Chapters Grey Skies
Your parents are dead. Your parents are dead. Your parents are dead.
Voices seemed distant to her ears as the same words echoed them inside her head, over and over again. She hadn't cried, just fell down on the floor as the police pony explained to her what had happened, and she knew that she was alone in the world. No parents, no family.
Your parents are dead. Your parents are dead. Your parents are dead.
Ponies she knew visited; Cheerilee, Twilight, Applejack and many others. Yet even Rainbow Dash, her fast-flying idol and trainee wonderbolt, could not stir the filly from her shock. They gave her gifts and spoke words of comfort but none of them reached her mind and to none of them did she reply.
Your parents are dead. Your parents are dead. Your parents are dead.
Eventually, two voices reached her as she set eyes on two fillies of her age. Applebloom and Sweetie Bell sat before her, their faces a picture of concern for their friend.
"Scootaloo, please say something," Sweetie Bell whimpered, tears filling her eyes. Neither of the fillies understood why their friend was so silent and just stared, what scared them more was that she did not even cry for her parents. They had not expected her to be the cheerful and noisy filly she usually was, ready to take on any challenge, but they had expected her to be upset and crying.
"Hi guys," Scootaloo croaked, her voice unsteady and quiet as she tried to hold back her emotions, tried to behave like nothing had happened. As she turned her magenta eyes to her friends, she could no longer and tears began to leak from her eyes. "I can't believe they're gone," she whispered as the tears began to flow faster. Applebloom moved as if to hug her, then stopped, knowing the pegasus didn't like this sort of thing. Sweetie Bell didn't hold back though and had flung herself at her friend, and soon Applebloom joined to.
"Don't worry Scoots, you'll be able to stay in Ponyville with another pony. At least you'll still have all your friends and I bet Rainbow Dash would look after you," Applebloom said encouragingly and Scootaloo tried to smile, but failed. She didn't know what would happen to her; she had no family left, her house would have to be sold to pay for debts and she couldn't think of any ponies who could take her in; the Apple family could only just pay for their family now, Rainbow Dash was training to be a Wonderbolt and there was no way that Rarity, Twilight or Pinkie Pie would adopt her.
Your parents are dead. Your parents are dead. Your parents are dead.
"I hope your right," the pegasus filly said as she hugged her friends. The three fillies stayed like that for ages, the white unicorn, the orange pegasus and the yellow earth pony, hugging as Scootaloo cried, making no sound but the tears streaking down her cheeks.
An earth pony and a pegasus struggled along in the wind. The earth pony, a stallion, had an orange coat and brown mane while the pegasus, a mare, had a white coat and magenta mane. The stallion tried to shield the pegasus against the storm as they pushed onward up the steep path.
"Darling, we should stop and shelter under a tree," the mare said, her mane flattened and sodden against her coat. Then lighting struck and the two ponies shied away, into the center of the path. The rain was so heavy that a stream had begun to flow down the path.
"We've got to keep going," the earth stallion said as they trudged on.
"Look, a light! It's coming towards us," the mare suddenly called out and so there was. In the darkness, a light shone, coming closer and closer. Rapidly. The two ponies began to shout and call out, asking for help, relieved when the light kept on coming closer. But it didn't slow down. In horror they saw the light was on a run-away cart heading straight for them. Frozen for a second, they tried to avoid the danger but it was too late.
The next morning, the local farmer found the bodies of a mare and a stallion, crushed by the runaway cart.
"I. Will. Not. Leave. Ponyville," Scootaloo shouted angrily, scrunching up the plastic cup she had been given by the social worker. The silent, crying filly was gone and the fiery, tomcolt was back as she glared and threw the cup. The social worker, a brown-coated unicorn with a tan mane and tail, looked down from her desk, she didn't react to the fillies anger. This was a part of her job.
"Scootaloo, I understand this is a bad time for you, but you have no relatives. Rainbow Dash has offered to adopt you but she has been found unsuitable due to her hectic lifestyle and you must be moved to a care home. The only care home with space free is in another town, you can have a day to organize your possessions before you are moved," the social worker said, no emotions in her voice, and as the filly scowled she added. "That is final."
"It's unfair," Scootaloo said as she jumped of the coach, flaring her wings in rage, and stamping her hooves on the ground. The room she was in was pale and dull, grey coach and white carpet and cream walls, and the filly stood out with her magenta eyes bright and coat orange. She knew there was nothing she could do though, there was no-one to take her in in Ponyville and she was too young to live alone.
She turned and left the room, slamming the door behind her as she fought back tears. Outside, a group of ponies waited for her; Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Sweetie Bell and Applebloom. As they saw her expression, they all knew it was bad news. Rainbow Dash was the first to speak.
"Hey kid, what did they say?" the pegasus mare asked, her voice soft. They all waited as Scootaloo looked around before she spoke, and when she spoke her voice was full of sorrow.
"I've got to move to another town, to a care home. I'm leaving tomorrow," Scootaloo said, giving a half-hearted smile to show she was okay. She wasn't.
Sweetie Bell sniffled and said, "But when will we see you?"
"I don't know."
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.
Strange Places
Whatever she lay on was warm and soft, she didn't want to get up but as she opened her eyes, she saw it was light. The light wasn't the soft light of morning, but the bright light of midday. As she stretched and looked around the room, she saw it was small and all white, white walls, floor and bed, except for a shirt that was lain at the end of the bed. On the front was printed, in white capitals, T.H.E F.O.R.E.S.T. The t-shirt itself was black.
As the got off the bed, she examined the shirt. It seemed to be a perfect size for her, and was made to allow free movement of wings. As she put it on, expecting she had to, she walked over to the door. It was locked. She knocked loudly on the door, then called out, "Hello?"
There was no response, and as she looked through the window she was surprised to see a number of foals galloping laps around a field, all wearing similar shirts to her though she couldn't see the writing.
A sound at the door caused Scootaloo to turn quickly. A unicorn stallion, dark blue maned with a light green body, opened the door, not smiling but nodding at the filly.
"Why am I here? Who are you? Have I been kidnapped" Scootaloo said, firing questions at the stallion. She knew she should be worried, waking up in a place she didn't know, but it all seemed very... nice. The room was clean and light, the shirt was her size and fitted perfectly and the stallion didn't seem creepy or evil.
"Follow me and it'll be explained," he said. It didn't pass her mind not to obey.
Scootaloo passed through hall-ways as she followed the stallion, the whole building seemed strange to her. It was not wood and roughly cut stone like she was used to seeing, the stone floors were smooth and the walls were white concrete. All the rooms she passed were closed, and the few other ponies she passed didn't say a word to her, most wore white lab coats. Soon, the stallion stopped abruptly infront of a door. He pushed it open and gestured for Scootaloo to enter, then followed her inside.
The room she entered looked serious. In one end of the room was a large wooden desk on which was stacked piles of paper. On the other end was a chair. Walking over to the chair, she sat and looked over at the stallion who now stood behind the table. As he spoke, her eyes became wider and her heart and mind raced, amazed at what she was hearing.
"This facility is called the forest facility, it is a hidden area which is only known of by the members and the princesses. It is not known when it was started but, a hundred years ago, Celestia took notice of a group of ponies who managed to stop a criminal gang. The ponies which were found at the scene were not police or adults, but foals. Foals who had managed to take down adult ponies all by themselves with no assistance, and almost managed to take down the police ponies Celestia had sent to find out what had happened. Soon Celestia found out that they came from a group of ponies who trained foals and the foals helped to foil many criminal plans. The owners of the society agreed to join with Celestia and aid her but they wanted to be allowed to keep on running it their own way."
"It has been a long time since then agreed to this, and the group has grown. We have over 300 foals, all trained here, and with have the best equipment. If you join us, you will be taught self-defense, how to pick locks, the usual school subjects and many other things. As an agent, you will be sent on missions to help solve criminal cases. It will be dangerous. You could be injured, even killed. So far, 6 foals have died, none while I have been in charge."
"If you join, you must train hard and keep to our rules. What do you say?"
Scootaloo was surprised he had to ask, her grin grew and she answered with one words.
"Yes."