4 - Christmas Day
Chapter Four
Christmas Day
⠀
⠀
Sunset spent the night sleeping poorly. The combination of sleeping on the floor and being sick would be enough to keep her up, but she didn’t want to oversleep. At some point during the night she had decided to make the most of staying at Sweet Apple Acres. While it was still dark out she got up and made her way to the kitchen, noticing along the way that Apple Bloom had gone up to her room at some point.
Checking the clock in the kitchen, she found it was half past five in the morning. ‘She better appreciate this.’
Sunset began by making a pot of coffee. Strictly speaking that wasn’t part of her plan, but at this hour it was a requirement of its own. Besides, she knew for whatever reason Granny Smith would be up within an hour, and world appreciate the coffee being ready and waiting.
While waiting for the coffee she moved around the kitchen packing a few things. She packed light, since she planned to be back in time for breakfast and didn’t want to take too much of her friend’s food. In the end she just took some apples and bottles of water, plus a bag to carry everything.
Once the coffee was done she poured two mugs and left the rest of the pot on the warming plate. She returned to the living room, turning out the lights along the way.
She sat down next to Fluttershy and set the mugs down a safe distance before gently nudging her shoulder. It was almost a shame to wake her, but she knew it would be worth it. “Rise and shine, sunshine.”
“Mmm…” Fluttershy grabbed her hand and rolled over, pulling Sunset on top of her.
“Come on, Shy. You can’t sleep through Christmas morning.” Sunset ran her free hand through Fluttershy’s hair.
“I could if you let me,” Fluttershy mumbled. “Why aren’t you asleep?”
“Because it’s Christmas. You didn’t let me do anything for you last night, so I have to make up for it today.”
“Deal. You can start by coming back to bed.”
Sunset chuckled. “Oh no, you’ve been getting your way an awful lot lately. Come on, it won’t be the same if we wait.”
Fluttershy groaned and sat up. “What are you talking about?”
“You’ll see. I made you coffee.” Sunset pulled her arm back and retrieved the coffee mugs, one of which she handed to Fluttershy.
“Just tell me,” Fluttershy said. She sipped on her coffee and looked like she might fall back asleep at any moment.
“Aww come on, don’t you trust me?”
“Of course I do.” Fluttershy sighed. “Fine, we’ll do… whatever it is. Just give me a few minutes to wake up.”
Sunset obliged, letting Fluttershy lean against her while they drank their coffee. After finishing, Fluttershy left for the bathroom while Sunset checked her phone. It was almost dead, which wasn’t surprising; she hadn’t planned on spending the night, so she’d left her charger at her house. Swiping away the low battery warning she frowned at her other new notification.
“So what’s the plan?” Fluttershy asked when she returned.
“We start by killing Apple Bloom,” Sunset said.
Fluttershy sat back down, leaning against Sunset again. “That’s too bad. I like Apple Bloom.”
In response Sunset handed over her phone. Fluttershy blinked a few times at the bright screen then laughed. “I’m glad you find it amusing,” Sunset said.
“Aww come on, Sunny. It’s cute.” Fluttershy handed the phone back.
“No, you’re cute. I’m a mess.” Whenever Apple Bloom got up to go to her room she must have took a picture along the way, which she then texted to Sunset. Fluttershy was lying on her back sleeping peacefully, with one arm around Sunset and her free hand holding her girlfriend’s. Although her hair was all over the place, she looked serene. Sunset, however, looked like an absolute mess. Her head was resting on Fluttershy’s chest and she was drooling. Her hair was a tangled mess and her limbs were sprawled around at awkward angles.
“You should send me that picture,” Fluttershy said.
“No, I definitely should not.”
Fluttershy kissed Sunset’s cheek. “Please? I’ll go along with whatever you have planned for us today.”
Sunset rolled her eyes. “You were gonna do that anyway.”
“And you should reward me by sending me that picture.”
“What am I going to do with you…” Although she knew she could only regret it, she forwarded the picture to Fluttershy.
Fluttershy’s phone alerted her of the new message. She checked it and giggled, kissing Sunset’s cheek again. “So what are we really doing today?”
“We’re going for a walk.” Sunset stood up and collected their boots, handing Fluttershy hers before putting on her own.
“A walk?” Fluttershy repeated skeptically. “We had to wake up at six in the morning to go for a walk?”
“Hey, you got your picture. No second guessing me now.”
“Fine.” Fluttershy reluctantly pulled on her boots. “At least you seem to be feeling better.”
“See? I told you it was nothing to worry about. All I needed was a good night’s sleep after all.” Sunset still felt awful, truth be told. At least her congestion had mostly cleared up, which she planned to use to her advantage. It was much easier to pretend she wasn’t sick when she wasn’t sneezing and blowing her nose constantly.
Fluttershy finished lacing up her boots and stood up. “A good night’s sleep in a warm house,” she said. She walked over to the door and put on her jacket before handing Sunset hers.
“Okay, you’ve made your point.” Sunset took the jacket and put it on. She grabbed the bag of apples and water and pulled her gloves out of her pocket. Finally she wrapped a scarf around her neck and braced herself for the cold before opening the door. It was even colder than she expected, but she was determined to make the best of it. She held her hand out for Fluttershy’s, and together they walked outside.
Thankfully it wasn’t snowing, although the ground was covered in fresh powder. Birds were just starting to sing, but other than that everything seemed quiet, everyone still fast asleep in the few surrounding houses.
It wasn’t long before they were past the houses completely. “We’re going into Everfree?” Fluttershy asked. The Everfree National Forest separated their town from the neighboring city and was fairly popular for hiking in warmer weather. But at this hour, and with everything covered in snow, it was sure to be empty.
“Yup,” Sunset said. “It’ll be cool, trust me.”
Fluttershy nodded. “I do. But won’t it be too dark?”
“The sun will be up soon enough. We’re not gonna go trudging around the forest in the dark.”
The sun still wasn’t up by the time they reached the edge of the forest, so they stopped for a few minutes. Sunset pulled out an apple and handed it to Fluttershy before getting one for herself.
“You don’t think Applejack will mind that you took some apples, do you?” Fluttershy asked. Her uncertainty didn’t stop her from biting into it, however.
Sunset chuckled. “I think Applejack would be offended if we didn’t take some apples. Besides, she still brings me bags full of them all the time. If they’re somehow low on apples I can just run home and grab some more.”
“True.” Fluttershy finished her apple and began looking around for somewhere to throw out the core. Sunset shook her head and finished hers as well. She took Fluttershy’s core and tossed it over her shoulder along with her own. She pulled out a bottle of water for each of them. They had been room temperature, but were quickly getting colder, and at the moment she doubted either of them really wanted ice cold water anyway.
The first rays of the sun were starting to spread along the horizon. “We should get going,” Sunset said.
“You don’t want to wait until it’s just a teensy bit lighter?” Fluttershy asked hopefully.
“Can’t, we’re sort of on a schedule. But it’s okay, we’ll just take it easy. We’re not in a hurry.”
Sunset led them into the forest. Fluttershy followed but shook her head. “But wait, we’re on a schedule but not in a hurry? If we’re not in a hurry why can’t we just wait a few minutes until it’s lighter?”
Sunset looked around before spotting a beam of light shining through the trees. “Because of that.”
“What? I don’t get it,” Fluttershy said. She shook her head and nudged Sunset. “You’re not gonna tell me are you?”
Sunset shrugged. “Nope.”
As they walked more light gradually shown through the trees, illuminating their path just enough. They moved through the still mostly dark forest quietly, letting the gentle sounds of nature guide them along.
Sunset heard it first. The sound of rustling in the bushes in front of them. She put her hand on Fluttershy’s shoulder to stop her, not wanting to speak up in case it was something dangerous. She couldn’t see anything, but just to be safe she decided to alter their course. There wasn’t anything dangerous in the forest, especially not without going much further in, but it was still better to be cautious.
She leaned in to tell Fluttershy the plan but before she could she heard the rustling again, and this time a deer walked out. She turned to Fluttershy and could tell she was grinning even though her scarf covered her mouth. She turned back to the deer. He was a full grown stag, as tall as Sunset at the top of her head, and even taller still counting his antlers. He stood watching the two women, with no one moving.
Slowly Fluttershy reached into the bag on Sunset’s shoulder and pulled out an apple. She held it up so the deer could see it, then rolled it to him. He watched it until it stopped, then eventually took a few steps closer to reach it. He bent down and ate it without taking his eyes off of them.
When he finished Fluttershy pulled out another one. This time she held it out instead of rolling it. The deer’s ears moved around, but he didn’t move from where he was standing. Eventually Fluttershy took a step forward and the deer huffed. Sunset grabbed hold of her arm and nodded towards his antlers, which could easily tear them apart. And then there was his hooves, combined with the fact he easily weighed over a hundred pounds, which meant he was not an animal to be taken lightly.
Fluttershy set her hand on top of Sunset’s for a second before turning back to the deer. He took a small step forward. Fluttershy gently brushed off Sunset’s hand and took another step. She began humming Silent Night, quietly at first. When the deer didn’t run off at the sound she hummed a little louder. After one rendition she started again, singing the words out loud.
She took another step and set the apple down in front of her. She took a small step back and let the deer take the final steps towards her. This time when he bent down he didn’t bother to keep his eyes on them as he ate. Fluttershy stood motionless, and Sunset couldn’t manage anything but to do the same. Her heart was pounding against her chest. She knew full well that a stag smaller than that one could kill them both easily, and that the smallest thing could provoke him. Her instincts told her to run between Fluttershy and the deer, or to do something to scare him off, but any sudden movement could lead to horrible consequences. His fight or flight instincts only worked in their benefit if it was the flight part that took hold.
When he was done he pulled his head back up and she realized she had guessed his size wrong. He was bigger than her, and dwarfed Fluttershy. It was all she could do to keep her knees from buckling at the sight. Fluttershy, however, never stopped singing. Slowly, very slowly, she reached out her hand, making sure he could see her every move and that she wasn’t holding anything. When he didn’t back away she brought her hand to his shoulder. He allowed her to stroke his shoulder twice then turned and ran off, kicking up snow on Fluttershy in the process.
Sunset ran to her and caught her as she fell backwards. She wrapped her arms around Fluttershy and held her tightly. “I can’t… Fluttershy…”
Fluttershy just laughed. “Sunny, I’m okay! Everything’s okay!”
Sunset’s breathing was rapid. “Jesus, Shy, you scared the crap out of me! Please don’t ever do anything like that ever again.”
Fluttershy turned around and cupped her hands around Sunset’s face. “I’m sorry. Please, Sunny, don’t cry. I’m okay, really.”
“What? I’m not…” Sunset reached a hand up to her eyes and could tell they were wet even through her gloves. She hadn’t even realized she was crying. She wiped her tears away then helped Fluttershy brush the snow off of her.
Afterwards Fluttershy flung her arms around Sunset. “Coming out here was the a great idea! I’m so glad you thought of it.”
With her nerves finally calming down Sunset was able to smile. “Well, I didn’t exactly count on that happening.”
After taking a moment to rest they resumed their walk, and Fluttershy had a new enthusiasm for everything. The sun was high enough now that sunshine was filtering in through the branches in beams of light, giving the forest a heavenly look. They spotted numerous animals along the way, though to Sunset’s relief they didn’t find anything quite so large as the deer.
“You never had anywhere specific you wanted to go, did you?” Fluttershy asked knowingly.
Sunset grinned. “No. Just… here.” She held out her arms and gestured all around them.
“It’s beautiful, but why?”
“Because… it’s Christmas. I don’t really get a lot of this stuff, so maybe I’m wrong about this all, but… well, you don’t go to church anymore.” Sunset looked down at the ground. She felt silly now that she was saying it out loud. What did she know about religious experiences? “I guess I thought that maybe this place was kind of spiritual, in a way. That’s probably really dumb…”
Fluttershy wrapped her arms around Sunset’s neck. “No, it’s not dumb at all. You’re right, this place is perfect.” She pulled Sunset down enough to kiss her properly. “This is the best Christmas ever, and it’s still just morning!”
“Maybe, but it still doesn’t beat the best Hearth’s Warming ever.” Although she knew she was still sick and shouldn’t risk it she leaned in and kissed Fluttershy again. “I love you.”
“I love you, too.”
Hearing those words again for the first time in months was even better than she could have imagined. Nothing she could say would be better than that, so she just held Fluttershy close while they admired the snow covered forest around them.
Despite the warmth in her heart, however, eventually the cold in her toes grew too great. “What do you say we head back for breakfast?”
Fluttershy nodded. “Good idea.” She held Sunset’s hand on the way back. She began humming a few notes of a song but stopped. “Hey, Sunny?”
“Yeah?”
“Will you sing me that Hearth’s Warming song again?”
Sunset grinned. “Fine. But I don’t make any promises about singing anything when we get back.”
Sunset sang the Heart Carol again, with Fluttershy humming along. Once she was done Fluttershy tried singing it herself, picking up on the words quickly. It proved what Sunset suspected all along, that anything sounded better coming from Fluttershy. After that, Sunset surprised even herself by suggesting a Christmas song, and they wound up singing together all the way back.
Thank you all for reading 
I hope you enjoyed this holiday special, because man was it ever a pain to write 
Warmth now has a parody version of it, titled Warmth in the D’oh‽. It’s quite the funny take on the events of the story, and well worth a read 
This story is part of a series, with a group to be found here: Who We Become 
I’ve got a Discord server, if anyone wants to come check that out (please note that it is a 16+ server, if you are not 16 years old or older please do not join!) 
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The only thing that makes me stop smiling when reading this story is the knowledge that it will end in heart break.
6765825
I wish I had written the Sunshyne story first before Finding Home for that exact reason. Not this one, but the full story, which starts immediately after chapter 15 of Inner Strength and ends immediately before chapter 1 of Finding Home. I still plan on writing it, but now everyone will know how it ends
Omg! How do they break up?
6766418
The usual way; one of them decided she no longer wants to be with the other
Seriously, I already goofed by writing Finding Home, I gotta keep some plot twists for when I write the full Sunshyne story6766440 Well, the Sunshyne won't have so much impact after knowing that they break up after whatever happens in the story. Maybe you could change it for it to be a big flash back in Finding Home.
6767768
That was sort of my logic. Figured I didn't need to tell the Sunshyne story because it won't be relevant for a while. It will actually be relevant down the road when the EG univers world becomes more important to the main story but that's not gonna be for a long time. Still, I do plan to tell the full story, as I'm rather fond of it and I've been dropping little references to things I haven't written yet everywhere. As far as making out a flashback, it's just not important enough to Finding Home. It's important to the series, but each story also needs to be self contained.
7815230 I'm what you might consider late to the party, but that just means I can read a lot of stories in their entirety without having to wait. Yours are really good by the way, so if you are still writing, by all means keep it up!
7815716
I am indeed still writing, with most of my stories taking place in this universe. After I finish the story I'm working on now (which won't be for a while, since it's a long one) the next thing I want to tackle is the full version of this Sunshyne story, explaining more fully their history and how their relationship started, and then continuing for some months thereafter.
I typically prefer to come in late for that exact reason
7815834 Good luck to you, then. In the meantime, I have to start thinking of some ideas for my own stories.
Okay, this bit almost cost me a new phone, since I had just taken a big swig of cola while reading. Fluttershy is best comic timing
ponyhuman.7847072
Near phone destruction? I consider that a victory
It was nice to see the cultural differences, subtler drama, post-high school EqG six/seven, and a Fluttershy who seems so serene compared to her pony counterpart here. Take my updoot!
I can't tell if Sunset's reaction to a deer is from being a city girl, growing up in Equestria where wildlife tends to want to eat you, or both, but I thought it was really good.
So this is a really sweet story. Though from some comments it looks like it doesn't last
But for now, at least, it's a lovely moment.
Getting back together with someone you've broken up with is always going to be challenging. Because there's a reason you were together, but of course there's also a reason you broke up. I hope Sunset deals with her drinking problem. Guessing now since I haven't read the rest of this series, but if there's a problem this time it will likely be a mix of Sunset still being a bit manipulative (deleting the mad text from Dash and lying about it for example) and Fluttershy not giving Sunset enough space. Or, more happily, their lives just took them in different directions. Definitely have to see what happens.
9192857
lol more so due to the fact that a full-grown northern stag is fucking huge. In the south deer are all pretty small, but deer in the northern parts of the US or Canada can be big enough to trample a person (not to mention the horns)
I do wish there weren’t so many comments around about what happens after this fic
These days I’m proactive about asking people to hide spoilers, but I didn’t do that when I wrote this, unfortunately. In any event, I’m happy you enjoyed this story and hope you enjoy the rest of the series 
9192926
Heh, yes well there’s a reason I recognized it.
Of course, the real kicker is that the two people can fall in love, and never fall out, and still not work.
Another amazing read. I definitely wish these two would have stayed together, because the way you wrote Sunset and Fluttershy was very sweet and emotional. Even though when I read Playing House, what happened destroyed me.
9622917
My ultimate goal is to create a shipping war between team Sunshyne and team TwiShySet. I'm only partially joking
I do love these two, but there's more to their relationship than has been revealed yet. Obviously we've had one majorly bad thing happen to them, but otherwise I've so far mostly been showing the good times, which skews things a bit. Stay tuned to Playing House to see how the rest goes
9623386
I'm looking forward to it. But it was emotional for me to read certain parts.
10116726
Well I mean if it wouldn't be polite how could i possibly go ahead now?
10116742
Guess you’ll have to
cancelwrite it anyway10590785
I don't know what it is about the line that embedded itself into my brain, but it did. In fact, everything about the whole ice incident stuck in my head (further proved by the impulsive art I made of that scene haha) but there's something about this line that is so subtle, yet so heart breaking with context. When I went on a whole rant about WWB to my friend, I spent a solid five minutes talking about the ice incident, and half of those five minutes was me raving about this specific line to a point where I was in tears lmao
10590825
I would pay good money to have seen this rant lol, the idea of people talking about my stories is still wild to me
Despite I haven't read many fluttershy and sunset shipping stories I enjoyed this one