//------------------------------// // They Knew // Story: Gutterloo: They Knew // by LeylaQuartz //------------------------------// Scootaloo had been in the middle of making her escape with her dinner. The bag which she had grasped unceremoniously, however, had an unnoticed hole and now tore open from the sudden movements. Scootaloo cried out as she stumbled over the cupcakes which had spilled out onto the ground before her. Her cape flew up over her head and covered her face. She shut her eyes and groaned. Whoever was standing at the door surely saw that and had recognized who she was by now. "Scootaloo?" It was Pinkie. Of course it was. If anypony had any way of seeing through somepony else and into their soul, it was this unique Earth Pony. Scootaloo didn't answer. Tears burned in her eyes and she questioned why things were going so wrong today. "Scootaloo, why were you digging through the trash?" Pinkie already knew the answer, but she wanted Scootaloo to speak up about it on her own. A silence followed during which Scootaloo calmed herself before turning and looking at Pinkie with a forced smile. "For a prank!" Scootaloo said with a faux cheeriness that would have offended the party pony had it been anypony else. "A prank? Tha-" Pinkie started to call her out on the lie but caught herself. "That will have to wait." "What? Why?" "The thing is..." Pinkie chose her words carefully. "Applejack, Rarity and I want to talk to you." Pinkie said becoming unusually serious. "So, come with me." It wasn't entirely a lie: the other two mares had wanted to give Scootaloo a stern talking to or a piece of their minds, but maybe Pinkie could help with that conversation. "I should really-" "No, Scootaloo, you have to come with me." Pinkie wasn't asking. Scootaloo stared at her. Pinkie wasn't usually the type of pony others, not even fillies, would take seriously. This rare stern mask she was wearing would've only been made worse had her mane flattened. "Fine," Scootaloo hung her head and followed Pinkie down the road to The Carousel Boutique. With each step, she felt her stomach wrench up. Her mouth became dry and her legs felt like they were little more than jelly. Rarity was just waving goodbye to the last of her customers when she saw Pinkie, somber and calm, followed by the meek and ashamed Scootaloo. Rarity frowned before entering the store. She didn't shut the door all the way and soon after, Fluttershy exited and made her way out, no doubt to get Applejack. Now Scootaloo's heart raced. She dreaded the conversation that would come, but the more she thought about it, the more she realized it may be her chance to convince the mares to let their little sisters be her friends again. That resolve grew in Scootaloo until her legs at least supported her weight again. Scootaloo was sitting before the three mares in a dim living room. Applejack and Rarity exchanged glances before Rarity spoke first, her voice missing its usual warmth and inviting tone, but never losing its grace and charm. "Scootaloo, do you know why Applejack and I are here?" "Yes," she looked away, her eyes passing over Pinkie's but receiving no protection in her gaze. "Then, why?" "Because I was seen... stealing." "Exactly, but more than that, it seems you're keen on not taking care of your appearance or how you smell. It's unsanitary, Scootaloo." "Now hold on, Rarity," Applejack said. "We'll get to that in a moment. First thing's first: the theft." Applejack's tone was harsh. "You know better, Scootaloo. We all know you know better. There ain't ever any reason to go stealin' from folks, especially when they're working hard to take care of themselves and their loved ones. I never took you for that kinda filly and neither did Rarity. We don't want you dragging our sisters into that life of crime, either. It ain't right." Scootaloo bit her bottom lip, but didn't speak yet. "We can't risk you turnin' Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle into... well, crimina-'' Applejack stopped as Pinkie leaned into her ear and whispered something then told Rarity as well. "The trash?" Rarity's eyes widened. "Scootaloo, whatever were you doing, digging through the trash?" Before the filly could open her mouth to answer, her stomach spoke up in the quiet dining room. It growled and rumbled, answering as if it had waited all day for this exact moment. "If you needed something, all you had to do was ask," Rarity spoke again and the other two mares nodded. "There will always be somepony willing to help you, Scootaloo." "I think it's time to tell the truth," Applejack's eyes locked on the filly's and Scootaloo found herself unable to look away. "I'm..." Scootaloo shook her head. "I'm sorry I stole, really, I am! But I would never drag my frie- your sisters into it! That's why I did it when they weren't around." "Scootaloo, that's not the answer we're looking for," Pinkie said. "Where are your parents?" Applejack asked. Scootaloo finally was able to blink and it allowed her to hang her head and look away. Applejack wasn't easy to lie to, not because of the guilt it brought but because she just knew how to see through a lie, being the Element of Honesty. She could hear Pinkie whispering again, followed by a small gasp from Rarity and a mumble from Applejack. A heavy silence filled the room. It seemed to last hours, and maybe it did, for Scootaloo felt she might've even dozed off. "Scootaloo," Rarity sounding far away, levitated a towel and washcloth to her. "Go take a bath." "Huh?" "Now, darling," Rarity's voice wasn't as cold as before, but it wasn't warm yet. Scootaloo soaked in the warm lavender vanilla scented water and stared wearily at the ceiling of Rarity's bathroom. It was out. Her secret was out. Now everypony would know and nothing would ever be the same. She didn't want this. She just wanted to live her life and not have anypony worry about her and keep her friends by her side and get through every day and and and and... The bath felt so good. She shut her eyes. It felt amazing. She stayed in there for an hour before finally finishing up and leaving the bathroom. Rarity had taken her CMC cape to fix it up and it lay folded up just outside the door. Scootaloo picked it up and put it on. The smell of food reached her nose and she smiled, a true smile, before following her nose to Rarity's kitchen. Everypony knew now. Applejack and Pinkie Pie had gone all out preparing a feast for her. Rarity had already sewn warm clothes for her. The other elements were there, too, most were smiling at the filly... except... Scootaloo's eyes went to Rainbow Dash and the athlete approached the filly. "Scootaloo, why didn't you tell anypony? Why not me? Your sister-figure..." Rainbow’s rose eyes were filled with anguish, her mouth was pressed into a thing line. "I didn't want you to know..." She hung her head again. Everything else would've been fine, but having Rainbow Dash know, having Rainbow Dash pity her was the worst thing. “I didn’t want pity from anypony, especially not you,” she whispered. The room had gone silent. “Pity you?!” Rainbow shook her head as the other mares gasped. “I’d never do something like that to you.” “I don’t want to be a burden, Rainbow Dash.” "But we're your friends," Sweetie Belle's voice floated from her left. "Yeah, we're like family," Apple Bloom replied. Scootaloo tried to smile, but could only cry. They knew. Her family knew. A bitter blizzard had been scheduled for Ponyville and it rolled in at full force that night. Scootaloo woke up and looked out the window as snow roared across the dark sky. She was still at Rarity’s house; they had all decided to sleep over, all just to make her feel better. There she was, being a burden with everypony she cared about going out of their way to make her feel better. She put on the warm clothes Rarity had made for her and noiselessly crept among the sleeping forms of her friends, making her way to the window. The snow was piling up quickly. Scootaloo thought for a while. Things would surely change now. Perhaps Applejack’s family or Rainbow Dash would offer to take her in. They’d have another mouth to feed, another body to clothe, another head to provide for. She wasn’t their responsibility, their problem. She was Scootaloo and she didn’t need or want anypony stressing about her. She couldn’t get rid of the thoughts now forming. The snow is coming down fast. I could just walk out there and they’d never find me. Come morning, my tracks will be buried and I'll be long gone. And nopony could question why. She just told them right before dinner. They knew why.