Dedicated to my friend, Midnight. This one's for you. May you find your light in these dark days.

~No longer headcanon as of season 9, episode 12. This means Scootaloo's parents in this fic and her parents shown in that episode are not the same ponies. This is an AU, hence the tag.~

*This story has a happy ending, so please don't downvote before reading the full thing.*

Dreadwing is a magical creature who feeds from the energy of foals who have yet to earn their cutie mark. After finishing with his previous host he moves on to Scootaloo, a young pegasus who can't fly. As usual, he absorbs the intense emotions present in the mind of the filly. Unlike all the other foals he's seen, however, the strongest thing he can feel in her mind isn't happiness, excitement, or anything vaguely positive. It's despair.

This cruel being who knew nothing but stealing joy from young foals for the millennium he's been alive looks into why Scootaloo is so unhappy for such a young filly. It just so happens that ponies have a darker side than even he had ever witnessed, and despite being what he was, he realized there were monsters out there worse than he.

TW: mild language, domestic abuse, depression, self harm