Despite All Odds

When Fluttershy had finished, she had no idea what time it was or how much time had even passed. She assumed that no more than five hours at most had gone by. She walked up the long set of stairs, (after hiding her work of course) yawning as she went. When she finally made it out, she looked out the nearby window. She winced as the first few rays of the dawn shone over the horizon to bring forth the day.

“I must've been down there for the rest of the day AND all night...” The tired pony mumbled as she headed towards the bedroom stairs.

She slowly opened and closed the door and was relieved to find Twilight still asleep. With a content sigh, Fluttershy crawled under the blanket, snuggled close to her love and was asleep before her head hit the pillow.

It wouldn't be until an hour later that Twilight awoke from her fitful slumber. Her whole night had been spent thrashing and turning in bed as a nightmare enveloped her mind. In it, she imagined that Celestia herself was behind the group that was destroying perfectly good relationships and that all her friends were helping just because she had so openly defied the Princess.

With a low groan, Twilight removed herself from Fluttershy's grasp and out from under the blanket and headed to the bathroom for a warm bath. As she soaked in the water and began to wake up, there was one thought that plagued her mind; who was leading this group? She ran through all the ponies who were likely suspects, but each one was dismissed due to some other reason.

She had given up trying to guess as she drained the water and dried herself off. Feeling somewhat refreshed, the unicorn went downstairs and saw a note from Spike alongside a small stack of waffles.

“Twilight, went to go help the girls out at Sweet Apple Acres. Be back later. Spike”

Twilight smiled and began to brew herself a mug of coffee. While she was waiting, she went to the front door and opened it to look outside. She instantly regretted it. Just the air alone was enough to freeze Twilight to the bone, but the light wind made it even worse, as if it would freeze her solid within seconds. She quickly shut the door and stood there shivering.

“W-w-why is it s-s-so c-co-cold?” With chattering teeth, Twilight quickly put some logs into the fireplace and lit them while grabbing a blanket from the nearby closet and wrapping it around herself.

She levitated herself into the kitchen (she couldn't help but giggle at the fact she looked like some kind of flying castle or fort) and grabbed the coffee mug in her magic and after pouring herself some of the warm beverage, went back into the living room and curled up on the couch with a light blue book titled Musical History (8th edition!) and picked up where she had left off. It wasn't until 4 hours later that Fluttershy finally came downstairs, yawning.

“You look rather cozy.” Fluttershy said, walking over to the unicorn and taking a kiss from her lips.

Twilight chuckled and when Fluttershy pulled away and said, “Well of course. It's WAY too cold out for me not to be under a blanket or under your wing.” Fluttershy couldn't help but raise an eyebrow.

“It can't be THAT cold out.”

“Go see for yourself.” Fluttershy walked away from the couch and over to the door and opened it (but not before seeing Twilight retreat further into the blanket). Fluttershy stood there for a moment before closing the door again.

“Well...it's not as cold as you made it sound, but it is still kinda cold.” Twilight poked her head out with a look of disbelief.

“What? Well...it's different for you. You're a pegasus and thus have natural warmth from your feathers. I have nothing like that!” The pegasus chuckled and lightly fluffed her wings, making Twilight pout.

“No fair.” They both laughed and Fluttershy went into the kitchen.

“You didn't eat breakfast, did you?”

“No, why?”

“Well, these waffles I'm guessing were supposed to be breakfast. Sadly, they're too cold now so I'll have to make something else. Any requests?”

Twilight thought for a moment before sheepishly replying, “Waffles please?” Fluttershy giggled and began making more of the square breakfast delights despite the fact that it was almost 1 in the afternoon. When the girls had eaten breakfast, they had spent the remainder of the day just lounging around, reading, talking, or laughing.

There came a point where Twilight embarrassed herself by telling Fluttershy what she had done before the pegasus woke up and was confused when Fluttershy began laughing. “That's why it seemed so cold out; you were still damp from your bath!” Twilight blushed darkly as the realization hit her and tried to justify her forgetfulness.

“I...I was focused on the temperature and trying to figure out...umm...” The unicorn hid her head as her face became flushed with red. Fluttershy's laughs had died down to chuckles as she hovered over and removed the blanket enough to kiss Twilight.

As the two began to become enthralled with each other, Spike and Scootaloo barged in through the door, promptly making Twilight squeak in fear and try to smush herself further into the couch while Fluttershy gasped and flew straight up to the ceiling. Spike, along with Scootaloo laughed at the pair.

“What were you two up to?” Scootaloo asked, her laugh panning out before Spike's.

“Oh, we were...um...comparing books. Right Twilight?” A muffled response was all they could hear from the unicorn.

“Anyways, may I ask why Scootaloo is here? You do know that tomorrow is Hearth's Warming Eve, don't you?”

“Well yea, but Scootaloo parent's are stuck in Hoofington and won't be back until a few days after Hearth's Warming so I wanted to ask if maybe she could stay here with us for the holiday?”

Twilight finally managed to find her way out from under her cover and said, “That's alright. Sorry that your parents aren't going to be here this Hearth's Warming.”

“It's alright. They haven't seen my aunt and uncle in a long time, so this is their time to catch up,” the young filly said with a shrug. After an hour of sitting around, Twilight decided to make dinner while Fluttershy went with Scootaloo to grab some things from her home that she would need.

As Twilight was preparing the sauce to go with the noodles, Spike wandered in and stood behind her, poking his fingers together. “Is something wrong Spike?”

“Well...kinda. I was hoping to ask your advice about something.”

“Oh? What kind of advice.”

He took a breath and mumbled something.

“Spike, you need to speak up or I won't be able to help.”

She waited a few minutes, then Spike said quietly, “I need love advice.”

The unicorn couldn't help but smile.

“Is that so? Well, I'm not sure I'm the right pony to go to seeing as how I've only discovered love recently but I'll help as best I can. So, who is the lucky mare? Is it...Scootaloo?” Twilight said, narrowing her eyes in false accusation.

“W-what!? No way! We're just friends!” He cried out, making the lavender unicorn laugh as she added noodles to the sauce and stirred them around.

“I was just kidding Spike. But really, who is the young mare who caught your eye?”

“Dinky...” Twilight ran through the ponies she knew before anypony came up.

“Ditzy's younger sister?”

Spike nodded and said, “She's just so...adorable that I can't help myself.”

Twilight nodded and said, “True...but what about Rarity?”Spike took a seat at the table and sighed.

“It is hard to get over Rarity...but like you always said: it was just puppy love. I've finally realized that she would never go for me. I'm too young and...I dunno...”

“Well, that's her loss then.” Spike looked up from the table and smiled.

“Thanks Twilight.”

“My pleasure. Now then...” The next half hour was spent talking about Spike's attraction to Dinky and how he could begin his advances. “But like I said, you may want to ask Fluttershy too. I'm not exactly the best at this kind of thing, even though I'm in a relationship.” Twilight said, levitating plates of food to each spot on the table.

Then, as if right on cue, the two pegasi walked through the door with Scootaloo shivering under Fluttershy's wing.

“I can't wait 'til my wings get that big. I'd never be cold again!” The filly said as she kicked her boots off and tossed her scarf and hat onto the rack before running to the fireplace. Fluttershy did the same except she dropped a small bag onto the couch before joining everyone else at the table.

Not even 10 seconds into the meal, Scootaloo gasped and said, “Whoa! This is WAY better than what my mom makes! Thanks Twilight!”

Twilight chuckled lightly and said, “Thank you Scootaloo but this is nothing compared to what Spike or Fluttershy can make.”

The orange filly snickered and said, “Spike cooks?”

“Yes I do as a matter of fact!” The dragon said proudly.

“Heh, lemme guess, that little pink apron behind the door is yours to?”

“Yes! I mean, no, I mean...ugh!” Spike threw his hands up, defeated, and continued to eat with a slight tinge on his face while the three ponies just laughed. When dinner had been finished and the dishes washed, the group retired to the living room, playing board games and simply enjoying themselves.

By the time midnight had rolled around, both Spike and Scootaloo were yawning with droopy eyes.

Fluttershy smiled warmly and said, “I think it's time for bed, don't you Twilight?” The unicorn nodded and grabbed Spike with her magic while Fluttershy picked up Scootaloo.

Twilight took Spike into his room (Twilight had decided a few days ago that he deserved his own room so she had created an extra room with her magic) while Fluttershy put Scootaloo on the couch and tucked her in as best as she could.

“Thank you Fluttershy...” The filly mumbled before passing out, snoring lightly. The yellow pony couldn't help but laugh softly and kiss the young pony's head.

“Good night Scootaloo.” Fluttershy walked over to the stairs that led to the bedroom and met Twilight at the bottom.

“I love you Twilight.”

“I love you too.” The couple shared a kiss before heading upstairs and into their room to curl up together and sleep.

Later that night, Fluttershy woke up craving something to wet her throat. So, after somewhat carefully maneuvering out of bed, she groggily made her way downstairs. However, as she walked into the living room, she saw Scootaloo sitting on the rug in front of the fireplace with a blanket wrapped around her.

She was quietly sniffling and Fluttershy could see that the young pony had been crying. “Scootaloo? Are you okay?” They filly looked over in alarm and quickly rubbed her eyes.

“Y-yea. I'm fine.” Fluttershy just continued to stare until Scootaloo looked away.

“You don't seem fine.” The older pegasus took a seat next to the younger pony and wrapped a wing around her. “If something's wrong, you can tell me.” At first, Scootaloo said nothing, instead opting to remain silent against the soft coat of the older pegasi.

Finally, with a sigh, Scootaloo said, “My parents aren't stuck in Hoofington...they're actually gone. I've been taking care of myself all this time.”

Fluttershy gasped and pulled the young filly into a hug. “But, why didn't you say anything?”

“Because...I wanted to prove that I could do just fine on my own despite what my aunt thinks or says.”

“Your aunt?”

Scootaloo nodded and said, “After my folks passed away, I was sent to live with my aunt in Canterlot. She always went on about how my dad was a deadbeat and that my mom should've never married him. She also said that I looked alot like my dad and that I'd probably turn out like him as well. So, I came back to Ponyville to prove her wrong.”

“You poor girl...How have you been able to stay alone without anypony questioning your lack of parental supervision?”

“I just told everypony that they were traveling on business trips. I found a way to pay for food and stuff by doing odd jobs around town as long as they promised not to tell anypony that I was working there.”

“I see...You know, you're awfully mature for your age.” Scootaloo couldn't help but laugh softly.

“Sorry, but I have to disagree with you.”

Fluttershy chuckled and held Scootaloo a little tighter. “You remind me a lot of myself at your age if not a little older after I came to Ponyville.” Scootaloo stayed silent and allowed Fluttershy to continue. “I had to work at every job I could to afford the cottage where I live now. After I finally managed to pay it off, the next thing I worked for was furniture and a sewing machine. I figured that I could just make all my rugs or whatever I needed. As time went on, I added onto my home to make up for all the animals that lived with me and here I am today.”
The yellow pony took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. “What I'm trying to say is, while I believe you can pull this off, I want to say that you don't have to. You have wonderful friends whose families would gladly take you in.”

“I dunno...maybe...” The rest of the night was spent in silence as the young orange filly ended up falling asleep on Fluttershy, lightly snoring as her little wings would occasionally flutter as she slept. The yellow pony just hummed lightly and ended up falling asleep as well, casting her wing over the small filly as if to protect her from some unseen evil.

When Twilight woke up the next morning, she immediately went into a panic at the lack of a pegasus in her bed. She looked around the room frantically before heading downstairs. She nearly slammed the door open, but remembered Scootaloo was sleeping on the couch in the next room, so she quietly opened in and sighed in relief.

She saw her lover curled up on the ground with her wing draped over the younger of the two fliers as they slept contently. Twilight smiled and quietly walked over and kissed Fluttershy's head before heading into the kitchen to make breakfast. As she was finishing up, Scootaloo came into the kitchen, yawning loudly. “Good morning Scootaloo. Did you sleep well?”

“Uh huh.” The young pony said as she yawned again.

“That's good. Go ahead and have a seat and I'll give you some pancakes.”

The orange filly nodded and sat down, trying to keep herself from falling asleep at the table or laying her head on the table itself.

“Here you go. I'm gonna go wake everyone else up.” Twilight put the pancakes down in front of the filly and walked out into the living room. Scootaloo carefully cut off a slice of the pancake and bit into it. Her eyes opened wide as she continued to eat.

“Whoa! These are amazing!” She cried out before digging into the rest of her pancakes. As she was finishing her last one, Fluttershy hovered into the kitchen.

“Good morning Scootaloo.”

“G'morning Fluttershy.” The younger of the two said with a mouthful pancake. Fluttershy just laughed and got a plate of pancakes for herself.

“Blueberry pancakes huh?” The yellow pegasus said after taking a bite of her own. It was at this point that Twilight came back with a half asleep Spike behind her.

“Can I have some more Twilight?” Scootaloo asked quickly, holding her plate up and smiling.

Twilight couldn't help but smile and say, “Of course. Let me make some more and you can have the first two that I make okay?”

“Okay!”The filly waited enthusiastically as Spike slowly made his way onto a chair and began eating his pancakes slowly. “What kind do you have Spike? I had chocolate chip and Fluttershy has blueberries. What do you have?” Scootaloo asked while trying to peek inside the dragon's breakfast.

“Emerald.” He said with a content smile.

“I still can't believe you eat gems. It's just...weird! What does an emerald even taste like anyway?” The dragon swallowed the pancake he was eating and said,

“Well...it's like...uh...it tastes...um...good?” All the ponies laughed while Spike just shrugged and continued to chow down.

When they had all finished breakfast (which was after Scootaloo had three helpings of pancakes), they all went into the living room and sat by the fire.

Of course, the two youngest quickly became restless and bored. “I'm bored...hey Spike, wanna go play outside? Maybe we can get the girls and go Cutie Mark Crusading!”

They both look at Twilight and she just chuckled and said, “Alright, just be sure to dress warm and be back before 4, alright?”

“Okay!” The dragon and filly said simultaneously before dashing for the door. Within seconds, they had dressed in warm clothing and were out the door, heading for Sweetie Belle's home. As soon as the door had closed, Fluttershy turned to Twilight.

“Hey Twilight...I have to tell you something.”

“What is it?” The unicorn asked as she maneuvered herself so that her head was resting on Fluttershy's side.

“Well...last night...I found out that Scootaloo is...well...an orphan.” Twilight turned her head and looked straight at Fluttershy.

“What? There's no way that's true. I mean, how would she be able to live for as long as she has done alone? Somepony must've noticed something by now.”

“She used to live with her aunt in Canterlot before she ran away here and besides, give her a little credit. She is mature for her age when she needs to be, like I was at that age when I first came to Ponyville.” Twilight nodded and laid her head back down.

“We need to tell somepony about this. I know she's been fine all this time, but she needs parents to help guide her or help her...or to comfort her or...I dunno, all the things a parent should do for their child.”

“That's the thing...” Fluttershy took a large breath and pushed all hesitation away and said, “I think we should adopt Scootaloo.” The statement sent Twilight to the floor as she tried to spin in surprise. Fluttershy looked down at the slightly dazed unicorn before asking, “Are you okay?”

“Yea, but adopt her? That sounds well and good, but the real question is if she would be okay with it. I mean, this is a big decision not just for us, but for her as well. I hate to say it, but she barely knows us other than when she's been here with Spike or the girls.”

“I know, but I can't stand to think of her all alone after winter is over. Besides, she must trust us to a degree; she opened up to me last night and she's staying here instead of at a friend's house.” Twilight nodded, then sighed.

“I don't know Fluttershy...I mean, do you think we're ready to take on that sort of responsibility?” Fluttershy crawled off the couch and onto the floor beside her lover and wrapped an arm around the unicorn and pulled her close.

“I don't know, but it's not like we'll be raising her from birth. She's already quite an independent young girl.”

“True...alright. How about this; we tell her that we'd like to adopt her on Hearth's Warming and if she likes it, then we can get the proper paperwork filled out and have her aunt fill out the parts she needs. If not, then we'll let her know that the offer is always there. Deal?”

“Deal.”

Fluttershy leaned in and kissed Twilight. The unicorn shivered and began to kiss her back. As Fluttershy began to lean in a little further, the two fell onto the floor with Fluttershy looking down at Twilight. The lavender pony blushed as the thought of what happened last time that had been like this ran through her mind.

Fluttershy chuckled and lowered her head and continued to kiss her lover. While the two managed to control themselves from getting too far lost in the thralls of lust, they did allow themselves to brush against each other and to continue kissing. Finally, when the two stopped, they were both sweaty and gasping for air.

“I love you Fluttershy.”

“I love you too.” The couple crawled back onto the couch and just laid there with Twilight's head on Fluttershy's stomach and Fluttershy gently stroking Twilight's hair. As 3 o' clock rolled around, a knock at the door startled them. “Who could that be?” Twilight asked as she went to the door. When she opened it, she gasped. There before her was the Princess of the Night.

“Good afternoon Twilight Sparkle. Might I come in?”

“Of course. Is something wrong?” Luna waited until the door had been closed before collapsing to her knees. Both Twilight and Fluttershy ran to her side. The midnight princess had began to sniffle as tears streamed from her eyes.

“I can't find my beloved Octavia! I've searched everywhere in Canterlot and here and there's been no sign of her...” After that, any words were lost in quiet sobs. The two ponies began to comfort and console their princess as best they could. Finally, they had coaxed Luna onto the couch and had gotten her to stop crying, though she still sniffled occasionally.

“When did she go missing?”

“I...I don't know. At first I thought she might have just gotten caught up in practice, but after 4 days, I became suspicious. So, I flew to her apartment and I found no sign of her their. However, there was a cup of tea that had fallen to the floor and stained and her neck bow was lying on the floor as well, as if it had been ripped off in a struggle. There was also the wrapping of a package, but I couldn't make out anything written on it. I suspect that my beloved has been kidnapped.”

Fluttershy and Twilight looked at each other grimly.

“Princess...there is a group that's on the prowl and they've been breaking same sex couples apart...We don't know anything about them unfortunately...”

Luna frowned and stood up.

“I see...if that's the case, then I shall have my guards search this town high and low until I find them and when I do...they. Shall. Pay.” The Princess of the Night's horn was glowing with a dark blue aura and her wings were flared and her coat stood on end.

“Please, Princess Luna. I hate to say this, but that may actually make things worse.” Luna turned her gaze upon the lavender unicorn and Twilight couldn't help but flinch away.

“Explain Twilight Sparkle.”

“W-well, with all those guards prowling around the town, they may step up their security and could disappear off the grid entirely until they felt safe again. If that happens, it would take even longer to find Octavia.” Luna thought over what her sister's student said and sighed in defeat.

“You are right...but I just can't stand to think of my beloved musician at the hands of some...ruffians.” Luna said with a sneer.

“Neither can I, but we have to stay calm like Twilight said.” Fluttershy said, locking gazes with the Princess.

“I know...Very well. I shall return to Canterlot and await a reply for when you have found the group's location.” With that, the lunar princess disappeared in a flash of darkness.

“Poor Luna...” Fluttershy mumbled sadly. Twilight wrapped an arm around her lover and pulled her close.

“Yea...but that just means we'll have to step up our game.” Fluttershy nodded and removed herself from Twilight's arm and headed for the basement.

“What're you doing?”

“I'm going to make a present for Scootaloo. Would you like to help?” Twilight smiled and nodded and followed her lover down the stairs and into the depths of the library.

(Author's Note: Heh, wow...12 chapters (not including the small little prologue of another story). I really didn't think that I'd make it this far. When this idea popped into my head, I just had the ending and nothing else XD. So it's been quite an adventure for us all if I may be so bold to say so.

Anyways, poor Scootaloo eh? I kinda don't like to use the whole "she's been abused by someone in her family" thing, but at least it wasn't her father right? But I like Scootaloo so I had to throw her in somewhere ^^

Last thing; the next chapter is gonna be on Hearth's Warming day and I kinda want to do part of this next chapter like...with another pairing of the story. Like most of it will be Twilight and Fluttershy, but I feel like I've kinda forgotten the other couples so here's my question to you all:

Which couple should get their own little segment this next chapter? You've got Lyra and Bon Bon, Rainbow Dash and Vinyl Scratch, or Applejack and Spitfire (ya know...since Octavia's kinda...indisposed. Shame on me). So lemme know in the comments and whichever couple is asked for the most, I shall provide mkay? Kay bye!)