//------------------------------// // Chapter 14: Catalyst // Story: The New Dawn of the Setting Sun // by The Crazed Werewolf //------------------------------// "Hey Mini-Demon," Diamond Tiara called out to Scootaloo as she shoved the purple haired girl into a wall, "your big sister isn't here to protect you. Get her boys!" "I don't need the she-bitch to look after me," Scootaloo said as she tried to fight back, but both Snips and Snails had pinned her against the wall. Sunset and her friends had left on a field trip earlier that morning. Diamond Tiara pulled a permanent marker from her pocket. "Snips," Diamond Tiara ordered, "hold her head still." With that Diamond Tiara began to draw or write something on Scootaloo's face. Out of the corner of her Scootaloo could see her friends Sweetie Belle and Applebloom just standing by and watching. Scootaloo wanted to scream but Snips had his hand tightly clamped over her mouth. "OW! Hurry up DT," Snips said, "She's trying to bite me." "Then bite her back you fool," Diamond Tiara said, "and don't ever call me DT!" Scootaloo's eyes went wide at the prospect of being bitten by either Snips or Snails. She stopped trying to bite Snips. At some point she stopped trying to fight all together and when Diamont Tiara ordered her goons to release her she just sank to the floor. "Looks like we broke her," Snails commented. "Our work here is done, lets go," Diamond Tiara said as she sauntered off followed closely by Snips and Snails. "I OWN YOU," Diamond Tiara said looking back at Scootaloo. Sweetie Belle started to move to Scootaloo's side, but Applebloom stopped her and shook her head. Scootaloo just wanted to sink further into the floor at that point. Eventually the tears came, followed by anger. Anger at her so-called friends for abandoning her, and anger towards Sunset for causing her life to be nothing but torture. Anger that turned into hatred. "Are you ok," A voice said as Scootaloo felt a hand on her back. Scootaloo looked up and found herself looking at Diamond Tiara's number one lackey, Silver Spoon. "Come back for more," Scootaloo snarled at Silver Spoon. "No-I, I asked Di to leave alone," Silver Spoon said quietly, "let me help you up and then let's get you cleaned up." Scootaloo hesitated, as she thought back over all the years that Diamond Tiara had tormented her and how often Silver Spoon had been by her side. "Why should I trust you," Scootaloo asked, "I have almost as much reason to hate you as much as I do Diamond Tiara and Sunset." Scootaloo's words visibly stung Silver Spoon. "I'm offering help now," Silver Spoon answered as she held out her hand, "no one else is." Reluctantly, Scootaloo took Silver Spoon's hand. In the back of her mind she couldn't help but think that Silver Spoon was playing a trick on her. After Helping her up Silver Spoon grabbed Scootaloo's backpack, which had been kicked against the wall. Then she guided Scootaloo towards the nearest restroom. Silver Spoon locked the door behind her after she made sure that they were the only two in the room. Looking in the mirror, Scootaloo saw what Diamond Tiara had done to her. Though her tears had smeared the ink before it dried, Scootaloo could make out Sunset's sun symbol on her left cheek. Her right cheek had Diamond Tiara's crown symbol. Silver Spoon dampened a paper towel and put some soap on it before handing it to Scootaloo. Try as she might, she couldn't get the ink to come off. "Ugh, it's no use," Scootaloo said after a while. "Here," Silver Spoon said, "let me try." Silver Spoon gently scrubbed Scootaloo's face and managed to get the crown off of her cheek, but she couldn't remove the sun. "Thanks for trying Silver Spoon," Scootaloo sighed. "What are you going to do now," Silver Spoon asked. "Well, I can't stay at school looking like this," Scootaloo said, "I'm ditching." "You're ditching," Silver Spoon said in exasperation, "what if you get caught?" "They'll only catch me if someone tells them," Scootaloo said looking at Silver Spoon with an intensity in her eyes that Silver Spoon felt compelled to obey. With that Scootaloo grabbed her backpack and unlocked the door. Taking a quick glance outside she turned and smiled at Silver Spoon before storming off out of the door. "I love you," Silver Spoon whispered to herself a moment later, her own tears staining her cheeks. ***** Scootaloo was relieved to find the house empty when she walked in. She left her scooter and her backpack by the couch and headed to her room. She opened the laptop on her desk and logged into MyStable. She was greeted by a video that someone had posted and tagged her in. Out of curiosity she opened the video. She watched in silent horror as Diamond Tira order Snips and Snails to pin her to the wall. She watched as the person filming the video, who she deduced to be Hoops, made a very lewd commentary. She replayed the video when she noticed that both Sweetie Belle and Applebloom just watched everything unfold and didn't even try stop it. On her third playthrough she noticed that Silver Spoon wasn't any where in the video. Scootaloo began to seethe with anger. Scootaloo grabbed a sheet of paper and began to write. Dear Whoever, Sorry that you had to find this. I just can't go on living in her shadow any longer. My friends have abandoned me, my family doesn't seem to care. All I ever wanted was to be accepted for who i am, not who my sister may or may not be. Will anyone even notice if I'm gone? I doubt. But I guess someone had to care if you are reading this. I need to get away. I need to fly free. I guess this is good-bye. Scootaloo read what she had wrote, and frowned. Was she such a coward? She didn't think so. With disgust she crumpled up the note and left it on her desk. Then she walked out of the house. She needed to think. She didn't realize that in her haste, she had left her phone behind. ***** Celestia and Sunset arrived home almost thirty minutes later. The first thing Celestia saw was Scootaloo's scooter and her backpack by the couch. "Scootaloo what have I told you about leaving your scooter out," Celestia called out. No response. Sighing, Celestia grabbed the scooter and carried it to Scootaloo's room. The first thing she noticed was that Scootaloo wasn't there. The second thing she noticed was the video that was playing on a loop on Scootaloo's computer. Then she noticed the crumpled up piece of paper. Celestia uncrumpled the paper and read what Scootaloo had written. "Oh no," Celestia cried, which got Sunset's attention, "my baby!"