The frosty wind blew outside, making Rainbow Dash shiver slightly as it drafted through the cloud house of which she lived. Cold nights like this were when she thought of how warm other ponies would be, snuggled with their special someponies, or their families, drinking hot chocolate in front of a blazing fire, watching the usual Hearths Warming TV shows that she had loved as a filly. She sipped the last of the warm beverage that she had left, and dumped the mug in the sink lazily. She trotted up to her room, glad that unlike the rest of the house, it was small and cosy. Jumping onto her cloud bed, she brought the covers over her, staring into the night sky through the window. Taking a pillow from beneath her head, she held it close to her chest, trying to imagine what it would be like to have... someone. Somepony to keep her safe, to keep her warm at night, to be there no matter what.
At the Golden Oak Library, Twilight Sparkle sat at her desk, snoring quietly. She had been working on an assignment given to her by her mentor, and now fellow princess, Celestia. Her forelegs held her head, with her purple mane spread across the table, her wings twitching slightly every few seconds, and her tail was wrapped around her body tightly, trying to keep every bit of warmth she had from escaping her body.
"Twilight?" A familiar voice neared behind her. The little dragon shook her a bit, and she awoke with a start.
"Bah!" She fumbled around a bit, trying to sit up, and brushed her mane out of her face. "Oh, uh, it's only you Spike..." She stared down at the little dragon, then looked out the window. It was still dark out, what was Spike doing up at this time?
"You, uh, you ok?" He asked, staring at Twilights bloodshot eyes, and the the ink pot that had spilled a bit on the table in her rush to wake up.
"Yeah, I'm.. fine. Just another assignment. Anyway, why are up this early? Surely you should be in bed, its not even sunrise yet!" A perplexed look on Twilights face caused Spike to stare at the ground, embarrassed.
"I, uh.. I had-" He looked back up at her.
"Another nightmare? Spike, you don't have to hide it, you know. I don't mind. Anyway, it's better for you to speak about it, so... Do you want to speak about it or nah?" Using her wing, she brought Spike in for a hug, which he did not complain about.
"I, uh, Okay... So basically, we were here and it was snowing and there was whimpering and crying coming from outside, so I went to go and see what was going on and..." He hesitated.
"And what, Spike?" She processed what he was saying, thinking about what could have happened.
"I went out and... and... Scootaloo was out there, crying in the cold, and she was hurt, really bad, like, she had bruises everywhere, and she had cuts on her, and-" Tears poured from his cheeks. As the CMC where some of his best friends, he was really sensitive about anything happening to them.
"Oh Spike..." Twilight hugged him tighly, and Spike wiped his tears from his face.
"I ran over to her, and asked why she was there, and what was up, but she said nothing, and I nudged her a bit, she looked at me, but... it was as if she didn't know me... And after that, I woke up..."
"Well, it's okay now, I'm sure shes safe at home, in good health..." She heard a small whimper from outside the house, and Spike gasped as he heard it.
"That... that sounds exactly like my dream..." Spike ran to the front door, attempting to open it, not realising it was locked. Using her magic, the alicorn unlocked the door and before she could take her magical grasp off of it, Spike flung it open, the light from the library flooding outside.
A small filly, with smaller-than-average wings sat in the dead cold of the night, snow lightly covering her wings and mane.
"S-Scootaloo?"
Twilight struggled for words.
"Scootaloo?" She finally said. Spike hugged her foreleg tightly, sobbing quietly to himself.
This is what happened in my dream, except... There was no Twilight. Spike thought. Scootaloo looked at the two of them, confused, and a huge bruise placed on the left of her forehead was now viewable. A purple aura surrounded the filly, and Spike looked up, confused about what Twilight was doing. She walked in the library, her horn lit up, and Spike followed her.
"Spike, put the fire on, I'm gonna go grab some blankets for Scoots." As she walked off, laying Scootaloo on a mat in front of the fire, she tapped her head in thought. "Come on, Twilight, think, think! Who is Scootaloo closest to that isn't part of the CMC..." She whispered to herself. She stared at the sky in her daze, then it struck her. "Rainbow Dash!"
Running back in, she slowed as she saw a sleeping Scootaloo. Placing a couple blankets on the filly, she nuzzled Spike and ran towards the door.
"Where are you going?" Spike asked, shocked about her sudden need to leave.
"I'm going to get Rainbow Dash." And with that, Twilight slammed the door shut and threw herself into flight.
Rainbow Dash groaned as three loud bangs came from the door downstairs. She was just dozing off, too. Sleepily, she got out of bed to see what the noise was about. The pony at the door must be crazy to stop by at this time.
"Who is it?" She asked as she opened the door. The purple alicorn stared at her, worry glowing in her eyes. "Twilight?"
"We need to talk. Like, right now. You need to come to the library." The purple mare grabbed Rainbows hoof and flew as fast as her wings could take her. After a few seconds, Rainbow flapped her own wings, catching up with Twilight easily.
"So, whats up? Why do you need me to come to the library at like, midnight." The rainbow-maned mare giggled. "Have you got some sort of crazy experiment going on?" She looked at Twi, who glared at her, then looked back in front of her. "Geez, what in the name of Celestia is wrong with you? You can't take a joke!" The stern look on Twilights face made her realise that this was a serious situation.
"Why don't you shut up and find out" Twilight said stiffly. So thats what Rainbow Dash did.
They arrived at the library where Twilight flung the door open and ran to the fireplace. Scootaloo was still sleeping, snoring, slightly.
"Would you like to explain whats going on, Twi? I mean, you cant just bring me here in the middle of the night and not explain why!" Twilight rolled her eyes, dragging Rainbow to the fireplace.
"Its Scootaloo..." Twilight sat next to the peaceful filly. "I-Me and Spike, found her outside a while ago. We brought her in and then I came straight to you... Seeing as your one of her closest friends." She nodded at Scoots.
"WHAT?! SHE WAS JUST OUTSIDE IN THE COLD? IN THIS STORM?" Rainbow Dash cringed after she said that, seeing Scootaloo flinch, and yawn.
"Shh! And yes, she was just outside own her own!" The Princess hissed.
Scootaloo awoke, yawned,then stretched.
"Huh?" She arose to see Twilight and Rainbow glaring at each other, teeth gritted. "T-Twilight? Rainbow?" the two mares turned to look at the filly.
"Squirt, what happened?" Rainbow stared at the filly, surprised about her condition.
"Oh... I guess I should tell you, huh. So basically... I was at home, when my parents were asleep, and... and..." Scoots felt tears run down her cheeks. "I was meant to be grounded, because I forgot to shut my window this morning, and I went to go out and... my dad woke up, and saw me at the door, and... he threw his bottle at me. He does it all the time, when hes drunk, so I'm used to it...."
"WHAT!" Rainbow screamed.