//------------------------------// // Cold Warmth // Story: Third Millennium // by MellowSoul //------------------------------// Between their meeting with Rarity and Christmas, Spike and Twilight discovered a few new bands on their own: namely Dead Blue Sky, State Craft, Ever Last, As I Lay Dying, and Adamantium, with the last quickly becoming one of their favorites. Spike continued to train with Shining, making notable gains in strength and muscle mass. Rarity in particular quickly became enamored by his journey through the realm of self-improvement, complimenting his progress and encouraging him to continue forward. Christmas day, the family was pleasantly surprised by Shining and Cadence's early arrival. Over a mug of cocoa, Cadence made a shocking announcement. "I'm pregnant!" The princess blurted out. "I'm gonna be an uncle!?" Spike asked. "Yep." "Holy crap! That's awesome!" "Congratulations," Velvet said proudly, "I was starting to wonder when we'd have grandfoals running around." "Guess we're stuck with babysitter duty." Twilight teased. The conversation was cut short by an unexpected knock. "You guys expecting someone?" Shining asked. "I'll get it." Spike offered. He opened the door to a shocking sight. "MERRY CHRISTMAS!" five mare shouted in unison. "Rarity, Rainbow," Twilight called out, "You guys made it!" "Flash requested we drop off a gift set," Rarity revealed, "It's a good thing I practiced levitation so much as a filly. Goodness, this is heavy!" "Come on in! I want you to meet our folks." Spike offered to take the girls' coats. They accepted graciously. "So you're the mysterious Rarity we've heard so much about," Velvet chuckled, "Welcome to our home." "Merci, ma belle dame." "A fluent French-speaker, I see." "The benefits of private education, I suppose." "Make yourselves at home." "We'll do just that." Applejack, Rainbow, and Pinkie aided Rarity in placing the gifts by the tree. "Rarity, guess what," Spike said excitedly, "I'm gonna be an uncle!" Rarity turned her attention to Cadence and Shining. "Flash told me you were with child. Though I lack experience, I've been told it's quite beautiful to behold." "If you get past the morning sickness." Cadence joked. "We'll be making breakfast soon," Velvet informed the group, "Would you like to stay?" "I'm grateful, but I'm afraid we must decline. Our families are waiting for us as well, you see." "I understand. Thank you for stopping by with the gifts. Feel free to warm yourselves before you go." "That's very kind of you. Now I see where Spike's admiration stems from." "He's a sweetheart, isn't he?" Rarity gave the dragon a sideways glance. "You might say I could fall for one such as him." Spike's heart stopped, leaving him frozen still. Rarity smiled at the display of flattered embarrassment. As soon as she turned her back, Shining put his brother in a headlock. "(Dude, she's totally into you!)" "(Knock it off, buttmunch.)" Velvet watched on fondly. Night Light nuzzled her tenderly, licking her face to widen her grin. "Wanna embarrass the kids?" he inquired half-seriously. "Now, now. This is our first time meeting their friends. There'll be plenty of time for that later." "Excuse me," Fluttershy cut in, "You wouldn't happen to have any spare carrots, would you? I have a pet rabbit at home, and I'm afraid I've run short." "I think we can whip something up." Velvet assured. "Thank you." "Not at all." The girls waved goodbye as they departed for home. After breakfast, the family designated their gifts. Twilight and Spike received art supplies and a biography detailing the history of extreme metal. Shining and Cadence got two tickets to a theater performance in Neo-Canterlot city. In exchange, the group gave their parents a pair of diamond-encrusted bracelets to layer atop their wedding bands. It served as a symbolic gesture marking their evolution from young lovers to seasoned caregivers. "We'll treasure these for our remaining years." Velvet remarked, barely holding back tears. "Don't cry, mom," Twilight comforted, "You've still got a long road ahead." "It's not that. It's just that it's been such a privilege watching you grow up. I didn't think in a million years we would come as far as we have." "That's what makes life interesting. You never know what you're gonna get." "How did we create someone so wise beyond her years?" "Someone had to, right?" "Very true." "I love you guys." "We love you, too." Velvet and Night Light wrapped their daughter in a hug. Flash's gifts were the last ones opened. Spike's jaw dropped when he saw what was inside. "A brand new PC!?" "Yep," Twilight confirmed, "Flash and I started working on gathering parts after we bought the PS2. He taught me how to install everything and where to find upgrades." "So that's what you guys were working on! That's sick!" "Wanna know the best part?" "What?" "It's all yours." "No way! For real!?" "The PS2 was more for me since I'm not really a big PC gamer. With this bad boy, you can emulate games we wouldn't normally get from overseas, and with the security upgrades, it's virtually unhackable." "That's what I'm talking about!" "You guys really are nerds." Shining jested. "You condemned us to dirty diapers," Twilight countered, "I think we deserve it for all the effort we'll have to put into raising your kid." "Touché." The Alicorn turned back to her younger sibling. "You ready to set this baby up?" "Yeah!" "Hang on," Shining halted, "There's one more gift from Flash." The stallion threw the package to his sister. Her eyes instantly expanded into the multiverse. "What is it?" Spike asked. "A Mortification CD..." Twilight responded, half-distracted by the nostalgic present before her. "Mortification?" Twilight cleared her head, explaining the significance of the album. "I first got into metal when I found a copy of Pestilence's CD 'Testimony of the Ancients' in Shining's room. This was the second death metal album I ever heard. The lyrics were super spiritual and philosophical compared to most other bands at the time. This is what made me fall in love with metal and hardcore in general." "So that's how you got involved with it." "You mean you didn't know?" Shining questioned his brother. "Nope," Spike admitted, "It never came up." "You guys are gonna have a field day with this one." "At least one of your soldiers knows how to treat a lady." Cadence teased. "I am training him to be second-in-command. There's no room for impurity among the best of the best." "Aye, aye, captain!" Spike snickered at the Spongebob reference. Shining's displeased expressions were always a riot. Back in the room, Twilight temporarily moved the TV off the desk. "It's really important we do this on a hard surface. If the components get shocked by static, it'll fry the system." "Gotcha." "There should be a couple anti-static straps somewhere." "Got 'em." Spike tossed the straps to his sister. Inside the tower, she showed him how to connect motherboards, CPUs, fans, graphics cards, RAM sticks, Hard Disk drives, and Solid State drives. "Make sure you note down exactly where each piece goes and where the screws are. If you damage any of the parts, they'll be a pain to replace." "Got it." The dragon helped his sister prop up the tower in the corner. They connected the monitor, keyboard, and mouse along with the internet line. "We're using the most recent operating system." "Windows 2000, right?" "How'd you know?" "I read up a bit on my own while you were gone." "Impressive. Do you know how to configure it?" "No." "I gotcha covered. I'll show you how so you can upgrade when the next one comes out." "Cool." Twilight optimized the performance and security settings in the installation menu. "I wrote down the network password so you could log in without risking our data being stolen." "Can it turn into a transformer and blow up bad guys?" "I think we're still a few years away from that, buddy." Twilight finished installing the system. "Do you want a password for your user profile?" "Nah. I think mom might get suspicious if I lock you guys out." "Smart." Finally, the system booted up. "There we go! It's done." "Sweet!" "You can customize the background later if you want. For now, let's play some games." "Works for me." "I think after I finish school, I'll invest in some instruments and computer equipment." "You chose your degrees because of what you were passionate about, didn't you?" "Pretty much how it goes." "I can't wait. It's gonna be awesome." "Totally."