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Orion Skies finally ended his long and deep train of thoughts and took awareness of his surroundings once more. The first thing he noticed was that Pink Mist was still sound asleep beside him. He also saw the nearby fireplace was still lit, though it was much more dim than the last time he checked. Having had more energy and more time to rest than earlier, he decided that it was finally time for him to get up and walk around. Slowly and quietly freeing himself from the pink mare's grasp, he managed to avoid waking her up, much to his surprise. As Orion carefully stood up on his four hooves, trying his best not to cause any disturbance for the sleeping mare right by him, he made his way towards the back door of the cabin. He looked back at the pink sleeping beauty one last time.
Don't worry Misty Pie. I'll make sure that you have the best Hearth's Warming Eve ever! Orion thought reassuringly to himself.
He gave a warm smile and slowly closed the door behind him. With the thickening snow levels, and Hearth's Warming Eve tonight, he was running out of time. He wanted to do something special for Pink Mist, and he needed to do it quick.
And with that thought in mind, he took off like the roaring winter breeze. He galloped down through the narrow forest trail, and within just seconds the cabin behind him disappeared in the distance. He was not sure where he was going, nor was he sure what exactly he was going to do for Pink Mist; all he knew was that he was not going to find anything up here on the mountain. His long and wild mane blew back in the wind, as he turned, skidded, and galloped through and around all the crossroads, corners, bumps, and dodged whatever obstacle was in his way.
It was not long before Orion exited out the forest and was now galloping out in the open snowy terrain down the slope of the mountain. He was in a race like no other; he was racing against the rising sun; by the looks of it, it was exactly noon. Orion and Pink Mist had slept through the entire morning and upon this realization, the racing stallion decided to increase his pace even further.
In the midst of his sprinting, he took a brief moment and turned his head to glance out towards the distant land below. From where he was running, he was able to see Ponyville, quickly coming more into focus. It was a beautiful sight and it left Orion in a state of awe. Hundreds of homes below were lit brightly in a variety of colors, mainly ranging from red to green. At the very center of the town was a ginormous Hearth's Warming tree, adorned from top to bottom with numerous ornaments, bows, and various other unique embellishments. At the very top of the tree, was a large five-pointed golden star that shimmered gloriously in the light of Celestia's sun.
As Orion was approaching closer towards the land below, he was unaware of the edge of the extremely steep cliff coming up straight ahead. It was only at several feet away from the very edge that Orion suddenly realized that there was no more slope ahead. He immediately thrust his back hooves as deep into the snow as he could, but it was still to not much avail. His attempt on breaking his slide was greatly failing as the friction was not enough to slow him down, and just as he feared, he went over the edge.
The cliff's steepness was at least ten times that of the slope Orion was galloping down on just an instant ago. He slid down the immensely steep, almost vertical rock wall at an exceedingly fast rate, almost as if he was free falling, with his back just barely brushing against the wall of granite behind. He tried using his hooves to slow himself down or to grab onto any protruding ledge or crack but it was of no use to him either way. He looked straight down at where he was falling directly towards, and to his surprise, what he saw, was an overhead view of Canterlot, his hometown. He had never before seen a view of the city at such an angle and for a transitory time, his utter fear was replaced by a great feeling of surprise. It immediately ended when he saw that he was sliding down towards the head of one of Canterlot's seemingly endless waterfalls below.
He braced himself for the inevitable as he fell into the head-stream with a great splash. He immediately swam upward as he struggled to keep himself afloat above the water. He then prepared himself for the worse as just seconds ahead, was a drop down one of the tallest waterfalls in all of Equestria. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath as the currents threw him off the edge of the stream and down with the falling waters. The fall felt like an eternity for Orion; for the first time in his life, he felt weightless. The feeling was nonetheless, short-lived, as it ended with him finally splashing into an artificial pond along the base of the luxurious city.
Once again and with great struggle he immediately swam upward towards the surface before finally managing to stay afloat. He looked around and was relieved when he saw the streets and buildings in the short distance away. With some difficulty and struggle, he swam and eventually made it to the end of the pond and slowly dragged his exhausted body out of the water. As he began to stand up on his hooves, he vigorously shook his head and most of his soaked body to dry himself off as best as he could. To his utter relief , he managed to dry himself off really well, almost to the point that it was as if he never got wet in the first place. He was also thankful that the fall completely left him unscathed. He noticed some of the wealthy and higher class ponies walking nearby, giving him the strangest looks and stares, though he didn't really pay too much attention to that.
He'd only left the cabin minutes ago and the sun had hardly risen any further since Orion last checked. He was immensely surprised as to how fast he'd managed to get here altogether. He may have missed Ponyville, but now within the luxurious extravagance of Canterlot, the very city he grew up in for most of his life, he began to realize just how convenient of an opportunity this was for him. He knew the place well; he knew all the stores, shops, markets, and just about any retail place where he could potentially find something of great genuineness and value. If there was any great gift he could give to Pink Mist, there was little to no doubt that he would find it here.
He quickly trotted around the streets, looking for every possible jewelry, clothing store, and marketplace he could see within his own proximity. A few more crucial minutes passed, and Orion's eagerness was beginning to get more and more aggravated. It was hard for him to focus with such limited time. For all he knew, Pink Mist could be waking up right at this very moment, wondering where her "Sky-Sky" had gone. She could be worried-sick as far as the anxious stallion knew. He tried to not think so much about it but with each passing second, it was beginning to become much more difficult for him to remain calm. Orion Skies felt more compelled than ever to find that special something for her, and he was losing precious time.
To his luck, he finally found a nearby jewelry store straight ahead, at the corner of the street he was trotting through. In the instant he noticed, he took off in a speeding gallop towards the store, quickly arriving at the front. He became much more at ease as he saw the sign on the door say "OPEN", and within moments he immediately entered inside. The interior of the store looked remarkably lavish and on all the shelves of its walls were various assortments of jewelry, ranging from rings, necklaces, earrings, tiaras, and so much more. He was utmost thrilled to see all the potential gifts right before his very eyes. He felt a great surge of hope, and he was not even sure what to get as there were a seemingly unlimited amount of items he could choose from. As his eyes scanned through all the luxurious jewelry, there was one item amongst all that quickly had Orion's eyes fully locked on it. A golden necklace with a silver heart-shaped pendant, which had the word "Angel" engraved in it. It was the most beautiful piece of jewelry Orion had ever seen, and he just knew Pink Mist would love it.
He quickly snatched the necklace and held it carefully in his mouth as he then made his way to the front of the counter to meet with the store's jeweler. Orion gently placed it down in front of him and gave a small greeting smile.
"I would like to get this necklace for my special somepony please."
"Alright then. That will be, 50 bits!" The Jeweler explained.
Orion's eager and happy expression immediately faded away. He wasn't prepared to be having to pay this much money.
"Um, I have 5 bits on me.... can you by any chance accept that?" Orion shyly asked, feeling greatly unnerved.
The jeweler laughed profusely, as if Orion's question was nothing more than a joke to him. "Are you from around here?"
"Not really no."
"Well sir, I'm afraid I cannot accept just a mere 5 bits for this simplistic but beautiful piece of jewelry right here. You have great taste, I'll give you that." The jeweler explained in a calm but stern tone. "But 50 bits is the cheapest price we go for here. And if you can only pay with just 5 bits, then I'm sorry pal, but this store and really any other jewelry store here in Canterlot, is just not the place for you to buy anything good."
"But 5 bits is all I have. And it's for my special somepony... I wanted to give her something really special. Something to make her happy." Orion tried explaining, feeling greatly disappointed.
"Look pal, do you really want to give her something special? Something she'll love more than anything?"
Orion quietly nodded his head.
"You love the lass, don't you?" The jeweler asked, looking at him rather sympathetically.
"Of course I do. I love her more than anything!" Orion answered, rather surprised by the question given that he had an extremely obvious answer to.
"Then just be with her and give her love. It's completely free and it will do so much for her that no amount of wealth or bits in the world can ever suffice." The jeweler answered, giving Orion a slight smile.
Orion Skies was left speechless, for the jeweler's response to the poor stallion's agony of desperation was one that he truly didn't expect. To Orion's uttermost surprise, his answer was not only kind, but it also began to make a whole lot of sense to him. He gave himself a huge 'mental facehoof' as he realized just how much he had over-complicated everything. Looking back in retrospect at the other night he spent with Pink Mist on the top of the mountain, he remembered the beautiful, reassuring, and heartfelt words that they exchanged with each other.
"At the end of every adventure, is an amazing reward. This marvelous view of Equestria and Luna's wondrous night-sky is our reward for making it all the way up here, and I am thankful to be sharing this reward with you."
"Oh Orion. This is definitely an awesome reward and I'm proud to share it with you too!"
"Our first Hearth's Warming Eve together! Yay!"
He remembered when Pink Mist excitingly exclaimed that to him before pulling him into that heartwarming hug. Now thinking back on it, those two words in her sentence: our and together, meant a whole lot more than what Orion originally thought.
He also remembered when she was explaining her unfortunate past memories to Orion and when she said this:
"I mean I would've loved to celebrate Hearth's Warming Eve with my parents when I was younger...but that just never happened...I never even had a gift given to me before...I have no idea why. That was just the way things were for me. Only me..."
Eventually, Orion Skies finally managed to put all the pieces together and realized the full reality of what Pink Mist really wanted for Hearth's Warming Eve. He thought a fancy gift, a genuine and luxurious-looking gift would be enough to make her happy, but what she truly wished for was so much more profound. She had a lonely and rough childhood, and she had been longing for someone to share this precious time of the year with. And surprisingly, Orion knew the exact feeling. He too was an uttermost lonely child, who never had the chance to celebrate the holiday with another pony. Throughout most of his life, he always wanted someone he could share just about everything with; his stories, memories, moments, and adventures. He wanted someone to love. She wanted to be loved and she too wanted moments and memories to spend and cherish with another.
It all made perfect sense now; the greatest gift he could possibly give her, was love. It's what he'd been profusely giving her for all the months he'd known her for. But to give her all the love and company on such a special holiday like this, to offer her the experience of having someone to not only love, but to celebrate the holiday with, for the first ever time in her life, was a grand opportunity for both Orion and his fillyfriend. He didn't need any lavish jewelry to impress her and make her feel pretty, just being there with her would be enough to do all that, and so much more.
"Hey, you alright there pal?" The jeweler asked as he interrupted Orion's deep train of thought.
Orion shook his head as he regained awareness. "Oh um, yeah! Uh sorry about that, my mind tends to doze off into space sometimes." The stallion nervously laughed. "I should just get going now. Sorry about all the inconvenience."
Orion was just about to turn away from the front counter and make his way to the door, when suddenly the jeweler called out to him.
"Hey now, don't leave just yet!"
"Huh." Orion responded bemusedly as he turned back to look at him.
"Look, you may not have enough bits to afford the fancy heart necklace, but you do have a reasonable enough amount to buy this off of me." The jeweler explained as he pulled out a brilliant red wool scarf from under the counter. It was in great condition and on one of its ends was a small and embedded green Hearth's Warming tree decor.
"I-It looks beautiful! It's perfect! B-But why? Why would you want to help a poor stallion like me?" Orion asked, shocked by the jeweler's sudden display of kindness.
"While you were dozing off in your own train of thoughts, I spent a little time in thinking myself. I was actually gonna give this scarf to my wife today, but after taking your rough situation into account, I thought I'd show some generosity. Besides, I can always buy her another scarf." The jeweler explained giving a warm smile.
"Thank you so much!" Orion gratefully exclaimed. He threw his 5 bits on the countertop and happily took the scarf the jeweler had so kindly given him before trotting out the store. He was elated and he had great hopes for this Hearth's Warming Eve. He was going to make Pink Mist feel like the most special mare in all of Equestria! Not just because of the scarf he managed to get by an unexpected surge of luck, but because he now knew exactly what she truly wanted; no gifts, but rather to have him give her the love and comfort she needed for this special occasion.
However, as he looked above at the towering mountains overshadowing the city, he realized that to his utter dismay, he was a long ways from the cabin. His feelings of happiness and utter joy began to transition to feelings of utmost confusion and panic. He had not a single idea as to how he would be able to find a way back up to the cabin in time. On hoof, it could take him roughly seven hours to hike and ascend all the way back. He didn't have that kind of time; if Pink Mist were to be awake now, Orion had no doubt that she would be worried sick about him and where he went off to. For the moment, he hated himself for even leaving her alone in the first place. Immediately, he began trotting around all the streets and corners of Canterlot, asking any nearby passerby he could find for quick directions as to how he could get back up the mountain. He found no luck, and with each passing minute, his fears and distress grew.
I finally found the perfect gift for Misty Pie, and here I am stranded miles away from the cabin. How convenient! Orion thought sarcastically to himself.
Just as Orion was about to ultimately give up and lose all hope, he saw two seemingly peculiar mares walking by. One of them wore a brilliant white coat of fur and a dazzling curly purple mane; her cutie mark appeared to be three sparkly diamonds. The mare walking alongside her looked extremely peculiar in comparison. Her coat was a light hue of pink and her mane was a darker shade of pink; her mane was perhaps the most wild mane Orion had ever seen on anypony. There was a seemingly endless amount of curls in her mane, which oddly enough, appeared to defy gravity. They were engaging in some sort of conversation; though the stallion could hardly understand what they were saying, he could tell that the British-esque accent belonged to the more elegant white mare, while the high pitched and more hyper sounding voice belonged to the eccentric pink mare.
"Pinkie Pie, for the umpteenth time, we are not here to eat lollipops or cake!" The other mare explained to her in a rather frustrated tone of voice. From Orion's limited perspective it seemed like the bouncy pink pony, whose name was apparently Pinkie Pie, was annoying the elegant looking mare to no end. He gave a slight giggle as he observed the scene from afar.
"Come on Rarity! You know I have a sweet tooth, and it would be so super-duper-uper-nuper amazing if you let me stop by some nearby bakery!" Pinkie Pie yelled back, much to Rarity's annoyance.
Orion couldn't really hear much of what the two mares were arguing about, but he decided to intervene and at least try and ask if these ponies could help him out in his situation, which was becoming increasingly crucial with each passing moment.
"Hey excuse me!" The stallion called out to them. He was successful in capturing their attention as they immediately turned to face him.
"Can I help you darling?" Rarity asked looking at him with great concern.
"I'm not sure if you can be of much help, but it's worth a try... I was trying to find my special somepony a gift, and then unexpectedly, I came here to this city on accident, which turned out to be quite a convenient accident since I did end up getting a special gift for her after all, but now, I have no idea how to get back. I'm stranded here, and my special somepony is up in our cabin near the top of that mountain." Orion explained as he pointed his hoof toward where the cabin was located.
The mares were speechless, as they looked at the stallion and then back towards each other with very puzzled expressions on their faces. They took a few brief moments, trying to process all the sudden information and details the stallion had just provided them with. It was clear to Pinkie Pie and Rarity that this stallion was in a very dire situation here, and the mares, although they felt more than inclined to help out, they were not sure how they could.
"Oh my, I don't know what to say." Rarity responded, being the first one to speak. "It's really sweet that you went through all this trouble to get her a special Hearth's Warming Eve gift. Honestly, being a romantic enthusiast and all, it really touches my heart to see such selflessness, such kindness, and willingness displayed by a sweet stallion like you, to bring joy to your lover's heart. I remember when I was a little filly, I used to always dream of-"
"Um, Rarity. This stallion's running out of time. You know that, right?" Pinkie interjected, giving Rarity a little nudge on the shoulder, hoping she would end her garrulous rambling and focus on the issue at hand.
"Oh! Right! Um sorry... um... what's your name?" Rarity asked, still embarrassed about her digression.
"My name is Orion Skies, and my fillyfriend's name is Pink Mist." Orion answered rather gloomily. He let out a little sigh. "I just can't believe I let her down like this. I got myself stranded down here. There's no way I'll make it back before she wakes up. I left her alone, to spend the holiday all by herself, just like how her family had left her alone throughout all her past years..." Orion explained as he began to walk away from the mares, feeling like he had wasted enough of their time.
"Orion, wait!" Pinkie Pie called out to him, successfully making him stop and look back.
"Why? I already wasted your time. I explained my situation. There's no way I'll ever make it back for the holiday... I disappointed her and for all I know, she might as well just lea-"
Before Orion could finish his sentence, he was slapped across the face by a passionate and suddenly determined Rarity.
"Don't you dare finish that sentence! Now listen to me! I may have only known you for a few minutes, but I can easily tell that you have a genuine and selfless heart. You are going to make her the happiest mare alive when she receives not only your special gift for her, but your loving comfort and presence."
"But how?"
Rarity looked at the stallion with a very purposeful expression on her face. "We're getting you back to the cabin up there. Right Pinkie Pie?"
"Righty-o!" Pinkie Pie responded as she immediately stood erect on her two back-hooves and gave an army-like salute. It was somewhat comedic to Orion. She then relaxed back to her regular position and gave the stallion a reassuring smile. "Don't worry Orion, we're going to help you make this the best Hearth's Warming Eve ever for her!"
"Wait, what? I don't understand. How is that even possible? Orion asked, more surprised than ever by the two mares's sudden determined and willing attitude.
Rarity pondered for a minute before her eyes finally lit up. "Ideaaa! Me and Pinkie Pie did come up here from Ponyville on a hot air balloon. Perhaps, we could all hitch another ride and get you quickly back up the mountain!"
Orion was at a loss for words.
"No time to respond! Just follow us!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed with great excitement as her and Rarity immediately took off. Orion quickly followed suit.
He could barely repress the happiness and hope he was now feeling.
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