Special

Clouds hung over my head, and a bitter wind nipped at my body. I began to wonder why I decided to go on a walk in the first place when the Pegasi warned us about a light dusting. I must have really wanted to go on a walk or something.

The ponies around me, despite our differences, seemed to have the same thoughts going through their heads. They looked really cold, just like me, and were making hasty glances towards their houses. Lucky for me-not-my house was almost a half mile away, so I really couldn’t look at it or run fast to it.

As I walked/shivered my way down the cobblestone road, the wind quickened and the cold became even more harsh. I wanted to gallop straight home, but my legs were starting to become numb and it was getting harder to even walk.

The Pegasi hadn’t told us it would get that bad. I wanted to give the ones passing by a piece of my mind, insisting that they do something, but they were just as confused and angry as I was. Some of them were stopping to look up at the sky and stare at the gathering clouds, and I couldn’t help but do the same.

They were getting closer, darker, and definitely colder. After a few seconds, though, I couldn’t tell anymore, as it was starting to blanket snow onto us and my hair whipped into my face.

I glanced around hopefully, wishing for somepony to help me, but, as always, nopony wanted to. And my parents never left the house very much, so they were safe and warm inside the house now.

Suddenly, a bright light shone a ways away from me. The Town Hall had opened wide and was welcoming ponies inside. To be warm. To be safe. I smiled and started running that way, but the pony holding the doors saw me and frowned, then made sure all the other ponies were inside and slammed the door when I had almost reached the doorway.

I stood there, freezing and shaking as the blizzard raged on. I could feel tears edging to break free.

My braid suddenly flew loose as the violet ribbon holding them together drifted away towards the sky. “Oh, ponyfeathers!” I shrieked, trying to reach out and get it, but it was far too late.

The reason I kept my hair in a braid was because it was too long to work extended hours outside with. My double-shaded green hair was just an inch from touching the ground, and it was soaked and cold now. Not only that, but, since it was braided 24/7, no joke, it was crimped to perfection now as it was breaking caution to the terrifying wind.

I looked pretty dang good in crimped hair, but that wasn’t my main focus at the moment.

Honestly, though,  I had no main focus then. My thoughts were flooding my train of thought and pushing it clean off the tracks, into the icy water. As I stood on the road, this was the only thing to come out of my mouth.

“AAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGHHHHHH!”

I let out that string of air and slumped my head, feeling frozen to the ground. Then a voice of an angel reached my ears, along with a glowing yellow light.

“Yo, Grape-Butt! The one with the awesome-looking mane! The wet one! Yeah, you!”

...Close enough. I looked up and the doors to Town Hall were open again. But this time, it was a single mare my age holding it open with a concerned look on her face. I couldn’t tell what she looked like or what race she was due to the snow, but I didn’t care at the moment. I ran into the building, and the mare shut the door behind me.

“Welcome to the party, chick!” she said with a grin, hoofing me a towel.

The Pegasus had a light blue coat and a neon pink mane. Her bangs rolled off her head in thick curls, while the back was gathered to the high heavens with two hairbands. She had on dark blue eyeshadow and dark mascara, and on her hooves were plethoras of more hair bands and ties. To top it all off, she smelt like expensive hairspray. To be honest, she looked like the 80s rolled into one pony.

“Uh, thanks,” I managed, then began rubbing my hair with the towel. Droplets spread everywhere, but the new pony didn’t seem to notice, nor particularly care. She didn’t even seem to care that I was an Earth pony, though I knew for a fact that she saw already.

“I’m Scrunchy!” she said, fluffing her huge ponytail like she was proud of it. I wouldn’t be proud of a tangled mess of bright pink hair covered in spray and sparkles, but that’s just me. “And... who’re you?”

I set down the towel and began, “I’m Grape Vine-”

But she interrupted me as if she didn’t care. “And what do you think you were doing in that storm? Don’t you know a blizzard when you see one, gurl?”

I frowned at her. “Why are you Pegasi letting in such a storm, anyways?”

She shrugged. “Dunno. We don’t choose the weather, dude, we just bring it in. If we were in charge, we would totes just have sun all the time.”

I was about to question Scrunchy’s use of “totes,” until she turned and started walking. I took this as a cue to follow her and trailed in her path.

“We’re staying in here until the storm dies down. This is where my family is,” she said, and we stopped at a corner of the house. There were two normal-looking Pegasi, probably her parents, huddled in a blanket, and a younger filly wrapped in a towel shivering and sneezing. “Hey, I brought a pony I found outside.”

Her mother gave me one of those motherly stares of concern and worry that I knew so much from my own Mom. “Oh, are you okay, dear? You look... wet,” she asked. “And cold.”

“I’ll be fine after a few minutes,” I answered, then sat down a good distance away, but not too far from their little blanket corner.

Then, finally, Scrunchy took notice of my hair predicament. “Wow, you’re hair’s looking fiiiiine, gurl. Where’d you get it done?” Well, not necessarily.

I sighed. “The rain did it. It used to be braided, but the wind blew the ribbon away and undid the entire thing,” I said.

Scrunchy’s face suddenly lit up and I was scared. “I could redo your hair for you! I won’t make it stylin’ or anything, but I’ll get it back to its original shape in a jiff.” Her already creepy grin widened.

I really didn’t want her to touch me, let alone touch my hair, so a part of me begged to decline. But I didn’t want to break her heart, and she had already done so much to me, even if she didn’t realize it. “I guess...” I said and almost instantly regretted it.

She pulled me closer to her and spun me around to where my back was facing her. I cast a hopeful look to her parents, but they just looked proud of their daughter for doing something so nice. I wasn’t going to object, though, and let her begin.

We weren’t even ten seconds in and she had already gotten three even strands of hair and was braiding them together. Her hooves were like magic. They weren’t pulling too hard, the chunks of hair were perfectly even, and there were no flyaways or stray hair strands. Was that her special talent? Doing hair? I hadn’t gotten to look at her cutie mark yet.

A minute passed, and she twisted the final piece of hair, then quickly wrapped a purple scrunchy-go figure-around it. It was amazing.

“Thank you so much!” I said, turning around. Then I noticed the color of the band. “How did you know the ribbon was purple.”

Scrunchy shrugged. “I didn’t,” she said simply and innocently. “It seemed to match you, though. Did I do good?” Her front hooves clapped together like an excited little filly.

I nodded, and her baby blue eyes glowed with happiness at my compliment.

We both wadded ourselves up with blankets. Scrunchy snuggled closer to her mother, while I sat next to her sister. She looked colder than she should have been, so I welcomed her inside my own bundle of warmth. With her parents’ permission, of course.

Ponies passed by, not really giving us any mind. They only ever really paid attention to our huddle twice. Once was to pass out tiny bowls of hot soup and more blankets, and the other time was to tell us what was happening with the weather.

At that moment, the snow hadn’t stopped and had risen to the point where we couldn’t get out for another few hours until it melted. It was my best guess that the sun was starting to set as well, so my own parents were probably losing their minds worrying about me. They probably thought I was lost, hurt, or worse. If only they knew.

I looked down at the little purple and white ball of fur and feathers at my side. Her breathing sounded like she was struggling to get air each time, and I felt bad for the poor filly. I stroked her pure white mane as she went deeper and deeper into Dreamland.

Time seemed to creep slow. I couldn’t sleep, due to being scared of being trapped in there for longer than I wanted to, so I was one of the few awake. Even Scrunchy was asleep, to my surprise. She snored louder than a mare should, and that was another reason I couldn’t sleep.

I couldn’t help it, but I started thinking about where Grape Soda would be. Would she be out in the cold, freezing to death? Or did she already find shelter? The chances of her being dead already didn’t seem to pass in my mind.

I sat there for the longest time until something nudged at my side. I turned and saw the filly stick her head up from the fleece sheets. Her father told me her name... Lavender, I think. “Is... is it morning yet?” she murmured in the cutest voice I had ever heard. I sadly shook my head. “Oh...”

“What is it?”

“Are you a Pegasus or a Unicorn?”

I wasn’t that shocked by the question, but it did raise questions in my head. “I’m an Earth pony, sweetie. Why do you ask?”

Her huge blue eyes blinked innocently. “Why aren’t there any other Earth ponies?”

I swallowed. “I-I don’t know,” I replied. “But that doesn’t matter now, Lavender. Go back to sleep, okay?”

“Okay.” She nestled back into the covers and it wasn’t long before she was sleeping again.

“I wish I knew the answer,” I whispered. “I’m sorry.”

The sun seemed to scream “GET YOUR LAZY BUTT UP!” into my eyes, and I was forced into bitter reality. I looked around, and I forgot what I was doing in Town Hall for a few seconds. Then I remembered the blizzard and let out a sigh of relief.

The snow had melted over night, so we could all leave. I bid farewell to Scrunchy and her family, hoping I could see them again, especially Lavender. Maybe they would help stop racism? Only Celestia can tell.

When I ran back home, my parents were crying with joy. Even my father, which was surprising. My mother held me close to her chest and was stroking my bangs. “Where were you, sweetie?!” she wept. “We thought you had died in the storm!”

“I was in Town Hall with the other ponies,” I managed to breath while she crushed my lungs.

She pushed me away, eyes wide. “Oh! They didn’t hurt you while you were there, did you? Your bow is gone, too! Where’d it go? What happened?”

“I’m fine, Mom,” I said, hoping that would answer all four questions. It seemed to suffice, and she just smiled even more and pulled me close again. I wished my Mom would just decide on how she would appreciate me.

I told them all about Scrunchy and her family, too, and they told me they really wanted to meet them. They wanted to tell how much they thanked them for how they protected me when nopony else would.  And, I didn’t mention this to them, but I wanted to as well.

NEWS: FILLY DIES OF PNEUMONIA

A filly named Lavender died only a few days after the blizzard that took over our town on Thursday. She died in the local hospital yesterday night due to pneumonia and other unknown causes. She was very young and didn’t have very long to live, but left a scar on her family and friends. Her last words, confirmed by the doctors, are as follows: “Can you find Grape Vine for me? I want you to tell her thank you.”