//------------------------------// // Chapter 22: INFERNO // Story: The Son of infinity // by Krystl_Fae //------------------------------// CAJANKOEPU Andromeda "WAKEUPWAKEUPWAKEUPWAKEUPWAKEUPWAKEUP!!! IT'S HEARTH'S WARMING!!!" "Five more minutes, Cadenza. It's too early for this..." "It's 7:30! You never sleep in this late!!" I reluctantly roll out of bed and land on the floor. "Oomph..." "C'mon!! C'mon!! Everyone's waiting!!" "You'll feel better once you've had something warm to drink." Mum came out of the walk-in closet wearing a red and white outfit and helped me up. "C'mon, let's go!!!" Cadenza rushed off ahead to the main hall where a large decorated tree stood with numerous brightly-wrapped boxes underneath. I sat down on one of the chairs and gratefully drank from a cup of hot cocoa that mum passed me. Blueblood, Twilight, Spike, and Shining Armour (who was officially "on duty", not that anyone was really going to enforce that given he was invited as a guest) were already waiting for us around the base of the tree. "I'm not sure I entirely understand the occasion I know it's a holiday celebrating the union of the three tribes but... what's going on?" I whispered to mum, who sat down beside me to explain. "Every year, ponies celebrate the founding of Equestria and the unification of the three pony tribes, as you know, by expressing their friendship to one another through the giving and receiving of gifts with those they cherish and care for." "Oh... so that's why you had me looking at gifts for them with you." I whispered back, only to receive a nod and a smile in return. "Wait..." a thought came to me, "But I haven't gotten you a gift." Mum smiled and gave me a hug. "But you are my gift. Every day I spend with you is precious; that's why it's called 'present'." She gave me a wink, and I smiled. "Now," she turned to address everyone else, "Who want's their presents first?" <<<90 minutes later>>> Eventually, all the gifts under the tree had been opened. Blueblood was admiring his new suit, Cadance was obsessing over a new makeup set, Shining was... well, shining his sword with a tin of blade polish he'd received, Twilight was already halfway through the book I'd gotten for her (which was quite the feat considering how thick it was!), Spike was chowing down on some Hearth's Warming gem cookies in the shape of little ponies, pretending to be a monster that was attacking them and "gobbling them all up", to use his own words. Mum was sitting down, a wing draped around me as I read through the back cover on a book detailing mythical creatures that live in far away lands that I'd never heard of before now. When I'd finished with that, I picked up the other book that had been wrapped with it from where it was sitting by my hooves and turned it over to read the back cover. Despite the name Inferno, which might imply fire magic, or a fictional story about a force of destruction and the quest to quell it, the full name turned out to be "Inferno, a guide on raising the flaming songbird", which was quite an odd title. Did it mean resurrecting a songbird? Bringing one up from infancy? Did it mean phoenixes by "flaming songbirds"? ...after reading some more of the back cover, apparently so. It was a guide on raising phoenixes. Not that it wasn't a good read and probably quite interesting, but... well, mum has Philomena, sure, but she's quite old and certainly tame. I've even hung around Philomena on a few occasions when she visited the castle, after she learned I wasn't a threat who was trying stealing away her time with and affection from Celestia, at least. I suppose it is a nice novelty though, so I can't complain. Who knows, maybe one day I'll raise a phoenix of my own? All in all, with everyone feeling as happy as they were, I'd say I like Hearth's Warming... it's nice, being with those you care about and just... enjoying everything. Cadenza suddenly came out of her trance and looked over to us. "Oh, that's right! This is your first Hearth's Warming, isn't it Andy?" "Yeah... I guess it is." "It is also the first anniversary of when I found you." "So, it's like it's his birthday, too, then?" "Well, since we don't have any official records of when that is, and Andromeda doesn't remember, I suppose it is somewhat." Everyone gave a (mostly) enthusiastic "happy birthday", to which I responded by attempting to pull back into the hiding place of mum's wing, to which she laughed. "Still not used to all the attention, I see." I shook my head. "How about we go somewhere a little more quiet for a moment, I'm sure they won't mind." We got up and headed back to our chambers where brunch had been served and was waiting for us when we returned. "I figured all the attention wouldn't be to your preference, so I made arrangements for just us to spend Hearth's Warming day together. Why don't you get started, and I'll be back in a minute." I followed her suggestion as mum went into the bedroom to change out of her Hearth's Warming getup. The time alone gave me some space to think. A year ago, I would have been dead. A body lying on the streets of Canterlot without anyone caring about my welfare. But then Celestia found me. A princess of an entire nation stopped everything to help me, to make sure I was okay, to watch over me as I healed, to take me in... This past year has been a roller coaster of emotions... from fear to curiosity, hope to mourning, and anticipation to wonder. Everything, all of this... is because of her, Celestia... the mare I now think of as my own mother... I don't think I could ever repay her kindness if I tried, her generosity... I felt a tear well in the corner of my eye as I got emotional, and as mum came back into the room I got up, walked over, and gave her the biggest hug I could manage with my small size compared to her. "Thank you." She wrapped her wings around me and hugged me back in return. "You're welcome, my little sunshine." When we parted, she raised something in her magic. "Put this on." It was a strip of cloth-- a blindfold. I did as she said though. "And no peeking!" A year ago, presented with this situation, I would have run. I would have bolted straight through the window and tumbled down the mountainside, so long as I could get away from this place. But now... From somewhere near me I could hear sounds shuffling and... sifting? "Alright, open your eyes and take the blindfold off." When I opened my eyes there was a rather large insulated metal tray on the ground before me; large enough to fit a pony on. On the tray was a small grey pile of... "...ash..." I carefully raised my hoof before stopping, looking to mum for a sign to continue. She nodded, and I turned my attention back to the mound of ash. I slowly brought my hoof to it and shifted some of the topmost layers, before gently sifting through the pile, like a mother phoenix would to search out their chicks once they hatch. Eventually my hoof came across something solid in the pile, and I carefully shovelled the ash out of the way with my hooves to expose it. I lifted the small thing from it's resting place in the ash in my hooves and it began to move, before sneezing a cloud of ash right into my face. Mum giggled at the "explosive" makeover it had given to my face, before I sneezed right back at the ash that had irritated my nose, blowing most of the soot off of the creature in my hooves, which gave little noises akin to laughter at my misfortune. The creature righted itself before tilting it's head to get a good look at me. And there in my hooves, was a young phoenix hatchling. "I figured you might want a friend when we can't be there, and you've proven yourself capable of handling animals, so I decided it was time you had a pet of your own." "What's-" I paused and looked at the tailfeathers, a tell-tale sign of a phoenix's gender, "-her name?" "She doesn't have one yet. I thought you would like to give her one given that she is yours." I looked at the small, yet already curious phoenix again. She hopped around on my hooves for a moment, before attempting to make for my back, only to fail and nearly fall to the ground. I caught her and placed her on my back in-between my wings (in the hopes that she wouldn't accidentally claw them with her tiny, yet surprisingly sharp, talons) and from there she made her way up and onto my head, puffing her chest out proudly at the achievement as if she'd just climbed a mountain. "I think I know exactly what I'll call her." She gave me a cocky look that seemed to say "Oh? You do now, do you? We'll see about that." I smiled to myself. "Yes. Yes I do."