The day was finally upon us, and I practically flew out of bed to get cleaned up and get to the commons room. Twilight and I had snuck out in the middle of the night, somehow not waking anyone, and filled the commons room with presents and ensured the fire was well fed for the day ahead. Due to that, I had time to make a nice breakfast for everyone before they had awakened, leaving just Twilight and I alone, putting on the last finishing touches for our first Hearth’s Warming as a herd.
I was wearing my apron and flipping some pancakes while Twilight prepared fresh coffee and hot chocolate, as well as arranging an array of cookies, pastries, biscuits, and tarts for everyone to enjoy. With only the two of us awake, the private quarters were quiet, but I knew the smell of fresh cooked food and coffee was going to awaken everyone soon.
And, true to my assumption, our friends and herd began to stumble into the private dining room, most grabbing a coffee or hot chocolate on the way past us. I was still finishing up, so Twilight followed them with the treats levitating in her magic, and I did my best to finish up the food all at once so everything would be nice and hot. Finally, all thirty-six pancakes were done, the haybacon was nice and crispy, and after piling everything into covered serving dishes, I made my way to the dining room, setting everything down in front of the gathered creatures there. With no need to be told, everyone began helping themselves to the hot meal, and I slipped away briefly to grab some gems for the dragons present. I eventually sat down at my own place, between Twilight and Rarity, and began eating.
After everyone had settled in completely for breakfast, Twilight cleared her throat to get everyone’s attention, and announced, “So, here’s the plan: after breakfast we’re going to hand out presents. Following that, we’ll have time to wash and groom ourselves before the rest of the town starts arriving. Spike, Starlight, Trixie and I will be the ones to ask if you need anything, but other than that, you all are free to enjoy the holiday as you see fit. We will be lighting the grand hearth just as evening comes, so be ready for that. I just want to thank all of you for coming to celebrate this holiday with us, and I hope you all build fond memories of this time.”
A chorus of cheers and gratitude answered her, followed by everyone again focusing on their breakfast. I munched absently on some gems as I waited for everyone to finish, understandably excited about the gifts to come. I was, however, significantly more excited about the reactions they would have to my gifts; in my opinion, that was always the best part of Hearth’s Warming. Even after years, I had a distinct aversion to receiving gifts, but instead channeled that into giving gifts. So it was no surprise I basically jumped out of my chair when everyone finished, only all too happy to gather up the dirty dishes and put away the leftovers, and escort everyone to the commons room.
Twilight giggled, even though she submitted to my coaxing and continued walking. “Spike, calm down. We’ll get there, I promise.” Ember just chose to stay silent, but couldn’t help the wide smile that accompanied her laughter.
Eventually though, we all arrived in the commons room, and everyone stared with wide eyes at the presents gathered. There were probably over a hundred. Granted, there were quite a few of us there, but I knew Ember in particular knew very little about Hearth’s Warming, so getting presents “just because” was something new for her.
The Young Six sat on one side of the room, with the rest of us on the other. I took the initiative and began divvying up the presents by name, handing each one to whoever it belonged to, and watching as eyes got wider and wider as their piles grew. Eventually, after nearly twenty minutes, all the presents were distributed, and Twilight took the lead.
“Okay everyone,” she stood and held up a gift, which was from Rarity, “choose a gift, read aloud who it’s from, and open it. Have fun!”
And so the madness began, with us watching the younger ones opening their presents, and verbally thanking us, or in Ocellus’ case, bounding over to give Twilight and Starlight a big hug as she held a perfect replica of the Treehouse of Harmony, complete with little miniatures of her and her friends. It was clear to see everything was handcrafted from crystal, and must have taken weeks or months to complete.
Eventually though, all their presents were finished, and among their piles of new toys, knick-knacks, gadgets, and clothing, the six looked at us expectantly, with Yona smiling and pointing at us. “And now you! Yona knows you will like presents! Go, open open!”
I looked at the others sitting on my side, shrugged, and grabbed Yona’s gift first. My claws made short work of the paper, revealing a handmade scarf with ancient yak tribal designs, along with a carved wooden flute, and a beautiful ivory picture frame. Looking up at the yak, I could only smile back, and nod to her. “Thank you for the gifts, Yona. I love them.”
“Gifts from father and Yona!” she corrected, pointing to the picture frame in my right hand. “Father made himself, from old mammoth remains in mountains. Found tusks, and did not know what to do with them…until now. Greatest thing to do with good find is gifts!”
Yaks didn’t have the same aversion to using animal products in the things they made, so they made regular use of bones, ivory, leather, and teeth. It was one of the things Equestrians had to adapt to in order to form a stable friendship with Yakyakistan, and surprisingly, they did it fairly quickly. True, we had very different cultures, but in the harsh climes of the mountains where yaks lived, they had to make use of whatever they could find, and often that meant other animals. It was because of this that I could easily understand how valuable a picture frame like the one I was given happened to be. And, even though it was still a little weird, it did look nice.
Looking back at the yak, I said, “Be sure and tell your father I’m grateful for the thoughtful gift. I’ll treasure it.”
Following on the heels of the yak, Ocellus fluttered her wings and said, “Okay, mine next!”
I picked up a sparkly square present that looked like it took a dip in a pool of glitter. The writing was bubbly and loopy, which somehow fit Ocellus’ personality perfectly. I smiled at her before more gently opening the paper (to hopefully reduce the amount of glitter that was going to cover me). Inside was a small cardboard box, which upon opening, revealed what looked like glass sculpture of an adult dragon in large, quadrupedal form, that appeared to be…well, me. She even got the frills right.
I carefully held the sculpture up to see it, and when it caught the light, it cast rainbows on the wall behind it, causing everyone to “ooh” in surprise. My mouth dropped open in awe. Slowly, I rolled my eyes to the changeling, and shakily asked, “D-did you make this?”
Ocellus squirmed a bit in a great imitation of Fluttershy. “W-well, yeah. Changelings spent centuries isolated from the outside world, so we got really good at making everything we needed. We didn’t really get much time to openly expand in the arts and such in Chrysalis’ hive, but certain changelings did so in secret. M-my father is a glazier, and he taught me the trade when I was very young. And once we were freed from Chrysalis’ reign, I learned to use that skill to make pretty things, instead of just windows and things like that. I guess you could call me a glass artist.”
I held up the sculpture again, noticing there were no discernable imperfections or warping. “Ocellus…this thing is a work of art. I’ve seen things like this of lesser quality selling in Canterlot shops for well over a hundred bits each. Add some colors here and there, and you could easily sell it for a few thousand.”
Ocellus blushed and waved my praise away. “Oh c’mon, it’s not that great. It’s just something I do in my spare time for fun.”
My immediate impulse was to keep pressing, and tell her she could be making thousands of bits off of a piece like this…only to remember what it was, what it was for, and what day it was. I settled down and smiled more calmly at the changeling. “All I’m trying to say is that this is amazing, Ocellus. Thank you so much for the gift.”
Ocellus smiled brightly again, her wings buzzing happily behind her. “You’re welcome, Spike. I’m very happy my gift could bring you such joy.”
Next was Sandbar, whose rectangular gift was wrapped in plain brown paper with a simple string to tie it together. He chuckled self-consciously and said, “I uh, hope you like it. It’s not much, but it’s what I have to give.”
“The monetary value of a gift isn’t what matters, Sandbar,” Starlight assured, smiling at her former student. “If it’s given with the intention of causing joy, then it’s a good gift.”
I smiled, but said nothing as I carefully broke the string and unwrapped the present. Inside was a book, which at first puzzled me, but upon opening I saw it was a recipe book. It was hand-typed with drawn illustrations, and these recipes were foods I had never heard of before. As a cook, I understood just how valuable something like this was. Looking up at the colt, I gave him a bright smile. “Sandbar…this is incredible. These are all from home, I assume?”
His nervous look became more confident at my response, and he nodded. “Y-yeah, they are. We don’t have a whole lot back home, but what we do have is good food. I figured someone that likes to cook would enjoy some new recipes.”
Flipping through the book again, taking in the unique dishes, I returned the nod. “I do. Thanks, Sandbar. I’ll put this to use as soon as I can.”
“All right, mine next. I’m not exactly great at wrapping, so I’m sure you can figure out which one is mine,” spoke Gallus, grinning and crossing his arms.
Glancing around at the gifts, I noticed one that, yes, looked like someone had made only a cursory attempt at wrapping. As a gryphon, Gallus was a creature of practicality, and didn’t see the need for overly complicated things, which included wrapping gifts. After all, it was what was inside the paper that mattered. And so, without hesitation, I tore the paper open, revealing a small brown box, which I also opened. Inside was a pair of rings, one that looked like it was made of obsidian, and the other either silver or pewter. When I looked up questioningly at Gallus, he thankfully explained.
“What you’re looking at is what I’d call a family heirloom…if gryphons had that kinda thing,” he surmised, laughing a few times. “Anyway, Grampa Gruff found these a while ago, and didn’t know what to do with them. They’re normal rings to the rest of us, but to a creature that can cast magic…”
Taking his cue, I chose the obsidian ring and placed it on my right ring finger. When nothing happened, I blew fire on my hand and cast a basic light spell…and nothing was any different. “Nothing’s happening.”
Gallus groaned and snarked, “There’s two rings, smart guy. You gotta wear both of ‘em.”
Mentally shrugging, I put the other ring on my left hand, and immediately, both rings lit up with green light, the same green of my fire. A jolt ran through me, causing me to flinch, but I couldn’t really say it was painful. When nothing further happened, I again cast the same light spell, but this time the spell all but leapt into existence, and I felt practically zero drain from it, compared to normal. It only took me a second to understand just what the rings did. “They create a focus.”
Gallus nodded. “Yeah, that’s what Grampa Gruff said they were supposed to do. When gryphons had spellcasters, back when the empire was at its height, rings like these could turn even the greenest of gryphon mages into spellcasters overnight. It’s a lot easier to learn new spells when you’re not tired after using, like, only five.”
Ember’s training had built up my reserves quite a bit, but I was still a novice compared to most other dragons. As it was, I still got tired after more than an hour of continued spellcasting, and some spells were completely beyond me. But, with these rings, I could experiment with more complex spells without hurting myself. Or, more likely, massively increase my spellcasting efficiency so that I could cast for longer.
I just stared at the rings in wonder for a moment before finally commenting, “I gotta admit Gallus, I figured you would have sold something like this before giving it to me as a gift.”
The gryphon shrugged. “Eh, friends get first pick. Maybe that’s not the rule in Griffonstone, but it’s my rule.”
I smiled at his words. “I like that rule. I appreciate the gift, Gallus. Thanks.”
“Okay, me next, me next!” Silverstream squealed, bouncing in excitement in a very accurate Pinkie Pie impression. And so, I reached for a present that was wrapped in pale pink wrapping paper with a bow almost as large as the present itself. Without preamble, I tore the top off of the paper, which was hiding a bottle of what appeared to be some sort of drink.
“We call it ‘Mother of Pearl’ mead, and it’s made from seabee honey,” Silverstream explained, still bouncing in her seat. “Mom said everycreature should try it at least once, and since only a few bottles are made each year, I figured I should just gift you one instead.”
Truth be told, I had heard about the drink, and true to its namesake, it shimmered iridescently in the light. It was renowned for being extraordinarily rare, usually only accessible to the hippogriffs and a few notable traders. For everyone else, it was all but impossible to get. With that being the case, I had to ask: “...Silverstream, how much did this cost you?”
She tilted her head at that. “Nothing. My brother gave it to me for my coming-of-age ceremony, but I don’t drink. So, I thought I could give it to a friend instead, and Hearth’s Warming is the perfect time for that, isn’t it?”
“W-well yeah, but-”
“Don’t you like it?” she interrupted, tilting her head the other way in a decidedly cute manner.
I resisted for as long as I could, but eventually, Silverstream’s adorably innocent question wore away my defenses until I could only sigh, and smile. “Yes…yes I do. Thank you, Silverstream. I’ll make sure to put this to good use.” Sure, I wasn’t exactly a drinker, but I knew both Twilight and Rarity had refined palates when it came to alcohol, and would enjoy a nice drink like that. It would make for some nice drinks on dates, if nothing else.
Lastly was Smolder. However, instead of something physical, she smiled and said, “I have a spell for you that I’ll teach you later. I made it myself, and you’ll only be the second dragon in the world to know of it.”
My eyes widened, and I was aware of Twilight gasping to my right. “You made your own spell?”
“It shames me to say that even though she isn’t the dragon lord, she’s a far more talented spellcaster than I could ever hope to be,” Ember playfully lamented, laughing softly. “Her solution to the lack of utility spells for dragons is to just make them, and she’s very good at it.”
Before Twilight could open her mouth, Smolder preempted her with, “And yes, Twilight, I promise we can talk later.” Twilight’s muted ‘yes’ brought a smile to my face, and I couldn’t help but feel this was the best Hearth’s Warming so far.
From there, I kinda tuned out a bit as everyone else began opening their gifts, one by one, that the six youths got for them. Twilight, of course, usually got books or some magical artifact (except for Smolder, who had also promised her a spell that could be adapted to pony magic), Rarity got a few handmade articles of fashionable clothing and some bolts of rare cloth, and so on from there.
Finally, all the gifts between us were given out, and the younger ones decided to go off to enjoy their new items. That just left me and my herd in the room, at which point we began opening each other’s presents. Things were generally tame and normal, but every now and then someone would open a present that was distinctly herd-related.
For example: Twilight was opening a rather boring looking box from Rarity, only for her to lift off the lid, practically turn into a tomato, and slam the lid down on the box. After some coaxing from Fluttershy and Rarity, Twilight reluctantly opened the box and showed us what was inside. And…let me just say, I knew Rarity wasn’t exactly a prude, but making Twilight such an outfit was something new. Sure, it was technically clothing, but let’s just say it was designed to put everything on open display. Rarity was really taking her role as First Mare seriously…and yeah, I was enjoying it. Twilight and I hadn’t “done the deed,” but this just gave me something more to look forward to. Just imagining her done up in that, her eyes pleading and submissive…
Mmm…
The next “herd gift” came by way of Twilight, to Fluttershy. Fluttershy’s gift was not of the embarrassing variety, but rather the “warm intimacy” sort. Unlike Rarity’s gift to Twilight, Twilight’s gift to our pegasus was meant to tell her, without words, “You belong with us, and we’re privileged to have you.” Twilight’s gift was a magical key that gave her access to every room save for Twilight’s experimental lab (for safety reasons), all secured on a silver chain that was enchanted to always be in the first place she looked (a clever spell created from Seeksy’s Searching Charm and Soulbound Item). This simple gift would ensure Fluttershy had access to the castle, whenever she wanted, even including our private rooms. Needless to say, this turned Fluttershy’s cuteness up to eleven, since she smiled freely and happily, and was basically nuzzling Twilight uncontrollably with an odd, but adorable purring sound.
The next two gifts were both for Lyla, one from Rarity and one from Fluttershy. Rarity had also made a rather scandalous “bedroom outfit” for Lyla, which the changeling showed off without shame, but Fluttershy’s gift was a bit more unexpected. It was, of all things, the Kamare Sutra. Everyone was blushing (even Ember, after I explained the gift), Fluttershy was hiding behind her wings as she giggled uncontrollably, and Lyla looked downright impressed.
The last herd gift was from Rarity to Ember. Since Ember had not received that many gifts (not that it really bothered her, honestly), Rarity had decided to go all-out for the dragoness. She had colluded with the others to create for Ember a gift the likes of which the dragoness had likely never seen before, because inside a rather large box was Ember’s suit of armor, but completely upgraded in every way possible. The minor damage here and there had been repaired, the armor itself had been buffed and shined, and the leather had been completely replaced with new, fireproof leather from the minotaurs. But, in addition to all that, the armor now bore intricate etchings on many of the surfaces, which looked to add more complexity, but upon closer inspection, were actually enchantments. There were enchantments for cushioning (to better protect against concussive forces), cold warding, grounding (to protect against lightning), magic absorption, and even protection from curses. The metal itself was now an alloy of mithril and gold, and cradled in each metal piece was at least one gem each, humming with power.
While Ember was an expert in dragon magic, pony spells still largely eluded her, so Twilight happily explained all the enchantments in place. Lastly was the gems, which surprised me and, honestly, made me a little jealous.
“This armor will change shape and size, protecting you even when you grow large. Nothing short of a comet impact or a volcanic explosion could hurt you now,” Twilight explained, smiling with a healthy measure of pride in her part of the work.
Ember carefully picked up the armor, flinching as it clinked and clanked, holding it almost reverently in front of her. “You…y-you did this for me?”
“Well, we all had a part, but…yes,” Rarity answered, laying a gentle hand on the trembling dragoness’ shoulder.
“We all care about you, Ember,” Twilight added, placing her own hand on the opposite shoulder. “Keeping you cooped up just isn’t feasible, and you would be miserable. Part of being in a herd is looking out for one another, but since we might not always be able to do that…we decided we needed a way to make sure our treasure is always protected.”
“T-t-treasure?!”
I was well aware that we dragons “run hot,” so to speak, but Ember was blushing so hard I could feel the heat from two places away. After I had jokingly referred to Ember as “my treasure” in private, she had explained to me just how serious a claim that was. As creatures that were instinctively drawn to hoard treasures of some kind, referring to another dragon as “my treasure” was putting a great amount of worth on said dragon, and the importance was not lost on me. It made sense, then, that only the comparatively rare dragons that valued ideals of romance and love referred to their mate as a treasure. So, for Twilight to refer to Ember as “our treasure,” she was asserting that she was now an integral part of our lives, and we would never let her go without a fight. While the others had worked hard on the material side of things, I had donated the knowledge of the draconic meaning behind that term alone, knowing the effect it would have on Ember.
Ember was silent for a long time before finally croaking out, “...do you know the severity of what you just implied?”
Twilight nodded. “I do. Spike explained it to me, and I used that term, in that context, specifically because I know what it means. So, the question is: are you okay with it?”
Again, Ember was silent for a bit. She seemed to be considering how to answer, before finally settling on, “No one’s ever done something like this for me. I…I honestly have no words to really explain how this makes me feel. But…yes. Yes, I’m okay with it.” Tears began gathering at the corners of her eyes, which she hurriedly wiped away, laughing it off. “S-see what you did? Now I’m crying. Why am I crying?”
Twilight wasted no time in embracing the dragoness, holding her head close to her chest and gently stroking the tender skin behind her horns. “Because sometimes, the emotion is too great, and the body doesn’t know how to deal with it. No one here will judge you, Ember. Like I said: we’re a family. We may not be your mother or father, but friends are the family you choose. You will always be welcome in our lives, no matter what.”
Ember laughed again, raising her own arms up to cradle the pony hugging her. We all joined in where we could, enclosing the dragoness in warmth and love. After a few beats, she jokingly complained, “You guys are gonna make me soft, and no dragon back home is gonna respect me anymore.”
“Outside, you can be as imposing and regal as you wish,” Rarity assured, gently running her fingertips over the cyan marks under one of the dragoness’ eyes, “but here, in private, amongst the herd, you are just one of us, and we will treat you as a beloved member. Here, you can let the walls come down and just relax.”
Again, Ember softly laughed. “You all are gonna ruin me.” She sniffled and wiped her eyes again, gently pushing the others away with a smile. “Okay, that’s enough of that. So, presents are done. What else do we need to do today?”
I shrugged. “Just enjoy the day, for the most part. Twilight and I are doing the majority of the hosting duties, Starlight will be overseeing the food setup, which leaves the rest of you to just have fun. But,” I placed my hand on her thigh, giving a gentle squeeze, "if you feel more comfortable, you can hang around us. It'll be boring, but you're welcome to if that's what you want."
She paused for a moment, thinking to herself, before nodding resolutely. "I think I'll stick around you two. If I need to get away from everyone, I know my way back to the room."
I nudged her and nosed toward the new gift. "I know you feel safer in your armor. Now would be the perfect time to give it a test run to be sure it doesn't chafe or anything."
Ember glanced at her armor for a moment before nodding once again. As if it were practiced, each of us grabbed a piece of her armor and helped her get dressed, and within only a few minutes, Ember was fully decked out in her new armor, looking quite pleased with the balanced protection and comfort. Though she decided to forego the helmet, the rest of her was completely covered in golden armor, and she looked ready to go to war.
Looking down at herself, Ember allowed a small smile to grace her lips. “Again…thank you. All of you.”
Once again, we crowded the dragoness and gave her a hug.
While Fizzlepop had come to dinner the previous night, and was becoming more comfortable being around other ponies, she still wasn’t exactly what I would call “social”. I knew, of course, it was more because of the lingering guilt she had, and the self-depreciation she likely heaped upon herself, than any actual lack of desire for company, but the result was the same. She tended to speak with Twilight the most, then bounced to Starlight occasionally, but for the most part, Fizzlepop largely kept to herself. I saw her around from time to time, but it was rarely for more than a meal or a few minutes of chatter before she would disappear again, sequestering herself away in her room. Like Twilight and the other girls, I worried about her. It wasn’t healthy to spend so much time alone. What bothered me the most was that I sometimes could hear soft sobs coming from her room when I would walk by at night.
With a few hours to kill before people would start arriving and the cooking would need to be started, I walked the halls toward Fizzlepop’s room, intent on checking up on her to see if she needed anything, and to inquire if she wanted to join in the festivities. It was a daily thing I did since she arrived, to be sure she felt welcomed and included in our lives. I’ll admit, it was a balancing act to find the safe line between “attentive” and “annoying,” and I sometimes wasn’t sure if I met the mark.
Nonetheless, as I approached her apartment with a few cookies and a mug of special hot chocolate (with alcoholic liqueur added), I pondered whether I was bothering her, or if there was more I could be doing.
The unassuming door ahead was my destination, so I carefully freed up a hand as I stopped in front, knocking loudly. “Fizzle? Hey, it’s Spike.”
A worrying crash and loud curses followed my greeting, followed by momentary silence. The noises worried me, but against my impulse, I stayed outside and waited. After a few moments, and what sounded like hops toward the door, said door opened a crack to reveal Fizzlepop’s face and one eye. “Sorry about that. Did you need something, Spike?”
Raising a brow, I tentatively asked, “Are you okay? I heard a noise that sounded like you broke something. And I, uh, brought you some treats, just in case you were hungry. Oh, and some adult hot chocolate.”
Fizzlepop’s eye wandered over to the cookies and mug I held up, and she chewed on her lip briefly before closing the door. The sound of the door chain could be heard sliding out of the latch before the door opened, and she stood aside. “Sure, come on in.”
I stepped into the living room of the apartment, moving over to the small sofa that sat in front of a coffee table, and set the goods I brought down before taking a seat. Fizzlepop took a seat a cushion away from me giving me a grateful smile as she took one of the cookies and tossed it into her mouth. After a moment of savoring the fresh-baked treat, she washed it down with a sip of the hot drink, humming appreciatively and raising her mug to me with a nod.
I sat silently and allowed her to snack. After two more cookies and half of the mug gone, Fizzlepop set down the mug and smiled at me again. “Thanks. I haven’t eaten since supper yesterday, so I was starving. I swear you must have telepathy or something, because I was literally just thinking about how hungry I am.”
I refrained from commenting about the fact I had prepared breakfast, and instead returned her smile. “It wouldn’t do to have one of my housemates starving. Besides, fresh cookies are always good, and as Pinkie would say, ‘A wasted cookie is a wasted moment of joy’.”
Nodding again with one more small smile, she said, “On that we can agree. It was kinda hard to get sweets out on the road, so I’m gonna have to work out twice as hard so I don’t get fat from living here.”
I bobbed my head from side to side, smiling sheepishly. “Uh, yeah, I guess. I never really had that problem, but Twilight got kinda chubby from all the treats, plus long hours of sitting and reading. Frankly, I have no idea how Pinkie stays so fit.”
Rolling her eyes and taking another long pull from the mug, Fizzlepop commented, “That mare is a mystery wrapped up in an enigma. If there’s one thing I’m jealous of her for, it’s that she can eat whatever she wants and still have a body like that.”
With nothing left to really be said at the moment, I just let Fizzlepop enjoy the cookies and hot chocolate. I took a moment to inspect her general appearance, and judging by the damp mane and misty fur, I had apparently caught her just after taking a shower. I tried not to think about the tantalizing mental image of the unicorn wrapped in a towel, fur still slick and-
Nope, just gonna kill that thought before it completes.
However, just as I was about to look away, I noticed a darker line slowly making its way down her back, just under her right shoulder. Her dark blue shirt would have easily hidden it if I had not been looking, or had she not been leaning forward. I glanced to her face briefly, noting she seemed completely caught up in the nice treats I brought her, so I slowly inched my nose over to hover just over her back, and took a silent sniff. Immediately, a familiar coppery scent entered my nose, and my primal brain instantaneously identified it as blood.
I retreated to my original place, thankful she hadn’t noticed, but was now worried. Had she hurt herself when I knocked? Was that the noise I had heard? If so, I felt bad.
“Wow, that really hit the spot. Thanks again, Spike,” she said, giving a slightly more radiant smile than before. Her smile diminished as she noticed my face, however, and she then asked, “You okay? What’s with the face?”
Realizing I had been unable to mask my concern, I cleared my throat and hurriedly tried to think of a way to rationalize what I had just seen. Unfortunately, I couldn’t think of an easy way to ask, so I decided to just be direct. “Um…forgive me if this is insensitive, but I think you’re bleeding, Fizzle.”
She stilled immediately. Not quite freezing, but close enough that I could only just barely make out her breathing. She slowly sat up straight, closing her eyes and releasing a long breath through her nose, before standing. “Are you squeamish around blood, Spike?”
Looking up at her curiously, I shook my head. “Not particularly. I mean, I wouldn’t want to bathe in it or anything, but blood doesn’t make me sick or dizzy.”
She nodded a few times, chewing on her lip. Her eyes darted my way, lingering for a breath, before she asked, “Do you think I might be able to get your help with something, then?”
I slowly stood, straightening out my shirt. “Sure, whatever you need.”
Fizzlepop rounded the sofa and beckoned me to follow. “Come with me. I could really use an extra pair of hands, and I don’t want to burden Twilight with this right now.” I dutifully followed the unicorn into the other room, her bedroom, before stepping into the bathroom. Unlike the rest of the private apartments, Fizzlepop had a fully-functional bathroom that had a bath/shower combo, a toilet, and a vanity mirror with its own sink and counter space. Immediately upon entering the bathroom, the sharp scent of isopropyl alcohol was present, along with more of the coppery scent of blood, as well as another odd scent I couldn’t quite place.
Without hesitation, Fizzle lifted up the hem of her shirt, exposing her stomach and lower back, and I had to ask, “Are you sure you want me for this, and not one of the girls?”
“Starlight usually faints at the sight of any blood not her own, and Twilight would panic,” she explained, whipping off her shirt and exposing her bare back to me. I idly noted she wasn’t wearing a bra, and momentarily found myself excited, only for said excitement to be drowned out by shocked concern when I saw an ugly skin wound as long as my hand and half as wide gouged into her back. The edges were colored black, and the odd scent I couldn’t place was strongest there.
I stared at the wound for a moment, unsure of what to say. Eventually, I could only force out, “F-Fizzle…w-what is-?”
“It’s not recent, before you ask. I got it years ago,” she answered plainly. There was no specific emotion: it was just a statement of fact.
“Years? But this looks fresh. Only a week old, at the most,” I countered, unable to make sense of what she was saying next to actually seeing the wound.
Fizzlepop let out a long sigh. “It was done by a blade with a wounding curse on it. It will never fully heal unless the curse is removed. Before you ask, I’ve spent a lot of the time I was away trying to find a way to remove the curse, but every answer I get is either ‘I don’t know,’ or ‘It’s impossible.’” She glanced at me over her shoulder with a weak smile. “So if I often seem cold, distant, or outright crabby, this is part of the reason why. I’m in pain every day of my life, and everyone I’ve sought out has essentially told me this is going to be my life from now on.” She looked back toward the mirror in front of us, muttering quietly, “Maybe this is penance for what I’ve done.”
“Fizzle, you’ve been forgiven for what you’ve done,” I assured, hesitating before placing my hand on her shoulder, well away from the wound. “Do you really believe you deserve to spend the rest of your life in pain for the mistakes you’ve made? Everyone deserves a second chance.”
Slowly, she raised her hand and placed it on mine briefly, before gently pushing my hand away. “All the forgiveness in the world won’t undo the pain I've caused, repair the lives I’ve personally destroyed, or right the wrongs I’ve committed against innocents.”
“And being in constant agony until the day you draw your last breath is supposed to make that better?” I countered, my tone a little sharper than I had planned. Nonetheless, after a calming breath, I continued. “You spent five years traveling the world, being cursed at, spit on, and shunned, and even so, you did everything you could to help and rebuild what had been destroyed. You took the slings and arrows willingly, and you still wanted to do more to make up for it.” She opened her mouth to speak, but I held up my hand to silence her. “Look, I know you’ve got issues with this, and frankly, I don’t expect that any of us, no matter how hard we try, are going to be able to help you get past all this with just a few conversations. But know this: we will not give up on you.” I looked into the mirror, catching her eyes with mine. “I will never give up on you. But, for now,” I nodded toward her back, “let’s get this taken care of.”
She held my gaze for a moment, seemingly unsure of how to respond, before nodding jerkily and gesturing to the counter. “I splashed some alcohol on it, but it needs more to be dabbed on. Also, that black, necrotic flesh needs to be scrubbed away before another bandage can be put on.”
I could now place the smell I had noticed that I couldn’t identify: cursed flesh. It was a scent I wish I didn’t have to know of, least of all from a friend. I reached forward and grabbed the gauze pads and alcohol, darting my eyes to hers and asking, “Isn’t this going to hurt?”
“More than I can say, but it has to be done. I’ve become pretty accustomed to the pain by now. Just be thorough, because I don’t want this to be for nothing,” she advised, leaning forward a bit and bracing her hands on the counter. She took a few quick breaths, apparently preparing herself, before nodding. “Okay, do it.’
I took a breath of my own to settle my nerves before pouring some alcohol on the pad and immediately placing it on the wound, rubbing at the blackened edges. I ignored the squeak that escaped Fizzlepop’s throat and tried not to think about the tears in her eyes as I continued, instead following her instructions and debriding the wound area the best that I could. I reminded myself that the thick, oozing blood and reddened flesh was better than the blackened, dead skin I was scrubbing off, but despite my strong stomach, I was still uncomfortable. Regardless, I focused on the task, removing all emotion from the equation, and powered through it until all specks of loose, discolored flesh were gone. I grabbed a fresh gauze pad and dabbed the area down with some more alcohol, before turning Fizzlepop around, grabbing a hand mirror from the countertop, and handing it to her so she could inspect the wound through the two mirrors.
Her breathing was shaky from the pain, but she inspected my work with a critical (teary) eye. She nodded with a grateful, weary smile. “Good job. All right, grab the big bandage pad and the roll of sticky bandage wrap, and help me patch this up.”
I did as she asked, handing the roll to her and opening the sterile pad. I placed it gently over the wound, then held the end of the gauze up at her shoulder, allowing Fizzlepop to roll it over her front, before passing it along her side back to me. I continued the wrap around her back before handing it back to her at her shoulder, and we continued this three more times before she started to go across her chest horizontally, to stabilize the wrap and be sure it wouldn’t move. After a few minutes of alternating diagonal and horizontal wrapping of the stretchy roll, the wound was thoroughly bandaged, so with a quick snip of medical scissors and sticking the self-adhesive wrap to itself, the job was finally done. Without prompting, I used the cleaner of the two alcohol-soaked gauze pads to wipe away the blood that had run down her back, stopping just above the belt of her pants.
Without turning around, Fizzlepop hooked her fingers on the shirt she had tossed on the towel rack, hurriedly pulling it on with a final sigh of relief. After taking a moment to compose herself, she turned around with a wan smile and nodded to me. “Thanks. I’m sorry you had to go through that.”
My jaw dropped open at the audacity of her statement. “You…you’re sorry? Fizzle, all I did was help out a friend, and I’m willing to do so any time you need it. I’m sorry you have to deal with this pain every. Single. Day. I can’t even imagine what it’s like.” After only a beat of thought, I announced, “Twilight and I are going to figure this out. Do you mind if I tell her about the curse?”
For the first time I had seen her, Fizzlepop looked distinctly surprised and shocked. “W-what? Spike, no, you don’t need to bother her with this. I’ve been looking for a solution for years, and-”
“Are. You. Okay with me telling Twilight about the curse?” I repeated, standing my ground. “I didn’t ask if you thought we could solve this, I’m asking if you’re okay with us trying, and thus, telling Twilight about it. Maybe you’ve searched for years for an answer, but in all that time, did you ever ask Twilight? Or Starlight? Or any of the other genius ponies Equestria somehow has just floating around?”
Fizzlepop seemed momentarily lost for words, so much so that she just froze. Was I being a little too assertive? Too presumptuous?
When a few seconds turned into ten, I broke the silence by asking, “If you have to live the rest of your life in agony, wouldn’t it make sense to know you exhausted every possible option before resigning yourself to a life of pain?” Risking it again, I rested my hand on her shoulder, looking deep into her eyes, and pleading, “Please, let me try to help you. If we fail, then we fail, but no one deserves to live like this. Please let us try to help.”
Fizzlepop closed her eyes, her face impassive and unreadable. After a few seconds of her silence, she opened her eyes with a wavering hope within, and slowly nodded. “Okay.”
As if a weight had been lifted off of my shoulders, I relaxed and smiled. “Good. Let me know when you’re ready, and we’ll meet her together.”
Fizzlepop shook her head with a sigh. “It’s a good thing I’m supposed to be ‘reformed’ now. A more unscrupulous mare would use your kindness against you.”
“Ember said something similar,” I said with a laugh. “I guess it’s a good thing I have phenomenal taste in mares.” I froze once I realized what I said. “I-I mean as friends. I have phenomenal taste in friends, is what I meant. Friends that are mares. Mare-friends. For stars’ sake, why aren’t you stopping me?”
“I’m enjoying watching you fit multiple feet into your mouth, all at once,” Fizzlepop snarked, her smile growing.
Slumping with an embarrassed grumble, I mumbled, “Well I’m glad you’re smiling, at least. I guess some embarrassment is worth that.”
Before I could leave the bathroom, Fizzlepop stopped me with a hand on my shoulder. I looked over my shoulder at her, to see a smile on her face as she said, “Truly though…thank you, Spike. I know it’s not exactly easy dealing with my…issues, but thanks for sticking it out.”
A grin slowly formed on my face, and I nodded back to her. “Of course. I meant what I said: we’re here for you anytime, even if you don’t think you deserve it. That’s what friends do. If that means I need to pull your head out of your flank because you’re being silly, that’s what I’ll do.”
“Oh, so now you’re thinking about my flank, huh?” she challenged, attempting to tease me into a blushing mess.
Unfortunately for her, with Ember, Rarity, and Starlight regularly around, I had become all but immune to teasing. So, instead of blushing and stuttering like a teenager, I countered by theatrically leaning to the side to look at her behind, idly commenting, “Well, it is a very nice flank. If I have to look at said flank to perform an emergency head-removal, that’s a sacrifice I’m willing to make.”
Fizzlepop pouted -- actually pouted -- and grumped, “I’m not sure I like this new confidence you have. It’s not as easy to turn you into a blushing, stuttering mess.”
“I guess you’ll have to figure out another way to get my blood pumping,” I replied, blushing now, since that came out way more flirty than I intended. “I totally didn’t mean that to sound like a proposition.”
Now Fizzlepop was smiling again. “I take it back: you blurting things out without thinking might actually be more fun.”
I just groaned pitifully.
The morning chores had been taken care of, the preparations were underway, and I had just received a message via my fire from Cadence that she, Shining Armor, and Twilight’s parents were going to be arriving at the train station at any minute. With that in mind, and since everyone else was busy around the castle, I elected to be the one to go greet some of my adoptive family at the train station. Although, calling them “adoptive family” was a bit inaccurate, since technically, Twilight’s family wasn’t related to the Canterlot princesses. Besides that, it would basically make Twilight and I brother and sister, which would be…weird.
A distant whistle heralded the train’s arrival as I sat on a snow-covered bench. I lurched to my feet, dusting off my back and rump as I waited for the train to pull into the station. With most out of town guests having already arrived days ago, the train platform was all but abandoned, with only me and four other ponies waiting. Finally, I could see the train in the distance, its smokestack and lights becoming more visible the closer it got to the platform. A few minutes passed, along with a squeal of brakes, and the train had finally arrived.
The doors opened, allowing its payload of passengers to disembark. Compared to the way it was a few days ago, the number of passengers was rather sparse, and it only took a few minutes before everyone was off the train. The crew got to work helping everycreature gather their things as they left, which gave me time to spot my quarry.
Cadence was luckily fairly easy to spot. As an alicorn, she was taller than everyone else there, even her husband. She was covered head to hoof in baby blue winter clothing, with pale yellow accents and a stylized crystal heart on her chest. Among a crowd of ponies that wore winter clothes with darker tones, she stuck out like a sore thumb, but in a good way. Next to her were Twilight’s parents, Twilight Velvet and Night Light, along with the smallest member who had to be Flurry Heart. I could only surmise Shining Armor was gathering their bags from the luggage car, so I caught their attention with a shout and a wave.
I only had a moment to brace myself before a teenaged alicorn filly slammed into me, almost knocking me over despite her significant weight deficiency compared to me. I removed her hat and leaned down to lay a kiss on the top of her head before replacing the cap and hugging her tightly. The hug was quickly joined by the others, and for a moment, we just enjoyed the embrace before releasing each other.
I jerked my head toward the rear of the train, advising, “Wait here, I’m gonna help Shining with the bags. Be right back!”
I jogged over to the luggage car, where a dozen or so ponies were gathered, and quickly identified the tri-toned blue mane of Shining Armor. I came up beside him, and without prompting, began gathering some of the larger bags he had set aside from the pile. He started with a gasp, looking up at me in confusion, before rolling his eyes and smirking.
“Awful sneaky for being so big, Spike. Thanks for the help,” he greeted jovially.
I shrugged nonchalantly. “Eh, you know us tall guys need to help the height challenged ponies around here. Just doing my good deed for the day, shorty.”
HIs smirk grew, and he gave me a playful punch to the shoulder. “Yeah, yeah. It’s good to see you, Spike.”
He and I quickly gathered up the (thankfully few) bags they had all brought, and after assuring them I was fine with carrying so many (I hoped they wouldn’t notice I grew a bit larger to get some extra strength), we began our journey to the castle. I simply tromped ahead to lead the way, letting the others talk amongst themselves.
The walk only took a few minutes, and Twilight was thankfully waiting at the entrance to help me with the luggage. After levitating and then teleporting all the bags to their respective rooms, she rushed forward to hug her parents, nearly knocking them over as they laughed at her exuberance. One by one, she joyfully greeted her extended family, even doing her “ladybug dance” with Cadence. And yes, I laughed at her adorable behavior while she blushed.
Eventually though, we ushered everyone inside and helped them remove their snow-laden winter gear. After doing so, Twilight led us all to the commons room, where an assortment of baked treats and hot drinks were already waiting for us, courtesy of Fluttershy and Rarity. Cadence settled down in a free chair next to Shining Armor, Flurry Heart sat on her father’s lap, and Twilight’s parents sat on either side of her while I poured everyone a drink of their choice.
“So, Happy Hearth’s Warming to all of you,” I began, raising a mug to those gathered around. “I’m glad you all made it safely. It just wouldn’t have been right not to have all of you here.”
Night Light returned my nod. “Thank you for having us, Spike. We were afraid the trains might not make it until later in the day, but it seems luck was on our side.”
“Also the weather team was on our side,” Cadence corrected, smiling at her father in law. “The Canterlot branch did a good job of ensuring the rails were clear, so we didn’t have to stop in the middle of nowhere, waiting for the trainsponies to clear the path. That made everything so much easier. It’s always nice when ponies all work together. That is what the holiday is about, after all.”
Twilight smiled and leaned into her father’s embrace, snuggling him like she was a little filly again. “It’s so good to have all of you here. Thank you for making the time to visit.”
Shining Armor shrugged. “Well, there’s not much going on in the Crystal Empire, and most of our citizens just take the day off to spend with their families. Makes the castle really quiet, so we saw no reason not to visit my favorite little sister.”
“I’m your only little sister, Shiny,” Twilight corrected.
“Still my favorite!” he countered, giving a cheesy smile. He then glanced at me. “So, what’s new with all of you?”
I shrugged, finally taking my seat next to Shining Armor. “Eh, not much. We’ve reconnected with some friends, but I’m sure the biggest news is the herd.”
Shining Armor gently coaxed his daughter off his lap before turning to face me, his face more serious. “That’s right, you started a herd. I think we need to talk about-”
“Shining, I love you, but if you start the ‘protective big brother’ act, I’m going to shove this mug down your throat,” Twilight warned, shaking her mug of hot chocolate for emphasis.
Shining Armor dropped his stern persona and pouted. “Aww c’mon, Twily. I never got to do it with your other flames. This is a big brother’s duty, after all!”
As Shining Armor bickered with his sister, a thought came to mind. Standing, I announced, “Oh, I almost forgot, there’s someone you need to meet. Let me go get her.” With that said, I hurriedly left the room, heading toward Twilight’s bedroom, where I knew Ember would be.
True to my intuition, Ember was in the room, but she was not alone.
The rest of my herd was there, in varying stages of dress, and Ember herself was wearing some new jewelry. Ember had chains that connected to her piercings, wound around her horns, and draped silver, diamonds, and sapphires around her face. Whatever I was about to say completely left my mind, and I could only stare in dumbfounded surprise at how regal Ember looked.
Ember was blushing by now, glancing away from me. “Well, s-say something, you dork.”
But I couldn’t. I couldn’t talk. So, instead, I made my way to Ember and cupped her face in my hands. She had only a moment to give me a questioning look before I brought my lips to hers, pressing my body into her as we kissed. A surprised noise bubbled up in her throat, but was stopped by my own mouth, and she instead wrapped her arms and legs around me, dragging us down to the bed as we proceeded to make out in front of three of the other members in the herd. I didn’t particularly care, and I don’t think Ember did, either.
I’ll admit my hands wandered a bit more than they probably should have at that moment, but eventually, I caught myself and separated from Ember, enjoying the look of close-eyed bliss on her face as she just savored the moment for everything it was worth. Eventually, she opened her eyes, and I could only smile at her and say, “You truly are our treasure, Ember. You look amazing.” She blushed at my words, but smiled nonetheless. I glanced around the room at the others, who were blushing to varying degrees. “Anyway, I did come here for a reason: Twilight’s parents, Cadence, Shining Armor, and Flurry are all here. I’d like you all to meet them, as my herd, for the first time.” I then poked Ember in the chest. “And I’ll get to make up for not introducing you to my whole family earlier.”
Ember looked pleased, and allowed me to pull her up as we stood. After fixing her chains, which were a bit tangled from my actions, she nodded to me. “I’d be happy to meet them. Let the others get ready, and we’ll meet them all together.”
I looked around the room again, noticing that Rarity was only in her underwear, Fluttershy was blushing and covering her naked chest, and Lyla was in the process of pulling a pair of pants on. Clearing my throat with a sheepish smile, I said, “Um…I probably should have knocked. Sorry.”
Rarity merely shook her head with an exasperated smile. “It’s fine, dear. Lyla and I don’t particularly care, but I believe Fluttershy would like some privacy, so…”
I nodded with another nervous cough. “Right, right. I’ll be just outside the door, then.” I immediately left the room, throwing a particularly red-faced Fluttershy an apologetic smile, and shut the door behind me.
Only a few minutes later, the door opened, and the four exited. I wasted no time in leading them to the commons room, where the rest were gathered with Twilight. We entered a short time later to the surprised looks of everyone but Cadence, who was already well aware of the herd.
“Hello darlings!” Rarity loudly greeted, breaking the tension as she floated into the room, sitting beside Cadence to give the alicorn a hug. “It is wonderful you were able to make it. The trip was not too long, was it?”
“The trip was fine, Rarity. Thank you for asking,” Cadence answered, hugging the mare back. She then inclined her head toward us. “So, are you going to introduce us to the herd?”
Rarity smiled and stood. “Of course. As I’m sure you know Twilight and Fluttershy, I will introduce the two members you probably don’t know as well. First is Lyla, who was close friends with us for a few years before she captured Spike’s attention in a rather heated exchange.”
All of the attention was focused on Lyla, who for the first time in a while, looked distinctly ashamed. “Um, y-yeah. I got a little too excited and kinda…jumped him that night. Found out later I wasn’t supposed to do that, but Rarity was kind enough to forgive me for being excitable.”
Rarity moved to the changeling and gave her a brief nuzzle before standing next to the dragoness. “This, as most of you know, is Ember. She is the dragon lord of the Narrowscale clan in the dragon lands. By her right because of what happened during the Gauntlet of Fire, she recently claimed Spike as her mate in order to ward away a dragoness that was looking to abduct our dear Spikey.”
Shining Armor nodded gravely. “Yeah, I heard about that. Nothing came of it though.”
“Not yet,” Rarity said, twirling her finger. “After the new year, there will be a reckoning. However, that is for later. Anyhow, from here, I will let Ember explain the events herself.”
And so, with ample details, Ember explained everything: the nuances of dragon culture, what my actions during the Gauntlet of Fire meant to dragons, why we branded each other in the first place, as well as how things were going at the moment. It was a bit of a long explanation, but if she was going to be accepted by my family, they had to know the ins and outs of our relationship, why it happened, and what it means to her.
For a minute after she was finished, all were silent as they absorbed what was said. Eventually, Night Light asked, “So originally, you didn’t plan on becoming a part of Spike’s herd like this?”
Ember slowly shook her head, the sparkling chains swaying gently. “No. I won’t lie and say I didn’t already have some feelings for Spike,” she sent a smile my way, “but I didn’t think it would be possible for us to be together. I also thought that our cultural views might be too different for us to be a mated pair, because even though Spike is a dragon, he was raised as an Equestrian. Our cultures have some overlap, but things are also very different in some areas. We don’t have herds, for one. But,” she looked at each of the herd members, ending with me, and smiled happily, “I was proven wrong. This can work, and what’s more, I want it to work. I’ve learned so much about myself since I became a part of this life, and I’ve learned the support that a herd offers is a part of the Equestrian culture that makes this nation strong. It’s not something I would have chosen,” she moved over to Rarity, and extended a wing over the back of the lead mare, “but I’m glad I’m a part of it.”
The entire family was beaming at the dragoness, and I couldn’t help the overjoyed smile on my face.
“Wait,” Twilight Velvet began, raising a finger in the air, “I do have a question. I’ve noticed you use the term ‘mate’ when referring to Spike, here. Do you know what that means in Equestrian culture?”
Ember nodded to the older mare. “Yes, and it means the same thing for dragons. I’m well aware Equestrians only use the word ‘mate’ to refer to the ponies they want to spend their lives with. With this,” she pointed to the brand on her neck, “Spike and I are already at the Equestrian equivalent of being married. We are bonded for life.”
“And before you ask,” Rarity preempted, holding her hand up, “Ember is considering an Equestrian ceremony for our families. An Equestrian marriage means little to her, but she knows it is important to us.”
Ember shook her head, smiling at the mare still under her wing. “Not considering, decided. I’d be happy to do the Equestrian ceremony. It means a lot to all of you, and I don’t want to taint this new bond between us by refusing to abide by your culture. You’ve weathered mine, so I can do this for all of you.”
Rarity smiled and leaned in close to whisper to the dragoness. I couldn’t make out most of it, but I could read lips enough to see Rarity say “my treasure,” which brought a blush and a shy smile out of the dragoness. She didn’t outwardly react much otherwise, but I could see the wing tighten ever so slightly, pressing the unicorn a little closer to her side.
And yes, my smile was so wide, it started to hurt my cheeks.
“Well,” Twilight Velvet began, standing and gesturing to the rest of them, “I think I should introduce the rest of us, then. I am Twilight Velvet, Twilight’s mother. To avoid confusion, you can simply call me ‘Velvet’. This is my handsome husband Night Light,” the stallion in question smiled proudly, nodding to the dragoness, “and this is my son Shining Armor and his wife, Cadence. Those two rule over the Crystal Empire to the north, as a beacon of love and warmth in an otherwise frozen land. And this,” she gestured to the youngest alicorn in the room, “is their daughter, and my beloved granddaughter, Flurry Heart.”
“Hi!” Flurry Heart excitedly greeted.
Ember respectfully dipped her head. “It’s a pleasure to finally meet all of you. Family lines are very important to dragons, and I am pleased to see Spike has a very strong family. I’m honored to be a part of his life.”
Twilight Velvet merely smiled. “We may not legally be Spike’s family, but he’s spent enough time with us that we may as well be. I think I speak for the rest when I say we’re happy he found someone like you to keep him in line.”
I frowned at that. “What the hay is that supposed to mean?”
Twilight Velvet kept her motherly smile. “Just that it takes a strong female to handle a drake like you. A truly submissive mare would let you walk all over her, and you would both be miserable. Thankfully, it appears you’ve found a group of girls that all are confident and strong. Strong enough to stand up to you, and strong enough to reign you in when you get a little too crazy.”
“You make me sound like a wild beast,” I grumbled.
“You certainly can be,” Ember quipped, grinning at me. “And no, I don’t mean in a dirty way. Have you not noticed? Ever since I’ve been training you to open yourself up to your emotions, you’ve become assertive, with a more dominant personality, and you’ve also become more confident in yourself. Before, you were largely harmless; now, you’re just peaceful.”
“And the difference is?” I asked, not quite understanding where she was going with all that.
Ember stepped over to kneel in front of me, taking my hand in hers and nuzzling it lovingly. “A harmless creature is no threat to anyone. A peaceful individual can be very dangerous, but only wishes for peace. You were the former, now you’re the latter. That’s something to be proud of. Unwillingness to hurt others is not the same as impotence.” She then smirked at me. “And, as I’m sure the rest of your hoard can attest, strength and confidence is very attractive.”
And now I was grinning like a lovestruck idiot.
“I stand by my statement that you chose well, Spike,” Twilight Velvet commented, still giving me that loving, maternal smile of hers. She decided to immediately pivot from that to, “So, when can I expect grandfoals? Grand-whelps? Whatever the term is.”
While I blushed like a fool, Ember was prepared for this. “Probably by this time next year. I’ve already decided I want a family with Spike, and I see no reason not to get started. We’re both at stable points in our lives, we’re both mature enough for it, and neither of us are in dire straits as far as finances are concerned.” She took a seat in between Twilight and I while the rest of the group sat down.
Twilight Velvet nodded, but then raised an eyebrow. “Wait, how will that work? Are you staying here, then?”
Ember glanced at Twilight, who took the hint and explained, “I’ve been developing a new technology that will make distance a non-issue. I’m not ready to reveal it just yet, but it should be said that all of Equestria -- nay, all of the world -- will benefit from it. Because of her obligations to her people, Ember cannot stay indefinitely in Equestria, but with my new invention, the dragon lands aren’t so far away anymore.”
The family nodded as a whole, and Cadence said what they were all probably thinking. “I believe that’s a very good invention, then. No one should be separated from those they love.”
Ember blushed a bit at the insinuation. “It’s, uh, just Spike. Not ‘loved ones,’ ‘loved one.’ Singular.”
Cadence only smiled enigmatically. “One can love his or her friends without being attracted to them physically. There are many types of love, and each one is unique. Your love for Spike is romantic love -- the love of a mare to her stallion, I would normally say. However, imagine this, if you will:” she gestured to Twilight, “Twilight has been abducted by those that would do her harm. They are threatening to hurt or kill her unless you relinquish your place as a dragon lord.” Cadence’s horn lit up with a soft glow, and a spark of her magic fluttered to Ember, gently laying atop her forehead. “This spell enhances one’s imagination, coaxing you into a state of hypnosis so that you can truly imagine such a scenario as if it were real. Close your eyes and think on that; feel it, and tell me what you would be willing to do.”
I was well aware that Cadence’s realm of power focused on emotions and the bonds between others, but she apparently dabbled in magics of the mind, as well. Had it been anyone else, I would feel very uncomfortable, but I firmly believed Cadence was incapable of harming others through malicious intent. Causing problems through overzealousness, sometimes, but never to be mean.
Ember followed the request and closed her eyes, letting out a deep breath as she relaxed. She suddenly slumped a bit as the spell fully took hold. I had heard rumors of it before, but never saw such a spell until that moment. I did, however, know that hypnosis was sometimes used to help victims of traumatic events. Hypnosis, when used correctly, allowed an individual to vastly broaden their ability to imagine situations and events, even to the point where they believed they were real. It could assist an individual in confronting uncomfortable truths in a controlled manner, or, in Ember’s case, let her feel her way through such a harrowing event without anyone actually being in danger.
Ember was tough, so I knew she could handle it, but I was going to offer extensive cuddles anyway.
As we all watched and waited, Cadence took the role of narrator for the session, since this type of therapy worked better if a calming voice walked the subject through the imagined plight, enabling the subject to completely focus on what they felt. And so, for the next thirty minutes, we watched as Ember experienced a completely fictional event through the gentle guidance of Cadence. There were times when Ember snarled or snorted smoke through her nose, but the most surprising was when Ember openly cried tears of anguish. I imagine I wasn’t the only one who wanted to smother the dragoness in a hug, but we all waited until the session was over to do so.
Finally, the climax of the session had been reached, and Cadence smiled knowingly at the emotions the dragoness had shown during it. “Okay Ember: I’m going to count to ten. With each number I count, you’re going to feel more and more alert until, at ten, I’m going to snap my fingers, at which point you’re going to awaken fully, completely refreshed, and remembering everything that you thought and felt. One, the fog is beginning to clear. Two, your eyelids feel less heavy. Three, you’re feeling the haze of sleep beginning to clear, and the world becoming more tangible. Four, you begin to sit up straighter and your legs begin to feel lighter. Five, your arms begin to lighten as well. Six, your wings become easier to fold comfortably as you become more alert. Seven, you’re coming even closer to waking up as your fingers begin to twitch. Eight, your eyes begin to open slowly as the world settles into focus again. Nine, you’re nearly fully aware and awake. And finally, ten.” She snapped her fingers, and Ember rapidly blinked her eyes as she looked around at us. It took a second, but once she realized she never actually left the room, she released a long breath of relief. “Now, look to Twilight and-”
Before any of us could react, she practically smothered the mare as she wrapped her arms and wings around Twilight, ending it all with even her tail wrapped protectively around Twilight’s waist as she held the pony close, as if fearing if she let go, the mare would disappear. Needless to say, I was caught more than a little unawares by the reaction, and worried perhaps Cadence’s hypnosis session might have been a little too intense. But I again had to remind myself: Ember was a dragon, not a pony. Emotions were intimately entwined with our very being, so anything regarding emotions was going to hit a dragon much harder than it would a pony. Granted, ponies weren’t exactly emotionless creatures themselves, but emotions were simply a part of life for them; for dragons, emotions defined what we were as creatures.
It took a moment before I could make out the soft whispers coming from Twilight as she returned the embrace with her own. Twilight was comforting the dragoness, softly assuring, “It’s okay, I’m safe. It wasn’t real. I’m okay, Ember. I promise.” This was barely heard over the sniffles and staggered breathing of the dragoness, who might have had a panic attack had Twilight not been there.
After a few minutes where we all just waited, Ember eventually pulled away from Twilight a little, but still kept a wing around her and her tail refused to leave Twilight's waist. Ember threw a half-glare at the Princess of Love. “You could’ve prepared me for that, you know.”
Cadence just smiled that same, enigmatic smile all alicorns seemed to possess when they were acting within the realm of their power. “I only facilitated the situation; everything you felt came from within you. If it was intense, that’s because those were the deep feelings hidden inside you.”
Ember raised her hand and touched it to her chest as she half-said to herself, “That was all from me?”
Cadence nodded firmly. “Even the best among us have hidden thoughts and feelings we either ignore, or refuse to confront. Sometimes they’re completely innocuous, but others, as you’ve come to find out, teach us things about ourselves we may never have known otherwise. For those that can handle it, this method enables one to come to understand themselves in a way few can fathom.”
Ember seemed to consider the words for a moment before raising her eyes back to Cadence. “What now?”
“Well, that’s up to you,” Cadence offered, nodding to the mare still in her grasp. “You have uncovered a truth that is only real if you want it to be. So, I’ll ask you now: do you love Twilight?”
Ember slowly turned her head to look at the mare. Twilight was blushing, but Ember honestly didn’t know what to think. Like most of us did before meeting Cadence, Ember probably understood very little regarding love and its many facets, so she began to speak aloud as she told us how she felt. “Well…I-I don’t know for sure. Here’s what I do know: the thought of someone trying to hurt her drives a spike of ice in my stomach. In my mind, I saw her beaten and bruised as evil creatures laughed and taunted me, threatening to kill her if I didn’t do as they said. I felt rage that someone would dare try to use one of my friends against me…” she leaned forward and rested her forehead against Twilight’s, closing her eyes and just breathing in the scent of the mare in front of her, “but more than anything, I was afraid. I wasn’t afraid for Spike’s sake or the sake of any of her friends: I was afraid for me. I was afraid that…” she paused briefly, pulling her head away as she looked surprised at what she was about to say, “I was afraid that someone I cared about would be gone. I was afraid I would lose someone very important to me. I was afraid I wouldn’t ever hear her laughter or see her face light up with joy. I was afraid I wouldn’t get to feel how much she cares about everyone, ever again.” Slowly, Ember rotated her head to stare at Cadence. “I-is that love? Is that what love is?”
Cadence just kept smiling, reveling in her expertise. “Love is impossible to quantify, because you can ask a thousand ponies how they experience love, and you’ll get a thousand different answers. Some ponies just know when they love someone, while some never realize it until the one they love is gone. For some, love is merely chemical impulses in the brain, while others believe love is an ethereal, otherworldly force that no one can completely comprehend. But at its foundation, love is merely a connection, a bond. It may nearly physically hurt you when someone you love is suffering, and you may want to see them, simply because you enjoy their presence.” She pointed her finger at Ember. “But, in my expert opinion, I do believe you love your herdmate, which is normal. You care about her, and don’t want to imagine her being sad or hurting. So, let me repeat the question I asked at the beginning: what would you do to protect someone you love?”
Ember was silent for only a heartbeat before she answered, “Anything. No price is too high.”
Cadence nodded approvingly. “I am happy to hear that. On the days when life is hard and the world seems to be against you, remember this feeling, right now. Remember the ones you’re closest to, and how much you care about them. In my experience, the bonds we hold can give us the strength to press on, even when the days are darkest. And, in the case of dragons, the emotions you feel can give you very real strength to use. I won’t claim to know enough about you to plan out your life, but I believe exploring what you feel toward those in your life may give you form of peace you’ve never known before.”
Ember just nodded slowly, again placing her hand over her chest. “I…I didn’t even know all of that was in here. After that, I have no reason to doubt you. You are the expert, after all.”
“Perhaps, but even I don’t have all the answers,” Cadence gently warned, settling herself against her husband with a loving smile. “Even I learn new things about love nearly every day. What I do know is that love is never a mistake, and should never be shied away from. Embrace it in all its forms, even if it’s just as friends.”
Ember smiled softly as she sat back, entwining her free hand with mine, still refusing to release the alicorn at her side. “This is crazy. I thought I knew everything about myself by now, but I’m still learning new stuff just from being around all of you.”
“A very wise pony once said that everyone dies twice: once when they are buried in the ground, and a second when their name is spoken for the last time,” Twilight Velvet reverently recited, calling up an old quote that all of us had heard in one way or another. “But, I believe a third can precede both. I believe you can die before both of those if you refuse to learn, or proclaim you know everything there is to know. Ignorance is the poison of choice for those who still breathe, but refuse to open their mind to possibilities.”
Ember just kept smiling, leaning against me (and thus, pulling Twilight with her). After ensuring she and the pony she still refused to let go of were comfortable, she said, “Your family is amazing, Spike. Even my father would be impressed.”
I shrugged, but inside, I was positively preening with praise. “Well, they’re the ones that made me the drake I am today. You fell in love with me, so it only makes sense you’d like the ones that helped make me who I am.”
I blushed a bit, despite the fact that I wasn’t the one directly being praised. It was still nice to hear Ember liked the ponies that made me into who I was. Before anyone could say anything else, a series of staccato knocks from the balcony door interrupted us, and the pattern was very specific. I stood and made my way over to the balcony door, pulling back the curtain and smiling at the pegasus outside before opening the door for the royal guard.
Silent Knight nodded his thanks to me, keeping to his namesake and not wasting time with words when he could be doing something. We all watched as he quickly did his fifth check of the nearby rooms in the past two days before speaking into a glowing crystal on his wrist with the simple words of, “Clear and secure. Send them in.”
The next two ponies to enter were ponies that anyone, no matter how isolated, would recognize. The brilliant multi-colored mane and fur the color of fresh snow identified the first as Princess Celestia, and the starry mane and deep blue of the other pony could only be Princess Luna. The two Canterlot princesses shook themselves and set about taking off their winter coats, and after doing so, practically glomped me in a hug, which I happily accepted with a broad smile. I mean, what else could I really do?
After a few moments to ourselves, they pulled away and the elder alicorn lovingly greeted, “Hello, my son. It is wonderful to see you.”
The night alicorn nodded in agreement. “Verily, ‘tis a privilege to spend such a wondrous holiday with friends and family. It has been too long since the chance to do so presented itself.” Princess Luna then glanced around the room, nodding shallowly to the rest. “Greetings, friends and loved ones. How does the day find you?” A chorus of positive greetings and well-wishes answered her, causing the princess to smile and release me. She once again focused on me, cupping my cheek and nosing me with her snoot. “And how have you been, dear Spike?”
I returned the smile and bumped her nose with mine. “Better now that the family is all here. It’s good to see you two, Aunt Luna. Thanks for finding the time to make it.”
“We wouldn’t miss it for the world, Spike,” Princess Celestia replied, cupping my cheek and giving me one more squeeze before stepping away. “I swear, it seems you mature more and more every time I see you.”
I grasped her hand in mine and nuzzled her palm before dropping it and stepping back. “I’m glad you two got here when you did. The rest of the herd’s family should be arriving within the next few hours, and the town will be gathering for the public celebration soon after that. Are you hungry or thirsty for anything?”
“We wouldn’t mind some tea and cookies,” Princess Celestia answered, moving toward the sitting area and conjuring two chairs for the two of them. “We’ll catch up with the others in the meantime.”
As the designated server for the moment, I just quietly left the room and headed back to the kitchen.
The first to arrive was Cookie Crumble and Hondo Flanks, Rarity’s parents. Rarity, of course, playfully lamented her father’s rather garish fashion choices, but gave hugs and kisses to them nonetheless. Rarity had advised the two of them quite a long time ago about her feelings for me, and had updated them with the start of our herd when we got together, so there was no awkward “breaking the news” to them. Hondo in particular was pretty laid back about the whole thing, and Cookie Crumble just squeezed me until I thought my bones were going to crack. Whether that was because she was happy or because she was warning me was unclear, but it was a nice moment nonetheless.
The next to arrive was Fluttershy’s family, starting with Mr. and Mrs. Shy (I honestly forgot their names), and Zephyr. Then, of course, was Posey, who was every bit as intimidating as I remembered. Needless to say, I was immediately wary of the giant of a pegasus, who was only a foot shorter than me (a major feat, since only alicorns tended to be near my height). My unease increased further when the mare asked to speak to me in private, and practically dragged me away with a very anxious Fluttershy left to escort her other parents and brother inside the castle to the commons room, where everyone else was gathered.
Posey had led me to the grand dining hall, where the food had already been arranged in stasis, waiting for the town to arrive later on. Other than that, the room was empty, which gave us near complete privacy.
“Sit,” the mare ordered, pointing to a chair, taking the chair next to it and turning it so that she faced me. I didn’t resist, and did as I was told, since I wasn’t particularly keen on upsetting this mare more than she already seemed to be.
A few seconds passed, and as usual, the quiet unnerved me. I decided to break the silence with a nervous, “Um, so…nice to see you could make it. Was the flight okay?”
“Cut the chit-chat, whelp,” she snapped, her forceful tone shutting me up immediately. It was more than a little uncomfortable that, save for a different hairstyle and slightly different eye color, I was looking at nearly a twin of Fluttershy, yet this mare was larger than her daughter by a significant margin, and she made even Flutterbat seem like a meek little mouse by comparison. Posey stared hard at me for a few moments before continuing. “Let’s get the obvious stuff out of the way: you’re dating my daughter, are you not?”
I pulled at my collar, and imagined that if it were possible, I would be sweating bullets at that moment. “U-um, not…exactly, ma’am.”
“Speak up, drake!”
The order snapped me to attention, not unlike a soldier, and I blurted, “We’re not actually dating.”
“You better not be saying my filly is a booty call,” she warned, a growl emanating from deep in her throat.
“N-no, of course not-!”
“Then what are you saying?” she demanded, her face set in a deep scowl.
Without me noticing, as she kept pressing me, a pressure had been building inside me, and it was only when I prepared to answer did I realize I had to get my emotions under control to keep from doing something rash. As it was, I nearly shouted at the pegasus, just barely keeping myself from doing so. After taking a breath to calm myself, I answered, “It’s much more serious than that, ma’am. If everything goes well, we’ll be spending our lives together.”
Posey’s face scrunched up. “I don’t recall hearing about that.”
I tilted my head in confusion. “Fluttershy didn’t mention it?”
“No, she didn’t,” Posey ground out, somehow frowning even harder. Her deceptively soft features were creased with discontent, and it was not nice to be on the receiving end of that expression. It wasn’t “The Stare,” but it was darn close.
Before I could stop myself, my annoyance made itself known when I snarked, “Well, I can’t imagine why. You’re taking this so well.”
“Watch it, whelp!”
And finally, I snapped. “NO, you watch it!” I flared my wings, and even though I had tried to control it, I felt myself growing a bit as my protective instinct reared its head. Literally putting my foot down, I growled, “This is my house, my town, and my herd. You wanna poke at me? Fine, I can take it, but you will not insult my herd.” I pointed toward the door that led to the public throne room. “Rarity was the one that evaluated your daughter, and it was Fluttershy who showed interest in joining.”
“Well maybe-” she began, only for me to harshly cut her off.
“I WASN’T FINISHED,” I rumbled, accidentally infusing magic into the final word, causing the room to vibrate with power and the pony to take a step back as her fur stood on end. Regardless, it got her to be quiet, so I continued. “As I was saying, your daughter showed interest, and Rarity was the one that approved of her. When you question our collective decision to add her to the herd, you are questioning all of us. I’m not going to stand here and let you do that. I don’t care who you are.”
She stared at me for a moment before relaxing her posture and nodding. “Good, then I was right about you.”
It took me a second to realize what had just happened, and when I did, I stomped my foot and groaned. “Seriously? You couldn’t have just asked like a normal pony?”
Posey smirked, looking particularly pleased with the fact she just played me like a fiddle. “Do I look like a normal pony to you? Besides, you were scared of me. In my experience, a scared pony is going to say whatever they have to in order to get me to go away. So, I had to make you mad, so that you would tell me how you really felt.”
“I wasn’t afraid of you, I was afraid of what you thought,” I explained, crossing my arms and folding my wings on my back. “You’re my girl’s birth mother, and I wanted you to approve of me and the herd.”
“And now I do,” she answered smugly, outright grinning.
I snorted loudly. “I’m annoyed you felt you had to piss me off to get me to tell you the truth, but even more upset that you knew exactly how to poke me to get me angry.”
Posey walked toward the doorway, jerking her head for me to follow. As we walked, she said, “Well, I’d be a pretty bad border guard if I didn’t know how to interact with all manner of creatures, and get them to behave how I want. You aren’t the first dragon I’ve had to deal with, so I know what buttons to push, and how to get you to stop being a sniveling little whelp.”
“You do know I could set you on fire, right?” I bluffed, shooting smoke out of my nostrils. “Feathers burn pretty easily, and I don’t have to hurt you to screw up your day. Just burn off your secondaries so that you can’t get lift, and you won’t be flying anywhere.”
“You’re certainly welcome to try, kid,” she countered, glancing back at me with that same smirk. “I’ve dealt with bigger and meaner creatures than you. You don’t live as long as I have at the border by being bad at your job.”
I sighed in annoyance. “Has anyone ever told you that you’re a jerk?”
“Oh, all the time,” she answered nonchalantly. “But, I’m not in this to be nice. I’m here to make sure Fluttershy is happy and safe. You can think I’m a jerk all you want, but in the end, I’m not here for you: I’m here for her.”
“Yeah,” I began, following Posey up the spiral staircase to the second level, “well I’m a part of her life now. How do you think it’s gonna make Flutters feel if you’re always a jerk to her herd, because of some ‘test’ you’re always heaping on us?”
She shook her head, her short pink locks waving only slightly as she did so. “My job as her mother is to make sure she’s happy and healthy. She doesn’t have to like me for that.”
“Well, you’re wrong,” I said, nearly running into the mare as she abruptly stopped in front of me.
She slowly turned around, her eyebrow raised, but otherwise stone-faced as she challenged, “Excuse me? I’m not sure I heard you right, because it sounds like you’re trying to tell me how to be a parent. Let me remind you that you don’t have kids, so frankly, you don’t know what you’re talking about.”
I took a second to compose myself into an illusion of confidence (at least, more confidence than I felt, at the moment), and shot back with, “Maybe I don’t know what it’s like to be a parent, but I know what I saw. Fluttershy loves you, and I’m not going to argue that, but you stress her the buck out. Does that sound like ‘happy’ to you?”
She stood her ground, her face again dropping into a familiar scowl. “Look, I like you kid. You’ve got moxie, and you’re willing to stand up for what you care about, but that doesn’t mean I’m gonna sit here and be lectured by some young buck that thinks he knows my daughter better than I do.”
I planted my feet and stood my ground, raising a brow. “Better than you? No, I don’t think so…but you aren’t around for everything we’ve been through. And if you think Fluttershy tells you everything, you’re nuts. Besides, I know what I saw, and no daughter should have to be stressed out anytime her mother visits, because she’s afraid of how her mom is gonna treat the other important people in her life. Today is supposed to be a happy day, when your daughter gets to introduce her herd to her family, but instead she’s been anxious all day, thinking about how you were going to act when you got here. Tell me how that’s making her happy.”
“Wh-”
“And just think,” I continued, completely shutting her down, “one day when we have children, she might think twice about having you over to meet your grandfoals, all because she won’t be able to trust you to be civil with her herd. Is that what you want? Are you willing to keep making her feel this way? Because I predict if you keep pushing, she might decide she doesn’t want that kind of negativity around her foals. She’s a naturally caring, maternal mare, so I imagine she would do anything to protect her children, even if it meant keeping her mother away from them.”
Posey just stared at me, arms crossed as she appeared to be clearly unhappy about what I said.
“Maybe instead of doing things for her own good,” I added, attempting to steer the conversation back to amicability, “you might want to treat her like a grown mare instead of a foal that doesn’t know any better. Talk to her about your concerns instead of just doing things. I promise, you’ll get a better response.” I walked around her, squeezing past the railing and heading up the stairs. Just before I left her standing there, I said, “She’s a strong mare who knows what she wants out of life, and is willing to overcome her fears to get it. You’re allowed to worry, but making her unable to trust you to be nice to those she values isn’t the way to make her strong. You’ll just make her sad and anxious.” I continued up the stairs, tossing my head up. “Now c’mon, I’ll show you to the commons room, which is where everyone has been congregating. There, you can meet the rest of the herd, and hopefully soothe Fluttershy’s worries. I won’t tell her about the specifics of this conversation, so you can say whatever you want about it. For the time being, as long as you don’t cause problems with the rest, you and I can be amicable.”
I heard her let a long breath out of her nose as she followed behind me. “That’s…acceptable.”
No more was said as we made our way up the rest of the stairs and into the sprawling corridors, which eventually led us to the aforementioned commons room. As I expected, everyone else had found their way there, and were greeting friends and family. Rarity’s parents were in the process of trying on new scarves Rarity had made for them, and Fluttershy was accepting some mane, tail, and fur products from her younger brother. Fluttershy noticed our entrance and looked up to me worriedly, but with a smile and thumbs-up, I placated her worry and allowed her to greet her mother properly with a loving embrace. The warm, loving smile on the face of Posey as she held her daughter almost made me forget about how much of a jerk she could be.
Twilight caught my eye and made her way over to me, leaning up to my ear so I could hear her. “I’m sorry to ask, but could you go and help the Apples make their way to the castle? I’m sure they would be fine, but I’d feel better if someone was there to help in case they needed it.”
Rolling my eyes with a sigh and a smile, I gave Twilight a kiss on the forehead as I pulled away. “Sure thing. I’ll be back in a bit, then. See you in a few.”
Twilight returned my kiss with one on the lips before letting me go and heading back to the group of mingling ponies. I quickly headed back outside, taking flight as soon as the door was closed and heading toward Sweet Apple Acres in the distance.
I landed in the snow outside the farmhouse a short while later, the flight being fairly quick due to a distinct lack of air traffic. I strode up to the door without pausing, knocking loudly and waiting for one of the farmers to greet me. Only a few moments later, Big Mac himself opened the door, and after ushering me inside, led me to the kitchen. Multiple sealed containers were already prepared, so I tapped Granny Smith on the shoulder and asked her if they needed help.
The old mare nodded, pointing out back. “Ah’d ‘preciate it if you’d get tha cart from tha barn f’r us, then help load it. We’re jus’ ‘bout ready t’go.”
Snapping off a quick salute, I headed out to the barn behind the house and quickly found the farm cart she had spoken about, already cleaned and waiting. I grabbed the harness on the ground and put myself in it, then pulled the cart out of the barn and around to the front of the house, where Big Mac was waiting with a few of the containers already in his hands.
Big Mac stepped over with a few large strides, setting the containers in the cart. “Head upstairs ‘n fetch AJ. She’s takin’ ‘er sweet time, ‘n we gotta get goin’.”
I nodded before bounding up the front steps, and then up the large stairwell that led to the second floor. Thankfully, each door was marked with the cutie mark of the family member that stayed in it, so Applejack’s was easy to notice at the end of the hall.
I strode up to the door and knocked hard. Said knock was immediately followed by an agitated, “Ah said Ah’ll be out in a jiffy! Jus’ wait a durn minute!”
“Applejack, it’s me!” I shouted through the door. “Everypony’s ready to go; did you need help?”
At that, I heard a gasp and a thump, followed by a loud curse and groan. “S-Spike? Whatcha doin’ here?”
“I headed over to see if you all needed help making your way to the castle with all this food,” I explained, tapping my toe. “Seems like you all are set, but Mac told me to come get you, so here I am.”
A few of the floorboards creaked as she made herself over to the door, and the door cracked open. A single green eye peered at me through the crack, and Applejack answered, “A-Ah’ll be out in jus’ a minute, promise. Tell mah brother ‘n Granny Ah’ll be down in a bit.”
I nodded and turned on my heel. “Well, hurry up. No sense having a Ponyville Hearth’s Warming if you’re not there.” Without another word, I headed down the stairs again, meeting Granny Smith at the bottom, sitting in a chair. I jerked my head upstairs when she glanced my way, advising, “She said she’ll be just another minute. We’ll be leaving soon.” I received a nod in response, so I just went back to the kitchen and helped load the remainder of the food containers into the cart outside while we all waited for Applejack. Once that was all finished, I reentered the farmhouse just in time to see Applejack walking down the stairs.
Glancing up from the newspaper she had been reading, Granny Smith held out her hand for me, so I helped her up as she barked, “Land sakes girl, it’s about time! We was gonna leave without ya if ya weren’t down in tha next few minutes.”
Applejack was wearing a long, ankle-length brown winter coat that completely covered her, shutting out the cold. Interestingly, her hair was done up in a more intricate braid than normal, with some white daisies set into the locks. All in all, she looked nice, and I offered her a smile as she made her way to the bottom floor.
“Looking good, Applejack. Love the hair,” I complimented, giving her a thumbs-up.
A gentle blush bloomed on her cheeks, and she smiled happily. “Thank ya, Spike. Well, let’s get goin’. Sorry f’r makin’ y’all wait.”
I shrugged, offering my arm to Granny Smith as we left out the front door. “Ah, it’s no big deal. Still early in the day, so you haven’t missed anything yet. Did you need some help over there, Mac?”
The large red stallion finished hooking himself into the harness, glancing back before nodding. “Yeah, s’pose Ah could use a hand. Help them into tha cart ‘n hook up with me. We’ll get to tha castle quicker that way.”
Following his instructions, I gently helped Granny Smith, then Applejack into the cart, ensuring they were situated before closing the cart lift gate and walking around the front with Big Mac. After grabbing the spare harness from the bed, hooking it to the cart and putting it on, I nodded to the large pony and began pulling with him, getting the cart to move with little effort. Thankfully, it was too cold for the snow to melt, which meant the ground hadn’t turned into a mud trap, making for fairly easy travel through the town.
Applejack chatted with Granny Smith while Big Mac and I silently pulled the cart down the road out of Sweet Apple Acres, arriving in the town proper in only a few minutes.The few ponies that were still out and about waved happily to us as we passed, adding to a nice holiday atmosphere. We pulled up to the castle about ten minutes later, and just rolled the cart directly into the main entryway, since there was enough room to do so and we didn’t want to let the heat out by continually opening the main doors. Twilight was waiting for us, along with Starlight and Trixie.
After she hopped down from the cart, Applejack stepped over to the girls and gave them a hug, holding it for a moment before releasing the other mares. “So, where did ya want this stuff?”
Twilight smiled and shook her head. “Don’t worry about it, we’ll take care of that. Head upstairs and join the others. We’ll be up in a few minutes.”
Applejack raised an eyebrow at her skeptically. “Are ya sure? Ah don’t feel right just leavin’ all this here for tha four of y’all ta handle.” Twilight answered by levitating about half of the containers up in the air, causing Applejack to roll her eyes good-naturedly. “Right, Ah’ll let ya get to it then. Thanks, Twi.”
As Trixie and Starlight grabbed the rest, Twilight nodded to the Apple mare. “Thank you, Applejack. I’m happy you all could cater for us this holiday, and I’m sure the food will be lovely.” She then turned to me and nodded toward the cart. “Do me a favor and run that to the storage room down here, then check on Fizzle for me. Ask if she wants to join us.”
As the rest started walking away, I closed the distance between Twilight and I, quietly saying, “You know she’s probably going to decline, right?”
Twilight sighed through her nose, nodding. “I know, but I want us to at least make the offer. She deserves to feel welcomed, even if she turns us down right now. When she looks back on the time we spend together months or years from now, I want her to remember all the times we were there for her, even if she doesn’t always accept our offers.”
“Good enough for me,” I answered, tossing the empty harness back into the bed of the cart before slowly pulling it away and toward the storage room on the other side of the giant room. “I’ll be up there in a little bit, then.”
With us each attending to our tasks, we parted ways. I’ll admit, carefully fitting the cart into the storage room was a bit of a challenge, but I eventually accomplished my first task and set off to work on my second: seeing Fizzlepop.
For the second time that day, I again stood at Fizzlepop’s door, knocking a few times. Thankfully, there were no loud crashes or curses this time, and the door opened a few moments later to reveal the mare herself dressed the same as she had been earlier, albeit now with fluffy socks to keep her hooves warm. I tried not to stare at the cute socks with little cartoon mice on them, but they were adorable nonetheless. They certainly did a lot to break through her “tough mare” persona.
She did, however, notice me staring, and frowned at me with an embarrassed blush. “What the hay are you staring at?”
“Your adorable socks,” I answered without hesitation, seeing no reason to lie about it.
Her blush grew, crawling down her neck as she snorted and sat in a plush chair, crossing her arms. “Shut up, they’re warm. They were in my dresser, so I’m wearing them.”
I shrugged, holding my hands up placatingly. “Hey, I’m not judging, I’m just saying they’re cute socks.”
Her frown changed to a smirk as she argued, “You’d probably like them better if they were thigh-highs, wouldn’t you?”
And now I was blushing too. Pulling at my collar, I self-consciously laughed and answered, “W-well, I wasn’t thinking about it before, but I am now. Why, do you have some?” I’ll admit, the latter question just kinda slipped out, but I was silently proud at how it shocked her into silence. It doesn’t happen often, but once in a while, talking without thinking can work.
Her dark fur on her cheeks became even darker as blood rushed to her face, and she could only stare with her jaw dropped for a few moments. Eventually, she composed herself enough to grumble, “...I gotta say, I’m not sure whether to be impressed, or call you a pervert.”
“You started it,” I accused, pointing at her. “It’s not my fault your words made me immediately imagine you in sexy socks. You’re the one who said it, after all; maybe you’re the perv.”
While I successfully convinced her it was all playful ribbing, I was now thinking about her in sexy socks, darn it.
“So, was there a reason you appeared at my door, or did you just want to harass me in my sanctum of solitude?” she asked, and I was silently praising her for steering the conversation back on track.
Clearing my throat, I answered, “Yeah, actually. I was wondering if you wanted to join us all this evening for a meal with our other friends, and family.”
Almost immediately, as if a switch had been flipped, Fizzlepop’s demeanor dropped to something far more morose, and anxious. After a moment of staring down at the floor, she whispered, “...I don’t think I’m ready for that just yet, Spike.”
Instead of following my initial impulse, I slowed down and chose to answer with a more understanding response. “Okay, FIzzle. Just know, we’re always here, and we’re not going anywhere. You’re always welcome, whenever you feel you’re ready. Don’t ever forget that.”
The unicorn’s eyes found mine, and after a moment of searching my gaze, she gave a weak smile in return. “Thank you for understanding. Tell Twilight sorry for me, if you could.”
Shaking my head, I smiled at her. “She won’t be bothered. If I’m being honest, we both kinda figured you wouldn’t feel comfortable just yet, but we wanted to make the effort anyway. Like I said: you’re always welcome. If I have to be here every day to remind you that you have friends here, I’ll do it with a smile on my face.”
Smirking lightly, she jabbed back with, “That kinda sounds like an obsession, Spike. Sure you don’t just want to stalk me?"
I rolled my eyes playfully. “Oh yeah, you better be careful. After all: I know where you live.”
“Right back at you, bucko,” she countered good naturedly. Her smirk relaxed into something more subdued, but warmer when she added, “Seriously though…thank you. I can’t accept your offer, but I am thankful for it nonetheless. I don’t deserve it,” she held up a hand to stop me, “and I know you disagree, but that’s how I feel. For now, knowing you all want me here anyway is more than I could ever ask for.”
I just smiled at her again. “Anytime, Fizzle. Did you want one of us to bring you some eats, then? If you want to be alone, there’s no sense not getting some of the good food that’s going to be made.”
She returned my smile with a nod. “I’d appreciate that, if it’s really no trouble. Just grab me whatever; I’m not particularly picky.”
“It’s a date!” I blurted with a smile, only for said smile to freeze on my face when I realized what I had just said. Similarly, Fizzlepop didn’t seem to know what to say, and just sat there awkwardly for a moment, staring at me. Swallowing hard, I fought to preserve some sense of dignity. “Um…forget I said that. Anyway, I guess I’ll grab you some food later, then. Until then, then…um…I’ll just go.” I practically sprinted out of the room, and I could hear laughter behind me, so at least I knew I hadn’t creeped her out too bad. Nonetheless, I had to flee the incredibly awkward situation before I died of embarrassment.
My hurried retreat, however, caused me to nearly steamroll an earth pony mare with a familiar crimson mane and yellow fur. She no longer wore a bow in her mane, but braided said mane in a more intricate manner than her sister. Said mane was nearly thrown all out of style because of me almost tackling her.
“Spike, what tha hay is goin’ on? Where’s tha fire?” Applebloom shouted, half worried, half angrily.
I glanced down at the annoyed mare and smiled sheepishly. “Eh heh, sorry about that. Didn’t see you there.”
“Obviously,” she growled, fixing her overalls and tee shirt. After looking up at me again, she looked more concerned than anything. “Ooh, y’all don’t look so good, Spike. You all right?”
“He just got done sticking his foot in his mouth and was trying to escape embarrassment,” Fizzlepop’s voice said from behind me, positively radiating smugness.
Applebloom caught eyes with the unicorn, shrugging and looking back to me. “Well, glad t’ know that hasn’ changed after all these years. Anyway, Ah was lookin’ f’r Scoots and Sweetie. Ya seen ‘em?”
Tilting my head in confusion, I answered, “I didn’t even know they were already here, to be honest. Your guess is as good as mine.”
Applebloom stomped her hoof and growled, huffing loudly. “Darn it, now Ah ain’t never gonna find ‘em in this place.”
I pointed to the left wall, upon which a map could be seen. “Follow the map back toward the community rooms, like the commons. Chances are they’ll be in one of those places. Sorry I can’t help more.”
Applebloom lowered her head in resignation and sighed. “Naw, it ain’t yer fault. Anyway, thanks f’r yer help. See ya Spike, Fizzle.” She then scampered off down the corridor toward the direction of the commons area.
I glanced back at FIzzlepop and smiled sheepishly. “Sorry about that. Was there something you needed?”
Fizzlepop shook her head, her eyebrow raising. “No, just wondering what all the noise was. I’ll let you get back to being a dork.”
Rolling my eyes, I warned, “I’ll think of a way that you’ll pay for that comment. Keep digging that hole, Fizzle.”
“Oh, I’m positively shivering in my horseshoes,” she snarked, theatrically trembling before moving back into her room and grasping the door. “Anyhow, I guess I’ll see you later, then.”
Turning to leave, I tossed a wave over my shoulder. “Yep. See you then, Fizzle.”
The morning had gone on fairly smoothly, but with midday approaching, most of us were now getting the food and drinks prepared for the town to arrive. With so many ponies coming to join us in the castle, it was quite the undertaking, but we had planned out how this would be handled days ahead of time, and everyone was doing their jobs as planned. So, while things were hectic, it was a sort of controlled chaos that could be handled fairly easily. After all, we were friends with Discord, so we could handle things.
Speaking of the Lord of Chaos, Discord dropped in through a portal into the commons room, and after greeting everyone and handing out presents (only half of which exploded into glitter and confetti), he set about entertaining the fun-loving kids, who were only all too happy to spend time with the prankster that was Discord.
The townsfolk started to arrive just before noon, which was being handled by Twilight herself, since she was basically useless when it came to handling food. She greeted each visitor and directed them to the public first floor, where all the rooms were open for food and revelry. The grand hearth was still unlit at the moment, but everything else was in use, and there was no shortage of ponies to host.
As for me, I was slaving away in the dining hall with a few of the others, serving up food and drinks for the hundreds of ponies that were arriving. I could be dramatic and claim it was a thankless job, but the truth was that I received a “thank you” from nearly every pony I served, which was nice. The only real downside was the realization that we were going to be busy doing this for at least the next few hours, but such was the life of important civil figures.
And we were all doing our part in being good hosts. Trixie, for example, was wowing a crowd with her displays of magic and illusion, while for those with more calm, traditional tastes, Granny Smith was telling stories to a veritable sea of foals and young ponies. All in all, everything was shaping up to be a nice holiday, which put a smile on my face.
That was, of course, until I spotted a certain noblemare in the crowd.
Rosy Glow had arrived, and since Twilight was the one at the front door, I knew she had let the mare inside. I wasn’t sure what the play was, so I just stayed true to the plan and continued serving ponies as they came. I was somewhat annoyed when the mare stepped in line, but knew that this wasn’t the time for me to call her out in front of the whole town. Nobles weren’t known for forgiveness without recompense, so I knew that she was still sore because of what happened in Canterlot. Even so, this wasn’t the time for personal vendettas and such. So, as Rosy Glow stepped up in front of me, I spooned some roasted potatoes, carrots, and peas on her tray and gave her a smile as she passed. I had to mask my surprise when she smiled in what seemed a genuine manner, and moved on without incident. The fact she hadn’t sneered at me or thrown me some backhanded comment actually made me nervous.
Did I mention I hate politics?
I caught eyes with Lyla, who stood next to me. When she noticed my expression, she subtly bumped her hip into mine as she whispered, “Keep it together, Spike. With all the guards and five alicorns, this is the most well-defended structure in the entire nation. I can say with confidence she’s got at least a dozen of our hidden protectors watching her at this very moment, so she’s not going to be able to cause any trouble.”
I snorted out through my nose. “I know, but just having her here feels like an insult somehow. I know this is a public event, but this is also our home.”
“Believe me, I understand,” Lyla soothed, rubbing my back briefly, “but we’ll get through this just fine, I promise.”
“And Princess Luna has us covered as well,” Fluttershy reminded, subtly inclining her head to the ceiling when I looked her way. Sure enough, when I turned my eyes skyward, I could see vague shadows on the ceiling that, while not moving, should not have been there with all the lighting that was being cast in the dining hall. True to her word, I knew Princess Luna’s elite guard unit would be able to take down any would-be aggressors with ease before anyone was hurt, so I allowed myself a bit of calm, if only for my herd’s sake. The nervousness was still there, but I did trust my aunt and her guards to keep the peace. Besides that, there was a small contingent of solar guards creating a more visible presence, patrolling the corridors and the grounds outside.
I smiled at my two girls. “You’re right. I’ll try my best to keep that in mind so I don’t stress myself out.”
Lyla nudged my side with her elbow as we continued serving. “I promise I’ll give you a nice massage to work those knots out tonight, if you want.”
With that said, we continued doing our duty, serving the army of creatures joining us for the celebration. We of course saw many faces, young and old, that we recognized, but there were also plenty of creatures joining in the revelry that were clearly from out of town. Ember and Smolder were the only dragons I knew of that had made the trip, but there were plenty of changelings, yak, hippogriffs, gryphons, and even a bison or two that had shown up, which was going to make this one of the most diverse Hearth’s Warming town celebrations to date. True, not all of the varied creatures were familiar with the Equestrian holiday, but native Equestrians were quite happy to give them detailed origins regarding the celebration as it existed today.
Thankfully, as time went on, it seemed that Rosy Glow was merely making an appearance to be seen among many important public figures, and wasn’t looking to cause trouble. Things were relatively calm and festive, and the few small hiccups here and there were handled by the others in a prompt fashion. Eventually, everyone had been served the main meal, and we had cleaned up the positively demolished spread that everyone had enjoyed. I was finally free to mingle with everyone, but after greeting a seemingly endless line of creatures, I finally was able to escape to be at the sides of my friends and family.
It was during a lull in the excitement when Twilight nudged me and pointed to one of the archways, where Applejack was standing, now relieved of her winter coat. What I had originally thought was completely practical had instead been a coat to hide what she was wearing. Under the winter coat, Applejack had worn a forest green dress with a distinct country style that led to her farm upbringing. It was flattering without being overly opulent, and beautiful without too many frills. Instead, the dress accentuated her figure and natural attributes.
Twilight nudged me again. “Go on, loverdrake.” As I glanced back to the alicorn, my jaw dropped open in surprise. This had been planned, and what was worse, Twilight was in on it. At my accusatory glare, she just shrugged at me. “What? You were never going to make a move on your own, so we set this up. What better time than Hearth’s Warming?”
Chewing on my lip nervously, I whispered, “Are we sure about this? I told you about my worries regarding Applejack.”
Rolling her eyes, Twilight all but shoved me forward. “Will you just trust us for once? Go on, everything will be fine.”
Still a bit anxious, but trusting my herd knew what they were doing, I nodded and made my way toward the farm mare across the room. Applejack was watching me the entire time, and my heart rate steadily rose with each step closer to the beautiful earth pony ahead of me.
Finally, after what felt like an eternity, I stood in front of Applejack. I couldn’t think of anything more eloquent to say than, “Hi.”
Grinning at my tied tongue, Applejack replied with the same, “Hi.”
After a few moments of quiet, where I could do little more than take in her appearance, I finally was able to organize my thoughts enough to speak. “You look…wow. I mean…wow.”
A subtle blush formed on Applejack’s cheeks. “Thanks, Spike. Ya don’t look so bad yerself.”
While I thought I looked pretty frumpy compared to her, I took the comment in stride nonetheless. “Thanks. So…I guess your hair all done up makes more sense, now. I was wondering about that.”
“Rarity suggested it,” she explained, darting her eyes to the floor as she fidgeted with her hands. “She said it’d be a good idea to go with tha dress.” After glancing around, she hesitantly asked, “Mind if we take this somewhere a little more private?”
I held my palm up, and once she placed her hand in mine, I led us away from the room of the grand hearth, toward one of the side rooms that was off-limits to the public. After ensuring the door was closed behind us, I looked to Applejack again, finding the mild blush had blossomed into an extensive heat along her face and throat. I have to admit it was adorable to see her so flustered, despite my own nervousness.
“Rarity…also told me about yer fears. About me,” she said quietly, bringing my worries to light in a rather direct way.
“O-oh,” I croaked out, my heart leaping into my throat. Scrambling to save myself, I blurted, “I-I didn’t mean it as an insult, it’s just-”
“Spike,” she softly breathed, completely stopping my hurried apology before I could finish. After giving me a moment to settle, she assured me, “Ah get it. Truly, Ah do. Ah ain’t gonna lie ‘n say yer fear ain’t got some weight to it, after all.”
Raising my brow, I ventured, “Wait, so…?”
Blushing a bit deeper, Applejack nodded. “Y-yeah. Y’all were kinda a crutch f’r me after tha breakup with Thunderlane. Ah didn’t realize it until Rarity brought it up, and it got me really thinkin’ about it. Did some soul-searchin’, seein’ if mah interest in tha herd was just that, or iffin’ it was somethin’ real.”
Letting her words hang in the air for a moment, I eventually said, “Well, you’re here, so I guess I have my answer.”
Smiling a bit, she nodded. “Yeah. Kinda wish it were you that told me ‘bout yer worries, but-”
“That’s why I have a herd,” I finished, smiling back. “We all have our own weaknesses, and herds help us overcome those shortcomings so we become stronger as a whole. It’s not the first time I’ve screwed up, and it won’t be the last.”
Applejack shrugged her bare shoulders, and I’ll admit I had the sudden impulse to nuzzle the bare fur for some reason. “Ah ain’t without mah faults either. Like Ah said, Rarity bringin’ up yer fears made me realize that you were kinda right, at least a little. But if Ah wasn’t sure what Ah felt was real, Ah'd’ve told Rarity Ah didn’t want ta join tha herd.”
Stepping forward and grasping her hands in mine, I asked, “So you’re sure about this?”
Applejack gave my hands a squeeze, looking at our joined digits. “Ah am. You were there when Ah needed ya, and it ain’t tha first time. Ah know Ah can count on ya, and Ah’ve always felt close to you, ev’n b’fore ya grew up. This is worth pursuin’.”
“And Rarity told you the rules of the herd, right?”
She nodded. “Yeah. No datin’ outside tha herd. Ah’m fine with that, Ah think, but y’all haven’t discussed adding another stallion? All these mares seems a bit much f’r just you.”
I shrugged helplessly. “We’ve talked about it a lot, and the idea alone makes me very uncomfortable. Dragons aren’t known for sharing, usually. Male dragons especially can become violent toward any other males that ‘move in’ on their hoards. Well…you all are my hoard. I collect pretty girls, not pretty jewels. All that might change in the future, but for now, you’re all mine.”
She rolled her eyes, the blush still prominent on her face. “Yer a dork, but Ah like ya like that.”
I released her hands and stepped into her, wrapping my arms around the mare as I hugged her close, breathing deeply. She reacted by immediately wrapping her own arms around my back, and for a few moments we just stood there, enjoying the contact.
“I’m sorry I’ve been kinda distant,” I whispered, still holding her. “To be honest, I wasn’t really sure what to say to you. I kinda…figured out that you were one of the ones that wanted in the herd, and I kinda had a little freakout. From there, well…I wasn’t sure how to act around you.”
She nuzzled her face against my chest, sighing deeply. “It’s all right. Ah kinda figured, t’be honest. Jus’ don’t go avoidin’ me like that too often and we’ll be okay. We gotta talk to be healthy together.”
“I am gonna screw up,” I reminded gently, “but if you can forgive me for that and are willing to call me out for it, I think we’ll get along just fine.” We just enjoyed the embrace for another few moments before I suggested, “Wanna get back to the others and give the good news?”
Applejack nodded once against my chest before pulling away, taking a moment to tuck a few free strands of mane behind her ears. “Sounds like a plan.”
“And, I was thinking you and I can share a dance later tonight, after the rest of the town heads home,” I half-asked, though I already knew the answer.
Applejack’s smile brightened, and I swear I saw her eyes sparkling. “Ah’d be hard-pressed ta find somepony else Ah’d rather have a dance with.”
Taking her hand once again, I led her back out of the room and back to the grand hearth, where the rest of the herd was waiting. Upon seeing the two of us enter, grinning like lovestruck fools and hand-in-hand, Twilight’s face lit up with a brilliant smile of her own as she bounced excitedly in place, doing a good impression of a certain violently pink friend of ours. Every one of the herd present was smiling excitedly as we approached, and all but pounced on us when we were finally within tackle distance. We were in public, so we weren’t actually tackled to the ground, but the congratulations and welcoming gestures more than made up for the lack of rapid-fire snuggles.
As the clock got closer to the determined time, I was waiting out front for the arrival of one final guest who wanted to remain anonymous until the time was right. With the sun high in the sky, it was fairly easy to pick out approaching flyers, but the cream colored wings of the approaching pegasus were a little difficult to see against the glare of the late morning sun. The flying pony landed softly in front of me, shaking her long mane out before covering it with her hood again.
Her bright blue eyes winked at me as she folded her wings on her back, and her long mane covered her eyes again. “Evening, Sir Spike. Well, I made it, safe and sound.”
“You did indeed,” I said, holding out a hand to shake, which she took a moment later. “Thanks for coming, Songbird Serenade.”
With her mane in the way, it was a little more difficult to decipher her expressions, but she seemed giddy as she waved my gratitude away. “Ah, it’s no trouble, truly. My next tour doesn’t start for another two weeks, after the new year, and truth be told, I was pretty bored sitting in my studio. Spending time with friends is always nice, and this gave me a the perfect opportunity to spend some time with the heroes of Equestria.”
From what I gathered during my talk with Thorax, she didn’t know he was a changeling, so I knew this was going to be a surprise for her. I hid it well as I escorted her inside and toward the grand hall, where the flag was being raised before the lighting of the hearth. “We’re privileged to have you. I’m well aware that the life of a popular individual is pretty hectic, so I thank you for making the time to swing by.”
“Like I said, I wasn’t doing anything anyway,” she repeated, bumping me with her elbow. “I should thank you for reaching out, though I doubt you knew what I was doing.” She then cocked her head at me, and I got the impression she was raising her brow at me skeptically. “Unless, of course, you found the time to become a stalker.”
I just shrugged, taking the joke in good humor. “Maybe at a younger age, but not nowadays. I do still have that signed poster you gave me up on my wall though.”
“I’d judge you harshly if you didn’t,” she joked with a haughty tone. After walking behind me for a few moments, she asked, “So, not that I’m not grateful for the invite, but is there a real reason you reached out?”
“Well…there’s someone I wanted you to meet, for his Hearth’s Warming gift,” I answered, purposely being vague, just in case.
“Oh…so a fan? I’m always happy to see fans, but they must be pretty important for a Hearth’s Warming visit,” she commented, her curiosity obviously piqued at this point.
I bobbed my head from side to side. “...sure, yeah, he’s a fan.”
We passed through the room with the grand hearth, only stopping to give a quick wave to the rest of my friends before grabbing Thorax by the arm and pulling him with us out of the room, to one of the guest rooms. I got the feeling Songbird was silently curious, but said nothing as she dutifully followed along behind us.
When we finally arrived in an empty guest room, Thorax pulled away and rubbed his arm, throwing a mildly reproachful look my way. “If you wanted my attention, you could have just asked, Spike.” After fixing his shirt, he looked over at the cloaked mare and nodded to her. “Anyway, I’m Thorax. I guess Spike wanted us to meet?”
Songbird hadn’t spoken yet, and was clearly curious as she stepped forward, inspecting the changeling as she pulled her hood down. “I…I can’t quite place it, but you’re familiar somehow. Have we met before?”
When Songbird removed her hood, Thorax froze, and stared at the mare in utter shock. His head slowly rotated so he could look at me, and I just smiled in response. He tried to speak, only to squeak pitifully as he struggled to form words. After swallowing hard, Thorax tried again. “Um…n-not like this, no. My name is Thorax, but you haven’t met me.”
Songbird tilted her head, her ears flicking around. “Why do you say it like that?” Slowly, her mouth formed an “oh” as she surmised, “Oh wait, you’re a changeling. Do you mean we met when you were in disguise?”
Thorax nodded jerkily. “Y-yes, we have. I…” He paused before closing his eyes and allowing a film of magic to pass over him. When it finished, before us was standing a lanky tan-colored unicorn with a red mane and blue eyes. After giving the mare a moment to take him in, he greeted, “H-hi, Birdy. It’s been awhile.”
Songbird gasped deeply and backed up so fast that she rammed into a bedside table, which caused her to trip and flail wildly before falling onto the bed with a comical poof of air. She scrambled to sit up, and for the longest time could only stare at the disguised changeling with her jaw dropped open.
Eventually, the mare stood, almost tripping in the process, and slowly made her way over to Thorax, standing in front of him. She hesitated briefly before raising her trembling hands up to Thorax’s face, as if unsure whether to believe what she was seeing. Upon finally touching his face, she quietly asked, “...is it really you, Buttercream?”
Thorax reached up and took her hands in his, holding them tight and nodding solemnly to the pegasus. “Y-yeah, it’s me. It’s been me all along.”
She gently pulled her hands away from him, slowly reaching up again before-
*SMACK*
Thorax’s head was thrown to the side as a slap cracked across his cheek. I winced in sympathetic pain at the hit, but had foresaw something like this happening. The small pegasus glared up at him (or, at least, I could only assume she was, since I couldn’t see her eyes) and growled, “It’s been six years, and you couldn’t have even sent a letter? I thought…I…” Tears began to slide down Songbird’s cheeks as her emotions caught up with her, and she cried, “I-I thought you were dead! You don’t do that to the ponies you care about, Cream!”
Thorax winced as he raised a hand to touch his stinging face, and he grimaced as he tried to explain. “I tried Birdy, but you’re not exactly easy to get a hold of. I mean, you probably get thousands of fan letters per day, and your manager and agent aren’t exactly keen on letting some random pony meet you without there being some sort of publicity involved in it.”
“Then what about this?” she asked, motioning to the two of them. “Your friend called me up under false pretenses, and I showed up because they’re important and they’re friends. How is this different? You couldn’t have done something similar as King of the Changelings?”
I raised my hand meekly and corrected, “Technically, everything I said was true. The only difference is he’s a fan of ‘Birdy,’ his friend, not just Songbird Serenade, the music superstar.”
“Also,” Thorax continued, equally as meek as I, “please don’t call me a king. I refuse to be seen as anything like Queen Chrysalis. I just want what’s best for my people, that’s all.”
Songbird sniffled a bit as she reached up under her bangs and hurriedly rubbed her eyes. “Still…you just disappeared without a trace all of the sudden, and nopony knew what happened to you. How was I supposed to know you were okay? You couldn’t have visited? It’s been six years, Buttercream!”
Thorax frowned a bit as tears gathered in his own eyes, and he shot back with, “I was scared, okay? Before Spike, you were the only friend I had in the world, and I didn’t know what I was supposed to say to you. After I became the leader of the new changelings, I couldn’t just pick up and head back to the town, because I had others depending on me to lead them. And I didn’t know how I was supposed to explain being gone for such a long time. It…made it easier when none of your crew was willing to let some rando meet you, so I just passed it off as a lost cause. I saw you were successful and healthy, so I told myself that was enough.”
The mare sniffled again before taking one of his hands in hers, frowning with her head bowed. “I was certainly content, but how can you think I was happy without my best friend, Cream? Let me remind you: I thought you had to be dead, Cream. I figured that was the only way you could just disappear and never contact me again. I wrote a song about you, you idiot!”
“Y-you did?”
Songbird sighed and poked him in the chest. “What did you think my song Diamond was about?”
Thorax’s jaw dropped at that. “R-really? I thought it was about…I don’t know, an ex-lover or something.”
Songbird sighed again, shaking her head. She curled her finger at him and ordered, “Come here.” Thorax leaned down toward the mare, and without warning, she grabbed his face and laid a big smooch right on his lips, leaving the changeling stunned beyond words. After a second or two, she pulled away with a loud smack, and licked her lips as she rhetorically asked, “Do you get it now?”
He could only stare down at her, frozen in surprise. I felt privileged to have witnessed such a lovely reunion, but since things seemed to be progressing well, I saw fit to excuse myself and head toward the door. Before I could leave, however, I heard Thorax call my name.
I turned to look over my shoulder to see him blushing brightly, but smiling as well as he said, “Spike…thank you. Truly.”
I gave my own smile as I replied, “Happy Hearth’s Warming, Thorax. You too, Songbird.”
The mare grinned at me and playfully lamented, “I know if I said ‘I owe’ you, you’d just say ‘no you don’t’-”
“Darn right,” I finished, smiling at her. “Gifts aren’t given with the intent of getting something back. Besides, what kind of guy would I be if I expected some sort of favor for making two friends happy?”
“Sounds like you’d be a pretty crummy friend,” she snarked, leaning into Thorax as he rested his arm around her shoulders.
I smiled at the sight of them. “And that’s not the kind of guy I am. So, Happy Hearth’s Warming to the both of you. Now, before we all split up for the rest of the day, would you both like to join us for the lighting of the hearth?”
The two looked at each other for a moment before Thorax answered, “Y’know, I think that would be lovely.”
“And with this, we light the Grand Hearth of Ponyville, paying homage to the first Fires of Friendship ignited by the founders in ages past,” Twilight recited, taking the burning torch in her hand and tossing it into the carefully constructed cone of logs and tinder, which in only a few seconds began to crackle and pop as the fire merrily grew and spread additional warmth throughout the spacious room.
From there, the usually shy pegasus of mine continued. “With this fire, we remember how important friendship and love is to the continued wellbeing of everyone in Equestria and beyond. And with this holiday, we pledge ourselves to the tenets of harmony that have played a role in all our lives, no matter how young or old.”
“And finally,” Princess Luna began, placing her hand on Fluttershy’s shoulder from behind, “we must remember that for every dark night, there is a bright moon to light the path.”
Princess Celestia took the place next to her sister, smiling at the gathered crowd. “And during the most punishing of days, there is a calming breeze to cool the sweat of our brows. Always, always remember that friendship takes work, and we must strive to preserve it. Thank you all for joining us on this most important holiday. Good day to all of you, and Happy Hearth’s Warming!”
The roar of the assembled crowd answered us, and following that, the crowd slowly began to file out of the castle. Those that were staying in the castle gathered near the hearth with the rest of us as we waited patiently for everyone to leave, and Twilight got a start on levitating some of the trash and discarded dishes up to be taken to the garbage bin and kitchen, respectively. I had gathered a few brooms in the broom closet nearby earlier in the day, so I opened the door and began passing them out to some of the others as we all got started on doing a good once-over of the castle before heading off to relax for the remainder of the day. Though I tried to fight them on it, even my mother and aunt insisted on helping, and with their help, I knew it would take very little time to get everything clean.
True to my assumption, it took only thirty minutes for the entire bottom floor of the castle to be set back in order, and we all gathered to see off the two Canterlot princesses, as well as the rest of our gathered relatives. Hugs and kisses were shared all around, including a particularly tight hug from the two larger alicorns encompassing as many of me and my herd as was possible, including our newest member, Applejack. Lyla, especially, was trying her hardest to look as though she wasn’t being squeezed to death by the two larger females.
Finally, we were released, and took in a collective gasp of air, yet spots still danced in my vision for a second. I looked at the two Canterlot princesses as the elder cupped my cheek and smiled at me. “It was wonderful to spend this day with you, my son. Always remember that I love you.”
While I blushed at the words, I couldn’t stop the smile on my face as I grasped her hand in mine. “I love you too, mom.” Turning my attention to the dark alicorn, I reached over and gave her a hug of her own, whispering, “It was great to see you, auntie. Don’t be a stranger.”
“We shall endeavor to make time for thee soon, beloved nephew,” Princess Luna said softly, nuzzling the side of my face in a rare display of public affection. Pulling away, she added, “Be well, Spike. Take good care of them.”
“Always, aunt Luna. Safe travels,” I said in closing, closing my eyes as the horns of the two alicorns lit up, their auras wrapping around all of the other visitors, before transporting them, the guards, and everypony's parents back to Canterlot, to make the afternoon trains back to their respective homes. When the light faded, only Shining Armor, Cadence, and Flurry Heart remained.
With only my herd and our guests left, we all turned and headed for the stairs leading to the private levels of the castle after Twilight locked the front doors to the castle.
“So, Applejack, what did you plan for tonight? Are you going to head back home later to be with your family, or will you be staying the night?” Rarity coyly asked, trying and failing to completely hide her smile.
Applejack blushed. “A-Ah think Ah’m stayin’.” She growled and fanned her face, trying to get the blush to recede. “Why am Ah actin’ like this? Ain’t like Ah’ve never stayed tha night with y’all b’fore.”
“True,” Fluttershy said with a giggle, “but you haven’t stayed as a herd member before now. There are certain snuggles that aren’t allowed if you’re just friends.”
Applejack blushed deeper, laughing lightly. “Ah don’t think we’re doin’ any ‘special hugs’ tonight, but Ah wouldn’t mind a little extra love.”
I smiled from behind Applejack. “I think we can do that.”
She glanced at me from over her shoulder before quickly looking away, trying not to seem as excited as she was. I could tell though, and I’m pretty sure she was fooling no one. Still, that was for later. We still had basically the entire day to ourselves, and I was sure everyone had their own plans on how to spend it. For now, since the town was now gone, we were heading toward Twilight’s room to collect Ember, and from there we would take the day as it came.
Ember was quietly reading a book when we arrived, and looked all too happy to finally be able to walk around without being bothered by a bunch of strangers. She raised a brow at me when she noticed Applejack following, but after a brief explanation, she merely shrugged and fell into step with the rest of us. We joined the rest of our guests in the commons area, and from there made our way to the private dining room, where our food had been set up. Since none of us ate during the public celebration, I’m sure I wasn’t the only one that felt ravenous, so we all enjoyed a late lunch of Apple family foods, and Sugarcube Corner treats. Yona and Ocellus in particular made sure to give praise for the tasty spread, but it wasn’t hard to assume everyone was enjoying the food, if the near-silence (other than the sounds of eating) was any indication.
The door opened again after a few minutes, and a familiar blue pegasus breezed inside the room, shaking a few lingering flurries out of her mane as she greeted, “Hey everyone. Sorry about missing out earlier, but…well, work needed me. Oh cool, food. Hope you don’t mind if I dig in.”
“Not at all, Rainbow,” Twilight answered, gesturing to the empty place across from us, next to Fluttershy. “Take a seat and enjoy the food. We’re glad you could make it.”
“You have to work even on Hearth’s Warming?” I asked, silently grateful to be off work for the week.
Rainbow Dash plopped herself down in the seat offered to her, and immediately began stuffing her face with food. After downing three slices of apple brown betty, a bowl full of steaming potato and leek soup, and a grilled salmon steak, she finally stopped and sighed happily, apparently having at least taken the edge off of her hunger, now that something was in her belly. The pegasus then glanced my way and gave me a wry smile. “The weather kinda tends to pick the most inconvenient times to go wrong. I was planning to be here in the morning with the rest of town, but Raindrops caught me on the way here and told me about an emergency alert that came from the Cloudsdale weather factory. Apparently some idiot left the condensers on all night, and a batch of snow clouds escaped the cloud pen. We had the ‘awesome’ job of looking for this batch of clouds and busting them before they could dump a blizzard on some poor town.”
I winced at that. “Eesh, sorry you had to deal with that on a holiday.”
She shrugged helplessly, taking a huge gulp of warm apple cider. “Eh, I’m used to it by now. Kinda comes with the territory of being a regional weather manager. Yeah, my jurisdiction is Ponyville, but if there’s some crazy weather, they might call on me for help. And…well, that’s what happened. It’s not the first time, and it won’t be the last.” She jammed a warm roll in her mouth before washing it down with another gulp of cider. After nearly choking it down, she said, “But unless some crazy stuff happens, I’ll be here for the rest of the day. I already checked on Scoots, and she’s gonna spend time with her friends at Sweet Apple Acres, just to kinda get out of the house, y’know?”
“I think it would be good for her to spend time with her best friends,” Fluttershy commented, smiling at her fellow pegasus. “You’re a great big sister Rainbow, but those three girls have been through a lot together, and maybe reminiscing about happier times with Sweetie Belle and Applebloom will make the holiday only bittersweet, instead of outright traumatic. That might be the best we can hope for, right now.”
“And good for you too,” Twilight added. “It’s not like you to spend days at a time in your house, so I can imagine this is all very uncomfortable for you. You need time to get some fresh air too, Rainbow.”
Rainbow Dash shoveled another mound of food into her mouth, topped off with another hot roll and a swig of cider. After swallowing the mush, she sighed and rested her elbows on the table, running both hands up into her mane and resting on her palms. “I know, but I just wish there was something more I could do, y’know? I don’t feel good knowing that there’s nothing else I can really do to help her right now.”
“But that’s just it,” I said, brushing my ankle with hers from under the table, just for a bit of physical contact, “you’re doing everything you can. There are some things that only time can fix, and just the fact you’re willing to put your own life on hold for her speaks volumes about you. She knows that, and when she eventually comes out of her shell and is ready to face the world again, she’ll thank you for it.”
Rainbow Dash grunted and shook her head. “Yeah, I know that, but you know how I am. You keep telling me to just keep doing what I’m doing, but I am doing that. I don’t see anything changing, and I can’t help but think I’m doing something wrong, or I should be doing something else. It’s just…” she blew a long breath out, disturbing her long bangs as they fluttered in her face, “...hard. I hate this kinda stuff, because there’s not something I can do to just, y’know, fix it.”
Fluttershy leaned into the other pony’s side and wrapped an arm and wing around her, hugging tightly. No words were said between the two, and Fluttershy just let her warm embrace communicate what wasn’t said.
Eventually, Rainbow Dash sat up straight again and went back to eating, though she leaned a little more into Fluttershy’s hug now.
“So,” she spoke in between bites, “did you all exchange gifts already then?”
I nodded her way. “This morning, before the rest of the town started arriving. We still have gifts for you and Pinkie waiting, but Pinks will get hers when she gets back next week.” Realizing what I had said, I caught eyes with Applejack. “We haven’t given our gifts to you yet, AJ.”
She waved the thought away. “Ah’ll get’m later. Gonna be here all day, after all. No rush. Ah, uh, hope y’all don’t mind,” she began, nervously looking down at the table, “but Ah kinda had t’go cheap this year, on account’a tha barn needin’ mendin’, and tha hospital bills ‘n such.”
Waving her concerns away, I just gave her a smile. “You’re here, and that’s enough of a gift. We always enjoy the things you give us. I mean, look around,” I gestured to the private dining room, which was rather spartan and only had a few personal decorations here and there, “does it look like we live a lavish lifestyle? Not like we don’t have the money, but we don’t put stock in things that don’t have sentimental significance.”
“That’s an awful lot of sap there, Spike,” Rainbow Dash teased, nudging me under the table. “You gonna marry her next or something?”
I just bobbed my head side to side. “Maybe one day. This is just day one, but I think we’ll get there at some point in the future. That is the plan, after all.”
Rainbow Dash just stopped, a morsel of carrot comically sliding off of her lip and dropping to her plate as she just stared at us. “Um…what?”
Twilight smiled and nudged the earth pony next to her. “Applejack, would you like to do the honors?”
Applejack blushed a bit, but turned her attention directly to the pegasus on the other side of the table as she said, “Ah’m part’a tha herd now, RD. This is mah first day in it.”
Rainbow Dash just continued to stare, slack-jawed. It took almost a minute before she shook herself out of it and rolled her eyes at me. “Y’know, when I said it’s kinda like you’re collecting the full set, I was joking. I didn’t expect you to go along with it.”
I just shrugged off her jab and fired back. “I mean, collections are always more valuable when you have the full set. Maybe next I’ll want another pretty pegasus. You better watch out.”
Again she rolled her eyes. “Please, I can do better than you. Rainbow Dash does not settle, she succeeds.” Rarity looked like she wanted to say something to defend me, but seemingly realized this kinda talk was normal between us, and so let it go. I silently thanked her, and promised myself I was going to reward her for it.
A poof of purple smoke appeared off to the side, and Discord himself appeared in the dining room, surprising everyone present. He casually strode over to Fluttershy, affectionately patting her on the head, before looking over everyone present (including a particularly nervous Ember). “Well friends, it is time for me to leave again. This chaos spirit has a…let’s call it a previous obligation that I must meet.”
I raised a brow. “Since when does a being of chaos follow a schedule? I thought chaos didn’t have rules.”
“Except when it does,” the draconequus snarked, smirking at me. “Wonderfully chaotic, isn’t it? Chaos bends to no rules…except when it does, even though it, by nature, is unfettered. How delightfully unprecedented! Or is it?” I shook his head hard enough for his eyes to fall out, and after shining the two orbs on his fur, he popped them back in his head and bowed low. “Truly though, this has been a pleasure. And Twilight, thank you for allowing me to spread a little chaos amongst the young ones. I have no doubt their parents will be banging their sweet heads against the wall soon.”
Twilight sighed in exasperation, but smiled nonetheless. “As long as no lasting damage was done, and no pony was hurt, it’s fine. Thank you for visiting, Discord. It’s always a privilege to see you again.”
Fluttershy said nothing, merely smiling up at her chaotic friend. Again, Discord patted the yellow pegasus on the head before snapping his fingers, and disappearing in another poof of smoke…this one red, with the scent of apples for some reason.
“Don’t take this the wrong way, but I feel like I can breathe a little easier with him gone,” Ember commented, sounding far more relieved than she had looked moments ago.
I reached behind Applejack on my left and touched Ember with the tip of my wing, smiling helplessly at her. “It’s okay, I get it. He’s…let’s call Discord an ‘acquired taste’. Nonetheless, he’s a good friend, and a good ally to have on your side.”
Before she could respond, the door opened, and in walked a pony I was honestly surprised to see. “Fizzle?”
My shocked utterance drew the attention of everyone in the dining room, among all three tables, to the door. The unicorn in question looked decidedly nervous, clad in her normal clothes and completely exposed, but strode forward nonetheless. She took the seat on the other side of Fluttershy (which I could tell Ember was silently thankful for), and wasted no time in loading up her plate with many of the nice things on the table.
After a few moments of letting us stare at her, Fizzlepop defensively muttered, “What? I said I wouldn’t be coming to dinner, but…well, I’m kinda hungry, and…”
Twilight wasted no time in wrapping her arm around the shoulders of Fizzlepop, who after stilling for a moment, breathed easy and relaxed a bit. “Hey…you don’t need to explain. Whatever the reason, we’re glad to have you. When I said you were always welcome, I meant it. Please, eat and enjoy the food.”
Much like Rainbow Dash, Fizzlepop wasted no time in thoroughly enjoying the variety of food choices spread about the table, and took a little of each until she found things she greatly enjoyed. While I didn’t say anything aloud, I couldn’t help but think of the appearance of the unicorn as a Hearth’s Warming miracle, and it made the day seem just a bit warmer and brighter. I knew that, save for a few notable exceptions, Fizzlepop might as well have been diagnosed with some sort of avoidant personality disorder, brought about by the intense feelings of guilt and inadequacy due to her past, so it was truly something special that she chose to brave her anxiety, push through it, and spend time with us, even if just for a small amount of time. Save for Ember, who was doing her best to avoid eye contact, everyone at the table gave the scarred unicorn a smile whenever she caught their gaze. She didn’t speak, but I got the distinct impression that Fizzlepop was grateful for the welcoming environment we were fostering for her. I knew she still believed she didn’t deserve it, but that didn’t mean it didn’t feel good.
“My offer is still open, you know,” I quietly offered, looking Fizzlepop in the eye when she glanced my way. “If you want to come to dinner, we’ll happily welcome you again.”
Fizzlepop paused to consider my words for a moment before answering. “...I think I can only do one public appearance for today, but thank you for the offer.”
Twilight relaxed her grip on the unicorn and moved to affectionately rub her back, only for Fizzlepop to hiss loudly and jerk away, causing Twilight to frown worriedly. “Oh, I’m sorry Fizzle. Did I hurt you?”
The unicorn in question was still grimacing, her teeth clenched, as she assured, “I’m okay. It’s just an old scar, nothing more.”
Twilight frowned and moved away to give the older mare some space, even as her gaze hardened. “Fizzle, please don’t lie to me. A scar doesn’t cause that much pain just from brushing against it.”
“Twilight, please…not now,” Fizzlepop pleaded, looking to me for support.
I sighed internally and nudged Twilight. “Twi, leave it be. Fizzle deserves her privacy, okay?”
Twilight turned her gaze to me, every bit as intense, but it softened at my unwavering stance on the matter. Eventually, she sighed in defeat, and nodded. “You’re right. I’m sorry Fizzle, we don’t have to discuss anything you don’t want to. I’m just worried about you, is all.”
The pain had apparently passed, as Fizzlepop was able to offer Twilight a mostly-painless smile. “And I appreciate that, Twilight. Truly. Just…I have some things I can’t talk about just yet, and I need you to respect that.”
Twilight nodded again, this time with a reassuring smile. “I do. I’m sorry if it made you uncomfortable, I just don’t like the ones I care about being in any kind of pain. Promise you’ll tell me about it at some point?”
Fizzlepop chewed on her lip nervously, looking at all the other faces that had been watching the exchange, before eventually relenting. “...later, if you’re really sure. I’ll warn you that it’ll probably ruin the rest of your day, though.”
“Worrying about you and not knowing why my friend is in pain makes me far more upset,” Twilight reminded her, this time rubbing her palm on the back of the unicorn’s neck, which was a safer area.
Fizzlepop lowered her eyes to the table, grasping her fork a little harder as she mumbled, “Your caring nature is going to get you hurt one of these days, Twilight.”
Twilight countered with, “It already has, but I’ll never regret caring about others. That’s something you’ll never change about me, Fizzle.”
“I don’t want to,” Fizzle whispered before going back to her meal. With that out of the way, everyone else went back to snacking, talking, and just enjoying the warm atmosphere at the table. And though she tried to hide it, I caught sight of the grateful ghost of a smile on Fizzlepop’s muzzle.
“So are you planning on banging AJ later?”
While I tried to play it off, I couldn’t help the blush that bloomed from within. “You have zero tact, Dash. Like, none at all.”
“No sense beating around the bush when I can just ask you straight,” she returned, smirking at me. “And you didn’t answer my question.”
“I don’t see how it’s any of your business,” I growled, trying to sound intimidating, but failing spectacularly, if Rainbow Dash’s victorious smile was any indication.
She just smirked from her spot on the sofa next to me. “That’s a no, then.”
“Not everyone bucks on the first date, Dash,” I snarked, raising my brow at her. “Maybe you should stop projecting your qualities on others.”
She just took the poke with grace, shrugging nonchalantly. “I guess it’s true no one can be quite like me. I guess I can’t keep expecting everyone to be as awesome as Rainbow Dash.”
I snorted at her preening, idly watching the others playing a game of “Two Truths and a Lie” from across the room. “Yeah, well, later in life when you move on from Ponyville, remember that not everyone will love Rainbow Dash and all her ‘awesomeness’.” Since her hooves were touching me, I felt as she went completely still, and I turned my eyes back to the pegasus to see her frowning at me. “What? What did I say?”
“Why do you always talk like I’m going somewhere? Do you want me to leave?” she asked, halfway between confusion and offense.
I shrugged. “Just kinda seems like the thing to do. You always planned to leave when you got your big break, and then you turned down the Wonderbolts. That doesn’t mean you’re not still gonna leave someday, and go off to show the world how awesome you are.”
“Spike,” she began, huffing and pulling her knees to her chest as she hugged them close, “Ponyville is my home. Yeah, I was born in Cloudsdale, and there’s a lot of cool things to see out there in the world, but this is where I want to be. Who’s gonna make sure all my students become the best fliers they can if I leave? Who’s gonna make sure those morons up at the weather factory don’t screw up Ponyville with their ridiculous weather schedules? Who’s gonna keep a tight flank and fly just close enough to the library for you to drool over it and dream about it?”
The latter comment made me laugh regardless of the serious talk, and it took me a second to think of a response. “Well, have you seen Fluttershy lately? The past few years, she’s taken your recommendations to heart, and while her wings are dinky compared to yours, she’s got a fantastic body. Since she’s a part of the herd, I’m sure I can get her to strut around every once in a while, maybe even in some lingerie if I play my cards right. Are you gonna do that?”
“Get real, perv,” she replied, though the blush on her cheeks made her reprimand have far less power than she probably hoped for.
Smiling triumphantly, I folded my hands and rested them in my lap. “Then you have no power here, Dash. Can’t tease me with your feminine wiles anymore.” Deciding to be a little more cocky, I added, “When you decide to finally pony up and join the herd, then we can do a comparison. Until then, my herd wins, hands down.”
She sputtered and squawked almost like a bird, the sound being both surprising and hilarious at the same time. I laughed uproariously at her reaction, unable to stop the guffaws that escaped, while Rainbow Dash just glowered at me and tried to pretend as if I hadn’t just said what I did, along with her blush increasing tenfold. Just when I thought I might have gone too far, she shoved my leg playfully with a hoof, but still wouldn’t look at me due to embarrassment. The fact she was willing to do so told me she wasn’t actually mad, so I counted it as a win on my side.
As my laughter tapered off, and I was able to gather myself once again, I said, “If I’m being honest, I don’t want any of you to leave, ever. But, that’s the dragon in me talking, not wanting to let go of something -- or someone -- important to me. In the end, though…” my mood sobered a bit, becoming noticeably more somber, “well, everyone’s going to leave me, one way or another. As a dragon, I’ve had to accept that fact. No matter how much I try to prevent it, and no matter how willing you are to fight it, your time -- everyone’s time -- in my life is temporary. Whether it be because you move away, or because you d-die, I’ll have to watch every one of you leave, while I stick around. I’ll have to watch generations of my own bloodline live out their lives and pass on while only I remain. Eventually, it’ll only be me, Ember, and maybe Twilight still around, while all of you are just memories of a better time.”
For a long few moments, only silence answered me. Eventually, Rainbow Dash muttered, “...dude, that’s bucking depressing. Way to kill the mood.”
Giving a subdued, apologetic smile, I said, “Sorry about that. It just kinda hits me sometimes.” Clearing my throat and faking a more happy smile, I continued. “Anyway, my point is that because my life will be so long compared to any of yours, what’s most important to me is that you all do all the things you want to do with your life, and that you’re happy. If that means I have to go years or decades without seeing you, or even knowing if you’re okay, that’s something I have to make peace with. It’s your life, not mine.”
“You’re right,” she interrupted, nudging me again with her hoof, “it is my life, so let me decide what to do with it. No matter what you or anyone else might think I’m ‘destined’ for, this is my life to live. If I decide I want to live out my days teaching foals to fly and managing weather, then that’s what I’m darn well going to do, and no one is gonna tell me otherwise. Got it? Have you ever considered that maybe that’s what makes me happy?”
I had, of course, but I couldn’t help the notion that she was destined for great things. “Well yeah, of course, but it used to be you talked all the time about how you were gonna be the best there ever was as a flier, and you wanted stadiums full of fans clamoring to just catch a glimpse of you as you rocketed by.”
“Yeah, well, things change,” she shot back, almost angrily. “Living life has a way of giving us ‘perspective,’ as Twilight would say, and I know now that stadiums full of screaming fans are less important to me than the ponies I already have in my life. Could being a Wonderbolt be amazing? Could I be happy about having my name literally etched in history as one of the best fliers that ever lived?” She shrugged. “Of course all of that could be true. But, every night I went to sleep when I was at the Wonderbolt academy, and during the short time I was actually a ‘Bolt, I looked at that picture of all of us that was taken just after Twilight’s coronation, and I felt a knife in my chest that twisted every time I thought about how much I missed you guys.” She crossed her arms under her chest, blowing her bangs out of her eyes with a puff of air. “And you know what? That ache never went away. It just got worse with every night, until I couldn’t stand it anymore. Spitfire and the rest of the ‘Bolts basically begged me to stay…but I couldn’t. Every time I considered it, I thought about everything I’d be losing. If I kept going with that life, I wouldn’t be able to just come and see my friends when I wanted to hang out. Important things could happen that I would never know about or be a part of, and even though we’d send letters and things like that, we’d start to grow apart, because I’d never be here anymore.”
I had noticed, though she apparently didn’t, that during her rant, tears had started to gather in her eyes. With a careful motion, I reached over and gently wiped the tears away from her eyes with my thumbs, and gathered her in my arms. She didn’t even resist, and just let it happen as she let herself be hugged.
After a few minutes of that, during which silence had its time, I softly asked, “That night when I last kinda touched on all this stuff…did I make you cry then, too?”
She stilled in my arms, though she didn’t pull away. “...you heard me?”
“I didn’t know it was you until just now. I heard someone, I just didn’t know who it was. Hay, I half-thought I might have just imagined it,” I answered, feeling all the more bad now that my fear was confirmed.
She was quiet again for a few moments before she eventually spoke. “I was upset because you were kinda right.” She pulled away from me a bit, so I let her go and she retreated to her spot on the sofa, but still kept in contact with me with her hooves on my thigh. “Used to be, I couldn't wait to get out of this small town. I mean, for a pegasus that wanted to be the best flier ever, there’s not too many prospects for a mare like that in Ponyville. Ponyville is a great place to live, but there’s not a whole lot of a calling for great fliers in a historically earth pony town. It’s not their fault of course, but that didn’t mean I was gonna just deal with it if I had a better choice.”
“Hence the Wonderbolts,” I surmised.
She shrugged slightly. “Well, partly. I always wanted to be a Wonderbolt, ever since I was a little filly. Then, when I followed Fluttershy to Ponyville, I saw becoming a Wonderbolt as my way out. But…well, I told you how that turned out. I was so angry with myself back then, because I felt like I was throwing away a huge opportunity, the chance to have my name chanted by thousands, maybe even millions, all because I couldn’t get over a little homesickness and missing my friends.” She reached up and slowly wiped away a few more tears that had gathered before they could trail down her cheeks. “But eventually, I figured that some things are more important than being the best flier. I mean, if it wasn’t making me happy, why the hay was I doing it?”
“So you left,” I finished for her.
Rainbow Dash nodded slowly. “Yeah. And I’ve never been so happy to be a quitter.”
“Quitting isn’t always a bad thing, Rainbow,” Twilight’s voice said from behind us.
Rainbow Dash flinched and whipped her head to look at the alicorn, who had somehow snuck up behind the sofa. She was smiling in that unsettlingly wise way alicorns seemed to magically develop over the years. I called it her ‘wise princess smile,’ which she hated, by the way.
Rainbow Dash licked her suddenly dry lips and stammered, “H-how long have you been standing there?”
“Since you confirmed Spike made you cry because of this type of conversation you apparently had before,” she confirmed, raising an eyebrow at me. “I was wondering why she seemed so broken up that night. Now I know, I guess.”
I smiled sheepishly. “Well, to be fair, it wasn’t exactly my plan to make a friend sad.”
“Sometimes saying the right thing can still make somepony sad,” Twilight explained, playing the part of princess well, even in a private moment amongst friends. “We should always strive to have the strength of character to say what we truly feel, even if it may make someone unhappy. Only with honesty can we make things better, and that includes during conversations between friends.” She then looked at Rainbow Dash, still smiling. “As long as you’re not hurting yourself or others, we will support you in whatever you want to do with your life, Rainbow. We’ll love you no matter what.”
Rainbow Dash smiled at her friend. “Thanks, Twi. I kinda already figured, but it’s still nice to hear.” She cleared her throat and rubbed her eyes once more to be sure they were dry before standing up and fluffing her wings. “A-anyway, let’s do something fun, in celebration of you all finally nabbing AJ for this herd. How about a drinking game?”
“It’s a little early for a drinking game, Rainbow,” Twilight admonished, rolling her eyes. “Let’s set that aside for later tonight. Besides, it’s almost time for Lyla’s transformation ritual.”
“Her what?” Rainbow Dash asked in confusion.
Twilight gasped and smiled. “Oh, that’s right, you don’t know! Because Lyla is a queen-morph, she can’t become a ‘new changeling’ as easily as the rest. We couldn’t do it yesterday, because I had to study the spell some more, but I’m ready and we’re going to do it in a few minutes. Do you want to watch?”
Rainbow Dash just smirked at the alicorn. “What? You’re asking if I want to watch you cast some insane spell and change our friend into one of those new, sparkly changelings? Nah, why would I want to watch that? Sounds totally boring.” She pushed a knuckle into Twilight’s arm, laughing a bit. “C’mon Twi, you’re like the me of magic. Watching you cast awesome spells is always cool.”
Twilight rolled her eyes with a smile. “I would normally say you’re tooting your own horn a little hard there, but I’ll take the compliment. Nonetheless, I do think it would be nice of you to join us. This will be a big change for Lyla, and I think we should all be there to show our support.”
Rainbow Dash nodded with a smile. “Cool, so we doing it now, then?”
“In a few minutes, when Thorax gets here,” Twilight corrected. “Technically speaking, he’s not necessary, but I think it would be a good idea for a changeling to be there just in case something goes wrong. I doubt that will happen, but one can never be too sure.” As if he knew we were speaking about him, the tall changeling himself walked in the room, and once Twilight caught eyes with him, she nodded. “All right, here we go. C’mon, we’re heading to the pocket dimension where Spike trains with Ember.”
“Yeah, training. Is that what they’re calling it now?” Rainbow Dash teased, bumping me with her elbow.
I defensively blurted, “Hey, that only happened one time. And…I probably shouldn’t have told you that.” I was again blushing due to my big mouth. Rainbow Dash nearly fell over laughing, and Twilight groaned as she fanned herself to try and cool the blush that was now heating her entire face.
With only mild chatter here and there, we all collectively made our way to the aforementioned room, where a spell diagram had already been drawn on the floor, and the necessary reagents had been gathered. These included dream lilies (a magical flower that was a favorite of a certain night princess), six flawless rubies, a bowl of some sort of sand, and a strip of what looked like glowing wood.
Twilight beckoned all of us inside before closing the door. She then began assembling all the reagents around the circle, in empty spaces where something was obviously meant to be placed, and said, “Okay, let’s do this. Everyone else, stand against the far wall. Lyla, take your place, and Spike…take yours.” She pointed toward another, smaller spell circle to the side, across from where Lyla would be standing.
I raised a brow and asked, “I have a part in this? How?”
“Well, as you know, love is the catalyst,” Thorax explained, standing next to me as I took my place. “In order for changelings to transform, we have to give love instead of just taking it, and by doing so, it awakens something that was dormant within us, turning us into what we are now.”
“Okay, but-”
“For a queen though, we need a little more of a jolt, if you will,” Thorax continued. “Not only must she release the love she has inside, but you have to give love as well. And, while all love is valuable, romantic love is the strongest form of love. Also, as her chosen master, the bond between you two is as strong as it can be for a changeling. Your love is one of the keys in this spell, and is absolutely imperative.”
“W-wait, master…?” Rainbow Dash asked, likely voicing the same question many others had.
Thorax nodded to the pegasus as he stepped away from me. “Until recently, in changeling culture, there wasn’t such a thing as normal family bonds or love between changelings. The entire hierarchical structure was based upon ownership, and a changeling was pushed to choose a master they believed would stand for the morals he or she believed in.”
“Spike is indeed my chosen master, Rainbow Dash,” Lyla confirmed loudly, smiling as the others looked at her. “Everything I am is his, and I offer it willingly, because I know he is worthy of that trust.”
While we had touched on the concept before, it still made me feel awkward to think about. I mean, in traditional changeling culture (and even in modern times), Lyla was essentially my property to do with as I wished. I wasn’t sure I liked having that kind of power over someone, but she trusted me with said power, and I often told myself I had to be as worthy as she thought I was.
“That’s…kinda crazy, Lye,” Rainbow Dash replied, her wings slack and hands fidgeting, a clear sign she wasn’t sure what to think. Truthfully, I couldn’t blame her, and since Twilight was the only one that knew about this beforehand, I was pretty sure Rainbow Dash wasn’t the only one. She just happened to be the only one that was asking about it.
Lyla just smiled enigmatically. “Love makes us do crazy things.”
Twilight stood at the far end of the room, in another spell diagram, putting Lyla between her and I. After ensuring her footing was correct, she looked at the two of us and asked, “Okay, everyone ready?” Lyla and I briefly caught eyes before we both nodded, so Twilight lit her horn and allowed motes of magic to begin dancing off of it, sprinkling around the room like snow flurries. “Okay. Spike, all you need to do is focus on Lyla and what you feel for her. That’s all. I’ll do the hard part.”
Lyla’s specific positioning required her to be facing away from me, but she still threw a look over her shoulder, filled with so much love and trust that I felt a sympathetic warmth bubbling up within me. I held onto that feeling, and thought about everything I felt for Lyla.
Around Lyla, one by one, each of the spell reagents caught fire with white flames, which nearly instantly turned them to ash, even as a strange, shimmering, polychromatic smoke began rising from the ashes, surrounding the changeling in the middle of us. A translucent, mulberry barrier shimmered into existence to cover the area of Lyla’s spell diagram, which kept the smoke from escaping. Suddenly, my circle lit up as well, and we watched a glittery pink mist emanate from me, which I could only imagine was a visual representation of the emotion “love”. The mist passed through the barrier, and began mixing with the smoke.
The smoke began to swirl in the dome of magic, gathering around Lyla, who stood still inside, but I didn’t have to be an emotivore to know she was nervous. Still, she remained still as the smoke seemed to become more opaque, and began to get closer and closer to her. Then, starting at her hooves, it began to solidify into what I first thought was a cloak of some kind. It was only after it reached her knees, and covered her legs, that I realized what it was forming: a pupa. During their transformations, for a few seconds, changelings entered a pupa-like state, so I could only imagine things were going to plan. Faster and faster, the pupa formed around the changeling, until only her head could be seen. She glanced back at me one more time before the pupa covered her face, leaving only the surface of the pupa itself.
We all watched as the pupa floated a few inches off the ground, and Twilight canceled her spell, which dropped the barrier, leaving the insectoid chrysalis exposed to the rest of the room. And from there…nothing happened. The pupa floated in front of us, but didn’t seem to be doing anything. I had the urge to reach out and touch it, but abstained just in case me doing so would interrupt whatever was going on inside.
“Umm…so what now?” Applejack asked, voicing my thoughts as well.
Thorax slowly approached the pupa, looking it over while rubbing his chin. “Honestly…I’m not sure. It doesn’t usually take this long. I became what we’ve taken to calling a ‘royal changeling’ when I transformed, but for one that’s already a royal…it could be very different. Everything went as planned until now, but like I said, because she’s not like a drone to start with, I don’t know if this is right or wrong.”
As the pupa remained silent, I started to get more than a little worried. “Well…I mean, is she all right? Do we even know if she’s alive?”
Thorax carefully stepped over the outer ring, being careful not to disturb the chalk, and reached out to touch the pupa. A static-like energy arced out from the surface, but he reached through anyway and placed his palm on the pupa, closing his eyes and waiting. After a few anxious moments, he sighed heavily and nodded to me. “Definitely alive, and her magic is strong. I just don’t-”
A crack in the pupa silenced him, and he buzzed his wings to move away from the area as light spilled forth from the crack. The crack grew, and with it, the light increased, until with a burst light and a rush of silvery wind, the pupa exploded.
The force blew all of us back against the walls, and most of us fell over because of it. I scrambled to my feet and rubbed my eyes to try and clear my vision, squinting to try and see through the glare. Through the tinkling noise that reminded me of metal windchimes, another sound could be heard: the sound of a low, rumbling buzzing noise, like that of a very large insect. I could just barely see a glowing figure, which became more distinct as the light began to die down.
The first thing I could make out were four long, large, diaphanous wings, similar to that of a dragonfly, which were obviously the cause of the buzzing noise due to the fact they were fluttering wildly to keep the figure aloft. Next, from the top, I was able to make out large, regal antlers, like those of Thorax himself. As the hooves became visible, I saw a warm orange color, which slowly faded to brilliant white as it rose past her knees. An orange tail of normal hair could be seen hanging behind her, and finally, when the light fully receded, I was able to see Lyla in her new body.
Her hands and hooves transitioned in color from orange to white, leaving her torso completely white. Her mane and tail had changed to a lighter orange to offset her new coloration, and her antlers were darker, nearly red, along with a white, curved changeling horn on her forehead. Her wings were see-through, like all changelings, but sparkled with many colors when light caught them. The protective shell on her back was a very pale pink color, as if someone had taken the color white and just thought about the color red near it.
Slowly, Lyla lowered herself to her hooves, and finally, she opened her eyes to reveal a new orange iris to match her new body colors. I couldn’t help myself and practically lunged forward, wrapping my arms around Lyla and holding her close, since I had truly been afraid something had gone wrong.
Lyla’s hands reached up and hooked around my neck, and she nuzzled my chest as she gently assured, “I’m okay, Spike. Promise.” We held each other for a private moment until her head pulled away from me and she pursed her lips. “Hmm…so this is what it’s like to not be hungry. I have to say, I could get used to this.”
Smiling broadly, I pulled her against me again, and just held her as the others approached to join the embrace, even Ember. As a group, we all held the newly-transformed changeling queen, happy that she was alive and well. The fact I now knew she wasn’t going to constantly suffer the pangs of hunger was a nice bonus.
We eventually pulled away, and immediately, a coat was draped over Lyla’s shoulders by Rarity, who had pulled it from…somewhere. At my questioning look, Rarity gestured to the changeling, and I noticed that with the transformation, her clothes had been destroyed, leaving mere ribbons and a few stray threads here and there. Upon me gesturing with my own eyes to her body, Lyla blushed (which showed up wonderfully on her white cheeks).
“Well, buck. I liked those clothes,” she grumbled, kicking idly at the torn clothing at her hooves.
Smiling and nuzzling her mane with my nose, I answered, “Well, I guess it’s a good thing you’re in a herd with a master seamstress.”
“Darling, if I may?” Rarity asked, holding up a measuring tape when the two of us looked her way. After Lyla gave her a nod, the seamstress wasted no time in taking some quick measurements of every point of her body, since it was unknown if her proportions had changed at all. After a minute or so of this, during which time I just gazed lovingly into Lyla’s eyes, Rarity rose up once again and huffed to herself. “Well, unfortunately, your body has changed a bit, and since you tend to wear tailored, fitted clothing, almost none of it will fit any longer. Even your underclothes will need to be remade.”
Lyla glanced down at her body (I did the same, don’t judge me) and frowned as she said, “Well…that’s no good. How much have I changed?”
Rarity frowned briefly. “You’ve gotten two inches taller, your bust has increased by another inch-”
“Wait, wha-”
“Your rump, as well, has increased by two inches, and in general, you’ve just grown. Some areas more than others,” Rarity coughed at that, and blushed, “but nothing terribly concerning besides the fact that I must make you an entirely new wardrobe unless you wish to walk around in the nude, and probably be arrested for public indecency.”
“Lyla, you got thiccc with three c’s,” Rainbow Dash joked, winking at her when the changeling turned her attention to the pegasus.
Lyla frowned a bit. “Did you just call me fat? Am I fat now? I’ll have you know I work very hard to-”
I laughed aloud at that, interrupting her coming tirade, and corrected her. “L-Lyla, no, it’s a slang term, spelled with only two -- or, in this case, three -- c’s, instead of a ‘c’ and ‘k’. The adolescents nowadays use it to refer to someone, usually a female, with impressive assets and…let’s call them prominent curves.” She just stared at me, and raised an- oh, she has eyebrows now, too. “What? I didn’t create the slang, I just know what it means. But, I have to agree with Dash on this one: you’re my thicc changeling honey, now.”
Lyla snorted and smiled, thumping me on the chest. “You’re a foal.”
“Maybe, but you love me like this,” I teased, smiling back at her.
Lyla rolled her eyes before sighing, looking down at herself again. “Well…I’ll say thank you in advance Rarity, but what am I supposed to do for now? I can’t exactly walk around naked for the next few days.”
“I have some clothes you can wear for the time being,” Twilight offered, stepping up and taking Lyla’s hand and beginning to lead her away. “The shirts might be a little snug, but they’ll fit, and you’re just about the same height as me now. Come on and let's get you dressed.”
As Twilight left the room with Lyla, we took that as our cue to leave as well, which we did moments later after cleaning up the rags left behind after Lyla’s transformation. After locking the door behind us, I led the group back to the commons room, where we chatted and snacked on the treats available, waiting for Twilight and Lyla to return.
“Well, all things considered, that wasn’t too bad,” Thorax mused aloud. “I was a little afraid she would grow as much as I did, possibly doubling in size. Could you imagine?”
I snorted a laugh at that, leaning into Ember as she wrapped an arm around me. “I’d probably be calling her ‘mommy’ then. She’d be an Amarezonian at that point.”
“Is that a thing you like?” Ember asked, seeming a bit more interested than I’d expect.
I looked over my shoulder to the dragoness, and shrugged. “I certainly wouldn’t say no, but it’s not one of my secret desires, if that’s what you’re asking. I mean, imagine if you were a giant compared to me.”
Ember cocked her head to the side, one of her chains falling over her right eye. “Well, it’s not like I can’t be, I just…” she blushed a bit, “it’s kinda nice being what Twilight calls ‘the little spoon’. It’s comforting to be fully enclosed in your grasp when you hold me, like nothing outside could ever get in, and I can feel completely at peace, protected from anything that might hurt me. But, if I wanted to…” Ember then proceeded to rapidly increase in size, until she towered over me by a good five feet. Where just moments ago, I could comfortably lean back and rest on her shoulder, I was now laying essentially on her lap, and she was looking down at me from what seemed like miles away. She then smiled wide, her draconic maw full of razor sharp teeth, and purred, “Hello, my little drake. Call me ‘mommy’.”
I consider myself to have a more dominant personality than submissive, but when she did that, something inside me squirmed delightfully. We were definitely going to explore that at some point later on.
Before I could ruminate on that, Ember shrank back down to her preferred size, and her face was now much closer to mine again. She shrugged one shoulder and explained, “But, besides that, a smaller form is easier to maintain. Takes less food and magic to keep you fed, and you need less sleep. That’s why big dragons spend so much time napping.”
I pulled away from her lap and sat up, trying not to let my mind wander to how much I now wanted to drag Ember out of the room and do unspeakable things to her. After gathering my thoughts, I glanced around the room, where most of the rest of the group was just talking amongst themselves…save for Applejack. The farm mare was smirking at me, and by that look alone, I knew she was going to embarrass me.
“Ah thought Ah was yer Amarezonian, Spike,” she teased, smiling wider when I blushed. “Might be yer gonna have t’ make it up t’me, cuz Ah’m feelin’ a might bit replaced.”
As my blush increased, I crossed my arms and pouted like a foal. “Yeah yeah, let’s pick on Spike because he talks without thinking sometimes.” But then, something occurred to me, and I sat up a little straighter as I narrowed my eyes at Applejack. “Wait, I never called you that directly. Where did you hear that?”
Applejack chuckled and said, “Where do ya think? Who else could’a heard ya say that?”
I just stared at her for a moment. “No one but- oh, Twilight is gonna pay for that!”
Due to my fuming, Applejack broke out into giggles. “Y’all- heh, y’all really are meant t’be t’gether, Spike. Ah r’member mah ma ‘n pa pokin’ each other tha same kind’a way.”
Despite my desire for retribution, I couldn’t help the smile that came to my face at her words. Being compared to the love of her own parents was high praise indeed, and I accepted said praise graciously. “I appreciate that, Applejack. Truly.”
Through the archway I was facing, Twilight entered, followed by my changeling. She was dressed in a pair of track pants (when did Twilight even buy those?) and a basic tee shirt, though, true to Twilight’s warning, things were a bit snug around her torso. Since the shirt was nearly skin-tight, and wasn’t meant to be, her chest pressed it out over her stomach, so there was a void of space between her lower torso and the fabric. Part of the reason Lyla wore fitted clothing was because she didn’t like clothes hanging off of her, so I knew she was a little uncomfortable at that moment.
Nonetheless, she still looked beautiful, and I greeted her by standing and crossing the room to lay a forceful kiss on her lips. While momentarily surprised, she melted into me, and I held her close as I enjoyed her warmth and scent, the latter of which hadn’t changed. After pulling away, she just smiled and allowed me to lead her to the sitting area with the rest.
Taking command of the room, Twilight announced, “Okay, all the important stuff is out of the way. Save for dinner, there’s nothing particularly big planned for the rest of the day. Does anyone have anything they want to do for today, or should we just play it by ear?”
“I vote we relax and enjoy the day for what it is: a holiday to spend with those most important to us,” Fluttershy suggested.
Twilight nodded to the pegasus. “I like that, and it sounds like a good idea. Any opposed?”
No one said anything to disagree, but Rainbow Dash still teased, “Twilight Sparkle being fine with not having a plan? It’s a Hearth’s Warming miracle!”
The room erupted into laughter, and even Twilight smiled good naturedly at her friend as she answered, “Well, once in a while, a change from the norm is okay. I think a day when we can all be together, a holiday created with the intent of ponies bathing in the warmth of love and friendship, can be one of those days.” She then pointed at Rainbow Dash, warning, “But I’ll be back to my uptight, scheduling ways tomorrow! Nothing can stop the Princess of Checklists!”
Popcorn and a few food wrappers were thrown at the alicorn as she giggled, and we all had a good laugh, just enjoying being friends.
As I stood on the balcony overlooking the town, with Cadence next to me, I reminisced on the collective past that brought us to this moment. There had been a great deal of hardship and strife, some really close calls, and many character-defining moments that brought us to the present. All of it, the good and the bad, had created this very moment in time, with us as we were. With that being the case, I couldn’t even feel particularly angry about the bad things that had happened. Though they were hard to deal with at the moment they were happening, those same instances had allowed all of us to grow as individuals, and right now, things were pretty good because of that.
“None of us have all the answers, Spike. Not even Celestia or Luna,” Cadence gently reminded me, adding to her previous assertion. “We’ll always be here to support you however we can, but in the end, there are some questions we simply don’t know the answers to. I don’t think anyone does.”
Sighing heavily and slumping against the railing to lean on my forearms, I lamented, “Yeah, I kinda figured. It’s just…it kinda hit me again when I was talking to Dash about it earlier, and it feels like I’m caught in a whirlpool that won’t let me go. It’s like, no matter how good things might be or how happy I feel at that moment, there’s always a dark cloud hanging overhead. I just want to be happy without these intrusive, negative thoughts always messing with me.”
Cadence extended her wing over my back as she shifted over to lean against me, and gave me a hug with said wing. “You learned a long time ago that your greatest fear is being abandoned. I don’t think any of your loved ones would ever throw you away, but that doesn’t mean they’ll always have a choice. Some things are beyond our control, and every creature, no matter how long they live, has to come to terms with that. I tell you that to remind you of the terrible things certain creatures have done in the past, trying to control the uncontrollable. If we allow fear to rule our lives, it can drive us to commit unforgivable acts.” She reached over and rubbed my arm with her palm. “You’re better and stronger than that, Spike. If ever you need to talk about any of your fears, we will all listen and counsel however we can, but this is a problem that can’t be solved. All we can do is accept the reality of mortality and learn how to cope.”
I nodded weakly. “I know, but it’s so hard to just live in the moment sometimes. I know the healthiest thing I can do is enjoy life for what it is, right now, rather than constantly fear the future, but the thoughts always come back.”
“You sometimes find yourself thinking five, ten, or sometimes even a hundred steps ahead,” Cadence finished for me, this time also extending her arm over my back to hold me tighter. She giggled softly. “You get that from growing up with Twilight; she does the same thing. I actually think the two of you could benefit greatly from speaking to each other about this more often. Support one another through your shared fears.”
I enjoyed the warmth of her embrace, and her words for a few moments before I spoke again. “Do you ever feel the same worries about Shining Armor?”
Cadence stilled for a moment before going back to stroking my arm. “Actively? No. I made my peace with the eventuality of death a very long time ago. At this point, it’s simply a fact of life, nothing more. That’s why I make sure to love him without reservation every single day. That way, when his time comes, I’ll not find myself regretting not giving him the love and support he deserves for being such a good husband, and giving me such a wonderful daughter.”
I licked my lips, furrowing my brow. “So…I should probably be doing the same thing, then.”
“It’s certainly a good start,” Cadence began, rubbing between my wings as she held me, “but I fear that won’t be enough. I’m afraid that for you and Twilight, this fear is always going to stay with you. Both of you are natural worriers, trying to account for every variable and every eventuality. But, to reiterate, this is not a battle anyone can win. I think the best thing for the two of you to do is to just talk to those you care about regarding your fears and concerns whenever they pop up, and those loved ones will reassure you and help bring you back to happiness.”
Smiling a bit, I leaned my head against hers and let out a long breath. “Thanks Cady. I’m glad you’re here today.” Again we stood there in silence for a few moments, but the quiet was eventually broken again.
“So, were you joking when you told Rainbow you were going to ‘collect the set’?”
Rolling my eyes with a snort, I answered, “Of course I was. Dash and I joke like that all the time.”
“Would it really be so unbelievable, though?” she pressed, finally releasing me from her grasp.
I shrugged as a blush crawled up from my core. “I mean, yeah. Dash was right: she can do better than me, and as for Pinkie Pie, I’m pretty sure her and Cheese are in a long distance relationship. Either way, both of them are beyond my reach, even if I was angling toward them, which I’m not.”
“And what makes you think you wouldn’t be the best choice?”
I shrugged again. “Because I’m not a harem protagonist in one of those cringy Neighponese animes that Starlight likes to watch when she thinks no one’s looking.” At her questioning look, I explained, “Twilight fell in love with their bathrooms and food, Starlight got addicted to their entertainment industry.”
Cadence blanched. “Wait, so does that mean she’s one of those ponies that’s all into the tentacles and-”
I barked a laugh at that and vigorously shook my head. “N-no, hehe. I mean, not as far as I know anyway, but she does have this weird fascination with cat-buses now. And by that, I mean a cat that’s a bus, not a bus full of cats.”
“But how-”
“I don’t know,” I answered, grinning, “but it’s a harmless pastime, so we let her be. Everyone has their hobbies, and hers isn’t hurting anyone.”
Cadence nodded before looking back to the town below. She then gasped and elbowed me in the side. “Hey, you’re not going to distract me! Now, why do you think you wouldn’t be the best choice for Rainbow or Pinkie?”
“Why do you think I am?”
She raised her eyebrow at me. “I never said anything about what I think, I’m asking what you think. I’m not asserting you would be the right choice for them, but I want to know why you think you couldn’t be.”
“Well,” I began, trying to organize my thoughts, “I already have six mares to keep up with, for one. I haven’t heard any complaints yet, but I’m also not some deity that has supernatural stamina and can be everywhere at once.”
“Relationships aren’t just about physical affection, Spike,” Cadence gently admonished.
“No, but it is an important part of a healthy relationship. Tell me I’m wrong,” I challenged.
Cadence just stared back at me for a minute before looking away and grumbling, “Fine…you’re right, it is. However, that’s not the whole story. Tell me your reasons regarding Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie specifically.”
I thought about it for a moment, trying to come up with something more than what I had said before. But, in the end, that was kinda it. “I mean, I already said why. Dash needs someone that wants to live life the way she does, free and fast, but while I do like to fly, that’s just not who I am. As for Pinkie, like I said, I’m pretty sure she’s in a long distance relationship with Cheese Sandwich, because everytime a letter arrives from him, she spends the whole day reading it alone in her room.”
The alicorn next to me reached over and grabbed my hand in hers, cradling it gently as she continued to look to the snow-laden wonderland that was Ponyville. “I’m not trying to push you toward anything, I’m just trying to get you to understand your true feelings instead of whatever rationalizations you would normally make. You’ve given me an answer about Rainbow, but for Pinkie, your only rationalization seems to be that you believe she’s already with somepony. I’m not asking you to try and draw her away from Cheese Sandwich if it is true, I just want you to say why you believe you wouldn’t be a better choice.”
Unfortunately, she was right: I was using the “inaccessibility” excuse to avoid actually articulating what I thought. So, I had to stop and really think about it to come up with an answer. Pinkie had never been particularly restrained when it came to physical affection with anyone she considered a friend, so I knew she was comfortable with me. Pinkie had even kissed me once, on the lips, years ago under the mistletoe during one fateful Hearth’s Warming. She was very open with what she thought and felt, and never made me feel as if I wasn’t loved or valued by her. I wasn’t exactly a party animal like she was, but over the years, Pinkie had come to understand and accept that parties weren’t a catch-all solution for every problem.
In the end… “I don’t really know. I don’t have an answer for that. I can’t say I’d be a better choice, but I guess if I’m being honest, Pinkie might be happy with me. That’s neither here nor there though, because I’m already greedy enough to have six girls to myself, while most herds would have another stallion or two already. I don’t need anymore -- hay, I don’t need more than one.”
“And what did Ember tell you about trying to rationalize your instincts?” Cadence pointed out, knowing the answer, but wanting to remind me.
Sighing heavily and hanging my head, I droned, “That it doesn’t work and just causes more problems down the line.”
“If you were a stallion I might be a bit worried, but you’re not a pony, Spike,” Cadence soothed, giving my hand a squeeze. “My suggestion would be to talk to a dragon about that worry, and follow your heart. Now, if only there was a dragon around here you could ask…”
Rolling my eyes, I conceded. “All right, I’ll talk to Ember about it at some point. Regardless, Pinkie isn’t even here, and hasn’t shown interest, so I’m in no hurry.”
Silence once more settled around us, more comfortable this time, and I enjoyed the simple pleasure of being in the presence of a beloved family member. Cadence had always been there for me, from the time I was just a hatchling, so I knew I could count on her no matter what. Since my life had recently become more complicated when it came to love, it was also a good thing to have an expert on the subject always willing to lend an ear or speak helpful words when I needed to hear them.
“So why did you head out here in the first place? Did something happen?” Cadence finally asked, voicing the initial question she probably had when she first found me on the balcony.
I shrugged. “No reason, really. The girls were all doing their own thing, so I decided to just get some fresh air and enjoy the scenery. I wasn’t brooding or anything, if that’s what you’re implying.” I took a long, deep breath of the chilly air, and blew it out of my nostrils as I smiled at the snowy town. “Sometimes it’s nice to just enjoy the beauty of the world.”
Cadence released my hand and stood up, stretching her arms and wings high above before relaxing and jerking her head to the glass door. “Well, let’s head back inside. It’s going to start getting dark soon, and I think I’d like some of that new drink Twilight told us about.”
I perked up at that. “Oh yeah, that…something ‘nog,’ right? Whatever the hay ‘nog’ is.”
Nodding, Cadence opened the door for us. “And it has brandy in it. You can’t go wrong with a good brandy.”
I shrugged though she couldn’t see me. “I’m not much of a drinker, so I can’t really say I have a favorite alcohol. I’ll try it, though. Could be nice.”
I followed Cadence inside, shutting the door behind us as she led the way through the winding corridors back to the commons room, where I could already hear Flurry Heart’s happy laughter, along with the dainty giggles of Fluttershy. Upon rounding the last bend, we saw that everyone was still gathered around the fire, and Fluttershy was holding Flurry on her lap as they all seemed to be looking through a large photo album. As I got closer, I could see it was in fact one of the photo albums that chronicled some of our many adventures over the years. Judging by the fact they were smiling and laughing, I imagined it was probably a picture that showed one of the more silly adventures we had, which made me smile as well. I had a lot of good memories of our time together, and if they could bring someone else joy like that, well…that was just fine by me.
“Uncle Spike, did you really get all itchy and turn to stone?”
Okay, maybe I’ll wake Twilight up with a foghorn on a random day.
I sighed in exasperation, but nodded to my niece. “Yeah, I did. It’s part of dragon adolescence, and even though it sucked while it was happening, I got a nice pair of wings out of the experience.”
“Most dragons aren’t born with wings,” Ember explained from in front of the hearth. “But even for those that are, we still go through what we call the ‘stonescale’ phase. I imagine ponies have their own adolescence issues to deal with.”
Flurry Heart frowned at that. “Well I never went through anything like that. Just the normal stuff, I guess. I was born like this though, so I haven't known anything different.” She stretched her wings out wide, completely covering the entire length of the sofa she was on, and nearly hitting both walls.
Ember’s eyes widened at that. “You’ve got some giant wings, Flurry. Have they always been that big?”
Flurry Heart folded her wings again, looking a little more self-conscious now. “Um…y-yeah. Mom told me I’ve had huge wings ever since I was born, and they only got bigger as I grew. Everypony keeps telling me I’ll ‘grow into them,’ but they keep growing too.”
Lyla, who snuggled up next to me as I sat down, decided to speak up. “Never be ashamed of what makes you unique. What you see as an abnormality, I see as something that gives you an advantage that others don’t have. Amongst changelings, we’ve adapted to make use of every little difference in our species. A changeling born with greater muscle mass and large claws makes a good digger. One with a greater affinity for transformation can become an infiltrator, which is what a pony would refer to as a ‘spy.’ One born with thicker chitin makes a good soldier.” Lyla smiled at Flurry Heart when the filly stared at her in wonder. “Don’t ever be ashamed of your differences. They’re what make you special, and you should treasure them. Fitting in is great, but without a spectrum of different types of people, society as a whole will stagnate and stop progressing. Just like every other ‘different’ person, you’re unique, and that’s okay.”
Flurry Heart’s mood had progressively improved as Lyla spoke, until she was practically vibrating on Fluttershy’s lap. Then, fast enough I could mistake it for a teleport, she zipped over to us and wrapped Lyla up in a tight hug as she whispered a heartfelt “thank you”. As Flurry Heart moved back to sit on Fluttershy’s lap, I leaned over to Lyla and whispered, “You’re really good with kids. Sure you don’t want to start a family?”
She glanced my way and raised an eyebrow. “You were the one that was all squirmy about it. Do you?”
Pushed back on my heels, I scrambled for a moment before answering. “W-well…maybe. I mean, why not?”
Lyla just stared at me for a long time. “...are you being serious, or are you trying to mess with me?”
Fidgeting a bit, I answered, “Well, I wasn’t at first, but truth be told, the more I’ve talked about it the past month or so, the more attractive the idea has become. I never really thought about having kids before, because I didn’t think it was possible. Now, since I have a dragoness I could have a family with, and after learning I can in fact sire offspring with the rest of you…well, I’ve been thinking about it a lot.”
Then I made the mistake of looking away from Lyla, and noticed every single eye in the room was on me.
I practically shrank into my own body, suddenly very embarrassed by the attention, and I wished I knew how to teleport. True, I could probably figure out a spell to do it, but I couldn’t think straight at the moment.
“Is that true, Spike?” Rarity asked, standing to make her way over to me from the chaise she had been lounging upon. She gently took a seat next to Twilight on my other side, and kept her eyes on me as she waited patiently for me to answer.
“Yeah…” I answered, seeing no reason to waffle about trying to think of another way to say it. Better to just be direct, right? “I mean, everyone always talks about ‘being ready’ and all that, but is any new parent ever really ready?”
Shining Armor raised his hand and said, “Can confirm. Cadence and I had no idea what we were in for, and let me just say that all the how-to books and parental help in the world wouldn’t have adequately prepared us for having a baby. And I don’t even mean the ‘alicorn foal’ stuff: just the regular parent stuff had us panicking sometimes.”
“I got so used to her crying at night that when she started sleeping through the night, I thought something was wrong,” Cadence added, smiling wryly as she looked at her grinning daughter. “And then I spent the next two weeks checking up on her every hour or two to make sure she was still breathing and all that.”
“And then Cadence had a mental break when she couldn’t get Flurry to eat green beans,” Shining Armor said with a chuckle, briefly interrupted by a shriek of “I did NOT!” He continued laughing for a moment before kissing his sulking wife beside him. “C’mon, it was pretty funny, you have to admit.”
Cadence just pouted and grumped, “Was not.” After sighing and rolling her eyes, she looked at me again. “...but he’s right. Little things like that will make you panic -- not because they actually are a huge deal, but because it’s your baby. You want the best for them, no matter what, so if things don’t go quite how you were expecting, you get really anxious. It’s part of being a parent.”
“But,” Shining Armor began, just as his daughter decided to hop onto his lap, “there is no greater joy than that which your child brings you. Everything I might have done in school or in the guard pales in comparison.” He kissed Flurry Heart on the cheek, causing her to giggle. “Flurry is, without a doubt, my greatest accomplishment.” Cadence snorted from his side, so he immediately amended, “I-I mean our. She’s our greatest accomplishment.”
The warmth and candidness of their responses made me a little more confident in my own thoughts, and I no longer felt so embarrassed by the notion of suggesting I start a family.
“Well, I’m already planning to have a whelp with Spike within the next year,” Ember reminded, turning so her back was facing the crackling hearth. “Judging by what I’ve seen of the ponies around here, and by what the other hoard members have told me, I think growing up with brothers and sisters the same age could be good for our future whelp.”
“Ah gotta agree with Ember there, Spike,” Applejack weighed in. “As y’all know, us Apples got big fam’lies, ‘n tha youngins usually grow up with six ‘r seven siblings ‘n cousins all close t’ their age. Ain’t many Apples Ah know that grew up as only foals.” She shook her head slightly, the few loose strands of her mane falling down to frame her face. “Teaches foals early on how t’ behave ‘round others, and get used to dealin’ with a heap‘a different types’a ponies. Helps ‘em grow their social skills ‘n all that.”
Ember smiled at her new herdmate. “Thanks. Anyway, how long is the gestation period for ponies?”
“From nine to twelve months, depending on the type of pony,” Twilight answered, her mind already likely working ten steps ahead of the rest of us. “Earth ponies usually end up taking the shorter amount of time, with pegasi taking the longest.”
Ember nodded before looking at Lyla. Lyla got the hint and offered, “For changelings, it depends on the specific caste, or type, of changeling that we create. The average drone takes six weeks, soldiers can take two to four months, and queens can take up to two years. The other types of changelings, like the broodmothers and gatherers, are drones that have been selectively mutated to create specialized changelings.”
Ember finally nodded before turning back to me, and though she spoke aloud, I knew she was talking directly to me. “It would take about a month for an egg to be laid, and then another five for the whelp to develop within the egg.”
An excited squeal interrupted our little discussion, and we all looked over to see Cadence shaking with barely restrained enthusiasm, her hands covering her mouth and her eyes wide. She lowered her fingers slightly to say, “I-I’m sorry, it just makes me so happy to see a loving herd talking about starting a family! Eeee!”
Shining Armor rolled his eyes, but a smile was on his lips as he joked, “Great, you guys triggered her ‘love-sense’. She’ll be on a high for the next week.” He then glanced at his daughter. “You might be getting a brother or sister soon, Flurry.”
“Yay!”
Night had finally arrived, and dinner had been made and eaten. It took some doing, but we were able to get all of the dishes to the table so that nothing got cold, and everyone in the castle got to enjoy a home-cooked meal by some of the best cooks the town had to offer. Following that, we enjoyed some of that ‘nog’ stuff (it was surprisingly good), some wine in Rarity’s case, and the remainder of the treats that Sugarcube Corner had prepared for us. All in all, it was a great way to wrap up the night, which left us to enjoy what remained of the holiday in peace.
Rainbow Dash was happily playing with her gifts (one of which was an anatomically accurate action figure of her, of all things) as the rest of the castle’s occupants talked, watched a movie on the projector, or, in my case, danced with a very special mare.
Applejack’s eyes never left mine as we slowly danced near the balcony window, which showed the snowfall had begun once again. Her head laid on my shoulder as I hummed a soft song in her ear, and we just held each other as we slowly flowed from step to step, content to use the dance as more of an excuse for closeness than any complex dancing in itself. Applejack sighed in a dreamy, elated way that made it clear she was as happy as could be at that moment, and I felt the same. I continued humming a wordless tune, just letting my heart sing to her as I held her body close to mine, wishing I never had to let her go.
“Spike,” Applejack murmured, near a whisper as she looked up at me. Her vivid green eyes sparkled in the dim lighting, and her smile was positively radiant. “Did ya mean what ya said, ‘bout thinkin’ ‘bout startin’ a fam’ly?”
I nodded. “Yeah. I’m still kinda nervous about it, but obviously Ember’s on board, and the rest of you at least seem interested. The only one I didn’t hear anything from is Fluttershy, but I have a feeling once she gets to hold Ember’s whelp, she’ll catch foal-fever. She’s always had a very maternal personality, and I think she’d be a wonderful mother.” I then gently booped Applejack with my own nose, smiling at her. “I think you would, too. You helped raise your little sister, and you’d give your foal a wonderful upbringing with good values and morals.”
Applejack blushed heavily, but her smile widened as she affectionately nuzzled my cheek before pulling away. “Ah thank ya f’r that, Spike. Ah’ve always wanted a foal’a mah own ever since Ah saw tha Cake twins when they were foals.”
Giving a decidedly lascivious grin, I suggested, “Well, you’re in my herd. You can have one whenever you want, now.”
Applejack gasped before thumping me on the chest. “Spike! Y’all can’t jus’...”
I raised a brow and waited for her to continue, but when she didn’t, I countered, “I can, and I will. We used to make sex jokes and stuff like that all the time, back in the day. Now, the only difference is you know I might mean it.”
“And ya didn’t b’fore?” she challenged, even though nearly her whole face was discolored due to blushing.
I shrugged. “Not for the most part, no. You gotta remember: back when we first started all that banter, I was still a virgin, and the only experience I had with sex was from dirty magazines. Frankly, if you ever took me up on my ‘offers,’ I’d have frozen up and not known what to do. I probably would have gone and hidden in the library until you forgot about what I said. Or forgot I ever existed. Whichever came first.” Applejack’s chuckling answered me, and I nodded. “Yeah, I was a bit ol’ fraidy-drake. You can’t really blame me, though. It’s not exactly a secret that you’re gorgeous.”
Applejack’s laughter trailed off and she rolled her eyes. “Yeah, yeah, ain’t like Ah never heard that from every other stallion ‘n mare. Ah been told Ah was a looker ever since Ah was a younger mare. After a while, it didn’t mean a whole lot. Thunderlane was tha first one t’ show how important Ah was t’ him, so we went steady.”
“Understandable,” I replied, and I tried not to think about the fact I had been mildly (maybe more than mildly) jealous of the stallion in question. “He certainly wasn’t a bad guy, and you clearly cared about him. You were together for a decent amount of time.”
Applejack nodded, laying the side of her face against my chest as we continued swaying slowly. “Yeah, but like Ah said, we wanted diff’rent things outta life. But,” she shrugged, “Ah can’ find it in mahself t’ be too broken up over it. After all…iffin we never broke up, Ah’d never have considered bein’ in yer herd.”
“Maybe you still would’ve been happy with him, if he hadn’t wanted to travel,” I pointed out, though the words tasted a bit sour in my mouth. “Maybe you would have already had a filly or two of your own. You and I would just be good friends, and maybe I’d be Uncle Spike to your foals.” Briefly pushing my nose against her mane, I whispered, “By the way, you do know your foals won’t be regular ponies with me, right? They’ll probably be kirin, like Autumn Blaze.”
“Ah know,” Applejack said, still resting against my chest. “Ah guess it’s a good thing we got a good friend that’s a kirin, ain’t it?” She nuzzled me a bit, running her hands over my shoulders and upper back. “So long as it’s mah foal, Ah’ll love it. Don’t matter what it looks like.”
I smiled and nosed her mane again, taking a deep whiff of her scent, and sighing happily. We just swayed side to side silently, and enjoyed a few minutes of closeness as we let the world around us cease to exist. And I am not exaggerating when I say we could have stayed like that for the rest of the night and I would have been completely fine with it.
A tinkling from above caused both of us to look up, only to notice a small sprig of mistletoe suspended above our heads in a purple cloud of sparkly magic. I glanced toward the center of the room, where out of the corner of my eye, I saw Twilight with a massive smile on her face, her horn lit. The rest of my herd, Rainbow Dash, and even the Young Six were watching us with barely-restrained anticipation. Turning my eyes back to Applejack, who was blushing, and giving a mental shrug, I slowly moved forward, closed my eyes, and pressed my lips to the farm mare’s.
An initial jolt ran through her body, but within a second, she was reciprocating the kiss, holding me tighter as she hummed happily against my lips. Other than a playful swipe of her tongue against my lips, we kept things chaste, and separated after a baker’s dozen of seconds. Applejack’s shy, blushing smile just made me want to kiss her again…and so I did. This time, she was ready for me, and pressed back immediately with gusto. I allowed my hands to run over her body, being courteous of the fact we weren’t in private, but ensured she enjoyed our second kiss as much as possible.
When we pulled away a second time, her breathing was noticeably heavier, and she was fanning her face to try and soothe the flush that had overtaken her. “Landsakes, Spike. Yer gonna put me in the hospital iffin ya keep that up.”
“I promise to visit every day,” I teased, grinning at her.
Everyone has that one thing they like doing the most when enjoying the company of one they love. Some like to cuddle, some enjoy more lewd things, and some enjoy just spending time on a chair, snuggled up close to their loved one(s), reading a book (that’s Twilight, obviously). As for Applejack, it seemed she greatly enjoyed kissing, and I took a mental note to ensure I exploited that whenever I could. After all: if she was going to trust me enough to let me into her heart, I was going to prove I was worth that trust.
We were interrupted by wolf whistles and catcalls from everyone present (even Yona, which surprised me), causing Applejack and I to blush like teenagers.
“Good, now tongue-punch her fart-box!”
I literally almost choked on air at that comment, and I glared at the giggling pegasus. “D-Dash, what the BUCK! Too far, Dash. Way too far.”
“Okay, that’s it, you’re done for the night,” Twilight announced as she practically ripped the glass of alcoholic eggnog away from the pegasus. Before Rainbow Dash could protest, Twilight preempted her. “No, Rainbow. That was too much. Go to sleep, you’re drunk.”
But, unfortunately, a drunk pony is a belligerent pony, and Rainbow Dash wasn’t known for backing down even when sober. The pegasus stumbled to her hooves and glared at the alicorn, who was standing defiantly in front of her, and argued, “Buck that, Twilight. You need to chill out; I was just playing around. Maybe you need some more liquid courage to relax a little bit.”
Twilight just glared back, her wings fanning out a bit as she stood firm. “I’m plenty relaxed. After all: I was enjoying a beautiful holiday with my friends and herd, so I was just about as relaxed as I can be. Then you had to go and say something that was completely inappropriate, in front of young ponies, no less.” She shot a look over to the Young Six, who were all looking progressively more uncomfortable as time went on. Upon turning her eyes back to the bristling pegasus, Twilight sighed and rubbed her forehead. “Rainbow, if you aren’t going to apologize, then just go sleep it off. We’ll talk about it in the morning, when your head is clear. I’m not mad at you, but neither am I just going to allow you to say things like that to my herd, especially a new member that just had her first kiss with our drake. Now, are you going to apologize?” At the pegasus’ defiant glare, Twilight pointed her left wing to the corridor that led to the guest rooms. “Then go to bed. We’ll talk in the morning.”
“I’m not gonna stand here and let you treat me like a foal, Twi,” Rainbow Dash growled.
Still, Twilight remained unmoved, which only further aggravated the angry pegasus. “Then stop acting like one. Last time I’m going to tell you: go to bed.” At the pegasus’ sneer and refusal to comply, Twilight shot a spark from her horn, faster than anyone could have reacted, which struck the forehead of Rainbow Dash. The pegasus jolted, trying to say something that only devolved into slurring, before she toppled over. Twilight caught her friend before she could hit the floor, and hefted her up in her arms as she left the room.
The rest of us only watched uneasily, many of us probably lamenting, as I was, on how such a wonderful day had ended like this.