• Published 29th Apr 2013
  • 13,617 Views, 1,104 Comments

Cubic Zirconia - arcum42



Diamond Tiara has always enjoyed picking on the Cutie Mark Crusaders. But one day, she finds she's gone too far, and everything for her comes tumbling down. But help may come from the most unexpected of places...

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Run Runaway

Diamond got herself comfortable on her cushion. Well, really, she supposed the cushion was Scootaloo's, or maybe even Apple Bloom’s or Sweetie Belle's, but it was the one she'd been sleeping on recently, which made it hers. She doubted anypony else would be coming to claim it soon, and if they did, they'd have to make her get off, and get past her vicious guard kitten.

She curled her tail around the cushion possessively, rubbed the kitten behind the ears, and wondered about what was to come. Scootaloo living here, of all places, still brought up a lot of questions Diamond couldn't answer. Why would anypony leave their home voluntarily? Or had she been forced to leave? Where exactly were her parents?

It wasn't really like anything bad ever really happened to anypony that didn't deserve it, did it? Of, course, she used to think Scootaloo did deserve it. And if bad things could happen to her, she'd imagine they could happen to anypony. But what had happened to Scootaloo couldn't have been that bad, could it?

But she wasn't really that sure, and that wasn't something she was used to.


Alright, where to begin? It's not like I ever talk about this, at all.

Okay, once or twice. Sweetie Belle pretty much forced the whole story outta me, and I ended up having to let Apple Bloom know, too. Both of 'em spend too much time with me, and they'd figure out eventually that I didn't have anywhere to go at night. It's just as well, 'cause the clubhouse is a lot nicer than sleeping alongside the streets or up a tree.

I don't like thinking 'bout it, though, and I've always worried about everything all coming out in the open. I don't want other ponies to know that I'm living here or about my past, and they don't have to. It's none of their business.

All I've gotta do is make my way through school, then pick up a job. Then I could go move in someplace with Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom for a bit. Nopony'd think it was weird, even if I didn't stay too long before moving out on my own. No one has to know anything.

And this is actually a really nice town to live in. I know you've always talked about what a tiny, pathetic dump Ponyville is, but it isn't, really. Sure, maybe it's small compared to Manehattan or Canterlot, and it's not all high fashion and big city, but there are plenty worse places to be.

In fact, there's one place I know of that really has it beat. It's a tiny village in the middle of nowhere, and it has nothing. You know the Ponyville General Hospital? It's not exactly the biggest or the best, but it's a full hospital, with doctors and stuff. The place I'm thinking of had none of that.

There was a doctor, and this old herbalist, but that was it. If you were hurt badly enough, you stayed with one of them, and if it was real bad, you'd better take a long trip out to someplace halfway decent.

Of course, I've only been there once or twice myself. There didn't seem to be any other pegasi or unicorns out there either. Don't know why.

Diamond shifted on her cushion, trying to find a comfortable spot. "So, if you've only been there once or twice, what does this place have to do with anything? You are going to get to your parents, right?"

I'll get there. It's not like I can sum up my whole life in ten words or less. Well, maybe 'Universe versus Scootaloo. Universe wins.' but that's leaving out a lot. You should know some of this, at least, to get a good idea of how things were.

So, that village had a bunch of trees nearby. Not like the Everfree Forest or anything. I think the weather could have been controlled there, if anypony bothered, and it wasn't dangerous. Not really. It was more like White Tail Woods, I guess. Stick to the roads and you're good.

If you do stick to the roads, eventually this little dirt path branches off. If you followed it, avoiding the holes and stones and such, you'd get to this old rundown farm, assuming it's still there.

Now, I'm sure you're kinda picturing Sweet Apple Acres or something when I say 'a farm'. Sweet Apple Acres is a paradise in comparison. This place was a major dump.

If you went there, you'd probably notice all the half-filled cans lying everywhere. If you didn't, you sure would when you knocked one over and had stale beer all over your hooves.

Even without that, there was trash and junk just piling up all over the place, 'cause nopony ever picked it up unless it started to really smell bad or was crawling with ants. Old newspapers and paper plates and all sorts of stuff. I'd hate to think what'd happen if anypony ever dropped a match.

There was even this old cart turned upside down on the grass for a long time, so long all the grass under it was dead when it finally got fixed. An axle broke, and Tinder was too cheap to replace it. And I already had way too much to do.

A look of fascinated horror on her face, Diamond's attention went to the first sign that Scootaloo was actually going somewhere with this. "You did?"

Who do you think was stuck doing everything else around the place? Tinder was my dad, if you want to call him that, and he was a pretty lousy one. If you'd believe it, his special talent was finding wood for a fire. Hardly a big thing in the middle of a forest.

He usually wore this dirty old pair of overalls, when he wore anything, and I never was sure whether his fur was that shade of brown normally, or if it was just from not taking any baths most of the time. Those beer cans were his, if you hadn't guessed.

My mother, now, was named Safflower, and she liked taking really long baths. Not that trudging down to the well, pumping water, and bringing it back was fun. It's not like the place had running water.

"So living here isn't anything different from what you were already used to," Diamond commented, and Scootaloo glared at her before continuing.

Safflower was in 'poor health', or so she always said. She complained constantly about having 'the most dreadful headaches' and dizzy spells, and was always trying out the latest junk some quack sold her. She was never up to doing anything that needed to be done.

I never was too sure how much that was really true, of course, or if she was just lazier than Tinder. Could be a bit of both, I guess.

Both of 'em claimed they were from a long long line of noble earth ponies going way back, just like Archer was, and were really proud of their oh-so-pure heritage, at least, they were till I came along. I was a big shock to them.

My mother always claimed Tinder couldn't be bothered to get her to a hospital when I was born. That’s possible, with how lazy he was. Then again, remember that that village didn't have a hospital? And that was still a long ways away from the farm.

Tinder, of course, claimed that his parents didn't need help from some doctor when he was born, and neither did theirs, and that was the end of it. If it was good enough for them, it was good enough for me.

Either way, they were actually pleased to have a daughter, from what I heard, at least for a few minutes. Then they noticed my wings, an argument started, and it never stopped.

You should have heard some of the silly ideas they threw around! Maybe some shifty-looking unicorn that passed through hexed me or switched me with another filly, not that any unicorns weren't shifty-looking to them.

Or then, maybe I was a freak of nature they were cursed with. Or I coulda been punishment to them for not following the ways of their ancestors well enough or something. They weren't exactly that smart.

Tinder sometimes claimed that he wasn't my father. That, at least, I could believe, assuming somepony could stand my mother's moaning and carrying on for long enough. My wings and my brains had to have come from somewhere.

Either way, they considered me a major embarrassment, and I was never allowed to forget it. They didn't want any reminders of me or my wings around. They made me wear dresses. Awful, girly dresses. Long ones, that totally covered my wings so they could pretend they didn't exist.

None of the dresses actually fit that well, and it was real easy to move a wing by mistake, or it would've been, if they hadn't usually kept them tied down. Tight, too. Not only couldn't I move them, half the time they either hurt, or I couldn't feel them at all.

I don't have to move my wings, of course, but you always feel a little off balance walking without 'em, and even if you don't actually need to use them, it's sort of like those casts Apple Bloom's wearing, right?

Safflower said that I used to fly right out of the crib before they started tying my wings down. I didn't used to believe her, till I saw the Cakes. Some of those books I mentioned said that babies can sometimes fly until they get bigger, 'cause of how small they are. Don't remember it if it happened, though.

It didn't used to be as bad. My mother sewed these 'wing-pockets' into the dresses that you'd slip your wings into, then they'd be laced up tight. They still couldn't move much, and I lost feathers sometimes putting them on, but it was better than rope.

The trouble was that I was smart. Or maybe not so much, depending on how you look at it. I figured that if I just ripped the stitches out of the pockets with a seam-ripper, they'd be more comfortable, and I'd have room to move my wings around. They caught me, though, and out came the rope.

I suppose I can't totally blame them. I'd have flown high and far away from that place if I could have. Everypony hated me, and I had to do all the work around there. I hated it there, and I never want to go back. Especially after… well, we'll get to that.

It's not that it was all bad. Sometimes they did kinda forget my wings. My mother would tell me bedtime stories sometimes, and I did learn everything you need to know to run a farm, even if it was so I could do all their work for them. They even did sort of expect me to run the farm one day, I think.

Not that that really was ever going to happen. I was gonna leave the farm eventually, I swear I was. I was sick and tired of being treated like dirt and doing all the chores and the stuff with my wings and everything. I was only going to leave when I was ready to, though. I'd been making some plans.

When I was older, I was gonna take off with as much as I could haul with me and make my way out to the big city, and find a job there. But I was going to wait till I had money and could pass for old enough to get a job without too many questions.

I knew just taking off was a bad idea. Then things happened, and I wasn't left with much of a choice at all.

You see, about once a month, they'd make a trip to the village, especially once the cart was fixed. They rarely ever took me, but they'd go early in the day with some pathetic-looking veggies, fruit, and logs to sell, and they'd come back loaded with supplies. Usually I was stuck with a long list of chores while they were gone.

The last time, though, I actually managed to finish them a bit early. So I found a good hiding place, since I didn't want to be caught 'slacking off', and took a nap. When I woke up, they were talking in the next room. I'm very glad I woke up about then, because their conversation was all about me.

There was all the usual stuff about my 'abnormality', but I'd gotten used to all that. What caught my attention was they'd decided they were gonna cure me. From what they said, they must've talked about it a couple times, but they'd finally decided to do it.

When they were in town, they'd picked up some herbs to mix into my food, to make sure I didn't wake up. I don't even know how they planned to hide the way it would've tasted, but while I was asleep, they were gonna take me outside and put me on a tarp. Then they were going to take a hacksaw to my wings.

They weren't trying to kill me. They'd bought a bunch of bandages, rubbing alcohol and stuff in town. They thought that we'd bond afterwards and be a close family and that I'd live happily ever after with the freakin' maniacs that cut off my featherin' wings!

Between being upset, and maybe just a bit scared, I managed not to give myself away. They weren't ready yet, and it was gonna be a few days. I stayed there till they were out of the area, then tried to act like nothing was wrong.

Then, once it was dark out, I crept around the farm, grabbing a knife and anything else valuable I saw, though there wasn't much, and some food. I folded and tied up a dress to use as a bag, and I headed out as quietly as I could, down the dirt path and to the main road.

Eventually I stopped. I still had that rope around my wings, which would look pretty odd if anypony passed by, and the knots were tied out of my reach, pretty tightly, too. Of course, that was one reason I'd grabbed the knife. Trying to cut the ropes off was really awkward. I slipped and cut myself a few times and got some major rope burns, but I did get it off.

I'd brought some of those bandages, fortunately. I lost some feathers too, but I'd already been missing some that'd been yanked out by… well, never mind. I think you saw some of the marks it left. They never did heal quite right.

From the main road, I decided to take a chance and go away from the village. It had to be going somewhere, after all, and while I wasn't sure where, I didn't think my parents knew either. It was actually kinda scary being out on my own, especially since I was worried about being caught, but I was also the happiest I'd been in a long time. I was free!

I was feeling so good I could fly, and I finally didn't have to worry about my wings being tied down either. Except, as I quickly discovered, I couldn't. I could barely even move them.

You see, the thing is you have to exercise your wing muscles to be able to use them, and I'd never been able to. So I could move them a little, but not much, and that was a strain. But then, I had a lot of other things to worry about just then, so I couldn't just stay there wishing for wings that worked. I camped out a few nights, then eventually got to the next city.

Diamond interrupted, frowning. "But your wings do work! I've seen you buzzing around on your scooter, and there's all those wing exercises!"

They work a lot better now, yeah, but that's part of the point of the exercises.

I couldn't move my wings much by myself, so I sort of moved them back and forth by hoof while trying to move them a whole bunch, and eventually I could move them better. Once they were strong enough to do the wing pushups, they started getting a lot better, though I'm still missing enough feathers not to try flying.

I think they are close to back to normal now. I can't be totally sure, though. I haven't had a doctor look at them.

In fact, a few days ago was actually the first time I've ever been looked at by a doctor, I think, and they were just worried about my being hurt when I hit the ground. They did say they wanted to schedule a checkup, but hopefully they'll forget. They were busy enough that I was able to sneak out, after all.

Being in the city was actually a really big change for me, though. I was used to practically nopony being around, and suddenly everything was crowded and different. It wasn't a bad different. It just took some getting used to.

I was real worried that there'd be a big search going on for me, and that I'd get forced back to the farm and my parents… and that hacksaw. After a while, I calmed down a bit, though. Nopony was really looking for me, or really noticed I existed.

Eventually, some started noticing I didn't have a home or anywhere to go, but it was more of my being part of 'that annoying street riff-raff' or something. There were some real winners out there.

I was able to get by, though it involved doing things I don't really like thinking about. Digging through the trash for half-eaten food, begging for change, swiping anything that wasn't nailed down… I'll tell you, living here is so much easier than back then.

"Ick," Diamond commented, a disgusted look on her face. "Weren't there posters up of you at least, though? 'Have you seen this pegasus, answers to the name of Scootaloo', or something?"

Heh, there weren't, and they wouldn't have said that anyway. Scootaloo isn't exactly my name. It's sort of a nickname, though I've used it long enough that it might as well be. It's not one they would have known, which is one of the benefits of it.

One day when I was living out on the streets on the city, I went into a section of town that I wasn't very familiar with. There were a bunch of street vendors there, and I managed to swipe enough food at once from this stand to last me for a good week.

The trouble was that the vendor spotted me. He chased me for a while, but I eventually lost him. I kinda got lost myself in the process, though. Next thing I knew there were all these angry dark blue ponies closing in.

The thing was this turned out to be somepony else's territory, namely a pretty nasty street gang. If I'd dropped everything, I probably could've gotten away, but even then, they'd have given me a nasty thumping for being in the wrong place uninvited.

Looking down the street, there wasn't anypony around that could help me, but I did see this lone scooter by the sidewalk. It wasn't even locked up or tied to anything, and its owner was nowhere to be found.

I ran over to it, quick as could be, and hopped on. Then I started scooting along fast like my life depended on it, and it just might have. It felt good and I suddenly knew I'd found something I really could do well and loved. I scooted on for miles, way after losing them.

It turned out when I stopped that I'd lost half of my stash 'cause of a hole in the bag, but I had the scooter. There wasn't a name or anything on it. There was no way I'd remember where I'd found it. So I kept it, and pretty soon, it'd earned me my new name.

It wasn't too long before I left, but I still have it. The trouble was that I was getting known, and they were starting to look for 'that homeless pegasus with a scooter making trouble'. I eventually got caught and locked up for a little bit..

They said they were gonna try and find my parents and take me back, though they still didn't know where I came from. I managed to give them the slip when they were taking me someplace, and snuck on board a train. I was tired of the city and figured things had gotten too hot for me there.

"What was your real name, though? What did your parents call you?"

Honestly, what would my real name be? Something my parents gave me when I was born? They hardly ever used it, you know. I was usually 'the feathered freak', or if they decided to act all nice, they might say 'my daughter' or 'my little filly'.

I haven't heard it in forever, it didn't fit me, and I can barely even remember it. I doubt it's even on a birth certificate anywhere. I'd rather just be Scootaloo. It's something I picked out and something I like. As far as I'm concerned, that's my real name.

"I see," said Diamond, who didn't, really. "So, when did you end up in Ponyville?"

Pretty soon after that, in fact. I fell asleep on the train, and when I woke up, it was getting close to Ponyville. It looked like a nice place, and I was getting tired of the big city. I was more than ready for a change of pace, so I hopped off when we pulled in.

I didn't really think staying here was going to be permanent at the time. I figured I'd just lay low for a while. Everypony was so nice here, though. In the big city, I didn't care that much about who I stole things from, but here, I started feeling really guilty about it, and I didn't need to do it as much, either.

I didn't really expect the "Welcome to Ponyville" party for me when I headed to Sugarcube Corner, for example. I was trying to figure out how to snatch a few pastries, and here they were celebrating me coming to town and giving me everything I wanted to eat for free!

I did have to lie a bunch about my parents and got away with it by the skin of my teeth. I ate for the next couple days off of that party, though. Pinkie didn't quite believe me or she suspected something, but she also started giving me food every so often, and I really needed it then.

Figuring out a good place to camp out was tricky, especially since while I thought Rainbow Dash was really awesome once I saw some of her stunts, she'd also have noticed if I was anywhere too obvious.

For a while, I decided I was camping out by a tree or around some bushes near the lake. There was one big problem with that that I didn't realize. Sweetie Belle goes there a lot. She likes taking long walks and singing some of the songs she's working on there while she's alone and writing music.

The first time I saw her, I wasn't sure if she'd spotted me. The second time, she definitely saw me. She walked right up to me and asked why I was sleeping in a bush. I took off quick, and thought I lost her.

The trouble was, she can be really sneaky. Never cross Sweetie Belle or try to hide anything from her. It's not worth the time, and you won't win.

A few nights after my escape, in the middle of the night, I woke up to find a flashlight shining in my face, and Sweetie Belle standing over me demanding some answers. Ever seen an angry Sweetie Belle? You don't want to.

I was groggy and tired, and she was determined to get to the bottom of things. I ended up giving in, and just told her all about it, hoping I could get her not to turn me in.

As it turned out, she was just worried about me. She decided I needed a friend, and she was going to be that friend, and there was nothing I could do to change that.

The next day, she had me clean up a little, then we got dirty again. That didn't make much sense to me at first, but she said she wanted it to look like we'd just gotten dirty now, not like I hadn't been able to clean up for a long time.

So, we both deliberately went out in the muck and got totally muddy with grass sticking out everywhere. Afterwards, we cheerfully tracked mud all over inside the Carousel Boutique, talking as if we'd just been having the time of our lives.

One Rarity-sized freakout later, we were both scrubbed from top to bottom, squeaky clean, and I'd established myself as Sweetie Belle's new 'rambunctious' friend, though the dress modeling wasn't really appreciated.

I started staying for sleepovers as often as I could get away with, and she camped out with me occasionally some nights to keep me company. It seems that her parents assume she's with Rarity any time she isn't at home, and sometimes she was with me instead.

You might think her other friends might have been an issue, but Sweetie Belle didn't seem to have had any before then, at least not close ones. The two of us certainly got close quick, though. She also pointed out that it'd start getting noticed if I didn't go to school, and I had to agree, even if I didn't like it.

The issue there, really, was that I was pretty far behind. Sweetie Belle drilled me mercilessly for a week or two in reading and writing until I could pass as just being a bad student that didn't care much for schoolwork.

"Hold up a minute," Diamond said, holding up one hoof. "You couldn't read or write?!"

I'd been living on a small farm, and I'd never gone to school before Ponyville. I could just read enough to know what the words on labels meant, and could write pretty badly. Sweetie Belle insisted I get to where I was passable, though, and gave me her dictionary and thesaurus.

Later, I spent all that time with all those books on wings and things, and that's when I really started getting better at reading.

We faked a note to Cheerilee about my having been home-schooled and having moved to town recently. She vaguely remembered my party, so I had to claim we'd taken a while to get settled in, but she bought it.

I think she thinks I'm uneducated, and hate learning, of course, when I'm actually a pretty fast learner. I'm just learning a lot of stuff she thinks I already know.

After school, you probably know most of the rest of it. Next we got together with Apple Bloom, I started staying at the farm sometimes, and then the clubhouse came along. It's not a bad life here, really. It beats the alternative. You can see why I keep things to myself, though.


Diamond looked up as Scootaloo ground to a halt. The kitten had long since drifted off beside her, and her mind was still whirling around at what she'd heard. What exactly did you say to any of that? I'm sorry your parents were crazy hillbillies who wanted to cut you down to size?

"So you really think if you explain all this to ponies that they'll take you back to your kooky, knife-happy relatives?" She asked. "Or do you think the rest of us earth ponies really think you're some sort of bug-eyed mutant?"

"It's not that!" Scootaloo protested. "Ponies are nice here, but I have to be careful. Applejack does have this thing about honesty."

"And Sweet Apple Acres is so much like your home, right? She probably secretly thinks you're some sort of feathery freak too?"

"It's nothing like there!" Scootaloo said defensively. "It's not like I see you going door to door with what happened to you. You saw how the Apples are. They'd take you in. You're-"

"-one of them?" Diamond cut in. "You're closer to family for them. They know you better, and you're the one that really knows your way around a farm. I'd just be excess baggage for them."

Scootaloo suddenly looked tired. "Look, let's just drop it for now, 'kay?"

Maybe she should give Scootaloo some slack.

"Alright, but when we're out of this, I'm sicing some high-powered lawyers on your parents, and we'll make sure they never see the light of day again. And you'll get a proper doctor's exam and see about some flying lessons."

Scootaloo laughed weakly. "Sure we will. First, I think you've got a cat to take care of, we've got what's left of the weekend to get through, and then school."

"Oh, joyous day," Diamond said. "Maybe we should just get some sleep. It's been a long day."

"For you and me both," Scootaloo replied, tucked her head into her wing, and they both drifted off to sleep.

Author's Note:

I wouldn't be too surprised if some of you've forgotten about this one, with the delay in posting. I just couldn't write it for quite a while, even though I knew Scootaloo's story pretty well. Eventually I had to give up the original way I was going to format it and started writing it out the way it is now, and even then, it went through a few rewrites. Earlier this week, I got it to Elric of Melnipony and Luminary, I've done more revisions based on their feedback, and I figure it's about ready to share.

For anyone curious, this is the chapter title song.

[youtube=ikMiQZF-mAY]

In fact, the song Scootaloo claimed to be writing a few chapters back was a direct reference to this one.

This one's bound to be a little controversial, as I finally unfolded Scootaloo's backstory. Hope you all like it regardless.