Critter Snow Day

Chapters

A Dream or a Nightmare?
Something is wrong.
No Consequences
A Perfect Day
Descent into Madness
The Goddess of Time
Life's Offering
Critter Snow Day is here!
Unlimited Chances

A Dream or a Nightmare?

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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!

Alula had barely opened her eyes as her heart began to sting with the leftover feelings from last night. Almost immediately, a fresh batch of tears began to emerge in her eyes. “Why do I have to hear this song again today?” she whimpered, her broken heart hurting. “This horrible day is over, leave me alone!” She pulled the pillow out from under her head and pressed it down on her face hard, almost feeling the desire to suffocate herself with it. Below her, she heard a knock and then the familiar sound of the front door getting opened.

“Oh, good morning, Fluttershy!” the voice of her mother chimed up to her.

“Good Morning!” the timid pegasus mare answered, exuberantly. “I hope you are all ready for fun times today, because it's CRITTER SNOW DAY!”

Alula's ears perked up. She removed the pillow from her face and shot up from the mattress. “Critter Snow Day?! What's going on?!”

“And don't forget to put your snow booties on,” she continued to hear Fluttershy's voice. “It's really cold out here today and we don't want you to get sick!”

Sitting upright in her bed, Alula patted over her body with her forehooves, realizing in confusion that she wasn't wearing anything. She went over the events of the past day in her mind while the conversation below continued. A laugh by her mother broke her concentration just as she had arrived at the moment when she and Train Tracks shared their first kiss.

“Oh, of course I will come, Fluttershy! I wouldn't miss Critter Snow Day for anything in Equestria! I can only join you in the evening, but I will send Alula over. I bet her friends will come, too!”

“Sending me over? My friends?” Alula repeated the words. Slowly, but steady, it dawned on her mind what was happening right now. There was only one explanation for all of this.

“It was all just a dream,” Alula said, her voice sounding more spirited. “I must have been so nervous over my plan that I was dreaming that it all went wrong!” Feeling relief wash over her, Alula let herself fall back on the softness of her pillow. “IT WAS ALL JUST A DREAM!” she shouted euphoric and threw all four hooves into the air. Alula started laughing from joy.

Feeling her bad mood getting washed away and new confidence taking its place, Alula fluttered out of her bed. She landed in front of her desk, where she reached for the corkboard and plucked a photo from it. She looked down at Train Tracks dreamily, then laughed again. “How could I dream something so silly?” she mumbled to herself. “My plan is foolproof, nothing will go wrong! You'll be mine today, Train Tracks!” Alula kissed the photo tenderly, then she pinned it to the board again and skipped into the bathroom.

At the lavatory, as her eyes wandered over her manebrush and her toothbrush, Alula shuddered slightly as the strange feeling that accompanied a déjà vu came over her. She turned on the faucet and splashed some cold water into her face to shake it off, then reached for a towel and wiped her face dry. She did a short glance into the mirror, then nodded at her reflection and dropped the towel into the lavatory.

Feeling ready, Alula stepped out of her bedroom door. Standing at the other side of it, she heard hoofsteps coming up the stairs. As the face of her mother appeared in front of her, she was greeted by a smile.

“Good Morning, Alula! Are you ready for the Critter Snow Festival today?” She was brimming with morning cheer.

Alula flinched, resentment building on her face. “Yeah, yeah, I'm ready.” She rolled her eyes. “But I'll go there only because Train Tracks and Peach Fuzz insist on it.” She marched ahead, past her mother, who was now wearing a frown. As she was halfway down the stairs, an all-too-familiar sound entered her ears and she froze.

“Oh, your alarm clock is ringing, honey. Will you please go back inside and turn it off?” Her mother turned around and looked at her, expectantly.

Alula turned her head around only slightly. “I already turned it off in my dreams, now it's your turn!” She snickered as she continued to descend down on the stairs.

Her mother looked after her with a dumbfounded expression. “I don't know what this means, Alula, but please turn it off. We don't have to listen to this during breakfast.”

The filly groaned over her mother's insistence and turned around fully, stomping back up the stairs and into her room. She hit the button on top of the clock and returned into the corridor.

“There you go,” she said, giving her mother a wide, defiant smile. “Now you can hear your disruptive, way-too-early-in-the-morning carols again, mom!” Without waiting for a response, she marched ahead and down the stairs again. “Close the door, at least, I have important stuff to take care of!” she shouted back up.

The mare looked after her daughter, frowning again. She closed the door of Alula's bedroom with a heavy sigh leaving her lips, then followed her down the stairs.

As Alula entered the kitchen, she stopped in her tracks for a moment. Everything that happened to her was just a dream, that's something she had figured out. But how accurately her dream had predicted everything so far was still unusual and it sent a shiver down Alula's spine. Prophetic dreams were definitely not the most mysterious thing one could encounter in Equestria, but she never would have thought to have such a dream herself.

“If the dream predicted the outcome too.....” Alula began to ponder, but then shook her head. “No, it won't!” she filled her head with a determined thought instead. “It's just a silly dream and my own nervousness! These are all just coincidences!”

Having put this thought behind her, Alula started flying and aimed for one of the cupboards, just as her mother entered the kitchen. “Please close the cupboard again, Alula,” she said, her voice a little strict.

Alula hastily pulled a slice of toast out of one of the bags inside and took a large bite from it before she hovered down to one of the chairs and sat down. She didn't bother to close the cupboard again.

“Alula, what did I just say?” Her mother scolded her.

Demonstratively, Alula shrugged her shoulders and kept eating away at her toast.

Alula's mother used her magic to close the cupboard, another frown building on her face, then she sat down at her daughter's side. She gave her a sad look, then put a hoof around Alula's shoulders.

“Why are you always so grumpy lately, Alula? You didn't used to be like this,” she probed.

Alula huffed, struggling to get free. “I am not grumpy!” she clarified, just a little bit less loud than before. Having freed herself of the grasp, she took flight again, leaving the hoof of her mother hanging. “I just don't have time for all this crap today, I am busy!” she continued while flying towards the fridge.

“Alula!” her mother shouted and turned around in her chair. “How often have I told you not to swear!”

Alula just looked at her mother smugly. “Hey, no rest for the wicked!” she countered, then took a big gulp out of a jug full of milk that she was holding now before she put it back inside. She tilted her body slightly, then smashed the door shut with a powerful kick of her hind hooves.

Paying no further attention to her mother, she flew towards her next destination, the foyer. She reached for her winter jacket but, before her hooves could touch it, her nose tickled and she erupted into a strong sneeze. A bit of mucus trickled out of one of her nostrils and Alula sniffed it back up. She groaned and scrunched her face, suddenly feeling a light headache.

“You're not getting sick, are you?” the voice of her mother entered her ears, then she noticed the sound of her hoofsteps as she came closer.

“I'm okay,” Alula commented on her condition, ignoring the weakness in her voice.

“Turn around at me,” her mother commanded.

The filly followed only begrudgingly and another groan left her as she felt her mom's hoof on her forehead.

“Hmm, no fever,” the mare determined. “How do you feel, Alula? Maybe you should stay at home.” The anger she had felt a moment ago became replaced with motherly concern now.

“I said I am okay.” Some mucus left her nose again as she had finished the sentence, ruining her assertion.

Noticing it, Alula's mother opened a drawer with her magic and pulled out a tissue. She brought it close to Alula's face but, before she could wipe her nose, she felt her hoof getting slapped away.

“I can wipe my nose myself, do you think I'm a baby?!” Alula hissed and yanked the tissue out of her mom's hoof. She landed on the floor and proceeded to clean her nose by herself. The hurt expression in her mother's face was acknowledged by her with nothing more than an angry glare.

As her nose was clean, Alula dropped the tissue and turned back at the rack, aiming for her jacket once more. She didn't have enough time to reach it, though, as her mother hovered a massive full-body anorak with a hood onto her back. “You are going to wear this if you plan on going outside today, young filly,” she spoke in a stiff, cold voice.

Alula turned her head around and took a look at it. “This?! But it's going to take ages to put that on, I finally need to get out!”

Her mother did not reply. Instead, she grabbed her daughter's shoulder and swiftly turned her around, then began to wrap her into the anorak.

Alula groaned and blushed. “For Luna's sake.....” she breathed and rolled her eyes. “Mom? Are you even listening?! I said–”

Her words got muffled by a scarf that was pressed onto her mouth and nose. She felt it getting wrapped around her head, then forcefully tied at her neck. Finally, her mother reached behind her and pulled up the hood, covering her mane and ears. Only as this was done, she let go of her daughter but immediately reached for the boots that were tidily placed under the rack. Before she could grab them and put them on Alula's hooves, however, the filly used her chance and hovered into the air again. She zipped over her mom and landed in front of the door, just as a knock sounded from the other side. Alula hastily grabbed the doorknob and pulled it open. She already wanted to fly outside, as a familiar face appeared in front of her and forced her to slow down.

Framed by the door, Peach Fuzz stood and smiled at her, hoof still in the air. She waved at Alula. “Good Morning, Alula!” she greeted her, voice chirpy as always.

“Morning, but I have no time to talk. A giant hen is chasing me.” The snark in her voice lingered in the air for a moment after she buzzed over Peach Fuzz and away from the house, leaving her friend behind in confusion.

Peach Fuzz presented Alula's mom, who had appeared in the door now, with a quick wave, then she turned on her hooves and hurried after the pegasus filly. “Alula, wait for me!”

Alula's mother looked at the small, flying figure of her daughter in the distance with sadness in her eyes. She wiped some tears out of them, then sighed and closed the door.

“Hey, Alula!” Peach Fuzz shouted at her friend again.

Being a good distance away from her house now, Alula finally turned around and landed, just in time for the other filly to catch up.

Peach Fuzz came to a halt, panting. “Hey, what was that about a giant hen?” The confusion was still plastered all over her face.

Another smirk appeared in Alula's face. “I told you, a giant hen!”

Puzzled, Peach Fuzz stared at Alula, then her face cleared up as the realization slowly kicked in. It turned into a disapproving frown a second later. “Your mom looked really sad, Alula. Why are you mean to her like that?”

“Mean? Pfft.....” Alula gave the air above her a single eye roll. “Hey, I am twelve years old and she wanted to wipe my nose like I'm a toddler! Maybe she will treat me with respect from now on!” She stared into Peach Fuzz' eyes, angrily.

The frown in Peach Fuzz' face got deeper. She glared at Alula intensely, then trotted past her without saying another word. After a few steps, she increased her tempo to a fast gallop. Alula turned around, as well, not paying heed to it how mad she just made her friend as she tried to catch up.

After a few moments of running like that, Alula's eyes caught sight of an orange colt coming out from a backstreet and joining Peach Fuzz' side.

“First Base,” she mumbled under her scarf. She watched the other foals talking, then noticed how glued First Base's eyes were on Peach Fuzz. He barely paid attention to where he was running to. “Sorry, buddy,“ Alula commented on the sight. “You're not going to win Peach Fuzz' heart, it already belongs to another pony. But maybe you can have her once Train Tracks is mine. Then everypony's happy!” For once, there was no trace of sarcasm in her voice.

Alula had almost reached the other two foals, as her right forehoof stepped on a patch of snow and caused her to slip. The sudden loss of balance caught her off-guard. Alula yelped as her body did a 180° turn and she painfully landed on her back. “Why does my dream have to predict even this?” she whimpered.

In front of her, Peach Fuzz noticed and turned around. She scrunched her face and gritted her teeth as she heard the thud of Alula's involuntary contact with the ground. Now concerned for her friend, she stopped her gallop and turned around.

“Alula! Are you okay?” Peach Fuzz stepped up to her and reached out a hoof. “Here, I help you up.”
Alula groaned, then took her friend's hoof. “Thanks,” she said taut while getting up, anger audible in her voice.

“How do you feel? Does anything hurt?” Peach Fuzz placed a hoof on Alula's shoulder.

“Nah, it's fine. It hurts a little, but this body isn't ruined so easily.” Alula casually wiped some dirt of her anorak, then she started running again without prior notice. “Come on, let's finally go and see Train Tracks!” she shouted back over her shoulder, grinning from anticipation.

A warm smile building on Peach Fuzz' face indicated her agreement and she followed Alula eagerly.

Five minutes later, the group of foals, now completed with Train Tracks, stepped on the Ponyville Market. All around them, ponies were bustling and skipping between stalls. Some of them were calm, holding a cup of hot cocoa or cider in their hooves while strolling around and admiring the goods and the festive decorations on the stalls, but many where in a hurry and their faces were strained.

Peach Fuzz and Train Tracks, looking into two opposite directions, scrutinized the marketplace. Only Alula stood there with disinterest, her tired and bored-looking eyes fixated on her friends while she hoped that they were done here fast. Time had slowed to a crawl for her as Train Tracks' voice entered her ears.

“Hmm, there are too many options, I can't decide what we should get for the critters. What about you, Peachy?” He removed his hoof from his eyes and looked at his fillyfriend.

“It's the same on my side,” she responded, her eyes still gliding over the stalls meticulously. She stopped and turned around to face Train Tracks. Wrapping one foreleg around his neck, she pulled him closer. “But no problem, we still have enough time to decide and together we will!” She wrapped her other foreleg around Train Tracks and now gently pulled his face closer. She nuzzled his nose and a bright blush was building on her cheeks. Train Tracks joined into the embrace and while Peach Fuzz was still nuzzling him with compassion, he planted his lips on hers. Their eyes glowing and fixated on each other, they engaged in a long and satisfying kiss.

As they had released their lips after what felt to them like a wonderful eternity, Peach Fuzz looked over her shoulder at Alula, who still stood at her spot and was now slightly frowning, with a cold look in her eyes.

“Alula, let's split up, okay? Me and Train Tracks check out the right side and you can go to the left.” She did not wait for a response before she looked back at Train Tracks. Still wearing the blush, Peach Fuzz giggled, then she removed her hoof form Train Tracks face and pulled him with her with the other one. The colt gladly obliged, showing no resistance.

Alula sighed. “Yeah, whatever.....” She turned away from the two happy lovers and stomped into the other direction, her eyes glaring down at the ground. “It's just a little longer now,” she mumbled into her scarf, reassuring herself. “I just need to keep myself together until the evening. And just in case my dream really was a vision of the future, I will do it a little different this time.” The words having their intended effect, her lips curled up into a smile and her eyes started to radiate a fierce determination.

Her tempo increasing, Alula looked up from the ground and set her eyes on a random stall. She trotted up to it swiftly.

Noticing her, the pink mare with the bright green mane waved at her. “Hello, Alula!” Daisy said, happy to see another customer. “Are you here to buy something for the critters? I'm not sure if we have the right things for them, but feel free to look around!” Behind her, Lily and Roseluck, her two sisters, restocked the shelves of the stall.

Alula ignored the friendly greeting and the words spoken by the mare and glanced briefly over the assortment of goods that lay spread out in front of her. She grabbed an apple off the table and, not caring for it how waxy it felt in her hooves, held it in front of Daisy's face. “This one,” she said, then immediately opened a pocket of her anorak and pulled out a couple of bits, which she dropped on the spot she had just taken the apple from.

“This?” Daisy said and raised an eyebrow. “But that's a wax apple, you can't feed this to critters.”

But as the words were leaving her mouth, Alula had already turned around and was trotting away from the stall. “Yeah, yeah, an apple is fine,” she mumbled in response, absentmindedly, as she left the stall behind her.

It was a couple of minutes later that Alula found herself at the edge of town, not far from Fluttershy's cottage and near the entrance of the Whitetail Woods. Alula trotted over the snowy field swiftly, doing her best to ignore the chit-chat of ponies about the Critter Snow Day and the loud dance music coming from all sides and out of speakers that had been set up all over the place. Her eyes were firmly fixated on a pile of food on a wooden structure, at the far end of the festival grounds and near the entrance to the Whitetail Woods, as a turquoise filly with a light brown mane slowly staggered into her direction. The green ear muffs she was wearing did nothing to hide that she seemed to freeze. She was small in size, barely reaching up to Alula's head, which made it all the more easy for Alula to look through her. Alula's eyes brushed over the tiny figure only for a brief moment, then they were set on her destination again. The young filly stretched out a trembling hoof just as Alula passed her. For a moment, Alula could hear the teeth of the filly clatter from the cold, then she was out of her sight.

A few steps closer to the pile, Alula's concentration got broken by a screechy and exciting shout of her name.

“Alula?!”

Alula flinched. “Okay, now this is getting scary.” She turned towards the sound of the hoofsteps that approached her and her eyes fell on another pegasus filly, with an orange coat and a purple mane. Her wings buzzed in excitement as she dashed closer.

“Alula!” she shouted again. “I knew it's you! Wow, it's been a really long time!” The filly waved friendly.

Alula rolled her eyes, annoyed by the interruption. She turned her gaze away from the filly and focused on her destination again, trotting at a faster pace now.

The other pegasus, though, zipped right in front of her, forcing her to stop. “I can't believe that I meet you here! I always thought you hate the Critter Snow Festival!” She grinned widely.

“I do,” Alula replied, her voice deadpan and her eyes expressing a desire to get away.

“How are you doing?” the orange pegasus nudged Alula, invitingly.

“I did fine until you crossed my path,” Alula responded with a snark. She attempted to get past the eager pegasus, but found her way blocked once more.

“Hey, come on! Don't tell me you don't remember me!” The cheerful expression in the other filly's face did not falter, but her voice contained a portion of accusation now.

“Nope, I don't, bye.” Alula tried to escape again, but once more, it proved impossible.

“Really?!” the orange pegasus said, an incredulous expression on her face. “It's me! Come on, I know it's been a year since we hung out with each other the last time, but that's not enough time to forget a pony!” She nudged her again. “Come on, think! I bet you can still remember my name!”

Taken aback, Alula scrunched her face. “Is it 'Scooter'?” she smirked. The sadistic part of her mind made her eager to see the reaction.

“No.....” The other filly flattened her ears, looking disappointed for a moment. “It's Scootaloo!” she said then.

The yellow filly looked at her, smug.

“Cutie Mark Crusader!” Scootaloo poked Alula. “Scoots, the Cactus! Come on, filly! We've been in the same class!”

As Alula still did not react, Scootaloo lowered her eyes and sighed. She came a step closer and pointed a hoof at Alula. “I won the contest to be the flag carrier for the Equestria Games!” She let her wings buzz.

Alula just blinked.

“I got my flank hoofed to me real bad during the Applewood Derby and almost kicked the bucket!” Her wings buzzed again.

Alula's face became more amused over Scootaloo's attempts.

Scootaloo put her hoof down on Alula's chest. “I tried helping you to get your cutie mark until you told me not to anymore.”

It was only then that Alula decided to stop playing dumb. “Cactus Scoots?” she asked in a baffled tone.

“Uh-huh!” Scootaloo nodded, smiling now.

“Jumped through a ring with her scooter during the Equestria Games Opening Ceremony?”

“Bingo!” Scootaloo grinned.

“The winner of the Applewood Derby?”

“Right on!” Scootaloo lifted her hoof and nudged Alula's chest enthusiastically.

“The Scootaloo who helped foals with getting their cutie marks all over Equestria?!”

“Yes, yes!” She clapped her hooves together. “And now that you remember me again, how about we spend Hearth's Warming Eve together? Apple Bloom celebrates with her extended family on Sweet Apple Acres, Sweetie Belle leaves town with her parents over the holidays and Rainbow Dash spends the evening with her friends in Twilight's castle, so I'm free!” She leaped up into the air and let her wings buzz as hard as she could to keep herself above the ground.

A sardonic smile played around Alula's lips. “It was nice seeing you, Cactus, but use your miniature wings and fly off now, I'm sure there's a pony with a cutie mark problem somewhere!” Finally marshing past the over-enthusiastic pegasus now, Alula did not see anymore how Scootaloo teared up and landed on the ground with a thud as her wings stopped their buzzing instantly.

Having left Scootaloo behind her, Alula reached the pile of food for the critters without any more distractions. She plucked the apple that she had purchased earlier from her back and tossed it carelessly onto the pile. It bounced off of it, fell down and landed on the snow. Alula was about to turn around, as Fluttershy came into her view.

“Good Morning! Welcome to the Critter Snow Festival!” she cheered. Angel was sitting on her back, licking his lips as he saw the pile.

Alula frowned and rolled her eyes, turning away in annoyance and disgust. “Of course I was going to see this stupid, wanky excuse of a pet here,” she whispered. Fluttershy overheard the remark, but Angel picked up the words. He stuck his tongue at Alula and crossed his paws.

Alula growled and gritted her teeth, piercing the bunny with her eyes.

Fluttershy looked at the pile for a moment, admiringly, then noticed Alula's apple on the ground. “Oh, looks like you dropped your apple, Alula. Let me pick it up for you!” She took the apple, which was partially covered in snow now, into her hooves and attemped to put it on the pile. Before she could do so, though, Angel jumped in front of her and landed on the pile. He crossed his paws, forming an X.

“Angel?” Fluttershy asked. “What's wrong?”
Angel took one of the other apples on the pile and pretended to bite into it, then grabbed his chest and let himself fall. He stayed like this for a few seconds, lying on his back and letting his tongue hang out, then got up again and pointed at Alula's apple in Fluttershy's hooves. He shook his head.

During the entire display, a more and more intense glare got built up on Alula's face.

Fluttershy looked down at the apple in her hooves. She wiped off the snow, then saw what it was. “Oh!” she said. “That apple is made of wax, sorry Alula, but animals can't eat this.”

Alula feigned a charming smile. “Oh, that isn't my apple! Mine's in the paws of your monster, I mean, bunny.” For Alula, there really was no reason to drag out this conversation any longer, but a lot of reasons for bringing it behind her as fast as possible.

“Oh.....” Fluttershy let her hoof sink. “Weird, which pony would think it's a good idea to feed a wax apple to the critters?” Her face was puzzled.

Angel slumped his shoulders, then facepawed with a loud smack.

“Anyway, my friends wait, bye Fluttershy!” Alula said quickly. She gave Angel a mischievous grin, then trotted away.

“Finally,” she exhaled in relief. “I really wish I had remembered that part of my dream, meeting this insufferable bunny is a chore. Anyway, on to the important part.” She held a hoof at her eyes and began scanning the area. “So, where is–” The sentence stopped abruptly as she spotted her target in the distance, trotting at Peach Fuzz' side. Eagerly, Alula reared up and kicked her forehooves into the air, then she took flight and zipped towards the duo.

Already from a few meters distance, she could hear the voices of her friends. Unlike before, they now sounded strained and exasperated.

“But it's not good to treat yourself like this, Train Tracks!” Peach Fuzz' voice was clad in worry.

“What do you know?” Train Tracks shouted back at her, perhaps lashing out a bit too much. “I always worked myself through any trouble that way and it went fine!”

Peach Fuzz gasped and looked down, a few tears appearing in the corner of her eyes.

“Hey, what's up?” Alula appeared in front of the bickering foal couple, startling them. “Trouble in paradise?” She teased them with a smug smile and a wiggle of her eyebrows.

“Don't stick your head into this, Alula, we're doing fine!” Train Tracks pushed her aside rudely and stomped away from the two fillies. He stopped a few steps away from them, not turning around.

For a split-second, something glimmered in Alula's eyes. “Ouch,” she commented on the reaction and landed on the ground. “Yeah, there's definitely trouble in paradise.” She turned to face Peach Fuzz. “What's wrong?”
“We just had a little fight,” Peach Fuzz explained, her trademark, cheery tone reduced to a faint whisper.

“Again,” Alula added. “It happened, like, a million times before! You always fight because of the same reason.

Peach Fuzz nodded weakly. “But we're going to be fine. It will calm down.”

“Hopefully,” Alula agreed. She took off again and flew past Train Tracks. “It would be so horrible if you break up after just six months because you find out that you don't fit to each other.”

Train Tracks lifted his head and looked after her.

Despite Alula's impatience from earlier, the rest of the day flew by like a blur for her. Now it was after sundown, the moon stood in the sky and the three foals sat close to the huge fire that had been built in the middle of the festival grounds. Each of them held mugs filled with steaming, hot cocoa in their hooves. Peach Fuzz and Train Tracks were huddled close to each other, with Peach Fuzz' head gently snuggled against the underside of Train Tracks' chin. Occasionally, the filly cooed softly into the warm chest of her coltfriend. Train Tracks was holding her affectionately with one hoof, a warm smile on his lips, but there was a strange kind of uncertainty in his eyes, like the colt's mind was very far away. The expression had been there for the entire day and every time Alula looked at his face, she could see that something was gnawing away at him.

It was now a mere half hour until the highlight of the Critter Snow Festival, the big ceremony led by Fluttershy during which the critters would receive their Hearth's Warming gifts, brought to them by Ponyville's residents, would begin. Peach Fuzz took a sip from her mug and emptied it. A glance into Train Tracks' mug that was close to her face showed her that her coltfriend had nearly emptied his mug, too.

Peach Fuzz stirred at his chest, then sat up. She smiled at him. “I'm getting another cocoa,” she chirped. “Should I bring one for you too, Train Tracks?”

The colt nodded. “Um-hm. I would love this, Peachy.” He nuzzled her cheek, then planted a kiss on it, making her giggle. Then he emptied his cup and Peach Fuzz took it and placed it on her back, alongside her own.

Before leaving for the stall with the refreshments, Peach Fuzz turned at Alula. “Would you like me to bring one for you too, Alula?”
“Sure!” Alula replied. “Wouldn't mind another one.” She took a last, long sip from her mug and gulped down the remaining cocoa. A brown streak remained above her upper lip and the filly wiped it away with her left hoof, then she gave Peach Fuzz her mug.

Now carrying three empty mugs on her back, the filly cantered away in an upbeat fashion, a skip in her movement. As she was out of sight, Alula directed her gaze towards Train Tracks. Instead of looking after his fillyfriend, the colt stared into the flickering flames of the fire in front of him. His eyes had cleared up for a moment when Peach Fuzz talked to him, but now their expression had returned to the same distant one as before. The flames got reflected in Train Tracks' eyes, but the colt appeared like he wasn't seeing them.

Noticing this sign, Alula did not waste any time. She inched closer to Train Tracks and gave him a hug. “Hey, what's up? You're staring like this for hours now, ever since your fight with Peach Fuzz. Does it have anything to do with it?”

Train Tracks exhaled a weary sigh, then he looked over at his friend. “Yeah, yeah it does,” he said.

“What's bothering you, buddy?” Alula draped her left foreleg over Train Tracks' back, comfortingly.

The colt sighed again, then leaned forward, resting his forelegs on his thighs. “I'm not sure about me and Peach Fuzz anymore,” it broke out of him.

“How so?” Alula asked, her voice radiating innocent curiosity.

Train Tracks closed his eyes for a moment before he answered. “The day I and Peachy met, I thought we are so alike each other. When I have trouble with something or feel bad over something, I never let that get me down. I just push through an obstacle until I have overcome it. And Peachy is just the same as me, she also never lets anything get her down and she stays always cheerful and optimistic. We noticed that about each other and that's why we fell in love. But now.....” Train Tracks trailed off, his eyes gazing at the flames again.

“But now you think you are different, after all,” Alula continued the sentence for him.

Train Tracks nodded. “Yeah..... She goes about it so differently, she keeps telling me how being harsh with yourself isn't the right way to overcome obstacles and that it will hurt me to do that. But I'm doing it like this as long as I can think and it always helped me! But Peachy doesn't understand this. Sometimes–” He cut himself off, not daring to speak further.

Alula's face became compassionate. She rubbed over Train Tracks' back. “I understand how that makes you feel. Love is tough.”
“Yeah,” he just said.

“And you might be right,” Alula continued. “Maybe you and Peach Fuzz really don't fit together. You fight way too often.”

Train Tracks gave her a sad look, but nodded. “Sometimes..... Sometimes I think Peachy isn't as strong as I thought she is. She always stays positive, even in hard times. But how she keeps laughing and giggling and acting happy, no matter what bothers her, it's like she is ignoring all problems she has.”

“That's possible,” Alula replied. “To be honest..... I think the same about her.”

Train Tracks' ears perked up and he turned around at Alula, the filly's foreleg sliding off his back. “Really?”

“Yeah.” Alula nodded, then met his gaze. “A problem doesn't go away by laughing about it or by staying cheerful. You need to deal with the problem. And if it's a really big problem, you need to be harsh with yourself and force yourself to deal with it. That's the only way it works.”

Train Tracks' eyes grew bigger. “Yeah! Yeah!” he exclaimed excitedly. “That's what I explain Peach Fuzz all the time! But she never understands and insists on it that being so harsh with yourself isn't good for you and that you need to meet your problems with a smile. She's so ridiculous sometimes!” The words had barely left his mouth, as Train Tracks pressed a hoof on it. “I shouldn't have said that about her.” He looked to the ground, guilt spreading out in his face.

“But you're right, you know,” Alula reassured him. “What you said isn't wrong, you two really are pretty different from each other, if you look at it from that angle.”

“I guess you're right. Her cheery attitude often comes across as weak to me, how she seems to push her problems away instead of pushing through them. And I hate weaknesses.” He eyed the ground again, his eyes looking once more like his mind was far away. Train Tracks stayed like this for a few seconds, until he started talking again.

“Alula..... Do you think I should break up with Peach Fuzz? Should I leave her and try it with a filly that fits better to me?”

“Well..... yeah. I think that would be for the best, for your sake and for Peach Fuzz' sake. You kind of only hurt each other anymore.”

The painful expression in Train Tracks' face became more intense. He sighed, loud and deep. “I knew you would say this..... and you are right, Alula. Peach Fuzz and I really aren't such a good pair as I thought for the past six months.”

The compassion in Alula's face grew. She rubbed over Train Tracks' back again. “I wanted to tell you for a while already that breaking up is probably for the best.”

“I understand, Alula. But if I break up with Peach Fuzz, then I will be alone and lonely again and I don't want to be lonely anymore.” Train Tracks began to draw circles in the snow with one of his hind hooves.

This last sentence from the colt was like a signal. A blush appeared in Alula's face and she hesitated for a moment. But then she gave herself a push, tightened the grip around the colt and pulled him closer. “Maybe I could be your fillyfriend, then you don't have to be lonely!” she spoke the words before they could escape her.

Train Tracks directed his eyes at her and gasped. “Y-You and me? A-Are you sure?” he stammered.

“Yeah! I actually have a crush on you for a while now, Train Tracks. I just didn't say anything because I didn't want to get between you and Peach Fuzz.” She gave him a sheepish smile, then giggled. “That's completely stupid, isn't it?”

“No, that's not stupid at all, Aluna!” he shouted. “Just very surprising.” He remained silent for a few seconds to digest this confession.

The silence made Alula's heart bump stronger from nervousness. The time until Train Tracks spoke again felt like aeons to her.

“Would you be my fillyfriend, Alula?” Train Tracks finally asked, relieving Alula's stress.

“Yes!” Alula said swiftly. “After all the things you just told me, I think we have a lot more in common than you and Peach Fuzz have and I'll be here to cure your loneliness!” She inched closer and snuggled up to him tightly, resting her head on his mane and pulling him into an embrace.

Train Tracks smiled, then chuckled. “So we are together now, I'm glad this happened. It's going to be hard for Peach Fuzz, but she is just going to push that problem away, as always. I'll tell her later.” He closed his eyes and nestled into the chest of his new fillyfriend.

Alula's smile grew wider and her heart started beating in a crescendo, pumping blood through her veins faster than it ever had before. Feeling that she had reached her goal, she let her right hoof glide down Train Tracks' back affectionately. She stopped it on his flank and began to rub over it gently. Train Tracks was holding his breath for a moment, then the surprise wore off and he put his own hoof on Alula's flank, reciprocating the gesture. The reality around them blurring, the colt and the filly caressed each other's flanks. Train Tracks squeezed the flank of his new fillyfriend and brought them a little closer yet again.

As both of them had reached the peak of their intimacy, they got flung back into reality by the sound of Peach Fuzz' voice right in front of them.

“Train Tracks? Alula?” she asked, confused over the scene that happened before her. “Did anything ha–” Her eyes had wandered down their bodies and now rested on Alula's flank. Peach Fuzz' hooves began to tremble and she lost the grip of the mugs she was balancing. With a loud, shattering sound, they hit the ground and broke, their content slowly melting the snow around the shards.

Alula and Train Tracks opened their eyes and looked at their friend, the former's face filled with glee, the latter's filled with a bit of guilt.

“T-Train Tracks?!” Peach Fuzz stammered anxiously. “W-What are you doing?” Tears had started to collect in her eyes already and the sentence had been accompanied by a sob.

The two other foals broke their embrace, sitting down at each other's side. Their hooves were still draped across their backs.

Alula opened her mouth to say something, but Train Tracks was faster.

“Hi, Peach Fuzz,” he said, his voice regretful, but taut. “I am sorry, but..... I think it doesn't work between us anymore.”
The words lingered in the air. Peach Fuzz gulped. “B-But..... We were happy!” Peach Fuzz squeaked. “Train Tracks, please tell me it's not true.” She did a hasty step closer and placed a hoof on Train Tracks' thighs, staring at him intensely while more tears accumulated in her eyes.

Sad, he shook his head. “It didn't work for a while now, Peachy. We're just fighting anymore, that's not how a relationship should be.” He stopped for a moment, thinking about his next words. “I don't think we are really a match, Peachy. It's the best for both of us to break up and try it with another pony.”

Peach Fuzz' face and heart froze at the confirmation. Stiffly, she removed her hoof from Train Tracks' thigh and did a step back. She was staring at Train Tracks, wordlessly, while everything inside her was boiling. Then, without a warning, she turned around and galloped away, leaving a trail of loud and heartbreaking sobs in her wake. Train Tracks followed her with his eyes, until she had skidded to a halt, not far away from the refreshment stall where she had gotten the new cocoa for them. Unable to stay on her hooves any longer, Peach Fuzz sat down on the cold ground, covered her eyes with her hooves and started to weep into them. It reached Train Tracks' ears over the crackling sound of the fire and the voices of the chatting ponies around them. He felt his own heart breaking at the sight and the sounds of Peach Fuzz' crying. Then he looked away, first on the ground, then into Alula's face.

“Did I do the right thing?” he asked the filly at his side.

Alula wrapped her hooves around Train Tracks' neck and turned him around to face her. “Yes,” she answered his pressing question. “Peach Fuzz feels hurt now, yeah, but she will calm down and get over it. And if you would stay together, it would cause her much more pain because of more fighting. It's the best for her to let you go now.”

Train Tracks directed his eyes to the ground, pondering. The gears in his head turned, but then he nodded and he looked back into Alula's face. “You're right, Alula.” To confirm his words, he leaned in on the filly and gave her a passionate kiss.

Alula moaned in bliss and joined in. Their lips locked tight, they kissed each other ferociously. Train Tracks prodded his new fillyfriend's lips with his tongue and requested entrance. Alula gladly obliged and a moment later, their tongues were intertwined with each other and the air around them filled with sounds of both of them moaning. The heat in their bodies increased so much that they expected the ice and snow around them to melt.

It was only for one second that Train Tracks opened his eyes after minutes of lust-filled ardency, but it was enough for him to see that Peach Fuzz had left her spot and was trudging away from it. The expression in her still leaking eyes was as broken as her heart. Sharp feelings of guilt and regret sliced through Train Tracks' heart. They caused a certain instinct to kick in and, with zero hesitation, Train Tracks pulled his tongue out of Alula's mouth. He jumped down from the log and galloped away as fast as his hooves managed. “Peach Fuzz, I'm sorry! Please don't run away!”

Train Tracks was gone before Alula knew what was happening. Panic rising in her chest, she turned and saw Train Tracks running away from her. “Train Tracks!” she called his name, desperately. “What's wrong?”

Train Tracks did not turn around, nor answer. Instead, he approached Peach Fuzz and placed a gentle hoof on her back, requesting her to stop. Peach Fuzz turned around, sharply. Her mouth moved furiously, then Alula witnessed how Peach Fuzz slapped a hoof into Train Tracks' face. The colt's head got yanked to the side. Insecurity in his face, he rubbed over the red spot on his cheek. Then his hooves reached towards Peach Fuzz and he pulled her into a hug, holding her tightly. The filly squirmed and tried to pull out of the embrace. Train Tracks' mouth began to move, unleashing a seemingly neverending torrent of words on Peach Fuzz, while tears ran down his face.

Eventually, Peach Fuzz' squirming weakened, then stopped. Her hooves twitched, then she lifted them and wrapped them around Train Tracks' neck carefully. Painful surprise rushed through Alula's heart as she saw that Peach Fuzz slowly stroke over Train Tracks' mane.

The two foals stayed like this for a moment, then broke their embrace. Frozen tears stained the hairs in Train Tracks' face. There was care and forgiveness suddenly radiating from Peach Fuzz' eyes and she leaned forward and placed a kiss on his nose. Her mouth moved again, calmly this time, then she draped a hoof over his neck again. Before she gently pulled Train Tracks with her, Peach Fuzz pierced Alula with a scornful look. Then both of them vanished from Alula's sight as they sat down at the other side of the fire, where the large, burning pieces of firewood covered them up.

Back at the spot where Train Tracks had left her, Alula broke out in tears on her own now. She felt as if the world were breaking apart around her as the tears streamed down her face and froze into tiny ice crystals that pricked her skin.

“No.....” she whimpered. “How could I fail like this just when I finally got what I wanted?” She sniffed and wiped a hoof over her nose. “Why did it go wrong?”

Unable to stand upright any longer, she sunk down on her haunches and started crying herself. She had been so close to her goal and then lost everything in the moment of victory and all of this came crushing down on her at once now. Covering her face with her hooves, Alula started weeping into them, letting out all her desperation and grief, not caring for who watched her while being at her weakest.

It was after a couple minutes of crying like this, that Alula managed to move again and got up. Setting one tired hoof in front of the other, she trudged through the streets of Ponyville, towards her house. Arrived inside of it, Alula did not even bother to remove her anorak nor to switch on the light. She found her way up the stairs and into her room, where she let herself slump down on her bed. Burying her face in her pillow, Alula continued to weep and cry until she had fallen asleep.

Something is wrong.

Alula stirred and groaned. She rolled on her back and opened her eyes. They became glazed over as she stared up at the ceiling, then got filled with new tears.

“Nice job, Fluttershy.....” Alula muttered, weakly. “You mixed up the date and forgot everything that happened the day before. Critter Snow Day was yesterday.” The tears left her eyes and soaked her cheeks. “I wish I could forget it.....” Alula covered her eyes with her forehooves and started sobbing.

The words that were spoken below Alula barely found their way through the sounds of her pain.

“Oh, good morning, Fluttershy!”

“Good Morning! I hope you are all ready for fun times today, because it's CRITTER SNOW DAY!”

“And don't forget to put your snow booties on! It's really cold out here today and we don't want you to get sick!”

“Oh, goodness! Did I really just say that? I'm normally not using a word like this in front of other ponies, it's only for my animals. But I look forward to the festival tonight so much that it just slipped out of me!”

“Anyway..... Will you come to the Critter Snow Festival today or would you like to give me something for the critters right now?”

In one swift, fluid movement, Alula removed the hooves from her eyes, buzzed her wings, fluttered out of her bed and landed in front of it. “What in Celestia's name?!” she muttered, forgetting that her eyes still leaked their salty produce.

She rubbed over them, then staggered into the bathroom. Alula stood in front of the lavatory only for a second, then she shrugged helplessly, turned around and left her room.

Alula stopped in front her opened bedroom door as the sounds of hoofsteps on the stairs entered her ears. A couple of seconds later, her mother came into her view.

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

Alula cocked her head and raised one eyebrow. “Uh, mom? Didn't we do this yesterday?”

“I don't know what you mean, honey,” the mare answered in slight confusion, but her warm and friendly smile remained.

Alula's eyes narrowed and anger started to build on her face. She stepped closer to her mother, grabbed her face and yanked it towards her until their noses touched.

“After what happened yesterday, you better don't mess with me, you dumb cluck!” Her eyes narrowed more and her voice became a low growl. “What's today?”

“I-It's Critter Snow Day,” her mom whimpered in response. “I-Is anything wrong, Alula?”

“It better is,” Alula huffed and let go of her. She stomped past her and down the stairs. “CLOSE THE STUPID DOOR!” she yelled back up.

Shivering, the startled mother looked after her. Then her heart did a skip and she jumped a little, as the sound of an alarm clock rang loudly into her ears. Still shaking, she went into the room and turned it off. Then she closed the door and silently trotted down the stairs.

As she was in the kitchen, Alula trotted to the other side of it. In front of the cupboards, she took flight, hovered upwards and opened one of them. Sluggishly, she took one of the bags inside and pulled out a slice of toast. As she had closed the bag again, Alula paused for a moment, then she opened it a second time and pulled out another slice, before she finally put it back inside. The cupboard stayed open behind her as she flew away and landed on one of the chairs at the kitchen table.

While she was eating away at her toast, eyes staring emptily at the tabletop, her mother entered the room. She used her magic to close the cupboard, a frown building on her face. She looked at her daughter, the fear in her eyes having become replaced with worry already, then approached the table and sat down at Alula's side. She stared at her for a moment, with an expression in her eyes that only concerned mothers could form, then reached out. Gently, she placed her forehooves on her daughter, turned her around and pulled her into a hug. Resting Alula's head against her chest, she spoke “I am worried, Alula, you sound like something is hurting you. What is wrong?” Her voice shook a little as she said that.

Alula scrunched her face. “Is something wrong?” she asked. It was a honest question, full of confusion. Then she pushed her mom away. “I'm okay, just busy,” she spoke taut and tossed the last bit of toast on the table.

Eyes fixated on the fridge, she flew towards it. Opening it, Alula took out a jug full of milk, hooves slightly shaking, and gulped down a few mouthful before she put it back. She closed the fridge door almost methodically, then turned away from it and aimed for the foyer with slow and lustless flaps.

She reached for her winter jacket but, before her hooves could touch it, her nose tickled and she erupted into a strong sneeze. A bit of mucus trickled out of one of her nostrils and Alula sniffed it back up. She groaned and scrunched her face, suddenly feeling a light headache.

“You're not getting sick, are you?” the voice of her mother entered her ears, then she noticed the sound of her hoofsteps as she came closer.

“It's just a cold..... I think,” Alula commented on her condition, eyes growing wide as she noticed the weakness in her voice.

“Look at me, Alula.” Her mom touched her shoulders and gently turned her around.

Alula stood there without protest as she felt that her mom was hoofing her forehead.

“Hmm, no fever,” the mare determined. “How do you feel, Alula? Maybe you should stay at home.” Her voice had been fully overtaken by motherly concern now.

“No, I-I really need to go!” Alula shouted, the fact that she still had a plan with Train Tracks finally entering her mind now. Some mucus left her nose again as she had finished the sentence, betraying her.

Noticing it, Alula's mother opened a drawer with her magic and pulled out a tissue. She brought it close to Alula's face but, before she could wipe her nose, Alula lifted a hoof and pulled the tissue out of the magical grip.

She landed on the floor and proceeded to clean her nose by herself. The worried expression in her mother's face was not acknowledged by her. As her nose was clean, Alula gave the tissue back to her mom and turned back at the rack, aiming for her jacket once more. She didn't have enough time to reach it, though, as her mother interrupted her.

“Wait, Alula. I don't want to prevent you from having fun today, but if you go outside, you should wear this instead.” She hovered a massive full-body anorak with a hood in front of her daughter.

Alula took a look at it and nodded. “Um-hm,” she quietly voiced her agreement.

Her mother smiled and stroke over Alula's mane. Once more, she touched her daughter's shoulders and turned her around, then started wrapping her into the anorak. Gently and carefully, she placed it on her back, the round hole at its backside loosely dangling around Alula's tail. Her mother moved to her left side and reached for one of the anorak's legs. “Please lift your leg, honey.”
Alula obliged and lifted her right hindleg. Her mother pushed the leg of the warm attire a little closer and the filly stepped into it until her hoof poked out at the other side.

Her mother moved forward, to her right foreleg. Not needing another prompt, Alula lifted it and stepped into this leg part as well. Now halfway done with cladding her daughter's legs with the thick, warm fabric, the mare trotted around Alula and took position to her right. Repeating the procedure two more times, the rest of Alula's legs became covered by the anorak.

Her mother arranged the hole around Alula's tail neatly, then returned to the front. “Please get up on your hindlegs, Alula, so I can zip it shut.”

Alula did as she was told, still unusually quiet, and brought her belly into her mother's view.

Tugging at the belly parts of the anorak, her mom brought the two sides of the zipper closely together. Being done, she reached with her hooves between Alula's hindlegs and back to the hole for her tail. She hooked up the zipper, then held the backside of the anorak in place and moved the zipper upwards between Alula's legs and all the way up her belly until it reached Alula's neck and closed the anorak shut.

Lastly, Alula standing on all fours again now, the mare hovered over a scarf and placed it on Alula's mouth and nose. She wrapped it around her cheeks and knotted it tightly behind her head, then reached for the hood and covered Alula's mane, ears and chin with it to complete her work.

The mare stood still for a moment and checked if everything was in place and sitting tight. As she found it safe enough to keep Alula healthy, she wrapped the boots that were tidily placed under the rack into her magic and hovered them at her side. Lifting a leg again, the first boot got put over Alula's hoof, as a knock sounded from the door.

Alula's mother looked up. “Who is this?” she asked, surprise ringing in her voice.

“It's Peach Fuzz,” Alula muttered under her scarf, a little monotonously.

“How nice of her that she comes to pick you up! Let us not make her wait for too long.” She grabbed the next boot and put it on Alula, then swiftly followed up with the last two while two more knocks came from the door.

“And done!” Alula's mother said. She leaned forward and gave her daughter a kiss on the forehead. “Now go and meet your friend, Alula!” She ignited her horn and pulled the front door open, revealing Peach Fuzz. The earth pony filly already showed slight signs of impatience.

“Good Morning, Alula!” she greeted, voice nonetheless as chirpy as always. Peach Fuzz noticed the slightly disturbed look in Alula's eyes. “Hey, are you okay?” she asked the other filly.

“Don't worry, Peach Fuzz, Alula has just a bit of a cold.” She placed a hoof on Alula's head and smiled reassuringly.

“Oh, that's bad.” Peach Fuzz' eyelids got lowered slightly. “Can she still come to the Critter Snow Festival tonight?”

“I will be there!” Alula said, swiftly, before her mother could raise any more undesired concerns. “Mom's right, it's really just a cold, I will be fine.” Hurrying now, she stepped ahead, out of the door and at Peach Fuzz' side, where she turned around. “Peach Fuzz and I have to go now, see you later, mom!” She gave her mother a quick wave, then she grabbed Peach Fuzz' scarf and pulled her along, a nervous glance in her eyes.

Despite Peach Fuzz' yelping protest, Alula only let go of her as they were a good distance away from her house. Confused and a little startled, Peach Fuzz fixed her scarf. “Are you really okay, Alula? You act weird today.”

Alula gave her friend a sideways glance, then stopped and turned at her. “Where are we going today?” she asked, her eyes pleading for a response that would give her relief.

“To the Whitetail Woods. It's Critter Snow Day, remember?” Peach Fuzz tilted her head and took a closer look at Alula's face.

“And it's still just once a year, isn't it?”

Alula did not receive an answer. Instead, Peach Fuzz planted a hoof on her forehead. She let it stay there for a moment, then moved it to her own.

“Hmm, no fever,” she concluded, eyes looking upwards. She took her hoof down. “What's wrong, Alula?”

For a couple of seconds, Alula just stared before her face took on a somewhat more relaxed, but still concerned, expression. “No, I'm fine. Just didn't sleep much, that's all.” She looked away from Peach Fuzz and into the distance, twisting her mouth as she saw First Base coming out of a side road and galloping into the direction of the marketplace.

Next to a house and a small Hearth's Warming tree, Alula suddenly slipped on a patch of snow and, doing a 180, landed painfully on her back.

Peach Fuzz scrunched her face and gritted her teeth as she heard the thud of Alula's involuntary contact with the ground.

“Are you okay, Alula?” Peach Fuzz stopped and reached out a hoof. “Here, I help you up.”

Alula closed her eyes and breathed in and out, strongly. Only then she took Peach Fuzz' hoof and rose back up, not saying a word.

“How do you feel? Does anything hurt?” Peach Fuzz placed a hoof on Alula's shoulder.

“No, I'm okay,” Alula growled between gritted teeth. She stomped away.

Peach Fuzz gave her a doubting glance, then she lowered her head and followed Alula.

“Hello, Alula!” Daisy said, happy to see another customer. “Are you here to buy something for the critters? I'm not sure if we have the right things for them, but feel free to look around!”

Right in front of her, Alula stared back with a morose, tired and unmotivated face. Mechanically, she reached for an apple on the stall. “I take this, thank you.” She put it on her back, then turned around and staggered away.

“Hey, you forgot to pay!” Daisy reminded her.

“It's okay, the bits are on the table, yeah, yeah,” Alula drawled, her absent mind betraying her memory.

“Hey, you can't just leave without paying us!” Daisy now yelled after her, flailing her hooves. “Hey! HEY!”

It was a couple of minutes later that Alula found herself at the edge of town, not far from Fluttershy's cottage and near the entrance of the Whitetail Woods. Alula trotted over the snowy field only slowly, the chit-chat of ponies about the Critter Snow Day drifting past her like distant background noise. Even the loud dance music that came from all sides and out of speakers that had been set up all over the place barely reached her confused mind.

As the pile of food on the wooden structure came into her view, she noticed a movement in front of her. A turquoise filly with a light brown mane was slowly staggering into her direction. The green ear muffs she was wearing did nothing to hide that she seemed to freeze. She was small in size, barely reaching up to her head, but Alula's eyes had caught sight of her regardless. Alula sniffed back loudly as she passed the tiny figure, ignoring the trembling hoof that the young filly stretched out at her. For a moment, she could hear the teeth of the filly clatter from the cold, then she was out of her sight.

A few steps closer to the pile, Alula got thrown out of her paralysis by a screechy and exciting shout of her name.

“Alula?!

Startled, she looked to the right, into the direction of the hoofsteps that were approaching her. Her eyes fell on another pegasus filly, with an orange coat and a purple mane. Her wings buzzed in excitement as she dashed closer.

“Alula!” she shouted again. “I knew it's you! Wow, it's been a really long time!” The filly waved friendly.

Alula turned her gaze away from the filly and looked to the left, desire to flee in her eyes.

“Don't tell me you don't remember me!” The cheerful expression in the other filly's face did not falter, but her voice contained a portion of accusation now.

“Scootaloo?” she asked, with emphasized disbelief.

“Bingo!” Scootaloo buzzed her wings. “Right at the first shot!” she cheered.

Alula turned and tried to get away, but Scootaloo followed her persistently and draped a hoof over her back.

“How are you doing, Alula?” She squeezed her old's friends shoulder.

Alula winced. “I'm not feeling well, please leave me alone,” she whined.

“Really? It's kind of funny you say that, because I'm not feeling well either. Guess what, it's going to be a really weird Hearth's Warming Eve for me.”

“You are free on Hearth's Warming Eve, because Apple Bloom celebrates with her extended family on Sweet Apple Acres, Sweetie Belle leaves town with her parents over the holidays and Rainbow Dash spends the evening with her friends in Twilight's castle?”

Scootaloo laughed dryly and removed her hoof from Alula. “Bingo again. You're really sharp today!” She stopped, touched Alula's left shoulder and turned her around. “Do you have anypony to spend Hearth's Warming Eve with, Alula? If you do, maybe you could use one pony more?” She punched her chest playfully, making Alula flinch in surprise. “I mean, who doesn't want to have as many ponies as possible around them on Hearth's Warming Eve?”

Alula looked to the left once more, still wearing the same, upset expression in her eyes.

Scootaloo came a step closer and put a hoof on Alula's chest, grinning wildly. “You wanna know something? I have a feeling you don't have many ponies to celebrate with, am I right?”

A weird, uncomfortable expression crept on Alula's features. “I gotta go!” it shot out of her mouth and she dashed away.

“Alula?” Scootaloo shouted after her, ears lowering instantly and some tears emerging in her eyes.

Alula ignored the pleading behind her and rushed up to the pile of food. She grabbed the wax apple on her back and tossed it onto the pile, then turned away rapidly and dashed into the other direction. Only from the corner of her eyes, she could see Fluttershy and Angel approaching the food pile. Relief washed over her as she spotted Train Tracks and Peach Fuzz coming into her direction. She could hear them bickering and fighting, but did not have any attention for this.

Immediately upon arrival, she grabbed Peach Fuzz and pulled her aside. “Hey, what gives?” the earth pony filly squeaked.

“Peach Fuzz.....” Alula took a deep breath. “I need you to give me a slap in the face, a strong one!”

A certain concern returned into Peach Fuzz' face and she raised an eyebrow. “Why do you want me to do this, Alula? You are really not yourself today.” She reached for Alula's forehead again, but got her hoof slapped away.

“Because I have a problem and it's a big one!” Alula's voice shook from fear and her lips trembled.

“Hey, how about I give you one?” Train Tracks offered. “I am right here for you.” His voice was ripe with sarcasm.

Peach Fuzz gave him a stern glare, then turned back at Alula. “Ignore him, he's just grumpy because we had little a fight.”

Alula's hoof shot forward. “I knew you would say this!” She let her hoof sink again and crouched a little. “I feel so weird today.”

Peach Fuzz did a short glance at Train Tracks. “Can this wait a little? Train Tracks and I have something to talk about, too.”

A weary expression spread out on Alula's face, but she nodded. “But please don't take too much time,” she pleaded.

Unfortunately for Alula, a lot of time passed. Now it was after sundown, the moon stood in the sky and the three foals sat close to the huge fire that had been built in the middle of the festival grounds. Each of them held mugs filled with steaming, hot cocoa in their hooves. Alula's mug shook slightly, a few drops of cocoa landing on two of her boots that stood in front of her.

Peach Fuzz and Train Tracks were huddled close to each other, with Peach Fuzz' head gently snuggled against the underside of Train Tracks' chin. Occasionally, the filly cooed softly into the warm chest of her coltfriend. Train Tracks was holding her affectionately with one hoof, a warm smile on his lips. Unlike during the afternoon, his face expressed pure contentment and happiness. It was the result of a long talk between him and Peach Fuzz, during which the two foals addressed a lot of things neither of them dared to talk about before. It made their relationship more intimate and brought them even closer together, Train Tracks could feel this in the air around them. He squeezed his fillyfriend tighter and kissed her head affectionately.

Alula's condition was the opposite. The talk between Peach Fuzz and Train Tracks had been long and once it was finally over, Peach Fuzz had put her off until tomorrow. She wants to enjoy her time with Train Tracks now, she had explained. It was now a mere half hour until the highlight of the Critter Snow Festival, the big ceremony led by Fluttershy during which the critters would receive their Hearth's Warming gifts, brought to them by Ponyville's residents, would begin. Her ambitious plan was still rushing through her head, but her agitation made it almost impossible for Alula to focus on its execution.

Peach Fuzz took a sip from her mug and emptied it. A glance into Train Tracks' mug that was close to her face showed her that her coltfriend had nearly emptied his mug, too.

Peach Fuzz stirred at his chest, then sat up. She smiled at him. “I'm getting another cocoa,” she chirped. “Should I bring one for you too, Train Tracks?”

Before leaving for the stall with the refreshments, Peach Fuzz turned at Alula. “Would you like me to bring one for–” She stopped, noticing that Alula's mug was still almost full. “Oh, nevermind, I didn't notice you still have so much.” Carrying two empty mugs on her back, the filly cantered away in an upbeat fashion, a skip in her movement.

Alula did not look after her. She stared into the fire, hooves still shaking. A minute passed, then another one, then she finally gathered her courage and took a deep breath. She gulped down her, by now cold, cocoa, wiped off the brown stain that remained on her lips and turned around at Train Tracks.

“Train Tracks?” she beckoned for his attention.

The colt looked at her. “Yeah?” he asked, still the warm smile on his love-dazed face.

For a moment, Alula hesitated as she realized that she had no idea what to say anymore. But she needed to say something, she needed to try at least, so she gathered more courage and spoke up.

“I was thinking about your fight earlier and I think that you and Peach Fuzz don't really fit together, so, how about we try it and you become my coltfriend, Train Tracks?” it all blurted out of her. Alula draped her left foreleg over Train Tracks' back and dragged him closer to her. A split-second later, Alula breathed out sharply. She closed her eyes and planted her free hoof in her face.

Train Tracks gasped and his face grew dark. He jerked his back, causing Alula's hoof to retreat from it, and faced the filly. “How can you even suggest something so stupid?” he lashed. “Peachy and me are happy, don't ever try to get between us, Alula!” He brought a hoof down on her chest with strong force.

Alula watched him get up and trot away with thrusting hoofsteps, aiming for Peach Fuzz at the refreshments stall. She averted her gaze before he could reach her and sighed. “Figures,” she said and threw her empty mug into the crackling fire. The ceramic cracked under the heat of the flames and the mug burst.

With nothing left to do anymore and her plan once more failed, Alula put the boots back on her forehooves and trotted home. Her mind was racing with explanations, theories and speculations, but nothing it came up with could clear her confusion. The thoughts made her head feel cloudy, so she stopped tormenting herself with trying to make sense of her weird situation the moment she stepped into her house.

Alula closed the door behind her. She slipped out of her boots and removed the anorak and scarf from her sweaty body. She pushed all of the clothing into a corner, then trudged up the stairs, into her room and smashed the door shut.

Feeling a weird coldness creeping up inside of her, Alula let her eyes wander over the room, with a shocked expression coming from them like the air itself had changed. Their journey ended at the photo of Train Tracks that was pinned to her corkboard. Staring at it grimly, Alula trotted to her desk and plucked it down. She patted the photo, then turned around on her hooves, approached her bed and climbed into it.

Legs covered by her blanket, Alula leaned to the left and put the photo down on the nightstand, right in front of her alarm clock. She placed her head on the pillow and pulled the blanket over her upper body, all while she kept staring at the photo. She did not leave it out of her sight until her tired eyes forced her to it and she fell asleep.

No Consequences

The first verse of Fluttershy's singing had barely reached Alula's eardrums, as her eyes shot open. Filled to the brim with energy and excitement, the filly threw off her blanket, climbed out of bed and was in front of Train Tracks' picture in an instant.

She leaned over her desk and placed her forehooves left and right of the picture. “You'll be mine..... sooner or later.” She snickered and gave the picture an amused grin.

Downstairs, Alula was sitting at the table and smeared a thick amount of butter on two warm pieces of toast. Her mother was sitting opposite of her, drinking coffee and smiling at her.

“You must have slept really well tonight, Alula,” she deducted with satisfaction. “I haven't seen you being so happy in the morning for a long time now.” She sipped at her coffee.

“And I'll maybe take another piece of toast after these,” Alula replied, chewing. Then a thought entered her head and she looked at her mother, curiously.

“I'm surprised the door wasn't locked when I woke up today. Am I not grounded anymore?”

“Grounded?” Alula's mother put her mug down in surprise. “No, Alula, I didn't ground you. Why would I?” She blinked, then her eyes became a little narrower. “Alula..... Have you done anything?”

“Looks like I didn't!” Alula replied, with a cheerful swing in her voice. She stuffed the last bit of toast into her mouth, suddenly seeming to be in a hurry, and fluttered over to her mother. She gave her a tight hug, then kissed her cheek. “I'm just happy that it's a new day full of opportunities!”

“Alula.....” the mare replied, the surprised tone from earlier having become increased tenfold now. “You really are different this morning, that's the daughter I raised!” she praised Alula, then gave her a kiss on the cheek in return. Alula scrunched her face without her mother noticing it.

A second later, it knocked on the front door.

“That's Peach Fuzz, I gotta go!” Alula left the table and flew out of the kitchen and into the foyer.

Her mother followed her. “Don't forget about your sneeze from earlier, Alula. I don't want you to get sick, so please wear this.” She hovered the full-body anorak in front of Alula's face, blocking her before she could reach the door.

“Alright, alright,” she said, sighing.

Swiftly, she put on the anorak by herself this time, then slipped into her boots after she had zipped it shut. Pulling the hood over her head, she turned around at her mother one last time before leaving. “Cook enough for dinner tonight, I'll maybe bring a guest for it!” Then she opened the door.

Peach Fuzz, looking severely impatient and already having raised one of her forehooves for another knock, greeted her. “Hey, Alula, good morning! What took you so long with opening the door?”

“Eh, it's nothing important.” Alula waved a hoof, dismissively. “Come, let's rush out! Train Tracks is waiting for me!” She flapped her wings and zipped over Peach Fuzz' head and away.

The other filly cocked her head over the weird response, but then she shrugged it off and followed her without asking questions.

On the marketplace, Alula approached the stall of the flower sisters with a smirk on her lips. Seeing how Daisy opened her mouth for a greeting, Alula decided to beat her to the punch.

“Hello, Alula!” she said swiftly.

Daisy's eyes shifted. “Uh..... Are you–”

“Are you here to buy something for the critters? I'm not sure if we have the right things for them, but feel free to look around!” The grin on Alula's face indicated her enjoyment as she looked down on the table and directed her eyes towards the all-too-familiar wax apple.

She grabbed it and held it in front of Daisy's face. “I'll take this one!” she announced. Alula opened a pocket of her anorak and pulled out a couple of bits, which she dropped on the spot she had just taken the apple from.

In front of her, Daisy raised an eyebrow and started moving her lips. It was Alula's cue. “This?” she asked with feigned confusion and raised an eyebrow herself. “But that's a wax apple, you can't feed this to critters.” The smugness of the grin on her face increased.

Alula left Daisy to this impression for a few seconds, then she turned around and trotted away from the stall.

Roseluck and Lily joined Daisy's side, all three of the sisters looking after Alula. “She has been sassy before, but maybe she is starting to get crazy now,” Roseluck said.

The trio nodded.

A couple minutes later, Alula entered the grounds of the Critter Snow Festival. She trotted across them and into the direction of the pile of food at the far end as, just like she expected, the turquoise filly with the light-brown mane slowly staggered into her direction.

Alula looked straight at the filly, who met her with pleading eyes. “See you tomorrow, filly!” Alula said casually as she trotted past her.

Immediately afterwards, Alula looked to the right like on command. “Alula?!” the screeching call of her name sounded into her ears. She stopped and turned into the direction, awaiting Scootaloo with a smile.

“Alula!” Scootaloo shouted again as she had arrived in front of her. “I knew it's you! Wow, it's been a really long time!” The filly waved friendly.

“Scoots?” Alula said with a feigned tone of surprise in her voice. Then she turned around at the spot and kicked her hindhooves with full force into Scootaloo's face, knocking her out cold. Instant satisfaction appearing on her face, Alula continued her way towards the pile.

Arrived in front of it, she plucked the wax apple from her back and put in on the table, as another expectation of hers was met. Wearing an unsure, nervous expression on her face, Fluttershy crept up to her.

“Uhm, d-did you just buck Scootaloo in the face?” she asked, voice low.

Alula gave her an incredulous look. She turned into the direction she had come from and looked at Scootaloo, who laid on her belly with closed eyes and her forelegs stretched out in front of her. A small amount of blood was trickling out of her nostrils.

With a reassuring smile, Alula turned to face Fluttershy again. “Oh, don't worry about her, Fluttershy. She's really into this.”

“Oh..... Uhm, okay, I-I guess that's fine, then,” Fluttershy stuttered, too disconcerted to think of a better response. On her back, Angel facepawed, then the little bunny repeatedly stomped with his left paw on Fluttershy's back.

“Oh! I mean..... Alula, what you did there really wasn't–” Fluttershy began a new sentence but, before she could finish it, Alula zipped at her side and pulled Angel off her back.

Holding Angel at his tail, she looked at him, grim and aggressively. “You know what I should do with an annoying, insufferable and horrible bunny like you? Shove you into a meat grinder and feed your remains to the tiger in Fluttershy's animal sanctuary!”

Angel's eyes grew wide and his mouth gaped open. Then he sniffed, teared up and started crying loudly, covering his eyes with his forepaws.

Alula did not react, other than forming another satisfied smile with her lips. She dropped the crying bunny in front of a very shocked Fluttershy and went her way.

After sundown, Alula licked her lips as she stared down on a tray filled with several slices of different pies and cakes, various biscuits and muffins and other pastries. She reached forward with a hoof, plucked a piece of apple from the thick, white cream on top of one of the pastries and bit into it, pleasurably. Her other hoof held a mug with cocoa. A marshmallow so large that it looked like it could absorb the entire content of the mug floated on top of it.

At her side, Peach Fuzz and Train Tracks stared at Alula, both wearing a grossed out expression. Both of them were content with a mug of cocoa each and a much smaller marshmallow in it. Alula looked at them, then pulled an apple-cinnamon stick from one of the tiny plates on the tray and offered it to them. Not saying a word, the other two foals slowly shook their heads. Alula put the stick down again, unphased by the rejection. She licked some cream off her hoof.

“I like seeing you enjoy yourself so much, Alula. My mom wouldn't allow that I stuff myself like that,” Peach Fuzz said. Despite the implied jealousy, there was a slight amount of sarcasm in her statement.

“How could you pay for all of this anyway?” Train Tracks threw in a question. “Your pocket money isn't that much.”

“My pocket money is more than you think. At least, right now.” Alula smirked victoriously. “I just told mom that I really want to try all the great food here at the Critter Snow Festival and asked her if I can get all my pocket money for the next six months in advance. She said yes.” Alula grabbed one of the apple-cinnamon sticks herself now and bit off a piece of it, then threw the rest into her mouth. She washed it down with a big gulp from her mug.

“But.... don't you worry about anything? My mom always talks about cholesterol, diabetes and love handles.” Peach Fuzz wrinkled her forehead.

“Pfft.” Alula waved a hoof to dismiss the question. “I don't worry about anything anymore!”

“Come on, that's impossible!” Peach Fuzz gave her friend a soft knock against the shoulder. “Everypony worries about something!”

Alula shrugged. “Not me, I'm special!” she said, reaching out of a slice of strawberry cake. “I'm so special, I don't even have to floss!” The words having left her lips, she inserted the slice into her mouth and shoved it around and pressed down on it, until it had disappeared in her mouth as a whole and filled out all of the space between her cheeks. A bit of pink cream stayed behind in the corner of her lips.

“Ugh.” Train Tracks averted his eyes, forcing back a retch.

“What?” Alula asked with full mouth.

Her two friends just rolled their eyes in response, while her tongue and teeth wrestled with the cake slice in her mouth, until she had succeeded in forcing it down her throat.

The attention of her friends focused on their cocoa again, Alula turned over at Train Tracks. “Hey, Tracks!” she said. “I always wondered, what type of trains do you like most: Steam-powered trains or magic-powered trains?”

A fire appeared in Train Tracks' eyes as he heard that Alula had started to talk about his favourite subject. “Steam-powered trains!” he shouted in fascination. “Magic is great, but magic is also everywhere, while steam-powered trains get used less and less. And that's a shame, it has so much more style to ride a train and hear the hissing when the water evaporates than riding a train and hearing nothing because magic is so quiet. And most steam trains look a lot more epic, too!”

“Hmm, okay.” Alula nodded. “Steam-powered trains, more style, look a lot more epic. Got it, thanks!” Then she reached out with both hooves and pulled Train Tracks close at her, not caring about that the tray was gliding off her lap and falling to the floor, and started to kiss his lips ferociously.

“HEY!” Peach Fuzz' shouted at her angrily. “Hey, Alula, what are you doing, you know that Train Tracks is my coltfriend!”

Alula ignored her. Keeping Train Tracks, who tried to pull away, in a tight grip, she stuck her tongue into his mouth and enjoyed the moment without guilt.

~ * ~

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!

Alula rose in her bed even faster than the last time. With a rather unnatural eagerness and driven by zeal, she hurried into the bathroom, took a shower and brushed her teeth. Time was rushing past her and before she knew it, she was with Peach Fuzz and Train Tracks at the marketplace.

Peach Fuzz and Train Tracks, looking into two opposite directions, scrutinized the marketplace. “Hmm, there are too many options, I can't decide what we should get for the critters. What about you, Peachy?” He removed his hoof from his eyes and looked at his fillyfriend.

“Alula, let's split up, okay? Me and Train Tracks check out the right side and you can go to the left.” She did not wait for a response before she looked back at Train Tracks. Still wearing the blush, Peach Fuzz giggled, then she removed her hoof form Train Tracks face and pulled him with her the other one. The colt gladly obliged, showing no resistance.

“Actually,” Alula responsed. “I think it's best if I go with Train Tracks to the right side of the market and you check out the left side alone.”

Peach Fuzz stopped pulling her coltfriend and turned around at her friend. A frown built on her forehead and she pouted. “Why?” she simply asked, not attempting to hide the disappointment in her voice.

“Because we can't spend the entire day searching for critter gifts and you know that it will take that long if you and Train Tracks are together,” Alula explained. Her voice was full of the necessary conviction.

Train Tracks blushed and so did Peach Fuzz.

“Okay, I guess that's right.....” Peach Fuzz hesitantly admitted. “Fine, let's do it your way, Alula.”

“Great!” Alula clapped her hooves together, grinning. “Besides, you're going to have Train Tracks to yourself for the entire day once we're at the Critter Snow Festival!” she added as she noticed Peach Fuzz' weary sigh.

Peach Fuzz nodded. “Yeah,” she said taut. She gave Train Tracks a long kiss on the mouth, with longing eyes. “I see you soon!” she breathed into his face after she had released the kiss.

Train Tracks gave her a kiss in return, not any less long, then the filly and the colt separated and Train Tracks joined Alula. Trotting at each other's side, they went past a still frowning Peach Fuzz.

Unbeknownst to Train Tracks, Alula guided him through the marketplace and into a certain direction. They trotted at each other's side quietly, Train Tracks letting his eyes glide over the different stalls, until Alula spotted the destination she had planned for them: A stall full of neatly arranged, polished miniature train models.

“Hey, look what we have over there!” Alula pointed ahead, directing Train Tracks' attention at the stall.

He followed her outstretched hoof and his eyes became wide. “Trains!” he shouted. “And so many of them. He left Alula's side and raced in front of the stall, where his eyes got glued at the train models. Alula followed him, grinning.

“Wow, that's amazing!” she said as she joined his side at the stall.

“Right!? I can't believe this, they have everything here, from the Canterlot Express to the old Ponyville steam trains!” He breathed harder and at a fast pace as his eyes darted over the collection.

“Even those?” Alula came a step closer and leaned over the trains. “Wow! I love steam-powered trains so much more than the trains of today! I mean, magic is great, but magic is everywhere, while steam-powered trains get used less and less. That's a shame, it has so much more style to ride a train and hear the hissing when the water evaporates than riding a train and hearing nothing because magic is so quiet. And most steam trains look a lot more epic, too!” The carefully memorized words left Alula's mouth in a steady torrent.

Train Tracks opened his mouth and gasped. “Y-You know so much about trains, Alula?” he stammered, staring at her.

“Yup!” Alula confirmed. “My grandfather was a train engineer here in Ponyville and he told me all he knew about trains!”

“Wow, that's incredible, I never would have guessed that about you!” Train Tracks turned around in a frenzy. “Hey, Alula, can you visit me at home so we can talk about trains one day? There aren't many ponies my age who care for trains and it would be great to have somepony to talk about them!” His eyes glistened at the opportunity.

“Of course!” Alula agreed. “We can go right now! The day is still young, there's plenty of time to meet up with Peach Fuzz at the Critter Snow Festival later!”

“Uh-huh! Uh-huh!” Train Tracks bobbed up and down. Alula followed him without hesitation as he led her to his house.

As Alula and Train Tracks were lying on top of each other in front of the chimney in the living room of Train Tracks' house, the day wasn't young anymore. The moon shone in through a window behind the couch. Together with the crackling fire, it lit up the otherwise dark room. Train Tracks' parents were at the Critter Snow Festival and the house around them was quiet.

“Hmm.....” a sigh of pleasure left Alula's mouth as Train Tracks placed a line of kisses down her neck. She enjoyed it for a moment, then grabbed the colt and turned him around, sitting down on top of him. She lunged forward and pressed her lips on his, caressing them softly with her own.

It was Train Tracks' turn to sigh in pleasure. “Hmm, Peachy,” he breathed into Alula's eager lips.

Alula frowned, but kept her composure. “Alula,” she corrected him.

“Right,” Train Tracks commented on his slip-up briefly, then the ferocious kissing continued.

Alula parted lips with him and redirected her kisses onto his neck, like he had done it before. She moved further down and began planting kisses all over his chest.

“Oooooh,” the colt moaned. “P-Peachy. Oh, Peachy!”

Alula stopped kissing and sat up.

“What's wrong?” Train Tracks asked, his mind cloudy from making out. He grabbed her flank and pulled her closer.

Alula did not respond and just glared at him.

~ * ~

Unsuspecting and innocent, like a pony who waited for a friend, Alula sat on one of the benches at the Ponyville train station and stared at the empty platform in front of her. She looked to the right. “Airflow coming in,” Alula spoke slowly. The scarf around her neck became moved by a sudden wind.

Her head wandered to the left. “A cock on Sweet Apple Acres mistakes the time of day.” A second later, a faint crow could be heard.

“Cue the train.” The train that had created the airflow rode into the station and came to a stop.

“All Aboard leaves the train.” The door of the train car opened and the conductor stepped out.

Alula looked to the engine. “Steamer leaves the train.” The door of the engine got opened and the train driver stepped onto the platform. “Yeah, take off your hat and wipe the sweat out of your mane, very good, buddy.” He did as Alula predicted.

She looked at one of the train's exits. “Alright, Princess Cadance, come out.” Princess Cadance set hoof on the platform, her husband and daughter in tow. “Yeah, fix your scarf, princess, you're doing great.”

Alula looked over at Steamer, who trotted over to Princess Cadance, smiling.

“Princess Cadance, welcome to the Crystal Empire!” She lipsynced his words.

“Oh, hello. How is your name?”

“Steamer, princess.”

“Good Morning, Steamer. Is there anything I can help you with?”

“Well, uh..... I just wanted to ask..... Can I have your autograph, princess?”

“Of course, Steamer. We are on the way to visit Princess Twilight, but this won't take long. Shining, please take Flurry for a moment.”

“Oh, thank you so much, princess!”

Alula got up from her seat and began trotting towards the train's engine as Princess Cadance started to sign the picture of her.

“Ten, nine–”

“Steamer bows to the princess and turns around.”

“Seven, six–”

“Flurry Heart teleports into his face.”

“Four.”

“He screams as Flurry Heart grips his eyeballs and turns back at Princess Cadance in pain.”

“Three, two, one.”

As cool as a cucumber, Alula climbed into the engine car, unbothered by anypony. She closed the door, locked it and started the engine.

“And the train leaves the station.”

~ * ~

“You are together for only six months now, it would be horrible if you find out that you don't fit together as well as you thought,” Alula launched, once again, this tactical sentence on Peach Fuzz and Train Tracks.

Peach Fuzz gasped, eyes widened in fear, then she crouched slightly and trotted away. Train Tracks stayed behind and looked at Alula. The pegasus filly used the chance and flew over to him.

“Hey, Tracks, what would you do if Peach Fuzz would leave you tomorrow?”

Train Tracks narrowed his eyes for a moment, but then he let his head hang and sighed. “That could easily happen,” he admitted. “We fight more and more lately.”

He trotted away, too, in the opposite direction, and Alula followed him. “So, what would you do?” she probed.

His head shot up. “Why are you asking me this, Alula?”

“I'm just caring for you!” she clarified. “You know, because I'm your friend.”

Train Tracks face became softer. “And you really mean this?” he asked.

“Yeah! I want to know how you think about it and how you feel. So I can help you to feel better.” She gave him a caring, compassionate look while she kept pace with him. “Isn't that what friends do?”

“Yeah.” He looked back down on the ground.

“Let us order some shakes and talk. I'll pay!” Alula gave him a friendly punch against the chest. “And a muffin!” she added as Train Tracks didn't react.

Train Tracks sighed. “Fine,” he said.

Inside Sugarcube Corner, Alula and Train Tracks sat at a free table. A milkshake stood in front of each of them and a plate with a muffin in front of Train Tracks. The colt sat there sunken in thoughts, his eyes fixated on the spot in front of his shake. Alula took a sip of hers, then she directed her eyes at Train Tracks.

“So, what do you want from fillies anyway?” she came to the point.

“Just the usual.....” he sighed deeply. “You know, cuteness, intelligence, a filly who likes to talk.”

“And Peach Fuzz isn't like this?” Alula asked.

“Yeah, she is. Sure she is. It's one of the reasons why I fell in love with her.” He closed his eyes and another sigh left his throat. “How about you? What do you want from a colt?” he asked after a few moments of silence.

Alula smiled at him, dreamily. “What I really want is a colt like you.” She leaned forward and rested her head on her forehooves, staring at him.

He stiffled a laugh. “Oh, come on..... That's not true.”

“Why not?” She gave him another smile. “If Peach Fuzz weren't here, who would you look for? How's your perfect filly?” Alula started probing again.

It caused something in Train Tracks and he leaned closer. “Okay,” he said. Slight annoyance that was mixed in with sudden courage gave his voice a new tone. “The first thing is, my perfect filly never sees herself as perfect. She always pushes herself to become better.”

“Just like me!” Alula said, eagerly.

“She is intelligent, supportive and funny.”

Alula's smile grew wider. “That's me, me and me!”

“She's refined and brave.”

“That's also me!”

“She has a cute and athletic body.” Train Tracks blushed a little at these words. “But she is not like one of those fillies who look in the mirror all the time.”

“I never look into a mirror and I have the cutest body of all fillies in Ponyville!” Demonstratively, Alula pulled down the zipper of her anorak, slipped with her forelegs out of it and pulled it down to her waist. It increased Train Tracks' blush.

“She's kind, talkative and caring,” he continued. “She is not afraid to face her problems.”

“This does sound more and more like me, isn't it?” Alula lifted her flank and inched a little closer to Train Tracks.

Train Tracks didn't notice the subtle approach and continued. “She likes animals and art and she always does her best to help others.”

“I will help you with whatever you want,” Alula said tenderly. She came another bit closer.

“And she loves listening to music and is always loyal to her friends,” Train Tracks concluded.

“Perfect,” Alula purred. “That's exactly like me, so let's get close now.” She reached out for him and already puckered her lips, blushing in anticipation, but Train Tracks suddenly stood up from his seat.

“Sorry, Alula.” He seemed to be in a hurry. “Thank you for inviting me.” He pointed at the milkshake and the muffin, both of which he had barely touched. “And thanks for listening to me, but it's gotten later than I wanted and I really need to see Peachy right now.” He gave Alula a single wave, then turned around and ran out of Sugarcube Corner.

Alula huffed and slumped down, planting her face on the table.

A Perfect Day

.
Train Tracks and Alula trotted up to the counter in the ice cream parlor. Train Tracks huffed. He looked angry. “I hate it that Peachy can't be here to enjoy Critter Snow Day together with us. If I find that pony who dropped a bucket of cold water on her head, then it's going to have a very hard day!” He gritted his teeth.

“Don't waste your time searching,” Alula said, sitting down. “I'm sure Peach Fuzz wants that we enjoy this day even without her.”

“Yeah, you're right, Alula.....” The colt sighed. “But I'm going to visit her later, it's horrible that she had to become sick just one day before Hearth's Warming Eve!” He gritted his teeth again as he took seat at Alula's side.

Alula patted his back, comfortingly. “Come on, don't look like that!” she said as cheerful as possible. “It's just a cold, I'm sure she's back on her hooves tomorrow if she rests today. Hey, how about I buy you a tub of ice cream?” She did not wait for his answer and turned around.
“Okay,” he said, simply.

Alula looked at the mare behind the counter. “Lemon, one scoop, with whipped cream and extra sprinkles.”

“And for you?” The mare looked at Train Tracks.

“Two scoops of dark chocolate without sprinkles or whipped cream, please.”

Alula observed and nodded.

~ * ~

“If I find that pony who dropped a bucket of cold water on her head, then it's going to have a very hard day!” Train Tracks gritted his teeth.

“Don't waste your time searching,” Alula said, sitting down. “I'm sure Peach Fuzz wants that we enjoy this day even without her.”

Alula patted his back, comfortingly. “Come on, don't look like that!” she said as cheerful as possible. “It's just a cold, I'm sure she's back on her hooves tomorrow if she rests today. Hey, how about I buy you a tub of ice cream?” She looked at him, expectantly and with an encouraging, eager expression.

“Okay,” he said, simply.

Alula looked at the mare behind the counter. “Two scoops of dark chocolate, no sprinkles, no whipped cream, please.”

“And for you?” The mare looked at Train Tracks.

“The same!” he said, face brightening with surprise. He looked at Alula and smiled at her. “That's my favourite ice cream.”

“Really? Mine too.” Alula answered the look with a feigned surprised look of her own. “It's bitter taste reminds me on it that we have to stay strong during a trying time.” She did her best to give her face a deep, philosophical expression.

“Aha.” Train Tracks looked away and at his ice dream that had just been served alongside Alula's. “Hey, let's clink glasses!” he said then, looking at her again and holding his tub in front of her.

Alula raised an eyebrow. “With ice cream? I mean, sure! Why not?” She raised her tub. “Uh..... To the critters!”

Train Tracks looked disappointed. “I was going to say 'To Peach Fuzz'”. He turned away, put his tub down and began eating his ice cream.

Alula nodded, rejected, and started to eat hers with a frown on her forehead.

~ * ~

“Hey, how about I buy you a tub of ice cream?” Alula looked at Train Tracks, expectantly and with an encouraging, eager expression.

“Okay,” he said, simply.
Alula looked at the mare behind the counter. “Two scoops of dark chocolate, no sprinkles, no whipped cream, please.”

“And for you?” The mare looked at Train Tracks.

“The same!” he said, face brightening with surprise. He looked at Alula and smiled at her. “That's my favourite ice cream.”

“Really? Mine too.” Alula said with feigned surprise. She squinted her eyes for a moment, a little wearily. “It's bitter taste reminds me on it that we have to stay strong during a trying time.” Albeit speaking with a little annoyance, she did her best to give her face a deep, philosophical expression.

“Aha.” Train Tracks looked away and at his ice dream that had just been served alongside Alula's. “Hey, let's clink glasses!” he said then, looking at her again.

“Sure!” Alula raised her tub. “To Peach Fuzz!”

“To Peach Fuzz!” Train Tracks repeated and clinked his tub against Alula's.

Alula put it down, then paused for a moment, seemingly sunken in thoughts. “May you have a fast recovery, Peach Fuzz,” she whispered, just loud enough to be sure that Train Tracks would hear it. Only then she started eating.

The mare behind the counter gave Alula a look between amused and pitying, then turned away. She shook her head while she continued to rub the glass in her hooves dry.

~ * ~

Alula and Train Tracks stood together in Ponyville's sweet shop, having just gotten offered a free sample of chocolate. Train Tracks took it from the tray the mare was holding and bit into it. “Mmm. That's delicious!” he said, impressed.

“What did I tell you?” Alula responded, a proud smirk on the face.

“How do you have so many good connections?” he asked curiously.

“I've spent a lot of time getting on the good side of ponies,” Alula explained, chewing her own chocolate. “It's not hard with small-town ponies.”

“That makes sense.” Train Tracks laughed, lighthearted.

“Would you like some white chocolate next?” Alula offered, chewing the last bit before she swallowed it.

“Ugh, no, that makes me sick.” Train Tracks scrunched his face in disgust. His left cheek twitched slightly.

“No white chocolate,” Alula said, taking a mental note.

An uneasy grin appeared on Train Tracks' face. “This feels so familiar suddenly..... Did you ever have a déjà vu, Alula?”

Alula smiled at him. “Hey, didn't you just ask me that?”

Train Tracks grinned and laughed.

~ * ~

Clover Café was jam-packed with ponies. Old Equestrian folk music played from a radio while a waitress picked up a few large mugs from the counter in the middle of the café and carried them away. She trotted past a table at which Alula and Train Tracks sat, seemingly in the midst of a captivating conversation.

“I think train mechanics worry too much about the future of railway services,” Alula said.

Train Tracks sat opposite of her and smiled interestedly, playing with a toothpick in his right hoof. A nearly empty bowl of salad stood in front of him.

“I mean, sure, airships have been on the rise lately. But they also need time to get somewhere, while trains are so much faster. And airships can't land everywhere.” She sipped from her drink. “What do you think?”

“I couldn't agree harder, Alula! I'd like to be a train mechanic one day and I know that my life leads up to this!”

“Maybe it will lead me there, too,” Alula suggested.

“Wow, you and me working as train mechanics, we would be so far away from what we're doing now, Alula!” Train Tracks grinned.

A laugh rang out of Alula's throat. “Yeah, at least as long as Peach Fuzz wouldn't be there, too, she would waste so much of our time together!”

Train Tracks' face face turned cold instantly.

“I mean.....” Alula fidgeted around. “I mean, she would waste her time there. I don't think she would be good at fixing up trains.”

Train Tracks stood up and left.

~ * ~

“I think train mechanics worry too much about the future of railway services,” Alula said.

Train Tracks sat opposite of her and smiled interestedly, playing with a toothpick in his right hoof. A nearly empty bowl of salad stood in front of him.

“Yeah, airships have been on the rise lately, but they also need time to get somewhere, while trains are so much faster. And airships can't land everywhere.” She sipped from her drink. “What do you think?”

“I couldn't agree harder, Alula! I'd like to be a train mechanic one day and I know I will!”

“Maybe I will, too,” Alula suggested.

“Wow, you and me working as train mechanics, we would be so far away from what we're doing now, Alula!” Train Tracks grinned.

“And so much better!” Alula emphasized. “Just imagine it, you and me, repairing trains together and taking care that all ponies can safely travel through Equestria!”

A warm smile built on Train Tracks' lips. “You're really just like me, Alula.”

“Yeah!” she answered the smile.

A couple hours later, the sun had set and the sky was full of stars, Alula and Train Tracks were outside, busy rolling around a large ball formed of snow. In some distance, a snowpony without a head stood. They rolled the ball steadily towards it.

“The last time I did this was when I was a little colt,” Train Tracks said. “I forgot how much fun it is!” His voice sounded exuberant.

“Yeah, just good, innocent fun between you and me!” Alula chimed in.

Once they had arrived at their creation, the two foals lifted the ball together and gave the snowpony its head. Alula reached into the pockets of her anorak and put two pieces of coal as eyes on the snowpony. Then a carrot to indicate its mouth, a silly clown nose, a woolen hat and a scarf followed.

Train Tracks laughed. “Did you just have these things with you?” he asked, incredulously.

“Yep! I love building snowponies, I always have a complete set of snowpony accessoires with me!”

Alula looked up into the sky as her attention got detracted by something. A shooting star crossed over them. Alula's eyes started to gleam at the sight.

“One day, I want to do this, too,” she said in a dreamy voice.

“What are you talking about?” Train Tracks followed Alula's gaze, catching a last glimpse of the shooting star.

“Just what this shooting star does,” Alula replied. “Travelling through space and exploring it..... Maybe I could find other ponies on other planets!” A sincere cheer was in her voice.

To Alula's surprise, Train Tracks put a hoof around her. “Do you think a spaceship could look like a train? A spacetrain?”

“Of course!” She averted her gaze from the sky and looked at Train Tracks. “If I could explore space together with you, it wouldn't matter how the spaceship looks. Just as long as you're here.” She nestled her face into his chest and Train Tracks let it happen.

Holding each other close, Alula and Train Tracks trotted through the nightly, snow-covered Ponyville. Train Tracks laughed happily. “It's amazing how perfect this day was. Even without Peachy. It's not what I expected.”

Alula looked into his eyes. “And do you like how it turns out?”

Train Tracks nodded. “I like it a lot.” He presented her with a smile. “It's a perfect day, Alula, I wish we could plan a day so perfectly.”

“Oh, I can plan a day like that!” Alula assured. “It's just so much work.” She giggled and Train Tracks joined in.

“Come home with me,” she said then, as her giggling had stopped. “There's something I want to show you.”

Now, Train Tracks suddenly hesitated. “I'm not sure if I should, Alula. I still haven't visited Peachy and she is still sick from that accident today. I really should go and see her now.”

“Please, just a moment!” Alula pleaded. “It's something really special! I'll just show you this one thing real quick and then I'll kick you out right away so you can go to her, I promise!” She grinned playfully.

Train Tracks smiled in defeat.

About five minutes later, Train Tracks trotted through the door into Alula's bedroom. “You have it really cool here, Alula,” he said as his eyes wandered over the various Wonderbolts posters, the space-themed bedding and models of several planets at the back of the room.

“Would you like to sit on the bed for a bit?” Alula invited him. “I can turn on a lamp that makes the ceiling look like a sky full of stars!”

“Okay.” Train Tracks climbed into the bed and Alula eagerly took position at his side. She snuggled up.

“It's really nice in here,” Train Tracks admired Alula's bedroom once more.

“Now it is,” Alula corrected him and pulled him closer. She leaned in and started kissing his lips.

Train Tracks reciprocated the kiss but, after a few seconds, he stopped and looked worried all of a sudden. “Alula, I'm sorry, but we shouldn't do this.”

“I think we should,” Alula responded simply and pressed her lips on his again.

For a few more seconds, Train Tracks joined in again, but then turned away a second time. He chuckled, a little uneasy.

“That's the perfect way to end a perfect day,” Alula kept prodding, interrupting her kissing for a moment.

Train Tracks responded to another kiss, then spoke again. “Yeah. But I already have a filly, Alula.”

“I know.” Alula ignored the rejection and started to kiss Train Tracks' neck.

Train Tracks turned away from her completely. “I should go now, Alula. I have to.”

Alula looked at him, some accusation in her eyes. “Go? Where would you go anyway?” she asked.

“To Peach Fuzz.” His voice had become a little stricter. It carried the same accusation that was in Alula's eyes a moment ago.

“But we have it perfect here!” Alula leaned away and turned a switch. The lights in her room got turned off and the ceiling was suddenly lit up with the stars she had mentioned. “We have this perfect sky above us and I have books about trains we can read together!”

Train Tracks sighed. He gave Alula another smile. It looked impressed, but also impatient and pitying.
“We have ice cream in the fridge! Just wait a minute!” She jumped off the bed, raced out of the room and came back a few seconds later, panting a little, with two small cups of ice cream in her hooves. “Dark chocolate?” she asked, now attempting to bribe him.

Train Tracks sighed, still with that smile on his face. “I love dark chocolate ice cream, it's my favourite. Thank you, Alula.”

“Yeah, I thought so!” She placed one of the cups, together with a spoon, in his lap and climbed into the bed again. Alula snuggled back up to him. “Please, stay.”

“No, Alula. Really.” Train Tracks had become more stern now. “I am tired, it's late and I need to see Peachy today before she falls asleep. Maybe we can see each other tomorrow.” He put his ice cream and the spoon into Alula's lap and got up from the bed.

“NO!” Alula shouted and climbed out of bed, too, not caring that she spilled the ice cream on her blanket. She rushed in front of him and cut off his path.

“I've waited for this so long, it needs to happen tonight!” Her face showed a desperate expression.

Now anger shot into Train Tracks' face. “Happen?!” he repeated her words. “What needs to happen, Alula? What do you think you are doing here?!”

“Just what you need!” Alula's voice turned pleading. “Peach Fuzz is only hurting you because she is so different from you! But I am exactly like you! You said it yourself!”

Train Tracks huffed. “When did I ever say that? I don't want to get rid of Peach Fuzz! I love her!” he clarified.

He caught his breath for a moment. “You know I can't stay with you, Alula,” he then added, calmer. “I won't.”

“B-But.....” Alula stammered, running out of options. “But I love you, Train Tracks! I always did!” Her eyes became wet.

“What?” His eyes bulged, giving his face a baffled expression. “You love me? Alula, you don't even know me enough to love me! We're only friends!”

The words stung in Alula's heart. She came a step closer and put her hooves around Train Tracks' neck. “But I do! I know everything about you, Train Tracks!”

For a moment, Train Tracks did not know what to do or say. Then something in his mind clicked and his eyes widened. He shoved Alula away and trotted past her. “I can't believe you did this, Alula! And I fell for it!”

Alula turned around at him, now tears in the corner of her eyes.

Train Tracks did the same. “This was all just a trick to pinch me from Peach Fuzz! Do you have any idea how much this is going to hurt her once she finds out?” The colt was furious now.

“No, it won't!” Alula cried out, grasping for straws. “Peach Fuzz doesn't even love you, you know how often she fights with you!”

“And I HATE strawberry milkshakes!” Train Tracks ignored her sentence and retched.

“Okay, okay! So, no white chocolate and no strawberry milkshakes, but please–”

Train Tracks' face fell apart in disbelief. “You..... You even make a list about me?!”

“No, I–”

“Did you interrogate Peach Fuzz and my friends to find out what I like?!” He growled.

“No!”

“Do you think I'll start loving you if you do this?!” He came a step closer to her, then stomped a hoof into the floor. The floor planks creaked menacingly.

“No! I mean..... Yeah, I do, but I really am the right filly for you, Train Tracks, and Peach Fuzz is the wrong one!” She took one of his hooves into hers, then fell around his neck for a hug. She kissed his neck.

Train Tracks pushed her away. “You will stop saying that!” he demanded.

Alula looked at him silently, the hurt in her heart now letting tears run down her cheeks.

“You're crazy, Alula. You're obsessed.” His voice faltered a little as he said that. “I could never love you. You only care about yourself, but not about the feelings of other ponies. I..... I don't even want to be friends with you anymore after what you tried today. I'm done with you, Alula. Forever.”

Alula sobbed. “N-No, I'm not! I care about you, I care about you and Peach Fuzz and I just wanted the best for you two! Please, Train Tracks, give me another chance!”
More anger flared up in Train Tracks' face over hearing this plea. He lifted his right forehoof and slapped it into Alula's face. A resounding smack came from the impact on her cheek as her head got yanked around.

“There is your chance.” He huffed. Not saying another word, he turned around, trotted out of the room, down the stairs and out of the house.

Alula held her reddened cheek and looked after him, gulping, as more tears soaked her worn face.

~ * ~

The sky was full of stars and Alula and Train Tracks were outside, busy rolling around a large ball formed of snow. In some distance, a snowpony without a head stood. They rolled the ball steadily towards it.

“The last time I did this was when I was a little colt,” Train Tracks said. “I forgot how much fun it is!” His voice sounded exuberant.

“Yeah, good, innocent fun between you and me!” Alula chimed in.

Train Tracks laughed. “Did you just have these things with you?” he asked, incredulously.

“Yeah, always have a complete set of snowpony accessoires with me, wow, I love building snowponies so much!”

Alula looked up into the sky as her attention got detracted by something. A shooting star crossed over them. Alula's eyes started to gleam at the sight.

“That's what I want to do someday,” she said in a dreamy voice.

“What are you talking about?” Train Tracks followed Alula's gaze, catching a last glimpse of the shooting star.

“What this shooting star does; travelling through space and exploring it, maybe I could find other ponies on other planets! Hey, maybe even some space monsters, then we can fight them with laser weapons like the ones in the sci-fi comics I read and save Equestria, maybe even the whole universe, wouldn't that be awesome?!”” A sincere, albeit slightly strained, cheer was in her voice.

Train Tracks put a hoof around her. “Do you think a spaceship could look like a train? A spacetrain?”

“Of course!” She averted her gaze from the sky and looked at Train Tracks. “If I could explore space together with you, it wouldn't matter how the spaceship looks. As long as you're here.” She leaned against him, then wrapped her hooves around his body. Getting more and more pushy, she nestled deeper and deeper into Train Tracks' chest.

Train Tracks smiled, a little disconcerted, but let it happen.

“You will stop with this!” Train Tracks lifted his hoof and slapped Alula's right cheek, filling the cold air in front of her house with a resounding smack. He turned away from her and hurried down the snowy path they had come from.

~ * ~

“You only care for yourself, Alula!” Train Tracks slapped her right cheek.

~ * ~

“And that was for hurting Peachy!” Train Tracks turned around and let Alula stay behind. She grabbed a piece of snow and rubbed it over her reddened cheek.

~ * ~

Alula smiled, but instead of getting a smile in return, she received a slap in the face from Train Tracks. “Never talk to me and Peach Fuzz again, Alula!”

~ * ~

“You can stop now, Alula, I'm done with your tricks!” Train Tracks let his hoof come down on Alula's right cheek. Furious, he turned around and hurried away.

~ * ~

Alula's sentence got interrupted, as Train Tracks' hoof hit her right cheek with a smack. She looked at him with a hurt expression, holding her cheek, but Train Tracks had already turned away from her.

~ * ~

Her right cheek burned as Train Tracks' hoof hit it. Alula looked at him in shock. “That pain is nothing against what Peachy feels now!” Train Tracks yelled at Alula.

~ * ~

“If you don't want another slap like that, Alula, you better never talk to me or Peachy ever again!” Alula stared at Train Tracks, wordlessly holding her cheek. She reached out with her other hoof and opened the door for Train Tracks. He disappeared inside his house without looking at her again.

Alula turned away, too. Disappointed and frustrated, she moved away from his house. Aimlessly, she trotted through Ponyville. Her eyes fell on a snowpony and a sob rang out of her throat.

~ * ~

“Alula, we're over here!” Peach Fuzz waved at her from the distance as she trotted morosely closer.

“Where have you been the whole day? Train Tracks and I had so much fun!” Peach Fuzz smiled her usual smile, but then it faltered in worry as she saw the look on Alula's face. “You look terrible today, Alula. What happened to you? Did you have a bad night?”

Yeah,” Alula said, nodding weakly. She seemed to stare right through Peach Fuzz.

~ * ~

The voices were like hammer blows on Alula's ears. “Now shall we sing songs of harmony within this realm. And with true love and brotherhood, each other we all whelm,” Alula muttered and repeated the words she could hear below while looking at the ceiling with an empty stare.

Descent into Madness

.
“You're pitiful, both of you!” Alula landed in front of Peach Fuzz and Train Tracks while lashing out at them.

The two other foals turned around at her, confusion on their faces. “What?” Train Tracks asked.

“Yeah, you! You and you!” She pointed with a hoof at Train Tracks, then at Peach Fuzz. “You are completely pitiful! Just look at you! Your love meant something once. But now you're just fighting. You say you love each other? You're hypocrites!”

Train Tracks and Peach Fuzz exchanged a concerned glance.

Alula noticed it. “What, huh?! You wanna say something to me? Do you have any problem with what I'm saying?” She came a step closer, menacingly.

Peach Fuzz and Train Tracks gulped. They shook their heads in unison, fear written on their faces now.

“Yeah, you better don't!” Alula continued her mad talk. “Want me to tell you something?” She leaned in on her friends. “Having a goal is meaningless. You can try hard, you can fight, but, in the end, it will all be useless. You will never reach your dreams and life will always be dark and bleak.” Her voice had become searing at the end.

~ * ~

“But it's not good to treat yourself like this, Train Tracks!” Peach Fuzz' voice was clad in worry.

“What do you know?” Train Tracks shouted back at her, perhaps lashing out a bit too much. “I always worked myself through any trouble that way and it went fine!”

Peach Fuzz gasped and looked down, a few tears appearing in the corner of her eyes.

Unaffected by the fight, Alula stood at their side. “It's all his doing,” she muttered in a low voice. “As long as he is here, it will never end.”

Peach Fuzz wiped a few tears out of her eyes and looked at Train Tracks again. She placed a hoof on Train Tracks' shoulder. “Don't be so angry, please. I just wanted–”

“Hmph!” he shrugged his shoulders forcefully, making Peach Fuzz retreat her hoof. “Just stop telling me what to do!”

“Hehehe.....” Alula snickered. “I know exactly what I have to do,” she spoke, a little louder than before. She looked over at Fluttershy and fixated her eyes on Angel who sat on her back.

“He needs to disappear. It will never stop as long as he is here. With him, it will never become Hearth's Warming Eve ever again. He needs to be stopped, it's the only way.” She sat herself into motion, towards Fluttershy and Angel.

Her last sentence finally made Peach Fuzz and Train Tracks look up. They followed her with their eyes.

“Now I'm getting worried about her.....” Peach Fuzz said. “She has been strange the entire morning already.”

“I noticed,” Train Tracks answered, seemingly having forgotten their fight, but still with a noticeable huff in his voice. “I think something is seriously wrong with her.”

The twosome exchanged a short glance, then they followed Alula.

As she was close to Fluttershy, Alula suddenly turned around. She approached Train Tracks.

“That's the end for me, Train Tracks. There's no other way out.” Her voice sounded strangely deep and it was full of resignation. “I just wanted to let you know that I love you and that we had a fun time together once.” She leaned in and gave Train Tracks a passionate kiss on the lips. Then she suddenly ran away without saying another word.

“Hey, what's going on here?” Peach Fuzz shouted, confused and angry at the same time. “Alula, what are you doing?!”

The filly ran up to Fluttershy. Before the adult pegasus could react, she had snatched Angel from her back and taken off into the sky. High up in the air, she placed Angel on her back, between her wings.

“Hey, buddy!” Alula turned around and grinned at Angel. “Now we're going for a flight. Lean back and enjoy it.”

Angel gulped.

Fluttershy looked up at her. “Alula, what are you doing with Angel?” she shouted. But Alula did not respond. Instead, the filly suddenly zipped away. Fluttershy ran after her. “Please help!” she shouted. “She kidnapped Angel!”

“Let's follow her!” Train Tracks shouted and took up the chase. Peach Fuzz ran right after him.

“Stoooooop!” Fluttershy shouted at Alula, but the filly still didn't listen or react.

“Why is she doing this?” Peach Fuzz asked, puzzled.

“No idea,” Train Tracks answered his fillyfriend's question. “I think she finally has enough of Angel.”

“Oh no.....” Fluttershy winced. But the reason was not Train Tracks' remark. She pointed ahead. “Why is she flying in there? What is she going to do to Angel?!”

Ahead of the three ponies, Alula had reached the borders of the Everfree Forest, but kept flying.

As Fluttershy had arrived there, too, she wanted to run aside, but Train Tracks and Peach Fuzz grabbed her tail together and held her back.

“You can't run into the Everfree Forest, it's too dangerous, Fluttershy!” they shouted.

“But..... Angel!” Fluttershy pulled with all of her power, until her tail was free. Peach Fuzz and Train Tracks toppled over and fell to the ground.

Fluttershy turned around. “I'm sorry, but we can't let her hurt him!” She picked up the two foals and draped them over her back, then took flight and followed Alula on the same route. The urgency of the situation had given her unexpected strength.

Train Tracks and Alula sat up, holding each other to not fall down while the pegasus mare raced after Alula. Suddenly, Alula started to descend towards the treetops. Fluttershy and her two passengers watched in horror as she disappeared between the foliage.

“We need to find her!” Fluttershy cried out. “If we don't, Angel won't make it ouf of there and Alula won't either!” The two foals nodded and Fluttershy descended as well.

Alula took a deep breath as she flew at high speed between the trees. In the distance, she saw what she had been looking for: A gigantic dragon. It hadn't noticed her yet, but it already made Alula shiver in fear.

“That's it then, buddy,” she said. Alula turned around, lifted Angel off her back and held him in front of her chest. “Let's make it a nice firework for them!” She broke out in sweat and her teeth started to clatter.

Angel started to squeal in panic and struggled, but Alula's hooves held him tightly in place.

“Is she flying to that dragon?” Train Tracks pointed with the hoof that wasn't holding Peach Fuzz.

Fluttershy gasped. “She is! Whatever is she doing?!” She took a deep breath. “ALULA, STOP!” she yelled as loud as she could. Peach Fuzz and Train Tracks assisted her, but the filly ignored their combined shouting.

Alula flew over the dragon, then landed in front of him and cut off his path. “Hey, you ugly, fat lizard!” she greeted him.

The dragon stopped and immediately shot her a glare.

“Oh, did I make you angry?” Alula asked the dragon, mockingly. “How about fried filly, with some roasted bunny as side dish, to make up for it?” She smirked, but shivered all over her body at the same time.

She didn't have to tell the dragon twice. He moved his head back and took a very deep breath. Then he unleashed his fire on Alula and Angel. The flames covered them and raged for a few seconds. As he stopped, there was nothing more than a pile of ash left of his victims.

Fluttershy slowed down and came to a halt, eyes widened from what she had to witness. Peach Fuzz and Train Tracks looked the same.

“AAAAAAAANGEL!” Fluttershy yelled in distress, tears leaking from her eyes immediately.

“A-Alula.....” Peach Fuzz broke out in tears, as well. Train Tracks pulled his fillyfriend closer and she averted her gaze, hugged him and started crying into his chest.

~ * ~

Alula opened her eyes and sat up in her bed. Despite having just woken up, her face looked already destroyed. “Oh, no.....” she said weakly. “Why am I still here?” She fell back onto the pillow.

Diligently and with a lot of care, Alula tied the the rope she had made out of her bedsheets to the shower curtain rail. Hovering in front of it, she made a few knots into it to make sure it would hold her weight.

Another knock came from her locked bedroom door. “Alula? Why aren't you answering?” the voice of her mother entered her ears. “I heard your alarm clock, honey. Is everything alright?” She knocked again.

Alula ignored it all. With heavy-lidded eyes, she looked back at the rope. Hesitating for only a moment, she put the rope around her neck and fastened it. She sobbed one last time, then she stopped the flapping of her wings and let herself fall. There was a pain right below her head, then the world turned black for her.

~ * ~

To her right, Peach Fuzz and Train Tracks were bickering and fighting. To her left, Scootaloo unleashed a stream of words on her. Alula ignored both. She was waiting for something. As two muscular stallions, who pulled a huge cart, approached them, Alula stepped in front of them in the last moment. She flexed her wings as the stallions tried to stop.

The other three foals averted their eyes as they heard their friend getting knocked down and trampled over by the two stallions.

~ * ~

On top of the Ponyville Clock Tower, Alula looked behind her and checked her wings to make sure the thick rope around her body would hold. She looked ahead again. Her face looked stressed and tears garnered in her eyes.

Alula rose to her hindlegs and spread her forelegs apart. Not waiting longer, she jumped. Her body turned around itself while she fell, so that her head pointed down before she impacted with the road at the foot of the tower.

Peach Fuzz, Train Tracks and Alula's mom had gathered in the hospital, in a room with bleak walls. Cold-looking light came from neon lamps on the ceiling.

A doctor pulled back a white sheet from a small, stiff body on a gurney in front of him. It revealed Alula, who laid there with widely opened eyes that stared up at the ceiling. They looked cold and dead.

Peach Fuzz looked over at Alula's mom, who broke down crying at the sight, not able to say anything. She glanced at the doctor and sobbed. “I-It's her,” she confirmed, then leaned in on Train Tracks and started to cry without restraint.

Train Tracks put both hooves around her, held her tight and cradled her comfortingly. He looked down at Alula's dead form. “Alula..... You annoyed us sometimes, but you were a really great friend. I wish you'd have told us that you didn't feel well.” Tears started to build in his eyes, too, now. He gave the doctor a sign and the white sheet got pulled over Alula's head again.

The Goddess of Time

.
“Sorry, what was that?!” Scootaloo looked at Alula, dumbfounded. It had made her overwhelmingly happy when Alula asked her to come to Sugarcube Corner with her, but now, Scootaloo had second thoughts.

“I am a goddess!” Alula said again. Her mane looked frazzled and she was wearing pajamas.

“A goddess?” Scootaloo repeated. She raised a very sceptical eyebrow.

“Yes!” Alula said with emphasis.

“And why? Because you survived being burnt by a dragon?” The scepticism in Scootaloo's face deepened.

Mrs. Cake came to their table. “Do you want to order something now?” she asked them.

“I didn't just survive getting burnt. There was so much more!” Alula clarified. “I have stabbed myself, I got shot through the head with an arrow, I drank poison, I froze to death, I hung myself in the bathroom, stallions killed me by trampling me to death, I jumped from the clocktower and I got burnt by a dragon.”

“Really, huh?” Scootaloo smiled uneasily. She shifted around on her chair.

“Really! And then I wake up at morning without a scratch!” She looked up, a strangely blissful expression in her face. “I am immortal, Scootaloo.”

“Uh..... How about I just bring you fillies some milkshakes?” Mrs. Cake's eyes shifted.

Scootaloo ignored her. “Why are you telling me all of this?”

“Because I need somepony to believe me!” Alula's answer sounded desperate.

Scootaloo shook her head slowly, eyes closed. “You're not a goddess, Alula. What you say is impossible, not even Princess Celestia and Princess Luna have so much power.”

“Should I come back later?” Mrs. Cake asked them.

“How would you know that?” Alula challenged her.

“It's just silly, how–”

“How do you know?” Alula interrupted her. She leaned in close at Scootaloo, until their noses almost touched. There was an aggressive glare in her eyes.

“Because nopony can do this!” Scootaloo yelled now. She was getting annoyed by the claims.

“I-I'll come back,” Mrs. Cake said.

Alula looked at her. “Mrs. Cake!” she said and got up.

“This is Cup Cake.” Alula grabbed her and pulled her at Scootaloo's side. “She owns Sugarcube Corner together with her husband, Carrot Cake, and works here since she was sixteen years old. She used to be terrible at baking, until her friend Buttercup taught her everything about it.”

An embarrassed blush appeared on Cup Cake's face. “Oh, I wasn't that terrible at baking, I just.....”

Alula grabbed Scootaloo's hoof and dragged her with her. “What are you doing?” Scootaloo asked, startled.

Alula dragged her to a table. She pointed at the fillies sitting there. “Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. They are great friends, but Silver Spoon only started to hang out with Diamond Tiara because her parents have such a huge mansion with the biggest pool in all of Ponyville.”

Diamond Tiara almost spilled her drink. “WHAT?!” she turned at Silver Spoon sharply. Silver Spoon crouched in her seat, blushing.

“Sorry, Diamond,” Scootaloo said, before she got pulled away.

Alula put her hoof around a turquoise unicorn mare. “This is Lyra Heartstrings. Her best friend Bon Bon is a secret agent with the codename 'Sweetie Drops' and since Lyra found out about this, she works with her for a secret organization called S.M.I.L.E.”

“H-How do you know all of this about us?!” Lyra became white as a sheet. She turned around and ran out of the bakery. “BON BON!” she shouted.

Alula smirked, turning at Scootaloo. “Also, she's lesbian.”

Scootaloo frowned. “That proves nothing, everypony knows that!”

Alula ignored her and led her to the next creature. “This is Cranky. Also known as 'Doodle', a name he really hates.”

Cranky gave her a deathly glare. “Never say this name again,” he growled.

Alula patted his shoulder. “He spent several decades searching for his lost love, Mathilda, and even though he found her eventually, he's very depressed all the time and Mathilda has her hooves full with easing his suicide thoughts.”

Cranky's eyes shrunk.

Scootaloo put her hooves on Alula's chest and pushed her back a few steps. “That's all a trick, isn't it?”

Alula's conviction did not falter. “Yeah, so what if it would be a trick? Maybe omnipotent beings use tricks the whole time. They aren't powerful, they are just around long enough to know everything!”

“Really? Ok, let's see then.” Scootaloo pointed at a green pegasus mare sitting at a table to their right. “Who's that?”

“That's Merry May. She used to work in the weather factory in Cloudsdale but got fired because they blamed her for an accident that almost destroyed the entire factory some years ago.”

Merry May's eyes teared up. She rested her head on the table and started crying into her forehooves.

“Okay and her?” Scootaloo chose another creature from the crowd.

“Silverstream. She came from an underwater kingdom called Seaquestria to attend Princess Twilight's friendship school as one of the first foreign students. Her people had to flee under the ocean after an evil warlord called the Storm King invaded their old home and destroyed it. She spent all of her previous life underwater.”

“She's right!” It burst out of Silverstream.

“And her?” Scootaloo pointed at a yellow filly.

“Noi. She wants to work as a gravedigger one day because she loves cemeteries so much. Her close friends sometimes call her 'Sweet Wheat' after that hilarious baking accident when she was younger.”

Noi's head shot around at her. “HEY!” she yelled, angry.

“Just the truth.” Alula grinned at Noi.

Scootaloo pushed her away again. “How do you know all of these creatures?” She looked slightly creeped out now.

“Just like I told you, I know everything! In five seconds, Mrs. Cake will drop a heavy mug in the kitchen. Five, four, three,”

“That's never going to happen,” Scootaloo smiled nervously.

“two, one.”

Scootaloo twitched as a loud clank came from the kitchen.

“Cup Cake?” Mr. Cake shouted. “Are you alright?”

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

“See?” Alula encroached on Scootaloo, almost pressing her face into hers.

“Y-Yeah,” Scootaloo stuttered. “Let's sit down.” She was the one pulling now and she pulled Alula to one of the last free tables. They sat down opposite of each other.

“O-Okay.” Scootaloo tried to compose herself. “Do you know about me too?” she asked Alula, excitement rising.

“I know all about you!” Alula stated firmly. “You admire Rainbow Dash and you strive to be just like her.”

“That's something everypony knows.” Scootaloo shrugged her shoulders.

“You love flying, but you have a disease that makes your flight muscles weak and stops your wings from growing, so you can't.”

Scootaloo slumped down and cast her eyes on the table. “T-That's what the doctors said.”

The look in Alula's eyes became more intense. “Each summer vacation, your aunts take you on a camping trip because your parents are too busy with work and never have time for you.”

Scootaloo sat motionlessly.

“They take you to a lake, in the middle of the Whitetail Woods. There's an old cabin, with holes in the roof, and the water of the lake is so cold that you never want to swim in it. But your aunts always encourage you, until you do it anyway and get used to the temperature.”

Scootaloo gave her a glance.

“At night, your aunts make a fire and you roast marshmallows and eat sum'yums together. Your Auntie Lofty looks up at the stars and she starts dreaming and tells stories about life on other planets.”

Scootaloo looked up again and into Alula's eyes, breathing stronger.

“You're a sucker for Daring Do books and you love crystals, because the idea of see-through walls amazes you. You're very enthusiastic and exciteable. You're kind and you're always willing to help a pony in need. And when you jump up high into the sky with your scooter, you inspire other ponies to never give up their goals in life.”

“How are you doing this?” Scootaloo's face was filled with confusion.

Alula sighed. “I told you. I wake up every morning and it's always today, Critter Snow Day. And I can't do anything about it.”

Scootaloo did not respond.

“In case you still don't believe me.....” Alula pulled a scrap of paper and a pencil out of one of her pajama's pockets and scribbled something on it. “But please believe me. You have to believe me.” She stopped scribbling and breathed out, calming herself. “Hey, what would you say if we were to spend Hearth's Warming Eve together this year?” she asked, while tucking her pencil away.

“I would say yes,” Scootaloo answered, still confused, but thruthfully. “Apple Bloom celebrates with her extended family on Sweet Apple Acres, Sweetie Belle leaves town with her parents over the holidays and Rainbow Dash spends the evening with her friends in Twilight's castle. And I'm tired of spending time with my aunts when my parents rather chase sales figures in their offices than chasing Hearth's Warming gifts for me.” Her ears got folded in.

Not saying another word, but looking deeply into Scootaloo's eyes, Alula slid the paper over to Scootaloo.

The other pegasus took it into her hooves. “When my parents rather chase sales figures in their offices than chasing Hearth's Warming gifts for me.” She stared at Alula and all doubts had vanished from her face.

“Okay, maybe it's really happening. I have no idea how you could know so much if it doesn't.” Alula and Scootaloo trotted through the Ponyville Park.

“There's no way,” Alula said. “I might be smart, but I'm not that smart and I can't read other ponies' minds.”

“I am going to spend the day with you,” Scootaloo announced. “I'll be there and observe what happens, so we can find out what is doing this to you.”

Alula looked into Scootaloo's face and her eyes dissolved in tears. She threw her hooves around Scootaloo's neck and hugged her tightly. Scootaloo smiled.

Inside Alula's room, Scootaloo and her sat on the bed. They were chewing something. A bucket stood at the other end of Alula's bed. The alarm clock showed that it was close to midnight.

“Okay, now watch!” Alula said after a few seconds of quiet chewing had passed. She puckered her lips, then spit out a wet piece of bubble gum. It landed right in the middle of the bucket and disappeared inside.

Scootaloo watched in awe.

“Now it's your turn!” Alula prompted her.

Scootaloo nodded. She puckered her lips just like Alula and spit out her own piece of gum. It landed just a little left of the bucket. Scootaloo looked at the result in disappointment. “It's harder than it looks,” she said.

Alula popped another piece of bubble gum into her mouth. “It's not hard!” She started chewing. “You just need to concentrate harder on your goal. It's more in the tongue than it's in the lips!” Demonstratively, she spit her gum out. It was another perfect landing.

Scootaloo tried it again, too, but she missed a second time. “It's going to take me a few years to learn this.”

“Nah. Only three months. Just do it an hour a day for three months and you're an expert like me!”

Scootaloo chuckled. “So I guess that's how you spend eternity, with weird challenges like this.”

“Yeah. Not much you can do anymore if you lived through the same day 300 times.” Her voice cracked a little. “Yeah, I counted,” Alula added then.

Scootaloo's face took on a horrified expression.

“And that's not even the worst part. What's way worse than that is that you will have forgotten everything tomorrow and that I will have to explain it all again.” She sighed, her lips trembling a little. “And no matter what I do, once the day starts over, everypony will think I'm a jerk again.”

The sudden confession of feelings hit Scootaloo out of nowhere. “You're not a jerk, Alula.” She put a hoof around the other filly and pulled her a little closer.

“It's alright, I am a jerk,” Alula rejected the reassurance.

“No, you're not! I mean, sure, you didn't talk to me for a whole year even though we're technically still friends, but you're here now!”

Alula looked away. “Just because I'm scared and need help,” she admitted. “But it doesn't matter what I am anyway..... I killed myself so often, I don't really exist anymore!” Now she sobbed a little.

“This probably sounds strange, but that's kind of cool.” Scootaloo laughed.

“Cool?” Alula looked at her with a dumb expression. “You're right, that sounds really strange. What would be cool about this?”

“Well, for example, you can do everything you ever wanted!” Scootaloo suggested.

It deepened Alula's frown.

“And you can learn a lot about yourself! If you ask me, that doesn't sound like a curse. Maybe it's a chance!” She poked Alula, motivatingly.

“You're an optimist, Scoots!” Alula laughed, but it was a dry laugh.

“And you're a nice filly, Alula. Don't doubt it, it's really true. Just look at everything a little differently and you'll see that.” She reached out and pulled Alula into a hug, chin resting on her left shoulder.

As her eyes fell on the alarm clock, the numbers switched to midnight. Scootaloo gasped, then released Alula. “Hey, you're still here! I thought you would disappear, Alula!”

Alula looked at the clock herself, then back at Scootaloo. “Not before six,” she cleared up the confusion.

Scootaloo frowned playfully and hit Alula with a pillow. “You liar! You knew that I was waiting for midnight!”

“But I never said midnight!” Alula defended herself. “Are you going to leave now?” she asked Scootaloo, who now stood at the hoofend of the bed. Her eyes were pleading.

“Nah. I still want to see what happens.” She moved back to the pillows.

“That's good.” Alula sighed in relief.

Scootaloo sat down at her side again.

Alula's alarm clock showed 3 AM. She was holding a book about astronomy in front of her, in which Scootaloo and her had been reading for the last few hours. Scootaloo's head began to feel heavy. She leaned it against Alula's shoulder and her eyes fell shut.

“Sorry,” she mumbled.

“It's fine, just fall asleep.” Alula looked over to her. “I won't get mad over it.”

Scootaloo yawned. “I'm okay, I'm not tired.” She opened her eyes again and tried to focus on the book. “Where did I stop?”
Alula pointed at a sentence. “I think it was here.”

“Really?” She yawned and her eyes fell shut again.

Alula noticed it. She looked at Scootaloo, then closed the book and put it on her nightstand. She grabbed her blanket and spread it over herself and Scootaloo. Sunken in thoughts, she rested her chin on Scootaloo's mane and closed her own eyes.

“It's just as I said,” she spoke. “”You're always willing to help a pony in need. Even if it's a horrible filly like me.”

Scootaloo stirred. “Did you say anything, Alula?”

“Goodnight,” Alula said, evading a direct answer.

“Goodnight,” Scootaloo drawled in response. She fell asleep and so did Alula a minute later.

Life's Offering

As soon as she was awake, Alula opened her eyes and looked to the right. The blanket was still spread over her, but the spot next to her was empty. Scootaloo was gone. Instead of lamenting, Alula shot up, kicked her blanket away and hovered out of bed swiftly. She had a plan to follow.

At the Critter Snow Festival, Alula trotted over the snowy field swiftly. A turquoise filly with a light brown mane slowly staggered into her direction. The green ear muffs she was wearing did nothing to hide that she seemed to freeze. She was small in size, barely reaching up to Alula's head. The filly stretched out a trembling hoof just as Alula had reached her.

Alula stopped. She reached behind her head and lifted a scarf and a hat made of wool from her back. The filly waiting with clattering teeth, Alula wrapped the scarf around her neck. She removed the filly's ear muffs, put the hat on her head and the ear muffs back over it. Then she turned away and continued on her path.

The filly looked after Alula, her still clattering teeth making it impossible for her to speak, but there was a surprised smile on her lips.

From the distance, Alula could hear the strained and exasperated voices of her friends. She carried a small tray and hurried to reach them now.

“But it's not good to treat yourself like this, Train Tracks!” Peach Fuzz' voice was clad in worry.

“What do you know?” Train Tracks shouted back at her, perhaps lashing out a bit too much. “I always worked myself–”

“Hey, hey, hey!” Alula moved in between them. “Why are you two fighting on a day like this? Here, take some cocoa!” She lifted a cup of cocoa from her tray and gave it to Train Tracks, then the second one to Peach Fuzz. Both accepted.

“Thanks, Alula.” The hot steam and the smell of the milk calmed Train Tracks down.

“Wow, how nice of you, Alula!” Peach Fuzz chimed. “Thank you!” She removed the lid and happily took a sip.

“You want some pastry too?” Alula asked, moving the tray enticingly, a grin on her lips.

Peach Fuzz reached for one and bit into it. Train Tracks grabbed one, as well.

Together, the trio of foals moved to a bench near the fire. On the way, Alula put a hoof around Train Tracks' shoulders. “So, I was thinking about all those fights you're having lately. You never seem to talk about them enough, so how about we sit down and try to find a solution for that?”

Not far away from the fire, a stage had been set up. On it stood a massive yak, holding a yovidaphone and playing a gentle, heartwarming tune on it. Alula trotted up the stairs and approached the yak.

“Hi,” she said. “The music you're playing sounds really beautiful.”
The yak stopped playing. “Thank you, nice filly.” A smile played around his lips. “Yak musician doing his best to entertain pony crowd for festival.”

“You do a great job! Hey, I was wondering, could you teach me how to play like this? I'm really interested in yovidaphone music, it's the best music ever!” Alula continued to crawl.

“Awwww, pony filly cute with fascination for yak instrument! Yak teach you!” he said without hesitation. He went to the back of the stage and picked up a second yovidaphone.

~ * ~

Alula went out into the corridor before her bedroom, showered and her mane neatly brushed. A smile was gracing her lips. She left her room just early enough for her mom to come up the stairs.

The mare smiled at her daughter. “Good Morning, Alula! Are you ready for the Critter Snow Festival today?” She was brimming with morning cheer.

Alula barely let her time to finish her sentence. “Good Morning, mom!” She wrapped her into a hug and gave her a kiss on the cheek. “I'm more than ready!”

The mare chuckled in delight. “Are you going there with your friends?”

“Yeah! Peach Fuzz and Train Tracks will join me and I can't wait to meet them!” She giggled.

In cheerful togetherness, Alula and her mom went down the stairs for breakfast.

The yovidaphone clasped tightly between her hooves, Alula blew into it and did her best to produce the beautiful tunes it was known for. The yak stood at her side, listening and occasionally cringing at the mismatched tones that permeated Alula's playing.

Squinting her eyes, Alula held the knife closely to the ice sculpture in front of her. She let it move over it carefully, taking care of the last details before the sculpture of her snuggling up to Train Tracks was finished. That Peach Fuzz and Train Tracks were watching her was something she only noticed as Peach Fuzz called her name.

“Alula!” the filly shouted.

“Hey, Peach Fuzz! Hi, Train Tracks!” Alula looked away from the sculpture and greeted them. “How does it look? You like it?”

“Great!” Train Tracks shouted in response.

Peach Fuzz was about to say the same, but when she took a closer look, she noticed that the filly snuggling up to Train Tracks was not her.

“Since when can Alula make ice sculptures?” Train Tracks wondered in awe. He turned at Peach Fuzz, but the filly had left his side. He looked behind him. “Hey, Peachy, wait! What's wrong?” Train Tracks hurried after her.

Alula looked after them, then at her sculpture. She whistled. “Looks like I'm really a pony of habit,” she said.

~ * ~

Beautiful harmonies sounded across the crowd in front of the stage. They listened in awe at Alula's yovidaphone playing. The yak at her side smiled.

“Cute pony filly playing fantastic. Ponies and yak love it. Alula really playing yovidaphone for the first time?”

Alula interrupted her playing and put the instrument away from her lips. She needed a moment to catch her breath. “Yeah, but, uh, there is a yak in my bloodline really, really far back,” she lied.

~ * ~

Alula trotted swiftly, her back feeling a little lighter now. Behind her, the filly she had helped was still smiling while simultaneously clattering with her teeth. Alula slowed down her trot as she heard her name getting called.

“Alula?!”

Alula looked to the right at the approaching hoofsteps. Scootaloo dashed closer, wings buzzing in excitement.

“Alula!” she shouted again. “I knew it's you! Wow, it's been a really long time!” The filly waved friendly.

“Scootaloo!” Alula shouted back, welcoming. She wrapped her hooves around the other pegasus filly and squeezed her friendly.

“I missed you the past year and I'm so sorry that I never talked to you again!” she said as they had released their embrace, wearing an apologetic expression.

“Awww, it's fine.” Scootaloo smiled at her. “I'm just glad I met you today. Hey, how about we–”

“Hey, would you like to spend Hearth's Warming Eve with me and my mom this year? I heard that all of your other friends and Rainbow Dash are already celebrating with other ponies,” she interrupted the orange pegasus.

Scootaloo's mouth gaped open. “Wow..... That's exactly what I wanted to say just now! Did you learn how to read other ponies' minds this past year?” She punched her playfully.

Alula giggled. “So, what do you say?”

“Of course I'll come!” Scootaloo buzzed her wings in excitement. “Thank you so much for inviting me, Alula!” She fell around Alula's neck for a hug and nuzzled her cheek in gratitude.

It was late at night as Alula trotted homewards. The Critter Snow Festival had been a blast, more than she thought possible, and Train Tracks and Peach Fuzz were already at home.

“Lucky for them,” she mumbled and pulled the hood of her anorak stronger into her face. Her breath was completely white and looked like it would freeze to a solid bubble of ice in front of her mouth.

Alula crossed by the narrow space between two houses, as she suddenly noticed a movement to her right. A tiny figure staggered out from the dark and into the moonlight. Immediately, Alula recognized the freezing filly. She was still wearing the scarf and the hat she had given to her. Despite the additional attire, though, the filly still felt cold. Her teeth clattered as usual while she came closer to Alula, but her skin looked blue under the short, turquoise mane now.

Alula stopped, went a few steps back and approached the little filly. She lifted the filly's head and checked her face. She looked at it in worry. “Come!” she said, putting a hoof around her. “Let's get to my house where it's warm!” She dragged the filly with her. “Still remember me?” she asked, smiling.

The filly formed a weak smile with her lips and nodded. She tried to speak, but it was too cold, her teeth didn't want to stop their clattering and she felt not strong enough for a conversation.

Alula did her best to keep the younger filly moving, but it became harder by the minute. It was like she became slowly frozen at the spot. As Alula could see the lit up windows of her home in the distance, the filly suddenly stopped moving and broke down. Alula stopped and tried to drag her back on her her hooves, but it was to no avail. The filly kept lying there, shivering.

While touching her body, Alula noticed that it suddenly felt much colder than before.

“Oh, no..... Oh, no, no, NO!” She ripped her anorak from her body as fast as she could and placed it on the filly, followed by her own scarf. As the filly did not cooperate in getting clad into the thick anorak, Alula turned her on her back. She twitched and moved away a bit as she saw the filly's stomach.

The color of her skin had turned from pink to a combination of blue and red. Her stomach was swollen and covered in blisters.

Alula bit her lip. Hastily, she grabbed a hoof of the filly and tried to squeeze it into one of the anorak's legs. Under her, the breath of the young filly had become shallow, then it stopped all of a sudden. Alula looked into her face and began to slap her cheeks.
“Hey, don't fall asleep! We just need to get you inside where it's warm and everything will be fine, but please don't fall asleep now!”

It was of no use. As much as Alula pretended she could still change the outcome, she had to admit that it was over. The eyes of the filly had stopped moving and stared up from her cold, frozen face. Judging, so it felt to Alula.

Resignated, Alula stopped her efforts and sat back, only a few inches away from the filly. She started crying over the young filly's fate and her own failure. The stream of tears freezing in her face, Alula looked up at the moon. She erupted into sobs while staring at the celestial body.

~ * ~

Alula was in a hurry. She could already spot the turquoise filly with the brown mane staggering into her direction, immediately after she set hoof on the grounds of the Critter Snow Festival. Not wasting any time, she ran up to the filly and grabbed her face.

“Hey, do you feel? You're alright?” There were tears in the corner of Alula's eyes as she checked up on the filly.

“I-I-I feel cold,” the filly stammered. “I-I can't find my parents.”

Alula sighed relieved. “I'll take care of this! But let's go and warm you up first!” She put a protective hoof around the shoulders of the little filly and dragged her along. It earned her a smile.

Only a few minutes later, Alula and the filly sat inside one of the warm and cozy rooms of Clover Café. The filly slurped away at a bowl of hot soup. As she had emptied it, Alula put it away and replaced it with her own, which was still full.

The filly gave her a cute smile and continued to slurp eagerly.

As the second bowl was empty, as well, the filly leaned back in her chair and rubbed over her now warm stomach. “That's so much better!” she chirped in a high-pitched voice. She looked healthy now, only her nose was a little red.

A waiter came and put two cups of steaming-hot peppermint tea in front of the filly and Alula. Without even stirring it, the filly grabbed the tea and poured it down her throat. She burped a little when she put the empty cup down. Grinning sheepishly at Alula, she blushed.

Alula laughed. “Do you feel better now?”

“Um-hm!” The head of the smaller filly bobbed up and down. She hugged Alula tightly, resthing her head on her chest. “Now I only need to find my parents!” she said. Then she retreated again.

“Don't worry, we're going to find them!” Alula ruffled the filly's mane. “How's your name?”

“I'm Ginger Green! But my friends call me 'Ginger'!” After the warm treatment, her voice sounded strong and energetic now.

“Hi, Ginger!” Alula caught up on greeting her. “My name is Alula.” She gave her a friendly smile and leaned in a little. “So, what happened to you?”

The question resulted in a swarm of words that bubbled out of the filly. “I live in Canterlot and I arrived with mommy and daddy in the train this morning. We wanted to see the critters, but after we arrived, mommy and daddy were suddenly gone and I couldn't find them between all the ponies anymore! I searched and searched, but then it got so cold and mommy and daddy had my winter jacket with them. I wanted to warm up at the fire before searching more, but then I saw you and I decided to ask you for help!” Ginger had to catch her breath as she finally stopped talking. Her cheeks were red now.

“Wow, that sounds really horrible! I'm glad I could find you before–” In the last moment, she bit on her tongue. “– before you got a cold!” She ruffled Ginger's mane again, to distract her from the interruption in her sentence.

Ginger closed her eyes and giggled.

“Let's go to the townhall!” Alula got up and placed a couple of bits on the table.

“To the townhall?” Ginger cocked her little head.

“Yep! I'm sure the mayor will find your parents in no time!”

Ginger Green skipped down from her chair. “YAAAAAAAAAAAY!” the little filly shouted as she ran towards the exit.

A couple of minutes later, Alula and Ginger entered the townhall. Mayor Mare was sorting a few documents into a drawer as the two fillies approached her. She already wanted to ask what she can do for them, as her eyes fell on Ginger and widened.

“Hello!” she said to them. She leaned down to the younger filly. “Are you Ginger Green, by chance?”

Ginger nodded. “Have mommy and daddy talked to you?” Her eyes were glowing with anticipation.

“They did,” the mayor answered the eager question. “They were here just an hour ago and reported that you went missing. They left to search for you again, but I told them to come back later in case you should find your way here.”

Ginger opened her mouth and a hearty laugh of relief came out of it.

Mayor Mare turned at Alula. “And you found her? Alula, right?”

“Yes. She was wandering around alone at the Critter Snow Festival and she was freezing. I bought her soup and tea at Clover Café and then I brought her here.”

“That was really kind of you, Alula.” She smiled, before her face grew darker. “And necessary. According to the pegasi, the thermometer is going to drop 20° below freezing-point tonight! I don't want to imagine what would happen if she were still outside then.”

Alula breathed in strongly, knowing all too well what would happen then. Or, happened. But she quickly reminded herself that everything was fine now and calmed down again.

Mayor Mare looked back at Ginger Green. “Just wait here until your parents are back. I'm sure they will come to pick you up very soon.”

“Can I stay, too?” Alula asked.

“Of course, Alula! It's nothing that I would deny our great hero!”

Alula blushed. “That's no big deal,” she said.

Mayor Mare only chuckled, then she pointed at a bench nearby. “Just get comfortable over there. If you want, I can let you bring hot tea. I'm sure our little guest here can still need it.”
Ginger Green smiled widely, her red nose sticking out to the mayor. Then she ran up to the bench and sat down with Alula.

The two fillies had to wait less than half an hour, then the doors of the townhall got opened and in trotted a brown mare and a green stallion.

Ginger put down her almost empty cup of tea and jumped up from her seat. “Mommy! Daddy!” she squealed and galloped to her parents.

Alula watched with a smile how the parents lowered down and embraced their daughter in a tight group hug.

~ * ~

“So, that's the it?” Alula put down her mug of cocoa after having just taken a sip. “You think that Peach Fuzz can't really deal with her problems and that her constant optimism is a sign of weakness and not strength?”

“Yeah!” Train Tracks said. “That's not how it works! If you want to stay strong even when you feel bad over something, you need to be harsh and keep pushing yourself!” He rubbed his head, as he felt a slight pain there now.

Peach Fuzz put a hoof on his shoulder, worried.

“And sometimes.....” he trailed off, not sure how to put it. “Sometimes I think that you are just weak, Peach Fuzz, and not as strong as you always let me think!”

Alula tapped her chin, then she addressed Train Tracks with another question. “And what if that were really true? If Peach Fuzz were weaker than you, would you break up and leave her then?”

“No!” Train Tracks' head shot up. “I wouldn't leave her alone, but.....” He grinded his teeth. “But..... But that's what makes us special. Me and her, we both stay strong even in hard times and when I met her, that's what I admired about her. We're so similar and that's why our bond is so strong. But if I was somehow wrong about that and Peach Fuzz isn't even as strong as I thought she is..... then that's gone.” He lifted his cup and gulped down a large amount of cocoa.

“So you are afraid that Peach Fuzz and you are too different. Right?” Alula deducted.

“Yeah.....” Train Tracks admitted, putting his mug down.

During most of the conversation, Peach Fuzz had been listening silently while Train Tracks' was venting his concerns. Now she wrapped both hooves around him and pulled him close at her.

“Train Tracks..... We aren't so different. I know I have a different approach to a problem, but it works out just as fine.”

“Approach, how? You mean ignoring your problems all the time?” he huffed.

Peach Fuzz shook her head. “No. Being optimistic and cheerful doesn't mean to ignore a problem. It just means that I'm not focusing on it all the time and that I have hopes that everything will get better again. That's what giving me strength, Train Tracks.”

The face of the colt softened somewhat. “Okay,” he said. “But why do you always complain about my way of dealing with a problem then? This really makes you sound like you don't even care about solving a problem that bothers you.”
Peach Fuzz shook her head again. “I'm not complaining. I just don't want that you get hurt by being too hard to yourself, Train Tracks.”

“But it's not hurting me! That's just how I do it!” he flared up a little again.

Alula intervened. “Let's stay calm, okay?”

Train Tracks huffed and looked away.

“From what you told me,” Alula continued “it looks like both of you need to change something. Train Tracks”– she turned at the colt –“you need to allow Peach Fuzz to be worried about you. That's how a relationship works, she just cares about you.”

Train Tracks looked up.

“And you, Peach Fuzz”– she turned at her now –“ you need to go a little more easy on Train Tracks with your worries. He said that's his way of doing things and that it works for him. That's something you need to respect, just like he respects your way. Just give him some freedom, but offer him to always listen if he needs you to talk about something.”

Peach Fuzz looked up, too, now. Her face showed a pondering expression now, just like Train Tracks' face did.

“Can you agree on this together?” Alula looked over them.

“I don't want to fight.....” Peach Fuzz spoke, sadly. “I agree.”

“It's not like I want to fight with you,” Train Tracks clarified. “It's just.....” He sighed. “Okay, I agree.”

For a moment, Peach Fuzz and Train Tracks looked at each other. Smiles built on their faces only slowly, but eventually they fell into each other's hooves for a tight embrace.

“Now, that's a paradise!” Alula said and sipped at her cocoa in satisfaction. Then she put down the mug at her side and got up. “Sorry, guys, but now I need to go. There's some other stuff I have to take care of.” She waved her friends goodbye and left.

The two other foals turned around and saw her galloping away. “Hey, wait!” Peach Fuzz shouted. “What other stuff? I thought we're spending the Critter Snow Festival together!”

But Alula did not hear her anymore.

Alula moved down a street of Ponyville in a fast trot. She looked at the clocktower and her eyes shrunk. Her tempo increased and she galloped up to a house. From the distance, she could already see a stallion being busy with doing a late effort to hang some Hearth's Warming decoration on his house. A second later, the stallion tripped on the ladder. In a rush, Alula pulled a mattress out from behind a tree and placed it under the ladder, just in time for the stallion to land softly. Alula wiped some sweat off her face.

Cursing, the stallion got up and climbed back up the ladder with a grim look in his eyes.

“And you never thank me,” Alula frowned and huffed. “I'll see you tomorrow, you can thank me then. Maybe.”

Above Ponyville's roofs, Derpy was flying on her mail route. She was approaching another house, as she suddenly heard something ripping. Shocked, she watched how all the mail she was carrying fell out of a large hole in her mailbag.

“Oh, no, all the Hearth's Warming cards!” She looked at the letters and cards that rained down now, readying herself to try and catch them before they'd land on the snow and get wet. But before she could do so, a yellow blur zipped at them and snatched them away. It flew upwards and stopped in front of her.

“Oh, thank you so much, Alula! If you hadn't caught them, so many greeting cards wouldn't have arrived, it would be terrible!” Derpy's mouth was one, broad smile.

“No need to thank me,” Alula dismissed. “I was flying by anyway, it's nothing. And now, let me fix that bag!” She hoofed Derpy the letters, then pulled out a needle and thread and began stitching the hole together.

Five minutes later, Derpy was back on her route. She waved at Alula and the filly waved back, sighing in content.

Back at the Critter Snow Festival, a loud shriek sounded into Alula's ears. Close to the fire, a stallion with a camera and a jacket saying “Canterlot Chronicles” stood. He was about to fall face-first into the burning wood, but Alula zipped at his side and pushed him away from the fire. He yelped as he landed on the ground, but was otherwise unharmed.

“Try to find a safer spot before taking a picture, okay?” Alula adviced him, then flew away.

The reporter looked after her in a mixture of shock and surprise.

Later at night, the Critter Snow Festival was in full swing. The gifting ceremony for the animals, the highlight of the festival, had just happened, but the party continued. Loud dance music was coming from the speakers, motivating ponies to shake their tails to it, and in front of the stage, other ponies listened to a yovidaphone concert.

Peach Fuzz and Train Tracks had just arrived in front of the stage. They gasped in surprise as they saw who one of the players on the stage was. Next to the yak, they could see Alula, rivaling the yak with her performance.

Not far away from them, Scootaloo stood. She listened to the concert with just as much awe.

As it was over, Alula and the yak bowed down to the audience. It gave them a massive applause that only died down slowly.

Her yak teacher smiled at Alula. “Alula making yak proud,” he said. “Best yovidaphone student yak ever had.” He shed a tear, then turned at the audience. “Give another applause to best yak student Alula!” his voice roared over the ponies at the stage.

The ponies followed the call. Clapping their hooves together and stomping on the ground, they gave Alula standing ovations.

Smiling, Alula went down the stairs and left the stage. Peach Fuzz and Train Tracks trotted up to her.

“Welcome to the party!” Alula said, exchanging hoofbumps with them.

Their faces looked overwhelmed. “I didn't know you can play a yovidaphone!” Train Tracks said, marvelled.

“I'm a filly of many talents!” Alula smirked.

On the stage, the yak started playing again, a more upbeat composition this time. Alula, Peach Fuzz and Train Tracks joined the other ponies in dancing to the beat.

“It's Alula!” a voice suddenly called her name, coming from a pony who was dancing past them and Alula turned around.

Derpy stood there, with Dinky at her side. “Thank you again for me helping this morning!” Derpy expressed her gratitude.

“It's nothing, really.” Alula smiled modestly.

“I've never seen a pony who is faster with a needle than her. Even Rarity would be jealous!” Derpy told Peach Fuzz and Train Tracks.

“What's that about?” Peach Fuzz asked, sounding confused and impressed at the same time.

“I have really no idea,” Alula said. “She probably confused me with somepony else.” A smirk on her face revealed the lie.

“There you are!” somepony else suddenly shouted. The reporter from earlier galloped up to her. He gave Alula a crushing hug. “I could never thank you! Without you, my face would be a crisp now!”

“Might have been. You were way too close to that fire.” Alula presented him with a smile.

“I owe you one!” The stallion nudged her, then turned at Peach Fuzz and Train Tracks. “You two have the best friend ever, hold on to her!” Then he disappeared in the crowd again.

“What did you do today?” Train Tracks asked.

“Oh, just the same as always.” Alula shrugged her shoulders.

“Excuse me, Alula?” yet another voice suddenly spoke up. It came from a mare with brown coat. “I want to thank you for helping my daughter today.” Ginger Green and her dad showed up at her side.

Ginger took it into her hooves to thank Alula herself again. The little filly booped her nose. “You are the best, Alula! I wish you would be my big sister!”

The warm gesture let Alula's heart melt. “I would like that, too. And, hey, here's something for you.” Alula reached into the pocket of her anorak and pulled out something. She hoofed it to the filly. “Happy Hearth's Warming Eve, Ginger!”

Ginger Green looked at the slip of paper in her hooves. Her eyes grew wide as she had deciphered the text printed on it. “A ticket for Coloratura's next concert!” The young filly jumped up an down in excitement. “Thank you, thank you, thank you!” She jumped at Alula and hugged her tightly. Alula squeezed her. Then Ginger Green jumped at her parents in the same way. “Look, look, a Coloratura ticket!” she said in her high-pitched voice, over and over again.

“Thank you again,” her mom said. “Ginger Green really is lucky that she met you.” Then the little family left them.

Peach Fuzz and Train Tracks stopped dancing. “Okay, Alula, what's going on?” Train Tracks scrutinized her now.

“Nothing,” Alula said, simply. She shrugged her shoulders again, making an innocent face.

Peach Fuzz didn't buy it. “You're lying. Something is going on.”

Train Tracks nodded in agreement.

“It's a long story,” Alula finally gave in, somewhat. “I'll tell you later. But first, I want to show you something!”

She left the dancefloor in front of the stage and signaled her friends to come after her.

A little further away, a large structure stood, covered with a tarp. “Just stand here,” Alula instructed Train Tracks and Peach Fuzz. As they were ready, she grabbed the tarp and pulled it down from the structure.

A large ice sculpture got revealed to them. Peach Fuzz and Train Tracks could see themselves in the glistening eyes. Their ice counterparts stood there, hooves wrapped around each other and sharing a passionate kiss.

Peach Fuzz lifted a hoof to her mouth. Tears entered her eyes. “You made this for us, Alula?”

Train Tracks joined her side and wrapped a hoof around his fillyfriend.

“Just for you!” Alula confirmed. “You really deserve it, after all the trouble I put you through.”

“Trouble?” Train Tracks asked, clueless.

“I mean..... all the trouble I could have put you through. Almost.” She rubbed the back of her head.The response only deepend her friends' confusion.

“Anyway, there's another pony I need to talk to now.” In the distance she could see Scootaloo, dancing between the ponies all alone.

“See you around!” Alula waved at them, then made her way towards the other pegasus.

~ * ~

Drowsily, Alula opened her eyes. As she recognized the familiar song that entered her ears, she sighed. She had resigned to her fate by the time the singing had stopped.

“Finally!” a voice suddenly spoke. The next thing she knew was a pillow getting thrown onto her face. She heard a giggle.

Removing the pillow and turning to he right, Alula saw Scootaloo sitting next to her, grinning widely. “I can't believe you slept through half of the day, it's already afternoon! Your mom made a great breakfast and a great lunch and you missed out on both!”

Alula blinked, then she sat up. She stared at Scootaloo. “That's different.”

“Yep! Looks like Critter Snow Day is finally over for you!”

Alula nodded quietly, as memories of last night flooded her brain, including the conversation she and Scootaloo had before they fell asleep. Around them, the bed was still covered in wrappers from bon bons and chocolate bars, indicating that the party had not ended at the Critter Snow Festival.

Alula's emotions overwhelmed her and she pulled Scootaloo in for a hug. “That's real,” she said, feeling the body warmth of the other filly. Then something dawned on her and she retreated. “Hey, you made me think the day's still looping by singing that song!”
Scootaloo stuck out her tongue. “That's your punishment for saying you will spend Hearth's Warming Eve with me and then sleeping all the time!” A pillow got smacked into her face. “It just was a really long day, okay?” Alula defended herself.

The two fillies engaged in a pillow fight for several minutes. As both of them were worn out and tired from it, they fell into the bed at each other's side, still laughing.

“Today is tomorrow,” Alula spoke as the laughing had stopped. “It's finally over!” She laughed again, from pure joy and relief. Then her stomach grumbled.

Another round of laughter between the two fillies followed.

“Let's go down and grab something to eat!” Alula prompted. “It's time for something new!”

“You mean, you will eat something. I'm still pretty full!” Scootaloo countered.

“Then I'll better catch up with your meals! Besides, I still have a cutie mark to get!”

They exchanged grins, then got up from the bed. Filled with joy and anticipation over the upcoming Hearth's Warming celebration, they rushed out of the room and down the stairs, laughing all the way down.

Critter Snow Day is here!

Author's Note

This story uses line breaks to indicate many sudden switches of scenery, which are hard to notice with spaced paragraphs. For optimal reading experience, change your settings under "Formatting" in the top-right corner to indented paragraphs.

Credit for the song lyrics goes to Skypause Bgp:

A Hearth's Warming Carol

Critter Snow Day is here!

Critter Snow Day

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“And that's how bears make it through winter.” The yellow pegasus filly in front of the blackboard looked up from her cards, casting a smug smile over the class. The rest of the foals in the small classroom watched her with slight unease in their faces. For a moment, Alula locked eyes with a colt in the last row of desks, her smile turning genuine and her face looking dreamily.

The expression changed and her smile got turned upside down as the colt with the red mane and the grey coat suddenly turned to the left, eyes becoming glued on another filly who sat at the desk right next to him. Her mane was orange and a bit shorter than it was usually the case for fillies her age. It looked simple and slightly old-fashioned, but it cast a smile on the colt's face as it rustled when she turned around to look at him. The warm glow in their eyes indicated their relationship and a second later, said relationship became confirmed as both of them leaned out of their desks simultaneously and brought their faces close to each other's. Their lips met and their eyes closed. Wearing a slight blush, the two foals exchanged a passionate kiss. The room and their fellow classmates disappeared for them.

Noticing the ever-growing frown on the yellow filly's face, who only stared now instead of continuing to talk, Miss Cheerilee followed her eyes, realizing what was responsible for the sudden interruption.

“Peach Fuzz, Train Tracks,” she called the young twosome in a calm voice, yet with a certain strictness permeating it.

The mentioned foals opened their eyes and released their kiss. Sheepishly, they looked to the front of the classroom again.

“I am very happy that you share such a deep bond with each other, but please pay attention to Alula's presentation now and wait with the affection until after school.” Despite her scolding, Miss Cheerilee's face radiated warmth and her expression indicated sympathy for the youthful impatience.

Some foals in the classroom began to snicker and giggle.

“Yes, Miss Cheerilee!” Peach Fuzz and Train Tracks answered at the same time, now wearing a brighter blush. They hung their heads and sighed.

Satisfied, Miss Cheerilee returned her attention to Alula, who now gritted her teeth. “Please continue, Alula,” she said.

Hesitant to detract her eyes from the colt, the romantic scene still playing in her head, the pegasus filly only looked back at her cards after a few moments. She picked her presentation back up just early enough for her teacher to stop herself before she would call her name again. Alula's hooves trembled slightly, but then she focused and continued.

“Last on the list are squirrels,” she said. “Unlike most animals, squirrels don't go into hibernation, only hibernal rest. While they are dormant for most of the day, they leave their nests and go searching for food for one or two hours each day. During summer, squirrels bury nuts and acorns in the ground to ensure they have enough to eat in the cold months. This is why squirrels don't starve during winter, not even when ponies don't feed them. Squirrels are true masters of survival.”

Alula lowered her cards and looked up at her listening classmates. A smirk appeared on her face. “And that is why the Critter Snow Day is completely useless and the dumbest tradition in all of pony history. I am glad I can remember you that it's just another excuse for ponies to celebrate and to stuff themselves with unhealthy food and for adults to get drunk and run into lampposts on their way home. This was my presentation about the survival of animals during winter, Alula, out.” She casually tucked away her cards with one wing and proceeded to leave for her desk, the eyes of her shocked classmates resting on her, but the voice of her teacher made her stop in her tracks and turn around.

“Thank you for this presentation, Alula,” Miss Cheerilee said, brows furrowed. “You did a very good job with your research, although the mean remarks about the Critter Snow Day were not necessary. You may want to try it without the snark next time.” The strict tone had returned into her voice.

Alula answered the reprimand with a roll of her eyes, one she didn't even try to hide, then finally made her way through the rows of desks and sat down on her own, not paying anymore attention to her teacher. As soon as she had planted her flank on the wooden surface of her stool, her head shot to the left. With sitting just one desk further to the right, she had a good view of Train Tracks and Peach Fuzz. Her teeth became gritted once more as she noticed how the two love-dazed foals still exchanged the occasional, dreamy glance with each other.

In front of the classroom, Miss Cheerilee shook her head and let out a weary sigh. She looked away from Alula and trotted past her desk, then positioned herself at the same spot the pegasus filly had just stood on. A short glance between the papers on her desk, where her watch lied, later, Miss Cheerilee addressed the entire class.

“That's it for today, my students,” she said. “I will grade your presentations over the holidays, but for now, school is over until next year!” She presented her class with a bright smile.

Some of the foals groaned. The imagination of having to wait anxiously before they would find out how well they did with their presentations on Hearth's Warming Eve of all days filled their minds with dread.

“As you know” – the teacher continued – “tomorrow is Critter Snow Day and you can bring a gift for the animals from the early morning hours until the evening so don't forget to make your contribution.” Just as she had finished her sentence, the school bell rang to mark the end of the lesson. Immediately, the foals began to stir and reached for their saddlebags, except for Alula, who kept watching her two friends with a stone-cold glare.

Miss Cheerilee stayed calm in the sudden commotion, only raising her voice slightly. “I wish all of you a Merry Hearth's Warming and a Happy New Year! Use the time to rest up and have fun!”

For a moment, the group of students interrupted their flurry to look at their teacher. “Thank you, Miss Cheerilee! We wish you a Merry Hearth's Warming, too!” the orchestra of high-pitched, adorable voices filled the classroom with holiday spirit.

Miss Cheerilee's smile turned into a grin. She watched the foals as they continued to empty their desks for a few moments, then turned around to the blackboard and took an eraser into her hoof. Diligently and with a hum coming from her mouth, she wiped the drawings of a squirrel, a bear and various other animals from the board.

At the other end of the classroom, Peach Fuzz and Train Tracks had finished packing their saddlebags. Peach Fuzz chucked her pair of saddlebags on her back merrily, then she turned to Train Tracks and draped his own saddlebags over his back.

Train Tracks' eyelids got lowered slightly and he presented the filly with a charming smile. “Thanks, Peachy,” he spoke in his rather deep voice.

Peach Fuzz smiled at him adorably in return. A moment later, both foals leaned in on each other and their faces became as close as they had been a few minutes earlier. A cheerful squeak left Peach Fuzz' throat as their lips touched. She looked into Train Tracks' eyes for a few seconds, then both of them closed their eyes and started with fervid kissing.

Unnoticed by them, Alula was still staring. Seeing the passionate affection shared by the two other foals, a dark shadow crept on her face. As she felt that she couldn't take the heat that was flaring up in her chest anymore, she cleared her throat. The sound was loud and intense and it sufficed to make Peach Fuzz and Train Tracks stop.

Their lips and faces separated and they turned around to Alula. Train Tracks presented the pegasus filly with an unhappy frown. Peach Fuzz, however, managed to keep her cheery mood. She looked at her friend, an apologetic expression in her eyes. “Sorry, Alula,” she chirped. “Did we let you wait?”

Alula's glare shot daggers at Peach Fuzz, but then she suddenly shrugged and her face took on a surprisingly casual and calm expression. “No, it's fine. I don't really care, I haven't started packing yet anyway.” She turned away from her friend and began to rummage in her desk.

Swiftly, the little pegasus pulled out a couple of books and dropped them into her saddlebags. Flapping her wings, she took off a few inches and cleared the surface of the desk of her notebook, her ink bottle and her quill, which wandered into the saddlebags, as well. As everything was stashed away, she zipped down to her bags, pulled them up from the ground and snapped them shut, then threw them on her back.

“Alright, I'm done here, let's leave,” she announced and flew ahead, towards the exit of the classroom. As she didn't hear hoofsteps following her after a few seconds, she stopped and turned around.

Peach Fuzz and Train Tracks had stayed behind and Alula's eyes fell on them just in time to see how they stopped nuzzling each other and began to prepare another kiss. She rolled her eyes. “Oh, for Luna's sake.....” She flew back a little. “Hey! Are we going to stay here and repeat this forever or can we finally get going?”

The two lovers separated again, but not without sharing at least a little peck on each other's lips. Each of them draping a hoof over their partner's back, they set themselves into motion and followed Alula to the exit.

It was only as they were outside that the two of them caught up with Alula. The filly now fluttering at their side, Peach Fuzz looked up at her. “Hey, Alula. What will you get the critters for tomorrow?”

Alula turned her head, looking down at her friend. “I will bring them a crossbow and arrows so they can hunt their food themselves.” Despite the silly, snarky answer, her face was almost completely deadpan and serious. Only her eyes radiated a little bit of glee.

“Oh, come on!” Peach Fuzz reached up and gave Alula a pat on the back, her face showing a smile that was somewhere between amusement and disbelief. “It's a beautiful tradition, why do you not like it?”

“Because it's useless!” Alula replied, her voice slightly raising in volume.

“It's not useless!” Peach Fuzz gave her friend a pat again, stronger this time. “It makes them happy when they see we care about them!”

“Oh, please, they don't even need that care!” Alula threw her hooves into the air. “They are animals, they are used to get through the winter without food donations from ponies. Did you even listen to my presentation, that was the whole point of it!”

“Aww, but we can show them we care. What's wrong about giving the critters some Hearth's Warming gifts? It's fun to see them so happy about it.” Some disappointment had crept into Peach Fuzz' voice.

“Hearth's Warming,” Alula whispered while rolling her eyes. She sighed. “Animals don't even celebrate Hearth's–”

Before she could finish her sentence, Train Tracks interrupted her. “I really don't get why you hate the Critter Snow Day so much. Ever since Fluttershy established it, we have one more day of vacation each year. How can you not like this?” The tone in his voice was rough.

Alula huffed. “And that is the only good thing about it!” She turned away and looked ahead again, now grim-faced. The sentence had ended their conversation and they quietly followed the path between the buildings of Ponyville, until Peach Fuzz pointed at a split of the path in front of them and her soft, juicy voice rang out again.

“We're there, Alula. Now it's time to say goodbye for today, but we're seeing us again tomorrow morning, right?” She sent a pearly-white grin up to her friend.

“I know, I've seen it!” she shouted in response. “You don't need to point this out to me, Peach! What do you think, that I'm dumb?!” She huffed again, letting air out of her nostrils.

“I didn't say you're dumb!” Peach Fuzz responded, still wearing a smile on her face. “You were so angry, I just wanted to remind you so you won't forget about tomorrow.”

“Alright, whatever,” Alula said. “I'll see you tomorrow, but not because of this idiotic tradition!” She hovered a little lower, giving each of her friends a hoofbump, then zipped away on the fork to the left.

Peach Fuzz and Train Tracks watched her fly away, then Train Tracks turned towards his fillyfriend. “Did she really just call the Critter Snow Day 'idiotic'?”
Peach Fuzz only shrugged her shoulders, then she turned around and kissed Train Tracks' cheek.

~ * ~

In her bed, Alula slowly stirred after singing from below had entered her ears. She heard a knock and, before her tired senses could realize that it came from the door of her house, her mother's cheerful voice rang out.

“Oh, good morning, Fluttershy!” the voice chimed.

“Good Morning!” the timid pegasus mare answered, exuberantly. “I hope you are all ready for fun times today, because it's CRITTER SNOW DAY!” As she mentioned the yearly tradition, voices of other ponies joined in and increased the volume of her cheer much more than Alula could tolerate so early in the morning.

The filly pulled the pillow out from under her head and pressed it down on her ears. “Why does it have to be the same every year? It's too early.....” She groaned.

“And don't forget to put your snow booties on,” Fluttershy continued to chime below her. “It's really cold out here today and we don't want you to get sick!”

There was an awkward silence for a few seconds, then the voice of the mare returned. It sounded slightly embarrassed now. “Oh, goodness! Did I really just say that? I'm normally not using a word like this in front of other ponies, it's only for my animals. But I look forward to the festival tonight so much that it just slipped out of me!” The rhythmic clopping of hooves that found their way into Alula's ears now indicated to the filly that Fluttershy was prancing around in joy right now.

“Anyway,” she heard her speak again after the clopping had stopped. “Will you come to the Critter Snow Festival today or would you like to give me something for the critters right now?”

Alula's mother laughed. “Oh, of course I will come, Fluttershy! I wouldn't miss Critter Snow Day for anything in Equestria! I can only join you in the evening, but I will send Alula over. I bet her friends will come, too!”

“Great!” Fluttershy cheered. “Me and the animals are waiting for you. Happy Critter Snow Day!”

“Happy Critter Snow Day to you too, Fluttershy!” Alula heard her mother say one final sentence. Then, after a few seconds of silence, she heard the door getting closed. The singing that had woken her up returned, causing Alula to press down on the pillow harder while the voices became more and more faint as the group of singers marshed onwards to the next houses.

As she could finally not hear a trace of it anymore, Alula removed the pillow from her ears, lazily tossed it in one corner of the room and sat up in her bed. She yawned loudly and rubbed the sleep out of one of her eyes. The eye that was free fell on the alarm clock on her nightstand. It hadn't gone off yet and the thick, rainbow-coloured numbers on it showed that it was barely past six.

Alula blinked, then shook her head in a disconcerted way. “It's NUTS to be woken up like this!” she shouted into the room as she climbed out of her bed, not caring about the volume of her voice.

The filly staggered to a calendar on the wall opposite of her bed. All the sleepiness in her face and the grumpy expression disappeared, as her eyes zeroed-in on a thick, red circle in the middle of it. “Today's the day,” she whispered solemnly.

She eyed the circle for a few seconds, then her eyes drifted away to the right where her desk stood. She trotted over to it and plucked something from a bulletin board made of cork that hung on the wall above her desk. The object that rested in her hooves now was a picture, a photograph of Train Tracks. Alula's heart did a jump and her face became slightly red as she took in the charming smile of the colt. His eyes seemed to look at something to his right, but there was nothing but the tattered edge of the picture. A hint of orange was close to it, though.

Smiling dreamily, Alula moved her left hoof over the photo. “I am working on this plan for months now and today, it will finally pay off,” she continued to whisper. She pressed the photo against her chest and gripped it tightly, her blush increasing. “Today, I will finally change the switch and ride the tracks right into your heart!”

Alula snuggled the picture for a while longer, then she put it back on the board. She stretched herself and groaned again, comfortably this time, then turned left and trotted through the door into the bathroom that was connected to her bedroom. Arrived at the lavatory, Alula let her eyes wander over her manebrush and her toothbrush, then she turned on the faucet and splashed some cold water into her face. She rubbed it dry with a towel, then took a glance into the mirror. As she found that her look was to her satisfaction, the filly nodded and gave her reflection a determined grin.

Prepared for the day ahead of her, Alula left her bedroom. She was barely outside as she ran into her mother who had just come up the stairs. The mare smiled at her daughter. “Good Morning, Alula! Are you ready for the Critter Snow Festival today?” She was brimming with morning cheer.

Alula flinched, resentment building on her face. “Yeah, yeah, the critters..... Train Tracks and Peach Fuzz are going there, I'll just tag along after them.” She marched ahead, past her mother, who was now wearing a frown. As she was halfway down the stairs, a sound coming from behind made her stop in her tracks.

“Oh, your alarm clock is ringing, honey. Will you please go back inside and turn it off?” Her mother turned around and looked at her, expectantly.

Alula turned her head around only slightly. “For what? It's going to turn itself off anyway. In about ten minutes, or so.” She flicked her tail dismissively.

“Alula, please. We don't have to listen to this during breakfast.”
The filly groaned over her mother's urgency and turned around fully, stomping back up the stairs and into her room. She hit the button on top of the clock and returned into the corridor.

“There you go,” she said, giving her mother a wide, defiant smile. “Now you can hear your disruptive, way-too-early-in-the-morning carols again, mom!” Without waiting for a response, she marched ahead and down the stairs again. “At least close the door, I have important stuff to do today!” she shouted back up.

The mare looked after her daughter, frowning again. She closed the door of Alula's bedroom with a heavy sigh leaving her lips, then followed her down the stairs.

In the kitchen, Alula started flying and aimed for one of the cupboards. She hastily pulled a slice of toast out of one of the bags inside and took a large bite from it before she hovered to one of the chairs and sat down. She didn't bother to close the cupboard again.

A few seconds later, her mother entered the room. She used her magic to close the cupboard, another frown building on her face, then sat down at her daughter's side. She gave her a sad look, then put a hoof around Alula's shoulders.

“Why are you always so grumpy lately, Alula? You didn't used to be like this,” she probed.

Alula huffed and put the last piece of the toast into her mouth. “I am not grumpy!” she clarified, just a little bit less loud than before. A few bits of the toast spilled from her mouth onto the table. She took flight again, leaving the hoof of her mother hanging. “I just don't have time for all this crap today, I am busy!” she continued while flying towards the fridge.

“Alula!” her mother shouted and turned around in her chair. “How often have I told you not to swear!”

Alula just looked at her mother smugly. “No rest for the wicked!” she countered, then took a big gulp out of a jug full of milk that she was holding now before she put it back inside. She tilted her body slightly, then smashed the door shut with a powerful kick of her hind hooves.

Paying no further attention to her mother, she flew towards her next destination, the foyer. She reached for her winter jacket but, before she could pull it off the hook, her nose tickled and she erupted into a strong sneeze. A bit of mucus trickled out of one of her nostrils and Alula sniffed it back up. She groaned and scrunched her face, suddenly feeling a light headache.

“You're not getting sick, are you?” the voice of her mother entered her ears, then she noticed the sound of her hoofsteps as she came closer.

“I'm okay,” Alula commented on her condition, ignoring the weakness in her voice.

“Turn around at me,” her mother commanded.

The filly followed only begrudgingly and another groan left her as she felt her mom's hoof on her forehead.

“Hmm, no fever,” the mare determined. “How do you feel, Alula? Maybe you should stay at home.” The anger she had felt a moment ago became replaced with motherly concern now.

“I said I am okay.” Some mucus left her nose again as she had finished the sentence, ruining her assertion.

Noticing it, Alula's mother opened a drawer with her magic and pulled out a tissue. She brought it close to Alula's face but, before she could wipe her nose, she felt her hoof getting slapped away.

“I can do this myself! What do you think, that I'm a baby?!” Alula hissed and yanked the tissue out of her mom's hoof. She landed on the floor and proceeded to clean her nose by herself. The hurt expression in her mother's face was acknowledged by her with nothing more than an angry glare.

Alula turned her head around and took a look at it. “This?! It's going to take ages to put that on! I finally need to get to Tra–” In the last moment, she bit on her tongue and suppressed the treacherous words.

Her mother did not reply. Instead, she grabbed her daughter's shoulder and swiftly turned her around, then began to wrap her into the anorak.

Alula groaned and blushed. “For the love of.....” she breathed and rolled her eyes. “Mom? Are you even listening?! I said–”

Her words got muffled by a scarf that was pressed onto her mouth and nose. She felt it getting wrapped around her head, then forcefully tied at her neck. Finally, her mother reached behind her and pulled up the hood, covering her mane and ears. Only as this was done, she let go of her daughter, but immediately reached for the boots that were tidily placed under the rack. Before she could grab them and put them on Alula's hooves, however, the filly used her chance and hovered into the air again. She zipped over her mom and landed in front of the door, then hastily grabbed the doorknob and pulled it open. She already wanted to fly outside, as a familiar face appeared in front of her and forced her to slow down.

Framed by the door, Peach Fuzz stood and smiled at her. Wrapped around her neck was a violet scarf with dark yellow dots and her ears were covered by white ear muffs. The purple strap that held them together formed a strong contrast to the soft, orange color of her mane.

She waved at Alula. “Good Morning, Alula!” she greeted her, voice chirpy as always.

“Morning, but I have no time to talk. I am being chased by a giant hen.” The snark in her voice lingered in the air for a moment after she buzzed over Peach Fuzz and away from the house, leaving her friend behind in confusion.

Peach Fuzz presented Alula's mom, who had appeared in the door now, with a quick wave, then she turned on her hooves and hurried after the pegasus filly. “Alula, wait for me!”

Alula's mother looked at the small, flying figure of her daughter in the distance with sadness in her eyes. She wiped some tears out of them, then sighed and closed the door.

“Hey, Alula!” Peach Fuzz shouted at her friend again.

Being a good distance away from her house now, Alula finally turned around and landed, just in time for the other filly to catch up.

Peach Fuzz came to a halt, panting. “Hey, what was that about a giant hen?” The confusion was still plastered all over her face.

Another smirk appeared in Alula's face. “I told you, a giant hen!”

“Mean, pfft.....” Alula gave the air above her a single eye roll. “Hey, I am a twelve-year-old filly and she tried to clean my nose like I'm a toddler! Maybe now she will learn to treat me with respect!” She stared into Peach Fuzz' eyes, angrily.

After a few moments of running like that, Alula's eyes caught sight of an orange colt coming out from a backstreet and joining Peach Fuzz' side.

“First Base,” she mumbled under her scarf. She watched the other foals talking, then noticed how glued First Base's eyes were on Peach Fuzz. He barely paid attention to where he was running to. “Sorry, buddy,“ Alula commented on the sight. “You're not going to score here, Peach Fuzz' heart already belongs to somepony else. But maybe you can have her once I have hooked Train Tracks. Then everypony's happy!” For once, there was no trace of sarcasm in her voice.

“How do you feel? Does anything hurt?” Peach Fuzz placed a hoof on Alula's shoulder.

“Nah, not more than you would expect. This body isn't ruined so easily.” Alula casually wiped some dirt of her anorak, then she started running again without prior notice. “Come on, let's finally meet up with Train Tracks!” she shouted back over her shoulder, grinning from anticipation.

A warm smile building on Peach Fuzz' face indicated her agreement and she followed Alula eagerly.

“Hmm, there are too many options, I can't decide what we should get for the critters. What about you, Peachy?” He removed his hoof from his eyes and looked at his fillyfriend.

“Alula, let's split up, okay? Me and Train Tracks check out the right side and you can go to the left.” She did not wait for a response before she looked back at Train Tracks. Still wearing the blush, Peach Fuzz giggled, then she removed her hoof form Train Tracks face and pulled him along with the other one. The colt gladly obliged, showing no resistance.

Alula sighed. “Yeah, whatever.....” She turned away from the two happy lovers and stomped into the other direction, her eyes glaring down at the ground. “It's just a little longer now,” she mumbled into her scarf, reassuring herself. “I just need to keep myself together for a few more hours.” The words having their intended effect, her lips curled up into a smile and her eyes started to radiate a fierce determination.

Her tempo increasing, Alula looked up from the ground and set her eyes on a random stall. She trotted up to it swiftly.

Noticing a visitor, the pink mare with the bright green mane waved at her. “Hello, Alula!” Daisy said, happy to see another customer. “Are you here to buy something for the critters? I'm not sure if we have the right things for them, but feel free to look around!” Behind her, Lily and Roseluck, her two sisters, restocked the shelves of the stall.

“This?” Daisy said and raised an eyebrow. “But that's a wax apple, you can't feed this to critters.”

But as the words were leaving her mouth, Alula had already turned around and was trotting away from the stall. “Yeah, yeah, I'm sure an apple will do fine,” she mumbled in response, absentmindedly, as she left the stall behind her.

It was a couple of minutes later that Alula found herself at the edge of town, not far from Fluttershy's cottage and near the entrance of the Whitetail Woods. Initially, she had planned to stay at the market and to wait for Peach Fuzz and Train Tracks until they had finished their shopping and returned to her. But when she gave it a thought, she realized that the slight nervousness and anticipation she felt in sight of her plan made waiting simply impossible. So she had decided to move on to the place of the Critter Snow Festival without them, despite how much she hated it, in hopes that they would arrive there shortly after herself.

Alula trotted over the snowy field swiftly, doing her best to ignore the chit-chat of ponies about the Critter Snow Day and the loud dance music coming from all sides and out of speakers that had been set up all over the place. Her eyes were firmly fixated on a pile of food on a wooden structure, at the far end of the festival grounds and right next to the first trees of the Whitetail Woods, as a turquoise filly with a light brown mane slowly staggered into her direction. The green ear muffs she was wearing did nothing to hide that she seemed to freeze. She was small in size, barely reaching up to Alula's head, which made it all the more easy for Alula to look through her. The young filly stretched out a trembling hoof just as Alula passed her. For a moment, Alula could hear the teeth of the filly clatter from the cold, then she was out of her sight.

A few steps closer to the pile, Alula's concentration got broken by a screechy and exciting shout of her name.

“Alula?!”

She could hear hoofsteps approaching her and as she looked to her right, her eyes fell on another pegasus filly with an orange coat and a purple mane. Her wings buzzed in excitement as she dashed closer.

“Alula!” she shouted again. “I knew it's you! Wow, it's been a really long time!” The filly waved friendly.

Alula rolled her eyes, annoyed by the interruption. She turned her gaze away from the filly and focused on her destination again, trotting at a faster pace now.

The other pegasus, though, zipped right in front of her and forced her to stop. “I can't believe that I meet you here! I always thought you hate the Critter Snow Festival!” She grinned widely.

“I do,” Alula replied, her voice deadpan and her eyes expressing a desire to get away.

“How are you doing?” the orange pegasus nudged Alula, invitingly.

“Very fine without you,” Alula responded with a snark. She attempted to get past the eager pegasus, but found her way blocked once more.

“Hey, come on! Don't tell me you don't remember me!” The cheerful expression in the other filly's face did not falter, but her voice contained a portion of accusation now.

“I don't remember you. Goodbye.” Alula tried to escape again, but once more, it proved impossible.

Taken aback, Alula scrunched her face. “Uh..... Is it..... 'Scooter'?” she asked, voicing the first thought that floated by in her mind.

“No.....” The other filly flattened her ears, looking disappointed for a moment. “It's Scootaloo!” she said then.

The yellow filly looked at her, unimpressed.

“Cutie Mark Crusader!” Scootaloo poked Alula. “Scoots, the Cactus! Come on, filly! We've been in the same class!”

Alula just blinked.

“I got my flank hoofed to me real bad during the Applewood Derby and almost kicked the bucket!” Her wings buzzed again.

Alula's face grew more bored.

Scootaloo put her hoof down on Alula's chest. “I tried helping you to get your cutie mark until you told me not to anymore.”

It was only then that lights went on in Alula's memory. “Cactus Scoots?” she asked, baffled.

“Uh-huh!” Scootaloo nodded, smiling now.

“Jumped through a ring with her scooter during the Equestria Games Opening Ceremony?”

“Bingo!” Scootaloo grinned.

“The winner of the Applewood Derby?”

“Right on!” Scootaloo lifted her hoof and nudged Alula's chest enthusiastically.

“The Scootaloo who helped foals with getting their cutie marks all over Equestria?!”

A sardonic smile played around Alula's lips. “It was nice seeing you, Cactus, but how about you use your wings and fly off now, I'm sure there's a pony with a cutie mark problem somewhere!” Finally marshing past the over-enthusiastic pegasus now, Alula did not see anymore how Scootaloo teared up and landed on the ground with a thud as her wings stopped their buzzing instantly.

Having left Scootaloo behind her, Alula reached the pile of food for the critters without any more distractions. She plucked the apple that she had purchased earlier from her back and carelessly tossed it onto the pile. It bounced off of it, fell down and landed on the snow. Alula was about to turn around as Fluttershy came into her view.

“Good Morning! Welcome to the Critter Snow Festival!” she cheered. Angel was sitting on her back, licking his lips as he saw the pile.

Alula growled and gritted her teeth, piercing the bunny with her eyes.

“Angel?” Fluttershy asked. “What's wrong?”

Angel took one of the other apples on the pile and pretended to bite into it, then grabbed his chest and let himself fall. He stayed like this for a few seconds, lying on his back and letting his tongue hang out, then got up again and pointed at Alula's apple in Fluttershy's hooves. He shook his head.

During the entire display, a more and more intense glare got built up on Alula's face.

Fluttershy looked down at the apple in her hooves. She wiped off the snow, then saw what it was. “Oh!” she said. “That apple is made of wax, sorry Alula, but animals can't eat this.”

Alula feigned a charming smile. “Oh, but that's not my apple! Mine's the one in the paws of your monster, I mean, bunny.” For Alula, there really was no reason to drag this conversation out any longer, but a lot of reasons for bringing it behind her as fast as possible.

“Oh.....” Fluttershy let her hoof sink. “Weird, which pony would think it's a good idea to feed a wax apple to the critters?” Her face was puzzled.

Angel slumped his shoulders, then facepawed with a loud smack.

“Anyway, I got to see my friends now, bye Fluttershy!” Alula said quickly. She gave Angel a mischievous, then trotted away.

“Finally that's done!” Alula exhaled in relief. “Gosh, I hate this stupid bunny.” She held a hoof at her eyes and began scanning the area. “Now where is–” The sentence stopped abrubtly as she spotted her target in the distance, trotting at Peach Fuzz' side. Eagerly, Alula reared up and kicked her forehooves into the air, then she took flight and zipped towards the duo.

Already from a few meters distance, she could hear the voices of her friends. Unlike before, they now sounded strained and exasperated.

“But it's not good to treat yourself like this, Train Tracks!” Peach Fuzz' voice was clad in worry.

“What do you know?” Train Tracks shouted back at her, perhaps lashing out a bit too much. “I always worked myself through any trouble that way and it went fine!”

Peach Fuzz gasped and looked down, a few tears appearing in the corner of her eyes.

“Hey, what's up?” Alula appeared in front of the bickering foal couple, startling them. “Trouble in paradise?” She teased them with a smug smile and a wiggle of her eyebrows.

“Don't stick your head into this, Alula, we're doing fine!” Train Tracks pushed her aside rudely and stomped away from the two fillies. He stopped a few steps away of them, not turning around.

For a split-second, something glimmered in Alula's eyes. “Ouch,” she commented on the reaction and landed on the ground. “Yes, there is definitely trouble in paradise.” She turned to face Peach Fuzz. “What happened?”

“We just had a little fight,” Peach Fuzz explained, her trademark, cheery tone reduced to a faint whisper.

“Again,” Alula added. “Not like that happened for the first time. You always fight for that same reason.”

Peach Fuzz nodded weakly. “But we're going to be fine. It will calm down.”

“I really hope so!” Alula agreed. She took off again and flew past Train Tracks. “You are together for only six months now, it would be horrible if you find out that you don't fit together as well as you thought.”

Behind her, Train Tracks lifted his head and looked after her.

Despite Alula's impatience from earlier, the rest of the day flew by like a blur for her. She had suggested to leave the Critter Snow Festival a couple of times and got shot down with this each time by either Train Tracks or Peach Fuzz, who both wanted to stay and enjoy the day-long festivities. It annoyed her to no end but, other than that, it was a rather uneventful day for her. The bad mood that surrounded her two friends faded away eventually and they began to talk with each other again and resumed their “lovey-dovey behavior”, as Alula called it.

Now it was after sundown, the moon stood in the sky and the three foals sat close to the huge fire that had been built in the middle of the festival grounds. Each of them held mugs filled with steaming, hot cocoa in their hooves. Peach Fuzz and Train Tracks were huddled close to each other, with Peach Fuzz' head gently snuggled against the underside of Train Tracks' chin. Occasionally, the filly cooed softly into the warm chest of her coltfriend. Train Tracks was holding her affectionately with one hoof, a warm smile on his lips, but there was a strange kind of uncertainty in his eyes, like the colt's mind was very far away. The expression had been there for the entire day and every time Alula looked at his face, she could see that something was gnawing away at him.

Peach Fuzz stirred at his chest, then sat up. She smiled at him. “I'm getting another cocoa,” she chirped. “Should I bring one for you, Train Tracks?”

Before leaving for the stall with the refreshments, Peach Fuzz turned at Alula. “Would you like me to bring one for you too, Alula?”
“Sure!” Alula replied. “I won't mind another one.” She took a last, long sip from her mug and gulped down the remaining cocoa. A brown streak remained above her upper lip and the filly wiped it away with her left hoof, then she gave Peach Fuzz her mug.

Now carrying three empty mugs on her back, the filly cantered away in an upbeat fashion, a skip in her movement. As she was out of sight, Alula directed her gaze towards Train Tracks. Instead of looking after his fillyfriend, the colt stared into the flickering flames of the fire in front of him. His eyes had cleared up for a moment as Peach Fuzz talked to him, but now their expression had returned to the same distant one as before. The flames got reflected in Train Tracks' eyes, but the colt appeared like he wasn't seeing them.

Noticing this sign, Alula did not waste any time. She inched closer to Train Tracks and nudged his side. “Hey, what's up? You're looking like this for the whole day already, ever since your fight. Does it have anything to do with Peach Fuzz?”

Train Tracks exhaled a weary sigh, then he looked over at his friend. “Yeah, yeah it does,” he said.

“What's bothering you, mate?” Alula draped her left foreleg over Train Tracks' back, comfortingly.

The colt sighed again, then leaned forward, resting his forelegs on his thighs. “I'm not sure about me and Peach Fuzz anymore,” it broke out of him.

“How so?” Alula asked, her voice radiating innocent curiosity.

Train Tracks closed his eyes for a moment before he answered. “The day I and Peachy met, I thought we are so alike each other. When I have trouble with something or feel bad over something, I never let that get me down. I just push through an obstacle until I have overcome it. And Peachy is just the same as me, she also never lets anything get her down and she always stays cheerful and optimistic. We noticed that about each other and that's why we fell in love. But now.....” Train Tracks trailed off, his eyes gazing at the flames again.

“But now you think you aren't the same, after all,” Alula continued the sentence for him.

Alula's face became compassionate. She rubbed over Train Tracks' back. “I understand how you feel about it. Love can be tough.”
“Yeah,” he just said.

“And maybe you're right,” Alula continued. “Maybe you and Peach Fuzz really don't fit together. You fight very often.”

Train Tracks nodded. “Sometimes..... Sometimes I think Peachy isn't as strong as I thought she is. She always stays positive, even in hard times. But how she keeps laughing and giggling and acting happy, no matter what bothers her, it's like she is ignoring all problems she has.”

“Maybe,” Alula replied. “To be honest..... I thought the same about her already.”

Train Tracks' ears perked up and he turned around at Alula, the filly's foreleg sliding off his back. “Really?”

“Yeah.” Alula nodded, then met his gaze. “I mean, a problem doesn't go away by laughing about it and by staying cheerful. You need to deal with it. And when a problem you have is really big and hard to overcome, you need to be harsh with yourself to force you to deal with it. It's the only way it works.”

“No, you are right!” Alula reassured him. “I mean, it wasn't nice to call her this, but the things you just said aren't wrong. You two are pretty different from each other, if you look at it like this.”

“Alula..... Do you think I should break up with Peach Fuzz? Should I leave her and try it with a filly that fits better to me?”

“Well.....” Alula began and looked away from him, intentionally avoiding eye contact for a moment. Then she sighed deeply and looked into his face, wearing a determined expression. “I think you should.”

Train Tracks sighed, too, loud and deep. “I knew you would say this..... and you are right, Alula. Peach Fuzz and I really aren't such a good pair as I thought for the past six months.”

Compassion returned into Alula's face. She rubbed over Train Tracks' back again. “I wanted to tell you for a while already, but I didn't know how.”

This last sentence from the colt was like a signal. A blush appeared in Alula's face and she hesitated for a moment. But then she gave herself a push, tightened the grip around the colt and pulled him closer. “Maybe we could try it together!” she spoke the words before they could escape her.

Train Tracks directed his eyes at her and gasped. “Y-You and me? A-Are you sure?” he stammered.

“Well..... yeah! To be honest, I..... I have a crush on you for a while now, Train Tracks. I just didn't say anything because I didn't want to get between you and Peach Fuzz.” She gave him a sheepish smile and made herself look as cute as possible.

“Wow.....” was all Train Tracks could say. He remained silent for a few seconds to digest this confession.

The silence made Alula's heart bump stronger. The time until Train Tracks spoke again felt like aeons to her.

“And you think it would work between us, Alula?” Train Tracks asked his friend, still bewildered over the sudden confession.

“I do,” Alula said swiftly. “After all the things you just told me, I think we have a lot more in common than you and Peach Fuzz have.”

The colt looked down again. “Hmm.....” In his mind, he went over the entire talk he had with Alula since Peach Fuzz had left with their mugs. The wheels in his head turned and he scrunched his face, trying to make a decision. It was after a minute, and another couple aeons for Alula, that he looked back up and into her face.

“Would you try it with me, Alula?” he asked the filly, his voice gentle and soft.

Alula's face lit up brightly, her blush increasing. “Of course!” she shouted. “I want to be together with you more than anything, Train Tracks!” Now feeling secure in her victory, Alula put both hooves around Train Tracks and pulled him close to her.

Train Tracks was smiling, too, then he chuckled. “Okay, then let's try it,” he said. “It's going to be hard for Peach Fuzz, but knowing her, she will just push that problem away, too. I will tell her later.”

Alula's smile grew wider and her heart started beating in a crescendo, pumping blood through her veins faster than it ever had before. Feeling that she had reached her goal, she leaned in and planted a kiss on Train Tracks' lips. Train Tracks was holding his breath for a moment, then the surprise wore off and he reciprocated the kiss. The reality around them blurring, the colt and the filly played with each other's lips. As Train Tracks parted them for a moment, Alula used the opportunity. Caused by the bliss she was feeling right now, she poked out her tongue and let it glide into Train Tracks' mouth. Their tongues intertwined and a moan left Alula, cute and subtle. Train Tracks wrapped his hooves around his new fillyfriend and tightened their embrace.

As both of them had reached the peak of their intimacy, they got flung back into reality by the sound of something shattering right in front of them. Their eyes opened and they found themselves staring at Peach Fuzz. To the hooves of the filly lied the shattered remains of three mugs, spilled hot cocoa around them, which was slowly melting the snow where it had landed.

“T-Train Tracks?!” Peach Fuzz stammered anxiously. “W-What are you doing?” Tears had started to collect in her eyes already and the sentence had been accompanied by a sob.

Train Tracks and Alula stopped their kiss and separated. Train Tracks looked at his former fillyfriend with guilt. He attempted to say something, but his lips closed as quick as they had been opened.

As no words had left his mouth for a few seconds, Alula took the floor. “Hey, Peach Fuzz. I'm sorry you had to see that. But Train Tracks has made a decision. He has realized that you two are too different and that it doesn't work between you anymore. Train Tracks has asked me if I would be his new fillyfriend and try it with him and I said yes.”

The words lingered in the air. Peach Fuzz gulped. “B-But..... We were happy!” Peach Fuzz squeaked. “Train Tracks, please tell me it's not true.” She did a hasty step closer and placed a hoof on Train Tracks' thighs, staring at him intensely while more tears accumulated in her eyes.

Finally, Train Tracks dared to look at her. “I'm sorry, Peachy,” he began. “But what Alula said is true. I was thinking the entire day about the fight we had and I realized that we aren't really a match. Sorry, Peachy, but I think it's better if we break up and try it with another pony.”

Alula wrapped her hooves around Train Tracks' neck again, having read the expression in his face. “Forget about it,” she said. “Peach Fuzz is going to be fine, you said yourself that she will just push the problem away. Now kiss me again, you are mine now!” She leaned in like earlier and locked mouths with Train Tracks. As her tongue prodded against his lips, he reflexively opened them and let her enter. Their tongues were intertwined again soon, but this time, Train Tracks had problems to focus on their shared kiss. He tried to concentrate, but Peach Fuzz' last words she had spoken to him before running away didn't stop ringing in his mind. And Peach Fuzz' wailing from the distance didn't become quieter. Train Tracks' eyes moved into the direction of the crying filly. Regret shone from them and his guilt increased by the second. Then Alula's voice entered his mind. “You are mine now!” he heard her saying again. A cold feeling washed over his heart. Unable to bear this feeling, Train Tracks placed his hooves on Alula's shoulders and began to gently push her away.

Alula didn't budge. Feeling the same bliss as before, she barely felt the hooves on her shoulders and even if she would have felt them, she did not see any need nor had she any will to give in to them. She moaned again.

Feeling panic rising in his heart, Train Tracks moved his hooves further down and placed them on Alula's chest. Applying more force than before, he pushed again.

This time, Alula felt something. Noticing something painfully pressing down on her chest, and realizing what it was a second later, she gave up her resistance and got pushed away by Train Tracks. With a quiet plop, their lips separated and Alula found herself looking into the face of her new coltfriend. “What's wrong?” she asked, some concern building inside of her.

Train Tracks looked straight into her eyes. More guilt than before was visible in his face now. “I'm sorry, Alula, but I can't do this.”
A hot wave rushed through Alula's face and her heart started beating faster once again, this time from panic. “What do you mean?” she asked hastily. “I thought you wanted to be with me!”

“I-I wanted,” Train Tracks explained. “But now not anymore. I shouldn't have done this. This was a mistake.” The words shot out of his mouth at a rapid pace.

“But..... But.....” Alula stammered, not knowing what to say as she felt her goal getting crushed.

Her hooves were still around Train Tracks' neck and she used this position to pull him closer. “Please think about it!” she begged. “Peach Fuzz isn't the right filly for you, but we are meant for each other! Please forget about her!”

Now, Train Tracks felt anger flaring up in him. “NO!” he shouted, making Alula flinch. But she gripped him tighter anyway.

As Train Tracks felt that Alula wouldn't let go of him, he applied even more force to her chest. Using all the force he could muster against the surprisingly strong filly, he managed to push her away. With a thud, Alula landed on her side, almost falling off the log she was sitting on.

Swiftly, Train Tracks got up and looked frantically into Peach Fuzz' direction. A tiny bit of relief spread in his heart as he saw that she was still sitting at the same spot. Behind him, Alula stirred and got up as well. She reached out for Train Tracks and grabbed his tail.

“Please stay!” she wailed. “You said you would try it with me! You promised!”

Train Tracks looked back at her, gritting his teeth. “I didn't promise anything!” he yelled. With a yank, he freed his tail from the strong grip of Alula's hooves, only leaving a few strands of red hair between them. Ignoring the pain, he looked ahead to Peach Fuzz again. “Peach Fuzz!” he called her. “I'm sorry, please don't run away!” He galloped away from Alula and approached his crying fillyfriend.

Feeling utter disbelief, Alula watched him run away and the scene that was unfolding in the distance.

Train Tracks, his ears pressed flat against his head, placed a careful hoof on Peach Fuzz' shoulder. The distraught filly looked up at him, tears running down her face in thick streams. Train Tracks opened his mouth and said something. Peach Fuzz' shook her head and her mouth moved more violently in response. The regret in Train Tracks' face increased and he lied down in front of Peach Fuzz, bringing him on eye level with her. He spoke again and attempted to stroke Peach Fuzz' mane, but she slapped his hoof away, letting another torrent of angry words rain down on him.

Alula saw Train Tracks looking into her direction, then he continued talking, now with a frown in his face. Peach Fuzz presented her with a scornful look, then she turned at Train Tracks and talked to him again, still appearing angry, but more calm now. Train Tracks nodded and the guilt and regret returned into his face. It took on a pleading expression and he lowered his head. His eyes closed and he said something again. Peach Fuzz did not respond anything this time and as Train Tracks had opened his eyes again, his mouth moved for another few seconds. A few tears appeared in his eyes as he did so.

Peach Fuzz looked at him indecisively, then her head nodded once, so subtly that it was barely noticeable. Train Tracks' face relaxed and he got back up on all four hooves, then spread his hooves widely, wearing a hopeful expression. Peach Fuzz' face distorted and she flung herself against her coltfriend, who wrapped his hooves around her trembling body, letting her cry at this chest.

As a minute had passed, Train Tracks brought his mouth at one of Peach Fuzz' ears and whispered something. The filly nodded and released her tight embrace. She got up on wobbly hooves. Peach Fuzz flashed another look full of scorn at Alula, then Train Tracks draped a hoof over her back and together, they trotted towards a seat at the other side of the fire and vanished from Alula's sight, covered up by the large, burning pieces of firewood.

“No.....” she whimpered. “How could I fail this hard, in the last moment?” She sniffed and wiped a hoof over her nose. “How could it all go wrong like this?”

Unlimited Chances

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.