Getting Ready

The next two days passed by painfully slow, and all the while dark grey clouds loomed overhead. Ponyville as a whole had learned about Scootaloo's predicament, and offered their support. They all knew the filly, and didn't like to see any of their neighbors suffer this way. Cheerilee told them if they wanted to help, try to comfort her during the trial. They all agreed unanimously, and were told where they would be needed. Nurse Redheart was especially eager to help, and even had a bag full of different sweets. Cheerilee was surprised, and happy, to see how everypony seemed eager to help. Filthy Rich had even dragged his daughter, Diamond Tiara, and her friend Silver Spoon, into the fray. Cheerilee always looked at Silver and saw a filly who just followed Diamond for a friend, and she empathized with the filly. Cheerilee had taken law classes, so she would know what to do, and Twilight had hired a lawyer, Legal Rebut. And of Course, Pinkie Pie was planning a surprise party for everypony once Fancy Pants was locked up. Rarity had seemed rather shocked to hear that he was the pony that was doing this, but quickly regained her composure, and walked off to "design that little filly a magnificent dress unlike any other" and to absorb the information.

Thursday finally came, and everypony in town was tense. Dark clouds hung over Equestria, and rain started to make it's presence known. They all met at the center of town, wearing all of their best clothes. They all knew this filly as their own, and would do anything for her. They all looked after each other as family in Ponyville, and they all helped where they could. Scootaloo was the fast paced, hard headed filly, and everypony was in awe of her scooter abilities. After a few minutes of idling, Mayor Mare stepped onto the platform, along with Twilight, Rainbow Dash, and Cheerilee. Everypony in the crowd hushed, and the mayor began.

"Citizens of Ponyville, one of our own needs our help. We all know the filly Scootaloo, her optimistic, go-getter attitude. Well, she has been through torment for years, and just a week ago, light was shed on her situation. Her father has been beating and abusing her for years, and now, she's going to fight back. But she'll need us, not only to comfort her, but to be there for her. Thanks to our school teacher, Miss Cheerilee, had learned about the ordeal, and immediately moved to help the filly. She gathered some evidence against him, and caught him in the act of forcing intercourse upon his own daughter." Cries of outrage floated up from the crowd, and the Mayor had several ponies calm them down. "Please, let me finish. He has not only done this, but his name was a respected name throughout Equestria. Her father is Fancy Pants, in Canterlot. But in addition to sexual abuse, he physically abused her as well. So much so that several places, bones in the filly's body were broken, especially the ribs, hips and wings. This is why we must be there at the trial, and support her any way we can." The crowd stomped their hooves unanimously, Mayor Mare nodded, and Miss Cheerilee stepped up to the stand.

"Hello, everypony. My job as a school teacher has made me very close to your children. I know every one of them as much as they let me in, and they know me. Anypony who knows me also knows that I'd do anything for my students." She started pacing the stage. "My soul tears apart, every time I see a foal abused, or abandoned, and I've known Scootaloo for a long while. So when she lashed out at a classmate, Diamond Tiara, I pulled her aside to find out why. Then I saw her body. Lacerations and bruises, mostly on the neck, were made visible. At that moment, I wanted to destroy whoever did that to her. I hunted everywhere I could, and finally identified him. It surprised me, but filled me with unspeakable rage. It took a few days, but we finally got enough evidence against her father. Tomorrow is the trial, and Princess Twilight Sparkle and myself have bought everypony's train tickets. The court will be held in Canterlot Castle, one of the rooms there has been remodeled for instances such as this. And Princess Twilight," Everypony stomped their hooves for their local Princess, and Twilight couldn't suppress a blush. "has helped immensely at putting Scootaloo's case together. I want everypony to show her a big round of applause."

At this, the crowd went ecstatic. The roar of the crowd suppressed even the growling thunder overhead. Twilight's blush was so red that Big Mac looked pink in comparison. She waved, then pulled Cheerilee aside. "Look, we need to get going if we're going to get there. It's two in the evening, and it takes a while to get there, as I'm sure you are aware of."

"Yes, very much so. The time it took me to travel there I could have finished an entire Daring Do book." They chuckled at this, remembering Rainbow Dash's obsession with the series. A while later, everypony was at the train station, and once they all boarded, they were off. They tried to get some sleep, especially Scootaloo, but sleep eluded them. The entire ride passed painfully slow, and all the while the rain never stopped. Cheerilee looked out the window, and anypony who looked at her could see how perturbed she was. Looking up into the night sky, she prayed to Celestia that everything turned out okay in the end.

They all finally arrived in Canterlot, and made their way to a hotel, which Twilight had so kindly reserved. They got very little sleep, and what they did get was fitful and erratic. The next day was the trial, and they weren't getting any sleep tonight with that on their minds. The light from the sun, hidden behind the clouds, woke them up, and a chilly wind nipped at them, as they made their way towards the castle. The court would start in an hour, and they could not be late.

Author's Note

Okay, next up is the trial, what will happen?

(I love building suspense, or at least as much as I can.)

I hope you lovely people are enjoying, and I also hope that this makes up for my rubbish little short stories of the past. Probably not, but anyway, read on to find out what happens. ;3