A couple of days had passed since my team and I had arrived in Ponyville. The evening of the day we arrived, we met with the townsfolk at the townhall. Fortunately we were met with open arms.

I was currently going through my new house cleaning and packing away things to donate when a knock sounded at my door.

I dusted off my hands and headed downstairs. Reaching the door, I opened it to find the school teacher, Cheerilee.

“Cheerilee, to what do I owe this pleasure?” I asked as I motioned for her to come in.

“A less than pleasant situation unfortunately Ranger Stryke.” The mulberry mare replied with a sigh.

‘Ah, here on business then.’ I thought as I motioned for her to have a seat on the now clean couch.

“What can I do to assist in this situation?” I inquired.

“It has to do with one of my students.” She replied.

“I see. Are they in some kind of trouble and need a talking to?” I asked.

She shook her head. “I feel she is in trouble, but it is with her homelife.” She said with a hint of sadness in her voice.

I sighed. Not even a month on the job and I wind up with a possible case of child abuse or neglect.

“What do you think is going on?” I asked gently.

“She seems to be malnourished. She is also a pegasus and where her peers are able to fly in short hops, she is barely able to get off the ground. I have also noticed the her growth seems to be stunted. I raised these concerns with the previous constable, but nothing ever came about. I was hoping that you or someone on your team may be able to do a welfare check.” Cheerilee said.

I nodded. “I can have a couple of my team go by and check things out. If they find anything that would warrant it they will remove the filly from the house and turn the case over to Child Protective Services. I will also ensure that a report is sent to Princess Luna as well.” I replied.

Cheerilee sighed in relief. “Thank you. I hope it is nothing, but in case there is something…” She trailed off.

“I understand. I will head to the barracks to detail a couple of ponies to it now.” I said standing.

We headed for the door and parted ways.

I felt my face harden as I headed to the barracks building behind the house.

Entering I called out. “Crimson Moon, Windrider! Front and center, I got a job for you two.”

The threstral mare and pegasus stallion hustled from their rooms.

“Yes sir?” Windrider asked as they came to a stop.

“From your files, I get the feeling you two are pretty good with kids.” I said getting nods from the pair. “Good. I was just approached by the school teacher Cheerilee regarding one of her students. Apparently the filly appears underweight, undersized, and has difficulties flying where her peers are not. It could be nothing but a medical condition that can’t be treated or it could be neglect and/or abuse. I want you two to check it out.” I explained.

“Because we are good with kids and are both fliers, right?” Crimson asked.

I nodded. “A couple of the others are good with kids, coming from larger families, but they aren’t pegasi or thestrals. I figured you two would know things to look for that might be medical related or not.” I replied.

The pair nodded before I gave them the location of the house they were checking up on. They headed out, taking to the skies once they were outside.

“Think it might be bad sir?”

I turned to see Shadow Mark behind me.

“It is possible. The thing that worries me is that Cheerilee reported her concerns to the previous constable and nothing came of it.” I replied. “It could be nothing or some poor girl has had to suffer because ponies didn’t do their jobs.”

Shadow Mark nodded, running a hand through his blood red mane.

“It amazes me to see how naive most ponies are. Even those in the Guard.” He said after a moment.

“I can imagine that the Night Guard had less of that?” I inquired.

“Correct Sir. We did our work in the shadows. We saw the worst this world has to offer.” He replied.

I nodded. When you work in the shadows, the world becomes shades of grey, rose colored glasses don’t survive very long.

It was about half an hour later when Crimson and Windrider came back and practically broke down my door.

“I take it by the fact I almost had to replace my front door that it is bad?” I asked the pair.

“Yes Sir. The house is in horrible condition and when we explained that we were there for a welfare check after we got a report from a concerned citizen, the father went off. We really need to get her out of that house, but we couldn’t do so with just the two of us.” Crimson said, her voice tight with restrained emotions.

Windrider nodded. “From what I saw Sir, even if the filly did have some kind of condition that hampered her ability to fly, her current living conditions weren’t helping. It is entirely possible that if such a condition exists, that it has become permanent.” He added.

I nodded. “So there might have been an underlying medical condition that would have been treatable if they had gotten medical treatment for her?”

“Yes Sir. From what little I was able to observe, the parents seem to be of the mentality of the old Pegasi culture and would have refused medical treatment for someone that they saw as inferior, even though they were unable to, dispose, of the inferior progeny.” Windrider replied.

“Sounds like the old Spartan culture. It might have allowed them to become one of the most powerful military powers of their time, but it was barbaric.” I replied. “Get six more from the barracks. I will meet you there. That kid is getting out of that house tonight.”

Thirty minutes later, my team and I were at the house. Looking over my shoulder to ensure my team was ready, I got nods from everyone. I raised my fist to the door and gave three hard knocks.

“Cloudy Skies, Thunderhead. This is Ranger General Talisman Stryke. Open the door or we will be forced to open it ourselves.” I called out.

“Go to Tartarus you collection of freaks! You have no say in how we deal with our child!” Came a male voice.

“Actually Sir, as a duly appointed officer of the law, appointed by their Highnesses, and by the laws of the land regarding the health and safety of minor children, I do. Now, I will ask again, open this door. If we have to breach it, things will not end well for you.” I said as I loaded a door breaching round into my shotgun.

“I will never open this door!” Came the reply.

“Okay. Hard way it is then.” I said aiming at the handle.

Pulling the trigger, the specialized round destroyed the handle allowing me to slam it open with my shoulder as I pumped a bean bag shell into the chamber.

Sweeping the room I found the male standing across the room with a musket in his hands, bringing it to bear.

Fortunately he was too slow as I fired a beanbag into his chest, knocking him to the ground.

Four of the team moved to secure him and his weapon as the rest of us moved through the house.

We found the mother in a bedroom, a knife to the filly’s throat.

I sighed and lowered my weapon so it hung loosely by the sling.

“Ma’am, I need you to put down the knife and let the girl go.” I said gesturing for my team to stand down.

“No, you have no right to interfere.” She said.

I sighed before looking to the filly. “Hun, I’m sorry, but this is going to hurt like hell.” I said as I charged and let off a powerful Thundra spell, not quite at Thundraga level, but enough to overpower a pegasus’s innate resistance to lightning.

Both females jerked as their muscles locked up from the current running through them. I had targeted the mother, but her proximity caused the filly to get hit as well.

I crossed the room as the spell stopped and pulled the filly away from the knife as her mother hit the ground. I pulled her close to me and channeled a Curaga into her to ease the pain.

I wasn’t prepared for the filly to latch onto me and begin sobbing. I gently picked her up as the remaining members of my team secured the mother.

I nodded to the team leader and made my way out of the room.

I trusted that my team would have the pair taken to a pair of cells while they were processed while I took the young filly to the hospital to get checked out.

Fortunately, it was late and there wasn’t anyone on the streets other than a pair of Rangers on patrol. I gave the pair a quick update and proceeded to the hospital.

I quickly got the filly checked in and was directed to a waiting room while the doctors worked.

I had been sitting for about a half an hour, mentally composing my report, when a doctor approached me.

“How is she doing?” I asked.

“Resting now. You were able to take care of most of the damage from the shock you gave her. I was able to determine what was causing her issues with flying though.” The unicorn said.

“What was it and can it be fixed?” I asked.

The doctor shook his head. “The issue is with the way her internal magic is routing. Near as I am able to tell it has been an issue since birth and had it been treated then, she would have been able to grow normally. Unfortunately, it wasn't treated and has now become permanent.” He explained.

I sighed sadly. “That is unfortunate. To have something that is instinctual to you be out of reach.” I said.

The doctor cocked his head in curiosity.

“My marefriend is a pegasus. She explained that for the vast majority of pegasi that flying is in their blood. They have to fly, it is in their blood. Very few can handle being ground bound for long periods of time.” I replied, answered the unasked question.

“I see. Well, she is right. Unfortunately, there is nothing we can do about getting her in the air. We can correct the issues with malnutrition and a counselor can assist with helping her to move past this, but it will be a long road.” He said.

I nodded. “There might be something that I can do to help her. I will have to talk to the Princesses about it first.” I said.

I had just sent off my report the next morning when there was a knock at my office door.

“Enter.” I said as I picked up a file to read.

“I heard you had some excitement.”

I looked up and smiled. Getting up, I walked around my desk and wrapped Emerald into a hug.

“I guess you could say that.” I replied as I buried my nose in her mane, inhaling her scent. “I missed you.” I said.

“I missed you too. What happened?” She asked, her eyes filled with worry.

I lead her to a chair and told her the events of the previous day.

Emerald smiled. “I am guessing that you want to petition to be her guardian?” She asked.

I nodded. “I know that we won’t be able to have kids the normal way, and I wasn’t sure if you were ready to raise kids, but this filly needs someone to be there for her, to help her.” I said.

Emerald smiled as she stood and embraced me. “You are a good man Talisman Stryke. I know that you would be a wonderful father. Have you talked to anyone about this?” She inquired.

I shook my head. “Not yet. I wanted to talk to you first.” I replied.

“Well, let’s go see if we can meet with her. What is her name?” Emerald asked.

“Scootaloo. Her name is Scootaloo.” I replied as we left my office.

Author's Note

Yes, I live! Sorry for the long time between updates. I have been dealing with work, moving, getting married, and a fickle muse that wants to work on my other stories. Hope you all enjoy.