Steve and Scoots

by gmen15

Coming Clean

Chapter 4: Coming Clean

I’m an ass-hole. There’s no other word to properly describe me after I asked Scootaloo such a question. I should have gone with my gut and ignored my curiosity. But, like so many other people, I caved into temptation and asked the question. A question that I should have known was extremely personal.

Now, the little filly was silently crying. She didn’t let out loud sobs, she hardly even whimpered, but the small teardrops that ran down her face and falling onto the linen of the bed made her sadness all too clear, and I was the cause of it.

She was finally in a good mood after the hell she had been through that morning, and now she was back to being depressed, something I had hoped to avoid. “Listen, Scootaloo, if you don’t want to...”

She shook her head, “No I...I’ll tell you.”

“Are you sure? “

She nodded and gave me a small sigh, "It's only fair that you know."

She started her story, “When I was really young, I had a normal life, normal parents, you know...the life a typical foal has.” I nodded before she continued, “My father was in the Royal Guard of Canterlot...”

“You lived in Canterlot?”

Scootaloo nodded, “For a few years, yes. Actually, I was born there.”

Okay, this was news to me.

She chuckled at the memory, "It was like living in a city full of Diamond Tiaras and Silver Spoons, I hated it."

No matter how head scratching this information was, I still listened, eager to learn what happened to Scootaloo’s parents that make her so upset to think about. She seemed to be saddened by continuing the story, her eyes looking anywhere and everywhere but at me. I was about to cut in, to tell her that she really didn’t have to tell me. But before I could do that, she pressed on.

“My father was one of the ponies in charge of Princess Celestia’s safety, you know, protecting her from attempts on her life and whatnot.”

I could feel my jaw drop at hearing that, Equestria, the land of peace that only an animated world could have, has had a history of assassination attempts on Princess Celestia’s life.

“Have ponies tried to kill her?” I asked.

Scootaloo shook her head, still not looking at me. “It’s rare for anyone to attack the Princess, and when someone does, it usually isn’t a pony. Most of us love the Princess. It’s other species that want to run Equestria, like Griffons. But, there have been times that ponies have tried to kill her.”

I nodded, somewhat relieved to hear that such attacks and threats were rare, as I assumed they'd be.

“Anyway,” Scootaloo said in a way that indicated how she was about to get into a more personal part of the story. “One day my father and some other guards were outside of the Princess’ Castle as she made her way to her carriage when a unicorn made a lunge at her and used his magic to attack her.”

She stopped and sniffled a little before she managed to continue, “My father took the blast square to the chest and...and...”

She didn’t even have to say the fate of her father to let me know what happened to him, her face said it all. The sadness and longing, it was the same face I've often seen in the mirror whenever I think about my family, the expression of loss.

“I’m...I’m so sorry Scoots.”

Scootaloo looked down and shook her head, “Don’t be, it’s not like you had anything to do with it. I didn’t even know you back then.”

My next question was much more hesitant, but I felt that since she already told me about her father, I had to know.

“What about your mom? How did she handle it?”

She let out a small, sad sigh that would make the most hardened man’s heart break, and swallowed hard. It took her a few seconds to respond, each breath she took seemed like a conscious effort to keep the tears from spilling all over the bed. Eventually, she told me about her mother.

“She was worse than me,” she whispered, “to her the world ended the day we saw the doctors pull the bed-sheets over my father’s corpse in the hospital.”

*********************

“Mommy? Are you okay?” Scootaloo, about two to three years younger, asked her mother, Glidespark, who was a white Pegasus with a flowing mane that was the same color as her daughter’s, as well as a pair of eyes to match. Her cutie-mark was a pair of wings joined in front of a four-sided, yellow spark.

Even though Scootaloo was younger, she didn’t look much different than she did currently, just a little smaller.

Glidespark just stared at the wall ahead of her as she sat in the chair. Her eyes were hollow, showing no sign of life or happiness, as if all of her joy had been washed away after her husband’s death.

“Come on Mom, you have to eat something.” Scootaloo said as she pushed a bowl of salad closer to Glidespark, who lifted her head slightly, pointing it away from the bowl of food that her daughter was trying to get her to eat. Scootaloo looked up at her mother with pleading eyes, “Please Mom.”

“Just go to school Scootaloo.” Glidespark muttered without a hint of emotion, but it was clear she was sad. She was so sad that her emotions had dried out and she could no longer express them.

She sighed and hopped away from the table before trotting over to the front door. She put her hoof onto the knob and turned it. Once the door was opened slightly, she turned back to Glidespark.

“I’ll see you later.” She said at a volume just above a whisper. She didn’t want to go to flight school and leave her mother again, like she did every day since her father died. She wanted to stay there, to take care of her, like she was the mother and Glidespark was her daughter, when it was really the other way around.

Glidespark didn’t even acknowledge her daughter with eye contact; apparently she was just too fascinated by the nothingness of the white wall in front of her. Scootaloo looked sadly at the ground before she trotted off to flight school, to see all the happy ponies that had both of their parents to take care of them, to pick them up when they were down. To see what she had lost.

****************************

“She lost the will to live. Slowly she withered away until about four months after my father’s death. That’s when she fell ill and died. I was by her bed and watched her take her last breath.”

I can’t lie; that story really tugged at my heartstrings. Not only was it sad to hear about Scootaloo’s parents and their fate, but also her mother’s reaction to her father’s death got to me. Would Carol have acted like that if I came back in a body bag and they were still alive? Would she ignore Amy and the entire world until she starved herself of life? Just then I realized that Scoots was even more like Amy than I initially thought.

“Jesus Christ.” I whispered, not really caring if Scootaloo heard it. To her, it probably was confusing rather than a swear word. I turned back to her, “So wait, if your parents are...”

I couldn’t say dead, I just couldn’t. All I could do was motion my hand around to indicate what I meant until she nodded, as if to confirm that she understood what I was getting at.

“...who do you live with now?”

“My aunt.” She said through gritted teeth. I was slightly taken aback by her change in tone. She went from being miserable, to being some strange mix of miserable and pissed off at the same time.

“At least you’re not on your own.” I said, trying to ease her rage.

“I wish I was.” She growled, “She doesn’t love me. Heck, she doesn’t even care about me. All she does is ignore me until she’s mad about something, and then she goes on and on about my faults to make herself feel better. All she ever does is make me feel like trash.”

“You don’t seem to have any faults Scoots.” I said in an attempt to comfort her, though I wasn't really lying. To me, she seemed like a normal filly, minus the cutie mark of course. However, she saw herself differently.

She looked up at me like I just said the most ridiculous thing imaginable. Seriously, I might as well have told her the sky was green. I guarantee she would have given me the same look she did at this moment; it was full of disbelief and scorn.

“Really?” she said with a hint of anger in her voice. She stood up and pressed on, “I don’t have a cutie mark, I can’t fly; I don’t have any parents, brothers or sisters...I’m...”

Her lip began to quiver and, even if her tear filled eyes showed defiance against what I just said, all of her “tough-girl” act couldn’t hide her true sadness.

“...I’m nothing but a failure.” With that, she sat back down onto the bed and looked down, avoiding eye contact with me as her attitude made the cyclical transition back to miserable from defiant sadness.

“What are you talking about, you aren’t a failure. Not at all.”

“Yes I am.” She whispered harshly, “I can’t do anything right, especially things I should be able to do, like fly.”

She finished her statement with a quick and firm slam of her hoof against the mattress of the cot before she relaxed herself.

“What about riding a scooter, you seem pretty good at that.” I said, trying everything I could to reassure her, but I wasn't confidant that it would work. “And you’re really a great friend to Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom, and they both care about you a lot.”

“Yeah but still. I’m a Pegasus! I should know how to fly by now!” she said, finally looking up at me. “And I should have a cutie mark.”

She looked back at her flank that was, of course, blank as a whiteboard. She sighed and looked back down at her hooves in disappointment.

“But you’re friends don’t have theirs’ either.” I said, “and so what if you don’t have one yet, you’ll get it eventually, along with your friends, and it’ll be that much more special since you got them together.”

She nodded, “That’s true, I guess.”

I put my hand onto her back and brought her in close like I used to do with Amy when she was upset, so that she could cry against my shirt. She always told me how it made her feel less alone when she was the most vulnerable, so I would always do it for her. Scootaloo wasn’t crying much anymore, but she was still sad, and even though she didn’t have any tears to wipe off on my shirt, she still pressed her head against my side and hugged me around the waist with her two front hooves.

I began to pet her in a father-like manner while she continued to sit by my side. Even through everything that I’ve seen, the death on the battlefield and the horrors of being in Afghanistan, nothing really hit home until today. Never, since I got the news about my family being taken from me, have I felt the sorrow I felt now. The only thing that kept me from crying was Scootaloo sitting next to me. I had to be strong for her; I had to be there for her, like how I should have been there for Carol and Amy, even if it was just to say good-bye.

We stayed like that for a little while until I heard voices coming closer to the tent. Before my mind could register that I should hide Scootaloo, it was too late as five of the personnel from our unit entered our tent. Once I saw their faces, my heart froze. It wasn’t just Charlie, Davis and Brad this time. It was Ben and Butch, both of whom looked directly at me.

Their faces weren’t showing shock; instead they were showing a mix of curiosity, as well as anger. The anger part however, was mostly coming from Butch, and the beet-red face he got when he assumed some role of dominance or leadership that he, in no way, has earned.

Without taking his cold eyes off of me, he pointed at Scootaloo, “How long did you honestly think you could keep this a secret?”

Scootaloo looked up at him and seemed to back off a little in fright. Can’t say I blamed her. Butch, when in his confrontational moods, could scare the shit out of most of us.

“Hello! Earth to Steve!” he shouted, his hands cupped around his mouth like a megaphone. “Do you realize it’s against orders to have an animal on the base?”

“Hey? Who are you calling an animal?” Scootaloo said, taking a step forward to the edge of the bed, her eyes in a scowl. “I bet I’m smarter than you.”

Butch just stared. Apparently, he didn’t expect Scootaloo to talk. Sure a cartoon pony is one thing, but a TALKING cartoon pony was...well, only slightly more odd, as a cartoon pony was still EXTREMELY ODD.

“Holy cow it talks.” Ben said in amazement as he took a step forward, his eyes wide like those of an excited child. “Hey there little one, what’s your name?”

“Scootaloo.” She grumbled. “And don’t talk to me like I’m a newborn foal.”

“Awww, I know you’re not a foal.” Ben said in an even more patronizing tone. “You’re clearly a big pony aren’t you?”

Okay, even I had to admit Ben sounded like a jerk when he talked to Scootaloo like that. I know he wasn’t trying to be, and the cuteness factor of Scootaloo was having its effect on him, but he still came across as a patronizing ass. I swear, he might have well added literal baby talk like "ga-ga" and "goo-goo" to complete the condescending.

The orange filly growled a little at Ben, which seemed to snap Ben out of his “baby mode” and into reality, a reality that included a pissed of pony.

Ben suddenly threw up his hands defensively, “Okay, okay, Jesus I’m sorry. I’m used to talking like that with my kids, they’re both really young.”

“Doesn’t excuse you for talking to me like I’m a stupid baby.” Scootaloo mumbled.

"Once again, I'm sorry you just reminded me of my kids." Ben said with some true remorse before he looked up at everyone else, from me to Charlie, from Davis to Brad, before he spoke, “Seriously guys, she can’t be here.”

“And where the fuck do you propose we take her?” Davis asked.

“We show her to the Captain.” Butch snapped back almost immediately.

“What then? What will he do with her, ship her off to some undisclosed government location where she’ll be kept safe?” Brad asked, putting his fingers up to give mock quotation marks to “safe”.

Butch turned to him, “Hey, medic boy, why don’t you tape a piece of gauze to your mouth and shut the fuck up?”

“How about I cover your whole fucking face in gauze so your narcissism won’t get in the way while we’re fighting. It could save lives.” Brad shot back, which made Scootaloo giggle. Brad looked at Scootaloo and gave her a small, friendly wink and smile before glaring back up at Butch.

Amazing, it only took two minutes for Butch to reveal himself as a narcissistic asshole to Scootaloo. He was always the reliable jerk of the group.

“No matter what you say, it doesn’t change the fact that we need to tell the Captain about her.” Butch hissed, earning a growl from Scootaloo, which would have been amusing had the situation not been so serious.

“Wait, how did you know about her anyway?” I decided to ask.

Thankfully, I got Ben to answer instead of Mister Hothead Butch.

“Two soldiers were running around, blathering how they both saw a cartoon pony and you.” He pointed at me, “drop her off in the bunker with them at the start of the breach.”

I sighed and shook my head, “So much for not telling anyone.”

“What was I supposed to do, leave her in the tent or bring her out with me? Both of those were too dangerous...” I started; only to have Butch cut me off with a stern look and the accusing finger of a scornful authority figure.

“Don’t you make excuses Clint, you should’ve told us and the Captain.”

“Ugh, can you guys please stop arguing?” Scootaloo interrupted, which surprised us. We all looked at her as she rubbed her forehead with her hoof, her eyes closed, and forehead scrunched in irritation, “it’s really starting to get annoying.”

She then lowered her hoof from her head and pointed it at Butch, “Look, if I go with you to meet this “captain” guy you keep mentioning, will you stop being a jerk?”

Okay, I admit, I had to stifle a laugh at this point, both from Scootaloo’s stern attitude towards Butch, as well as Butch’s red face. I wasn’t sure if he was angry at the little filly, or embarrassed at being told off by a cartoon pony that was roughly the equivalent of a twelve-year old girl while he was a hardened 34-year old soldier that always took pride in the fact that he wasn’t a pushover.

He slowly nodded and started to back towards the flap. “Okay, the little princess wants to meet the captain? Fine, I can arrange that.”

“Please don’t call me Princess,” Scootaloo hissed. “I’m not Diamond Tiara.”

Butch now just looked confused, “Who the fuck is Diamond Tiara?”

“Trust me, it’s better that you don’t know.” Scootaloo said with a shudder as she, I assume, imagined the prissy, elitist filly that she went to school with.

Butch rolled his eyes, “Okay, that’s enough. Guys, let’s go get the cap...”

Butch was interrupted. But it wasn’t by the annoyed Scootaloo or any of us in the tent.

It was by the sound of an explosion outside. We all turned towards the flap, I could see Scootaloo curl back in fear, her annoyed face replaced by a revived fear.

BOOM!!!!!

A second explosion sounded outside, this time closer than the last. Scootaloo was so scared by the close proximity that she seemed to jump in mid-air on the bed. But it wasn’t only her, almost all of us in the room either jumped in fright at the sound of the second explosion

“What is that!?!” She shouted. “Are we being attacked again!?!”

I swallowed hard, “Yes.”

This time, I knew that she would have to come with me, and hiding her any longer was impractical. I quickly wrapped Scootaloo up in the blanket and picked her up to my chest and held her close, “Keep your head down until I tell you we’re safe.”

Scootaloo didn’t need to be told twice as she nodded and pressed her head against my chest like it was an inpenetrable shield. She didn’t say anything, but I could tell by her shaking that she was frightened.

“What do we do!?!” Brad shouted.

“What do you think, we get to the Captain and fight!” Charlie answered just as another explosion sounded, this time the proximity was even closer than the last one, sending a jolt of fright through everyone that was in the tent.

“Where is the Captain!?!” Davis shouted back.

“Out by the supplies tent, at least I hope he is! That’s where we saw him last.” Ben shouted as he motioned for us to follow him outside.

“You know we’d still be with the captain if you were with us you ass-hole.” Butch hissed in my direction, only to be grabbed by the collar by Ben and dragged out of the tent. Davis seemed to have successfully pumped himself up for battle and sprinted out of the tent. Brad seemed somewhat nervous, but nonetheless exited as well. Charlie grabbed the cross that dangled from his neck, gave it a kiss for good luck and ran out.

With Scootaloo in my arms, I made my way out of the tent with the rest of the group. I made sure that I kept Scootaloo’s face against my chest. She’s already seen way too much, and it was my duty to protect her innocence as long as I could, hopefully until Princess Celestia or Twilight or somepony would come and take her back home.

Before I exited the tent, I had set some expectations about the battle, and how chaotic it would be. I predicted it would be a bigger, and more violent attack than the one this morning. I braced myself for the worst as I burst through the opening and right into the battle.

[A/N] Once again, I hope you enjoyed that last chapter. Sorry for the slow updates, I'm sort of writing this as I go along so it might take a while to get done. I have an idea as to where I want to take this story, but getting there is challenging. I'd like to thank RainbowDashEpicness and Fernin for helping me with this chapter again.

And thank you all for reading. :)

Comments

[Flicka Ravenhide]

Interesting. Props to Scoots for telling off Butch. I would hate for him to meet the rest of the Mane 6... I'd have a feeling he'd be a blubbering mess by the time they were through with him, telling off a filly like that.

Looks forward to more!

[RainbowdashEpicness]

Great job! Like I said in my editing comment, your doing great. I can't wait for the next chapter! So excited!!!!!! Anywho, I was digressing, I think Scootalo should have a scene where she makes a Hanna nuke go off, and the whole world... goes BANNANAS! Bad joke is bad. Now, to stop digressing once more, keep the well written, suspense, and story coming!

[Kiryu123]

these fucking cliffhangers are going to be the end of me...

[gmen15]

1053346

Don't worry, I'll try to make Butch less of a one-dimensional douche-bag down the line and a bit more sympathetic (don't like showing characters being jerks without reason)

1054031

Will do

1054962

<evil laugh>

[LaughingZombie]

No more chapters? But I wanted Moooooooooooooooooorrrreee!

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[Genesis1212]

wow poor scoots ;w; im liking this story a thumb fave/track from me cant wait for more!

[gmen15]

1063756

Patience my friend.

1078073

Thanks!

[RainbowdashEpicness]

...Whoever were the 5 people who disliked this story.... They will find themselves dead, when they wake up... MWAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAH I mean, I'll love and tolerate them!

[firespiritorelric]

It's time to ...STAMP BUTCH'S HEAD
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