//------------------------------// // Make Your Mark: Winter Wishday, part 1 // Story: The Second Dream // by totallynotabrony //------------------------------// Hitch came into the kitchen, where I was standing near the stove. “What’s going on?” he asked.  “I keep hearing this noise, it’s like ‘bam, bam.’” “Sorry, I sometimes get carried away when I’m cooking.”  I turned to the bubbling pot on the stove and sprinkled in some pepper.  “Bam!” Hitch had given me the recipe, so he was a little surprised I was deviating a little. I was cooking in preparation for Winter Wishday.  It was some kind of non-denominational winter holiday.  At least it was festive, as I saw through the window that it had recently begun to snow. “Huh, that’s weird,” Hitch said.  “I don’t think I’ve ever seen snow this early in the year before.” I shrugged.  Climate change. I frowned.  Well, maybe.  It seemed easy to write stuff off to magic, especially now that everybody had gotten it. We heard the mail arrive and Hitch went to get it.  He came back into the kitchen sifting through the envelopes.  “We’ve been invited to a wedding in the summer.” “Who is it?” “My buddy Tom; I don’t think you know him.”  Hitch opened the envelope.  “Huh, Greg?  I thought the last one was Greg..”  Hitch muttered to himself as he dredged up a few old memories.  “Yeah, I’m sure that was it.  This Greg is a different Greg.” “Seems awkward to start dating somebody named exactly the same thing as the ex.” “Well, he seems happy and I wish them the best.  Though, I think you’re right.  I hope I don’t get Greg and Greg confused.” “To make a Tomlette, you have to break a few Greggs.” I’m glad he thought that was as funny as I did. I finished up the stew and put the lid on the pot, turning off the heat.  We were going on a trip to see family for the holidays. “Over the river and through the woods to grandmother’s house we go,” I said. “How’d you know?” Hitch replied. “Directions to your grandmother’s house are literally a poem?” He shrugged, though good-naturedly.  “Victim of circumstance.” Taking Sparky, Billy, and the stew with us, we juggled the three of them and went to meet the girls.   Hitch also grabbed a holiday card that had arrived in the mail.  “This is who we’re going to see, Grandma Figgy.” I glanced at the card as he opened it.  She’d included a picture.  Holidays at grandma’s, just like I how remembered when growing up.  Boy, sometimes I like being normal.  Sometimes. “I love her,” Hitch suddenly gushed.  “We’re going to have so much fun at her house.  She’s the best grandma in the whole world!” A passing bird chirped at him. “What, you think yours is better?” Hitch retorted. We made it to the Brighthouse to meet the girls.  Sunny had decorated cookies to look like each of us.  Seemed like a lot of effort for just eight of them: Sunny, Izzy, Zipp, Pipp, Hitch, Sparky, Billy, and me. Billy was eating solid food now.  Goats. Raising two kids who could already run around nearly from the time they were born was a hassle, and it was a good thing Hitch and I made a good team. Sunny sang as we ate.  “We wish you a yummy Wishday and a happy New Moon!” She seemed especially vibrative today, buzzing with energy.  “I’ve got the perfect holiday planned for us all!” Though as we talked among ourselves, it soon became apparent that we all had conflicting holiday plans.  Hitch and I and the kids (both the actual kid and the dragon) were going to his grandma’s place.  Zipp and Pipp were going home, as was Izzy. “Let’s do it all together!” Sunny suggested. “Love to, but Zephyr Heights and Bridlewood are both quite the journey,” Pipp pointed out, the reasonable one for once, though I guess with her phone constantly at hoof, she should know navigation. “And it’s snowing,” Izzy pointed out. “Huh?” Sunny said, apparently not noticing until then.  “That’s strange, it never snows here in Maretime Bay.” “We could go to the coast for the novelty of seeing snow on the beach,” I suggested. Hitch seemed to like the idea, but Zipp and Izzy came to the rescue with a solution.  “We’ve been working on something, a surprise,” said Zipp.  “It was going to wait until Wishday, but it could be a solution to our problem.” “Huh?” said Izzy, “sorry, I zoned out there.”  Somehow, in the space of five seconds.  “Anyway, let’s go!” We followed them outside to a very conspicuous tarped object.  Zipp whisked the cover off to reveal the old tram Izzy had found. I wasn’t sure how it had gotten to the patio.  The wheels had been removed, and well, trains were supposed to be heavy.  Not to mention the extras that had been added, including wings and a collection of pots and pans. “It’s still a little rough, but we’re getting close.  We’ve been working on it for weeks,” Zipp said.  I figured she must have been the engineer, likely borrowing ideas from the airships that had once docked in Zephyr Heights. “Love it,” said Pipp.  “One question, what is it?” “It’s the old broken tram I found,” Izzy said.  “Then I turned it into art, and then moving art.” “More like flying art,” Zipp said.  “I just wanted to show you ponies how awesome it is to fly too.” I had reservations about turning a train into a plane - the weight issue already stated among others.  Though, I shrugged and figured magic would probably be good enough.  It already seemed to solve all our other problems. “Are you sure this thing can fly?” Hitch asked, examining it. “And what do you call it?” Sunny asked. “THE MARESTREAM!” Izzy bellowed.  She shrugged, and then more modestly went on.  “It’s an idea.” We were all a little taken aback, but Pipp was first to recover.  “It’s perfect.” “Alright, let’s get this show on the road,” Zipp said.  “I think I’ve figured out how to make it fly.  I need everypony’s butts, please.” Oh, cutie marks.  Everyone was in a good mood, and crowded closer, and sure enough there was some rainbow light as the cutie marks began to shine together.  The Marestream seemed to power up. “Okay, let’s go!” Izzy jumped to the controls. “Do you have a driver’s license for this vehicle?” Hitch asked. “And have you completed the test flying regimen prior to accepting passengers?” I added. Izzy pulled out a pair of scissors and some construction paper and made them, on the spot. Hitch and I glanced at each other.  We had both been joking, but appreciated the effort. I mean, a piece of paper with crayon on it saying the thing was certified airworthy still wouldn’t keep us from dying of structural failure midair, but until that happened it made me feel slightly better. “Let’s get packed and then get going,” Sunny said, amending Izzy’s earlier assertion to get going right now.  “Dress warm, everypony!”  There was very little glass in the tram, and the wind would probably blow straight through. We all went home to pack and returned.  For those that lived in the Brighthouse, that was quick.  Pipp had packed too much and we collectively vetoed it.  We also collectively decided we’d rather have Zipp be the pilot.  I figured she also had some cool pilot sunglasses and wasn’t disappointed. After everyone was seated and belted, Zipp gingerly took the controls and the Marestream lurched into the air about like you’d expect a magic-powered rusty tram to do.  She seemed to get the hang of it, though, and relaxed slightly.  “This is your captain speaking, welcome to the flight.  We are currently traveling at an altitude of…I don’t actually know, at the speed of…magic, and this thing doesn’t have a clock but last I checked it was afternoon.” “Hi, I’m your in-flight entertainment coordinator, and it’s time for a good old fashioned sing-along!” Izzy piped up.  She was wearing some sort of weird festive headdress with antlers, like a reindeer, I guess, though now she had three horns and the look wasn’t really working. She started some music and everyone promptly sang the wrong thing. “Wait, stop, what was that?” Izzy protested.  “That wasn’t the right song.” “What are you talking about, we sing that all the time,” Hitch said, gesturing between himself and Sunny. “We sing something different,” Pipp said, gesturing between herself and Zipp. “Does each pony kind have different lyrics for the same melody?” Sunny wondered.  “Fascinating.” “We could just alternate verses,” Pipp said. “No, do a round,” I said.  “It’ll still be cacophony, but intentional this time.” I was outvoted.  I wasn’t going to sing anyway, not knowing the words, but that probably would have been more entertaining for the ‘gram. Zipp almost hit two pegasi flying in the clouds.  Fortunately, the Marestream was pretty slow, so even if she hadn’t avoided them, it probably wouldn’t have been a bad collision. “Eyes on the skies, not on your screens!” she shouted at them as we went by.  They’d wandered into our path while on their phones. “Victim of circumstance,” one of them called back, sheepish. Zipp kept us flying, as the winter sky kept snowing.  The windchill wasn’t too bad, because we weren’t going that fast. It was late evening when we arrived at our first destination, Grandma Figgy’s. “Wait, what are all those new trees?” Hitch said.  “It doesn't even look like her house anymore.” As the Marestream came to a stop we all piled off and headed up to the front door, most of us shivering a little from the unseasonable cold and having just flown open-air through it. “Wait, just a minute before we go in,” Hitch said.  “I need to warn everyone that Grandma Figgy can be a little particular about Winter Wishday.” “We’ll be sure to honor her earth pony traditions,” Sunny said. “We’ll be great guests.  Guests that go with the flow in the snow,” Izzy added. Hitch knocked on the door and Grandma Figgy answered immediately, as if she had been standing there waiting, possibly even listening to us talk about her. “Hitch, it’s so good to see you,” she said, hugging him.  “And what a treat to have Hitch’s friends here too.” “I’m his partner,” I said, raising my hoof.  “And these are our kids.” “And these little adorable sweethearts,” Figgy said, nuzzling Sparky and Billy.   She went on for a little bit baby-talking them before turning back to everyone else. “Nice to meet you,” Sunny said, through chattering teeth because we had been standing outside the front door for several minutes now. “Oh, certainly, do come in,” Figgy said.  “My, I haven’t seen weather like this in, well, never.  Come in, and we’ll warm those hoovsies right up.” Only then did she move aside to let the party in. Hot chocolate and a crackling fireplace awaited us.  The house was small but comfy and well decorated for the holiday. I put the pot of stew in the kitchen. Speaking of well-decorated, my makeup was especially on point today.  I mean, there wasn’t really room to get festive with it - I’m a bit of a one trick pony in that regard - but even Pipp had said I was totes rizz earlier, so I figured she meant it. I was still trying to figure out what Figgy thought of me.  Surely Hitch had told her we were raising a family together. I settled down beside the fire and tried to figure out how to drink hot chocolate without smudging my lipstick. Just then, Izzy made a scene. I didn't exactly see what had happened but just then there was a pop of confetti and a pair of very flamboyant trousers hit me in the face. They were made of rainbow fabric and had sequins. “Oops,” said Izzy.  “I hadn’t meant for the Prize Ka-Pow I was building to go off just yet.  Sorry if everypony got the wrong thing.” She came over to me, helping to remove the trousers from my face.  “Sorry Sentra.” “I’m a victim of circus pants.”