Rainbow nuzzled Twilight’s cheek a little harder than she meant to, though it mattered not for it still drew a smile on her lips. After fetching Spike and Scootaloo, they’d all met up in Cadence’s bedroom and had settled down upon a huge collection of pillows in the middle of the room.
She glanced out of Cadence’s bedroom window upon hearing the wind pick up, buffeting the castle with all its might. She still hadn’t let go of the idea that Scootaloo’s father might still be somewhere in the city, making her heart yearn to be out in the cold searching every nook and cranny until she was certain that they were safe. Part of her wanted to sneak out once everypony had gone to sleep, but the more rational part of her mind didn’t want to upset Twilight in her weakened state. She had a feeling that she’d find out no matter how careful she would be in trying to sneak out. With their previous fights back in Ponyville and Cloudsdale nestled within her mind, she fought her feelings down and smiled, simply happy to be by Twilight’s side.
An insistent nuzzle from Scootaloo broke Rainbow from her thoughts. She had been curled up in a ball in between Rainbow’s forelegs, using her tail to keep the tips of her hooves warm, but now she lay flat on her back, her forelegs curled up against her chest as she gazed up at her. Spike sat in between Twilight’s forelegs, using her breast as if it was the back of a chair. A fleece blanket lay over their legs while a separate blanket lay draped over Twilight’s and Rainbow’s back. Rainbow had kept her wing securely held across Twilight’s back, holding her close and using her body’s warmth to keep her comfortable and cozy. “You feeling better?” Rainbow hopefully asked.
“A little bit, yeah,” Twilight said, letting her head rest against Rainbow’s below her left ear. Her eyes drifted shut as Rainbow’s warmth seeped into her neck. “Mostly because of you. I think those hayburgers really did help out.”
“Yeah, cuz you got some real food in you instead of that yucky hospital jello,” Spike ventured. “I hated how they tasted; I didn’t even finish one.” Looking up at Rainbow, he said, “I dunno how you snarfed down... how many again? Six? Eight?”
Rainbow giggled nervously. “Uh... around that, yeah,” she said, furtively glancing down at Twilight’s eyes. “I uh... I lost count.” Twilight stayed silent, making her feel more nervous. “And, uh...”
“That’s why you snuck in some hayburgers? Because you ate all my hospital food?” Twilight smirked.
“...Yeah, that’s one way of looking at it, I guess,” Rainbow said with a nervous laugh.
Twilight giggled. “It’s okay, I forgive you,” she said, placing a single peck on Rainbow’s cheek. “I think I would have preferred the burgers over the jello anyways.”
“Okay, good. Was getting a little worried with Spike’s big mouth and all.” The grand door opened behind them with a soft squeak and a creak, making Rainbow look left and behind her to see Shining walk back inside with Cadence, two large trays held up with their magic.
“Hey everyone!” Cadence said with a warm smile. “We brought hot cocoa and all the stuff needed to make s’mores!”
“Wait, really?” Twilight glanced over her shoulder and watched as her brother and sister in law sat across from them. She gratefully accepted a mug and set it beside her, unable to keep herself from smiling as Rainbow dug into the graham crackers.
“Love these!” Rainbow said with a sheepish grin. “My mom never let me eat these by themselves when I was younger because she wanted to save them for making s’mores.” She took a few more bites, then paused. “Won’t we need fire to cook the s’mores?”
Spike coughed obnoxiously into his claw. “Yeah?” he asked, drawing out his word. “I have no idea who could breathe fire,” he said.
Rainbow’s ears flicked back. “Oh, yeah, forgot you can do that. Sorry, little dude.”
“All good.” Spike smirked and took a sip of hot cocoa. “Just let me know when you need me to cook our treats!”
Twilight glanced at the fireplace across the room, full of fresh logs and waiting to be lit. “Will do, Spike. Thank you,” Twilight said. Feeling little tremors coming from Dash’s wing, she nudged her with her shoulder. “Listen, thanks for sticking around. It means a lot to me and the little ones—”
“You got that right!” Scootaloo piped up.
Twilight shot a quick smile down at their little orange filly. “Why don’t you and Spike help Cadence put together some s’mores? I wanna talk to Dashie in private real quick if that’s okay.”
“Sure!” Scootaloo scrambled up and awkwardly walked around to Cadence’s side, the pillows making for very uneven ground. She sat down next to Cadence, though she was pulled in by her large pink wing.
Twilight mouthed the words, “Thank you,” to Cadence as they started putting together their s’mores. Once she was certain that Scootaloo was out of listening range, Twilight cleared her throat and lowered her voice nonetheless. “It means a lot to me that you aren’t out there flying around in the cold searching for what might just be a lost cause,” she murmured. “I can feel how tense you are,” she said when Rainbow shot her a funny look.
“O-Oh... right.” Rainbow stayed silent for several seconds, her eyes looking at anywhere but her. “Can’t really sneak anything past you, huh?”
Twilight shook her head. “I think it’s safe to say that we both know each other pretty well.” She pushed her hoof on top of Rainbow’s and tightly held onto it, gently coaxing her to look back up at her. She saw an opportunity to lean for a quick smooch, so with a sly grin, she leaned and pecked her on the cheek again. “It’s okay, really. We’re safe. I’m safe, you’re safe, and Scootaloo and Spike are safe. Her mom is in jail and her dad is on the run. Remember how much of a lazy thug he was?” Rainbow nodded silently. “Do you really think he’d come all the way up here? To do what, hurt us? I think he’s more selfish than that; I’m willing to bet that he’s getting as far away as possible from us right now.”
“Y-Yea, but I... I don’t know.”
Twilight could tell she still wanted to go out and search. “Okay. Think about this: did you see any brown pegasi when you snuck out to get us those burgers?” she asked. “What about earth ponies? Unicorns?”
Rainbow groaned. “I know where you’re going with this. Y-Yeah, I saw more than a few, but—”
Twilight cut her off. “Exactly. And none of them were Scootaloo’s dad, right?” Rainbow shook her head. “What if the guard was mistaken? Remember how we see more of something if we’re actively looking for it? So if the guard is on the watch for someone with a brown coat, surely he’d see more ponies with a brown coat. Does that make sense?”
“Yes, it does, but what if it was actually him?” Rainbow looked back up into Twilight’s eyes, her grip tightening on her hoof.
“And what if it was? We have nothing to worry about. Do you know how many guards are here in the castle? Patrols were doubled outside and the reserve was activated, too,” Twilight said, keeping her voice calm and level, trying to be the voice of reason and to help Rainbow feel at ease. “Fact is, there are so many ponies with that same coat color and it was dark out. We can’t live by ‘what ifs’, Dash,” Twilight murmured. “For the moment, we’re safe and we’re happy. Right?” She nuzzled her cheek, coaxing her to answer.
“Right.”
Brick Lump flicked his newly-stolen coat up, wishing he’d picked something warmer. He’d swiped it off the back of somepony’s chair from the restaurant he’d finished eating in and had dashed away into the night, galloping for a couple of blocks before he took to the skies, flying in a jagged pattern before landing in some random street. Oddly enough, even though he’d gotten a few odd stares, nobody had said anything to him while he had had a late dinner.
With a belly full of food and the one-hoof discounted knife from the dinner table, he glanced from side to side and spotted a guard patrol walking towards him from further up the road. He locked eyes with a gruff-looking guard for a split-second, then dashed down an alleyway. Brick snapped open his wings and flew into the darkness, his eyes frantically searching for a cloud to hide upon. Once he found one large enough for him, he landed upon it and lay down, then buried inside the cloud. He triple-checked to make sure that his tail, or any part of his body for that matter, wasn’t sticking outside.
A minute passed in silence, then another, and then another after that.
“Phew...” he murmured as his heartbeat began to slow. “Thought they were gonna chase me for a second there.” As fresh snow started falling from the sky above him, he unfolded his wings and pushed himself up just enough to get them above the top of his cloud, then flapped his wings slowly enough to make it look like natural cloud movement. He wanted to get a better view of the castle, for if Scootaloo and her princess friends were going to be anywhere, it’d be a safe bet to say they were in there.
In fact, he was willing to bet his life on it.
With a strong flap of his wings, he propelled himself upward and forward, hoping to gain altitude so that he could get a decent view inside. Once he was at his desired altitude, he folded his wings back inside the cloud and burrowed deeper in, only allowing the tip of his snout and eyes to protrude from the face of the cloud.
A few hours passed as he watched patrol after patrol fly around the castle, their flight path varying every time but eventually he discovered a pattern, giving him the opening he needed. He’d spotted a single window just barely ajar on one up of the upper floors of the castle, but it was near one of the spots where a lot of the patrols flew. However, once he was sure that he’d figured out their routine, he let them complete the pattern one more time then flung himself off the cloud, counting the seconds down in his head.
Brick slowed down to a hover right below the open window, using his ears to listen for any movement or sounds from within, and once he heard not a peep, he slithered inside like a snake and closed the window behind him.