//------------------------------// // Subject 135: A Hearth's Warming To Remember // Story: Interviews With Equestrians // by Jmaster49 //------------------------------// And lo and behold, Hearth’s Warming was now upon us. I kind of wished I didn’t have to spend it away from my friends, but there was nothing that could be done. Or was there? On that day, I got up out of my hotel bed, and noticed it was rather quiet within the building itself. Did something happen? No...it couldn’t be. To be safe, I slunk around towards the door of the hotel room in order to listen in for any sudden noises. Nothing happened. Strange. Just what was going on today? After I got off the elevator to the bottom floor, I heard voices from a nearby recreation room. Curious. I went over to it, and found that the door was ajar. Well now...that was rather telling. I pushed it open as slowly as possible, to find… “He’s here!” I heard a familiar batpony shout. “Pale, mate! Welcome!” I entered the room. An entire party with every member of my crew was already underway. There was even a decorated tree, and presents all around. “What’s going on here?” I asked as I entered the room. Guttersnipe had just flown to the top of the large pine tree to place a star on top. “Well, to make a long story short, Cadance let Cozy know about the fact that you wanted to be around your friends on this holiday. So...she kinda pulled some strings.” Flash Drive read from a book as he sat in a nearby lounge chair. “Somewhat. She pretty much sent us all messages via mail to come by on this day. They both knew how much you wanted to see us, so we happily obliged.” Even Quick Draw was here. She casually sipped from her mug of cider that was near the tables of food. Wait, we even had a barrel of cider? They really went all-out for this, didn’t they? I loved it. “That’s right,” the mare added, “We all wanted to come here and support you. Hearth’s Warming is a time where we should all be able to take some time away from our ridiculously busy jobs and be there for each other.” Corkscrew got up from his seat, and gave me a hug. “She’s right. It’s because of you that we’ve been able to make it this far?” I held onto my best buddy for a moment before I let go with a chuckle. “Hehe. Is that so?” Neon casually hung from the ceiling as he replied. “She’s right, bruv. While we ultimately all have our own jobs and objectives, working with you has been some of the...craziest moments of my life.” I wiped away a tear or two from my eyes. “Hah...thank you all. Believe it or not, I actually do have gifts for you. They were a bit short-notice, but I managed to get them done.” Meanwhile… “Perfect.” I watched as Pale and his friends enjoyed the party I set up for them in the hotel’s lounge room. There was plenty of food, and the gifts they had set up for each other were all surrounding a nice big tree that they could decorate. Why did I do that? Well, I knew that pops wanted to relax, so that was my gift to him this year. I know, I know. It was a horrible gift that wasn’t thought out very well. But to be quite honest, I didn’t exactly...know what he liked. I’ve been so focused on my attempts to redeem myself and have a good life that I didn’t...really get to know him all that well. But after this holiday, that was about to change. I was going to restructure my life so that I could balance my own priorities alongside the well-being of Pale. He had done so much for me so far, and gave me all of these opportunities to improve myself and have a better life, that I felt it was more than necessary to give back. After all, that’s what Hearth’s Warming was about, right? Giving back to those you loved and held dear? And so, a day of merriment with his best friends was the focus. I closed that door, and trotted away. I was honestly a bit tired. I had organized an entire Winter Festival a few days ago, and turned around to create an entire Hearth’s Warming party for Pale and his friends. It was stressful to say the least, and cut into the bits I would’ve used for myself. But it was more than worth it at the end of the day. “Cozy!” I heard a familiar mare call for my name around the hotel’s hallway corner. It was Flurry Heart who appeared with a spastic set of bulging eyes. “I hate to drop this on you, considering what day it is, but you know about that avalanche that happened last week?” I tilted my head. “Yeah? What about it?” “We figured out that it was caused by magic! Not nature!” She put her hooves up to my cheeks, and mushed them together, “Whatever happened, it was planned out from the start! Can you believe that?!” I took a step back, and pried her limbs off of my face. After a deep exhale, I gave a response. “I see...well for now, all we can do is hope the guards near Sire’s Hollow can figure out the cause of it. For now, we should enjoy this day, shouldn’t we? Hearth’s Warming is only once a year after all…” I said with a nervous smile. It was a bit of a controversial choice to make. But at the moment, there wasn’t enough evidence to act upon anything. As a result, I merely suggested that we take our time and enjoy this day until more information was found. It wasn’t something I was going to let Flurry stress over. “...Okay, you’re right,” she hung her head in shame, “Sorry. I know how tired you must be after all that planning you’ve done. It was careless of me to bring that up.” I shook my head, and put a hoof around her. “No harm done. I appreciate the fact that you’re becoming more and more attentive of what’s going on around you. That’s the sign of a model leader I’d follow.” Her head lifted with a bit of newfound hope. “Really?” she asked with sparkles in her eyes. “Indeed. In fact, allow me to express my appreciation further.” I offered her a wrapped white present box with a red ribbon. “Happy Hearth’s Warming.” “For me? Oh wow! Thanks!” She accepted it, and tore it open. Her eyes lit up even more once she saw the contents: a crystalline-pink necklace with a heart-shaped pendant that contained a picture of herself and Pound Cake on the inside. “...Oh my goodness...this is...amazing, Cozy. Thank you,” she responded in a heartfelt, quiet tone as she embraced me once more. “I’ll wear it forever.” I giggled, and hugged her back. “You’re welcome, Flurry. It was short notice, but I did my best to get you something I knew you would like. I even made it myself out of crystals from the empire.” All the sudden, she stopped, and pulled back. Did I do something wrong? No. She had a...guilty look on her face for some reason. “You did all that for me? Wow…” The look of guilt became a look of heavy thought as she tapped her hoof on the ground. Then her face contorted into a wide grin as something came to her. “Oh! I got it!” “Got what?” I asked with a bit of confusion. “Wait right here!” Flurry used her magic to teleport out of the hallway--and presumably the building. What just happened?