The party had moved outside of the manor into a large clearing where there were no tree branches that could possibly get in the way of the view. Everypony had settled down in their groups, laying back to get the best possible view of the show. Everypony, that is, except for Card.
Card was jittering about, pacing back and forth next to Trixie and Twilight, who had managed to ask Celestia to let her sit alone with her friends, a request the Princess was all to happy to grant.
“I can’t believe you set up a fireworks show!” Twilight said. “How did you pull that off?”
“I didn’t, Tron, Odd, and Brick did,” Card said, still pacing as he cast his gaze around.
“What are you so nervous about?” Trixie asked.
“Nothing.”
“It’s not nothing, I’ve never seen you like this.”
“C’mon Card, just settle down and watch the show,” Twilight said. “When did you say it would be starting?”
“11:59,” Card said. He stopped moving and sat down next to his friends. However, even though he had stopped pacing, his limbs were still twitchy. Before either of his friends could question him, the show started, distracting them with the pretty lights and loud noises of the fireworks. They were so held by the display that they didn’t notice Card getting up.
Card set his shoulders, and focused his eyes. He began to walk towards his destination when suddenly, everything stopped.
The fireworks froze in place, the grass he was stepping on stopped bending beneath his hooves, the ponies who were in the clearing with him suddenly froze in all their activity. Even Card, though he was aware of the sudden freeze, found himself unable to move as the time-locked air refused to give way to his limbs.
Despite this sudden, jarring stoppage, he did not panic. After all, there was only one being who was so busy that the only way he could find the time to wish his son a happy New Year’s was by making the whole thing stop.
“Hello son!” Solaris said as he emerged from his teleport, a faint glow covering his body as the air molecules that were blocking his path were sent into subspace until they reappeared when he got out of the space they were trying to occupy.
Card moved his eyes to look at him.
“Oh right.” Solaris’s horn lit up briefly as he teleported all of the air molecules that were constraining Card away.
“Could you have maybe chosen a better time?” Card asked, his gaze flitting over to his destination.
“Sorry, you know how busy it gets at year’s end. Happy New Year’s!” said the King.
Card let out a sigh, shaking his head as he walked over to embrace his father. “Happy New Year’s. Although, you’re off by about 40 seconds.”
Solaris waved it off. “In some parts of this kingdom it’s been 2534 for a couple hours now,” he sat down on the unbending grass and faced the frozen fireworks, motioning for his son to take a seat next to him.
“So, how you feeling?”
Card thought this over for a little. “Right now? A little nervous honestly.”
“Oh? Anything you feel like telling me about?”
“Not really. Personal.”
Solaris made a sound of acknowledgment. The pair gazed at the hanging lights as they contemplated what to say.
“Just think, it's only a few more hours before you’re going to have to start-”
“Ahhdadadatatata,” Card covered his ears. “I don’t want to think about it.”
Solaris chuckled. “You think you’ll be staying here?” he said with jerk in the direction of the manor.
“Yeah,” Card looked at Twilight and Trixie, with their look of awe still frozen in place. “I like it here.”
“Really?” Solaris’s voice took on a hint of concern. “You’re sure it’s not too much?”
“Yes!” Card playfully glared at his dad. “It was a little rough for the first few weeks but I got used to it pretty quickly.”
“Glad to hear you’ve been having fun,” Solaris cast his gaze over the group of ponies. “Wait, what’s Tia doing here?”
“I think she just got bored at the castle or something.”
“Yeah, that sounds like her alright.”
“Has she always been that impulsive?”
“Oh, you do not have the right to call people impulsive. Remind me again what happened at the museum?”
“Point taken. Still though?”
Solaris sighed wistfully as he gazed at the eldest of his younger siblings. “Worse actually. She used to be a real airhead.”
“Really?”
“Oh yes, completely. One time she was trying to change the color of a tree, but she was even worse at magic then than she is now if you can believe that, and she ended up turning it into stone.”
“That’s not so bad.”
“And then, because she was so convinced that her spell had worked because the tree was now gray, she went on trying it out on every tree on the palace grounds. When I found her she was close to tears in frustration because she couldn’t understand why her spell could only make the trees turn that one color, and she had petrified over three-quarters of the arboretum.”
“Wow. How did you get her to stop?”
“I got Noc-Noc to cast an illusion over the trees so that it looked like they were changing to the color she wanted, and eventually she got bored and left. I punished her later by making her do Noc-Noc’s chores for a year.”
“You didn’t have her fix the trees?”
Solaris shuddered. “Can you imagine what Celestia could have done to those trees if she tried to fix them? No, I got a friend of mine to take care of that.”
Card chuckled. All of his nervousness had left his body by this point, a fact that his father took notice of.
“Well, I’ve got to get back to work,” Solaris said as he started teleporting back in all of the air he had removed to allow Card to move around. “Enjoy the last few hours of your vacation,” Solaris hugged his son goodbye and teleported out, canceling the spell.
The fireworks started crackling again, and the grass gave way. Card took a deep breath and remembered his objective. He headed over to the edge of the clearing, where Pinkie Pie was sitting alone watching the fireworks with a teeth-baring grin on her face. He sat down next to the pink mare with a mumble of greeting as the fireworks began counting down, a great booming voice accompanying the numbers that appeared in the sky.
Ten!
Pinkie Pie looked over to Card, her grin softening into a more genuine smile as she lingered on him before her attention went back to the fireworks.
Nine!
Card smiled back, his mind suddenly racing.
Eight!
Should I? Shouldn’t I? You two shut up!
Seven!
His gaze darted around the field, as he took another deep, unnecessary, breath to calm down.
Six!
He started fiddling with the sleeves of his jacket.
Five!
He reached in and took out a coin.
Four!
Heads I do, Tails I don’t.
Three!
He shut his sense off as best he could from those particular possibilities and tossed it up into the air.
Two!
He was so focused on not focusing on the coin that he didn’t notice Pinkie Pie turning his way until she grabbed him by his lapel.
One!
Pinkie pulled his head closer to her, pressing her lips firmly against his.
Happy New Years!
Cherries. Interesting. Card then stopped thinking and focused on returning the kiss he was enjoying so much.
Tails.