle Amaryllis, Scootaloo, and her at the same time." "I don't know....but it sounded big enough to hang up on you," Amaryllis commented, watching Twilight pick up the phone. "Do you think she's in trouble and someone took her phone?" "Maybe someone kidnapped her, tied her to a chair, and she only had twenty seconds to speak before her captors hung up to resume the torturing!" Pinkie Pie suggested loudly. They all stared in horror at her before Anemone shook her head. "No matter how much I don't wanna believe it, it's been confirmed that this world's version of Pinkie Pie is worse than our world. Our Pinkie Pie barely spoke ever since coming here." She motioned towards the pink girl in the kitchen holding a large cupcake she was preparing to munch into. Spotting everyone staring at her she waved. Princess Twilight shyly returned the gesture before looking back at the rest of the group. "Well, now I'm worried about Rainbow Dash," she said. "Should we go over to her house or something? She's now the only thing on my mind, and I'm betting all of yours' too." "Yeah, she's weighing heavily here," EQG Rarity said, standing up with the rest of the group. "Yeah, let's go check her out," EQG Applejack agreed. "You guys might wanna stay here. Seeing double of everyone may attract eyeballs." "Yeah, sure, just go find out Rainbow's itch and scratch it, I don't want her making me look bad," Anemone said, walking outside with her sister to relax in the trees. *** "If I do that, then this will happen. Not good at all," Rainbow continued muttering. "But if I do this, that will happen, still not good. Nothing good will come out of any decision I make." Running her hands through her hair, she groaned loudly. Why did she have to choose her? Out of all people?! "I have to choose something, I have to choose something. Six days left, six days, six days left." The doorbell rang, making her look towards her bedroom doorway. Someone was unexpectedly at their house without them knowing. Strange. She heard her mother open the door, speak and then a group of footsteps. making their way towards the stairs. "Rainbow! Your friends are here!" "Sunuva..." She muttered before raking her hands through her hair again. The steps stopped at her door before someone knocked on the frame. "Rainbow, darling, we just wanted to—OH MY GOODNESS, YOUR HAIR IS JUST AWFUL!" Rarity exclaimed, walking briskly into her room and looking for a brush. "No wonder you didn't wanna come out today, you look dreadful!" "Uhhh......yeah, sure, whatever, just what are you doing here?" Rainbow asked, pushing Rarity away from her stuff. She returned a not even a second later. "You sounded weird on the phone, so we thought to check up on you," Twilight answered, looking around her room. "It's nice in here. Can I sit with you?" Rainbow patted the spot beside her while the others took a place around the room. "Can you tell me why you were so anxious to leave the conversation?" "I....umm...it's complicated, and I really don't feel like talking about it." "Maybe it would help...if you combed your hair, darling." The group watched Rarity take a seat on the other side of Rainbow, finally managing to find a brush, and started brushing through her strands. "I mean, really. Whatever is bothering you was clearly showing. How many times have you raked your hands through you hair this morning?" "Uhhh......I lost count." Rarity groaned before Twilight took the floor. "Well, we just want to make sure you're okay. We love you Rainbow Dash, and if there's something bothering you you can tell us." 'If only that were true, Twilight,' Rainbow thought, looking towards the ground. 'If only that were true.'