A Pony Displaced: Homeward

by NoLongerSober

Chapter 84 - Happy Hearth's Warming (Part 3)

“Well, this is certainly a surprise,” Barrier said as he rose from his bow and approached the new visitors, including the cerise-coated empress. “What brings you all here?”

“That is rather simple, Barrier,” Cadance replied matter-of-factly as she approached the kitchen, carefully sidestepping the broken glass and spilt cream. “Things have been pretty difficult in the empire, so I set some things up several days ahead of time so that I could take a small break for Hearth’s Warming.”

“Cadance and I talked about where to go for this little vacation and we eventually decided on Vanhoover.” Shining Armor’s horn flared a light rose color as his magic swiftly gathered up the shards and cream before dumping them into a trash can. “We figured it’d be a nice place for it, what with the snow, the pleasant atmosphere and the fact she and the other princesses have an exclusive room constantly reserved at the Delta.”

It was then that Night Light moved towards Barrier. “Meanwhile, Velvet and I asked Twilight if she’d like to come home for Hearth’s Warming, but she said she’d like to try and spend it with her friends back in Ponyville.”

“With her away, the house was feeling rather empty,” Velvet added as her cerise aura lightly pinched Shining Armor’s cheek. “That’s when our little colt decided to invite us along.”

“It only took a quick little letter to get them a room at the hotel. After we got our stuff put away, we decided to swing by and see how you were doing,” Cadance said as she stood in front of the still slack-jawed Punch. “I hope you don’t mind, Barrier.”

The charcoal stallion chuckled warmly as he set his flask aside. “Not at all. After all, you’re technically family. Besides, Fruity Punch offered to make all these snacks for free. Your visit probably means we’ll have less cookies to put away when the night’s done.”

“Thanks, Barrier,” Cadance gave an appreciative nod to the older stallion before turning her attention to the mare that stood still as a statue. “And thank you for making all these wonderful looking treats, Miss Punch. Would you say the gingerbread cookies are ready?”

Punch had remained frozen from when she first laid eyes on the princess. The only sign that the princess could see that she was still alive was she could hear the quiet sounds of her breathing.

Cadance lifted a foreleg to extend it out to the stunned mare, but Honey quickly darted over to Punch’s side. “C’mon, sis! Snap out of it!” she harshly whispered before turning to the towering alicorn and bowing once more. “My apologies, your imperial majesty. Forgive my sister’s actions. She is not used to being in the company of an empress.”

“Oh, no need to worry,” Cadance kindly replied. “Besides, this isn’t some formal thing. This is just a little get together with family and friends. Right, Punch?”

The unicorn mare was snapped from her stunned state and her cheeks became a deep crimson against her pink coat. She then quickly gathered up the two surviving cream bowls in her magic. “Um, yes! Yes, that would be swell, your majesty. Also, the cookies just need a few more minutes to cool down before they’re ready.”

“Thank you, but remember, there’s no need to be formal tonight,” Cadance humbly said as she made her way over to the living room. “Tonight, I’m just Cadance. A mare that decided to crash a party and plans to have a nice little holiday before heading back to the proverbial salt mines in a few days.

“Until then, it’s party time,” Cadance’s violet eyes then fell upon some of the game boards laying around on the ground near Wind Whistler and Daring. “May Shining and I join in?”

“Sure thing,” Windy instantly replied. “Just remember, I called dibs on Doggie Klaw!”

“That’s fine,” Cadance replied as she fished up a figure from the box. “I call dibs on Bibinba the Second.”

***

Asta and Einar sat in a far corner of the living room, watching in stunned awe at the sight of a princess playing games with the little filly and other members of the house.

“It’s so strange,” Asta muttered to Einar over the crackling sounds of the fireplace. “A princess… No, an empress, is just laying around here, playing games like any other pony.”

“If you think this is something, imagine seeing her offering to babysit your daughter,” the griffin pair stood at attention at the voice of the unicorn stallion who approached them, along with a light gray coated mare.

“Hi there. I’m Night Light and this is my wife, Twilight Velvet,” the phthalo blue stallion said as he held out a hoof to the pair.

“Asta and Einar Sorae,” the hen replied as she carefully took Night Light’s hoof in her talons and shook it. “I believe you’re related to Barrier?”

“That’s right,” Velvet replied as she shook Asta’s hand. “Barrier’s pretty much a very, very distant uncle on Night Light’s side.”

“Ah, well, that clarifies things a bit,” Einar added before shaking Night Light and Velvet’s hooves. “So, congrats on your son’s engagement to the princess. You must be happy.”

“Oh, we sure are,” Velvet warmly smiled as she sat down on the floor. “Our son’s captain of the palace guard and engaged to a princess while our daughter is Princess Celestia’s former student and thrice over, a hero to Equestria.”

“Well, that’s… quite good,” Asta awkwardly said as she scratched the back of her neck. “It’s good to hear your family’s doing so well.”

“Oh, sorry.” A faint hint of blush danced across Velvet’s cheeks as she saw the looks in the griffin’s eyes. “I didn’t mean to sound so boastful. How’s your family doing?”

“Well, our daughter’s training to hopefully be on the Vanhoover swim team when the Equestria Games come around. Other than that, I recently made some prop swords for a movie while Einar’s been doing very well at his grocery store.” Velvet smiled at seeing Asta start to relax as she spoke.

“Oh, you do stuff for movies?” Night Light’s tone quickly perked up. “That’s pretty amazing to hear. Any particular stuff you can say about these swords?”

“Sorry, but we have non-disclosure agreements, so I have to keep my beak shut about any further details on the recent work we did,” Asta quickly replied. “Still, I can tell you how we previously crafted some swords, armor and other props for the Lady of the Rings movies.”

While Night Light was engrossed by Asta’s tales of sword smithing, Einar chuckled before turning to the unicorn mare. “So, now that you know what Asta and I do for a living, may I ask what you do?”

“Why, certainly,” Velvet cheerfully replied. “Night Light is a stellar cartographer while I’m an editor for some book series, such as the Flame Crest and Daring Do books.”

“Ah, I remember reading some of the Daring Do books to Erica when she was little,” Einar said before letting loose a chuckle. “Still, I always thought that those were some of the silliest books I’ve ever read.”

“You may want to be a bit quieter when you say that,” Velvet harshly whispered before looking over her shoulder, seeing that the golden coated pegasus was still within the enchanted game board. “One mare here is the author of the books. She might get more than a little ticked off if you insult her books in earshot.”

“Say guys,” Night Light injected, his conversation with Asta apparently wrapped up. “Since the kids are playing some games of their own, how about we play a game of bingo? I brought everything we’d need to play.”

“Uh, say, do either of you know somewhere in the city where we could find something more… thrilling?” Velvet asked as Night Light started to dig into his saddlebags.

“Well, I think the skydiving place in town is open during Hearth’s Warming.” Einar was rather surprised by the wide grin Velvet sported in response to his reply.

***

Some time had passed while the games were played. During that time, Hatty, Verdant, Erica, Forge and Snow had gathered around the table to shoot the breeze.

Shortly after a light had filled the nearby living room and signaled the game’s end, the five found themselves joined by Shining Armor as he helped himself to one of the cookies.

“Hey there, everyone,” Shining said as he plucked a cookie off a tray with his magic, not seeing Verdant whispering something to Erica. “How’s things been by you recently?”

“Well, pretty good, Captain,” Hatty replied as he sat in one of the table’s chairs. “We’ve managed to get some jobs after the empire. I’ve gotten one as a party magician.”

“And I’ve become a smith, and I’ve found a special somepony,” Forge added as slung a foreleg over Snow’s coat, which led to the snowy pegasus stallion giving him a nuzzle.

“Meanwhile, I’ve gotten a job with Sunflower Spectacle’s flower shop and met the hen of my dreams.” Verdant’s words made Erica smile and blush before she draped her wing over his back.

“Oh, I’ve heard of Sunflower Spectacle. She used to do our gardening before Twily was born,” Shining replied before taking a quick bite of cookie and swallowing. “Dad once said she and Mom gave him the best birthday present ever… which, knowing him, was probably something bingo related.”

“Now that you’re done with that, anyone wanna join in with some bingo?” Night called from the living room, making his son roll his eyes.

“So, any other adventures you’ve had since the last time we met up?” Shining asked before he tossed a cookie into his mouth.

“Well, I burned down a bunch of vines that were attacking ponies,” Forge said as he brought a hoof to his chin.

“Got turned into a foal,” Hatty added as he leaned back in his chair.

“Ended up in Pinkie Pie’s stomach,” Verdant chipped in.

“Learned to call some griffins friends,” Forge said, earning a smile from Erica.

“Got turned into a mare,” Hatty said as he placed his forelegs behind his head.

“Ended up in Trixie’s stomach,” Verdant rattled off.

“Was baked into a giant pizza,” Forge recounted as he picked up a gingerbread cookie.

“Got sent to the hospital briefly due to a skating accident,” Hatty said as he ceased his leanings.

“And ended up in your sister’s body.” Verdant finished off as he picked up a pair of strawberry cream cookies.

Shining Armor’s jaw was slack, despite the fact he managed to keep his mouth full of cookies closed. The surprised look on his face vanished just as he swallowed. “Well… you’ve certainly had an exciting time since you left the empire…”

“Sure have,” Hatty said as he stretched out his forelegs. “Still, it’s been quite the fun ride.”

“Well, I’m gonna go check on Cadance and my folks,” Shining said as he turned away from the kitchen. “Hope you all have a Happy Hearth’s Warming.”

Just as he was making his way from the kitchen, Shining felt something small and metallic striking his flank. Quickly looking over his shoulder to see the source, he spotted Erica catching a coin that was headed towards her.

“Sorry about that,” Erica said as she caught the coin in her talons. “I was trying to flip it to pick which kind of cookie to try first.”

“Alright then.” Shining gave the hen’s words no further thought as he made his way to the living room.

With the alabaster unicorn out of sight, a smile and half-lidded expression quickly formed on Verdant’s face.

“Told you you could bounce a bit off that flank,” he said to Erica before chuckling.

“Yeah, I can see why you like it,” the griffin replied before giving him a nuzzle. “Still, I prefer a certain stallion who’s a lot cuter than that.”

***

Barrier sat quietly upon the couch as he watched the board games shining with a blinding white light as the ponies within finished their game.

“Good game, Wind Whistler,” Cadance said as she rose up and moved towards Barrier. “I’ll be sure to get you next round.”

“Remember, you promised you’d play, Uncle!” the little filly called out to the charcoal unicorn as he laid on the couch.

“And I will but how about you let some of the others relax so they can recover a bit before the next round?” Barrier said as Cadance sat down on the couch beside him.

“Okay,” Windy replied as she picked up a collection of different boards. “That gives me time to pick what board to go with next.”

As the rest of the party goers went about chatting with each other, or in the case of Fruity Punch passing out cookies, Cadance stretched as she laid back against the couch.

“So, Barrier, has anything interesting happened to you since moving here?” the cerise coated alicorn asked, to which Barrier shrugged.

“Well, I went to the gala, spent Nightmare Night in Ponyville with Luna, ended up riding an orange partway to Canterlot when Discord broke out, got hit by a spell that turned the adults here into foals, and once that mess got sorted out, another spell ended up causing us to magically change sexes.” Barrier sighed before taking a swig from his flask. “At least now everypony here knows what it’s like when I’m afflicted with poison joke.”

“Ah, that’s gotta be annoying,” Cadance said as Punch held out a tray of cookies to the two of them. She quietly thanked the unicorn mare as she plucked a gingerbread one from the tray. “Still, I’d say either Verdant or I have the worst poison joke afflictions of us all.”

“Oh? And what happens when you’re affected by poison joke?” Barrier’s brow rose as he leaned back and asked.

“Well, it was… quite the scary thing,” Cadance said before she took a small bite of the cookie. “Y’see, somepony on the palace gardening staff mistook them for blue roses. Several hours later, when it kicked in, I turned into a seapony.”

“That doesn’t sound so bad,” Barrier replied, but then he saw a slight twitch in her left eye. “But I assume there’s something I’m missing about this.”

“Yeah, it’s a real problem when you can’t breathe,” Cadance said before letting out a sigh. “I was lucky that Auntie Celestia dropped by to check on me and found me gasping for breath and flopping around on my bed. She had to rush me to the bathroom and fill the tub up for me.”

“Okay, now I see what the problem is…” Barrier said as he looked away from the alicorn just as Shining had arrived and Punch trotted away with her tray.

“Hey guys, how’s it going?” the alabaster stallion asked before Cadance gently pulled his face towards her and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

“Pretty good, dear. Just talking about poison joke and stuff,” Cadance said as Shining Armor sat down between her and Barrier.

“Oh yeah, I know about that plant. It’s a real pain,” Shining Armor said before chuckling. “Say Barrier, I just noticed that somepony seems to be missing.”

“Yes. Swiftsword’s spending Hearth’s Warming with her girlfriend over in Tall Tale.” Barrier’s statement made Velvet’s ears stand at attention from her spot near Wind Whistler. “She’ll be back for New Year’s, though.”

“Excuse me,” Velvet spoke up and she quickly made her way over to the gathering on the couch. “Barrier, you said one of your housemates is Swiftsword. As in, Swiftsword Falchion?” she asked with a shocked expression on her face.

“Yes. Is this a problem?” Barrier asked before Velvet let out a sigh.

“Well, I’m the editor for the Flame Crest books and Swiftsword has been brought up a few times in the books,” Velvet replied as she rubbed the bridge of her snout with a hoof. “Before now, this wouldn’t be a problem since she was assumed to be a long dead historical figure. However, since she’s alive, this could cause all sorts of issues with the books and merchandising.”

“I’m certain the writer will be able to iron things out once Swift returns,” Barrier nonchalantly said. “I don’t see her making too big a deal over this.”

Barrier’s words seemed to alleviate Velvet’s thoughts as she went back to chatting with Night Light, Verdant and Erica.

“Hmm…” Cadance hummed as she leaned against Shining Armor on the couch. “This is something I really needed. No ponies demanding I not replace the lead pipes, or that I should reignite the war with the griffins, or dye my coat blue and put on some weight so I look less like a stallion.”

“Wait, what?” Shining Armor asked in surprise as Barrier looked away from the alicorn.

“Yeah. Apparently by the beauty standards of the past, I look like an anorexic drag queen,” Cadance said with a roll of her eyes. “It’s nothing I can’t deal with, but it is kinda annoying.”

“Yikes,” Shining quietly said as he pulled her into a hug. “If it helps, you’re the most amazing, kind and wonderful mare I’ve ever known.”

“Thanks, Shining.” Cadance smiled before giving him a passionate kiss on the lips. “Maybe once we get back to the hotel, you can get a little—”

“Cookie?” Punch interjected as she shoved the tray of cookies between the pair. “We’ve still got plenty.”

“Maybe later, Punch,” Barrier replied as he rose from the couch. “Wanna play another round of Windy’s game, you two?”

“Sure thing,” Cadance said as she and Shining Armor untangled from each other and followed the charcoal stallion towards the boards and the filly whose tail was shaking like a puppy on a sugar rush.

***

Nearly an hour had passed before the game ended and Daring escorted Wind Whistler back up to her room to sleep. Barrier had a small chuckle at the sight of Fruity Punch and Sweet Honey passed out on the couch with swollen bellies.

A few moments of chatter passed before Shining Armor spoke up. “Hey, since so many of us are here, how about we take a nice little Sparkle family photo that we can have and send to Twily?”

“That sounds like a wonderful idea, Shining,” Velvet replied. “Let’s do it in front of the fireplace.”

“I’ll get my camera for this,” Daring chipped in before she flew off to the den, returning shortly as Barrier took his place on the far right of the family beside Shining Armor who held Cadance closely while Velvet and Night Light held each other on the alicorn’s left.

“Ready?” Daring asked as she held the camera in her hooves, the rest of the housemates watching from behind her.

“Hold on,” Barrier called out. “Verdant, come over here.”

The shamrock stallion was rather surprised at Barrier’s request. “Wait, are you sure?”

“Absolutely,” Barrier said with a firm nod. “You’re my brother and a part of my family. You belong in this photo too.”

Verdant remained silent as the Sparkles nodded affirmatively. With a smile, he quickly ran up to Barrier’s side, where the onyx unicorn slung a foreleg over his shoulders.
With the collected family smile, Daring pressed down on the camera’s button, flooding the room with white light as a click rang out. “Alright. Once I get these developed, I’ll be sure to send copies to all of you.”

“Thank you, Yearling,” Velvet said as she pulled away from Night Light. “Also, I wanted to say, Barrier, your house looks quite nice. I especially like how your household did the research on modern Hearth’s Warming traditions and had custom made dolls and socks for the fireplace.”

“Oh, I didn’t do any research on the socks, Mrs. Velvet,” Verdant said aloud. “That was just an old Dream Valley tradition that my Grandma Minty started.”

“Whoa, hold on a second!” Daring exclaimed as she darted in front of Verdant, nearly pressing her snout against the surprised stallion’s. “Are you telling me that your grandmother was the Minty the Third, the mare that created the sock tradition, wrecked a magic candy cane, a special Hearth’s Warming tree and was the rescuee in one of the biggest rescue missions of olden times?!”

“Wow, I didn’t realize Grandma was so famous nowadays.” Verdant’s words made Daring groan and smack a hoof against her forehead.

“Any other famous ancestors you happen to have?” Daring slowly grumbled as she dragged her hoof down her face.

“Well… one of my ancestors was Mirror Shine, who acted as one of Princess Platinum’s body doubles.” Verdant looked towards the ceiling as he nervously rubbed the back of his neck.

“OH COME ON!” Daring’s right eye twitched as she exclaimed. Barrier held his flask out to her, which she quickly grabbed and chugged down. “Right. I’ll be sure to research this sometime later.”

Velvet covered a hoof to her mouth to suppress a chuckle.

Over the next half hour, the various guests of the manor would gradually return to their homes or hotel rooms while the residents started to make their way off to bed.

As Barrier started to head for his bedroom, he felt a hoof on his shoulder. Looking behind, he saw Fleetfeather was giving him a smile with a light blush on her face.

“Barrier,” she softly spoke. “I was wondering if we could… Well… spend this evening… together.”

“That does sound nice, Fleet,” Barrier quietly replied. Hearing a light thudding sound behind him, he quickly looked to the source and saw Daring on the stairs, giving him a smile, a wink and a mimicry of the griffin talon gesture of approval known as a ‘thumbs up’ with her right wing before heading the rest of the way upstairs.

With a warm smile, Barrier turned back to Fleet. The two then shared a gentle kiss on the lips before heading to his bedroom.

What would come next was glorious.

***

Hearth’s Warming Day was a very pleasant day for all the manor’s residents. Gifts were happily given and received amongst the residents and guests. Games were played, songs were sung and movies were watched before a well prepared feast was held.

Plans were made for New Year’s amongst the residents, save for Verdant, who would be spending the holiday with Erica and her parents at their timeshare.

Meanwhile, in Tall Tale, Swift enjoyed the most festive yet casual Hearth’s Warming of her life with Spearmint and Wintergreen. She most especially enjoyed cuddling up with Minty as she watched a movie of the Pony Rangers defeating the monsters of the special by pelting them with snowballs before delivering toys.

All in all, Hearth’s Warming was an excellent time for all who called the manor home… save for when Velvet got blown off course while skydiving and her parachute got tangled up on the roof.

Author's Note:

Alticron: Welcome back, folks. I hope you enjoyed this chapter and the conclusion of the Hearth's Warming Eve trilogy. It was pretty fun writing this.

Not much I can really think of so say for this chapter, so here's this chapter's pic of Verdant's ancestor, Mirror Shine.

Next time, we begin a new year in the story and have a little trip to Canterlot.

See ya then. In the meantime, I'm gonna start working on a Dramatis Personae.

Comments

[Igabugalo]

I'm amazed you've kept this going as long as you have. I just came across your stories again and remembered why I liked reading them.

Little slice of life stories like this are just the best! :D

[Mr Swanky Hat]

save for when Velvet got blown off course while skydiving and her parachute got tangled up on the roof.

Not exactly the thrill she was looking for I'm guessing.