Anticipating her reaction, Twilight surrounded Dash in a magical hold just as she tried to take off. Expecting a lecture, Rainbow Dash was quite surprised by the unfocused look of pure hatred in her eyes. The three ponies were greeted by a sudden flash of light and a squeezing sensation and Twilight teleported them to the library.
"SPIKE! I NEED YOU UP HERE" Twilight yelled. She turned to Scootaloo, her gaze softening, and simply asked: "What's his name, and where does he work now?"
Scootaloo worked on catching her breath, one of her first times being teleported, she could attest that it was a horrible feeling.
"His name is Thunder Chaser." Scootaloo started, fighting a wave of nausea. "He works at Barnyard Bargains. He's got a light brown coat, a tan mane, and a really scarred wing."
Turning her head just in time, Twilight saw Rainbow Dash flare out her wings, prepared to fly to the store at that moment. Thinking quickly, Twilight magically bound Rainbow's wings to her sides, and telekinetically moved her next to Scootaloo.
"Rainbow, right now I'd love to do nothing more than feed that stallion to Cerberus, believe me. But if either of us go and assault him it's gonna make the oncoming legal storm ten times more complicated."
"I don't care!" Yelled Rainbow Dash, jumping to her hooves. "I'll take whatever sentence I get, Thunder Chaser needs somebody to beat the hay out of him!"
"No!" Cried Scootaloo, throwing herself around one of Rainbow's legs. "Don't leave me! Please!"
Rainbow stopped and fumed. She needed to go violently make that stallion the error of his ways. But she couldn't kick off the filly desperately clinging to her, staring up at her desperately, like her presence was the only thing that mattered. She glared at Twilight and slowly sat down.
At just that moment a small purple dragon came running up the stairs.
"I'm here Twilight!" Spike panted. "What did you need?"
Twilight yanked open one of the drawers on a nearby desk, pulling out two pieces of parchment, an ink pot, and a quill. She hastily scribbled out a message on each, sealed them, and floated them over to Spike.
"Send this one..." Twilight said, pointing a hoof at one of them "To Princess Celestia. And send the other one to Morning Skies at Foal Protective Services."
Spike's eyebrows knit in concern at Twilight's last few words. Then his gaze wandered over to Rainbow Dash and the filly squeezing her leg so hard it seemed she was trying to make them one. "Scootaloo, what are you-"
"SPIKE!" Twilight yelled. "I need you to send them NOW!"
With a little jump, Spike focused back on the scrolls and sent them each off with a fire burp. He stared up at Twilight, nervously pacing back and forth, staring at the ground, and back to Rainbow Dash, who looked angry enough to kill.
"What's going on here?" He finally asked.
Before anybody could respond, Spike felt the familiar sensation of an upcoming letter. After coughing it out, he reached out a clawed hand to catch it, but was surprised when it was instantly levitated over to Twilight. Twilight cleared her throat and began to read out loud.
Dear Princess Twilight.
I am extremely distressed to hear this.
Knowing you, you also informed FPS of this. To have any hope of luck in the imminent court case, FPS will have to be able to prove this foal was abused. Between you and them I'm sure you can find definitive proof. I would personally recommend the Ostende Dolore spell.
In the meantime though, I authorize you to put this "Thunder Chaser" under royal house arrest. I also see fit to grant you and Miss Rainbow Dash as temporary guardian of this foal. Please do your utmost to keep her safe and happy.
I must request you keep me updated on this matter. And hopefully the next letter will have more positive messages.
Sincerely,
Princess Celestia
The room was silent for a minute.
"Ostende Dolore" Twilight whispered to herself. "That could work..."
"Um, Twilight?" Rainbow asked feebly. "What's this 'ostedum... whatever' spell?"
"It... basically shows all the recent damage a pony has taken, and the severity, as a bright light." Twilight began hesitantly. "The worse the damage, the brighter the light, and the longer it lasts. Of course, the older injuries fade with time. It might be crucial to winning this case." Twilight bit her lip again. "Scootaloo, do you trust me?"
Scootaloo nodded mutely. "Can Rainbow Dash stay with me?"
"Yes she can, but we need to see your whole body. Can you please stand up and look at me?"
With a calming smile from Rainbow Dash, Scootaloo did as she was asked. "Will it... Will it hurt?"
"It might feel a little uncomfortably warm." Twilight gave her a fake smile, not sure at all she wanted to see the results. "But nothing aside from that."
And so it was, with nothing else to say, Twilight grit her teeth as her horn glowed purple, dousing the filly momentarily in a purple light. Both mares gasped as the filly began to light up like a Hearth's Warming tree with white light. Most of the filly's body was emitting a low light, but the filly's left foreleg below the knee, several ribs, and both wings lit up with a strong white light. Scootaloo shut her eyes tightly as the uncomfortable feeling spread throughout her entire body, hiding the fact that her eyes were misting up again. She felt... naked in front of these mares. Vulnerable.
As the light faded Twilight found herself covering her mouth with a hoof in shock. Rainbow scooped the filly up and embraced her with her wings, meeting Twilight's eyes. It was worse than both of them thought. A quick look over to the left confirmed Spike was feeling about the same.
They all just sat there for a few minutes as the shock of what they had seen dissipated. Finally Twilight broke the silence.
"Well, I think that will definitely suffice as proof. If you two want to come back here around noon tomorrow, I can get a Foal Protective Services pony here to meet with us. In the meantime, I'm gonna go put Scootaloo's father on royal house arrest and check on the condition of her mother."
Rainbow Dash nodded. "I'm gonna take squirt here back up to my place. I think it's already been a long day for her. I'll see you tomorrow, Twi." She leaned down and nuzzled the filly, instructing her to take her place on her back. "And Twi? Thank you for... Thank you."
And with that she was gone.