//------------------------------//
// Enduring the Cold 
// Story: I'll Always be Here for You 
// by The Abyss 
//------------------------------//

Rainbow took a deep, satisfied sigh and wrapped her front hooves around her mug of hot cocoa. She sat by herself, staring out of her kitchen window as she admired the strength of the winter storm that she and her weather team had made a couple of hours ago. Even though her house was on the outskirts of town, the storm’s strength had made it a long and hard flight back, even for her.

It was approaching that time of the year again, that dreadful time that Rainbow avoided like the plague. While most ponies relished opening presents with their family on Hearth’s Warming Eve, she didn’t have a family of her own to do that with, a fact that had led her to be depressed the past couple of years.

It had been around her age that her mother had started dating, and she’d been lucky enough to find her one true love the first time around. Rainbow was jealous of that fact, for her abilities to find somepony special to love paled in comparison to her mother. She had already tried dating some locals here in Ponyville but never felt anything real. Disappointed, but depressed more than anything in her failed dates, Rainbow had stopped trying to find someone to love, at least for now.

Rainbow took a sip from her mug and fluffed her wings, trying to purge her mind of the depressing thoughts. Now was the time to relax after a long day of work, and, to be more specific, to get some shut-eye for tomorrow. It was her first day off in over a week, and she couldn’t wait to go and play with her friends in the soon-to-be freshly laid snow.

After a couple more minutes, Rainbow finished off her drink and tossed it inside the sink. She trotted through the living room and flew upstairs to her bedroom. Pushing her door open, she trotted over to her warm and inviting bed. She crawled under the sheets on her cloud bed with a yawn, listening to the dull roar of the snowstorm outside. Closing her eyes, a smug grin spread across her face as she saw townsponies sloshing about in the snow and tossing snowballs at each other in her mind’s eye. She laid her head down on one of her many pillows and snuggled in for the night, pulling the sheets up past her shoulders.

Grabbing another pillow, she held it to her chest and snuggled with it, pretending it was an actual pony. Her thoughts turned to the chill of winter for a moment, half-dreams of a warm body lying beside her flicking briefly through her mind. Rainbow smiled contentedly as it caressed the fur on her stomach, pretending that she was pulling her special somepony closer to her. Curling up into a ball, she drew her hind legs up and pushed the pillow into a more comfortable position. Rainbow tucked the blankets in all around her and finally relaxed. As she started to warm up, she let loose another small yawn. 

To her disappointment, her pillow could not replicate that which she craved so much. She sighed to herself, both out of frustration and longing. Her pillow was a sad substitute for somepony to share her bed with, but it was all she had at the moment. Her house seemed a little less awesome with nopony to share it with, and she still felt the dull sting of coming home to an empty house on Hearth’s Warming Eve from last year. That holiday was quickly approaching again, and she still didn’t have anyone to spend it with. Sure, she had her friends, but she wanted somepony she could really relate to and connect with on a more intimate level.

She gritted her teeth and rolled her eyes, tossing her head to try to shake off the thoughts. Try as she might, she couldn’t get rid of the feeling of being utterly alone. With a longing sigh, she rolled over and closed her eyes, praying for the blissful release of sleep.

Visions of her friends tussling with each other in the snow she had worked so hard to make kept dancing in her head. With another deep sigh, Rainbow snuggled closer to her pillow, angling it so that it pressed up against her chin just like a special somepony would.

But moments before she fell asleep, she heard something, something that stood out from the sounds of the terrible storm raging outside. Cracking her eyes open, she barely made out the sound of somepony crying coming from somewhere below her house. She could have sworn her mind was playing tricks on her, but she sat up all the same. Her ears flicked every which way, trying to pick up the sound against the howling wind. 

The wind suddenly picked up, making her house flex slightly in the sudden gust. Rainbow clenched the sheets, pulling them closer to her as she felt her house move. Her house was meant to stay fixed in one place at all times, even in storms such as this. Her eyes widened fearfully as she saw the wall across from her bed flex inwards ever so slightly. After a few moments of waiting breathlessly, the wall flexed back into position as if it had never moved.

“Um… maybe we made this one a little too strong…” she whispered to herself.

Rainbow finally noticed that she had been holding the sheets just like a scared filly, so with a small chuckle she relaxed and let the sheets fall from her grasp. Soon enough, the wind died down for just a brief second, letting her hear the sound again. This time, she could clearly make out the sound of somepony crying, and it sparked a faint sense of familiarity within her. She couldn’t place a hoof on whose voice it was, but she recognized it all the same.

Now which one of my crazy friends would be out in a storm like this?

With a groan, she tossed the covers aside. Leaving the warmth of her bed behind, she trudged to the window and fumbled with the latch before it finally clicked open. Pushing the window open with a hoof, she poked her head out, only to get a face full of snow. Irritated, Rainbow shook the snow from her face and mane and looked down. There, just visible through the falling snow, a tiny filly fought against the driving storm, heading past her house and away from Ponyville.

What the hay… Rainbow frowned, her brow furrowing. “Hey!” she yelled as hard as she could, her voice all but lost under the storm’s fury. She waited for the filly to look up, or at least look around, but the silhouette only continued walking deeper into the snowstorm. Rainbow glanced back at her warm bed as she felt a shiver run down her spine. She lifted a hoof to walk back, but paused, biting her lip. The storm was still raging on and it was only going to get worse. This kind of weather was dangerous to the strong and even deadly to those unprepared for its strength.

She knew what she had to do. Bracing herself for the freezing cold, she grabbed a light green scarf from her dresser and wrapped it snug around her neck. Sticking her head back out the window, she tried to find the filly but the haze of the storm had swallowed her up. Without wasting another second, she leapt out of the window and spread her wings wide. 

The harsh, cold wind bit at her eyes, making it extremely tough to see where she was flying. She shivered mid-flight, making a mental note to smack Cloud Kicker upside the head the next time she saw her for convincing everypony to make the storm so strong. 

She flew through the fury of the storm, her head darting all over the place as she desperately looked for the filly below her. Just as the cold was starting to become more than she could bear, she spotted a faint, dark blur just in front of her. Slowing down to a hover, she had to squint her eyes and shield them with a hoof from the biting wind.

With a victorious smile, she flew down towards her target who kept trudging through the thick snow. As she neared the filly, Dash finally recognized her: the orange coat, unruly purple mane and tiny wings buzzing furiously to generate some warmth could only belong to one pony. 

What in Equestria is she doing out at a time like this? Rainbow thought, her eyebrows furrowing in confusion. Flapping her wings to land in front of the distraught filly, she called out, “Scootaloo, what are you doing out here? It’s freezing!” Scootaloo didn’t respond, keeping her head lowered as she fought against the wind for each and every step. Her hooves sunk into the snow, nearly up to her knees.

Rainbow cocked her head to the side in confusion, something just didn’t feel right with her. “Scootaloo! Hey! What are you–” she yelled through the wind just as Scootaloo bumped right into her. 

As the shivering filly looked up at her in confusion, Rainbow’s gaze was instantly drawn to a big and ugly red bump on her forehead beside her right ear. Her eyes wide and her tone heavy with anger and worry, she yelled, “Scoots! What the hay happened to–” but she was cut off when Scootaloo suddenly grabbed her forelegs tightly, as if she was holding on for dear life.

Rainbow was taken aback. She had expected for Scootaloo to greet her in her usual chipper voice, but that wasn’t the only thing that shocked her: the filly was absolutely frigid and she was trembling from head to tail. She was covered in snow, most of it centered in her mane and on her flank.

"Jeez, squirt, you're an ice cube!" Rainbow ripped the scarf from her own neck and wrapped it around Scootaloo's. As the cold wind started biting at her muzzle once more, Rainbow lowered her head and held one of her wings behind the filly, shielding the both of them from the worst of the wind. 

She wrapped her other wing around the freezing filly and awkwardly stuttered, “U-umm… there, there, Scoots… everything’s alright…” She was standing rather clumsily, so she gingerly sat down, wincing as the snow quickly stole any warmth that her rear once held.

“No, no it’s not!” Scootaloo sobbed, her words becoming nearly unintelligible from her constant shivers. “I ca–can’t go home anymore. I can’t take it!”

"Whoa, whoa! Slow down, kid! Now, why can't you go..." Rainbow's words trailed off, her eyes spotting the bruise on her head once more. "Scootaloo, what happened?” Scootaloo tried to say something, but her words were lost under the intensity of her shivering. She felt the filly’s grip tighten on her legs. Rainbow struggled to hear her, but the harsh wind pinned her ears back, making it difficult to hear anything other than the wind. “Come on, let’s get out of the cold and go up to my place. We’ll figure out your little problem there, okay?” Rainbow yelled, smiling warmly.

Guided by Rainbow’s gentle hoof, Scootaloo slowly looked up. As their eyes met, Rainbow saw a small flicker of hope in her wide, tearful eyes. With a reassuring grin, Rainbow picked up the shivering filly and placed her on her back, right in front of her wings. “Hold on!” she yelled over her shoulder as she took off, flying upwards in fluid circles to gain altitude.

The blinding snow, the howling wind, and a shivering filly did not make the return flight easy, but soon enough Rainbow landed on her front porch. Feeling the snow start to build up on her, she hurriedly pushed the door open and bolted inside. She slammed the door shut behind her, smiling in relief as a glorious wave of heat washed over the two of them. 

Rainbow let the freezing filly slide off of her back onto the warm, soft cloud that made up her floor. Brushing the snow from Scootaloo’s back with her wings till she was satisfied the shaking filly was clean, she led her into the living room, shaking the snow from her own mane and tail along the way. Looking down at her young friend, she softly asked, “Hey, how does some hot chocolate sound? You want some?”

“Yeah… yeah, that’d be nice,” Scootaloo said, climbing up onto Rainbow’s couch. Sinking down into one of the cushions, she curled up into a ball and laid her head on a foreleg, wrapping her tail around herself. 

Rainbow trotted into the kitchen and put a pot of water on the stove to heat up. She kept an eye on Scootaloo, glancing over her shoulder every ten seconds or so. The filly was still shivering, and as she watched, Scootaloo moved to curl up in one of the corners of the couch.

She might need a blanket... she thought before making her mind up a second later. Yeah, let’s go grab one for her... Leaving the pot of water on the stove, she trotted over to a closet and grabbed one of the quilts she had folded near the bottom. She balanced it on her back and walked back over to the couch. As Scootaloo looked up at her, Rainbow unfolded the patchwork blanket and tucked it around her.

“That gonna be enough, squirt, or do you want more?” Rainbow asked with a little smile. 

Scootaloo waited a second to respond, letting the fluffy quilt warm her up. “I–I think this’ll be enough, thanks,” she replied through chattering teeth, smiling gratefully. She pulled the blanket close and wrapped it around her freezing hooves, digging even deeper into the cocoon of the couch and the quilt.

After another minute passed, Rainbow poured the hot water into a pair of waiting mugs. She poured a couple good spoonfuls of the hot chocolate mix into their mugs and tossed a few small marshmallows on top for good measure. Putting them on a small tray, she gingerly lifted it with her mouth and slowly walked back to the couch. She set the tray on the coffee table, then sat down next to Scootaloo.

“Careful squirt, it’s still pretty hot,” Rainbow said as she handed one of the mugs to Scootaloo, wrapping her hooves around her own warm mug. “So, um... why don’t we start from the beginning?” As she raised the mug to her lips to take a sip, Dash felt a cold draft run over her, making a shiver run down her spine. “Ugh, hang on a sec, I left my bedroom window open.” 

“O–okay,” Scootaloo replied, taking a sip from her mug.

Getting up from her seat, Rainbow trotted upstairs and closed the window, but the damage was already done; her room was freezing and snow was scattered all around the windowsill. Rolling her eyes in annoyance, she cranked up the heat in the house and went back down to the living room, where Scootaloo was calmly sipping away at her drink.

“Heh, is it okay if we share that quilt? It’s getting a little chilly in here,” Rainbow asked as she sat back down. After a small nod from Scootaloo, she grabbed one end and wrapped it around her. Settling down next to the filly, she asked, “Alright then... what’s up?” She grabbed her mug from the coffee table. Taking a small sip, she smiled contentedly as the sweet liquid caressed her taste buds. She lowered her mug and looked down at the young filly beside her, tensely waiting for her to begin.

“Do you… do you promise not to tell anypony?” Scootaloo waited until Rainbow nodded silently a couple of moments later. “I… I messed up really bad this time,” Scootaloo started a little hesitantly. “I can’t go home anymore....”

“What? Of course you can, squirt. Your parents still love you, and they’re probably worried sick trying to find–”

“No, they’re not!” Scootaloo exclaimed, hitting her hooves on the couch. Rainbow tensed up at the display, but said nothing. Scootaloo took a moment to calm down, then started explaining. “My… parents,” she spat the word with hate that didn’t fade as she continued speaking, “I... I hate them.” Scootaloo took a breath, the furrows in her brow growing deeper. “They always make jokes about my wings! If I ask them for even the littlest thing, my dad will... he’ll‒he’ll hit me!”

“Scootaloo, I… um…” Any words of comfort died on Rainbow’s tongue. This was completely foreign territory to her. Ponyville had a record for being one of the friendliest towns around; that had been the main reason why she’d moved here after graduating from flight school.

“All I want is for us to be a happy family! I mean, is that too much to ask for?” Scootaloo choked up a bit as the tears raced her cheeks. “Every time Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle go home, they go home to families that are happy to see them. Heck, I can’t even remember the last time my parents said they loved me!” Scootaloo wiped her eyes, her voice cracking under the weight of her words. “Today was the last straw. I couldn’t stand it anymore!” She cast her bleary eyes up at her. “All I wanted was to have a happy family. I didn’t want this to happen! You have to believe me!”

“What did you do? I mean, it can’t be that bad… right?” Rainbow asked, cocking her head to the side with a nervous smile. When Scootaloo didn’t respond, she leaned in closer, placing a reassuring hoof on Scootaloo’s back. “Scoots, what did you do?”

“I… I...” Scootaloo trailed off angrily as she stared straight ahead, gripping her mug tighter and tighter. “I threw out my dad’s booze.”

“Wait, did you really–”

“I did! I poured all the bottles down the drain right before he caught me. I tried to tell them that the drinks were making things worse, but he wouldn’t listen to me. He only got angrier and angrier, and I don’t know if it was from the alcohol or from the fight with my mom, but my dad, he… he…” Scootaloo winced as what happened flashed through her mind once more. “He started throwing the empty bottles at me... I dodged most of them, but he got me with the last one, right here...” Scootaloo said, pointing at the large bruise on her head. “After that, I ran out the back door. I ran for I don’t know how long, and I had no idea where I was going.”

“He  what?!” Rainbow bolted upright in shock. “Why?” Dumb question... she just told you... She jumped off of the couch and trotted around the living room, flaring her wings in preparation to fly as fast she could. “Scootaloo, we have to tell someone about this.”

“No!” Scootaloo cried out from the couch, making Rainbow stop. “You promised you wouldn’t tell anyone!” 

Rainbow bristled in place for a moment. She does have a point… she thought begrudgingly. “Scootaloo, for something like this, I... I can’t just keep it all under wraps like you want,” she said. Rainbow walked back over to the couch and laid down next to Scootaloo again, taking a moment to collect her thoughts. “I’m sorry, Scoots. I just can’t sit still knowing that there’s something I can do,” Rainbow said, seething on the inside. She wanted to go beat the hay out of Scootaloo’s parents, but as much as she hated to admit it, she had promised she wouldn’t tell anyone. “Ugh... I really want to go teach them a lesson,” Rainbow said, her tone filled with ice.

Scootaloo laid a hoof on one of Rainbow’s, making her look down at her. “You can’t do that, and you know it, Rainbow,” she said softly but firmly. Her grip tightened on Dash’s hoof as she continued, “I don’t want you to get in trouble because of me; I just wouldn’t be able to live with myself. Please, promise me you won’t hurt them.”

“Scootaloo, I… I…” Rainbow once again found herself at a loss for words. She tried to come up with a reason to teach the filly’s parents a lesson, but she felt the grip on her hoof tighten.

“Promise me.”

Rainbow looked down into Scootaloo’s eyes. A few moments later she sighed as she gave in. “Alright, I promise you I won’t touch them,” she said begrudgingly.

Scootaloo sighed in relief. “Thanks, that–”

“But that changes the moment either one of them lays a hoof on you, understand?” Rainbow interjected. Closing her eyes, she took a few deep breaths to calm her racing nerves. “I’ll be there the moment they try to hurt you...” A few tense moments passed in silence. “Sooo, anyways…” she began, trying her best to defuse the tension in the air. “I guess you’re kinda lucky that you walked under my house tonight,” Rainbow teased gently, nudging her with a wing. “Otherwise, you’d have probably gotten your cutie mark in becoming the first frozen filly!” she said, trying her hardest to make her young friend smile, and to her immense relief, she did.

“Yeah, I don’t know what my friends would say about that,” Scootaloo replied with a small giggle as she finished her drink, relieved that Rainbow wasn’t going to go out and do something she might regret. As Rainbow started chuckling, she couldn’t help but get caught up in the contagious laughter, and moments later, the two of them were both cackling at the absurdity of the idea. Settling down a minute later, Scootaloo wiped her eyes with a hoof and continued, “Anyways, if it’s okay with you, can I…” she trailed off as she glanced to the side, scratching the back of her head.

“Can you what?” Rainbow asked as she finished the rest of her drink. Once Scootaloo finished hers, she placed both of their mugs back down on the coffee table. 

“Is it okay if I stay here for the night? I really don’t want to go back outside, and I don’t know where else I could go…” Scootaloo said as she pulled the quilt tighter to herself, looking up hopefully at Rainbow.

“Of course you can, squirt! Like I’d throw out a friend…” Rainbow said as she feigned being offended. She gave her a playful nudge, eliciting a relieved giggle from the filly. “I, uhh… I don’t have another bed besides my own, but the couch is all yours if you want it. I’ll be back in a minute with some pillows for ya.” Rainbow slid off of the couch and started to trot towards the stairs.

“Wait!” Scootaloo exclaimed, holding out an outstretched hoof in Rainbow’s direction. She let the blankets fall from her shoulders, making herself shiver from the change in temperature. “I mean, umm…” She glanced from side to side nervously before she continued, “I… don’t wanna be alone, so is it okay if we, you know… sleep together?”

Rainbow blinked, then gave a gentle smile a moment later. “Su–sure, squirt.” She trotted back over to the couch and bent down, letting Scootaloo clamber onto her back. “Come on, let’s get going, then. I’m pretty sure you’re exhausted after what happened today, huh? I’d be a liar if I said I wasn’t tired, too.”

“Yeah, maybe a little bit,” Scootaloo replied through a loud yawn. Rainbow gave her a funny look. “Okay... maybe a lot.”

“Hehe... thought so,” Rainbow said. Carefully keeping Scootaloo balanced on her back, she trotted upstairs and into her toasty bedroom. “Hold on tight, squirt,” Rainbow said as she approached the bed. Once Scootaloo tightened her grip, she flapped her wings once, propelling the both of them onto the bed.

She walked a few short steps across the bed and flopped down next to her pillows, letting Scootaloo fall down onto the pillows with a soft oomph. Flicking the sheets open with a wing, she slid under them and arranged her pillows to her liking. A moment later, she glanced up to see Scootaloo standing right where she left her, poking at the edge of the sheets with a hoof.

“Hey, whatcha waitin’ for, Scoots?” Rainbow asked as she lifted a welcoming wing, motioning for the filly to join her. 

“No– nothing.” She took a tentative step forward but paused again, frowning in confusion as her hoof sunk deeper into the mattress. Scootaloo glanced up, an inquisitive look upon her face.

Rainbow couldn’t help but giggle at the confused look on her face. “It’s a cloud mattress, squirt; that’s why it’s so soft.” Letting loose a rather loud yawn, she closed her eyes reflexively. Stretching out under the sheets, she opened her eyes in surprise as she felt something warm press up against her side. Looking down, she saw Scootaloo had curled up next to her, pressing her back against her side.

“Rainbow? Can you, umm… can you wrap one of your wings around me? I used to imagine that my mom would do that with me when I was younger, and it… I don’t know, it always helped me fall asleep.” She shifted nervously as she glanced up at Rainbow, silently praying to Celestia that she would say yes.

“You bet, Scootaloo…” Rainbow said with a gentle smile as she laid a wing around Scootaloo, pulling her closer. A moment later she felt Scootaloo lay her head on her foreleg, making herself comfortable on the makeshift pillow.

Part of her wondered why anypony would want to hurt such a gentle filly, while the other part wanted to smack the living hay out of Scootaloo’s parents until they couldn’t walk straight. As she watched the younger pegasus relax in her embrace, something suddenly broke inside her, and she couldn’t help but let a tear slip out of her eye as she felt Scootaloo snuggle even closer to her. Struggling to keep her composure, she quickly wiped the tear from her muzzle before the filly saw.

It felt so right to have a filly, to take care of something so precious even if it was only for a night. It pained her greatly because she knew that Scootaloo was hurt by somepony that she should have been able to love and trust. Rainbow knew that she had to do something, but it would have to wait until tomorrow. She flicked her tail so that it fell around the filly and pulled the sheets back up around them with a hoof, taking care not to disturb her.

“Hey… Rainbow?” Scootaloo softly asked as she enjoyed the blissful warmth.

“Mmm… yeah?” Rainbow murmured as she shifted slightly, laying her head down on a pillow. Using a hoof, she pushed it into a better position and relaxed, waiting for Scootaloo’s response.

“I just want to say… thanks,” came her soft reply. “This really means a lot to me…”

“Anytime, Scootaloo… anytime...” Rainbow whispered back as she slowly slipped into the realm of dreams. I'll figure something out… I always do…