Fall ended, and winter began. The temperature dropped harshly, and even though the pegasi warned the ponies of Ponyville, it was still a harsh change in climate. In response to the cold and damp, Marjoram’s health worsened.
Marjoram spent most days in the library, reading or teaching Spike and Twilight. On the days he was too ill to get out of bed, Twilight and Spike did their best to help; reading, talking, and making sure Marjoram drank his tea and ate at least a little.
One morning, Marjoram woke up to a loud knocking on his door. Through bleary eyes, Marjoram looked at the clock, and found it was nearly eleven o’clock in the morning. Heaving himself out of bed, Marjoram trudged his way up the stairs, wondering what Twilight could want with him if she’d known he’d been sleeping.
Making it up the stairs was a bit of a struggle, but Marjoram managed it without falling or feeling like he was going to faint from lack of oxygen. In all, a very good way to start the day. Marjoram entered the suspiciously dark kitchen, and almost jumped out of his fur when the lights turned on and eight ponies yelled ‘surprise’ at him.
Marjoram stared at the gathered ponies, noting with surprise that Celestia and Shores was there. His still half-asleep brain still trying to process, Marjoram turned a helpless glare to Twilight, who giggled nervously.
“It’s your thirtieth birthday! I couldn’t just let you sleep through it.”
Marjoram blinked, he’d completely forgotten about his birthday. Shores clucked her tongue, “You forgot again, didn’t you? C’mon, sit down. We’re eating breakfast before we do anything else. How much coffee do you want?”
Marjoram obediently sat down beside the cook, trying to shake the feeling of sleep from his mind, “A bucketful if you’ve got one big enough.”
Shores laughed, “I don’t have a bucket, but this large mug should help. Now, eat up. We’ve got a lot of stuff to do today.”
“Like what?” Marjoram replied, taking a sip of the strong, bitter liquid.
“It’s a surprise, silly!” Pinkie stated brightly, “C’mon, everypony, eat up! We’ve got a lot to do today!”
Marjoram blinked slowly, staring at Pinkie with a rising, horrible realization: she was one of those ponies. One of the ‘lucky’ few who could say more than a few grumbled words first thing in the morning.
Without another word, Marjoram practically chugged the rest of the first cup of coffee, and refilled it, before moving on to the actual food.
“Is Luna looking after Canterlot while you’re gone?” Twilight asked Celestia, around a careful bite of pancake.
Celestia nodded, sipping daintily from her teacup, “I thought it was time that she get back into the swing of things. She’ll be fine.”
“How has your dress making been going, Rarity?” Twilight asked after a beat of silence.
“It’s been going great, my dear,” Rarity replied with a smile, “I had a few orders from Canterlot, and one from Manehatten. All very exciting if you ask me.”
“That’s great!” Twilight beamed. The rest of Twilight’s friends nodded appreciatively, though Rainbow seemed just ready to snort or roll her eyes.
“What do you do..Fluttershy, was it?” Shores asked, pouring syrup onto her pancakes.
“I-I uh...I look after animals,” Fluttershy whispered, staring down at her food.
“That must be exciting. One of my chefs volunteers at a shelter. Very good of you to do that. What about the rest of you? I hope you don’t mind me asking, but I hardly know any of you.”
“Well, my family and I run Sweet Apple Acres, just outside of town,” Applejack said amicably.
“I help the Cakes run Sugarcube Corner!” Pinkie said, beaming wildly, “And I plan parties around town!”
“I own my own boutique not too far away from here,” Rarity said elegantly, “I design the best and latest fashion!”
“I’m a weather pegasi,” Rainbow said boldly, “but it’s always been my dream to join the Wonderbolts!”
Shores nodded, “You have a friend group with lots of skills, Twilight.”
Twilight smiled in response. Spike looked at Shores, wiping his mouth with a napkin, “These are really good.”
Shores smiled, “I’m glad you like them, Spike. I’ll make them for you next time you come back to Canterlot, if you’d like.”
“That would be awesome, thanks!”
Marjoram found himself picking at the pancake on his plate, drinking mostly coffee. Soon enough, Pinkie had ploughed her way through most of the food, and everyone waited for her to finish up the last of it.
“What are we doing?” Marjoram asked, unsure on if he even wanted to know.
Celestia smiled, “We’re going to Canterlot.”
“At the end of the day, we are,” Shores butted in, “We’ve got some stuff around here that we’re first.”
“Is everypony done eating?” Twilight asked.
A chorus of ‘yes’ sounded throughout the room, and Twilight looked to Marjoram with a smile on her face, “Presents first. By then everything else should be ready.”
Marjoram nodded, downing the last of his coffee and following the others into the main room of the library. Twilight ushered him onto his favourite couch, where he could see seven gifts piled to one side of the couch.
“You’ve got almost an hour to open them, so don’t dawdle!” Twilight smiled.
Marjoram smirked, pulling the first of the gifts over to himself, “Got everything scheduled to the minute, don’t you?”
“Of course! How else can your birthday go off without a hitch?”
Marjoram shook his head, looking down at the gift he’d grabbed, and with a sinking feeling in his chest, realized it was from Rainbow. Swallowing dryly, Marjoram opened it and found a book. The title read: Before Equestria: What Was Life Really Like? Marjoram couldn’t help but be impressed, he hadn’t read this book before.
“Thank you.”
Rainbow shrugged, “Twilight thought you might like it.”
“I do.”
Twilight took a glance at the clock in the corner, making Marjoram roll his eyes again, “It’s been barely five minutes!”
Twilight leveled him with a deadpan glare, and Marjoram moved on. The next present he got was the neatest looking present he’d seen in a long time. It wasn’t wrapped, but the box was tasteful and the ribbon was large and poufy. Before Marjoram even looked at the tag, he knew it was from Rarity.
Marjoram opened it with care, and found a thick, long black scarf nestled inside. Raising a questioning eyebrow, Rarity smiled, “It goes with your cloak and you coat colour. Your other scarf is a little too short for you.”
“Thank you,” Marjoram looked at the soft looking fabric nestled in tissue paper, and smiled a little, “It’s very pretty.”
Rarity beamed, and Marjoram set the box down and picked the next present. It was clumsily wrapped, and Marjoram could easily tell it was Spike’s after just glancing at the writing. Marjoram opened it carefully, remembering the caution in which Spike had handled it when he’d bought it, and was astounded to see a snowglobe of Canterlot.
Lifting it from the box, Marjoram saw the city he considered home, and smiled. Spike smiled, “So you always have a piece of home.”
“Thank you, Spike.” Marjoram offered a smile, and Spike smiled right back.
Marjoram picked the gifts at random. Fluttershy got him a recently published guide about the different magical creatures that could be found in the Everfree Forest, Pinkie Pie got him a colourful new tea set, and Shores got him three new journals.
Twilight’s present was a small box, and inside was an expensive quill that Marjoram had been ogling for weeks. Silver tipped, and made from a phoenix feather, he could write powerful spells with it, without needing to worry about any backlash or anything.
Celestia had given him two of Starswirl the Bearded’s journals. Flipping through them carefully, Marjoram was delighted to notice he’d only heard mentions of the work before.
Applejack, who hadn’t said much, sidled out of the room, then came back, pushing a trolley with an elegantly made bookshelf on it. She smiled at the dumbstruck look on his face.
“Twilight told me you didn’t have enough shelving in your room for all of your books. I thought I’d help out. This here is made from Sweet Apple Acres apple tree wood.”
“Thank you,” Marjoram said, “thank you very much.”
“I’ll get it downstairs for you!” Applejack beamed.
“We’re right on time, too!” Twilight said brightly.
Everypony got their winter clothing on, Marjoram using the new scarf rather than the old one, and went outside. Marjoram’s lungs threatened to seize up in the cold, and he started to shiver the second he left the library.
Thankfully Twilight knew that would happen, and led them to Sugarcube Corner without a second’s hesitation. Inside was warm, almost too warm, but it was infinitely better than outside. The Cakes were waiting beside a medium-sized cake, with big smiles on their faces.
“Hello, dearies!” Mrs. Cake greeted, “come on in and sit down. Would you like us to sing?” The question was directed at Marjoram.
“I’m thirty, not ten. I’d appreciate it if no one sang,” Marjoram replied, climbing into a seat that was marked as his. Pinkie groaned, a brief frown crossing her features before she brightened again.
The cake was sliced and passed around, as well as tea and coffee. Marjoram took an experimental bite, and had to restrain himself from diving face-first into the confection. The cake was clearly Shore’s signature recipe mixed with Zap Apple jam.
Shores watched, a smile on her face as Marjoram ate some more, “The Cakes had to help me incorporate the jam. I know it’s not your usual cake, but I figured you wouldn’t mind.”
“Of course I don’t mind; this is lovely,” A mumour of agreement went around the table.
Shores’ smile grew, “Good. Now, eat up. It looks like Pinkie will eat it all before anypony else gets a chance at seconds.”
“Is everypony else packed?” Twilight asked suddenly, “Because if you’re not fully, Marjoram still has to pack, so you have a chance to go over your checklists again.”
Marjoram gave Twilight a questioning look. Twilight giggled sheepishly, “The others are going to come with us to Canterlot for a week. They’ve all wanted to see what Canterlot looks like at this time of year. And, we get to exchange presents a little early with them, while still celebrating our traditions.”
Marjoram nodded, and finished his slice of cake while wondering if it was appropriate or not to buy things for Twilight’s friends.
Almost five hours later, the cake had been eaten, bags were packed, and everypony was loaded into a closed royal carriage pulled by guards. Marjoram had bundled up in layers, sitting between Celestia and Shores, half-asleep before they’d even lifted off. He’d been given the anti-nausea potions, and had slept the whole way to Canterlot.
The trip was shorter than it was by train, but it was still rather long in comparison to the daily routines of the ponies in the carriage. While Marjoram was left exhausted by the end of the trip, the others had energy to spare. Marjoram had declined the invitation to ‘see the sights’, instead deciding to unpack and rest after the day of excitement and travel.
Marjoram carefully unpacked the two experiments, noting with satisfaction that they would be completed within a day or two. With that knowledge safely in hoof, Marjoram went to sleep, and slept the whole night through.
Marjoram awoke the next morning, to see both vials glowing, with pieces of enchanted paper with the results on them. As Marjoram read the results, his heart sunk to his hooves. Twilight, what have you been doing?