It was after dinner on the Apple family farm. The officer had taken Scootaloo with him to talk to the Department of Foal Services, refusing to let anyone accompany her. Applejack was planning on going back into town soon and insisting the filly be allowed to stay with her, at least for the time being, but first, she wanted to talk to Apple Bloom. Calling her sister into the kitchen and sit at the table, Applejack sighed.

"Ah don't really know how to say this." Apple Bloom's young face wrinkled with worry at her sisters tone, but she didn't say anything. "Do you know anything about what happened to Scootaloo?"

Apple Bloom shook her head. "How am Ah supposed to know anything when nopony would tell me or Sweetie Belle anything. It ain't like we're babies anymore, we can know stuff. 'Specially if it's our best friend."

Applejack sighed again. "Ah know. It's just… There are bad ponies out there, Apple Bloom. Ah always thought Ponyville was a safe town and Ah wouldn't have to worry about that, but Ah guess Ah do." She looked at her sister, considering how to continue.

Filling the silence, Apple Bloom said, "Ah know there are bad ponies, sis. Ah mean, there was the Changling Queen at the wedding, and-"

"That ain't what I mean, sugarcube."

The red-maned filly looked confused. "Then what do ya mean, AJ?"

Applejack started slowly, considering how to explain everything to her eleven years old sister. "Sometimes, a stallion, well, it can be mares too, but mostly it's stallions Ah think, but sometimes, these stallions…" Trailing off, Applejack put her face in her hooves. "Apple Bloom, ya know how the farm animals make their babies, don't ya?"

"Well, yeah. Ah mean, ya did give me a talk after Ah asked what the pigs were doin' a last year. And then ya gave me this whole talk about when Ah grow up and meet a stallion and how Ah needed to be married before Ah did anything like that." Apple Bloom looked more lost than ever at where the conversations was going. What did this have to do with Scootaloo?

"Sometimes, a stallion don't wanna wait until he's married. Sometimes, a stallion don't even care if you want to or not, or how old you are, or if you're ready for that. Sometimes, a stallion will take what he wants." She looked into Apple Bloom's eyes, making sure she understood. "Sometimes, that stallion could even be a pa."

Applejack could tell the younger pony still didn't understand what it was that had happened. "Scootaloo's pa is one of those stallions. He made Scootaloo do that. He hurt her, and Ah don't know how long he's done it for, but now we're trying to fix it."Apple Bloom looked horrified. "Ah'm going to see if she can stay with us for a bit, but there's a lot of grown-up ponies who are going to be doing a lot of things I can't control about what happened. Ah'm about to go into town to see if she can stay here. Do you wanna come?"

Uncharacteristically quiet, Apple Bloom simply nodded. Her brow was furrowed, and she concentrated on the ground as she walked with Applejack, trying to take everything in. They walked into a very small office, away from the main town area where Rarity, Twilight, and Pinkie lived. The building wasn't much bigger than the Apple family farm house, and only had one story.

Scootaloo had told this lady what had happened, again. The officer had left some time ago, and now she was stuck here. She wanted nothing more than to be out playing with the other two Crusaders, but this mare wouldn't let her. The officer had introduced her as Bleeding Heart. Scootaloo wasn't listening to a thing Bleeding was saying, however. She looked around the small office again, this time noticing a familiar Stetson through the open door.

Not giving a second look back, she galloped out of the office  and straight to Applejack and Apple Bloom. The two fillies hugged tightly as Bleeding Heart came around the counter. "Scootaloo, you can't just run out like that."

"Ah take it you're Scoot's social worker?" Applejack asked.

Bleeding Heart smiled. "I am. My name is Bleeding Heart. Who are you?"

"Applejack. Ah just came to get Scootaloo and go on home."

Bleeding Heart's smile fell. "I'm afraid you can't do that. She'll be going to a group home a few towns over. Ponyville doesn't have one of it's own, which is unsurprising do to the size. We feel it would be best to remove her from this location."

"Now hold on just a minute. Why can't she stay with me instead of with a bunch of strangers?"

"We can't let foal's go to homes where nopony has been trained to care for foster children," Bleeding Heart explained.

Applejack snorted. "Is that all? Cause Big Mac did that back when we was making sure we'd be able to raise Apple Bloom. Ah reckon y'all have records from eight years ago, right? Full name Big Macintosh Apple."

Scootaloo looked hopefully up at Bleeding Heart. It would be like a continual sleepover if she could stay with Apple Bloom. Bleeding Heart, for her part, simply sighed. "I shouldn't do it, you know. He's supposed to stay up to date on training if you wish to house foals. But it would probably be better if she were able to stay somewhere she was comfortable. I'll have to come along and have Big Mac sign the proper paperwork. We will have much to discuss later."

The two fillies ran ahead of the adults. "This is going to be awesome," Scootaloo said with a grin. "It's going to be like a sleepover, every night. I could help with chores too, learn how to do all that stuff you guys do. "

Apple Bloom grinned back. "I know. Why don't we ask AJ if Sweetie Bell can come spend the night? We haven't left town yet." The two fillies promptly turned around and ran back to the adults. "AJ! AJ!" Apple Bloom shouted.  "Can we go get Sweetie Belle? It could be a huge sleepover and everything."

Applejack looked into the grinning, if not slightly mischievous, faces of the two fillies. "Alright, but hurry up. It's getting dark."

Scootaloo and Apple Bloom raced off, not looking back. It only took them a couple minutes to reach Carousel Boutique. Rarity opened the door, unsurprised to see her sisters' best friends. Who else would knock so loudly, even when she had said she was coming to answer the door? In unison, the two Crusaders asked, "Can Sweetie Belle stay all night with us?"

"Sweetie Belle, would you like to-" Before Rarity could finish the question, Sweetie Belle was out the door, ready to go.

The three fillies grinned at each other. It had been ages since the last sleep over. Two weeks was a long time when there were so many things to do. "Cutie Mark Crusader Sleep Over at Sweet Apple Acres!" they shouted before running off. They didn't notice the serious discussion Applejack and Bleeding Heart were having as they galloped past the pair of adults.

--

The three fillies fell into a giggling heap on Apple Bloom's bed. It was nearing midnight, but they didn't care. Tomorrow was Saturday, meaning they had no school. There was nothing to be done but enjoy the night. Applejack even let them stay up as late as they wanted, unlike Fluttershy who put them to bed.  

It was plain to see the trio was tiring out, no matter how much they fought it. One would yawn, another a prolonged blink, and before long, they were simply lying on the full sized bed together. "Scootaloo?" Sweetie questioned. The Pegasus had her eyes closed and could have been asleep.

"Hmm?" she replied, opening one eye.

"I'm sorry about what your pa did."

Both eyes opened now, Scootaloo sat up, the other two following her lead. "It isn't your fault, Sweetie."

"Did…" Apple Bloom trailed off, not sure if she should ask her question. "Didn't you ever think of tellin' on him?"

Scootaloo shrugged. For once, she couldn't meet her friends eyes. "I mean, I just thought that's what happened, you know? I thought Big Mac did it to you."

Apple Bloom shook her head. "Mac ain't never come close to touching me there. No one has since Ah started bathin' myself." Apple Bloom leaned over and nuzzled her friend. "At least he ain't gonna do it again."

Scootaloo gave her friends a small smile. "No, he ain't. I mean, isn't." Her smile turned into a grin. "You Apples are already changing me, I just said 'ain't'."

The three fillies giggled. "I guess we should go to sleep now, huh?" Sweetie Belle said, finishing up a yawn. The other two nodded. Climbing under the blanket, the Crusaders closed their eyes and quickly fell asleep.

--

The bright light hit Scootaloo's eyes the next morning. She blinked several times, trying to get used to the light, and then worked her way out of the bed, so she wouldn't wake Apple Bloom or Sweetie Belle. She crept down the stairs, wincing as one squeaked. She wasn't sure if any of the Apple family was awake or not, and she didn't want to wake them up.

As she made her way to the bathroom, she heard voice from the kitchen. "…and Ah don't know if we could do that. Ah want to, so much, but we ain't got the bits." Applejack sounded extremely upset about something. Scootaloo peaked around the corner to see all three of the Apple adults sitting around the table.

"Ya want her to stay, Applejack, then we'll just have to find a way." Big Mac's voice was thoughtful. "We could always up the price of cider this year."

"No, Mac, that wouldn't be right." Applejack had her face in her hooves. "That mare from DFS said they would help us 'til it came time to adopt her. And with her so young, she had to be adopted. And then Ah don't know what we'd do."  Applejack raised her head and spotted Scootaloo. Her eyes widened before she got a strange look on her face. Her lips pressed together, and she looked to the left before looking back at Scootaloo. "Hungry, sugarcube?"

Scootaloo shook her head, her ears drooping.

Applejack sighed. "How much did ya hear?"

"I don’t want to cause you guys problems. It's okay, I can go somewhere else."

Granny Smith stood slowly. "Ah'm going to go fetch some flour for breakfast," she said as she walked out of the kitchen.

Big Mac stood. "Ah gotta do mah mornin' chores."

Scootaloo looked at Applejack, who smiled. "Why d'ya think any of us want you to go somewhere else?"

The young Pegasus looked down at the floor. "You don't have the bits for me. And that's okay, I don't mind, really."

She should have known her lifetime sleepover with Apple Bloom wouldn't last long. She scuffed her hoof along the hard wood floor, not wanting to meet Applejack's eyes. Maybe that place Bleeding Heart had talked about wouldn't be so bad. She could probably make friends there, maybe meet other fillies who didn't have their cutie marks and start another Cutie Mark Crusader club.

She jumped when she felt Applejack nuzzle her. "You ain't a problem. And anything I said is for us grown ponies to worry about. You understand? Ah just want you to have fun and be happy." Scootaloo nodded, hesitantly returning the nuzzle. She closed her eyes. It had been three years since her mother died, three years since she had received this kind of affection.

She was disappointed when  Applejack moved away and looked down at her. "Now, go wake up the Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle and tell 'em to get ready for breakfast." Scootaloo ran back up the steps and jumped onto Apple Bloom's bed, tossing both fillies onto the ground.

"Applejack says get up and ready for breakfast."

Apple Bloom groans while Sweetie Belle whines, "Scootaloo, I was asleep." They get to their hooves and stretch, getting ready for what they hoped would be a crusade-filled da

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