I was driving home from work on a Friday night in my Ferrari, ready to get there. I was finally getting a two-week vacation for catching and turning in an animal abuser. Yeah, we hate animal abuse. At the Animal Protection Agency, animals are treated great. I've worked there for eight years, and I've loved it. My boss promised a promotion and paid vacation to anyone that could catch an S-ranked criminal, Jacob Spitzer, who is known for abusing animals, and I did. I accepted both, but the truth is, I don't really need the money. I struck it rich in Las Vegas about four years ago, winning 10 million dollars, and I've been living off of it ever since. I moved from a tiny apartment in Denver, Colorado to a two-story house in New York City, got a green Ferrari, and bills are so easy to pay, I can get all twelve of them paid at one time. That is great.
Anyway, I finally got to my house after driving for about thirty minutes, since I had stopped to order a cheese and curry pizza and a two-liter of Coca-Cola for dinner. Curry is very good on a pizza, especially cheese. It beats the marinara sauce. Anyway, I parked my car in the garage, walked up to the door, reached into my pocket, pulled out my keys, unlocked the door, closed the garage, and walked in. I sat down on the couch and set the pizza box and soda bottle on the coffee table. I took off my leather jacket and hung it over the arm of the couch and sighed loudly. I loved getting home after a long day of taking care of the sheltered animals we keep and typing reports. I was about to start eating when I felt something nuzzle against my ankle.
It was Diamond, my pet skunk, who looked up at me. I smiled and picked her up and placed her in my lap. Diamond was found three months ago and brought to the shelter. While she was in the shelter, she didn't get along with the other animals, and sometimes sprayed any that bothered her. The other agents couldn't stand the smell, but it wasn't so bad to me, since I'm usually the one responsible for cleaning out the stables, so I took her home with me and surprisingly, I was able to house-train her in a week. My boss allowed me to keep her, thankfully, so she's been living with me and has grown attached to me, as I have to her. Anyway, I held her in my lap and she snuggled into my T-shirt, purring lightly. I love it when she snuggles me.
"Hey, Diamond", I said to the skunk, "How's my stinky little weasel doing?" She climbed up my shirt and rested herself on my shoulder. "I guess great. You're probably a little hungry though". I tucked Diamond into my collar and walked into the kitchen. I made a small salad, placed it in her food-bowl, and filled her water-bowl with spring water. I then set her down on the floor in front of them. "You enjoy". She ate her salad while I walked back into the living room, ready to eat my pizza.
I turned on my Xbox 360 and my TV and went to Netflix. There was nothing like pizza and soda and Netflix on a Friday. I loved it, no matter what mood I was in. I get weekends off, but on vacation, I ate up every bit of my time, no matter what. I turned on "Family Guy" and watched a few episodes of season twelve and ate my pizza, my feet propped up on the coffee table. One of the great things about living alone in a big house is your house is your castle. You can do whatever you want, whenever you want. I don't have to pay rent, because I bought the house. I keep my house clean, but not as if my mother was living here, and I keep the foulest animal on Planet Earth as a pet. No landlord means no pet restrictions, no construction restrictions, and no party restrictions.
After about seven episodes, I had finished three slices of the pizza and about a quarter of the soda. I had also went and grabbed the comforter off of my bed and gotten comfortable. Before I watched anymore episodes, I decided to clean up a little so I could enjoy the rest of my Friday. I got up and walked into the kitchen to take out the trash. I saw Diamond, sleeping in her little homemade bed of old comforters and pillows, her food and water bowls completely empty. I also saw she had used her litter box, and that was good because she usually has accidents around the house. Every time she uses her litter box, she starts to get used to using it. Skunks are like cats: smart, clean, non-messy eaters, and fast-learners.
Anyway, before I turn this into a biology class, I dumped the soiled litter in the trash, tied the bag up, and carried it outside, avoiding the ice coated to the steps. It was in the middle of winter, and ice and snow was everywhere. I wanted to hurry up and dump the trash because I forgot my jacket and it was freezing out there. Anyway, I got close to the trashcan and was about to put the bag in there when I saw the other one knocked over, a large hole torn in it and garbage leaking out of it. I sighed as I knew I had to clean it up so it wouldn't attract strays. I thought Diamond had gotten in it, because she usually eats it, but the hole was too big for a skunk-teeth damage.
But, it was too cold to worry about it, so I just decided to clean it up. I bent over and was about to start cleaning, when I heard something similar to crinkling cellophane. I jumped a little and stepped back. Something was already in the trash. I didn't want to see what it was, but knew if I didn't, it wouldn't leave and eventually find it's way inside the house. I walked around to the collapsed garbage can and peeked in. What I saw made me gasp.
It was a pony. An unusual colored pony, eating from the trashcan. Her coat was orange, and her mane and tail were purple. She was about two feet tall and she looked very poor, which explained why she was eating from the garbage. I really didn't want to bother it, but of I didn't, it wouldn't leave.
"Hey", I said. The pony looked at me and shrieked, running away. It wasn't a fearful neigh, but an actual shriek. It was kinda surprising, but I didn't have time to acknowledge that, because she ran around to the front and was heading for the road, which lead to the fastest highway in New York, and cars were zooming fast. I wasn't about to watch a young filly get run over, so I took off after her.
"Wait!", I yelled, "Stop!" I couldn't run as fast as I could, because the ground was coated in ice, and I didn't want to slip and fall, so I was speed-walking. But, as fast as I was going, the filly was faster on all fours. She looked back at me and shrieked again, running faster. I eventually had to stop and catch my breath, but luckily, right before she ran into the road, she slipped on a frozen puddle and fell onto her bottom. I walked over to her, but she started scooting back away from me. I still walked very slow, not wanting her to run again.
I finally caught up to her when she came to a brick wall on the side of my house. The filly began to shake very hard, very scared. I reached down to grab her, but she snapped at my hand, trying to bite me.
"Get away!", she screamed. I gasped a little. She spoke. Spoke in the English language, and I could understand her.
"You can talk?", I said. She said nothing. Either she was too scared to speak again, or I was just hearing things. I knelt down to her level and placed my hands around her sides, trying to raise her. But, I dropped her when she wet herself out of fear, every drop hitting my shirt. I'm kinda used to that sort of thing, but it was unexpected. The filly gasped at the yellow stain in my white T-shirt.
"I'm sorry I'm sorry!", she said, "I didn't do that on purpose! Please don't hurt me! I-!" I placed my hand over her muzzle before she could finish.
"Shh", I said, "It's alright. You're not the only one that's accidentally wet on me. I'm not going to hurt to". I could her a low sigh a relief come from her, but she was still shivering heavily. "Anyway, I wanna talk. Come inside before you freeze out here". She nodded and held her little hooves up to me, which was actually a little cute. I picked up the scared, shivering filly and walked her inside, laying her down on the couch and covering her with the comforter and sitting down next to her.
"Th... thank you", she said, her teeth chattering.
"Sure...", I said. I sat there for several minutes, trying to piece together what was going on. Not only did I find an unusually colored pony in my backyard, but I found an unusually colored pony, THAT COULD TALK, in my backyard. But, just to make sure I wasn't just hearing things, I spoke to the little filly again.
"So...", I said, trying to figure out what to talk about. It was hard to open up a conversation with an animal, so I started with something simple. "What's your name... little filly?"
"S... Scootaloo", the filly said in a weak voice.
"What a name", I said underneath my breath. "Uh... how old are you?"
"F... four...", Scootaloo said.
"You're only four?", I asked. Scootaloo nodded slowly. "Then what are you doing out this late in the winter, shopping in my trash? Shouldn't you be at home?" I opened my soda bottle and took a sip.
"I... I...", Scootaloo said, her voice starting to break, "I don't have a home".
"What?!", I said, sounding surprised, "What do you mean you don't have a home. You're way too young to not have one".
"I... was banished here... from Equestria", the now-crying filly said, "My old home. I tried to... throw Princess Celestia a birthday party... but I used a lot of candles and it started a fire in the... *sniffle* Castle".
"Why'd you use so many candles?", I asked.
"She over 1000 years old", Scootaloo said.
"Then... why didn't you use number-candles?", I asked.
"They stopped making those", Scootaloo said.
"Oh...", I said.
"I have no home, I have no food, no water, nothing!", Scootaloo said, crying harder, "I wanted something to eat so bad, and I started eating your trash! I... I didn't want to, but I had to! My tummy hurts, my hooves hurt, my throat hurts, everything hurts! I don't want to die!" She started crying very loud and hard. I felt very sorry for her, so I grabbed her and placed her in my lap, allowing her to cry into my shirt.
"It's alright, Scootaloo", I said, trying to comfort the little filly.
I suddenly began to feel bad for her. As an agent of the APA, seeing an animal in pain hurt me heavily. This, however, was an animal with a human brain, and an hurt child is just as serious as a hurt animal. I wanted to put her in the shelter, but the other agents would've probably thought she was a mutant, since wasn't normally colored and she talked. I couldn't just send her back into the winter, and I didn't want her to be killed because for being mistaken for a mutant, so I decided to do the right thing.
"Little Scootaloo", I said, "You don't have to worry about that... because this is your new home".
Scootaloo looked up at me with her cute little purple eyes and smiled, burying her face back in my shirt. I smiled a little, letting her calm down a little. Soon, she began to cough violently. I patted her back for a few seconds until she stopped, only to notice a large red stain on my shirt to add on to the yellow one. Scootaloo was coughing up blood. Not only was she poor and hungry, she was close to dying. I didn't want to give her any soda, afraid to make her hyperactive, so I walked into the kitchen and made her a glass of water and carried it back into the living room.
"Here", I said, "Drink this. You keep coughing up blood like that and you'll die". Scootaloo nodded and took the glass, drinking slowly. I could smell the pony urine on my shirt at that point, telling me to take a shower. "Uh, I need to take a shower and change. Be right back. Oh, and you can have some of that pizza there". In a matter of minutes, I took a shower, changed into my robe, and went back into to the living room to rejoin Scootaloo, who had already finished two slices of the leftover pizza. I sat back down next to the little filly and covered my lower body, making sure to share it with Scootaloo.
"So... you like video games?", I asked, getting a little bored.
"Yeah!", Scootaloo happily said. I exited Netflix and turned on my favorite game, Pac-Man Golden Collection, which is the classic Pac-Man games together in one, like Pac-Man and Ms. Pac-Man. Pac-Man is my favorite because it's easy and fun. Anyway, I chose Ms. Pac-Man and explained to Scootaloo how to play.
"All right", I said, "This is Ms. Pac-Man". I pointed to Ms. Pac-Man. "That's yellow thing is you. The object of the game is to eat all the dots on the screen to move on to the next level. Now, the ghosts in the middle are the enemies. If they touch you, you'll lose a life. Lose all of your lives and you'll have to start over. The bigger dots are called 'Power Pellets'. Eating one of those allows you to eat the ghosts. Eating the ghosts and the little fruits in the middle gives you extra points". Scootaloo nodded. "Now, I wanna warn you, each level gets harder as you go up, so be careful". I reached the controller out to the little orange filly, who blushed lightly.
"Umm... you play first", she said, "I wanna... see how to play". I shrugged and completed the "Cherry" level so Scootaloo would know the flow of the game.
"Ready?", I asked, holding the controller out to her. She smiled, grabbed the controller with her teeth, and played the "Strawberry" level, moving onto the floor in front of the TV, leaving behind the comforter. That was good for me because I could stretch out, and that's what I did, watching Scootaloo play and having some more pizza. Scootaloo actually did pretty good. She reached the "Banana" level with four lives and 200,000 points. But before she started the level, she paused the game and looked back at me.
"What's wrong?", I asked.
"I... need to make a tinkle", she said, crossing her tiny hind legs.
"Oh", I said, "Well, bathroom's over there. Do you need any help?"
"No thank you", Scootaloo said, "I can go all by myself". She galloped into the bathroom, closing the door behind her. Hearing her loud sigh of relief and trickling water, she made it.
"Maybe taking care of Scootaloo won't be so bad", I whispered to myself, "She doesn't seem like a troublemaker. Plus, she's potty-trained, and that saves me from having to any manure scooping. She'll be fine". A few seconds later, the toilet flushed and Scootaloo came out, letting out a small sigh.
"Did you go?", I asked. She nodded. "Did you wash your hooves?" She nodded again. "Good. You wanna finish playing?" She nodded again and sat back down on the floor to finish. But, the Banana level was a little difficult for her, as she was down to her last life and several dots were in the maze. She paused the game again and looked back at me.
"This level is too hard", she said, "Can you beat it for me please?" She grabbed the controller and held it out to me.
"Sure", I said. I took the controller and completed the level, finishing the game. Scootaloo smiled.
"Thank you, Mister", she said, hugging me. I smiled and hugged her back.
"No problem", I said, "And just call me Eli". She looked up at me and nodded. Then, she let out the cutest yawn I've ever heard and her eyes began flutter. "Looks like someone's getting sleepy". Scootaloo just buried her face in my robe. "Um... you wanna sleep on the couch, or upstairs with me in my bed?" Scootaloo threw her little front legs around my neck, basically giving me her answer. I got up, turned the TV and Xbox 360 off, carried Scootaloo upstairs, and tucked her and myself in the bed, turning off the lamp next to me.
"Eli?", Scootaloo weakly asked.
"Yes?", I said.
"Can I... snuggle with you?", the sleepy little filly said, "I'm a little scared of the dark".
"Of course you can", I said. I felt the bed shift and soon felt Scootaloo snuggle into my robe, followed by a bit of heat as she sighed loudly.
"Eli", she said, "Thank you so much for letting me live here. I promise I'll be good, I promise".
"It's alright, Scootaloo", I said, "I'm not gonna send you back out there. This is your home now. What's mine is your's". She smiled and buried her face back into my robe. Soon, I heard the sound of soft breathing as Scootaloo had fallen asleep, a small smile on her face. I smiled, draped my right arm around her, and rested my head on top of her's.
"Goodnight, Scootaloo", I mumbled softly as I slowly drifted off to sleep, very eager to spend another day with my new friend.
