The Only Chapter
It was a beautiful day in Ponyville, and down at the Ponyville schoolhouse, Mrs. Cheerilee was teaching her students math.
“Ugh, Scootaloo, I’ve already explained how to do the problems to the class. It’s not my fault you can’t keep up.”
“I’m sorry Mrs. Cheerilee. I just want to learn so I can be better.”
“Well, I want a student who doesn’t ask so many stupid questions,” Cheerilee snapped before turning her attention to Snips and Snails.
It wasn’t that Scootaloo was bad at math; she just needed someone to help explain the concepts to her. She recalled briefly that before her parents died her mom spent a few evenings with her and her blocks teaching her addition and subtraction. She smiled at the memory. But now she was older, learning multiplication and division and she couldn’t find anyone willing to work with her.
Sweetie was good at math, and even Apple Bloom wasn’t bad, but they weren’t friends anymore. Her fellow crusaders had grown tired of her constant failures at flying and had voted unanimously to kick her out of the club. Sometimes she still thought of herself as a crusader, but of course they had taken her cape back. She liked that cape, she was sorry to see it go.
The bell for lunch rang and the fillies and colts scurried outside eager to eat.
Most of them anyway.
Scootaloo was too old to stay at the orphanage, so instead she lived in a small one room hut on the edge of town provided by foal services. Her social worker would come by once a week with twenty bits for her to spend on food, clothing, toys and anything else. Twenty bits a week wasn’t really enough to pay for three square meals a day, but Scootaloo found that if she was willing to skip a few meals and maybe see if Pinkie would float her free cupcake she could usually make it through the week.
Today was one of those no lunch days, so Scootaloo just sat by her lonesome under a tree, hoping that none of the other fillies or colts decided to make fun of her. Sometimes they did, and sometimes there were more important things to do.
A small green colt, wearing a cowboy hat walked up to her. His name was Raylan and he was the only colt in school who was ever nice to her. She had a crush on him, but she could never tell him that. Raylan always wore a brown cowboy hat that showed off his blue eyes. He was a pegasus too, but unlike her he was a great flyer. Some ponies thought that he’d be better than Rainbow Dash when he got older.
“Hiya Scoots,” Raylan said, sitting down next to her.
“Hi Raylan,” Scootaloo mumbled.
“No lunch today?”
“Nah I’m not really hungry, I ate a big breakfast,” Scootaloo lied.
It was obvious that Raylan didn’t believe her, but he was too nice to say anything. Instead he took an apple out of his bag. “Oh, well I had a big breakfast too, and a big sandwich for lunch. I was going to see if maybe you wanted my apple.”
Scootaloo tried not to appear excited, lest her crush think she was uncool, but that ripe juicy apple looked so good. “Um I mean if you’re not going to eat it,” she said quietly.
Raylan smiled and flipped the apple toward her. Before she could say thank you, they both heard a voice call out.
“Hey Raylan! Stop hanging out with Scootalooser and come play hoofball with us,” Rumble called out.
Raylan smiled apologetically and shrugged, running off to join his friends. In addition to being an amazing flyer, Raylan was also the best hoofball player at school. As she watched him fade from view Scootaloo noticed that he left the rest of his lunch behind as well.
Scootaloo returned home after school and flung the door open. “Mom, Dad, I’m home,” she called out, her own private joke. She liked to imagine that maybe her parents were just on a four year vacation and they were coming home today. But there was no response.
The house Foal Services provided for her had four walls, even if they rattled a little in a storm. And a roof, that didn’t leak too badly. There wasn’t really any furniture, but she had found a few pillows that ponies had thrown out which she used as a bed. She was saving up for a used futon from Quills and Sofas, but she was still a few months away from affording even their cheapest model.
The house also didn’t have any plumbing, but there was a hole in the ground. Of course the hole didn’t lead anywhere, so if she ever pooped at home the house would smell like shit for a few days. As a result she made it a point to use the bathrooms at school whenever possible.
A knock on the door interrupted her musing. She opened it to find her social worker, Black Heart, standing outside, wearing the same annoyed expression she was used to seeing on ponies everywhere.
“Hi, Mr. Heart,” Scootaloo said cheerfully, happy that she had somepony to talk to, however briefly.
“Ugh, I was hoping I could just drop this off,” the stallion said, holding an envelope.
“Oh, sorry. Is that my allowance?”
“For the last time it’s not an allowance. Allowances are something parents give their children. I’m not your father. I’m your social worker, this is your stipend. It’s also the last one you’re going to get. I’ve finally found someone who’s willing to take you off my hooves.”
Scootaloo’s wings buzzed with excitement. “Oh wow, really Mr. Heart?! When can I meet them?” Scootaloo asked, unsure if she was getting a mom or a dad.
“Tomorrow. He’s moving in here,” the stallion said without any emotion.
Scootaloo spent the rest of the night cleaning her house from top to bottom, trying to make it look as nice as possible for her new dad.
The next day afterschool Scootaloo raced home as fast as she could. No one at school cared that she was getting a dad, except of course for Raylan, but she didn’t let that bother her.
Should she call him dad right away? Or would that be too forward? She decided to see how he acted. A little after sundown she heard somepony walk up the cobblestones leading to her front door. A large, significantly overweight, black stallion stumbled into the house, his breath reeking of whiskey.
“I’m Scootaloo,” Scootaloo said, still hoping to make a good first impression.
“Whatever, I don’t care what your name is. If I got to take care of you, you gotta do things for me,” the stallion grunted.
[I am not going to write a rape scene. Rape is heinous; it should not be fetish material. Scootaloo gets raped, it is brutal and raw and terrible]
Scootaloo woke up the next morning, aching in pain all over. She caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror and recoiled at her reflection. Her mane was matted and greasy, her left wing splayed out at an unnatural angle. She started to cry, but then caught the image of a picture of Rainbow Dash. Rainbow Dash wouldn’t cry. Rainbow Dash would get help. With her newfound resolve she set out toward Rainbow’s house, determined not to let her tragic circumstances dictate her life.
Curiously, Rainbow’s house was floating lower to the ground than usual. Scootaloo called out but there was no answer. It was too early for Rainbow to have left the house yet and Scootaloo knew she was being loud enough to wake Rainbow up from even the deepest of sleeps.
Scootaloo climbed a nearby tree and looked across to the cloud. It was a bit of a jump but she was worried that Rainbow needed help. Pushing aside any concerns for her own safety she jumped as hard as she could, fluttering her wings furiously. She reached the edge and slammed into the cloud with a thud, base clouds being somewhat thick. With every ounce of strength she had she clinged ontot he egde, willing herself not to fall.
“Rainbow, help! PLEASE!” she cried out. But her cries were in vain as no one came to help her.
Slowly but surely she inched her way upwards until she was firmly on solid, if fluffy, ground. The ordeal left her gasping for breath and she lay on the ground for a minute before heading inside. Scootaloo walked up to the front door and to her surprise it was unlocked. Growing increasingly nervous she went up to Rainbow’s bedroom where she could only gasp at the sight.
Hanging from the rafters of her bedroom was Rainbow Dash, a noose around her neck, her body limp and lifeless. Scootaloo let out an anguished cry, before spying a neatly folded note on the nightstand.
Dear Twilight, Pinkie, Rarity, Applejack, and Fluttershy.
I’m sorry. You five are the only ponies who have ever really been my friends, who’ve been there for me when I needed them. I’m sorry for doing this to you, but I just couldn’t face another day alone in this big empty cloud mansion. I want someone who I can spend time with, maybe teach flying to, but I guess I don’t get to have that. Please take care of Tank for me.
Scootaloo read the note repeatedly, searching in vain for the phrase “just kidding” or at least some explanation of where to find the note addressed to her; the one that explained how Rainbow could just leave her alone like this without even mentioning her in her first note. Rainbow said they were sisters, if she wanted someone to live in the cloud house with her and teach flying to Scootaloo was more than willing to be that pony, so why hadn’t Rainbow asked her?
Scootaloo left the cloud house in a haze. Her life was meaningless. No one liked her, her new father was a rapist and now her idol was dead. The answer to the question What would Rainbow Dash do? had never been so clear. As fast as she could she galloped to Ponyville canyon.
The next day Scootaloo wasn’t at school, no one really cared, except for Raylan. As soon as school was over he searched the entire town looking for her. Eventually his search led him to Ponyville Canyon, where he found a neatly folded note addressed to him at the base of a tree.
Hi Raylan
I knew you’d come looking for me. You’re the only pony whose ever cared about me. I’m sorry if this makes you sad, but try not to be. I’m in a better place now.
Scootaloo
Raylan looked up at the sky, a single tear falling down his cheek. “At least you can fly now Scootaloo. Fly away.”