//------------------------------// // Chapter 83 - Happy Hearth's Warming (Part 2) // Story: A Pony Displaced: Homeward // by NoLongerSober //------------------------------// In the cozy home of the North Grove Apple farm, the young foals of Dawn and Pippen were locked in a rather intense game of Battleship while nearby, the two were being watched by their parents, grandparents and time-displaced cousins who were standing around the kitchen. “Times like this really bring me back,” Winter Gem said as she watched the pair of youngsters being so focused on their game in between sips of her hot cider. “Family brought together on Hearth’s Warming Eve with games, delicious food and tasty hot cider.” “Say, speaking of,” Hatty interjected as he gently swirled his mug. “Think once the foals are asleep, we could switch up to having some hard cider?” To the pegasus surprise, the modern Apples slightly winced at his request. “Sorry Hatty, but we’ve sent out the last batch of hard cider we had on hoof,” Belmont answered, rubbing the back of his head with a leathery wing. “Besides, even if we did have any, the last time we had hard cider on Hearth’s Warming Eve… Well, the results weren’t pretty.” “Oh, yeah. I’d argue I had it the best,” Red Bouquet chipped in as she sat down in a chair. “And even then, I woke up with a splitting headache and was vomiting for hours afterwards.” “And then I couldn’t walk for a week afterwards,” Belmont added before shuddering. “From that day forth, I was glad we had more than one bathroom.” “Oh, don’t remind me,” Autumn Gold said, bringing a hoof to her forehead. “From that day forth, I forever declared chili a mortal enemy of mine.” Hatty’s brow rose as Pip not only remained silent from his spot at the table, but also looked away from the rest of his family. “How about you, Mr. West?” “Well, I will say that that particular Hearth’s Warming was not my proudest moment, old chum,” Pip said before sighing. “I made a cape and cowl out of a bathroom towel and was later arrested for assaulting a griffin, an abyssian and a clown.” “And that was before the story made it to the papers,” Autumn added with a groan. “It was just awful.” “Still, at least two good things came from that night.” Red warmly smiled as she turned her attention to the foals at their play. “Well, I can see why you don’t do hard cider anymore,” Gem said as she and Hatty took some seats at the table. “Still, what’s your policy on eggnog?” “Here’s a hint,” Belmont smirked as he raised his cider mug. “Unlike someponies here, it would be wearing white at its wedding.” Belmont’s crack led to Hatty and Pip smacking their own faces with their wings, Gem to roll her eyes, Red to grumble and blush, and a blushing Autumn to smack the back of his head. “Well, since we finished with one set of embarrassing stories, anypony want to hear some stories about what Belmont used to do as a foal?” His mother’s words caused the young batpony’s yellow coat to suddenly grow pale as the others all started to lean closer. “Since you’re all listening, I think I’ll start with the story about the Flame Crest sheets we got him one Hearth’s Warming that we had to throw out the very next day. It’s also another reason I hate chili.” *** In the city of Tall Tale, a pair of ponies stood upon the balcony of an eighth floor apartment. The pair gazed out at the bright lights of the city that stretched onwards for miles. Even from the distance between the ponies and the streets, the pair could still see the ponies below going about and caroling with festive cheer. Only the faintest notes of their songs managed to reach their ears. “I must say, this is a most spectacular view, Minty,” Swift said softly as she leaned against the pale green mare. “In my youth, only pegasi and royalty would be able to enjoy such a wonderful view.” “And now, it’s something Tall Tale’s best weatherpony can afford.” Spearmint’s ears stood at attention as the door behind the two slid open. Looking over her shoulder, she saw that approaching them was a pegasus with a greenish white coat. Her mane was two deep shades of green that matched her emerald eyes.  On one of her wings, she carried a plastic tray with three mugs of hot chocolate with pink, white and purple marshmallows floating on the surface. “Sis, don’t oversell me just to impress your girlfriend,” the pegasus chuckled as the pair grabbed a mug each. “It’s a pretty regular one-room apartment on the eighth floor.” “Don’t sell yourself short, Miss Wintergreen,” Swift said before taking a quick, silent sip of her hot beverage. “This is still rather spectacular for me. What I said before was not hyperbole in the slightest.” “Thanks, Swift,” Wintergreen nodded before using her free wing to grasp the mug’s handle between two feathers. “Now Swift, I’ve been meaning to ask you something. Have you met anypony famous?” “Hmm…” The sky blue mare pondered the pegasus words between long draws of her chocolate. “Well, I was familiar with a number of ponies from the era before the Crystal Empire vanished, but I fear that most of those names would be unfamiliar to those who aren’t historical scholars or a reader of the Flame Crest books.” “Probably right,” Wintergreen said just as Spearmint quickly stepped in front of her sister.  “Oh, I know of some more modern ponies I know she’s met.” A wide smile stretched across her muzzle as she pressed closer to Wintergreen, making the pegasus take a step back. “She and I both met Princess Cadance, who is now the ruler of the Crystal Empire.” “Really?” Wintergreen’s voice became surprisingly perky to the unicorn. “I’ve heard the Crystal Empire’s absolutely beautiful.” “Yes, I’d say it rather was,” Swift replied. Wintergreen seemed to miss how the noblemare looking away from her and rubbing her foreleg in discomfort. However, Minty did not miss the signs. “Y’know, maybe one day all three of us could go there for a vacation. I’m sure we’ll make plenty of great memories there.” “Forgive me for saying this, Wintergreen, but to be quite honest, I’d rather not return there if at all possible because of the memories I made there,” Swift said as she drew a little closer to the pegasus mare. “I had to witness much death and dismemberment while I was in the empire. Not only did Sombra slay many of my brothers and sisters in arms, but many were turned into horrific undead monsters. Monsters that I and my few remaining allies were forced to take down… monsters that wore the faces of my former friends and comrades-in-arms. In the end, only six ponies were still in fighting form before the element bearers and your sister arrived.” An uncomfortable silence held in the air as Wintergreen was stunned into silence by her words. Spearmint slung a foreleg over Swift’s shoulders as she started to lead her back towards the door. “How about we head inside? It’s getting pretty cold and I’d like to put some movies on.” “Right, right,” Wintergreen said as she quickly followed the two into the apartment. “Swift, which would you prefer to start with? We’ve got a pretty wide assortment of them.” “Well, do you happen to have any Pony Rangers Hearth’s Warming specials? I’ve grown oddly fond of the franchise since my return,” Swift replied as her magic slid the door shut behind her. “You bet. I think I’ve got about ten. Grab a spot on the couch and I’ll prep Alpha’s Magical Hearth’s Warming,” Wintergreen said as Minty and Swift made their way to the couch. “I’m sure you’ll love these movies, Swift… Well, except for the first.” Spearmint sat down on the right side of the emerald colored couch while the unicorn sat close beside her. “I’m sure it’ll be fine,” Swift said as she nuzzled close to Spearmint, resting against her as the earth pony ran a foreleg down her back.  “By the way!” Wintergreen’s voice called out from the kitchen. “That couch is also the pullout bed you’ll be sleeping on. Try not to leave any love stains on it later tonight, okay?” A quiet yet dark chuckle game from Spearmint as her hoof drifted further down, drawing a faint blush from the unicorn. “No promises.” Her whisper drew a matching chuckle from Swift. *** As Barrier observed from the edge of the kitchen, Punch seemed to be cooking up a storm of cookies. The table was covered by four trays of chocolate chip, butterscotch chip, peanut butter and chocolate cookies. Meanwhile, the various counters were nearly all covered with cooling racks that held gingerbread, cinnamon, wafer and fudge cookies. Thankfully, it seemed Punch was preparing the last batch, which he’d been told were chocolate sandwich cookies that would alternate between strawberry, vanilla and mint creams. “My dad is a deadbeat, he loves fish more than me.” The cheerful tone of the song the bright pink mare was singing was rather surprising to the charcoal unicorn as he took a light swig from his flask. It was quite odd to see her happily singing such a downbeat song as she mixed together not only batter, but three bowls of flavored cream as well. “He’d rather study a starfish than come home on holidays!” “I’m sorry to hear that, Punch,” Barrier said as he approached, pulling the mare from her singing and cooking. “Would you like to talk about it… or maybe you’d like a drink?” As he asked, he held out the flask in his magic towards her. A look of confusion briefly found a home on her face before it morphed into realization followed by laughter. “Oh, I wasn’t singing about myself, Barrier. It was a parody I heard about GoGo’s Bizarre Adventure in my cooking classes.” “Ah. My apologies,” Barrier replied as he pulled the flask back. “Aww, don’t be,” Punch suddenly jumped over to Barrier and pulled him into a hug. “It’s nice to know you care.” “You’re… you’re welcome, Punch.” Barrier hesitantly returned the hug. Once Punch pulled away from the hug, she hopped back into the kitchen and resumed her stirring. Leaving Punch to attend to her baking, Barrier strolled into the living room. The room was vacant, save for a board game that laid in the center of the room. As Barrier sat down on the couch and started to stretch out, the game board started to glow white. The light grew brighter until Daring, Fleet, Windy and Honey suddenly appeared in a flash around the board. “Well, now I know what Queen Bibinba’s colon looks like,” Honey said before shuddering. “If we play another game, can it be something where we can’t get eaten like that?” “Sure thing,” Daring said as she stood up. “I recently managed to dig up a copy of Marinara Party 2, as well as the figures for some of the newer characters, including the rare Light Balsamic and Prince Star Bright.” “I’m game for that,” Honey replied before turning her attention to the stallion on the couch. “Hey Barrier, you wanna take a crack at Marinara Party?” “Maybe later,” Barrier said as he leaned back against the couch. “Right now, I’d just like to stretch out and relax.” “Okay, but promise you’ll play the round after this one with us,” Windy said as she stood up from her spot beside Fleet. “Sure thing, Wind Whistler.” Barrier gave her a nod as the sound of the front door creaking open reached his ears. “Good evening, everyone,” Forge said as he and Snow made their way into the living room. “I hope you don’t mind, but I invited some guests in on the way back.” As he finished speaking, Asta and Einar made their way in from behind. “Not a problem. Just means less leftovers for us to deal with,” Barrier said from his spot on the couch, where he noticed a slight shiver from Wind Whistler at the sight of the two griffins. “Windy, these are Mr. and Mrs. Sorae, Erica’s parents.” Barrier was glad to see the filly relax a bit as the two griffins came over. “Ah, you must be Forge’s step-sister. He’s told me so much about you,” Asta cheerfully said as she laid down in front of Wind Whistler. “He says you’re the most adorable little ‘enforcer’ he’s ever seen.” “Thanks, Mrs. Sorae.” Windy smiled to the hen as Daring returned with a new set of game boards. “Wanna play some Marinara Party? I’m pretty sure we have enough figures for two games at once.” “As much as I’d like to, I’m afraid the cold is making my joints hurt,” Asta said as she stood back up. “Still, if you have games that don’t need too much moving around, I’d be up for it.” Before Windy could respond, the sound of the front door creaking open again drew everyone’s attention as Hatty and Gem returned. “Hey everypo…” Hatty’s words ground to a halt as he spotted the pair of griffins in the living room. “One. How’s everything going?” “Pretty good,” Punch said from the kitchen as she slid the last tray of cookies into the oven. “We’ve got leftover homemade pizza, tons and tons of cookies, and we can play some games together or put on a movie.” “Well, that sounds nice,” Gem said as she drew closer to the living room. “Hatty and I had some good times at the farm, save for the lack of hard cider.” “If you want, once I finish baking, I could take a stab at making some eggnog.” Just as Punch finished, the front door opened once more. Shortly after, Erica made her way to the space between the kitchen and living room. “Hey everyone,” the young hen greeted as she walked up to her parents and gave the two of them a hug. “Sorry it took us so long, but we had to help Pixel Flash get her arcade machine into her apartment.” “Say, Erica, where’s Verdant?” Forge asked as he sat down on the couch. “Well, y’see, we ran into some ponies that said they’d like to see you guys. He’s probably helping them put their clothes aside.” Before Barrier could rise from the couch to ask who these ponies were, he spotted the shamrock stallion rounding the corner. “Announcing, Her Imperial Majesty and Princess of Equestria, Empress Mi Amore Cadenza, accompanied by her fiancé Captain Shining Armor and future in-laws, Night Light and Twilight Velvet,” he loudly declared, making the former guards all stand at attention. “Oh come on, Verdant,” Punch dismissively said as she stepped out of the kitchen with floating bowls of cream that she kept stirring. “Like a princess would really—” “Oh, are those gingerbread cookies? I haven’t had those in forever!” Punch was stunned into silence at the sight of the tall cerise alicorn and the rugged alabaster unicorn coming up from behind Verdant, along with a pair of older unicorns. Snow, Honey, and the Soraes all gasped while the soldiers and Wind Whistler all bowed. Punch, however, remained stock still and slack jawed, the light from her horn fading away. While the bowls of strawberry and vanilla cream landed safely on the floor, the last one shattered and spilled minty cream all over.