Snow was falling softly and slowly down on Bridlewood, in that slow and soft way of falling that snowflakes have about them when the wind isn't too strong. Most of it would land on the ground or atop the trees, piling up there as it had been doing for the whole day. Occasionally, though, a few flakes would happen to pass through a puff of grey smoke and evaporate on contact with it. Said smoke was coming up out of the squared metal beak of a giant teapot insignia attached to a building, decorated with a stylised crystal on top of a leaf. And if one was to move down the pipe smoke flowed up through and into the building itself...
The Crystal Tea Room was warm and bright and colourful, like summer and autumn had both chosen to spend the winter in there. Fire burned in the fireplace and the smell of tea filled the air, along with the friendly chatter of the many ponies there and the music coming from some of the games they played. Up on the podium Onyx read out her latest compositions, the local armadillos scurried about to check on the tables, and behind the counter Alphabittle was intent on sorting out a box of miscellaneous stuff he'd dug out of his basement.
Or at least until the door chimed, and he turned towards it to greet the new arrivals. They stepped in quickly, not wanting the outside cold to come along with them, and made their way towards the counter while distending themselves to the pleasant warmth of the room and shuffling out of their heavier clothes. "Misty!" Alphabittle greeted his daughter as he spotted her. "Izzy, Sunny, Zipp, Pipp, Hitch," he greeted the rest of the group as they got closer. One unicorn at a nearby table did stand up and move farther away at the mention of Izzy's name, but no one noticed that or cared. "Where's Sparky?"
"He's in the Dragonlands," Sunny explained. "Comet really wanted to go see them and we figured he might enjoy going along too."
"And it means Hitch gets some free time to hang out with us," said Pipp, eyeing Zipp for any reactions.
"Hi dad!" Misty said, sitting down at the counter in front of him. "I hope we didn't come at a bad time."
"It's never a bad time for you, dear," Alphabittle said. "Don't worry about it, it's a slow day today. Can I get you anything?" he asked while looking at all six of them as they sat down.
"I'll take something warm," Hitch said, still shivering a little. "I am not used to how cold Bridlewood gets in the winter."
"Maretime Bay gets cold too," Misty noted.
"It's still a seaside town," Sunny said, "we don't get it as cold as here. I'll have some hot chocolate, if possible."
"Oh, I'll have some as well," Pipp chimed in. She was still wearing her scarf, which was probably worth more than what everyone in the room had collectively spent to get their drinks and snacks.
"I'll have some tea," Zipp said. "Izzy?"
Izzy was busy playing some kind of game with an armadillo, but she perked up at being mentioned. "Oh, I'll have some cinnamon ginger honey cotton candy chamomile tea, thanks."
"Right. Three chocolates, one tea, one cinnamon ginger honey cotton candy chamomile tea," Alphabittle said. "Misty, do you want anything?"
Misty thought for a moment. "I guess I could go for some tea as well."
"Another tea, coming right up." He turned and moved to prepare what each pony had asked for.
Misty got a bit more comfortable in her seat, and watched her father work. As she did though, she couldn't help but spot the open box of stuff sitting near him behind the counter. As he turned and served her and her friends, her eyes still drifted to it past his shoulders, and in particular to what looked like a photo inside a picture frame sticking out of the box, though she couldn't quite see it well at the angle it was at. "Dad, uh..." She wasn't exactly sure what to say.
She didn't really need to say anything. Alphabittle followed the direction of her gaze, and as he looked to the box and the picture his expression dropped into something different. He didn't look to be in a bad mood or bothered, it was more so a face of longing and sombre resignation. He sighed with his mouth closed, and grabbed the box in his magic. "Misty... What do you remember about your mother?"
Misty shifted awkwardly in her seat. "Well, I... Not much at all, actually. Why?"
Alphabittle took the photo in his telekinesis and rested it on the counter in front of her. "I don't really expect you to. You were still young when she disappeared, probably too young to remember." The frame looked pretty old, and chipped in places.
Misty looked at the picture itself up close. There were two unicorns in it, standing side by side underneath a tree. One was Alphabittle, though much younger, even younger than he was in her scant memories of him from her childhood. Next to him was a mare with a curly green mane and a deep blue coat. They looked happy together. Misty smiled, though her eyes quivered a little.
Sunny, sitting next to Misty, leaned in to look at the picture. "Is that..." She blinked. "Oh. I'm sorry," she said to Alphabittle, leaning back and understanding what he'd said to Misty.
"It's okay," he said. "It was long ago. And now I have you," he added, reaching out to Misty and ruffling her mane with a hoof.
Meanwhile, Izzy was craning her neck to look at the picture, having caught only part of the conversation. Misty looked at her, then at Alphabittle. "Can I?"
He nodded. "Sure."
Misty took the photo in her magic and passed it farther along the counter, fully catching the attention of the other three ponies there as she did so. They all had a look at the picture before Misty gave it back to her father. "I guess that explains where you got your manestyle from," said Zipp, earning a side poke from her sister.
Alphabittle took the photo and set it back into the box, then put the box back on the ground behind the counter. He looked at it a moment longer, then cheered himself up. "Well, no point dwelling on the past too much. How are things in Maretime Bay?" he asked, turning back around.
"Quite nice, actually," Sunny said.
"Keeping snow off the streets is the easiest it's ever been now that magic is back," said Hitch after taking a sip from his mug. Izzy stifled a chuckle as she saw the line of foamy cocoa that was resting above his lips.
Alphabittle grabbed a towel in his magic and began to clean and dry a few teacups he'd already rinsed. "What about Zephyr Heights?" he asked to Pipp and Zipp. "I may be visiting sometime soon."
"We haven't heard from mom in a while but that probably just means nothing is wrong," Pipp said. "You might actually hear from her more than we do at this point."
"We'll be there for the Zephyr Heights Wishentine Royal Carousel Concert. Bleh." Zipp stuck out her tongue as if the words actually tasted foul on it. "At least mom is letting us only do part of the performance this year." She washed the aftertaste down with some tea.
"What do you say, Misty? Wanna come there with me?" Alphabittle asked.
Misty pondered the question for a moment, smiling unsurely. "Well, I suppose it could be fun, so long as we don't draw too much attention."
"Don't worry, mom will be busy hogging all the cameras for herself like always," said Zipp.
"Hey, wait a moment." Pipp looked to Alphabittle. "If you and mom are together does that make Misty our step sister?"
Alphabittle rubbed the back of his neck with a hoof. "Well, me and Haven aren't exactly officially together yet, she's a Queen and she hasn't broken the news publicly and-"
"You're totally together," said Sunny with a smirk from above her mug.
"Will I have to start calling you dad?" Pipp asked.
Alphabittle looked a tad embarrassed at the situation, and everyone shared a quiet laugh after a moment. Except Izzy, who was busy bartering with the armadillos for possession of a few marbles.
"So, I guess we'll be spending the holidays in Zephyr Heights then." Misty took another sip of tea. "Dad, how would you usually pass the time this time of year?"
"Well, ah..." Alphabittle focused back on cleaning the teacups, his expression less happy than a moment before. "The Tea Room gets a lot of customers during the holidays, you know. Ponies like having a warm place to be together in when it's cold outside. I'm usually too busy with work to do much else."
"You spend the holidays working? Come on, that doesn't sound so nice," Sunny said.
"Yeah," said Hitch. "Even I like to take a break around this time of year."
"Don't you have anyone you want to spend time with?" asked Pipp.
"You do close the Tea Room some days," Izzy noted. "Like tomorrow. What do you do then?"
Alphabittle looked just a little more dejected at the questions, and cast his gaze down. "Well, I... Ever since Misty disappeared, I haven't exactly been the most socially active of ponies. Everyone knows me around Bridlewood, but I suppose I don't really have many close friends. Or almost any close friends." He looked at the cup he was working on before setting it down. "Onyx is probably the closest one I have, with her being such a regular client and all, but during the holidays she's with her own family and friends. I usually just sit here at the counter and make sure everyone else is having a good time, and when I do close I mostly just..." He hesitated. "I mostly stay by myself."
"And you've never tried sitting down at a table with someone else and getting to know them better?" asked Sunny. "Or going out to meet someone on your days off?"
Alphabittle shook his head. "I guess I didn't want others to know me better. It spared me from thinking of what I'd lost." He looked to Misty and he smiled. "Maybe it's time I started being more open."
"You absolutely should. You can't just spend the holidays all by yourself while everyone else is having fun!" said Pipp.
"Huh." Zipp looked at her tea. "I guess now I understand better why you and mom hit it off so well."
Alphabittle looked at her with a knowing expression. She looked back to him and managed a smile.
"So, I take it you don't have any plans for tonight?" Sunny cut in, talking to Alphabittle.
"Well. Not really, no," he said. "I was just going to look after the Tea Room until closing time and then head home. Why?"
"Do you want to come with us?"
Alphabittle blinked and was mildly taken aback by the offer. "Well, I... I..."
"Come on, it'll be fun." Sunny gave him her best puppy dog eyes. Then Pipp, Izzy, and Hitch did the same, while Zipp held back a chuckle.
Alphabittle's eyes kept darting around, until they landed on Misty. She wasn't trying to get him to agree as fiercely as her friends, but she did look hopeful. He sighed and straightened himself. "Alright. I guess I could spend the evening with you. What did you have in mind?"
"Sleepover!" Izzy inserted herself back in the conversation, suddenly between Misty and Sunny. "We're all staying at the Brighthouse tonight, we can make room for one more."
"Don't five of you already live at the Brighthouse?" He looked at her quizzically.
"Yeah but we'll be sleeping downstairs! It's totally different!" Izzy assured him. "Oh, I will have to make more popcorn. You like popcorn, right?"
Alphabittle wasn't exactly sure what Izzy had said held up, but he knew her well enough to roll with it. "I do."
"Yay!" Izzy sunk back down between the seats and emerged once more at her own, and seemingly went back to discussing with the armadillos on the counter.
Alphabittle shook his head with a smile and moved on to cleaning a different teacup. Misty looked at him work. "Sleepovers are pretty fun," she reassured him. "I'm sure you'll enjoy yourself."
"I'm sure I will," he said. He looked to Sunny. "I guess you can come pick me up after the Tea Room closes. Just give me a few minutes to sort out my stuff and then I'll be free. I'm assuming you're not planning to stick around here until closing time."
"I honestly wouldn't mind it," Hitch said, "it's pretty cold out there. But no, we're going to Izzy's house later and then taking a walk through Bridlewood."
"The forest is quite pretty this time of the year. Make sure you don't slip on any ice patches," Alphabittle said. The door chimed and a couple new customers walked in, and he moved down the counter to deal with them.
"He is right, the forest is very pretty out there. I should totally do a vlog if the weather clears up," said Pipp. "I just wish... Actually, Izzy? Are there any plants around here that grow during the winter too?" Pipp looked around. "Izzy?"
Misty and Zipp also looked around, and spotted Izzy on the opposite side of the room, talking with a group of unicorns. "I wonder what she's gotten into this time," said Zipp.
Misty turned back and looked to Alphabittle while finishing her tea. He looked at her and smiled, then winked. She smiled as well. "Thanks for the tea, dad," she said as she set down the cup.
The group of young friends had left some fifteen minutes or so later, after finishing their drinks and making sure Izzy didn't get the wood she was suddenly interested in finding by dismantling a chair. They'd spent the rest of the day between Bridlewood and Izzy's house, and they were about ready to head back to Maretime Bay. It was dark outside, though it still wasn't all that late, as dark came early in the winter. The Marestream sat parked in a clearing not too far from the Crystal Tea Room, which had closed a short while before, and the six of them were standing there in the snow waiting for Alphabittle to come out. It wasn't snowing anymore and there wasn't any wind either, but it was still quite cold.
He stepped out of the building wearing a striped pink scarf and saddlebags around his back. "Sorry for the wait. I packed my own covers and a couple of things. Are we ready to go?"
"Sure thing," said Zipp. She turned and began to lead the group to the Marestream. Everyone walked behind her, or bounced in Izzy's case, though Misty stayed a bit farther back than the others to be side to side with Alphabittle.
"You've never flown in the Marestream before, have you, dad?"
"I can't say I have," he said. "I don't think I've ever flown in anything, actually. Haven assured me it's quite enjoyable though."
"It is pretty nice, so long as there isn't any turbulence. Zipp is a good pilot though."
"Say, how long is the trip from here to Maretime Bay?"
"Just a few minutes, actually."
They walked in silence the short distance still left to the Marestream, and then quietly walked up inside it after everyone else. Alphabittle took a seat as Zipp began to fiddle with the controls to get them going. "I hope I won't be too much of a weight on you all," he said as Sunny and Misty sat near him.
"Of course not," Sunny said. "It'll be nice. I'm sure you'll enjoy spending time with someone else."
"I'm still not exactly your friend, or even your age. I'm, well, old enough to be your father. Literally. I appreciate you doing this for me, but I'm not sure I'll be a good fit for the group. Don't worry too much about me. Feel free to ignore me while you're going about your sleepover, I don't want to intrude on it or force you to do things differently because of me."
"Come on, now." Pipp had gotten close too in the meantime. "Even Misty had a good time, and she had no idea how to function around others back then! No offence, Misty."
"None taken."
"Yeah. Besides, you seem like a fun pony to be around. I'm sure we'll enjoy each other." Hitch sat there as well while the Marestream began to rumble and move. "Plus you're always playing games with Izzy or the other unicorns. Actually, do you know of any games we could play together all seven of us?"
"Is someone getting tired of Sunny's board games?" Pipp asked with a teasing raise of her eyebrows.
"There's nothing wrong with my board games," Sunny said with a pout. "But I suppose we could do something different. And I'm curious too, are there any unicorn games we could try? Maybe any holiday traditions?" She looked at Alphabittle with a beaming expression. She had asked Izzy the same thing before, but Izzy's games and traditions, as most Izzy things, counted primarily as Izzy things and usually only had some level of overlap with unicorn things.
"I can probably think of something," he conceded. Then he looked a bit around as he felt the Marestream settle into proper flight. "Hey, this is not so bad." He stood up, curious, and walked to the front of the vehicle to have a look out the windows. Bridlewood stretched below them, barely visible in the early starlight, tinged white by the day's snow and coloured by the festive decorations hung up by its ponies on their houses. Farther ahead he could see where the forest ended and the white carpet of the plains began, and past that he could already spot the lights that lit Maretime Bay through the night, rapidly approaching. "Wow," he said quietly. "You get this view every time you fly?"
"Yep." Zipp spoke with a hint of pride. "Pretty nice, isn't it?" She looked upwards for a moment. "I'm glad the sky is clear tonight. No storm clouds to navigate around and visibility is pretty good for the hour. We'll be at the Brighthouse soon." Already they could see Maretime Bay clearly enough to tell buildings apart and see the lights hanging between them over the streets, the forest below behind them at that point.
Alphabittle just sat there, enjoying the view. He'd been in relatively high places before, but seeing the world from up there was a whole other matter, and he soaked in the experience up until the Marestream began its descent towards the Brighthouse. It was just as well that the building still held its old function as a lighthouse even without all that many ships sailing to or from the town, as it made it much easier to see around it during the landing.
They all got off and made their way quickly inside, the sudden chill of the late evening air after the pleasant isolated environment of the Marestream only encouraging their pace. "How come you're having a sleepover without Comet?" Alphabittle wondered aloud as they walked. "Won't he feel left out?"
"That's why we'll be having a second sleepover when he comes back!" said Izzy as she bounced beside him. "This is the rehearsal sleepover. You're invited to that one too by the way."
"Thanks, Izzy."
Once they were all in and lights had been properly turned on, Alphabittle began to unpack his stuff in the middle of the room, next to where the others had already placed their sleeping mats. Sunny headed towards the kitchen to fetch the snacks she'd prepared for the night, while Misty walked up to her father and began to help him.
"Thank you," he said as he unrolled his own covers. "Really, though. Don't feel obligated to worry too much about me."
"Dad, I-"
"No, I mean-" He smiled at her earnestly. "You're still young and you're with your friends, and I remember what it was like being your age. Don't worry too much about looking after me, and try to have fun. I appreciate this, but I don't think I'll be as involved as you all will."
At that moment Hitch and Izzy came down the staircase, the latter carrying a mat in her telekinesis. "We found that spare mat we mentioned," the former said. "Izzy, set it down there next to the others." Izzy saluted and did so.
"Thanks." Alphabittle set his covers on top of the mat, and took out the rest of the stuff he'd packed too, setting it on the ground next to it. Then he took off his scarf and put it in his saddlebags.
Sunny walked in from the kitchen, carrying a risky amount of trays that Zipp and Pipp were quick to reduce by grabbing some for themselves. "I made a few things, I hope you'll enjoy them." A few things being earth pony speak for a meal and a half worth of snacks per pony, and that was counting the one whose presence hadn't been planned when she'd made it all. "Do tell me what you think, I'm always looking for second opinions." She set down the trays she still held. "Go ahead, serve yourself."
Alphabittle grabbed a treat in his telekinesis. Looking at it he wasn't sure exactly what it was, only that it was a flat disk of something with a hole in the middle and it had stripes of baked dough of some kind looped around it passing through that hole like rings around a ring. And it had sugar on top. After putting it in his mouth, he could confirm that the disk was a slice of baked apple and the whole thing was very much delicious. "This is very nice," he said as he finished swallowing it. Then he tried something else from a different tray, a tiny roll of dough baked to a light brown texture that was savoury rather than sweet, and had some cheese inside it. "Everything is, really."
"I'm glad you think so." Sunny beamed as she sat down on her mat and took some food for herself as well. The mats themselves were set up in a rough circle, and the food had been placed in the middle where everypony could reach it. Everyone else got to eat a bite or two as well and they all complimented Sunny on her cooking, especially regarding the cookies she'd made.
Then it came time to do something else. While it was rather dark outside, the hour was barely later than dinner time, and the group was planning to stay up fairly late into the night. Holidays were the proper time for all those bad decisions one couldn't sustain to make during the rest of the year, or so Pipp would usually say to justify both staying up late and eating way too much. Though Alphabittle was pretty confident he'd be out before the others, too old and used to falling asleep early.
"We could watch a movie," Pipp suggested. "It's been a while since we've watched something together."
"I don't know. It has been a while since we've been together in a way we could relax and just do what we want to, I'm just not sure if I want to occupy most of the night with a movie," Hitch said.
"Board games?" said Sunny.
"I could go for something different," replied Zipp.
"Oh, oh!" Izzy was bouncing up and down. "We could tell stories. I made popcorn!" She passed a bowl of caramel popcorn towards where all the other food was.
"I don't know. I'm not really good at stories." Misty not so stealthily reached for the popcorn with her magic. "All the stories I know are from Opaline, and you know how she was."
"We still haven't had a proper chat about her," Alphabittle said before trying the popcorn too. "Not tonight, though. Nice work, Izzy."
"Thanks!"
"What about you, Alphabittle?" Sunny looked towards him. "You're the special guest, how would you want to pass the time?"
"Well..." Alphabittle was a touch nervous at suddenly being the centre of attention at first, but he cleared his throat and quickly got himself together. "We could play charades, if you want to."
"I love charades," said Izzy.
"Yeah, that sounds fun," Pipp said.
"Great. Who wants to start?" asked Sunny.
"Oh, let me go," said Hitch.
Alphabittle looked on and smiled as the ponies began to play. Slightly less than an hour later, after about half the food was gone and he'd soundly beaten everyone else at the game, they all agreed it was time to switch on to something else. "Misty, do you have anything you'd want to do?" he asked, having noticed how she'd mostly sat the previous game out.
Misty sat a little straighter and thought for a moment. "Hmm. Well, I was thinking we could play one of Sunny's board games, if that's okay with you all."
Zipp shrugged. "Fine. As long as it's a short one."
"Yes!" Sunny hissed under her breath, pumping a hoof. "I'll be right back," she said as she stood to go fetch her stack of game boxes from the storage room.
Misty smiled at the others. "You know how much she likes those. And I like them too."
"Yeah," said Hitch. "We can go for one round of something. Anyone have any idea what to do after that?" He helped himself to another snack.
"How late is it?" Alphabittle had a look around in search of a clock. "I could probably go to sleep after that."
"Come on, now." Pipp poked him in the side. "Learn to enjoy yourself for a while. It's not like you need to wake up early tomorrow."
"Like that's ever stopped you from staying up late." Zipp poked Pipp in the side too.
Sunny walked back, carrying a frightening amount of colourful rectangular boxes on her back. "What do you guys want to play?" she asked, setting them down on the floor near the others.
"Ooh." Alphabittle had a look at the boxes up close. "I've always wanted to try this one." He pointed to one of them with his horn.
"Great."
Great turned out to be an apt description of his skill at the game as well. They switched to a different one about an hour and several more snacks later, and when they finally collectively agreed to stop with the board games the food was done, midnight was a fair bit behind them, and more boxes had been opened than not. Alphabittle had a real knack and passion for games, and the combination of his enthusiasm and the freshness of having someone new to play with got the rest of the ponies to gladly go along with it for as long as they did and enjoy themselves as they hadn't in a while.
Eventually the last pawn got put back in its box. Pipp was already snoring, and everyone was in some state of lying down and preparing for sleep. "Goodnight, everypony," Sunny said as she dimmed the lights in the room until they turned off. "See you tomorrow."
"Goodnight," Izzy answered back, her tone slurred as if she was already half asleep. Hitch was heard snoring soon after, and Zipp's lack of complaints was a good indicator that if she was still awake it wouldn't last long.
Alphabittle lay on his mat, looking forward in the darkness as he let the warmth the covers provided soothe his limbs and prepared to fall asleep. Suddenly a voice cut through the silence, quiet but close by. "Dad?" Misty whispered. "Are you asleep yet?"
Alphabittle answered with a whisper of his own, deeper but just as quiet. "Not yet. Why? Is something wrong?"
There was a light shifting heard from where the voice came. "I just wanted to say thank you for tonight. It was fun."
Alphabittle smiled even though he knew Misty couldn't see him. "Thank you," he said back. "It was. Maybe we should do it again sometime."
There wasn't an answer to that, and a couple minutes later Alphabittle wasn't awake to hear one anymore anyway. A short while after that, Sunny fell asleep as well, a smile on her face.
Before his brain even had time to notice the light pressing against his eyelids, the first thing Alphabittle noticed was the warm sweet smell of cookies. He sniffed the air still half asleep, and slowly opened his eyes. No one else seemed to still be in the room, but the sounds he heard as his mind cleared told him they weren't far.
His back and shoulders popped as he stepped into the kitchen. "There you are," Sunny greeted him, patting an empty spot at the table with a mug set in front of it.
Alphabittle made his way there, sat down, and fetched himself a cookie from the tray in the middle of the table to dip it into the hot cocoa inside the mug. "Thank you for making breakfast."
"Don't think about it." Sunny sat back down at her place after she'd set another tray of cookies on the table. "Thank you for coming. Yesterday night was great."
"Yeah," Pipp agreed. "You should totally come again when we do this next with Comet. Oh, and I'm sure it'll be great to have you in Zephyr Heights."
"It'll certainly be great to not be the centre of mom's attention for once." Zipp ate another cookie.
Izzy was busy fiddling with something, and she stuck out her tongue as she gave one final focused look at it. Then she took it in her telekinesis and passed it to Alphabittle. "Ta-da! I only got a brief look so I hope it's the right size."
Alphabittle took the gift in his magic. It was an empty wooden picture frame painted white and green, decorated with glass marbles set into it and strands of blue and grey thread running around the sides. He looked at it and he smiled. "Thanks, Izzy."
Izzy smiled back at him, and then focused back on her breakfast. Alphabittle looked around the table. Hitch had gotten a line of foam over his lip again, and was wondering what it was that Zipp was laughing about as she looked at him. Pipp was busy snapping pictures of the food Sunny had made, and seemingly struggling against the temptation of biting through it before she'd taken a good one. Misty was asking Sunny for recipes of all the food they'd had the night before, and Sunny was more than happy to tell her about them. He set the frame down, drank again from his mug, and looked out the nearest window.
It was snowing again outside, not too differently from how it had been the day before. Snowflakes fell lazily onto Maretime Bay, barely swayed here and there by what little wind there was, landing softly onto the snow that already carpeted the fields and rooftops or melting as they touched down on the salt and gravel that had been strewn onto the streets to keep them clean. It was late morning, and though the Sun was hidden behind the clouds its light still made it past the grey carpet of the sky. More than by that, though, some of the snowflakes were lit up by the rainbow of colours that the Unity Crystals and their magical Prisbeam stretching skywards gave off, and they glimmered in all the different hues of light as they danced their way downwards through the air.