December 24, 26-31, 1988
Christmas (or Hearth's Warming, as the locals prefer to call it) in Equestria is not unlike Christmas back home; parties are still held, gifts are still exchanged, and holiday decorations trim absolutely everything.
Ryder is actually hosting one of these parties in Canterlot, worlds separate from all the snooty, up-the-arse types endemic to this area, with a fully bedecked Christmas tree and free-flowing beer and wine. His brothers are back in town, and all of his mates have come over. Lemony Gems is chatting with Diamond Rose and having a glass of wine, and he's having a lager with Shining Armour and Lyra Heartstrings while holiday music pipes from the record player on the TV stand.
"So let me get this straight... You first had Gems." Lyra said.
"And I almost banged her."
"Then there was Rose..."
"When Gaffer saw me snogging her."
She connected the dots very easily.
"You're making it with both of them?" Lyra gasped.
"That's right," I said. "I'm very close with both of them."
"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Shining contributed.
"Why shouldn't I?"
"Because if one of them finds out about the other, you'll break both of their hearts, and that's a thing you don't want to see happening, especially in a community-centered culture such as ours."
I wasn't in the mood to hear that lecture again. I finished off my beer and promptly chucked the empty bottle in the rubbish bin. I returned to the conversation with a small plate of chips and dip ready to go.
"But there are literally herds of ponies that mate with each other and raise children as a group... so why shouldn't I be able to try my hand at that?"
"How long have you been here?" Shining rebuffed me.
My thoughts came back to me as I ate a tortilla chip, the crunching noises somewhat aiding the process. "About a year and a half."
"There you go," he said.
"The main thing that I'd like to point out is that humans aren't exactly suited for more than one mate. And judging from the looks of it, they're looking for a one-on-one thing, not a 'wild thing'... you dig, my brother?"
"Sure..." I said reluctantly. There couldn't be any way that this could be true. I did my homework (to some degree) and the books show that ponies are more interested in herds than traditional monogamous relations.
I decided to do my own investigation. I walked up to Gems, who had just finished her wine, and so, was swaying gently from side to side.
“You want another glass?” I asked.
“No thanks, I’m tipsy as hell,” she simply said.
“Come sit with me on the couch.” I managed to lead her to the couch and she sat herself down.
“Whaddaya want?” Gems asked me. I could smell the light trace of alcohol on her breath as she spoke.
“About us and Diamond Rose… do you think we’re good together?”
She was staring at me, incredibly confused. Apparently I said the wrong thing. I tried again.
“Do you like me and Diamond Rose?”
“Of course I like you,” she said breathily. She was moving closer to me, clearly under the influence. “You’re the best guy friend anypony could ask for.”
“Even with all the mushy shit?”
“Mm-hmm…” She was now rubbing her head on me, and Diamond noticed this from across the living room. I tried to wiggle myself free, but Gems was grabbing my neck with her hooves, attempting to hug me close to her.
“Stop it, Gems! You’re choking him!” Diamond Rose shouted.
“Thanks, Rose…” I freed myself from the grip of yellow hooves and fruity breath.
“You’re welcome,” she said as she leaned into me, her ears twitching just enough for me to notice. I played with them for a while, then made my move.
"Do you like it when we're close with each other?"
"Yeeeeeesss..." I could tell she was also drunk. She collapsed into me, nearly bogging me down while she wrapped her front hooves around me. I had to get her up on her own hooves, which was fairly easy due to her being practically weightless (what with being a pegasus and all).
"Look in my eyes, sweetie... I know you like me, but do you mind if I'm close with both you and Gems?"
She stumbled my way for a moment, not saying anything.
"Yes or no?"
Diamond Rose fainted into a heap of drunken pegasus in front of me, not providing an answer to my simple question. Gaffer offered to take her home shortly after.
The party didn't take long to fully wind down, as it was approaching 12:30 in the morning, which mean that Santa (or whatever the Equestrian equivalent is) would be coming. Looking at the crowd, I marked that some, of not the majority, of my party guests were clearly drunk, passed out on the floor or plopped onto my furniture to sleep off the alcohol. I remembered my brothers falling asleep somewhere in my own quarters, and Kimberly fighting a hangover in my closet.
While most of the guests were making their way home, Cherry Berry offered to help me clean up, which was a much-needed blessing. Once all the rubbish was jammed into a giant trash bag in the kitchen, I bid her adieu and called it a night.
................
The next day, Ryder's family members exchanged gifts, drank, and patronised a local restaurant to indulge in a Christmas roast. Combine that with obscene amounts of dessert, and you've got a recipe for a spectacular holiday hangover.
The morning after (Dec. 26), the phone's ringing roused the lot awake.
“Who's it?” I languorously walked over to the phone, still fighting the after-effects of yesterday’s festivities.
I picked it up. “Hello?”
“Guess where we’re going over the holidays?” I could recognise that voice immediately; it was Lyra’s.
I shifted the receiver to my other ear. “I don’t know, what do you have in mind?”
“We’re going to Bear’s Paw… my aunt lives out there. She’ll be calling in a few to fill Kim in on the details.”
“You’re serious?”
“Yeah… You’ll like it down there. You’ll like my aunt, and her husband is an okay pony too.”
“Sounds radical.”
“It’s gonna be… and Ryder-babe, wait ‘til you see the snow they get down there!”
I hung up, the drunken torpidity vanishing into thin air as I prepared to tell Kim the news.
“Guess where Lyra’s invited me?”
“To her house to screw around?”
“No, it’s nothin’ like that.”
“Tell me then,” she said.
“Down south, to Bear’s Paw… her aunt has a place down there. She’s gonna call ya.”
“Don’t expect me to say yes just like that, sonny,” she rebuffed me. “I’ll have to think about it once I hear the details.”
The phone rang at about noon. “That must be her,” Kim said. “I’ll go ahead and take it into my room.” My brothers were all still asleep.
When she popped out fifteen minutes later, I asked her what Lyra’s aunt had said.
“She sounded quite nice,” Kim replied.
“Go on…”
“She mentioned a big resort in Bear’s Paw, on the way to Morin Heights, but not near the border with Cosarara. She said that a bunch of Lyra’s friends were planning a big outing for the week of Christmas - ”
“They prefer Hearth’s Warming,” I said.
“Would you let me finish? … I think you have some winter clothes from your big shopping trip over the summer.”
“I can go look, if that’s the case.”
“The drive’s about an hour.”
The wheels began clicking into place in my mind. “So I can go?”
“I suggest you start packing now.”
“You mean it?” She nodded in earnest.
"Thanks, Kim!" I hugged her as hard as I could and ran upstairs to pack my suitcase and winter gear. I was careful to not run into my brothers, who were still dealing with their hangovers.
Almost immediately, I dragged my suitcase out from underneath my bed, swatting away the cobwebs and picking at the dust bunnies. I packed enough warm clothes, assuming a full week in the mountains.
In a separate bag, I crammed my high-visibility ski jacket inside, as well as my navy blue ski pants and my snow boots. I packed my gloves, a toboggan, and a pair of snow goggles just in case. I found a hot pink scarf in a dark, disorganised corner of my closet and decided to throw it in the bag for good measure.
The phone rang as soon as I bagged up my toiletries; I picked it up off the ringer and yanked the antenna to full mast.
"I have it!" I shouted down the steps to let Kimberly know I was using the phone. "Hello?"
"Ryder, buddy! Ready to go yet?"
"I've just been packing," I told him, excited about the outing.
"Good on ya," he said. "We'll be at the train station waiting for everypony. The train leaves at 12:30."
"Sounds great." We chatted for a couple more minutes and hung up. I left for the train station soon after.
However, I'd forgotten something. I ran back inside, rocketed back up the stairs, and dug £500 out of my secret sock-drawer stash that I keep for special occasions; I was most likely going to have to convert to bits when I got to Bear's Paw.
....................
Looking out the window, there was snow everywhere. I saw several small villages in the valley below and icicles were dangling from every tree.
Other than that, the train ride to Bear’s Paw was somewhat uneventful; all there was to do was get drunk, play Hocuspocus (which I wasn’t too interested in) and tell stories from school for one and a half hours. I remember having two rounds of vodka and losing my footing while I was stepping off the train. If the stewards weren’t so helpful with our luggage, I don't think we would have made it.
We took a taxi to the resort complex itself, which was about two kilometers from the train station. Our group (myself, Shining Armour, 8-Bit, Gaffer, and Poindexter) met the girls (Lyra, Cheerilee, Cadence, Diamond Rose, Moondancer, Berry Punch, and Bonbon) in the lobby, where they were waiting for us, lounging against a massive pile of luggage.
A collective “Yo!” could be heard in the lobby was we hugged and greeted each other.
"Where's Gems?" I asked. "She doesn't seem to be here."
"Family commitments," Cadence told me. "She's in Manehattan with her parents this week. They won't be back until New Year's."
"Oh." Then again, we wouldn't be back until New Year's either.
“We’ve checked us all into the hotel… here are the keys,” Lyra informed us all, and we proceeded towards the two rooms held for us. Our rooms were set at the end of a long hallway; we went into the room on the right while the girls (or fillies, rather) took the one on the left.
Us boys (or colts) unceremoniously threw our stuff on the floor and explored the place. There was an electric fireplace on one end of a big gathering room with a shaggy beige rug, flanked by a pair of giant sofas. A television occupied one corner. The mini-fridge and kitchen were right next to of the sofas.
The bedroom had two decent-sized beds inside it as well as a small closet. The bathroom was impressive, to say the least; a jacuzzi tub and shower were contained in the same small space as the only toilet and sink. Faux stone tile lined the walls.
I ventured across the hallway to check out the girls’ quarters while the guys were getting accustomed. Same old story here, only the rug was slightly more manicured. And that was when I laid my eyes on the balcony - upon opening the sliding glass door, the simple concrete base and boring plastic chairs was a bit of a downer, but the spectacular view of the snow-blanketed valleys and ice-encrusted trees below made up for it.
After a half hour of admiring the view, the buzz from the vodka had begun to wear off when the boys were invited for drinks and a spot of gifting.
Diamond Rose stepped out of the bathroom in what amounted to little more than a skimpy Santa Claus outfit; the red dress she wore only came down to her hips, and the candy-cane stockings drew the attention immediately to her unmentionable bits, which were covered with a pair of silk panties. The red bow on her tail complemented the take me nooooow look about her. The show was becoming too much to handle for me and the boys, given the evidence of our instant collective arousal…
Diamond’s soft tail swished against my masculine area before she gave me a tantalising peek of her most feminine of places. She sat down on her flanks and handed us lot a few presents.
As for myself, I was handed a small heart-shaped box. I shook it and guessed that there was a piece of jewelry inside. I untied the pink bow on the top and opened the box itself.
Inside, I not only found a unique necklace - a gold chain with a circular disk hanging from it that had the words Forever Yours plus her cutie mark etched into one side, and Ryder the other.
"This is a beautiful necklace you've given me, sweetie," I told Rose.
"Thanks, baby," she said before leaning over to kiss my cheek. My face lit up brighter than a Christmas tree and she knew it. I put the necklace on
For the next two hours, we passed out gifts, sipped wine, laughed, and tried to take off Diamond Rose's outfit.
It was roughly 10:00 when she came up to me, eyes half-lidded and clearly drunk, and said "Let's hit the sack..."
Lyra caught on and told the two of us goodnight, and we took our wine glasses and the remainder of an open bottle of sherry across the hall and into the other room.
"You can use the bathroom first," I told Rose as soon as we entered, ostensibly to change out of that saucy outfit.
"Okaaaay..."
"I'll be setting the alarm for 7:30 so we can get an early start."
"Fine with me." She pecked me on the cheek again.
"Just yell when you're done in there."
"I will!"
Three minutes later, she came out wearing a long, white, brushed nylon nightgown kept together only with a piece of string round the waistline.
"You like it?"
"I love it... very much." I then went to turn on the electric fireplace while Rose filled up our wine glasses, emptying the bottle. I went into the bedroom to change into my sleep clothes.
For a while, we sat on the sofa enjoying each others' company and enjoying the wine.
"Forever yours," I said, looking into her dreamy eyes.
"Aww, Ryder, that's so sweet," she replied, and we clinked our wine glasses together. We drank the rest of the wine, set our glasses down on top of the TV set, and made our way into the bedroom. She lied down on one of the beds, right next to me, and put her front hooves around me so we could share one of the most sensual kisses I had ever experienced in my life. I could even taste how drunk she was as she pinned me down on the bed, the kiss becoming wetter and sloppier as it continued.
"Gems... wouldn't like this... very much," I manage to gasp as we came up for some breath.
"I wouldn't worry about it," she said. We locked lips again for a few more seconds.
I then felt the strange urge to tear her clothes off and have my way with her. I literally had to push her away and mentally shun the thought of physical union, mainly because I've only been on nine or so dates. Sex was out of the question this early in the game for me. I breathed through my nose to calm the fire to a degree.
"I wasn't going to touch you tonight," I explained, "I'm not like those sex fiends who go around breaking hearts."
"I would 'ave been disappointed," she told me teasingly. "I was really hoping we'd spend the night together."
"Sleeping in the same bed?"
"For sure!"
With that, we were back at it, kissing and snuggling up against each other, savouring the sensations; my fingers found their way into Diamond Rose's flowing mane, tousling her withers, and feeling every curve of her delectable body through her nightgown.
While we were in an especially deep kiss, my right hand reached for the ribbon that held her heavenly-soft covering in one piece and, with surprisingly good precision, untied it. In one smooth motion, she beckoned it off and exposed her near-perfect physique, freeing her wings and sticking her butt in the air, flashing her hindquarters to the mirror opposite our bed.
"Oh yeah, you've got the right idea," she said, and had me take off my pajama top.
"I wanna feel you against me," she declared, and pressed her warm and comforting body to mine before putting her hooves around me again.
"This feels positively wonderful," I remarked in a whisper, gently kissing her face and ears. She softly moaned and dived in for another passionate kiss as my hands wandered down her naked body and towards her ample flanks.
I managed to sneak my hand down to her soaked silk panties and prepared to touch the downy soft mound that lay beneath, but she scooted away at the very last second.
She gasped in surprise. "Nuh-uh... not tonight."
I stared into her eyes, dumbstruck. She could see the dejection in my face.
"I just don't want to get carried away, okay baby?"
"I understand."
"So don't get worked up..." she whispered into my ear, sending a tingle down my spine.
"Can't you tell? I'm already worked up."
"You didn't have to tell me. I know."
We kissed for a final time, then I spilled: "I love you, Diamond Rose. I mean it... I really do."
She was probably thinking the same thing.
"I've never heard you say it like that before..."
"But what about Gems?"
"Don't worry about her. She's with her family, enjoying the season. Just calm yourself." She kissed me on the cheek.
"But enough about that." I rolled her off of me so that she was laying next to me on the bed. We were still in each others' soothing, protective embrace.
"I wanna hold you all night," I asked of her.
"Mmm, I'd be delighted."
We fell asleep with our arms around each other, not noticing my roommates walking in to settle down for the night.