//------------------------------// // 27- Stormy weather. // Story: Blazing a Trail to the Past. // by Daylight_Dreamer //------------------------------// I woke up to a frantic pound at the door. It was about 7 in the morning, I wondered what could be so urgent. I got dressed in a hurry and hollered "come in." Big Macintosh came flying through my living room, he took just a moment to catch his breath before saying, "Ah need your help, Scootaloo was sleeping in a cave and the storm knocked a huge tree in front of it. She's stuck." "Let's go," I said not wanting to waste time. I didn't want to bring the whole trailer so I just folded the back seat down, grabbed the chainsaw, logging hook, and chain and threw them in the back of the Jeep. "Hop in," I said then remembered earth ponies had trouble with the handle so I opened the door for him. He looked skeptical but squeezed in. He fit well enough, but he was hitting his head on the metal roof. He pointed me in the direction of a trail going into the woods just past a field. It was intended for a cart, but the Jeep fit well enough. We got to a small clearing and Big Mac pointed out a fallen tree. The trunk was easily four feet wide. Twisted and mangled roots stuck out the base, and withered broken branches were scattered about. "I heard her yelling from behind there," he said, "we were gonna cut that tree down anyway, but to avoid this." I backed up to the tree at a point in the trunk I knew I could cut through with the chainsaw-it clearly wasn't the loggers main saw being it only had a 2' bar. I could hear Scootaloo yelling, but I couldn't understand her. "We're going to get you out!" I yelled, "but first its gonna get loud. You may wanna cover your ears!" I turned to Big Mac as I got the chainsaw out, "you too." He just looked at me funny until I fired the saw up. Don't know how lucky I would call it, but it did have a gallon of pre-mixed gas with it. I didn't have a sample of 2 cycle oil and wasn't sure if alcohol would fuel it, so that was it, once it was gone, it was gone. That didn't matter now. I had more than enough in the tank for this and could clear a decent patch of trees before running out in the can. I cut as much of the branches away as I could with Big Mac trying to keep up with an ax, but the cave was small and the thick part of the trunk was in front of it. I couldn't cut through it without reaching the other side. Or spending hours trying to carve a hole in it with a saw that only had a couple hours worth of gas available to run it. So I just wrapped the chain around the end of the tree and hooked it to the Jeep. Big Mac just stood there, uncertain what to do. "Just watch," I said, "and tell me if the chain starts slipping off. Stay back tho. Things could let loose suddenly." He stepped back as I pulled the chain taught. I had to shift into the lowest gears and it was still more than the jeep was meant to handle. I felt the wheels dig in. I wasn't moving. "Hold on!" Big Mac shouted. I let off the gas as he walked to the front of the jeep and hooked a rope to the tow hooks. The other end was already on his yoke. He pulled his own rope tight and I started trying again with Big Macintosh adding his own horsepower. It was just enough. The jeep inched forward little by little. We went a good ten feet when we heard Scootaloo shouting. I got out and turned to the cave entrance. Only to be attacked by an orange and purple blur. I fell right on my ass, with her landing on my lap. She didn't fit, I didn't care. "You alright kid?" I asked. "I am now," Scootaloo buried her face in my shoulder, "thank you." "No problem," I said, "Let's get you a shower." "Can I grab my stuff?" She asked, "I'm gonna wanna move to a new spot." "Of course," I laughed, "Gotta get off me first." "OK," She laughed and stood up. I got up and looked in the cave, she had clearly been living there a couple weeks at least. Next to her scooter was a tattered blanket on a pile of leaves, a saddle bag, and a pile of apple cores. A Rainbow Dash poster was taped to the rock wall. The rain had washed a layer of mud in that was almost up to the rock she was keeping her bag on. She must have been terrified. I couldn't let her live like that, but I didn't know how to bring it up. I decided to try a roundabout approach. I just had to hope she played along. "You should bring that stuff to your bedroom," I said. "I don't have a bedroom," She looked at the ground. I had a hook. "Then you should probably use my spare one," I said, as if it were obvious, "I hate that all that space is being wasted. I mean, It's been used once since I moved in." I was doing my best to sound annoyed. Like her moving in would be fixing a problem that was really bothering me. "I... I... I..." she didn't know what to say. "You... You... You, don't actually want to argue with me do you?" I asked, "you just want to take care of yourself. I respect that. I'm just offering a place to stay and some food. I'd think somepony trying to actually 'take care' of themselves would take the best food and shelter they can find." "But..." she just looked at me. "You don't have to decide now," I said, "but I am gonna insist you shower before moving on. You're filthy." "OK," She seemed to choke back a tear, "I guess I can’t argue with that much." "If it's all the same to you," Big Mac said, "Ah know muh own way back." --- When we got to the cabin Scootaloo started walking to the spare room, but turned and set her bag behind the chair as if that's where she was going all along. She went directly to the bathroom from there. I dug out my lighter. First lighting the stove to make breakfast, then lighting a bowl. I was pretty sure on my thoughts at this point so I wanted to clear my mind for any conversation to come. Scootaloo seemed to be thinking as well. I had already made a full breakfast including hash browns, eggs, pancakes, and toast and she was still in there. Considering the warm-up time on a wood stove, that's one long shower. I was just diving into my own breakfast when there was a knock at the door. I was starving so I just hollered, "Come on in!" and kept eating. I expected Applejack checking on me after the storm. She never missed an excuse. In a streak of blue Rainbow Dash came flying into the cabin. "Is Scootaloo OK?" she asked as she nearly knocked my chair over, "Big Mac told me what happened." "She's fine," I said, "she has been in the shower for over an hour though. I don't think the hot water lasts that long." "You haven't checked on her?" Rainbow asked. "She's a teen girl in the shower," I said expecting this to be acceptable reasoning. "Sooooo?" Rainbow asked. She gave me a narrow-eyed look. Like I wasn't making any sense. "So I'm not gonna bother her while she's naked," I automatically responded. "You realize she's always naked don't you?" Rainbow asked, "Ponies don't normally wear clothes. I'm naked right now. Does that bother you?" "Now that you mention it," I thought about it, "it kinda does. I mean, you are ponies, but your not animals. That's a contradiction where I come from. On earth, it's animals and humans, and humans don't go around with their genitals hanging out." "But this isn't earth," Rainbow reminded me, "and we aren't humans. So get over it, and don't think for a moment I didn't see you looking when I landed the other day. Or that you can't seem to keep your eyes off Gilda," She had a point, and not just that I didn't mind as much as I told myself I did. "I guess I'm also at a loss for words," I said, "What do I say to her?" "I don't know," She said, "I'm her big sister, not her dad." "'And I'm neither," I pointed out. "Could have fooled me with the way she talks about you," Rainbow scoffed, "but I guess I can handle this one. You owe me." "Agreed," I assured her, "talk to her for me and your next Daring Doo book is on my dime, er, bits. Whatever." "You got yourself a deal," Rainbow knocked on the door to the bathroom and shouted, "You OK in there?" Scootaloo said something back I couldn't make out and Rainbow opened the door and walked in. I took the chance while the two were occupied to make them both plates. I had made plenty of food and if I knew Rainbow, she wasn't going to turn down breakfast. I really didn't know what else to do. When people are in need, I automatically go 'feed them'. That's my mother's influence. Being around Granny Smith probably helped too.