Winter’s Howl
Chapter 23: Seeking New Shelter
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Snowstorm gently eased into his home while two large earth ponies passed him, carrying a curled up rug.
“Good thing I didn’t have much to move…” He said quietly to himself as he looked at his now barren home. Rainbow had left earlier to begin packing her things, and his mother had left for Cloudsdale to address legal matters over her husbands death. Snowstorm and his sister now sat on the barren hardwood floors of a truly eventful place. In the short time it had been occupied, many laughs, many tears, and many trials had taken place within it’s walls, now sealed inside by its very construction.
“So…now what do we do?” Scootaloo asked, looking around the den.
“I guess we wait for Rainbow to show up with her stuff and we pick out a new house…again…”
“Can we get lunch?”
“Sure.”
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Rainbow landed on the front of her cloud home with a gentle *poof* and walked inside. She looked around the home as she noticed all of her drawers were opened with various items spilling out of them, her couch cushions spread throughout the room. Her home was completely ransacked.
“Just how I left it…” She said aloud.
Rainbow grabbed a large cardboard box which was original used to ship her refrigerator and began to through nearly everything she could grab into the box, save garbage, which was thrown into a large plastic bin. After about an hour of frantic “cleaning and packing” the den now had walking space, and most of Rainbow’s belongings were now in a large cardboard box.
Finally she trotted into her room and grabbed another, smaller box (used to ship her microwave, which had “broken” when she was infuriated at how hot it had made her pizza roles). She began to tear posters from her walls but stopped at the one she had kept in mint condition, placing a gentle hoof upon it. ‘Never give up on your dreams! –Spitfire’ read the poster, proudly displaying the flying acrobatic team, the Wonderbolts. Rainbow gave a sigh, then smiled, tearing the poster from the wall,
“Time to start chasing a new dream…”
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“But McDonkey’s is soooo goooood!!!” Scootaloo protested as she and her brother walked.
“I don’t care! We had it three times last week! Pick something else.” Snowstorm didn’t even bother looking at the pouty filly and continued trotting.
“Burger Princess’s?”
“Don’t even.”
“Fine,” Scootaloo let out a breath, “what’s this little café?”
“I don’t know, but I’ve seen Twilight eat here before. Supposedly there daffodil sandwiches are awesome.” Snowstorm smiled, content that his sister had finally made a reasonable choice.
“Alright, let’s see what they have.” Scootaloo and Snowstorm entered the café and approached the stallion behind the counter.
“Where would you like to be seated, mademoiselle et monsieur?” the earth pony spoke with a thick French accent, his moustache bobbing slightly as he talked.
“Outside is fine,” Snowstorm said. He was enjoying this new weather, now that it was beginning to cool off for the season.
“Are you sure? It is rather cold outside monsieur…” The waiter raised an eyebrow at Snowstorm.
“Yeah, well, winter’s coming.”
Scootaloo chuckled at her brother’s comment, while the server simply stared, confused at the inanity of his customer’s statement.
“If you insist…” The waiter led the two to the patio area of the restaurant, handing them both a menu.
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Rainbow continued to pack her things, mostly shoving items into various boxes with no real method of organization past ‘trash or not’. Finally she stopped at a picture frame, and gently held the photo in her hooves, sitting on her cloud bed.
In the picture was a young Rainbow Dash being held by her father, Raindrop, a sky blue pegasus with a white mane, and her mother, Sunshine, a white pegasus with a golden mane. All three of them looked so happy in the photograph, playing in a small grassy park. Rainbow smiled in remembrance of her parents, and held the frame close to her chest.
“Mom…Dad…I miss you guys so much…”
Rainbow gently placed the photo in her smaller box and looked around her cloud home with teary eyes. What was once cramped beyond inhabitability now stood a cloud structure with a few pieces of furniture residing within. Rainbow grabbed her boxes and flew down to the earth below before returning to her home.
Rainbow looked around briefly before giving the base of her home a firm buck, watching as her home began to disintegrate. The few pieces of non-cloud furniture she owned promptly plummeted out of the sky as the last of the clouds whisped into the sky around her.
“There…all packed.”
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Snowstorm and Scootaloo walked side by side, Scootaloo moaning while she walked, “I ate too much…”
Snowstorm laughed, “I’m not surprised. I knew as soon as you found out they had hayfries that you’d pig out.”
Scootaloo burped and held a hoof to her mouth while her eyes bulged, “guh, don’t ever mention hayfries again…”
“Hah! Well, we should be heading back, Rainbow will be home soon…”
Rainbow flew with her boxes on her back toward Snowstorm’s home. The boxes on her back made it extremely awkward to fly, but she could manage. Finally she arrived at the old house and looked up the road just in time to see her lover and a very bloated filly walking her way.
“Hey Guys! Ready to pick out a new house?” Rainbow called.
“I’m ready!” Snowstorm replied with a grin.
“I’m ready to take a nap…” Scootaloo groaned.
“You did that last time we went house shopping. Stay conscious throughout this time.”
“Bleh, fine…”
The trio returned now to the Mayor’s office, finding her once again working on her paperwork before greeting them with a warm smile.
“Well, I can honestly say I didn’t expect you three to be back her so soon, but I’d be happy to show you around again…”
After hours of constant critiquing of houses, Rainbow proved herself surprisingly adamant about some issues, and a forceful bargainer. Now that she was going to be sharing the rent, Rainbow felt she had a say, and man did she have a say.
After an exhausting afternoon the four ponies came to one final cottage, rather large compared to the town’s normal homes’ sizes. It was a two story, three bedroom, three bathroom home with a very ‘homey’ feel about it. Most of the interior was carpeted, and a large, elegant chandelier illuminated the entryway.
Rainbow, Scootaloo, and Snowstorm all explored the house, finding many of it’s features to be very appealing, including it’s lack of acoustics and different levels between bedrooms. Thanks to Rainbow’s skillful haggling and their now combined pay, the couple was able to afford their new home and moved in promptly.
After only two hours of unboxing their things, Snowstorm, Rainbow and Scootaloo had finished unpacking into their new home.
“Well, if we’re done, I’m going to bed,” Scootaloo announced, “I’m beat.”
“Alright, goodnight!” The pair called back to the exiting filly. The couple now snuggled closer together on a small couch.
Snowstorm took a deep breath and looked around the home, taking in it’s beauty. Finally, he turned to his marefriend and spoke, “So I have to ask…why did we get such a big place anyway?”
Rainbow turned to face Snowstorm, a blush growing across her face, “ Well, I mean we can afford a bigger place now and…” She trailed off.
Snowstorm raised an eyebrow, “Well, yeah, we can AFFORD a bigger place but, do we need one? I mean, don’t get me wrong, I love it and it’s beautiful but…I mean it’s a massive house and it’s just the three of us.”
“Four of us.” Rainbow spoke quietly, hiding under her mane
“What?” Snowstorm’s face twisted into one of confusion.
Rainbow held a hoof up to her belly before smiling at Snowstorm, gentle eyes now meeting his,
“Just the four of us…”
Author's Note:
Well guys...It's been fun! The amazing support I have gotten for this fic (especially since it's my first one) has been astounding. I never would have expected to have such an awesome fan base as you guys, and look forward to writing more for you in the future. This story is probably done for now, but I may very well include an epilogue pretty soon (hint hint). I love you guys and thanks for reading and being such an amazing audience! So always remember to smile! Life is beautiful! Happy Holidays everypony!