“There! Finished,” the colt backed away from his creation; a rather plain looking blue scooter that now had large plywood wings attached to it. “So, uh, what do you think?”

The filly's eyes went wide as she made a small happy gasp “ It’s perfect! Do you think it can get in the air?” She zipped over to the wings inspecting them like the masterpiece that they are.

“How should I know? You're the expert here,” said the colt, who was little annoyed that he had had to do all the work .

“Yeah but you're the architect, so can you pah-lease give me your opinion on it?” The filly looked at the colt with an expression that could bring a stone to tears.

The little colt turned away, blushing at being called an 'architect'. “Uh, well its not going to fall apart on the first go, if that's what you want to know… I think.” he began to look a little worried. “Are you sure this is a good idea?”

“A good Idea? This is probably the best idea I've ever had! C'mon don't be a chicken, if we don't do this how are we going to prove all those dummies at school wrong, well?”

“Uh, I-”

Before he could reply, the filly hopped on the winged scooter and spun the wheels in her magic.

“Time’s a wasting, Bubba! Lets get this show on the road.” She gave the slope before her a determined smirk and then unleashed her momentum.

The colt stood there dumbstruck as the filly and the scooter went racing down the hill.

“W-W-Wait for me!” the colt began his chase after the fleeting foal.

“Wake Up!”

……………………………………………………………..

“C’mon wake up!” Scootaloo shook the dull gray stallion in an attempt to wake him, as a loud continuous shrill beeping sounded out beside his mattress.

Suddenly, Wheelie’s body sprang to life, sitting up and then careening to the side, his head hitting a wall as he fell over. A flurry of foul language sprang from his mouth as he quickly sat back up, holding his head in hooves.

“What in hotfuck Tatarus is the big fucking Idea?!” He yelled, rubbing his temples.

She began to shake and pointed her hoof to his alarm clock, “Y-your alarm.” she said, finally drawing his attention to its obnoxious noise.

Wheelie checked its time, he should have gotten up twenty minutes ago.

“Shit..” he said under his breath.

He swiftly smashed the button on top of the alarm clock to stop its troublesome sound, and got out of bed.

He walked over to the pile of clothes that currently served as a nest for wild Scootaloos and hurriedly put them on. Getting his jacket and scarf secured, Wheelie headed for the door.

“If you get hungry there’s some food in the fridge. I’ll be back in a while.” His exit was punctuated with the slamming of the door that caused the small apartment to shake.

When she could no longer hear his hoof steps resound down the hall, Scootaloo felt a shiver run down her spine.

………………………….......................................

Wheelie groaned, wishing that he went back to bed. He was in the factory, his head pressed against his locker door and the sounds of machinery filled his ears. He sluggishly opened the locker, grumbling irritably about still having to work at this shitty place. Grabbing his goggles and shoved his belongings inside in one motion, he noticed something sitting on the bench beside him.

There was a plastic wrapped sandwich right there in plain view- Wheelie’s stomach growled just looking at it. The stallion that it belonged to had his back to him. He spent a long moment thinking if he could scarf it down before the stallion noticed, but before he could think about it any further the stallion began to turn around. Acting quickly, he snatched it up and shoved it in his locker, slamming it shut as he trotted off.

Over his shoulder he heard the unmistakable sounds of his theft being discovered, and tried his level best to remain nonchalant.

With his attention thus occupied, he walked headlong into another more familiar stallion.

“Oops, sorry about that bud, wasn’t watching where I was going,” said Wheelie’s boss as he rubbed his slightly bulbous nose. Noticing who he’d literally bumped into, the unicorn instantly brightened up. “Wheels! Glad to see ya, didn’t think you’d make it here this early.”

Wheelie was hard pressed to not look as annoyed as he actually felt. Shouldering the weight of the world seemed trivial in comparison.

Not noticing Wheelie’s discomfort, his boss continued the inane prattle. “It’s good thing too, I don’t think I could have covered for ya much longer. Now we just need to put that new found zeal to your work, eh?” The unicorn let out a hearty laugh, Wheelie could not help but groan.

“Well,” started the stallion coming down from his mirth, “I guess I better let you get to work, this factory does have a schedule to keep after all. Later Wheels,” he said with a friendly wink starting towards the floor at a brisk trot. When he could no longer see him, Wheelie scowled heavily.

“Prick.”

…………………………………………………………………………………..

The entire room shook, It was as if the place was experiencing an earthquake. A spider, against better judgement, had made its home right above the gaping maw of the beast. Its little web tore apart with each of the monster’s powerful breath. Every time the foul thing took in a lungful, the spider felt it like was the coming of the apocalypse. Its web snapped away snapped after one particularly ejection from the creature and the spider fell straight into the mouth of the waiting beast.

The Landmare began to hack and cough as something caught in her throat. She sat up in her bed and put her hoof over her mouth subconsciously. A loud banging came from her front door eliciting a growl from the older mare. She took time to spit in a waste basket and do a bit of stretching before heading for the waiting pony.

She opened the door to reveal a slightly roughed up Wheelie. His left eye was bruised and he was looking slightly more irritated than usual.

“What do you want!?” She shrieked irritably, a bit of flem hitting Wheelie in the face.

Wheelie’s eye twitched, the remnants of an earlier rage began to grow again.

“Our agreement. Yesterday.” He managed to say.

The Landmare put a hoof to her chin, humming in thought. Her eyes lit up when the event in question came to mind.

“Oh Yeah, Well c’mon then we don’t got all day. You lollygagged enough as it is.” She trotted out the door and beckoned Wheelie to follow.

They descended down the stairs and headed for a back room behind a counter and a little out of sight. They soon came upon the damp floor of a dimly lit boiler room.

“You see this thing here?” The landmare pointed a hoof at the nearby boiling apparatus. “Its busted, been sitting here broke for nearly a week now and I can't find that damn superintendent of mine to fix it. Now If you can get this contraption working, I'll extend your deadline till the end of this month. Understand?” The landmare spoke her last word slowly as if she was talking to an inattentive child.

Wheelie ignored that detail and walked up to the broken boiler for a better look. It was rusting near the bottom and looked several decades old. Its main body was a mess of holes, some a quarter in size while the pipes leading to it were cracked or completely broken.

“This needs to be replaced, it can't be fixed”

“Well if you can't fix it I can't give you an extension then, huh?”

Wheelie's face coiled in anger but he managed to hold his tongue before saying something he would regret. He took a deep breath and spoke “ Even if I could fix this I don't really have the tools, huh?” He parroted for some small semblance of vengeance against the crotchety mare.

“They're over there by the super's bed, you dingus!”

Wheelie cocked an eyebrow and looked around, sure enough, a mattress lay in a corner near the entrance surrounded by various pieces of junk and garbage. He trotted up to it and began to sift through the trash, trying not to contemplate why the super sleeps in the boiler room. Eventually he comes across a small toolbox and picked it up in his mouth. Headed back over to the boiler, Wheelie set the tools down and scrutinized the contraption once more. After looking it over once again, he realized fixing it wouldn't be TOO bad if he had the right tools. He did always have a knack for fixing things.

Wheelie opened the toolbox to find a couple of rolls of duct tape and a few different sized wrenches.

Perfect. Just Perfect.
….......................................................................................................................................

It had been a good hour and Wheelie was still trying to fix a the broken boiler while the old mare continued to jabber at him.

“How'd you get that shiner, anyway? Did your drunken ass fall down the stairs again?” The landmare tried to hide smirk.

Wheelie was really wishing the old croon would shut up and go take an extended vacation. Preferably somewhere on the other side of the globe.

“Yeah,” he lied, not wanting to catch any more shit from the light blue mare.

Of course, he actually acquired the injury just right after he finished his shift when a vaguely familiar stallion had confronted him about the theft of his sandwich. Wheelie told the him that he did not know what the fuck he was talking about, the stallion then called him 'a lying gimp twat' and then sucker punched him in right in the face. Wheelie's hooves still hurt from the beating he gave the poor fool.

“Hmph, sounds about right. You know I had a cousin who drank as much as you did. they found him dead in a pool of his own vomit, dumb bastard.” He heard the sounds of her trotting away.

“Good thing he was not taking care of no brat.”

Wheelie span around almost immediately. “What the fuck does that sup-”

No one was there.

Wheelie let out a heavy breath, wiping the sweat off his brow. He felt lightheaded, perhaps he should have ate something before he started working.

His eyes lit up, he still had that sandwich. Wheelie dug through his coat, pulling out the still fairly fresh meal. He carefully unwrapped the thin plastic and stared at the glistening tomatoes and cucumbers that lie within. Unthinkingly, he slowly began to move it towards his face.

And mushed it against his closed mouth.

He silently wrapped it back up and placed it back where he found it. He shouldn't be wasting food when he has so little at home. He turned around and began his work, tightening pipes and patching up holes, not really knowing what will and won't work but doing it anyway. A couple of days ago Wheelie would have scoffed at the idea of doing something like this, he would not have cared he did not have any food or if he was late to that job. Or even if he was alive the next day.

And for what? For some kid he doesn't know with a questionable relation to him?

And with that thought Wheelie just stood there, not knowing what to do.

…....................................................................................................................

Wheelie came back up the stairs.

The landmare stood there by her door waiting for him like she had nothing else better to do.

“So, is it gonna work now?” She asked as he continued past her.

“Maybe for a day, if you're lucky” he said without turning.

“Hey now, that's not wha-”

He gave her a look.

Her eyes grew wide and her mouth immediately clamped shut. After a few seconds she regained her composure and made a dignified harrumph. The land mare turned and began heading for her room “Well I guess its going to have to do but don't expect anymore freebies.” She looked back to see if he was still there.

He wasn't.

“Hmpf, Stallions. Gone as soon as you turn your back.”

…...................................................................................

The last few feet to his room, Wheelie began to feel how tired he actually was. His feet began to drag and he could swear he could feel a small ache in his bones already. With the door to his room in sight, Wheelie could almost feel what one might call hope fester inside him.

He dragged himself to the door and opened it.

The first thing Wheelie noticed that the place was a little more messier than usual. There were dead leaves and twigs everywhere. A cold chill blew through from the open window and the place was wet with snow. The refrigerator door was wide open and Scootaloo was stuck to the ceiling.
She was struggling to get free when Wheelie opened the door, now she was just staring at him, eyes wide

“Why.” Said Wheelie flatly

He shut the door quietly before screaming in rage and smashing his head against it. He hit the door so hard that it broke off it's hinges and fell with a loud thud.

“AW Shit!” he clutched his now hurt head in his forehooves, A tiny stream of blood fell from his forehead. He fell to the ground on top of the door yelling his obscenities incoherently.

“Hey keep it down, asshole!” A muffled voice suddenly disturbed his tantrum, probably from a room over.

Wheelie glared at the wall where the voice originated from before he sprinted and put his hoof through it, yelling a plethora of increasingly foul language. He struggled to pull it out finally doing so with a hard tug. He stumbled backward, landing back first on the broken door giving it another long crack as he slammed into it.

Wheelie sat away from her, panting heavily.

Scootaloo was shaking, She messed up badly, the only pony that was willing to put up with her was now angry, and it was all her fault.

Scootaloo watched on, afraid to move. Wheelie’s breath became slower and more controlled and she could hear him sniffling? Scootaloo wasn’t too sure, he was facing away from her. Wheelie quieted soon enough and simply sat there for a good long while. he eventually noticed Scootaloo’s soft sobs.

She heard him mumble something unintelligible and then stand up.

Wheelie turned back around, the wind from the open window nipping at his ears. He witnessed Scootaloo on the ceiling, tearing up, shivering. He averted his eyes. Wheelie trotted up to the stuck child. The ceiling hung rather low, if somepony were to stand on their hind legs they might be able to touch it. Wheelie reached up to grab the foal.

Scootaloo squeezed her eyes shut as his hooves drew near. He grabbed her barrel and with a tug pulled her down. A large amount of thick looking goop trailed off her back. He collected some of it in his hoof sniffed it and gave an experimental taste.

Tree sap? Wheelie looked a little bewildered at his discovery, not knowing how Scootaloo managed to get that much tree sap on her to begin with.

Nonetheless Wheelie softly pressed her to his chest and walked on three legs to the sink. he set her down and removed all the dirty dishes with a loud crash. He turned on the faucet and threw in the little bit of soap he had left.

Scootaloo had stopped shaking as bad, not that she felt any calmer. She was still sniffling when Wheelie picked her up and placed her in the but now with an air of cold acceptance.

Wheelie grabbed a rag and began to scrub the sap off her fur, making sure to get the goop that was currently restraining her wings.

“Are you going to tell me what happened?” he rubbed his eye with his jacket when something a little red got caught in it, smearing a little bit of blood on the sleeve.

Scootaloo turned away not wanting to meet his eyes. “ I wanted to look out the window, I opened it and fell...I, uh hit a gooey tree branch. It flung me to the ceiling and….. I got stuck.” Scootaloo snuck a peek at Wheelie’s face only to find an incredulous look.

“You fell out the window?” He said, his voice near deadpan.

“Uh y-yes?”

It was all tough to believe but luckily for Wheelie there was a very simple way of finding out. He gave Scootaloo a long suspicious glance causing more internal panic in the filly before he walked off toward the window.

He took a peek down below at the old tree under his window. The tree below his window had been dead as long as Wheelie had rented an apartment there. It was one of those kinds of trees that sprouted one day and grew but nopony cared enough to have it cut down. It grew to moderate height before it finally kicked the bucket, a few feet from Wheelie’s window.

What Wheelie saw was not something he recognized from memory. The tree was a gooey monstrosity, sap was pouring off the various branches like a running faucet and the trunk had turned a greenish shade. On the ground, a brown earthpony was dramatically yelling at a scrawny guardspony while two unicorn colts stood nearby looking sheepishly. Wheelie gave the scene a knowing look before walking back.

Scootaloo watched him come back, his frown deepening with each step. There was no way he would believe such a story, she thought. She was going to have to do something if she didn’t want to face the strange pony’s wrath. Scootaloo could sprint towards the now permanently opened entrance if only she could move her legs.

“What the is wrong with you, huh?” he spat.

“I’m s-so-” She stuttered, her words died on her lips. Wheelie’s form seemed to grow in size and menace.

“You wanna end up another dead foal on the street? Is that it!?”

“P-Please……” She squeaked, clamping her eyes shut and awaited for the worst.

Nothing came. Wheelie was silent for a moment before letting out a frustrated sigh.

“Look, what I mean is, you can’t be taking risk like that. If you would have missed that tree you would just be another dead body for the guard to clean up.”

“You….believe me?”

“The tree outside is leaking shit everywhere, probably because of some dumb colt’s magic, so it seems likely.

He gave her a stink eye. “Although you are probably lying about the details...”

Scootaloo turned her head away, looking guilty.

“...but I guess it doesn’t matter in the end.”

Wheelie cleaned the rest of the gunk off silently thinking. He should have seen this coming, he knew that children have a habit of getting into trouble- especially left to their own devices. He was the same way when he was a lad, so why not Scootaloo? He decided then he could not keep leaving her at home with nothing to do, but he could not take her with him to work with him either. If only there was some sort of free daycare that was willing to watch the girl for a good portion of his work day.

Suddenly an idea popped up in Wheelie’s mind.

after Scootaloo was nice and clean, Wheelie set her on the floor to drip dry.

“Hey, when was the last time you were in school?” he asked.

Scootaloo shook the water off herself causing her fur to stick out. “Um, I haven’t been going to school for a few months now, Why?”

“You can’t be cooped up in this this room all the time and a school will keep you out of trouble for at least a little while," that’s what Wheelie was hoping for at least. “plus, last time I checked they usually give away free food.”

At the mention of food Scootaloo’s stomach growled loudly.

Wheelie raised an eyebrow at the girl. “You haven’t had anything to eat have you?”

She shook her head looking away, trying to hide her rosy cheeks. “I was stuck on the ceiling all day……”

Not even batting an eye he pulled out a fairly smooshed sandwich from his coat. When Scootaloo locked eyes with it she lit up with utter joy. She snatched it from his hoof, unwrapped it and immediately began chomping down on it.

Wheelie watched the filly stuff her face, his own stomach made a small growl but he ignored it. Its not like being hungry meant anything to him any more. He headed to his mattress and grabbed one of the half empty liquor bottles that lay near it.

“On my next day off we will go and get you signed up for school, Okay?” he said as he was opening the bottle.

Scootaloo met his eyes, looking a little more bright this time before giving him a happy nod.

Wheelie felt just a little bit lighter seeing the filly in such good spirits despite everything. It almost made him want to smile.

Until he saw the pony standing behind her….

He turned his head away instead turning his attention to finishing his bottle, trying not to lose his nerves.

Scootaloo gave a brief look of confusion, ending it with a shrug of her shoulders and another large bite.

Author's Note

Well here it is. I got really tired of staring at it so I decided to post it. There is still a lot kinks with it and the formatting looks a little off to me. but I think I'll fix all that later. Hopefully the next chapter will be out sooner, I'm going to start planning my days better. I'll see if that helps.

I hope you all have a nice day.