Scootaloo awoke with a shiver.

Cold.

She opened her eyes, why was it cold? Mom's embrace was always warm and she could still feel the large hooves wrapped around her just like they'd been when she fell asleep. Just like it, mom hadn't moved at all.

That was concerning, Scootaloo always used to complain that her mother snored, so why wasn't she snoring now? Something was wrong, she could feel it.

Looking up Scootaloo was surprised to see that the sun was setting, that explained why it was getting so cold. But then that meant mom had been sleeping all day. She never did that.

"Wake up mom," Scootaloo tried, bumbing her head against her mother's cold skin. "Wake up or, or..." she tried to come up with something and then remembered what mom always used to chide her for when she fell asleep during the day. "Wake up mom, or you won't be able to sleep tonight."

No response.

Scootaloo was getting worried now.

She untangled herself from her mothers hooves, they felt stiff, but they didn't try to hold onto her the way they usually did.

That only made Scootaloo worry more, why wasn't mother doing the things she always did? Mom was just lying there all cold and sleeping, and none of Scootaloo's attempts to wake her had borne fruit.

Maybe mom had hit her head harder than Scootaloo had thought when they crashed into that tree? But every pegasus crashed once in a while, it hurt a bit but wasn’t that bad, the worst thing that could happen was a broken wing, which’d be okay in a few days. That’s why Scootaloo hadn’t been worried when mom went to sleep right after hitting the tree, but she was worried now when mother hadn’t woken up all day, and gotten so cold.

She'd read comics where ponies sometimes passed out when they got a hit to the head. ‘Knocked out cold’ one comic had put it, maybe that was what had happened.

She looked closely, but there were no cartoon birds circling mom's head, so that couldn't be it, probably.

Scootaloo was getting really worried now. She didn’t know what was wrong with mom and it was becoming dark. You weren't supposed to be in the forest at night, mom had told her so. But now mom was sleeping at the foot of a tree. Cold, and refusing to wake up.

Scootaloo was getting really worried now. She hoped dad was out looking for them, he must be worried,right? They'd gone flying after breakfast and hadn't come back. Oh how worried he must be. Scootaloo was worried too, she really hoped father would find them too. He could carry mom to bed so she could sleep better. It was probably because of the ground that she was so cold. Sure that must be it.

"Don't worry mom," she said to the unmoving figure, hoping to reassure her as much as herself. "I'm sure dad will come get us soon."

Mom didn't reply, but Scootaloo felt better. Dad would come and make everything okay. It would all be okay. Soon mom would be awake and warm again.

Author's Note

As the title reads, the prompt was cold.