Morning had arrived after the stressful, previous night. I had fallen asleep on the couch, letting Isabella have my bed. One would assume a woman would gladly take a bed over a couch, my sister was an odd case.
I smiled as I stood up from my makeshift bed, and stretched, bones popping in response. I looked over at the fire place, and saw a few embers were still active. I worked on the fire a bit, using small pieces of wood that had splintered off, before adding larger pieces that were a bit aged.
After a few minutes the fire came to life once more providing its familiar warmth. With the fire started I decided to grab my jacket and get some air while Isabella was still sleeping. By now I was used to waking up early with my work shift starting in the odd hours of the morning.
Crafty Crate had recently offered to try and move me to a mail carrier position, but I turned down the offer. Sure, it was more bits, but I was happy working with Timber and Strong Deck. Crafty Crate seemed to understand and told me the offer was still on the table if I wanted it.
The cold air broke my train of thought as I opened the door as quietly as possible. I kept my hand on the door handle, and pulled it shut, slowly, only releasing the handle once I was certain it wouldn’t catch on the frame. I had learned the trick from Isabella after I witnessed her sneaking out one night.
The satisfying crunching of snow beneath my shoes brought a smile to my face as I walked. The streets were barren, but a few voices could be heard from within the multiple houses. Hearth’s Warming Day had arrived, and families were probably inside, celebrating and sharing stories.
I eventually found myself in the park, that was now populated by snow ponies of various types and sizes. I had to resist the urge to topple every single one of them as the evil little kid in me started to stir.
I opted instead to be a bit more constructive, and build a snowman, I was certain such a creation would get a few reactions out of the ponies in Ponyville. I began the process of searching for a spot to build, since snowman making required the perfect snow and location for the base.
Finally satisfied with an area, I set to work forming a snowball, and rolling it on the ground. As it rolled, it collected more and more snow with it, revealing grass in its wake. Soon the first snowball, if it could be called that now, was large enough to support the other two pieces. I used my arm to smooth the orb out, giving it the more traditional snowman look.
I repeated the process for the other two body parts, and used two twigs as arms, while rocks formed the eyes and mouth. Lacking a carrot for the nose proved problematic, but it’s not like I had originally intended to stop and build a snowman in the first place anyways.
“It needs a nose.” a bubbly voice said, making me jump.
“Hey Pinkie, what are you doing out here?” I asked.
“A better question is, what are you doing out here? It's Hearth's Warming Day, shouldn't you be spending time with your sister?" Pinkie Pie asked, answering my question with one of her own.
"She's still asleep Pinkie, besides I didn't actually plan on celebrating it to begin with. It's not a human holiday, and I was only going to the pageant because I promised I would. Then I got carried away along with Spike and Scootaloo." I replied as I turned to walk back home.
"Well then since the pageant was canceled, I guess we'll have to move the party to your house then!" Pinkie exclaimed happily.
"Aren't you going to spend time with the Cakes? Rainbow Dash left pretty late last night, but she was set on making it to Cloudsdale." I said knowing that the train stopped it's rounds for public transportation long before our return to Equestria.
"I was, but you still seemed down in the dumps about something, so I thought I would try to cheer you up a bit. Besides, nopony should miss out on Hearth's Warming Day!" Pinkie Pie said excitedly.
"Heh, I suppose not. I just didn't want to get in anypony's way, since this day is pretty important to you guys. I was going to stay home and chill, but I guess we could do it your way since I promised I would anyways." I said.
"Mmhmm! Something' been bugging me though, what was Scootaloo doing with you in the first place?" Pinkie Pie asked bouncing at my side.
"I'm afraid I can't say Pinkie, she's probably be embarased and I doubt she would want it going around Ponyville." I answered, shaking my head. Throwing Scootaloo under the bus like that would have been a dick move on my part.
"You can tell me, I promise I won't tell anypony." Pinkie Pie said trying to reassure me. Here I thought Pinkie Pie was the queen of secrets, not wanting them to be exposed.
"No...that's final." I said, not being swayed by the blue doe eyes that were silently pleading with me to tell her the origins of that fateful night.
Pinkie Pie opened her mouth, presumably to ask once again, only to turn her attention towards the sound of irregular padding hoofs through snow. One could tell who ever it was seemed to be having some difficulty with the frozen substance.
I sighed as I took note of the source of the noise. A purple tuff was protruding from a pile of snow which was soon disturbed by an tangerine filly climbing out of the pony size pit she had created upon stepping onto the unstable snow pile.
"Scootaloo," I said startling her as I approached. "What are you doing?" I asked hoping that she wasn't attempting to run again, in broad daylight no less.
"Oh, I was just wanting some time alone. The orphanage doesn't exactly do a great job with Hearth's Warming, and Rainbow Dash isn't in town so..." Scootaloo replied, drawing a circle in the snow with her hoof, refusing to make eye contact.
She didn't have any saddle bags, or her scooter, which made sense given the snow's density, so another flee attempt was out of the question. I could sympathize with her boredom, my first few days in Equestria were mind numbingly dull. I could only imagine what a rambunctious little filly probably contemplated during said boredom.
Scootaloo was Rainbow Dash's understudy. She idolized and tried to mimic everything about her, this included her prideful nature sometimes, intentional or not. The filly didn't need to be out in the cold like this, but I couldn't exactly force her to return either.
"Scoots," I said gaining her attention. "You're welcome to come with me and Pinkie Pie to celebrate...if not you shouldn't stay out too long, do what you will though." I said turning to walk away motioning for Pinkie Pie to follow me which she did so hesitantly with a confused look on her face.
Three...two...one. I counted down the seconds, anticipating the filly's response.
Sure enough, reverse psychology proved to be just as effective in this world as in mine, evidence of this present when Scootaloo did her best to catch up to us. With a grin I purposefully slowed my pace, giving her a chance to do so.
"There's nothing else to do, I guess I can see what your home looks like compared to the one you had in the other world." Scootaloo said playing her decision off in a similar fashion as her mentor would.
"Good, I feel honored to have the coolest filly in Ponyville come and visit." I said making Scootaloo beam with pride.
I felt Pinkie Pie bump into me, greeting my gaze with a knowing smile. At least the need to know of the private matter that led to Scootaloo's involvement was gone for the time being, replaced now by the shared goal of trying to give her some sort of celebration to be a part of.
---
Later that night...
Scootaloo lay awake under the covers of her bed. The rest of the fillies and colts were all sound asleep, but not her. Her mind refused to let her drift to the peaceful state that the others had. Her mind was flooded with thoughts, and questions that she didn't have the answer to.
That night...he stayed...he stopped me...why? Scootaloo thought to herself.
True, Rainbow Dash had kept an eye out for her, and she knew the cyan pegasus would never let anything bad happen, but this felt different, somehow. She couldn't quite explain it, but she knew whatever it was was genuine, not like the mare that ran the orphanage. It was almost like...
No Scootaloo...don't go there...don't dream...you know that dream will never come true. Scootaloo thought to herself, a single tear escaping her eyes as she closed them for the last time that night.
To be continued...in Never Dream