The Seven Tribes

by Scootaloo-009

Arc 6: Caught!

The Seven Tribes

by Scootaloo-009, a.k.a. Mechsrule1

My Little Pony and related names, images, and scenarios are property of Hasbro Inc.

Edited by Dr Bob

Sorry, no pic.

Arc 6: Exposed

Chapter 15

"One side, coming through!"

The old pegasus priest walked slowly through the small town. The ponies were all kind, and the town was so quaint. It just needed a church to be whole.

"Excuse me!"

That's why he was here: to find a suitable plot of land to build. After the last one had been shut down, they needed a new place to teach ponies the divinity of Celestia.

"Watch it!"

There was something familiar in that loud voice, echoing through the crowd. Something that caused an ache in his many scars. The mark of a slash wound on his thigh in particular.

"Sorry!"

This time, he saw the pony making that racket as she raced past him on a scooter, towing a wagon full of packages behind her. He only got one look at her, but knew who it was. He could feel it in every scar on his body. That was her.

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"Sister," Princess Luna said, entering the throne room.

"Luna," Princess Celestia returned. "Shouldn't you be heading to bed soon?"

"Yes, but we- I had something to discuss with you. Alone."

Celestia nodded and dismissed her guards. "Does this have something to do with you going through my mail?"

Princess Luna did her best to hide her surprise and continue. "Yes. It was necessary."

"I was having my student search for enemy agents. Why is it necessary to keep her findings from me?"

"Because you are not fit to deal with them," Luna said definitively. "And you know it."

"You know what they are responsible for," Celestia said simply.

"The ponies responsible died a long time ago."

"Are you here just to argue this point?"

"No. There is more we- I wish to discuss, but I want you to agree to something. I want to handle the terra pony issue. You are too biased to render fair judgments."

"And what makes you more qualified, Luna?"

“Because I understand why they did what they did!" Luna blurted out. "It's the same reason I turned on you. Jealousy. Not over power, but that we got the recognition for what both our tribes had done. They made the Dynamo, but we got all the praise because our tribe powered it. We killed the ponies who built it so nopony would know it even existed! That just made it worse."

"That does not justify what they did," Celestia roared.

"We are not condoning what they did!" Luna shouted back. "We are merely stating we understand why they did it! When Nightmare Moon had control, all we could see was hate and scorn. It was lies, but we couldn't see through them. It was awful sister. We wish to free them from it as we were."

Celestia fell silent. Luna had rarely discussed what being Nightmare Moon had been like.

"Please, Tia, I need to do this."

"I.. I understand, Luna. You do what you have to do," Celestia agreed.

"Thank you."

"Was that all you wanted to discuss?" Celestia asked.

"No. It seems one of the elements of harmony chose a terra pony as a bearer."

"Pinkie Pie is a terra pony?"

"How did you know I meant that one?"

"It had to be her. Applejack's sister can use magic."

"Ah. Well. You seem to be taking that well."

"If the element of laughter chose her, who am I to judge its decision?"

"Thank you again, sister. Know I have the situation well in hoof," Luna said after a pause. She turned and left the room.

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In a white cloud living room, two pegasi sat around reading in the late hours.

"This Daring Doo is so cool!" the younger, orange pegasus said.

"The coolest," the older, blue pegasus replied.

"Second coolest," the younger, orange one countered. "The coolest is right here."

"Third," the elder shot back, "the second coolest is right here too."

The two began laughing. Their merriment was interrupted by a knocking on the door.

"Now who could that be?" the older wondered out loud. She went to answer it to find two more pegasi dressed in blue uniforms.

"Rainbow Dash?" one asked.

"Yeah?" the blue pegasus replied.

"What's going on?" the orange pegasus asked, walking into the entryway. She stopped and stood stock still when she saw the ponies at the door.

"You're under arrest for harboring the wanted fugitive, March Ninth," the second stated.

"And you," the first said, pointing to Scootaloo, "are under arrest for three accounts of attempted murder."

"Horse apples," the orange and blue pegasi said simultaneously.

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"Duty, they have almost breached the doors. It's now or never," a draconequus, Might, said, looking around the war room. Huddled around the room were draconequi of all shapes and sizes. Some wept, others simply braced for the inevitable. Outside, the alicorns and terra ponies assaulted the massive doors that had been keeping them safe thus far. In the middle of the room was a large table where six draconequi stood around it, looking very focused. Each wore a belt around their torso with a gemstone embedded in each.

“This doesn't seem like a good idea," another draconequus, Charity, said.

"What's the point of uniting to save our people? There will be none left to save if we do this," Empathy, a third draconequus agreed.

"We'll still be here," Sincerity retorted.

“We’re down to half our number already. Might as well go all the way and have a fighting chance of winning,” Might said.

"If we do lose, we'll give 'em one tartarus of a fight," Duty declared.

“Jollity, do you have any jokes?" Charity asked.

"No. I can't really find anything to laugh about here," the final draconequus around the table said. "Wait, I got one!" he said. He snapped his fingers and an image appeared on the table of a four legged creature with twisted horns on its head. "It's all this things fault! What is it?"

"It's a goat," Might said plainly.

"It's a scapegoat. Like us," Sincerity said grimly. No being laughed.

"That was the best I had," Jollity grumbled. "I don't even know why I'm not giving up my power too. My magic can only be used for pranks, you know that."

"Jokes can hurt, and pranks can be taken too far, can't they?" Might said trying to make him feel better. “We six are in this together until the end.”

"Times up. We do this now," Duty said.

"One last act of the draconequi!" Might agreed with a determined glare.

Around the room, the pony faces turned and looked at them. They knew what was coming and were ready. The draconequi around the room stood up, and several summoned forth weapons, or summoned them and handed them over to those who could not. Together, they thrust the weapons into their own chests. Instead of collapsing, they began glowing. One by one, their bodies vanished, each reduced to a small ball of light. The lights then flew towards the six, colliding with them, and causing the six to flash with light as each one connected. Finally, only six draconequi remained in the room and the glowing ceased.

"What a rush!" Charity declared, flexing her arms.

"With the power of sixteen draconequi each, we'll level them," Duty sneered.

"Do you really think we can win, even with this power?" Empathy asked.

"We'll all make it through this. I know it. They don't call me Sincerity for nothing," Sincerity said confidently.

"Now let's go give them one last stand for all the draconequi they have slaughtered in their stupidity!" Might roared. He charged from the war room with his five companions right behind him.

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"Here's the paper, dad!" the yellow earth pony filly said, placing the rolled up newspaper on table.

"Thank you, Sunspot," her father, a light purple unicorn replied, lifting the paper into the air with his magic, and reading over the headlines. His eyes bulged, and he spit out the coffee he had been sipping. "Honey!" he called.

"Yes?" asked a yellow mare, walking over. He turned the paper around so she could see.

"Look!" he instructed.

"Runaway filly caught after thirty month search," the mare read out loud.

"Look at the picture," the father said.

"Oh my Celestia! That looks like-"

"We've got to get to Ponyville. Now," the father finished.

"What's going on?" Sunspot asked.

"We may have found your sister," the mare replied.

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"Girls, I've called you all here for a reason," Twilight announced. Before her, were four of her friends, as well as Spike, Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom.

"Well, get on with it," Spike said.

"What about R.D.?" Applejack asked.

"That's the reason. Late last night, Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo were arrested," Twilight informed them. "This letter is from her, asking me to act as their lawyer. I already have her power of attorney, so I don’t know why she felt she needed to ask."

"What!" the group cried in unison.

"What did she do now?" Rarity inquired.

"According to this, Rainbow Dash was harboring a fugitive," Twilight read off of the letter.

"Gilda?" Fluttershy suggested.

"No, the fugitive was Scootaloo."

"What did Scoots do?" Apple Bloom asked.

“Probably running away from the orphanage,” Sweetie Belle whispered to Apple Bloom.

“Yeah, probably,” Apple Bloom whispered back.

"Well, there are conflicting opinions on what happened," Twilight read, "but the facts are about two and a half years ago, she ran away from an orphanage, and when she did so, she injured several ponies. That's why she is incarcerated right now."

"Scootaloo's an orphan?" Applejack asked.

"That's why we couldn't find her parents!" Rarity realized.

"Did you tell?” Sweetie Belle asked Apple Bloom.

“No,” Apple Bloom replied. “Ah would never tell.”

"You knew about this?" Twilight asked.

"We're her friends. Course we did," Apple Bloom replied.

"Why didn't you tell us? That poor filly, all alone..." Fluttershy said softly.

"This is probably why she kept it a secret," Twilight pointed out.

"So... what do we do?" Pinkie Pie asked.

"I'm going to go to Cloudsdale, and do what I can. If I can get Scootaloo off the hook, Rainbow Dash will be free as well," Twilight answered. "I'm heading out soon."

"Ah can't believe we never noticed she didn't have ah home," Applejack said, shaking her head.

"And what was she doing for food?" Fluttershy asked.

“She’s always running deliveries,” Pinkie added. “She probably used that money for food.”

"She was living with Rainbow Dash," Sweetie Belle reminded them.

"That's another thing. That doesn't seem like something she would do, just let a random filly live in her house," Rarity said out loud. “She can call it fanservice all she likes, but it’s still strange behaviour for Rainbow Dash.”

"Why wouldn't she? Rainbow Dash is her mom," Apple Bloom replied.

"What?!" the croup cried again.

"After that big fuss she made about havin' foals, she already had one?" Applejack asked her sister.

“And at such a young age, too,” Rarity commented, “I’m not really surprised, all the time she wastes, cavorting about.”

"Huh?" Apple Bloom asked.

"She adopted Scoots a while ago," Sweetie Belle said.

"Last spring," Apple Bloom added.

"Ah just don't get that pegasus," Applejack said, shaking her head in confusion.

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"I'll have to stop you there, Miss. There is an interrogation in progress," the officer said to the formally dressed unicorn.

"I'm Twilight Sparkle, and that is my client in there, now get out of my way."

"You're her lawyer? Then you'll be needing a copy of the records," the officer said, hoofing over some documents. Twilight looked through them briefly.

"You did a search of her house?" Twilight shouted.

"Standard procedure," the officer replied.

Twilight skimmed the papers, and nearly dropped the pages in shock.

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"I'm not talking until my lawyer gets here," Rainbow Dash repeated. On cue, the door slammed open, and an angry unicorn stormed in. "Twilight! Thank Celestia you're finally here!"

"Is this true, Rainbow Dash?" Twilight demanded, waving the papers in the pegasus's face.

"I can't read blurs, Twilight," Rainbow Dash grunted.

"There are bodies in your freezer!" Twilight shouted.

"They searched my house?" Rainbow Dash groaned, putting her face in her hooves.

"Rainbow, answer me!" Twilight demanded.

"Yes, Twilight. That was the deer from our last hunt," Rainbow Dash replied, peeking out from behind her hooves, "and... some chicken I think."

"So not only are you killing animals, you got a foal involved?" Twilight snapped.

"It's not a crime, Twilight. I’m passing on family traditions."

"Why would you take a foal murdering?" Twilight shouted.

"We were just getting food. It's not a crime, Twilight," Rainbow Dash said simply.

"No wonder she didn't have any problem killing those sharks!" Twilight realized.

"Actually, that happened first. I wouldn't have taken her if I didn't think she could handle it."

"I'm done here," Twilight shouted. She threw the papers to the table and stormed out.

"Twilight, where are you going?" Rainbow Dash cried.

"Get yourself another lawyer," Twilight said, tears in her eyes, "and a new friend."

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"Excuse us, we're trying to find this filly. Could you help us?" asked a light purple unicorn.

"That's the filly who brings me my muffins!" cheered the gray pegasus the unicorn had asked.

"Do you know where she is?" asked the yellow mare beside him.

"I heard she got arrested. She's probably up in Cloudsdale," the pegasus answered.

"Great. Now we need to find a capable unicorn,” the unicorn said.

"You should ask Twilight Sparkle. She knows all kinds of magic, even one that lets regular ponies walk on clouds. She lives at the library. It's the big tree house in town," the pegasus informed them.

"Well thank you, Miss," the unicorn said.

The pegasus's expression changed and she examined him closely. In a rare moment, both eyes faced the same direction. "Say, have we met?" she asked.

"Uh, no. I don't think so," the unicorn replied awkwardly.

“You sure? Like four years ago, in Canterlot?”

“We did live there at that time, but I think I would remember you,” the unicorn said.

"Huh. You look an awful lot like one of my old coltfriends, back in Canterlot, from before I had Dinky. Oh well. Mail doesn't deliver itself!" she said, and with that she flew away.

The earth pony mare glared at the unicorn.

“What? It’s Canterlot. It’s full of unicorns,” he said. “I doubt she can even see straight enough to even tell two of them apart.”

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"So? What's goin' on with Rainbow?" Applejack asked as the balloon touched down. The whole group was waiting for her.

"She's where she belongs," Twilight snapped.

"What are you saying?" Fluttershy asked.

"I found out what Rainbow Dash has been keeping from us," Twilight said, "she's been taking Scootaloo out into the Everfree Forest to kill animals and eat them!"

"What?" Rarity exclaimed.

"She said it's 'family tradition'. I am not defending her," Twilight said. "I still think I can get Scootaloo free, but I need some time."

"She's our friend. We can't just leave her in jail, no matter what she's done," Applejack countered.

"Then one of you do it. Rainbow Dash is sick in the head. She needs help. As much as we've been through, this is just too much," Twilight said, "I have work to do."

The unicorn walked off, leaving the rest standing around the balloon looking confused.

"Rainbow Dash is a carnivore? That don't sound right," Applejack said.

"I can't believe Twilight would abandon Rainbow Dash like this!" Pinkie Pie growled.

"Do you really think Rainbow Dash is eating animals?" Rarity asked.

"I know so," Fluttershy said simply.

“What?” Rarity said, surprised. “How did you know?”

“We went to school together. I remember she went on a hunger strike because they wouldn’t let her order from the griffon menu.”

“Ah don’t get it,” Applejack said.

“Well, Flight School was a boarding school, and there were griffons there, but they had a different lunch from us because they ate meat. Rainbow Dash wanted to do it too, and refused to eat anything until they let her. It took three days for them to finally allow it.”

“So she’s been eating meat this whole time, and you knew, and didn’t tell us?” Rarity asked.

“I didn’t think it was that big of a deal,” Fluttershy replied. “After all, griffons did it all the time, and I knew she was best friends with Gilda. I didn’t know she was hunting, and I didn’t know she had Scootaloo doing it too, but I’m confident she had a good reason to. I know she wouldn’t feed meat to somepony without telling them what it was.”

"It would explain a lot, like how she was fit as a fiddle in Barrier City and we were all hungry," Applejack said.

"And why she never invites us over for dinner," Rarity added.

"That's probably because she lives on a cloud. We can't visit without magic and a balloon," Applejack countered.

"If Twilight won't help Dashie, I will!" Pinkie Pie declared. The pink terra pony galloped off.

"Pinkie, Ah don't think- aw horseapples. Well, she can't get up tah Cloudsdale without Twilight or some unicorn helpin' her," Applejack said, watching her run off.

"I'm going to see Rainbow Dash," Fluttershy announced. "I want to find out why she brought Scootaloo hunting."

"Rarity, do yah think yah can cast that cloudwalking spell?" Applejack asked.

"Yes, I think so. It's not very difficult, but I don't think I could do all of us at once," Rarity replied.

"Well you should go. Ah think yah have the best chance of gettin' Rainbow outta there," Applejack said.

"Sorry, but I have no idea how. I understand Canterlot high society down to a T, but I don't know anything about pegasus law. It's bound to be entirely different."

"Ah might go see her later too. Do yah think yah can cast that spell on me?" Applejack asked.

"Sure, but I’d best do it right before you leave. It lasts a couple days, so best not waste any time," Rarity replied. “I’m a seamstress, not a mage.”

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"So this is what she meant by tree house," the yellow filly called Sunspot commented as they finally located the local library. The four ponies entered the hollowed out tree to find a violet unicorn searching through various books and a similarly colored dragon cleaning up behind her.

"Excuse us?" the light purple stallion called.

"Oh!" the dark purple unicorn said in surprised. "Sorry about the mess. Can I help you?"

"We are looking for a unicorn who knows the spell that lets us walk on clouds," the yellow mare said. “A mailmare said you might know it.”

"I sure do," the dark purple unicorn said, walking over. "Are you going today? It only lasts a couple days, so I should apply it right before you go."

"I'm not sure how long it will take. We have to get to Cloudsdale to find our third daughter," the stallion replied.

"She's in the paper!" the red filly piped up,

"Wait- what?" the dark purple unicorn asked.

"See? Right here," the yellow filly said placing the newspaper on the floor and pointing.

"Oh my. Perhaps I should introduce myself. I'm Twilight Sparkle, and I'm her lawyer."

"Lawyer? How much trouble is she in?" the yellow mare asked.

"A lot, but I think I can get her out of it."

"Then she can finally come home!" the stallion said happily.

"I've heard from her what you did. I don't approve of her current caretaker, but I am not letting her live with the ponies who abandoned her as a foal," Twilight said defiantly.

"We didn't," the stallion countered.

"We gave her to relatives in Cloudsdale to take care of. We didn't know how to raise a pegasus, and then we fell on hard times, which just made things worse. It seemed what was best for her. We didn't know they had abandoned her until we went to retrieve her some years later, we swear," the yellow mare continued.

"By that time she had run away from the orphanage, and we lost track of her," the stallion finished.

"Can you get us our daughter?" the mare asked.

"There's a slight problem," Twilight said, shaking her head. "Legally, she's been adopted."

"We feared as much," the stallion said sadly.

"Is there anything you can do?" the mare asked.

"I think I can, but as I said, I need time. Come back right before sunset, and I should have it all taken care of. Then we can head to Cloudsdale so you can be reunited with Scootaloo."

"Her name is Comette," the mare said.

"And the paper called her March Ninth. She certainly is a filly of many names."

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"You have a visitor," the guard announced. Rainbow Dash looked up, half awake. A familiar pink mane came into view.

"Fluttershy!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed, seeing her friend. She ran to the cell bars. "Filly, I am glad to see you."

"Rainbow Dash, Twilight said she's not going to defend you," Fluttershy said, avoiding the other pegasus's eyes. "She said you and Scootaloo have been hunting in the Everfree Forest."

Rainbow Dash sighed and sat down. "It's true. I'm teaching her how to be a griffon, just like Gilda's family taught me," Rainbow Dash said after a long silence. "I know you'll never want to speak to me again, but I'm glad you came."

"I already know you eat meat, I just wondered why you brought Scootaloo," Fluttershy said.

"Huh? You knew? But how?," Rainbow Dash said surprised.

"We went to school together. I was there for your hunger strike.”

“Oh, yeah. I forgot about that.”

“Eating other things is just what some animals do. There's no right or wrong about it. Just as long as you don't eat somepony's pet..."

"I wouldn't dream of doing that," Rainbow Dash replied. "You're really not bothered by me being a carnivore?"

"Omnivore," Fluttershy corrected. "You still eat apples and hay right? That makes you an omnivore."

"I didn't really know that was a thing," Rainbow Dash said simply.

“So, why did you bring Scootaloo along?” Fluttershy asked.

“She heard me talk about hunting and wanted to try it.”

“Just out of the blue?”

“Well, I’ve been giving her meat for a while now. Again, she asked for it.”

"What are you going to do without Twilight?" Fluttershy asked.

"I'm waiting to get a new lawyer. Until then I'm staying quiet."

"But they'll keep you here for a long time."

"No they can't. If I don't get a lawyer, they can't take me to court. They don't take me to court, they have to let me out in a couple days."

"Well is there anything I could do to help?"

"Dad might know a way out of this," Rainbow Dash said thinking, "but Crouch Back is too far from here. It would take days to walk there and back."

"Where is that?" Fluttershy asked.

Rainbow Dash shook her head. “I don’t want you getting hurt.”

Fluttershy tried to insist, but the guard came back. "You have another visitor. Sorry, one at a time," the guard said.

"Oh. Sorry. Bye, Rainbow dash," Fluttershy said.

"Bye, Fluttershy. Take care of Tank for me until I get back, please."

"Sure thing," Fluttershy replied. She left the room and a familiar orange earth pony entered.

"Hey R.D.," Applejack greeted a bit coolly.

"You came? How?"

"Twilight ain't the only unicorn in Ponyville," Applejack replied. "So."

"So?"

"You really eat meat?"

"Yes."

"Did Twilight really walk out on yah when she found out?"

"Yes."

“Do you and Scoots really hunt in the Everfree Forest?”

“Yes.”

"We're gunna get yah outta here," Applejack said determinedly. "Ah don't know how, but we'll find a way."

"Thanks. It's good to know two of my friends don't hate me," Rainbow Dash said, tearing up a bit.

"We can't hate yah fer somethin' so small. Ah wouldn't do it mahself, but Ah ain't you and Ah ain't gunna tell yah how tah live yer life."

"Twilight was mostly mad I got Scootaloo involved."

"Ah was wonderin' about that. Just whah was she at yer place?" Applejack asked.

"I kind of adopted her." Rainbow Dash answered.

"So Ah heard. Ah can't believe you adopted a filly after that whole rant about how yah never wanted tah have foals."

"Actually it was before that and I don'twant to have one, but I'm open to taking care of one," Rainbow Dash explained. “When I realized she was an orphan living in the Clubhouse... I wasn’t going to just ignore her, so I’ve been letting her live with me.”

"And look at what she's done in yer care. Ah don't know how long she's been with you-"

"Since they were mixed together," Rainbow Dash interjected.

"As Ah was sayin', all Ah gotta do is look at what she's done, and how she is, and Ah know you are doin' right. Ah wouldn't do it to mah kin, but she ain't. She's saved all our hides. Ah think yer doin' a great job raisin' that little filly."

"Thanks," Rainbow Dash said. She didn't sound sincere, but that might have been the stress of the situation talking.

"It ain't just me and Fluttershy. Rarity agrees she shouldn't have done that, and Pinkie's off doing something tah help," Applejack went on, "we're all on yer side."

"Thanks for telling me. I think I feel better knowing Twilight's the odd one out," Rainbow Dash said, sniffing a bit.

"There, there, Sugarcube. Things'll work out. They always do."

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Scootaloo was led out of her cell and into a new room. It wasn't like the others. This one seemed welcoming, with two doors on opposite walls. Twilight was waiting for her on the far side of the room when the guards led Scootaloo in, then they left the two alone.

"Scootaloo, I have a surprise for you," Twilight said happily.

"Are we going home?" Scootaloo asked dully.

"You are going home," Twilight replied. The unicorn stepped over with her horn glowing. The glow enveloped Scootaloo for a second, then dissipated.

"What was that for?" Scootaloo asked.

"It's a cloudwalking spell. You're going to need it in a moment," Twilight explained.

"Why would I need that?" Scootaloo asked.

Something clamped around her neck. Flailing wildly, she pulled at it to no avail. She tried to slice it with her magic, but stopped struggling when she found she couldn't reach her power. It was like a vital organ had been ripped out of her. A void that the magic once filled, open now. Strange how she never felt this emptiness before having magic, but having it taken from her so abruptly, it hurt not being able to feel its presence. She was so used to it by now, that not having it was like not having her scooter.

"Now you can go home," Twilight said.

"I don't like where this is going," Scootaloo said to herself.

"I was able to cut you a deal. In exchange for a little favor, I got the pony bringing the charges against you to drop them, and the police agreed if you submit to therapy, they’ll let you go. I won't be administering it this time."

"What about Rainbow Dash?" Scootaloo asked.

"Rainbow Dash is sick. After spending time in here for what she did, she is going to get help just like you. You won't be going home with her," Twilight answered.

"My mom is not sick!" Scootaloo shouted.

"Her illness is in her head."

"There is nothing wrong with us!"

"I have a second surprise for you," Twilight said, ignoring the filly. Scootaloo glared. "Come in!"

Four strange ponies entered the room from the other door. Two were adults, one stallion, and one mare, the other two were a pair of fillies, both larger than Scootaloo. The stallion was a light purple unicorn. The mare, a bright yellow earth pony. One filly was a red unicorn with a yellow mane. The other was a yellow earth pony with a brown mane. Scootaloo looked at them confused.

"Who are they?" Scootaloo asked Twilight.

"Scootaloo, this is your real family."

"Comette, We've come to take you home," the mare said.

"Who are you?" Scootaloo shouted.

"We're your mom and dad," the mare said.

"Rainbow Dash is my mom. Go away!" Scootaloo spat, cringing back.

"Scootaloo, they didn't abandon you. They gave you to some relatives to care for you. They were the ones who abandoned you, not your parents," Twilight explained.

"I don't believe you!"

"I've taken care of the paperwork. You have legal custody again," Twilight said. "I have all her things in this bag. Just some clothes from her house."

"Why does she have that collar on?" one of the fillies asked.

"That is for your safety. Scootaloo has gained the ability to use magic recently, and knows at least one spell that can hurt ponies. This way she cannot use it," Twilight explained.

"Magic? How is this possible?" the stallion asked. "Unicorn blood?"

"It's a long story. She's not very powerful, but as you know she has violent tendencies. I included a list of some good psychiatrists with the papers I gave you earlier," Twilight replied. "Hopefully they can get her in the right mind."

"Thank you very much, Ms.Sparkle," the mare said.

"Come along, Comette. Let's go home and be a family again," the stallion said. Scootaloo didn't move. She just stared at them, wide-eyed.

"Go on, Scootaloo," Twilight encouraged.

"I'm not going anywhere with you!" Scootaloo shouted. "I want to be with Rainbow Dash! I want my mom!"

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"You have yet another visitor," the guard announced. “Popular mare, huh?”

Rainbow Dash looked up to see an angry Twilight storming up to her cell. The pegasus glared back with equal ire.

"What do you want?" Rainbow Dash demanded.

"I'm just letting you know that you will no longer be warping that poor filly's mind," Twilight snarled.

"What are you saying?" Rainbow Dash asked nervously.

"I found her parents. She's going home with them as we speak," Twilight said snidely, smiling sinisterly.

"YOU WHAT!" Rainbow Dash shouted, lunging at the bars. "How? She's my foal! I have the papers at my house!"

"As your attorney, I can sign legal documents for you. You gave up Scootaloo just an hour ago."

"You jenny! You had no right to do that!" Rainbow Dash growled.

"I had every right. You gave me power of attorney."

"Why would you do that? You know they abandoned her!" Rainbow Dash shouted.

"Why would you take an innocent foal with you while you slaughter wildlife?" Twilight shot back.

"Maybe because she asked? Did you think about that? I was trying to raise her the best I could!"

"You call that best? Your mom could have help-"

"My mom is dead, Twilight!" Rainbow Dash interrupted. "Dad too. Remember? The Qnak clan is my family."

"Then why would you try raising a foal when you have no idea how?" Twilight shouted.

"She was living on the streets, Twilight. Anything is better then that, and I wasn't going to turn her in," Rainbow Dash answered quietly.

"So you find somepony to take care of her! You know what? It doesn't matter. It's done. She's out of your hooves.”

"Please... don't do this, Twilight," Rainbow Dash begged, her tough exterior falling apart under her tears. "Don't give her to those ponies."

"It's done, Rainbow Dash. I'd say get a new foal to brainwash, but I doubt the foster care system will let a felon adopt," Twilight said, turning to leave.

"Don't take Scoots... Please... she’s my Scoots... she's my daughter..."

"Not any more. Goodbye, Rainbow Dash."

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"And this is our bed. Mom said she's going to get you a new bed soon, but for now we have to share," Starflare said, hoping onto one of the two beds in the small bedroom.

"Great," Scootaloo said, glaring at it. She deposited her bag on the floor and began going through it to see just what Twilight had packed. All that was in it was her hat, scarf, and her scooter. She wasn't very surprised the rainbow wig was missing.

"So..." Sunspot said, but trailed off.

"Yes?" Scootaloo grumbled.

"I'm glad we found you, Comette," Starflare said. Scootaloo whirled around and put her hoof to her 'sister's' mouth.

"I'm going to stop you there. I don't want to be here, I want to go home, and my name is Scootaloo. I don't care if you two are my real sisters or not. My name is Scootaloo."

"Okay, I'm glad we found you, Scootaloo," Starflare corrected, trusting the hoof away.

"I'm not," Scootaloo grunted.

“It's not so bad," Starflare said.

"Yeah, the school is really nice," Sunspot added.

"How can it be nice? Both of my friends are back in Ponyville," Scootaloo said sadly, sitting down and staring at her hooves. "My mom's in jail and I'm stuck here. No magic, no flying. Nothing."

"You can't fly?" Sunspot asked.

"No," Scootaloo said bitterly.

"So... uh... what's your cutie mark for, Scootaloo?" Starflare asked, trying to change the subject.

"I got it for cloudboarding," Scootaloo said simply. "It's like regular skateboarding, but you do it on clouds and stuff."

"Cool!" Sunspot said.

"There's a tournament over in Blood Crest this week, but I don't think I can make it. I'm stuck here," Scootaloo grumbled. "And I really wanted to see Rriz too."

"Who?" Starflare asked.

"Just a friend," Scootaloo replied. “No pony you would know.”

"Look, just what is your problem?" Sunspot growled suddenly, jabbing at Scootaloo.

"My problem? I'll tell you what my problem is! I just spent the last six years of my life going through Tartarus and back, all because of those two plotholes, then when my life is finally starting to turn out okay, I'm dragged here, away from everypony and everything I cared about! That's my problem!" Scootaloo shouted.

"Don't take it out on us! We didn't do anything!" Sunspot shouted back.

"How am I supposed to know that? All I know is I wound up on the steps of City Hall, a week old!"

"Wait what?" Starflare said suddenly. "Mom and Dad said you were living with some distant cousins who abandoned you after a few months."

"They were mean, but they weren’t stupid at the orphanage. They can tell the difference between a week old foal and a month old one." Scootaloo growled. Starflare jumped off the bed and ducked under it. She emerged a moment later with a thick book in her mouth. "What's that?"

"It's a photo album," Starflare explained, placing it on the ground and opening it.

It was full of pictures of Scootaloo's 'family' doing various activities. The ones in the front were mostly of infant versions of Starflare and Sunspot, then they came to a page with only three pictures on it. The first depicted a dough colored filly in a newborn bed in a hospital with younger versions of her 'parents' on either side The next had the doughy foal in a basket looking at the two older fillies beside it with bright purple eyes, the two fillies before her now. The final one was the foal alone in the basket on a stone slab of some sort.

"See? They took this right before they gave you to our relatives," Starflare said pointing to the third picture.

"Did they tell you that or were you there for it?" Scootaloo asked.

"We weren't there. It was in Cloudsdale after all, and mom and dad didn't want us falling," Sunspot answered.

"Yeah. They lied," Scootaloo said simply. "I recognize that stone slab. That's the front step of the Cloudsdale City Hall."

"That could be any chunk of rock," Starflare countered.

"I went and looked at it nearly every week of my life when I was at the orphanage. I think I know the place they found me. Don't take my word for it, there's only one place in Cloudsdale with real stone and that’s City Hall."

"But why would they lie?" Sunspot wondered.

"Would you tell your filly you abandoned her sister?" Scootaloo asked. The two other fillies shook their heads.

"Scootaloo, we'll do what we can to help," Starflare said.

"Yeah. You can count on us," Sunspot added.

“Thanks,” Scootaloo said. “At least somepony is on my side.”

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Twilight awoke in the middle of the night. Somepony or something was down stairs! It clearly was not concerned about waking her, given the noise it was making, crashing around the library.

"Spike?" Twilight whispered, but saw the dragon asleep in his bed.

Cautiously the unicorn rose from her bed, and readied her magic. Quietly she tip toed across her room. As the door creaked open, she silently cursed not scheduling time to oil it. But then she was in the main area of the library, and saw what was making all the noise. In the center of the room sat a familiar blue pegasus doing... something.

"Rainbow Dash? What are you doing here?" Twilight asked. Something wasn't right. Wasn't she supposed to be somewhere? Slowly the pegasus turned, a demented expression on her face.

"Hey, Twi. What's up." she said. She then burped, but with it came a couple brown feathers. "Uh...."

"Rainbow! You didn't!" Twilight cried.

"Don't worry." Rainbow Dash said, getting up, her grin widening. "You're next." The pegasus leaped at her, mouth wide enough to swallow her whole.

And then Twilight woke up. She gasped for air, and shivered in fright. Even though it was a dream she began crying.

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If you like this story, you should check out some of my other works:

My tumblr, an alternate universe mixing MLP and Cyborg 009.

Forever a Changeling, my new story starring Rainbow Dash as a changeling.

Samurai Applejack, a drastically different kind of story. It’s rated mature for violence and some suggestive lines.

Night of the Werepony, what I consider to be my worst story, but it’s my most popular. It’s just one chapter long.

Comments

[Grtgfbll]

This will end awkwardly...

[Wander Hoof]

Wow, Twilight is prejudiced against meat eaters, honestly didn't see that coming. I was also surprised by that bit with the draconequi, quite the origin story there! All that and a new layer of drama for Scoots! This was a great chapter!

[Snow Soar]

that was suprising bitchy of twilight...
all and all it was a very interesting chapter!!! cant wait for more,,

[Tsuki no Mai]

Now you made me despise Twi... Nicely done, sir!

[Blueheartpegasus]

The whole time, I was thinking to myself: "Don't rage in the comments, Blue, don't rage in the comments!"

*holds breath for few seconds then breaths out calmly* okay, I won't rage.

But seriously, Twilight is now my least favorite character in this story.

Ps. When are you sending them to magic camp? It sounds like it will be an interesting read with all the ocs.

[Wilhelm]

Wow
Twilight's a bitch.

[Ozymandias]

In this chapter, Twilight is The Worst. I'm chalking it up to her having one of her bouts of insanity...which doesn't excuse it in the least, but at least it explains it rather than it just being a sequence of wildly out of character moments. Then again Pinkie running off and abandoning her friends forever instead of even attempting to talk to them first felt pretty "OOC For Drama" too. Hmm.

EDIT: Reached the end of the chapter. Yeah, this just feels absurdly contrived. Definitely switching my upvote to a downvote. I'm hoping there's some kind of explanation in the next few chapters for this bullcrap. On a related note, if Pinkie's friends are this prone to throw away all loyalty for stupid reasons AND do things they should know are wrong, her decision to run away suddenly becomes perfectly reasonable.

[Shadow Scryer]

. . . Is it bad that I'm almost at the stage of begging someone to stab Twilight in the eye and twist the knife for being such a double-crossing, treacherous bitch?