Scootaloo swerved down an alleyway, narrowly avoiding a trash can. Nearing the end of the alley, she tucked in her right wing. Banking hard right and beating her left wing, she managed a near ninety degree turn, and then sped off down the sidewalk. She had never run from anything half as fast as she was fleeing now. The rain beat against her and threatened to ruin her plans of escape. The train station was just down the road, and the police colts would be clearing the alleyway soon. Looking around, she saw a group of earth ponies and swerved towards it. Putting them between her and the police, she sped downhill towards the train out of Canterlot.

The train station had several trains awaiting departure, and Scootaloo sped towards the nearest one. Several ponies were no doubt watching her, as she could buzz quite loudly when riding her scooter. With expert precision, she banked right again and boarded the first train, then banked left. Water was flung off her hair and wings onto several nearby passengers as she barreled down the aisle. Nearing the end of the car, she banked right and exited the train, then slowed down. Much more discreetly, she boarded the next train and headed towards the sleeper car. Once there she walked into one of the cabins, and crawled under the bed.

Clutching the scooter tight, she shivered in a puddle of cold rainwater. Her fur was drenched from mane to tail, and her wings were numb from slicing through the cold air. Her heart felt ready to burst, and it was all she could do to control her breathing. She heard someone approaching the cabin, then the door slid open and a pony walked in. The other pony flung two suitcases on top of the bed, and then flung themselves onto the bed in the far corner of the cabin. The pony yawned and adjusted her purple sunglasses on her head.

Scootaloo had never seen a pony with such white fur, or such amazing blue hair. Suddenly she realized she had been holding her breath, and gasped to soothe her screaming lungs. A wave of shivering hit her as her body tried to warm itself back up. Were it not for the sunglasses, she would have realized the mare had been staring at her out of the corner of her eye.

Vinyl saw a small orange Pegasus quivering under the bench across from her. Her eyes were wide, pupils dilated, and she was clutching a scooter so hard that her hooves were turning white from lack of circulation. Vinyl didn't move since the filly looked like a terrorized, cornered animal. While she sat there wondering what could terrorize a young filly so badly, she heard a knock on the door. A grey mare and a police colt slowly opened the door.

"Good evening ma'am, we're here with Gerda who runs an orphanage downtown. Have you seen an orange pegasus on the train?" The police colt looked polite, however Gerda's stare pierced Vinyl like daggers.

"Hah! Do I look like I've seen an orange filly? I just got done DJ'ing at Club Dredgemane. The only thing I want to see is some vodka and cranberry juice." Vinyl kept her head still, letting her eyes move around behind the safety of the sunglasses. The orange filly in the corner was frozen like a statue.

"Ugh so that's what smells? You're drenched in alcohol you bumbling fool. And no one said anything about a filly, so step aside Officer. I'm going to check out this car." Gerda stepped forward into the cabin, only to be stopped by an irate Vinyl.

Wobbling a little, and making sure to exhale right into her face, Vinyl stared at the grey mare. "I don't know who YOU are but I'm DJ Pon3! One call to my agent and I could get you both fired! Now get the hay out of my cabin!" Vinyl's horn glowed purple, and a subwoofer buried in her suitcase began blasting wubs into the small cabin.

"Why . . . . degenerate . . . . . drunken . . . ." The mare's grey face was now red, flush with equal parts blood and anger, as she expressed her hatred for the young DJ.

"What's that grandma? I can't hear you over the wubs!" Vinyl pushed the two out into the hallway and slammed the door shut, locking it. The grey mare looked livid and ready to strangle Vinyl. The police colt nodded his head politely as they headed towards the next cabin.

The train started moving fifteen minutes later, and Vinyl switched the wubstep off. She and the young filly still lay on opposite corners of the car. While Vinyl had waited for the train to start moving, she thought the filly might be dead. The poor thing hadn't moved a muscle in 15 minutes.

"Why?" Vinyl glanced at the orange filly that she thought just spoke. The filly was still curled up there under the bench.

"Why what kid?" Vinyl turned her head so the filly would know she was looking at her.

"Why'd you lie for me?"

"Would you believe I used to be an orphan too kid? Before I got famous, of course. Also, I wouldn't give that old hag the time of day. She looked like she had some serious daddy issues." Vinyl thought she heard a soft chuckle from the orange filly.

Vinyl's horn lit up and she began rummaging through her two suit cases. Amongst the wires, speakers, and other equipment she was looking for a dust rag. It was about four feet by four feet, and Vinyl used it to clean up messes and keep dust off the equipment. Luckily tonight, she hadn't been pelted by any beer bottles so it was relatively clean. She floated the old rag down in front of the filly.

The filly pushed the rag away. "I can take care of myself."

"I didn't say you couldn't kid. Why don't you dry off and get warm, it's a long way to Ponyville."

The filly finally relaxed, releasing her death grip on the scooter. She pulled the rag towards her and dried off, then wrapped the damp rag around herself in an effort to warm up. "So you gonna turn me in at Ponyville?"

"Depends kid, why did you run away?"

Scootaloo remembered when it had all begun, when she had gotten to the orphanage run by Gerda the Kind.

In the tiny yard of the Silent Knoll orphanage, Scootaloo sat in a corner hoping to avoid the other foals. The yard was barely three feet by eight feet and full of dead grass, so they didn't often look for her back here. She sat hugging her knees in the corner, remembering a time of warmth and happiness. A few months ago, she had two loving parents who always smiled. Now all she had was a scooter and a helmet, rusting under her bed from disuse.

"Hey guys, let's check back here. BAWK. bawk bawk BAWK! Come 'ere chicken!" A burly colt walked into the yard, he had large muscles for a colt his age. "Hey guys I found the chicken!"

Scootaloo growled at him. "Leave me alone Boulder."

"What are ya gonna do? Cry to Gerda? She can't keep you locked in your room forever, chicken." Boulder was joined by a unicorn filly and earth filly.

"Want to see a new magic trick?" The unicorn's horn began to glow, and Scootaloo struggled to stay seated. The unicorn was trying to force her down to the ground.

Cracking his neck, Boulder stepped forward. "Looks like I get to do this the hard way, chicken. Now let's see if you've laid us any eggs!" Boulder walked right up to the filly and hit her with the back of his hoof, then pinned her to the ground.

Scootaloo lay there in the dead grass, crying in embarrassment. The three foals were laughing at her and poking at her wings. All of Scootaloo's primary feathers had been chopped off half-way by Gerda. It was a punishment for Scootaloo attempting to fly over the wall of the yard and escape. Gerda promised that from now on, her wings would be clipped regularly. If Scootaloo tried to escape again, Gerda would remove her pinion joint so she could never grow a primary feather again.

Those had been some of the worst days of her life, but she had escaped, and she had learned to fend for herself.

"Wow kid, and I thought I had it rough. My name's Vinyl, what's yours?" Vinyl looked down at the orange filly, but she had passed out and was snoring softly. "Good idea kid." Vinyl eased herself onto a pillow and counted whiskey bottles until she fell asleep.

Author's Notes:

Proofread by: 11thWonder
Cover art by: IDSmehlite