Half Hour Horses: Legacy Prompts

by HoofAndQuill

LP15: Home for the Holidays [Slice of Life]

(Prompt: Home for the Holidays.)

Sort of a loose interpretation of that prompt, but I wanted to post something.

"Is that really everything?"

Twilight Sparkle looked doubtfully up at the mantle over her new castle's hearth, and then around the large, empty room that held it. She counted the decorations without even thinking about it, even as Spike turned tail-up in the box looking for more. His voice broke her thoughts a moment later, along with a rustling of parchment and quill. "That's everything, Twilight! Decorate for Hearth's Warming, check!"

"Decorations are NOT checked!" Twilight stamped her hoof, and then had the decency to look a bit embarrassed for her reaction. "Just look at this place, Spike! There's hardly anything on the walls!"

Spike muttered some kind of half-hearted protest as Twilight looked around again. She sighed quietly. Spike had been correct. There were the four holly wreaths she'd purchased, and the ribbons. There were the two sets of bells, and she had a small fire in the fireplace. That and a few boughs posted here and there in the halls and... well, it had been enough last year! Last year, in her little library.

Twilight sat down heavily, and Spike rolled up the checklist before coming over and laying a claw on her shoulder. "Come on, Twilight. It looks fine! It's Hearth's Warming Eve, you love this holiday!"

She turned and gave him a weak smile, and opened her mouth to speak before they heard the door to the room open behind them. Turning around, they spotted Applejack walking in, pushing along a little wheeled cart. "Hey Twilight, howdy, Spike. Thought I might swing by an' keep y'all company. I know it ain't easy spendin' Hearth's Warming in a new house an' all."

Twilight laughed and welcomed Applejack happily, though she couldn't really help eying the cart. It was one of the ones they'd used to move all the furniture and other things into her castle to start with, but now it was laden with a few bales of hay, a barrel of what Twilight assumed was cider, and some kind of tin firewood holder. Applejack saw her looking, and chuckled a little, rubbing one foreleg with her other. "Uh, figured we might like somethin' to sit on, an' I know it ain't really fit for a royal castle, but I reckon you might not want to just set the firewood on the floor."

Hay bales and aged tin furniture really didn't fit the decor that the Tree of Harmony had built this castle with, but Twilight Sparkle only smiled and helped Applejack start setting out the seats and everything. They had only just finished tapping the barrel of mulled cider when they heard voices out in the hallway.

"You didn't bring anything? C'mon, Fluttershy, it's Hearth's Warming!"

"Um, well, Twilight isn't a pegasus, and I did bring Angel Bunny."

The two pegasus ponies entered the room shortly after, Rainbow Dash flying a few feet off of the ground, with saddlebags bulging with boxes, while Fluttershy trotted along on the ground, carrying Angel Bunny on her back. Angel, for his part, seemed content nibbling on a carrot and ignoring the proceedings entirely. Rainbow grinned as she landed near her friends, and shimmed her saddlebags to the floor. "Hey guys! Fluttershy and I thought Twilight might be by herself, so we came over. I brought presents! I know it's kinda a pegasus thing, but you know. You've got wings, so you're like... half pegasus anyway. Wait, is that cider?!"

Twilight opened her mouth to protest, but then just shook her head and smiled as Rainbow bolted over to the barrel and helped herself to a mug. "Thanks, Rainbow Dash. And hi, Fluttershy! I'm glad both of you could make it, and Angel, too!"

Fluttershy sat down to let Angel off of her back, and the rabbit happily hopped over to the hay bale nearest the fire, settling down on the warm hay just before Spike manged to get there. Spike managed to stop his glaring at the rabbit after only a moment or two, sighing and finding the second-best place instead. Twilight laughed and hugged Fluttershy in greeting, before the two of them started setting out the presents Rainbow had brought. "Uh, Rainbow? These presents aren't really..."

"Huh? Oh, right. I didn't have any Hearth's Warming paper, so they're wrapped in birthday paper. Doesn't really matter, right?"

Fluttershy smiled apologetically even though it was by no means her fault. Still, the brightly wrapped gifts might not have fit the color scheme of the holiday, but they were at least somewhat festive. The room seemed a little brighter with the gifts stacked off to the side, and with Applejack and Rainbow already laughing as they drank their cider a bit faster than anypony really should. The fire cackled hot in the hearth, and Fluttershy giggled as Angel kicked hay around to make a little bed for himself, even as it drew another annoyed glance from Spike. After all, he was always the one that got stuck cleaning up.

Twilight already expected more guests after all of this, so a few minutes later the sound of hooves in the hallway failed to surprise her at all. Nor did the identity of the voices she heard, given that only two ponies were missing from all this now anyway. Fluttershy smiled as she looked at Twilight's expression, and then turned back to warm herself by the fire.

"I must say, Pinkie Pie, you look simply beyond festive today. Though I can't imagine why you would need your party cannon for what will likely be just a small little get-together with Twilight and Spike."

"Well, DUH! You can have a party with just three ponies, Rarity! Besides, all our friends are gonna be here, just watch!"

Somehow before Pinkie even turned the corner, the party cannon peeked around and launched a chaotic mess of confetti and streamers out all over Twilight's otherwise fairly clean room. All the gathered ponies still couldn't help but laugh at the party horn and the mess though, and Pinkie's smiling face coming into view a second later didn't change it at all. In a blink Pinkie Pie was over next to the budding party, wrapping Twilight and Fluttershy both in a tight hug before zooming over to the cider barrel in a blur to hug the other two participants.

After Pinkie let her go, Twilight smiled to Fluttershy and then trotted over to greet Rarity as she came through the doorway, levitating a few silken ribbons and gem-encrusted draperies in her magic. Rarity stopped short after Twilight's hug, and looked at the gathering before her. She sighed and moved her decorations to hang on the little crystal settings in the walls, before shaking her head. "Hello, Darling. I'm afraid my contributions only made the decor worse. I don't know what sort of look we are developing, here, but I don't believe it has any sort of theme at all!"

Twilight Sparkle looked around the room again. Honestly speaking, it was still rather bare, but... there were bales of hay scattered a safe distance from the fireplace, some broken and bedded down by a bunny and a competitive baby dragon, there was a tin firewood holder and a wooden barrel of cider, a party cannon off to the side and streamers and confetti somehow still flittering through the air. The presents off to the side, still an unusual tradition to Twilight's mind, were wrapped in gaudy colors not fit for the season, and Rarity's silk ribbons and gems looked far too expensive for her own holly wreaths and bells. But...

Rainbow Dash and Applejack were both deep into mugs of cider, drinking as fast as they could while Pinkie played referee. Fluttershy looked a bit flustered as she admonished Angel and Spike for making a mess, even as the two glanced between each other and the remaining undamaged bale of hay. Rarity stood beside Twilight, looking at the utter disaster and mess filling the room. However, after a moment, a smile flitted across Twilight's face.

"No, Rarity. I think it looks great. It... it looks like... home."

Rarity smiled knowingly, and the two unicorns trotted in to join their friends.

Author's Note:

You know, in light of today's episode 503: "Castle, Sweet Castle", this fit pretty much exactly the first half of it. Neat.