.
Now shall we sing songs of harmony within this realm! And with true love and brotherhood, each other we all whelm! This day, apart, warm hearths and hearts, all other doth efface! For friendship and rectitude to all and kindness and grace! Warm hearths to all and kindness and grace!
Alula stirred and groaned. She rolled on her back and opened her eyes. They became glazed over as she stared up at the ceiling, then got filled with new tears.
“Nice job, Fluttershy.....” Alula muttered, weakly. “You mixed up the date and forgot everything that happened the day before. Critter Snow Day was yesterday.” The tears left her eyes and soaked her cheeks. “I wish I could forget it.....” Alula covered her eyes with her forehooves and started sobbing.
The words that were spoken below Alula barely found their way through the sounds of her pain.
“Oh, good morning, Fluttershy!”
“Good Morning! I hope you are all ready for fun times today, because it's CRITTER SNOW DAY!”
“And don't forget to put your snow booties on! It's really cold out here today and we don't want you to get sick!”
“Oh, goodness! Did I really just say that? I'm normally not using a word like this in front of other ponies, it's only for my animals. But I look forward to the festival tonight so much that it just slipped out of me!”
“Anyway..... Will you come to the Critter Snow Festival today or would you like to give me something for the critters right now?”
“Oh, of course I will come, Fluttershy! I wouldn't miss Critter Snow Day for anything in Equestria! I can only join you in the evening, but I will send Alula over. I bet her friends will come, too!”
In one swift, fluid movement, Alula removed the hooves from her eyes, buzzed her wings, fluttered out of her bed and landed in front of it. “What in Celestia's name?!” she muttered, forgetting that her eyes still leaked their salty produce.
She rubbed over them, then staggered into the bathroom. Alula stood in front of the lavatory only for a second, then she shrugged helplessly, turned around and left her room.
Alula stopped in front her opened bedroom door as the sounds of hoofsteps on the stairs entered her ears. A couple of seconds later, her mother came into her view.
“Good Morning, Alula! Are you ready for the Critter Snow Festival today?”
Alula cocked her head and raised one eyebrow. “Uh, mom? Didn't we do this yesterday?”
“I don't know what you mean, honey,” the mare answered in slight confusion, but her warm and friendly smile remained.
Alula's eyes narrowed and anger started to build on her face. She stepped closer to her mother, grabbed her face and yanked it towards her until their noses touched.
“After what happened yesterday, you better don't mess with me, you dumb cluck!” Her eyes narrowed more and her voice became a low growl. “What's today?”
“I-It's Critter Snow Day,” her mom whimpered in response. “I-Is anything wrong, Alula?”
“It better is,” Alula huffed and let go of her. She stomped past her and down the stairs. “CLOSE THE STUPID DOOR!” she yelled back up.
Shivering, the startled mother looked after her. Then her heart did a skip and she jumped a little, as the sound of an alarm clock rang loudly into her ears. Still shaking, she went into the room and turned it off. Then she closed the door and silently trotted down the stairs.
As she was in the kitchen, Alula trotted to the other side of it. In front of the cupboards, she took flight, hovered upwards and opened one of them. Sluggishly, she took one of the bags inside and pulled out a slice of toast. As she had closed the bag again, Alula paused for a moment, then she opened it a second time and pulled out another slice, before she finally put it back inside. The cupboard stayed open behind her as she flew away and landed on one of the chairs at the kitchen table.
While she was eating away at her toast, eyes staring emptily at the tabletop, her mother entered the room. She used her magic to close the cupboard, a frown building on her face. She looked at her daughter, the fear in her eyes having become replaced with worry already, then approached the table and sat down at Alula's side. She stared at her for a moment, with an expression in her eyes that only concerned mothers could form, then reached out. Gently, she placed her forehooves on her daughter, turned her around and pulled her into a hug. Resting Alula's head against her chest, she spoke “I am worried, Alula, you sound like something is hurting you. What is wrong?” Her voice shook a little as she said that.
Alula scrunched her face. “Is something wrong?” she asked. It was a honest question, full of confusion. Then she pushed her mom away. “I'm okay, just busy,” she spoke taut and tossed the last bit of toast on the table.
Eyes fixated on the fridge, she flew towards it. Opening it, Alula took out a jug full of milk, hooves slightly shaking, and gulped down a few mouthful before she put it back. She closed the fridge door almost methodically, then turned away from it and aimed for the foyer with slow and lustless flaps.
She reached for her winter jacket but, before her hooves could touch it, her nose tickled and she erupted into a strong sneeze. A bit of mucus trickled out of one of her nostrils and Alula sniffed it back up. She groaned and scrunched her face, suddenly feeling a light headache.
“You're not getting sick, are you?” the voice of her mother entered her ears, then she noticed the sound of her hoofsteps as she came closer.
“It's just a cold..... I think,” Alula commented on her condition, eyes growing wide as she noticed the weakness in her voice.
“Look at me, Alula.” Her mom touched her shoulders and gently turned her around.
Alula stood there without protest as she felt that her mom was hoofing her forehead.
“Hmm, no fever,” the mare determined. “How do you feel, Alula? Maybe you should stay at home.” Her voice had been fully overtaken by motherly concern now.
“No, I-I really need to go!” Alula shouted, the fact that she still had a plan with Train Tracks finally entering her mind now. Some mucus left her nose again as she had finished the sentence, betraying her.
Noticing it, Alula's mother opened a drawer with her magic and pulled out a tissue. She brought it close to Alula's face but, before she could wipe her nose, Alula lifted a hoof and pulled the tissue out of the magical grip.
She landed on the floor and proceeded to clean her nose by herself. The worried expression in her mother's face was not acknowledged by her. As her nose was clean, Alula gave the tissue back to her mom and turned back at the rack, aiming for her jacket once more. She didn't have enough time to reach it, though, as her mother interrupted her.
“Wait, Alula. I don't want to prevent you from having fun today, but if you go outside, you should wear this instead.” She hovered a massive full-body anorak with a hood in front of her daughter.
Alula took a look at it and nodded. “Um-hm,” she quietly voiced her agreement.
Her mother smiled and stroke over Alula's mane. Once more, she touched her daughter's shoulders and turned her around, then started wrapping her into the anorak. Gently and carefully, she placed it on her back, the round hole at its backside loosely dangling around Alula's tail. Her mother moved to her left side and reached for one of the anorak's legs. “Please lift your leg, honey.”
Alula obliged and lifted her right hindleg. Her mother pushed the leg of the warm attire a little closer and the filly stepped into it until her hoof poked out at the other side.
Her mother moved forward, to her right foreleg. Not needing another prompt, Alula lifted it and stepped into this leg part as well. Now halfway done with cladding her daughter's legs with the thick, warm fabric, the mare trotted around Alula and took position to her right. Repeating the procedure two more times, the rest of Alula's legs became covered by the anorak.
Her mother arranged the hole around Alula's tail neatly, then returned to the front. “Please get up on your hindlegs, Alula, so I can zip it shut.”
Alula did as she was told, still unusually quiet, and brought her belly into her mother's view.
Tugging at the belly parts of the anorak, her mom brought the two sides of the zipper closely together. Being done, she reached with her hooves between Alula's hindlegs and back to the hole for her tail. She hooked up the zipper, then held the backside of the anorak in place and moved the zipper upwards between Alula's legs and all the way up her belly until it reached Alula's neck and closed the anorak shut.
Lastly, Alula standing on all fours again now, the mare hovered over a scarf and placed it on Alula's mouth and nose. She wrapped it around her cheeks and knotted it tightly behind her head, then reached for the hood and covered Alula's mane, ears and chin with it to complete her work.
The mare stood still for a moment and checked if everything was in place and sitting tight. As she found it safe enough to keep Alula healthy, she wrapped the boots that were tidily placed under the rack into her magic and hovered them at her side. Lifting a leg again, the first boot got put over Alula's hoof, as a knock sounded from the door.
Alula's mother looked up. “Who is this?” she asked, surprise ringing in her voice.
“It's Peach Fuzz,” Alula muttered under her scarf, a little monotonously.
“How nice of her that she comes to pick you up! Let us not make her wait for too long.” She grabbed the next boot and put it on Alula, then swiftly followed up with the last two while two more knocks came from the door.
“And done!” Alula's mother said. She leaned forward and gave her daughter a kiss on the forehead. “Now go and meet your friend, Alula!” She ignited her horn and pulled the front door open, revealing Peach Fuzz. The earth pony filly already showed slight signs of impatience.
“Good Morning, Alula!” she greeted, voice nonetheless as chirpy as always. Peach Fuzz noticed the slightly disturbed look in Alula's eyes. “Hey, are you okay?” she asked the other filly.
“Don't worry, Peach Fuzz, Alula has just a bit of a cold.” She placed a hoof on Alula's head and smiled reassuringly.
“Oh, that's bad.” Peach Fuzz' eyelids got lowered slightly. “Can she still come to the Critter Snow Festival tonight?”
“I will be there!” Alula said, swiftly, before her mother could raise any more undesired concerns. “Mom's right, it's really just a cold, I will be fine.” Hurrying now, she stepped ahead, out of the door and at Peach Fuzz' side, where she turned around. “Peach Fuzz and I have to go now, see you later, mom!” She gave her mother a quick wave, then she grabbed Peach Fuzz' scarf and pulled her along, a nervous glance in her eyes.
Despite Peach Fuzz' yelping protest, Alula only let go of her as they were a good distance away from her house. Confused and a little startled, Peach Fuzz fixed her scarf. “Are you really okay, Alula? You act weird today.”
Alula gave her friend a sideways glance, then stopped and turned at her. “Where are we going today?” she asked, her eyes pleading for a response that would give her relief.
“To the Whitetail Woods. It's Critter Snow Day, remember?” Peach Fuzz tilted her head and took a closer look at Alula's face.
“And it's still just once a year, isn't it?”
Alula did not receive an answer. Instead, Peach Fuzz planted a hoof on her forehead. She let it stay there for a moment, then moved it to her own.
“Hmm, no fever,” she concluded, eyes looking upwards. She took her hoof down. “What's wrong, Alula?”
For a couple of seconds, Alula just stared before her face took on a somewhat more relaxed, but still concerned, expression. “No, I'm fine. Just didn't sleep much, that's all.” She looked away from Peach Fuzz and into the distance, twisting her mouth as she saw First Base coming out of a side road and galloping into the direction of the marketplace.
Next to a house and a small Hearth's Warming tree, Alula suddenly slipped on a patch of snow and, doing a 180, landed painfully on her back.
Peach Fuzz scrunched her face and gritted her teeth as she heard the thud of Alula's involuntary contact with the ground.
“Are you okay, Alula?” Peach Fuzz stopped and reached out a hoof. “Here, I help you up.”
Alula closed her eyes and breathed in and out, strongly. Only then she took Peach Fuzz' hoof and rose back up, not saying a word.
“How do you feel? Does anything hurt?” Peach Fuzz placed a hoof on Alula's shoulder.
“No, I'm okay,” Alula growled between gritted teeth. She stomped away.
Peach Fuzz gave her a doubting glance, then she lowered her head and followed Alula.
“Hello, Alula!” Daisy said, happy to see another customer. “Are you here to buy something for the critters? I'm not sure if we have the right things for them, but feel free to look around!”
Right in front of her, Alula stared back with a morose, tired and unmotivated face. Mechanically, she reached for an apple on the stall. “I take this, thank you.” She put it on her back, then turned around and staggered away.
“Hey, you forgot to pay!” Daisy reminded her.
“It's okay, the bits are on the table, yeah, yeah,” Alula drawled, her absent mind betraying her memory.
“Hey, you can't just leave without paying us!” Daisy now yelled after her, flailing her hooves. “Hey! HEY!”
It was a couple of minutes later that Alula found herself at the edge of town, not far from Fluttershy's cottage and near the entrance of the Whitetail Woods. Alula trotted over the snowy field only slowly, the chit-chat of ponies about the Critter Snow Day drifting past her like distant background noise. Even the loud dance music that came from all sides and out of speakers that had been set up all over the place barely reached her confused mind.
As the pile of food on the wooden structure came into her view, she noticed a movement in front of her. A turquoise filly with a light brown mane was slowly staggering into her direction. The green ear muffs she was wearing did nothing to hide that she seemed to freeze. She was small in size, barely reaching up to her head, but Alula's eyes had caught sight of her regardless. Alula sniffed back loudly as she passed the tiny figure, ignoring the trembling hoof that the young filly stretched out at her. For a moment, she could hear the teeth of the filly clatter from the cold, then she was out of her sight.
A few steps closer to the pile, Alula got thrown out of her paralysis by a screechy and exciting shout of her name.
“Alula?!
Startled, she looked to the right, into the direction of the hoofsteps that were approaching her. Her eyes fell on another pegasus filly, with an orange coat and a purple mane. Her wings buzzed in excitement as she dashed closer.
“Alula!” she shouted again. “I knew it's you! Wow, it's been a really long time!” The filly waved friendly.
Alula turned her gaze away from the filly and looked to the left, desire to flee in her eyes.
“Don't tell me you don't remember me!” The cheerful expression in the other filly's face did not falter, but her voice contained a portion of accusation now.
“Scootaloo?” she asked, with emphasized disbelief.
“Bingo!” Scootaloo buzzed her wings. “Right at the first shot!” she cheered.
Alula turned and tried to get away, but Scootaloo followed her persistently and draped a hoof over her back.
“How are you doing, Alula?” She squeezed her old's friends shoulder.
Alula winced. “I'm not feeling well, please leave me alone,” she whined.
“Really? It's kind of funny you say that, because I'm not feeling well either. Guess what, it's going to be a really weird Hearth's Warming Eve for me.”
“You are free on Hearth's Warming Eve, because Apple Bloom celebrates with her extended family on Sweet Apple Acres, Sweetie Belle leaves town with her parents over the holidays and Rainbow Dash spends the evening with her friends in Twilight's castle?”
Scootaloo laughed dryly and removed her hoof from Alula. “Bingo again. You're really sharp today!” She stopped, touched Alula's left shoulder and turned her around. “Do you have anypony to spend Hearth's Warming Eve with, Alula? If you do, maybe you could use one pony more?” She punched her chest playfully, making Alula flinch in surprise. “I mean, who doesn't want to have as many ponies as possible around them on Hearth's Warming Eve?”
Alula looked to the left once more, still wearing the same, upset expression in her eyes.
Scootaloo came a step closer and put a hoof on Alula's chest, grinning wildly. “You wanna know something? I have a feeling you don't have many ponies to celebrate with, am I right?”
A weird, uncomfortable expression crept on Alula's features. “I gotta go!” it shot out of her mouth and she dashed away.
“Alula?” Scootaloo shouted after her, ears lowering instantly and some tears emerging in her eyes.
Alula ignored the pleading behind her and rushed up to the pile of food. She grabbed the wax apple on her back and tossed it onto the pile, then turned away rapidly and dashed into the other direction. Only from the corner of her eyes, she could see Fluttershy and Angel approaching the food pile. Relief washed over her as she spotted Train Tracks and Peach Fuzz coming into her direction. She could hear them bickering and fighting, but did not have any attention for this.
Immediately upon arrival, she grabbed Peach Fuzz and pulled her aside. “Hey, what gives?” the earth pony filly squeaked.
“Peach Fuzz.....” Alula took a deep breath. “I need you to give me a slap in the face, a strong one!”
A certain concern returned into Peach Fuzz' face and she raised an eyebrow. “Why do you want me to do this, Alula? You are really not yourself today.” She reached for Alula's forehead again, but got her hoof slapped away.
“Because I have a problem and it's a big one!” Alula's voice shook from fear and her lips trembled.
“Hey, how about I give you one?” Train Tracks offered. “I am right here for you.” His voice was ripe with sarcasm.
Peach Fuzz gave him a stern glare, then turned back at Alula. “Ignore him, he's just grumpy because we had little a fight.”
Alula's hoof shot forward. “I knew you would say this!” She let her hoof sink again and crouched a little. “I feel so weird today.”
Peach Fuzz did a short glance at Train Tracks. “Can this wait a little? Train Tracks and I have something to talk about, too.”
A weary expression spread out on Alula's face, but she nodded. “But please don't take too much time,” she pleaded.
Unfortunately for Alula, a lot of time passed. Now it was after sundown, the moon stood in the sky and the three foals sat close to the huge fire that had been built in the middle of the festival grounds. Each of them held mugs filled with steaming, hot cocoa in their hooves. Alula's mug shook slightly, a few drops of cocoa landing on two of her boots that stood in front of her.
Peach Fuzz and Train Tracks were huddled close to each other, with Peach Fuzz' head gently snuggled against the underside of Train Tracks' chin. Occasionally, the filly cooed softly into the warm chest of her coltfriend. Train Tracks was holding her affectionately with one hoof, a warm smile on his lips. Unlike during the afternoon, his face expressed pure contentment and happiness. It was the result of a long talk between him and Peach Fuzz, during which the two foals addressed a lot of things neither of them dared to talk about before. It made their relationship more intimate and brought them even closer together, Train Tracks could feel this in the air around them. He squeezed his fillyfriend tighter and kissed her head affectionately.
Alula's condition was the opposite. The talk between Peach Fuzz and Train Tracks had been long and once it was finally over, Peach Fuzz had put her off until tomorrow. She wants to enjoy her time with Train Tracks now, she had explained. It was now a mere half hour until the highlight of the Critter Snow Festival, the big ceremony led by Fluttershy during which the critters would receive their Hearth's Warming gifts, brought to them by Ponyville's residents, would begin. Her ambitious plan was still rushing through her head, but her agitation made it almost impossible for Alula to focus on its execution.
Peach Fuzz took a sip from her mug and emptied it. A glance into Train Tracks' mug that was close to her face showed her that her coltfriend had nearly emptied his mug, too.
Peach Fuzz stirred at his chest, then sat up. She smiled at him. “I'm getting another cocoa,” she chirped. “Should I bring one for you too, Train Tracks?”
The colt nodded. “Um-hm. I would love this, Peachy.” He nuzzled her cheek, then planted a kiss on it, making her giggle. Then he emptied his cup and Peach Fuzz took it and placed it on her back, alongside her own.
Before leaving for the stall with the refreshments, Peach Fuzz turned at Alula. “Would you like me to bring one for–” She stopped, noticing that Alula's mug was still almost full. “Oh, nevermind, I didn't notice you still have so much.” Carrying two empty mugs on her back, the filly cantered away in an upbeat fashion, a skip in her movement.
Alula did not look after her. She stared into the fire, hooves still shaking. A minute passed, then another one, then she finally gathered her courage and took a deep breath. She gulped down her, by now cold, cocoa, wiped off the brown stain that remained on her lips and turned around at Train Tracks.
“Train Tracks?” she beckoned for his attention.
The colt looked at her. “Yeah?” he asked, still the warm smile on his love-dazed face.
For a moment, Alula hesitated as she realized that she had no idea what to say anymore. But she needed to say something, she needed to try at least, so she gathered more courage and spoke up.
“I was thinking about your fight earlier and I think that you and Peach Fuzz don't really fit together, so, how about we try it and you become my coltfriend, Train Tracks?” it all blurted out of her. Alula draped her left foreleg over Train Tracks' back and dragged him closer to her. A split-second later, Alula breathed out sharply. She closed her eyes and planted her free hoof in her face.
Train Tracks gasped and his face grew dark. He jerked his back, causing Alula's hoof to retreat from it, and faced the filly. “How can you even suggest something so stupid?” he lashed. “Peachy and me are happy, don't ever try to get between us, Alula!” He brought a hoof down on her chest with strong force.
Alula watched him get up and trot away with thrusting hoofsteps, aiming for Peach Fuzz at the refreshments stall. She averted her gaze before he could reach her and sighed. “Figures,” she said and threw her empty mug into the crackling fire. The ceramic cracked under the heat of the flames and the mug burst.
With nothing left to do anymore and her plan once more failed, Alula put the boots back on her forehooves and trotted home. Her mind was racing with explanations, theories and speculations, but nothing it came up with could clear her confusion. The thoughts made her head feel cloudy, so she stopped tormenting herself with trying to make sense of her weird situation the moment she stepped into her house.
Alula closed the door behind her. She slipped out of her boots and removed the anorak and scarf from her sweaty body. She pushed all of the clothing into a corner, then trudged up the stairs, into her room and smashed the door shut.
Feeling a weird coldness creeping up inside of her, Alula let her eyes wander over the room, with a shocked expression coming from them like the air itself had changed. Their journey ended at the photo of Train Tracks that was pinned to her corkboard. Staring at it grimly, Alula trotted to her desk and plucked it down. She patted the photo, then turned around on her hooves, approached her bed and climbed into it.
Legs covered by her blanket, Alula leaned to the left and put the photo down on the nightstand, right in front of her alarm clock. She placed her head on the pillow and pulled the blanket over her upper body, all while she kept staring at the photo. She did not leave it out of her sight until her tired eyes forced her to it and she fell asleep.