//------------------------------//
// Trapped by Tradition 
// Story: Underneath the White Berries of Love 
// by PrimevalBrony 
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Luna's silver moon lit up all of Equestria, and for a particular town which had all of its houses in two horizontal rows albeit one, the moon's luminous glow was clashing with multiple beams of coloured light coming from the only house not set in these rows. Party Favor, the blue unicorn with a curly mane was practically bounding around the success of a party he had held. He was always in competition with himself (and the yellow Earth pony stallion he dared not speak of), and he had wiped the floor with his last party; it was so successful. Everypony in town had turned up, even some ponies from the Crystal Empire and Canterlot had come to attend this fantastic event. It was Party Favor's Hearth's Warming Eve party, and as such tinsel and fairy lights were strewn across the room like a festive spider's web, filling it with a merry atmosphere. Party surveyed his guests, making sure they were enjoying themselves, and his surveying was showing positive results; Ammonite Fossil - the green unicorn stallion - was having the time of his life, he was even managing to chat up Night Glider, the jet black mare he had a huge crush on; Golden Maize was drinking her first cup of punch, each sip lowering her inhibitions more. Party chuckled as he wandered through more guests: one of the most notable was Fleetfoot the Wonderbolt, who had decided to stay away from the huge Wonderbolt party and instead hang out at a smaller gathering; although there were a few more familiar faces among the crowd, such as Starlight Glimmer, Lemonhearts and various others.

But eventually Party Favor got to his best friend Double Diamond; and despite there being a massive party around the white Earth Pony, the whole tone dropped. Double Diamond's face was adorned with a glum look; and had he brought his ski helmet he would have covered his eyes with the visor. As a mare walked by him and brushed his chin seductively with her long tail and giggled drunkenly, Double Diamond rolled his eyes and scowled; and Party Favor asked, "Why so glum chum? I held this party for everypony, and you're killing the mood. Now what's up?"

Double Diamond let out a long tired sigh at his friend and replied, "Look Favor; I have been hit on more times tonight by mares and stallions than even that Trenderhoof bloke has in a lifetime. And I don't like it; I mean, all they want with me is my looks. They couldn't give a drake's flank about my personality or anything else; and I'm sick of it."

"Look Double, who said you had to go after any of them? You don't deserve a mare that is just into you for looks. Listen, just get some cake, talk to your friends, maybe have a dance or two; then watch the clock as midnight drops and Hearth's Warming is upon us!" Party Favor exclaimed, and Double Diamond could only respond with a sigh as he left the gloomy corner of the room.

As Party Favor dragged the expert skier through the convoy of ponies, a mare smacked Double Diamond's rump seductively with her tail and giggled sexily; and Double Diamond wanted to rap her one across the face. But before he could and start the biggest fight in party history, Party Favor brought him to the ring of tables that sat in roughly the centre of the room. And upon one of these there sat the largest cake Double Diamond had ever seen. It was a Douglas fir in shape and colour, and the white stallion thought he was looking at a real tree, it was that lifelike. Pinkie Pie clearly had gone all out making this cake for Party Favor's party the best it could be, and Double Diamond didn't feel like taking a slice of it; not because of depression, but rather because he didn't want to ruin Pinkie's hard work. So instead of doing that, he grabbed a paper plate and got some of the party food: some small vegetable kebabs, hay bale blankets (piggies in blankets), even a few apple slices; and he stood by the tree cake, nibbling at one of the kebabs.

As he chewed on the ball of hay in the kebab, he looked around the room and mentally checked off all the mares that had even looked at him with eyes that said "bedroom". It wasn't too hard, seeing as roughly half the mares there were already giving him that look; and it didn't help that most of them had inhibitions lower than the deepest ocean. But luckily he manage to see Ammonite and Night Glider nearby, and he smiled softly. Ammonite was one of Double Diamond's close mates, and seeing him with Night Glider - another one of his close friends and also Ammonite's crush - both together made Double Diamond happy; but it reminded him gravely that he couldn't get his own partner that would love him as deeply as Ammonite and Night do with each other. He let out a sigh as he picked up an apple slice and chewed softly. He decided to move from his station at the cake into the foyer.

Wandering past pony after pony, Double Diamond ended up in a good place for him to eat his food in peace, as well as not be bothered by any drunken flirtatious mare, and he finished off the last hay bale blanket on his plate; making sure nopony was looking at him dreamily. Just as he was about to find somepony to talk to, all of the ponies moved closer to the clock. All except one; the curly-maned pink unicorn mare Sugar Belle. She shifted closer to him and exclaimed, "Hello Diamond. Nice seeing you up and about."

Double Diamond looked at her as she stood facing him and replied, "Well there's no nighttime ski events, so I had to come here. Besides, it's Party Favor's party, and I need to be there for my best friend."

Sugar Belle giggled slightly at his voice. She never knew why she got so giddy whenever she was around him, but she always brushed it off as being just simply a quirk of her personality. However as she giggled, she looked up and immediately blushed; and Double Diamond also looked up. There it was, dangling by a beautiful red ribbon, the familiar oval leaves and white berries of mistletoe. "Oh dear..." she stammered, blushing deeply.

"I know. We're stuck now. Celestia's sake, this stupid tradition is rubbish." Double Diamond barked, but immediately he stopped being angry and tried to be optimistic. "But hey," he continued, "tradition's tradition."

"That is true." Sugar Belle replied, and she leaned closer to Double Diamond. She examined his face and her pink cheeks became adorned with a rosy glow; his cheeks matching hers. She always did think that he was rather attractive, but she never truly accepted that thought. She softly pressed his lips up against his own and closed her eyes for the kiss. Double Diamond blushed deeply as she kissed him, and he found himself kissing her back. But it wasn't the kiss that intrigued him; but rather that he was kissing one of his best friends, and it didn't feel wrong at all. In fact, he loved it more than the time he set an Equestrian record for longest air time in skiing; he was wondering why had never done it before.

The kiss lasted for a couple of minutes, and as they broke away Double Diamond's cyan eyes looked into Sugar's beautiful purple eyes. A new feeling sparked in Double Diamond; and she was feeling the same way. They both ended up kissing again, but for much longer this time; and slight moans of bliss escaped their mouths. This time when they broke away, Double Diamond immediately sighed, "I love you Sugar Belle."

"I...I love you too Double Diamond. But um, before we rush into things and do something we'd regret, let's just go over to the others and watch as midnight falls." Sugar Belle answered.

"Right. After all, it is better to spend Hearth's Warming with the one you love." Double Diamond chuckled nervously, taking Sugar's hoof in his own smiling as he looked into her eyes once more. The two wandered towards the group, continually nuzzling each other's cheek; and sometimes giving each other a small peck on the cheek.

Party Favor dimmed the disco lights as the room became lit only by the small specks of scarlet red, grass green, cerulean blue and golden yellow from the fairy lights; and all focus turned to the large clock counting down to midnight. Blowouts were coated with many a pony's lips as the clock started to edge closer and closer to midnight; the anticipation getting higher and higher. Ten...nine...eight...seven...six...five...four...three...two...one... The clock chimed loudly as horns were honked, cheers were let out, blowouts were blown, and in the middle of the chaos in the party Double Diamond and Sugar Belle softly embraced. Eventually, Double Diamond perked up and he went to the tree to get one of the few gifts he had brought to the party. It was addressed to Sugar; and she opened it to reveal a brilliant cupcake recipe book written by Cup Cake herself. Sugar smiled brightly as she looked at Double Diamond and said, "Thank you so much. Happy Hearth's Warming love."

"Happy Hearth's Warming." Double Diamond replied as the two ponies once again embraced by the warm fireplace, happy to be in each other's warm hooves.


THE END.  HAVE A MERRY CHRISTMAS