The bell on the door rung as the two entered the donut shop. A bored student looked up from her cell phone and gave them a wave. “Welcome, what can I get’cha?”
“Remember, we’re on a budget, Pollie,” reminded Buzz. Rollie Pollie wasted no time in running over to the display and pressing his face against the display’s glass. He took only a moment before he rattled off his order while pointing at each and every item with his hoof. “I’ll have a fritter. No, wait, that thing right there looks good! I’m going to have that instead...”
Buzz winced as the cashier entered the prices into the register, cutting more and more into their budget. When Pollie’s order was finally done, over half of their recent gain was gone. The cashier turned to Buzz. “Alright sir, what do you want?”
“I’ll, uh… just get some hot coffee please.” Just shy of ten dollars.
Pollie tugged on Buzz’s scarf. “Aren’t you going to get something to eat too?”
Buzz looked at Pollie and then back to the cashier. “And one of the plain glazed donuts.” With that, the total went just over ten dollars. Buzz sighed and paid the tab. “There goes the last street,” he mumbled. He took the tray from the cashier with his magic, earning a burst of amazement from the woman. He looked the tray over and spotted a bottle of milk. He looked at his receipt. “Excuse me, we didn’t order milk.” His horn lit up to pass the milk back but the cashier held up her hand.
“It’s on the house. I wouldn’t want to be out there myself right now with just a scarf,” the cashier pointed to the snow falling outside. Work was getting off for most, and crowds were forming. Sure enough, it seemed that Buzz was the lightest dressed. Even the ponies wore at least a hat and scarf. “And your cousin’s so cute I couldn't help but spoil him a little.” She leaned over the counter, finger extended.
“He’s my brother!” Pollie announced. Still, he craned his neck and met the finger halfway with his snout. “Boop,” he said, with a giggle.
Buzz watched as his brother got a decent meal of adoration from the woman. He had to clamp their bond closed for a moment to block more than a little jealousy towards his brother, and then some self loathing for feeling it. Buzz gently nudged his brother. “What do we say, Pollie?”
Pollie nodded. “Thank you for the milk, Miss,” he squinted to read her nametag, “Claire!”
Claire’s smile grew bigger. “You’re welcome.”
Buzz placed the food tray on a table. “Come on now, let’s get some food in you.”
Pollie was loathe to pull himself away from the flow of emotion but at the same time the donuts called to him. Buzz helped him out of the numerous layers of clothing Buzz had insisted Pollie wear. Pollie pushed his clothes aside as he slid into the spartan particleboard booth. He bounced in his seat as he tried to use his teeth to get the cap off the bottle of milk.
“Here, let me get that for you.” With a quick glow of his horn, Buzz took the cap off and poured it into a coffee cup. “Careful, don’t spill it.”
A small edge of wonder joined Claire’s flow of warm fuzzies. “So, what brings you guys out here?” she asked.
Buzz got into the booth across from Pollie. “We’re just carolling. This is Pollie’s first winter here on Earth, and he’s always wanted to celebrate Christmas.”
Claire nodded. “It’s not for a few more days, but that’s a good start I guess. Do you usually celebrate Heartswarming instead?”
“Hearthswarming,” Buzz said, “And no, changelings usually don't celebrate that. Not really our thing.” ‘Except when we were playing a part,’ he thought.
Claire reached under the counter. “Well, if you want to do something really traditional,” she pulled out a flier and held it up, “you can’t go wrong with ‘A Christmas Carol’. The community college puts it on every year. There’s a performance tonight if you want to go.”
Buzz took the flier with his magic to read. Buzz didn't need to feel the excitement coming off of Pollie, a glance at his face was enough to tell him that they were going to see a play tonight. “How much?” he asked.
Claire grinned. “It’s like ten bucks or so. It is community college theater after all.”
“How about that, Pollie? You want to go?” Pollie nodded and Buzz smiled back. “Alright then, we’ll go after you finished your food.”
With that, Pollie shoved the rest of his bear claw into his mouth, much to his brother’s surprise before washing it down with his milk. “Come on, let’s go!” He hurriedly tried to put his clothes back on, but only succeeded in getting himself tangled up. Buzz got out of his seat and walked over to Pollie’s side, helping him out of his bind. The moment he was able to walk again, he practically ran over to the door, pacing back and forth as Buzz took his coffee and donut in his magic. “Thank you miss Claire! Merry Christmas,” Pollie shouted, before he pushed open the door and left, followed by Buzz.
Buzz paused in the door and turned back to Claire. “Thanks again. You don’t know how much this means to him.”
Claire gave him a wave. “No problem. Stay warm. Happy Holidays.”
“Happy Holidays,” Buzz waved back before turning to leave. “Pollie, slow down, we’ve got time before it starts.”