Badlands, Kludgetown, 11 months later.
Scootaloo was finalising her papers with an angry scowl on her face. It wasn’t the papers that she was angry at, it was rather the fact that she had lost her dear friend Sweetie Belle.
You see, when the white-coated filly enter manehattan, somehow, the royal guards were there and knew that Sweetie Belle was the same filly that had run away from Ponyville and took her back to the very same town where she had been shunned and forced into exile.
Scootaloo had heard this from Capper who had been told to keep watch over the filly by the orange-coated filly herself.
He had dutifully followed the order and kept watch, but couldn’t do anything to protect the young filly when the royal guards came to take her back. Needless to say, Scootaloo wasn’t in a good mood and would much rather commit the coup she had planned for quite some time now. Today was the day she would have an official meeting with every creature that was part of Crusaders Democratics Party.
She just wanted to finish some of the paperwork so she could have the meeting directly after.
“I’m sorry, Sweetie Belle, I should have never allowed you to go, but I didn’t want you to stop chasing your dreams.” She muttered to herself, unaware that she was heard by the cat that stood guard outside the doorway.
“But not to worry. Soon, I will invade Ponyville, I will make sure you are protected by our army. I will make sure that the royal guards pay for what they have done to you,” She seethed, losing herself to her rage.
Capper gulped from the doorway. Even if it was a filly, the words she had spoken were not to be taken lightly.
Scootaloo finalised the papers and stacked them together before placing them inside a folder and putting them inside a drawer where she could read them later to make sure she signed them right and to remind herself of her plans.
“Capper?” She asked the cat who was still eavesdropping.
The cat stomped his foot to the floor and entered with his arms behind his back. He looked sharp and ready to take any orders his future ruler would command him.
“Yes, ma’am?”
“Call every creature to the meeting room, as well as the defector.” She ordered without looking at him, preoccupied with the window she was glancing out of.
“The prisoner as well?” He asked in surprise.
“Yes, the prisoner, If he is remorseful as he says he is, then he will reveal information about Ponyville.” She explained with a small grin on her face that looked anything but kind.
Capper didn’t see her face but he did shiver slightly because he knew she was grinning and it never looked pleasant.
“Yes, I will take him to the meeting room. Will Leader Applebloom join us?” He asked with curiosity.
“I don’t know, she is very sad and tired. She had a long shift last night and she is still grieving the poor dear. I’ll tell her she can join if she wants to,” The orange-coated filly responded with a small sigh.
Capper nodded and bowed before he left the room to prepare for the meeting. Scootaloo continued to look out the window but her face became grim as she thought about all the fun memories she had with Sweetie Belle. She would save her. Sweetie Belle had been there for Scootaloo when she needed her so there was no way Scootaloo wasn’t going to return the favour. If she had to commit criminal acts to do so, she would.
“You will be free soon from prison, Sweetie Belle,” the orange-filly said, fully believing that they had arrested her friend.
She left the room and walked over to Applebloom’s room. She knew she was taking it pretty hard as they had been a lot closer the last few months than Scootaloo had been. The young ruler knew that she would never delude herself to say otherwise.
When she reached the room, she knocked on the door and hoped that she would receive a response from her apple friend.
“Who is it?” Applebloom asked with a hoarse voice from sobbing.
“It’s me, bloom, I wanted to ask if you wanted to go ahead and join the meeting?”
When Sweetie Belle had disappeared, Applebloom had been devastated, but she had noticed that their neighbour, Capper, would often come to visit Scootaloo and would always greet her with a smile and ask if she was alright to which she would answer; ‘no’. What the yellow-coated filly had noticed was that he wore a crest on his suit that resembled the symbol she had seen drawn inside Scootaloo's room so many months ago. When she confronted her pegasus friend, the pegasi shocked her by explaining her plans and what she was going to do. She learned of the creatures that had joined, and her ambition to rule Badlands, overthrow the Storm King and invade Ponyville. To say she had been shocked would have been a massive understatement.
Applebloom had demanded an answer as to why Scootaloo would want to do such a thing, so the pegasi explained Gabby Gums and everything that had happened to them inside Badlands. Scootaloo, for her part, did admit that everything in her plan had flaws which were why she needed older creatures that potentially knew what to do but also because she needed generals that would help in different areas. She also admitted that she felt pure rage every time she thought about Ponyville and the betrayal they suffered and explained to the best of her ability why she had to do this. That is when Scootaloo pulled the guilt card. She told Applebloom; “To save Sweetie Belle, we must invade and bring her out of prison.”
It had its desired effect.
“Uh, I don’t thin’ I’ll join tha’ day Scoots, I jus’ wan’ tha’ rest,” Applebloom quietly sniffled as she remembered her time in Ponyville and Sweetie Belle.
Scootaloo sighed, expecting the answer. She wouldn’t force her friend to participate. She, however, needed to because she was the leader and because she would be the one to give the orders to attack and invade.
“Alright, see you later, Bloom,” The pegasi said her farewell and headed for the meeting room which was in the kitchen.
When she entered, she saw Capper along with the other creatures as well as the prisoner who wasn’t cuffed. She knew who the prisoner was. He was sitting beside a Griffin and an earth pony.
“Hello, Spike,” Scootaloo greeted colly. It wasn’t a cold greeting by any means, but there were better greetings out there. She noticed how the dragon bowed to her, acknowledging his respect for her.
“Hello, leader Scootaloo,” He greeted. His face was blank like her generals but it was no malice in his eyes.
She nodded to him before she glanced around the room. Dragons, Griffins, Ponies, Cats, Changelings even! She had certainly gained quite a following. One of the changeling's names was Thorax. She had found him in the food market, skinny to the bone and starving. He had been kicked out of his hive and had nowhere to go so he fled to Badlands. Scootaloo wasn’t one to judge. Why should she? After what happened; she had no reason to limit herself to only ponies. Which was impossible in the Badlands.
“Hello every creature,” She greeted and they greeted her back in unison. “Today is the day we officially will look for ways to invade Ponyville or commit a coup towards the Storm King. Either is fine as long as we have enough creatures and weapons. I have the necessary funds to pay you all for this war. I know It will not be easy. My friend... Sweetie Belle... was kidnapped by the royal guards in Manehattan, meaning that she’s being held against her will. But we shall free her!” Scootaloo said with hope in her voice, causing the creatures to cheer. “After we rescue her, we will make sure that the only political party that exists is our party. Mayor Mare will be kicked out of the office, but she can be a useful advisor.”
The pegasi had a thoughtful look at that, she seemed to be considering it, not noticing that the other creatures were patiently waiting for her to continue.
When she noticed she apologised.
“Oh, sorry about that, anyways, first things first; we need to plan an attack against the Storm King. Do any of you know where he is hiding?” Scootaloo glanced around the room but all of them shook their heads.
It wasn’t surprising. Storm King was smart enough to hide where he was living and hiding. No doubt, he was aware that a few creatures wanted to kick him out of the Badlands.
“Not surprising,” Scootaloo muttered. “Okay, do any of you know where his captain is? I believe her name is Tempest Shadow?”
Every creature par one shook their heads again. Scootaloo noticed that the prisoner, Spike, hadn’t said no.
“Spike,” Scootaloo called, grabbing his attention. “Do you know where Tempest Shadow is located?”
The dragon nodded his head, grabbing the attention of the other creatures present. They looked at him expectantly while trying to not look or seem intimidating despite that it wasn’t a problem for the young dragon.
“Yes, I saw her enter a ship near one of their strongholds. It looked like it was a factory of sorts but I couldn’t get closer before I was caught by them.” He explained.
This got the pegasi’s attention.
“Caught?”
Spike nodded. “I was caught by Storm King soldiers who demanded I work for them so I could make them richer by finding gems around Badlands, If I didn’t they said they would send me to Storm King who would make sure I never was a problem in the future. It was my third month there in that cell before I was rescued by your brave soldiers.”
Scootaloo frowned at this. She had never bothered to ask where her creatures found him, they just informed her that he was alive and that was that. But now...
“I’m sorry to ask, but did you ever meet Tempest Shadow personally?”
The dragon shook his head. “No, but I did hear horror stories from the other prisoners.”
Scootaloo nodded In understanding. She had not heard great rumours about the unicorn herself. All she ever heard was how terrifying the mare was and that she had done things to the civilians of Badlands that would never be forgotten which had caused Scootaloo to have trouble sleeping for a while because she was certain the mare was outside of her window watching her.
Scootaloo cleared her throat, grabbing the attention of every creature that had started to whisper amongst each other about the terrifying unicorn.
“First order of business; we shall arm ourselves and prepare for war with Storm King,” Scootaloo said with an evil grin.
Spike and Capper shivered in fear.