Chapter 29
___________________________________________________________
A dinging sounded from the kitchen.
“Stellar, could you get the cookies out of the oven, please?” Twilight Velvet’s voice called from inside.
“Okay,” I called back, calling a time-out with Spike for our snowball fight, turning into a cloud and zipping through the open window into the kitchen, rematerialised and used my mane to turn off the timer to stop it dinging, open the oven and lift a cooking tray covered in Hearth’s Warming cookies in the shapes of ponies, trees and decorations.
It has been almost a whole year since I got my wings and horn back.
After we got out of Tartarus, Mama and Auntie Tia, whom I found I could forgive after everything that has happened, put watches on every single family that descended from the Golden Chalice family.
If any of them still hate me, they're pretty good at hiding it, as it's been almost a whole year and not one single attempt against the Royal Family has been made.
Closing the oven with my mane, I carry the tray over to a cooling rack sitting on the kitchen bench and, tilting the tray a little, move the cookies onto the rack. Next to it are three more sets of cookies, each at a different stage of cooling.
I glance around, a mischievous grin creeping onto my lips and start leaning towards one of the cooler cookies—
“If you even try it, I’m telling your mother,” Velvet’s voice calls.
I stop, pouting, then head out the kitchen towards the living room.
Twilight is helping her mother decorate the Hearth’s Warming tree with tinsel, burbles and little figurines. I can’t help noticing how they are putting even more effort into this Hearth’s Warming than last time. Probably because they wanted to make up for how badly my last and first Hearth’s Warming had turned out.
“When will everypony be here?” I ask, glancing towards the door.
Mama and Aunt Celestia are meant to be coming later, along with Shining Armour and Cadance. Rarity and Sweetie Belle aren’t coming, though; unlike they’d planned to last year. This year, while once again their parents are absent (Rarity’s words, not mine) they're going to be spending Hearth’s Warming with Applejack and her family, who are visiting their relatives in Manehatten, along with Scootaloo and Cheerilee (though I had a hunch that was Big Mac's idea).
This means I am going to be the only filly, which does make me feel a bit sad. Luckily, Spike is still as fun as any pony my age, most of the time, and Mama had said they might be bringing a special guest this year, which is exciting.
Twilight’s parents’ house had been rebuilt after... well, after I destroyed the old one. It had been rebuilt to be exactly like it had been before... you know, and we were celebrating Hearth's Warming with them, us all being family.
Twilight chuckles, gliding down from where she’d been placing something close to the top of the tree and brought me in a wing. “Don’t worry, Stellar. I’m sure they’ll all get here soon.” She gave me a reassuring nuzzle, which did make me feel a bit better. “Now, would you like to put the heart on the tree?”
I grin widely and turn my head to the bright pink heart and take it in my mane. Unlike with Christmas back on Earth, instead of a star, Hearth’s Warming trees have a heart on the top, to represent the burning heart of friendship that appeared during the first Hearth’s Warming.
Twilight takes me in her forelegs and flies me up to the top of the tree. I glance back at her, frowning slightly, then place the heart on the top of the tree.
After Twilight has returned us to the ground, I pout up at her.
“What?” she ask, slight anxiousness entering her voice and eyes.
I flap my wings. “I could’ve flown up on my own, just fine. I've been flying for almost a whole year now.”
“Um, well, yes, I know you've been able to fly again for almost a year now, Stellar,” the purple mare began, looking uncertain. “But, um, well...”
I feel a nuzzle to my head and look up at Twilight Velvet. “What Twilight means is, she knows you can fly own your own, honey, but, but that doesn't mean sisters can't have a little help from their older sisters, does it?”
I blink, then look down, scuffing the carpet floor, trying to hide the smile on my face. Okay, when she puts it like that, I guess it's okay.
There's a knock on the door and I turn my head towards it, excitement boiling within me. “I’ll get it!”
Before anypony can say anything, I turn into a cloud of stars, shot over to the door, materialize and open the door with my mane, before my eyes light up.
“Cadance!” I cry, leaping up at her, taking the older Alicorn by surprise, causing us to tumble back a little.
Once she’s recovered from the shock of being tackled, she joins me in giggling and returns my hug. “And how my favourite youngest sister-in-law/cousin?” she asks as we get up and untangle ourselves from each other.
I grin. “Great. Hi, Shining!” I answer, before turning a giving the stallion a hug around his barrel.
He chuckles, tussling my mane (or what counts for me, since my mane is pure magic), returning the hug. “Hey... little sis.” He sighs, shaking his head. “That’s still hard to get used to, even after a whole year.”
I pull away and nod. It had been a little shocking when I realized that, if Twilight is considered my big sister because of us sharing the same blood, it means that Shining Armour is also my big brother. On the upside, I have two of the coolest big brothers (Big Mac is the other) in all Equestria.
Cadance shake her head. “I don’t see why, Shining. I’m perfectly fine with calling her my little sister-in-law. Why are you still getting used to calling her your youngest little sister?”
A part of me wants to point out to Cadance that my being related to all the Element Bearers means there are technically more little sisters Shining hasn’t realized he has yet, but decide against it. It was confusing enough for me and Twilight already, let alone him. Even Mama and Aunt Celestia still had a little trouble wrapping their heads around it.
We go inside and everypony says hello, Twilight and Cadance doing their usual greeting, before Spike came in asking what is taking me so long. I follow him outside and we resume our snowball fight, Twilight and Cadance joining in, Cadance on my team, Twilight on Spike’s.
A few minutes later there is another knock on the door. When Velvet returns with the ponies who’d been knocking I cheer, bounding over and give Mama a big hug, which she returns.
Looking over Mama’s shoulder, I see Aunt Celestia smiling and—
I get out of Mama’s grip, hop down and hurry over to the stallion behind Aunt Celestia and hug him welcomingly. “Hey, Cousin, Blueblood. Happy Hearth’s Warming!”
Blueblood smiles and nods, before glancing at all the other ponies in the room. Everypony gives their hellos and season’s greetings before we got ready for the day’s events.
Twilight and the other Element Bearers aren’t performing in the Hearth’s Warming play again this year, like they had the year Mama returned.
This year, it is going to be some other ponies, professional actors playing the parts. Though, according to Mama, after seeing Twilight and the others play those roles, the actors would have to be pretty good to make me really enjoy it.
Blueblood would get to attend this year. He’ll be sitting with Mama, Aunt Celestia, Shining, Cadance, Twilight and her parents and myself in the Royal Box.
That's later tonight, however. First, we're going for a family walk through the town and have lunch out, as well as visit the local Hearth’s Warming festival. I'm really looking forward to this. There’d been so many things to do there the last time we’d gone out and this year I knew which I’d tried and which I hadn’t and couldn’t wait to try everything I hadn’t last year... you know, before I got depressed and then... yeah, moving on.
With everypony accounted for, we all put on our Hearth’s Warming jumpers and scarves and headed out for a fun family night on the town.
___________________________________________________________
“Why are they here?”
The shrill colt’s voice caused us all to turn, me dropping the ball I'd been about to toss at a pile of bottles. Standing a few feet away is a colt with a brown coat and slicked back grey mane. He is wearing a suit very similar to the one Alchemist had been wearing at the Element Bearers’ first gala when he'd been pretending to be Blueblood.
His eyes are narrowed at both Blueblood and myself.
Celestia glances at Mama, who nods, before asking. “And what is so wrong with that, my little pony?”
The colt looks shocked when he saw the princesses, but then looks back at us, causing both of us to wilt a little under his gaze.
“She’s Nightmare Moon and he tortured a filly!”
Twilight groans and I join her. Of course. We had to run into one of the ponies who still blamed Blueblood for a past neither of us had anything to do with.
“My father may have fallen for the stories, but not me,” the colt looks pityingly at Mama the princesses. “If only they had not poisoned your minds, you would see reason and know that—”
Shining steps forward, his expression saying he was fully intent on telling the young colt off—
“Snark!”
Suddenly the colt’s right ear is surrounded but a green aura and he began saying, “Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow!”
A stallion with a black coat and brown mane stepped forward, then bowed to us. “I do apologize, Your Highnesses,” he says, mostly to me and Blueblood, before scowling down at the colt. “My son still won’t listen to reason. He will be dealt with, I promise.”
Celestia and Mama nod, before he heads off back into the crowd, his son whining and demanding release.
The little outburst had drawn a small crowd, but it quickly dispersed, allowing the us to enjoy our evening.
Blueblood and I both feel hurt by what the colt had said, because it's been year, for crying out loud, but soon Spike, Cadance and Twilight were helping us forget all about it as we enjoyed the festival, challenging each other with each of the booth games, placing wagers on what the losers had to do of the winner.
___________________________________________________________
“Did you have fun tonight, my daughter?” Mama asks as she tucks me into bed.
I nod sleepily; cuddling the plushy of her I’d won at a ball toss game.
It had been so much fun. Even after that rude colt had been so mean to Blueblood, we all had a really fun time. Even Christmas back on Earth had never been so much fun.
We’d spent the rest of the day at the festival, playing the games, watching the shows and just having fun.
When night came, we'd gone off to the Hearth's Warming play. As Mama predicted, while still getting across the message of Hearth's Warming, the play wasn't as fun to watch without Twilight and the others playing the roles of the main characters. Blueblood enjoyed it though, it being the first Hearth's Warming play he'd seen in over two years.
However, I did find humor in that Trixie had somehow gotten the part for Princess Platinum. She pulled her off almost as well as Rarity had. In fact, I noticed Blueblood's eyes never left her whenever she was on the stage. Maybe we'd be adding another member to the Royal Family before next Hearth's Warming.
Mama smiles and leans forward, kissing me on the forehead as my eyes struggle to stay open. “Goodnight, Stellar. See you in the morning.”
I yawn. “G’night, Mama,” I say, then snuggle down into the covers, close my eyes and go to sleep, looking forward to what the morning would bring.