War was what she faced; morning, noon and night. She didn't want to come home, never ever. It was too much for somepony her age to bear. The fighting, yelling, screaming, broken dishes and it all resulted in sleepless nights with worrying. Only hoping that it'd end... but it never did. And every night, if she was lucky to catch a few winks, there would be dried tears on her pillow and blanket. The worn-out teddy bear she had should've been her protector, but it did nothing. It gave her false security. Lies that it would all be ok. That she would be ok... but would she? Really? Would she ever escape?
... She's tried before. And it didn't work. He found her and dragged her home, locked her in her room for days. She had nothing. By the time her freedom was granted, all she wanted was to be locked in once more. So that way, she could just escape it all. Stay there forever. Just try and ignore it. But, sometimes, on those very rare occasions, he'd leave... to go get more cider. Or cigarettes. or whatever he was hooked on.
It would be quiet for once, unless you listened closely. There'd be whispering and faint sobbing. So heartbreaking it was something you really thought was just a rumor...
"Shh, baby. Baby, calm down. It's gonna be ok..."
"I don't wanna live here anymore, Mom."
Scootaloo hated life. That wasn't normal. Not at all for a filly her age. She was only four. She was going to be five soon. She didn't want presents or a party... she wanted a true home. One that made her feel happy. It would warm her heart and the house wouldn't reek of alcohol or smoke. There wouldn't be any screaming. It wouldn't be like it was now.
"Scoot, sweetie, I don't want to either. I wanna leave too. But we can't."
"Why not?" the young filly sniffled. "We could go now."
"Your dad would find us."
"Dolly! Where's my dinner?"
A kiss was placed on Scootaloo's forehead as she watched her mother leave the room... and so, it began once more. The real life nightmare.
"Dolly!"
"I'm right here! What do you want?"
"What the hell do you think I want? Where's my dinner?"
A silence.
"What's that?"
"Woman, you don't ask me anything, you do what I say!"
"Tell me what that is."
Another silence, with a light thud soon following.
"Woman, you hear me? You ask me nothing! I've got my own business! Now get back in the kitchen, then meet me in the bedroom. That's all you're ever good for."
A loud crash. Not again.
"You bastard!"
"What did you just call me?"
"You heard me."
A bang, and a shriek. Murmuring, but it wasn't apology. Scootaloo had heard it one too many times to figure out the true meaning. It was begging for mercy. Her mother didn't want to be hit again.
"Aerial, please..."
"You're lucky that you're a pretty mare, Doll." A pause. "Now pour me a drink."
He had let her off easy this time. He must have been sober, for once. Thank Celestia and Luna.
"Where's that brat of ours?"
Or maybe not.
"She's out. With her friends."
"Don't lie to me, Dolly. I know that brat's here."
A pause and then a scream, followed by a bang.
"I told you to never lie to me."
Loud bangs were heard throughout the hallway and without even thinking twice, Scootaloo knew what it was. Her father's drunken walk. His hooves would never know which way left or right was, or back and forth; he'd bang into the wall more than once. The proof was the holes. They weren't just from when he couldn't walk either. He'd get really mad. And he'd hit things. The couch. The walls. His wife.
His child.
"Please don't. Please don't. Please don't."
The doorknob was being played around with. Was he struggling to open it? Scootaloo could only pray that he wasn't.
"Dolly! This door won't open!"
A loud thud. Shrieks.
"You worthless whorse! What's wrong with you?"
Scootaloo didn't have to see what was going on to know. Her mother was taking it again. Taking all of the worst end. The beating. The cursing. The hurt. Something that would be scarred in her mind forever.
"You don't touch me! You hear me? You don't fucking touch me!"
Silence.
"Well? Aren't you going to fight back? Or was that just a stupid act?"
In a choked and breathless whisper, all that Scootaloo could hear her mother say was, "No. I hate you, so much. You don't deserve to live."
And the screams continued. Banging. The breaking of glass. Shrieks that could cause deafness. It was such a surprise that no one had ever suspected anything.
"You'd be nothing without me! Nothing! You hear that? I'm the reason you're not on the street! You've got nothing, except that little ungrateful accident of a brat you call a child!"
The little filly dived underneath her bed, whispering prayers to Celestia that it would all be over soon, and that, maybe, just maybe, this was actually all just a really bad dream. Scootaloo would wake up in her bed, walk to the room of her loving parents and they'd sing her to sleep, until the horrible thoughts went away. She wouldn't have to be scared to walk outside of her bedroom anymore. She could invite the few friends she had over to her home. They could have playdates. She wouldn't have to be scared.
... But her mother's screams and whines were reality. And dreams were the exact opposite of reality.
"Stay there, and don't you move. I'm going out." The front door slammed and the crash of many things falling echoed throughout the household.
Hesitantly, Scootaloo cowardly moved out from underneath her bed and slowly pushed open the door, only for her gaze to fall upon a horrifying sight.
"Mom...?" the bloodied, bruised and beaten pegasus mare lying underneath a broken shelf was not her mother. Scootaloo knew her mother as a strong, daring, beautiful and thoughtful mare who wouldn't hide from a fight or desert anypony. The one the filly's sight was inspecting wasn't it. This mare looked frightened and weak, afraid to do anything, even move a muscle.
"It's not that bad, baby."
"Mom..." Scootaloo was taught not to cry over injuries and as she slowly stepped towards, her mother, that rule went out the window. The dam broke and tears flowed. "Mommy..." The last time that was said? Never. Even for her first word, the young filly had always said Mom.
Dolly herself nearly cried as she outstretched her forelegs to her daughter. "C'mere, Scoots." But her daughter did not. She kept staring. Staring at the shard of glass in her mother's hoof. Part of a broken cider bottle.
"It doesn't hurt."
Scootaloo bit her lip and continued to cry, despite the blood and injuries, rushing straight into her mother's embrace. "Mommy..."
"I know, baby. I know. It'll be ok."
"It'll never be ok."
... What kind of comeback could you tell your child if that was the truth? Lying to a child was like a crime; something unforgivable and unacceptable.
"I can get you some band-aids."
"No."
"Mom..." Scootaloo's lavender eyes shone with tears as she looked up at her mother. "You can't stay like this."
"I won't, Scoots." Dolly whispered, placing a kiss on her daughter's forehead. "We'll get out of here someday. I just don't know when."
"Will it be soon?"
A moment of silence between the two before the elder mare herself began to weep. "I don't know, baby. I don't know."
The filly continued to sniffle as she looked over her mother once more, to find more horrifying sights. Strikes, with what looked like a whip, thin ones, across the explorer-themed cutie mark the mare beheld; crimson blood, slowly drying every other second, was staining the tan coat; small shards of glass and wood in the black and grey mane...
"I'll be fine."
"Mom..." Scootaloo whined, hugging her mother once more. "I hate it here."
Tears streaming down her cheeks, careful not to injure her child, the pegasus mare held the filly close and nodded. "I do too, Scootaloo, sweetheart. I do too." She lowered her voice to a whisper, "But I promise you, we're gonna get out of here."
"Make me smile."
... What an outrageous request. How could that be possible? At a time like this, knowing what they had? How it would possibly never get better, for at least a while, anyway? And when was the last time either of them had so much has a grin across their expression?
"You are my sunshine, my only sunshine... you remember this song?"
Scootaloo nodded. "You make me happy, when skies are grey." she murmured.
"You'll never know, dear, how much I love you... Please don't take my sunshine away..." Dolly sang in a breathless whisper, holding her child close.
A small smile of sorts spread across the filly's muzzle as the tears of sadness and fear continued. "Can you sing it again?"
"I'd do anything for you, sweetie." And once more, the mare began to sing the short and simple, yet comforting, lullaby, but meanwhile, in her mind, all she had was ideas of how to escape this Hell.
Three years later, there was a scream in the night...
"Shh, shh, shh, baby, Scootaloo, calm down."
"M-m-mom?"
"I'm right here, sweetie."
The filly whimpered and outstretched her forelegs for a hug, which her mother gladly gave. "It was the dream again."
"It's ok, Scoots."
A moment of silence passed between the two, before full blown sobbing escaped Scootaloo. "He's gonna come back, isn't he?"
"He'll never find us. I promise you." Dolly retrieved the worn-out, but now patched up, teddy bear from the floor. "I think the dream came back because Teddy wasn't fighting it."
The filly chuckled and snatched the toy from her mother. "Mom. I don't call it that anymore."
"Of course you don't."
Scootaloo managed a sly smile as she held her beloved Teddy tighter and held back tears. "Mom?"
"Yeah, baby?"
With glossed over eyes, she hesitated, looking around in the darkness. The one that she didn't have to be frightened about. No one would come after her. There would be no horrified screams. This place was where she belonged. It was all new...
Scootaloo's gaze fell on the hardbacks sitting on her bedside table. Endless Daring Do novels, with the penname of somepony she knew well engraved on the covers. The villain on the front, she knew the inspiration personally. So did her mother.
But at the same time, the heroine of the books was somepony they were. They beat the one who inspired the villain and now...
It was finally all ok.
"Don't let Ahuizotl win. Daring Do always has to beat him... right?"
The mare smiled, only before chuckling as she pulled her daughter into yet another tight embrace.
"He'll never win, Scoots. Me, you and Daring will keep fighting him."