//------------------------------//
// Warmth and cold 
// Story: A Game of Homes. 
// by Lethrael 
//------------------------------//

Warmth and cold

The unicorn led the pegasus filly back to Ponyville and slowly further. First they headed to Sunny Rays house, but nopony was there. Scootaloo put the saddleback with her homework into her room. She jumped out of the door and felt the darting eyes of Twilight. The smile on Twilight's face faded a little bit, as she looked at the spread wings. They were so tiny and somehow abnormal for the unicorn.
"I had put a notice for your aunt in the letterbox.
She will meet us in the library, as soon as she returns home and reads it."
She sounded excited and Scootaloo cocked her head with an enquiring mien. She opened her mouth for a question, but Twilight turned around and led her back on track. Her tail waved in excitement from one side to the other and she mumbled words to herself with a lover voice. Scootaloo hurried to step beside the unicorn and tried to speak up, as they walked onto the market. Twilight was faster and asked a question.
“I have seen you here in town several times, right?”
Scootaloo nodded and tried to speak up again, but Twilight was to eager to talk.
“But you're not from Ponyville, right?”
The filly shook her head and opened her mouth for the third time. Again Twilight didn't wait to let her speak up n asked more questions. But this time it were some she had to answer with sentences.
“I'm not from here, either.
Where are you from?
And why would your parents let you stay with your aunt, instead of taking care of you?”
Scootaloo closed her mouth and thought for a moment. Her eyes glanced over the unicorn in front of her and stayed on the unique coloured mane. Twilight waited for her answer and trotted in a light pace. She even didn't noticed her appraising glances. Scootaloo pressed her wings against the chest and gave a stroke with her tail.
“I lived with my Mum in Cloudsdale.
She is a really good cook and...”
Her wings took over, opened themselves up and trembled on their own. Also her tail flapped around in a nervous manner and her left fore hoof drew circles on the ground. She looked at her body and didn't understand, why it was acting this way.
“Are you alright?”
Twilight looked back to Scootaloo and chocked her head with a smile. The filly interrupted her attempts to calm her down.
“Where did you come from?”
This quick question flow hounded out of her mouth and she bit her lips, to calm herself down. Scootaloo listened to the answers only half-hearted because her heart beat against her chest so heavily it boomed in her ears and she felt an insurmountable feeling. She tried to understand, what it was, but she could only say, that it was nothing positive. 	She felt the  discomposure inside of her growing and growing.	She remembered her last dream and especially one image from it. She tried to shake it away, but it stayed in her inner eye. The green eyes of her Mum and the cold hoof of hers. Why did she remember it right now?

“...and then I moved to Ponyville and...
Do you listen to me, Scootaloo?”
The filly startled out off her thoughts, as Twilight jerked to a halt and looked her over. Since she had left the house of her aunt, but no, since she had told her about her mother the filly was a nervous wreck. The unicorn thought back to her answers and broke them down, but she simply didn't get it. She shook her head, there was nothing wrong with them. So why was the filly so discomposed? Twilight smiled, as far as she was able to with her confused mindset. 	She trailed nervously over the ground with one hoof and moved closer. She looked into the eyes of the filly. Her eyes were widened, the filly didn't pay attention to anything. Twilight saw even a tear dripping down out of the left eye.
“Hey, Sugarcube. Are you alright?”
Twilight raised her hoof, but something held her back to touch the filly. Scootaloo jumped a few steps away. Her wings opened wider and trembled so much, that they send down shivers over the rest of the body. The filly bit her lips, as she had rocks in it and panted flat and quick. She breathed faster and faster, like a stranded fish. A few glances hit the elder unicorn and the dealer-ponies whispered worried. Golden Harvest flashed a confused glance at her and shook her head.

Enough already. Twilight grappled the filly with one hoof, tagged her along and galloped as fast as she was able to through the glancing ponies on the market. She didn't slow down for one second, even as she come closer to her new home, the giant tree-house of the Golden Oak Library. Her magic opened the door as fast as lightning, closed it right behind them and shut out the whole bunch of glancing ponies. Only, as she was secure in the close and friendly halls of knowledge and surrounded by the well known and beloved smell of books, she released the trembling filly and breathed heavily. She walked around nearby the even harder panting Scootaloo and mumbled phrases of encouragement to herself.
“It will be...Take it...no this doesn't sound good at all...Spike...Spike. Oh come on.”
She gave a shout with a really nervous undertone and the last loud claim snapped Scootaloo out of her thoughts. The green eyes, the cold hooves and for the last image, Luna.
“Jeez, Twilight. What just happened?”
This voice, it didn't sound like a pony...Right Scootaloo saw a little dragon rushed down the stairs and shied trembling away. She bounced with her back against the benches in the middle. She wasn't afraid of him of course, but the fear of something else was burning inside of her and overpowered her easily. She closed her eyes shut, why was this feeling befall her? Almost as it wasn't her own. She banged into something, or fell down on the ground. She didn't know what it was, but it hurts. She shivered more and more.

A warm claw caressed her mane and touched her cheek. The scales tickled on her coat and the inner warmth of them was liberating and soothing.
“She is really cold, Twilight.”
The higher voice of Twilight answered gentle after an irritated sigh.
“For you, we're all a little bit cold, Spike. Hurry up. Bring me a blanket and warm cocoa. Please.”
A hesitant hoof replaced the warm claw of scales and petted Scootaloo over the face. Flittering paper and the distinctive sound of magic pushed Scootaloo to open her eyes. Tears, why were there tears? She opened her mouth and sobbed. She wiped away a few tears and saw clearer at least. Twilight petted her out off place, while she was searching an answer in the books. She read through so many and built huge piles of opened and closed books in the whole room. Her one eye followed the words in the books, the other one glanced at Scootaloo from time to time.
“So it isn't Poison Joke. You aren't sick, right? I don't think it's another kind of poisoning...”
Just now she saw, that Scootaloo glanced at her with tear stained eyes. She recalled her hoof, set down the last book and smiled reserved.	Scootaloo breathed out and in with sobs. Feet lumbered over wooden floor and drew the attention of both ponies to the stairs. The little dragon ran down to them, with an arm full of blanket and a steaming mug. His facial expression changed from hounded to an encouraging smile, as he saw the widened eyes of the filly. Twilight cast a spell, took the blanket, spread it in the air and laid it down on the filly. 	She cleared her throat  and her smile faded a little bit. But her voice faded away even more.
“Are you homesick?”
The dragon stepped closer, caught her eye and calmed her down with a gentle smile. He raised his claws again and caressed her face to warm her up a little bit. He put down the mug carefully besides her. Her wings didn't stop to tremble and transferred the shivers on her body.
“Twilight, does this look like she is homesick?”
The answer sounded warm in Scootaloos ears and she shook her head silently. She put down one hoof, tried to get up but was shaking too much to do so.
“You better remain and calm down a little?”
The female voice sounded warm too, but was at the same time really worried about her. A hoof laid down on her own and a bigger body cuddled up to her in a restrained way.
“Spike, write a letter for Sunny Rays. Please.”
Twilight whispered and took slowly a hoof around the filly. Spike let loose, ran to a nearby desk and stopped halfway there.
“Who is Sunny Rays?”
This question echoed over Scootaloo and she opened her mouth automatically.
“My aunt.”

Was she breathing clouds? Twilight touched her face again and she was indeed colder. Scootaloo glanced at her with widened eyes and Twilight put down her hoof again.
“I...I just don't know what happened. I'm sorry.”
No more clouds and the sobbing had fade away too, but her wings and hooves were still trembling. Twilight took a deep breath and smiled.
“Do you want to tell me, what bothers you?
Or is there sompony else you want to talk to?”
Twilight sounded gentle for Scootaloo and the filly looked to her. Inside of her two ideas were fighting each other and knotted themselves together.	Scootaloo sighed and closed her eyes.
“I...don't know how to start.”
This came out of her mouth by itself. The filly drooped her head, but Spike laid his claw under her chin.
“Just start. It will be alright, kid.” 
The last word brought back a mare into her head, Rainbow Dash and she held it close. She should be like her, brave and fearless.
“I had a scary dream last night and...”
Scootaloo told everything she dreamed of. She told about her fear of, or for her Mum. Her disappointment took itself words and spoke up. She wanted her Mum back, but she wouldn't be happy here. But Scootaloo wanted too. After she had speak out this, she silenced and bit her lips again. Twilight listened silently and thoughtful, as the filly told her story. As she mentioned dreams, the unicorn sighed and shook her head. She lightened up her horn and began to reorder the books again. Of course it wouldn't occur any delay. The filly could, uhm, yes check off the checklist, while she arranged the books with her magic. Tomorrow she would be in school again, if everything worked out the way Twilight planned. Not till Scootaloo reached out for the cocoa and took a deep slurping sip, Twilight paid more than a slight attention to her. But as she heard the slurp, she glanced at her.
“You know, dreams help us handling the things we experience during the day 
and they show us the fears we are not even aware we have. 
But these things aren't really that bad. 
Now that you have told about them you will be able to sleep better.”
A shared glance from Twilight to Scootaloo and Spike let her forget the monologue. Scootaloo looked at her with low shoulders and disappointed eyes. Spike on the other hoof looked rather dismissive.
“You believe they aren't bad?
But why do I feel so bad?”
The voice of the filly trembled and she drooped her head again. Before Twilight was able to answer, Spike joined in the conversation.
“You know, I had really bad nightmares, too.
But do you know, what helped me every time I had one?
I imagined my friends and their smiling faces were helping me a lot.”
The dragon raised the chin of the filly and smiled gently into her eyes. They switched a thankful glance and Twilight cleared her throat.
“I won't say, that dreams doesn't feel scary sometimes, or even bad, but...”
Scootaloo crawled out of the blanket and stood up hesitantly. She trembled and  pranced a little bit  on the spot to put herself together. She took a deep breath and spoke up.
“I...thanks Twilight and thanks, uhm...”
The first thanks sounded disappointed, but the second one was clearer and more honest. The dragon smiled again and nodded to the filly.
“I'm Spike.”
Before more words were swap between the two, Twilight raised her voice.
“We should clean this mess up, right now Spike.
Scootaloo take a closer look of the library. You weren't here before, or were you? 
So look, if you find any book you would enjoy and calm...I mean arrange.
Yeah we can start to arrange the books then...”
Twilight lifted up the blanket, the empty mug and Spike with her magic and galloped upstairs. The dragon waved friendly, but Twilight hissed at him and he turned his head. A whispered talk started. Meanwhile Scootaloo pranced further into the library, wandered through piles of books and looked at the titles. Her heart still thumped against her chest and she felt the trembling wings on her back, but the going helped.
“Daring Do and the dance with Changelings.
Emotion and Magic.
Hooviler Twists.
The Cuisine of the Earthponies.”
Before she was able to flip a book open, Twilight returned. 
She smiled and levitated all books out of the shelves. Scootaloo opened her mouth.
“I don't mean to.”
Twilights smile softened and she interrupted her with a raising hoof. She trotted aside her, looked around and laid one hoof on her lips.
“When I have a nightmare, a slice of chocolate often calmed down. 
Therefore I have always one bar of chocolate in my nightstand. 
Please, don't tell Spike. It's a secret between us, okay.
But when it is such a bad dream, then only one thing can help me any times...”
She whispered the last words into the flapping ear of the filly.
“Really? This helps?”
Twilight nodded and petted the filly gently over her mane. Neither the hoof trembled this time, nor she remained back from the pegasus in an unnatural way. Rather she found the right measure of investment and care for the filly.
“Yes a picture of my Mum always helps.”