Thanks to DigitalChaos for the inspiration!
December was a challenging time for the orphans. The rooms were cold and wet, the blankets were thin and ratty. It was a difficult few months for several of the children, especially seeing as many of them had absolutely nopony at all who wanted them. Hearth's Warming Eve was yesterday, part of a week long event of days a time of joy and giving and celebration. The gifts from the caretaker of the orphanage, Miss Maneigan, were usually small and cheap. But when you you no other family to speak of, the little trinkets might as well have been bright new saddles.
Hearth's Warming came as it always did, trying to sneak up on fillies and colts who should have been sleeping. But of course they weren't. Every single one of them were up before the sun itself, propped up on front hooves and watching the snow fall outside. The morning bell rang after what seemed like an eternity, signaling that they were once again allowed to leave the main bedroom in which they all slept.
There was a massive pounding of hooves as fifteen orphans all jumped out of bed at once, racing towards the dining hall with squeals of delight. They knew that gifts would be distributed as soon as breakfast was over. Each child ran into the open area and took their place at a table, squirming in their seats impatiently.
Miss Maneigan arrived as she always did, promptly on time, serving steaming oatmeal in brightly colored bowls.
"A special treat for you this morning, children," she said cheerfully. "I managed to get alfalfa and brown sugar for today, so this morning's breakfast shall be extra sweet." This met with loud cheers, underscored only by a couple of impatient colts who were fighting over who got the green bowl.
A very young orange colored filly sat on the end of one of the benches, dressed in her usual thin clothes and earmuffs in an attempt to keep out the cold. She shoveled oatmeal into her mouth as if she'd never be fed again.
"Scootaloo!" The caretaker scolded. "Slow down, you'll choke!"
"Yes, Miss Maneigan," the filly sighed, eating at half speed then but still pushing the bowl away before all the others, having never cared much for oatmeal. It wasn't until the last bowl had been emptied, licked and collected that Miss Maneigan's voice rang out.
"Children!"
Fifteen ponies sat at perfect attention.
"I'm sure you know how this goes by now, but I'll remind you. Please remain in your seats while offerings are distributed, this will prevent accidents. We don't need another incident like last year, isn't that right, Tumbleweed?"
A small brown pony shrank in his seat.
Miss Maneigan began to give out large parcels. Surprisingly large, in fact. Normally the gifts were no more than a coloring book or a bag of marbles. But this year, attentive as she was, Miss Maneigan had been secretly watching the orphans. They were rapidly approaching cutie mark age, and she had taken it upon herself to try to help them. Each child, this year, received something that she hoped would assist them in their future skills. Shooting Star, for example, spent most of his nights stargazing out the windows, and so received a small spyglass. The look on his face was one of pure delight.
And so the ritual continued, each gift met with a squeal of joy and the pattering of hooves as the child raced off to some part of the house to play with it. At last, young Scootaloo was approached, the caretaker gazing down fondly at her.
"I have nothing for you..." she began.
Scootaloo's eyes widened.
"...In here," she finished. "Your gift is near the front door, and Scootaloo, please-"
She was talking to air, an orange blur had surpassed her and left the stool wobbling on its own.
"-don't run." She sighed.
Scootaloo raced to the front door and flung it open, gusts of snow and cold air hitting her instantly. She plunged outside, and glanced about, gasping in delight as she saw what she was looking for. A brand new scooter, tethered to a large tree by a heavy rope. She raced towards it and jumped upon it.
Miss Maneigan appeared in the doorway. "Once spring comes I'll unchain it, I don't want you racing around Ponyville with ice and snow everywhere," she said kindly. "In the meantime, you should have plenty of room to circle around the property."
Scootaloo was barely listening, and plunged forward on the scooter, kicking up the powder filled ground with her hooves. The distant cheers of ponies began to get louder and louder, ringing in her ears. The snow in front of her melted away, a long track replacing it. A dozen other ponies surrounded her on scooters of every shape and color, eyes all fixed on the light fixture hanging over the track.
Red.
Red.
Red.
Yellow.
Green.
A dozen ponies all kicked off at once, hooves scraping and (where applicable) wings flapping. Scootaloo's wings buzzed as hard as she could, desperate for any extra lift she could get. The other racers slammed into each other trying to get ahead, and Scootaloo intentionally fell back, allowing the others just a bit of distance. They'd take each other out. Indeed, they were so busy focused on each other that they didn't see her whip around the outer edge of the track.
The cheering of the spectators was relentless.
Scootaloo pushed forward, trying to squirm around the edge without being seen. This was near impossible, however, and a young unicorn grinned and slammed his scooter into her front wheel. She violently dove off the track and into a ditch, using every muscle she had to keep from going flying. The ditch slanted downward, sending her away from the other racers.
The unicorn grinned. One nuisance down, time to focus on another.
The race continued without Scootaloo, one lap almost completed. A particularly dedicated pegasus named Blazing Star was in the front, moments away from crossing over the starting line when he was overtaken by a shadow. He pulled up his goggles just enough to look up, nearly crashing into another scooter.
Scootaloo saluted him, having soared off the edge of a cliff overhead, violently landing down in front of him with sparks flying from her wheels. Blazing Star flipped his goggles back down and took after her, not about to let a stupid little filly take away his moment of glory. The other racers were not far behind, but for now, it was just him and her.
Scootaloo's mane whipped behind her, swerving right to cut around the inner circle of the track.
"What's the matter, Blaze? Or should I call you Smoke? Because that's the only thing you're going to be seeing!" She challenged, and took off down the track.
Blaze raced after her, swerving around to try and slam into her back wheel. It was neck and neck, and the finish line was coming up fast.
"Cut it out!"
He didn't listen, and slammed into her back wheels again. Her scooter gave off sparks, the back wheel flying off and barely missing Blazing's head. Scootaloo leaped off her Scooter, time seeming to move in slow motion. She landed on Blaze's shoulders, causing the young colt to swerve out of control. He had only a moment to throw her off before the finish line came up, but Scootaloo had other plans. She leaped off of his shoulders, soaring through the air and flapping her wings.
For the first time in her life she remained airborne, diving through the air and across the finish line, with Blazing Star seconds behind her. The filly remained hovering in the air, raising her hooves over her head and listening to the sounds of the erupting stadium.
"Scootaloo! Scootaloo! Scootaloo!"
"Scootaloo!"
Miss Maneigan's voice broke the silence of the falling snow, while Scootaloo sat on her new toy.
"Come on in, Scoots. You've been out here for an hour. Get warmed up and you can come back and play with it again. What were you cheering about?" She asked.
Scootaloo just grinned. "Nothing," she said. "Thanks for the scooter, Miss Maneigan, it's perfect." She hugged the mare, and raced back inside into the warm building, the door closing behind shortly after.