Fair warning, this is a work in progress, ok? I cut it off like mid sentence, so if you start reading now you're in for disappointment.
"You disgusting worm!" Iron Cast looked hatefully at Scootaloo. "You're NINE fucking years old! And you still piss the bed like a fucking infant!"
Scootaloo held back tears. "I.. I'm sorry.."
"Shut the hell up. You gonna cry now, too? Maybe I should put your worthless ass in a diaper, huh?!" He gave her another hateful look and struck her across the face, giving her a bloody nose and knocking her to the floor.
"Stand up. I said STAND UP, you fucking maggot!" Reluctantly, Scootaloo stood up, only to receive another blow to the side of the head.
"You disgust me" Iron Cast turned and walked out of the room, slamming the door.
Scootaloo hugged her knees to her chest and cried, right there in the middle of the floor. She knew she wouldn't be getting dinner tonight, or breakfast in the morning, as punishment for wetting the bed.She crawled over to her night stand and reached under it. She kept a box of crackers there for when Iron Cast, her foster parent, refused to feed her. She took out a handful and ate them, then replaced the box. Tears and blood were streaming down her face. She hated it when she cried. What would Rainbow Dash think? What would her parents think? Her parents were dead, but Rainbow Dash was alive and would probably be disgusted to see her like this. "It's just a hit to the head, you little baby", Rainbow Dash would say. "You think I've never been hit? Of course I have. But I can guarentee I didn't sit there and bawl like a little baby, like you!". Then Rainbow Dash would never want to teach her anything or talk to her ever again. Scootaloo cried some more, and fell asleep.
__________
"Scoots, what happened?" Rainbow Dash looked at her with genuine concern. Her cheek was bruised, and her eye was so swollen that it hurt to blink.
"It was.. another scooter accident." Scootaloo lied. "Stupid mayor, she needs to fix the sidewalks. Because they're uneven. Which is why I fell..."
"Scootaloo, I am going to ask you a question, and I need you to be completely honest with me." Rainbow held Scootaloo's hand calmingly.
"Sure.. go ahead" Scootaloo knew what the question would be, and hated herself because she knew she wouldn't have the guts to tell the truth.
"Is someone hitting you?" Rainbow's eyes showed genuine concern and compassion.
"N.. no. No, no one hit me. I just tripped, that's all" Scootaloo felt sick at her own lies.
"I thought you said you crashed your scooter?"
"Er.. yeah. That's what I meant. Tripped, crashed, it's all the same thing..."
"No" Rainbow grabbed her by the arm and pulled her up, hard enough to get her to stand up but not hard enough to hurt her. "You're coming with me to see Twilight. She can sort this out."
"No.. please, I'm fine. Besides I have a lotta homework I need to do. And chores. And I need to go to the bathroom. And a million other things! Please, I promise no one is hitting me!" Scootaloo felt like she was being punched in the stomach every time she lied to Rainbow Dash.
"Scootaloo, you're coming with me to see Twilight Sparkle. Okay?" She stared the young girl down.
Scootaloo flinched instincitvly. Usually that look meant she was going to be hit. But not this time, she knew Rainbow was just trying to help her. "Oh.. okay.." She said reluctantly.
__________
"Mhm.." Twilight looked the young girl over. "Well, I can tell you that's not from a sidewalk. If it was there'd be skid marks and probably scabbing. How DID you get that bruise, Scootaloo?" Twilight asked curiously.
"Okay, fine.. it wasn't a sidewalk, it was.. a baseball. I threw it up in the air and it hit me. I didn't wanna tell you.. uh.. because I was embarassed." She appeared to be reading almost from a script. Her words sounded completely unnatural.
"Mhm.. Scootaloo, can you roll up your sleeves?" Twilight asked her.
"Oh.. er.. okay then" Scootaloo rolled up her shirt sleeves all the way. Twilight immediatly noticed four oddly shaped bruises on Scootaloo's upper arm.
"Scootaloo, where are those from?" Twilight frowned.
"Well.. I fell down the stairs.. when I was getting a drink..."
"Scootaloo, these marks are from a person grabbing you. Please, don't lie to us." Twilight looked at her with a compassionate, trusting look.
"Well.. okay, he grabbed me.. but he doesn't hit me..." She tried to stand up. In doing so, her shirt got hooked on the corner of the chair she was sitting on, and exposed her bare back. For a split second, they could both see a really bad looking burn near the middle of Scoot's back.
"Scoots, what was that?" Rainbow asked her.
"What's what.." Scootaloo asked, trying to play it off as though they had both imagiend the burn.
"Let me see that, Scootaloo" Twilight asked calmingly. "Please?"
Scootaloo sighed and, holding back tears. Pulled up her shirt again. The burn had obviously been caused by a shirt iron.
"That's it!" Rainbow yelled angirly. "Scootaloo, come with me, I have a few things to say to that 'Iron Cast' asshole!"
_________
"Please, don't, I'll be good I swear!" Scootaloo pleaded as Iron Cast lay her down on the dinner table, on her stomach.
"No, I've fucking had it with you. Swearing? Where the Hell do you get off swearing? Maybe this will teach you to clean up your filthy mouth, you ugly slut!" With that, he placed the iron square in the center of Scootaloo's back. She screamed in pain, and her eyes teared up.
"STOP!!!" She pleaded. She could feel her skin burning and it felt like it might be bleeding too.
Iron Cast removed the iron, than placed a slap right on the burn, making Scootaloo whimper in pain. "And you can forget about dinner tonight, you ugly little shit."
Iron Cast then left Scootaloo alone to cry.
_________
"Scoots.. we're here."
"Huh?" Scootaloo opened her eyes to see she had fallen asleep on Rainbow Dash's back during the ride. "Where am.. NO!" She screamed when she realized they were in front of the orphanage. "Don't make me go back in there, please!"
"Scootaloo, I would never make you go back. Just trust me. Come with me to the door."
Reluctantly, Scootaloo obeyed.
Rainbow Dash placed three hard knocks on the door. After a few seconds, Iron Cast answered.
"Can I help you.. oh, look at that, it's Scootaloo. What's she done this time?"
"Nothing, I was just wondering.."
"Yeah?" Iron Cast appeared to be annoyed.
"I was just wondering.. what the fuck makes you think you can treat an innocent girl like this?" Out of nowhere, Rainbow Dash struck the man in the center of his face, sending him stumbling backwards. She punched him again, this time in the stomach. He doubled over and fell to the floor.
"You're a piece of shit! What's the matter with you?!" Rainbow Dash yelled as she kicked the man in the face, over and over again. His nose was completely shattered and his face was covered in blood. He was pretty sure he'd lost a few teeth.
"Please.. stop.." Iron Cast was barely able to speak.
Rainbow Dash responded by grabbing his hand, and twisting it until she heard it snap. Then she twisted it some more. Iron Cast was crying at this point.
Rainbow stood him up, punched him in the jaw, and pushed him over on his stomach. She say on his legs and held his hands behind his back, making sure to put unnescesary pressure on the broken one.
"Hey, Scoots? C'mere" Rainbow Dash looked over at Scootaloo, who had been watching in fascination until this point.
"Yeah, Rainbow Dash?" Scootaloo wasn't sure if she should be afraid or excited.
"I want you to kick him in the face. As hard as you can, go ahead. Don't hold back."
Scootaloo looked at Iron Cast with a look of sympathy. "You made my childhood a complete Hell..."
"I'm sorry..."
"...You beat me senseless, starved me, and didn't bother to heat my room..."
"I'm so sorry.. please..."
"..You humiliated me..."
"Please.. I didn't mean it. I'll get better, I'll get help.. just... don't..." There was now a small pool of blood near his face, mixed with tears.
"..But I forgive you"
"..You really forgive me?" Iron Cast was releived he was about to be let go.
At this, Scootaloo looked down, swung her leg back as far as it would go, and smiled at him sadistically. "Nope". Her shoe struck him in the center of the face, knocking him out. It was the hardest kick Scootaloo had delivered to anything in her entire life. She looked at him, laying their unconcious, and smiled, satisfied.
"Wow, Scootaloo, I.. didn't know you had that in you" Rainbow was impressed, but also partially scared.
"Well.. when someone treats you like this for five years.."
"No, it's okay, I understand. I mean, I don't understand what you went through, and I never will. But I understand why you treated him with such.. hatred" Rainbow looked down at the man.
"Is he gonna call the cops? Are we going to jail" Scootaloo's eyes filled with tears.
"I don't think he's that stupid. I'm pretty sure we taught him a lesson. Now c'mon, lets go home.
_________
"B..But I didn't d.. I didn't do anything!" Scootaloo cried as Iron Cast grabbed her by the arm and slammed her against the wall.
"I FUCKING told you a million and one mother-FUCKING times, pissing the bed is going to start getting painful for you!" He twisted her arm so that she couldn't move her fingers, and for a second was afraid he broke it.
"It's not my-" He cut her off with a punch to the ribs.
"The FUCK it isn't your fault! Whose is it then? Mine? Is it my fault?!" He threw her to the ground. "Go ahead, say it to my face. Tell me that your DISGUSTING habit of pissing the bed is all my fault, and I'll stop hitting you."
Scootaloo looked up at him tearfully, her lip trembling. "I..". She hung her head in shame, unable to perform the simple tast that could save her from the beating currently taking place.
"That's what I thought, you disgusting worm" He spit on her, then kicked her in the side. "You little pussy."
With that, he left her to cry alone again, as he always did after beating her. And that's what she did. She cried.
_________
"Well, kid, it's not much, but it's home" Rainbow was showing Scootaloo around her apartment. It was sparsely decorated, had two bedrooms, a kitchen, a bathroom and a living room. "About the whole bed situation.. I don't have one for you. So you're gonna sleep on my bed, and I'm gonna sleep out here on the couch. For now. I don't have real food, really.. but feel free to eat whenever you want without asking. Unless you need help. Ask then. I have like, Ramen noodles, frozen pizza, that kinda thing."
"That's fine" Scootaloo said. "At the.. at.. when I was at the foster home, I rarely ate at all.. when I did it was cheap takeout. My only constant meal was lunch at school, but then there were always weekends and breaks..."
"Don't worry. You will never be starved around here. If you don't like what I have, we can always go to a reasturaunt or something" Rainbow dash realized that the food she had in the house currently was not healthy for her, let alone a growing child.
"No problem. Hey, Rainbow Dash.. earlier when I got in your apartment, and you said there were skunks in the attic, and that's why the apartment smells like this?"
"Yeah?"
"..I'm old enough to know the difference between skunk and marijuana." Scootaloo felt extremely guilty for having to say this, Rainbow Dash was giving her a home and food and here she was pointing out the one flaw.
"Oh.. well.. I was planning on quitting anyway, now that I got a child to take care of and all..."
"It's fine, Rainbow Dash, it's fine.. so, how long do I get to stay with you?"
"Until I can find you a new home, unless.." Rainbow wasn't sure how to say what she was thinking.
"Unless what, Rainbow?"
"Well, you know.. unless you wanted me to uh.. like, adopt you or something.. I mean.. that'd be cool..."
"Really? You'd adopt me?!" Scootaloo was overjoyed at this.
"Well, I always wanted to raise a kid.. but I don't really like babies.. too much work for me. But you're past the baby stage, long past it, and I think I'd like to raise you until you turn 18. I feel a really strong bond with you..." Her voice trailed off. She was tempted to say 'Because we're both orphans', but decided against it. There were plenty of reasons she felt connected with Scootaloo.
