The Scooter Thief

by Matthew Penn

Rating: teen
Tags: Scootaloo, Drama, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Other, Cutie Mark Crusaders
Length: 3061

Scootaloo is pushed over the edge when her favorite scooter is stolen.

It began as a normal day as always, until somepony thought it was a good idea to steal Scootaloo's scooter when she was out to get ice cream. When she is enraged by this treacherous ordeal, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle decide to help her find it. But can Scootaloo keep her anger in check?

Published 2014-03-15 21:00:04 UTC
Last updated 2014-03-15 21:00:04 UTC

The Scooter Thief

I turn my back for one second, and it’s gone! My scooter, the only thing important in my life, somepony has stolen it! I just went to get ice cream, and somepony stupid enough had the nerve to take it from me! They’re going to pay!

The moment I realized it was gone, I dropped my ice cream cone. They could have gone anywhere by now. I ask everypony around me if they saw who took my scooter, but nopony saw anything. I can’t believe this was happening to me, why would anypony steal my scooter? I try to fly, but my wings are too small - I can only lift myself a few inches from the ground. Why I try to flap them, they sound like buzzing bees. The only thing I can do now is run to my friends. I kept running and running, while at the same time thinking about who would have taken my scooter.

I ran all the way out of Ponyville, and I find myself at Sweet Apple Acres. I ran like a cheetah right up the path led me to the Apple’s house. I think somepony said hi to me, but I didn’t listen to them. I stop at the front door and knocked like a crazy pony. Finally somepony answered the door.

“Hey Scootaloo, what’s up?” Apple Bloom asked me. I can’t think of anything to say, so I started to cry. “Scootaloo, are you okay? What’s wrong?” I tried to say that my scooter was stolen, but I was crying so much I couldn’t get the words out of my mouth, So Apple Bloom took me inside the house. “Scootaloo, please speak to me,” she pleaded, “I can’t help you if you don’t tell me what’s wrong.”

“What’s all the commotion about?” I heard Applejack ask. “Apple Bloom, what’s wrong with Scootaloo? Why is she crying?”

“I don’t know, she won’t tell me,” she answered. I force myself to stop crying and make the words I wanted to say come out, but I was still heartbroken that I couldn’t form words. I managed to get two words out and they were, “My… scooter.”

“Your scooter? What about it?” Apple Bloom asked. Applejack gave me a box of tissues and I wipe my face clean of tears and snot. Then I say softly, “Somepony stoled it.” Both Applejack and Apple Bloom gasped in horror, but I remained inexpressive, with tears still in raining down from my eyes.

“That ain’t right!” yelled Applejack. “What kind of low-life pony would do such a thing to a little filly?”

“Did you see who stoled it?” Apple Bloom asked.

“I don’t know,” I said. “I went to get ice cream from the ice cream shop, and when I came out it was gone.”

“That’s terrible,” Apple Bloom said, “you had that scooter since forever.”

She’s right, I have always had that scooter ever since I could remember. It was a gift from my mom and dad, before they died and I was sent to the orphanage. It took me to all the places I wanted to go, whether it was school or at a friend’s house. It meant the world to me, and I cherished it like it was precious gold. I took another piece of tissue and blew my nose into it.

“What are ya going to do, Scootaloo?” Applejack asked.

“... I don’t know,” was all I could say.

“Don’t worry Scootaloo, I’ll help you find it,” Apple Bloom said, “me and Sweetie Belle.”

“You will?”

“You bet we will! If anypony mess with one of us, they mess with all of us!”

Later that day Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and I gathered for an emergency meeting at the clubhouse. Applejack said that she will alert Rainbow Dash that my scooter was stolen. I know my friends will come through for me, but I hope Rainbow Dash finds that stupid pony who stole the only memory I have left of my parents! I hope she finds whoever it was who stole my prized possession and teach them a lesson they won’t forget! Me and Sweetie Belle sat on chairs while Apple Bloom stood on our small podium. She banged a gavel she made herself and began to speak.

“Cutie Mark Crusaders, as ya’ll know, we are in a state of emergency. Today, somepony had stolen Scootaloo’s scooter.”

“Oh no!” Sweetie Belle cried. I was unresponsive, only lowering my eyes to the wooden floor.

“Indeed. After doing some careful ana… ana… an-a-lysis, I narrowed it down to two possible suspects.” I think we all know which two she was talking about. Just thinking about them made me angry inside. I wish I can get my hooves on them right now!

“I believe that earlier today, for whatever reason, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon stole your scooter while you were getting ice cream,” Apple Bloom said. Of course those two would do something like this to me! They always find ways to make my already miserable life even more miserable! It’s bad enough that they make fun of my wings and the fact that I’m an orphan, but now they want to steal my parent’s last gift?

“Let’s go,” I suddenly say.

“Go? Go where?” asked Sweetie Belle.

“Let’s go find Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon! They gotta have my scooter!”

“Let’s not jump to any conclusions,” suggested Sweetie Belle. “We don’t even know if they actually done it or not.”

My temper grew even more. I jumped out of my chair and slammed my legs on the ground like a bull and yelled, “Of course they’ve done it! You and I both know they love to push me around! Give me a reason why they couldn’t have done it?” I did something I never would have thought I was capable of doing - I frightened my best friends. I saw a scared little filly in Sweetie Belle’s eyes as well as my reflection. The room was dead silent until Apple Bloom spoke up.

“W-well,” she began to stammer, “j-just to be on the safe side, let’s question them first. Besides, we may never know.”

“Then let’s go kick their freaking butts!” I yelled, flapping my wings like a bee ready to sting somepony. A soft white hoof touched my arm, and I turned to Sweetie, who looks even more worried than usual.

“Scootaloo, we don’t want to hurt them,” she said. “It’s terrible that they might have stolen your scooter, but that doesn’t make it right you to do something terrible to them.”

“You don’t understand!” I yelled, snatching my arm away from her. “That scooter is important to me! It’s been mine since I was a little foal!”

“We can always get you a new one,” Sweetie said.

“I can’t replace it… I just can’t.”

“Why?”

“... You wouldn’t understand.” We stayed like that for a while. The pressure and the heated tension was getting to me that I felt like crying again, but I held back my tears. Apple Bloom stepped down from the podium and wrapped her yellow hoof around me. She also nodded to Sweetie Belle to join us. Apple Bloom wiped the incoming tears from my eyes, while searching for meaningful words to say.

“I know you’re angry Scootaloo,” she said softly. “They’ve stolen something that was precious to you, I don’t blame you one bit. But the last thing I want you do is to beat up Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon, it’s wrong.” I feel another hoof touch me, Sweetie’s hoof. “How about we go to Diamond’s house and just ask her a few questions,” Apple Bloom suggested. “If they didn’t do it, we’ll ask other ponies. Deal?”

“... Okay,” I whispered.

The three of us began our long silent walk to Diamond Tiara’s house. I know I promise Apple Bloom that I wouldn’t do anything that would get me in trouble, but Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon make me so angry sometimes that I can’t help thinking about punching both of them square in the jaw. Diamond Tiara thinks she’s better than everypony else because her dad is rich, and she never forgets to remind everypony of that. Silver Spoon is no better - she follows Diamond Tiara around like she’s her stupid little pet! If I find out that they took my scooter, I… I can’t make any promises.

It took us a long time, but we finally made it to Diamond Tiara’s house. This is the second time we’ve ever been here. The first time was when Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and I suddenly became popular because we were friends with Princess Twilight, but that popularity didn’t last long. We were standing in front of a huge gate, with a large mansion in the back of it. We were thinking of ways to let ourselves in until we heard laughter coming from the backyard. We trot to the other side to where the voices were coming from. Now the laughter was getting louder and louder. We can’t see anything because and huge grass wall thing is blocking us.

“Who want’s to go first?” Apple Bloom asks us.

“I will!” I said. I jump into the hedge and I force myself through! I think about what I’m going to do to Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon when I find out if they have my scooter with them. They’re going to wish they hadn’t done something stupid like that. I enter the backyard, and I see two evil fillies in the swimming pool, probably laughing about how airheaded they are.

“Hey!” I yelled. That got their attention.

“Scootaloo? What are you doing here?” Diamond Tiara asked me. “You don’t belong here!”

“I’ll go if you gimme my scooter back!” I yelled again.

“What scooter?” Silver Spoon asked.

“Don’t lie to me! I know you have my scooter! Give it back!”

“We don’t have your stupid scooter!” Diamond yelled back. I just wanted to go over there and hit them both! I feel my body temperature increasing, and I start walking toward them. Once they see the fire in my eyes, they’ll start talking!

“Scootaloo, don’t!” Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom both appeared from the other side of the hedge, with Apple Bloom running next to me. It’s going to take more than her to hold me back.

“I thought we told you guys to go away!” said Diamond Tiara.

“Diamond, we just want to talk,” said Apple Bloom. “We want to know what happened to Scootaloo’s scooter.”

“I told her I don’t have her stupid scooter!”

“Give it back!” I yelled.

“Why do you think I have that ratty thing?” I almost charge at her when Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle pushed me back. I don’t know what’s happening to me, but the more Diamond Tiara talked, the more I became angrier and angrier. I want to do something so bad to her.

“Scootaloo, stop it!” screamed Apple Bloom. “This isn’t how we solve things!”

“I don’t care! They deserve it! They deserve every bad thing that happens to them!”

“Jeez, control your rabid dog!” Diamond Tiara yelled. There was slight change in her voice. This time, it was fear instead of spite.

“Let me go!” I kept screaming, and I escape from Apple Bloom and Sweetie’s grip. I jump in the pool and swim toward Diamond Tiara. She screams and jumps out of the pool, but I swim like a torpedo that was launched from a submarine. I emerge from the other side and I corner that pink brat! I start acting like a bull that just saw the color red.

“Leave me alone!” she screamed.

“Why should I leave you alone?” I ask in anger. “You never leave me alone! You always say mean things to me, you torture me every single day, and you insult my dead parents!”

“I never said anything about your parents!” she screamed.

“Yes you have! You do it all the time! And to make matters worse, you stole the only thing I have left from them! If you don’t tell me where it is in the next five seconds, you’re going to lose some teeth of your’s!”

“I don’t know where it is!” She screamed desperately.

“Five…”

“Scootaloo please!”

“Four…”

“Stop!”

“Three…”

“Stop it!”

“Two…”

I raise my hoof over her scared little face. I’ve been waiting for this moment my whole life.

“... One!”

“NO!”

Something pushed me to the ground. I look up and it’s an furious looking Apple Bloom. I struggle to get up but she pins me to the concrete. We stare down each other for what feels like an eternity. She continues to tightly pin my body to the solid ground to the point where my arms are immovable. As we stared angrily at each other, I see something that I never expect to see. I see a single tear roll down Apple Bloom’s glaring eye. I see another tear escape from her eye, until her yellow face is drenched with sorrow. I stop struggling. She loosens her grip, and I slowly get back on all fours. Behind me, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon huddle together, with Diamond Tiara softly crying on Silver Spoon’s chest. Sweetie Belle trots next to us, giving us facial expressions that told us to get out here. The three of us leave in silence. Nothing was accomplished.

We force ourselves through the hedge and we emerge on the other side. We ran as far away from the mansion as possible and into a secluded area where nopony was around. Once we stopped running, it was time for Apple Bloom to confront me.

“What was that?” she asked accusingly. “I thought you promised you wouldn’t do anything like that!” There was no point in arguing with her. I let her scream at me some more, while I slump on the ground. “You know you could have seriously hurt Diamond Tiara? I know we don’t like her, but shouldn’t do things like that, Scootaloo! It makes you no better than they are! You should be ashamed of yourself!” Behind Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle was sitting by herself, with her hooves covering her eyes, softly crying. “Are you listening to me, Scootaloo?” she screamed. I can hear her voice crack. “You could’ve gotten yourself into some real trouble!” I can’t bring myself to look her in the eye, but I know that she is starting to cry. Apple Bloom and I are dead silent, while Sweetie continued to cry. I lift my head up and Apple Bloom is still glaring at me with her tear-stained eyes.

“... I’m sorry,” I finally spoke.

“Tell that to Diamond Tiara! You should be saying sorry to her!”

I sit on the ground, thinking about what happened today. I screwed up everything. Not only did I emotionally scarred a little filly, I’m still not close to finding my scooter. I don’t think I’m ever going to find it. I feel a lump forming on my throat, and my eyes are becoming moist. I let all my emotions in one wail. Apple Bloom wraps her hooves around me, and pull me close to her.

“I know you’re sorry,” she whispers.

We decided that the scooter is gone forever, so we went back home. We had our heads down the entire walk back to headquarters. I pass the ice cream shop where it all began. I wish I never been in there. If I hadn’t decided to stop and get ice cream, none of this would have happened. While we were walking, my thoughts turn to my parents. I wonder what they thought of all this. I wonder if they saw me threatening a filly. Worst of all, I wonder if they are disappointed in me. I bet they are. I bet if they were here right now, they’ll probably scold me and tell me that’s not the way we raised you.

“Scootaloo!” We stopped walking when the voice called me. It came from the sky. It was Rainbow Dash. She waved to us and flew down for a soft landing. “Hey guys, why the long faces?”

“We tried to find Scootaloo’s scooter,” said Sweetie, “but… but we haven’t found anything.”

“About that,” Rainbow said, “I have good news. I found your scooter, Scootaloo.”

“You did?” I asked. I grew anxious. “Where?”

“Well…” Rainbow didn’t sound too sure. I saw she was carrying a huge sack on her back. I don’t like where this is going. She laid the sack on the ground and opened it up. I looked inside, and there it was, my scooter. It was in pieces. I didn’t want to believe it, but it was there, plain as black and white.

“Wh-who did this?” I asked, my voice beginning to shake.

“I don’t know. It could’ve been some punks. When Applejack told me your scooter was stolen, I was so angry that I went out to search for it. I was flying around the woods and I saw your scooter there, but it was torn to pieces, and I don’t know who did it. I’m sorry, Scoots.”

All I can do now was stand there and stare at the sack. I can’t believe somepony would do this. Why? I love that scooter more than anything in the world, and now it’s destroyed. I fall on my flank and begin to cry. Rainbow sits next to me and gives a hug.

“I’m sorry this happened, Scootaloo,” Rainbow said. “Believed me, if I ever find out who did this, I’m going to teach them a serious lesson about stealing from kids.”

“No…”

“No? Why not?”

“... I don’t want you to hurt anypony.”
We let go of each other, and Rainbow’s blue hoof wiped the tears from my eyes. Her glowing smile makes me feel a little better, but I’m still upset about my scooter. Rainbow then turned to Apple Bloom and Sweetie and asked, “You two okay?” They nodded yes.

“Come on, guys. Let’s get something to eat,” Rainbow said. “On me.”

Author's Note

I changed the formatting for those who favorited it when it was first published so it would easier to read. Sorry, I didn't know what I was thinking about when I wrote it like I did.