//------------------------------//
// On the Fourth Day 
// Story: Twilight's 12 Pains of Christmas 
// by TheDriderPony 
//------------------------------//

	After the events of the previous morning, Twilight chose not to sleep in her master bedroom that evening. Instead, she decided it might be safer to bunk with Spike. His room, after all, was easily large enough to accommodate a second bed, or possibly a third if the occupants didn't mind hopping over the hoofboard to get in. Though it had taken some rearranging of his comic book collection, Twilight found herself that night next to the window in Spike's room. The room's placement in the castle gave it a stunning view of Luna's moon, as well as the gently rolling hills which eventually rose into Mount Canter in the distance. The area was dotted with groves of trees and small tributary streams which weaved between the hills. At this time of year, everything was covered in a light frost. Just enough to make the world glitter like diamonds in the moonlight. 

Despite all this, Twilight's restless mind could find neither peace nor tranquility in the unfamiliar bed. Though Spike snored peacefully across the room, her thoughts were in turmoil, roiling and frothing over a singular topic.

The "gifts".

Though they lacked any of the care or sentiment one would expect to come with a gift, she had taken to calling them such all the same, if only for lacking a better collective term. They were annoying, true. Hazardous, possibly. But until she had tried to go to sleep, she had not fully grasped what a danger they might present. A realization which had led her to switch rooms. 

Somepony had been in her house.

Somepony had been in her house, without her knowledge and right under her very nose on three separate nights. Not only that, but they had been in her room. They had been in her bedroom, while she slept, completely helpless and unawares. It was only the thought that this was all some sort of forced lesson or prolonged prank that let her still sleep at home at all. Maybe even it all actually was intended as legitimate gifts, only from somepony with cripplingly weak social skills. As always, rationalizations had calmed Twilight down. She was perfectly content replacing an "unlikely but terrifying" potential scenario with a "more probable, and only slightly unsettling" one. It was these thoughts that finally allowed the panicky purple princess to get some sleep.





Surprisingly, it was Spike who woke up first the following morning. Rolling out of bed, he made his way over to his own bathroom, scratching his scales idly as he did so. He walked over to his sink, which was conveniently located at just the right height for him, and gazed blearily into his reflection. He smacked his lips a few times, grimacing at the taste of dragon morning breath. He took a deep breath, held it a moment for a few internal chemical reactions to to initialize, then quickly craned his head upward and released good-sized fiery blast. This had the simultaneous effects of releasing any flammable digestive gases that may have built up overnight, as well as burning off all morning-breath causing bacteria. Now fully awake, he smiled at himself as his heat treated teeth glinted in the mirror. He reached for the mirror, only to suddenly pull away and look back into the main room. Twilight, as far as he could tell, was still fast asleep. Confidence restored, he turned back to the mirror and pressed a small defect near one side with a single claw. The mirror tilted inward until it clicked. Releasing the pressure, Spike drew back his claw as the mirror swung forward, revealing a secret door. 

After checking once more to make sure Twilight was still asleep, Spike open the door fully and looked in. It was a small space, roughly and irregularly cut out from the surrounding crystal. It was barely large enough that he could hide inside, though such a venture would be incredibly cramped. A scrap of cloth lined the bottom, a cast off piece from one of Rarity's old projects. Carved into the top was a red sigil, filled with and surrounded by archaic-looking runes. With a small breath, he puffed out the tiniest wisp of dragonfire. As flame met sigil, the runes turned green and began glowing softly. This held for a moment, until five small objects fell from the center of the circle with barely audible clinks against the fabric lining. Snatching them, Spike quickly closed the door and the mirror resumed its innocent facade.

Licking his lips, he opened his claws slowly. A little suspense always enhanced the flavor. Then again, Twilight could wake up at any time. Choosing safety over presentation, he opened his claws the rest of the way to inspect today's haul. Two quartz, a garnet, a lavender amethyst, and... was that a black pearl? Ember must have been feeling generous today. Popping the other four bite sized gems in his mouth, he tucked the pearl away for later. As he crunched, he could hardly stop himself from moaning. Today's combination was just so good! The soft flavor of the quartz blended perfectly with the rich garnet, while the tangy amethyst overrode the normally bitter aftertaste left by the quartz. He almost regretted not adding the pearl to the mix, wondering just what kind of flavor it would have added. But a rare stone like that was worth saving, regardless of the recipe. So absorbed was he with his snack that he failed to notice the soft sound of hooves on crystal.

"Good morning Spike!" Twilight called out cheerily.

"Gah!" he responded as he jumped in shock and surprise. It was only sheer luck that he had just swallowed the last of the gem bits, or else Twilight would have received a faceful of rocky shrapnel. Completely ignorant of the bloody accident she'd so nearly missed, Twilight continued around the hyperventilating dragon to his sink. She knelt down, as it was the only was to reach the shortened sink and mirror without straining her neck, and turned on the water. As she began rinsing and gargling, Spike's pulse finally began to slow as his breathing returned to normal levels. "J-Jeez, Twilight," he stuttered "Give a dragon a little warning why don't you?"

She rinsed once more and spit before turning back to her sort-of host. "Sorry Spike, I thought you would have heard me coming." She grabbed a towel with her magic as she dabbed the moisture from her muzzle. "What had your attention so focused you didn't notice me?"

"I- uhh..." he glanced about nervously, looking for an excuse. "I was... looking at myself in the mirror. Yeah, that's it. Trying to see if I hit a new growth spurt or anything!" He finished with an enthusiastic, if somewhat hammy, grin.

Twilight raised an eyebrow, but let it slide. "Well... okay then. Just pay more attention to your surroundings."

"Y-yeah, sure," he chuckled awkwardly, "I'll make sure to do that."

Morning rituals complete, they headed towards the kitchens together for breakfast. The chatted amiably for a time about little things. Plans for the day, anecdotes about dreams, thoughts on the weather. Simple casual morning conversation you could hear in any given household in Equestria. And then Spike just had to go and bring up the one thing that made their mornings special.

"So, you think there's going to be more stuff today?"

Twilight groaned. "For Celestia's sake I hope not." She hung her head morosely as she continued, "This is getting to be a real pain, and I'm starting to run out or reasonable explanations. "

"Well, maybe it'll be something good today?" Spike offered optimistically. "Who knows, after all these birds maybe we'll get something useful? Like a bundle of fresh quills. Or maybe some cans of scale polish? Hey, for all we know there might be a pre-release edition of the new Power Ponies comic!"

Twilight chuckled as the mood lightened. "Thanks Spike, you're right. Who knows. Maybe we'll get lucky and get a swarm of parasprites who'll eat everything else then leave."

Spike gave her a look. "Jeez Twilight, good thing Fluttershy didn't hear you say that."

"Yeah... good point. Forget I said anything. I haven't had my coffee yet."

As they approached the kitchens, they could clearly here sounds coming from behind the doors. It was indistinct, but clearly there. Twilight huffed in frustration. "Sorry to disappoint, Spike," she groused, "But from the sound of it, we've got even more birds." She vented some frustration on the kitchen doors as she slammed them open. The sound of door meeting wall was not a discreet one, and it managed to successfully frighten the multitude of birds resting in and around the pear tree located on top of their food preparation counter. The hens were off first, and began running about like their heads were chopped off. The turtledoves took to the skies, though they always remained close to one another. Accompanying them in the air were four small black birds, which alternated between flying and hopping across the cooking implements. The partridge remained cool as a cucumber, and was apparently unfazed by the noise. Twilight frowned at the chaos, until she noticed the new birds and her face lit up with an idea.

"Spike," she stated as she headed away from the kitchens, "see if you can corral them into the ballroom. Applejack may not have been able to help us, but I have a better idea now of just who might."





"I'm sorry, I don't quite follow. Could you explain it to me again, please? If that's alright."

Twilight sighed at her friend's timidity as she led the way to the ballroom. "Let me show you first, and maybe it will make a bit more sense."

Once more Twilight opened the doors to the grand ballroom with her magic. It was just as stunning as the previous day, though this seemed lost on the new pony witnessing it. Her eyes were focused on the menagerie at the center.

"Oh my stars!" Fluttershy gushed as she sped over to where the birds were roosting in and around the small grove. "Twilight, I had no idea you were starting an animal sanctuary in your castle."

Twilight's hopeful expression fell. "So they're not yours then?"

Fluttershy looked up questioningly from the chicken she was nuzzling. "Mine? What do you mean?"

"As I tried to explain on the way over, these birds and trees have been showing up in the castle while Spike and I sleep. First it was just one, then two, then three, and now four! I didn't think much of the birds at first," she explained, "Partridges are ground based and don't fly south, Prench hens aren't native here and are likely pets or livestock, and turtledoves don't migrate. But those!" She pointed at the quartet of new birds, "I don't know what they are, but their size and shape looks very much like a migratory species to me."

"Oh! Those are Colly birds!" Fluttershy exclaimed as she she leaned forward for one to climb into her mane. "I'm surprised to see some here. Not only are they not native to Equestria, but they should be far south by now."

Twilight nodded. "That essentially was my line of thinking. I thought that maybe you had been putting them here since they missed their chance to head south. But I take it that it wasn't you?"

Fluttershy shook her head, "I'm sorry Twilight, but I didn't put these birds in your house. I've never even seen a Colly bird outside of my books."

Twilight hung her head. "Figures..." she muttered. Her head rose again as an idea came to her. "Say, do you think you could maybe house them? It's not that I don't like birds or anything, but I'm sure they'd appreciate your warm and cozy cottage to this cold stone castle."

Fluttershy hesitated, but after a moment of fighting shook her head. "I'm sorry, but I really can't. My cottage is already filled to capacity with other little critters who couldn't stand the cold. I'm completely full." She turned to look longingly at the Colly birds not currently in her mane. "But... could I come back regularly please? If only just to see them?"

Twilight smiled, though not without a twinge of disappointment. "Of course, Fluttershy. You can come by any time to see them. You're always welcome here."

Twilight gasped as the air was pushed from her lungs by the sudden (and surprisingly forceful) hug. "Oh thank you, thank you, thank you!" Fulttershy cheered, before finally releasing Twilight from her bear hug.  She turned back to the birds. "Good-bye for now little bird friends! I'll be back soon to visit!" With that she began to fly back towards the main doors. "Thank you so much Twilight! I'll be back to see them in just a little while! I just need to go make sure everyone gets fed back at the cottage before they start to turn on each other!"

And with the sound of doors slamming meekly, she was gone. Twilight looked to where Fluttershy had flown off for a moment before turning back the her cluster of "gifts". "Well, I suppose that went about as well as it could have. I'm honestly not sure what else I should have expected."