The central winter month in New Guardia had events throughout it that contributed to the two final celebrations. And James knew that Twilight at least would like to be there for them, but he was expecting each of the ponies invited to attend.
The first event was a Christmas tree decorating. James would first use his magic to grow a massive pine in the center square of Truce, then each household that wanted to would bring an ornament to place on the tree. James found the whole thing rather sappy and a bit boring, but it did bring the community together and that was always a good thing.
He certainly wasn't expecting the decorations that the ponies brought with them. Rarity and Sweetie Belle had made a long string of jeweled lights for the occasion. Pinkie Pie brought candy canes both to decorate with and to eat. The Apples each brought a crocheted Hearth's Warming doll. Fluttershy brought a natural garland. Rainbow Dash had a bottled rainbow to add, while Scootaloo had several small baubles. Twilight and Spike had ribbons, and Derpy added several of her own baubles to the tree and knocked off several others.
As simple as the event seemed it still took the whole day, and as a result over the years citizens had made a potluck around it. Even now there were changes being added to the event. The Monsters from Snowdin began placing gifts under the tree as was the tradition for them. Members from the small communities outside Truce brought ornaments to represent them. Even the Apple's Hearth's Warming dolls garnered attention that told James next year to expect a great deal more of them.
The decoration of the tree symbolized the start of the holiday season and even as the event took place the more festive of the residents began decorating their homes and the streets, until the city had been transformed. Asgore walked around dressed as Santa meeting with the children, sharing treats and laughs. Even when Pinkie Pie excitedly accosted him, he stayed in character treating her as he would anyone else.
The next events to take place were from other cultures that had arrived on New Guardia over the years. James's role in any of them was negligible at best. Reguardless he invited the ponies to join in them.
Christmas rolled around with all the fanfare of the celebration. Drunken carolers singing merrily as they staggered through the streets offering the blessings of the season. Laughter at street performances matching the laughter of the drunks. Sweet smells filled the air as homes and bakeries prepared the rich food that would be enjoyed that night. The day had a festival feel with everyone filling the streets with cheer.
As evening came, the streets emptied and people went home to spend time with family and friends. James was no exception as he shared a holiday movie that had been tradition in his family for years with the friends he had invited to experience it with him.
James had to prepare extra wassail as it was particularly popular among the ponies, Rainbow Dash especially who before the end of the night was barely able to move from all she had enjoyed.
That night James slipped out of bed and sneaked over to his closet where he had a Santa costume much like Asgore's. With it on he collected a Handy Haversack he kept reserved for the holiday and began casting a muffling spell to hide his footsteps. He had a long night and several universes to visit before his job was done.
That morning came with excited cheers from Amber and Sara as they saw the new presents underneath the tree, and not just presents for them. Each pony went home that evening with gifts of their own and a promise that they would return in a week for the final celebration of New Guardia's calendar year.
– – – – – – – – – – – – –
It was proving difficult to get Fluttershy out of the castle the moment she saw three dragons perched on the highest points in Truce.
Fluttershy held onto the door as best as she could while she shouted as much as she ever did. “I'm not going out there with dragons! They're big and scary and they breathe fire!”
A booming voice answered her from far above the castle door. “While that may be true, you forgot to include that we're friendly. … At least the dragons up here that is.”
Fluttershy shrieked as she tried even more desperately to get back inside the castle. The large golden head of Cobalt peered down at her from atop New Guardia Castle, a smile on his face. They could hear the stones groan as he adjusted himself to stand before he leaped down to the courtyard. His body changing as he fell until he matched the appearance of a dwarf.
His eyes were still reptilian and the same golden color as his hair and beard. And he appeared to wear ornate ivory colored jewel encrusted robes and fine walking boots. He calmly approached the door to look in at the cowering Pony.
Twilight nodded as he entered the foyer. “It's good to see you again Cobalt.”
Though quieter Cobalt's voice was no less impressive as he spoke. “The pleasure's mine Princess. I trust Spike is nearby.”
“Right here.” Spike said happily from behind the door.
Cobalt laughed as he looked to where he had heard the voice. “Now what are you doing there?”
Spike stuck his head out as he addressed Cobalt. “Fluttershy's afraid of dragons, I was here to keep the door open.”
Cobalt looked back to the cowering pony and decided to approach calmly. “Miss, I'm sure if you can conquer your fear long enough to get to know us, you'll be pleasantly surprised.” He held his hand out to her and smiled, hoping to make her more comfortable.
Fluttershy opened one eye long enough to see that Cobalt was not currently a dragon. Even still she didn't want anything to do with him. “Nu-uh. No! I don't want to go out there with dragons!” She insisted.
“Unfortunate.” Cobalt said as he sat near her. “Rather like James and spiders. Though he was able to get past it for the Arachnea. As I understand it you and Lilith would have a lot in common.”
“That neither of us like dragons?” She angrily said. She was tired of others trying to get her to be around dragons, it was almost as bad as the dragons themselves.
“She is a dragon.” Cobalt corrected. “She also watches the forest and cares for the animals in it. She's very gentle.”
“And a dragon!” Fluttershy insisted.
Rainbow Dash had had enough trying to convince Fluttershy to give dragons a shot. “Look, we even found dragons as nice as Spike and she still won't give them a chance. She can stay here and miss out on everything if she likes.” She growled as she stormed towards the door of the castle to leave.
A soft voice broke through the foyer as a tall thin woman in a pink sundress with silver braided hair walked in. The smell of fresh rain accompanied her. “That's unfortunate. The festival is actually quite fun.”
Fluttershy carefully looked to the newcomer, she seemed quite friendly as she smiled warmly down at her. She cautiously stood up and gave Cobalt a wide berth as she moved to the woman.
The new woman looked to Rainbow Dash as the pony once again made for the door. “You may want to go see Lucca's exhibit. She brought Gonzales out of the cellar just for the occasion.”
Rainbow Dash stopped and looked to her quizzically. “Gonzales?”
The woman smiled. “A machine that you can fight. You can take him on solo or as a group. I imagine you'd have a lot of fun with him, just understand he hits back. If you need some healing after, James has a few spells that will fix you right up.”
The woman looked to Fluttershy and gestured to the door. “You don't have to go to the festival if you don't want, but perhaps a walk in the forest will help calm your nerves.”
“I won't go out there with dragons!” Fluttershy said as resolute as she could.
The woman giggled as she looked to her. “The forest should provide enough cover to hide you from them if they really worry you.”
Fluttershy grimaced as she pointed her hoof to Cobalt, who just threw his hands up in the air in a sign of surrender.
“I'll leave you alone. I should get back to my post for tonight anyway.” He said as he shook his head and turned to leave.
“I'm sorry about that Cobalt.” Twilight said as he walked away.
Cobalt shrugged before he began to take his normal form. “I'd call it a phobia, but she's not afraid of Spike. Even tiny spiders scare James.”
“You really don't have to tell everyone that.” James grumbled as Cobalt climbed the castle back up to his perch.
The group began to make their way towards Truce, Fluttershy dashing from the front of the castle to the forest as quickly as she could where she waited for the woman who had coaxed this much from her. Fluttershy broke from the group early as she followed the woman who was even now approaching some of the creatures Fluttershy had only ever heard about in New Guardia.
The festival was in full swing as they approached. Races were being held around the square, booths with games and treats called out to them. Different musics could be faintly heard from different parts of the festival.
“So where's this Gonzales guy?” Rainbow Dash excitedly asked.
James paused to think, he didn't know for certain but he was confident that Lucca would set him up in the same place as she did at the Millennial Fair this time. “I believe that would be set up in the Northwest corner.” He said, gesturing in said direction. “He's generally pretty popular, so you may want to get a reservation now. So you thinking Solo or team battle?”
“I could take him on my own!” Rainbow Dash said confidently.
“I don't know.” Applejack interrupted. “That lady seemed to think you might get yerself hurt if you fought him.” While she had faith in her friend she wasn't going to underestimate anything here.
Rainbow Dash scoffed at the notion. It was a game at a festival, how much could it do? “Just because you couldn't handle it doesn't mean I can't.”
James chuckled as he listened in. “Maybe you two should take him on together, if he's too easy you can always come back and fight him solo.”
“Can I come too? That sounds fun!” Apple Bloom said excitedly.
James and Applejack answered her at the same time. “Absolutely not!” James continued to talk as Applejack gave him a curious look. “I never allow children to fight him. He hits back, and even if you wore armor you're small enough that he could do serious damage. There are events at the festival that are for adults only, usually because they're too dangerous for kids like yourself. There are plenty of tough games you can try. Even haunted houses if you'd like a scare.”
“If he's that dangerous, maybe y'all shouldn't fight him either.” Big Mac said.
“Come on. We've saved Equestria how many times? I think we can handle a festival game.” Rainbow Dash said through her laughter. “Come on Applejack, let's go get our ticket.” She flew towards the Northwest as Applejack hurried along to catch up.
James leaned over to Big Mac. “You may want to fight as well, for group fights he's designed to handle teams of three. They'll be at a disadvantage without someone else.”
Big Macintosh huffed and ran after them. He didn't exactly want to fight, but if they could actually get hurt doing this he couldn't just sit back if he could make a difference.
“James, why do you have these dangerous things so readily available?” Rarity asked. “Every other thing we find out about you seems to be horrible in some way.”
James shrugged. “It's part of the culture. Most people up here are from warlike species and in us is that primal desire to fight. We keep aggression down by providing moderately safe outlets for that desire. It can't be completely safe or there's no true outlet, it's just flailing angrily.” He assumed that that wouldn't be enough of an explanation for her and waited for her inevitable follow up question.
“Oh, I guess I can see how that works. You can't very well talk out all of your frustrations without somepony to listen to you.” The reasoning actually made sense to Rarity as she thought about how there were times that just venting her frustrations had only made her feel worse. “So why would you expect to get the urge to fight out without something that fights back. But what about the injuries?”
That wasn't the response James was expecting, and not the question he was ready for either. “We've got the Doctors and the Sorcerers Guild healing them. Some of the worse ones could be down for a day or two but a few treatments can heal almost any injury. Hence why I don't let kids fight Gonzales.”
“We're going to go play some games!” Scootaloo said as she ran off with Sweetie Bell and Apple Bloom.
“Keep in touch girls! Use those bracelets I gave you earlier!” James called after them. “I think they listen about as well as my daughters.” He sighed as he watched them run off. He knew Amber and Sara were around somewhere, but they were impatient and made Tenyo bring them to the fair first thing in the morning.
Twilight laughed as she watched James inadvertently slip into his fatherly demeanor. Even with those he barely knew he easily came to care for anyone around. It was understandable how he was so popular among the people.
Fluttershy had managed to forget about the dragons during her walk with the woman, and was happily watching several Eevee playing when they heard Rainbow Dash's shout.
Panic took hold of Fluttershy once again as she ran towards the noise, fearing that one of the dragons had decided that pony was on the menu. She came out of the brush to see Applejack standing between a large rotund red humanoid machine and Big Mac who was helping Rainbow Dash stand back up. The Machine rushed Applejack as it's core opened revealing a boxing glove that shot at her, knocking her farther back than Big Mac.
Rainbow Dash, back on her hooves, stretched her wings before she winced in agony. Her left wing had been badly hurt and she couldn't move it without pain. She snarled at the machine, this wasn't just a game now it was serious.
She ran as fast as she could towards the machine. She wasn't able to build up as much speed as she could when flying but with a jump she landed a hard kick against the machine.
Big Mac had helped Applejack stand and was facing the machine as it brought out it's microphone and began to sing. Something about the song muddled his thinking, but he shook off it's effects as he struck his hoof against the ground preparing to charge. Applejack had circled around to the other side of the Machine and didn't slow as she turned and rushed it from behind. Big Mac chose the same moment to make his charge and the two caught Gonzales in the center of their attack.
Fluttershy shivered as she watched the fight, unsure of what had happened to cause it.
Rainbow Dash once again leaped and struck the machine and began to ready herself for another pass the moment she landed.
Big Mac turned and bucked Gonzales, lifting the machine into the air and sending it towards Applejack who hurried and turned to do the same. The two earth ponies tossed their opponent between them several times before Rainbow Dash made her next strafing attack, knocking Gonzales to the ground.
The Machine refused to stay down, but it's program completed with the damage it had sustained. Two Small drones flew around it, illuminating it as it brought out it's Microphone. “I lost and you won. Come back again if you had fun.” It sang.
With the spectacle over it activated it's repair program and all of the damage it sustained mended before the ponies eyes.
Thunderous applause came from the crowd that had gathered along the two edges of the makeshift arena cheering the victors. The names of the three melded together in the chants from the fans of the fight.
Lucca walked out and posed as she announced their victory again.
“Weren’t our visitors great everybody?” Lucca happily announced. “They fought hard so let’s get our champions over to medical. They’ll be feeling that one in the morning.”
Once they had left she announced the next competitor who had chosen to take on Gonzales in single combat. A turian walked into the arena, his shotgun ready as a force field blinked to life to ensure the safety of the spectators.
“Oh, we're at the festival already.” The woman said nonchalantly.
“You said we'd just be in the forest.” Fluttershy accused, suddenly remembering the dragons that were now much closer than she was comfortable with.
The woman shook her head as she looked to the pegasus. “And we never left the forest. I still want to go the festival.”
Fluttershy's fear only intensified as she looked up and saw only one dragon roosting over Truce. “And two of the dragons are missing!” She whispered terrified.
The woman looked out to the town confused until she realized what Fluttershy had meant. “There's only one missing, and I bet she's winning herself some more stuffed animals at the games. She's about Spike's age, probably even younger.”
“No, there's two of them missing.” Fluttershy insisted. “There were three and now there's only one.”
The woman smiled playfully at Fluttershy as she backed out of the forest. “No there's two in sight, I just wanted to have some fun. Jereth likes to spend his day reading so he doesn't often go anywhere.” She turned back to the festival and started to walk as she continued to speak. “I believe your friends would like to see you if you decide to join them. I know I'd be happy to see you out there.”
Fluttershy watched Lilith leave, terrified that she had just spent so long with a grown dragon … but she also couldn't deny that she had been really nice to her. However the thought of walking out there with the one large dragon looking over them and two hidden dragons was horrifying. She laid down and cowered as she thought about what she was going to do.
Rainbow Dash laid on a cot in the medical tent as an elf examined her wing, each motion he put it through sent another wave of agony through her. “I'm sorry miss, give me a moment to get an image of your wing's bones. I think it may be broken.” As he spoke his onmitool appeared and he performed a scan on her.
“Broken?! This is horrible, I have to fly! I'm in the Wonder Bolt Reserves, what if they need me?” Rainbow Dash really began to worry, how would she explain the injury? And a broken wing could end a career if it didn't heal just right.
“I'm sorry, but that is a risk you have to think about when fighting Gonzales.” As the Medic was analyzing the image figuring out the best way to set the bone before plastering, James walked in to congratulate the group on the win.
“That was dangerous!” Applejack accused as James approached. “Rainbow Dash's wing's broken!”
James held his hands up. “You were told he hit back, and that it could be dangerous. Don't get angry at me because he did just what you were warned he would. As for Rainbow Dash's wing …” James tapped the Medic on the shoulder as he approached.
The medic turned to see James holding a small pouch up. With a nod his omnitool blinked out of existence, he had saved the files for reference but his medical knowledge would be no help here with James and his Senzu.
James smiled as he took out a bean and held it up between his fingers. “Here, this will fix you right up.” He held out the bean as Rainbow Dash brought her hoof up to accept.
She eyed James, more than a little irritated about how the whole thing had gone, and she had no idea just how a single bean was going to help her. But she was going to give him the benefit of the doubt, and on the chance he was right it was worth a shot. She tossed the bean in her mouth and chewed. It was bland and crunchy, not something that she would want to eat unless it helped. The moment she swallowed she felt it's effects. Her wing immediately stopped aching, and she was even able to move it comfortably. Every place she was sore from the fight felt completely fine now.
“There you go, all better.” James said with his same smile. “Granted, a Senzu is overkill for a broken limb but I don't want this to be the reason you miss out on anything with the Wonder Bolts.”
“Got any more for us?” Applejack asked looking to the pouch.
James shook his head. “Usually these are reserved for emergencies. For some bruising it's out of the question. However …” As James approached the two earth ponies he held his hands out as a bright green light snaked it's way towards them.
The light wrapped around them and vanished. It took a few seconds before they felt anything, but soon they felt their bodies healing. It even helped with the stiffness from their exertion.
“Feeling better?” James asked.
Big Mac couldn't help but think how useful this spell would be in general use. “Eyup.” He said happily.
Fluttershy crept along the alleys created by the tents and stalls. She was still uncomfortable about the dragon just over her head but she decided that maybe if the other two dragons were that nice to her she could try going out.
She winced as the dragon seemed to huff. Looking up she saw it reach over to the roof of another building and pick up something that was tiny in it's claw. She hoped it was a book like Lilith said.
Twilight was determined to learn as much about the cultures here as she could. But with so many she could only hope to get glimpses here and there. What was most interesting to her was the melting pot it had created. Even if she learned about one culture here there were the influences of the others she would have to find out about. It was really exciting.
Even cultures of the same people varied wildly, one group of elves may not have any rituals or history another may have, and there was only a tenuous connection between one group and the Dalish, yet another community of elves living here.
But she was also here because she wanted to learn about the unique culture in New Guardia. It was a community even younger than Ponyville yet it was suddenly important to other worlds, and all because they were a trading post between those worlds.
And the festival was a good example of what the other cultures brought to them. From food to games and toys there was so much to experience.
Apple Bloom waited in line along with Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle for their turn to get their faces painted. They had won several small toys in the games and wanted to experience as much about this festival as they could. They only had a little longer to wait as the girl getting hers done right now was having trouble sitting still. She was clearly young and had cat ears and a cat tail. Scootaloo thought that maybe she wasn't sitting still was because she was part cat.
Once the paint was done she jumped down and thanked the Asari who had done it before she ran off. Out of the corner of her eye she saw three ponies waiting, though one of them was getting into the chair to be painted now. Alice was so excited that she danced in place as she waited to talk to them.
Airie walked through the crowds of the fair, she had worked hard to clear up enough paperwork to sneak out for the evening and this was a safe haven where she didn't run the risk of more paperwork being dumped on her. She watched a Turian child running around playing cops and robbers with a human child. The turian was the robber and he was ducking between booths though the human girl was close behind him.
She had to wonder if they were part of a new generation of citizens for New Guardia. It was a quickly growing world in it's own right and even though James still had pirate tendencies he had made a thriving business that only he could accommodate.
She almost missed it when the turian gave a surprised yelp. Airie rushed to make sure he was alright when she heard him asking.
“Are you a pegasus?”
A gentle voice cautiously answered, almost quiet enough to not be heard over the commotion of the fair. “Yes.”
“That is so awesome!” The turian said excitedly. “I can't wait to tell Ashley about this!” He ran out of the alley as Airie approached.
Hiding against the wall of a booth was a yellow pony with a long pink mane, Airie knew right away that this was one of the Ponies James had found to meet his daughters. She had thought that their interaction would have ended a long time ago, but clearly that wasn't the case.
“Hello there.” She gently said, hoping to not further scare the small horse. “You can come out of there, no one's going to hurt you.”
Fluttershy continued to cower as she looked up to Airie. “Oh, it's not the people that scare me. They're strange, but nice.”
Airie stood back up as she tired to think about just what could be the problem if not the people. It's not like there were any other large animals around here. And Krogan never came to these events, not enough fighting for them. There were Klingons, but they could relax and have fun without fighting. It wasn't until Jereth shifted that she realized what the problem was.
“Oh! You're afraid of the Dragons.” She laughed. She realized they looked intimidating, that was part of why they were there. They had both a role to play in the celebration and helped keep the peace while one of them could be seen.
Fluttershy hurriedly nodded as she kept her eyes tightly closed.
Airie shook her head as she thought about what could be done. Jereth was the most intimidating of them, and also the one who would stay in his position all day. If she could find Lilith or Alice she could get them to talk to her, but neither of them were anywhere to be seen..
“They just like to look intimidating.” She said dismissively. “But they're pretty dainty really. If you went up to Jereth up there and smelled him you'd find out he smells heavily of strawberries. That's because he uses scented oils everyday to condition his hide. Cobalt up on the castle there loves silk so much when he's not a dragon that's all he wears. Lilith has a pet puppy. It's pretty funny watching them play when she's a dragon. And Alice is still just a little girl. Really they're no different than anyone else here. Just bigger.”
Fluttershy was willing to believe all of that, but she was still terrified of them.
Airie shrugged. “Walk with me for a while and you'll get more comfortable.” She offered.
The festival continued well into the night as the groups eventually found each other. James was reclining against a tree as he waited for Lucca to finish getting Gonzales stored away when The Apples approached.
“We're only a couple hours away from the big event.” James said with a smile.
Apple Bloom had several stuffed toys with her that she had won from the games, Scootaloo and Rainbow Dash were close behind as Rainbow Dash once again related the story of their fight against Gonzales to her devoted audience.
Twilight was the next to arrive with Spike and several snacks from a nearby stand. She had several scrolls labeled by species sticking out of her saddlebag. “This has been a great festival. And you say you do this every year?”
James nodded. “It's to celebrate the coming of the new year. Like your Summer Sun festival if I remember right. Though we don't necessarily stay up until dawn.”
Twilight chuckled a bit as she thought about it. “No, not really. But you are invited to the next one.”
Rarity and Sweetie Belle showed up as the play they were watching ended, along with Pinkie Pie who had a bag full of exotic treats and two in her mouth. James chuckled at the sight. “There's a family tradition still at the castle after the festival ends that you may not want to be too full for. Midnight breakfast.”
The biggest surprise arrived as they talked when Airie and Fluttershy walked up. The ponies excitedly greeted her, praising her ability to come out with the dragons perched just above their heads.
More joined the group as they waited for midnight. The countdown began and everyone in the area chanted as one, staring upwards. At three James carefully put a pair of earmuffs on Flutershy's ears. She looked to him confused until she faintly heard the roars of the dragons. Fire first erupted from Cobalt's position at the top of the castle, followed by Jereth's own blast of flame in the center square. Lilith and Alice had no spectacle breath to use so they just continued to roar. A Fireworks display cued the end of the dragon display as Lilith and Alice promptly returned to their humanoid forms. Jereth just put his head down and went to sleep where he had been all day.
Lilith approached the group, smiling warmly at Fluttershy as she did. Fluttershy carefully removed the earmuffs as the human looking dragon approached.
“Fluttershy!” Lilith happily said. “It’s wonderful to see you out here! Did you have fun?”
Fluttershy nodded meekly as she looked to the dragon that had gotten her to leave the castle. She began to talk to Lilith as Alice came up from behind and pounced on James's back trying to shock him. James just smiled and acted as though he didn't even notice her.