>The autumn air is crisp and a stiff breeze blows over your face
>You shudder and tighten the long, wool item draped around your neck
>That scarf that Fluttershy knit for you last Hearth's Warming was really coming in handy
>A subdued kind of red, or burgundy or something
>Rarity would lecture you if you'd ever think to bring it up
>But you were smarter than that, these days at least
>You'd come to Equestria two years ago, something about your perfect positioning and the energy generated by that jet liner slamming into the ocean
>Twilight had explained it using some super complex formula that could have been from Stargate for how much you understood
>All you got out of it was that you'd never fly Malasyian Airlines again
>Why'd you parents wanted to go to China anyway?
>But it could have been worse, you could be dead
>And given that, wasn't Equestria a better choice?
>It was now anyway
>For the first few months it hadn't been too great
>Every creature, pony or otherwise, shunned you for being so alien to them
>Some kind of hairless ape-thing that just happened to have a resistence to magic and stood as tall as a bear?
>Must have been really terrifying to them
>After a few cold nights lurking around in the shadows and forests around their little city of Ponyville, you'd stumbled on a treehouse
>The CMC's clubhouse of course
>Well you figured no one would mind if you just spent the night...
>It wasn't locked, so you crawled inside the little door
>It wasn't nearly as cramped as you'd figured, and there was already a pile of blankets in there
>They must have had a sleepover and not cleaned up or something
>Oh well, you were never one to piss on what the gods delivered to you
>Laying the small blankets out, you make a suitable sleeping mat, then pile the rest on top of you
>As you fall asleep, you think to yourself how much warmer the nights would be now
>A cannonball impact to your stomach wakes you up
>The air is driven from your lungs and you dry heave at the sudden pain
>"What are you doing in here, you...you monkey! Get out!"
>That squeaky little hoarse voice...
>Scootaloo?
>Your eyes open a crack and you can make out a blur of orange and purple standing inches from your face, teeth bared and huffing
>You push yourself up and pile the dozens of little blankets away from your body
"You can have those, but I'm not leaving."
>She bites down on your arm, hard enough to break the skin and stares up at you with fire in her eyes
>"I said get out!"
>You rise up to your full height, or as full as it could be inside the treehouse
>There was something else in her eyes, besides anger and fear
>Was that, embarresment?
"You live here, don't you?"
>Even in the faint moonlight streaming through the open window, you can see her start to tear up
>"N-no! I was just coming back to get something I left here earlier! I-I'm sure my mom and dad are worried about me already!"
>She backs up to the door, but doesn't leave
>You turn and stare at the half moon hanging high among the stars
"You know, I haven't got anyone either. And everyone here hates me. You at least have the other Crusaders."
>She timidly walks over to the pile of blankets, pulling some over to you, one at a time
>"I-I don't hate you..."
>She shys back when you reach out a hand to her, dragging another blanket over
>You retract your hand, gathering the blankets around your shoulders
"Sorry for scaring you. And thanks."
>You see her shrug as she curls up under the remainder of the blankets
>"Sure whatever. Just...keep those weird hooves to yourself, okay?"
>Well that was agreeable
>A little less comfortable now, you laid back down and went to sleep
>Maybe things wouldn't be so bad
>Your reverie by a heavy impact to your gut
>"Hey, watch where you're walking, ape!"