//------------------------------// // Chapter Twenty (Bonus) // Story: Moving On // by Manitive //------------------------------// "Do you feel better now?" I asked Scootaloo as we stood on the doorstep to our home, opening the door for her and me to enter. She nodded her head once. "I think I do." She answered, looking up to me with a gentle smile. She walked in and I quickly followed suit, keen on escaping the growing cold outside. It wasn't that cold, but it sure was not warm either; I really needed to find someone who was willing to make me some clothes, especially a jacket with the winter season being just around the corner. As we entered the living room I half-expected to see Rainbow sitting there, but to my complete surprise, she wasn't – not that I really wanted to talk to her, for that matter. I had enough stress and drama for one day. Besides the fact that I had enough for one day, it was late, 10PM if the wall clock near the door to the kitchen could've been trusted. I just wanted to go to bed to give my body and my brain some well-deserved rest. "Hey Scoots, tired?" I asked, looking down to her. "Because I sure am." Although I could see the exhaustion in her eyes, she shook her head slowly, but just seconds later a yawn was able to escape her mouth. I crossed my arms and raised an eyebrow, giving her a skeptical look. "Are you sure? Because that sure sounded like you're tired." "Yeah, okay, maybe a little bit." She admitted with a heavy heart and another yawn. "C'mon dad, let's go to sleep." "Sure." I said, smiling down at her. I bent down and picked her up, and before she even realized what was going on, she was in my arms. She giggled and wiggled, playfully hitting my chest with her cute little hooves in an attempt to free herself, but my grip on her remained strong. "H-Hey Dad!" She protested, giggling growing in intensity as I started planting kisses randomly all atop of her head. "Hehe, stop it! I-I'm serious!" "What? Am I not allowed to kiss my daughter now?" I asked with a pout, but, unfortunately, the only response I got was her rolling her eyes in annoyance, which was a clear no. "*sigh* Okay, no kissing then." I was about to put her back on the ground when she started wiggling closer to my body, closer into my embrace. I stopped, looking down at her with another raised eyebrow. "C-can you carry me?" She asked hesitantly, almost as if she had been afraid of asking me, peering up at me with those big, purple eyes from behind her mane. "Uh, yeah?" I answered with furrowed brows, confused as to why she was so shy all of a sudden, or why she was asking me to carry her in the first place - not that I was complaining. It was nice to have her in my arms. She was just like a big teddy bear: fuzzy, warm and absolutely adorable. I gave her one last confused look before I turned and walked into the direction of the staircase that led upstairs, little orange filly tightly secured in my arms. I walked the stairs up carefully, step-by-step, not really wanting to trip and fall down, as that would've been quite a bad (and painful) way to end the night. I pushed the door to my bedroom open and walked over to the incredibly inviting looking bed. I was about to throw her into the bed, but as I looked down to the little pegasus filly that was cradled up in my arms I realized that she was already fast asleep, breathing gently. I canceled my previous plan and instead chose to gently lay her down onto the mattress. As soon as she was out of my arms, a frown etched itself onto her face and she started tossing and turning, small hooves searching the empty mattress around her for the comfort of my body. It pained me to see her like this because it made me realize just how much she needed me, how much she needed someone who truly cares about her. The longer I looked at her unresting body the more I became aware of just how much she must've gone through. So, not wanting to see her any longer like this, I quickly stripped myself down to my boxers and gently entered the bed beside her. The frown that had been on her face vanished the instant one of her hooves found my right arm. In a matter of seconds I felt all four of her legs tightly wrapping themselves around my arm, so tight that I thought she wasn't really sleeping but well-awake - but she was asleep, she definitely was. Thanks to her holding on so tightly I was able to lift her up just enough for my hand to fit under her back, and, with small effort, then lifted her up onto my chest. She almost immediately let go of my arm and snuggled herself deeper into my chest, her short, almost silk-like fur tickling me as she did so. Her face was partially covered up by her purple mane, but the satisfied smile she had on her face was still very much visible. I lifted one hand up to her face and brushed the few strands of stray hair out of her face. "I love you, dad." She muttered in her sleep, almost not loud enough for me to hear. But I heard it. A strange but pleasant warmth spread through my chest as her words reached my ears. I smiled gently, tilting my head down to give her a kiss on the forehead. "I love you too, Scoots." The words seemed to almost automatically leave my lips, but their true meaning hadn't changed. I loved her more than anything and nothing could've ever changed that. I closed my eyes and laid my head back down, letting it sink into the soft pillow. I made some half-hearted attempts to pull the covers up with my feet, but I was out like a light even before I was able to pull them up all the way, my mind too tired to resist the urge of falling asleep.