White awoke long before Braeburn and decided to take a shower and try to relax his frayed nerves. It did little to help so he decided to take a seat at the desk at the opposite side of the room from the bed. He couldn't do anything too loud for fear of waking Braeburn, so he settled on one of the many books upon the room's shelves. "The Magical Flora & Fauna of Equestria", the book offered no relief either. He ended up putting the book away after nearly falling asleep again.
After an hour & a half Braeburn awoke alone in bed for the first time in quite awhile, It wasn't an experience he wanted to repeat if he could help it. He found his angel drooping his head over the desk across the room. As not to alert him Braeburn stepped as carefully as he could until he was directly behind him. He slid his forelegs around his stallion's neck gently embracing him from behind. For several moments things were quiet until White broke the silence.
"I'm sorry I put off talking to you about the holidays until now, but I didn't know how you'd react to the news so I just kept putting it off. I understand if you're angry with me."
"I'm not angry just confused, why wouldn't you celebrate the founding of Equestria?" Braeburn asked in a soft tone. White let out another sigh in an attempt to gather himself.
"Hearth's Warming isn't just about that, it's mainly about the union of earth ponies, pegasi, & unicorns. Thestrals already lived here when the other tribes came from their homeland. After they beat the Windigoes they saught out other monsters to be gotten rid of so they could build their country together. Thestrals are usually bigger & stronger than I am with glowing yellow eyes and dark dragon-like wings. Thestrals originally lived in dark places & only came out at night, we were persecuted as monsters and driven out into the mountains at the border or were killed. Equestrians thought we were extinct for 300 years until they snooped around in the mountains. The fighting started again but this time the royal sisters had been born, Luna silenced the tribes with nothing but her voice and everypony watched as she moved the moon as a display of power. Thestrals had always worshiped the moon, seeing her save them from extinction & move it like nothing they all swore oaths to her alone. We eventually integrated into Equestria but neither side trusted the other for centuries & there are still only a few thousand of us today do to low birth rates."
Braeburn was dumbstruck, large dark, but important chunks of Equestrian history were completely missing from record. He was ashamed to say he was glad he couldn't see the down trodden look on his partner's face. He didn't have anything to say other than:
"I didn't know." At this White broke their awkward embrace & replaced it with a proper one.
"It's alright it happened nearly 2000 years ago, but I don't know if I can celebrate Hearth's Warming like you, but I don't want to ruin it for you." This got Braeburn thinking.
"Is there a holiday thestrals celebrate this time of year?" He asked hopefully.
"We celebrate the New Moon Night on the 1st of January, it's basically a big feast to be with loved ones to talk about plans for the new year & make set goals to be achieved by the next year." White also went on to explain that his family had never let him participate in any of the feasts before he had run away from home. This further soured Braeburn's opinion of White's parents & increased his sympathy for the stallion.
"Why don't we celebrate both?" Braeburn asked innocently?
"IT SHALL BE DONE!" Yelled the princess of the night who had until now gone unnoticed by the cuddling stallions who were promptly blown backwards by Luna's enthusiasm.
"We hath not celebrated the feast of New Moon Night for over a thousand years! I shall inform Tia of this development post-haste."
...
"Luna, what are you doing in our room?" Asked a very confused White.
"It is nearly breakfast time & we had hoped you would accompany us to the dining hall. We did not wish to interrupt such a heart-felt scene, It reminded us of our sister's "soap opera" programs. Now come breakfast waits for nopony when Tia has first dibs."
The stallions decided not to question this as their problem had seemingly been solved by an eavesdropping goddess. As the three walked down the hallways of Canterlot castle they stayed mostly silent, but the stallions fell back to walk side by side so White could do the wing-cuddle Braeburn was so fond of. Luna took notice of this & smiled as an idea formed in her head.
A few minutes later the trio arrived in the main dining hall. White had been here before & was not surprised by the majesty of the room. Braeburn on the other hoof was feeling insecure as the room was at least twice as large & high as their home. White noticed Braeburn's expression & used his hoof to close his coltfriend's gaping jaw. This calmed Braeburn until he noticed the occupant at the far end of the table: Princess Celestia, who at this point noticed their presence.
"White, so good to see you again. Is this the stallion you've become involved with recently?" The solar princess asked.
"Yes Celestia this is Braeburn Apple, & as always it's good to see you too." answered White calmly, causing Braeburn to gaze between the princess and his coltfiend. Celestia merely rolled her eyes as she was used to the star-struck reaction from ponies. She decided to see if she could get him to speak.
"Are you familiar with the element of honesty Braeburn?"
Hearing the princess speak his name immediately refocused his attention.
"Y-yes Your highness she's my first cousin, though the last time we talked on decent terms was 3 years ago when she delivered an apple tree to Apploosa to help start our orchard."
Celestia wondered why he had said "on decent terms" but decided to merely get the information from Luna or White Later. Instead she merely smiled & said:
"Well if you're family of an element & involved with the stallion my sister treats like family I have no objections to you staying with us for the Hearth's Warming. Now please be seated breakfast is getting cold." With that Luna took up the other vacant seat at the table's head next to Celestia while White took a seat to Luna's left. Braeburn unsure of where to sit took up the spot next to White. As soon as everypony was seated Braeburn turned his attention to the menagerie of foods upon the table. Everypony else had already started filling their own plate even the usually nervous White was chatting with Celestia as they filled there plates as if this were an everyday occurrence. Braeburn quickly remembered that White had lived here for a little over 2 months while recovering from his accident with Luna. Braeburn reasoned that if his meek little angel was so carefree that he could afford to lighten up.
Soon everypony was chatting up a storm while eating until White asked the princesses:
"Shouldn't Princess Cadance & Prince Blueblood be here with you for the holidays?"
Celestia & Luna answered:
"Cadance is spending the holiday with her husband & princess Twilight & the rest of the sparkle family in the Crystal Empire."
"And buck Blueblood." Luna added.
"To Tartarus & back." Celestia stated calmly. White seemed pleased with this answer, but Braeburn was a little surprised to hear it but decided to ignore it. Luna picked the conversation back up:
"This reminds us Tia, we will be reviving the traditional New Moon Night banquets which the stallions will also be staying for. Celestia sighed at this but nodded her approval.
"What is the matter Tia? You always enjoyed our banquets a millennium ago." Luna asked her less-than cheery sibling.
"I still haven't fulfilled my goal from the last banquet a thousand years ago."
Luna seemed to think on this for a moment before failing to hold back a fit of giggles.
"Thou still hast not lost any weight or given up your "Midnight snack" of an entire chocolate ca-" Luna was cut off by a large armored hoof being shoved in her mouth. After removing her hoof Celestia stated:
"We will hold the banquet but you will pay for it from your half of the treasury, & you will need to plan the event yourself as thestral tradition has always been kept orally. As such the traditions you learned from the thestrals a millennium ago will be the least corrupt."
"Agreed, It shall be held here in the grand dining hall at the stroke of midnight on the 1st of the new year, White Night & Braeburn will have a special have a special place among our table for providing the inspiration to revive the holiday." This last comment made White a bit nervous but he felt very happy none the less.
After breakfast White & Braeburn decided that since they were going to celebrate the New Moon Night, they would also celebrate the Hearth's warming, but only for the sake of themselves being together. However now that they had a definite plan for the Holidays, the harsh reality that they had little time to get each other gifts as Hearth's Warming eve was tomorrow. The two decided to take whatever bits they had & that would be their individual spending limit. Braeburn surprisingly enough, had 136 bits tucked away in his vest. White had 113 with him. Braeburn decided it would be a good idea to shower as he had not done so since before work the previous day because Luna had whisked them away. When He exited the bathroom he saw White, but there was something... different about his attire. Noticing Braeburn's confused stare he explained:
"Since we're going out into Canterlot to go shopping I asked Luna to magic my clothes to look more like a noble-pony's. I wouldn't recommend it. She says they'll return to normal by morning." Braeburn tried to withhold the smile creeping up on him but to no avail.
"Yeah, Yeah, laugh it up. Lets just get ready to go get Luna So we can leave." White said as he trotted toward the door to find Luna waiting in the hall. Luna lit her horn & teleported them into an alleyway in downtown Canterlot. The couple shared a quick kiss & seperated. Luna was going with White so the multitude of strange ponies wouldn't trigger a panic attack while he searched for Braeburn's gift.
Braeburn tried & failed to find a gift in the first 6 stores he tried, nothing he found felt special enough for his angel. However he eventually found a store selling silver flasks. Braeburn liked the flask he found for 80 bits but it didn't seem personal enough. Braeburn noticed that there was a sign stating that inscriptions, engravings and enchantments could be placed on the flasks for a few extra bits. Braeburn haggled & begged with the unicorn behind the counter until he had what he wanted. He left the store with only one bit left in his pouch, which he gave to the mare collecting for charity outside the store. Braeburn tucked the box containing his gift into the pocket where his hard-earned bits had once been.
Braeburn was the first to return to the alley the where to meet back at when finished shopping. 20 minutes later the snow-white thestral & the dark princess returned. White held a circular box under one wing & a square box beneath the other. Braeburn was curious but resisted the temptation to ask why his coltfriend carried 2 gifts.Luna was first to speak when they returned.
"Hast thou not found something to your liking Braeburn?"
"Got it right here." He replied tapping his vest.
"Good, Luna has agreed to have the gifts wrapped & placed under the tree in Celestia's study so nopony get tempted to peek." White explained.
With that, Luna brought them back to the castle using her magic. Luna took the gifts in her magic & trotted down the hall, presumably to take care of the gifts. The stallions were quiet as they couldn't tell each other of their days or the surprise would be ruined. Though White did mention that he too had spent every bit he had. The couple trotted off to the dining hall for dinner but noticed Luna absent from the seat closest Celestia. The remaining princess said:
"Luna had to take care of a few things she put off to help you with your shopping. You most likely won't see her until Hearth's Warming itself. She's got much to do to get ready for the banquet."
The stallions sat down to eat with the solar diarch & made a bit of small-talk but with Luna absent the room seemed less cheerful. After dinner they headed back to their room & snuggled, for awhile White even got Braeburn to talk of past Hearth's Warmings from when he had been just a little colt. They both chatted, White asking question & Braeburn answering best as he could. Eventually the pair fell asleep with White with his head across his stallion's chest. There they laid undisturbed until morning.