Critter Snow Day

by Fluttercheer

Unlimited Chances

.
Now shall we sing songs of harmony within this realm! And with true love and brotherhood, each other we all whelm! This day, apart, warm hearths and hearts, all other doth efface! For friendship and rectitude to all and kindness and grace! Warm hearths to all and kindness and grace!

Inhaling deeply, Alula shot up from her pillow. Her eyes bulged as she looked around in her bedroom. Eventually, a thought hit her head and she turned at her alarm clock in haste. The spot in front of it was empty.

Alula kicked her blanket away and flew to her desk. She covered her mouth with both forehooves as the familiar face of Train Tracks smiled down at her. “This can't be true,” she muttered, panic starting to rise.

As Alula left her bedroom, her heart was almost jumping out of her chest. Her mom appeared in front of her, brimming with morning cheer.

“Good Morning, Alula! Are you ready for the Critter Snow Festival today?”

Alula ignored her and went past her, hurrying down the stairs before her mom could end the sentence.

“Alula, honey? What's the matter, is anything wrong?” more words by her mom rang into her ears as she went through the foyer and out of the house, without putting anything on that could protect her from the cold weather.

Arrived in the open air, Alula began to gallop. She dashed right past Peach Fuzz who was on the way to her house. The other filly waved at her, then looked after her in confusion. “Hey, wait!” she shouted and began running after her.

Alula's tempo outmatched the other filly. After a few meters, she slipped on a patch of snow, but picked herself up in a matter of seconds and continued her way seamlessly. Her heart beating in a faster and faster frenzy, Alula ran through the town. She crossed over the marketplace and ran all the way to the place of the Critter Snow Festival, without even noticing that her hooves carried her exactly where she had the least desire to be.

Her fear increased as she saw the freezing filly staggering into her direction. She jumped to the side, holding her hooves protectively in front of her body, as she passed it.

“Alula?!” Scootaloo appeared to her left, running swiftly into her direction. “Alula! I knew it's y–” Alula looked at Scootaloo only for a moment, then she shoved her away with a strong push of her forehooves.

Scootaloo laughed dryly, pretending to ignore the harsh rejection. She gathered speed herself, running after her old friend. “Hey, Alula! Don't tell me you don't remember me! It's me, Scootaloo! Scoots, the Cactus! Come on, filly! We've been in the same class!” an endless torrent of words left her mouth as she kept pace.

Ignoring the attempts, Alula kept her eyes glued on what was in front of her. She ran across the festival place, just before a huge cart pulled by two large, muscular stallions came bye and cut her off from the filly who was following her. “Hey, wait! Wait!” it came from the other side of the cart, but Alula kept running.

As her breath was finally running out and she began to run slower and slower, Alula felt a tug at her tail. A pair of hooves wrapped around her tail stopped her, then pulled her backwards.

“Hey, what is going on? Alula?!” a squeaky voiced sounded into her ears, but it didn't come from Scootaloo.

As Alula jumped up and around, freeing her tail in the process, she caught sight of Peach Fuzz. The filly panted, her tongue hanging out. Her scarf dangled loosely around her neck and was close to falling off.

“W-What's gotten into you, Alula?” She lifted the ends of her scarf and wrapped it around her neck again, eyes fixated on her friend and waiting for an answer.

Alula stared at Peach Fuzz, with eyes wide from the fright she felt. She slumped down on the cold ground. “The same day happens over and over again,” she finally spoke, her voice strained and nervous. “It's always Critter Snow Day.....”

Peach Fuzz did not answer immediately and instead, looked at her friend incredulously.

Alula noticed the disbelief in her eyes. “Really. It's the truth, that's the fourth time already. Yesterday never happened, Peach Fuzz.” A new wave of panic rising, she grabbed the other filly at her shoulders. “I think I become crazy,” she whimpered, with some tears forming in the corner of her eyes.

Now the incredulous expression disappeared from Peach Fuzz' face and a warm smile played around her lips. She reached out and wrapped Alula into a hug, hooves tightly clasped around the back of her neck.

“I don't think you are crazy, Alula,” she spoke softly. “We live in Ponyville, remember? Crazy stuff happens all the time here.”

Alula's lip quivered as reaction to the comfort of her friend and she removed her hoof from Peach Fuzz's shoulders and reciprocated the hug. The fillies stayed like this for a moment, before they separated.

“So, what are we going to do?” Alula asked, her voice craving for a solution to end her predicament.

Peach Fuzz didn't need time to think. “There's only one creature who could do this, Alula.” She craned back her head and looked upwards. “DISCORD!” she shouted into the air.

No answer came. The streets and houses around them stayed still and there was no sign of any of the usual chaos that tended to happen when the draconequus was around. After one minute of waiting, Peach Fuzz tried it again.

“DISCORD! Stop messing with my friend or I'll go and tell Fluttershy about everything!”

Instantly and without any warning, a bright flash of white light blinded her and Discord appeared inside of it.

“What do you fillies want from me?!” he asked, audibly grumpy. “I am concerned with important matters right now, so you better have a good reason for calling me!” Peach Fuzz' scarf started to move on its own all of a sudden. Unwrapping itself and slowly gliding over Peach Fuzz' face and up to her head, it hissed menacingly.

Peach Fuzz didn't bat an eye. “Alula just told me that the day loops for her and you are the only one who is able to do this!” She glared at Discord piercingly while the snake scarf wrapped itself around her head.

“Me?” Discord asked, innocently. “Ohoho, no!” he laughed, wiping a single tear out of one of his eyes. “I am way too busy with trying to help the most hopelessly untalented gift giver ever to find a worthy gift for Fluttershy so that she won't end up with something as horribly mundane as a candle!” He started growling at the end of the sentence and as a result, the snake scarf began to move more violently.

Peach Fuzz narrowed her eyes at Discord for a few more seconds, but then the expression disappeared and her eyes became clueless. “Who could it be then? Somepony has to be responsible for this.” Her forehead was adorned with deep furrows as she taxed her brain for an answer.

“What, are you implying that I, the Master of Chaos, would not notice a sudden timeloop? Ridiculous!” With a snap of his fingers, he turned into a real snake and wrapped himself around Peach Fuzz' neck. “I am above time and space, there is no way someone could mess with time like this without my knowledge!” He hissed, his tongue flickering in front of Peach Fuzz' face.

“But somepony has to know what's going on!” Peach Fuzz hissed back and stuck out her tongue.

“Oh, of course there is!” Another white flash happened and Discord changed back into his normal form at Peach Fuzz' side. He walked over to Alula and tapped a claw against her head. “If you ask me, I think your friend here should see a doctor.” Then he snapped his claws and disappeared into thin air.

Appearing more nervous than before, Alula clenched her teeth as she looked over at Peach Fuzz, tears forming in her eyes.

Inside the Ponyville Hospital, Dr. Stable looked at a radiograph hanging in front of him. He squinted his eyes and let them glide over the picture of Alula's brain one last time.

“Well, Alula, I have good news. There are no spots on your radiograph and you don't have any clots, tumors, lesions or aneurysms in your brain.” He turned around at her. “You also have no fever. You couldn't be healthier for a teenage filly.”

A relieved smile formed on Alula's lips. It faltered after just a moment, when she realized this meant that her problem was still unsolved. Peach Fuzz stood at the side of the table she was sitting on and placed a hoof on her leg, smiling at her.

“But why is it happening then?” Alula asked him. “There has to be something!”

Eyes closed, the doctor shook his head. “Not that I can see here, Alula. Of course you can go to Canterlot or Manehattan and get more check-ups there, if you want to make sure, but if you ask me, you need something else.”

“And what?” she asked, some of her usual sass back in her voice. “A better doctor?”

Now Dr. Stable frowned. “Rest, Alula,” he said. “If anything, you seem very agitated and a déjà vu can be an overwhelming experience for the mind. You should return home and go to sleep.”

Now it was Alula who was frowning.

Alula stared at her milkshake from lazy, half-lidded eyes. Around her, Sugarcube Corner was bustling with life. The Critter Snow Festival always increased the number of customers tremendously. The music from the radio and the clinking from the kitchen, that indicated that Mr. Cake was washing some dishes, were only two of the sounds that filled the bakery.

After a few minutes, the clinking got interrupted for a short moment before it continued at a faster, more hectic pace. Alula did not lift her head to see who was coming as she heard hoofsteps approaching her. “Do you want another milkshake?” she heard Mr. Cake asking.

Alula sipped the rest of her shake and put the glass down again, still not giving him a look. “I won a contest once,” she murmured. “The first prize was a trip to the Wonderbolts Headquarter with Rainbow Dash.” Her eyes became longing. “I met Spitfire. And Fleetfoot. Rainbow Dash and I ate cloud cakes and we drank lemonade and I got autographs from all of the Wonderbolts and could take pictures with them. At sunset, they gave a performance just for me.”

Mr. Cake's mouth turned upside down. There was jealousy in his eyes, but also compassion. A loud clank suddenly came from the kitchen, causing Mr. Cake to turn around. “Cup Cake?” he shouted. “Are you alright?”

“E-Everything's okay! I just dropped a mug.” Her response sounded a little shaky.

Mr. Cake turned back at Alula.

“This was a pretty good day,” Alula continued, bitter. Her eyes seemed to look right through Mr. Cake. “Why couldn't I get that day over and over again?” she moaned.

She poked against her glass tiredly, then looked up and into Mr. Cake's face. “Can I ask you a question?”
“Sure,” Mr. Cake answered. “I have a moment to spare.” This wasn't true, because Sugarcube Corner was jam-packed with ponies and other creatures, but he felt bad for Alula, seeing her so depressed.

“What would you do if there would be no tomorrow? If the next day would never happen?”

“Hmm.....” Mr. Cake held a hoof at his chin. “Well, I think that's pretty unlikely, but if that would happen, I guess there wouldn't be any consequences anymore. You could do what ever you want then.”

Alula directed her eyes away from him and focused on her glass again, sighing. It took a moment until the realization dawned on her. “That's true!” Her head shot up again. “Now I can do whatever I want!”

She hovered into the air and zipped straight for the entrance door, pushed it open and flew outside. Mr. Cake ran after her into the cold. “Hey, are you not going to pay your milkshake?” he shouted. His face took on a tired expression as he watched her disappear in the distance. “Nice trick,” he mumbled, before he headed back inside and closed the door behind him.

Alula was carefree. She flew at highspeed through the town, barely dodged the houses and brought more than a couple ponies out of balance by racing closely past them. As her flight had led her to the train station, she flew right above the train tracks and followed them without a pause.

“They tell you the same stupid crap every day. 'Clean your bedroom', 'Don't sleep in class', 'This isn't good for your teeth', 'Don't pinch your best friend's coltfriend'.” She grinned as she heard the signal of a train and saw it coming around a turn. “Oh, and of course: 'Never fly over the railroad tracks!”

Alula increased her flight speed and shot right at the approaching train, faster and faster. She bit her lower lip. “Wanna swerve first, buddy?” she asked, eyes full of fiery determination.

Almost at collission with the engine, Alula suddenly did a narrow dive to the right and dodged the train by mere inches. Ignoring a few feathers getting ripped out of her wings by the airflow, she flew a semi-circle and made her way back into town.

“YEAH!” she shouted as she landed on the ground. “Now there's nothing that can stop me anymore! Train Tracks and I are meant to be together, so the universe loops the day for us and gives me unlimited chances!” She cheered and threw her forehooves into the air. “Now I have all the time in the world to get you, Train Tracks!”

Her slightly maniacal snickering got interrupted as she felt tugged by something at one of her ears. “Alula!” a familiar voice rang out sharply.

Alula turned around and grinned defiantly at the face of her mom. Ten minutes later, her mom closed the door of Alula's bedroom in front of her and locked it from the outside. The grin still hadn't left Alula's face.

Comments

[howard035]

I really hope there's at least one scene with Alula driving a cart off a cliff with Angel inside it, screaming "don't drive angry!"

[Fluttercheer]

9547717

There is something like that. Though I'll go about it a bit differently. Good catch with Angel!

Another part will come out today, then there'll be a break of two days for the Season 9 Premiere before releases pick up again on Monday.

[Bronycommander]

So, let me get this right: She's sort of stuck in a loop of the same day?

[punzil504]

9547717

Peach Fuzz: She might be okay...

(Cart explodes)

Peach Fuzz: No... probably not now.