A New Recruit

Cracked Windows

It was early in the morning, there was a soft light and the sky was grey. An unfriendly grey. As a coach pulled down an alley, it stopped in front of a large stone building, a sign in front reading 'Trottingham Care-home'. Noises came from inside, shouting and laughing and a few crashes.

As Scootaloo pulled her bags and scooter out of the coach, she glanced up at her new home. The coach drove off behind her and she was left alone. It all seemed so... dreary. Even the plants in the garden seemed to droop and their green wasn't bright. Old toys were scattered around the grass and the old swing looked as if the moment a pony sat on it, it would collapse into a heap of scrap metal.

Feeling very small and alone, she pushed open the old gate and walked up to the front door. At a desk in the front sat a young earth mare, lilac with a purple mane. She glanced up as Scootaloo entered.

"You the new filly? Scoot or somethin'?" the mare asked and Scootaloo nodded as the lilac pony pointed to a room on her right, adding, "Go through there."

As Scootaloo dragged her possessions through the door, she saw a old mare sitting at a desk, a unicorn. The mare had a light grey hide and a two toned grey mane. Her age was shown through the wrinkles at the side of her eyes and on the rest of her face. Her eyes, silver, seemed unusually sharp and alert as they watched Scootaloo enter. It made her feel uncomfortable as if her every move was being judged. Dropping her bags, she walked over and sat down on the coach opposite the unicorn.

"Hello Scootaloo. I'm your new counselor, Silver Streak. If you have anything you need to speak about, you can tell me. You're sharing a room here with a colt of your age. Usually we would match you with another filly but we are short on space. He'll be here in a sec to take you there," the counselor said. Normally, Scootaloo would have argued back but now she couldn't see the point. As she waited, there was a knock at the door and it opened, revealing a colt.

The colt was taller than Scootaloo and an earth pony. With a white coat, his black and red mane was short and scruffy. At once, Scootaloo didn't like the look of him; he was looking at her like a cat that had just found a mouse.

The room in which the two foals were was old but furnished well for two foals to live in it; two beds were on either side of the room with matching blue sheets, there were two closets and a bedside table and lamp by each bed. A filly and a colt occupied the room; one trying to unpack while the other talked.

"That unicorn filly looks pretty hot," the colt smirked as Scootaloo tried to ignore him, holding a photo of herself, Sweetie Bell and Applebloom. His name was Crimson Hoof and Scootaloo was very tempted to buck him, buck him hard. As she tried to unpack into the small closet, he buzzed around commenting luridly and insulting her.

"Her flank ain't half as hot as yours though, only spoiled by the fact you ain't got a cutie mark and you can't fly" Crimson murmured near Scootaloo's ear as he stood uncomfortably close to her, his side against her's. As she shied away, he laughed. The pegasus decided that as soon as she could she was going to ask to move, she didn't want to have to be responsible for punching that colt; she would if he ever insulted her friends again.

"Just shut up," Scootaloo snapped as he opened his mouth to talk again. "I'm going outside." She stormed out of the room, muttering angrily under her breath.

The lone filly kicked a stone angrily across the grass, not noticing as a group of colts arrived. Neither did she notice that one had her scooter. As they approached, she pawed at the earth with one hoof and lashed her tail at a fly. She didn't know what to do now but really didn't want to go back inside.

"Hey, you the new filly?" a voice called out and Scootaloo turned, seeing Crimson Hoof with three other colts. Then she saw her scooter, and she glared at them, taking a few steps towards them as she tried to look menacing.

"Give it back," she said in a low voice, fixing her eyes on Crimson Hoof as he seemed to be the leader. All of the colts smirked, every new foal that arrived they tested to see how tough they were. One colt stepped forward and prepared to stamp down on the scooter, uttering two words, "Stop me." They all laughed, and this was the last thing for Scootaloo. She had been orphaned, sent away from home and now harassed and teased.

As the colt brought down his hoof, Scootaloo galloped forward and stopped just in front of him, twisting to send her two hooves smashing into his chest. As he fell back, she returned to four hooves and snorted; feeling triumphant and powerful as the other colts stared.

"You'll pay for that," Crimson Hoof hissed and advanced forward, over the other colt who was moaning. The two other colts advance with him, no longer smirking or smiling but glaring with a bad intent in their eyes.

With her heart beating fast, she turned and galloped away, back towards the house. She heard hoof-beats behind her, but kept going. Entering back into the building, she slammed the door with a kick and looked around desperately. She couldn't go to her room, she would be looked for there and if those colts caught her then... Her mind raced wildly.

"Scootaloo! I saw what you did! In here at once!" came a voice that made the filly cringe, it was Silver Streak looking out her room. And she looked... surprisingly, she didn't seem that angry. As Scootaloo entered the office, Silver Streak went behind her desk and began to make a drink. Scootaloo waited nervously, standing up, wondering what would happen to her. The mare turned round, levitating a drink to the desk in front of Scootaloo who curiously walked over to it. It was hot chocolate. Sipping it cautiously, she glanced up at the unicorn who began to speak.

"Scootaloo, you shouldn't have done that but I know those colts were bullying you. The problem is, what you did can be counted as assault and I wouldn't put it beneath that colt to report you. Come with me, I'm taking you to see someone," she said and walked towards the door of the room, gesturing for Scootaloo to follow. The filly followed the mare out into the street.

It crossed her mind that this behavior for the councilor; leading her down the street away from the care home. However, when she asked where they were going, Silver had admitted that she was taking her to someone to help her control her anger. It was still strange that this coincided with her hitting the colt. Her mind seemed to blur as she walked, she got into a cab that the unicorn had hailed and felt like everything was muffled. She smiled as her vision darkened and she vaguely heard Silver Streak asking the cab to go somewhere.

She didn't hear where.