“You’re supposed to be younger.” I coughed, trying to buy myself some time to figure out what to do. Villains here tended to monologue. Stitch laughed, and responded with,
“I was once a young filly just like you, all innocent and thinking Equestria was all fun and games with Celestia and Luna taking care of all the problems that happened. Oh, how I thought that those problems were few and far apart, but was I mistaken.
“I was part of the Royal Guard, and soon I got promoted to protect the Princess herself. The only thing I heard was about this death, that shooting, those bombings. It was awful. The perfect place I had once known had been shattered. Celestia was a liar. A cheat.”
The more Stitch spoke, the more agitated he got. I had to admit, I was a little scared. He might be unstable. Unstable unicorns aren’t the best thing ever. Most of them just went away, now that I think of it. There was a filly in my class… her name was Ice Shard. The blue pegasi was very… strange at times. Nobody was friends with her. We were all scared. Her cutie mark was a bloody stake-looking thing. I don’t remember the real object, because I made sure I didn’t get close enough to see it. I heard she had violent tendencies at night and… the only pony who tried to be her friend, Elena, was never found after their sleepover on Nightmare Night. The whole class was devastated. The next week or two, she came to school less and less. The last day we all saw her, the only thing she said all day was,
“They’re going to kill me.”
It scared us all. We left early that day.
Stitch wasn’t like her. She was controlled –usually- during class. He was staring at me with a wild smile on his face and wasn’t saying anything. Just… smiling. I kept a steely straight face and stared him straight in the eyes. He looked away and said something to the Siren next to him. Both Sirens began to sing.
It was awful. I was filled with deep hatred for my family, friends, everyone. It felt like they were pulling the emotions right out of my body, just forcing it out of me. I tried to fight it as much as I could, but I just couldn’t after a while. They would just sing more and more until I broke. My wrists and ankles were almost rubbed raw. Every day I tried to break free but I couln’t get the cuffs off without them stopping me.
Two more days passed. I hadn’t made any attempts to escape. I just knew that I was going to fail. Stitch came back in and gave me a very surprising offer.
“Now Scootaloo,” he said.
“You’ve been doing very well lately. I’m going to give you a second chance. You can continue the usual treatment for… let’s say they’re the rebellious. Or… you could get to work with me and the others.”
I almost said no. I considered going back to the singing, and cringed. Stitch laughed.
“Thinking about declining, eh? I wouldn’t recommend it. Make the right choice.”
My heart was racing by now. I had no idea what to do, all I knew was that I had to escape.
“I’ll go with you.” I said.
Stitch nodded to me and turned to a Siren.
“Take her to her new room. She needs rest before her big day tomorrow!”
The Siren gave a curt nod and took my arm, quite gently. I was led out of Twilight’s library into what used to be Sugarcube Corner. The paint was chipping, and all the windows were broken or covered with ash. I wanted to throw up- there was a body next to the door- and the Siren just picked it up and threw it down to the next house. I was horrified. That pony might have been trying to get in, and nobody was there to help them. I opened what was left of the door and slowly walked inside.
“This is your house from now on. Is this ok?”
“Um… yeah. It’s good. Thanks.” I said. I was surprised that the Siren asked for my approval. Usually they would leave after pushing us, or making fun of us. Before the Siren left, I said,
“What’s your name?”
“It’s Robbie. Or Rob. Whatever you want to call me. I mean, I don’t mind, as long as you don’t call me dumb or something. I mean, I wouldn’t recommend it. I wouldn’t hurt you. You’re important. And Stitch needs you. So Robbie. That’s my full name, I mean. Well, my full name is-“
“How about I call you Robbie?” I said. He’s one nervous Siren. He’s like a male Fluttershy. He left me alone with a tracking device so I could contact Stitch and I made my way upstairs. I trotted into Pinkie’s room- it was the only room with a full roof- and sat down on her bed. I wondered how my mother was. I didn’t want to think of the worst. I miss her, and my old life. I almost cried, and instead, I got up to go to the bathroom. I looked at myself for the first time in weeks, and saw that my mane looked like a rat’s nest. As I tried to fix it, I heard a knock on my door.
“I’ll be there in a second!” I yelled. I made my way down the stairs to the door. I opened it to find Robbie.
“Um… Stitch told me that I had to stand guard to make sure you weren’t planning to leave.”
“Oook…” I said. Stitch had to send Robbie? I’m pretty sure I could poke him and he would pass out. He doesn’t seem like a good fighter. I made my way back to my room after giving him a few ground rules.
“First of all, when I’m in the bathroom you CANNOT come in. Ever. Second, My room is my room. Don’t just barge in there. Last, if I’m in trouble, run away. Don’t get hurt. I’ll take care of it, ok? Respect me and I’ll respect you.”
Robbie nodded and went to Mr. and Mrs. Cake’s room. He covered himself with a blanket and rested for a moment. I wondered whether it was odd or not I had a soft spot for him. I wondered if it made me weak that I wasn’t trying to escape. Why didn’t I take him out, now that I knew he was so easy to pick off? I went back to the bathroom and made my mane look as good as it would get. I managed to get a small stream of water come out of the faucet and washed my hands and my face. I would figure out how to shower in the morning. I walked back to my room and went to bed for the night.