Vertex
It was a beautiful morning. There was a gentle wind blowing, the sunrise painted the sky a beautiful orange, and the only sound Rainbow Dash could hear was birds singing.
That is until she heard the sound of shattering glass.
Before Rainbow Dash even knew what she was doing, she was on her hooves, then leaping off the cloud and taking to the air.
Her mind flashed back to the last time a peaceful moment was interrupted by the sound of something breaking. It had been when Thunder Chaser attacked and almost killed her. So naturally, her first thought snapped to Scootaloo.
Rainbow Dash made her way to the front of the castle, where she identified the disturbance. The crowd was back. Looking behind her, Rainbow Dash noticed one of the windows was broken.
Who’s the dumbass who decided to break a window on the castle of a princess?
As soon as the crowd spotted Rainbow, their insults and shouting doubled, all focused on her. They were so loud that Rainbow couldn’t hear the flapping of wings next to her. She didn’t notice Twilight was near her until she felt a hoof lay upon her shoulder.
Rainbow turned to catch the expression on Twilight’s face. Her bottom lip shook, her ears flattened against her skull. She had a hoof covering her mouth and her eyebrows knit together in a concerned expression. All over, she looked like she was about to cry.
“All these ponies…” Twilight hesitated. “Are here because they hate me?”
Twilight sunk to the ground, followed closely like Rainbow Dash, and the crowd’s volume doubled again, many ponies screaming themselves hoarse. Twilight couldn’t make out most of what they said, but she did hear some choice phrases.
“Cunt!”
“Bitch!”
“Tyrant!”
Twilight winced at every insult as if they were a physical blow, her head trying to sink into her body and her wings half opened, ready to take flight. Rainbow hurriedly laid a wing around her, and started yelling back at the crowd. Both mares were too distracted to notice one pony sneaking into the castle from behind them.
And suddenly there were things being thrown. Rocks, bottles, anything laying around. Thankfully they were more aimed at the castle than either Rainbow Dash or Twilight.
Twilight’s breath caught in her throat as her mind worked overtime. She stayed frozen for a few moments until a loud voice boomed over the area.
“ENOUGH!”
As a sharp silence spread across the crowd, Twilight and Rainbow Dash whipped their heads in stereo to find out who had yelled. To their surprise they saw Rarity, who was flanked by Starlight. Starlight’s horn was lit up, and there was a soft light blue aura around Rarity’s throat.
Starlight released her spell and Rarity turned around to thank her, her voice no longer magically enhanced. Rarity cleared her throat, and walked to right in front of Twilight and Rainbow Dash, still with a slight limp due to the cast.
Rarity adopted a protective stance and her eyes filled with fire. Her gaze whipped around the various ponies in the crowd, all of them completely silent and intently watching her.
“How dare you?!” She yelled, glaring at the crowd.
There was no response from the crowd.
“Just… how dare you? How dare you stand here and verbally attack her? Ignoring everything she’s done, she’s still a pony and a princess, you should at least grant her basic respect!”
The crowd remained silent.
“And throwing things? How foalish can you act?! Shame on you all! Ignoring the barbarian that brought you here, did you forget what she’s done for Equestria?! She stopped Nightmare Moon. She stopped the changeling invasion in Canterlot. She saved the entire Crystal Empire, saved this town when the Everfree Forest attacked, and fought off Tirek after he absorbed the magic from all of Equestria! I am disgusted in each and every one of you. Did you even give her a chance to explain herself?”
Rainbow Dash felt a small presence brush against her leg. Looking down, she noticed Scootaloo worming her way in between Rainbow and Twilight. Scootaloo stared up into Rainbow’s eyes, shrunk back and quivering.
“M-mom? What’s going on?”
“I… don’t know.” Rainbow responded simply, before looking back at Rarity.
“Now!” Rarity continued shouting. “Are you all going to act like adults and let the pony who has saved each and every one of you explain her actions like an adult, or are going to continue bickering like foals?!”
There were some ponies muttering in agreement.
Rarity wheeled around and took a couple deep breaths to calm herself down. She limped over to Twilight and Rainbow Dash, who were both staring at her with shocked expressions.
“Rarity, that was... “ Twilight sputtered.
“That was AWESOME!” Rainbow Dash grinned. “Thank you!”
Rarity just gave off a small smile and hugged the two mares. She turned to Twilight, her smile fading.
“I’m sorry to put you on the spot like this, darling, but these ponies aren’t going to leave until they get a story.”
Twilight gulped audibly and turned to the crowd. Her eyes frantically raced over the faces of each pony, and she felt her breath quicken.
“Twilight,” came a small voice from her right. Twilight turned her head and saw Spike placing a hand on her shoulder. “You got this.”
Twilight cleared her throat and nodded. It’s not like she wasn’t used to addressing crowds. She was just more used to… happy crowds.
“Do any of you know anything about the deceased… about the pony who I… who I killed?” Twilight asked the crowd. She received no answer.
“His name was Thunder Chaser. And he wasn’t some innocent pony. He…” Twilight cast a quick sideways glance at Scootaloo. “He beat his wife, broke into Rainbow Dash’s house and almost killed her, kidnapped Scootaloo, and after breaking out of jail, hired mercenaries and tried killing Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo again.”
“Why is she… not telling them about the other stuff?” Scootaloo asked Rainbow Dash.
“I think she’s trying to protect you, kiddo.” Rainbow replied.
There was silence for a moment, and then a stallion Rainbow Dash didn’t recognize piped up from the crowd.
“Why did he attack Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo?”
Twilight swallowed hard.
“Because Scootaloo… Scootaloo is his daughter. And she was staying with Rainbow Dash at the time.”
“Why was she staying with Rainbow Dash if her dad didn’t want her to?” called another mare from the crowd. “Did she foalnap her?”
Twilight slowly exhaled. “Scootaloo was not in an… ideal situation with her father. We had her taken away over concerns for her safety.”
A moment passed.
“Legally.” Twilight added.
“Why didn’t her mom take her?” called somebody.
“Firefly was in no condition to take care of a foal. As a direct result of Thunder Chaser’s actions, she was institutionalized in a battered mare’s home. To prevent Scootaloo from living in a potentially suboptimal living condition, Rainbow Dash and I, being the ones most closely involved, engaged in a civil union to adopt her, as we were both too young to adopt on our own.”
“Do you feel bad or did you just want his daughter?”
Twilight’s eye twitched.
“Actually, Scootaloo came to us, or more specifically Rainbow Dash, who she shared a surrogate sibling relationship with, for assistance. Not a day goes by where I don’t wish we had a better option than just suddenly stripping both her parents away from her, but now she’s our daughter, and I will fight just as fiercely to protect her as if she was related by blood.”
For a few more moments there was silence, and then a pony Rainbow Dash did recognize piped up. Lily Valley, if Rainbow recalled correctly.
“If you’re as strong as you are, why didn’t you subdue him instead of murder him?”
Twilight sighed. She was hoping she wouldn’t be asked this.
“When I saw him, two of my friends were being beaten on, the Cutie Mark Crusaders, Scootaloo and two of her friends were missing, and Rainbow Dash was lying still, a knife in her side. Considering how badly he hospitalized her the last time they fought… I thought she was dead. It wasn’t the best solution… but it was the only one in my head at the time.”
“Why did he attack Scootaloo and Rainbow Dash? Did one of them do something to him?”
Twilight didn’t respond. She turned her head and caught Rainbow Dash’s gaze. There was no way out of it. They were gonna have to spill the beans, and who knows how that would change Scootaloo’s life?
Several moments continued on in silence, until Rainbow felt Scootaloo move away from her.
“B-because of me.” Scootaloo said softly, walking in front of Twilight and gazing around the crowd, repeating herself with a stronger voice. “Because of me. M-my dad… he has... had hit me for years.”
There was a myriad of gasps.
“He… he started when I was seven, and he kept beating me for three years until he broke both my wings and I had the courage to finally run away from home. I lived in a treehouse for a week.”
“Look how nervous she is! Maybe they just told her she had to say that!”
“Why you…” Rainbow Dash muttered under her breath, wings flaring out.
“No, dear. Don’t. It’s being handled.” Rarity whispered into Rainbow’s ear. Rainbow reluctantly sheathed her wings.
Scootaloo swallowed and turned to Twilight.
“M-mom… do the spell.”
“Wha… Ostende Dolore? Scootaloo, you nearly had a meltdown last time somebody did that spell on you and only five ponies saw that. Are you sure you want this? There’s a lot of eyes here.”
Scootaloo’s bottom lip was trembling, her whole body was shaking, and her wings were tucked tightly into her side. “Y-yeah. I can do this. I’m tired of crying. I need to fight back.” Scootaloo slowly straightened up, a determined look on her face. “And to start repaying all you’ve done for me. I need to do this for you, Rainbow Dash, Spike, Applebloom, Sweetie Belle… and for mo-... and for Firefly. I want to make her proud from… wherever she is.”
Twilight paused for a moment before leaning down and hugging Scootaloo.
“I know she absolutely would be Scootaloo. But in her absence, I’ll tell you myself. I am so proud of you. You’ve become a wonderful pony in lieu of everything you’ve gone through.”
“Does anybody here know of the Ostende Dolore spell?” Twilight called out, taking a step forward.
“I do!” called a mare from halfway back through the crowd. Ponies started shifting to get a better look at her. She was an earth pony with a dark purple coat and a two tone pink mane. She pushed her way to the front and stood in front of Twilight, before turning around to face the crowd.
“Miss Cheerilee?!” Scootaloo gasped.
“And what would you know about magic?” a stallion in fine wear called out from the crowd, looking like he just came down from Canterlot. “Last I was aware, mud ponies can’t do magic.”
There was an assortment of gasps from the crowd as the pony slung around the slur, but Cheerilee wasn’t phased.
“Sir, I am an educator. I may not be able to cast spells, but if a student wants to grow and go above and beyond, I will study advanced magical theory just to see them properly blossom.”
Cheerilee cleared her throat and cooly glanced around the crowd. “The Ostende Dolore spell, or as it might be more colloquially used, the ‘Show Grief’ spell shows recent damage to tissue. It shows up as a glow. It’s most commonly used by vet ponies to find out why an animal is suffering. It’s not something that can be tampered with either, so it’s occasionally used in court settings in cases of domestic violence.”
Cheerilee gazed back at Scootaloo, and gave her a small smile.
“Or foal abuse.”
There was another few moments of silence, and then a stallion piped up.
“I believe Miss Cheerilee.”
Rainbow Dash instantly recognized him as Filthy Rich, Diamond Tiara’s father.
“So do I!” Called another stallion, who looked like the grown up version of Scootaloo’s classmate Snips.
“And I!” Called a mare that looked a lot like Silver Spoon.
Before long all the parents of students in Cheerilee’s class, and then most of the ponies from Ponyville in general started agreeing.
Nodding smartly, Cheerilee took her place back in the crowd.
Twilight turned back to Scootaloo.
“Are you ready, dear?”
Scootaloo nodded mutely, stepping forward so the crowd could see her, shaking viciously. She paused as she felt a claw on her withers. She turned to see Spike standing next to her, giving her a reassuring smile.
“We’re all here for you. All of us.”
“Make way! Coming through!” a country accent called out. Pushing through the crowd, Applejack, Applebloom, and Sweetie Belle broke through the front of the crowd and rushed to be next to their friends. Applebloom instantly pressed up against Scootaloo’s right side, and Sweetie Belle rushed to her left, softly grabbing her hoof and holding it.
Twilight moved behind Scootaloo and lit up her horn, instantly grimacing and having her legs buckle. Rainbow rushed to Twilight and held her from behind, just as she had done last night. Rainbow stuck her head so it was right next to Twilight’s and whispered in her ear.
“You got this, Twilight. A few seconds and you’re done.”
Twilight softly nuzzled Rainbow’s cheek. Dropping to all fours, and then feeling Rainbow’s wing draped over her back, she fired up her horn again. She began breathing heavily as a purple light bathed Scootaloo.
Scootaloo screwed her eyes tightly shut and strode forward. She took a deep breath, braced herself to the best of her ability, and slowly spun around in a circle, showing all the glowing marks on her body. As she heard gasps and angry cries, she opened one eye and peeked back at her friends. Applejack and Rarity were sitting off to the side, Rainbow was looking at her proudly, holding a wing over a panting Twilight, who currently had her eyes tightly shut, head bowed. Applebloom and Sweetie Belle were shifting around uncomfortably, giving off obviously fake smiles aimed at Scootaloo.
And a moment later, it was over. Scootaloo stopped glowing. She instantly felt the urge to go hide behind Rainbow or Twilight. Or maybe even one of the Crusaders. But no. Her mind was set. If she was gonna do this, she was gonna do this like a big girl. She walked quickly back to the Crusaders, who both pressed against the shivering pegasus instantly.
For several moments Twilight took deep, calming breaths. She then lifted her head and opened her eyes to see the entire crowd looking at Scootaloo.
She had to do something.
Twilight walked again to in front of the center of the crowd, flanked by Rainbow Dash.
“I’ll take any questions you have now.” She stated.
There was silence for a few more moments until a mare called out.
“Are you gay?”
“I… what?” Twilight sputtered, completely taken off-guard.
“You adopted a foal with Rainbow Dash and we all saw how she was holding you.” another stallion called out. “Are you two gay?”
Twilight blinked hard and glanced at Rainbow Dash. Rainbow just gave her a small nod.
“Uh…” Twilight hesitated. “Yes. We are.”
Silence pervaded for a few more moments before a mare in the back of the crowd whooped.
“Woo! Go first openly LGBT royalty!”
There were a couple of laughs, then other ponies chimed in.
“Congratulations to you two!”
“When’s the wedding?”
“Finally, we get some good representation!”
“I think you two are cute together!”
Twilight stared at Rainbow, jaw comically dropped. Rainbow mirrored her reaction.
“This is… not the reaction I expected.” Twilight managed.
Rainbow Dash just nodded.
“Oh sure, trust the rainbow maned dyke to poison the princess!” One pony called out. Rainbow caught sight of the mare and instantly recognized her as the light gray mare who had insulted Twilight the other day.
She resisted the urge to go out and pummel that mare. Turned out, she didn’t need to. The mare jerked to the side and let out a loud “Ow! What was that for?” This brought a smile to Rainbow Dash’s face.
Meanwhile, an orange earth pony mare approached Scootaloo. The Crusaders instantly took protective stances in front of her.
“Applejack, you best not try anything!” Applebloom warned.
Applejack stopped there and sat down, holding her stetson to her breast.
“If you’re willing to hear me out, I’d like to apologize.”
Scootaloo paused. She remembered the last time they met, but she also remembered Rainbow Dash telling her what she did to Applejack at the farm. Scootaloo hummed softly, and then replied in a soft voice.
“Okay.”
Applebloom and Sweetie Belle relaxed, returning to Scootaloo’s side. Scootaloo just looked down into the dirt.
“Scootaloo, I’m awful sorry. I just was too stressed and saw my family hurtin’. I should have been mature and just spoken to ya instead of blowing my top, and there’s no excuse for what I did. And seeing the extent of the hurtin' you took I... I feel just awful. I ain’t asking ya to forgive, but please accept my apology.”
Scootaloo was quiet for a moment, but then shakily replied, still staring at the dirt.
“I-it’s okay. It was a stressful night for all of us. I… I forgive you.”
Applejack let out a relieved sigh.
“Would you like me to bring Big Macintosh up? I know he’d like to apolo-”
“No!” Scootaloo yelled, looking back up at Applejack as her pupils shrank to pinpricks.
“I-I mean… no. I know he’s sorry but… being around stallions, especially big stallions still scares me.”
Applejack returned her stetson to her head and nodded. “I understand. And I also just wanted to say what you did out there, with the crowd? That was one of the bravest things I’ve ever seen. You should be proud of yourself.”
Scootaloo took a deep breath and smiled. “You know what? I am. I don’t think I could have done that a couple months ago.”
Applejack gave her a small smile and took her leave.
Scootaloo stayed silent for a moment and then chuckled. “Well now that this whole thing is... pretty much over, wanna go play? Spike can join us and we can finally settle whether you and I are better at four square, Applebloom.”
The Crusaders giggled.
“You’re on!”
In this chapter we hit 50k words in this story and closed a 90k word character arc for best pone.
She hopes you're proud. 
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That was the best! They handled the crowd so well and I'm so proud of Scoots!
Damn... Scootaloo is... AWESOME
Well... that turned out better than expected.
Though... first "openly" LGBT royalty? That sounds like there's some interesting gossip in Equestria...
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10358073
She has come a long way.
10358156
I mean Cadance is the princess of "love"...
Not "heterosexual love", just "love".
Besides I feel with the gender ratio we see in the show lesbians would be more common in Equestria.
10358231
Indeed she has, can't wait to see what's next
10358231
I love that headcanon.
10358292
Yes, the lesbian horses typically end up being cute.
10358072
Agreed.
10359000
It's the Twilight way. Talk them into submission (Starlight) or kamehameha them to hell (Tirek)
Is someone hiding in the castle now?
You know, this chapter, as amazing as it was... RD and Twilight all showing their strength, Applejack apologizing, the whole family sticking together... in spite of all that, the thing that had me actually break down and start crying was the crusaders and how they were there for Scoots.
Applebloom in particular... just... wow. Standing up to her own big sister... that's something I will never cease to be awed by. Sweetie Belle is the comforting fire that warms Scoots, while Applebloom is the raging fire that burns all who dare try to harm her. It's such a beautiful dynamic that's not even given much obvious attention... but it's there! I feel it!
I hate riots like this... it's part of why I've not been able to look at the news as of late. Rioters are just so... so bullheaded! Urgh... no logic at all... no critical thinking... I can't even get mad at them, because on some level they're right! The same can be applied here... it's frusturating to say the least.
Regardless, getting home from a job where customers came in at nothing-gets-done per hour... it was great to get to read a chapter where the crowd gets finally put in their place.
Also, more badass Rarity. TAKE ALL OF MY YES! JUST... JUST TAKE IT ALL!
I'm glad Scoots has friends that will stand at her side, no matter what happens. And on top of that, she has a family that will go through hell and back just to keep her safe.
Very, VERY well-done. Any chapter that makes me cry is an okay chapter in my book.
I gotta say though... I would love a story focussed entirely on this universe's CMC.
Regardless! I see that a new chapter got uploaded today! I CAN'T WAIT TO EXPERIENCE IT! ONWARD!
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I'm so glad you liked it.
And while I'm not just writing a story with this universe's CMC I do have stories for AB and Sweetie Belle coming up at some point. They're gonna be behaving much the same. Only difference will be Scoots because she has her canon background in that.
They also both get worse than Scoots, and will have to deal with that.
Also I love badass Rarity. She is a joy to write.
And I feel you with that crowd thing, man. I've heard some terrible stories.