Lily
Inside a wooden old house in the outskirts of the town known as Trottersburg, an old unicorn with the name Shoelace laid idly in his bed. In an attempt to skip time, he frequently tried to sleep the days away. And today was no exception. Through a thin line between the curtains on his bedroom window, he saw snow showering down from the night sky. The wind could be heard clearly through the window; it was a strong blizzard outside. But soon it would be late enough for the night to embrace him with dreams, soon he could sleep again.
The red old unicorn closed his eyes once more, but no. No sleep for him just yet. He twisted around in his bed, shifting positions and moving his pillow. He lifted a glass of water up from his cupboard next to the bed with his magic and drank a little. He felt a little more tired now, perhaps he was ready to sleep. Shoelace slowly placed his head back on his soft pillow. He could feel the night embrace him, but something unexpected threw him back into his house again.
At first he didn’t know what it was, so he sat up in his bed and listened. Three times he heard somepony knocking, knocking on his front door. He trotted down the stairs towards his living-room. He peeked out the window and saw the still raging blizzard, who could think about wandering outside at a time like this?
Shoelace trotted to the front door, but didn't really know what to expect. It didn't really matter anyway, because he would never have expected a small, weak, cold and shivering filly on his doorstep. With a mane that was supposed to be dark brown and a hide that was supposed to be brighter, she stood there with a white coat with snow all over herself and a few icicles in her mane.
Baffled, he looked at her with disbelief. A moment passed in silence since neither of them spoke. But then it dawned that she was too cold to even focus enough to speak. "P- Please, do come in. It is too cold outside for you," he said. Nopony should be outside in that kind of weather, he wasn't heartless.
The poor little filly was shaking, with frost in her fur and lots of snow all over. She was in an absolutely terrible condition. Shoelace knew he had to do something. He stood there for a moment and tried to think. "I- I’ll make you a warm bath!" he said and trotted towards the bathroom. The first and most important thing now would be to warm her up.
Shoelace turned on some warm water in the bathtub and went into his cottage. He returned with a bucket and found the filly slowly making her way towards the bathroom on her ice-cold hooves. The poor little thing was still shaking a lot and moved very slowly. The mere sight of the small filly in this condition made Shoelace uneasy.
Shoelace waited patiently for her to get into the bathroom before lifting her up and lowering her into the warm water. Shoelace filled the bucket with water and poured it over her the whimpering little foal. Shoelace filled the bucket once more and poured the contents over her. She whimpered again, but not as much.
The bathtub was nearly filled with water. But still though, it would take some time for her to become fine again. He combed ice out of her mane, taking it one step at the time. “Poor filly, what’s your name?” Shoelace asked her. “L- l- li- Lily,” she stuttered. At this point any reply was a good sign; it meant that she was improving.
Shoelace dropped the comb and turned off the water. He took a towel and soaked it before placing it around Lily. “Would you like some food Lily?” Shoelace asked her. She replied with a slow nod at him, but Shoelace barely noticed because of her constant shaking. He trotted towards the kitchen, but he took a last worried look at her before dissapearing around the corner.
Shoelace flipped switches and gathered both tools and ingredients with his magic. It was lucky that he knew how to make a good soup with just a couple of ingredients, because that is exactly what she needs right now. Shoelace was stressed way beyond anything he had experienced bef0re. He chopped carrots and other vegetables, filled a pot with water and sat it to boil. Suddenly he heard a *thump* from the bathroom, causing him to drop a frying pan on the floor. He hurried to see if Lily was okay, but found her head under the surface of the water.
This time Shoelace panicked for real! Galloping to the bathtub, he forgot the wet floor. He was *this* close to colliding with the bathtub as he slid across the floor. After regaining his hoofhold on the floor (and his pride), he lifted Lily’s head up above the water again. The light-brown little filly had fainted, the heat was too much for her. At least she wasn’t too cold anymore, but Shoelace on the other hoof had to calm his heart.
Lily opened her sleepy eyes and looked at him. "S- Sorry to have made you worry," Shoelace tried to force a smile back to her. "H- heh- heheh. No need to worry about me, let's just get you dried up. I made you some soup," he said. She stared into the water, probably a very shy little filly. She was just a small earth pony with dark, brown mane and a slightly brighter fur and green eyes. She wasn't all warm yet, but she stood up and stepped out of the tub. Shoelace rested on the edge of the bathtub a little longer. His vision became blurry and his hooves shook, he was too old for this.
Lily looked at him with worried eyes, she was still not all well but the old unicorn that just saved her didn’t look too good either. Shoelace noticed that and pulled himself together for her sake, he wasn’t too weak to be unable to take care of himself. He straightened up and scoured the room for anything to dry Lily with. He lifted a new towel from one of the shelves and levitated it towards Lily. But the world got filled with a thick mist once more, and he dropped it. The towel landed on Lily’s head, which was good enough.
Shoelace trotted into the living-room, he could go for some good sleep now. He sat down on his best chair and leaned back into the soft wool. He could almost sleep right there, but the sound of trotting reminded him that he really shouldn’t just yet. Lily sat down on Shoelace’s couch with the towel wrapped around her. The soup Shoelace had put on the table before Lily didn’t last long, she was surprisingly hungry.
For the first time, Shoelace thought about all the questions. Why she was here? How did she get here? Where was her parents? And what should he do? “Um, mister?” Lily said. She had finished the soup and looked at the empty bowl, avoiding eye-contact. “Shoelace. Call me Shoelace,” he interrupted her. She shouldn’t look at him as a complete stranger that would throw her out any second. “Mister Shoelace, is it okay if I could sleep over for tonight?”
Shoelace hadn’t really thought about it, but he supposed that he could be crafty. “Yes, that is fine,” he said without thinking too much about it. He couldn't really object about having a visitor for once. A small smile appeared on the continously shivering little filly. She didn't need to go outside again, and Shoelace seemed like a kind old pony.
Lily laid down on the mattress in the middle of the living-room. One by one, Shoelace blew out the candles in the living-room and switched the lights off. He trotted halfway up the stairs to his bedroom before stopping and turning around. Shoelace could already hear a muffled snore under the blanket on Lily slept in. "Good night Lily," Shoelace whispered.
That little filly would prove to become the ultimate gift in a couple of days time.