Happy Hearth's Warming! :D · 6:52am Dec 25th, 2018
I'm going to assume Hearth's Warming takes place around Christmas-ish time, so season's greetings! Just checking in to say that the story is not dead and is still being worked on. :3 The hiatus went on for longer than I expected. We're too close to the finish line to stop now! I am aiming to have it return in January. Happy New Year!
But first, a present!
If you're interested...
Here's a preview from the next chapter, not proof-read yet, so words are subject to change(and punctuation is my weakness, so set your expectations low to hopefully be pleasantly surprised).
“Hold still you little cretin!”
Twilight’s gaze shot up at Sombra’s growl—just in time to see him stomp by with a massive clump of snow raised over his head. He was chasing after Flurry Heart while she innocently giggled and hopped just ahead of him.
“Don’t you dare!” Twilight quickly lowered her book with a shout. “She’s made of porcelain!”
Sombra jerked to a stop, but didn’t drop the snowball, even when he turned to narrow his eyes at her. “Exactly. The cold doesn’t bother her.”
“You’ll break her if you throw that.” Twilight wrinkled her snout in a disapproving frown and sternly added, “Again.”
Sombra’s sour expression twitched as he managed to look somewhat guilty before slowly lowering his arms and letting the mass of snow crumble to the ground. He opened his mouth as if to reply when Pinkie suddenly jumped up from behind a snowbank and motioned in his direction. “He’s unarmed, troops! Fire!”
At her signal, several enchanted servants bounced out from the surrounding bushes and garden walls and started bombarding Sombra with a blanket of well-aimed snowballs. He turned away to protect his face as the snow thudded against his back and shoulders, then immediately spun around with a look of fury once they had run out of ammo. The servants awkwardly scrambled to scoop up more, but scattered in a panic when Sombra roared and charged at them.
Twilight grunted and watched Sombra with a disapproving look before leaning over to wave at her niece, who hopped over curiously. “Over here, Flurry.” Twilight gently lifted her when she jumped up onto her hoof. “You may be waterproof, but you should be careful with that crack in your side.”
“She will be fine.” Sombra marched back over on all fours wearing a displeased glower on his face. A large amount of snow clumped along his mane and backside, and without warning, he suddenly shook himself like a wet dog, tossing snow all over Twilight and Flurry.
“Hey!” Twilight shouted, raising her front legs and wings at a sad attempt to shield Flurry and the book. “I’m trying to read in peace!”
Sombra let out a deep snort and eyed the book through her feathers. “That dirty thing? It looks like somepony dumped it in the woods.”
“That’s not far from the truth,” Twilight grumbled, pulling the book out to show him while Flurry jumped down and moved to join the enchanted servants that continued on with their snowball fight.
Sombra took the book and flipped it over in his claws while Twilight explained, “Pinkie found my cart in the forest when they were looking for us. They brought back my trunk—and this was one of the things inside.”
Sombra opened the book to its title page, his expression unreadable as his gaze slid over it. “From the way you acted in the previous fairy tale, I would have thought you didn’t like reading.”
“That was the storybook’s fault.” Twilight frowned while wrinkling her snout. “The little mermare couldn’t read, so it made sure I couldn’t either. That would have made everything too easy.” She let out a quick snort. “And I could have found a better answer in the Prince's library. At least then the ending wouldn't have been so... horrific. I wouldn't have even needed the three days to go through them all.”
He snapped the book shut and offered it to her. “Well, that would explain your talents in Robin Hood, but it’s not as if you haven’t seen them all before. Didn’t you say that the books here are ones we’ve already read?”
Twilight took the book back and ran her hoof over the textured cover. “Maybe…” She suddenly lifted her gaze and looked at him with a curious glint in her eye, recalling her encounter with the dark spellbook. “But not all of them. You’ve read some that I’ve never even seen.”
“I admit, in my studies, I did come across a few oddities and relics—” Sombra casually scratched his chin until he turned her way. She must have been giving him an intense look, because he froze in place like one of Fluttershy’s rabbits when Winona gave them a visit. “Why are you looking at me like that?”
Twilight’s grin faded and she huffed impatiently, more annoyed that she had forgotten about one of the most important aspects of Beauty and the Beast. “Now that the windigo are gone, we can rest and relax... maybe even… organize books?”
Sombra blinked at her slowly before suddenly straightening up as if a thought had just occurred to him. Shuffling his hind legs quickly over the snowy ground, he beckoned for her to follow. “Would you… like to see something?”
Twilight didn’t hesitate when she jumped up to follow after him through the garden.
Good it is good
Glad I looked inside and I found the treasure.