As the bitter cold wind bit at her flanks, and nipped at her exposed ears, Fizzlepop subconsciously tried to squirm her way deeper into her hoodie. The Hearth's Warming Eve festivities around her did little to quell her rising anxiety as she trotted through the snow toward Berry Punch's house. The soft snowflakes that fell all around her made it a little more difficult to find her way, but after a few short minutes of searching, she found the house.
"Fourth and Trot street... alright, here we go, Fizzle." She murmured to herself, a slight nervous edge in her voice.
With one quick glance over her shoulder to confirm that her cargo was still in place, Fizzlepop trotted across the street and up to the front door. The sound of music playing, ponies chatting and laughing, and even a few foals playing next-door, reached her ears as she raised her hoof to the door. She quietly gulped before knocking three times, and patiently awaiting a response.
The seconds ticked by, and with them passed a series of emotions ranging from concern to embarrassment. Fizzlepop shuffled on her hooves as the passing time made her anxiety rise, but just as she reached her limit and lifted her hoof to knock again, she heard the sound of hooves on hardwood floor. The hoofsteps quickly approached the door and unlocked it, before the pony behind appeared and gave her a look of mild surprise.
"Oh, Fizzlepop. Hi there, welcome! Come on in, James said you'd be here any minute." Berry Punch greeted, just an ever so slight slur in her speech.
"Um, thank you." Fizzlepop replied, her eyes drifting down to the floor for a moment.
Berry opened the door slightly wider and nearly fell over from the movement, "I've had a few too many already, hehe," She replied, awkwardly scratching the back of her neck, "But come on in! James has been talking about you pretty much every day for the last month." She cheerily exclaimed, ushering Fizzlepop inside.
Fizzlepop entered the house, finding that the temperature inside was warm and cozy, much like the interior design. The hardwood floors and warm lighting gave the structure an overall orange coloring that exuded warmth. It was extremely pleasant, compared to the biting cold outside, and only made more inviting by the sounds of laughter and conversation happening just past the entryway, by the roaring fireplace.
Her ear flicked toward the cheerful voices ahead, almost reflexively trying to distinguish James's voice from the others, but either he wasn't talking, or there were simply too many voices to tell at the moment.
"So whatcha got there?" Berry asked, eyeing the box resting on Fizzlepop's back.
"Hmm? Oh, these are just some cupcakes Pinkie helped me make. I... felt like I should bring something just in case anypony wanted any." Fizzlepop replied, a slight amount of nerves in her voice.
"Oh sweet! Well come on and bring those puppies to the living room. We've already got a little spread but we could always use a bit more." Berry happily replied, trotting ahead to lead the way to the living room.
Fizzlepop quickly followed behind, a small look of apprehension on her face as she grew closer and closer to the voices and merriment.
Please don't ruin this... please don't ruin this. She quietly thought to herself.
Within moments, she rounded the corner and entered the living room of Berry's abode, finding half a dozen ponies as well as James, all sitting around the fireplace and sharing some form of merriment or another. Lyra Heartstrings and Bonbon busied themselves on the couch, both nuzzling each other and giggling along to the story Time Turner was telling. Beside the stallion, sat his fiancé, Derpy Hooves, who laughed at some humorous portion of the story Fizzlepop only just missed.
Sitting closest to the fireplace, were Roseluck and Thunderlane, and while they both seemed invested in Time Turner's story, they seemed equally entertained by the faces James was making behind the earth pony stallion. James stuck his tongue out and made a silly face as Time Turner continued to a part of the story that James happened to be involved in.
"-so then I said, 'Good heavens, James! That's the wrong lever!'" He said, chuckling a bit, himself.
A small chortle of laughter spilled through the group as the story reached its conclusion, and even though Fizzlepop missed almost the entirety of it all, she felt a warm and happy feeling in her heart just being present for all the happiness and mirth around her. It only took a few moments for the laughter to die down and James to notice her, standing beside Berry Punch in the doorway.
"Fizzy!" James happily exclaimed, hopping out of his seat and rushing over to greet her.
Fizzlepop immediately blushed at the more recent nickname he'd adopted for her, but she didn't dare voice her concerns in front of all of James's friends. He quickly reached her and kneeled down to pull her into a hug. The firm feeling of his arms wrapped around her withers and neck, the gentle warmth of his chest against her, and the softness of his skin pressed against her cheek as he hugged her was a feeling that she wasn't quite used to yet, but that only made it so much more powerful. She gratefully returned the hug, her forelegs squeezing him tighter against her as she closed her eyes and simply enjoyed the warmth and comfort he provided her.
As with all good things, it wasn't quite meant to last, and they pulled apart, giving them both space to turn and allow James to introduce her properly to his friends.
"So guys, I'm sure you know but this is Fizzlepop," James announced, prompting several waves and greetings from the gathered ponies, "Fizzy, these are my friends, Time Turner, Thunderlane, Derpy, Roseluck, Lyra, and Bon Bon. You've met Berry, I take it?" James continued, gesturing to each pony respectively.
Fizzlepop nodded toward Berry Punch, "I have," She said, before turning back to the rest of the ponies, "It's... nice to meet you all. Thank you for having me." She offered, politely.
"Oh, don't even mention it, Fizzlepop!" Lyra cheerily exclaimed, "Any friend of James is a friend of ours."
"Besides, who do you think got him to ask you out in the first place?" Berry giggled, bumping her flank into Fizzlepop's as she trotted past her.
Fizzlepop instantly went rigid as a dark blush adorned her face. Her reaction went unnoticed as James eyed the box on her back.
"What's that, Fizzy?" He asked, curiously.
Fizzlepop quickly snapped out of her daze and looked back to the box, "Oh, I just baked some cupcakes with Pinkie Pie. Figured I should bring something, but I haven't baked in so long. I hope they turned out okay..." She hesitantly explained, a slight bit of nerves in her voice.
"Well, only one way to find out!" Thunderlane happily exclaimed as he hopped off the couch and flew over toward Tempest.
"Hey! Thunder, what did I tell you about flying around in my house!?" Berry chided, swatting at the pegasus while he flew past her.
Thunderlane shrugged as he landed beside Tempest, "What? There was a huge human standing in the way. I had to go over him." He laughed as Fizzlepop set the box down on the table beside her.
"You know, you can just ask me to move over?" James deadpanned, while Thunderlane opened the box and pulled out a bright white cupcake.
Fizzlepop felt yet another wave of nerves creep up in her chest as Thunderlane licked his lips at the sight of her cupcake in his hoof. The subtle off-white color of the cake itself complimented the snow-white frosting, along with the red and green sprinkles atop of it all, but even with Pinkie's help, she still second guessed her baking skills. She held her breath as Thunderlane unwrapped the cupcake and plopped the whole thing into his maw.
A few seconds went by while she bit her lip in nervous anticipation, but she sound felt a wave of relief wash over her entire body as Thunder practically moaned in satisfaction at the taste of the cupcake.
"Thifs ish shoo guuud." Thunderlane complimented, through his chewing.
A wide smile found its way onto her face at the dark gray pegasus's compliment, allowing her to finally relax slightly and ease the tension that was built up in her withers.
With that, the introductions continued for a few more minutes. Each pony in the room gave her a warm and friendly greeting, before James ushered her over to the couch where he was sitting earlier. There was just enough room for the two of them to sit together, although they were squished against one another to the point of her almost having to sit on his lap. The development didn't seem to bother James in the slightest, in fact, after nearly an hour of talk and merriment, he simply pulled her into his lap and wrapped his arms around her barrel, hugging her close to him.
Fizzlepop felt her cheeks burning as James rested his chin atop her head, squishing down her mane in the process, but none of the other ponies in the room seemed to even mind. They received a few knowing looks from Lyra and Bon Bon, but aside from that, everypony else acted as if nothing were out of the ordinary. The contact, along with the lack of confrontation, eased Fizzlepop's worries so much that she even found herself accepting a few hard ciders from Berry as the night continued.
As the hour progressed, and the feeling of belonging and happiness welled within her, Fizzlepop found herself talking more and more to the ponies around her. She found herself happily seeking out closer contact with James as well, going so far as to nuzzle him and nicker under his collar while she sat in his lap, something which she had never been comfortable doing before. Instead of the harsh glares or voices of disgust she might have expected just a few hours ago, she instead heard a few 'awws' while even Jason blushed from her more forward advances.
Eventually, as the night wore on, and more and more alcohol was consumed, she found herself sitting on the floor. As had become her favorite spot, she was nestled between James's legs, her back pressed firmly against his chest while he rubbed his free hand through the fur of her chest. A gesture that almost made her eyes flutter shut and her leg kick as the endorphins flooded her brain. She barely paid any attention to the bottle laying before them, until of course, Berry spun the bottle and the tip pointed squarely at her.
"Fizzy, you're up! Truth or dare!?" Berry drunkenly questioned, her volume much louder than it needed to be.
Snapped out of her daydreaming, Fizzlepop's eyes snapped open fully to look down at the bottle, then up to the rest of the ponies now staring at her as if she were supposed to make some kind of important decision. It was only after nearly thirty seconds of silent contemplation that she realized what game they were even playing anymore.
"Uh... T-truth?" She hesitantly replied, looking up to Berry.
"Aw, c'mon! Don't be boring! Nopony's picked a dare yet!" Berry exclaimed, rolling her eyes so hard she nearly fell over.
"That's because you always dare us to do something ridiculous." Roseluck deadpanned.
"I won't this time! Promise!" Berry offered, clasping her hooves together.
Fizzlepop hesitantly looked up to James, finding him looking down her with a small smile, "Well, it would make this game more interesting." He offered, with a small shrug.
She pursed her lips for a second before looking back to Berry and giving the earth pony a determined look, "Alright, fine, Berry. Dare." She said, snapping all eyes in the room over to Berry.
Berry's eyes widened before a sinister grin split her muzzle, "Alright, awesome! I dare you... to kiss James!" She exclaimed, pointing at the human.
Fizzlepop blanched as the rest of the room focused back on her. She suddenly felt very hot in her hoodie, and the added heat from James's body did nothing to help the growing blush on her muzzle. She nervously turned around in his lap and looked up at him with a gulp.
Sensing her obvious discomfort, James glanced up to Berry with a frown, "Hey, come on, Berry. If she's not comfortable with that yet, don't dare her to do that." He chastised, his tone conveying his clear disapproval of Fizzlepop's boundaries being crossed.
"Hey, it's just a little d-" Berry began, only for Fizzlepop to cut her off.
"No, it's okay." She said, snapping James's eyes back to hers.
With only a second to contemplate what she was about to do, Fizzlepop leaned forward, tilted her head to the side, and pressed her lips against his. Time froze around them as the velveteen softness of the contact registered between them. Fizzlepop's eyes drifted shut as she kissed him, her hooves wrapping around his shoulders and holding him close. In return, James's hands migrated up to her ears, his thumbs and fingers kneading and rubbing the furry appendages in just the perfect way he knew she absolutely loved.
The seconds ticked by in a mute haze, but all that either of them cared to notice was how gentle, warm, and right it felt. Electric waves of excitement fired through both of their hearts as the kiss persisted just long enough, but even when they pulled away, they were still there, firing off again and again as they lost themselves in each other's eyes.
"How was that?" Fizzlepop asked, a soft smile on her freshly kissed lips.
James smiled wide as he gently cupped her cheek with his hand, "Best kiss I've ever had."