//------------------------------// // Chapter 20: Hearth's Warming Havoc, Part 2 // Story: How A Realist Saved The Show // by Mare Of Mystery //------------------------------// It was almost nearing Hearth's Warming Eve, as most townfolks were scrambling to buy presents last minute before the scores closed down for the next two days. As for Mobius, he was indulging in a few books he gathered from the school library and Twilight's collection researching more lore in this world. Lying flat on the couch and levitating his book above him. "Hey, I'm back!" His sister's voice was coming from the front door as she entered with a few shopping bags of multiple sizes in her possession, levitated from her horn. It caught Mobius by surprise when he smushed the book on his face and muffled from the sudden action. He props back himself up sitting in an erect manner and places the book on the coffee table. "That's a lot of gifts," he distinctly said, "Do you plan on doing something with the girls?" "Yeah of course, but tomorrow is going to be a special for us!" Radial bounced up when she placed all the bags on the coffee table, "You know what I'm talking about," "What are you talking about?" "You should know, what mom and dad always do during Christmas Eve back home?" "Drink wine all night and get drunk?" Mobius took a literal guess when his sister shook her head. "No...the family gets together and we play a little game of..." "White Elephant!?" blurted Mobius, "We're doing it with the girls tomorrow!? Hell yeah!" "That's one of them..." Radial covered her granny face with a foreleg, "But yes! I've already given them the rules and told them about the maximum budget. Twilight planned an early Hearth's Warming party since her friends are heading back to their families tonight." "I love getting gifts from my relatives and stealing the good ones from others. My strategy never changes, buying the best gift for myself and getting it when it's my turn to pick. But getting a gift this late?" "Don't you worry about finding something last minute, because I've bought you one already?" Lifting a bag from its handle, Radial gently placed it right next to Mobius, "I won't be playing the gift exchange with you, but I'll be playing the second game." "Second game?" "Sorry, I've got no time to explain, we got to go in a few minutes." "We did some final preparations for the gift exchange before we headed out to the castle for the party at 4:00 pm. It'll be early since most of Twilight's friends are leaving for their families for tomorrow's Hearth's Warming Eve. What is this second game she keeps mentioning? I don't really know what else we played except for the gift exchange." Radial and Mobius got their bag of wrapped presents and their winter scarfs and beanies on as they powered through the cold spell in Ponyville. Most of the citizens outside were heading out as their businesses closed early. A little while before they reached the castle doors from the outside, Mobius gave a few knocks on the door and it immediately opened from the inside. It was Starlight, and she wore a nice pink and blue scarf around her neck. A mug of hot chocolate she kept with her magic on standby. "Oh! Merry early Hearth's Warming you two!" she greeted, "Come! we're all waiting in the dining room!" "Starlight, do you plan on coming home for Hearths Warming tomorrow?" Radial had curiously asked her. "I would...but Twilight insisted I should stay here and locate that human from the camping trip." answered Starlight, taking a sip from a mug of hot chocolate wither her levitating the mug's rim just on her lips, "I've noticed a surge of magic just in a back alleyway a few days ago, but nothing significant yet. This human is up to something. Hey, what's wrong with you two?" The cold sweats that appeared on Radial and Mobius' foreheads when they were balanced began to shake, keeping a small poker face as they locked eyes for a quick second. It made Starlight a bit uneasy, given how they're staring down at eachother. "...Well...I shouldn't leave you hanging at the doorsteps, come on in! Are those presents to the girls? Let me organize them so that they can grab them before their departure." The dining table was just across from the library inside Twilight's castle, and it shows as the two kinds saw a lively table with sweet treats, punch bowls, and loud laughter as the six girls including Sunburst and Spike turned their heads over at the three entering the room. Twilight noticed the colt coming inside the dining room and she teleported from her current position to right n front of him to give him a warm, welcoming hug. "Merry Hearth's Warming my little Mobi!" she squeezed so hard with her forelegs before she readied her lips and gave him a few kisses on the cheeks, "Mwah! Mwah! Mwah! Mwah!" "My heart...I can't...take so much of Twilight's kisses at once!" "Twilight, let the man breathe!" Spike warned her coming from the seat of the dining table. Twilight finally gave him one last kiss before clearing up her throat and going to her usual mannerism, "Everypony is accounted for in this early Hearth's Warming celebration, so let's begin with playing the 'White Elephant' game Radial told me about a few days ago!" Rainbow Dash zipping above the table stopped in front of them as she couldn't contain her excitement over the game, "Happy early Hearths warming you two! Get yourselves settled while we spend as much time as we can before the holidays!" "After we settled in the party and sampled the snacks and food, we spent time with everypony sharing laughs and good times. It may be only a few days until I get to see them again, but it will feel like a long time. I wonder what the girls brought for the gift exchange?" A little over an hour later, Radial was just about to begin the gift exchange as she gathered all of the six mares that sat at another round table in the dining room while the rest of them stood by to watch. Each of them got their wrapped presents and placed them in the middle of the table. Mobius sat next to Twilight from his right and everypony had an interesting look on their faces as Radial began as head of the table to relay the rules. "Let me repeat the rules of this gift exchange; The maximum spending budget for this gift exchange is 30 bits. We first draw a number out of the hat to decide the turn order. The first pony up will choose ONE of the gifts to open up, but on subsequent turns, you can open up a gift from the table or steal a current one in possession. When a gift is stolen by a player, the previous rule will apply to them also. Each gift can only be stolen twice before it's out of play and can't be stolen consecutively; up to three gifts can be stolen per turn. Once everypony opened all the gifts, the first player will have the chance to steal any gift unless it was out of play. If they don't choose to steal or if anypony decides to keep their gift, the game ends..." "Wow! Such a unique twist to a simple gift exchange in Hearth's Warming!" Twilight beamed up with her face, "This game is fun to play with all of you!" "Yeah, it does sound exciting getting gifts we don't expect to receive." said Fluttershy, "The second game sounds even MORE fun!" "What the hell is this second game they keep mentioning?!" "Enough talk! Let's begin!" Radial quickly leveraged a top hat containing slips of paper inside and prepared to hover it around the table. "Pick a number everypony!" "This feels exciting already! I want to use my usual mind games to trick you into getting the gift I want! I just need to hope for the best my number is near the middle..." He used his magic to lift a small slip of paper folded up and unraveled it to reveal his position in the game. Number 4, was just what he wished for as he kept it from prying eyes onto the round table. Starlight and Sunburst were watching from the other table curious as ever of the unusual game being played. "That gift exchanging game they're playing sounds exciting!" cooed Starlight as her interest piqued in this game, "I wonder what each pony brought for exchanging?" "Too bad we weren't told about it or else I would've brought something." pondered Sunburst out loud, "Hey Starlight, didn't Radial mention another game?" With Starlight on the other end of the table, she took another sip of her mug gently placing it down next to her plate of cookies, "Yes she has, but we're going to play it on Hearths Warming Eve." "We?" "Yeah, she specifically said to have an equal amount of guys and girls for this one." she continued, "I think Shining Armor and Cadance are joining in as well tomorrow." "I wonder what this game is about?" "Whoever has number one will go first!" announced Radial Shine, appointing herself as head of the game. "I guess it's my lucky day! I'm the first one!" Rainbow Dash squealed as she waved the paper slip with her foreleg. "I can just pick any one of them?" "Yes, go on!" The next thing she did was carefully inspect each gift as she was shuffling them around to spot the one that she find interesting for her tastes. Just a little over a few seconds later, Rainbow picked up a flat red box neatly wrapped with a blue ribbon in a festive knot. "This one! I pick this one!" she blurted out to the table, Gently tugging the ribbon on one end so that it would unravel itself in one fell swoop. Rarity placed the ribbon to the side and lifted it to the lid of the box as his curious smile led her to... "This going to be the coolest--" She lifted out a quite large object from the inside of the box as Rainbow cringed over her surprise gift, "--A cupcake baking tray set? Cool...I guess...this must be your gift huh Pinkie?" "Yup! They're non-stick copper with a nice little sheen to them!" Pinkie answered, "Even the Cake family were dying to get these on sale! Luckily I got them just for the occasion." "Well, I presume you'll steal it when you have the chance..." "I don't need them, since I already have alot of similar ones at my place!" "Oh..." "It seems I'll go next," Fluttershy waved her paper slip, carfully gazing at one box already. "And I'll go for this one." "Alright Fluttershy, go ahead and open it!" Radial repeated. Her hooves dragged across a small, cube-shaped red box with a fancy Hearth's Warming design printed on it. She took no time to hesitate before she flicked open the lid and saw something that piqued her interest she turned over the box to let it drop out to the table. "Oh wow! A dog collar and a leash!" She marveled at the peculiar-looking leather dog collar with a matching leash attached to, "I could use a spare for the animal sanctuary!" "Uhhh..." Rarity's teeth began chattering as sweat formed around her forehead, "Y-Yes! Dog collar! I picked it up at the 'Pet Store' in Manehatten." "Odd, I don't recognize this brand." Fluttershy took close inspection of the price tag still attached to the rim of the collar, "What kind of pet store is called S&M? "N-N-No point in checking out the brand darling! Let's just move on to the next pony shall we?!" "...And it's me!" Twilight waved around her paper slip with her magic as she cleared up her throat for a few seconds before staring, "Err...sorry Fluttershy, but I'm going to take that dog collar away from you..." "Aww," Fluttershy sighed, but soon turned it into a dumbfounded look on her face when she pointed out, "But Twilight, you don't have a dog. What are you going to use that collar for?" "F-For scientific research! T-That's all!" While Twilight took the dog collar away from Fluttershy, Mobius was sweating profusely on his seat with his teeth chattering and everything. "W-Wonder what Twilight is going to d-do with that?" "Well, that's too bad Fluttershy..." Radial hid her disgust at the princess by keeping up a forceful smile on her face, "You have two options; steal Rainbow Dash's cupcake trays or open another present from the pile." "Hey, Fluttershy!" Rainbow waved her gift in the air being supported by her forelegs, "Want these baking trays? They're non-stick and made of copper too! Imagine the amount of stuff you can do with them?" "That's okay, I already have plenty at home." she humbly refused her offer as Fluttershy reached over to another gift on the table, "I wonder what this is?" The second gift was in a festive bag stuffed with wax paper as she dug through the inside of the bag to fish out the gift. Fluttershy was quickly marveling at a glass bottle containing golden, bubbling liquid inside while gently placing the bottle on the table. The ponies around her were in shock by her fascinating surprise gift. "Is that a bottle of Apple Cider?!" Rainbow gawked from seeing the bottle in front of Fluttershy, "But, I thought they weren't in season at this time!?" Applejack chuckled from her seat, "That may be true, but I thought making something for this type of gift exchange would be even better. I had to pay a mark up for the fancy bottle to package the darn thing for this occasion." She was near shivering in the presence of the golden liquid encased within the bottle just a few feet within Rainbow's grasp. The pegasus would lunge over and take the bottle for herself, but she had to endure all of her sheer willpower not to cause a scene and ruin the Hearth's Warming fun. "The only way you have a chance at that bottle is if somepony here steals your gift." reminded Radial Shine, "However, the likelihood of that is seemingly low. Now, will the next pony please take their turn!" "Oh I see, Rainbow Dash's cider addiction is showing right in front of my face. I would do her a favor and steal those baking trays, I don't see myself using them. But, If I'm ever going to make that cider end with me, I need to think about this..." "I'm next up to make my choice," he waved his paper slip in the same fashion as Twilight, locking his eyes onto the suffering pegasus grinding her teeth from her seat, "Rainbow Dash?" It took no time before the frantic Rainbow Dash leaned forward with her baking trays in possession and her glittery smile, "Oooh! You want to steal my gift don'tcha!?" "No...I just need you to pass me that present wrapped in purple wrapping paper on your side..." The huff of air Rainbow contained inside her deflated as her face frowned from disappointment, following his order and lazily grabbed the purple present and chucking it to Mobius' side. "Don't you worry Rainbow Dash, you still have a chance to steal something at the end of the game." Chuckled Radial Shine to cheer up the pegasus, "...Unless it was stolen twice, making it out of the game." "If the bottle of cider is the most sought-after gift, I bet Pinkie or Rarity would try to steal it on their turn. Oh well, let's see what mystery present I've picked!" Curiosity filled Mobius's head imagining what neat, fancy, or joke present awaited him from the present he chose. Upon tearing open the wrapping paper he could see what appears to be the pages of a lengthy book. He could already guess who this gift belonged to. "Assuming from looks, I can already tell who brought this gift." He smiled, only to turn his head over at the blushing alicorn. "Oh, I just can't help it!" sheepishly, Twilight confessed the obvious, "But I do hope you'll get a laugh out of this book I've chosen!" "Haha, I would expect nonetheless from you," he teased her, before slowly testing off the wrapping paper, "I could see myself enjoying this book..." He stopped as soon as he ripped off all the wrapping paper around the book and deeply glared at the front cover of the book he just unwrapped. At a loss of words, he doesn't want to kill the mood of the game. So, painstakingly, he pulled up a forceful smile on his face as he read out the title. "Days of our daycare? M-Must be an interesting read if you picked fhe book Twi..." "Oh, Twilight!" Rarity instantly recognized the book title as she playfully scoff at it, "You want your coltfriend to suffer from that cheesy teenage drama novel?" Twilight went bursting out in laughter as she couldn't contain herself, "S-Sorry Mobi, but I just had to buy that book for this game. It's the most cheesiest novel I've ever read! I couldn't even finish reading the first chapter! And that's coming from me!" "Wow Twi! You finally found a book even you refuse to read?" Radial snickered as soon as she spotted Mobius getting the book, "Anyways, I think it's time for the second to the last pony to choose what to do..." "It can't be...I don't believe what she's saying; Twilight said she REFUSES to read a book?! And the book was...the same book I got her for Hearthswarming? She called it the cheesiest novel she could lay her eyes on. I should've picked some ancient text or something, at least she has some use for it. Man, this is the shittiest Hearth's Warming I ever had..." "Guess It's my turn already!" announced Rarity as she quickly turned her attention to Fluttershy, "I will be taking that fine bottle of cider from you Fluttershy, nothing personal sweetie!" "Oh, don't worry about that Rarity." Fluttershy was compliant to pass out the bottle to Rarity, "I don't usually drink that much cider me." The second the bottle was in the possession of Rarity, Rainbow gawked as much as her face could even handle. Following her, Fluttershy was eyeing the three remaining presents on the table; a large cube-shaped blue box, A smaller light-blue box with a colorful ribbon attached to it, and a long slim red one. Her curiosity filled her mind as she was hesitant about what to choose. "Hmmm...I could choose the gift I've brought or this other one?" she pondered, "Oh...I don't know what to choose..." "Remember Fluttershy, you can also steal another ponies gift if you wish," reminded Twilight from across her. "Well, In that case," she quickly pointed her foreleg at Mobius with the book still in his possession, "I'll be stealing that book from you Mobius, sorry..." "...Sure..." murmured Mobius, before surrounding the book with his magic to let it hover towards Fluttershy, "I-I don't think I'll see myself enjoying that book as well." "Alright Mobius, you can steal or choose the remaining two gifts." Radial kept tabs on the rules once more, "What will it be?" "Damn, that whole ordeal of Twilight not enjoying the book got my whole mood down. I need to think of a way to get her a gift that she'll truly love. But first, I need to make a power move." "Rarity, I'll take that bottle of cider from you once and for all!" The group of ponies, and course Rainbow Dash, all gasped when Mobius declared to steal the bottle of cider from the game. The rarity too was left distraught by his power move, "Oh no! I was careless to think that you of all ponies would try to steal the cider! What was I thinking!" Rarity was willing to comply with the rules of the game and slowly dragged the bottle to Mobius as the final pony to take possession of the bottle for the rest of the game. "...And the bottle of cider can no longer be stolen for the rest of the game!" declared Radial Shine from the table, "That leaves off with two presents left for the taking!" Like her heart shattered into million pieces, Rainbow Dash nearly dropped to her hind legs and let out a loud cry of utter despair, "Nooooooooooooooooo!" "Oh, don't be such a baby Dashie!" scoffed Rarity, before taking interest in the big blue gift box, "I guess this will have to do," Upon lifting the box, she could sense that the mass of the box was a bit too much that she had trouble lifting it from her magic. Breaking a sweat even, she carfully placed it down as fragile as she could handle before lifting the lid only to be bedazzled by the contents that adopted her. "Oh wow! Is this a record player!?" She squealed as she pulled the pristine device out of the box, "I need a new one since Sweetie Belle accidentally broke ours! Fluttershy, this must've been your gift isn't it?" "Yes, so glad you like it!" Fluttershy smiled." "Ahh! Guess it's my turn now eh?!" Applejack threw down her paper slip as she was next in turn to make her decision, "Well, that record player sure is dandy, but I'm going to pick this little box here..." She gently dragged the box to her side and began unraveling the ribbon holds it together. Using her muzzle to flick off the lid, she was met with utter disappointment as she adopted an unsatisfied look on her face. Pulling out the object, a photo frame containing a portrait of a particular Wonderbolt with an autograph stamp just on the lower right side of the photo. "Dash, you're joking right?" the country-mare huffed out steam from her nostrils, placing the frame for everypony to see. "W-what? I paid for the frame!" defended Rainbow Dash, forcing a smile, "It was in the budget too! And that photo is going to be worth something in the future once I'm the top Wonderbolt ever!" "Photos of some creatures' faces ain't gonna be worth a single bit!" barked Applejack, "I can look at you directly in real-time for free!" "Now calm down Applejack, I hate to say that unless Pinkie Pie wants to steal that photo of Rainbow Dash in her Wonderbolts attire, you're stuck with it. Lastly, it's Pinkie Pie's turn to either steal a gift or chose the final one up for grabs!" "Oooh boy! I can't wait to find out the last gift!" the eccentric Pinkie Pie was containing her excitement, nearly dragging the final present to her side of the table, "Come on Mobius! What do you get for me!?" "Oh yeah, I hadn't figured out what Radial got for me for this game, It's probably a gag gift like..." As Pinkie's teeth bite through the wrapping paper of the box, she ravaged on tearing the box to pieces until she was met with an unusually large silver utensil she couldn't keep her eyes off of. her eyes glittered in the sheen it leaves off. "Wow! A super-duper mega-sized spoon!" she lifted it off from its encasing and make it stand on top of the table, "Do you know how much ice cream I can get with this? Only a spoonfull!" "Alright, now that everypony got their gifts, It's time for the big question!" Radial turned her attention towards Rainbow Dash, "Dash, are you going to keep your baking tray, or are you going to steal one of the gifts here? Remember, the bottle of cider is no longer available to be stolen." "Pfft, don't remind me!" scoffed Rainbow Dash, "There's nothing here that I want to grab, except for that cool photo of me!" "Get on with it!" Applejack barked. "I guess I'll keep the baking tray...maybe I'll use it when I have the chance." "There you have it, folks! That's the end of the White Elephant!" announced Radial, placing her foreleg on her chest as she took a bow, "I hope you all are satisfied with your final choices. Now then, I shall occupy the desserts table if you would excuse me." She hoped away from the table and began to occupy the little snack area as the rest of the mares mingled around the room. This left Mobius and Twilight alone in the table where they played the gift exchange as they shared a brief moment together. "Hehe! that's a neat idea for a gift Mobius~" Twilight cooed, "You really do get a knack for this game don't you?" "It's no problem, when I heard we're going to play my favorite part of Hearth's Warming, I had to go all out." Mobius scratched behind his head, "Umm...can you excuse me real quick? I got to check out the tree." "Oh sure go right ahead, the girls and I are going to hang out for a few minutes until they're ready to leave." "Thank you! Hold onto this will you?" Mobius quickly hovered the bottle of cider to Twilight's side as he scurried off out of the dining table and through the halls to where the Hearth's Warming tree stood tall. Only a few presents were stashed below the tree, so it was not difficult to find to locate his gift. Even staring at it gave him a disgusted look on his face. "Crap! I don't Twilight to receive such a lousy gift like this book! I need to think of another gift she'll enjoy, but all of the stores are closed tomorrow. What am I going to do? Meanwhile... Somewhere within the interior of the castle lies Celestia in her private chambers as she was very much busy channeling a magic circle where she stood in the center of it as if in a zen state with her eyes closed and her breathing slow. The golden yellow circle rotated text of old ponish language. All of this came to a close when she quickly shut her eyes open and her horn stopped glowing as fue circle faded to nonexistence. "There you are," She numbered before the effects of her magic began to show growing dizzier by the second, "Woah! Never conjured up something that strong, I just need to lie dow--" "Dear Sister!" The irritating voice of Luna came from nowhere as she teleported in front of her, "Preparations for the Hearths Warming party are finished! Look at you? Are you feeling alright?" "Yes, I'm fine..." Celestial reassured everything to Luna, "I just happened to locate the whereabouts of Scorpan, apparently James and Zoey needed him to deal with Lord Tirek." "Well that's brilliant, but are you sure they'll pull it off?" Luna asked curiously, "Don't see how a centaur that consumes magic and cause terror can accept friendship. "We will just have to find out ourselves," pondered Celestia.