Finding Scootaloo

"Hey squirt!"

There was a loud crash from upstairs, a filly's voice calling, "Coming!", followed by another crash and then an orange and magenta ball tumbled down the stairs and hit the far wall, uncurling to reveal a small Pegasus filly by the name of Scootaloo. She groaned loudly as her violet eyes spun around in their sockets, following the stars in her vision.

Rainbow Dash, the Pegasus who had called her, gasped and was at her side in a flash. "Y'ok squirt?" She asked worriedly, helping the filly to her hooves. She gave her a quick medical scan, if patting her down with her hooves could be called a medical scan, before breathing a sigh of relief.

Scootaloo chuckled and rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly. "S-Sorry Rainbow Dash..." She offered, smiling sheepishly up at her big sister.

Rainbow smiled softly and ruffled the filly's mane. "As long as you're not hurt. Anyways, I just got back from my thing with Rarity. She's having a sleepover at the Boutique; you me, Applejack and Apple Bloom are invited. Applejack and Apple Bloom already said they could go, and I told Rarity that we were going. So-" She was cut off when the excited filly tackled her and knocked her to the floor, hugging her and squealing happily.

Scootaloo beamed down at Rainbow. "Oh thank you Rainbow Dash! Thank you, thank you!" She squealed, she was about to pull away, before two powerful hooves pulled her down and she found herself pinned to the floor.

Rainbow grinned wickedly into her little sister's eyes. "Oh, so you're gonna tackle the Dash, eh? It's on!" She exclaimed, before taking her hooves to Scootaloo's furry belly and starting her tickling assault.

Scootaloo started laughing as Rainbow tickled her, little legs flailing as she tried to throw her off. "N-NO! S-S-STOP! I CAN'T T-TAKE IT!" She shrieked desperately, tears of mirth streaming down her cheeks.

Dash scooped the filly up and spun her around, laughing as she did. She set her down after a minute and wiped her eyes with a hoof, still giggling quietly. "Alright Scoots, go back a bag for yourself. I'll wait by the door." She told her, ushering her up the stairs and trotting over to the door to wait.

A few minutes later, the overexcited filly shot down the stairs and towards her big sister, eyes shining brightly as a pair of saddlebags hung from her sides. She hopped onto the blue back and then they were in the sky, heading towards Carousel Boutique.

"Nothing like a bottle of Sweet Apple Cider..."

Applejack chuckled as Rainbow downed another bottle. "Thank Celestia that ain't the hard stuff, or we'd have a very, very drunk Pegasus on our hooves." She teased, eliciting a glare from her spectrum haired friend.

Rainbow rolled her eyes. "Stuff it AJ, it's not my fault this stuff is do freaking awesome." She replied moodily, placing the bottle to her lips to get any more of the delicious drink.

The Earth Pony laughed at that. "Thank ya kindly RD." She replied, still chuckling lightly as she brought her own bottle to her lips, taking a swig of the sweet drink.

Rarity flared her horn and brought her glass of red wine over to herself, taking a tiny sip as she regarded her two friends with a slightly annoyed look. "Ladies, please. The fillies are trying to sleep in the other room, and it will be a wonder if they can sleep with all the noise you two are making." She shushed, pulling her glass away from her face.

Applejack rolled her eyes. "Well what are we supposed ta do, huh? Share stories?" She asked sarcastically.

"Why, that's a splendid idea!"

Applejack very nearly dropped her bottle. "Rares, ah was bein' sarcastic." She clarified, staring at the alabaster Unicorn with a look that said 'you've gone crazy'.

Rarity didn't seem to hear her. "Rainbow Dash, you go first!" She said, looking over at the spectrum haired Pegasus with gleaming sapphire eyes.

While Applejack quietly muttered 'oh buck me' under her breath, Rainbow shied away from Rarity's slightly creepy gaze. "I don't have any sappy stories, you guys know this." She replied slowly, trying to force as much distaste into her words as possible.

Applejack decided that this would be a very good time to be unhelpful. "Why don't ya tell the story of how ya adopted Scootaloo?" She offered, snickering as Rainbow turned a pair of magenta death orbs on her.

Rarity nodded. "I don't believe I've heard this story. Do tell!" She encouraged, tapping her hooves together in giddy excitement.

Rainbow sighed, promising herself that Applejack was gonna wake up with her mane dyed the brightest shade of pink possible. "Well it went a bit like this...

Fluttershy came to my house at like, three in the morning freaking out about something at Applejack's..."

Rainbow Dash opened the door, mane tangled and eyes full of groggy annoyance. "It's three in the bucking morning what do you- Flutters?" Her eyes cleared slightly at the sight of her oldest friend.

Fluttershy had a certain urgency in her gaze that made Rainbow snap to full alertness. "Applejack told me she saw somepony in the orchard, and she brought me in case it was a hurt animal. Listen, I don't have time to explain, but you need to come with me right now!" Even though her voice was soft, she was using her authoritative voice which meant that something was very, very wrong.

Rainbow's wings snapped open as her eyes fully focused. "Ok, lets go." She took to the air and her canary coated friend soon followed, struggling to keep up. Rainbow noticed that she was flying much faster than normal, only making her increasingly nervous. "What's in the orchard?" She called.

Fluttershy gave Rainbow a look that was a cross between sadness and determination. "Scootaloo!" She called back.

"When I heard that Scoots was in trouble, I put it into overdrive and nearly made another Sonic Rainboom! It was so awesome!" Rainbow boasted, beaming brightly as she remembered how fast she'd gone.

Applejack raised an eyebrow. "Sounds great sugarcube, but would ya mind gettin' back ta the story?" She asked, waving her hoof for emphasis.

Rainbow groaned. "Oh, alright. Anyways..."

Rainbow's eyes widened, before they hardened and she turned back. She wound one foreleg back before surging forwards with as much speed as she could muster, nearly breaking the sound barrier in the process. The wind tore through her mane viciously and forced tears from her eyes, but she didn't slow until she saw the familiar apple trees on the ground. She pointed her hooves down and the rest of her body followed, sending her hurtling towards the ground.

Applejack ran outside, two lanterns in her mouth, when she saw the rainbow streak in the sky. She hurried towards Rainbow Dash, who was steaming slightly and her hooves were digging into the cracked ground from the force of the impact. "Rainbow! Ah-"

Dash cut her off by getting in her face, pressing their noses together. "Where is she?" She demanded.

Applejack passed Rainbow a lantern. "Just follow me." She told her, rapping on her lantern to get the fireflies to light up. When her Pegasus friend did the same, she took off running past her and into the darkness of the orchard, the lantern lighting the path.

Rainbow flew slightly above her, wings beating as she looked around. She held the lantern in her hoof, eyes scanning the ground ahead and trying to see into the darkness. "Scootaloo! Scoots, can you hear me?" She called.

"RD, over here!"

Rainbow did a sharp turn and followed Applejack. She heard a surprised gasp, and she stopped dead at the sight before them. There was blood on the ground, reflecting the silvery moonlight that poured down and speckled the ground through the leaves. There were bloody hoofprints leading away from the puddle.

But no Scootaloo.

Rarity gasped dramatically. "Oh, the poor dear!" She exclaimed, hooves flying to her mouth.

Rainbow glared at her. "I was getting to the good part! Now all the tension is gone..." She huffed, her head flopping onto the couch she was sitting on.

Applejack chuckled. "Alright Rainbow, keep goin'." She told her.

Rainbow lifted her head, a smirk appearing on her face.

"Like I was saying, Scootaloo was gone. As you can imagine, I instantly took charge of the situation..."

Applejack skidded to a halt, eyes wide. "Ah... She was right here!" She exclaimed, turning to look at Rainbow with worried eyes, "Ah sent Fluttershy ta get ya because ah needed ya ta help with her wings in case they were hurt! Ah didn't wanna move her, so ah made sure ah knew where she was and went ta get the lanterns and-"

"YOU DID WHAT!?"

The explosion that was Rainbow's voice made Applejack stumble away from the suddenly infuriated Pegasus, ears slammed flat against her skull. She watched with terrified eyes as Rainbow approached, towering over her with fire in her eyes.

To say that Rainbow Dash was mad was an understatement. She was beside herself with fury at this point, it took all of her willpower not to whip her hoof across Applejack's face. "SCOOTALOO WAS LYING IN A POOL OF HER OWN BLOOD AND YOU LEFT HER ALONE!? IN THE MIDDLE OF AN ORCHARD!? WHAT IF A TIMBERWOLF GOT HER!? WHAT IF SOME ANIMAL JUST CAME AND TOOK HER!? WHAT THE BUCK WERE YOU THINKING!?" She shouted angrily, stomping her hooves as a haze of red covered her vision. She had to scream at herself internally not to shove Applejack to the ground and start beating on her, so great was her anger.

Applejack backed away, sweat trickling from behind her blonde mane. "A-A-Ah'm sorry... Ah-" She was cut off when Rainbow's hoof slammed into the ground and she jumped a bit, not expecting the loud noise. She'd seen Rainbow angry, sure, but never this angry. The Element of Loyalty was snorting like a bull, her eyes practically glowing with pure rage and her entire body trembling as her muscles tightened beneath her skin.

Rainbow felt a low growl building up deep in her throat and she stomped down a few more times, chest heaving as she fought to control herself. She reared herself up on her back legs and brought both forelegs down with a primal roar of fury, driving her hooves into the ground. She then shot into the sky again, wings beating hard as she hovered. She grabbed her lantern from where she'd dropped it on the ground, ignoring the large crack running across the glass surface, and turned to Applejack. "Listen to me and listen to me good AJ. Wait RIGHT HERE and DON'T MOVE. I'm going to find Scootaloo. Got it?" She asked, her voice slow and cold as she continued to shudder with anger.

Applejack nodded. "O-O-Ok." She stuttered back, lifting a hoof in case she had to run. Then Rainbow was above the trees and shooting in the direction of the trail, leaving the trembling Earth Pony alone.

Rainbow was blazing past trees and she looked around frantically for Scootaloo. "SCOOTS! SQUIRT IT'S ME, IT'S RAINBOW DASH! WHERE ARE YOU?" She called, diving lower to the trees and getting as close as possible without the risk of crashing into the foliage.

Then the light passed over something orange.

Dash's wings snapped outwards as she flared them, stopping her so suddenly that she was sure that the feathery appendages would just tear right off and let her plummet to the ground. She turned back and flew more slowly over to the spot, nearly crying out in shock when she saw it.

Scootaloo.

Rainbow dove down and landed next to the fallen filly and gasped at the sight of her. She was unconscious, blood trickling into the grass around her. The wing facing Rainbow was mangled, something had clearly tried to tear it apart. Judging by the way ground was slowly trickling from underneath her, she could guess that the other one was the same way. Her eyes widened at the sight and all of her previous rage melted into concern for the young filly. "Aw geez squirt..." She breathed, gently getting her hooves underneath the small filly.

Scootaloo cried out in pain and whipped around to stare at Rainbow with wide, terrified eyes, her little chest heaving. "DON'T HURT ME ANYMORE! PLEASE!" She shrieked desperately, tears spilling from her eyes as she started pummelling Rainbow's chest with her hooves, trying to get away in blind panic.

Rainbow pulled Scootaloo away and held the struggling Pegasus in the air, keeping careful not to put her hooves on her damaged wings. "Scoots! Scoots it's Rainbow Dash! Calm down!" She begged. One of Scootaloo's flailing back hooves connected with her nose and she cried out in pain, nearly dropping the filly in complete shock.

Scootaloo seemed to register this and her struggling ceased when she was pulled against something warm. She looked up to see Rainbow Dash looking down at her, one forehoof pressed against her now bleeding nose as she regarded her with a look that was a mixture of pain and relief.

Rainbow smiled down at the filly, ignoring her watering eyes. "Ya with me squirt?" She asked carefully.

Scootaloo instantly started bawling and wrapped her hooves around Rainbow's neck, sobbing into her columbia blue coat. "R-Rainbow Dash! It was s-s-s-so awful!" She wailed.

Dash was started by this but nonetheless wrapped her other foreleg around Scootaloo, stroking between her injured wings soothingly and wincing as she felt blood start to smear on her already bloodied hoof. "I-It's ok Scoots... Tell Dash what's wrong..." She whispered soothingly.

Scootaloo pulled away a bit and looked up into her idol's eyes with her own big watery orbs. "M-My dad... H-He always tells me that I'm n-n-never gonna get t-to do anything in l-life because I'm too u-u-u-u-useless..." She started, her voice shaking as she looked down, as if ashamed.

Rainbow felt that familiar spark of rage flicker to life in her belly. "He does what? How could he say that to you?" She demanded, struggling to keep the anger out of her voice.

Scootaloo tried wiping the tears away, but they refused to stop. "T-T-Today he... He was d-drinking a l-lot... He always drinks this really n-n-n-nasty stuff, and h-he always gets w-w-worse when he drinks it... He... He c-came into my room and started y-y-yelling at me and I-I tried to run but he... He hit me! R-Right across the face a-and then he did it a-again and again and again and then he did it so h-h-hard that I-I fell through the w-window in my room and cut up my w-wings... I-I grabbed my scooter and I r-ran away and I-I c-c-crashed because my wing hurt t-too much and then I-I passed o-o-out! H-He wouldn't stop hurting me! No matter how m-m-much I begged and c-cried he kept on hitting me! IT HURT SO BAD!" She shrieked hysterically, her tears flowing fast down her cheeks as she started shaking and her chest heaved as she sobbed.

Rainbow held her surrogate little sister close to her chest and rocked her gently, letting her cry against her. While she maintained a calm exterior, on the inside she was burning hotter than the very fires of Tartarus itself. She took to the skies gently, waiting until Scootaloo cried herself unconscious before speeding up. The tender look on her face slowly turned into an expression of white hot fury, showing her readiness to tear Scoots's father limb from limb if she had to.

She dove down and landed on her hindlegs next to Applejack. Before her friend could say a word, she cut her off. "Take her inside and let Fluttershy take care of her. She might freak out when she wakes up, so make sure that you're careful. I'm gonna go pay a visit to somepony." She told her quickly, setting Scootaloo down on her back.

Applejack raised an eyebrow. "And who could be more important than Scootaloo?" She demanded, slightly angrily.

Rainbow looked over her shoulder and gave the farm pony a cold look. "I'm going to the creep who did this." She spat the words like venom in her mouth/

"And who would that be?"

Rainbow looked straight ahead, grinding her teeth so that she wouldn't scream the next words in a trance of fury.

"Her son of a bitch father."

And then she was gone in a rainbow flash.

Rarity stared at Rainbow in shock. "Well I knew after you adopted her that she was being abused, but whatever did you do to him?" She asked.

Rainbow gave Rarity a sinister smile. "He tasted the rainbow. Then I personally handed him to the Royal Guards." She told her simply.

"What do you mean he-"

"I snuck up on the motherbucker while he was asleep and I pounded the living daylights outta him."

What Applejack and Rainbow Dash both expected to hear; "Oh honestly Rainbow Dash, that might be going a bit far."

But Rarity managed to surprise both of them.

"I wouldn't expect anything less."

Both mares stared at her with slightly wide eyes, before laughing.

Rarity turned and glared at them. "Oh honestly how can you two be laughing? Rainbow Dash, would you kindly finish the story?" She asked, her voice snapping slightly with annoyance.

Rainbow wiped a tear from her eye as she continued to giggle. "Well there's not really much else to tell. Scoots was about to be sent to an orphanage, and I stepped up and said that I was gonna adopt her. Filled out the papers, brought all her stuff up here and now here we are." She explained.

Rarity smiled. "It's so nice that you have your own little sister now Rainbow Dash. All Scootaloo talks about these days is you, and more than normal! She continuously tells us all of how much of a difference you've made in her life, now that she's away from the abusive stallion." She complimented warmly.

Applejack nodded. "Darn tootin'! Poor AB's had ta deal with her talkin' non-stop about how awesome her new big sister is. But if ya ask me, ah'm darn, no, damn proud of ya." She agreed.

Rainbow blushed a bit. "Quit the sappy stuff, would ya? I'm gonna need your hard cider if this keeps us AJ." She teased.

All three mares broke into loud laughter.

It was completely dark. Each and every room in Carousel Boutique was cloaked in blackness, only broken by the occasional window and the moonlight pouring in through it.

Sweetie Belle's ear twitched when she heard a faint rustling beside her and something soft tickled her side. Feathers? Scootaloo? She thought groggily, lifting her head up. She yawned widely and opened her eyes, turning to look at Scootaloo. "Scoots, quit-" She cut off when she saw the figure.

The wing retracted from her as the Pegasus clamped a hoof over Scootaloo's mouth. Scootaloo was struggling as tears poured from her eyes, her cries muffled by the hoof over her mouth. She looked at Sweetie with wide, terrified eyes before the figure turned to face her. She heard a startled gasp, before the Pegasus turned and shot through the window, breaking right through the glass as she took Scootaloo with her.

Just for a brief moment, the moonlight showed a rainbow mane.

Sweetie Belle sat there for a moment, tears sliding down her cheeks as she tried to process what had just happened.

Then it all clicked inside her head.

It was a peaceful night in Ponyville. Stars twinkling overhead, the deep blue and purple of Luna's beautiful night and the full moon shining brightly over the small town. Everypony was tucked safely in bed, Luna watching over their dreams as they awaited the next day.

Then a Pegasus soared over the town, carrying what looked like a filly.

Then the shrill shriek of a filly pierced the calm night air.