I realize that this kind of concept about Scootaloo coming to Ponyville after escaping from some abusive home or depressing Orphanage has been done to death, but I haven't really seen this kind of spin on the story much, and I really wanted to write it after seeing all you awesome people on this site writing this stuff, so I'm making it whether you like it or not! This story takes place before the events of FiM, and I am thinking of making another series for after the last episode of the third season of FiM. Anyway, Enjoy!
Scootaloo's First Days in Ponyville
Scootaloo had always been lonely. Ever since the day she was left at the Manehattan Orphanage back before she could say her first words, she had been alone. She had tried to make friends in the old, depressed place she had called home for the first 7 years of her life. Each time she had gotten through to someone and made a friend, they had been taken away, to live a new life somewhere far away. Scootaloo had always been happy for her friends she had made when they left to spend time with their new family, but had always wished she was the one leaving. The caretakers at the orphanage weren't all completely mean, just one of them really, but she was the most important one there. She was the main caretaker at the Manehattan Orphanage who worked all of the numbers for the buildings expenses, handled adoptions and got all of the new fillies and colts all settled in. She did so with a smile every time she saw somepony off with the adoption papers in their hooves. Scootaloo knew all too well what Miss Grey was capable of. She was King Sombra with a happy face welded on, in Scootaloos opinion. Every time after curfew, if you had missed it, you would be forced to do excruciating writing exercises until the rest of the ponies had woken up. You would have to write about how much you were sorry and how you didn't deserve Miss Grey's attention and 'love'. Scootaloo was always the rebellious type, and would often miss the curfew. But she didn't care about the exercises, she just wanted to be away from all of the other filly orphans who had taunted, shunned, framed and hated her. She would get called names like Blank Flank when the others started getting their cutie marks, or Groundhog because she never learned how to fly properly. She would curl up under the covers on her cot when she felt like crying from the times she was left out of a lot of activities, because she didn't want to be called names again. "Crying little Foal! Why don't you run away, nopony likes you here" were the kinds of things they had said to her when she cried from the exclusion; which only made her feel more alone. Every time the other kids did something bad to the orphanage property like kick in doors or write on the walls with markers, Scootaloo was blamed. After a while of spankings and wrist slappings, the caretakers started to punish her without even an explanation or tattling from the other little ponies. They went straight to Scootaloo if there was any trouble; it had been going on for so long. "It wasn't me! It was Isabelle, I saw her! It wasn't me I swear!" were the normal pleas that she had said to the caretakers, but they didn't listen. Because she had been framed for so long, the caretakers would simply remember them as Scootaloo actually doing them, making them think she was a bad filly. Scootaloo was not a bad filly; she just sometimes stayed after curfew and sometimes forgot to brush her teeth. Other than that, she was one of the sweetest, most well behaved fillies to ever come through those big wooden doors.
Scootaloo always tried to make friends with the fillies and colts that came through the doors, and didn't know the orphanage at all. Sometimes she would get through to them and would have fun and laugh with them. She was happy. But soon, they would either start hanging out with the others instead of her, or they would be adopted. Scootaloo was heartbroken every time it happened, even though it happened at least once every two months.
One day, she couldn't take it anymore after being told by her friends who didn't live at the orphanage that there was another happy little town just a little bit from Manehattan. After hearing this information, she tip-hoofed into Miss Grey's office, found her papers, and tore them up. She had fished through the drawers of the big office desk, and found a drawstring pouch that contained fifty bits. Fifty bits! She was excited. She grabbed her saddle bag, her blanket she had since she came to the orphanage, a pillow, and the bits. She stuffed them all into her bag and ran out the back door. She got on the scooter she had found in an alley, where she had also been keeping it hidden, and bolted as fast as her little, underdeveloped wings could carry her. She had traveled for a long, long time in the direction her friends had told her the little town was. After what seemed like ages of traveling on the road, she had spotted over the hill a whole bunch of houses with the lights gleaming through the windows. It was Ponyville. "Yes, I found it!" She exclaimed out loud. It was about 8 o'clock at night, with Celestia's sun just above the mountains. She rode with her tired little wings up to this large building that looked like a giant gingerbread house with frosting and a cupcake on top. She walked in and saw a very giddy pink pony that jumped up and down from the excitement of a customer.
"Ooh, ooh, ooh! You're new here, huh! I've never seen you around Ponyville before, so you MUST be new! You look like you want a giant cake and a tall glass of sarsaparilla with extra sass! Since you are new here it's a 75 percent discount because I just love, love, love new ponies!" said the strange pink pony. Scootaloo took note of this ball of energy. She had three balloons as a cutie mark; her mane and tail were all poofy and curly and looked like cotton candy. She smelled heavily of frosting and sugar, and sported a smile and an apron throughout their interaction. "Hmm, let's see here, that will be five bits for the cake and the sarsaparilla!" Scootaloo didn't have a clue about what she wanted, so she went with that. She pulled out the pouch and dropped the five bits on the counter which were picked up by the hyper-active pink pony, and dropped into the register. She dashed into the kitchen to start making the hungry little filly's food. Scootaloo was curious and walked into the kitchen to find that the pony had already started to knead the dough. "So what's your name? Mine's Pinkie Pie. I live here with Mr. and Mrs. Cake and I love baking and throwing parties for my friends!" said Pinkie. What a fitting name, thought Scootaloo. She had been standing there for who knows how long with Pinkie just watching her before she realized she had asked a question.
"Uhh, um, S-Scootaloo" She stammered, her throat dry from her trip.
"Wow that's a fitting name seeing as how you have a scooter with you! I saw you through the window riding up here to Sugarcube Corner, you're really fast! I should tell Rainbow Dash about you!" Said Pinkie, with her usual super sped up way of speaking. At this point she was putting orange-brown frosting onto the cake, and wrote on it with magenta frosting 'Welcome to Ponyville, Scootaloo!' was written onto her cake. Scootaloo realized that her cake's color scheme resembled her, and made her happy to know that the whole thing was for her. "Why don't you go have a seat while I bring out your cake and your sarsaparilla!" exclaimed Pinkie Pie. Scootaloo went out into the main part of the store and sat in one of the booths. She was the only one here, which made her interaction more special from the one-on-one with her new friend.
Scootaloo suddenly shot up from her seat after there was a huge spray of confetti and streamers from the kitchen, joined by a trumpeting noise. Pinkie Pie rolled a cart with a cake and a really tall glass of some fizzy looking drink, singing of a song about Scootaloo coming to Ponyville. She wasn't really paying a lot of attention to it. She was eyeing her huge cake as it was being set down on her table, along with her drink. Pinkie finished her song, and had tossed the cart to the side which crashed through the kitchen doors making a crashing noise and, for some reason, made a cat yelp. Pinkie hat sat down next to Scootaloo and started asking her questions.
"So how long have you been here in Ponyville? I've been here for a little while after leaving the rock farm I grew up on." Asked Pinkie
"Umm…" started Scootaloo, still looking at her cake before she snapped out of it and put her words together. "I just got here from, uh, Manehattan, and was looking for something to eat when I saw this cool looking store" said Scootaloo, happy that she was finally talking positively to somepony after so long.
"Manehattan, huh? You know I have an Aunt and Uncle there! Or are they in Fillydelphia? Maretropolis? Oh well. So are you going to eat that? Or are you going to let Gummy get all over it?" as she said this, a small, wall-eyed alligator with no teeth came tumbling down the stairs. What a weird pony thought Scootaloo. After a while she realized she had just been sitting there looking at her cake and half listening to Pinkie. Only then did she realize her birthday, or rather the day she was found on the doorstep of the orphanage, was yesterday. She had never really had a birthday cake or anything like that. She had been invited to a school friend's Birthday Party once where she had cake for the first and, until now, only time. The only celebration she received for her birthday was when Miss Joy had wished her a 'Happy Birthday!' once a year. It never felt happy though, since that was the only recognition she received. Scootaloo started digging into her cake, cutting the 'W' a bit as she went. She put the whole bite in her mouth, and it was the best thing she had ever tasted. And there was plenty more where it came from! After about three bites she grabbed her drink and taken a swig. It was probably the second best thing she had ever tasted, next to the cake. She never really had a fizzy drink before and usually drank water. All she usually ate was reconstituted stuff and fruit, unless she had found enough money on the floor to get herself something real.
"So did you come here with your parents? It's not that easy to come here alone all the way from Manehattan." asked Pinkie. Not that easy? Thought Scootaloo. Then she realized just how far she had travelled. She left in the early afternoon, and had arrived at about 8. Had she really been travelling for 7 hours? The adrenaline and happiness from finally leaving that soul-crushing castle had kept her going, she thought. She then became aware that there was a question there, and again she was aware that she had not answered.
"Uhh, yeah, uh-huh, came here with my mom and dad! Yep just me and my family here in Ponyville!" Scootaloo lied. She didn't want her friend to know that she was now all alone, which really wasn't a whole lot different from before. The only difference being that she didn't have a roof over her head. At this point she was halfway done with both her cake and her sassy sarsaparilla. Then it dawned on her. She had heard the name Rainbow Dash before, but didn't realize until now. "So who is this Rainbow Dash you talked about?" asked Scootaloo, trying to figure out where she heard this name before and trying to move the conversation along at the same time.
"Oh yeah! Rainbow Dash is the FASTEST flier in all of Equestria! She's always trying to get an audition to be a Wonderbolt, her lifelong dream! I think she recently started work as a cloud buster here in Ponyville, but she's been here for longer than that. Some say she pulled off the legendary Sonic Rainboom when she was younger, but everypony else just says it's just a fake story. I think she did, she's really, really, really fast! Tomorrow I'll go talk to her and tell her that there is another really fast pegasus pony that's new here. Rainbow has been here for a while, and everypony here in Ponyville just loves to watch her fly! She has a lot of fans too, and they all cheer her on as she goes about busting clouds and stuff." Said Pinkie Pie, firing off each word as quickly as the last came out. That's where I heard her name! Some ponies in school were saying that this pegasus had pulled of a Sonic Rainboom a long time ago! They said her name was Rainbow Dash. I have to find her; she might be able to show me how to fly! Scootaloo had already finished two thirds of her delicious cake. She was really hungry after her long journey, and she didn't eat what lunch they could provide at the orphanage.
Suddenly another pony walked into the store and Pinkie shot from the table to the counter in a pink blur. This new pony's coat was a little darker than, Pinkies mane, and her mane and tail was a mix of two shades of pink. She sported three flowers with smiley faces in them as a cutie mark. "Hi Cheerilee! What can I get for you?" asked Pinkie, thrilled once again from a new customer.
"Hi Pinkie Pie!" said Cheerilee. I wonder what her cutie mark means thought Scootaloo as she returned to her cake. "I'd like a box of two dozen chocolate cupcakes please! I'm going to celebrate the new school year tomorrow and I want to welcome my new little ponies with cupcakes!" said Cheerilee in a sweet, motherly voice. A teacher huh thought Scootaloo, almost finished with her cake and sarsaparilla.
"Okey dokey! That will be six bits please!" said Pinkie. She turned around and saw Scootaloo coming up on the last few bites, and realized something. "Hey, Scootaloo! Are you registered for school yet? This is Cheerilee, the school teacher!" Scootaloo had not thought about that part of her new life here.
"Uhh, no I haven't yet. I just got here sooo, yeah" Scootaloo gave a nervous smile as she looked down.
Cheerilee was happy about this; the fact that she has a brand new student in town. "You aren't registered yet? Well we can fix that, why don't you come with me to the school house and we'll get you all set up for the year!" she said as Scootaloo finished the last bite and finished her drink.
"You can go on ahead, I'll grab your glass and plate on my way to get the cupcakes." Said Pinkie as she grabbed them and took them back to the kitchen. She returned a couple of minutes later with two boxes of a dozen cupcakes after Scootaloo had finished explaining her half-true story of her being in and how she got to Ponyville. Cheerilee and Scootaloo said goodbye to Pinkie Pie as they left through the doors.
"Right this way, Scootaloo, the school house is just a little bit from here." Said Cheerilee. It really was a little bit; Scootaloo could see it from here. It was a large red building that looked pretty new, with a bell on top, flagpole in front, and a playground in the back. They were through the front doors in no time. Cheerilee pulled out a piece of paper and placed a chair in front of her desk. "Alright Scootaloo, have a seat. How old are you?"
"Seven" She answered
"Okay, let's see here, appearance. Orange coat, Magenta hair, Purple eyes…" She trailed off as she scribbled on the paper. While she was writing, Scootaloo looked around the room. It was a nice, finished room with drawings all over the wall, a chalkboard and an easel with a large note pad on it in the front. There were three rows of nice wooden desks, each with 8 in them. "Alright Scootaloo, since you are new here, I'm going to let you choose your desk. Scootaloo started walking around the room, looking at all of the desks. She finally chose one near the back, and Cheerilee set a name card with 'Scootaloo' written on it down onto the desk. "Alright Scootaloo, just get your parents signature on this sheet and bring it back tomorrow, okay?" Scootaloo nodded, and said goodbye to Cheerilee as she walked out the door with her saddlebag and scooter.
Where am I going to sleep tonight? Thought Scootaloo. Another thing she had forgotten to think about after leaving the orphanage. She wanted to ride her scooter around town with her wings to see if she could find somewhere to sleep, but her wings were really sore, so she just rode it normally with her legs. She rode around for a while before she found a hotel. She rode inside and noticed that there was nopony at the counter. She looked at the logbook, and the map of the hotel. She saw that every room was filled up, so she just left with her head hung. She rode her way around the outskirts of town before noticing there was a dense outcrop of trees behind the town. She rode over and started looking around; riding along the edge of it, where she found a large wooden crate that looked a lot cozier than just sleeping outside. It was hidden behind a steep hill. Perfect. She walked inside to find it completely empty. She leaned her scooter against the wall and went to work unpacking what little she had. She pulled out her blanket and pillow and laid them down on the dusty floor, and pulled out the piece of paper. She then realized she had nothing to write with. She then began frantically digging through her saddlebag looking for a pencil. Eventually she found one in a pocket she completely forgot about, thanking Celestia for it being there. She laid down the paper and herself and set to work thinking of names for her fake parents. She eventually just put down a random name, Cloud Strider, and Joy Heart, because she was the nicest caretaker at the orphanage. She placed the paper in her bag and curled up with her blanket, laid her head on her pillow and fell asleep.
When Scootaloo woke up, Celestia's sun was just poking out over the mountaintops. She didn't know what time school starts, so she just grabbed her saddlebag, and her scooter. She decided to leave her blanket and pillow there, knowing that this was such a secluded place that no one would find it. She set off looking for the schoolhouse. While she was out and about, she noticed a blue blur with a rainbow colored tail streaking across the sky. Realizing what it was, she called out to it. "RAINBOW DASH!" She yelled out at the top of her lungs. Rainbow must have heard her and descended to meet her. Scootaloo stood in awe of how gracefully she landed, and watched as the pegasus walked over to her. Rainbow had a strange look on her face, but Scootaloo didn't seem to notice. This is the pony that did the Sonic Rainboom! What do I tell her? Thought Scootaloo. She finally decided to introduce herself as new to the town and heard about how she did the Rainboom. Rainbow simply hid the strange look she had and spoke in a calm, almost braggy manner.
"Yeah, that's right, I did that." Said Rainbow Dash. "Good to see that someone so new here has already noticed me." Scootaloo only stood in awe as she looked at this amazing athletic pony. "Well, I gotta go, and stuff…" Said Rainbow, looking down and rubbing the back of her neck "Whelp, see ya 'round!" Said Rainbow as she took off in the opposite direction she came from. Scootaloo was thrilled she had met that legend, but noticed that the sun was a bit higher than it had been, and set off looking for the school house. After what seemed like ages, she eventually found it after spotting Sugarcube Corner. She saw some other fillies walking to school, happily chatting as they strode through the doors. Right on time thought Scootaloo. She walked in the doors and gave Cheerilee the paper she wrote on in her best cursive. Cheerilee inspected it, and then nodded, signaling Scootaloo to go sit down, which she promptly did after folding her scooter and leaning it up against the wall next to her saddle bag she hung up on one of the hooks.
"Alright class, settle down, I know you are all excited for this new school year, but please, we have a lot to get through. First off, I have our traditional cupcakes here, please form a single file line and come get yours!" The fillies and colts all let out a simultaneous 'Hooray!' before forming a line. Scootaloo was the last to get one, being the one farthest away from the teacher's desk. After sitting down, she dug into her cupcake, finishing it in four bites. It was made by Pinkie Pie so it was bound to be delicious; and it was. Cheerilee started with asking all of the ponies what they did over the summer break, to which Scootaloo paid no mind to. Eventually when all of the other ponies had said something about their summer, Cheerilee got to her new student. "Oh yes! I almost forgot! Class, we have a new student here with us! Why don't you stand up and tell us about yourself."
At that moment, all of the other ponies simultaneously looked behind or to the left and looked upon Scootaloo. There was a distant cough, but Scootaloo couldn't tell where it came from. She got really nervous, started feeling that adrenaline rush, the blood rush to her face, and the hair on the back of her neck stand on end. Finally she had assembled all of the words she needed into a coherent sentence. "Uhhm, I'm uhm, S-Scootaloo, and I just m-moved here from Manehattan. I like to ride my scooter b-because I can't fly yet, and I'm hoping to have a f-fun year here in Ponyville." She stammered with a weak smile at the end. She sat down, and Cheerilee started with her lesson, something on Equestrian History or something. Even an hour later she still felt nervous from her super corny introductory speech. She tried to pay attention to class but just kept thinking about her interaction with Rainbow Dash earlier. I wonder where she was going when I saw her today. Did she have a strange look on her face? I can't remember. Why did she need to go so soon after we met, and why did she go a different direction? Oh well, she probably forgot what she originally set out for, and I just made her come back to what she was doing. I helped her! This is so awesome; I hope she can teach me how to fly. That would be even more awesome. By the time she was finished with her thoughts, it was time to go home. That was fast, she thought. Must be because this was the first day; there wasn't even lunch, not that I had anything though. Scootaloo grabbed her saddlebag and scooter and sped off to find something to eat. She eventually came upon a restaurant, and ordered a daisy and hay sandwich off of the menu. She plopped down the two bits to pay for it, and a few minutes later it was set down in front of her. She munched on it happily, thinking about how it was such a nice day today. After sitting for a bit, she started thinking about how everypony was getting along without her back at the orphanage. They probably didn't even notice, she decided. However Miss Grey might notice all of Scootaloos papers in little bits strewn about her office. After she was finished eating she set off on her scooter to get another look at the town after the dark ride around she had, and the semi-dark ride around while she was frantically looking about for the school house. She noticed that a lot of the houses look exactly the same, save for maybe a different garden in the front. She noticed that there were a lot of different shops in another area, and all combined it was like a giant General Store. There were pottery shops, hardware shops, a quill and sofa shop, some grocery shops, a couple more restaurants, and a bunch of fruit and goodie stands. As she rode around, she noticed that there were a couple of places that look quite out of the ordinary. Like a large purple building with a carousel on top, a large tree that a few ponies were cutting what appeared to be a house out of, and of course Sugarcube corner. She wondered what kind of ponies lived in and are going to live in those houses as she rode on. After a while of riding, it was getting dark, and she was also pretty tired, so she decided to go back to that crate she now called home; hopefully for the just the time being. She found the crate, and walked inside where she found her blanket and pillow just the way she left them. She folded her scooter this time and set it down in the back, curled up in her blanket, and fell asleep. That night she had dreams of still being at the orphanage, Miss Grey walked up to her and asked her who wrote 'Miss Grey stinks' on the wall in permanent marker. As usual, Scootaloo tried to explain that is wasn't her, but Grey didn't believe her. She was given her punishment of spankings, and had to go scrub the marker away. Then out of nowhere, this prismatic beam shot from down the hall, grabbed Scootaloo, and took her to Ponyville, where she would be happy forever. From that day on she decided that Rainbow Dash was the greatest pony ever, and she would look up to her for the rest of her life.
End
Hey guys, thanks for reading. Please review, and tell me how I did, and if I got anything wrong with chronological history, with this being my first fic ever. Please be as brutal as possible, for I can't improve my writing if I don't know what's wrong. Alright you have a nice day now and…uh… take-luck…I guess :I
