tap tap tap
Soren scrunched his face.
tap tap
'What is that?' he wondered.
tap tap...tap tap
'Something is touching my horn.' He creaked one eye open and was graced with the presence of a bored-looking Nyra, who was propping her head with one hoof and using the other to make tapping noises with Soren's horn.
"Can I help you?" he said sleepily.
"Oh! You're finally awake. Good. I don't know if you could tell by that, but I was bored."
"How long were you doing that exactly?" He stretched.
"A few hours." Soren froze mid-stretch.
"A few...hours? Did you even sleep last night? And how didn't I wake up from that sooner." She shrugged.
"I slept or a bit, but I'm a bat pony with a messed up internal clock. If I stay up all day today, I should get it aligned with a normal pony's schedule. How did you sleep?"
"Fine actually. That's weird. Normally I would be having nightmares."
"How long has that been going on?" Nyra jumped off of the bed and sat near the bedroom door.
"Few weeks."
"Wow. Looks like you just needed to surround yourself in mares to get rid of them."
"Ha. Maybe I did. Let's just get downstairs." Nyra opened the door and allowed Soren to exit first. They immediately saw Luna about to walk downstairs. The princess made eye contact with them and looked back and forth between the two. Soren's eyes widened.
"It's not what it looks like! I just found her in my room this morning!"
"I know nothing happened, Soren. There was no noise coming from your bedroom. That, or you are a silent lover." Soren blushed and just followed Luna downstairs, Nyra right behind him.
"Eyes up, soldier. No moon gazing for you," Nyra whispered behind him. Soren's cheeks went from pink to red.
"I wasn't...I'm not going to...Uggh! You all are just torturing me now."
"Did someone say torture?" Pinkamena asked from the dining room table. She served herself a dandelion sandwhich and was currently halfway finished with it. "Soren, do we need a repeat of the last time we had quality time together?" Soren gave up; he sat down at the base of the stairs and buried his burning face in his hooves.
A knocking from the door signaled the arrival of Rainbow Dash. She greeted the other mares and looked at Soren sitting by the stairs.
"Hey, Soren. I see you have a morning wingboner."
"It's not from the morning," he muttered. "Why must you mares be so...so..."
"Kinky?"
"Flirty?"
"Lewd?"
"Teasing?"
"Basically. Why though?"
"Because you're adorable when you blush," Rainbow answered. "And it's fun teasing you like that."
"It wouldn't be so fun for you girls if I teased back." Luna's eyebrows lifted quickly and slightly, then returned to their normal position.
"Maybe. It would bring up all kinds of fun. Anyway, I figured out what we could do today. Well, technically Pinkie Pie did. She caught up with me this morning and invited us to go ice skating. I figured we could put up the decorations really quick..." She tapped one of the boxes near the door. "...then go meet her."
"Two Pinkie Pies meeting each other..." Soren wondered. "Should be interesting. What do you girls think?" The other three said yes or why not.
The next hour or so was spent eating breakfast and hanging decorations. Midway through preparations, Soren flew to Chroma's house and dragged him to the house to help and to go ice skating with them after. Chroma persisted that he stay home, but after hearing the mention of more jokes with the mares, he found it hard to say no.
Once the Hearth's Warming decorations were up, the group of six made their way to one of the frozen ponds outside of town. Rainbow Dash led them to the pond Pinkie said she would be skating at. Sure enough, it was hard to miss the bright, pink, bouncy mare doing triple spins in the air and landing on one hoof then skating backwards. They all sat down at the edge of the pond as they watched Pinkie Pie skate.
Soren nudged Pinkamena. "In case you couldn't tell, she is this universe's version of you. An always-smiling, party-crazy, happy-go-lucky mare with an attitude that can bring joy to anypony."
"That's me!" Pinkie Pie said. After performing one more trick, she skated over to the six ponies. She hit the brakes and showered them with soft bits of ice. "Hiya, Princess! Are you staying in Ponyville for awhile?"
"Yes. How are you?"
"As good as always. Hey, it's Nyra! You're alive!"
"Hello, Pinkie Pie. It's great to be back."
"I'm sure the princesses did something magicky and crazy to bring you back, didn't they? Oooooo, new pony." She looked at Pinkamena and immediately brought her into a tight hug. The dark pink mare struggled to breathe but was eventually let go. "How long have you been in Ponyville? You look kinda like me and I would remember a pony that looked like me because it's me. Why wouldn't I know another me?"
"I've only been here—" Pinkamena started only to be interrupted by Pinkie.
"No, don't tell me!" She grabbed Pinkamena's head and put her ear to the top of it. She jiggled the mare's head and stared into her eyes like she was trying to look into her soul. "15 hours, 23 minutes, aaaaand 50 seconds. 51...52."
"Uhh..."
"Aaaanyway, Pinkie Pie," Rainbow started after seeing how blown Pinkamena's mind has become. "How about we teach them how to ice skate?"
"Goody! If I could teach Twilight how to skate, the rest of you should be a piece of cake with strawberry frosting and a chocolate cherry on top!"
"Umm, Twi still can't skate."
"Oh. Well...how hard can it be to try it again?" She pulled six sets of ice skates out of a nearby tree hollow. "It's been awhile since I've used my emergency ice skates. Be careful, everypony, it's very~ slippery. Wheeeeeee!" She flew down the ice towards the other end of the pond to perform more tricks.
With their ice skates now on, everypony stood on the snow at the edge of the pond. Rainbow and Nyra looked confident; Luna and Pinkamena weren't sure how to feel; and Soren and Chroma knew this wouldn't end well. Rainbow and Nyra took a step onto the ice; only one of them skated towards Pinkie Pie. Nyra's hoof slipped behind her, and she fell on her face. Everyone else on the snow cringed.
"I think I'm having second thoughts about this," Chroma said.
"Either take a chance or I'll drag you down with me," Soren said. "We're all going to fall. Might as well do it together." He took a step onto the ice and instantly wobbled. He tried moving his two right hooves forward, but they went too far forward and almost caused Soren to slide onto his stomach.
Luna and Pinkamena looked at each other and shrugged. They both took a chance together; Luna wobbled and refused to move in fear of falling, and Pinkamena soon fell to her stomach. Chroma mentality said 'screw this' and took a few steps back. He then took a running start for the ice, which caused him to slide on his chin and chest clear to the other side. Once he impacted snow, Chroma looked up at a giggling Pinkie Pie.
"That's not how you do it, silly! You have be patient. Teeny tiny baby motions." Pinkie took to the ice again, and every pony noticed how she didn't use giant motions with her hooves to gain speed or turn.
"I didn't even want to ice skate," Chroma complained as he dragged himself onto the snow. Pinkamena copied him and did the same. Those two really didn't want to learn how to ice skate.
Soren, Nyra, and Luna tried their best to find their center of balance. Every time they fell, they got back up and tried again. Luna seemed to figure out the mechanics fairly quick, whereas Soren and Nyra were becoming a little better. After an hour of attempts, the three sat in the snow and watched as Pinkie and Rainbow continued to skate. Chroma and Pinkamena joined the trio and watched as well.
"I didn't think your version of me would be so...different," Pinkamena commented to Soren.
"She's basically your opposite. Completely innocent and infinitely happy. You know, I bet you could be almost as happy as her if you tried."
"I doubt it. Thanks for saying that thought. So this is a normal day for you?"
"Pretty much, except with not so many mares flirting with me." Nyra, Pinkamena, and Luna laughed. "Recently, it's just been me, Rainbow, Chroma, and sometimes Pinkie Pie. Everyone else is busy and will probably remain that way for the next week."
"Your other friends are Twilight, Applejack, Fluttershy, and Rarity, right?" He nodded. "Maybe I can stick around long enough to see them."
"How long are you staying with us? Did the mare that brought you say when she will pick you up?"
"Nope. Just brought me here and left. I really like it here; so nice and peaceful and...happy." Soren smiled and looked at Pinkamena gazing off into town. Pinkie Pie and Rainbow then skidded to a halt in front of everypony.
"You guys did pretty good for your first time," Rainbow said. "I'm sure you'll get it if you keep trying. Thanks for the fun time, Pinkie. Are you going to be spending Hearth's Warming with the Cakes again?"
"Yessiree, like always. Are you and Soren going to spend it together?"
"Among other guests," Soren answered with a gesture to everyone else.
"Wow. You could have a party at your house! Too bad I'll be with the Cakes; I could have hosted it!"
"That's alright, Pinkie. I'm sure it won't be that big of a party, but it will definitely be a party."
"Okey dokey loki, I'll see you all after the holidays!" Everyone said goodbye then Pinkie bounced back into town.
"We should probably get ready for tomorrow ourselves," Soren said. They all agreed, so the group walked back to Soren's house together.
---------------
Upon arriving home, the six friends were met with an unexpected surprise: a nasty smell that flooded the living room.
"What is causing such a foul odor?" Luna asked, holding her muzzle; everyone was doing the same.
"Smells like...rotten milk?" Soren said. He walked into the kitchen and sure enough found a glass half-filled with thick milk. "Eeyup, the smell is definitely being caused by this." He picked the glass, brought it outside, dumped the milk with his magic (it was too thick to pour out), and ignited it with a spell. Walking back inside, Soren was being stared at with questionable looks. "What? I'd rather smell burnt grass than spoiled milk."
"The smell is still inside," Chroma pointed out. "Anypony know a spell that can clean the air?"
"I may have an alternative," Luna said. Illuminating the room in a light blue glow, Luna created a mist to change the scent of the air to that similar of the ocean. Everyone took a good whiff of the new scent and relaxed immensely. Much better than spoiled milk.
"What can't the princesses do?" Rainbow asked as her and Soren leaned against each other. Everyone's eyes were closed; Chroma sat still, and Nyra and Pinkamena leaned against the couch.
Chroma's ear twitched.
-------------
The rest of the day was spent relaxing and conversing with one another. Celestia and Luna set the sun and rose the moon, the decorations were up, the carolers were already out and about, and Soren and his friends couldn't be more relaxed and happy. Pinkamena and Nyra were already asleep, and Luna and Rainbow were talking to each other. Soren took this opportunity to go outside and enjoy the night; Chroma soon joined him.
"So what are you going to do?" the unicorn asked. Soren was staring at the moon.
"Hmm?"
"About all of those mares inside. It's obvious something is about to happen."
"I know. I just hope it's not what I think is going to happen."
"And what exactly do you think will happen?"
"Either Rainbow finds out they are genuinely trying to make me their coltfriend, or they all fight over me."
"But Luna hasn't flirted with you yet."
"She will. I doubt she's staying to watch Nyra. You don't really think I was the only one hurt about our forced break up, do you?"
"I didn't think of that. I just assumed that because she was royalty..."
"That she would have more important things to do? She does, but it doesn't mean she can't have fun on the side. Celestia seems to rule more anyway."
"Do you have a plan to deal with this?"
"Not yet. What's the worse that could happen anyway?"
"Someone gets hurt."
Soren looked at Chroma. "Physically or mentally?"
"Does it matter?"
"No, but physically is something that should be avoided at all costs. I'll figure something out, don't worry. Let's just enjoy the holidays tomorrow. You're welcome to stay here with us."
"I'll have to pass. As much as I would love to wake up to the smell of mare heat, I'll just sleep at home and arrive here as early as possible."
"Your loss. This morning, I was fire red from blushing, and I was only up for about ten minutes. Even woke up with Nyra in my bed."
"Where can I sleep?"