“Okay, I think he’ll like this one,” Honey commented as she looked at a blue and green Hearth’s Warming sweater patterned with swords and shields. “This definitely looks like his style. Don’tcha think, Lem?”
“For sure, Hon. I think he’ll like it a lot if it comes from you,” Lemon agreed.
But even so, Honey wasn’t quite satisfied with merely buying Tungsten a gift. The stallion was special to her and his efforts deserved to be recognized in a way greater than a simple store-bought gift on Hearth’s Warming.
“Hm…it’s not good enough,” Honey huffed as she lifted the sweater. “I mean, it’s a good start, but I wanna do more for him than just this, ya know?”
That’s when Lemon had an idea.
“Aha! I think we should go see Twinkleshine,” she suggested with an ecstatic bit of prancing in place. “When Hearth’s Warming rolls around, she makes the best ornaments! It’s a bit of a tradition that my friend group shares. You’re welcome to join us so she can show you how to make an ornament for Tungsten.”
Honey’s eyes shot open--her face lit up with an inspired smile. “Hey yeah…that’s not a bad idea. If I can make him something with my own two hooves, that’ll show him just how much I appreciate him. Thanks for the idea, Lem.”
“No problem! In fact, I think she’s free right now. Should we get going after Kemuri returns to give us her intel?”
“I think we should,” Honey replied with a nod, then looked around the store. “Speaking of which, where is she anyway?”
As if on cue, the changeling mare in question would reappear, trotting up to her friends while short of breath. “...Okay. Sorry I took so long. Whew.”
“Something wrong, Kem?” Honey tilted her head as she looked her friend over, “You look like you just ran a mile.”
“Don’t tell me talking to him made you nervous,” Lemon teased with a giggle.
Kemuri was quick to deny anything of the sort and tuck her own feelings away. “Oh no, not at all. We simply spoke for quite longer than I would’ve expected. Anyway, it seems as if he’s a very sweet stallion that holds his emotions close to his chest. He harbored quite a lot of sympathy for me and my kind, given how we’re judged…”
What she said was still true to life, as quite a few high-class Canterlot ponies turned their heads upwards at the mere sight of a changeling like Kemuri as they trotted in and out of the shop. Even if they weren’t declared dangerous anymore, there were still some low rumblings of anti-changeling sentiment roaming around.
Something that Lemon and Honey were able to see for themselves.
“Yyyikes…what a shame,” Honey lamented, “Wish we could make ‘em all see that you’re not lovesucking locusts anymore.”
Kemuri sighed and shook her head. “Don’t worry about it. It’s not like you can force them all to change how they think.” She put on a smile. “Besides, that wouldn’t be very nice. Anyway, back to the topic at hoof here--Tungsten seems like the type of stallion that values emotional availability. Oh, and he plays the trombone as well. Not sure how much that’ll help you, but it’s something!”
“Hmm…” Honey racked her brain for ideas and could see Lemon Hearts glaring at her with a snarky, half-lidded expression. “...what are you thinking about?”
“Oh nothing,” Lemon giggled to herself, “That’s very useful info, Kemuri. We’re gonna go see my friend Twinkleshine and make some ornaments. Wanna come with us?”
“That sounds lovely, but I’ve gotta get home and start working on dinner to host my family,” she declined, but wished them the best with a smile. “But I hope you two come up with something that’ll catch his attention.”
“Fair enough,” Honey replied, “Good luck with your cooking. Come on, Lemon. I’m gonna buy him this sweater and then we’ll get going, alright?”
“Sure thing!”
And so, the mares split up for the evening. Once Lemon Hearts and Honey Lodestar both made their purchases at the shop, they made their way to Twinkleshine’s home where they were greeted with open hooves and an excited unicorn.
“Oooooh! Trying to get Wolfy-boy’s attention, huh?” Twinkleshine teased as she let them inside her home. “You def got an eye for quality, girlfriend. He’s a ten for sure.”
“That’s what I said!” Lemon Hearts agreed. The two of them tended to gossip on the regular, so it was no surprise that they were already familiar with Tungsten’s reputation. “But so’s our Honey. They’ll be a perfect match!”
Honey blushed in silence for a moment, then looked around Twinkleshine’s home. It was fully decorated with wreaths and miniature snowponies lining the walls. Her Hearth’s Warming Tree was fully decorated with loads of hoof-made ornaments that looked to be of pristine quality with neatly carved lines and holes.
The fireplace was also lit and blazing to keep everyone warm along with some soft holiday music playing in the background courtesy of Twinkleshine’s record player.
On the coffee table were supplies and other objects that Twinkle used to create her ornaments. The mare in question shut her door and trotted off to the kitchen.
“I’m gonna make us some hot cocoa to warm us up nice and right,” she announced as she walked along, “Then we’ll go ahead and get started, alright guys?”
“Noted,” Honey replied, “And thanks. Huh…didn’t realize Tungsten was so famous. Is there more to him than I realize?”
Lemon would answer her question while she took a seat on the couch. “Oh don’t even get me started. You know how often I hear colts talking about him after school?”
“Jeez, I really must be missing something,” Honey said as she sat down on the couch as well. “If there’s something you guys know about him, you gotta tell me.”
“I don’t remember all the details--” Lemon paused mid-sentence and turned her head towards the kitchen, raising her voice, “Hey, Twinkle! What was that story about Tungsten you said you heard?”
Twinkleshine’s distant voice would call back, “Oh! I remember. Hang on a sec…”
Soon enough, Twinkleshine returned to the living room while levitating a small dish with three cocoa mugs. She set them down on a nearby empty side table where the other two mares could retrieve them with ease and sip from them as she told her story…
“Okay, so it goes like this…”
During Grogar’s attack on Equestria in which he summoned numerous monsters to attack the entire continent, a hydra was sent to attack Canterlot among other various deadly creatures. Princess Twilight Sparkle had given orders to all of the Guardsponies to secure the city in order to keep everyone safe while she dealt with the threat herself…
Or so she thought.
“No way. You and Flash Sentry should secure the city,” Tungsten insisted on what was essentially a suicide mission. “Stay with your subjects, princess. I got this.”
“ARE YOU INSANE?!” Twilight screamed. “A hydra is nothing to play with, soldier! You’re going to get yourself killed!”
Flash was by her side to keep her on an even keel. “There’s no time for this, Princess. Let him handle it. After all, he’s been working on a new weapon just for moments like this.”
Indeed. Tungsten showed off a pair of clawed gauntlets that he wore on his forelegs. They shone a bright gold color with black accents.
Nergigante claws. Made from the scales of a massive, deadly dragon, these gauntlets were effective against all types of monsters.
Once she saw them on his body, Twilight knew she couldn’t argue any further.
“Fine. But come back alive. We’ll be down there shortly to help you out.”
“I won’t need it,” Tungsten assured them as he turned to leave, galloping out of the castle. “Because ya’ll won’t be dyin’ today.”
Everyone split up as planned.
Armed with his special gauntlets, Tungsten hurried outside to face the hydra. It was so massive that he needed to leap between the tops of various trees in order to get a proper look at it. A five-headed demonic beast the size of a mountain versus one little pony.
Tungsten knew that trying to cut off its heads would only end in certain disaster, so he quickly devised a strategy in order to take it down.
With a mighty roar, the hydra’s heads spewed purple, acidic bile in his direction which instantly disintegrated the trees he had been standing on. Tungsten leapt to another set of trees only to be met with a viscous smack from the hydra’s tail.
CLACK!
Tungsten was flung face-first into the mountainside that Canterlot was built upon and fell to the ground. But that didn’t stop him. In spite of the pain he felt in his body, he stood up once more and wiped away the blood from his lip. Now he had another strategy.
Take away its tail; take away its balance.
In a zig-zag formation, Tungsten swiftly raced across the open field, narrowly avoiding the splatters of acid that the multi-headed beast spat in his direction. Having poured a lot of his training into the strength and durability of his body, he was deceptively agile and quick enough to dart across the field in a blur of slate gray.
It wasn’t long before he reached the backside of the hydra and lunged forward with his gauntlets. Since they were made with the fierce density of a dragon’s scales and hide, they were just durable enough to slice through the beast’s tail, and remove it completely--leaving naught but a scaly stump on the hydra’s body.
It roared in pain and whipped its heads around to catch Tungsten off-guard, spewing more deadly acid in his direction.
“...!”
It was too late to react--his body was covered in it…except, somehow, someway, it didn’t pierce his body at all. Tungsten stood tall, glaring up at the hydra with his face covered in purple poison, unflinching, unmoving, and silent.
Then, he performed a backflip jump to give himself some space from the creature, and used the rebounding energy to spring himself off of the ground with enough force to leave a crater where he once stood as he leapt into the air directly at the hydra’s head. With his gauntlets primed to slice through, it seemed as if the odds were insurmountable…
The unexpectedly durable pony put fear into the heads of the hydras who all stared at each other in confusion before ultimately deciding to--
SNAP!
In a quick motion, the middle head swooped down and swallowed Tungsten whole. If they couldn’t destroy him with their acidic spit, then surely stomach acid would work…right?
With a confident lick of its lips, the hydra resumed its intended assault on Canterlot. That is, until…
It froze in place.
Then, one by one, each head became paralyzed, unable to move or even blink.
The hydra fell to the ground, lying on its back.
And that’s when Tungsten clawed his way out of its body, having destroyed its heart in the process.
“He really did all that himself?!” Honey yelped upon Twinkleshine finishing out her story.
“Mm-hmm,” Twinkle replied as she sipped her hot chocolate and idly stirred it with a spoon via magic. “Though you might wanna take it with a grain of salt since gossip gets embellished all the time.”
Lemon certainly didn’t think so--she scoffed at her friend’s words. “Ah, pfft. Don’t be such a downer, Twinkle. I bet he’s twice as strong as that story makes him out to be,” she looked in Honey’s direction with a devious smirk. “I bet he probably suplexed that thing into oblivion!”
“Wow…if that’s the case, then he must be stronger than we think…” Honey gave a nervous huff as she allowed her mind to wander for a moment. “Hmm…”
That’s when Lemon broke her train of thought by teasing her. “...you’re totally imagining him lifting you up on his back, aren’t you?”
“...N-no!” Honey insisted as she shrank into her seat on the couch while sipping her cocoa. “Shuddup…”
Twinkle gave her take, “Hey, I wouldn’t blame you. What I wouldn’t give to have a stallion strong enough to press out my joint pain if you catch my drift,” she said with a giggle and a wink.
“Seriously, Twinkle? A dude that strong could easily snap your legs in half,” Lemon raised a brow. “...unless you’re--wait, are you seriously into that sorta thing?”
“Don’t knock it ‘til you try iiiiit,” Twinkle sang in a teasing tone.
Honey’s face became flushed red. “C-can we change the subject please?”
“Sorry, sorry,” Twinkle replied, “Anyway. The best thing you can do is just talk to him. See if you can speak to him on one of his off-days maybe. That’s what I’d do if I were you.”
“Yeah that’s prolly your best bet,” Lemon agreed, “Guardsponies like him probably don’t get to have much time to do their own thing away from their armor and work. One of my friend’s cousins said she’s been so busy managing the weapon’s cache that she hasn’t had time to organize her own clothes at home.”
“Yeesh,” Honey visibly recoiled at that information, “I can’t imagine being so backed up that I can’t find my own stuff at home. I guess that’s the perk of just managing bees. Their schedule is what we agree upon together.”
Lemon and Twinkle glanced at her with confused expressions--as if she had been speaking a different language.
“...say what?” Lemon asked.
“Oh, it’s simple, see. I talk to the flash bees every day and they let me know when their honey is ready,” the beekeeper mare explained with an excited smile. Her profession was always a topic that she enjoyed giving details about. “That way I can make sure that the honey I jar and sell to the markets is as fresh as possible. The bees really don’t get enough credit--they’re not savage, stinging killers like everyone says they are. That would be something like a wasp,” she shuddered at the mere thought. “Now those are some evil insects.”
“So that’s why the honey I use tends to be better than the ones from the general store,” Twinkleshine realized with a surprised smile. “You’ve got a real knack for dealing with bees, huh?”
“They’re my favorite animal, yeah,” Honey admitted with a nod, “My cutie mark appeared when I saved my friends from a hive that had fallen and broken near our school. Those were the days…”
And suddenly, Lemon Hearts had an idea. “Hey…why don’t you strike up a conversation about bees with Tungsten? You seem like you really enjoy speaking about ‘em.”
“Huh…never thought of that,” Honey paused and thought about it for a moment before agreeing. “You know what? That might be just what I need to do to work up the courage to speak with him!”
“Thank you, thank you,” Lemon smugly commented as she leaned back against the couch. “I’m amazing, I know.”
Plap.
Twinkleshine pushed a piece of craft’s paper into Lemon’s face via magic and snickered. “So…you girls ready to get started?”
“Oh yeah, totally,” Honey placed her bug down and leaned over the table. “I’ve already got some ideas.”
“Hey, don’t do me like that!” Lemon sputtered as she pushed back against the paper via her own levitation magic. “Bet I can make the best one!”
Honey took that challenge with a determined grin on her face. “Oh you’re on.”
Twinkleshine simply sighed. “Here we go again…”