“IT’S TIME! OCTAVIA! GET DOWN HERE, IT’S TIME TO OPEN PRESENTS!” I heard Vinyl yell from the bottom of the stairs. I chuckled slightly, making sure I did not make a mistake in wrapping the gift I was working on.
Of course, I was one of those people. I always managed to buy my gifts fairly early, but I also always waited until the last minute to wrap the presents, increasing the chance that someone would discover them before they were supposed to. This year, however, I was not concerned. I had found an amazing hiding spot that no one would ever think to look in.
“I mean, really. Who would ever think to look inside of a pillow?” I muttered to myself. I briefly thought about what would happen if someone sat on the pillow, but quickly pushed this thought aside to focus on wrapping Vinyl’s present.
This year, I had been invited to spend Hearth’s Warming with my two friends, and we had decided to exchange gifts as well. I had bought and given all of my other friends and family their gifts already so that I would be able to spend time here, so all I had to worry about was not messing up the wrapping job I was doing.
“Yes yes Vinyl, I know, I’m here, don’t worry,” I heard Octavia respond to Vinyl as she came down the stairs.
“Daniel! Are you coming?” Vinyl asked me as I heard her start walking towards me.
“Hey! Don’t come in here, I’m still wrapping your present!” I yelled to her, spinning around to face her.
“You’re still doing that? I wrapped my gifts last week,” she told me smugly.
“Yeah? Well you have magic to do it, and I have to use my hands. It’s really annoying,” I told her as I went back to wrapping.
“Well, hurry up, Octavia and I are ready to start,” she said, trotting back into the living room and sitting down on the far couch. I quickly finished wrapping the present, and picked up Octavia’s gift as well. I turned and walked into the living room, where the two mares were waiting for me.
“Alright, I’m ready” I told them. Vinyl motioned towards the tree.
“Well? Put them under the tree, you can’t just give them to us, we have to take them from under the tree,” she told me. I nodded sarcastically.
“Ah yes, of course. How foalish of me,” I said with a laugh. I placed my two boxes under the tree by the stairs, next to all of the other gifts.
“Why don’t you go first, Vinyl? You’re obviously the most excited one here,” Octavia told her.
“Well, don’t mind if I do!” she exclaimed, popping up from her place on the couch. I was quick to steal her spot, not that she really cared. Vinyl walked over to the tree, and scanned the small amount of boxes for her name.
“I’ll start with Octavia’s, since Daniel just put his here,” she said to herself more than anyone. She picked up a medium-sized box that was wrapped in white paper, with a neon blue bow holding everything together. The colors matched Vinyl’s coat and mane perfectly.
“This paper is really cool Tavi,” she said while sitting down next to the mare.
“Thank you, it was actually rather difficult finding a color that so closely resembled your mane,” she mused.
“Daniel?” Vinyl asked me, and I nodded, standing up and picking up the gift that Vinyl had gotten for me. The present was wrapped in yellow paper with a red bow accenting it. I thought it looked quite nice.
“I suppose that’s leaves me,” Octavia said as she stood up. She picked up my gift to her from under the tree, and came back to sit down.
“Alright, ready? Open them,” I said aloud, undoing the bow on top of my box. The sounds of paper rustling was all that could be heard for a few moments.
“...oh, wow!” Vinyl exclaimed as she pulled out a large, grey hoodie from her box. She smiled at the front, before turning it around to show me.
“...is that a Cohoof and Cambria hoodie?” I asked.
“Hell yeah! This is great! Thanks Tavi,” she thanked her friend, who had a rather proud look on her face.
I looked down at my present, and pulled the last bit of paper off the gift. Inside, I pulled out...
“...is this a... a capo!” I quickly realized.
“Yeah man, for your guitar. Look at it though,” Vinyl told me with a hint of pride in her voice. I looked closely at the capo, only to see that not only was it painted in the colors of Vinyls coat and mane, but across the bar of the capo was the word “Vinyl.” Overall, this was an amazing gift, put simply.
“That’s really cool! Thanks a lot Vinyl, this is now my go-to capo,” I told her with a warm smile.
“Good, that’s what I was hoping for,” she told me, before looking back to Octavia. She had just opened her present, and pulled out a...
“Oh, goodness. This is simply beautiful,” she mulled to herself. Octavia held a water bottle in her hand, but not just any run-of-the-mill bottle. The body was a dark grey titanium-aluminum alloy, and engraved on the side of the bottle by unicorn magic was the word “Octavia.” Above that was Octavia’s cutie mark, also engraved into the side of the bottle.
“This is... this is purely magnificent. Thank you Daniel,” she told me with a genuine smile on her face. I nodded, happy that she was content, even thrilled with the gift.
“Alright, one more time,” Vinyl said. This time, we all just got up together to get our presents. I sat down, Octavia’s gift in hand. Vinyl had my gift to her, and Octavia held Vinyl’s gift.
“Ready?” Open them,” Vinyl told us, and the sounds of paper rustling filled the house once again. I was first to get my gift open.
“A mug... and on the side, it says... shut your...” I trailed off. The mug was white, and on the side of it, were the words “shut your,” and underneath that was a... musical scale?
“Shut your... Eff, Eh, Cee, E... oh...” I smiled, mentally kicking myself for not immediately getting the joke.
“Get it?” Octavia asked me with a large grin.
“Yep. Shut your face,” I chuckled to myself. The notes on the scale were arranged in the order of the notes “F,” “A,” “C,” and “E,” spelling out “face.” Pretty clever, if you ask me.
“I love it! Thank you, Octavia,” I said sincerely. She nodded with a smile, before Vinyl began yelling about her gift.
“A studio pouch, but... there’s something inside,” she told herself, before unzipping the bag.
“...a new set of artists pencils, and a set of colored pencils to match! Hey, how’d you know I needed a new set?” she asked me with a laugh.
“You were complaining about it last week,” I told her with a smirk on my face. The studio pouch I got her had the word “LOVE” on the side, but the “O” in the word was a vinyl record. You wouldn’t know it by looking at her, but Vinyl was quite the artist when she wanted to be, and she absolutely loved drawing.
“I love this, thank you,” she told me happily. I nodded my response.
Finally, Octavia managed to get Vinyl’s gift open.
“You do a very good job of making sure we get a workout when we open your presents,” Octavia quipped. She dropped the paper, and...
“...a brand new pair of saddlebags! My, come to think of it, mine were getting pretty worn down, were they not?” she mused to herself while running her hoof over the bag. They were a light purple in color, and the straps were an even lighter shade of purple. They paired perfectly with Octavia’s eyes and cutie mark.
“This is perfect, thank you Vinyl, really,” she told her, clutching the bag to her chest.
For a moment, we all just looked around. We had all given and received wonderful gifts, spent time with our close friends, and now...
“Well, I guess that’s it for presents. Now we have to clean up this mess,” Octavia said apathetically, motioning towards all of the paper on the floor.
“Or... alternatively, we could not, and just go eat,” Vinyl told us smugly. Octavia looked to me. I shrugged my shoulders.
“Works for me,” I thought aloud standing up. Vinyl was quick to join me. We both stood and watched Octavia, who sighed audibly.
“Curse peer pressure,” she said quietly, before standing up and joining us in the kitchen.
“...hey guys?” I called out. Both mares looked to me.
“Thanks a lot for inviting me over. It really means a lot to me,” I said happily, yet sadly at the same time.
“Of course, you’re our friend, and we’re more than glad to have your here. Happy Hearth’s Warming,” Octavia spoke softly. I smiled.
“Happy Hearth’s Warming...”