No good deed...

By Isseus De Sade

The sky is blue. It's one of those things that you never stop to think until suddenly, one day, you look up and keep on staring. The sky blue is a colour that never ceases to amaze. It's so deep and feels like it goes on forever to infinity, and maybe even beyond.

Scootaloo was pretty used to watching the sky, especially when she was hanging around with Rainbow Dash. She always had to squint to spot the rainbow-coloured streak cutting across the deep blue dome. There was no such rainbow today, only the endless, eternal blue. It was nice to look at. No clouds in sight, not even an errant mailpony looking to make a late delivery. Just the azure.

Most of all, as long as she concentrated really hard at looking at the sky and staying absolutely still, it wouldn't hurt quite as bad.

"...Okay?" she heard a voice from somewhere far away. Her helmet muffled some of the words, and the pain shooting through her back made her ignore the rest. A hoof grabbed onto hers and she gritted her teeth, preparing to tough the ache out. That's what Rainbow Dash always said: "When you wipe out, just get back in the saddle." She'd always giggled about it, because Dash said 'when', not 'if'. Both the Pegasi knew that crashing was a part of becoming awesome.

She shut her eyes and clambered up to all fours, her teeth making a tiny scraping sound against each other. The world lurched to the side, almost tipping her over again. She crouched lower, spreading her legs and riding the vertigo out.

"Come on, we gotta hurry!" the same insistent voice nagged at her from much nearer now. She felt another tug on her forehoof, breaking her balance and sending her crashing down onto her stomach. Scootaloo finally opened her eyes and the sight in front of her brought her back into reality faster than one of Pinkie’s triple-chocolate espresso shots. Not that she'd ever try it again after the dare from Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle.

But no, the sight that made her wince backwards was that towering above her prone form stood not one, but two Silver Spoons.

"Come on, blankflank! We need to move. Right now," she said.

Scootaloo shook her head. Thankfully, the two bullies coalesced into one, thought it was still far too many for her. "Urgh. Get lost."

Instead of leaving, Silver Spoon grabbed her again and dragged her up. Scootaloo couldn't really put up much of a fight.

"You stupid, ungrateful blankflank," she heard Silver Spoon berate her. "I'm trying to help! You're screwed if you don't move right now."

The world didn't make sense. First the crash and then one of her most hated ponies in the world was helping her? Scootaloo tried to shake out the rest of the cobwebs from her head. Silver Spoon dragged her across the playground and up to a large bush on the other side.

"What the—" was all Scootaloo was able to say, before the other filly unceremoniously rammed her from behind, sending her face-first into the shrub. "Ow! You crazy or somet—"

The rest of her words were cut off by Silver Spoon's hoof pushing against her lips. She'd jumped into the bush right after the Pegasus, pulling them both down to the ground. "Shut up, or you'll get all of us in trouble. Just watch." She moved her hoof from Scootaloo's mouth to point at the schoolhouse beyond the playground.

That was the first moment Scootaloo saw what had happened. One of the large windows of the school had been smashed in, right where she'd woken up a moment ago. Her scooter was nowhere to be seen. A sudden rush of memories flooded her head.

She'd been practicing her tricks after school in the playground. She wasn't supposed to, but all the swings, rails, and jungle gyms made it the perfect place for grinding and tricking.

The next one was from only a week ago, when she'd been scolded severely by Miss Cheerilee for breaking a window in school after she'd accidentally launched her scooter at one of the windows and broken it in. She'd gotten off with detention, but Miss Cheerilee had made it clear that the next time...

"Oh no! I'm gonna get expelled!" she yelled in panic.

"Shut! Up!" Silver Spoon hissed.

Scootaloo was already on the verge of panic, her mind constructing scenarios of horror about her father finding out she'd been kicked out from school, even if not permanently. She was shaken out of it, though, when she saw her scooter get flung through the broken window and far into the playground, burying itself halfway into the sand. Then Diamond Tiara, her number one most hated pony in all of Equestria ran out from the schoolhouse, looked around hastily, picked up a hoofball from the ground and tossed it in through the broken window. It almost looked liked she was covering up for Scootaloo.

"What the hay...?" she mumbled, but got another angry shush from Silver Spoon.

Only a few seconds later, Miss Cheerilee walked around the corner. She'd been in the teacher's lounge after school, probably grading exams or whatever heinous things teachers got up to on Friday afternoons. She took in the calamity, first looking at the broken window, then at the appropriately guilty looking filly, and finally inside through the window to see the ball act as the final piece of evidence.

"Diamond Tiara. Would you care to explain what happened?" she asked, more out of routine. The events were already clear to anyone with even half a brain.

Diamond Tiara was already on the verge of well-practised crocodile tears. "Miss... Cheerilee! I'm so sorry! I was just kicking the ball around and, you know, against the wall and back and then it went in the window. I'm so sorry, Miss Cheerilee!"

"Hmph," their teacher looked around. "Well, at least you aren't hurt, are you?"

"N-no, Miss Cheerilee. I'm sorry."

"Well, accidents do happen. Haven't I told you foals not to kick the ball against the walls, though? It's just asking for something like this to happen."

"Yes, Miss Cheerilee. I must have forgotten."

The teacher looked around the playground one more time. Scootaloo and Silver Spoon crouched even lower in the bush, making sure not to blow their cover.

"Well, Diamond Tiara, I must say I am very disappointed with you. We just had a broken window last week and our school's budget really can't take these incidents. I'm sure you understand that you're going to have to be punished for this as well. I know it was an accident, but if you had followed the rules, the window wouldn't be broken right now. Come inside and I'll write a note to your parents. You will get detention for this, but I think we have to move that to next Monday. I still have to grade your geography exams today." She let out a sigh as she looked at the foreboding back door to the school and the awaiting pile of “Canterlouds” and “Evergreen Forests”. “Yes, definitely Monday.”

Cheerilee turned around and started trotting for the back door of the school that led to the Teacher's lounge. After a moment, she turned around to notice Diamond Tiara still standing next to the window. "Come along now. No use in procrastinating."

After the filly didn't move, she walked back to her. Diamond Tiara looked up to her with her eyes rolling with tears.

"Umm, Miss Cheerilee? I, well, my father gave me a big allowance just yesterday so... maybe I could pay for it? I mean, I really feel sorry for this. It would be all I’ve got, but at least the school wouldn't suffer."

"I don't think that would be right, Diamond Tiara."

"But, well, you said it yourself, right? The school can't afford it and, um, maybe it would kinda serve as punishment for breaking the window too?"

"No, I—" Cheerilee couldn't help her mouth opening in a yawn, which she slowly covered with a hoof. "Why do these things always happen on Fridays?” she muttered.

"Miss Cheerilee?” Diamond Tiara asked in her most wide-eyed, innocent little filly voice.

"Yes, thank you. I...." Cheerilee looked around once more to see nopony was around. "...it would probably serve as a suitable punishment. If you really want to pay for it, you may bring the money to school on Monday and we will not talk about this again."

Diamond Tiara picked a small green pouch from her discarded saddlebag on the ground. "I have it right here! I was going to go buy, err, something nice after school."

"Diamond Tiara, haven't I told you not to bring money to school?"

The filly looked properly ashamed of herself. "Yes, Miss Cheerilee."

"I'll let it go this time." She picked up the small bit pouch from Diamond Tiara and looked inside. "Looks like this is enough to pay for the window. I'll give you the rest back on Monday after school."

"Thank you, Miss Cheerilee," Diamond Tiara said and promptly hugged her teacher.

"That's... quite alright, Diamond Tiara." She dislodged the filly with some trouble. "Just make sure it doesn't happen again."

Diamond Tiara made sure to be beaming with appropriate happiness for getting away from detention and a note sent home to her parents. "I will, Miss Cheerilee!"

"Now run along. I'll need to contact Crystal Night again. At least he should have the measurements from last week."

"Yes, Miss Cheerilee! And, uh, have a nice weekend too, Miss Cheerilee."

"Yes, you too."

Diamond Tiara looked after her teacher, even waving at her happily when she rounded the corner. As soon as Cheerilee was out of sight, her expression fell to her usual sour scowl. She grabbed a packet of tissues from her saddlebag and started to wipe the fake tears from her face with vigor.

Silver Spoon got up from the bush next to Scootaloo and walked to her friend. "Like, well done, Di! You really know how to work the grown-ups."

Diamond Tiara was mirroring herself from one of the intact windows to make sure that she looked presentable. "Thank you, Silvy. I just can't believe how they can let somepony so dumb teach us."

"Yeah, she's like, totally, um, dumb. I mean, how could she just let you bribe yourself out of detention like that?"

"Money makes the world go 'round, Silver Spoon." Diamond Tiara said, trying to impersonate her father. She looked around the playground. "So where's the blankflank?"

"I'm, uh, here," Scootaloo said as she climbed out of the bush. She winced from the several bruises covering her body.

Both of the bullies walked up to her, one on either side. "Do you have something to say to us for rescuing your sorry blank flank from trouble?"

Scootaloo hazarded a guess. "T-thanks?"

"What was that? I didn't hear that," Diamond Tiara said close to her ears.

"T-thank you," Scootaloo said, this time a bit louder.

"Thank you, who?" Silver Spoon asked her this time, making Scootaloo twist her head from one side to another.

"Thank you, uh, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon." Scootaloo couldn't believe her own ears as she said words that were never supposed to be uttered. She was sure some eldrich horror somewhere had just awoken from its indeterminable sleep because of them.

"Well, now. That's more like it." Diamond Tiara walked over to the discarded scooter and popped it up from the ground with a stomp of her hoof. "Here's your stupid thingy."

Scootaloo walked over to her prized possession. She still couldn't believe what was happening around her. Was she really getting out of trouble thanks to the two bullies who'd been torturing her for the whole time she'd spent in Ponyville Elementary? As she grabbed hold of the handlebar, Diamond Tiara just sneered at her with her usual distaste.

"Okay, I don't get it. Why?" Scootaloo asked.

"Why what, blankflank?" Diamond Tiara answered.

"Why are you doing this? Helping me out?"

"Oh, what kind of ponies would we be if we didn't help a friend out of trouble?"

"You know, stopping them from getting expelled from school?" Silver Spoon joined in.

"Having their scooter confiscated until the end of the school year?" Diamond Tiara tagged in.

Scootaloo was getting even more confused with every word. It didn't help that she was still feeling dizzy and the two fillies were circling around her like hungry predators.

"Getting in trouble with their parents?"

"While taking the blame for a stupid blankflank that even cost me several weeks' allowance?"

"Okay, I really don't get it!" Scootaloo said and lifted her hooves into the air.

Both of the bullies ended up standing right next to each other, pushing their faces right into Scootaloo's.

"Because, blankflank," Diamond Tiara said, "I own you now."

Scootaloo took a step back and tripped over her own scooter, landing painfully onto her rump.

Dark shadows fell over the two bullies' faces. "That's right," Diamond Tiara continued, "you'll do exactly what I tell you to, or I go back to Miss Cheerilee right now and tell her the truth."

"B-but you'd get into trouble for lying!" Scootaloo tried to desperately wiggle out of the situation.

"Oh, I don't think so. Miss Cheerilee already took my money. She couldn't really do anything to me because I'd tell everypony about it. On the other hoof, you'd get into serious trouble."

"Yeah," Silver Spoon cut in. "She'd do whatever we asked her to. We could tell her to expel you from school for, like, forever."

There was a sinking cold feeling in Scootaloo's chest as the reality of the situation finally started to set in. Her shoulders slumped down.

"Now that you understand, we'll meet you at your stupid clubhouse in thirty minutes to get started."

"Wait, huh?" Scootaloo was once again lost.

"Listen, you stupid blankflank. I know both of your, urgh, Cutie Mark Goofball friends are out of town today, so we get to use your clubhouse."

"Yeah, it's in a nice, remote place where nopony will bother us."

Scootaloo had to swallow the huge lump from her throat. If the fillies were planning something that required no adults to be in sight, or even hearing range...

"You do realise that even though you won't get into trouble with your parents, we're still going to punish you... our way, Diamond Tiara said.

"We'll see you there in half an hour," Silver Spoon chimed in. "We need to get ready for what's going to happen to you."

As the two bullies turned around swinging their tails high in the air, Scootaloo knew this was going to be the worst day of her life.

For the hundredth time, Scootaloo looked at the tiny clock on the wall of the CMC clubhouse. It was way past the time she'd been told arrive. Almost an hour had passed since the incident at the playground, but the two bullies were still nowhere to be seen.

She'd gone home and left a note to her parents telling she was out playing. Her father had bought her some snacks for the afternoon, but she'd only drunk a can of juice. She'd been hungry after school, but somehow her appetite had vanished completely. Even now the juice felt like it was burning in her stomach.

When she'd gotten to the clubhouse, she'd checked her scooter to see if it had suffered any damage. Like always, it proved to be a lot sturdier that the filly riding it. She looked absent-mindedly at the new dent in her helmet, among several others. It might have looked dorky at first, but after maybe the twentieth time she'd crashed on her head she'd finally agreed that maybe her mother was right in always nagging for her to use it.

The clubhouse always felt lonely and empty when the other two, or even three, crusaders weren’t there. Sure, it had a good collection of comic books and a soft mattress in the corner for napping, but it was mostly a place to do things. It didn't help that Scootaloo had always hated waiting. This time she didn't mind, though. Every second that the clock ticked away, the hope grew in her mind that maybe, just maybe, the bullies wouldn't come. That maybe they'd been caught shoplifting or rolling a granny or whatever they got up to when they weren't at school.

When the clock finally told her that an hour had passed, she finally exhaled from relief and got up. She popped her helmet on and shot out the door on her scooter, only to almost crash into Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon, the latter of whom was pulling a card laden with stuff.

"And where do you think you're going, blankflank?" Diamond Tiara asked.

"I, uhm, well, you—"

"Did I give you the permission to speak!?" Diamond Tiara shouted at her. She trounced up to Scootaloo and pushed a hoof into her chest. "From this moment on until we say we're done, you're going to do exactly what me and Silver tell you to, or we go straight to Miss Cheerilee and tell her what you did. Do I make myself clear?"

Scootaloo, not knowing what else to do, just nodded.

"Good. Now, bring this cart inside. Silver has been working so hard on pulling it here. Oh and remember to thank her for it too."

Silver Spoon had uncoupled herself from the foal-sized yolk of the cart and was rubbing her neck. "I still don't get why I had to pull the cart the whole way."

"Well, duh! If you didn't, who would have loaded it?"

"But I almost got, like, sweaty." She shook her silvery mane for emphasis.

"And whose fault is that?" Diamond Tiara turned to look at Scootaloo.

Scootaloo looked at Silver Spoon, then at Diamond Tiara, then back at Silver Spoon. With a deep breath, she bowed her head down. "Thank... you... for pulling that cart here."

"Oh, and from now on, call her Mistress Silver Spoon. And me Mistress Diamond Tiara."

"What the hay? I'm not going to—"

The grins on the two bullies' faces made her cringe.

"Did I hear that right, Silvy?"

"Why, I think you did, Tiara."

"Can you imagine what would happen if we went to the schoolhouse and told Miss Cheerilee?"

"Why don't we go find out right now?"

"What a great idea!"

The two fillies turned around and set off at a brisk trot for the schoolhouse. Scootaloo didn't have enough time think. She rushed past them and stood in front of them. "Fine, okay, you win. I'll call you... Mistresses."

"Hmph. Too late now, blankflank."

"Yeah. You can't stop us now."

The bullies passed by her, one on each side. Diamond Tiara made sure to slap Scootaloo's face with her tail as she passed.

Scootaloo ran after them. "P-please! Wait! Hey, come on! I'll... I'll do whatever you tell me, okay! Just... please don't tell Miss Cheerilee!"

Diamond Tiara stopped and leered at her. "Ugh, fine. But only because i can't stand your whining." Scootaloo barely had time to let out a sigh of relief, before the bully continued. "But this is your last chance. If you don't do exactly as we tell you to, we go tell on you and there's nothing you can do to stop us."

Scootaloo's head drooped down. She knew there was no way out of it. She was completely at the two fillies’ mercy and she'd just have to try and bear anything they could throw at her, or she'd get expelled and never see Apple Bloom or Sweetie Belle again. She'd probably have to move to a different school if she couldn't go to Ponyville Elementary as well. And maybe she and her her father would have to move too. Then she wouldn't see her friends ever again. Or Rainbow Dash. Or anyone.

She could already feel her eyes start to burn as the first tears were forming. "Y-yeah."

"What was that, blankflank?"

"Yes, M-mistress."

"Good. Now. Kiss my hoof."

Scootaloo looked at Diamond Tiara with her mouth agape. She couldn't believe her ears. She gulped and with a final little whinny, gave up. She laid down on all fours in front of Diamond Tiara and planted her lips onto her forehoof. The pink filly cackled maniacally, making Scootaloo shiver in fear of what was to come.

After four trips to the cart, Scootaloo had finally carried its contents inside. There were a half-a-dozen boxes, four bottles of soda and a bag that was still warm to the touch with the Sugarcube Corner emblem on it. She could smell the freshly baked treats inside and knew she wouldn't be getting any of them.

"Hey! This place is a mess! I'm not going to sit on this dirty, rotten floor!" Diamond Tiara shouted, prodding the floor as if worried it might give in under her weight.

"Yeah! There are pillows and stuff in the boxes. Hurry up!"

Scootaloo looked at them, shrugged and went to go through the boxes.

"HEY!" Diamond Tiara shouted straight into Scootaloo's ear.

She jumped from the sheer shock and fell onto her rump.

Before she could say anything, Diamond Tiara kept on shouting. "Didn't I tell you how to address us when we give you a command?!"

"I, uhh—"

"What was that, you lazy, idiotic, blankflank?!"

"I, sorry, yes, I mean, yes, Mistress."

"Good. This is the last time I'll forgive you for forgetting it. Now get us the cushions, pronto! My legs are getting sooooo tired!"

"Y-yes, Mistress!" Scootaloo said, the word tasting sour in her mouth. She did find the cushions and carried them over to the leering fillies. She put one on the floor and had barely enough time to dodge Silver Spoon's rear-end as she sat down. Scootaloo quickly fetched the other pillow.

"Hurry up! We're hungry!" Diamond Tiara shouted as she sat down, her words accompanied by her friend's giggles.

"Y-yes, Mistress."

Scootaloo picked up the bag of treats and opened it up. Inside the bag were two of the tastiest looking vanilla-and-strawberry danishes she'd ever seen and one bun that looked like it had been baked the day before. Her stomach grumbled from the sheer sight, which didn't go unnoticed by Diamond Tiara.

"Oh, what's the matter, blankflank? Didn't remember to eat your carrots today?"

Scootaloo looked at her with what she hoped was a bored expression. That joke about her coat hadn't been funny since kindergarten. She slipped the danishes out onto single-use plates and served them to the giggling fillies. She didn't know what to do with the bun, but because she'd been told not to say anything, she just wrapped it back. Somehow it still felt very ominous to her in a way that no normal pastry should.

"Drinks too, you slowpoke!" Silver Spoon called out.

Scootaloo had to struggle a moment to get the soda bottles open, but soon had them served with straws for the duo as well. She sat down to watch them eat, happy to at least get a small reprieve as they munched down on their tasty pastries.

Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon made sure to eat their treats as slowly as possible, grinning and leering at Scootaloo after every bite. She tried to think of other things, but her body refused to listen, making her stomach grumble even louder.

"Oh, whatf the matter, blankfank?" Diamond Tiara teased with her mouth full of pastry. "Aww, Silvy, look. I think she's hungry."

"Mmmmh. Sho she does," Silver Spoon answered, licking stray crumbs from her lips.

"Well, we can't have that, can we?"

"Nu-uh! Good thing we brought her something too, right?"

So the bun was going to be for her, Scootaloo thought. She didn't mind. Anything was better than the growling in her stomach right now. She sat down, opened up the bag, rolled the dry bun out onto a hoof, and opened her mouth hungrily.

"What do you think you're doing, blankflank?" Diamond Tiara shouted. She shot up from the mattress and slapped the bun from Scootaloo's hooves. "I didn't give you permission to eat!"

Scootaloo had to fight back the urge to just shout at the filly. Or sock her straight in the face. Her hoof tingled from the hit and she had to grit her teeth to stay quiet.

Diamond Tiara walked over to the fallen pastry and promptly stepped on it, slowly and deliberately grinding it against the clubhouse floor, all the while looking directly at Scootaloo's darkening expression. After it was just a thin pile of mush, she pushed it towards Scootaloo. "There you go, eat up."

The pegasus took only one look at it and said, "I'm not hungry."

Diamond Tiara walked next to her ear and growled, "I didn't ask you anything. I told you to eat up!"

Scootaloo shook her head. It wasn't the weirdest thing she'd done. Eating stuff from the floor was pretty much how they usually did it at the clubhouse anyways, because the table was always covered in something more important. Sure, it was pretty gross after being mushed up, but she'd handle it.

That was, until Diamond Tiara walked back to the bun, leaned down over it, and let a long sliver of spit slowly droop onto it.

"Umm, Tiara? Isn't that a bit—" Silver Spoon started, but was quickly cut off by her friend.

"She has to do anything I tell her to!" Diamond Tiara shouted, her face growing a darker shade of red. "If I tell her to eat it, she will eat it."

Scootaloo just stared at the crumpled treat. The mere thought of even stepping towards it made her stomach turn upside down. She gave a final look of pleading to the two fillies. Diamond Tiara struck a hoof towards the bun with a wicked grin on her face, but Silver Spoon just looked away.

Scootaloo took the longest two steps in her young life and leaned down. The bun was only a mush of dried dough. She couldn't see any spit on it, but she'd seen it go down on it, so it had to be there. Closing her eyes, she opened her mouth wide and took the whole thing inside her mouth at once. Her idea was to try and chew it down as fast as possible to get it over with. Unfortunately for her, it was still too big to fit her mouth properly, so she soon started choking on it. The thought of Diamond Tiara's spit being in her mouth did the rest. She had to dash out the door to spit the whole thing out. She tried to cough and spit as much of it as possible out and even felt herself do a dry retch out of disgust. Spent, she stood against the railing of the clubhouse and panted.

"I didn't give you permission to leave! Get back in here!" she heard her 'Mistress' call out to her. With a groan, she wiped her mouth with a forehoof and walked inside.

"Tiara, like, it's better that she went out. She would have done that gross thing inside."

"Yes, well, fine. But you're still going to get punished for it!"

Scootaloo was already beaten. The bun had been the last straw. She just sat down on the floor and lowered her head. "Yes, Mistress," she mumbled.

"Good. At least you know how to behave properly. She rummaged through one of the boxes and took out a permanent marker. "Time for a little Art Class."

Before long, Scootaloo had had her face drawn on by both the bullies. They'd put other make-up on her as well, making sure to use way too much blush on her cheeks and too much mascara on her eyes. The results were almost as bad as the time they'd tried out Rarity's make-ups during a sleepover, but not quite.

After the make-up session, she had to feed the two bullies grapes directly from a bunch while they lounged in the sun on the porch of the clubhouse. Both of them naturally kept spitting out the kernels at her, the little black beads sticking to her mane and coat. She had to wave a fan at them to cool them off, to massage their hooves, brush their tails and try and fulfill their other, even more ridiculous demands. All the while, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon hurled insults at her, lacing them with threats of telling on her if she even dared to think of disobeying. She didn't have much fight left in her anyways. She'd given up, just trying to go through the motions and think as little as possible of what she was doing. That soon came to an end when they returned inside and she'd served them their second bottles of soda.

"Hey, Silvy? Do you think it's time?"

"Time? Oh, you mean the time?"

The fillies giggled conspiratorially. Scootaloo could hardly wait for the next torture they were going to inflict on her.

"Blankflank! There's something nice for you in the big brown box. Open it."

Scootaloo cocked an eyebrow at her, but did as she was told. Inside she found a cap with an unmistakeable rooster crest on it. When she lifted it up, a fake beak fell out from inside it. She understood immediately what was going to happen and it must have been evident on her face, because the two fillies were besides themselves from laughter.

"Go on!" Silver Spoon egged her on. "Put them on!"

Scootaloo didn't. She just kept staring at the cheap chicken costume she'd been given. She'd been touchy about being called a chicken for a long time and it had gotten worse ever since she'd found out she couldn't fly yet. Sure, she'd shown the two bullies off at the Equestria Games Flag Carrying competition, but they hadn't let that slow them down. Instead, she'd started getting shouts of "chicken" and "dodo" and other flightless birds from behind her back. It was easy to deal with when Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle were around, but now, alone with the two bullies, it wasn't as easy any more.

Not easy at all. She felt the burning tears once again form in her eyes, but she willed them away. She wouldn't break down and cry in front of these two monsters. She wouldn't give them that satisfaction. With an angry huff, she pulled the hood on and slipped the rubber band of the beak behind her head.

Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon took one look at her, and started laughing out loud. It wasn't the childish giggle they'd been doing all afternoon, but a full on laugh that was fast approaching hysterics.

"Go... go on! Show us what a good little chicken you can be!" Diamond Tiara shouted between chortles.

The tears were welling in her eyes again and it took everything she had not to let them come out. Scootaloo leaned forward like a chicken would. And clucked.

The two bullies were sent into another fit of laughter. "More! This is so rich! Do it again!" they shouted.

Scootaloo couldn't do anything but obey. She hated herself for it. She hated the two bullies that had gotten her into this situation. But there was nothing she could do. Nothing.

Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon made her keep on pretending to be a chicken for a while longer, until the former finally got up from the ground. She walked to the grey box and rummaged inside, finally pulling out a small bag of bird feed. She unceremoniously poured it all over the floor and tossed the bag into the corner.

"Now, lets see you pick those up with your cute little beak!" she exclaimed. "And remember: Chickens don't fly, so no flying!" She stopped, as if just realising something. "Oh, wait! You can't fly anyway!"

Scootaloo knew those words would come sooner or later. That was what it had been all about. Her not being able to fly. She'd braced for it and tried to act like she didn't care anymore. It didn't work. As she leaned down, she could hardly see what she was doing through her blurry eyes. She felt a tear roll down her cheek, hating herself for crying front of the two bullies. She couldn't really estimate the distance to the floor any more, and the beak slammed into her muzzle as she went down too fast and hit the floor. Her fake beak couldn't really pick up the seeds, but she tried to act like she was. Bent low, she went from one to another, making clucking sounds that sounded more like sobs.

"Oh, hey! Silvy! Guess what?" Diamond Tiara shouted from behind Scootaloo.

"What?"

"CHICKEN BUTT!"

Scootaloo's eyes shot open as she felt the hoof come down onto her backside. The smack echoed inside the small clubhouse. She lost the last of her self-composure, jumped up and put both of her forehooves onto her rump, balancing awkwardly on just her hind legs. "What the hay do you think you're doing!?" she shouted, tears finally rolling down her cheeks.

"Would you look at that, Silver Spoon?"

"At what, Tiara?"

"She's doing the Chicken Dance!" They both giggled once more.

Scootaloo sniffled and wiped a hoof across her eyes. The smack hadn't really hurt as such, but it had taken her completely by surprise. She rubbed her rump one more time before returning to stand on all fours. She'd had enough.

"Okay! That's it! I'm done!" She ripped the hood and the beak away. "You two crazies can go tell on me to anypony you want! I don't care anymore!"

"Oooh! Look at that, Silvy. Our little chicken thinks she's a rooster!"

"G-get out!" Scootaloo shouted and pointed at the door.

"I don't think so, blankflank." Diamond Tiara walked right up to the fuming pegasus. "I mean, sure, if you really want us to go, sure, we'll go..." She took a few steps past Scootaloo. "...but I think we'll go straight to your Dad, won't we Silvy?"

"Oh, would we really do something like that?" Silver Spoon answered coyly.

"It would be pretty nasty to do, right? Remembering what happened last time when little blankflank here got into trouble?"

The thought gave Scootaloo a pause. The detention the week before hadn't been the only punishment she'd gotten. How the two fillies knew about it was... "Hey! How do you know about that?!"

"Hmm? Well you did talk to your friends about it at recess. We couldn't avoid hearing it."

"Wait, you were spying on us?"

The bullies looked at each other, slightly taken aback. "Like we'd do something as stupid as that, right Silvy?"

"Nu-uh."

"It doesn't matter how we know. But we know that your Dad gave you a spanking for breaking the school window."

"Yeah," Silver Spoon continued, "Just think of what you'd get for getting thrown out of school completely?"

She didn't even have to remind her. The thought of her father's saddle belt came clearly to her mind. She'd gotten a few licks of it as a warning after last week's spanking so she knew what she'd get if she ever got into the same situation again. The horror of that possibility hadn't even crossed her mind, having been so focused on getting into trouble with Miss Cheerilee that she'd completely forgotten on what would happen when she got home with a note of another window. And barely a week had gone by. "N-no. Please. D-don't tell Dad," she whimpered.

"What was that?"

"Y-you can do whatever. Just please don't tell Dad."

Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon looked at each other, first in confusion, and then in victorious glee. Neither of them had expected their threat to be this effective, nor their victim to surrender so completely.

"Well, of course we won't, blankflank," Diamond Tiara said. "But I think you still need a good punishment."

Silver Spoon circled to Scootaloo's other side. "Yeah. You totally deserve something really nasty."

"I think me and Silvy will give you a spanking ourselves," Diamond Tiara declared.

"W-what?" both Scootaloo and Silver Spoon asked in unison.

"I think it's only fair that she gets a spanking if she would have gotten one for getting into trouble anyway, right?"

"Well, yeah, but, still, isn't that a bit... I dunno," Silver Spoon said.

Scootaloo sat with her mouth agape between the two fillies, looking from one bully to another. Diamond Tiara had a determined look in her eyes, while Silver Spoon looked away in defeat with a tiny blush rising to her cheeks. Red cheeks. Just like how Scootaloo's own rear-end had ended up looking the week before.

She could almost feel the sting of her father's hoof even now. She'd told Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom that she hadn't even cried and that it hadn't hurt that much. They'd cheered her for being so brave. The truth was something completely different. There was no way she could have stayed silent. She'd been crying almost from the first smack, begging for her father to stop. The moment he'd put her down and went to get the belt had been far worse. She'd flung herself onto her father's hind leg, bawling and begging for him not to use it, but he hadn't stopped. He'd taken the saddle belt, laid Scootaloo on her bed and given her a good dozen licks. It had hurt more than anything she could remember. A cold shiver ran through her body even now as she remembered the punishment. Even through her dark orange coat, her backside had been glowing with red stripes all weekend, barely subsiding to her immense relief before school.

And now she'd be getting the belt again, except this time it would be the whole spanking with the belt. Even though her father's hoof was horrible, it was foal's play compared to what was coming to her now. The thought of getting a spanking from Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon was terrifying, of course, but it was nothing compared to the thought of that belt waiting at home.

Scootaloo shivered when she quietly muttered, "Okay."

Author's Note

Okay, first off, the fic title doesn't have anything to do with the song from Wicked. CarcinoGeneticist asked me about it and I almost changed the title because of the lyrics.

This fic is dedicated to all the little perverts who've followed me since Dominant Ideal and Lead. Care. Inspire. I've been having a hard time writing lately and struggled with my "main" fic Cadence In A Minor, so I decided to indulge myself with some second-rate foalcon. (Omg, spoilers, as if the mature/sex tags with tree fillies didn't give it up already.

Edited by CarcinoGeneticist and pre-read by Chuck Finley and Scytho, because my usual pre-readers and editors are total prudes.