//------------------------------// // Chapter Six // Story: A Matter of Life and Death // by The Daughter of the Moon //------------------------------// It was Hearth's Warming Eve at Red Flame and Blue Fire's house. Lights were strung outside the house, and snow was falling lightly from the sky. Inside the house, hundreds of lights were illuminating a gigantic fir tree. The fire was happily cackling, its flames dancing energetically inside the fireplace. Everypony was wearing an ugly holiday sweater (all of them made fun of each other's sweaters at the dinner table), and the smell of savory vegetables and crispy pies wafted throughout the house. Everypony was excited to open presents at midnight, but nopony was more excited than Red Flame. "HOW MANY MORE HOURS UNTIL MIDNIGHT?!" Red Flame asked excitedly, nearly flinging his vegetables into the air. "About four." Blue Flame said, taking a gulp of hot apple cider. "Ooh, I can't wait!" exclaimed Red Flame impatiently, longingly looking at the pile of presents under the tree. "Um, guys…" Shining started, blushing. "The gifts was going to give you all were… kinda, um, destroyed in my house…" "Oh, that's okay, Shining!" affirmed Red Flame. "Hearth's Warming isn't about presents; it's about family and friendship!" The group continued eating, laughing, talking, and having a good time. However, Tia looked a little downcast. She was listlessly poking her food with her fork, staring blankly into space. Blue Fire caught note of this and pulled Red Flame aside. "Red Flame, she misses her family!" Blue Fire whispered. "What? How do you know?" Red Flame replied, confused. "Just look at things from her perspective: It's Hearth's Warming Eve, and she's celebrating it with a couple of ponies she barely knows in a world she doesn't belong in!" "B-but--" "I-I think we should try to get her home soon…" Red Flame didn't reply. "A-after Christmas, of course!" Blue Fire added hastily. Red Flame was silent. "O-okay…" He stammered quietly after a while. Red Flame smiled sadly, and he and Blue Fire returned to the dining room. "IT'S TIME, IT'S TIME!!!" Red Flame yelled happily as he pranced around the living room. "Hold your horses, now." Blue Fire said as everypony took a seat in front of the tree. "Heh. Horses…" Tia tugged Red Flame's sweater. "Do you want to go first, Reaper?" Tia nodded. "Go ahead, then!" Tia took three gifts from under the tree and passed them out. She ushered Blue Fire to open his first, a rather embarrassed look on her face. "Okay, then." Blue Fire said, unwrapping the paper. Red Flame was watching anxiously. Blue Fire's eyes widened. It was an… encyclopedia? "U-um, th-thanks, kiddo…" Blue Fire stammered politely. "The Reaper could not decide what present to give you, so I chose for her!" Red Flame revealed proudly. "Well that explains it." Tia gave Blue Fire an I'm-really-sorry kind of smile. "Don't sweat it." Blue Fire whispered to Tia. Red Flame opened his gift next. He let out a gasp. "A COOKBOOK!!!" Red Flame exclaimed. "AND NOT JUST ANY COOKBOOK, A FETTUCCINE ALFREDO COOKBOOK!!!" Red Flame scooped Tia into his arms and hugged her as hard as he could. "NOW WE CAN TRY MY NEW ALFREDO RECIPES EVERY DAY!!!" "As if we don't do that already." Blue Fire thought to himself, smiling. Shining Spear opened her gift now. She took off the cover of a small, box. There was a vile with a silvery substance in it. "Another vile?! Really?!" Tia nodded. "Thank you so much! But don't be giving away too much blood, now. You could get anemia." Tia nodded happily as she sat back down. It was Red Flame's turn to give his gifts now. "Open yours first, Reaper!" Tia unwrapped the box and took off the lid. Inside was a purple long-sleeved sweater with a butterfly stitched on it, which was a lighter shade of purple. "Do you like it?" Red Flame asked excitedly. "You're always borrowing Blue Fire's sweaters, so I made one that's all yours! I thought purple would go well with your complexion, and there always seemed to be a butterfly around you, so I stitched one on there too!" Tia grinned ear to ear. She took off her sweater and the on the one Red Flame made for her. Perfect fit. "IT LOOKS PERFECT ON YOU!!!" "Guess it's my turn, now." Blue Fire said as he unwrapped his present. Laying inside the box was a blue hooded cloak with Blue Fire's cutie mark stitched onto the back. "So, brother?! What do you think?!" Red Flame asked exuberantly. "I… I love it." Red Flame let out a long gasp. "My… my only brother… LOVES IT?!" Red Flame wiped nonexistent tears from his eyes and pretended to faint. "Well, then…" Shining Spear said. "I'll open mine now." However, there was no present under the tree for Shining from Red Flame. "WAIT!!! It's in the kitchen! I'll go get it." Red Flame said quickly before he ran into the kitchen and back out, carrying a plate covered with a cloche cover. "After you!" Shining took off the plate cover to reveal a plate of fettuccine Alfredo. "Alfredo?" "Not just any Alfredo, Shining. Oh no." Red Flame corrected her. "It's my Extra Special Super Amazing Fettuccine Alfredo!" Red Flame gave Shining a fork. Unsurely, she took a bite of the pasta. Her eyes widened. "It's amazing…" "That's because I spent one month cooking it!" Shining gagged. "It-t's real-lly good, Red-d Flam-me…" Shining coughed. Red Flame swelled with pride as he took his seat. "Actually, I managed to get you and Tia last-minute presents." Shining told Red Flame. "Sorry, Blue Fire." "Hey, it's fine." Shining handed Tia a large, messily wrapped box. "I guess I'm not the best gift wrapper." Shining laughed. Tia opened the box to find a turquoise shield laying inside it, the emblem of Rainum (a red raindrop) emblazoned on it. "I thought you could use it to protect yourself in case, you know, other ponies try to kill you…" Shining mumbled quietly, blushing. Tia took it out and examined it, smiling. "Wanna give it a test run?" Tia nodded determinedly and held the shield out in front of her. Shining punched the shield hard, but it didn't make a scratch. "Works pretty well, doesn't it?" Shining said, beaming. Tia nodded happily as she hugged the shield. Her hooves couldn't touch when she wrapped them around the shield; it was almost as big as her. "Ooh, what's my gift, Shining?" Red Flame asked curiously. Shining blushed. "This." said Shining as she leaned towards Red Flame and gently kissed him on the cheek. Red Flame's eyes widened, and he fainted, blushing. Tia suppressed a giggle. Shining was flushing a bright red. "Welp, guess it's my turn now." stated Blue Fire. Red Flame immediately sat up, still a little dazed. "Ooh, yay!" Blue Fire snickered. He handed out his gifts to Red Flame, Shining, and Tia. "Ooh, can I open my present first?" Red Flame squeaked. "Go ahead." Red Flame unwrapped his present and opened the box. Laying inside was vibrant red scarf with words, "The Fantastic Red Flame" stitched on it. Red Flame let out a very long gasp. "I LOVE IT!!! IT'S THE MOST PERFECT GIFT IN THE WHOLE WORLD!!!" He exclaimed as he wrapped it around his neck. "CAN I WEAR THIS TO WORK, SHINING?!" "Well, I guess it's in code, so, sure." Red Flame nearly exploded with happiness. He tackled Blue Fire and hugged him so tight that his eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. "Glad… you… like it…" Blue Fire coughed. "Open… yours… Shining…" "Um, should I help…?" Shining asked unsurely, smiling. "It's… fine." Blue Fire choked, smiling back. Shining unwrapped her gift, and underneath it was a long, sleek case. She opened it up and inside was a spear. "Whoa." Shining whispered. "Ya like it?" Blue Fire asked, having freed himself from his brother's grasp. "Used it in my early days as a guard. Doubt I'll ever use it again." "It's… AWESOME!" Shining immediately took the spear and plunged it into the air. "Works like a charm!" Finally, it was Tia's turn. Blue Fire felt a little hesitant to give his present to Tia after seeing the vision, but Blue Fire had had the old pendant for as long as he remembered, and there wasn't anything special about it. Tia took off the lid of a small box. She held up a beautiful talisman with a white, glowing orb at the end of the string of blue diamonds. Tia put it on and smiled. "Glad ya like it, kiddo." "Yes… YES!" A raspy voice exclaimed, watching from the shadows. "The next step has been completed…" The voice cackled loudly. It eagerly watched Tia laughing with the group, the orb on her talisman turning pitch black.