*KRA-KOOM!!*
Spike leapt ten feet into the air, burrowing in Twilight’s purple mane and covering his tiny dragon ears with her hair.
"Awww" Twilight sympathized "I'm sorry Spike, someday when you're older you'll realize that thunder is just the sound that clouds make."
Twilight's kind words did little to prevent the indigo dragon from burrowing further into his favorite pony’s mane. Outside, chilly rain pelted the window with all intentions of drowning Ponyville.
"Here" Twilight said as she trotted over to the couch. "I know how to get your mind off the storm. Let's build a cushion fort!"
At these words the baby dragon’s breathing slowed and his trembling became a little more measurable. She knew Spike loved cushion forts and if she could get him inside of one the night would go a lot smoother.
"Re-Really?" Spike murmured, his voice muffled by Twilight’s mane. "Can we make some popcorn too?"
"Of course!" Twilight exclaimed. She was happy that Spike had accepted her idea and was going to relax, even if only a little bit. "Now then, I'm going to set you down and I'll go get my pillows from my bedroom, okay?"
Twilight’s horn began to glow as she started to levitate the little dragon from his perch on her head to the comfortable cushions of the couch.
"No no no no no!" Spike began to plead. He was clinging on to two strands of Twilight's mane and was now dangling upside down above her head. Twilight’s pink aura was surrounding his body as his little feet kicked against the air. "Please don't leave me!"
Twilight shot a painful scowl upwards and cocked her head to relieve some of the pain. "Ow, Spike! Let go! I'll just be one second okay!? We need more blankets and pillows if we want the fort to be big enough to fit the both of us!"
Spike's tiny claws loosened their grip on her mane, and he slowly levitated down onto the couch. His big green eyes beckoned her to remain, but she needed him to learn that thunder wasn't as scary as he made it out to be.
"Okay Spike, I'll be right back okay?" Twilight said gleefully. She trotted up the treehouse stairs and disappeared from sight. The rain seemed to grow heavier as it bombarded the side of the house, and on the top floor Twilight could barely hear herself think.
"Uhh, Twilight?" Spike began. "Can you come down now?"
With no response from Twilight, the baby dragon had started fidgeting with his tail, running his hand up and down his spikes.
"Twi? Do you have the pillows yet? I'm uh...I'm afraid." Spike's tail brushed his arm and he jumped, letting out a soft yelp.
Upstairs, Twilight gazed out the window, her breath clung to the pane leaving an opaque oval. With one hoof she wiped the condensation away, exuding a trail of water droplets. She squinted through the rain, eyes fixated on a perceived movement when a gash of lighting lit up the sky and for a very brief second Twilight saw Scootaloo with her hoof raised to the library door.
*KRACKOW-KABOOM!!*
The power went out.
----
"AHHHHH, TIMBERWOLVES! URSAS! NIGHTMARE MOON! OH CELESTIA SAVE US! DISCORD! DIAMOND DOGS! AHHHHHH! SOMEPONY ANYPONY HELP!"
Twilight dropped the bundle of bedding she was levitating and raced down the stairs, lighting her horn as a lantern in the process. Spike was hiding behind the couch using it as a barricade between the doorway and himself. He was screaming incoherent phrases at the intruder while hurling picture frames and pillows at his would be worst nightmare. Twilight was pretty sure she heard Spike scream something along the lines of “I'm a dragon, don't make me go full drag on you”, whatever that meant.
Twilight galloped towards the doorway, and used her magic to halt all of the flying projectiles. Spike's screams of terror suddenly doubled in volume. " AHH TWILIGHT! WHAT ARE YOU DOING! IT'S NIGHTMARE MOON AND SHE'S COME TO KILL US ALL!"
Twilight groaned and looked at Scootaloo, her dripping figure cowered and her face looked just as startled as Spike did.
"Spike!" Twilight growled. "It's not Nightmare Moon. It's SCOOTALOO!" She snapped, reeling her head, and thus the only light source towards Spike.
All she saw were two green dinner platers peering over the couch. They blinked once, and Spike started to emerge from beneath them.
"Sc-Sc-Scootaloo?" He inquired, quietly assessing the filly still in the door way.
"Yes...Scootaloo." Twilight said, rolling her eyes. "Now come here and treat her like a proper guest why don't you."
Spike started to crawl on the floor towards the pair of them and Twilight turned her head towards Scootaloo expressing an awkward grin. "Heh, sorry Scootaloo...Want to come in?" she offered, closing the door with her magic.
Scootaloo finally pried her eyes away from the baby dragon who was now slithering on the floor, trying and failing to stay as inconspicuous as possible. She closed her mouth and her eyes lit up.
"Hi!" she belted.
She then shook her mane, spraying the residents with the cold rainwater that covered her body. Twilight sputtered, and turned her face away from the filly. Spike on the other hand sprang up from the floor and let out a yelp of delight.
"Scootaloo!! It IS you!!" He said then embraced her in a hug, mumbling about the end of days, and chaos raining. Scootaloo blushed and smiled at the now welcoming reception.
"Alright you two" Twilight began, "what brings you here Scootaloo?"
"Well, I was outside scooting home when the storm struck!" She said energetically. "I was okay with that, I LIKE rain! But then it started raining harder." Twilight could visibly see the little filly's face droop into a small state of sadness as she recalled her tale. "Well long story short, your house was the only one with lights on" She said while looking at Spike. Twilight grinned as she circled the room, lightning lanterns as she went.
"Oh wow!" Spike said. "You're just in time then! Twilight and I were just about to make a cushion fort! You do like cushion forts don't you Scoot?"
"Psh, does Rainbow Dash like flying?" She responded, a smirk wafting across her face.
Spike laughed and grabbed her by the hoof, yanking her over to the cushion-less couch. They were halfway there when a magical barrier was conjured immediately in front of them, causing the duo to fall over backwards.
"Ohhh no you don't, Twilight said playfully. "There is no way Scootaloo can play on the couch. At least not until she is all dry and void completely of mud."
With that the barrier vanished in a poof, and in its place was a soft purple towel. The towel descended on Scootaloo like a vulture on it's prey. Try as she might she couldn't escape the towel’s warm fuzzy embrace, and when the towel disappeared again she stood there in a daze.
The room was silent except for the perpetual pounding of the rain outside. Spike was the first to break the silence.
"HAHAHAA! Oh! My! Celsetia..." He laughed, one purple claw outstretched and directed at his filly friend.
Scootaloo blushed and ran into the bathroom to look in the mirror, grabbing a lantern on her way. Her little purple mane was as sporadic as Pinkie Pie’s, and her small orange body resembled that of a parasprite.
She let out a yelp and started eagerly brushing her hair down with her hoof. "Ummm Twilight? Do you have a brush I could borrow?" she called from the bathroom. A few seconds later Twilight joined her in the bathroom carrying a brush and some hair product.
"Sorry Scootaloo. I didn't know you cared so much about your looks. Is everything okay?"
"Umm, yeah." Scootaloo offered, pulling the brush through her hair. "Thanks for letting me wait the storm out here" she said, quickly changing the topic.
"Oh" Twilight perked up, "anytime Scootaloo!"
A couple minutes later Scootaloo emerged from the bathroom looking her normal self, if not a little more groomed than usual. "Thanks Twilight!" she said with a smile.
"No problem Scootaloo! Okay, so, Spike do you think you'll be okay if I go upstairs to get bedding for our fort now? Scootaloo won't scare you again?"
Spike smiled awkwardly and nodded his head. "Don't worry miss Twilight, I'll look out for him" Scootaloo chimed in.
Twilight made for the stairs a second time, lighting her horn as she went. "Come on Scoot! Time to build a fort!" he said as he pulled the cushion Scootaloo was on down onto the ground. Scootaloo fell to the ground with thud, her legs sprawled out to her sides.
"Oh gosh! Sorry Scootaloo! I didn't mean to hurt you!" Spike stammered.
"It's okay Spike" said Scootaloo, offering up a small laugh and a smile.
She got up and ran a hoof through her mane, making sure it was in check. "Hey, um Spike?" Scootaloo started.
"Yeah" Spike said, reaching for the last cushion on the couch and placing it with the others on the ground.
"Um..." Scootaloo didn't know how to ask her question. "Umm...do you umm" she made a nervous glance towards the treehouse's staircase, "do you like anypony?" The last half of her sentence trailed off as she turned her head and dropped her eyes to the ground.
"Heh, Yeah! Of course I do! I like Twilight, and Apple Jack, and Derpy always knows how to cheer me up. I like the Cakes because they make good cake. I like..."
Scootaloo cut him short. "No Spike. I mean, do you like-like anypony...?"
Spike stood there with his finger in the air and mouth open, still caught in the middle of his last sentence. It was then that Twilight came down the stairs with a bundle of pillows and sheets hovering over her.
"Catch!" she yelled as the two turned to see a horde of bedding hurdling towards their faces. A slight squeak escaped Scootaloo’s lips and she ducked, the bedding fell to the floor with a soft thump and buried Spike.
"SPIKE!" Scootaloo immediately started plowing through the bundle of blankets to free her fallen friend. His little purple hand appeared out of the cushiony tomb and Scootaloo grabbed it, pulling Spike up out of the pile. He took a deep breath of fresh air and smiled.
"Thanks Scootaloo!"
"Oh...Don't mention it..." Scootaloo said, a deep blush appearing on her face as she twisted her body away from the dragon of her affection, hiding her embarrassing hue.
By that time Twilight had fully emerged from the staircase and was starting to set up some cushions in a rectangular pattern. "All right! Let's do this everypony!" Spike yelled as he enthusiastically dove into the pile of bedding.
Scootaloo grinned and grabbed a cushion, placing it next to Twilight's.
----
About an hour later the team had assembled a fortress worthy of a king. It was large enough for all three of them to fit comfortably in and they draped the blankets on top to provide shelter against imaginary enemies. With the cushion fort completed they role played.
Princess Scootaloo was being held in a dungeon against her will by the evil enchantress Twilight SparKill. The only way she could be saved was if her prince charming came to rescue her and banished the evil witch to the stars!
Suddenly, Twilight used her magic to extinguish all of the lanterns in the house simultaneously. Her actions elicited a small scream from Scootaloo and a frightful yelp from Spike.
"Oh what a great Prince Charming you are! You're more afraid of the darkness than your princess is!" Twilight reared her head back and laughed. " You'll NEVER get your princess from my dungeon. Never!" Twilight laughed again and used her magic to carry Scootaloo away from Spike’s cushion fort and into the dark, gloomy kitchen.
It was at this point when the power came back on and the lights lit up. A resounding "Awwwwww" rang through the treehouse. Scootaloo looked up at her evil captor and asked with pleading eyes. "Does this mean we have to stop playing dungeon and dragon?"
Twilight looked outside and noticed that the rain had let up, revealing the stars and crescent moon. "Well, the weather has died down and you could in theory go home now." Twilight offered. Scootaloo looked at the floor in disappointment, and Spike started stammering.
"But...But..." Spike couldn’t conjure up an excuse to keep Scootaloo there.
"Okay my little pony...and...er...dragon" Twilight said with an awkward grin. "It's getting late, so how about Scootaloo spends the night here?"
The prince and princess beamed with excitement and started running back to the cushion fort.
"But!" Twilight started. "Princess Scootaloo is still my prisoner!" And with those words Twilight doused the lighting in the library, and in one swift action grabbed Scootaloo, rushing her to the kitchen.
"Oh no you don't!" Since the storm had died down the little purple dragon had found his heart.
He found Twilight SparKill standing between himself and Scootaloo in the corner. Her horn was glowing at the ready. Thinking on his little webbed feet, he grabbed a frying pan lid and a spatula from the kitchen counter.
"Let my princess go!" yelled the heroic reptile at the tyrannical captor. Twilight only laughed, half in character, half because her baby dragon was so cute when he played games. Scootaloo peered from around Twilights back and caught Spikes eyes. She motioned with her hoof towards Twilight, and Spike nodded.
"Ahhhhh!" Spike charged, spatula leading his attack.
Twilight’s horn glowed to counteract Spike, however before she could use her magic Scootaloo jumped on her back covering her eyes with her hooves. Spike came in full force, slapping at Twilights hooves with his mighty rubber spatula.
"Eeeeee!" Twilight squee'd as she toppled over onto her flank.
Scootaloo hopped off of Twilight's back and ran over to Spike, her large smile reflected the light from the lanterns lit in the kitchen. "Come on Prince Spike, let's head back to our fort!" with that Spike and Scootaloo walked off to their cushion fort, hoof in claw.
Twilight opened her eyes and smiled, she followed them out to the fort and sat down next to it. "Alright you two. Time for bed" she said, "we had an exhausting night with the storm and the dungeon and all."
From inside their fortress she heard a dissapointed "awwwww" then rustling as both of their heads emerged from the blankets on top.
"How about I read you two a bedtime story and you can fall asleep in your fort okay?" Twilight loved reading to Spike, and with Scootaloo here it would be even more fun.
"Okay!" They both said excitedly. Spike yawned and stretched his arms out. With a giggle, Scootaloo followed suit.
"Alright, I'll go upstairs and pick out a story, okay? I'll be right back" Twilight said with a smile.
Before she was even upstairs the two had already receded into their cushiony lair. All the lanterns were out around the house, save for one in the cushion fort and the one Twilight took with her to retrieve a story. Spike and Scootaloo curled up on their pillows, secluded from the rest of the world inside of their fortress. After a few moments of silence Spike turned to his companion.
"Hey Scootaloo?"
"Yeah?"
"Remember when you asked me if I like anypony, and I was like, yeah I like Apple Jack and Derpy and the Cakes? And then you were like" Spike took a second to take a breath, then hastily continued ‘“no like, like-like” and then I didn't get to answer? Well I knew what you meant, and actually, I decided kinda I like-like you.’
Scootaloo leaned over and touched her nose to his cheek. "I kinda like-like you too spike" she said with a soft smile spreading across her face.
Spike nuzzled his nose against hers and proceeded to lay back down. Scootaloo rested her head on Spikes soft green belly.
"Goodnight, Prince Spike" Scootaloo said, nuzzling her head a little tighter towards Spikes chest.
"Goodnight, Princess Scootaloo" Spike closed his eyes and smiled.
A few minutes later Twilight came back down the stairs, hovering a leather bound book above her head. Her hoof falls were interrupted by soft snoring coming from under the blankets in the pillow fort.
She poked her head in through the blankets on top, smiled and pulled the lantern out of the fort.
"You silly fillies" Twilight said softly as she doused the lamp. She pulled up a chair and started to read the book to herself. Happy that such a violent storm could end with such heart warming results.
The End