Twinkle Wish Adventure II: Odyssey

Thousands of snowflakes were scattered by a swift breeze during the wintry morning, making them fly over an expanse of pine trees and the sparse dwellings of Valley inhabitants before landing in various locations across the meager village of Ponyville. The Sun was not yet risen, and Ponyville was quiet. One pony, though, broke this silence. Cheerilee did not typically wake up before sunrise, but today, she had promised a friend that she would watch the sunrise with her. She yawned as she reluctantly rose out of her slumber, drowsily rubbed her eyes and heard the low howl of a wintry breeze. Cheerilee considered cancelling her morning plan and going back to sleep, but did not want to see her friend frustrated, knowing that she also disliked waking up at this inconvenient hour.

Cheerilee formed her usual pink and violet stripped pigtails by using a device that vertically pulled on her mane before parting it into two and bounding each with string and a vanilla flower. Upon completing this, she fastened a scarf and some slippers upon herself. She embraced her fireplace once more,—she understandably felt a profound affinity towards it, the source of her warmth, the essence of her livelihood, paramount to her wellbeing—and then she was off.

As Cheerilee stepped outside, she stopped, groaning as she felt the chill of the early morning. The breeze caused her to further think about whether it was really such a good idea to decide to spend the pre-down hours of a winter morning outside, in the cold. Cheerilee had agreed this to on a previous occasion, and thought it sounded good in principle, but as she grew more aware of the cold, it felt more like a burden.

After she decided that she would rather think about time spent with her friend, Cheerilee went on her way. She entered the path that connected the pod to the rest of the town, and walked towards the village center.

On her way to the center, she crossed over a small bridge that went over the only body of water that flowed through the town. She walked slowly across it, partially because she wanted to glance at the glistening ice that covered the usually flowing stream, but mostly because the bridge was much more slippery than the rest of the path.

Cheerilee continued to make her way towards the center. Upon completing this, she entered the distribution center, a large hemispherical structure that contained some commodities that were most prudent to the morning’s activity: a couple of blankets. After looking through the compartment that contained such items, it was apparent that she was not the only person that had taken blankets that morning. Cheerilee took some more, though, not making the connection that her friend was probably the one who had acquired blankets. She then recorded her action by stamping her hoof print into a logbook. After securing herself and her materials, she merrily walked on her way.

Her trip took her through the agricultural ‘belt’ of the village, which usually was bustling with crops in the warmer seasons. Cheerilee frolicked through the empty field until she reached the outer limit of the village.

As she reached this, she slowed down, analyzing the trees that lay in between her and the hill that she would be on while watching the sunrise. Though she only had to walk less than half a kilometer, Cheerilee, in her pre-dawn mood, saw the expanse as a wilderness—an odyssey requiring an insurmountable quantity of effort to overcome.

Cheerilee continued her walk into the ‘wild’. As she walked through the white canopy, she took note of the occasional sounds that it contained. Tree branches let snow plop down on the ground. A few animals created a ‘pitter-patter’ as they walked across the snow.

She remained in this mindset for several minutes, until she arrived at a clearing. The density of the trees decreased as the walkway grew larger, before it morphed into the extreme edge of hill. The sudden drop allowed viewers to see all of Ponyville and the distant horizons.

As Cheerilee turned to her left, she saw her friend laying on her side, starring off into the distance. A blanket covered all of her friends’ body, save for her mauve and purple tail. The figure turned around as she became aware of Cheerilee’s arrival.

The pony stared at Cheerilee, making visible her light brown face, warm smile, and beautiful eyes, shining in the moonlight. This was Scootaloo, Cheerilee’s younger sister.

As Cheerilee sat down next to her sister, the two ponies said nothing, only starring off into the abyss of the horizons.

Scootaloo was shivering, even though she was wrapped up in a blanket, and Cheerilee empathetically decided to offer to cuddle with her . She extended her left arm in Scootaloo’s direction as an invitation to come closer. Scootaloo immediately accepted her offer and scooted herself into Cheerilee’s grasp.

The two sisters sat there; Cheerilee wrapped her arms around Scootaloo as she sat in between her legs. Scootaloo quietly cooed as she slowly leaned back against Cheerilee, her head nestled underneath of her chin.

Cheerilee began rubbing circles on Scootaloo's abdomen for several minutes,—also massaging such locations as her sister's neck and back, and caressing her mane.

A moment passed until Cheerilee became bothered by cold of the snow as it crept through the blanket hat she was sitting on.

"I still don't understand," Cheerilee said. "Why do you want to spend half an hour outside, before the sunrise, in one of the coldest parts of the year?"

"I dunno, I just wanted to be away from everything else while we did this. And I didn't realize that it would be so much colder than usual," replied Scootaloo, shivering, despite being wrapped up by her sister.

"When the sun is out, our fur absorbs some of the heat from the sunlight. It might not have seemed important before,"— Cheerilee tightened her grasp on Scootaloo and brought her head closer to her own— "but now the difference is quite apparent."

Cheerilee continued. "Also, why would you want to be away from everything else? There is nothing wrong with wanting to be intimate with somebody."

Scootaloo sighed, and said nothing. She was no longer thinking of the original intent of being outside, but rather of ensuring that nobody else would know about her affinities.

"Just please don't tell anybody," Scootaloo disregarded her sister's assurance.

Cheerilee was about to respond to her sister's oblivion when she noticed an anomaly in the distant horizons. A speck—a bright shard in contrast with the rest of moonlit sky, morphing into a blazing flame that illuminated everything in its reach. The first echelons of sunlight had made themselves known, basking all of The Valley in their glory.

The sisters sat on the cliff edge, watching as the essence of life made its debut for the day.

After a few minutes had passed, Scootaloo suggested, "Okay, I say that we go back to your house and huddle by your fireplace. The pre-dawn cold is a bit much for me."

"Agreed. That sounds lovely right now," Cheerilee raised herself, and the sisters began the walk back to the north side of the village, where their homes were located.

They soon found themselves in Cheerilee's house. Scootaloo was already posted in front of the fireplace, as Cheerilee fetched some warmer blankets. Cheerilee curled up with her younger sister, nestling her in her fur.

"We should just do this next time," Scootaloo whispered.

"Indeed," Cheerilee replied, yawning.

No more speech was exchanged between the two, and not long would pass before they fell back asleep, in each other's arms, guarded by the warmth of the flickering flames.