Doctor Whooves - A Hearth's Warming Tale

Chapters

Prologue: A Story Told Only Once
Ch. 1: The Worst Hearth's Warming Ever
Ch. 2: Tidings of Gloom and Doom
Ch. 3: Bah! Humbugs!
Ch. 4: A Season for Miracles
Epilogue: The Doctor's Gift

Prologue: A Story Told Only Once

Canterlot Palace
Canterlot, Royal Province of Equestria
24th of Winter

“Twas the night before Hearth’s Warming, and all through the city, not a pony was stirring, save three little fillies.”

“Shhhhh!” two of said fillies hissed through their teeth, rushing out in front of their overly talkative, bouncing friend as she continued to move forward unabated.

“We are trying to be quiet! That means no self-narration!” the unicorn of the group muttered, glaring back at her friend with an annoyed expression.

“Especially not if you’re going to do it in verse,” the third one, a pegasus, followed up before turning back around and flicking her long bangs out of her eyes.

“You’re going to get us caught!” the unicorn started again before pulling herself from their hiding place, attempting to sneak on the tips of her hooves.

“Oh, don’t be silly.” The small earth filly shook her head, clearly amused. “It’s the middle of the night. Everypony is fast asleep by now.”

“We’re not. And don’t forget about the Night Guard.” The pegasus moved quickly, putting her back to one wall before peeking around the corner. “They could be anywhere out there in the darkness, ready to take on any enemy of the crown that would be stupid enough to attack.”

“You’ve been reading too many of those pulp action-adventure stories,” the young unicorn shook her head, rolling her eyes. “And besides, the guards don’t patrol the resident towers.”

“They don’t?” the pegasus perked, darting out from the deep shadows with a mischievous grin. “Well then, what are we waiting for? Come on, last one to the main hall gets--oomph!”

The winged filly was cut short as she impacted what felt like a wall of velvety dark blue fur.

The other two fillies barely had a chance to gasp in surprise before having to turn away, wincing as a brilliant white light illuminated the halls and banished the obscuring darkness. Blinking for a moment against the light, the three foals allowed their eyes a moment to adjust before, with a single word, their fate was sealed.

“Busted.” The regal blue alicorn smiled as she looked over the three blank-flanked fillies, her eyes running over each of them in the glow of her horn. “And who do we have here?”

“Cream...” she said, nodding to the bubbly beige earth pony with the frizzy caramel mane.

“Daring...” The princess’s eyes fell over the aquamarine pegasus with the blue and green striped mane.

“...and of course, the ringleader: Dawn.” She finally brought her attention to the orange furred, golden-maned unicorn with brilliant purple eyes. “The Cutie Mark Crusaders.” Princess Luna shook her head, attempting not to let her amusement show.

“Uhhh... Happy Hearth’s Warming, Auntie Lu,” Dawn said in greeting to the pony who stood at least four times larger than herself. “Nice night for a stroll, isn’t it?”

“Somehow, I am not surprised,” Luna sighed. “What are you three doing out of bed at this hour?”

“What are you doing out of bed at this hour!?” Daring shot back, attempting to take an offended tone as she pointed a hoof up towards the alicorn.

“She’s the Princess of the Night, Daring. She’s nocturnal,” Dawn deadpanned, taking some of the wind out of her friend’s sails.

“Oh, right.”

“Well, we’re definitely not trying to get to the main hall to take a peek at our presents before everypony else gets up,” the earth filly offered with a forced smile, a bead of cold sweat running down the side of her face.

“CREAM!” Daring and Dawn turned as one and glared.

“And even if we were, it absolutely wasn’t Daring’s idea.”

Luna couldn’t help but smirk as the pegasus filly buried her face in her hooves.

“And Dawn certainly didn’t charm the door to our room so that anypony walking by would hear snoring.” Cream’s continuing oblivious confessions became inaudible as a faint golden glow appeared over her muzzle, which was the same color as the aura in place around the small unicorn’s horn.

“What she means is that we were having some trouble sleeping and, well... a walk around the castle seemed like a good idea just to wear ourselves out, you know?” Dawn attempted to cover, giving the Princess a wide smile. “Aaaaaand you know what? We’ve taken up enough of your time, so we’ll just find our way back to our room and--”

*VRRRM-BAMPH*

“--get... to... bed?” Dawn finished haltingly as she looked around, realizing that the three of them, along with a grinning Princess of the Night, were now standing back where they had started: in the palace guest room the three fillies had been sharing while their families were staying for the holidays. The bed was still unmade from their earlier sneaking out and a roaring magical fire warmed the room, warding away the chill of the marble and stone corridors.

“There we go, my little ponies. Saved you the walk,” Luna nodded, clearly taking some satisfaction in foiling the foalish caper.

So taken off guard was she by the change of venue, that Dawn neglected to maintain her sound-muffling charm on Cream’s motormouth.

“Oooohhhh, that’s a neat trick! Hey, maybe we should ask if the Princess could use that to get us into the main hall to see our presents! That would be so much faster than sneaking around in the dark.”

Daring moaned softly and Dawn’s shoulders slumped as the Princess chuckled, shaking her head.

“Now, are you three going to be trying anything else tonight?” the Princess inquired, giving the trio an appraising look.

“Nope,” Cream spoke up quickly, although likely her response was driven by the glare she was still receiving from Dawn.

“Of course not, Auntie Lu,” the unicorn offered.

“...Probably.”

Dawn’s glare changed targets as Daring’s eyes went wide in realization of what she had said.

“Oh! Uh, I meant definitely! Yeah, that’s totally what I meant.”

Dawn set her head to her hoof as Daring had to pause again.

“Wait, what was the question?”

The trio felt a sudden surge of magic wash over them, lifting each filly up into the air and to the large bed where the covers were drawn back to accept the little ponies before tucking in tightly around them.

“Well then, I suppose I’ll just have to keep an eye on you three while your parents get some well-deserved rest,” Princess Luna stated in a factual tone, her horn alight as a chaise lounge was conjured from thin air with a sharp zing. “And to keep you foals from getting into trouble. It’s the least I can do for my three favorite fillies.”

“Oh, yeah. Just what I wanted for Hearth’s Warming: royal supervision.” Daring crossed her forelegs, a pout on her snout. “Thanks a lot, Dawn.”

“Eheh...” the orangish gold filly chuckled a bit, looking up towards the alicorn as she pulled herself up into her seat. “Really, that’s not necessary, Auntie Lu. I mean, we don’t want to keep you from your royal duties.”

“The stars and moon are up and on their paths. I won’t need to tend to them again until morning,” Luna explained, making herself comfortable. “And as the Night Court is officially closed for the holiday, I have some free time. Now, it seems to me that you three aren't even remotely tired.”

“I don’t think I like where this is going...” Daring brought up, suddenly concerned.

“Oh! OH! Do you have a special dream spell? Or some sort of sleepy sand? Or maybe some tax audit papers? Those’d do the trick,” Cream asked, sounding far too excited at the prospect of being charmed by some form of magical slumber.

“Tax papers?” Dawn inquired.

“Hey, they knock my dad out in ten seconds flat,” Cream answered.

“Now now, my dear fillies. I said you had to stay out of trouble and be in bed, but I never said anything about going to sleep,” Luna shook her head, smiling softly. “I was thinking something more along the lines of a story. Let’s see, how does it go...?”

The Princess of the Night cleared her throat as her audience drew closer in anticipation.

“Once upon a time... long before the peaceful rule of Celestia...” Luna paused for a moment, a somewhat sour look coming over her expression before she decided to ad-lib. “...and myself... Before Ponykind discovered our beautiful land of Equestria--”

“Auntie Lu?” Dawn sighed. “Do we have to hear the Tale of the Three Tribes?”

Luna drew back in a moment of surprise at the filly’s bored-sounding tone.

“Well, it is the traditional, quintessential Hearth’s Warming tale.”

“I know, and it’s a good one, but...” Dawn looked to one side towards Daring. “...but we did just see the pageant earlier today. I mean, even the best stories can feel kinda stale if they’re told over and over again.”

“Yeah, stale like the cookies I was saving from the Summer Sun Celebration,” Cream commented, munching away at a flower-shaped sugar cookie.

“You mean that cookie?” Daring asked. ”Wait, where have you been hiding that?”

“Cream, you’re getting crumbs all over the blankets!” Dawn piped up.

Luna, who learned long ago not to question some things where certain families were concerned, set a hoof to her lips as she considered.

“Alright, well, what sort of story would you three like to hear?”

“OH! OH! How about something about seaponies!?” Cream’s eyes widened as she tossed the cookie away.

“Well, Auntie Lu, I would love to hear about the Uprising... Straight from the mare’s mouth, so to speak.” Dawn gave her best pleading expression. “I mean, nopony ever talks about it.”

“There’s a good reason for that, little one. It was a dark time... Thankfully before your time.” Luna shook her head, preferring not to think about it.

“Oh! How about something about Nightmare Moon then?”

Cream and Dawn both turned to Daring, who happened to be situated between them, with accusing eyes. Each proceeded to give her a harsh jab in the ribs.

“Uh, did I say Nightmare Moon? I meant the Changeling Incursion. Yeah.”

“Well, hold on, these sound like stories you three are already quite familiar with,” Luna chuckled, allowing the reminder of what was far from her brightest moment slide by. “Let’s try this: What kind of story would you like to hear about?”

“Something we’ve never heard before,” Dawn offered.

“Something with monsters!” Daring threw her forelegs up in a looming position.

“Something amazing!” Cream followed up, smiling wide.

Princess Luna nodded, a small smile gracing her lips as she considered her admittedly large reserve of tales from a long and eventful life.

“I’ve got just the thing,” the Princess of the Night nodded, leaning forward as her horn came alight, extinguishing the flickering orange glow of the nearby fireplace and replacing it with ethereal blue flames that sent a beautiful soft glow across the room.

“Oooohhhh, mood lighting! Classic!” Cream commented, smiling as she brushed some cookie crumbs off of the blanket.

“Now, this is a tale I will only tell once. The tale of a Hearth’s Warming that took place many years ago, before any of you were born, in a small town that you might have heard of. A town known as Ponyville.”

The three fillies’ eyes went wide as they listened, snuggling into the covers next to one another.

“This is a story about one brave little filly, not too different from any of you. It is a story about a dragon, a bitter old stallion, swarms of terrible creatures, and a very special pony who had no name, who was simply known as ‘The Doctor.’”

“Oh, I’m getting goosebumps...” Cream whispered. “Pay attention everypony, this is gonna be good.”

—————————————————————————————

*Opening Theme*

Featuring:
The Doctor
Scootaloo
and
Spike the Dragon

Doctor Whooves: The Series
“A Hearth’s Warming Tale”

Ch. 1: The Worst Hearth's Warming Ever

Chapter 1: The Worst Hearth's Warming Ever

Equestria Train Depot #18
Ponyville, Everfree Province of Equestria
23rd of Winter, 1002 C.R., 6:56 p.m.

Box Office, the ticket clerk of the Ponyville Train Depot, would never say that his job was boring. On the contrary; He tended to keep quite busy with the coming and goings of the ever-expanding town on Equestria’s southern frontier. With trains coming through at a greater rate bringing tourists, supplies, and the occasional Everfree wildlife enthusiast, all of whom needed to be tracked and accounted for, he often had his hooves full.

However, there were two exceptions to this constant flurry of activity throughout the year, which left his relatively new, but already well-worn boarding platform and the attached clerk’s office all but devoid of any pony presence beside his own.

They were the occasional crises of Equestria, which tended to range in scale from local pest infestations to national disasters, and the annual blizzard conditions that always accompanied Hearth’s Warming.

Pulling his scarf a bit more snugly with a tug of his magic, the tan unicorn stallion shivered as he stepped out of his warm and cozy office to do a quick sweep of the depot before he closed up for the evening.

His first order of business was attending to the only pony that had been there that day aside from himself.

“Closing time, kiddo,” Box Office spoke up, drawing the small orange pegasus filly’s attention away from the empty tracks.

“Already?”

“Same time as last night... and the night before that,” Box Office shook his head, a mild twinge of concern his his voice.

The filly’s head dipped slightly, a severe look of disappointment painted on her face.

“Isn’t the train from Canterlot supposed to run every day?” she asked, her tone grave. “Like, several times a day?”

“It’s supposed to. But as advanced as the railroads are, it’s still a developing technology. Sometimes there are setbacks even under the best of conditions.” Box Office shook his head, looking out towards the one way track that moved north, connecting the Everfree frontier town to the more heavily industrialized Royal Capitol, which in turn connected to Manehattan, the center of the Equestrian Railways. “Between the holiday, the blizzard, and Celestia-knows-what sort of complications at the Canterlot station...”

The filly let out a soft, resigned sigh as she pulled herself up on all fours, keeping her head low as she started to move towards the platform’s stairway and back to Ponyville itself.

Box Office felt his heart sink a bit more at the sight of her expression, the sort which cried out “disappointment,” and yet was reserved and calm enough to denote the filly had ample experience in dealing with it.

“Hey. You okay, kid?” Box Office asked, watching her as she slowly walked away. “You need somepony to take you home?”

“Thanks, but I’ll manage on my own, mister,” Scootaloo nodded back, attempted to inject a degree of independence into her voice.

A degree that faded somewhat as she muttered to herself.

“Not like it would be the first time.”

————————

Scootaloo the pegasus foal absentmindedly kicked at the ground, gently propelling her scooter down the snow-covered streets of Ponyville.

She usually flew (so to speak) down these familiar roads, finding obstacles and challenges where she could to show off to passersby (whether they appreciated her stunts or not). But the conditions of the roads today kept even her daredevil tendencies in check. Patches of ice for skidding and large mounds of snow piled on either side of the street made for obstacles she had no desire to test herself against today.

She simply wasn’t in the mood.

Turning a corner into Town Square, the orange pegasus cringed slightly as several of her classmates came into view, taking large chunks out of the snowbanks and patting them into place on a line of practice sculptures for one of Ponyville’s many Hearth’s Warming contests that would take place in a few short days.

She kept her head down, hoping to pass without attracting any attention as she made her way home.

“Hey! SCOOTALOO!”

Well, so much for that, the filly thought as she turned her head towards the lisped voice, which instantly identified the pony calling out to her as she suppressed an annoyed groan.

She wasn’t in the mood for this either, she realized, as two familiar foals ran towards her, leaving behind the others who were still focused on their sculptures.

They were both earth ponies that she knew fairly well. One, a bespectacled filly, was an off shade of white, wrapped in a red striped jacket that sported a perfect reflection of her cutie mark: two candy canes laid over one another into a heart shape. The other, a foreign-looking dappled pony that was still a little smaller than she was, had a very distinctive brown spot over one eye and was wrapped from snout to tail in a restrictive parka that immediately screamed “mama’s colt.”

“Hey, Twist… Pipsqueak... What’s up?” Scootaloo nodded, trying to keep her expression friendly, but her mood kept dragging it down.

“Just practicing our snowponies.” Twist pointed back to an admittedly poor attempt to create a four-legged snow sculpture with a large, somewhat dubious smile.

“Uh, guys? Hearth’s Warming isn’t till day after tomorrow,” Scootaloo shook her head, trying to figure what the pair of ponies were playing at. “Nothing you make today is gonna last that long.”

“Oh, we know that,” Pipsqueak spoke up, his slight Trottingham accent muffled by the feathery down around the edges of his tightly-drawn parka hood. “We were just brushing up and saw you all by yourself over here and--”

“Wanna join us?” Twist grinned widely, cutting to the chase. “We could use a third for our team.”

“Uhhh…” Scootaloo looked away, recognizing what was going on here. Revving her wings up, she prepared to propel herself away from her fellow foals. “You know what? I’m not really feeling like snow-sculpting right now. I think I’ll just--”

“Oh, no you don’t!” a slightly cracked, very dopy-sounding voice that matched its owner’s grade level called out.

“EGH!” Scootaloo gritted her teeth as she realized she was trapped, with Ponyville’s dumbest double-act somehow managing to get out in front of her.

“Scootaloo’s on our team this year!” Snails nodded with his usual oblivious smile, a motion that nearly made the blueish green earmuffs that matched his mane almost fall off of his head.

“Awww, Scoot, what are you teaming up with them for?” Twist sounded hurt and disappointed.

“I’m not teaming up with them!” the pegasus countered, shaking her head.

“You’re taking their side?” Snips asked pitifully, his partner in crime suddenly looking as if he himself was on the verge of breaking into tears.

“I’m not taking anypony’s side, guys!” Scootaloo snapped as she brought a hoof to her head. “Look, I’m not entering the Snow Sculpting Contest at all this year.”

“Awww, why not?” Twist asked, looking hurt. “Come on, Scootaloo. First prize is a huge jar of Chocobee honey, all the way from Hoofany.”

“That stuff’s almost impossible to get around these parts,” Pipsqueak piped up, matching Twist’s grin as he felt his mouth water. “Chocolately honey goodness.”

Scootaloo had to admit, that did sound good.

Chocobee honey was rare outside of Equestria’s northern Hoofany Province because it spoiled quickly unless kept in absolutely perfect conditions. In fact, Diamond Tiara’s dad, Filthy Rich, was probably the only pony in town who could actually afford a jar just to donate such a prize to the town; which would make it all the sweeter provided his own spoiled foal didn’t simply win it back.

Licking her lips slightly, Scootaloo could almost see herself enjoying a third of such a honey pot on Hearth’s Warming.

“And seeing how the Cutie Mark Crusaders won the Sculpting Contest the last two years, we can’t lose with you on our team,” Snails spoke up, breaking Scootaloo out of her moment of temptation.

“Yeah, what with the Apples and Sweetie Belle’s family both out of town, everypony figures they’ve got a shot,” said Snips.

Scootaloo felt her heart sink in her chest, accompanied by a shiver that had nothing to do with the snow on the ground.

“Not interested,” the pegasus snapped, revving her wings again as she brought her hind legs back up onto her scooter.

“Awww, come on, Scoot.” Snails set a hoof up on the handle of the orange filly’s scooter, oblivious to the scornful look it drew to him. “Maybe you could just show us some of those cloud sculpting techniques for--”

*BBBBZZZZZZZZZTTTTTTTTTTTT-SHOOOOOM*

Darting forward, Scootaloo caught Snails squarely in the wake of her sudden propulsion, sending him spinning on the icy road for a few moments like a tan and aquamarine tornado. He eventually fell out of the spin, landing on his belly with legs splayed, a horrible shade of green coloring his face as a dizzying set of stars ran circles in front of his eyes.

Twist, Pipsqueak, and Snips watched her go, puzzled for a moment as to her behavior.

“Was it something we said?” Snips asked innocently, drawing a shrug from the Trottingham colt (or as much of one as he could manage) while Twist merely tilted her head in confusion.

————————

Scootaloo turned the corner away from the square rather recklessly, eager to get away from her classmates and their transparent hopes to capitalize on her friends' holiday plans.

“No, it’s okay. You go. You have fun.” The foal rolled her eyes, repeating what she had said several days earlier. “I’ve got big plans for Hearth’s Warming here in Ponyville anyways, it’ll be great. Sorry you’ll miss it.”

She grunted a bit, her eyes clenched shut as she gritted her teeth.

“I should have known better than to--”

“Get out!”

Scootaloo opened her eyes, turning her head towards the Phrench accent as her scooter buzzed past Lotus and Aloe’s Spa.

Stumbling back down the stairs and away from an irate-looking blue earth pony with a pink mane, the pegasus filly caught a fleeting glimpse of a brown stallion that she and her friends had become very familiar with over the past few months, along with something purple and green hiding behind him as several items were thrown at the pair from the spa doorway.

“...Doctor?”

“GAH!!”

Scootaloo twisted her head forward at the sudden cry, but was unable to react before…

*FWOOMPH-CRASH!*

…

“Oooowwww…” Scootaloo managed, having to take a moment to take stock as she found herself facing up towards the heavy grey clouds overhead. She blinked a few times as several large flurries fell onto her stomach and opened wings.

She had crashed.

The thought took a moment to process, allowing her to sit up and remove her helmet, wincing as she did so.

What the hay just happened?

Oh, right. She had crashed.

Shaking her head to try and clear the fuzzy cobwebs, the pegasus looked down and around herself, trying to get a fix on the state of her scooter.

Oh, there it was.

Pulling herself uneasily to her hooves and grateful that she had managed to avoid what happened to Applebloom a couple months back, she managed a few steps towards the scooter before looking around to see an older stallion pulling himself to his hooves.

“Eheh... Sorry, mister… I was kinda…”

Then she caught sight of the dusty grey coat and black mane, a specific combination that belonged to only one unicorn in all of Ponyville. That realization, along with the inherently creepy cutie mark of a spindly black spider emblazoned on his bare flank, was more than enough to snap the filly out of her post-crash giggles.

“Uh-oh… Gloomy Gus…” she whispered before recovering, forcing a smile as the stallion managed to stand up enough to turn on her. “Uhh… Sorry... about that. Really. I was distracted and--”

“WHAT IS THE MATTER WITH YOU!?” The stallion bore his teeth, glaring at her with his baggy red eyes which did little to detract from the older pony’s intimidating demeanor. “DON’T YOUR EYES WORK!?”

Scootaloo cringed at the shout, looking up and down the street for anypony that she might be able to to call over to mediate.

“Look, I’m sorry. I just--”

“Just what? What are you thinking, riding around on that deathtrap on these roads like that!? Are you trying to put somepony in the hospital!?”

“No, I was--”

“Wait just a gosh darn moment! I know you…” The grey pony’s eyes lit up with recognition. “You’re one of those foals that tried to tear my house down.”

“Uhhh…” Scootaloo’s eyes shifted down as she cringed, memories flooding back of her short-lived moment as part of the “Cutie Mark Crusader Demotion Crew” just over a year earlier.

To be fair, they had heard rumors that the tumbledown old house on the west end of town was abandoned, and had just happened to overhear that the “eyesore” needed to be leveled.

They had managed to break a few of the stairs leading up to the door before they learned that the small shack was far from abandoned. And two days later, with Applejack to hide behind, they thought they had managed to make amends. (Well, mostly Apple Bloom, but she had helped).

“Well, we did fix what we broke...” Scootaloo offered, still trying to keep the smile on her face and not show how concerned she was as she backed closer to her scooter. “Good as new, right?”

“No, not good as new. You can’t fix things ‘good as new.’ Once something’s broken, it’s never the same...” Gloomy Gus trailed off, and for the briefest of moments, his eyes wandered off to the side of the pegasus, and seemed to dull slightly. Then, as quickly as it came, the moment passed, and the pony’s eyes regained their sharpness. “Those new steps, they don’t creak the same way they used to. I can’t even tell when I have visitors at the door no more.”

“You get visitors?”

The comment slipped out before the filly could stop herself, and clearly the amused tone with which had she said it was far from endearing to the stallion, who gritted his teeth as the filly felt her hind hoof kick into something.

Turning about, she took note of something small, the size of a jewelry box perhaps, laying cracked open just behind her and emitting a tiny, warbling, rattly kind of noise.

*Tzzzzcccchhhhhhhh*

“Huh?”

The foal had only a fraction of a second to puzzle over the strange sound before she felt herself pushed backwards by a solid set of legs. Her hooves slid across the frozen dirt, scrambling for purchase before they fell over the cold metal of her scooter.

Stunned from the sudden rush, the filly had lost all composure, having to look around for a few seconds to get her bearings again before she realized that those two ominous red eyes were now glaring directly at her. The musty-smelling stallion was nearly snout to snout as he raised a hoof and pointedly pressed on the lid of the box, snapping it shut. He then growled intimidatingly at the clumsy foal from the back of his throat, before he raised his voice in a raspy shout.

“GET OUT OF MY SIGHT! GO ON, GET!”

Scootaloo wasted no time meeting the demand, pulling the blue scooter back, ignoring the bent handle, and quickly kicking off, her wings buzzing hard as she raced down the street and away from the angry stallion. After watching her disappear into the distance, the pony known as Gloomy Gus shook his head with an annoyed grunt, and bent over to inspect his dropped cargo.

“Delinquent…” he muttered, shaking his head before picking the box up in his teeth and returning to the task at hoof.

————————

The small single-story home situated on the corner of Derby and Bismarck would have been considered modest by most ponies’ standards. It had all of the comforts that a modern pony family could need, of course: Indoor plumbing, utilities, and enough space for a small family to live comfortably.

But as the orange filly burst into the door, cold sweat matting her fur, she quickly swung her scooter to the side and slammed the door closed behind her, reaching up to push the oft-neglected lock into place before sinking to the floor, gasping for breath.

Gloomy Gus was well-known around Ponyville for having a short fuse and lashing out with almost no provocation, but he came out of his house so rarely that most ponies had never encountered him face to face. The simple fact that he was one of the very few ponies that even Pinkie Pie gave space was enough to prove to her that it wasn’t a case of being misunderstood.

Some ponies really were just plain mean.

After a moment to collect herself and making sure again that the door was locked, Scootaloo sighed and looked around the house, the dim light of early evening fading in the window as night drew closer.

“I’m home~” she called out weakly to nopony in particular as she moved forward, stepping into the kitchen. She paid no mind to the deflated balloon she had to step over, or the brightly-colored banner that hung morosely overhead. Her heart was finally beginning to calm as the familiar safety that had been her home for the last two and a half years gave her some peace of mind.

Moving to the fridge, the filly pulled the door open with her mouth and considered her options for dinner.

She had the ability and the ingredients to make something hot; perhaps some stew or jambalaya. But that would take time and work, and after quickly considering what was in her current allowance and how she felt after her encounter with Gloomy Gus, she realized she wasn’t in the mood for eating out, either.

With a sigh of defeat, the filly reached in and drew out a half full glass bottle of milk before she moved quickly up to the counter. There, she pulled out a bowl and carefully scooped into it some dry oats out of a cereal bag.

“Dinner of champions...” she sighed, her eyes half-lidded as she poured the milk over the generic meal and then replaced the bottle in the fridge.

————————

The fire in the fireplace was nice. It was small, crackling and smoldering in places, but still gave the otherwise dark living room a healthy glow and a warm feel.

It was not entirely necessary, since pegasi didn’t feel the cold anywhere near as acutely as unicorns or even earth ponies, but it was a nice little fire all the same as Scootaloo lay splayed out on the chaise lounge situated in front of it. A clipboard lay on her belly as she held the end of a pencil in her lips.

They (meaning herself and her fellow Crusaders) had taken upon themselves a secret duty: to document everything they noticed in regards to one mysterious pony. A duty given to them by none other than the Princess of the Sun herself.

A duty that, for some reason, Scootaloo found she just didn’t care to fulfill tonight.

“Ungh...” The filly spit the pencil out of her mouth and tried to brush the taste of eraser off her tongue.

What would she say, anyways?

Dear Princess Celestia,

Today I think Dr. Clockwork got fresh with Aloe and got himself kicked out of the Ponyville spa. By the way, I hope you’re having a nice Hearth’s Warming.

-Your loyal subject, Scootaloo

Yeah, like that would be worth interrupting whatever feasts or royal banquets were going on in Canterlot right now.

Scootaloo shuffled her shoulders and small wings against a lump in the chaise for a moment before she laid her head back.

“One cloud bed in the house. Would that be too much to ask for?” the filly grumbled. “What I wouldn’t give... for an actual bed... made of actual clouds.”

She could have gotten up and moved to her own room with her own bed, but that would require more effort than she felt like making right now. Besides, the fire was warmer than her blankets could ever be.

She turned on her side, the lump in the chaise refusing to go away, and faced the fire, her eyes moving up towards the mantle and settling for a moment on a single picture frame that sat there. She stared for a moment before turning away and putting her wings towards the fire, curling slightly as she brought her tail up around her front.

“Maybe tomorrow?” she muttered quietly before she started to drift into an uneasy sleep. “Yeah... right...”

And as she slept, she had no way of knowing that something else was in the room with her. A tiny something, barely distinguishable to the naked eye in most cases, but in the wan light of the fire, was nearly invisible as it watched the small pony through sight that was like looking through a mosaic of broken mirrors.

It remained hovering above Scootaloo for only a few seconds more before, as if there was really no reason it needed to stay, it made its way over to the slightly cracked window that led outside and into town.

*Tzzzzcccchhhhhhhh*

————————

“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” Daring leaned forward, taking the blanket with her as she sat up and drawing a united protest from her fellow Crusaders. “What the hay is that thing!?”

“All in due time. It’s called building dramatic tension, my little pony,” Luna nodded, giving the filly a smirk before pushing the blanket back and recapturing her audience under the covers. “All of the best storytellers do it.”

“But why was Scootaloo sitting at the train depot?” Dawn asked cautiously, surprised by the amount of detail that was being given. “And why was she all alone like that on Hearth’s Warming? I mean, where are her friends?”

“Maybe they were eaten by timberwolves!” Cream piped in, clearly too excited about the prospect. “Or an ursa! Oh, wait! Maybe they were attacked by an ursa, then eaten by timberwolves! That’s twice as bad!”

Dawn, Daring, and even Luna gave the filly a sideways, cautious glance before subconsciously edging away from the grinning pony.

“Cream, how much sugar was in that cookie you were eating?” Dawn asked bluntly.

“Just a little..” The earth pony filly looked away sheepishly, rubbing her forelegs against themselves. “Or... maybe more than a little... Or maybe a lot.”

“They’re the original Crusaders, Cream. You’ve met them. I kinda doubt that’s what happened,” Daring pointed out. “But I’m more worried about that ‘Gloomy Gus’ guy. What’s his deal?”

“Well, girls, if you’ll let me continue, I just might be able to tell you.” Luna smirked before she nodded at the three. “Now, the story really begins the next day... on the morning of Hearth’s Warming Eve.”

“Then why did you start on the day before?” Cream tilted her head.

“Dramatic tension, my dear,” the Princess of the Night grinned.

————————
Just outside Sugarcube Corner
Ponyville, Everfree Province of Equestria
24th of Winter, 1002 C.R., 8:03 a.m.

The snow was falling a bit heavier today than the night before, which was strange, given the fact that it wasn’t scheduled to be so by the Ponyville Weather Patrol. But as she walked slowly through the quiet streets of Ponyville, Scootaloo found she had other things on her mind than some slightly inclement weather.

She had thought it would be a good idea to leave her scooter behind following her “run-in” with Gloomy Gus the evening before, and now, a still yawning Scootaloo was already regretting leaving her lumpy chaise behind.

She wasn’t even sure what it was she was doing. Did she really have to sit out at the boarding docks waiting? Surely if the train did come in, she would find out soon enough without sitting out there waiting for it. And besides, after she was being made to wait like this, maybe she didn’t want that train to show up so badly anymore.

*grrrrrrr*

————————

“Ohhhh, is that the monster?” Daring asked quickly.

“No... that was her stomach growling,” Luna quickly corrected.

“I don’t think a stomach makes a noise like that. Shouldn’t it be more of a gurgle?” Dawn spoke up.

“Didn’t she just eat a bowl of milk and oats? I mean, really, Scootaloo must have been one pudgy filly,” Cream pointed out.

“No, that was the night before and...” The princess sighed, her shoulders drooping a bit as she realized she was getting off topic.

Perhaps adding sound effects was not the wisest of decisions...

————————

*grumble*

“Well, I guess I can always think about it over some cocoa and a honey bun,” Scootaloo mused as she approached the faux-gingerbread building that was the sweetest place in all of Ponyville.

*SLAM!*

The orange foal scrambled back as the door to the bakery was thrown open, revealing a tall, lanky yellow stallion. His lack of a baker’s apron and hat, as well as the heavy bags under his eyes, caused the filly’s brain to freeze up on recognition as she heard the cries of two foals from inside and a familiar voice filled with a very unfamiliar malice.

“WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU’RE GOING!?” Mrs. Cake called out from inside the bakery, having to practically scream to be heard over the two crying foals.

“OUT!” Mr. Cake shouted back, perhaps louder than he needed to in an angry tone that certainly didn’t suit the master confectioner.

“LIKE CELESTIA’S FAT FLANK YOU ARE! GET BACK IN HERE!”

“STOP RIDING ME, MARE!” Mr. Cake shot back scornfully, causing Scootaloo to take a step back and flatten her ears. “I NEED A LITTLE SPACE!”

“YOU ARE NOT LEAVING ME HERE ALONE WITH--”

*SLAM!*

*crack*

Scootaloo stared in shock for a moment, stunned at the harsh language and harsher words shared before Mister Cake had bucked the door to his bakery closed with enough force to crack the window.

Quickly, she scrambled to the side to get out of the stallion’s path as he moved away, his heated breath easily visible as steam in the cold air before he turned a pair of tired, bloodshot eyes to the filly, who immediately cringed.

“We’re closed today,” Mr. Cake stated, and although he didn’t shout or project it towards the filly, it was clear there was still a heavy degree of anger in his voice. “All the milk and cream got soured by the witch living here.”

“I HEARD THAT!” a muffled Mrs. Cake’s voice came from the window, the pudgy blue mare also lacking her usual garments and, like her husband, had heavily bagged eyes.

“OH, NOW YOU’RE LISTENING TO ME!? WHAT A SHOCKER!”

The filly backed away slowly as Mr. Cake turned away from her, the shouting match now continuing through the cracked window in the front of the bakery.

Scootaloo didn’t know what had gotten into their feed this morning, but one thing was for sure:

She had lost her appetite.

————————

“What in the wide world of Equis?” Scootaloo narrowed her eyes as she looked up at the note posted on the locked gate leading up to the Ponyville Train Depot.

Kid,

Train’s not coming.

Go loiter somewhere else.

-The overworked, under-appreciated Box Office

“Just like that?” Scootaloo shook her head, the shock still not wearing off as she read the short message obviously intended for her. “A ‘closed’ sign would have been enough.”

She didn’t know the ticket clerk all that well, but she did know he seemed to be the dependable type at least; always at work and pleasant enough to talk to. He hadn’t once asked her to leave or shooed her away over the last couple of days, except for when his shift was up and he needed to lock the place up for the night.

With a sigh, the small pegasus shook her head. Sure, she could easily just walk around and climb up onto the boarding dock from the tracks, but really, what would be the point? Even the pony who’s job it was to wait for the trains had given up and decided that he had better things to do.

Speaking of better things to do, she sure felt like she could use some.

She could go back home and make it a lazy “do nothing” day.

...Nah, boring.

Or perhaps she could head up to the Crusaders’ clubhouse in Sweet Apple Acres.

...Nah, that wouldn’t be any fun without the other girls.

The library?

...

“Ugh!” Scootaloo facehoofed. Really, how bored would she have to be for that to sound like a good idea? The last thing she needed was to get a reputation as a bookworm. And besides, last she had heard, Twilight Sparkle had also left town, the reclusive Queen of the Bookworms making her own holiday trip to Canterlot this year.

Wait, there was still the Snow Sculpture Contest and all of the other events that City Hall put on for the local foals on Hearth’s Warming Eve. With the kind of day she was having, it might just prove to be a suitable distraction. And she still should have had an open invitation from Twist and Pip, assuming they hadn’t already found a third member.

She might not win anything without Sweetie’s artistic flair and Apple Bloom’s freakish attention to detail, but at least it would be something to do.

————————

Scootaloo’s eye twitched slightly as her mouth hung open, a position she had been holding for more than a minute as her brain tried to absorb what was written on the enormous sign standing planted in the dirt on the edges of City Hall. Just past the sign, and surrounding the whole of the building itself, the lawn was a mushy mess of grass and half-melted slush, as the entire area was being bathed in an intense beam of sunlight cast through the only hole visible in the cloud cover for miles around.

All Hearth’s Warming events canceled indefinitely.
Mayor’s Office closed for Administrative Tanning.
Keep all complaints to yourselves.
Violators will be prosecuted.

-Mayor Mare

“What the hay is going on around here?” Scootaloo finally asked after having stared at the sign for a full two minutes before she stepped out on the lawn and felt her hoof sink in the dripping wet ground.

The rest of Ponyville was caked thick in snow still, but for some reason, a huge hole had been opened in the clouds right over City Hall and a single stream of sunlight seemed to have been at work since daybreak to melt down the snow.

Looking up, Scootaloo took note of a small team of pegasi, many of whom appeared to be grumbling and complaining, working constantly to maintain the hole in the clouds as they naturally tried to spread out and fill in the empty patch of sky.

The ticket clerk at the train depot getting fed up and closing his office down for a day was one thing, but the Mayor’s Office? Mayor Mare always talked about how she loved the Hearth’s Warming events; how they were a Ponyville tradition that stretched back for decades. Why in the world would she cancel them?

And what the hay did “Administrative Tanning” mean?

*PAF*

“Ungh!” Scootaloo felt her head jerk forward as she was impacted just above her neck by a cold, soft sensation that could only have been a snowball. “What the...?”

She recovered quickly, running a hoof over her mane and confirming the wet remains of snowy artillery before turning to face her attacker, expecting any number of foals from school to be responsible.

Just about any of them save this one.

“Bet you’re happy now, at least,” Pipsqueak glared, gritting his teeth as he stomped a hoof indignantly in the snow.

Scootaloo drew back. “Pip?”

Ever since she had met the limey pony just before Nightmare Night last year, the pegasus could not think of a single time she had seen him with such a spiteful expression. He was always such an innocent, pie-in-the-sky goody-two-hooves, always talking about how being a perfect gentlecolt was the most important thing when dealing with others, especially girls like herself.

It was probably the thing she liked most about him.

To think he was even capable of raising his voice like that was paramount to the idea that Pinkie Pie was a sadistic, crazed poisoner of confectioneries. (A rumor from which Pinkie’s reputation still suffered after what had been dubbed the “Baked Bad” incident at Sugarcube Corner).

“That’s ‘Pippin Lockhooves Esquire!’” the dappled colt huffed in agitation. “Why can’t anypony ever bloomin’ remember that?”

“I... did,” Scootaloo partly lied, having honestly forgotten the whole thing, but giving the colt a sideways look anyways as she took a step closer to him. “I thought you hated being called Pippin.”

“Oh, and Pipsqueak is better because I’m small? Is that it?”

“Um... You always said to call you...” Scootaloo paused as she looked the colt up and down, now a few steps closer.

He had bags under his eyes, which were slightly swollen although it was only visible on his non-spot-covered eye. And judging by the way he was breathing, his heart must have been racing.

“Pip, err... Pippin, are... are you okay?” she offered, sounding concerned. “You look tired.”

“Well, I haven’t got any Chocobee honey, thanks to you!”

“Chocobee-- Pip, it’s not my fault Mayor Mare cancelled the Snow Sculpture Contest!”

“Well, I think it is! You had to go about being all sour and ruin everypony else’s good time!”

“Hey, don’t you holler at me!” Scootaloo spoke up, her own heart speeding up as she reached the limit of her patience.

“Scootaloo, I am from Trottingham. We do not ‘holler’ in Trottingham. We are more refined than that.” Pipsqueak put a hoof to his chest in a manner that immediately made Scootaloo think of one of Sweetie’s impersonations of Rarity.

Then opened his eyes with a renewed glare.

“We SCOLD!”

Scootaloo flattened her ears and unfolded her tiny wings. She’d had enough of this.

“Oh yeah? Well, I’m from Cloudsdale. And you know what we do in Cloudsdale?”

“Why should I care what you do in--”

*BZZZZZZZTT-THUMP*

“UNGH!”

Pipsqueak was on his back before he even realized what was happening. The pegasus’s small wings, still incapable of adult flight, easily propelled her the short distance between them with enough force to take the wind out of his sails as she now kept one hoof planted on his chest.

“We take care of BUSINESS in Cloudsdale!” Scootaloo stated triumphantly. “I once fought a dragon and walked away with just a couple of scrapes, Pipsqueak. What have you got?”

*PAF*
*PAF*
*PAF*

Scootaloo recoiled and drew back under a sudden barrage of snowballs along her flank and the side of her cheek. Those wouldn’t have been a problem to her, but one of the icy slush balls had scored a direct hit on the inner edge of her ear, which stung worse than a bee and sent a flash of white across her eyes.

Taking a few steps to steady herself and shake her head clear, Scootaloo looked up and in the direction from which the snowballs had flown, as Pipsqueak pulled himself up on his hooves.

About twenty feet away stood more or less her entire class, every one of them sharing a tired, angry expression and more than a few readying another volley.

Her bravado sufficiently punctured, the pegasus folded her ears back fearfully.

“Okay... So that’s what you got...”

Then the avalanche began.

————————

“WHOA!” Scootaloo ducked between two houses and then made a quick turn down another alleyway as two more snowballs smashed into the wall over her head.

Panting heavily, and sure that there were going to be welts under her coat come tomorrow, the filly found herself realizing that she wasn’t going to outrun her entire class on hoof like this. She had to think of something, and now more than ever, she was grateful to have picked up that one book series that Rainbow Dash was so fond of, as a similar chase scene, and the adventurous Daring Do’s solution to it, came to mind.

Seizing a trashcan lid by the handle in her teeth as she ran forward, Scootaloo jerked it free, sending the full bin of garbage across the narrow alleyway to slow down her pursuers before turning another corner among the tightly-packed houses in the center of town.

She had only a moment to act as she came to another intersection in the alley, quickly taking aim and flinging her head to one side, sending the metal lid flying down the left turn and into another set of trashcans, knocking them down with a loud bang while she dove to the right. Rushing as quickly as she could to the next intersection, she turned right again and came to a stop at the next corner, trying to still her racing heart and quiet her panting as she listened.

There was a rush of hoofbeats down the alleyway... then they stopped for a moment... before they continued down the path of the commotion she had raised, in the opposite direction and away from her.

After a few more seconds, the pegasus filly let out a sigh of relief, slipping down the wall as her haunches planted in the slushy, dirty snow in the back alleys of Ponyville’s residences. It was easy at the moment to ignore the sting from the one-sided snowball massacre and the burning in her chest as she came to a single conclusion.

“Everypony’s gone completely NUTS!” she panted, shaking her head as she tried to run down her options. Gasping suddenly, her hoof shot to her muzzle, and she slowly moved forward to pitch her head around the corner of the alley, watching for possible danger. After she was certain she hadn't been heard, Scootaloo then breathed another sigh before considering what to do next.

Who could she go to?

Her friends were out of town, so she couldn’t rely on them.

She had been practically stampeded in the streets and not a single adult had so much as taken notice, so the usual help from a responsible pony was hardly an option.

The Mayor’s Office was clearly suffering from the same craziness that had affected the Cakes and her fellow classmates.

She could forget about Zecora. The zebra mare’s hut in the Everfree Forest was hard enough to get to in the best of conditions, let alone the winter months. And especially by herself.

And she hadn’t seen any of the mares that usually intervened in what a normal pony would call an “emergency situation” in days.

Going for help elsewhere would take days on hoof, and what with the train out of Canterlot apparently out of commission, there was also a chance that whatever had happened here wasn’t isolated to Ponyville.

She had to find somepony to help.

Anypony that could...

…

Scootaloo paused, looking down at the ground and taking note of the shadow that was now looming overhead.

Then her neck snapped upwards and she let out a startled shriek as a heavy net fell down around her.

Ch. 2: Tidings of Gloom and Doom

Chapter 2: Tidings of Gloom and Doom

“WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaagh....”

There was a moment of utter silence in Canterlot Castle following the bloodcurdling scream. Princess Luna and two fillies stared with wide eyes at the beige earth pony who uttered it, while she looked back at them with a wide smile on her face.

“What? I can’t add some theatrical effect?”

“My eee-he-hears…” Daring whined slightly, on account of having been right next to the obnoxiously loud filly when she decided to mirror Scootaloo’s cry, bringing her hooves up to rub on the sides of her head. “My poor, poor ears...”

“Give us a little warning next time, Cream!” Dawn shouted while she shook her head, trying to get the ringing to stop.

Princess Luna sighed, mostly to suppress a snicker as she pulled herself up.

“Hold on, my fillies,” the alicorn expressed patiently while walking to the door. “I need to go and make sure that the guards do not get the wrong idea. I’ll be right back.”

Moving out of sight and closing the door behind her, Daring, Cream, and Dawn sat up and looked to one another.

“Thanks, Cream! Now the suspense is killing me!” Daring said, crossing her forelegs together.

“Do you think this is really a true story?” Dawn questioned. “It doesn’t seem very likely that that sort of series of events could just pop up like that.”

“What’s not to believe about it?” Cream responded. “I mean, you always believed the legends about Discord. And I think those are way more farfetched than this story."

“That’s different. All of those stories are back up by recorded history. You’ve all seen the windows in Canterlot Tower.”

“Do you think Scootaloo’s gonna be okay?” Daring was now rubbing her hooves together and looking around nervously. “Nets... Ugggh, I’m cringing just thinking about it,” she said, giving a little shudder and spreading her tiny wings out of reflex.

“It’s just a story, Daring,” Dawn tried to comfort her friend, surprised at how anxious she was becoming in the short time that her Auntie Lu had stepped out. “I’m sure it’ll turn out just fine.”

“Oh, I don’t know about that,” Cream spoke up. “You know, my mom says that every time a new story is told, somewhere, in some place, it actually happens. So as we hear it, it’s all like it’s happening all over again somewhere.”

“That’s gotta be scary for Scootaloo,” Daring nodded.

“Oh, ponyfeathers, girls. That’s just silly.” Dawn shook her head, her expression superior and academic. “A story is just a story, meant to entertain and educate. It’s all in your imaginations.”

The little unicorn took no notice as something dark blue silently rose up along the side of the bed, a mischievous grin over her royal face. Meanwhile, Cream and Daring watched as their friend continued to lecture, drawing closer to one another as Luna rose to loom over them.

“Just because you tell a story doesn’t make it feel like it’s actually happening. All you have to do is look out for the literary devices and then you can see the twist and turns coming from a mile awa--”

“DOWN CAME THE NET!” Luna shouted, putting her hooves down on either side of Dawn with a theatrically loud tone, just a shade short of the Royal Canterlot as the unicorn filly turned with a perfectly pitched scream of shock and terror. Eyes wide with fright, she fell back into her friends, who were grinning wildly at her expense.

After waiting a few moments for Dawn’s blood pressure to resume normal levels, Luna cleared her throat before continuing from where she left off.

————————

“WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!”

Net! Trapped!

A pegasus’s greatest phobia: To be ensnared.

A primal, ancient fear gripped Scootaloo, and her immediate instinct was to fly, her wings flaring and buzzing as she darted forward at full steam and strained against the thickly threaded netting. Not that it mattered much; the weave was dense enough that not even her small hoof could fit through the holes.

Despite her efforts, the net didn’t even budge, the threads pressing into her fur and skin painfully as something held firm on the other end. In her panicked reaction, she dove in another direction to try and pull against the other side.

No good! NO GOOD! She was still caught!

She wailed again, tears streaming in her eyes as hundreds of horrible possibilities ran through her mind. She recalled stories from school of long bygone wars where griffins used nets against pegasi, and of accidents involving wings getting clipped and crippled because of entanglement. The thoughts crowded out all but the most basic instincts as she redoubled her efforts to escape, meaning that she also did not notice as somepony walked up to the struggling bundle of feathers, fur, and rope.

“Well, now... That was more... volatile than expected. Are all pegasi this high strung?”

“Only when you tie them up.”

“I see... Shouldn’t we... you know... let her out, then?”

“After what happened last time I made her mad? There’s no way I’m getting closer until she’s had a moment to calm down.”

Voices?

It must have been whoever trapped her! Where were they? She couldn’t tell. She wasn’t even sure which way was...

*BBBBZZZZTTTTTT-THUMP*

She hit the ground suddenly, her frantic panic causing her to lose her sense of altitude as she came back to the slushy earth. With the addition of her attackers’ voices and the jarring shock of landing, Scootaloo finally managed to find her voice.

“PLEASE LEMMEGOLEMMEGOLEMMEGOOO-HO-HO~! I’M SORRY!” she shouted, her hooves over her head as she trembled with fear and her heart hammering in her chest painfully. “WHATEVER I DID, I’M SORRY!!”

There was a painfully long moment where the only sound to be heard was that of her own strained breathing.

Then, through tear-filled eyes, she looked up...

...to see a familiar pair of brilliant emerald green pupils, marked with black slits.

“...Spike?”

“I’m really sorry about this,” the dragon child said, offering up his claws in an apologetic gesture. “I didn’t realize you had it that bad, but we had to slow you down long enough to--”

“Oh, wait a moment! I recognize this one,” the lilting voice from earlier piped up excitedly.

“Uh, Doc... Don’t. Just--”

“Scuttlebutt, right?”

Spike brought a claw to his face in a very clear expression of exasperation.

“Doc, just use the--”

“Or was it Scrappading?”

“DOC!” There was a bit of hiss to Spike’s tone, and the back and forth had managed to pull enough of Scootaloo’s thought processes back into functioning that she could actually take stock of her situation in spite of her still pounding heart and near blind panic.

Spike eyes were darting back and forth between her and...

And there he was... a chestnut brown colt with a spiky, darker brown mane. He stood over her with a smile as he wore a pair of tinted flight-goggles and a fancy brown vest with the red bow-tie. The hourglass proudly displayed on his flank completed the appearance of the stallion that she and her friends had been shadowing from afar for months now. Alongside the brown cuff he usually wore on his right hoof, his left was wrapped around by a curious metal bracelet, with stray wires poking out and topped by a spinning, blinking gizmo that beeped rhythmically as he held it up in her direction.

The encounter was surprising, to say the least. She hadn’t been this close to him since that time in the library on the day Apple Bloom broke her foreleg.

“Doctor... Clockwork?” she asked, her tone hesitant as she still tried to control her breathing

“So they tell me, but no need to be so formal, Subway Pop,” the stallion commented, looking down at the strange device on his foreleg as it started beeping even faster. “As I have told your friends several times, I really do just prefer ‘Doctor.’”

*Ding*

“Oh, good! It appears she’s not infected after all!” The Doctor grinned winningly to his scaled companion, who let out a sigh of relief.

“Well, that’s something at least.”

“S...Spike... Doctor... Uhhh... I don’t wanna be... you know, rude... but...” Scootaloo stammered for a moment, struggling to contain herself. “...GET ME THE HAY OUT OF THIS THING!"

“Oh, right! Sorry! Sorry!” Spike moved quickly, pulling at the top of the net and scooping a claw under the edge, pulling it upward and mercifully prying away the threaded netting.

Scootaloo remained laying there, her barrel buried in the snow for a moment as her hooves trembled and her wings flexed in their regained freedom.

“There you go; all better,” Spike nodded, straightening up with a smile. “You know, I’ve always heard that pegasi had bad claustrophobia when it came to nets, but I’ve never actually seen--”

“AGGHH!!” The orange foal dove at the purple dragon, her fearful tears now turned quite suddenly to a raw and volatile anger as she planted his scaly rump in the dirty snow of the alley.

“Oh, goodness me,” the Doctor commented, bringing his un-ladened hoof to his lips as he looked over her condition, his examination now unimpeded by the net.

“WHAT IS THE MATTER WITH YOU!? WHY WOULD YOU PUT ME IN SOMETHING LIKE THAT!? I THOUGHT WE WERE FRIENDS!” Scootaloo cried as she ground her hooves into Spike’s shoulders; an action that hardly harmed the thick-scaled reptile, unlike the pain and betrayal in her voice, which caused him to cringe. “That is the one thing you don’t do to a pegasus! EVER! You don’t--”

The orange filly cut short as she felt a hoof on her shoulder, causing her tearful gaze to turn up to a set of deep blue eyes.

“Shhhhh...” the Hourglass Stallion shushed her softly. “It’s alright. It’s over.”

Scootaloo exhaled...

And it was gone.

All of that fear... all of the anguish and pain... all of the anger that had followed. All of it was gone in an instant, leaving a feeling as if some balloon of emotions inside of her had suddenly deflated, the tears stopping so suddenly that she caught herself wondering why her cheeks felt wet.

After a moment, he smiled and nodded, removing his hoof from her shoulder and taking a step back.

If anything, now she was feeling embarrassed by her outburst, something that she just couldn’t explain.

“H...how did you do that?” she asked, drawing a pleased chuckle from the brown stallion.

“I’m the Doctor,” he replied, as if that explained everything. “I make things better. Now, if you could kindly step off of my reptilian companion, perhaps we can get back to what we were doing.”

Scootaloo, still confused, looked down to the dragon, who returned her glance with an apologetic look, before she pulled herself off of him.

The young dragon, for one, did not seem to have any hard feelings or show any sign of resentment, merely brushing his scales off and running his claws back across the fins on his cheeks.

“Actually, Doc,” Spike spoke up, shrugging with an accusing look towards the stallion. “We’re kinda back at square one. Unless you think she did it.”

“Did... what?” Scootaloo tilted her head, bringing up her hoof to wipe away the tears that were now cooling on her fur. “Do you guys know what’s happening? Everypony I’ve met today has been acting all mean and crazy.” The foal paused a moment as she regarded the two of them. ”Except for you two...”

“And you for some reason, my dear Suppabling,” the Doctor commented, bringing his left hoof over her again and running it a few inches above her fur.

*DING*

“Nope, still looks good. No negative emotional reading, no disrupted neural flows, no hormonal imbalance, no signs of fatigue. Did you sleep well last night?”

“Uhhh, yeah. Okay, I guess, except for this dumb lump that kept... Errr, wait a minute. My name’s Scootaloo.”

“That’s what I said... Shootemdown,” the Doctor stated somewhat absentmindedly as he looked over his odd device, which made several clicking and clunking sounds as he started to mutter under his breath. "Must be a real heart breaker, name like that."

“Nooooo... It’s--”

“Uh, Scoot? Word of advice: Don’t bother,” Spike broke in, offering a sympathetic expression. “It took him two days to get Twilight’s name down right. He kept calling her ‘Evening Glimmer’ and ‘Georgia’ and stuff like that. It’s just the way he is.”

“Still rather like Georgia, to be honest,” the colt muttered halfheartedly as he turned to the side, apparently distracted.

“Really?” Scootaloo looked past the dragon to the strange stallion. “I thought doctors were supposed to be smart.”

“He is,” the dragon defended quickly. “Really smart... like ‘Twilight level’ scary smart. But he’s also kinda... quirky.”

Quirky? the foal thought, looking past Spike to witness the brown stallion wandering over to one wall, running a hoof over it and speaking to himself the entire time right up until he leaned forward and gave the brick and mortar a long lick.

No. Granny Smith was quirky.

This pony had problems.

“Spike, what’s going on?”

The dragon opened his mouth to begin speaking when a sudden ominous sound came from the Doctor’s hoof-mounted device, causing him to turn with a concerned expression.

*beep-beep-beep-beep*

“Well, that’s bad.” The Doctor grimaced before he turned the hoof-device over, although what he was looking at, the foal didn’t know. “Not sure how bad yet, but certainly a bus, two taxis, and a long walk away from good.”

“Is it those things again?” Spike looked around in the air, his head moving from side to side as if he was trying to see something. “I thought we lost them!”

“What things? What’s happening?” Scootaloo looked around, also frantically trying to see what it was that had suddenly riled the adult pony and dragon.

“Hold on, they might not be tracking us. Signal’s still scattered. They could just be in proximity,” the Doctor comforted his scaled compatriot as he shifted on three hooves, still looking at his upraised left. “Still, we don’t want to be caught out in the open. We need to get to shelter.”

“Well, we can’t go back to the library,” Spike stated clearly.

“True. Angry mobs can be rather bothersome.”

“Angry... mobs?” Scootaloo was even more confused.

“Yeah... The sort that seem to think that all of the craziness going on is because of Twilight casting some sort of spell.” Spike rolled his eyes. “I mean, seriously? Blaming Twilight of all ponies because everypony’s at each other’s throats? Aside from the fact that she’s saved this town on how many occasions? And besides, she’s not even in Ponyville right now.”

“Sorry, Spike. Now is not the time,” the Doctor stated quickly, ending the discussion with a calm, but urgent tone before turning to the orange filly, his expression apologetic. “So sorry for the net and everything, Subtlelap. Feel free to bill me for the therapy later, but at this point it may behoove you to find somewhere to hide out until all of this blows over.”

“But...” Scootaloo was off balance, unsure what to say in the face of the stallion’s fast-talking as he turned and started away from her. Spike simply shrugged, allowing himself a small, noncommittal noise before he dashed forward, hopping up onto the stallion’s back with a practiced ease.

She watched them move away from her down the alley, her mind still reeling as she puzzled for a moment, trying to make some sort of sense out of what had been one very strange day.

That could have been the end of it, right there. She could have just let them walk away and stayed out of whatever weirdness had taken place.

But instead, as the colt and young dragon were about to turn around the corner down the alleyway, she did the one thing that she promised she would never do.

“You guys wanna come to my house?” she spoke up quickly, unsure what made her do it as she drew attention back to herself before adding: “Nopony else is home right now... It’s just me.”

Spike and the Doctor looked to one another a moment before they shared a small, agreeable nod.

“It’s gotta be better than when we tried to hide out at Fluttershy’s cottage,” Spike admitted, thankful that he had been so well-protected from the angry teeth and claws of the afflicted animals that surrounded the remote location.

“Indeed. Lead on, Segway Lane,” the Doctor nodded approvingly, which, oddly enough, made the foal immediately feel as if she had done the right thing by inviting them in.

Even though he still hadn’t gotten her name right.

————————

The door to the house on the corner of Derby and Bismarck opened with little fanfare, the orange foal quickly ducking inside. Her hooves slipped slightly on the doorstep as she had barely slowed her momentum enough to open the door, fearful that somepony might notice her as she darted across the street and past its threshold.

Holding it open for a few seconds, the filly all but slammed the door and threw the heavy bolt lock into place with one hoof as soon as the galloping brown stallion rushed inside.

“Okay, I think we’re safe... I don’t think anypony noticed us,” Scootaloo managed, still breathing heavily from her run as she moved over to one window and lifted the blinds.

There was a word for acting like this, she was sure of it. It started with a "P".

Where was Sweetie Belle when she needed her?

“Planning for a party?” The stallion’s voice caught her attention, a startled realization coming to mind as she turned towards the open dining room with a gasp.

“Welcome... home?” Spike started reading, seeming quite a bit more surprised by what was displayed.

“Oh! Uh, don’t mind that! Just…” The filly quickly jumped up on the table in the center of the dining room and then made a wing-assisted hop to grab hold of the banner that was now hanging limply from the low ceiling, easy snagging it with her teeth and dragging the whole thing down onto the table. “Sorry about the mess, I really wasn’t expecting to… I mean, I’m not really used to having guests. Not really supposed to invite anypony over without permission, you know.”

“I don’t think anypony will mind, given the circumstances,” the Doctor nodded, his expression thoughtful as he took note of the sagging nature of the banner that the filly was now wadding into a big ball on the floor. She then added to the pile the long-neglected balloons that were laying half-deflated around the table in Hearth’s Warming colors of red, green and gold. “Very lovely home you have here.”

“Yeah, thanks. Sorry about the mess,” Scootaloo apologized again, somewhat anxiously sweeping the now wadded ball of fabric aside and out of the way as she offered a large, forced grin. “I know it’s not much, but only a couple of ponies know where I live, and…”

“I’m actually kinda surprised.” Spike rubbed down the fins on the back of his head with one claw. “I mean, I always wondered about what kind of place you had, since you almost never mention it. Like, at all.”

“Now, Spike, mind your manners. We are guests here, after all,” the Doctor scolded for a moment.

“Uh, I mean, nice place! Very... um... quaint.” The dragon smiled disarmingly and gave two thumbs up with his claws; a gesture that had always confused the Doctor as he wasn’t sure where he had picked it up, having being raised in a society without thumbs.

“Indeed, but we still need to fortify our position, regardless,” the Doctor added, looking over the windows before he flicked his less-encumbered hoof, causing a stick-like device with a softly glowing crystal tip to extend from the brown hoof-band he wore.

*click*
*whirrrr*

“What’s that?” Scootaloo asked, curious, as she finally had the chance to ask the question that had been plaguing her and her friends for months.

“Sonic screwdriver,” the Doctor answered quickly without further elaboration, which it sorely needed, judging by the foal’s expression.

“Think of it like a portable unicorn’s horn,” Spike explained as he moved up to the stallion’s side. “He uses it to fix stuff, mostly.”

“Wow. I didn’t know they had things like that in Trottingham,” Scootaloo sounded impressed, having always wondered what it would be like to be a unicorn; to be capable of magic. Armed with this new information, she also found herself wondering if just anypony could use one of these “sonic screw-whatsits.”

“They don’t. It’s one of a kind here in Equestria, I think. Weeeell, I shouldn’t say that. More like two of a kind, technically, but my old one isn’t nearly as convenient to use. Also, are there any other windows or openings in the house?” the Doctor asked quickly.

“There’s a window in my room, back there… and one in the kitchen, and another over there past the fireplace,” Scootaloo answered. “And I think there are a couple of small holes in the attic under the thatching, but those are way too tiny for me to fit through, much less an adult pony.”

“Alright… Spike, if you would, kindly take Sputteralong up to the attic and see if you can block those holes. I’ll take care of these windows.”

“Wait a minute, I just said they were too small to… ‘Sputteralong’!?” the filly voiced her indignant objection to the misnomer, for once actually bristling at one of the Doctor’s incorrect designations. “My wings might be small but they don’t ‘sputter!’ And my name is Scootaloo! Scoot-a-loo!”

“Come on, Scoot. Leave it alone; it’s not gonna do any good.” Spike shook his head, moving past the filly and getting a grip on her short purple tail to tug her along. Something she resisted for a moment before she realized that Spike was right, and the Doctor didn’t appear to be paying her any mind at all.

————————

“What is the matter with that pony?”

Spike chuckled at the pegasus’s disgruntled state as they climbed the small stairway that led to the cramped loft-like storage space between the ceiling of the home and the thatched roof. It would have been cramped for an adult pony, but the foal and baby dragon were easily able to move around in the dim interior below the packed, treated straw.

“Oh, on the topic of what’s wrong with him? I could go on for hours,” Spike admitted, shaking his head. “But right now, we kinda have bigger issues to deal with, and he’s not wrong about needing to block off any holes up here. These things took us by surprise before.”

“What things?” Scootaloo asked, suddenly reminded of the fact that she still had no idea what was happening around town. “What is going on?”

“Well, I guess I can tell you what I know.” The dragon shrugged with a sigh, pulling himself up on top of a chest and allowing himself a moment to rest. “Though I’ll admit it isn’t much.”

Scootaloo planted her flank on the cold wooden floor. “I’m listening.”

“Okay, so it all started about two days ago...” Spike began, foregoing drama in favor of simply telling it how he understood it. “Twilight left town to visit her family in Canterlot and I got the honored privilege of missing out on her mom’s rum-pineapple upside-down cake in order to keep an eye on the Doc.” The dragon child sighed again. “Of course, she offered to bring him along, but the Doc turned her down pretty much right away. Something about 'not taking chances with another Jackie Tyler,’ whatever that means.”

“Wait… you mean Twilight’s parents haven’t met the stallion that’s living with her?” Scootaloo’s tone indicated a bit of curiosity at what even a filly of her age recognized as something scandalous.

“I’m not allowed to talk about it,” Spike popped that line of thought quickly, getting back on topic. “Anyways, almost as soon as she was off and away on the train, the Doc started acting all funny, like he was taking notice of something. He does that sometimes; gets to talking and pointing things out that don’t really make much sense. About how some ponies were acting and the way that it didn’t sit well considering the holidays and how they were usually like. I thought he was just bored at first. You know, looking for trouble…”

“He goes looking for trouble?”

“I calls ‘em as I sees 'em,” Spike shrugged. “It all seemed harmless enough at first. Sure, some ponies weren’t at their most cheery, given the season, but I thought he was just overreacting. Sometimes ponies just have bad days, you know? But I promised to watch after him and make sure he stayed out of trouble. Then yesterday, he built that weird metal thingy, and ever since then he’s been wearing it and following it around town. I thought he was just being silly… but then...”

Spike looked around nervously, leaning forwards.

“Then…?” Scootaloo pressed eagerly.

“Then… some ponies started acting worse than cranky.” Spike ran his claws down his fins again. “Not just cranky; some of them were actually being downright mean. And that device the Doc was using? It was leading us right to them. We got thrown out of Mrs. Reams’s bookshop when she accused us of ‘window shopping,’ and then he had to break up a fight between Aloe and Lotus. I mean, those two looked like they were about to stomp each other into the ground!”

“Yeah, I saw you guys getting thrown out of the spa yesterday before I ran into…” Scootaloo trailed off, shivering a bit. “Uh, never mind. So, what happened after that?”

“Well, that’s when things got really weird,” Spike told her, hopping up off his seat and brushing up a handful of dried straw, looking for gaps in the thatching. “It was getting dark and he was talking on and on about a lot of stuff I didn’t understand. He does that a lot, even more than Twilight. And almost as soon as the sun went down, that machine of his started beeping and making all sorts of noise. And that’s when ‘they’ started coming after us.”

“When… what started coming after you?” Scootaloo leaned forward, clearly eager to find out.

Spike looked one way, then the other before waving the filly closer, using one claw to redirect his hushed tone as if somepony might overhear them.

“...Humbugs.”

Scootaloo’s expression fell, clearly unimpressed.

“What the hay is a humbug?”

“Well, they’re certainly not your everyday houseflies!” Spike sounded offended at her lack of excitement. “According to the reference books we found at the library, humbugs are these little magical ice-mosquitoes that are supposed to be native to the far northern mountains, up near the Griffin Roosts. Unlike regular mosquitoes that just drink your blood, these kind apparently suck up all the good stuff in a pony’s heart. Stuff like love, happiness, friendship... until just the bad stuff is left. Now, they’re not supposed to be too bad in small numbers, but there were hundreds of these guys, all swarming together. They chased us over half the town before we finally managed to get to the library. I spent most of the night trying to learn more about them while the Doctor fiddled with his device in the TAR--” Spike stopped suddenly, apparently having a bit of a coughing fit, much to Scootaloo’s puzzlement. “Uh, sorry. I meant the basement.”

Ignoring the pegasus’s confusion about his less than discrete misspeak, the dragon sighed, shrugging in defeat.

“Apparently he had a lot more luck than I did, and we still have no idea how to get rid of ‘em. And then this morning, almost at the crack of dawn, we got called out by a small herd that was demanding that Twilight get out of town.”

“Uhhh... Why would anypony--” Scootaloo sounded disbelieving, and was cut off as the dragon shrugged again, replacing a clawful of thatch.

“Your guess is as good as mine, but since it was mostly earth ponies, I would guess they’ve always been a little intimidated by her,” he continued, shaking his head. “We managed to talk our way past them, but when we went to City Hall, the Mayor was about as helpful as a jug of water on a sinking boat. Apparently, ‘Administrative Tanning’ took precedence over petty little problems like an angry mob trying to run a mare out of town.”

“Oh, yeah... What on Equis is Administrative--”

“Sunbathing.” Spike shook his head, clearly having lost some of his faith in local government.

“Really? Wait, you mean she canceled all the Hearth’s Warming events and has all of those Weather Pegasi keeping a hole in the clouds because she wanted to get a tan? In the middle of WINTER?”

“Yeah, that’s the pattern we kept seeing. The Doc was using a bunch of big words I didn’t catch, but as I understand it, the humbugs are making ponies act different. Some ponies get mean, others stop caring about anything other than what they want, and some go looking for any excuse to herd together and focus their bad vibes on one target; you know, a scapegoat for why they're feeling so rotten."

"Like how all the other foals from school were mad at me!" Scootaloo stated with some realization. "They were blaming me for the Mayor canceling all the Hearth's Warming events!"

"Yeah, like that. Anyways, we were using that gadget of his to try and track down the source and figure out where the bugs were coming from, but the only thing it led us to was… well, you.”

“Me?” Scootaloo sounded surprised, bringing a hoof to her chest.

“Yep. That’s when we found you in the alley. Not sure why that thing pointed us right to you, but so far you’re the only pony we’ve met today that hasn’t been affected.”

“But… why wouldn’t I be affected?” Scootaloo wondered.

“Dunno. I figured I’m safe from the bugs because, you know… Dragon.” He tapped the green underbelly scales of his chest with a claw, causing a clicking echo in the small loft. “I’m naturally protected. And the Doctor… well, he’s…”

Scootaloo leaned forward as the small dragon spoke, now on a roll and showing no sign of slowing or deviating as he continued to divulge what could be a major revelation.

“Spike!” The brown stallion’s head popped up from the stairway. “You got those holes fixed up yet?”

“AHH!” Scootaloo jumped, although more in frustration than out of being startled as the dragon’s tale was thrown off course.

“I just about got it,” Spike told the Doctor, returning to the task as he swept up another clawful of thatching and repaired another small gap.

“There’s a good dragon. Now, Miss Supperbell--”

The pegasus filly glowered. “SCOOT-A-LOO!”

“...Would you kindly come downstairs? If we’re going to figure out what is happening, I think we need to start with why you seem to be the only pony in town who isn’t suffering from possibly fatal levels of emotional energy drain.”

“Okay, fine... I’m coming, just let me…” Scootaloo started, shaking her head as she grimaced at the continuing massacring of her name before her eyes shot open wide and her wings flared out involuntarily, as one word hit her with all of the weight of a buffalo stampede.

What did he just say?

————————

“FATAL!?” the three fillies gasped as they pulled up and forward together in shock, the simple gravity of that one word taking this from being a simple, silly story to something with far graver consequences.

Luna nodded grimly.

“As they say, my little ponies...” the Princess of the Night related in a heavy tone. “This... is where the story gets quite real.”

Ch. 3: Bah! Humbugs!

Chapter 3: Bah! Humbugs!

“What do you mean, fatal!?” Scootaloo demanded an explanation as she clambered down the steps in horror after the brown stallion who was moving in front of her.

“Well, I’m not entirely sure as to the standards of local education, but I can see about getting you a dictionary if that would help in understanding…”

“I know what the word means! But are you telling me that everypony in Ponyville is going to DIE from being mean!?”

“Oh, of course not, that would be just ridiculous.” The Doctor shrugged, his tone flat and neutral.

“But you just said…”

“I said it was a possibility; one that I am sincerely hoping to rule out with your assistance. With luck, we can figure out the exact effect these little white insects are having on the ponies, as well as a way to combat it,” the Doctor explained, leading the foal back to the living room, where she noticed a crackling fire had been built up in the fireplace.

“Wait. If it’s ridiculous, then why did you say--”

“Up on the sofa here, please,” the stallion asked Scootaloo, patting the chaise lounge she had been sleeping on the night before as he sat back on his haunches.

After a moment of hesitation, the filly climbed up and mirrored his position, her hooves in front of her as she sat back, feeling very much as if she was in a nurse’s office rather than sitting in her own home. A feeling that only grew as the brown stallion opened his satchel and started to pull out several medical instruments, including a stethoscope and a pack of tongue depressors.

“Uh... What are you doing?” Scootaloo queried, sounding slightly nervous.

“Just a checkup and a few quick tests; getting a baseline. Nothing to worry about,” the Doctor stated, bringing a hoof up to gently turn the filly’s face, looking at her eyes and then waving the green and red device on his hoof over her again. “Messing around with a pony’s emotions is nasty business, it seems. And from what Spike managed to find, it looks like the entire town is suffering from the aftereffects of humbug bites. But for some reason, even though they seemed to get ahold of every other pony in Ponyville last night, they simply passed you over. Just going to do a few quick tests to try and determine why. Now, I hope you don’t have an aversion to needles… I’m sure I have some in here somewhere.”

The pegasus filly suddenly found herself feeling quite uncomfortable and shifted slightly in her seat as the stallion reached his hoof a bit deeper than he should have been able to into the small side-pouch on his jacket.

“Ummm, Doctor? No offense, but can I see some kind of medical license or a diploma or something before--”

The stallion didn’t miss a beat, drawing a small black case out of the satchel at his side and flipping it open in his teeth.

“Here you are,” he managed to speak as he opened the case, leaning down for her to see it while he continued to work.

Scootaloo looked it over, having to squint her eyes in order to read the large sections of text that were bunched together on the paper contained within. The sheer number of items, titles, and certifications crammed into the tiny document boggled her mind, even if she couldn’t understand nearly half of the professions mentioned. And even though it sure seemed impressive, she couldn’t help feeling that it was a little too thorough.

Specifically, how come a medical license needed to mention him being an “Expert in Temporal Mechanics”?

“I trust this is satisfactory?” The Doctor smirked as well as he could manage as he flipped the case closed in his teeth and replaced it in his side-satchel, leaving a perplexed Scootaloo mulling over what she had just read.

“I guess... What’s the Gallopfrey University of Academic Excell-aaaagh!?”

As she took the time to ask the question, the stallion had dipped back and withdrawn a flat wooden tongue depressor from its case carefully with his hooves. Catching her with her mouth open, he pressed her tongue down with one hoof as another pushed softly on either side of her neck.

“Oh, just a little out of the way university where I... Wait, ‘Gallopfrey’? Did it actually say Gallopfrey...?”

With the wooden obstruction still in her mouth, Scootaloo’s slow, incredulous nodding served as his answer.

“Oh, yes, of course it did. Why wouldn’t it?” The Doctor played it off with a short chuckle and decided to move on from the slightly unexpected change of topic. “Oh well, back to the subject at hoof. Have you been experiencing any dizziness or soreness over the last few days?”

“Haww an ouu he hoe galm…”

“I’m sorry?” The chestnut pony removed the tongue depressor, freeing his patient to smack her lips in order to remove the unpleasant dry sensation. “What was that?”

“I said, how can you be so calm? I mean, about all of this?” Scootaloo looked concerned, clearly thinking that the stallion should perhaps be taking things more seriously, given the dire circumstances. “You’re sitting here playing doctor when you just said that those humbug things were going to... to...”

“Oh, no. No no no, don’t you worry.” The Doctor shook his head in a bemused fashion while reaching a hoof out to rub the filly’s shoulder out of comfort. “I know what I said, but please keep in mind it is a possibility. And a genuinely remote one if past experience is any indication. I only mentioned it because I simply don’t know what might happen. This all could quite possibly clear itself up come tomorrow, or it could get worse. We have no way of knowing for sure until I can determine all the nasty side-effects of having the holiday cheer quite literally sucked out of a pony like soda through a straw.”

“Oh... Okay. I guess that makes sense...” Scootaloo said despondently, looking away and feeling embarrassed that she had let her worries get the better of her common sense.

“I know it sounds bad, but I simply like to consider all the variables. It helps keep me motivated,” the stallion continued. “Terribly sorry to scare you like that. I’ll be the first to admit that I’m rubbish around children. I should have been more considerate.”

“I… I’m not some crybaby foal!” Scootaloo declared, although her brave front was somewhat flummoxed as she unconsciously brought her purple tail around her front hooves in a clearly protective manner. “And I’m not scared.”

The stallion paused for a moment, giving her a small, appraising look before he nodded, pulling up the stethoscope with a knowing smile.

“Of course not!” he exclaimed boldly. “Tough, spunky young thing like you, you’re not scared of anything!”

“That’s right!” The pegasus nodded, glad that finally, somepony understood that she wasn’t like most foals, sent running to the adults at the first sign of adversity.

“You would have to be, after all,” the stallion’s voice softened a bit. “Living all on your own like this.”

Scootaloo’s moment of pride deflated in an instant as she drew back slightly.

“Uhh, I don’t… I mean, I’m not all alone.” The filly shuffled her hooves a bit. “I’m not lonely at all. How could I be? I’ve got the Crusaders; Apple Bloom and Sweetie. I’ve got Rainbow Dash, who’s always been like a big sister to me,” Scootaloo continued to list off, though it was obvious she was covering for something. “And of course, Pinkie Pie, who’s friends with everypony.”

“I know you have plenty of friends; that’s not what I meant,” the Doctor quickly pointed out, cutting off the filly’s denials. “Besides, the Apple Family, little Apple Bloom included, has gone to spend Hearth’s Warming in Appleloosa, Rarity took her parents and sister down to Colta Rica for a tropical holiday, Pinkie left to visit with her sisters, and Rainbow Dash went to Cloudsdale over a week ago along with Fluttershy to spend time with their own families.”

“Well, yeah, but--” Scootaloo started, only to be cut off as the stallion suddenly pointed out another glaring detail.

“One bedroom.”

“Huh?”

“I had to seal all of the windows to make sure that nothing got in while we were getting ourselves organized. There’s only one bedroom in the house, and judging by the homemade Rainbow Dash posters and school books laying around, I assume it’s yours.”

Scootaloo swallowed slightly.

“An empty house on Hearth’s Warming Eve... Neglected decorations... A young thing like you out on the town all by yourself... These things beg the question...” The Doctor tilted his head to the side, his expression sympathetic. “If everypony is spending time with their families for the holidays… where's yours?”

Scootaloo bowed her head, her eyes closed as a question was asked that she often tried not to think about.

“Don’t we have more important things to worry about, Doctor?” The foal grimaced slightly, lowering her head.

“I consider this very important.” His tone was flat, but still carried a soft understanding as he watched her. “Where are your mother and father?”

The filly sighed, resigned to tell a familiar story.

“Ain’t got a mom. Never did,” Scootaloo said with a touch of morose. “And my dad’s… well, out of town.”

Scootaloo’s head sank slightly, as did her voice.

“Working...”

She slumped down a bit more, her tone edged with the faintest hint of anger.

“…like always...”

“I see…” The Doctor tilted his head, careful to keep his expression neutral. “Has your father--”

“I know what you’re thinking, and no. It’s what everypony wonders when I tell them about it, but it’s not like that,” the pegasus filly cut him off quickly. “I’m not abandoned and I’m not neglected. There’s no big secret scandal or traumatic story or anything like that. He’s just working.”

“Alright then, what is it like?” The Doctor nodded, accepting the foal’s words for what they were as he listened.

Scootaloo sighed.

“My dad works for the Equestrian Climate Administration. He’s a meteorologist,” Scootaloo stated, as if that would explain everything, causing the Hourglass Stallion to tilt his head in confusion.

“Hold up. I’m not entirely sure on the mechanics, but doesn’t the ECA produce most of Equestria’s clouds and weather?” he asked. “What need would they have for a meteorologist?”

“Wow, you don’t know anything about Weather Management Services do you?” Scootaloo allowed herself a short laugh. “Meteorologists are vital to keeping the weather in check. It’s not as simple as moving clouds around like most ponies think it is. It’s the Weather Patrol’s job to take care of day to day routines and scheduled storms, but meteorologists are the ones in charge of keeping everything in balance. They’re the surveyors deciding what provinces get what resources based on all sorts of complicated calculations, and that’s even after taking into account global weather patterns and stuff.”

Scootaloo took a moment to clear her throat after talking at length, trying her best not to sound too much like a know-it-all about something she really didn’t know that much about.

“If a mistake is made, it can cause all sorts of damage that can take months or years to fix. Same thing happens if the WMS is abused, like when you get rich unicorns or earth ponies bribing local weathermares to make the weather work on their own schedule, which can be disastrous.”

“Well, that sounds like important work your father does,” the Doctor noted in appreciation.

“Yeah, and the thing is that there’s only a few pegasi that are actually qualified to do it. I mean, it’s not the most ‘glamorous’ job in Equestria. Most of the more ambitious pegasus ponies want to either work their way up to the high paying jobs in the Weather Factory in Cloudsdale, or get into some kind of management position like Rainbow Dash has with the local patrol.” Scootaloo looked down and away. “It pays well enough... but one of the downsides is the traveling... Lots and lots of traveling.”

“He’s away from home a lot then?” The Doctor nodded in understanding.

“Yeah,” the pegasus confirmed before explaining. “He used to take me with him when I was younger. He had to, but that kind of life for a foal is... well... hard. Different town almost every week, living out of a saddlebag, and having to keep off to the side and out of the way while he was working.”

“That doesn’t sound like any way to raise a child.”

“Nope... Not that we didn’t try.” She shook her head. “We tried a bunch of things. I stayed with an aunt in Cloudsdale for a while, but it didn’t work out. Finally, when I was old enough, we made a deal: I got to move here to Ponyville so I could settle down in one place, enroll in school, and make friends, while he gets to go around and do his work, getting back home whenever he can.”

“That sounds like an awful lot of responsibility for one so young, living on your own,” the older pony commented.

“I’m not that young... I’m twelve,” Scootaloo defended as she tried to drive home the point. “And I’m not completely on my own either. Dad has an arrangement with Miss Cheerilee so that she checks in on me a few times a week to make sure I’m keeping up on things. I have my friends and I have a lot of freedom to do what I want when I want. I get a monthly allowance for food and stuff I need... so I’m all set.”

“And that must work... most of the time,” the chestnut stallion noted, watching the filly as she kept up a confident front. “Until the holidays, when everypony gets to enjoy Hearth’s Warming with their own families.”

Scootaloo’s cool and confident demeanor faltered, exposing exactly what the Doctor had expected to see.

“But something, mostly that welcome home banner you had hanging up, tells me that being here by yourself for Hearth’s Warming Eve wasn’t the plan.”

“He… was supposed to have been here by now,” the filly explained. “Days ago. You see, he was in Canterlot helping prepare for this year’s Windigo Blizzard. Once it was in place, he was going to hop a train heading for Ponyville and stay for the next couple of weeks.”

Her head dipped a bit lower.

“But the train hasn’t shown up for days.”

“Now hold on just a moment. Your father is a pegasus, isn’t he?” the Doctor inquired curiously.

“Yeah.”

“Why doesn’t he just fly here from Canterlot?”

“Because of a stupid Hearth’s Warming tradition,” Scootaloo grumbled, lowering her body a bit more to match her mood as she explained. “Every year for the week before Hearth’s Warming, the ECA sets up the Windigo Blizzard; a thick snowstorm that brings most of Equestria to a standstill to remind us of the harsh times before the three tribes came together. Most carriages can’t deal with the snow on land routes and only the strongest pegasi even attempt flying in those kind of winds; WAY too dangerous. The trains can handle it, but they’re still fairly new. So most ponies make sure they are already where they plan to be for the holidays long before the blizzard sets in.”

“And if something is wrong with the trains, then last minute travelers are fairly well stuck.”

“At least until Hearth’s Warming when the blizzard sputters out.” Scootaloo sighed, then looked up to realize that the Doctor’s stethoscope and other tools lay untouched to the side. “W…wait a minute. Is this a physical, or a therapy session?”

“I don’t believe I need to do a physical, Scootaloo.” The Doctor shook his head, his correct use of her name drawing a shocked look from the filly. “I think I understand.”

The stallion looked up and away as his expression turned thoughtful.

“Alright, so what have we got?” the Doctor considered aloud. “Holidays coming up, everypony is snowed in and isolated for at least another day because the train’s not working, effectively cutting Ponyville off from the rest of Equestria. We have a sudden and aggressive infestation of obscure, joy-sucking insects that popped up out of nowhere and only target ‘happy’ ponies.”

Scootaloo looked around, a sudden realization coming over her that something was missing from their surroundings.

“Uhhh, Doctor…”

“It can’t be a coincidence that this starts the moment that Twilight and her friends all leave town. Those girls are usually magnets for these sort of situations, so it stands to reason that something was waiting specifically for Ponyville’s most noteworthy citizens to be gone.”

“Doctor…”

“But for what purpose? Who stands to benefit from making ponies in a small town like this miserable in the middle of the holidays? What entity could possibly--”

“DOCTOR!” Scootaloo raised her voice to get the jabbering stallion’s attention.

“Hmmm? What is it, Sideline?”

“Where’s Spike?” the filly asked quickly, although she did feel a dull heat rise in her chest as the brown stallion seemed to once again forget her name.

“Oh, he’s right--” The stallion turned to his side, pausing when he realized that the small purple and green dragon was nowhere to be found. “Wait, didn’t he come down with us from the attic?”

The foal and stallion looked to one another, mirroring each other’s concerned expressions as they both came to the answer.

“SPIIIKE!” the Doctor shouted, turning to rush towards the small stairway that led up to the attic, the orange filly jumping down from the chaise and rushing after him.

“He was just upstairs,” Scootaloo reasoned, her legs having to move at full gallop to keep up with the adult pony’s longer limbs. “But he should have been back down here by now. It shouldn’t have taken him more than a minute to finish patching the holes in the…”

The trapdoor to the attic crawlspace flew open as the Doctor pushed his shoulder into it, a cold draft that hadn’t been there a few moments earlier washing over the orange filly.

From under the Doctor’s legs, Scootaloo could see a large beam of muted sunlight now jutting into the dimly lit attic.

Sunlight coming from a large hole that had been torn through the thatching in the roof.

“NononoNO!” The Doctor rushed forward, his haste causing his head to make contact with a support beam, accompanied by a dull clunk. He grumbled a few choice words under his breath before flicking out his right hoof and filling the air with the sound of the device cradled there. “THICK! I can’t believe I let myself get so blasted thick!”

“What happened?” Scootaloo asked frantically, managing to pull herself into the room where her short stature allowed her to move more freely. “Where is he?”

“Gone!” the stallion snapped, giving the now-inert sonic screwdriver an intense glare for no apparent reason. “It must have taken hundreds… thousands… TENS of thousands of them to physically drag him out of here! I should have realized! Should have guessed at their motives for attacking us last night! They weren’t after us, they were after him! The last tasty nugget of mirth and cheer left in town, coated in an impenetrable shell of scales.”

“But…” Scootaloo tried to imagine what it would take for a bunch of insects to grab ahold of Spike and fly away with him. “Why didn’t he call for help? We were just downstairs and I didn’t hear anything.”

“Because he was clever,” the Doctor explained, his expression sour. “Spike scales seemed to protect him when he was swarmed last night, but like I pointed out to him afterwards, he has two openings in his armor that they could get at: His eyes and his mouth.”

“You mean… if he kept both closed, they couldn’t touch him?”

“They could touch him, but I doubt they could penetrate his scales. They must have taken him by surprise,” the Doctor reasoned, looking around at the distinct lack of signs of struggle. “Probably right as he was trying to fix the last of the thatching.”

“So they dragged him away to try and figure out a way to… ‘suck’ the happiness out of him later?” Scootaloo sounded astonished, able to just imagine the dragon moving to replace some of the straw and suddenly being swarmed as he put his claw near the hole. “But, how can a bunch of bugs be that smart?”

“Oh, if only you knew...” the Doctor huffed, a hint of amusement in his voice that quickly dissolved as he brought up his left hoof, looking over the makeshift bracelet of wires and metal. “But you do have a point. So far, the humbugs have demonstrated tactics and strategy that suggest this is much more than a simple infestation. There’s an obvious intelligence behind it all.”

*beep-beep-beep*

The Doctor paused, his eyes slowly moving from side to side before falling over the orange pegasus.

“Scootaloo…” he said quietly, his hoof slowly moving towards his side-pouch. The tone, the sheer weight of his voice as he spoke her name caused the pegasus filly to freeze up, almost making his next instruction a moot point. “Don’t… move…”

Scootaloo swallowed hard, holding her breath as the brown stallion withdrew what looked like a small glass from his pouch, having to carefully balance it until he could bring up both hooves to turn and hold it upside down.

For a few seconds, he held almost perfectly still, managing to balance on his hind hooves as he held the glass aloft…

*CLUNK*

...and brought it down suddenly right next to Scootaloo’s front hoof, causing the filly to flinch despite the fact that he hadn’t actually touched her. Whatever paralysis had come over her at the Doctor’s warning came away instantly, as she brought her face down to peer into the capsule on the floor.

There, trapped within the glass, was a single insect.

It was larger than she expected, perhaps a quarter the size of a parasprite, but the bug did indeed look like a mosquito from her science book, with long thin legs, faintly blue buggy eyes, a long needle-like mouth and an elongated body. However, unlike a regular mosquito, the insect in front of her was almost crystal clear and transparent, as if its entire delicate body had been carved from a single tiny ice cube.

As it pulled itself up and threw itself against the glass container angrily, Scootaloo saw that in motion, it was nearly invisible to the naked eye, its body’s movements creating only the slightest distortion in what could be seen behind it.

“Gotcha,” the Doctor sighed with relief, keeping his hoof on top of the glass as Scootaloo let go of a breath she hadn’t realized she had been holding. “A straggler.”

“That’s a humbug?” the filly asked with an air of amazement. “How did something that tiny make off with Spike?”

“It’s not a natural insect,” the stallion pointed out, using his free hoof to reach into his pouch and pull out a thick, worn book, setting it on top of the glass carefully. “It’s a creature of magic. In large numbers, I’m sure they can defy all sorts of natural laws. Oddly enough, it seemed like it was sizing you up, which is how I was able to snag it while it was distracted.”

Scootaloo drew back, surprised.

“Wait. I thought you said they didn’t want me.”

“They didn’t. Before now, you had nothing to offer them.” The Doctor considered, giving her a sideways glance as a small smile started to form over his lips. “But you do seem like quite the adventurous type; the kind of filly that finds the new and the unusual to be exciting. It is a distinct possibility that all this running around is serving as enough of a distraction from your current state of affairs. In fact, if I didn’t know better, I’d start to think you were enjoying this.”

Scootaloo shifted on her hooves slightly, shrugging as she leaned down and took a closer look at the humbug now slamming itself against the walls of its glass prison, amazed that its fragile-looking body didn’t just break apart from the impact.

She made no denial of the colt’s observation.

“Right… Well, I think it’s for the best if you stick close to me until we can sort all this out.” The Doctor nodded to himself as he thought about their options. “Let’s see, maybe I can figure out how we can use our little friend here to track down the rest of the swarm. Perhaps a tracking device or some sort of tag… follow it back to its nest. Like a homing pigeon. Or, I could try and narrow the sonic’s scanning capacity to…”

The Doctor’s prattle faded for a moment, tuned out as Scootaloo watched the little insect, which had now turned to face her, its wings beating so fast that she couldn’t see them as it tried to push against the glass in spite of the weight on top.

It then hovered in the air for a moment, its entire body rattling like a tiny electric motor made of ice. Struck with a curious urging, Scootaloo ever so gently pressed her ear against the glass...

*Tzzzzcccchhhhhhhh*

The filly drew back with a gasp, her ears perking as she looked up.

“That sound! I’ve heard it before!”

————————

“I KNEW it!” Cream declared, her hoof coming down hard on the side of the bed. “I knew that Gloomy Gus guy was up to no good!”

“Oh, you did, did you?” Luna smirked, watching as the revelation swept over the three fillies and led them to the obvious conclusion.

“He’s got ‘bad guy’ written ALL over him,” Daring agreed, firm in her belief.

“It makes sense.” Dawn nodded, satisfied at how the facts were adding up. “He was acting mean even before the humbugs got everywhere. The evidence is irrefutable! He definitely did it.”

“Yeah! Now the Doctor and Scootaloo need to go out there, kick some gloomy flank and save Spike!” the pegasus of the trio shouted triumphantly, her little wings buzzing with excitement.

“Or summon the Town Guard!” Dawn tried to cut off Daring’s immediate urge for the heroes in any of her stories to just rush off and into the fray. “I mean, even if they are affected too, they still have a duty to perform.”

The Princess of the Night nodded, tapping her lips as she listened to the three foals.

“Well, as you can imagine, that’s fairly accurate as to how Scootaloo reacted to the revelation as she told the Doctor about her encounter with Gloomy Gus the day before,” Luna explained. “She too was ready to jump in and take the fight right to its source.”

“Ohhh, yeah! Hoofticuffs incoming!” Daring rubbed her forehooves together excitedly as Luna’s smile grew wider.

“That may be the way your adventure stories would unfold, Daring my dear…” Luna allowed herself a slight chuckle. “But the Doctor’s approach tends to be a little… different.”

————————

*knock-knock-knock-knock*

More than a bit of dust fell from the edges of the decrepit doorway as a brown hoof rapped against it pleasantly, pausing for a moment as the sound of creaking could be heard from the floorboards within.

*Sqeeeaaaallll*

The hinges were clearly in need of oil as the door opened inward, revealing a very surprised-looking unicorn stallion with a dusty grey coat and a black mane, who stared for a moment at the two ponies at his doorstep.

“Good afternoon!” the brown stallion said in greeting as he grinned winningly.

Gloomy Gus was taken aback for a moment as he looked around, taking note of the familiar orange filly that was hiding behind the stallion’s legs.

“What the… Who in the name of Celestia are you?” Gloomy Gus asked in an unpleasant, gravelly voice, clearly surprised by the unexpected (and uninvited) visitor.

“And a Happy Hearth’s Warming to you as well, Mr. Gus.” The stallion nodded, moving forward with a sudden, calm grace and causing the unicorn to recoil. “So sorry about the wait, but with the holiday, we’ve been running a little behind. Are you ready to make your statement?”

“Statement? What statement?”

“Ah...choo.”

The unicorn turned again, his puzzlement growing as he quickly found the source of perhaps the weakest and most insincere sneeze in the history of Equestria.

“What was…?”

“Oh, poor dear.” The brown earth pony sighed. “It is rather nippy out here, Mr. Gus. Might we come in while we take care of this unpleasant business? The filly’s got enough trouble coming to her without coming down with a case of the sniffles on top of everything else.”

“Come in? Why--”

“Don’t mind if we do. Thank you very much!” The stallion surged forward suddenly, taking the unicorn off guard as he moved past the threshold and into the dim, dusty room just beyond. His young counterpart was quick on his hooves as Gus tried to play catch up with what just happened.

Scootaloo looked over the room, immediately wondering if perhaps it was colder inside the drafty, creepy old house than it was outside. The smell of dust was prevalent in the air, as well as an unpleasant staleness that suggested it had been some time since the windows had been opened up. The room itself was crowded and cluttered, with rows of large, empty aquariums taking up most of the space along the walls and situated into rows in the living room, just enough space between them for a pony to walk through. It was obvious from the layer of dust on the carpet that nopony had done so in a long time.

The only thing that seemed at all used was a large body chair that faced an empty, cold fireplace, with a stack of books laying about in an unorganized pile nearby.

One thing that was not present was one green and purple baby dragon.

“H-hold on just one moment!” The grey and black unicorn turned in towards his living room, his brain processing what had taken place in the time that Scootaloo had gotten her first look inside the house. “Who the hay are you, and why are you even here!?”

“Clockwork, Ponyville Public Health and Safety,” the stallion spoke up quickly, reaching down into a side satchel and pulling out a black case while flipping it open as it balanced on one hoof. “My credentials, as well as a notarized statement of purpose.”

“Public Health and Safety? What in the name of…?” Gus managed to make out the Everfree Province seal along with a stamp marked by the Ponyville Mayor’s Office before the stallion shut the case, continuing in his rapid fire manner of speech.

“I’m here to take your statement in regards to the event that occurred yesterday afternoon in which you were impacted at high velocity by a non-motorized vehicle owned and operated by this young pegasus pony. Is this accurate?”

“...Huh?” Gus puzzled for a moment.

The Doctor rolled his eyes slightly, a feigned annoyance in his voice.

“Oh dear, perhaps the impact was more damaging than the initial report suggested. Alright, let’s try this in a simpler way: Did this filly, in fact, hit you with her scooter?”

“I…” Gus looked past the Doctor, recognition ringing clear in his eyes after a moment while the filly was looking away, clearly paying more attention to her surroundings. A small sneer formed on the adult stallion’s face. “Yes… Yes, she did.”

“I see,” the Doctor acknowledged, his tone apologetic, yet still maintaining an oddly authoritative air. “The incident was reported by eyewitnesses who have made formal complaints as to this young filly’s past transgressions. Given the repeated nature of these events, we assumed that you would wish to make a formal statement that might help in our case to have such vehicles banned on the main roads of Ponyville.”

The grey unicorn nodded in understanding.

“Y...yes. Of course, but… what is she doing here?” He pointed a hoof at the filly.

“According to the town charter, everypony who has charges made against them may be present if they wish to contradict the statement made by the accusing pony. But don’t worry, I think we both know what really happened. Now…” The Doctor brought up his left hoof, showing the device attached to the unicorn.

*DING*

Gus recoiled slightly at the noise it made, tilting his head.

“What is that?”

“Audio recorder.” The Doctor still maintained his disarming smile. “New model, just came out. So much easier than trying to write things down with your teeth and a quill. Now then, can we have your full name for the record, sir?”

“Uhh…” The unicorn hesitated, then shrugged. “Doctor Asparagus Stalk”

Scootaloo turned in surprise, looking away from the empty aquariums.

“Most ponies here just tend to call me ‘Gus’ for short. It’s easier.”

“Oooooh, a doctor? That is impressive. Occupation? No, wait, let me guess: something to do with agriculture?”

“No…” Gus grimaced, rolling his eyes and clearly familiar with the Equestrian tendency for a pony’s name to typecast their lives into a particular pattern. “Despite what you may think, I’m an entomologist… Retired.”

“Well, that explains the spider.” The Doctor nodded to the unicorn’s flank, which drew him another glare from the pony in question. “Age?”

“Forty-two.”

“Only forty-two? Awfully young to retire, isn’t it?” The brown stallion tilted his head, giving the unicorn a sideways look. “Doctor?”

“That… is none of your business.” Gus glowered.

“As you say. Now, in your own words, would you describe the situation in which…”

Scootaloo backed away from the Doctor as he continued talking, keeping Gloomy Gus’ attention while she slipped into the house, looking about for any sign of the baby dragon.

As she moved up towards the aquariums, she came to realize that, while empty, each one was meticulously labeled.

Cootie (Ickerus Maleius): Keep out of reach of children

Minute Lice (Itchieus Limitis): Avoid direct contact

Jitter Bug (Twirlius Dancicus): Warning - Bite may lead to uncontrolled jittering

Zebrican Green Biter (Arachne Anasi): Highly toxic - Handle with extreme caution

Gambling Bug (Winsomis Losesomis): Banned in all provinces, except Los Pegasus

Parasprite (Cuticus Gorgeious): Warning - Do not feed under any circumstances

Scootaloo paused, recognizing the last name and knowing full well what a parasprite looked like. Much to her surprise, and disappointment, there simply was no parasprite inside the case, which was caked on the inside with dust.

As she moved down, she finally found one case that was not like the others, the glass of the aquarium smashed open and left laying where it had fallen long ago, dust now covering the shards.

Mana Widow (Arachne Magi Toxicus): Venom fatal to unicorns - Do NOT handle with magic

Scootaloo recoiled from the empty, broken aquarium. Even if she wasn’t a unicorn, she was now doubly glad that the tank was actually empty.

“HEY!” she heard Gus’s voice call out, clearly having noticed her. “What do you think you doing, filly? Get away from there!”

“Is something wrong, Dr. Stalk?” the Doctor asked, drawing the grey unicorn’s attention back to him.

“She’s done quite enough damage, I would rather she wasn’t mucking around my collection cases.”

“Collection? What collection? They’re all empty,” Scootaloo pointed out, unsure why the grey and black stallion was so concerned.

“Of course they’re empty!” Gus scolded, his expression sour. “It’s too dangerous to keep specimens like that around where anypony can get into them!”

“Then why do you still have the tanks?”

The creepy adult pony bent down, his face close enough to the filly’s own that she could see the hard creases along his eyes.

“...None... of your... business...” he sneered menacingly, his overbearing posture forcing Scootaloo to inch backwards until her hind hoof gently brushed against another one of the glass cases.

Apparently satisfied that he had sufficiently cowed the petulant child, Gus rose back up to address the Doctor, now fully intent on showing his “guests” the door as quickly as possible.

Therefore, he did not notice when Scootaloo spared a glance down at the aquarium she had bumped into. Her breath stopped short, a small smirk running over her lips as she read over its label.

Humbug (Gloomius Scroogius): Direct handling may cause irritability and depression

“Caughtcha red-hoofed,” Scootaloo uttered to herself, scooping up the empty container as she turned towards the two stallions, who were still conversing. “Doctor!”

“What!?” The grey stallion turned, scowling.

“Other doctor,” Scootaloo stated, rolling her eyes.

“Yes?” The brown stallion turned, smirking as the unicorn’s attention turned to him, his eyes narrowing suspiciously.

“Found it.” Scootaloo smirked, tapping a hoof on the glass as the Doctor moved towards her, his eyes falling over the case as a thoughtful expression overcame him. Meanwhile, Gus, sensing something amiss, looked between the two of them with annoyance.

“Found what, foal? You’re the one who's in trouble here!”

“Weeeell, maybe not so much,” the Doctor drolled slightly, turning on the spot to face the unicorn again as he reached a hoof back into his side-pouch. “Just one more question for you, Dr. Stalk.”

From within the pouch, he drew out a glass mason jar with a lid in place on it.

*Tzzzzcccchhhhhhhh*

“Is this yours?”

Gus scowled, his eyes falling on the insect inside the jar as it hammered itself futilely against the glass walls.

“What is the meaning of this!?” Gus growled, his expression accusatory. “I thought you were with Public Health and Safety!”

“And this little guy also falls under those auspices as a hazard to both public health AND safety.” The Doctor’s voice took a harsh edge as Scootaloo remained behind him, amazed by the almost laid back confidence that he showed in the face of Gus’ barely-contained outrage. “As do all of his little friends... and the pony responsible for their release.”

Gus huffed angrily as his horn suddenly ignited in a light grey aura, the display of magic causing Scootaloo to draw back behind the earth pony.

“This conversation is over, and you’ve worn out what little welcome you have! Now get out of my house before I--”

*TWAANG*

“AGGGHHHNNN!” Gloomy Gus fell back, a bright flash of pain running over his skull and down his spine as the brown stallion stood impassively, his hoof raised from the sudden movement of his free leg.

“Word of advice,” the Doctor started, the mason jar with the humbug inside still perfectly balanced on one hoof, indicating that the threat hadn’t so much as made him blink. “Never run magic though your horn when you’re within easy reach. It tends to make it extremely sensitive to shock and painful when struck.”

“Ugh!” The unicorn shook his head, trying to get the stars to clear from his vision.

“The backlash maaayyy also throw off your ability to use magic for a while. A friend of mine told me once that she had heard rumors of unicorns blowing their horns clean off trying to cast after having them tweaked.” The stallion paused, the imagery of his words putting a somewhat unpleasant look over his face. “...Though I’m sure she might have been exaggerating, I still wouldn’t recommend doing that again.”

As he spoke, Scootaloo took note of a distinct change in the brown stallion’s posture. It was subtle. The way his hooves were planted, the narrowing of his eyes, the slight angle of his shoulders as he set the jar down, setting a hoof on its lid.

She couldn’t explain it, but even with his attention being directed away from her and towards the grey unicorn, she couldn’t help but feel a cold shiver run down her spine.

“Now then, Gus,” the stallion’s tone booked no argument. “I think it’s high time you told us about the humbugs and exactly what you were planning on doing with them.”

The unicorn held the Doctor’s eyes for a moment, a look of contempt clear in his face before he let out an exasperated sigh.

“...If it’ll get you out of my house.”

————————

“Wow, that was... kinda underwhelming.” Daring tilted her head, surprised by the lack of action.

“Classic unicorn mistake. Gloomy Gus was too reliant on his magic and thought it would scare the Doctor. But instead, the earth pony put him down in one move.” Dawn nodded in appreciation of the event as the Doctor’s tactic was sound.

Luna smirked slightly, looking towards the usually-talkative earth pony, who was tapping her lip with one hoof.

“Something wrong, Cream?” the Princess of the Night asked.

Cream hesitated before starting, pulling her forelegs up to her chest as a worried tone permeated her voice.

“It’s not over, is it?” she asked, sounding concerned.

Luna shook her head.

“Not by a long shot.”

————————

“Yes, you’re absolutely correct. It was all me, congratulations!” Gus rolled his eyes, pulling himself up and brushing off his coat as he tried to ignore the sharp afterpain still running though his skull. “So I distributed a few Griffarian Humbugs throughout Ponyville to dampen the saccharin celebrations! So what!?”

“So it was you!” Scootaloo glared, pointing an indignant hoof at the adult pony while her tone was boosted upon having thought she one-upped the stallion. “When I ran into you yesterday, that’s what was in that box! You were spreading those creepy bugs around town! I knew you were suspicious!”

“Yes, yes...” Gus sighed, clearly annoyed and with a flat tone. “And I would have gotten away with it too, if not for you meddling foals and your blah, blah, blah...”

The older stallion grunted in disdain as he shook his head, hardly seeming at all concerned that his scheme had been found out.

“So a few ponies got their eggnog and fruitcake soured. It’s hardly the revival of Nightmare Moon.”

“Why?” the Doctor asked, his tone still flat and unemotional.

“Why? Why not?” Gus spat. “Perhaps I am just sick and tired of everypony going about as if everything is absolutely perfect when we’re sitting in the middle of winter. When ponies are shivering and walking around in the cold, trying to be merry because ‘tradition’ dictates that we be so. Where ‘foals will be foals’ and everypony turns a blind eye to all of the antics, even when they are anything but harmless.”

The unicorn continued to glare up at the brown stallion for a moment as a tense silence held.

“I don’t think so,” the Hourglass Stallion countered, drawing a surprised look from the filly as well as the unicorn.

“...What?”

“You don’t seem like the kind of pony who does something for no reason. In fact, you appear to be quite meticulous if the persistent state of your dwelling is any indication. You must have a reason for wanting to ruin Hearth’s Warming for the townsfolk, so what is it?”

“I don’t need a reason! I simply couldn’t stand seeing all those cheerful, sickly-sweet expressions, so I thought it would be fitting if everypony spent the holidays being as miserable as I am,” Gus spoke with conviction, planting his haunches and folding his forelegs in a stubborn manner. “Call me selfish if you want. I don’t care. I don’t care about anything.”

“Oh, now that’s something I’m having a hard time believing.” The Doctor slid his insect captive to the side and sat across from the irate unicorn, a steely look in his eyes. “A pony who doesn’t care doesn’t hold onto things. But you do. In fact, that’s the problem, isn’t it? You can’t let it go, eh? A former entomologist with a passion for ‘exotic’ insects.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking ab--” Gus started, only to be thrown off.

“You live here alone, in a house that’s falling apart because you don’t want it to change. I bet not a thing in this room has been moved so much as an inch in almost a decade.” He drew a hoof across the dusty floor, bringing it up to his snout to sniff at, and then lick. “Make that... eleven years?”

Gus drew back as if he had been struck, an indication that the Hourglass Stallion’s assumption was spot on.

“Eleven years on your own... letting old pains fester and refusing to let go of them. So much so that they call you ‘Gloomy Gus’ now; the pony with the perpetual rain cloud over his head. But that begs the question of why... Of what happened eleven years ago.”

“Stop it...”

“These tanks were set out and meticulously cared for once, now emptied and neglected, but still in place. You strike me as a pony that can’t let go of something he was so deeply involved with, of something that other ponies would have found disturbing... or dangerous.”

“They’re not dangerous if you respect what they are capable of!” Gus snapped, managing to pull himself up. “That’s the problem with ponies today! They don’t respect anything! They can’t comprehend that when bad things happen it’s because they start prodding at things they don’t fully understand!”

The three ponies stood in silence for a moment, Scootaloo trying to figure out what it was that was going on... why the Doctor was doing this... when the stallion spoke again.

“What was her name?”

It was a simple question... but one that nearly set Gus back on his haunches and caused him to gape at the stallion for a few long seconds.

“...What are you talking about...?” he said lowly, barely a whisper as his face seemed to age a decade in a matter of moments.

“It’s a hazardous occupation: entomology. Especially when dealing with such obviously dangerous specimens like the ones that used to line these walls. Somepony such as yourself surely would have needed an assistant. Somepony to stand by in case of emergency, or to simply keep everything organized since you don’t seem to adapt well to change. And judging from the way you reacted to my question, it appears I guessed quite correctly,” the Doctor explained calmly, before repeating the question. “So, what was her name?”

The dusty grey and black unicorn held the Doctor’s gaze for a while longer, before his facade cracked, and he lowered his head in a deliberately slow fashion.

“...Belladonna.”

“And she didn’t respect them?” the Doctor asked, Scootaloo’s eyes widening as she realized the implications and her eyes darted back towards the broken case on the floor.

“Bella was... curious, fascinated, passionate, and impatient.” Gus shook his head, completely emptied of the bluster he was showing earlier. “Tell me if you know a worse combination in an aspiring entomologist. I told her she wasn’t ready for the private collection yet... She didn’t have the proper experience. She was still a student.”

Gus’s head dipped lower.

“She was... my student.”

The unicorn’s eyes rose again, and even Scootaloo could tell that he was trying to claw his way back to an attitude of indifference.

“She panicked, and she paid the price for it... After that, it was over. I gave it all up: My tenure, my collection, my studies. I retired because it wasn’t worth it to continue. They were rare specimens, so I sold them off to colleagues and other collectors.”

“And in a huge collection of parasprites and poisonous spiders, you kept the humbugs?” Scootaloo shook her head. “I don’t get it.”

Gus snorted in a patronizing amusement.

“Humbugs are common. You can find small infestations of them in nearly any griffin village north of Equestria, and the Griffins couldn’t care less if somepony stops by to grab a few. You couldn’t get any academic or collector worth their salt to take them off your hooves even if you paid them to. They’re just minor emotional parasites with an elemental bend, not even all that interesting. I’m sure whatever the fine is for releasing them, I can get it straightened out. I don’t see what the big deal is.”

“The big deal?” The Doctor’s tone grew harsh. “Well... Gus... the ‘big deal’ is that so far, these ‘not all that interesting’ humbugs of yours have plunged the entire town into chaos, created at least two angry mobs that we know of, turned those ‘saccharine sweet’ ponies you dislike so much into bitter, angry lunatics, and dragonnapped the assistant librarian of Ponyville,” he listed off.

Gus drew back, his earlier disdain shifting to a very real shock that was impossible to fake.

“I think... we are long past fines here, Gus,” the Hourglass Stallion concluded grimly.

“Waaay past!” Scootaloo, feeling a bit more brave as the Doctor pressed the intimidating unicorn, pulled herself out, glaring in Gus’ direction. “What have you done with Spike!?”

“W...what? You have to be...” Gloomy Gus shook his head, blinking as he tried to understand the weight of these claims. “You must be joking! What you’re talking about... that’s... that’s not possible. The scale of what you’re mentioning is preposterous! It would take a number beyond reckoning... thousands of them... to cause that kind of change across a town as large as this, and I only released a dozen! At most!”

“Only a dozen?” The Doctor eyed the dull-coated entomologist with a worried expression.

“Have you been outside today?” Scootaloo asked incredulously as her eyes darted towards the window, the daylight fading fast as the sun went down on Hearth’s Warming Eve. “At all?”

“No, I don’t tend to--”

“There’s a swarm out there,” the Doctor interrupted, deadly seriously. “Numbering in the thousands at least.”

Gloomy Gus then did something that Scootaloo never expected. Not from the pony who so far had lived up to his moniker across all ends of the spectrum of depression.

He laughed.

It wasn’t a loud, obnoxious, villainous laugh like the bad guys in a story book, but a nervous laugh filled with concern and not an ounce of joy or pleasure.

“That... that’s impossible.” He shook his head. “Humbugs don’t swarm. They can’t even reproduce in this part of Equestria; it’s not cold enough. Their nests can’t even support more than a hundred at a time... they simply can’t sustain their numbers. These are emotional scavengers and opportunists... not predatory insects.”

*Tzzzzcccchhhhhhhh*

All other sounds stopped as the insect in the jar under the Doctor’s hoof suddenly made its presence known, its body rattling loudly in the jar.

*Tzzzzcccchhhhhhhh*
*Tzzzzcccchhhhhhhh*
*Tzzzzcccchhhhhhhh*

“Uhhhh, Doctor...?” Scootaloo drew back a step. “What’s it doing?”

“Let’s ask the expert, shall we?” The chestnut stallion’s blue eyes moved up to the grey unicorn, who was watching the humbug with a concerned expression.

“They make that noise when they are under distress... rattling their ice-sheathed bodies together,” Gus stated sagely. “When they’re lacking in food, when it gets too warm--”

*Tzzzzcccchhhhhhhh*
*Tzzzzcccchhhhhhhh*
*Tzzzzcccchhhhhhhh*
*Tzzzzcccchhhhhhhh*

“When they’re calling for help?” the Doctor observed, his expression sour.

“I told you, these are scavenger insects! Nothing more than parasites! They are not intelligent enough to--”

*BEEP-BEEP-BEEP-BEEP*

The device on the Doctor’s left hoof went wild suddenly, its rapid beeping drowning out the sound of the insect even as it continued its cry.

A sound that was soon echoing all around the three ponies as the already dimming light of early dusk was further blackened and windows began to go dark.

Scootaloo moved up under the Doctor’s leg, her own heart pounding as the stallion stood stoically still, his eyes not leaving the grey unicorn in front of them as he turned, his expression one of utter disbelief.

“That... that’s...”

“Oh, Gus...” The Hourglass Stallion drew the unicorn’s attention with a razor sharp tone. “I don’t think you gave these humbugs the ‘respect’ that they deserved.”

Ch. 4: A Season for Miracles

Chapter 4: A Season for Miracles

*KRISSHH*

“WHOA!”

The windows to the small shack of a house exploded inward, sending small shards of dirty glass showering down over the three ponies and causing Scootaloo to dive under the Doctor’s legs in a desperate attempt for shelter.

“MOVE!” Gus shouted out, breaking into motion as he darted past the Doctor and the filly, rushing past the empty glass cases and towards the back of the house.

“Coward!” Scootaloo managed to scold before a harsh, reverberating sound nearly caused her bones to rattle worse than standing in front of a certain DJ’s subwoofer.

*Tzzzzcccchhhhhhhh*

Almost instantly, the swarm poured into the newly-made openings in Gloomy Gus’ home, their distinct form of buzzing now loud enough to cause the filly to cringe as she drew her ears back. She was unable to look away from the spectacular shimmering effect that the mass of nearly-transparent humbugs created as they moved around near the ceiling.

“Sweet Celestia!” Scootaloo uttered, her heart hammering in her chest as she instantly regretted her offhoof remark of Gus’ cowardice, now thinking that he was perhaps the smarter one among them before a moment of curiosity struck her. “Uhhh, what are they waiting for?”

“If I had to guess, they’re sizing up the opposition, trying to determine if it’s worth the effort.”

“Shouldn’t we run too?”

“Not this time!” The Doctor shook his head, taking in the situation and coming to a clear conclusion. “Stay under me!”

“Why?”

“Because they can only be here for two things: their comrade, which I doubt since swarms don't care about individuals; and the last fresh meal that they can get to without a chisel.”

Scootaloo felt her wings quiver as he made that connection.

“Would it help if I told them that I am not enjoying myself right now?”

*Tzzzzcccchhhhhhhh*

“I rather doubt it!” the Doctor remarked as the swarm moved with an almost singular mind, like a school of fish, dipping closer and causing Scootaloo to back up into the stallion’s hind legs. “Don’t move! I think my presence is confusing them. They’re not sure what they’re dealing with and are trying to separate us.”

Much to Scootaloo’s shock, even from her position down on the floor, she could swear she saw an enthusiastic smile cross the Doctor’s lips.

“Well, that’s certainly not your typical insect behavior,” he mused for a moment before the severity of the situation seemed to impress itself upon him again, and the swarm came in for a dive. “Whatever you do, stay under me!”

*WHIIRRRRRRRRR*

Sparing a glance up, and trying to suppress an instinctive desire to bolt, Scootaloo took note of the chestnut stallion standing over her as he directed a hoof up towards the ceiling. His teeth grit together as he directed his strange, colorful hoof-band device at them, to no apparent effect.

“Come on, come on! Sonic resonance? Melting point? Sub-magical interference?” he listed off, the rainbow crystal at the tip of the device shifting and altering as he spoke before finally giving it a frustrated shake of the hoof. “Come on! Give me something, they’re not indestructible!”

The humbug swarm dipped again, this time brushing into the highest tips of the stallion’s mane and causing him to duck down, bringing his barrel down a bit closer to the filly.

“Doctooorrrr….” Scootaloo flattened herself as much as she could, her eyes shimmering as the rattling sound echoed around them again, the humbugs clearly confident that there was no threat present.

A sound that was suddenly intruded upon by the furious clopping of hooves on ratty old wooden floorboards.

“HOLD YOUR BREATH!” Gloomy Gus called out, the sudden movement apparently enough to make the swarm recoil, unsure as to what the pony that had run off was doing as he darted forward, his horn aglow and a small glass vial held in his soft grey magical aura. With a quickness that belied his age, the stallion quickly interposed himself in front of the filly and the earth pony and lifted the vial into the air, taking in a deep breath and holding it as a rush of energy escaped from his horn and impacted the vial.

*krish*

In an instant, the three were sprinkled with a fine green powder and tiny specks of glass. Shocked by the abruptness of the event, Scootaloo gasped and instantly regretted it as an overwhelmingly powerful, minty taste filled her mouth and nostrils, causing her to cough and gag.

Her reaction, however, was a pittance compared to that of the swarm.

*Tzzzzcccchhhhhhhh*

For a brief second, there was a shower of what felt like cold rain on the floor, as if a cloud had sprung a small sprinkle that was just enough to dampen the dusty surface. The humbugs reeled back and towards the ceiling, and their singular movement was broken up in an instant as the green powder began to settle. The swarm went from a condensed mass to a frenzy of movement as the humbugs broke away from their fellows and made an immediate dive for the nearest exit.

*Tzzzzcccchhhhhhhh*
*Tzzzzcccchhhhhhhh*
*Tzzzzcccchhhhhhhh*
*Tzzzzcccchhhhhhhh*

After a few seconds, the three ponies were again alone in the small home, the only sound remaining being the coughing of an overwhelmed filly as she tried to regain her breath. Her mouth sputtered as she tried to scrape the taste off her tongue, finally giving name to the overpowering flavor.

“Uuuuggh… Peppermint?”

The Doctor let out a sharp equine huff, clearing his nose before allowing himself another hard breath with the express purpose of clearing as much of the ground up herb from his lips before speaking.

“Mentha-piperita leaves. Highly concentrated.” The Doctor shook his head, clearly affected as well by the overpowering flavor that seeped into his sensitive tongue and forced him to smack his lips. “Acts as a repelling agent I take it?”

“Griffins have hung up sprigs of peppermint over their thresholds for centuries specifically to repel humbugs,” Gus managed, before having a hacking fit brought on by his own exposure to the herb. “Standard procedure to dealing with a nest is a liberal sprinkling of the stuff. It melts down their bodies and releases the emotion they’ve managed to drain away, which is carried around on the aroma. Doubles as the treatment for those affected.”

“How do you know all that?” Scootaloo asked, still having to bite back as she tried to get her coughing under control.

“I’m not just some hobbyist. This is what I did for a living. I was once called upon to neutralize dangerous infestations all across Equestria.”

“Well, what a coincidence, Gus.” The Doctor forced a smile, still coughing but managing to straighten himself up. “Because we’ve got an infestation that needs neutralizing right here, right now.”

————————

“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” Dawn shook her head, holding up a hoof to stop the tale. “Wait, so now the pony who let the humbugs out is the only one who knows how to stop them?”

“Wow, what a lucky break!” Cream commented.

“Doesn’t matter, keep going!” Daring spoke up quickly, but was cut off as their more intellectual friend continued on her train of thought.

“Are you sure this is a true story, Auntie Lu? Because that sounds like one hay of a convenient plot device.”

On the other side of Daring, Cream pulled herself forward and gave the unicorn a sideways look.

“Plot device?” she asked, her tone mixed with both curiosity and a hint of disgust. “Is that something that goes on your…”

“Not even close, Cream,” Dawn put down her friend quickly before the “eccentric” imagination of her friend could run wild and give them all a mental image they wouldn’t soon be able to forget. “A plot device is a literary tool in which--”

“UGH!” Daring threw her forelegs up in frustration before her two friends could continue the discussion. “Come on, girls! I’m trying to listen.”

Luna raised a brow, observing as the fillies began snap at one another and recognizing how they were slowly beginning to spiral towards what happened to all fillies who tried to stay up too late, who only held on so they could reach the end.

————————

“What part of ‘retired’ did you not understand!?” Gus shook his head, glowering at the Hourglass Stallion, who ignored him, turning to pace the floor.

“Alright, so what are we dealing with?” the Doctor considered, his tone curious. “A non-native pest species introduced into a foreign environment where they have managed to reproduce out of control and seize upon a massive food source in Ponyville. Does that sound about right, Doctor Stalk? You’re the expert after all.”

“But they can’t!” The entomologist pony shook his head, still disbelieving. “There’s never been a report of a swarm of this magnitude. Humbug nests simply don’t grow that large! In order to spawn those sorts of numbers, they would need frigid temperatures just to start building a nest large enough to--”

“You mean like the Windigo Blizzard happening outside right now? It is the coldest time in an Equestrian winter,” Scootaloo spoke up, drawing an approving smirk from the Doctor while Gloomy Gus drew back with a stammer.

“But… but they would need food to sustain the swarm and--”

“You mean like an entire town full of cheerful, happy ponies enjoying their holiday festivities?” the Doctor offered, the unicorn drawing back again with sheepish expression. “I’ve happened across a few griffins in my time here, and I wouldn’t exactly describe them as being generally ‘cheery.’ So perhaps that has something to do with the bugs’ typical status as... what did you call them? ‘Scavengers’?”

“This… this isn’t supposed to happen.” Gloomy Gus looked away, his tone now growing more desperate as the earth pony’s logic sunk in. “It’s impossible.”

“And yet here we are.” The Doctor’s own voice grew more agitated before he turned with a softer expression towards Scootaloo. “So, now that we know what needs to be done, how exactly do we go about doing it?”

“Peppermint!” The filly smiled, her heart rushing with a realization and thrill that surprised even her.

“Precisely!”

“Not feasible!” Gus shook his head, ever the pessimist. “You can’t just get a bag full of peppermint leaves and candy canes and throw them up and down the streets! The very notion is absurd!”

“What about doing like you did?” Scootaloo brought up, brushing her coat and removing a few stray flecks of powdered green leaf. “Turn it into a spray or a mist or something? That worked for us.”

“Aerosolization?” The Doctor turned to her with a grin. “Yes. Oh, YES! Shutterfly, you are BRILLIANT! Now, it would take some tinkering, but I could repurpose that old industrial-grade fog machine to…” he trailed off, muttering under his breath as Gus shook his head.

“I... suppose that would make sense... But it still wouldn’t do any good unless you also eliminate their nest!”

“Nest? What nest?” Scootaloo asked, the thought giving her the heebie-jeebies.

Gus rolled his eyes. “Haven’t you been listening, foal? Humbugs are a nesting species. It’s where they gather together to reproduce and store the excess emotion they gather, like how bees bring pollen to their hive to make honey.”

“They would keep it all in one place?” the other stallion snapped out of his thoughts to ask.

“That’s right.” The dusky unicorn nodded. “Although, with the numbers they’re displaying, perhaps ‘hive’ would be a more apt description at this point.”

“Wait, that’s probably where they would’ve taken Spike! Where would they build a hive?” Scootaloo asked, the Doctor’s expression thoughtful as he considered this new information.

“Spike? Who is…? I don’t know… Someplace out of the way,” Gus stammered, his own curiosity beginning to take hold as he thought for a moment. “They usually nest in attics of homes or in sheltered cavern peaks at the higher altitudes near griffin villages. Someplace without any traffic where nopony would disturb them. But to accommodate that many humbugs, it would have to be enormous. I don’t see how--”

“We can do this.” The Doctor grinned, turning back towards the two of them. “Oh, yes! We can do this!”

“What? Do what?” Gus drew back, stunned by the stallion’s enthusiasm.

“Quite simple, my dear colt: We, meaning myself, you and our little filly friend here, are going to put an end to this infestation, rescue a dragon, release all of that stolen cheer and mirth, and save Ponyville in time for the holidays!” the brown earth pony explained quickly before tilting his head. “Now, would you happen to have a problem with that?”

“I-I-I...” Gus stammered for a moment.

“I’ll take that as a ‘no,’” the stallion offered smugly. “Alright, I have to get back to the library in order to pick up some equipment to track down the hive and fix up something to disperse the peppermint!”

“But… we don’t HAVE any peppermint! What I used here was my entire stock!” Gus reiterated as a lightbulb went off over Scootaloo’s head.

“Sugarcube Corner!” the filly spoke up. “The Cakes always have all kinds of peppermint goodies for sale around Hearth’s Warming. I bet they have whole jugs peppermint extract just for cooking!”

“Perfect!” the Doctor approved. “Alright. Leave tracking down the hive to me. Singalong, take Dr. Stalk to Sugarcube Corner and both of you get as much of the stuff as you can get your hooves on!”

“I don’t need a foalsitter. I can go by myself,” Scootaloo complained, making it clear that she would rather not be around the perpetually-grumpy unicorn if she could help it.

“Which is fine by me,” Gus agreed. “Because I’m not going at all.”

The simple declaration served to throw the brakes on the Doctor’s excited momentum, and his expression instantly deflated as he turned to address the sour stallion.

“Excuse me? What did you say?”

“You heard me. I just don’t see why I’m required to tag along in this little adventure.”

“But... we need your help!”

“Tch...” Gus scoffed. “And what I need is to do something about these broken windows. In case you haven’t noticed, there’s glass all over the floor and it’s starting to get drafty!”

“...In case I haven’t noticed...?” the Doctor repeated slowly, his eye giving a little twitch. “In case you haven’t noticed, there’s an infestation of parasitic, happiness-stealing insects threatening to plunge Ponyville, perhaps the whole of Equestria itself, into an emotional death spiral!”

Gus held the Doctor’s intense gaze, with enough tension smoldering between the two that Scootaloo could almost taste it behind the still-present mint in the air.

“I’m sorry, Doctor... but I fail to see how that’s my problem.”

The Doctor’s eyes widened in anger, and a sharp intake of breath was all the warning he gave before he finally reached his limit.

“THAT’S ENOUGH!”

*CRACK*

The exchange was forcefully cut off, and silence held for a moment as they realized that the stallion had stomped a hoof on the floor so roughly that the board underneath had cracked.

“You don’t see how this is your problem, Gus?” The Doctor glowered, all of the humor and enthusiasm that he had been showing gone in an instant as those blue eyes hardened and glared at the older stallion.

Gus immediately drew back, any argument dying in his throat.

Scootaloo also took a step back. Even if she was not the target of that dangerous tone, just being on the edge of it was enough to make her feel as if she suddenly had nothing at all to offer the humbugs in terms of a meal.

“You released a foreign, dangerous life-form out in this town where it’s not only managed to adapt, but thrive,” the stallion explained spitefully. “Every fight, every raised voice, every broken relationship. Every single pain that has been visited on these ponies because of the humbugs all started with your act of negligent stupidity!”

Gloomy Gus swallowed as the Doctor pressed closer on him, his legs refusing to move.

“You’re not just going to sit back in your chair and feel guilty for another eleven years because of this failure. You see, this isn’t just your problem, Gus. It’s your own damn fault!”

Gus looked down and away, a shiver running down his body that was clearly visible.

“If you want to sit out on the sidelines and let your life waste away in this room, that is your business. But right now, my friend is missing and this filly is in more danger than your student ever was! So if you want to even have the privilege of spending the rest of your life alone and miserable in that chair, contemplating whether it’s worth ever dragging your sorry flank out that door again, you are going to do everything possible to make sure she stays safe! Because if anything does happen to her, I am holding you personally responsible!”

The Doctor and Gloomy Gus were now snout to snout, the chestnut pony now looming over the target of his ire in an ironic reversal of how Gus liked to intimidate the stock-still filly staring humbled at the exchange.

“And believe me, your last decade of solitude will seem like a lazy summer afternoon compared to what I’ll put you through.”

Gus managed to raise his eyes just enough to catch sight of those harsh blue orbs before the earth pony finished.

“Am I understood?”

Gus tried to speak, though something about the infinite depths of those eyes was causing his throat to hopelessly seize up.

“AM I UNDERSTOOD!?”

“Yes,” he finally managed to spit out, nodding mechanically and causing the Hourglass Stallion to mercifully draw back.

“Good.” The Doctor returned the nod before turning his attention to a quiet Scootaloo, his eyes softening as he brought one hoof up to his side pouch and reached in.

“I...” Scootaloo started, but couldn’t find the words, unable to understand where that harshness had come from.

“Here…” the Doctor offered, the edge in his voice having dulled to a shadow of its former self, withdrawing a small golden clip from the side bag and offering it to the filly. “Put this on your ear.”

“...What is it?” Scootaloo looked at the curved clip for a moment and trying to figure out why Doctor Clockwork was giving her a piece of jewelry.

“Think of it as a magic talking earring,” the Doctor explained. “It will let you know when I’ve found the hive and where to meet me.”

“But…”

“Now, you two: To Sugarcube Corner! We have to hurry if we’re going to get this done in time.”

“In time for what?” Gus asked as the brown stallion galloped towards the door.

“Isn’t it obvious?” the Doctor asked with a sly smile. “In time to save Hearth’s Warming, of course.”

The stallion disappeared out the doorway, moving at full gallop out of the worn-down house and leaving the filly and stallion alone together for a moment, the two exchanging a confused look before the filly brought the golden metal piece up and clipped it over the rim of her ear.

————————

The blizzard overhead was even heavier than it had been so far that day, black clouds covering the moon and stars as a chilled wind picked up across Mane Street. The streetlamps were dark and the roads silent as two ponies trudged through fresh, unbroken snow. It was only the wan, ghostly grey light from Gus’ horn that allowed them to make out their surroundings in the haunting scene.

Scootaloo moved alongside Gloomy Gus as the unicorn’s eyes moved up and down the sides of the street, not a single sign of life to be seen.

“Something’s wrong,” the filly managed, even her natural resistance to the cold beginning to falter as she held her feathered wings to her side, trying to keep warm. “The blizzard should be breaking up… but instead it looks like it’s getting stronger.”

“Without the Weather Patrol keeping things in line, natural cloud behaviors are taking over,” Gus noted, not looking at the filly as he tried to ignore his wet, soaked hooves, now sincerely wishing he had kept some of his cold weather gear from his youthful travels. “This will certainly work to the humbugs’ favor. The longer the blizzard is perpetuated, the more they can entrench themselves. It doesn’t help that the mayor was foalish enough to open up an evaporation spot right in the center of town to give the local clouds more to work with.”

Scootaloo stopped for a moment, the stallion taking a few more steps in the snow before noticing and looking back towards the stunned pegasus.

“What?”

“You… sounded almost like Twilight there for a second.”

“Who’s Twilight?”

“...Nevermind.” The filly shook her head. “You know, I just don’t get you. I thought you were just some cranky old fuddy-duddy that didn’t like anypony.”

Gus snorted.

“No argument here.”

“But then, you’re also all smart and stuff,” Scootaloo continued. “Most ponies don’t get how weather really works. Even a lot of pegasi take it for granted. I mean, you know all that, plus you used to teach classes and have students and stuff.”

“I spent a great deal of my youth studying many different vocations. What’s your point, foal?” Gus asked gruffly, now finding that he had preferred walking in silence.

“How can somepony so smart… act like such an idiot?”

Gus let out an exasperated sigh, his shoulders dipping a bit.

“You’re just a filly. You don’t understand what it’s like to be truly alone,” Gus started, his breath visible even in the dimly-lit streets as he trudged along, keeping his eyes straight ahead. “I’ve spent most of my life in the company of insects and arachnids. As you can imagine, it does garner one a certain kind of reputation. But I continued on, finding a vocation, peers that shared my interests, and even gained some degree of respect in the field. A respect that grew as I took on more and more dangerous specimens and eventually started teaching.”

His head dipped slightly.

“...That all changed after Belladonna,” he elaborated. “The initial inquiry found me free of fault since I had licenses for keeping my collection for study. They found no signs of negligence and agreed that it had been a tragic, unforeseeable accident. But the truth is... it was my fault. I knew Bella’s curiosity outstripped her ability to handle those specimens. I should have kept them secure and out of her reach. But no… All I did was scold her and expected that would be enough. That she would listen to me. After the accident, I didn’t see the point in any of it. If I couldn’t even protect my student, how was anything else I did going to make any difference? I was better off alone, without anypony needing to depend on me.”

“...I’m sorry,” Scootaloo said after a while, feeling a spark of empathy in spite of herself at the sincerity and sadness to Gus’ words. “But I still don’t get it. If you’re feeling so bad about Bella, then why let out the humbugs in the first place, especially now at Hearth’s Warming?”

“Because Hearth’s Warming is when it’s the worst,” Gus divulged, amazed by his own words as he spoke on something he had set aside and tried to forget about for more than a decade. “It was eleven years ago… tonight. The one night I went out with my colleagues in Canterlot and enjoyed myself. The night I left Bella to check on my private collection without supervision. And nopony remembers, nopony cares. And why would they? With the festivities and snow, the pageants and the feasts, it’s the time of year when everypony is happy.”

“So… what? You let out the humbugs to get back at them for being happy?” Scootaloo shook her head. “Look, I get it. Being alone sucks horseapples and boy do know it. I’m sorry about Bella and everything, but how is hurting other ponies supposed to make anything better?”

“Just because you’re intelligent doesn’t mean you can’t have a lapse in judgment.” Gus sighed, a bit more softly. “I don’t know… I guess I was just tired of seeing everypony else smiling and going on about their business without any idea of what happened.”

“When they just don’t understand that some ponies don’t get to enjoy things that they take for granted,” Scootaloo continued on that thread of logic, the sincerity of her voice drawing a surprised look from the older unicorn. “I guess that kinda makes sense... You see, I’m alone a lot too. I’ve got my dad, and we love each other, but he’s out of town working for like, three seasons out of the year. If anything were to ever happen to him, I might not even find out for months. But, even with him gone, I have my friends, and they keep me from being sad and alone all the time. That’s how I can bear to deal with times like this when everypony else is gone.”

Gus was quiet for a moment, looking up as the cupcake-shaped confectioner’s shop came into view, its normally-warm windows dark.

“What are you trying to say, filly?” Gus asked.

“I’m saying… you’re only alone and miserable because you choose to be. You decide to be mean to everypony out of hoof and the only one that really suffers is you,” Scootaloo said, feeling strangely sage-like as she spoke her mind to the older pony. “Maybe nopony can ever replace Bella… but they’re not supposed to. What matters is that you find somepony... anypony to be there for, and to be there for you. If you don’t have that, then what’s the point of any of it?”

Gloomy Gus huffed again as the two approached Sugarcube Corner, a silence falling over filly and stallion alike as they discovered the door was hanging forlornly open.

————————

A few candles were lit on the tables inside as Gus and Scootaloo entered, an unnatural quiet having settled into the normally-busy sweet shop.

“Uhhhh, helloooo?” Scootaloo stepped forward, finding the usually jovial atmosphere of her favorite bakery to be rather eerie in this light. “Mrs. Cake? Mr. Cake? Are you open?”

Gus and Scootaloo looked to one another for a moment before they moved deeper into the shop, the stallion clearly sharing in the filly’s unease as they finally took note of the pudgy blue store owner at one of the tables, her head laid down on her forelegs. Much to Scootaloo’s shock, her coat, usually finely-groomed and always coated with a light dusting of sugar, was marred with large, unsightly welts, as if the mare had been assaulted by a beehive.

“...Mrs. Cake?” Scootaloo moved up towards her, prodding her slightly with one hoof and pulling back with a start when the mare jolted up, looking around as if she had been been woken up.

“Wha… I…” Mrs. Cake started, then slumped slightly, clearly fatigued. Her eyes were half-lidded and puffy as she looked towards the stallion and filly, the fur on her cheeks matted and making it clear that she had been crying for some time. “Oh, it’s just… Yes… I’m sorry, we’re… not open right now, dear.”

Scootaloo felt her heart sink as she heard Mrs. Cake speak, her voice cracking as it was clearly strained and containing a very tired undertone as if her vocal cords had given out.

Scootaloo managed to tear her eyes away from Mrs. Cake long enough to realize that in the chair opposite of her, the Cake twins were curled up with one another, both awake and breathing softly, but silent, as if they had no reason to make their presence known.

“A…are you alright, Mrs. Cake?”

“Oh, yes… Just fine.” The blue mare nodded, but her words were flat and devoid of any meaning as she laid her head back down. “You can just help yourself to anything in the shop. I’m afraid it won’t be here much longer.”

“We just need to pick up some peppermint.” Scootaloo eyed the mare with a worried expression. “It’s kind of an emergency. We can bring in some bits tomorrow for it.”

“Oh, sure… go right ahead,” Mrs. Cake sighed, a sense of complete apathy in her voice.

She simply didn’t care.

“What’s wrong with her?” Scootaloo asked, prodding the mare again but getting no response.

“She’s emotionally exhausted.” Gus shook his head, his own voice low as he interpreted the signs of what was in front of him. “The humbugs fed on her and the foals repeatedly, and when they were done, she must have burned through whatever emotional energy she had left. I’ve never seen victims of an infestation suffer this many bites before.”

Scootaloo lowered her head glumly before looking to the unicorn, who was also clearly affected by the sight.

“So… does actually seeing what you did make you feel any better?” the filly asked with a very apparent hint of disapproval in her voice.

Gus swallowed slightly, watching the blue mare a moment longer before he answered.

“No... No, it doesn’t.”

————————

Sugarcube Corner had been well-stocked for the holidays, with several large bottles of eggnog, decadent Hearth’s Warming chocolates, and dozens of holly leaf-shaped sugar cookies set aside and ready to be dyed in the traditional red and green colors of the holidays.

And, to Scootaloo’s great relief, several large candy-making trays had been laid out in preparation for making the customary red and white treats that were so abundant this time of year, several large jugs of peppermint extract and flavoring out in the open on the counters.

“I hope that this Clockwork of yours knows what he’s talking about,” Gus huffed as he fit the last of four large containers into his saddlebag, “I doubt we’ll be able to find much more of this stuff anywhere else in town. Although I still don’t understand how he intends to distribute it.”

“I’m sure he’ll explain once we get there,” Scootaloo offered, tapping the clip on her ear and running her hoof over it.

“Assuming he even finds the hive.”

“Ugh, are you always so negative?”

“It’s in my nature to assume the worst,” Gus explained, shrugging. “There’s always a chance I’ll be pleasantly surprised.”

“That’s a horrible way to--”

“Shockalla!” a sudden, familiar tone buzzed in the fillies ear, causing her to jerk her head at the change in volume.

“Gah! My name is SCOOTALOO!” The foal stomped a hoof, drawing a surprised look from Gus.

“I… didn’t ask, but I had wondered,” the stallion commented. “Clockwork had referred to you by--”

“No, it’s…” Scootaloo pointed to her ear, amazed to realize that Gus had not heard the Doctor’s voice when she had heard it so clearly.

Magic earring indeed.

“I found the hive.” The Doctor sounded excited, and Scootaloo found it slightly creepy as she turned and had to remind herself that the colt wasn’t right there talking in her ear. “Did you get the peppermint concentrate?”

“Uhh... yeah. Four whole jars of the stuff,” Scootaloo answered.

He could hear her too?

“Excellent! Bring it to the old clocktower on the south end of town, near Fluttershy’s cottage. And shake a leg!”

“The clocktower?” Scootaloo asked, “Wait, the hive’s in the clocktower? How did you find it...? Doctor...?”

“I have to admit… that’s very strange to watch,” Gus considered as Scootaloo reached up to tap her ear clip. “I’ve never seen an artifact capable of such things, not even when I lived in Canterlot.”

Scootaloo looked up to the stallion, a curious expression on her face. “Really?”

“How did your friend come by it?”

Scootaloo paused for a moment, considering the question before she was forced to shrug.

“I… don’t know,” she admitted. A fact that, in light of the Doctor’s earlier display of untempered anger, made her shiver unconsciously. “Actually... there’s a lot of stuff I don’t know about him.”

————————

The Ponyville clocktower was the second tallest building in Ponyville, in addition to being one of the oldest, constructed as a symbol of equine civilization taming the southern border shortly after the Apple Family famously started the colonization rush on the edge of the Everfree Forest.

Few ponies actually used the massive clocktower to keep track of time anymore, as the modern advancement of mechanics allowed for personal timepieces and household clocks to be prevalent in everypony’s home. But still it stood, a reminder of simpler times and, to hear Mayor Mare describe it, quite the tourist trap.

Although now, as Gus and Scootaloo rushed towards the tower, it had a menacing new attribute as, even in the blur of falling snow and the glowing light from inside of the clock’s face, a very slight distortion could be made out. An indication that the tower was no longer unoccupied as both stallion and filly recognized what must have been a massive swarm moving around the upper levels.

They rushed together down the path until they caught sight of the brown stallion, who watched the tower’s obvious entrance; a small unassuming doorway right off the path facing the rest of Ponyville, with a grave interest.

Set on the ground at his hooves were two odd devices, one of them being a metallic-looking sphere a bit smaller than a beach ball. Although it seemed round, a closer look indicated that the surface was lined with tiny spouts that immediately made Scootaloo think of hundreds of mouse-sized teapots had been somehow fused together. The top of the contraption had an open hatch, the top of which included a squared-off handle and two buttons on the smooth metal top, one red and one green.

Next to that was a box-like device with several lights set onto the top of it and what almost looked like spinning cogs connected to a crank by a black ribbon. On its front, facing the tower, was what looked like a very small loudspeaker.

The Hourglass Stallion clearly took note of the two ponies approaching him, breaking his line of sight with the door and waving them down.

“Ah, Dr. Stalk, Sallyforth, glad you two could make it.”

“For the last… time… Doctor...” the filly panted a bit, having run the whole way there. “It’s Scoot-a-loo! How would you feel if I called you ‘Clunk-Lazy’?”

“About the same as when you call me Clockwork,” the stallion answered nonchalantly, not even giving the filly a beat to consider what he meant by such a statement before he got back to the matter at hoof. “So what do you think, Gus? Slightly elevated over the rest of the town, out of the way. Perfect place, right?”

“Indeed.” Gus sounded impressed at the Doctor’s deduction as he removed the borrowed jugs of extract from his bags and placed them in the snow. “But how did you know?”

“Got the idea when you mentioned they take the good vibes they knick from ponies and turn it into nectar for the hive. All that positive emotional energy in one place gave me something to track down. Had to modify one of my old toys.” He leaned down, tapping the box-like device. “Now it’s a Merriment Monitor.”

The grey unicorn gave the earth pony another puzzled look before the Doctor continued.

“It goes ‘ding’ when there’s stuff. I just had to change the kind of stuff it goes ‘ding’ for. I’m glad I haven’t had to go near any chicken coops; I’m not sure if I managed to iron out that particular bug yet,” he explained coyly before he reached down, using his teeth to untwist the cap from a peppermint bottle, and spitting it out after a moment, gagging slightly. “WOW! That’s strong stuff. Hope it’s enough. Now come on, it’s twenty till midnight. We don’t have much time.”

“You’re really taking this ‘saving Hearth’s Warming’ thing seriously, aren't you?” Gus shook his head.

“I always do. To be honest, this kind of thing happens to be sort of a holiday tradition for me,” the Doctor remarked, before muttering slightly under his breath: “Same holiday, different name... Always something going on.”

“Well...” Gus shrugged, not understanding or really caring what the colt was talking about. “I just hope you have a plan.”

“That I do.” The Doctor nodded towards the metallic orb. “This, for the sake of simplicity, is a miniature cloud maker.”

“Really?” Scootaloo tilted her head, looking at the strange device. “Uh, Doctor, I’ve been to the Weather Factory in Cloudsdale. Cloud machines are a lot bigger than that.”

“As I said, this is a miniature model,” the Doctor dismissed her objection, carefully lifting another extract container with two hooves and pouring its contents into the device. “It’s not all that complicated; all I have to do is fill it up and get it to the top of that clocktower in the open belfry. Once it’s in place, pressing this button...” He motioned to a small green spot on the opened hatch. “...will set it off, and it will release a steady stream of fine peppermint mist. Wind willing, it should be enough to coat the entire town and get into anything that’s not airtight by morning.”

“Sure. Just a short run past the humbug hive to get there,” Gus pointed out.

“Uhhh, won’t they see you guys?” Scootaloo objected for a brief moment before another thought came to her. “For that matter, why haven’t they noticed us yet?”

“Combination of reasons I’m sure. Mostly, I think we’re still covered in that peppermint from earlier.”

“That may be so, but it won’t be enough to save you if you go in there,” Gus warned cautiously. “You may have been able to somehow escape their bite so far, Doctor. But intruding on their hive is sure to agitate them. With a small nest it’s not an issue, but with that many, there’s no telling what might happen to you.”

“I know, but it’s a risk that I have to take. If this is where they brought Spike, then he’s been inside for hours. I can only hope he’s been able to keep his eyes and mouth closed for that long, and that the humbugs aren’t clever enough to start reenacting ‘Humpty Dumpty.’” The chestnut colt grimaced for a moment, shaking his head as concern shone through his usually stalwart expression. “If anything’s happened to him, Twilight will never forgive me.”

Gus bit his lip for a moment, considering the Doctor’s words.

“Which is why I should do it,” he offered, stiffening his posture. “You should focus on getting your dragon friend out of there.”

The Doctor and Scootaloo both looked towards the grey unicorn with a degree of shock, the Doctor being the one to recover first.

“Are you sure? It’ll be dangerous.”

“It’s always dangerous.” The pony that had been dubbed “Gloomy Gus” shook his head, resigned. “It’s supposed to be dangerous. That’s the nature of the field of entomology. That’s what I forgot. I spent so long fuming over the fact that most ponies don’t give proper respect to the smaller creatures of our world, I forgot that I too could underestimate them.”

He looked up towards the tower, to the distortion of the humbug swarm milling around over their heads.

“I did this... I’m the one who caused everything to go wrong,” he muttered lowly, flashing back to the scene in Sugarcube Corner. “And it’s about time I assumed responsibility for putting everything right.”

The Doctor tilted his head back slowly, eyeing the resolute expression on the older unicorn’s face appraisingly. After a while, his lips turned up into a small smile and he gave a quick nod in understanding.

“Halfway out of the dark...” he said under his breath.

“What was that?” Gus asked.

“Nothing,” the chestnut pony replied, shaking his head. “But you’re right. We stand a better chance if we go in together. I’ll look for Spike while you ascend the tower with the device.”

“But...” Scootaloo started, her cheeks growing flushed in spite of the cold air around them, flexing her small wings. “Maybe we can get that thing up there without going through the hive. I mean, I’m a pegasus. I should be able to get up there without--”

“You can’t fly. Your wings haven’t grown in yet,” the Doctor stated bluntly, the simple reminder hitting the filly hard and causing her to recoil. “Besides, of the three of us, you’re by far the most vulnerable if these things turn hostile. You need to stay down here.”

“Maybe not. I mean, we could use that to our advantage. I could run a distraction. You said they were after me, so I could--”

“Not an option.” The Doctor shook his head, opening the last of the peppermint jugs and pouring it into the device.

“But--” the filly let go of a soft breath.

“Scootaloo...” the Doctor said softly. “You need to sit this one out.”

“Why? Is it because I’m a just some foal who can’t do anything?”

“No.” The Doctor’s voice was steady as he tilted the extract into the metal container, which was just about filled to the brim. “Because there is something else you have to do. Something important. Just not tonight.”

Scootaloo took a step back, trying to comprehend his meaning as the “cloud machine” was filled to capacity, the Doctor setting the fourth jug, still holding a bit of leftover extract, aside before he quickly closed the hatch on the device and pressed a red button on the top, which elicited a sharp whistle.

“There, it’s building pressure,” the stallion stated, looking up to the clocktower. “Twelve minutes left! We’ll go in at the same time. I’ll go up first and try to get them on me. With luck, I can find Spike and pull him out in the confusion while you make for the belfry.”

Gus nodded. “Alright. I know a few spells that can keep them at bay long enough for me to get to the top, I think.”

“But... Doctor,” Scootaloo called out, only to receive a quick pat on the head from the brown pony’s hoof.

“Stay here where it’s safe, alright? We’ll be back before you know it.”

“...Promise?” Scootaloo asked, drawing a soft smile from the stallion as he leaned a bit closer.

“Trust me,” he told her in a soft whisper. “I’m the Doctor.”

Drawing back, the filly could only watch as the two stallions then nodded to one another, Gus picking up the round device in his teeth before both charged at full gallop towards the doorway, disappearing inside the threshold and leaving Scootaloo alone once again.

————————

The minutes ticked by slowly.

It was perhaps more painful because Scootaloo actually had a giant clock face to watch as they did so, sitting back in the cold as she watched the minute hand edge ever closer to the twelve.

“Come on...” She found herself clicking her back hooves impatiently as she watched the door, her ears perked and listening for any sign of the two stallions.

As the large hand of the clock ticked again, Scootaloo inched ever closer to the doorway.

“Where are they? Maybe I should...” she debated with herself, wondering if it was really in the best interests of all involved for her to remain where she was told.

An internal debate that was broken as the doorway to the clocktower was thrown open, the brown stallion quickly pulling himself out and slamming the door shut with a hind hoof before he managed a few more steps out of sheer momentum.

Then his legs collapsed out from under him, the purple dragon holding around his neck remaining in place as he kept his eyes shut.

“UNGH!” the pony grunted as Scootaloo gasped, rushing forward. “That was... considerably less pleasant than having ponyshoes put on...”

“Doctor!”

“Scootaloo?” the small dragon managed through clenched teeth, cautiously blinking one eye open before he caught sight of the pony. Opening both, he gasped slightly, panting as he released the Doctor’s neck and slip down to the ground.

“Spike! Are you okay? What happened?” the filly demanded, her voice cracking as she took note of the Doctor’s fur, small welts covering his flank and neck as he took in ragged breaths.

“Kinda unclear on that myself.” Spike shook his head, blinking as he reached for a clawful of snow and put it in his mouth, clearly very thirsty.

“I’ve been stumbling around blind with those things crawling on me for hours,” he explained as he quickly munched on the fresh snow. “Tried to feel my way out, but those things kept grabbing and dragging me around every time I managed to find stairs. Then I heard the Doc and some other pony shouting and running around, then I got picked up and carried off.”

The young reptile looked around, taking stock of his surroundings for perhaps the first time since he had been dragonnapped.

“Hey! We’re at the clocktower!” he deduced, his statement of the obvious causing Scootaloo to roll her eyes.

“Apparently, we underestimated both their intelligence and their aggressiveness. They were laying in wait until we reached Spike, and then ambushed us.” The Doctor winced, his exposed withers and hind legs twitching erratically. “They behave less like honey bees and more like hornets when their hive is threatened. Doesn’t feel like they tried to sap out happiness, more like ‘everything.’ Luckily, they seemed reluctant to leave the hive itself to pursue.”

“What about Gus?”

“Gus? Who’s Gus?” Spike asked, still confused before the Hourglass Stallion managed to pull himself up with a pronounced grunt into a sitting position, sticking his tongue out.

“No peppermint on the air. Something must have happened. He was still moving and had the device when I lost sight of him on the stairs. He should have had the chance to activate it by now...”

Scootaloo took a look up at the belfry towering a good fifty feet overhead, watching as the minute hand clicked another notch closer to the twelve.

“Something’s gone wrong.”

“We don’t know that.” The Doctor shook his head. “But just in case, I should get up there and…”

The stallion attempted to push himself up to his hooves and failed, requiring the baby dragon’s assistance to prevent him from falling over.

“You’re not fooling anyone, Doc,” Spike scolded. “You barely made it back out the first time. You’ll never make it to the top!”

Scootaloo looked to the clearly drained and exhausted stallion, amazed that even in this state he was trying to pull himself together to see the task done.

Trying so hard.

The foal shook her head, tears forming at the rim of her eyes before she looked around wildly, her mind racing as she tried to think of what to do. Even if she tried to help, she’d end up overwhelmed by the swarm just like the Doctor was...

Laying a short distance away lay Gus’ saddlebag and the four jugs that they had taken from Sugarcube Corner, sitting empty.

All except for one...

Scootaloo’s eyes widened in a moment of revelation as she darted forward, plowing through the snow to quickly grab hold of the fourth container in her hooves and, holding her breath, upturning the jug over her head.

It was cold and wet, nearly as thin as water, but not sticky like she expected. The filly spared a second to consider what a pain it was going to be to scrub the smell out of her fur and feathers, but those would be worries for another time as she dropped the depleted canister and turned back towards the clocktower at full gallop.

“Scoot? What in Celestia’s name are you--” Spike started, only to be cut off as the Doctor quickly recognized her intention.

“NO! SCOOTALOO! Don’t you--”

The demand was cut short as a peppermint-coated Scootaloo reached the door, pulling it open and diving inside.

————————

It was icy cold inside the Ponyville Clocktower, far colder than the snow outside.

This in and of itself was not a problem, as pegasi were well-adapted to the cold. They had to be in order to live in their sculpted cloud homes high up in the sky. In fact, it was often a wintertime source of pride to young pegasi like herself and her fellow winged classmates that they could go without earmuffs and scarves when even the earth ponies in class were shivering.

But this was something far beyond the young foal’s experience.

As she ascended the spiral staircase at the center of the clocktower, the wet sensation soaking her fur tingled against her skin. The usually-pleasant smell and taste that permeated her senses was probably strong enough to make a diamond dog keel over at a hundred body-lengths away, and made breathing difficult as she panted through her mouth. Her eyes watered as she moved, having to blink constantly just so she could keep focused on each step in front of her as she passed the third, then the fourth floors, coming up to a door that led to the inside of the great clock itself. She thought it odd that she hadn’t been swarmed yet, but then remembered what the Doctor had said, about how the humbugs had lain in wait, ambushing them once they were deep inside the tower. So, eventually, they would come, though exactly how and when, Scootaloo had no way of knowing.

And now, as she opened the door, everything seemed to slow down.

She had half a second to see her surroundings as she rushed forward, and yet she managed to make out all sorts of details. A single oil lantern hung at the center of the ceiling, casting a flickering yellow glow over a complicated assortment of moving parts and turning cogs that kept the giant clock working. Their movements were silhouetted against the inside of the opaque clock face, its minute hand now sitting at two till twelve. The wooden walls inside this large cavernous room, the only parts that didn’t seem to be in motion, were coated with a thick layer of clear ice. Much to her surprise, the ice looked pitted, as if somepony had taken a melon baller and taken exact, perfectly-rounded scoops out of it.

Unfortunately, Scootaloo had no time to reflect on what it was she saw, as a painfully-loud noise forced her to press her ears flat against her skull, wincing at the volume. At least she didn’t need to wonder where the swarm was anymore.

*Tzzzzcccchhhhhhhh*

Her vision was blurred as she was swarmed, thousands upon thousands of the shimmering icy insects descending upon her in an instant and obscuring her vision as she felt the little weights attempt to land on her fur in order to work in concert, whether to bite or to push on her as they did with Spike, she didn’t know. However, in some part of her brain that was keeping up and not panicking, she realized that as soon as the tiny insects were landing on her peppermint-laced fur, they were melting, an action that seemed to further infuriate the swarm as it redoubled its efforts and rolled against her.

Seeing her advantage, Scootaloo broke into a gallop, plowing straight through the thickest part of the swarm.

Before she had taken two steps, she was completely soaked.

“HAH!” she shouted defiantly, emboldened by her own genius. “CAN’T TOUCH ME!”

As she reached the base of the stairs leading up to the belfry itself, Scootaloo found herself smiling in triumph as the swarm washed over her again in a wave.

It’s okay, Scootaloo, you got this! You can--

She suddenly felt a sharp pinch right between her shoulders.

“OUCH!”

The foal paused, bringing a hoof up to swat at the back of her neck at what felt like a minor pinprick, knocking something small, cold, and hard out of the way with her hoof. The pinch had not been overwhelmingly painful, nothing she would have normally given much thought or even bothered to look to if she had felt it under any other circumstances.

But the pause gave the filly a moment of clarity as she realized something.

She was soaked, her fur dripping with freezing cold water. The minty tingle against her skin was almost gone and, while her nose was grateful for the drastic drop in that overpowering smell, its absence set off alarm bells in Scootaloo’s head.

Then she felt another pinch.

“Ugh!” The foal instinctively flicked her tail up to brush at the annoyance on her rump before her eyes went wide with realization, turning towards the main body of the swarm, which was now coming at her for another pass.

“AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!” she screamed, rushing up the spiral staircase as fast as her legs could carry her, her heart hammering as the sound of the unified humbug swarm chased after her.

She felt the next couple of stings even more acutely as she ran, on her legs and back and wings, gritting her teeth as she moved up the darkening stairway. And this, it turned out, was an aid rather than a hindrance, as the bites distracted from her blind panic in time to recognize the obstruction in her way.

Laying on the staircase, several steps in front of a trapdoor that clearly led up to where the clocktower’s massive bell was kept, lay the grey and black unicorn, his chest rising shallowly but unable to move as what looked like hundreds of bite marks showed on his coat. Lying just in front of him was the Doctor’s machine, having fallen from Gus’ teeth when he was obviously overwhelmed by the humbug swarm mere steps away from his goal.

*BBBBzzzzztTTT*

Scootaloo’s wings flared, assisting her breakneck jump over the stallion and fighting to ignore the soreness growing in her joints as she landed, having to pause for half a heartbeat to turn and grasp the heavy metal orb’s handle in her teeth.

That pause was just enough to allow the swarm to catch up with her, filling her vision as the last of her protection was worn away, and a curtain of icy needles fell upon her.

Scootaloo cried out, nearly dropping the device in her teeth as the minor pricks on her skin began to grow in number and intensity.

Suddenly, she felt overwhelmingly tired, for some reason.

What was she doing? Why was it so important, again?

She should just lay down… Yeah, lay down and rest.

Surely it would be better than having to put up with more bug bites. Actually, doing nothing at all sounded like a great idea.

The filly’s legs wobbled as she felt her eyes close.

Yeah... just give up. Why bother? Let somepony else do whatever it was she was supposed to do. She didn’t care.

She was better off just doing nothing at all.

As Scootaloo began to list off, her thoughts entered some kind of dreamy haze while her subconscious took over, playing a series of grainy images in her mind’s eye.

————————

She looked back over her shoulder at the train station, resigned to the fact that her dad was probably never coming back.

She looked out the window of her lonely house, watching Pip and Twist win the Snow Sculpture contest without her help, while she just sat there, thinking the whole thing wasn’t even worth getting out of bed.

She opened the door to her house, looking down to see that two brightly-colored postcards had somehow become dislodged from the mail slot. On them, she could make out the images of her fellow Crusaders, enjoying their respective holidays on vacation with their families alongside personal, heartfelt, hoofwritten messages. She looked at them for exactly one second, before giving a huff and continuing forward, stomping the cards underhoof.

She saw the Doctor and Gus, rushing headlong into the clocktower, heedless of the danger as they sacrificed on behalf of the entire town... before turning her back and trudging away through the snow... not caring if they ever came back out.

Hearth’s Warming in Ponyville... ruined forever...

Because she...

————————

“NO!” she screamed, her voice muffled as she clenched her teeth around the hard metal handle, diving forward against the humbug swarm.

She felt them on her fur, their hard, cold impressions turning to a more forceful push as they started to congregate together, attempting to grasp and pull her back.

She reached the trapdoor.

The insects seemed to be aware of the danger, gathering in larger numbers against her chest and forelegs as she pushed forward, her crown hitting the door with some force as she pushed against it. They tried to drag her back as she shoved the door up and open, opening the hive up to the outside as the massive bronze bell sat just over her head. Four brick pillars held up the housing, but still allowed for a sweeping panoramic view of Ponyville and the Everfree Forest. The only way to get a better view would have required being able to fly.

*Tzzzzcccchhhhhhhh*

The orange pegasus foal felt them pulling against her, as if she were caught in a high wind that was threatening to send her tumbling back. All the while, the swarm stung mercilessly, jabbing at her skin with such fervor that it felt like she was on fire.

Her jaw unclenched painfully, dropping the heavy orb unceremoniously from her mouth where it rolled a few inches away.

And the swarm kept stinging.

The foal felt tears rolling down her cheeks, warm against the cold as the humbugs pushed again, nearly lifting her off her hooves as she flailed forward, reaching out to the device.

“Graaaaaaaagh!” With one last primal shout of effort, she slammed her hoof down on the large green button.

*FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIISSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS*

*Tzzzzcccchhhhhhhh*

She was dropped immediately, her barrel hitting the ground as the round device let off a burst of what felt like warm steam from every spout-like pore. The filly panted for a moment, her body aching all over as her hind legs gave out, laying back over the steps leading up to the hatch.

*GOOONNNGGGG*
*GOOONNNGGGG*

Scootaloo winced as the bell overhead rang, her ears folding back as the sound drowned out both the sound made by the cloud machine and the furious, rattling cry of the humbugs.

Twelve times, the filly felt her insides turn to liquid as the bell rang, until it fell silent, the initial fizzling from the Doctor’s device fading to nothing before, all at once, its contents were explosively released.

As the thick, white wave of minty freshness overwhelmed her senses, Scootaloo felt her chin hit the cold wooden floorboards of the clocktower’s belfry. Her eyes closed shut, as she simply didn’t have the will to keep them open anymore, and the darkness took her.

————————

“Is Scootaloo gonna be okay...?” Cream asked, eyes half-lidded, although in spite of her obvious concern, her words were accompanied by a wide yawn that seemed to surge from her, over Daring, and finally across to Dawn.

Luna, however, did not take this as any sort of offense to her storytelling abilities, as she recognized that she had perhaps spun her tale a bit too long.

“Shhhhh... Hush little ponies,” the Princess of the Night crooned, very much aware of how their eyelids were drooping and that they were holding on by the sheer virtue of needing to know the ending. “While this little tale may be coming to a close, Scootaloo’s story is far from over...”

————————

“Unngghhhh...” Scootaloo shifted her shoulders uncomfortably as she felt that annoying lump in her couch jutting right into her back, between her wings. After a moment of squirming around, she felt a distinct warmth against her front as the fireplace glowed in front of her and a golden light impressed itself on her eyes, eliciting her to come out of the cool darkness of her sleep.

She lay there for a few moments, her eyes closed as she started the steady climb back to consciousness.

Then her eyes bolted open as she surged upright, the memories of the night before rushing back as she looked around.

She was in her house. The embers of a fire dying out in the fireplace as if it hadn’t been tended to for some time. Around her, everything had been cleaned up, and over the table was hung her “Welcome Home” banner, which she had intended to be a surprise for...

Wait…

The filly reached up and felt at her ear. The gold clip she had been wearing was gone.

She patted down her chest and barrel, her wings flaring as she felt her fur. Nothing.

No bite marks, no bruises. She felt fine. Better than fine, she felt great.

Scootaloo shook her head, confused as she looked around. It couldn’t have been a dream… could it?

No, certainly not… it was too…

And yet, everything felt like…

The filly hopped down from her spot in front of the fireplace, moving quickly to smother the remaining embers before she darted towards the door, grabbing hold of her scooter. It didn’t occur to the filly until she was out on the street that the handlebar was no longer bent from her accident with Gus.

Fixed up good as new.

————————

The sky was clear and a cool winter sun beamed down over Ponyville as the pegasus filly rolled through town, keeping her speed down as her wings buzzed to propel her down the roads. The blizzard had clearly broken up almost everywhere, except for the mass of condensed grey clouds that were all floating over the center of town, towards which the filly immediately made a beeline for.

“Good job, everypony!” Scootaloo heard Mayor Mare’s voice over a loudspeaker as she stood at ground level, a heavy snow falling in a perfectly round area over Town Hall, which was quickly beginning to regain its winterly look as the snow built up to match the rest of the town. “Your hard work is greatly appreciated. At this rate, everything should be back on track for this afternoon.”

This afternoon? Scootaloo thought, remembering how the Town Hall had indeed experienced a very fast thaw that it was now recovering from.

The filly’s train of thought was derailed as she continued along, coming up on Sugarcube Corner where she took note of Mr. Cake standing in the doorway as she passed, his baker’s hat in one hoof and a thick bouquet of wildflowers held in his mouth. She happened to witness the moment as the door opened and, before a word could be said, a very relieved-looking Mrs. Cake fell upon him in a warm embrace.

So, that did all happen? But…

*WOOOOOOOOOOOOOT*

Scootaloo’s ears perked, her heart jumping and causing her to turn her head so hard she nearly crashed.

That was a train whistle.

Everything else in her mind was immediately put on the backburner as she skidded and shifted her direction, her wings pumping furiously as she dashed across the snow-covered lanes towards the station.

————————

“ALLLL ABOOOOARD!” Box Office called in his usual fashion as several ponies milled around the station, getting themselves organized following their trip along the tracks. Satisfied that nopony was moving to get onto the train, the ticket clerk gave the signal to the conductor, who tipped his hat towards the Ponyville Depot’s caretaker.

“Happy Hearth’s Warming, Box!”

“You too, Coal! Now get on home before you get in trouble with the missus!” Box Office told the dust-covered stallion, who answered with a simple laugh before pulling the train’s whistle again, signalling its departure as the wheels began to turn.

Satisfied that everything was in order, Box Office started towards his office when he saw a very familiar foal zipping up to the stairway, hopping off her scooter and pulling her helmet away quickly before she rushed past the gate.

“Ahh, there you are, kid.” Box nodded. “Was starting to worry you were put off about yesterday.”

“Yesterday?” Scootaloo managed to ask as she looked around among the ponies that had disembarked, only paying peripheral attention to the ticket clerk.

“Yeah, sorry about all of that. Don’t know what it was all about. Must have been some twenty-four hour case of the grumps or something. I just didn’t want to do anything,” the colt offered before he noticed the filly urgently scanning the crowd.

“It’s okay, it wasn’t your fault. It was just…”

“Excuse me, Miss?”

The voice that came up behind the filly made her heart jump, her reaction drawing a soft smile from Box Office, who stepped away politely.

“I’m looking for this darling little pegasus foal...”

Scootaloo rounded on the voice, turning to face the dull red pegasus stallion with a short-cut violet mane, who pushed his large round glasses up on his snout before continuing.

“About... yea tall.” He held a hoof just a bit shorter than Scootaloo’s head height. “Purple mane...” He rustled her mane lightly. “Orange coat...” He smirked.

“DAD!” The filly jumped forward, wrapping her forelegs around the pony’s neck.

“Dad?” the stallion feigned confusion, although he turned about, letting the foal hold on as he swung her around playfully. “You must be mistaken. The filly I’m looking for isn’t nearly as grown up as you.”

“Oh, stop it, Dad. You know it’s me.”

The taller pegasus let out a throaty chuckle. “Apparently not. My, my, just look at how big you got. Jeez, how long was I gone this time?”

“Two months.” The foal let go as her sire stopped his spin, poking his leg accusingly although she couldn’t get rid of the smile. “Where have you been?”

“Manehatten mostly, trying to mediate a dispute between a weather strike and the city planners.” The stallion rubbed the back of his head with one hoof. “I’ve been telling those idiots for years: ‘If you build your buildings too tall, it’ll throw off the wind currents and you’ll have to overclock your local patrols to keep the clouds in place, which means having to raise your WMS budget. But do they listen?”

“Nooooooooooo~” the stallion and filly rolled their heads with the word in an identical fashion before the stallion reached down and scooped Scootaloo up, giving her a light kiss on the head.

“Oh, I sure missed you, Buzzer.”

“Daa-aad…” Scootaloo’s cheeks flushed at the pet name, her wings buzzing slightly in reaction like they had ever since she was a littler filly. “I thought you weren’t gonna call me that anymore.”

“Nuh-uh-uh.” The stallion shook his head. “I said I wouldn’t call you that in front of your friends.”

“‘Buzzer’?” came a voice that suddenly turned the filly’s light blush into full on embarrassment. “I am definitely holding on to that one for later.”

Scootaloo turned her head, taking note of the approaching, goggle-wearing chestnut stallion with a soft smile on his face. On his back, grinning deviously, was a familiar purple and green dragon who was snickering into his claws. And at his flank, a grey stallion whom a few days ago would have sent the filly running in the opposite direction, looking around uncomfortably like there was someplace else he would rather be at the moment.

“Oh... Hello there.” The red stallion gave the two approaching colts an appraising look before he shifted Scootaloo around to his back, giving a pleasant, if somewhat concerned smile before nodding to the young dragon. “I know you. You’re Miss Sparkle’s assistant at the library. Who might these fine gentlecolts be?”

“Uhhhh...” Scootaloo hesitated for a moment, then shrugged. “Just some friends of mine.”

“Oh... Whoops.” The stallion shrugged insincerely, clearly not at all regretting “slipping up” with that nickname.

“Good morning.” The brown stallion nodded. “I’m the Doctor...”

“AHEM!” Spike cleared his throat loudly, and the brown stallion winced ever so slightly when he felt the young dragon nudge his side with his foot.

“...Clockwork. Dr. Clockwork, at your service,” the Hourglass Stallion completed somewhat awkwardly, drawing a black case from his side pouch and holding it open for the red stallion.

Scootaloo was surprised when she saw what was written on it.

She didn’t know that the Doctor worked in Pranceton Plainsboro's Pediatrics Department.

What was even more surprising was the fact that it was clearly the only certification visible, when the last time she saw it, the paper listed enough professions to be worth a dozen cutie marks at least.

“Oh, I see. Well, then. I’m Doppler… Dr. Doppler of the ECA,” the meteorologist pony introduced himself before looking over towards the grey unicorn, who seemed less than eager to jump into the conversation. “I’m Scootaloo’s father. And you, sir?”

“...Dr. Asparagus Stalk.” The older grey stallion confirmed. Although his tone was still a bit gruff, there was also a hint of discomfort, as if he was not quite used to introducing himself like this. “Just… checking in.”

"Wow, three doctors all in one place," Spike commented amusedly, off on his own little tangent. “Hey, maybe Twilight can finally put together that Ponyville Academic Society she always wanted to set up.”

“Stalk?” Doppler’s expression puzzled for a moment before recognition set in. “As in: ‘The Stalk Report’ Asparagus Stalk? The Butterfly Wing Theory? The effect of winged insect populations on the greater currents of Equis’ airstreams?”

“You… know of my work?” Gus rocked back slightly in shock.

“Of course!” Doppler nodded. “It’s astounding to think something as small as the flap of an insect’s wing could have such profound impacts on the atmosphere. That concept changed how we look at weather patterns and how minute adjustments can make the all the difference when dealing with wild storms.”

“Excuse me,” the Doctor interjected himself in the conversation. “But while I’m sure you two have plenty to talk about, I have a ‘patient’ to check up on.” The stallion shot a wink in Scootaloo’s direction.

“Patient?” Doppler queried, sounding concerned.

“Oh, yes, the poor dear’s been feeling a little under the weather for the last couple of days,” the Doctor explained, and Scootaloo was glad that she was sitting on her sire’s back so that he couldn’t pick up on her confused expression. “With Miss Cheerilee and your filly’s friends out of town, Spike here asked me to look after her when she came down with a nasty ‘bug’ that’s been going around. Most of the town had it, actually, making everypony generally unpleasant to be around. To that end, my associate, Dr. Stalk, and I have been keeping her company. I was just going to make sure she was fully recovered if that’s alright with you, sir.”

“Oh… Yes, of course. Thank you for looking after her.” Doppler relaxed, letting the foal slip down off of his back as Spike did the same for the Doctor, allowing him to reach into the side bag and pull out a few medical examination tools, as well as a stethoscope.

“Actually, we were worried you were not going to make it, Dr. Doppler,” the Doctor mentioned as Scootaloo sat down across from him, Spike offering him his various instruments as he performed what looked like a perfectly routine medical checkup, speaking all the while. “The train from Canterlot wasn’t running and nopony was sure what had happened.”

“Oh, the problem sure was obvious enough on our end,” Doppler admitted, shaking his head as he explained. “A few days back, some foal of a unicorn tried to clean out the engines with a Water Scrub Spell instead of doing it the earth pony way with a scour and a sponge like she was told. That night, when the Windigo Blizzard’s deep freeze set in, there was so much water still in the engine blocks that they broke wide open when it froze. Nine steam engines utterly destroyed in one night.”

“Really?” Scootaloo looked up, moving a bit as the Doctor looked in her ears and causing him to have to hold her head still, much to her annoyance. “And it took them this long to fix it?”

Doppler smirked.

“Oh no, the Ponyville Line’s conductor and engineer were both working overtime to get just their train running, but the damage was too extensive.” He shook his head. “According to what they told me, the train’s engines would have to be almost completely replaced, and to do that, you’d need to order parts from all over Equestria. Trust me, there were more than a few unhappy ponies at the station. I even tried to throw some weight around and call in some favors to get the Windigo Blizzard lifted enough to allow carriages to fly, but I got overruled by the Canterlot Council.”

He huffed in aggravation.

“‘Traditions must stand’ indeed. I bet the Princess would've let me do it if the Solar Court wasn’t out of session for the holidays.”

“But, that was a train that just departed...” Gus noted, pointing a hoof at the column of steam rising off far in the distance, himself now intrigued. “How did they manage to get it running?”

“No idea,” the meteorologist admitted. “I’ve been sleeping at the station since all of the hotels and hospices were full for the holidays. This morning before dawn, the conductor and engineer came in to give it a last ditch effort, but here’s the rub... When they showed up, everything was already fixed! Good as new!”

“Huh?” Scootaloo asked as the Doctor wrapped something around her foreleg, stepping on a pump that tightened it. “How did that happen?”

Doppler shrugged. “Nopony knows… Last night when they left, the engine was literally in pieces. This morning, they showed up and it was not only put back together, it was like it was never broken in the first place.” The pegasus stallion let out a slight laugh. “And Celestia bless 'em, they were still willing to make a run to bring their passengers home in time for the holidays.”

Neither Doppler nor Gus, who seemed equally puzzled, took note as the Hourglass Stallion and the purple dragon shared a knowing glance, something that Scootaloo caught, but couldn’t quite interpret.

“Well...” The Doctor winked to Scootaloo. “…tis the season for little miracles.”

With one quick motion, the Doctor pulled off the plastic leg band pump and started to set it back into his pouch.

“There we go, fit as a fiddle and all set to enjoy the day.” The Doctor nodded, offering a hoof to Doppler.

“Thank you, Dr. Clockwork.” The bespectacled pegasus nodded back, taking his hoof. “For looking after my foal. I don’t get to nearly as much as I would like.”

“Oh, no… Thank you.” The Doctor smiled as Spike, uncharacteristically quiet, pulled himself up onto the stallion’s back. “That’s one remarkable filly you’ve got there. You should be proud.”

Scootaloo felt a slight knot in her chest as her father nodded, beginning to turn about.

“Don’t worry... I am,” he said simply, a statement of fact that didn’t require any knowledge at all of what had transpired the night before. “Well, I suppose I need to get my saddlebags and luggage from the holding carts.”

“I’ll wait here,” Scootaloo opted quickly before she could be volunteered to help.

“I’m not surprised.” Doppler shrugged, supposing that it was hardly a fault that the filly didn’t want to spend any time attempting to earn her cutie mark in sorting luggage.

As he moved towards the small rack outside the ticket office where a few other ponies were also trying to collect their gifts and saddlebags, the filly turned to the Hourglass Stallion with a question on the tip of her tongue, finally free to ask it without being overheard.

“Doctor... what happened? Last night, I mean.”

“Oh, well, without delving too much into detail...” The stallion smiled, looking back for a moment to a smirking dragon. “You pretty much saved the day. After a little ‘aromatherapy session’ down at the base of the tower, I managed to recover enough that, with Spike’s help, I was able to make my way up to the belfry to find you and Gus in fairly sorry states. We managed to get everypony down and back at your house to recover.”

“But... the bites... the humbugs... they were all over me.” Scootaloo brought a hoof up, running it down the soft fur on her chest and still amazed that she wasn’t covered in sores or welts like the type she had seen on other ponies.

“Nothing a peppermint steam bath couldn’t fix,” the Doctor explained. “Once you set my little fog machine off, those parasites didn’t stand a chance. As far as I’ve been able to tell, they all melted on contact with the fog, as did their whole hive.”

“We really should let the mayor know about all the water damage inside the clocktower,” Spike commented.

“Weeeellll, I’m sure somepony will notice sooner or later. No need to bother them with something like that during the holidays.” The Doctor shrugged in response before turning his attention back to Scootaloo. “When they melted, all of the happiness and joy they had been guzzling up and hoarding was released and distributed on the fog. It spread over the town in about an hour or so, and as it did, it seemed to aid in treating infected ponies both for the physical and emotional symptoms. Just lucky for us that natural peppermint extract doesn’t contain any sugar. I certainly wouldn’t want to wake up to that mess.” He shivered, clearly imagining having his fur matted down with what would have amounted to a sticky candy-cane coating.

“So... they’re all gone?” Scootaloo asked hopefully.

“Well, more or less. Might be a few stragglers that managed to get away, but they won’t be able to cause any trouble like that again,” the stallion assured her. “With the blizzard lifted, it’s not very likely they can construct a new nest and start spawning again. And from what I saw of the new weather schedule, once Hearth’s Warming is over, there’s a nice little warm up planned for the next week or so to keep things pleasant.”

“Okay, but... shouldn’t we... you know, tell somepony?” Scootaloo asked. “I mean, after all that... what if it happened again?”

“Eh, don’t worry too much about that,” Spike commented, shrugging as he leaned against the Doctor’s head, lounging on the pony's back. “A whole bunch of stuff just happened to go wrong at the same time. It was a fluke.”

“True, the chances of such an event occuring again are not very likely. After all, I very much doubt that Gus would...” The Doctor turned to the side, his voice trailing off as he realized that the grey-coated unicorn was nowhere to be seen.

“Huh?” Spike took note as well, Scootaloo looking around for the unicorn, certain that he hadn’t noticed the flash of light that accompanied a talented magic user’s teleportation. “I coulda sworn he was right next to us... Where did he go?”

The filly considered for a moment, her eyes darting around the station before, acting partly on impulse, she rushed off to the side and towards the exit.

Before either the dragon or the stallion could ask, she had donned her helmet, pulled her scooter up, and revved her wings, sending her flying down towards Mane Street.

————————

Doctor Asparagus Stalk moved at a somewhat brisk trot, which was unusual for him as he nodded to the passing ponies, many of whom smiled back towards him for a moment before returning to their own festivities.

The air about them seemed to be all but buzzing with positivity, and, if he was being honest with himself, it all still seemed rather sappy to him.

But he had to admit... it was a fair sight better than the alternative, that was for sure.

*Bbbbzzzzzzzzzttttt*

The sound that approached Gus at high speed instantly caused the fur on the back of his neck to rise as he recalled a certain high velocity impact a few days earlier. This, of course, caused him to recoil with a slight cry, diving to the side and into a snowbank as the blue scooter came up quickly behind him. With a deft turn of the hooves, its experienced driver managed to skid to a stop just short of him.

After a heartbeat or two of looking at one another, with Scootaloo clearly trying to puzzle out why the unicorn had panicked and the elder stallion trying not to be impressed by the filly’s ability to control the infernal wheeled device, the younger pony spoke first.

“Where do you think you’re going?” she asked, her tone mixed between demanding and amused.

Gus, who found himself having to consider that snapping at the filly would be in poor taste after all that had happened the day before, simply sighed, finding it simpler to just explain himself.

“With things being as they are, I didn’t see the point in sticking around...” he expressed gruffly. “Then again, I guess I wasn’t needed to begin with. I couldn’t even fix my own problem without you having to come to my rescue. So, I suppose I’m just going to head home. I still have to clean up that mess from yesterday and try to find out how long it can be before I get a repair pony out to my house.”

“But... it’s Hearth’s Warming,” Scootaloo pointed out. “I mean, I know it’s not your favorite time of year, but I was thinking that, you know... you could at least give it a chance...”

Gus dragged himself back up to his hooves, letting out a slight grunt as he tried to think of how best to describe his current situation to the filly without being too harsh.

“I’m sorry, but it just isn’t for me. You were right: Hearth’s Warming is meant to be spent with the ones you care about.” The older stallion looked off to the side morosely. “Your father should consider himself lucky. At least he has somepony waiting for him at home... I don’t even have that...”

Scootaloo watched the unicorn turn slowly and begin plodding down the street, finding herself unable to speak as his very obvious sadness touched upon something inside her.

“I suppose it’s fitting, though...” he added a final thought before considering the matter closed. “After the suffering I’ve visited upon you and everypony else here... it’s the least I deserve.”

Scootaloo watched as the lonely old colt started away, biting her bottom lip as she held onto the handlebars of the scooter and considering carefully what she was about to do.

“Gus! Wait!” she called out, causing him to stop and perk one ear in her direction.

“...What is it now?” he asked, a bit more gruffly than he intended to, perhaps, but old habits die hard.

“Would you... like to spend Hearth’s Warming with me and my dad?”

At this, the grey pony turned his head to face the filly, a look of blank disbelief apparent on his muzzle.

“...What?”

“There you are! You really shouldn’t wander off like that, you know!” A new voice interrupted the stillness of the scene, belonging to none other than the chestnut-coated stallion himself as he came trotting up to them. He slowed his pace as he approached, with Spike still astride his back as a relieved smile graced his muzzle.

And shortly on his tail, obviously struggling against the weight of several bulky packs secured to his form, was Scootaloo’s father, similarly relieved to have found his daughter.

“Scootaloo, I thought you said you were going to wait back at the station,” Doppler panted, a mild disappointment in his voice as he shifted his shoulders around his heavy burden, giving a clear reason as to why it had taken so long for the two stallions to find the wayward filly.

“Uhhh, sorry, Dad... I was just...” The little pegasus looked back towards the entomologist, who still seemed to be processing what he had just been asked earlier, and decided to take advantage of his hesitation. “Is it alright if Gus comes to our house for Hearth’s Warming?”

Before the unicorn could say anything, Doppler’s disappointment lifted, an intrigued expression crossing his snout as he reached up with one hoof to push his glasses back.

“Well... I don’t see why not.”

Gus snapped out of his daze, brusquely shaking his head. “I... I don’t think so. I appreciate the gesture, but I certainly wouldn’t want to impose.”

“It’s not imposing at all,” Doppler reassured him. “In fact, I would love a chance discuss a thought I had about the Fillydelphia Parasprite Event. We saw a six percent rise in updraft and thermal activity in the skies over the city during the course of the infestation. My peers at the meteorology department believe it was due to a low pressure system pressing in from the sea, but I can’t help but think that the timing was too concise to…”

Scootaloo shook her head in amusement as her father continued to talk shop, showing off a side of himself that she was sure Twilight would fully appreciate if she ever had the chance to meet him. The quick-talking pegasus drew first a confused, then curious expression from Gus, as Doppler laid out a theory that had something to do with parasprite wings and barometric pressure that she didn’t really understand.

As her father droned on, Scootaloo subtly sidled up next to the dark-maned unicorn, nudging him in the side in order to get his attention.

“It really wouldn’t be the same without you Gus... Please?”

Gus looked down at the wide-eyed filly, who was putting every ounce of effort she could into giving as pitiful and heart-melting a look as possible. She even tossed in a little lip quiver, just in case.

As the baffled-seeming unicorn looked between her and her father, still bright-eyed and going on about academia, his breath caught in his throat as he felt as if something was trying to escape past his lips.

And then, Scootaloo watched as Gus did something that the filly never expected to see him do. Something that he hadn’t done in eleven long years...

He smiled.

It lasted for a fraction of a second, replaced by a serious expression, but the sentiment behind it was not lost as he quickly stepped forwards and addressed Doppler before launching into a theoretical tangent of his own. Scootaloo watched the two grown-ups share a back and forth about the finer points of insects and precipitation before the brown stallion drew her attention away from what she was almost sure was the start to a beautiful friendship.

“Well, I suppose that we had better get going.” The Doctor nodded to her.

“What?” Scootaloo drew back in shock.

“Well, you know... Things to do. It’s a whole new day and there’s so much to check up on,” the stallion explained, running his hoof down over his mane. “Need to make sure there are no aftereffects from the emotional drain. I should also perhaps check on the library to make sure nopony vandalized it while they were out of sorts. And I never did get around to seeing if they sell proper eggnog in this town...”

Scootaloo listened and watched as Spike rolled his eyes, clearly not happy about the sort of activities that the chestnut stallion was suggesting and leading the filly to the most obvious solution to what was clearly a problem.

“Maybe you and Spike would like to join us too?” Scootaloo offered. “The more the merrier.”

The Doctor paused for a moment, drawing back a bit at the unexpected invitation before he let out a small laugh.

“Oh... well, I... Ummm, I don’t know. I mean, we have a fairly full itinerary, don’t we Spike? We really should be--”

“Come on, Doctor…” Scootaloo pleaded with her best impersonation of Apple Bloom’s patented “Adult Mind Control” that she had just recently deployed to great effect on the unicorn formerly known as “Gloomy Gus.” “Pleeeeaaaaaaase?”

The Doctor offered her his best apologetic smile. “I’m sorry, Segway Lane, but I’m afraid that--”

Spike frowned, giving the back of the Doctor’s head a glare before he took matters into his own claws… literally.

“OW!” The Doctor twisted his head around to glare at the offender. “Spike did you just claw my shoulder!?”

“What he means is that we’d love to.”

“No, that’s precisely the opposite of what I mean. I told you before, I’m not good with-- AGH! Spike!”

“After all, some ponies need to practice what they preach,” the dragon spoke up, standing on the Doctor’s shoulders as he set a claw on the top of the pony’s head and returned his glare. “You know... stop hiding away in their ‘special box’ while everypony else is out having a great time.”

There was a moment of tenseness that Scootaloo felt, but didn’t quite understand as the Doctor’s eyes hardened slightly, the baby dragon attempting to drive home a point.

In all of their observations, the Cutie Mark Crusaders had noticed that Spike was often near or around the Doctor during his rare forays into Ponyville, clearly showing himself to be close to the mysterious stallion as, they assumed, his friend.

If nothing else, this moment verified that theory better than anything else that Scootaloo could have imagined, as the stallion, whom she had learned could be absolutely terrifying when provoked, ended up sighing in resignation.

“Well... perhaps... this one time...” the stallion admitted, which allowed Spike to relax as he backed up and set himself into a lounging position on the colt’s back.

“Hey, sport. Are your other friends coming as well?” Doppler called back, having clearly missed the exchange while engaged with Gus.

“If that’s alright,” Scootaloo replied, getting only a confirming nod from her sire before he waved her over.

“Well, come on then, these bags aren’t getting any lighter and we don’t want to be late for the Town Hall events, do we?”

The small herd started down the street, Doppler leading the way with Gus on one side and Scootaloo closely at his heels. Off slightly to the side of them, the Doctor and Spike moved forward as well, the dragon clearly considering joining other ponies for the festivities to be a triumph in and of itself.

As they moved towards her home, the filly considered what a stroke of luck it was that she was about to spend an entire, carefree day in close proximity to the enigmatic Doctor Clockwork.

In the course of that day, who knew what secrets she might be able to uncover regarding the mysterious stallion? She considered all that had happened since the day before; how he had come out of nowhere, tracking down and facing a menace that most of Ponyville remained unaware of. How he had set a broken stallion on the path to rebuilding what was left of his life and how he was so intent on saving the day before it had even begun. He had been funny, clever, frightening, and also a bit thick, all throughout the course of their short adventure. And yet, now he seemed eager to just back away and tell nopony of what had actually transpired.

She considered that for a moment.

He had tried to give her the credit, but the truth was that without the Doctor, they never would have found the humbug hive or had a way to treat the town.

He was pretty much solely responsible for saving Ponyville.

Not even that; he saved Hearth’s Warming for everypony.

And yet, he asked for no reward, no recognition, not even so much as a “Thank you.”

She took a breath, realizing that there was now something else that she had missed all of this time... The faint hint of peppermint on the air.

It made her smile as she forced herself to put those thoughts in the back of her mind, content as she chased after her father and her newfound friends.

Even a special agent for the Princess keeping tabs on this mysterious stallion could take a break from her duties and set things aside for one little day.

After all… It was Hearth’s Warming.

Epilogue: The Doctor's Gift

Epilogue: The Doctor’s Gift

“...The end.”

Princess Luna smiled softly as she looked over the three fillies, who had succumbed to their weariness a short while ago. Try as they might, they simply couldn’t keep their eyes open as the Night Princess told of what happened at the Ponyville Train Depot that day, but she knew it did not matter. She knew what she said, and the lessons to be learned, would sink into their hearts regardless.

After all, being Princess of the Night, Equestria’s stewardess of dreams and the realm of sleep, had its perks.

With a gentle sigh, the dark blue alicorn leaned forward, her horn aglow as she tucked back the rumpled quilt under which the three fillies lay. In response to the movement, instinct took over, and the ponies’ small forms curled closer to each other in a way that warmed Luna’s heart more than any fire could.

With a single thought, the magical cobalt flame in the room’s hearth extinguished itself, leaving neither an ember nor a puff of smoke as evidence. And with the only light in the room coming from the hall outside, Luna finally took notice of the form casting a shadow across the floor, standing in the doorway as it had been for quite some time.

“How long have you been lurking there, sister?” the dark alicorn asked, not having to look behind her to recognize who had intruded upon the young ponies’ “story time.”

“Oh... not too long.” The Sun Princess smiled coyly. “I happened to come by just as Spike got spirited away.”

“Midnight has long since passed.” Luna shook her head, turning away from the fillies with a longing expression before she had to crane her neck slightly to look up towards the light magenta eyes of her sibling. “You should be asleep.”

Anypony present would have agreed with Luna’s statement; Celestia, the Princess of the Sun, hardly appeared to be at her best. Her usual glowing radiance was suppressed at this time of night, and her golden hoofcuffs and regalia were conspicuously absent, as was the crown that many could not say they had ever seen her not wearing. This combination of missing royal props gave her what most ponies would think an “inappropriate” level of casualness. Her mane and tail still flowed like water, as Luna’s did, but they also appeared unkempt and less-than-perfectly maintained, giving the white alicorn’s normally indescribable, unobtainable regal beauty a degree of messiness that would have made some of the stiffer nobles faint.

Luna found her current appearance far more to her liking than the image that she had to maintain for the common Equestrian. It almost made her seem like a “normal” pony.

“What can I say, Lu? It’s Hearth’s Warming. The anniversary of one of the proudest days of our lives. You know I’ve never been able to sleep well during the holidays; Too many memories.”

Luna huffed slightly, shaking her head as she tried to suppress her amusement at Celestia’s nostalgic interpretation of what had been a very turbulent, trying time for both of them.

“You have to raise the sun in four hours, Tia,” Luna reminded her sister.

“And you will have to go to sleep in six. I thought I would keep you company for the rest of the night.” Celestia nodded, turning a bit to allow her sister to exit the room the three usually-troublesome fillies were now sleeping soundly in. “You always did have trouble staying up during the day.”

Luna nodded in agreement.

In years past, she would have argued about her inability to remain awake during the daylight hours when most ponies had only just gotten through breakfast and started their days. But the years since her return had given her a bit more maturity than she once had, allowing her to accept that, in spite of what many of their subjects thought, both she and her sister had their share of flaws.

“Thank you, sister,” Luna sighed softly, grateful for the company as she would miss the festivities while most ponies were awake.

“I am curious, though...” Celestia fell into step beside her younger sister as they walked down the dimly lit corridor. “That story...”

Luna turned away slightly. She knew this was coming.

“I thought I knew them all. But that one’s not in the Journal.”

“Why would it be?” Luna responded. “Whatever else we may be, Tia, we are not omniscient.”

“And don’t I know it...” Celestia chuckled, the simple sound still managing to carry the kind of subtle grace and loveliness that the Night Princess loved to hear from her sister. “Still, I would like to hear it in full.”

Luna smirked playfully. “Sorry, Tia. I made a promise.”

“A promise? To whom?”

The Lunar Princess smiled as she thought back to a night years before...

————————

Stargazer Ridge
Ponyville, Everfree Province of Equestria
27th of Winter, 1002 C.R., 10:48 p.m.

Scootaloo the pegasus filly looked in awe at what now stood beside her, having spent the last half hour assembling the darn thing despite her hooves shaking from more than just the cold.

She had never told anypony about this.

Not Rainbow Dash. Not Spike. Not Apple Bloom. Not Sweetie Belle.

Not even her own father had known about her wanting this.

Scootaloo took in a breath, her heart racing slightly as she leaned forward, giving her last and most unexpected Hearth’s Warming gift a try.

Her mind had been racing as she followed the instructions by lantern light to set this thing up, remembering the events of just two days prior.

Her dad, Gus, and the Doctor got along well enough, although the brown stallion had tried to stay out from between the animated discussions of the entomologist and meteorologist who, surprisingly enough, happened to have quite a bit in common. Though, at certain points, he simply couldn’t resist throwing in an occasional jargon-laden correction or comment that flew way over her head (and sometimes over both the adults’ heads as well).

As for what they did for Hearth’s Warming, she had taken part in the sledding events with Doppler, which had won the pair a hefty bag of Bon Bon’s decadent salt-water taffies. And even though they didn’t win first place, she and Spike had tried their hooves (and claws, she supposed) at the snow sculptures.

She was still convinced they would have had a better chance at that Chocobee honey if Spike hadn’t sneezed halfway through and melted their first attempt.

But still, it had been fun, and although there had been some grumbling about a lack of gemstones during the dinner that the Doctor had prepared, it had been a very enjoyable experience for all involved. She didn’t know where the hay in Prance this “Paris” place was where he learned to cook, but if they ate like that all the time, she would seriously consider moving there.

As the sun started going down, Gus had excused himself after informing her father that he would certainly try to get back in touch with some of his old colleagues to see about starting up a new study. About what, she really had no idea, but apparently it was interesting enough for the no longer perpetually-gloomy pony to seriously consider coming out of retirement.

And then it was time for the customary Sharing of Gifts that had been a part of Hearth’s Warming tradition almost as long as the holiday had existed.

With Sweetie’s help, Scootaloo had gotten her dad a special ribbon setup to tie and wrap under his mane in order to prevent his glasses from sliding down his snout as they tended to do; something he clearly appreciated as he tended to lose them when flying at high altitude.

Her father had made special arrangements with a colleague of his in the Cloudsdale Weather Factory to test out a new cloud formation of condensed fog that was supposed to stay together even at lower altitudes. While this didn’t have many uses for the ECA (After all, who wanted to produce a rain cloud six inches off the ground?) it had “other” benefits.

Like making a cloud bed that stayed together at ground level.

That blessing alone was worth more than a dozen Hearth’s Warming gifts.

But what had been most unexpected was when Spike had approached her with a gift box that she had not noticed before, making her wonder when the Doctor had found the time to slip away and get it. It had also shocked her upon opening the present to find a jar filled to the brim with fresh Chocobee honey, labeled as having been jarred that very same day. How that was even possible was beyond Scootaloo, but the question flew from her mind the moment she bit down on a piece of toast liberally smothered in the decadent treat.

Also confusing to her, and something that she chose not to share with her father, was the strange message written in a card that came taped to the jar.

This isn’t your present. Your real present is under your bed. Thought you might want to open it in private. Some assembly will be required.

-The Doctor

What she found when she had gone to her room for the night had taken her breath away and opened up a thousand more questions that she still had no answer for.

It had taken two days of excruciating patience, but finally, she had been given the opportunity to try it out.

“Wow....”

It was all she could think to say as the orange filly kept one eye to the lens of what had to be the most elaborate telescope array she had ever seen.

The image was perfect, crystal clear as she adjusted the focus slightly, making out what must have been Maresia, the nearest planet to Equis and so often mistakenly referred to as “the Red Star.” With this telescope, she could clearly make out the craters on its surface.

No, scratch that. She could see the craters inside those craters with this thing.

Attached to the box in which it was kept had been a single card, the inside of which simply read:

Pick a star and make a wish.
Wish for the impossible.
And I promise it will come true.

-The Doctor

A wish?

Scootaloo nudged the telescope gently to the side, focusing on tiny patch of sky and twisting a knob on a panel set into the apparatus. With no effort at all, she managed to catch a sparkling blue star in the sights of her new toy, the magnification mind-bogglingly intense enough to show the glowing ball’s shifting surface. She marvelled at the sight for just a moment before drawing back... and looking up to the glowing full moon overhead before she swallowed.

What could it hurt?

“Once...” she managed, although she doubted this was a promise that could be kept. “Just once...”

“I must say...”

Scootaloo jumped several feet into the air as a new voice startled her, her wings buzzing loudly as she turned about, the fur on the back of her neck raised.

Her shock turned into awe a mere moment later as she realized who it was that had snuck up on her, now looking over her new telescope with an expression of interest.

“This is no common telescope, my young stargazer,” the dark blue alicorn commented, clearly impressed and taking no heed of the shock with which her appearance was met. “My understanding of the mechanics may be limited, but this could very well be more advanced than the ones used by Canterlot’s astronomy professors.”

Scootaloo stood shocked for a moment longer before she remembered herself, bowing down as low as she could bring herself.

“P...Princess Luna?” she stuttered out, although it was more of a realization than a question.

The last time she had seen the Princess of the Night had been at Nightmare Night the year before, although it seemed the ancient mare had managed to learn how to tone down her shouting, that only took the edge off of the intimidating nature presented by the Sovereign of the Lunar Court.

“Rise, dear Scootaloo.” The Princess shook her head, clearly amused.

“Y...you know my name?”

“Of course... I am well aware of the Cutie Mark Crusaders through my sister and the letters sent to us from yourself and your friends, the Elements.”

“And... I’m not in trouble?” Scootaloo asked, raising her head slightly when it dawned on her that the alicorn wasn’t about to do anything so drastic as to instigate a repeat of the Nightmare War. The question caused the Princess to turn her head.

“Is there some reason why you should be?”

“I don’t know, Your Highness,” Scootaloo managed as she stood to her hooves, trying to keep her legs from trembling. “I just thought... you know, with me being out late and by myself...”

“Is that all? That is hardly enough to warrant anypony being ‘in trouble.’” The alicorn shook her head, motioning to the telescope. “I merely took note of your interest in my night sky and thought I would grace the aspiring stargazer with my presence. But this...”

The Princess sounded intrigued as she moved towards the telescope, Scootaloo watching in amazement as she dipped her head down to look through it.

“Azure...”

“I’m sorry, Princess?”

“The star you are looking at... Azure.” The Princess drew back. “It has always been one of my favorites. But even I have never seen it in such marvelous detail.”

“You... know it’s name?” Scootaloo sounded impressed.

“I know all of their names. Every single one.” The Princess gave a soft sigh before turning again to Scootaloo, who managed not to cringe under her gaze. “How did you come by this device?”

“It was a Hearth’s Warming present,” Scootaloo explained, and although she didn’t know why, she added: “From Doctor Clockwork.”

Luna’s curiosity turned for a moment to mild shock... and then understanding.

“Ahh... I see. That explains it.”

Explains it? Scootaloo thought. Explains what?

“I... I’m sorry, Princess... do you know the Doctor?”

“Oh, yes.” Luna nodded. “And I’ve come to understand that when he happens to become involved with anypony, there is usually quite a story to come out of it.”

Scootaloo drew back slightly, and her hesitance was all of the proof that the Princess of the Night required.

“There is...” She smiled. “Oh, this is quite the unexpected treat.”

“Uhhh, I don’t think that I’m supposed to tell anypony about it,” Scootaloo said simply, feeling uneasy as the alicorn laid down across from her.

“Oh, but I’m not just anypony, wouldn’t you agree?” Luna gave the filly a mischievous grin, something that she would have never expected on such a proper and regal figure. “But I understand that there are times when secrets must be kept.”

“Well, it’s not so much a secret as... well... ummm... I don’t...” Scootaloo stumbled for a moment before she considered.

This wasn’t Apple Bloom or Sweetie or just anypony asking her.

This was a Princess.

And she was asking her to tell a story.

The filly took a breath.

“Alright...” she let out a small sigh. “Now, I’m only gonna tell this story one time. Could you promise me you’ll do the same?”

The Princess of the Night nodded, agreeing to the condition as the filly ran a nervous hoof over her purple mane.

“Well, it all started a couple of days before Hearth’s Warming... at the Ponyville Train Depot...”