//------------------------------//
// Mishap 
// Story: Spilled Blood 
// by DiscordedWhovian 
//------------------------------//

	Winter rolled over, the rough sheet of her bunk grating against her feathers. She listened to the sound of slow, even breathing of sleeping ponies. She knew she couldn’t be the only one awake, but the one other pony she would’ve talked to was asleep for sure, judging by the snoring coming from the top of their shared bunk bed.
She sighed, closing her eyes and trying to relax. After all, it wasn’t like they were going to sleep much the next night. The next day was Hearth’s Warming Eve, and after that, Hearth’s Warming Day. This would have been a source of excitement for most ponies, but not for her. After all, she wasn’t going to be able to get her best friends any presents in time. Actually, she wasn’t sure that they expected a present from her, but she felt she needed to give them one anyway. Even just a card. Even just a couple of bits.
Shifting her wings, she decided that they wouldn’t care. Sure, only one of her three friends knew that she was in the orphanage, but only because said friend was snoring away on the top bunk. It was their secret. Their own shame. After all, their parents had abandoned them for a reason, right? It couldn’t have been good.
“Stop tapping, Winter, we’re trying to sleep,” came the aggravated voice of another resident. Winter hadn’t realized she had been tapping, but it hardly came as a surprise to her. She was used to being told to stop tapping, because she was always tapping. She glanced out the window, the moon seeming to watch her. She then rolled back over, closing her eyes and regulating her breathing. She was soon sleeping like the rest of them, her worries slipping away into the night.





She awoke to a hoof gently shaking her, an excited voice, the sound of motion. She rubbed her eye with a hoof, making sure that part of her face was hidden in her hair. It wouldn’t do to have it reveal what was underneath, now would it?
“Come on, Winter, wake up!” She grinned. She knew that voice. “Do you know what day it is?”
“Hmm…” she replied, thinking. “Thursday?”
The orange mare in front of her groaned in frustration. “No, it’s Hearth’s Warming Eve!” She began tugging on Winter’s hoof, trying to pull her out of bed and, being a much stronger pegasus, succeeding.
“W-woah, hey! Scootaloo, stop that, I’m fall-EEP!” The rest of her her sentence was torn away as she tumbled from the bed flapping her wings frantically as she tried to right herself. Scootaloo, meanwhile, was rolling on the floor, laughing hysterically.
“Oh, man, you should’ve seen your face!” She broke off again, leaving Winter to roll an eye and make her bed. Scootaloo wiped a tear from her eye, sniggering. “It’s not even two feet, why’d you freak out like that, anyway?”
Winter huffed. “Well, I like to think of myself as a prepared pony. Speaking of which, we need to go get some food from the mess hall. Knowing you, you’ll make us late, meaning we’ll have to skip breakfast. I don’t want to deal with your complaints all day.”
Scootaloo rolled her eyes. “Fine,” she said, drawing out the word. “I guess you’re right.” She turned and started trotting towards the door.
Winter quickly caught up, knowing that she would be left behind if she didn’t. They made their way into the small cafeteria, ignoring the burnt waffles and heading straight for the fruits. They each grabbed an apple, scarfing them down in a few bites, and headed out the door. Upon heading outside, Scootaloo began stretching her wings as they walked, preparing for flight.
“Hey, I wonder why RD wants to see me later? She told me it’s super duper important, but I don’t know what she could possibly need to say!” She turned around and began walking backwards, hopping around and stretching her legs.
Winter shrugged. “It’s probably an early Hearth’s Warming present or something,” she replied, already knowing what it was. Rainbow Dash had gotten Scootaloo a backstage pass of sorts for the evening’s holiday Wonderbolts show. She grinned, knowing how much her friend would flip out if she heard now. It would be the only thing she talked about.
“Well, I’ve gotta get my wings warmed up,” she said. “See you at school?”
“Sure thing, Loo.” Winter grinned when Scootaloo blushed in frustration. It was an embarrassing nickname that was hated with a passion by its owner. Watching her friend fly away, she sighed. She knew that Scootaloo could easily give her flying lessons now, knowing how far she’d come since they’d first met, but still…
She shuddered, completely lost in thought. She walked through the town square, passing by ponies going about their mornings. They were all talking to each other, and if Scootaloo had been with her, they would have offered greetings, but she wasn’t that noticeable by herself. That, or she wasn’t approachable. She wasn’t quite sure on that one.
Lost in her musings, she didn’t hear the shouts of warning, the ponies running and jumping out of the way. If she was paying attention, she would’ve seen a light blue pegasus careening towards her, yelling to get out of the way. Looking up at the last second, she saw just enough to see Soarin crashing into her, sending them both sprawling. She rolled backwards several times, her head cracked into the base of the fountain, and everything blacked out.





~beep~ ~beep~ ~beep~ ~beep~
She wished someone would turn off the alarm. It was becoming quite bothersome. She scrunched her eyes shut, pain coursing through her head. God, this was one massive headache. She grinned, realizing she had said God instead of Celestia or Luna again. Scootaloo would just shake her head in defeat, she thought.
~beep~ ~beep~ ~beep~ ~beep~
She sighed, then blinked rapidly to adjust her eye to however light it was. She sat upright, the crisp hospital sheets crumpling under her. She looked around, seeing that she was alone in her room. She tried to remember why she was here, but she didn’t recall any memories or being taken here. Her heartbeat quickened, the beeping speeding up with it as the monitor spiked.
A nurse walked in, smiling as she saw her patient awake. “And how are you feeling, Ms. Gale?” Her smile grew a bit more forced, a small weight settling in her heart as Winter hid behind her mane, peeking out with a golden eye as she brushed her mane into her face with her hooves. Nurse Redheart had seen many a gruesome wound in her time, but never one like the filly was hiding now.
“U-um,” Winter said, shrinking back on her bed. “whyamIhere,” she mumbled. Hundreds of thoughts were racing through her head, ranging from an asylum to a dream. She was a creative pony.
Nurse Redheart, noting the fearful expression on the filly’s face, smiled comfortingly. “What was that, dear?” She came to a halt beside the cot, sitting down and placing the clipboard on the bedside table.
Winter took a shuddering breath. Oh, how she loathed to talk to grown ponies! “Why a-am I here,” she burst out, as if she had been holding her breath. She sank into her pillow, trying to sink away from the nurse’s worried gaze.
“Do you not remember?” Winter shook her head, and the nurse sighed. “You were walking down the street when a pegasus lost control of his flight and ran you over,” she said. “You rolled backwards and cracked your head against the fountain, and suffered a concussion. When you were brought here, your wounds…” Redheart trailed away, unsure how to continue. “Ahem. Anyway, Scootaloo has been here for hours. She only just left, but I’m sure she’ll be back anytime now.”
Winter nodded, not looking at the nurse. “Okay,” she said. “Do… Do you know who it was?” Seeing Redheart’s confused expression, she elaborated. “The one that ran into me. Who was it?”
The nurse looked away, shuffling her hooves. “It was Soarin, the Wonderbolt.”
Winter grinned a bit. “Yeah, I know who he is. I am friends with Scootaloo, you know.” Upon saying this, they heard a knock on the door, then the orange mare walked in. “Speak of the devil, and she shall appear,” Winter laughed. Scootaloo’s eyes widened, and she rushed over to the bed.
“Ohmygosh, you’re awake!” Scootaloo hugged her friend, tearing up a bit. “I was so worried! They called me out of class because they knew we were close, and I came as fast as I could. I had to leave with Dash for a little bit but I wanted to be here when you woke up, and-”
“Scootaloo!”
She looked up, realizing she had been crying. In front of a nurse, no less. Her face quickly turned cherry red, and she buried her face in the blankets again, groaning in embarrassment. Winter laughed again, and Scootaloo brought her head up. The nurse, seeing that Winter was in good hooves, took her leave, letting the two discuss the holiday.
“So, what did Rainbow Dash want?” Scootaloo was close to Dash, and was able to call her such with familiarity. Winter, however, still felt obligated to use her full name.
Scootaloo perked up, immediately beginning to smile. “Oh, it’s nothing much, she just got me the best present ever!” She squealed and jumped around the room, while describing the gift. “She got two VIP tickets to the Wonderbolts show tonight! We’re gonna go together and meet them and get autographs and it’s gonna be amazing!” She stopped, catching her breath and smiling.
Winter smirked. “It certainly sounds like you have your evening booked,” she said. “I’m glad you like it. She told me what she was getting you, and actually seemed scared you wouldn’t like it. As if there was any doubt, of course.”
Scootaloo stopped, realizing something important. “Um… what are you going to do tonight? I don’t wanna leave you all alone with the hospital food…”
Winter’s ears drooped a bit, barely enough to notice. “Oh, I have plans,” she said with a sinister smile.
“Like…?”
“I’m going to guilt trip the pony who knocked me out.”