The trip to the craft store was uneventful, with the exception of ponies still looking at me with nervous expressions. I just had to keep reminding myself that, sooner or later, those looks would go away once they realized I was not here to cause them harm. Ignoring the looks for the time being, I made my way back to the castle, a canvas nearly as big as me across my back. It was wrapped in brown paper and tied up with twine, some of which I held in my mouth to keep things steady.
Once I got back to my room in the palace, I set the canvas off to the side and went for one of the sketchpads I had sitting around. During my indirect journey to the Crystal Empire, I had gotten to see bits and pieces of pony life, and learned about the wonderful hobbies associated with art. Princess Cadance wanted to support my enthusiasm, so she’d given me some pencils and sketchpads so I could practice drawing. Not long after I’d begun sketching, I’d moved on to paints and canvas. While it was rewarding, the change of medium brought its own challenges; paint would not erase nearly as easy as pencil marks.
I set about making a sketch for the painting, thinking of the subjects and the setting. As I did so, I referred to my paint sets, looking at the numbers on the tubes and making a note of whether or not I would need more; I most likely would, as my reds and greens were nearly used up and they were some of the prevalent colors associated with the upcoming holiday. I sketched a few different ideas before I ultimately settled on one that I was satisfied with.
Tearing the paper from the sketchpad, I set it aside and worked on a sketch for my next painting idea, which would be a gift for Sunburst. I couldn't think of a good gift to give him, but I thought about the one time I had visited his house in the Empire and its lack of decoration, save for the large number of bookcases, so I decided to paint a portrait for him as well. I made up a simple sketch that I felt would translate well for a painting of the stallion: it would be of him sitting in a chair, reading a book by candlelight in his book-laden home, and by his side would be a red-colored beverage that I had been told he would enjoy from time to time - a Ruby Mare.
Once satisfied with my ideas, I set about translating them to the canvas. My first order of business was to transfer my sketch over to the canvas using the method Sunburst had actually recommended shortly after I’d taken up painting. He’d loaned me a device he called an overhead: a large metal box with a light inside that shone through an opaque piece of glass, with an arm attached to the side that had a mirror and lens fastened to that. I would get a piece of vellum and draw over my sketch and place the vellum onto the overhead and turn the light on. The light would travel through the lens and be projected outward and onto the canvas, giving me a more reliable means to produce my work than trying to go from memory.
A yawn and glance out of a nearby window told me that it was night time, and it would serve me better to accomplish my task in the morning, when I’d be well rested. Besides, as Sunburst had informed me, I still had plenty of time before the actual day of Hearth's Warming and the subsequent giving of gifts. It would work out for the best anyways. I would have to return to the craft store tomorrow with my list of paints to make sure I had enough once I did actually get started. I just hoped my painting skills would be good enough to do the Princess and her family justice on canvas.
I returned from the craft store the following morning with all the paints I would need to make the portraits. I was about to begin when I looked over my previous day's sketches and concluded that they would be unsatisfactory. They were a good starting point, but they still lacked the necessary details that would help make the finished portrait the something special I was hoping for it to be. I would need to do another sketch for each portrait and make sure I ironed out everything before I put even one brushstroke down on canvas.
Taking the sketchpad and a freshly-sharpened pencil, I set about making the appropriate sketches. Sunburst's sketch didn't require quite as many details as the one of Princess Cadance, Shining Armor, and Flurry Heart, so I was able to get that one finished relatively quickly. The portrait of the Royal Family proved to be much trickier. Regardless of my effort, I kept finding some kind of mistake that needed correcting: a misshapen eye, a lip that didn't look right, a horn that was too large or small for a pony's head, and so on.
Having gone through several sketches, I tossed the pad onto a table and let out a groan of frustration. How was I going to get the details necessary to make this painting the master work it deserved to be? There was no question that it had to be the best I could make it: Princess Cadance had gone against her own husband's misgivings and given me a place to stay here in the Empire. At the very least, she deserved my one-hundred-and-ten-percent effort.
Deciding I should clear my head, I went into the bathroom and splashed some water onto my face. As I reached for a towel, I looked up into the mirror and stopped.
Of course! Why hadn't I thought of this earlier? I was a changeling! I could adopt the appearance of whatever pony I wanted to! I could just turn into the ponies I wanted to paint a portrait of and sketch them as I looked myself over in the mirror! I could get all the necessary details I would need just by using a little of my magic! It was ingenious!
I wiped my hooves and face dry and immediately ran back out to my room to grab my sketchpad and pencil, returning to the bathroom and my place in front of the mirror. Clearing my mind and focusing, I felt the wash of magic take over my form, and when it cleared, a perfect copy of Princess Cadance was standing in front of the mirror.
I quickly set to work with this new idea in mind. After several minutes, in which I changed to Shining Armor and Flurry Heart, I finally had the sketch perfected. It would translate into a family portrait that I was sure the Princess would be proud to display here in the palace. I smiled happily as I then set about transferring the sketch work to vellum so I could get to painting as soon as I possibly could.
I had started the actual painting a few days later. In that time, I had gotten my gifts for Princess Twilight and Spike wrapped and sent through the mail, which Sunburst had recommended I do now since it would take longer than normal for those gifts to get there because of so many ponies sending their own gifts at this time of year. Things were going well, though I was still having some trouble with smaller details; shading had always been something I had a bit of trouble with. Fortunately, the idea I’d had during the sketching phase still worked soundly for the process of painting, and with Sunburst's assistance in acquiring a free-standing mirror, I was able to paint the portrait as I disguised myself as all three of the subjects in the portrait.
After nearly a week had passed, I was finally finished, and I stepped back to marvel at my work. There was no question in my mind that Princess Cadance was going to love this. I was even confident that little Flurry would enjoy the finished piece, though the adults in the room would have to be mindful of her around it; little hooves weren't the best thing for a painting. The only question left was what Prince Shining Armor would think of my gift to his family.
The stallion still had misgivings about me, despite my efforts to assuage his fears and concerns. A part of me couldn't blame him too much for his behavior; his wedding day had almost been ruined by Queen Chrysalis and her attempt to invade Canterlot while disguised as his bride. That would leave a bad taste in my mouth too, but what he was showing me was more or less outright bigotry.
That's why I wanted this painting to be the best I could possibly make it. Perhaps if he saw the amount of effort that I put into this painting, and the amount of love I tried to pour into it as well, he would be convinced of my desire to live here with ponies peacefully, and would perhaps begin warming up to me just a bit. It was a good bit to hope for, but it didn't feel totally impossible. At least, not yet, anyway.
I went to work on the portrait for Sunburst and was able to finish it with just enough time to allow the paint to dry enough to wrap the two portraits. The palace had a plethora of wrapping paper, and the staff were willing to accommodate my needs. Once the wrapping was finished, I went straight to bed. Tomorrow was Hearth's Warming, and I was going to present these ponies with the best gift I could think to give them.
"Dang it! Dang it! Dang it! Dang it!"
I cursed under my breath as I galloped through the halls of the Crystal Palace, checking every place I could think of to find the Princess and her family. Behind me followed a flatbed cart upon which the two paintings rested. A guard was currently flanking me, and didn't much appreciate that I was giving him a round of calisthenics on what was supposed to be, at most, a light-duty day for him. I would apologize for it as soon as I found the Royal Family.
Running into a room, I came across a unicorn stallion polishing some ornate silver decoration. I slowed down, and in doing so, my running had caught up to me. Feeling a burning in my chest from not breathing as I ran, I stood before the stallion gasping for air.
"What's got you so worked up bug?" he asked me with a smirk. A second of steadying breaths to calm myself, and I recognized who I was looking at.
"Flitz!" I answered once able to breathe normally again. "Do you know where the Princess and Captain are?"
The guard behind me gave a very annoyed huff. Before I could ask what his problem was, Flitz gave an answer.
"Of course I do!" Flitz answered rather cheerily. "They're in the drawing room."
I smacked a hoof to my face; of course they were in the drawing room! The last time I’d been in there, several servants had been setting up a tree and decorating it. Even the Princess had been there watching them and had made a comment about how wonderful it would be to sit there and watch Flurry unwrap her gifts.
I was going to thank Flitz for his information, but noticed him snickering just a bit. "Something funny?" I asked him curiously.
"Kind of," he said as he tried not to burst out laughing. "Your guard here could've just told you where the Princess and Prince were right now. It is his job to know."
Oh... eggshells. I turned back towards the guard who had been following me and gave him a sheepish smile. "Sorry."
The guard's response was to simply glare daggers at me and then let out a sigh. "I suppose there's no harm done," he admitted. "Worst thing that happened is I got a little winded. Now, how about we go to the place I could've told you to go to in the first place if you weren't running around like that fin on the back of your head was on fire?"
"Um, y-yeah," I sheepishly agreed as we turned and left the room. As we did, I heard Flitz laughing quite hard at my behavior. Chitin didn't change color in its natural state, but I was fairly certain my blushing would be seen very clearly if it did.
After a few more minutes' walk, part of which was spent on an elevator to get us to the correct floor, I stepped into the drawing room. As I remembered from last time, there was a large fir tree to one side that was decorated from top to bottom in various ornaments. Looking around the room, I saw a buffet service set up with various breakfast foods in heated dishes. I also took notice to the fireplace and the large log that created a powerful blaze; the Fire of Friendship, as it were.
Resting on the mantle above the fire, I noticed several decorations of miscellaneous things: a few pictures in small frames, an award of one kind or another in a display case, and a set of small dolls that Sunburst had told me were Hearth's Warming dolls. There was one for Captain Shining Armor, one for Princess Cadance, one for Flurry Heart, one for Sunburst, and-
"Is that...?"
I approached the fireplace to look more closely at the strange doll at the end of the mantle. It was a black unicorn with sky-blue eyes, but it appeared to have two fangs jutting out from the mouth. More surprising was the gossamer fabric resting on its back, and legs that were full of holes. I looked at the doll for a moment before the reality of the situation finally sank in.
It was me. Somepony had made a Hearth's Warming doll for me. But who?
I was roused from my stupor when I saw Cadance enter my vision from my left. Reflexively, I turned and bowed to greet her. "Good morning, Princess!" I said warmly to her.
"Good morning to you too, Thorax", she said as she returned the greeting, "and Happy Hearth's Warming."
"Thank you," I said in response as my eyes found their way back to the mantle and the doll of me sitting there.
"I figured you should have one," Cadance told me as she herself looked at the doll, "seeing as you're celebrating your first actual Hearth's Warming with us."
"I honestly don't know what to say," I admitted to her. "I never expected anypony to do something like this for me."
"Nonsense," Cadance dismissed the thought with a wave of her hoof. "Hearth's Warming is about unity and friendship. It's the time of year ponies do things like this for others. It shows the love and appreciation they have for each other."
I had no words to respond to what she’d said to me, so I simply smiled. She opened her hooves to me and invited me in for a hug. I leaned in and she wrapped her forelegs around me. I could feel the warmth of her love seeping into my carapace; I'd been told that as long as the love was intended for me, I was allowed to draw upon it. I had no problem with that stipulation whatsoever, as my entire purpose of coming here to the Empire had been to make friends and learn how to share love. I wrapped my forelegs around her back and returned the hug, wondering to myself if I was actually giving some of my own love to the Princess in return for what she was giving me. A part of me wanted to think so; the previous times I'd hugged ponies and tried to give them some of my own love, it would always give me a warm feeling deep down inside.
"Ahem!"
Princess Cadance and I both turned to see Captain Shining Armor sitting on a sofa in the room. He was looking at me with his usual disapproving look and holding his daughter in his forehooves. Sunburst was sitting at the far end, watching the Princess and me giving each other hugs.
"If you're done getting your breakfast from my wife," Shining said rather curtly, "we would like to get our Hearth's Warming morning underway."
I ignored the first part of what the Captain had said; he'd made it clear on several occasions that he did not approve of me feeding on the love of other ponies, even if it was meant for me and I had their consent. What I didn't ignore was the fact that he’d said they wanted to get their morning underway. Had they actually waited for me to show up?
"I insisted that we not begin until you arrived," Cadance confirmed. "Since you don't have any actual family here, my husband and I agreed that you could join our celebration and watch Flurry as she opens up her gifts."
I made note of her inflection about the captain, and also saw his eyes roll from the corner of my own eyes. The way I understood it, that tone had meant that the Princess had decided I was going to celebrate with them, and that it was going to happen regardless of what objections the Captain had. I felt a bit saddened by that fact; I'd come to the Empire to share love, not mistrust and strife. "Oh, and I forgot to mention that I have another surprise for you," she then told me.
A surprise? What kind of surprise?
"I got a letter yesterday that said that Twilight would be coming to visit this afternoon after she spent the morning with her and Shining's parents in Canterlot, and she'll be coming here with Spike too!"
Upon hearing the name, I became very happy. Spike, my first friend ever and the only one to stand up for me and convince the crystal ponies to let me stay here in the Empire, was coming to visit. Even though I had written him letters, I still had a great deal I wanted to tell him. I was so excited, my wings were buzzing!
Princess Cadance smiled at my behavior, then returned to the sofa and invited me to sit in a single chair close by the fireplace. "I figured that you might be cold, so I moved this chair closer to the fire so that you could be warmer."
I uttered a quick thank you as I took a seat, making sure to calm down and stop my wings from buzzing. Admittedly, the warm seat did feel rather good on my body.
Shining gave Flurry back to Cadance and got up from the sofa. "Now that everyone's here, let's get with the opening of presents." As he said this, his magic reached out and took a gift marked for Flurry and presented it to the young filly. She eagerly took the package and tore into the paper, revealing a set of wooden blocks with various letters on the sides. She babbled happily as she took the blocks in her magic. Cadance smiled as she saw her daughter excitedly begin playing with the new toy she'd been given.
As she did so, a small box was presented to her by her husband. "And a gift for my wonderful wife," he said to her with a smile. The Princess then took the gift and unwrapped it with her magic, the technique producing much less mess than her daughter had. Once unwrapped, a black box with a velvet exterior was on display. The Princess opened it and let out a gasp.
Inside the box was a golden necklace with a large ruby shaped into a heart. "It's beautiful, Shining," the Princess told her husband as she leaned in and the two then shared a kiss. After the kiss broke, Shining's eyes went to me and again I felt his disapproval in the same way I felt the fire's heat on the back of the chair; it had been enchanted against catching fire, which was why it could sit so close to the fireplace. He clearly must've thought I was going to feed on the love he was giving to his wife. I wanted to look back in disgust at him, as I would never stoop as low as my brethren to feed on something so personal and dear, but that would likely get me into trouble, even if it was only with Shining.
As they broke their kiss, Cadance presented Shining with his own gift. Quickly and neatly opening the paper, he was greeted with a contraption I'd only ever seen newsponies use. "A photo camera!" he said with a smile. "Now we can make a photo album of Flurry as she grows." The Captain then walked over to his filly and pointed the device at the babbling filly. A click was followed by a bright flash, and then a piece of enchanted parchment came out the side, showing the foal as she had been moments ago on the sofa.
"The first of many photographs, I'm sure," I thought as I watched the filly rub the spots caused by the camera flash from her eyes.
Cadance then grabbed another gift from the tree and presented it to Sunburst. Opening it, the stallion was met with a copy of a rare spell book he'd spent a great deal of time searching for but could not find. He gave Cadance a hug as a show of thanks. I saw Shining give no reaction and was admittedly a bit jealous; I really wanted to be able to hug a pony in front of him and not have him try to set me ablaze with his eyes.
Cadance then lifted up another gift and presented it to her daughter. As she did so, she then presented me with a gift of my own.
"Huh?"
I looked up at her with confusion, but she urged me to open the package. I stared at it for a moment: It was wrapped in red paper with a green ribbon tied around it, the ends forming a large bow. On one side there was a tag that simply read "for Thorax". I looked at her again, and I was once again encouraged to open the box, so I did as such. Despite not having the greatest grasp of telekinesis, I was able to undo the bow and open up the paper. Behind the wrapping was a white cardboard box. I didn't see a way to open it initially, but soon figured out that the top of the box slid off, so I took it in my hooves and lifted it off to see what was inside.
I was stunned beyond the ability to speak. Resting inside the box was a very well made plush doll. It had a purple body, and green fins going off the two cheeks of the face and on the top of the head going all the way down to the tail. It had two stubby legs with feet at the ends, and the top two arms had claw-tipped hands at the end. I slowly came back to my senses as I realized that the plush doll in my hooves was a perfect replica of Spike.
"Since you never really get the chance to see him that often," Cadance told me, "I decided that you should have something to remember Spike by, so I went to a doll maker here in the empire and asked them to make the best possible version of the Empire's hero they could. Needless to say, I believe they have outdone themselves. Now, in some small way, you can spend time with Spike whenever you want."
I continued looking over the doll in my magic as I tried to put the proper words together. I was so stunned that the Princess had gotten something so nice for me, it caused my brain to stop working for a moment. Finally, my mind was able to come up with a response.
"This has to be the best doll of anything I've ever seen made. Thank you so much, Princess." I rose from the chair and moved over to her, taking her into a hug that she returned. Shining Armor still looked at me rather disapprovingly, but I chose to ignore it. I was showing my appreciation for the wonderful gift the princess had given me. Was that something I wasn't supposed to do?
"So, Thorax," I heard Sunburst say to me, "do you mind if I open the present you were going to give me?"
Oh, shells! I'd almost forgotten about the gifts that I had made and brought with me! I disengaged from the hug and went back to my chair. "G-go ahead!" I told him, perhaps a bit too eagerly. Sunburst paid no mind as he took the smaller portrait and began to unwrap it. I watched intently, eager to see what my friend's reaction to the gift would be.
Sunburst looked at the portrait for quite some time, his eyes wide as he examined all the details. Then he turned to me and gave me a big hug. "This is amazing, Thorax!" the stallion said as his grip quickly became that of a bear hug. "Thank you so much!"
"N-no p-problem!" I forced out in response. He eventually let up and I could breathe comfortably again. I had only just recovered when Cadance took hold of the other painting.
"You've painted something for us too?" she asked. I just gave a nod in confirmation. Cadance looked over Sunburst's painting a gave me a warm smile. "Then I hope it is just as good as what you gave to Sunburst."
I knew that she had not intended for the comment to make me nervous, but it had all the same. Would the painting I'd made for the Princess and her family live up to their expectations? Had I just wasted all of that paint and that large canvas on subpar work?
The paper was removed carefully as my work was put on full display for the royal family for the first time.
In the painting, Princess Cadance and Captain Shining Armor were both sitting in front of a fireplace looking ahead, their daughter placed between them and looking up. Just behind Cadance was a Hearth's Warming tree, decorated in all manner of opulent ornamentation such as colored glass balls and strands of garland and tinsel. The Princess was in her full regalia, while the Captain was wearing the red uniform that he'd worn on his wedding day and to some of the special occasions that had occurred since. From what I had been told, it was an heirloom that had belonged to a member of his family.
The reactions to the portrait were... honestly, I was uncertain what everypony thought of it. Cadance herself had much the same appearance Sunburst had upon seeing his portrait for the first time. Sunburst looked at the portrait with amazement, but it didn't seem to be nearly as much as when he saw his own painting. Flurry babbled something and reached her hooves out to the portrait, restrained back by her father.
After some time, Cadance finally spoke. "Thorax, this is..."
I hung my head in disappointment. Of course I had failed to-
My thoughts at the moment were cut short as a pink blur wrapped around me tighter than a python and I was taken to the floor.
"Amazing!" the princess finished as she then placed a small peck on my cheek. Looking up at her in confusion, I was about to stutter something dumbly when she spoke up again.
"I've had the idea to do a family portrait for some time now, but I never could seem to find the time between all of my duties and my husband's obligations to the Guard. I never thought I would get the time to have an actual, properly-painted portrait of my family done, and now I don't have to worry about it! Thank you so much, Thorax!"
The last part was punctuated by the Princess again placing a light kiss on my cheek. I didn't know if I had absorbed any more love from her, but it honestly felt like I could go for a whole month without feeding and never be hungry for a second.
"Oh, I can't wait for Aunt Celestia to see this!" she beamed as she again looked at the painting. "Oh! Twilight and Spike! They're gonna want to see this too!" As she released me, I found my way back to my hooves and returned to the chair I had been sitting in.
Flurry was floating up to the painting and reaching her hooves out to it, but Cadance very quickly stopped her. "We can't touch the painting, Flurry," the Princess told her filly. "We don't want to ruin all of the hard work Mister Thorax put in to make such a wonderful portrait for us."
The foal babbled disapprovingly, but didn't make any more effort to be more hooves-on with the portrait.
I had seen Cadance and Flurry's reactions to the painting, as well as Sunburst's, but I had not yet seen Shining's reaction to my gift. As I looked to the stallion, I saw that he also had the same kind of shocked look in his eyes. Unlike his wife, he was quick to become suspicious. "Where did you get this painting?" he said accusingly.
"I painted it myself" I answered with a small amount of pride.
"Horseapples!" he spat back. "Who painted this for you?"
"Nopony painted it for me," I said with more conviction. "I painted that portrait myself."
Shining looked over the painting for another moment before looking at the guard who had followed me here. "You've been watching him part of this past week,” he said as he pointed to the guard. "Did he really paint this himself?"
"Yes, Sir!" the guard replied with a salute. "He did paint that portrait himself."
Shining Armor scrutinized the guard before casting some kind of spell on the stallion, causing the pony to shiver as the energy passed over him. Upon finishing, Shining adopted a scowl. He looked at me and simply said "Fine. This time you're not lying."
As he kept up his scrutiny, he asked more questions. "How did you get all of these details? There's no way you could've done this from memory."
I was hesitant to reply, but a look to Sunburst for reassurance gave me just a bit of confidence. "To be honest, I actually used a mirror as I painted."
Shining was confused for a second before he realized what I meant and became upset. "I thought I had told you not to disguise yourself in the palace?"
Cadance stepped in and stopped her husband. "Shining, he was in his own room at the time, so it wasn't like he was actively trying to deceive anypony about who he really was. Besides, if that was what he needed to do to make such an amazing portrait, then I have no problem with him doing that."
"But Cady!" the Captain tried to protest, but was quickly shot down by the mare.
"No buts, Shining! Thorax here put in a lot of effort to make this wonderful family portrait for us, and I think the very least you can do is say thank you to him for making it."
Shining wanted to protest further, but he knew he wouldn't win an argument on this subject with his wife. He looked over the painting again and let out a defeated sigh. Finally he turned to me, and surprisingly, wasn't glaring daggers at me.
"You... actually did a really good job with this," he admitted, his eyes not making contact with mine. "...Thank you for the gift" he finally said as he grabbed another gift and presented it to Flurry.
I stood there stunned for several moments. Since I first was accepted here in the Crystal Empire by Princess Cadance, Shining Armor had not said one nice thing to me in all that time. In that moment, actually hearing him give me praise for my efforts and thanking me, I felt lighter than air. Could this finally be the moment when he started to reconsider his position and actually give me a chance to prove I wasn't some deceitful monster here to drain every last drop of love from everypony I could get my hooves on?
I could only hope so. Time would give the final verdict on that decision, but as I watched Flurry open the rest of her presents that morning, I had more hope in my heart than I had had since I first came here in search of a friend. Somehow, I knew things would get better between me and Shining Armor from this point forward.