//------------------------------//
// Chapter 7 - Hearts & Hearths 
// Story: Twilight Sparkle of the Royal Guard: The Rising 
// by King of Beggars 
//------------------------------//

Winter had come to Canterlot with a vengeance this year. Every roof and walkway was covered in snow, and the limbs of every tree sagged with the weight of the stuff. The city's many small ponds, swimming pools, and even fountains if they were large enough, were temporarily repurposed into ice rinks. Storefronts were decorated with tinsel and holly wreaths, with huge signs in their windows counting down the days left until Hearth’s Warming and promising enormous holiday discounts.

Foals were off from school, running wild in the streets with festively reckless abandon as they tried to squeeze as much fun as they could into their holiday break. Homes were decorated with lights, and small evergreen trees were proudly displayed in windows as a symbol of life blooming even in the restful, natural pause of the winter months.

Nopony who’d spent much time in Canterlot could remember a year when they’d been scheduled for as much snow as this winter had brought them. After all, Canterlot was a major city, filled with businesses and tourism. Shoveling walkways and sending street crews to clear the roads every few days was more trouble than it was worth in such a busy city. But nopony really questioned why Princess Celestia had requested extra snowfall for her capitol. Most just figured that she was a very old and very wise ruler who had a reason for everything she did.

Twilight knew the reason, though. It was Luna’s first year back from exile, and Princess Celestia had wanted to do something nice for her little sister, who had always loved the snow. One day, over coffee on Luna’s balcony, Luna had gotten a little poetic on Twilight, likening the crunch of freshly fallen snow beneath her hoof to the feeling of treading upon the coarse dust of the moon – though, according to Luna, snow was infinitely less likely to set off one’s allergies. Twilight had had a laugh at that. There was something funny about the image of the Lunar Princess standing on the surface of the moon and sneezing, allergic to the very source of her power.

It was an early morning that found Twilight walking down Sunday Street. Her chakram was strapped to her side, as always, and she wore a faded rainbow-colored scarf tied around her neck to fight off the bitter cold. The ratty old thing was frayed at the edges, and long enough to wrap several times around her throat. Years of wear had stretched gaps in the knitting, so it wasn’t quite as warm as it once was, but she’d had it for so long that she just never bothered replacing it. She tugged at it with her magic, pulling it tighter around herself as she let her eyes wander and take in the sights.

The last time she’d been in the neighborhood it had been like a ghost town. During the disappearances a little over two months ago, Sunday Street had been the residential neighborhood that had been hit hardest, but you wouldn’t know it to look around now. Everywhere she turned the streets were filled with the sight of smiling faces and the almost musical sound of laughter.

Twilight’s eyes flicked to the side as she caught a blur of movement on the periphery of her vision. A wall of magical energy sprung up in the blink of an eye, just in time to catch a loosely packed snowball that struck her quickly erected shield. The high-density shield thrummed with enough magic that it made the surface slightly warm to the touch, and the remains of the snowball slid to the ground as a watery slush.

A group of foals – fillies and colts, some of them too young to even have their Marks – stood across the street, staring at her with wide, panicked eyes. A small earth pony filly was standing upright, frozen, one hoof still outstretched in mid-throw in Twilight’s direction. A little pegasus colt was treading air a bit off the ground, apparently having been the intended victim of the snowball.

The children seemed to be uncertain what to do. Their eyes were darting around nervously as they shifted their weight on their hooves. They were probably wondering if they should make a break for it, but it didn’t seem like anypony was willing to be the first one to give the shout to scatter. The filly that had thrown the snowball opened her mouth, but before she could speak her balance betrayed her and she pitched forward, falling face-first into the snow.

Twilight waved at the group of children, hoping that her wide smile was enough to assure them that she wasn’t angry about the mistake. They let out a chorus of nervous laughter, and soon the filly had gathered another snowball and resumed her attack on the quick little colt.

Twilight continued on her way, nodded at the smiling ponies she passed and reflexively returning their seasonal greetings. She reached her destination and opened the wrought-iron fence surrounding the small yard of the only orange house on the block. The bright orange paint made the house look like a great big frosted pumpkin. She climbed the stoop and knocked twice.

After a minute or so the door unlocked with a loud click and slowly cracked open. The pony on the other side peered out at Twilight cautiously. “Oh!” the pony exclaimed as the door flew open the rest of the way. A teal-coated pegasus mare with a shock of messy, gingery-red hair stood in the doorway, smiling at Twilight welcomingly. “Twilight Sparkle! It’s so good to see you! Come in out of the cold, you silly thing.”

“It’s good to see you, too, Lollipop,” Twilight said with a smile. She gave herself one last shake and wiped her hooves on the welcome mat before stepping inside. The warmth of Lollipop’s home wrapped around Twilight like blanket, and the smell of gingerbread was practically thick enough in the air to take a bite out of.

Lollipop shut the door once Twilight was inside, locking it immediately. “Let me take your scarf, Twilight.”

“Thanks,” Twilight said as she unraveled the length of knitted yarn.

Lollipop hung the scarf on an empty hat rack and beckoned Twilight into the living room. “It’s been a while since I’ve seen you, but you look great, been working out?” she cheerfully commented as she pointed at the couch. “Take a seat. Let me get you some cocoa to warm up. I just finished up a batch.”

“That sounds great, and I’m always working out, you know that,” Twilight said with a laugh. She settled onto the plastic-covered couch, crinkling and squeaking as she sunk into the cushions.

“You guards sure do like your exercise,” Lollipop said as she disappeared into the kitchen.

Twilight looked around the room, slowly drinking in the holiday decor Lollipop had put up. There wasn’t a centimeter of bare space on any wall or table. Fluffy sheets of cotton were laid out on every table and shelf like decorative snow, and little wooden houses and train sets were arranged in carefully constructed dioramas. Tiny toy ponies were walking through the ‘snowy’ streets, going about their toy-business and waving to one another with holiday cheer. Strings of tinsel and long trails of holly were hung everywhere, and all the family portraits and vacation photos on the walls had been rotated out with more festive pictures of family members opening Hearth’s Warming gifts and sledding down snow covered hills. A lush fir tree sat in one corner, decorated with candy canes, gingerbread ponies, ornaments, lights, and still more tinsel – so much tinsel. Beneath the tree was a modest pile of presents awaiting the big day.

And that was just in the hallway and the living room, the rest of the house was probably just as lavishly decorated. It had to have taken hours, even days to decorate the house so thoroughly. Though, from what Twilight had heard, Lollipop definitely had the time on her hooves to do it.

“Where’s your brother at?” Twilight asked, raising her voice to be heard over the ruckus Lollipop was making in the kitchen. She was being awfully loud for somepony who was just pouring a couple of mugs of cocoa.

“He’s taking care of some last minute business at the office,” Lollipop shouted back. There was a pause in the commotion she was making, but it only lasted a moment. “He’s been working a lot of overtime lately…”

Twilight frowned at the note of embarrassment – maybe even shame – in Lollipop’s tone. The way her voice had trailed off hinted at the unspoken half of that statement: “…because we need the money.”

Lollipop cantered into the living room with her wings stretched out at her sides, a steamy mug of hot cocoa sitting atop each wing. Each mug had a pile of whip cream, sprinkles, marshmallows, a cherry, and a long straw. She carefully set the mugs down on the coffee table and took a seat on the floor, leaning back against the couch.

It would be awkward holding a conversation at two different heights, so Twilight slid off the couch to join her friend on the floor. She lifted the mug with her magic and examined the professional-grade mug of cocoa. It looked delicious, and even the straw was made of some kind of edible chocolate covered wafer. This was just a reminder that the mare hadn’t risen to her position in the royal kitchens on good looks alone – she had some serious sugarcoated chops.

“So what’s been up with you?” Lollipop asked cheerily. She sipped at the cocoa through the straw and lapped a dollop of the whipped cream off the top.

“Nothing much,” Twilight commented as she plucked the cherry off the top of her mug. “I’ve been really busy the last couple of months because of all that nonsense stirred up by Discord.”

Lollipop lifted her mug between her hooves and took a sip, trying to hide the hesitation that Twilight caught in her body language. “That’s the, um… the stuff that happened the week after the Gala, right? I hear that madness stretched to all of Equestria. That’s what the papers said, anyway.”

Twilight chuckled. “Yeah, it’s not easy to keep cotton candy clouds and melting clocks under wraps. Princess Cadance has been traveling around putting out a lot of little political fires that came out of that mess, and where she goes, I go.” Twilight lifted her mug and slurped at it. The pile of whip cream tickled her nostrils, and there were little hints of cinnamon underneath the scent of chocolate and cream. “Seems like all we ever do is go around cleaning up in the aftermath of some magical catastrophe… Granted, there’s only been the two magical catastrophes since I’ve been on the job, but still!”

Lollipop laughed. “Sounds like hard work.”

“No, not really,” Twilight said as she licked a mustache of cream off her lip. “Not for me, anyway, since Princess Cadance is the one who does all the work. And it was mostly just a lot of politicians and nobles using Discord as an excuse to air out old grievances. They really didn’t even have a lot of grounds for most of their arguments, especially since Shining Armor and his friends put that crooked genie back in his bottle, so to speak. I honestly kind of wish I’d been here to get a piece of that guy, but the Princess and I were in Seaddle so she could settle a labor dispute for the city.”

“They turned him into a statue, right? What happened with that?” Lollipop asked with genuine interest in her voice.

“We’ve got it locked up. I’m not at liberty to say where. I honestly think they should toss it into the ocean, or grind it up and shoot the gravel into space, but Princess Celestia says she’d rather keep it somewhere where she can keep an eye on it.”

“Well… Princess Celestia knows best, I suppose,” Lollipop commented.

Twilight nodded, sighing as she stirred her cocoa with the cookie straw. The whipped cream had already mostly dissolved into the cocoa, and the marshmallows were plump with soaked up chocolate. She levitated one of the marshmallows into her mouth and chewed it.

“You know, I’ve been stopping by the kitchens every chance I get,” Twilight said. Lollipop tensed up visibly, despite Twilight’s attempts to keep her tone light and conversational. “Pepper Millie tells me you haven’t been to work for weeks.”

“I’m on vacation,” Lollipop explained too quickly.

“You used up all your vacation time, from what I was told,” Twilight countered. “All your sick days, too.”

Lollipop ruffled her feathers, but otherwise didn’t indicate that she heard or cared about what Twilight had just said.

“The Executive Butler wanted to fire you,” Twilight added softly. Lollipop flinched, but otherwise remained unresponsive. “You’ve still technically got your job, though. Apparently Princess Luna personally requested that he hold off on that decision. They’ve got Pepper Millie taking care of your station, and one of the staging cooks covering hers.”

“I haven’t been sleeping well,” Lollipop admitted in a small, quavering voice. “Princess Luna’s been helping me work some things out… she said you asked her to keep an eye on me. Thank you for that.”

“You’re welcome, but she would’ve done it anyway. She takes her Mistress of the Night deal very seriously.” Twilight set her half-empty cup back on the saucer and sighed. “Why don’t you want to go back to work, Lollipop?”

“I just don’t want to be there,” Lollipop explained sadly.

“Do you not feel safe?” Twilight asked patiently.

“It’s not about safety. I know those things are gone now.” The pegasus mare shook her head, the corners of her eyes twinkling with moisture in the colorful blinking lights on the tree. “I know what you’re probably thinking, and no, I haven’t become a shut-in. I go out and do my shopping and visit friends and stuff… I just don’t want to go back to the castle. It’s not about being afraid or anything, I just feel… uncomfortable.”

Twilight scooted closer to her friend, until they were sitting shoulder-to-shoulder. “Explain it to me.”

“See these mugs? This dish? The plastic on the furniture?” Lollipop tapped each of the items with her hoof as she listed them. “All new. The dishware, the beddings, the couch covers, the throw pillows – I chucked it all… That thing that was pretending to be me was here, using all my stuff, living in my space. I… I can’t sanitize the kitchens in the castle of that thing’s presence the way I can my own house, so I don’t feel good being there.” Lollipop shook her head sadly, a ragged sigh shuddering its way out of her lungs. “I’ve always been very peculiar about my things. I don’t like anypony touching anything that’s mine, and this whole changeling thing? It makes me feel so incredibly violated, I can’t stand it.”

“Lollipop, you can’t let this thing go on,” Twilight said, hoping that her tone came across more supportive than lecturing. “You have to get back to your life eventually.”

“I will,” Lollipop said, her voice strengthening with a shade of confidence. “I just need some more time. Like I said, the princess and I are working on it. She’s been incredible.”

Twilight leaned against the couch, letting her head fall back to stare up at the ceiling – which was covered in festive, holiday-themed decals.

Lollipop was a friend. Admittedly not a friend she spent a lot of time with outside of the castle, but she was a good mare, and nice to everypony she met. Seeing her friend struggling like this was like a massive weight pressing down on Twilight’s chest, but there wasn’t much she could do for the girl. Lollipop, the bubbly little pegasus with the sweet personality and even sweeter tooth, had had something terrible befall her. She’d been rescued, but nopony would argue that being abducted and held hostage for weeks was anything short of traumatic. Everypony dealt with trauma on their own terms, and Lollipop probably wasn’t even alone among the twenty-nine victims struggling with these exact feelings.

“I was thinking about moving, you know?” Lollipop added. “I wanted to try and, I don’t know, run away, I guess. I know Bit would’ve come with me, wherever I went. I know he always has my back... I don’t feel that way anymore, but I’m still considering moving. I want to get a fresh start somewhere new, but I won’t make the decision until I know I’ve licked this thing. If I go somewhere else it’ll be because I want to, not because something else drove me to it.”

Twilight sat up straight and pulled the cookie-straw free from the drink. She ate it in two quick bites. “If you need anything,” Twilight said as she chewed on the treat, “anything at all, you come tell me, okay?”

Lollipop smiled, and the weight on Twilight’s chest lightened just a bit for seeing it. “You and Pepper, I swear,” she said with a laugh. “She said the same thing. She comes by every other day to bring me snacks and give me the rundown on the castle gossip.”

“She’s a good friend, you should hold on to her,” Twilight said.

“She’s a great friend, and I intend to,” Lollipop replied.

Twilight raised an eyebrow. “A great friend, huh?”

Lollipop sipped her nearly forgotten cocoa and narrowed her eyes in appraisal. “What’s that tone supposed to be implying?”

“I’m not implying anything,” Twilight said, raising her hooves in deference. “I’m just saying, I do have an ‘in’ with the Princess of Love. I could get you two some really nice reservations at a great place for cheap. And I’m not just talking about restaurants, if you get my meaning.”

“Dirty!” Lollipop scoffed and leaned away from Twilight to slap her lightly on the shoulder with a wing. “You don’t tease, or next time I make you cocoa I might ‘accidentally’ forget the cherry.”

Twilight’s other eyebrow went up at that. “Is that a threat?”

“A threat?” Lollipop repeated, holding a hoof to her chest and feigning offense. “No, Miss Royal Guard.” Lollipop leaned closer, her eyes narrowed to slits, her voice dropping a few octaves, and her posture doing its best to make her look intimidating. “It’s no threat – it’s a promise.”

Twilight snorted with laughter. The entirely too serious look on the other girl’s face had simply been beyond adorable. It was the cutest, most harmless threat she’d ever received.


* * *


Being that it was only a week until Hearth’s Warming, the majority of the castle’s staff was on vacation. The castle was a massive household with a sizeable staff, but Princess Celestia always made sure that her servants got to spend the majority of their holidays with family and friends – and that included the Guard. Many of the older Royal Guards with families were off on leave, leaving the younger guards – who had less personal responsibilities and more drive to distinguish themselves by taking extra shifts – holding down the fort.

One nice thing about the reduced Guard presence was that the training grounds were not as crowded as they usually were. PT schedules had been drastically reduced, so Twilight had the grounds mostly to herself aside from a few off duty stallions who were taking advantage of the cleared, open fields to play hoofball and generally screw around.

After the morning she’d had at Lollipop’s, Twilight really needed the physical release that came from a good workout.

She stood at the end of the targeting range, a long rectangular field where guards could practice their long-ranged tactics. For unicorns, that meant spellwork, and for everypony else, archery or spear-throwing. Twilight ignored the targets – ‘dummies’ made of wooden posts about as wide around as a stallion’s barrel – as she stood at one of the sidelines and stared downrange to the opposite side. The range was exactly twenty meters wide, just around the length of the chasm she’d jumped a few months back, during the incident on the night of the Grand Galloping Gala.

She checked her chakram, making sure that it was still properly seated in its holster. She took a deep breath, letting the rush of frosty air nip at her lungs. The sweat on her coat from her warm-up run made every brush of the winter winds tingle refreshingly against her skin, and the wispy fog of her breath curled up and out the corners of her mouth like smoke from a snoring dragon.

Twilight built magic in her horn and teleported herself across the field in a flash of light and a bang of displaced air. She appeared on the other side of the range and found herself staring at the spot she’d just been standing. Months of practice had increased her maximum range for the spell, and she now had enough proficiency to reorient herself during the casting without moving. If she’d really wanted to, she could have teleported even further, but that wasn’t what this exercise was about.

She grunted in satisfaction and cast the spell again – then again and again.

The air filled with the sharp, staccato rhythm of her rapid-fire teleports. Twilight’s horn began to burn with the amount of magic she was channeling through it, and her coat was dripping with sweat from the physical effort of her magical stamina training. She stopped at twenty repetitions, her throat painfully dry as she sucked in the frigid air.

Twilight took a few steps back from the line, giving herself some room for the next part of the exercise. She craned her neck and gripped her chakram with her teeth, carefully minding her tongue. She was in no danger of cutting herself – the blade wasn’t all that sharp unless she was channeling magic through it – but it was made of steel, and it was quite cold out, and any foal with more curiosity than sense could tell you what happened if you put your wet tongue on cold steel.

Twilight tensed the muscles in her neck, dipped her head, and flung the weapon as hard as she could straight into the air. She watched it spin straight up, reach its apex, and fall back to the earth. Just before it hit the ground, she snagged it with her magic, redirected its momentum in a wide circle around herself, and flung it across the field. She charged her horn and teleported, reappearing on the opposite side with the chakram flying right at her face. She caught it in a field of magic again, swung it around, and repeated the feat.

On the twentieth repetition, Twilight aimed her throw at a sharper angle, tossing the disc high into the air. She watched its trajectory and teleported, rematerializing five meters off the ground. She caught the chakram once more, and as she fell she took aim at one of the wooden dummies. She threw her weapon, channeling just enough magic through it to sharpen the blade. The chakram struck its mark with a loud thud, like an axe sinking into a tree.

Twilight landed on her hooves with a weary grunt, almost losing her balance as her legs tried to buckle under her from fatigue and the force of the drop she’d just taken. She hung her head as she panted, desperately pulling in the air her muscles were screaming for. Pegasi and earth ponies thought that unicorn magic made everything easy, but they didn’t realize that channeling serious magic was as taxing as any physical activity. Little things like levitating small objects or casting a talent-aligned spell were no more difficult than walking, but high level stuff like teleportation took a toll on the body that was more like running a dozen marathons carrying a fully loaded saddlebag.

Twilight steadied herself with one last big breath and tugged her chakram free from the target dummy with her magic, smiling as she holstered the weapon. The last time she’d run that drill the final toss had missed the target completely, sinking it into the earthen berm built up behind the row of dummies to catch any errant projectiles.

Somepony behind Twilight cleared her throat, and Twilight turned to find Cadance standing a few paces away, a wide smile on her face.

“You’re looking very well, Decurion,” Cadance said. She was speaking in her public voice, carefully enunciating every word as she carried herself with the regal poise drilled into her as a young princess by her etiquette instructors. “It’s quite comforting to know that my stalwart knight is doing her best to remain fit and ready for action.”

Twilight smiled and lowered herself into a bow. “I’m always ready to serve my princess,” she said.

Cadance’s royal countenance cracked as her eyes glittered with something lusty. “Perhaps later, Decurion,” she said in a half-whisper. She inclined her head to the side, indicating something nearby. “I’m afraid your fan club is watching.”

Twilight blinked. She looked to where Cadance had nodded and suddenly remembered the group of off duty guards that had been roughhousing a short distance away. They were huddled together around the unicorn in their group, who was explaining something to the others as they whispered animatedly.

One of the stallions looked back up and noticed their group being watched. His eyes went wide as he elbowed the unicorn in the ribs. The interruption drew stares from the others and their heads all snapped around as they noticed where he was looking.

“H-hey, boys, why don’t we go get some sticks and skates, go play some hockey?” one of the stallions said loudly enough for his voice to carry across the training grounds. There was a general chorus of agreement as the group bowed to their princess and hurried away.

“Well, well, alone at last,” Cadance sang merrily.

“I think you scared them off,” Twilight said with a grin.

“Wasn’t me,” Cadance teased. “They were watching your workout. I think they were impressed.”

Twilight frowned after the stallions. “I didn’t do it to impress anypony,” she grumbled.

“Doesn’t mean they weren’t impressed,” Cadance told her with a cluck of her tongue. “You saw how excited that unicorn was? He just watched you shame every magic instructor he ever had in sheer muscle.”

“Shining could have run this drill, too,” Twilight pointed out. After a moment of thought she added, “Minus the game of catch, that is. I don’t think he’s got the coordination for it.”

“Yes, the personal student of Princess Celestia, who is just about as magical as you are, is the Element of Magic, and has about six more years of formal specialized magical study, could do that same magical exercise,” Cadance said with a roll of her eyes. “Just admit you’re impressive.”

Twilight scrunched up her forehead in consternation, a low, nasally groan of annoyance escaping her.

Cadance’s smile grew three sizes. “That’s the sound you make when I’m right but you don’t want to say anything,” she teased.

Cadance whipped her head around, quickly scanning their surroundings, including the skies, for anypony that might be watching. They were alone, so she hopped forward playfully and planted a kiss on Twilight’s lips. As she pulled away, she flicked out her tongue and gave her girlfriend’s lips a sensual little lick.

Cadance’s face twisted up in apparent distaste as she smacked her lips. “Bleh, your mouth tastes all oily – and not tasty oily like a vinaigrette, gross oily like a wrench.”

“Oh, sorry, heh,” Twilight said with an embarrassed chuckle. “It’s steel polish from the chakram and the little bit of grease I add to the holster to make it easier to draw. Honestly, I don’t even taste it anymore.”

“You’re also all sweaty,” Cadance added. “And while I enjoy your general feminine musk, other ponies might be offended. Let’s get you cleaned up. I want to take you somewhere fun today.”

“I’m not done working out,” Twilight said, frowning as she went over her mental checklist and found that she wasn’t even half done with the regimen she’d drawn up.

“Yes you are,” Cadance replied firmly. “Come on, I cleared my schedule so we’d have time to spend the week together, not so you could just do laps around the castle from now until Hearth’s Warming.”

“I wasn’t just going to run laps,” Twilight countered, “I was going to do push-ups, too! And read books… and…” Twilight’s will to press the issue was smothered under the weight of the glare Cadance was leveling at her. Cadance wasn’t often that insistent – even when she was upset, she preferred to gently wheedle until she got her way – but the rarity of her beautiful features curdling into a disapproving scowl made the look all the more striking. “…and I’ll just go and take a shower so we can go do something fun…”

The dark look in Cadance’s eyes vanished in a flash, like it had never been there, and Twilight realized she’d been played like a fiddle.

“Great!” Cadance exclaimed happily. “Race you to the bedroom!”

Cadance’s wings unfolded majestically, lifting her into the air as she sped off towards the castle.

Twilight heaved a weary, but amused, sigh, shaking her head as she charged her horn. Two quick teleports brought her to the castle, just beneath their balcony. Their room was too far up to reach in a single teleport, so she gave herself a running start and leapt into the air. She came out of her teleport in midair, a bit over halfway to the balcony. Her hooves hit the wall, and the momentum of her running jump carried through the teleport, holding her against the wall for a fraction of a second – just long enough to cast another teleport. She materialized onto the balcony just as Cadance was touching down.

The alicorn princess was pouting adorably. “Cheater,” Cadance huffed sourly.

“Says the girl with wings racing somepony without them,” Twilight said with a snicker. “And you could’ve teleported, too.”

“That wouldn’t have been very fair, either, would it? I can teleport about three times farther than you can.” Cadance flared her wings and tapped the tip of one against her horn.

“Yeah, you’ve got that alicorn edge, but you can’t cast as quickly as I can,” Twilight pointed out. She opened the balcony doors with her magic and headed for their private washroom. “I can cast three in the time it takes you to cast one, so it seems to me that it would’ve been a pretty even race.”

Cadance huffed, grumbling something unintelligible and most likely unprincess-like under her breath. She shut the doors and pulled the curtains closed, giving them some privacy and temporarily plunging their room into darkness.

Twilight flipped some light switches with her magic and stepped into the washroom. The fixtures of their in-suite bath were gilded with actual gold and glittered brightly in the artificial light. Twilight unbuckled the holster for her weapon and slipped it off, setting it down on the marble counter between the sinks. Cadance had ordered that a double-sink – which she called their ‘hers-and-hers sink’ – be installed in their room not long after they’d realized that their sleeping arrangement was pretty much permanent for the foreseeable future. The maids had already come in and done their job, judging from the fact that Cadance’s side of the counter was conspicuously free of dried, flakey globules of toothpaste. Cadance was a very clean mare, but she was not a morning pony, and in her post-sleep daze she always left toothpaste in and around the sink after brushing her teeth.

Twilight’s ears twitched as she heard Cadance busying herself in the bedroom, opening drawers and doing something with her various jewelry boxes.

“Where are you taking me?” Twilight shouted through the open door as she went to their enormous shower stall and got the water started. They had a nice big tub, with massage jets and everything, but tempting as that was, she was more in the mood for a shower.

“It’s a surprise!” Cadance shouted back. “You’ll see!”

Twilight shrugged and held her hoof under the streams, waiting for the temperature to even out. Their shower had three heads, one mounted on each wall. It was a good feature, considering the size of the stall, which was made to accommodate alicorns and could have probably fit all three princesses at once. The water warmed quickly and Twilight stepped in, closing the shower curtain behind herself.

The water pressure in the castle was good, and Twilight just stood in the shower for a while with her eyes closed in contentment as the hot water slowly warmed her bones. Physical exertion had kept the worst of the cold air’s effects at bay, but standing under a hot shower was just what she needed.

The shower curtain parted with a whisper as Cadance stepped in behind her. Twilight smiled as Cadance stood at her side, humming with delight as the water soaked her coat.

“You already had a bath this morning,” Twilight said. “You’re going to have to do your hair again.”

“Bathing alone is nice, but showering with you is better,” Cadance replied. “Restyling my mane isn’t too steep a price to pay for it.”

Cadance’s horn shimmered with magic as she adjusted the temperature. The water immediately dropped several degrees to a temperature just above lukewarm, and Twilight knew that if Cadance had her way it’d be even colder. Cadance was definitely only allowing the water to be as warm as it was out of consideration for Twilight, and any attempts to adjust it back up would invariably be met with protests of, “I’m hot!”

Cadance was an alicorn – one who had been born a pegasus, no less – which meant certain things for her preferences regarding shower temperature. Pegasi had a naturally high tolerance for extreme cold, which was useful for high-altitude flying, but it also meant that they weren’t the greatest fans of being overly hot. Feathers, Cadance had explained, did a very poor job of shedding heat.

Of course, Cadance never seemed to complain when they were cuddling, though she did have a tendency to kick the covers off in the middle of the night. Which sometimes gave Twilight very little choice about whether she wanted to cuddle or not – though that might have been a conscious decision on Cadance’s part to get more cuddles in.

Cuddling was extremely serious business in their bedroom.

Twilight sat on her haunches and pulled a dark purple washcloth from a hook on the wall. She scrubbed at her face, working the water into her coat to wash away some of the sweat and dirt before she got started with the shampoo. Next to her, Cadance was humming quietly, her eyes closed as she let the water run through her mane. The stream of warm water was straightening her hair, plastering it to the side of her face and down her long, elegant neck. The sight of it was enough to stall Twilight’s vigorous scrubbing for a few seconds, and judging from the satisfied grin on her face, Cadance knew she was being watched.

Twilight finished scrubbing – and ogling – and turned to peruse the pile of shampoos and conditioners and moisturizers that Cadance insisted she needed. Twilight frowned at the selection, trying to remember which one of the dozen or so bottles was hers. The choice had been much simpler before she’d become attached. Her previously favored brand had been thrown in the trash by Cadance, and replaced by an ever-changing lineup of frou-frou stuff – this month it was something that smelled like jasmine and plums.

A bottle towards the back lifted in the glow of Cadance’s magic. “Let me,” Cadance said as she shook the bottle, sloshing the contents around inside.

Twilight sat down and immediately felt Cadance’s body pressing against her back as the taller girl hugged her from behind. Cadance nuzzled her face into Twilight’s neck, leaving little kisses along the side of her face as she went. Twilight leaned her head back, enjoying the feeling of Cadance’s body pressed against hers, and was rewarded as her girlfriend peppered her exposed throat with soft kisses.

“Love you,” Cadance whispered sweetly. She pulled away, lightly grazing the tip of Twilight’s ear with her teeth as she did so.

Cadance was very much the ‘touchy’ type, and she was very prone to moments of spontaneous sensuality when they were alone together. Sexy though it was, Twilight knew it wasn’t explicitly an invitation to anything. It was just a moment of reassuring intimacy that Cadance wanted to share with her love. Though, of course, if Twilight did want to do something about it, Cadance certainly wouldn’t say no.

“You’re very tense,” Cadance said as she gently lathered Twilight’s coat, “in the shoulders especially.”

“It’s from the workout,” Twilight answered, rolling her shoulders as Cadance focused on the knot of muscles just behind her neck.

“No, it’s not just that,” Cadance said as she moved up to Twilight’s mane. “In general you’ve been kind of tense… You were going to see your friend today, right? How was she?”

Twilight busied her hooves by lathering her stomach and chest with the excess shampoo dripping down her coat as she thought about her visit with Lollipop. She’d known going there that the conversation might get a little heavy, and she hadn’t been disappointed. But for all the difficulty Lollipop was going through, she seemed to be making progress, and the rest of the visit had been pleasant.

“Not good, but getting better, I hope,” Twilight said.

“Not good in what way?” Cadance asked as she gathered up the strands of Twilight’s tail to be washed.

“Nightmares, for one,” Twilight sighed. “She said Luna’s been helping her, though, so she’s working on it.”

“She’s having nightmares about being abducted?”

Twilight felt Cadance gently maneuvering her head directly under one of the streams, and closed her eyes as the shampoo was washed out of her mane.

“She says it’s more about the fact that something impersonated her and was touching her stuff,” Twilight said with a frown. “It’s weird.”

“Not so weird,” Cadance said with a shrug. “You told me she has a fraternal twin, right? It’s not the same as being a biological twin, but it’s very similar. If I had to hazard a guess, she’s probably spent her life struggling to establish an identity for herself separate from her sibling’s, and having that taken away, even for a short time, was probably a pretty hard psychological blow.”

Twilight scratched at her head as she mulled that over. “You think?”

Cadance shrugged again. “I’ve never counseled her, so don’t put me on record, but that’d be my professional opinion at a glance.”

Being the Princess of Love, Cadance had spent her life studying the many forms of love. Most times that meant talking with ponies about their problems and counseling them. To that end, Cadance’s personal studies and formal education had earned her more than one certification or degree in the social sciences.

“I guess that makes sense,” Twilight admitted after mulling it over a while.

Cadance put back the bottle of Twilight’s shampoo and levitated four more, plucked seemingly at random from the group, and set them down next to Twilight. “Mane, body, tail, rinse, then mane and tail again with this one,” she instructed, pointing at each of the bottles before turning her back to Twilight.

Twilight picked up the first bottle and sniffed at it experimentally. Twilight might not have liked spending a lot of time lathering and rinsing and re-lathering, but Cadance insisted on ‘proper’ bathing procedure – and Twilight wasn’t about to complain about the results.

“Still no word from Basenji?” Cadance asked.

“No,” Twilight said with a heavy sigh. “I thought the first letter might’ve gotten lost in the mail, so I sent another, but still nothing.” She sighed again and focused on the task at hoof, gently kneading Cadance’s scalp until her head was surrounded by an enormous sphere of foam. Cadance’s fancy shampoos always produced an impressive amount of suds. She got the next bottle and began scrubbing at Cadance’s shoulders. “He’s got an important job, and I’m sure he’s just been busy, like we have. He’s probably up to his neck in research and waiting until he’s got something before he gets back to us. If he finds something, he’ll let us know… I’m sure he’s fine.”

Twilight moved down Cadance’s arms and stopped her scrubbing as Cadance laid a hoof atop hers. Cadance turned her head and met her gaze, her eyes soft and caring. Her mouth was curled up at the corners in a smile of gentle understanding.

“You’re sure he’s fine, but you’re still worried,” Cadance said held Twilight’s hoof up and nuzzled it gently. “I wish he was here, too.”

Twilight leaned forward and gave Cadance a peck on the lips. It was awkward, seated as they both were, to crane her neck up kiss the much taller girl, but they’d both had a lot of practice. Twilight pulled her hoof free and got back to scrubbing.

“He’ll let us know if he finds anything,” Twilight insisted a second time. An errant soap bubble rose up from the growing mass on Cadance’s back and floated into Twilight’s nostril, making her sneeze. “In the meantime I get to sit here worrying about this freaky corpse-snatching, heart-eating, super fast monster hanging over all our heads like a sword waiting to fall. I swear, if I didn’t have you and Luna to talk to, I’d have gone crazy by now.”

“What about Spitfire?” Cadance asked. “Or Glowstone?”

“Glowstone’s not plugged in to this,” Twilight said with a shake of her head. “He’s a good guy, and a good friend, but I don’t want to drag him into something this potentially dire. And Spitfire is… she’s been ducking me, I think.”

Cadance’s tail slipped from between Twilight’s hooves as Cadance spun around to face her. “What? You never told me that.”

Twilight rubbed at the back of her neck sheepishly. “It’s not a huge deal,” she said. “I’ve been trying to get in touch with her through her office at the Wonderbolts Academy, but every time I send a messenger he just comes back with a note from her secretary saying she’s on tour.”

“It’s winter,” Cadance said with a frown as she rinsed out her mane. “The Wonderbolts don’t do winter shows, it’s their off-season.”

“Yeah, I thought it was suspicious, too,” Twilight deadpanned. “She’s probably upset with me about something, but I never would have thought she was the avoidance type. I almost wish she’d try to pick another bar fight with me. Then at least I’d know what’s in her bonnet this time.”

Cadance levitated the last bottle of shampoo and finished her mane and tail herself, doing the job with her magic in half the time – with half the fun for both of them – compared to letting Twilight do it.

“I’m sure she’ll get over it, whatever it is,” Cadance assured her. “I can’t imagine anypony staying mad at somepony as cute as you.”

Twilight lifted an eyebrow questioningly. “Princess Cadance, are you trying to butter me up?”

Cadance shut off the water and threw open the curtain. A bundle of towels floated in and she began drying herself off. “Oh, honey. You should know by now that if I wanted to butter you up I’d just use the massage butter in the nightstand.”

“But then we’d just need another bath,” Twilight pointed out. She grabbed a towel of her own and used her magic to fold it around her mane for later drying. She let out a yelp of surprise as she suddenly felt a sharp sting on her flank, accompanied by a loud, wet slap.

Cadance shook her wing free of the last of the water. “Don’t tempt me. It’ll make us late for our dinner appointment.”

“So it’s dinner?” Twilight asked as she gently massaged the tender spot on her flank where she’d been assaulted. “Is that the fun place we’re going? It’s a restaurant?”

“There will be dinner,” Cadance said mysteriously. “And it will be fun. That’s all you get for now.”

Twilight grabbed another towel and wrapped it around herself as she stepped out of the shower. “I can’t wait,” she said cheerfully.


* * *


She’d been had.

Twilight sat on the couch in her parents’ living room, leaning against the arm rest and staring at the flames dancing in the hearth. Her mother was seated on the other side of the couch and Cadance was between them. The two mares were huddled together over a photo album and fawning over every picture. Her father was sitting in a recliner off to the side, his usual cup of pre-dinner coffee and the evening edition of the paper floating in his magic.

“You said we were going somewhere fun,” Twilight sighed.

“This is fun!” Cadance declared happily. “Don’t you like visiting your parents?”

“Of course I do,” Twilight grumbled. “No offense, mom and dad, but I was promised something fun, and we visit all the time.”

Her dad slurped loudly at his coffee. “None taken, Sparky,” he assured her. “Your mother’s the same way.”

“Oh, you love my surprises, don’t you start,” Twilight Velvet warned him.

Night Light remained silent, choosing instead to rustle the pages of his paper and continue reading as though he weren’t involved in the conversation.

Twilight didn’t blame him. Her father was a smart stallion, and he’d figured out quickly that it wasn’t smart to make yourself a target when Twilight Velvet and Princess Mi Amore Cadenza got together. As happy as she was that her girlfriend and her mother got along, she sort of wished that they weren’t so… BFF-ish. It was a little unsettling how well they got along.

“I thought you guys were going on a cruise,” Twilight pointed out. “What happened with that?”

Twilight Velvet shrugged. “We decided to cancel. Your brothers and their friends are going to be coming into town in a few days to be in the official Hearth’s Warming pageant. Plus, this is the first year that any of our children have had special someponies to bring home for the holiday. Neither of those is something we wanted to miss. You all grew up so fast, your dad and I just want to be here to see as many of your ‘firsts’ as you have left.”

Twilight suddenly felt a very ashamed of all the pouting she’d been doing. She really had been expecting to spend a nice romantic evening alone with Cadance, and that had been a let down, but that was no reason to take it out on her poor parents. She loved her parents, and she loved that Cadance went out of her way to make sure they were still a big part of her life.

She would have to make it up to both of them later.

“Oh, oh, look at this one!” Cadance gushed excitedly as she pointed down at one of the pictures.

Twilight glanced over to see what Cadance was so excited about. She recognized the picture. It had been taken during summer break when she was a filly. The family had taken a train to the shore and stayed for the weekend. In the picture, she was standing on the sand, wearing an enormous straw sunhat and a gigantic pair of sunglasses that her father had bought from an overpriced souvenir shop on the boardwalk. Both items of clothing were entirely too large for her, and she was posing awkwardly, trying to smile at the camera while also standing in profile to show off her Cutie Mark. That had been the year she’d gotten it, and every picture from that trip would definitely involve a similarly awkward pose so she could squeeze her new Mark into frame.

The memory of it brought a sad smile to her face. The side that the little filly in the picture was so proudly displaying for the camera now sported a long, ugly scar over her precious Cutie Mark. She couldn’t help but wonder what that younger version of herself would think of what her life would become in just a few years.

“My special girl was so cute!” Cadance cooed girlishly. “Oh, and look at this one!”

Twilight rolled her eyes and leaned back against the couch. “How are there still pictures of me you haven’t seen?”

“There aren’t,” Cadance said happily. “I’ve seen them all, but that doesn’t mean you’re not still the most precious thing I’ve ever seen!”

Night Light chuckled from behind his newspaper. Twilight knew he couldn’t see her through the paper, but she glared at him anyway.

“Aw, look at you in the bath!” Cadance exclaimed as she held up the album and pointed at a picture of Twilight as a newborn foal. She was sitting in the kitchen sink in barely enough water to soak her butt, leaning against the side of the sink with her eyes closed, clearly asleep.

“Why is that in the same album as that last picture?” Twilight asked. “That’s not chronologically correct.”

“No, but it’s thematically correct,” Twilight Velvet pointed out.

Twilight raised an eyebrow. “What theme…?”

“You being adorable,” her mother answered as though it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“I just can’t get over how cute she was,” Cadance said as she set the album back on the table. “She’s such a little sleepy-butt in that sink. I wish I could’ve been there to see it myself.”

“Well, you can take comfort in the fact that you get to see her in the bath now,” Twilight Velvet said as she popped a chocolate bonbon into her mouth from the open, half-emptied tin on the coffee table.

“Mom!” Twilight shouted, her cheeks burning with embarrassment.

“Oh, settle down, Sparky,” Twilight Velvet laughed.

Twilight glared at her girlfriend, who noticed the look and fluttered her eyelashes coquettishly. “You’re a bad influence on my mom.”

“Thank you!”

“I’m just saying,” Twilight continued. “I think it’s a little inappropriate that my mother makes off-color jokes at my expense.”

“Sparky, dear,” her mother began with a light peal of laughter. “I spent nearly twenty years raising you as a mother. Now that you’re grown and can stand on your own four hooves, I thought maybe we could try being friends.”

Twilight’s annoyance deflated at that admission. “Mom… of course you’re my friend…”

Cadance interrupted the tender moment the two Twilights were having with a sigh. “So cute… I wish I could’ve met you as a filly... I would’ve eaten you alive.”

Twilight rubbed at the spot between her eyes with a pained groan. “Sun above, that would’ve been weird.”

“How so?” Cadance asked with a curious tilt of her head that was eerily mirrored by Twilight Velvet.

“You’re five years older than I am,” Twilight pointed out. “When I was eight, you would’ve been thirteen. You would’ve been old enough to be my foalsitter.”

“Oh, I would’ve been the best foalsitter,” Cadance remarked with another dreamy sigh. “I’d give you a bath, then I’d put you to bed, I’d read you a story as I tucked you in…” Cadance tapped her chin thoughtfully as she put on a worryingly impish grin. “Actually, it wouldn’t be too different from our relationship now.”

Twilight physically shuddered at the image the comparison conjured in her mind. “That’s too creepy.”

“Love should be at least a little creepy,” Twilight Velvet suggested. “And you know she’s only saying it to make you squirm.”

“See, this is why we get along,” Cadance said, gesturing animatedly between herself and Twilight Velvet with both hooves. “You get me. You get my creep.”

A shrill ring filled the air as the timer on the stove went off, drawing every pair of eyes towards the kitchen. Twilight Velvet gently closed the album and covered the tin of chocolates before standing. She retrieved her apron, which had been carefully folded and draped over the back of the couch, and tied it around herself with magic.

“That’s my cue,” Twilight Velvet said. Her horn lit again and the angry buzz stopped. “Cadance, do you want to help me finish cooking dinner?”

“Yes, ma’am!” Cadance cast a quick conjuring spell that summoned an apron of her own. It was bright pink, considerably more frilly, and less in need of a wash than the older Twilight’s plain white number.

The two mares disappeared into the kitchen to tend to dinner, leaving Twilight and her father alone in the living room.

“She never asks me to help her in the kitchen,” Twilight grumbled.

“That’s because you tend to burn things, Sparky,” Night Light said glibly. He folded his paper noisily and set it down on the table to use as an improvised coaster for his now empty coffee cup.

“She’s doesn’t act this way when Rarity visits, does she?” Twilight asked.

Her father shrugged. “Rarity doesn’t visit as often, but when she does…?” He paused, as is thinking about his answer, before smiling widely. “No, not even by half. She likes Rarity, but it’s not the same with her as it is with Cadance.”

Twilight shook her head in disbelief. “I knew Cadance was a bad influence.”

“They’re a bad influence on one another,” Night Light said. “Cadance and your mom are a lot alike. They’re sort of feeding off each other, I suppose.”

“Mom and Cadance are alike?” Twilight asked with a raised eyebrow. “My mother, the mare who tried to make me wear a hoofball helmet to the first day of magic kindergarten, is like my girlfriend, the mare who tried to make me wear a hoofball helmet…” Twilight shook her head, her cheeks burning as she realized what she was just about to admit. “Well, never mind the where or why! Just… Mom and Cadance, really?”

He shrugged again. “She wasn’t always your mom,” he explained. “All the responsibility and the worrying and the fussing… that came after Shining was born. When you all were children, you didn’t need a friend, you needed a mother. Now that you’re older, it’s like she said. She wants to give being friends a shot.”

“I don’t need a mom anymore,” Twilight admitted in a small voice, “but I do kind of want one.”

Night Light smiled at her. It was the same gentle, loving smile he’d give her as a filly when he was being very patient with her. “She’s still your mom, Sparky,” he said softly. “She’s always going to love you, and care about you, and she’s always going to worry – but now she wants your relationship to be something more. She wants it to be bigger.”

Twilight chewed her lip, trying to follow what her father was saying. “It’s kind of weird to hear it all laid out like that,” she murmured.

“It’s weird for her, too. You’re a completely different person than you were when the nurse put you in her arms. She got to watch you grow into the mare that you are. She’s still feeling out this new dimension of your relationship. Just… be patient with her.”

“I’m trying to be,” Twilight said with a nod, “but she’s not making it easy.”

Night Light threw back his head and laughed. “No, no she isn’t! But that’s both of our faults for falling in love with a certain kind of mare, isn’t it?”

“You know,” Twilight began, “Cadance and I have been together for a while now, and we come over here a lot. I probably would’ve enjoyed visiting a bit more if this had been explained to me sooner.”

“Your mom is only just barely working it out herself,” Night Light said. “It’s not anything she planned. Like I said, Cadance and your mom sort of bring it out in one another.”

Twilight exhaled through her nostrils and watched the fire burn in the hearth as she let her father’s words sink in.

Admittedly, it would be nice to be better friends with her mother. She honestly couldn’t remember any time she’d seen her mom more excited to have guests over than when she and Cadance came to visit, and it did her heart good to see that smile. They were the two most important mares in her life, and she would have hated it if they hadn’t liked one another. She’d read and heard stories about ponies whose significant other didn’t get along with one, or even both, of their parents, and it wasn’t anything she would’ve wished for herself – or for her mom and Cadance, for that matter.

Family was important to Twilight, and Cadance treated her family very well. If a little bit of discomfort on her behalf meant that Cadance and her mother continued getting along, she’d just have to pay that price.

Night Light’s recliner creaked as he craned his neck and tried to peer into the kitchen to see if anypony was coming. He quickly opened the lid on the tin of chocolates and floated one into his mouth. “So how’s work been?” Night Light asked as he chewed.

For only a brief, tempting second, Twilight considered telling her dad about how work had been. She considered talking about her friend who was so traumatized by her abduction that she was struggling with the decision of even staying in Canterlot. She considered telling him that there was a heart-eating monster that could steal bodies and move faster than you could blink, and not only knew her name, but apparently had an interest in her and said he’d probably see her again soon. She considered explaining that her ally that was likely best armed to combat said monster was an entire continent away, and not responding to her attempts to communicate.

“It’s been busy…” she said after a moment of thought. The unmistakably familiar sound of Cadance’s laughter drifted in from the kitchen, filling her chest with warmth. “…but it’s nothing I can’t handle.”


* * *


The streets of Canterlot glowed with the fuzzy warmth of colored lights that were meant to be more festive than practical, but did the job through sheer numbers. It was late in the evening, closer to midnight than to dusk, but ponies were still out and about, gorging themselves on goodwill and holiday cheer. Food stalls were still open along the busier streets, dispensing hot drinks and warm snacks for families and couples touring the various light displays.

Twilight walked along the street, her eyes actively taking in her surroundings as she went. Cadance walked alongside her, levitating a bag of fresh caramel corn between them.

The night air was near-freezing, and the shadows of weather pegasi maneuvering snow-heavy clouds could be seen in the sky by the light of the glowing streets below. Twilight redid the knot of her rainbow-colored scarf with a twist of magic as she walked, pulling it tighter against the cold. Cadance was also wearing a scarf – a bright red, hoof-knitted thing with little white hearts all over it like polka dots – and had traded in her crown for a pair of fuzzy pink earmuffs.

“Try to relax, Twilight,” Cadance quietly commented as she floated a few bits of popcorn into her mouth. “We’re both off the clock. Right now we’re just a couple of ponies on a lovey-dovey stroll through town.”

Twilight gave her princess a sidelong glance. “I’m always on duty when I’m at your side,” she replied.

An earth pony filly wearing a woolen cap and little yellow snow boots caught sight of Twilight and Cadance. She stood on her hind legs, waving a hoof at Cadance so enthusiastically that the motion caught the attention of her parents and several others. Cadance giggled and returned the wave with as much enthusiasm as royal dignity allowed.

“Please, Twilight,” Cadance said out the corner of her mouth as she smiled and waved at several others that had taken the filly’s cue to greet their princess. “We’re in the middle of Canterlot, on a well-lit street, surrounded by our beloved ponies, with an on duty guard at every street corner. Relax.”

Twilight frowned, ratcheting down her state of readiness a few degrees.

Cadance’s kindly public façade fell away with a sigh. “Twilight, seriously. We’re not in court, we’re not on the castle grounds, and we’re not in an official meeting of any kind. Nopony is going to mind us letting our manes down a bit. Look, I’m not even wearing my crown right now.”

Cadance rarely ever appeared in public without her crown. Technically speaking, she didn’t have to wear the symbol of her power except when acting in an official capacity as a princess, or for purely ceremonial purposes. Even still, it signified her right to stand at the side of the other two princesses, and she took pride in always appearing the part. If she had opted to come out in public without her crown, it meant that she was being serious about trying to relax.

“Okay…” Twilight mumbled sheepishly. She shot a look at the bag of caramel popcorn and snatched a few pieces for herself.

“That’s my girl,” Cadance said with a grin. She raised a hoof and pointed to an unlit passageway between two buildings. “Now follow me into that darkened alley.”

Twilight groaned. “That’s not funny, Cadance.” She scanned the crowd with new eyes, looking for something fun to do. A bit up the street she found a pegasus stallion with an enormously poofy mane of curly blue hair selling balloons. A whole flock of them was tied to the big canister on his cart, and a group of ponies was standing around him as he deftly twisted and tied long balloons into complicated shapes and animals. “Hey, why don’t we go see if he’ll make us a couple of crowns?” Twilight snickered, pointing to the balloon artist.

Twilight blinked as she realized that Cadance wasn’t standing next to her. Her head whipped around in a frantic search for her missing princess, only to find Cadance stepping into the shadows of the alleyway she’d pointed out.

“Damnit, Cadance,” Twilight growled with frustration. She rushed to the alley with a half-trot, not wanting to draw attention to herself by moving too quickly.

Twilight lit her horn and glanced around, trying to find where Cadance had run off to. A cat with the half-eaten remains of a rat in its mouth got spooked by the sudden light and darted off further into the alley, bumping against a trash can that rattled noisily. There was no sign of the princess, and no place for her to hide, unless she’d crawled inside of one of those trash cans – and that wasn’t very likely for Cadance, not even for a prank. On a hunch she looked up, just in time to catch a piece of popcorn right between the eyes.

Cadance floated a few yards overhead, treading air lazily, holding the popcorn bag between her hooves. “Knew you’d catch on,” she said with a wink. She rose a bit higher and landed on the roof of one of the buildings. “Come on, teleport up here with me.”

Twilight huffed, sending up a big plume of steamy air, and charged the spell. A second later she was standing on the roof next to Cadance, three stories above street level.

“Don’t pout,” Cadance said. “I said I’d take you somewhere fun, didn’t I?”

Twilight blinked. “Wait, wasn’t that what the visit with my parents was about?”

“Yes and no,” Cadance said with a grin. “I always have a ball hanging out with Velvet, but telling you that visiting your parents was the fun surprise was all a clever ruse to throw you off the trail of the real surprise.”

Twilight looked around. The tiled roof was covered with a thin layer of snow, and a pair of hissing yowls came up from the alleyway as the cat from earlier found another cat to fight over the remains of its catch... or they might have been mating. Either way, it wasn’t a very romantic spot… for ponies.

“I, uh… I love it, you shouldn’t have,” Twilight deadpanned.

“This isn’t the surprise, you silly,” Cadance huff with an adorable roll of her eyes. She jerked her head up the slope of the pitched roof and carefully walked up the incline.

Twilight followed, curious as to what she would find waiting on the other side of the roof. What she found at the top of the roof was enough to stop her in her tracks.

The top half of an enormous tree rose above the line of houses a few streets down from where they stood. It was like the smaller trees that ponies kept in their homes, but a hundred times larger, and festooned with decorations that were likewise enlarged so they could be seen from a distance. There was a huge ribbon tied around the middle, done up in a bow large enough that the loops could be used as a hammock. There were a few searchlights pointed up at the tree, but it was difficult to make out too many details from this distance.

“Whoa…”

“You ain’t seen nothing yet, hon.” Cadance giggled as she swept a spot on the roof clear with a wing and conjured a blanket with her magic. A second pop of her magic sent the bag of popcorn away and she laid out the blanket and took a seat, beckoning Twilight to sit next to her. “Give it a few minutes.”

“Isn’t that where the big fountain is?” Twilight asked as she took her place on the blanket.

“Yeah, the one with the ‘No Peeing’ sign,” Cadance sniggered. “I had the fountain temporarily removed to free up some real estate. It was the only open space downtown large enough for the tree I picked out. The Parks Department spent the whole day putting it up.”

“Wait, that thing went up in just one day?” Twilight asked.

“I told them that I wanted to do it as a surprise for the Royal Guard that rescued all those abducted castle gardeners,” Cadance explained. “They were happy to put in the overtime.”

Twilight shook her head in disbelief. “That’s too much,” she muttered.

It started snowing.

The little snowflakes drifted down from the sky, swirling around and dancing in the glow of the streetlights. Almost as soon as the first flurries of snow touched the ground, the spotlights on the tree turned off, and the thousands upon thousands of lights that decorated the tree came on. The tree’s glow was like a beacon in the night, and even from this distance Twilight could hear the collective gasp of the ponies standing in its shadow to watch the light display come alive.

Somewhere near the square where the tree was displayed, somepony was playing a stringed instrument. Soon an entire orchestra was playing, filling the streets with beautiful music.

The spell was broken when Twilight felt Cadance’s lips against her cheek.

“I figured this spot would be just far enough from the crowd to give us some privacy,” Cadance whispered tenderly. She scooted closer, pressing their bodies together as she wrapped a wing around Twilight. “Happy Hearth’s Warming, Twilight Sparkle.”

“This is my Hearth’s Warming present?” Twilight asked.

“Nah, this isn’t one of your presents,” Cadance said with a dismissive wave. “This is just something nice I wanted to do for you. That everypony else in Canterlot gets to enjoy it is just a really great bonus.”

Twilight blinked away the tears forming at the corners of her eyes. The emotion welled up as a knot in her chest so powerful that it physically ached. “Cadance… this is…”

Cadance shushed her with a kiss, deep and tender as any they’d ever had.

“You don’t have to say anything,” Cadance told her. “I can feel your heart. Other ponies, I have to look for what they feel, but your heart shouts out to me.” She leaned down and nuzzle Twilight lovingly. “I could hear it from anywhere. You don’t even realize how big it is – big enough to love the whole world if you wanted to. I’ve never met anypony so beautiful, and if it made you happy I’d put up a thousand trees just like this one.”

Twilight sniffled and ran a hoof over her eyes in a futile attempt to clear her vision of the tears streaking her face.

“This whole day,” Twilight said, her voice thickened to nearly a croak, “this whole day you’ve been trying to get me to slow down, haven’t you? The shower, dinner with my parents, and now this…”

There was a pregnant moment of silence before Cadance answered. “I know that… that you’re worried that we might be in for some scary stuff soon,” Cadance began. “In spite of all these dire warnings and bad feelings, the monsters and… and whatever the flip else will cross our path… I just wanted you to know that I’m always here for you, through thick and thin, by your side as long as you want me… I wanted you to know that I’ve always got your six.”

Twilight choked with laughter, every spasm squeezing more tears out of her eyes. “You have my six?” she asked between giggles.

“Don’t laugh, I was trying it out!” Cadance demanded with an angry pout. “Did I not use it right or something?”

“No, no, you did,” Twilight admitted as she whisked away the tears. “It was just unexpected. You were super cool, honey.”

“Okay, now you’re just being mean,” Cadance said with a chuckle of her own.

They sat for a while, letting the snow gather around them as they shared their warmth. Somepony had started singing carols to accompany the orchestra in the distance, and the streets hummed with a hundred voices gathered in an improvised chorus as the crowd joined in. For a few beautiful, glorious moments, it felt like the city itself was singing.

A snowflake landed on the tip of Twilight’s nose, forcing a sneeze out of her.

“That’s the second time you’ve sneezed today,” Cadance said with a worried murmur. “Are you getting sick?”

“No, I just had something tickle my nose,” Twilight replied.

Cadance narrowed her eyes, humming thoughtfully. Her horn lit as she summoned a small square box, tied with a pink bow and bearing a tag with Twilight’s name on it.

“I want you to have this now,” Cadance insisted as she set the present down in front of Twilight.

“Aw, Cadance, you can’t give it to me now, what’ll I open on the big day?” Twilight protested.

“It’s fine, I got you lots of other presents,” Cadance said with a smirk. “Word of advice – and this isn’t a hint – if you look under the tree on Hearth’s Warming Morning and see a present shaped like me wearing sexy lingerie, open it first. I’m only saying because – and again, this isn’t a hint – I’m not sure how easy it is to breathe inside of wrapping and I kind of don’t want to suffocate on Hearth’s Warming.”

Twilight made a show of rolling her eyes as she opened her present. It was a silly suggestion, but it was definitely the kind of thing Cadance would do.

“Sexy holiday mummy first, got it.”

Inside the box was a folded piece of cloth. Twilight ran her hoof over it. It was silk, dyed a shade of purple several shades darker than her own coat. She felt her scarf being undone by Cadance’s magic, exposing her throat to the chilly winter air. Cadance folded her old scarf and draped the new one over her shoulders.

“I enchanted this scarf myself,” Cadance proudly explained as she carefully wrapped it around Twilight. “It’s stain and tear-resistant, because I know how rough you can be on your clothes, and it’s fire-resistant, because I know you like to set things on fire. It’s also got a minor charm that helps hold in body heat, because I know you hate the cold.”

Twilight took the loose end of the scarf and brought it to her face, rubbing the smooth material against her face. It was the exact same kind of silk as their bed sheets. She breathed in the scent of it and found that it smelled faintly of Cadance’s favorite perfume.

“It smells like you,” Twilight commented happily.

Cadance smiled. “Thought you’d like that.”

“I love it,” Twilight said as she leaned against Cadance and kissed her again. “And I love you.”

“I love you, too, honey.”

Twilight closed her eyes and buried her face in the scarf. It was more than just a piece of clothing, it was all the little things that Cadance did and said to show that she cared, to show that she was always thinking about Twilight, all wrapped up into a single gift.

A sense of peace and understanding welled up in Twilight – a moment of clarity that rang like a bell inside her very soul. At that moment, she knew with more certainty than anything she’d ever known that she wanted Cadance to be with her forever.

Twilight lifted her face from the scarf and looked up at Cadance. Her girlfriend’s eyes were wide in apparent shock. A moment of confusion gave Twilight pause, then she realized that Cadance must have sensed what was in her heart.

At least that would make things easier.

Twilight licked her lips, swallowing down the lump in her throat as she turned to completely face her mare. “Cadance…” Twilight began. “I… I want you to marry me. I know it’s crazy, I don’t have a ring or a plan or a proper proposal, I didn’t set up anything special or ask Princess Celestia for your hoof or anything like that, but…”

Twilight’s stumbling, nervous, half-ranted proposal ended as Cadance pushed her down on the blanket and kissed her hard. They kissed and groped at one another, trying with all their might to communicate their love through touch – through lips and hooves and wings in a desperate need to share their warmth.

Twilight only remembered bits and pieces of how they got home. She remembered chasing after Cadance, who’d leapt into the air and challenged her to another race. She remembered laughing as she ran across the rooftops, teleporting over the heads of ponies in the streets below. She remembered shouting something at the guards when they asked her what was going on and why she was running. She remembered being warm, and feeling safer than she’d ever felt as she and Cadance reaffirmed their love for one another in the privacy of their bedchambers.

The next morning, tired, sweaty, and still glowing with the aftermath of their passions, Cadance finally managed to say yes.


* * *