Against an empty carriage at the end the lonely hall were three imposing ponies, leaning in a disinterested and bored pose. One of them happened to look up as the sorry looking trio stumbled out into the open. They were on the bottom edge of the coliseum, with the vast rolling hills and plains of Equestria visible far below.
"Hey. Boss. We got some 'dem worthless peguses," the first one called to an even bigger pony on the other side of the carriage. "I suppose it's get 'ta work time is it?"
"Cool it, hot shot. There may be more, too."
"N-no... I was the l-last student to go," Scootaloo spoke in sobs. Orion could only hang his head. "It... It's..." She paused, and then breathed deeply, determined to remain as strong as she could. "It's just us three. Aurora's wings... they're broken. She needs help."
"Ain't dat just a cryin' shame, it is. What's it to us? All da better she don't come flying back to us no more."
"We may have failed our damned test but that doesn't mean we're not worth keeping alive!" Scootaloo shouted in a flash of rage. She was determined to hold on to as much dignity as she could.
"Alright, alright, sheesh. Hey, Patches. Doctor her up before we head out. I don't want any blood on dem seats, I just washed dat thing. You otha' two. In the cart."
Orion and Scootaloo hopped into the carriage and got as comfortable as they could on the hard seats, but made sure to leave room for Aurora. As soon as the third of the large ponies finished bandaging her wings, Aurora carefully stepped onto the vehicle, and lay down on the bench at the back. Scootaloo inched closer to her, and leaned down to talk as the door to the carriage slammed shut. The Boss pony was inside the back, standing by the door, watching each of them.
"So," Scootaloo began quietly, trying not too speak too loud. "You're Aurora? I'm Scootaloo. I'm sorry we had to meet like this."
"Any meeting of a friend is a welcome meeting," Aurora spoke gently, with sincerity in her eyes. "We did our best. That's all we can say. That's all any of us can say. Who's to say that the city of the deported isn't a good one, anyways?"
The thought struck Scootaloo as she considered it. No one was ever told about where the pegasi were brought. Most ponies considered it to be some odd land, like where the Zebras hailed from. That made Scootaloo realize something even more profound.
"Hey, if where we're taken is where Zecora's from, than there's got to be a way to get back. It's not as if we're banned from Equestria. Fluttershy, an old friend of mine, she's a Pegasus who lives in Ponyville. She never passed flight school, she never took her test. They've never come and taken her away."
"Exactly," Aurora agreed with a nod. Orion overheard, and offered his thoughts.
"I think the reason we're sent far away is because no pony from Cloudsdale ever wants to admit that someone who failed flight school could come from their city. What a fucking horrible place, now that I think of it. I never want to go back."
"Maybe that's why no Pegasus ever comes back. They just don't like Cloudsdale."
"You goddamn worthless ponies can hardly call yourself 'Pegasus'," Boss spoke from the door. He was swaying ever so slightly as the carriage was lifted and moved to an unknown location. "Useless failures is what you are. No pony comes back from exile. Regardless of reason. Can't even pass your goddamn test, you three make me sick."
Scootaloo jumped up from her seat, lifted herself into the air with her wings, and dove legs first at Boss. "You shut the HELL up about us, you have no right to treat others like this!"
Boss raised a hoof and backhanded Scootaloo out of the air, onto the floor. "I can treat you however I want. You hardly classify as 'Ponies' to Cloudsdale, or any of Equestria for that matter. Now sit the fuck down and shut up until you get to your destination."
"Where are we being taken, anyways? Not like we can tell anyone now, and I'm sure as the deliverers, you guys should know," Orion cautiously reasoned.
"Hell if I know. We hand this carriage off to ponies in suits, and we get a bagful of coins to keep quiet about the whole thing. It's how it's always been, for a thousand years."
The three fillies huddled together again, scared of the unknown. They kept quiet as they waited through the unbearable trip, all lost in their own thoughts. Friends, family, loved ones and pets, all will never see them again, and some would never find out why. An hour passed. And then another. Finally, the uncomfortable quiet was broken by a sudden lurch as the carriage hit a stop.
"What the hell was that?" Boss spoke.
"Hey boss, you should come see this." One of the Pegasus drivers called back.
"Ah, what the hell." Boss said getting out of the carriage.
"Now maybe our chance to escape." Aurora spoke softly to not alert the ponies outside.
"But, you can't fly right now, anyways," Orion questioned.
"That medic guy, Patches or whatever he was called, he popped my wings back into their joints and bandaged up where my skin tore. I won't be winning any races, but... I can fly again."
"That sounds like a good idea but, where we go? What will we do?" Scootaloo asked.
"Prove our worth." Orion answered. "They think that we failed because we weren't good, but we have good reason to fail. She broke her wing, I saved her, and you were distracted." He explained.
"But, you think they will listen to us?" Aurora said softly. "They, everypony, seem to hate failees."
"Then we fight for our freedom." Orion answered. "It's the only way to get them to hear our side of the story."
"Even if we are able to get a chance to flee, those pegasus outside will likely catch us." Scootaloo regretted saying.
"Leave them to me. I could take them. All they are, are big, muscular, adult Pegasus who has likely have witnessed more battles and resistance then they seem… You know what, I think to beat them. We need to fight together." Orion chuckled a bit at his cowardliness.
"Well, as long as we can beat them and out fly them, we're home free. But what if they report us?" Aurora asked. "It will make running a lot more difficult."
"I admit, it won't be easy to prove ourselves, but we must do it." Orion answered.
With that, Boss came back into the carriage to check on the pony trio.
"Are you ready?" Orion whispered to both Scootaloo and Aurora.
They both nodded in agreement as Orion nodded as well.
"NOW" Orion yelled, bucking through the front wall, where on the other side, the drivers sat. Aurora and Scootaloo both took the boss down quickly. Orion reached through the front to stop the carriage. The carriage stopped and started to fall from the sky as both drivers were out cold.
The three screamed and held on to each other as the carriage descended to the ground. Orion broke free of the fillies grasp is desperation to stop the falling carriage. With little luck, the carriage landed with a loud splash as it hit a nearby river. The fillies, struggling to stay above the rising waters, grabbed the anesthetized colt.
The duo managed to get Orion out and themselves from the drowning carriage. Orion slowly came to. He and the fillies watched the carriage sink to the bottom of the river as the last of the air has been sucked out. The three ponies swam to shore as the body of the boss rose above the waters.
"Okay, what do we have here?" The body of a dark blue alicorn with red and black mane stepped forth. Hours passed since the collapse of the carriage and the escapees running.
"Whew-we! Looks like one big mess here." A light red pegasus mare with fire like mane.
"Damn. What did happen?" A chestnut colored earth stallion asked no one in particular.
"Obviously a crash happened here." A gray pegasus with blond mane replied.
"Okay, okay. Who is in charge here?" The dark blue alicorn asked.
"I am." A white colored unicorn stepped to the alicorn.
"Well not no more. I here have papers that overrule your authority. That is unless this has nothing to do with what we're here for. Then we will happily leave your mane."
"That's good. What's your and your teammate's names, son?" The white unicorn asked.
"I'm Thunder Cloud." The Alicorn replied. "This is Firefly, and Emmit 'Doctor' Hooves, and Ditzy 'Derpy' Do." Thunder replied all showing their Ids.
"Well if you say what we're dealing with involves you, then you take it. If not, see yourselves outta here." The unicorn spoke. "I'll take you to the deputy."
"Okay. Lead the way." Thunder replied.
"Hey, who is this?" A dark brown earth pony asked. He was wearing a uniform, similar to those that work with the Phillydephia law enforcement.
"It's a team from the Department of Runaway Failees." The unicorn replied.
"What makes you think there were runaways?"
"This carriage that is being pulled from the river never reported for banishment. Thunder explained. "Since it's the only carriage that seemed to have been reported to crash, we assumed it to be it."
"Well, there is a survivor that says the be the driver of said carriage. We are currently questioning him." The unicorn said.
"Mind if we interrogate him?" The Doctor asked the unicorn.
"Not at all." He replied. "He's next to the carriage."
Thunder and his team walked over to the driver known as Patches. He was speaking to another officer when they arrived to him.
"Excuse me officer, I have permission to speak with him." Thunder said as the questioning officer nodded and withdrew.
"More people to ask what happened. Look I told ya' everything ya' need to know." The dirty white Pegasus asked.
"You didn't say everything did you?" Thunder asked making the Pegasus a puzzled look on his face. "We're from DRF. We need you to tell us if you know these ponies?"
Thunder lifted a picture of Scootaloo as Fire and Ditzy lifted a picture of Orion and Aurora.
"Umm… I think the river got them." The Broken Pegasus answered.
"You sure. Cause, we found this" Fire lifted up a wing restrainer for the exiled fillies that failed their test. "Further down the road."
"So what do you think now?" Ditzy asked.
"What." The Pegasus replied.
"I said…"
"You might want to change you're bullshit story." Thunder interrupted, lifting up the picture again, Ditzy and Fire following suit.
"Th-they might have got-gotten out." The Pegasus stumbled with his words.
"Yea. A-ye-ye-yea." Doctor Hooves mocked him as Thunder flew up on top of the carriage and projected his voice so every pony at the scene could hear.
"Okay, we have here, three fugitives. They each have a warrant from the D.R.F for their arrest. These runaways are three little foals, in fact teenage foals. They have been on the run for about 90 minutes. That gives them an hour and a half head start on us. If the air is cold enough for me to see my breath then they should be freezing and trying to stay warm. It is currently five o'clock in the morning. The nearest town is Phillydephia, which is about 20 miles away. On hoof, they should reach there about a couple of hours. Flying, about 30 minutes less. A want a roadblock about five miles down every road and every other five miles. They are an orange colored, a light brown colored and, a yellow colored Pegasi. I want copies of their file pictures and posted all over Equestria. Our futitives' names are Scootaloo ZcCain, Orion Solstice, and Aurora Dawn. Go get 'em." Thunder finally took a breath and floated down to the ground to see every pony that was there running around to do their part.
"Well," Fire questioned. "now what?"
Thunder answered. "Now, we wait and watch as the whole world consumes and betrays them."
The two fillies still ran, carrying Orion as he limped.
"Wait, wait, wait, wait." He quickly spoke. "I… I still hurt."
The fillies stopped to set him down. He strained his eyes to see his wound. There was a large piece of wood jabbed in his side. He was also bleeding minimally from his head, possibly duo to him hitting his head trying to save the crash.
"That's gonna hurt being pulled out." He thought aloud.
"I know nothing of medical attention or whatever." Scootaloo said looking around to make sure no one was around.
"I do." Aurora chimed in. "I can get this outta you but with out anything to wrap it with, it will bleed profusely."
"And the Phillydephia Hospital is still miles away." Scootaloo said shaking her head.
"Let's just keep going. I'll be okay." Orion spoke gently getting out from the ground with the help of the fillies.
"You sure. We can rest here and keep traveling in the morning." Aurora suggested.
"No. We should keep going. No telling whether or not anypony will pass by here."
Scootaloo and Aurora both helped up Orion and helped continue walking. They didn't know where exactly they were walking but they had to keep going. They were now on the run.
Early in the morning, the three fouls found their way into Fillydelphia. They stop to look for a map or directions since neither of them had been in Fillydelphia that much. Scootaloo then spotted a small drug store. It was an older, more run down building than those seen in the out skirts of a city. She took a look around the place. The sign damaged, half lit.
"Do you think that place will have a map?" Scootaloo asked the filly and colt behind her.
"Even if it does, we don't have any money." Orion pointed out.
"Yea, maybe we could…" Scootaloo stopped to think about something. After a few seconds, Scootaloo got an idea. She looked at Orion with a surprised look.
"Oh no." Orion spoke before Scootaloo could say anything. "You're not thinking about stealing a map."
"We might not have another choice. Unless you want to wander aimlessly until we find a hospital. We need the closest one. And it's still dark and we may find a quiet path to slip in and no one will see us at the hospital."
"But…" Orion tried to get in.
"Scootaloo's right." Aurora mentioned. "We need this map. Even if it means we need to break the law."
"Alright. You two go ahead. It may be a bit strange if I go in with… this." He pointed at his side.
"You gonna be okay out here?" Scootaloo asked.
"Yea. Just go. It's not like there's anything hidden in the bushes, right?"
"Okay. Let's go in, Aurora." Scootaloo said.
The two fillies trotted to the window door and pulled it open. The inside of he store was more run down then the outside. The walls were dirty and a bit molded. The floor seemed to have a dark tint to it. The cashier simply clears his throat to snap the fillies back to reality.
"Can I help you two?" He said in a low, deep voice.
"Do you have a map of the city?" Aurora asked.
"A map?" The cashier asked a bit surprised.
"Uh… yea. We're tourist. Here to see the city. Actually, we're just passing by, but we need to bunk here tonight." Aurora spoke.
"Hmm. Where's your parents?" he asked.
"We came by ourselv…" Aurora said before getting her shin kicked by Scootaloo.
"What she means is that we told them to meet us here, at the closest place near the entrance."
"You realize that this place is nowhere near the entrance to the city. And what do you need a map for if your gonna find a hotel?"
"Do you have a map yes or no?" Scootaloo asked, now impatient.
"You know it's rude to talk to your adults like that, right?" He asked with seduction to his voice.
"Uh, I take it you don't have a map." Scootaloo asked backing up a bit.
"Actually, I do. But you need to do something for me."
"What's that?" Aurora asked backing up as well.
"You'll find out soon." He said coming out from behind the desk.
Scootaloo and Aurora both turn around to run but stopped when they saw another stallion blocking the door way. The cashier grabbed both of them causing Aurora to scream. The other stallion covered her mouth and grabbed a hold of her.
Outside, Orion sat in the cold. He was about to close his eyes when he heard a high pitching scream coming from the store and immediately stopping. He jumped up and started a painful run towards the store.
"Hey, you take this one." The cashier told the other stallion.
"Hell, nah. I'm keeping her. I always had a thing for the yellow fillies." He replied, licking Aurora's ear after.
The door flew open and Orion rammed into the stallion, instantly falling and regretting not doing an alternative action. The stallion reared up feeling pain shooting through his back, letting go of Aurora. Scootaloo took this opportunity to strike at the cashier. She bucked him back and turned to buck the stallion then flew up and dashed down to the cashier, knocking him cold.
The cashier stumbled back a bit taken back at the sudden attack.
"Quick, grab the map." Scootaloo told Aurora, picking up Orion.
"Okay." Aurora said reaching behind the desk and grabbing the map. She started running out when the stallion grabbed her hind hoof. She fell dropping the map. The stallion pulled her back towards him. She reacted but bucking once in the face and another time in his neck, instantly breaking his wind pipe and causing him to let go of his grasp on Aurora. He flailed on the ground then came to a slow halt.
Aurora got up and ran towards the two.
"Did you get the map?" Scootaloo asked her.
"No." Aurora said, hanging her head in shame.
"I don't think we want to go back there." Orion spoke.
"You have no idea. It's okay, Aurora. We'll find another way." Scootaloo replied.
"What happened back there?" Questioned Orion.
"You don't want to know." Scootaloo repeated.
"Ok." Orion Said.
"Thunder, we shipped the colt to the nearest hospital in Fillydelphia." Firefly reported.
"Alright. We need to find those runaways. Then, we can tell them how many ran away and we still caught them."
Thunder chuckled a bit before wondering how their boss was going to handle these runaways.