"Scootaloo, dear, wake up." Scootaloo blinked. She hadn't really been asleep, but in that sort of halfway place between. "Miss Cheerilee needs you to go with her now, okay?" The Pegasus filly simply nodded. She didn't like any of this.

She kept her head down as she and Cheerilee stood to take their leave. The police station wasn't far from here, but Scootaloo didn't want to go. She didn't know what was going to happen. They might take her from her Ponyville. She had heard of it happening before. Never given a reason for it, but she knew that some fillies and colts were given to other ponies when their parents couldn't take care of them.

"Ah'll walk with ya, if that's okay. I'm sure Apple Bloom can stay here for a bit?" she said, turning to Rarity for conformation on that last part. The unicorn nodded. "I'll be back to pick up Apple Bloom later, Rarity."

All four ponies walked outside of the Boutique. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle ran over to Scootaloo. "You guys were in there for a long time. What happened?" Sweetie Belle looked at her friend closer, taking in Scootaloo's puffy red eyes. "Why were you crying?"

"I- I-" Scootaloo looked at the adults for help. She wasn't sure she wanted her friends to know.

"Don't you girls worry about it right now. 'Bloom, you stay here with Sweetie Bell and Rarity 'til we get back. And don't cause trouble, ya hear?"

"What about Scootaloo?" Apple Bloom looked up at her big sister. "She's our friend and something's wrong. We want to know."

Applejack looked like she was going to shout, but she sighed instead. "It ain't something I'm gonna tell you now. So go on. I'm going with Scootaloo and Cheerilee to take care of a few things." Applejacks expression told Apple Bloom not to argue.

Scootaloo waved to her friends as she followed the two adult mares. She knew they wanted to know what was happening. She just didn't know how to tell them. How do you tell your friends something like that? "AJ?" she said, looking up at the orange earth pony. Applejack looked down, giving Scootaloo her full attention. "What's going to happen?"

Applejack shook her head. "I don't know. But it'll be better. We're going to make sure of that. You're pa ain't going to touch you again. Not if I have anything to say about it."

The little orange filly nodded. So many questions swam through her head, but she didn't know how many she really wanted the answer to. After a few more minutes of silent walking, they arrived at the police station. The three ponies walked in, unsure of where to go.

Cherrilee went to talk to an officer at a counter. He glanced between her and where Scootaloo was standing with Applejack. After a nod from the officer, Cheerilee walked over to them. "They want to talk to her, but only one of us can go with her."

"Applejack, will you go with me?" Scootaloo looked up at the farm pony.

Applejack nodded. "Of course, sugarcube." They walked over to the officer, Scootaloo doing her best to hide her fear. She was brave and daring. Still, her tail occasionally gave a nervous twitch.

"Are you Scootaloo?" he asked kindly, looking at the orange filly. She simply nodded. He switched his gave to Applejack then. "What is your name?"

"Ah'm Applejack. Scootaloo is my little sisters best friend." The officer wrote down what Applejack said.

Nodding, he gave Scootaloo a small smile. "We have to go back into a room and talk, okay? Applejack will be with you the entire time, but you have to answer my questions. Honestly."

"Yessir," Scootaloo managed to say. The officer led them down a short hall and into a room. He sat on one side of a table, while Applejack and Scootaloo took the two chairs on the other. Scootaloo couldn't shake the feeling she was in trouble. She knew she wasn't, but the feeling was still there.

"Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?" The stallion sounded kind despite his serious expression.

Scootaloo nodded. "I do."

"Even if you think you may get someone in trouble or you don't want to say it?"

Breathing deep, Scootaloo nodded again. "Pinkie Promise."  Applejack smiled at the little filly.

The officer paused, looking at his clipboard. "How did you get that black eye?"

Scootaloo found a very interesting knot to look at on the table. "My dad hit me."

The officer scribbled something. "Why did he hit you?"

That knot was very interesting. It was almost completely through the table. "I didn't want to accept my punishment for breaking curfew," Scootaloo said in a low voice, just above a whisper. She blinked back tears.

"And what was the punishment."

Scootaloo looked up from the knot and over at Applejack. She didn't know how to explain it, and she had forgotten what Cheerilee had called it. Applejack just nodded encouragingly, though no smile was on her face. "I-he-" Scootaloo squirmed. "I don't know what it's called. I remember Miss Cheerilee said what it was called when we had a lesson on things that happen to foals, but I don't remember." Scootaloo started talking quickly, as if she stopped, she would never be able to say it. "What happened was that I was late coming home after hanging out with the Crusaders, it was way after nine. And so he was angry, and he had been drinking again, cause I could smell it. And he said I knew the rules and needed to be punished but I didn't want to. Not when Miss Cheerilee had taught a lesson that day that said it wasn't how ponies are suppose to punish their kids. So he hit me and made me anyway. I fought him, but he put me on his bed and…and…."

The small Pegasus was sobbing now, wrapped into Applejacks embrace. "Hey, shh. Come on, I know. You have to finish tellin' the officer here what happened." Scootaloo shook her head, pressing farther into Applejacks chest.

"I have enough, actually," the officer said. "We will need to take her to the hospital, just to…check."

Applejacks brow furrowed. "Is that really needed? She ain't lyin'."

The stallion sighed. "We have to have the documentation." He gathered a few papers and walked with them through the building. Scootaloo was still sniffing, leaning on Applejack a little as they walked. Cheerilee was waiting for them where they had left her. She stood when she saw them coming. The officer walked over to her. "We're nearly finished with this part. I trust you know where the filly lives?" She nodded. "If you could give Jim some information. We just have one last thing we need to do before we can make the arrest."

Scootaloo stopped. "Arrest?"

"Of course.  Rape is a ten year sentence." The officer started walking again, not noticing that Scootaloo had sat down, slightly shocked.

Applejack, however, did. She knelt down, getting eye-level with the orange filly. "What you're pa did, it wasn't good. It's like when you and the other two Crusaders get detention or grounded for your silly stunts. You won't have to live with him anymore. You didn't want to, did ya?"

Scootaloo shook her head. "No, but…I don't have anywhere else to live. I don't wanna be by myself." She looked up at Applejack, tears in her eyes again. "I hate him and what he does, but I don't have anyone else." She looked back down again. She had never felt so lost or alone.

She heard Applejack sigh. "Sugarcube, you ain't alone. You have Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom and Rarity. And you have me. And I know Rainbow Dash cares about you to, even if she ain't so good at showin' it."

"Ladies?" the officer said, walking back over. "Is everything okay?"

"Of course not." Applejack stood up, looking as if the officer was stupid. "How could it be okay?" With that, she started walking, Scootaloo pressed by her side. The officer shook his head and followed.

As they walked out, Scootaloo flapped her wings a few times. Rainbow Dash was doing a new trick. She did a backflip that turned into a tight corkscrew before turning up. She apparently hadn't noticed the building she was heading for and crashed into it.

"Dash!" Scootaloo and Applejack shouted, running over to the blue Pegasus. Rainbow Dash was already on her hoofs and grinning when the two ponies made it.

"I almost had it. How much did you see?" He grin turned into a frown. "What happened to your eye, kiddo?"

Scootaloo's happiness at seeing her idol died instantly. "I..umm…"

The officer showed up then. "Ladies, really. The hospital is the opposite way."

"Hospital? What's going on? Are you okay, Scootaloo?" Dash looked at the trio before her. "Is anypony going to answer me? What's going on?"

Applejack shook her head. "Later, Dash."

The officer sat off toward the hospital without a word, Scootaloo and Applejack following behind, Dash behind them. If Scootaloo hadn't known what to tell her friends, it was nothing compared to telling Rainbow Dash. AJ and Rarity had always felt like they were somehow her sisters too, but Dash was different. Dash was her hero, the one pony who could do anything without help from anyone.

They made it to the hospital and threw the doors before the officer realized Dash was with them. "Miss Dash, I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to ask you to leave."

"Why?" Dash asked. "I care about her too, and I want to know what's going on."

"Applejack is here right now, and that is all I, or the hospital, will allow. I'm sure there will be time later to explain things to you. Now leave."

Dash shook her head. "I just crashed into a building. You saw it, didn't you? I could be hurt." The blue Pegasus sat, glaring at the officer.

He simply ignored her, walking over to the desk and talking to the receptionist. He gave her some papers,  a few things were filled out, and then Scootaloo and Applejack were whisked to a room. The door was closed as the nurse stepped out.

Scootaloo looked around the overly white room. It was too clean. Applejack looked just as uncomfortable. The walls didn't have anything on them, though there were several containers with cotton balls, things that looked like popsicle sticks, and various other things.

"I'm scared, AJ," the little filly whimpered. "I don't want to be here."

Applejack took Scootaloo's hoof in her own. "I know, sugarcube. It shouldn't take too long. And when we're all done, I'll buy you something from Sugar Cube Corner. Does that sound nice?" Mentally berating herself for saying that, Applejack sighed.  It wasn't like Scootaloo was here to her healthy foal check up. This was a traumatic experience. A treat from the local bakery wasn't going to make the filly feel any better.

Still, Scootaloo's ears perked up at the suggestion. "Really? Can I get a cupcake?"

The door opened then, revealing a mare. "Hello, I'm doctor Hart." She walked over to Scootaloo. "I'm going to ask you to lay back, okay? And then I'm going to look at your private area to see what happened. Then I'm going to take a cotton swab to see what evidence I can find.  Applejack will be right here with you, and it won't take a minute."

Scootaloo looked terrified. She looked over at Applejack. "It's okay. The doctor ain't gonna hurt you. I'm right here, and I won't move." Clutching Applejack's hoof, Scootaloo laid back. While the doctor did what she had to, Scootaloo closed her eyes. She didn't feel like crying, but she tried to block out what was happening.

True to her word, not a minute later the doctor told Scootaloo she could sit up. "Can we go now?" Scootaloo asked. While it hadn't been the same as what her father did, it made her feel the same afterward.

With a nod from the doctor, Scootaloo was out the door. "So, how about that cupcake?" the orange mare offered. Scootaloo nodded. "Sounds good, but AJ?"

"Yeah, sugar?"

"What do I tell everyone? I mean, I feel so…bad." The orange filly looked down again as they left the hospital.

"You shouldn't feel bad. It ain't your fault. Your pa just did some things he wasn't supposed to do. And as far as telling people, you  ain't got to. But if you want, I'll take care of telling Apple Bloom and Dash and Rarity will tell Sweetie Belle."

Scootaloo nodded. "Thanks." She nuzzled the orange mare for a second. Then she heard a voice calling her name. "Rainbow Dash?" She spun around, wide-eyed.

"I didn't see you guys until you were walking out the door." She looked at them. "Will you tell me what's going on now?"

After a glance at Scootaloo, Applejack shook her head. "I'll tell you later, Dash. Right now, I know a filly who wants a cupcake."

They stopped at Rarity's Boutique first, so the six of them could go to Sugar Cube Corner together. It didn't take long for Scootaloo to fall back into how the three adult mares had always saw her-happy, fun-loving, innocent.

Rarity and Applejack explained to Rainbow Dash what had transpired that day on the trip to the sweetshop, while the three fillies ran ahead. The blue Pegasus was shocked. "That's horrible. If I had know, I'd…" she trialed off. None of them had known. Watching her now, you wouldn't have been able to just look and see it.

They made it to the sweetshop and sat in a booth, Pinkie coming to take their order, then joining them when it was delivered. "And then I said, 'Hot sauce, are you crazy? But it was really, really, really good." She grinned as she took a bit of her hot sauce covered cupcake.

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