Scootaloo swallowed as she parked her scooter outside of the two-story house. The living room light was on. It was after nine, which meant she had yet again broken curfew. It wasn't that she meant to do it. She really didn't. She just lost track of time when she was with her friends.

As quietly as possible, she opened and closed the door. Just as she started to put her hoof on the first step, she heard her dad call from the living room. "Scootaloo? Are you finally home? It's almost ten." His words were slurred.

The little filly swallowed. "I'm sorry. I was with-"

She stopped speaking when the dark green pony walked into the hallway. "You know the rules." Scootaloo's ears flattened against her head. One look at his eyes, and she knew he was well past reason.  The only way he lifted spirits was if they were in a bottle, and she could tell he had done plenty of that tonight.  "I'm really sorry, I didn't mean..."

"Rules are rules." He was in her face. She could smell the ever-present alcohol on his breath. He turned and walked away. Scootaloo stood where she was. Her father turned to look at her. "Come."

What had she done? She was late, sure, but it wasn't as if she had been much trouble. She had been very quiet coming in. He had even said something about extending her curfew a few days earlier.  "No," she whispered.

"What?" The male Pegasus glared at her. "Don't make this worse than it has to be. You break rules and there are consequences."

"No. It isn't… It isn't right." Her voice was still low, but she looked him straight in the eye. He advanced upon her, his anger sudden and disproportionate to the situation.

Snorting into her face, he narrowed his eyes at her. "You do not tell me no," he said as his hoof made contact with her face. She glared up at her father, not willing to let him see her cry. Then he pushed her roughly along the hallway into a dark room.

Scootaloo fought and squirmed. Her mind keep flashing back to the lesson Cheerilee had given that day. As he lifted her up, she bit his hoof. He said something, but she didn't understand what. She had never known this wasn't legal, that this wasn't the way everyone punished foals when they broke the rules.

Once more his hoof contacted with her face. The shock stopped her fight for a moment, which gave him what he needed. She landed on her back, the soft bed below softening the blow. "You will pay for your behavior, filly." She squeezed her eyes shut, finally giving up as he towered over her.

Later that night as she laid in her bed, tears streamed down her face. She squeezed her hind legs together, knowing that the feeling wouldn't go away for a while. Finally, she fell into a fitful sleep.

In the morning, she slowly got out of bed and gathered her things for school. Today of all days, she really didn't want to go to school, but her father had the day off and she didn't want to be there with him. She realized she hadn't finished her homework, but didn't care. As a bottle opened in the kitchen, she decided to leave as soon as possible.

Scootaloo didn't even glance in the mirror before she ran out the door, snatching up the saddle bags she had dropped at the door as she came in the previous evening. Arriving at school earlier than ever, she resigned herself to a corner of the playground, deciding to wait on Sweetie Bell and Apple Bloom.

It didn't take her friends long to get there. They ran over to Scootaloo, their smiles slipping off their faces as they did. "What happened?" Apple Bloom asked. "How'd you black your eye?"

"I... Um..." She was saved from answering when Cheerilee started ringing the bell to signal the start of school.

Cheerilee greeted each student as they walked through the door. "Scootaloo, what happened?" she asked as she noticed the gleaming black eye on her student's face.

"Nothing," Scootaloo said as she followed Sweetie Bell into class.

"She wouldn't tell us either," she heard Apple Bloom tell Cheerilee.

She took her normal seat in class, not taking in anything Cheerilee was saying. The time for recess came quickly, but Cheerilee asked her to stay so they could talk. Scootaloo sighed. She didn't want to.

Apple Bloom and Sweetie Bell walked over to Scootaloo, refusing to leave until Cheerilee forced them. "I need to talk to her alone. So go on, out to the playground." The pair left slowly, constantly looking back at their friend with concern.

Cheerilee knelt down. "Scootaloo, how did your eye get blacked?" Scootaloo's face crumpled as she shook her head. "Please tell me?"

"My dad…" was all she could get out. "He wasn't happy when I came home late last night."

Cheerilee's eyes widened. "And that is just punishment?" Cheerilee didn't miss the Pegasus filly's hind legs squeeze together at the word punishment. "Scootaloo, does he do other things?"

The small pony nodded, keeping her head down but keeping the flood of tears from breaking out. "I just… I had enough. So I told him no." She swallowed and took deep breaths. She swore she wouldn't cry.

Cheerilee opened her mouth to say something, but loud shouting from outside stopped her. She ran out the door as Scootaloo followed her. Scootaloo's eyes widened. Apple Bloom was holding Diamond Tiara down, one hoof on the other pony's purple mane. Apple Bloom wasn't doing anything else, but Diamond Tiara was screaming anyway. Sweetie Bell and Silver Spoon were still rolling around on the ground, landing punches intermittently.

Cheerilee broke them apart first, a mouthful of white hair ripping out of Silver Spoon's mane in the process. Sweetie Bell spat it out. Then, making Apple Bloom and Diamond Tiara separate, she looked at the four fillies. "What do you girls think you're doing?" Her gaze was harsh, causing all four ponies to drop their heads.

Apple Bloom sighed and spoke first. "Diamond Tiara was…" she glanced at Scootaloo and cleared her throat. "Diamond Tiara said that she wanted to thank whoever blacked Scootaloo's eye. And ah could see that Scootaloo was already about to cry and it made me angry so… Ah bucked her. And she hit me back, so Ah did a trick Applejack showed me for a rodeo and I pinned her, and while Ah was doing all of that, Silver Spoon and Sweetie Bell started fightin'."

Cheerilee sighed and shook her head. "Girls, why…" The entire class had crowded around the six ponies. "Class is over for today. You may go." She turned to the four ponies who had been fighting. "Except you four. And Scootaloo, I'd like you to stay too."

Once the rest of the students had left, Cheerilee made the four fillies in front of her look up. "Fighting is never the answer." She looked at Apple Bloom. "Even when someone insults your friend." Then she turned to Diamond Tiara. "Your father will hear about this, young mare." The four fillies nodded. Satisfied with that response for the time being, she let Silver Spoon and Diamond Tiara go home.

"Are you gonna tell Applejack?" Apple Bloom looked very down-trodden.

"Of course. But I have something to ask you. What did you mean when you said you could see that Scootaloo was ready to cry?"

Apple Bloom scuffed her hoof against the ground. Sweetie Bell looked up with a remorseful look on her face. "We just wanted to make sure she was alright."

Cheerilee sighed. "Come on girls. We… We have a lot to talk about." They walked along quietly, all either lost in thought or too ashamed to say anything. It was a short trip to Rarity's shop. Since Sweetie Bell's parents were out of town on a business trip, Rarity was watching Sweetie Bell.

Rarity's expression changed from surprise to disappointment in an instant. "What did you three do now?"

"There was a fight. Sweetie Bell and Silver Spoon decided that since Apple Bloom and Diamond Tiara were fighting, they might as well join in." Cheerilee's tone was reprimanding, letting the fillies know she was still disappointed.

"Apple Bloom did what now?" Applejack's face appeared in the front door. Scootaloo tried to sit through it all, but finally, she couldn't take anymore of it.

"They were defending me," she practically yelled.

With her two best friends' older sisters now looking at her, she quieted down. "They were just defending me."

Both Apple Jack and Rarity noticed the black eye at the same time. "In that case—"

"Before you congratulate them, we should really talk," Cheerilee interrupted. She looked at her students. "I need to speak with Applejack and Rarity alone. Do you girls mind playing out here until I'm finished?"

Relieved their punishments had been delayed, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Bell readily agreed. Scootaloo, on the other hoof, shook her head. "Please don't." She looked up at her teacher, fear and hurt shining in her eyes.

"Why don't you come talk to us as well, Scootaloo," Cheerilee said. The mares looked at each other, confused. The orange filly lowered her head and walked into the boutique, followed by the three adults. "You shouldn't be ashamed, dear. It isn't your fault. Look at us, please."

It was apparent to anypony that Scootaloo didn't want to look up. Tears had already formed in her eyes. "What's goin' on?" Applejack asked. "What happened?"

Scootaloo tried speaking, but she didn't seem able to form words. Cheerilee stepped in. "When she arrived at school, she had this black eye."

"I thought she said Sweetie and Apple Bloom were defending her? If she already had that, what were they defending her from?"

Scootaloo tried to block out the conversation. She didn't want to hear it, but was no use. All she could think of was the previous night. Her horrible father, whom she would have to return to soon. "They were fighting because Diamond Tiara said Scootaloo deserved the black eye."

"Then why are we talking about her black eye? Ah mean, I thought that's what this is about."

Cheerilee held back a sigh. She saw where two of her students got their talkativeness. Before she could answer, Scootaloo jumped up. "It was my dad, okay? He hit me and…and…he…" The filly broke down then. Letting her tears flow freely, her sobs shook her body. Applejack and Rarity's shock lasted only a moment before they gathered Scootaloo into a hug.

"Oh, darling, we had no idea."

"Why didn't you say something? We coulda helped."

She pressed her face into a neck; she wasn't sure whose. Whichever mare it was picked her up and held her, rocking her slightly. "Hey now," Apple Jack said in her ear. "Don't worry. He's never going to lay a hoof on you again. I'll make sure of that."

"The police," Rarity said. "Surely we can go to them.

"That was my next stop. I wasn't sure what to do about Apple Bloom and Sweetie Bell."

The orange earth pony looked at the unicorn. This was their sisters' best friend. They cared about this little filly a lot. Their own sisters had no clue of the horrors she had been through however. Applejack looked down at the filly, realizing she had fallen asleep. "How could anyone want to hurt something so innocent?" she asked. No one said anything, not that she had expected an answer.

Okay, so I'm writing this, I guess. I was listening to I'm Sorry by Flyleaf and this just sorta came to me. I know, I know. Another Scoot has bad parents story. Honestly, I'm not fond of them myself and I can't promise quick updates with this. I just couldn't find another character to use. I'll be writing a Happy-Scoot story later on. Because let's face it, after everything everyone has put her through, that little filly needs to be happy. Until then, though, here's this. Hope you, erm, keep reading. And remember, if you down vote, I'd appreciate knowing why! Next Chapter: Reporting Estimated time remaining: 38 Minutes