***Manehatten***
The little colt could hear the sound of his own breath coming through his nose as he stared in the darkness of his blindfold. His hooves shaking in the leather straps that was keeping him bound to the hard, wooden chair. Suddenly he let out a sharp muffled grunt as he heard a loud banging noise coming from the direction of the door. His heart was pounding. Despite having been tied up regularly he was still terrified. He had no idea where his so called step father or as he liked to be reffered to as “master”. There was a second banging noise followed by the words “POLICE, OPEN UP”
My heart stopped. Master had always told him that the police were bad ponies and that they would take him and eat him. He silently prayed that they would leave. He struggled against the leather straps that was keeping him strapped down. Then he heard the sound of the door being smashed in.
“Mmmmmmph!” He screamed through the large, rubber, red ballgag as tears started to leak from his blindfolded eyes.
He heard a gasping sound followed by “Oh My Celestia, who did this!”
All of a sudden he was blinded by a bright light as his blindfold was wrenched of. Gaining his bearings he could see that the Police stallions were trying the pull at his bonds. One of them was talking into a black thing that was strapped to his chest “This is unit 248, I need EMS, Detectives and FPS for a foalnapping”
The second officer pulled out a sharp, knife which made the colts eyes turn to pinpricks as he screamed “mmmmmmph! mmmmmmph!” While shaking his head wildly.
The officer said in a soothing tone “hey, hey, im not going to hurt you”. He then looked to the back of my head and shouted to his partner “look for a key!” Before lightly tugging at his bindings, he then began to saw at the leather with his knife a process that was made difficult by the colts shaking.
“I need you to keep still ok. I don’t want to cut you. Can you do that for me?”
“Mmph” he replied weakly before finally reluctantly nodded. He scrunched his eyes close in concentration and trying to quell his fear.
Slowly but surely he had managed to cut him loose. The other officer came back in saying “I couldn’t find the key but i found a bunch of what appears to be torture devices “ the officer who had freed the colt gritted his teeth in anger.
All of a sudden the sounds of sirens started ti fill the air along with the screeching of cart wheels. Seconds later a grey pegasus dressed in a trench coat and a fedora walked in to the room he identified himself as Detective scope. He was followed by two EMT mares. As the officer who went to look for the key started to explain what happened and that this had originally been a raid on Shadow Vector, a notorious mob boss who was a key figure in pony trafficking rings. The officer also explained that they had no idea that a colt would be here.
One of the EMTs then asked if there was anyway to remove the ballgag as the colt tried tugging at it but it wouldn’t budge.
The officer who had freed the colt then said “without bolt cutters we have to cut it of but it could risk cutting his face. The EMT said that hed rather deal with a cut than potentially have the colt suffocate because his airway was blocked.
The officer turned to the colt and told him “Im gonna need to keep your head extremely still, ok?”
The colt started to nod before quickly stopping himself, worried that he was going to get punished for disobeying orders. He clenched his eyes scrunch in preparation for a punch or worse, a whip. However instead of feeling the usual sting of a whip or punch, he felt his gag being slightly tugged before hearing the sound of sawing. He then felt the red ballgag fall out of his open mouth.
Slowly opening and closing his mouth, he felt it move painfully from being kept wide open for a long period of time. “Hello, my name is officer cuffs. Can you tell me your name?”
He was reluctant to give his name but from coaxing from Cuffs he croaked “Skaterloo but master calls me pet” his voice was raspy from lack of use”
“ whose master?” Cuffs said while trying to keep his anger in check.
“My step father” this enraged the young pegasus officer as he thought how a parent could do this to their own foal Step or not. However what Skaterloo said turned Cuffs dark blue fur to deep maroon from anger “ why aren’t you trying to eat me”.
At first this confused him until he added “ Master said that the police hunted foals and cooked them alive” Cuffs eye twitched before he got up and lammed the door which made Skaterloo jump in fright, causing the EMTs to look scornfully at the door which Cuffs had left.
The EMTs had then asked if they could transport Skaterloo to the hospital. Before Detective Scope could give his approval Cuffs walked back into the room saying “the rods have joined the party” he was followed by a blue pegasus who was wearing a black windbreaker with the letters RIS emblazoned on the back and front.
“Special Agent, Void Streak, RIS, Organised Crime Unit” he said while holding out an identification card.
The Royal Investigation Service was Equestria’s most elite law enforcement and investigation agency that was officially owned by the Department of Law Enforcement but answered directly to Princess Celestia herself.
Officer Cuffs merely rolled his eyes “What are you doing here traitor”
Agent streak narrowed his eyes “Im sure that if you were offered a job in the RIS, you would take it” Cuffs merely humphed. Void Streak and Cuffs used to be partners in the MHPD. “Now to answer your question i have been hunting for Shadow Vector since i first joined the RIS. Im here to talk to the kid. he’s the only pony to have direct contact with Shadow and has lived to tell the tale. A tale i want to hear”
Before the officers could continue their conversation the EMTs cut in “ absolutely not. We will be taking this colt to the hospital, if you want to question him then you will need permission from the hospital”
Agent Void Streak did not like this but however before he could say anything. Officer cuffs said “fine” he then turned to his partner and asked “whats the status with FPS?”
His partner replied “They’ll meet us at the hospital.”
Agent Streak then told Cuffs “we’re taking over the investigation.”
Before Cuffs could protest Agent Streak then sighed “I can see how this has affected you, I know that you relate to this kid. I also know you wont tell me even if i asked but I will ket you stay on as an advisor”
He was about to say “How…?”
“Im a rod its my job” he said while starting tk leave the room. However before ultimately leaving he turned and added “but know this if you get in the way of my investigation, I will personally make sure that you get arrested for obstructing a royal investigation”…
Author's Note
Rod is another word for Royal Agent or Royal Guard similar to Fed being another word for Federal agent
***Ponyville***
Rainbow Dash was in the kitchen making breakfast for herself and Scootaloo, she was in the process of flipping the pancake when Scootaloo walked into the room, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.
Rainbow Dash said “look at what the cat dragged out of bed” however while she said this the pancake she was flipping missed the pan and instead landed on Rainbow’s head.
This made Scootaloo giggle. “You’re going to need to start going to bed early and getting back into a routine, you start school in a week”
“Awww but I hate school” Scootaloo whined.
“Why, you get to see your friends”
“I don’t just get to see Applebloom and Sweetie Belle but i also have to see Diamond Tiara” she spat that last name out.
Before they could continue with their argument however there was a knock at her door. Rainbow gave a confused expression “thats odd I'm not expecting anyone” she whispered to herself.
She answered the door and immediately recognised the Unicorn mare as Golden Heart. She was an FPS worker who helped Rainbow Dash to adopt Scootaloo.
“Is something wrong, i wasn’t expecting a visit” Dash asked worriedly concerned that she might have done something wrong that could lead to Scootaloo getting removed.
“I have some surprising news that i need to tell you and Scootaloo, can I come in?” She asked.
Rainbow nodded and led her into the living room where she called for Scootaloo. After sitting down Golden heart said “Scootaloo has a twin brother” this made both their jaws drop.
“How I thought Scootaloo was an only child.” Rainbow said shocked. Scootaloo didn’t say anything and looked as if she was trying to digest what she had just heard.
Golden Heart started to explain “ His name is Skaterloo and he was adopted when both of you were toddlers. At first the couple who had adopted him seemed like a happy couple that wanted to start a family. That was until very recently when police officers raided his home, where they found poor Skaterloo bound, blindfolded and gagged. There were signs that he was being abused for most of his life. The cops believe he had only adopted Skaterloo for the foster care payments”
After hearing this Rainbow Dash shooked to the core “How could anyone do this to a little colt” she said while looking at Scootaloo trying to not imagine Scootaloo being in the same situation as her brother. She then asked “how could this have happened”
“ we don't know for sure but the rods think that he used a mixture of outright lying and bribery” she replied sadly.
Whats going to happen to him” Scootaloo suddenly spoke up.
“Thats another reason why I came round. There are two options here. Either you can adopt him yourself or he’ll have to go back into the foster system or be sent to an orphanage.”
Rainbow Dash thought about it. on one hoof the price of taking care of another foal could put a financial strain especially if Skaterloo has long lasting trauma from the years of abuse he suffered which could lead him to special needs which could become expensive. While on the other hoof it would make Scootaloo happy to have a brother to play with and she just couldn’t leave a helpless foal to potentially get abused by a different foster parent.
“If i wanted to adopt him what would happen?”
“Because youve already adopted Scootaloo then the process will be much quicker, you wont have to do an interview, we’ll still have to do an inspection after we just need to sign the papers. Of course you would get higher financial support. However i must warn you that if you were to adopt him; he will have alot of trauma to contend with and he may have to see therapy”
“Are we able to visit him?” Scootaloo asked.
“Of course but he is currently in hospital in Manehatten, just so you’re aware”
“Can we go and visit him then?” Scootaloo asked Dash.
Rainbow sighed and answered “yeah but i have one question what happened to his Step father” she said the last part with anger.
“Currently he is on the run however the RIS is hunting him down as we speak”
Rainbow Dash nodded and told Scootaloo to go and get ready for the trip to Manehatten. While Scootaloo was packing, Golden Heart told Dash “I will need to accompany you to the hospital as only authorised ponies are aloud to visit him” Rainbow nodded and shouted Scootaloo down who had packed some snacks for the train ride.
***Manehatten***
Skaterloo was laying in bed in a darkened hospital room because his eyes were sensitive to bright lights. He was having trouble sleeping because of nightmares and the fear of master storming through the door any second to take him away again.
The sound of the door made him pull the covers up to his chin but sighed in relief at recognising one of the nice ladies from the FPS. Her name was Tender Care and she had explained to him that his step father was a bad stallion who had hurt him and manipulated him into fearing other ponies and the police.
“How are you feeling?” She asked in a caring voice.
“Ok but I can’t sleep” he said his while starting to sound normal it still had a slight scratching sound.
“Well thats just normal honey, you have been through a lot of trauma for such a young colt. I can ask the doctors if they can give you some medicine that can help you sleep.”
“Would it stop me from getting nightmares?” He asked worriedly.
“No Sweetheart, it will put you in a dreamless and peaceful sleep however before I can ask them I have some news for you.” She said in a kind voice before starting to explain “you have a twin sister”
“I do?”
“Yes, her name is Scootaloo and she is coming down to visit you”
Skaterloo didn’t know how to comprehend the information he had just leaned. He had always wanted a sister or brother could protect him and somepony to play with him. Tender was watching his reaction carefully not wanting to overwhelm him.
“Is she adopted like me?” He asked.
“Yes, and if your lucky you might get adopted and you could live with her”
This instantly made him worry “but what if she is getting hurt like me?”
“Don’t worry, her adopted mother or sister as she likes to be called is a kind pony. I promise you that she isn’t like your foster father”
This made Skaterloo sigh in relief, however he still didn’t trust this foster sister “ what is the foster sister called?” He asked trying to gain information.
“She is called Rainbow Dash and she is a Wonderbolt”
This made Skaterloo confused “Whats a wonderbolt?”
“A wonderbolt is a pegasus that performs amazing stunt tricks while flying”
This made Skaterloo look at his own wings which had recently been properly preened for the first time. Because of the lack of care towards his wings they looked small for his age. The doctor had said that it could take years for his wings to become fully functional.
***
In the hospital lobby Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo along with Golden Heart had just arrived. They went to the front desk where Golden asked for an update on Skaterloos condition.
The nurse replied “We have to keep him in a room with the lights dimmed because his eyes are sensitive to bright lights. We have also found indicators that he has been abused for most of his life. Such indicators include scars and bruises. However his wings are in bad shape, they have clearly been broken several times before and had not healed properly, we have also found that his wings have not been preened or taken care of properly. I am afraid that this could mean that it may take years to fly again and thats if he’s extremely lucky if not then he may never fly again”
This caused Rainbow Dash to look at Scootaloo who also had trouble flying however he she had at least learned to hover and glide; she was on the way to learning to properly fly. Not being able to fly was every pegasus’s worst nightmare.
“Can we see him?” Dash asked.
“Yes, he’s still in room 124” she said while pointing down a hallway.
Just then they bumped into Tender Care. “Oh hi Golden”
“Hi, how is he?”
“He’s suffering from nightmares” She said with sadness.
“Im not surprised anypony would have nightmares from having to deal with that. Did you tell him the news?” She asked wanting know how he reacted.
“At first he seemed very suspicious of Miss Dash there” she said nodding towards Rainbow. “The doctors have given him anaesthesia to help him sleep”
“Do you know how long he’ll be out for?” Golden asked.
“The doctor said he should wake up tomorrow” she said
Rainbow Dash sighed and exclaimed “Well theres no point in visiting him now. Well get a hotel and come and visit him tomorrow. If thats ok with you?”
“Thats fine by me i’ll pick you up from your hotel room tomorrow” she said.
The ponies said their goodbyes before heading their different ways.
***
The next day Golden Heart had picked them up from The Golden Pony Hotel and had just arrived at the hospital when they asked a passing nurse “is Skaterloo awake?”
“Yes he should still be in room 124” she said while pointing down the hall.
They had arrived at the hospital room where there was a police officer who was supposed to be guarding the door but was instead arguing with a blue pegasus in an RIS jacket.
“Gentlecolts what in the name of Celestia is going on. This is a hospital” Golden Heart exclaimed looking disapprovingly at the two law enforcement agents.
“Golden when can I interview my witness?” Agent Void Streak asked angrily.
“When I say so” she replied with a glare.
“And when will that be?” He growled.
“When the doctor deems him fit for questioning” she growled back, while slowly getting close to his face.
Void merely looked away when he noticed Rainbow Dash. Both ponies jaws dropped.
“Rainbow Dash, is that you?” He asked surprised to see her.
“Yo Void Streak its been years. I thought you was a cop?”
All of a sudden officer Cuffs interrupted “He was until he betrayed the MHPD”
Void rolled his eyes and merely said “ignore him”
“Im sorry but do you two know each other?” Heart asked confused.
Dash answered “yeah we used to go to college and flight camp together”
“What are you doing here?” Void asked.
“We’re here to see Skaterloo, he’s Scootaloo’s brother” she said.
This caused Void to look at the pegasus filly and exclaimed “wow, they practically look the same. Well id best be going im the lead investigator into hunting his douche bag of a step father” he stated before leaving not before giving Golden one last glare.
Officer Cuffs opened the door to reveal a dimmly lit room with a hospital bed that was occupied by a small, orange pegasus colt with a purple mane.
“Wow, void wasn’t kidding, they do look the same” Dash said astonished. The ponies walked slowly into the room. Skaterloo was staring at Scootaloo, not believing how similar they look.
Scootaloo greeted quietly, trying to contain her excitement “Hi, im Scootaloo, im your twin sister”
“Hello” skater wispered shyly while doing a very good imitation of Fluttershy.
Scootaloo wanted to ask loads of questions but she didn’t want to overwhelm him. Instead she introduced him to Rainbow Dash who waved her hand sheepishly, Skaterloo watched her closely.
Scootaloo who noticed this said “you can trust her, she saved my life once and she’s teaching me how to fly”
This made Skaterloo’s ears droop “Did I do something wrong?” She asked worried that she might’ve upset him.
Skaterloo shook his head and wispered sadly “no, the doctor said I might not be able to fly”
“I made you this” Scootaloo said while giving him a get well soon card.
Skaterloo took it with tears in his eyes and said “nopony’s ever given me anything before” he then jumped up and wrapped Scootaloo into a hug “thank you so much”
Scootaloo didn’t know what to say, she never expected this reaction to a simple card. She then noticed that Skaterloo was a blank flank “ Hey you don’t have a cutie mark”
This made Skater look at his bare flank and his smile turned upside down. “ Hey thats nothing to be sad about im a cutie mark crusader I help ponies find their cutie marks”
“You can find mine?” He asked hopefully.
“Yes with me and my friends”
Suddenly a doctor came in and told the visitors that visiting hours were over. After promising Skaterloo that they’d visit tomorrow they left.
While on the way back to their hotel Scootaloo told Rainbow “I saw scars on his back”
Rainbow frowned “Thats why he’s in hospital”
Golden Heart then asked “So have you decided if you want to adopt him?”
Rainbow Dash sighed and said “Yes I have made my decision…”
