JTHW: Journey To Hearth's Warming

by Lighttone GryphonStar

S1 Episode 7: New Arrivals

A loud slam filled the room and reverberated through every metal chair. Star Stone slowly awoke. His face was covered in sweat, yet the room was ice cold. He scanned over everything, trying his best to find out where he was, what happened to the others, and above all, where was the being called Thule.

It was a luxurious oak wooden room filled with red and blue tapestry tapering off the ceiling, black cushions at the corners, and many animal pelts plastering the walls. Despite the coziness of this stuff, none of them were anywhere near him. He was stuck to a metal chair that had long lost its icy touch with a very basic and crude metal table in front of him, which seemed caked in dust and grime. He looked around the table and saw five other chairs. There was a very unusual stink in the air and the room seemed devoid of any recent sounds, out of the slamming echo which was finally fading.

The crystal pony turned to his left and saw the gray griffin sitting in one of the five chairs. “Clay Sand!” He spoke to the griffin.

The gray griffin gradually twisted in his chair. He realized what was happening and tried to pull free, yet the bars over his arms, chest, and legs made progress difficult. “Where are we? And, what is that smell?” He pulled back in revilement.

“I don’t know, but a better question is why didn’t he kill us?”

“Because we were told to spare you.” A voice filled the room. The voice felt western in tone and was clearly that of a female, yet the species couldn’t be grasped by these details alone. “He asked me to put the choice of life in your hands. The old cook's idea makes perfect sense and it fits fine with the ideas of lord Frost.”

Clay Sand looked around until he spotted a bell tone spout out from a wall in the far corner of the room. “Over there?” he pointed.

“Ideas of lord Frost? So you are not the wendigo, nor Thule?”

“Oh my, I am certainly not the good lord, but I will tell him you asked for his graces. The good king is currently busy with a few things.”

“What are you then? His secretary?” Clay Sand laughed through his weakening breath.

“Well, it seems our little spy was right. You are the comedian of the group.”

Her words cut through Clay Sand’s laughter and spun his mind around. The gray griffin’s rage grew at her words before finally giving in. “What? Did one of us give in? Bring that chickenshit over here!”

“Oh my darlin, maybe you should look at who is missing from your group.”

On that, Star Stone and Clay Sand scanned the room again. To the left of the crystal pony was the white changeling who was still not moving, but alive as her breath could be seen in the cold air. On the other side of the table, were two chairs covered in darkness and one that wasn’t.

The lone chair was empty and Star Stone remembered well enough that his batpony ally was very dead the last time they saw him, so he reasoned that the blank chair must have originally been meant for them. This left the question of who was in the other chairs and who was the traitor, if this traitor was even in the room at all, as the mysterious mare heavily hinted.

Star Stone turned to the changeling, “Sour Dream, wake up.”

“Grendel Sound and Sage Brimstone, answer me,” Clay Sand barked at the other chairs.

“What happened?” Sour Dream struggled in pain.

“Good news, now that all you folks are awake, the game can begin." The western mare laughed.

“What are you talking about?” Clay Sand struggled over to the table, trying his best to reach the black-lit chairs. “Grendel Sound and Sage Brimstone, answer me!!”

“Those two handsome gents were the first to wake up. And when they heard what the good Lord had planned to make you all talk…”

On that, a light brightened through the darkness and revealed the first chair.

“By the Broken One’s holy name?!” Star Stone cursed aloud at the sight of it.

"Grendel Sound?" Sour Dream trembled uncontrollably.

The siren’s mouth had been ripped wide open and his eyes had been torn from their sockets. His chest had been torn apart and his stomach itself laid on a plate in front of the corpse for all to see while his intestines were missing. His arms were also missing along with his legs.

Clay Sand pulled back in horror.

Star Stone noted something else that his allies did not. The stomach was perfectly cleaned and had ice under it like it was being preserved. There was… brown and red seasoning on it and even small fruits around it, giving a certain flair to it.

“The proud siren gave up so easily. Tattling his little tongue off as fast as he could when we presented him with the choice, unfortunately, he still didn’t take our offer. So we waited until the rest of you were awake before presenting you with the same offer.” She stopped and the sounds of chewing followed. “Actually, as a doctor, I feel as if I’m lying to myself since a siren’s tongue is the longest part of their body.”

Hearing her words filled all of them with bile, except for Star Stone, who only became filled with rage. Yet, his mind raced over the next question. Who was in the other chair?

“Enough!” Clay Sand knocked his chair around loudly to dampen the sounds of her chewing. “We will not give in to this torturous talk. None of us betrayed each other, did we?” He pointed to the other chair. “Sage is dead too?”

“What makes you say that?”

“The smell in this room is far too strong for one body, especially one so well cleaned.” Star Stone noted every detail in the assumption that he was right, trying his best to ascertain a reaction from the western mare.

“Oh, wow. You are about as brilliant as a diamond in charcoal.” Hearing her words filled Star Stone’s mind with victory. “If the diamond wasn’t a hallucination brought on by pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis.”

“What?” The rather large word brought great confusion to them.

“You never heard of such a word. What are creatures learning nowadays? There was an additional issue on this disease published yesterday. I wish it had included the details of an incident that happened to some zebras in the south that also happened that night, I would love to know more about that.”

All three of the hostages were at a complete loss why the western mare brought this up. However, this knowledge brought more hints to Star Stone's mind. To him, this mare either was an incredibly thick bookworm with too much time on her hands or a creature that needed such knowledge on standby. "She said she was a doctor so maybe, but that is such a rare disease you only need to study if you… were living near or in volcanic areas." He smiled at all the facts coming together. “Enough of this.” He finally spoke aloud. “Show us that the other chair is empty.”

“It is?! It wasn’t empty when Thule was there.”

“What are you talking about?” Clay Sand questioned his friend.

“Of course, I know it’s empty as I know who the traitor is.” Star Stone is confirmed.

“Oh, and how would you know that?” The western mare twisted her words.

“Because of who you are. You are Vanity Claymore, the sister of Annity Claymore, the ifrit who was killed by Rex that sparked the debate that brought all of us into the same place so the traitor Sage could lead Thule to us.”

"... oh, you're good. Sage was right about you. Yes, he's not in the room with you." The final light revealed the truth. In the last chair was a decaying slap of bones and thinly held-together flesh. One distinct feature could be made of the mess, and that was the large hole in the ribcage. “Sorry, I didn't have time to stitch up the batpony before the ingredients were removed.”

“So, Draken Shard didn't make it after all." Star Stone sneered at the corpse and turned toward the speaker. "Look, it doesn’t matter what you do to us. We won’t talk,” Star Stone assured his confidence with looks from the others. Clay Sand smirked an obvious yes, while Sour Dream, still shaken up, nodded a slow yes as well. “There you see.”

“Won't matter, Thule is watching you from somewhere in the room. That octopus won't let any of you leave until you concede.” Vanity snapped her fingers.

Tentacles descended from the darkness above with covered steel plates in tow. “Give yourself some time to think. Meanwhile, I’ll get to the real reason you are all here.”

“And that is?”

“The offer. Lord Frost wants your monstrous side to come out.” On that, the covers were lifted back up to the ceiling and the contents were revealed. “Behold a delicious meal for you to enjoy.”

All of them were at a complete loss for this. They did not know how to even react to such a suggestion. Sure, the meat was cleaned perfectly and even finely prepared with all kinds of seasoning. There was even a collage of vegetables on the plate as well. The meal looked expertly made as if by the finest chef in the land... however, the meat was none other than the very missing 'ingredients' from their batpony ally.

“What is this?!” Sour Dream finally gave a response.

“Dinner made from Draken Shard. I wish I could see it now. The smell was quite incredible while our butcher was making it. I'm only a doctor, so seeing such things being made is a rarity.”

“We would never do such a thing. Why are you doing this to us?” Star Stone struggled away from it.

“You aren't listening, are you? Look around you. Take the advice of a professional doctor who has had years of experience dealing with the dead or near dead, ranging each of your species' limits on starvation and dehydration, it will take five days at least for the first of you to decay from the inside and show the signs of malnourishment. So Lord Frost’s 'torture' will be simple. You either give Thule the coordinates to each of your alathar and get a quick and cowardly death like your siren and batpony compatriot, or you eventually eat this delicious meal in front of you and see things a new way, our way, and finally give in to our demands, willingly. Doing the last choice will guarantee no death and even your freedom will be granted with no hesitation.”

“What if we let ourselves die?” Star Stone smirked in victory. He was quick to spout his words because he had dealt with the worst problems before, being a former member of his species' black op core. He had seen torture first hand and to him, this seemed poor.

“Really?" Thule's voice poured over the room and tore at Star Stone's bravado. “You are being more unnecessary than you need to be.” Tentacles rose from the chairs and crawled over their bodies. “Let me hint you in on one thing that I learned in my billions of years of life.” The tentacles wrapped tightly around their throats. “All creatures have one powerful urge in common. Something that will never separate them and will tear through every part of their soul... always.” The tentacles stopped before cutting off circulation and instead traveled to their mouths, gripping at their lips, almost like a demand to be let in. “It is something all creatures, no matter what morality, race, religion, personal history, or even mortality, can ignore. It’s the one thing that holds his plan in place and why it will never fail.” Finally, the tentacles forced their mouths open and pulled their heads over the meat. It held them in place and refused to move, no matter how much they struggled.

“Survival!!” an unfamiliar voice spoke aloud over the speaker. It was so icy that even the old warmth of their chairs seemed to vanish and fill their whole body with an unbearably painful chill that was far colder than the outer air and struck through to the center of their souls.

Vanity took her chance to finally retake command of all this. “Look around you all once more. This place is devoid of everything needed for survival. There are no water, food, or nutrients except what lies in front of you. In five days, you will be malnourished and in ten days, your body will do what ever you seemed to be currently refusing. Eat, that is inevitable.”

“It’s only a matter of time.” Thule's tentacles pulled tighter.

All of them twisted in their chairs as static filled the speaker. Emptiness followed, filling the air with dread and fear and eventually, but most important of all…

Among them, despite how much they wanted to deny its existence and the victory of the icy words spoken. They could only fight it for so long…

Soon, hunger would arrive.

******

In a cold room with many windows and leather chairs sat Vanity and Sage. The two were at a table with nine cozy chairs that ideally gripped around the users and empty plates gleaming with clear light, one per chair. Each plate had fine utensils laying them perfectly placed in such a way to give the form of elegance above all else.

Laughing again, Vanity leaned her head back. Dropping the last bite of the siren's tongue right into her flaming jaws, she lamented that its unique taste was akin to that of a meaty piece of fat. With a few chews and a swallow, the piece was gone. She lowered her head and looked to her left. "Now, where were we? It's Sage Brimstone isn't it?"

"Yes, ma'am." the white ifrit shrunk into a chair beside Vanity.

"Well, as you heard from your former compatriot, I am Vanity Claymore." All her actions sent an ever-growing chill through his whole body. How could a beautiful mare do such vicious things?

Yes, beauty was one thing he couldn't deny. Vanity stood nearly half a foot taller than him. She wore a pure white lab coat over a pink skirt that perfectly cupped her small chest and a shirt combo with magenta jeans that curved so tightly around her long, slender legs.

"Oh, don't stare, I might think you have your eyes on other plans." Her words pulled him from his thoughts.

"I... I'm sorry." He turned back to the empty plate in front of him.

"Nah, why should I care? It's a common form of survival to find the opposite gender appealing." She winked at him.

Sage was about to apologize when the creaking of the fancy door at the other side of the room stopped him. A purple aura flowed over it and pushed it open. Two ponies walked through to the table. A short black earth pony and a dark lavender unicorn with a chef's hat. The two brought forth a group of eight metal plates with covers over them.

"Oh, Carnival, it's good to see you. How was Annity's funeral service?"

"Quite palpable, quite palpable. Your parents were quite sad to lose their... son." He carried his words so finely that when the last word came up, it almost sounded too far out of place.

Vanity slammed her hand on the table as her mane flamed up. "Son... Is that the damn word they used?"

"Of course, of course. You know I would never take such words in vain, especially around you. Besides, we need to get to the recruits. We will arrive soon." Carnival stared deep at Sage.

"Don't worry, he can be trusted." She looked over at the dark lavender unicorn with the chef's hat. "Chef, get over here with that food and help me prove Sage's loyalty."

"Calm yourself, calm yourself." Carnival walked over to a chair and sat down before finishing. "We still need to give grace." On that, the dark lavender chef brought over the plates and placed them down. One to each of them, leaving six plates unattended.

The dark lavender unicorn didn't take a plate at all, or even a chair. He simply stood back and waited, keeping his face hidden the whole time.

"I'm assuming one of those extra plates is for Rex?" Vanity snarked. "Why does Lord Frost continue to try?"

"Our great lord sees so much potential in him."

"Even if he killed Annity!"

"What happened doesn't excuse the possibility of him joining?"

Vanity rolled her eyes and pointed to the next two plates. "Okay, so those are for..."

"The Night Brothers. They are running a bit late. It's rather hard to cross the celestial sea this time of year. But they said that they would arrive at the unicorn providence soon."

That answered all but the final two. "What about...?" Vanity paused her words and let Carnival figure out the rest. This wasn't that hard, even for the very blunt priest in circus attire. The last two plates were certainly special since they had gold rimming them.

"Oh, yes, oh, yes. One is for our good lord, the other is for a special guest."

"And that special guest is?"

"We will arrive to see her soon." The dark lavender unicorn interrupted them. Putting to rest the question, finally, the chef walked over and pulled the covers off.

Sage was taken completely aback by the sight of the finely cooked arm of his siren ally now in front of him. The arm was cooked to a golden brown with much of the skin crisped and barely hanging on. Some freshly cut carrots and red wine vinaigrette lay around it.

"Well done, again." Vanity smiled. The dark lavender unicorn took his leave.

Once the chef was out of sight, Carnival held his hands outward toward Sage and Vanity. "Let us pray for this elegant food. Indeed, let us pray." Annoyed, Vanity bowed her head. Sage didn't at first, but slowly followed a shove from the ifrit beside him.

"The great darkness once shielded us from the light. It never seemed to care to guide us until he came along. The bastard, the killer, and the butcher. Our great lord Frost led us out through the darkness and into a light greater than any light could be. He showed us, yes, he showed us the path and the way to righteousness. Union, family, and above all--"

"Yeah, yeah, all that good stuff." Vanity interrupted.

Carnival huffed in annoyance. "Amen."

The word didn't even reach Sage's ears. He was still in too much shock at the plate. Slowly though, the ifrit's eyes wandered over to the others. Carnival showed absolutely no hesitation, gulping down red wine from what Sage could only assume was a filly's skull, slurping up the juices like a deranged pup. Despite her rush to eat, Vanity was slowly cutting off small pieces of meat from another siren arm and savoring every piece in her mouth before swallowing.

Suddenly, Sage caught sight of Vanity's clean, olive-colored eyes. She stared at him while continuing to eat. Her eyes pointed toward his food more than twice. Seeing her hint, Sage turned back to his plate. Despite knowing the owner of the arm, he felt an urge of hunger that he knew he couldn't ignore.

Taking in a deep breath, he picked up the fork and knife and stabbed the nearest piece of flesh. He found that the flesh was quite tender in the cut, as brief pressure was needed at all. He brought the piece to his mouth and hesitated for only a single moment that felt like an eternity before finally placing it onto his tongue. Pulling back his teeth kept the meat from rolling out. Closing his eyes and releasing his jaws, he let it move back and forth around his mouth.

He expected himself to gag, pull back, or even choke on revilement, but the flavor was all he could taste. His mind screamed in agony at the taste, but no matter how many dark thoughts went through his head, his stomach didn't hesitate once.

Seeing the swallow made Vanity smile.

******

In town, Starlight struggled to keep up with Twilight as they raced toward the center. Sure, there have been many times when the student could outpace her teacher, but today things were different. Starlight was still carrying a large amount of stuff and attempting to finish the chosen chapter of the purple book, so her speed was hurt.

“Finally, we're here.” Twilight came to a stop. “And in time too.” She pointed to the clock tower as it struck noon.

Starlight lifted her head at the sounds of the clock tower as it boomed over the area. Her sight traced over a dusty altar and a few dozen meters of extra room in all directions. “This place? This is where you will have your party?!”

Twilight smiled in confusion at her student’s question and walked over to pat her on the head. “Wow, you are truly forgetful today.”

“What do you mean by that?” Starlight didn’t like this demeaning tone from Twilight.

“This wasn’t my party to plan, this was yours.” On that, Twilight pulled her into a tight hug.

It took a few moments for Starlight to finally realize what Twilight meant. As everything fell into place, Starlight’s eyes widened, and she returned the hug. “Really? Oh, thank you! Thank you!”

“Of course. That’s why I asked you to read that chapter about Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie.”

“Wait…” Starlight kept the hug going, but pulled her head back in confusion.

“Exactly, the lesson was about--”

“So… a party.” A lone male voice beyond them stopped Twilight's train of thought.

She turned away from Starlight and saw Crimson standing at the entrance. In pure reaction, she puffed out of Starlight’s arms and right in front of Crimson. “Yes… a party to celebrate the day I arrived in this timeline.” Despite the clarity in her words, they were slow to pull out of her mouth. She was a bit shocked he would show up, she was also surprised by his clean trim of clothing. She was so used to his always unkempt style. It seemed like he cleaned up… for her.

“The day you arrived… Isn’t that tomorrow?”

“I wanted to celebrate today instead.” Again, she was surprised for reasons she couldn’t explain. She knew she wasn’t blushing, so what could have her mind in such a fluster?

"That's fine by me." Starlight threw the stuff into the air and puffed them away. Seconds later, the stuff returned with extra that had been part of the original plan. At first, what Starlight had was simply to include Silver Pear, herself, Twilight, and a few regulars from the bar, maybe even Crimson, but since Twilight spent the day giving messages to so many others it was clear this kind of party would be much bigger.

"And it's perfect timing." Crimson walked over to help Starlight. "Today is the eve of the Winter Solstice too."

Twilight's eye went wide at those words, and Starlight herself nearly dropped the stuff to the ground.

Crimson's horn glowed an icy blue and caught the stuff at the very edge of the ground. "Did I say something wrong?" He placed the stuff down softly. He looked back and forth at the faces of both mares. "Don't... tell me you forgot?"

Twilight's mind went racing nonstop, "Don't tell me we ... Did we create... No, that's not possible... Could it?"

Starlight grabbed her teacher and attempted to push everything aside to walk her around and rest her brain. "Okay, you can calm down, Teach... I highly doubt we will change the timeline with one party."

"How would a simple party do that?" Crimson walked over to Twilight, only to be stopped by a gesture from Starlight.

"Well... we have a holiday in our timeline called Hearth's Warming." Starlight tried her best to smile, knowing that saying those words aloud would only make her teacher's mind race faster. "It takes place on the winter solstice..."

"How could I forget...? How could I forget...?” Twilight mumbled to herself, back and forth. "We have to make sure... No earth ponies or pegasi. Did I invite anyone of importance to... history?"

"Hmm, oh, I've got it." Starlight stopped pushing her teacher around. "Twilight, isn't there something you want to show Crimson?"

"I forgot... I forgot...--" Twilight stopped herself and looked at Starlight. "What are you talking about--" Her eyes went wide, and she lifted her hand and snapped her fingers. A box puff into view and landed in her free hand. "Yeah... wait what if giving him this... will it create the traditions that we celebrate--"

Starlight closed her teacher's mouth with magic. "Take a deep breath, we will not change history!" Instantly she let go of the magic hold and quickly apologized.

"You... got me a gift." Crimson placed his hand on the chest. "I believe Starlight. Let me see. Last time I received a gift it was from my father."

Twilight dropped her confused and moody look. She took a deep breath and spoke, "Okay, it's something small." She opened it.

"Oh," He smiled and pulled out the necklace.

"I thought it would be something cool if we could study it together. I mean, if that's what you enjoy doing with me."

Crimson didn’t answer at first as he continued to look over the necklace so closely. His stare was so intense, it was as if he was in another world. "It is fate..." he whispered.

“Crimson?” Twilight walked closer.

“Just as she said.” His eyes blinked twice. Twilight’s words had pulled him out of whatever wandering his mind was going through. Crimson looked back at her and smiled. “Of course, I always enjoy studying stuff with you, Twi.” His words differed from before. There were hints of joy, yes, and even sincerity, but there was an underlayer of something else that caught both the mares’ attention. They couldn’t place what was so different about his voice, only that it was a hint of something they never noticed in him.

Crimson posed as he held the necklace up high. “I think I should wear this, so we don’t misplace it during the party.” He dropped it over his head and around his neck. "Is that okay, Twi?"

“Uhh.. sure.” Twilight backed away with a smile.

“Well, we better get ready for this party. Silver Pear will be here soon.”

“What about Granny Apple?”

“Oh, come on, you know she is not a big party pony.” In those words, the three moved to set things up as ponies and other creatures slowly made their way to them.

******

Back at the Wolf’s Apple, the business had slowed to a halt. Granny Apple stepped out of the tavern and looked around. She was curious about the sudden drop in business, but also interested in what the commotion was. She could hear Twilight and Starlight’s names being brought up constantly by random ponies as they passed by. “Now what have those mares gotten themselves into?”

Seeing that everyone else seemed too busy, she reached over and flipped the open sign to close, then put her cane to the side. She reached back inside and grabbed out the broom and a bag of salt. “Well, I best get things ready for when they get back. I hope those two are finally having fun. Speaking of which, where is that son of mine.”

Suddenly she heard footsteps crack through the thin snow on the road, heading in her direction. The stepped separated themselves from the rushes in her ears because they were much slower and more precise. As a former big game hunter, this old mare could easily tell the difference between rush and hesitation. “Now who could that be?” She stopped her work and looked toward the sound.

A few meters ahead of her was the foggy red stallion. She felt a strange emotion at seeing him. She couldn't quite place the emotion, other than strange familiarity.

“Hello, sir,” she waved at him, but he stopped his approach and backed away a few steps. “What's wrong sir?” Granny Apple walked closer. She knew he wanted something, but couldn’t figure out what.

Suddenly, he held up his hand in a gesture to stop her. He stood still for several moments before waving his head. He turned around to go in the other direction.

“Adults these days are so confusing?” She scratched her head in confusion before going back to work.

******

Booms filled the air above the center of town as ponies and many other creatures danced through the altar outlet. Starlight was surprised. She didn’t expect so many to show up for this party. She only planned for a few ponies before Twilight twisted everything around. “It’s a good thing that Twilight told me to read that terrible chapter.”

“So that teacher of yours had a brilliant idea too?” Silver Pear walked over with three mares wrapped around him.

“What? Of course, she always does.” Starlight gave little reaction to the other mares.

“Is that why you wanted it to be a surprise?”

“Well, actually I wanted to handle everything myself.” Starlight leaned her head down.

Seeing the sadness he brought to her, Silver Pear nodded to his dates, and they walked over to the punch bowl. The slick stallion walked over and leaned on the wall beside Starlight. “There is nothing wrong with asking for help.”

“I know that. She has done so much for me during these years, trapped in multiple timelines. Helping me through all kinds of stuff. From saving me from a vicious killer to standing by me against a titanic god, of all things. And yet through all of that, she still forgave me for any mistakes that I made during this journey.”

“You make it sound more like she’s your mother rather than your teacher.” Silver Pear’s eyes wandered downward.

“Huh, I never thought of it like--” Starlight’s eyes went wide and her face went bright red.

“Got it--” Silver Pear was stopped by the crushing magic as it quickly removed his hand from Starlight’s rear.

“I can’t believe I expected better from you.” Starlight pushed herself far from the wall and walked away. Plumes of black and white smoke followed her until she was out of Silver Pear’s sight.

Silver Pear laughed at the pain in his hand as it went away. His eyes wandered over to the mares he was standing with earlier as they came back with some drinks. With them were two siren mares, Izabel and Jezabel. “Well, five mares might be pushing my limit. I might have to throw in some stallions to help me out.” His eyes wandered over some possibilities until they came on Crimson. “Hmm, I wonder if Twilight won’t mind?” He walked away from the wall and toward Crimson, only to stop halfway when he saw Twilight walking over to the unicorn.

Silver Pear backed up and stared back at the mares as they surrounded him. “Nah, I think I can handle things fine.” He pulled the mares in tightly and they couldn’t help but laugh at his feudal attempts to caress multiple rears. “Yeah, that’s the ticket.” His smile got bigger.

Inadvertently, his eyes wandered back to Crimson. Seeing Crimson and Twilight standing so close to each other and not dancing filled his mind with a clever idea. “Hold on ladies, before we can have fun, I think we should help a certain other pair.” He pointed over. The mares laughed aloud at their targets. "Now, listen closely.”

******

Twilight and Crimson were by some tables laying out food and checking drinks. Though the party was for Twilight, she felt it would be best to make sure everything was ready before she could enjoy herself. Crimson was staying by and keeping her company, helping with as much as possible, so she wouldn’t use up too much of her time.

“There are plenty of things to drink but there might not be enough cups to drink with.” Twilight continued to count.

“Didn’t you buy all the stuff today?”

“Of course, I did.” Twilight stopped and looked at Crimson’s doubt with a slight annoyance. “It's …” She walked over to another table. “They showed up so fast, we barely had time to react.”

“Maybe if you hadn't written in the letter ‘get here as soon as possible’.” Crimson chuckled. Suddenly Crimson’s eyes wandered over to the far right away from Twilight's sight only for a second.

“Well, I guess I got so used to a certain pink pony handling almost all the parties I’ve been to and now I’m a little rusty on how things work.”

“Enjoy yourself, Twi.” Crimson puffed himself in front of her.

Twilight stopped her movement at this advance. Her eyes wandered away from him. “But there are things we need to do--” The alicorn was caught off mid-sentence by a push from a certain earth pony. Before she could stop herself, Twilight crashed into Crimson. Fearing an awkward moment, she closed her eyes and leaned her head down.

Without warning, smoke flowed around them.

“Twi…” Crimson’s voice brought her back to reality.

Twilight lifted her head and found herself in Crimson’s arms. His face was mere centimeters away from hers, yet the only thing going through her head at that moment was the pulsing pain in her rear. “Silver Pear…” she hissed under her breath.

“Twi… I don’t think Silver Pear’s little move is what you should be worried about.”

“What are you talking about--” She stopped halfway upon feeling the ground, or the lack thereof. In pure reaction, her wing muscles pulled in failure. Remembering only seconds later that her wings were kept hidden for obvious reasons. Panic filled her mind, only for it to be quickly stopped at the graceful touch of Crimson's hand on her back.

“Calm yourself, we're not falling.” His hands traced over her back, perfectly smoothing each feather of tension with every trace of his fingers made.

“Wait, we're not.” Twilight looked at the smoke as it finally cleared. Down below them were the onlookers, including Silver Pear and his five dates, two of which were unicorns. It was at that moment Twilight noticed the pulsing of magic under her feet. There was a floor of thin magic holding the two of them up about five meters above the altar.

“Silver Pear!” Starlight’s voice could be heard roaring over the crowd.

“What? It’s Twilight’s party. I think she should get at least one slow dance.” Silver Pear laughed aloud and held tightly to Jezabel and Izabel. “Ladies, do you mind helping the others out.” On that, the two sirens opened their mouths and let loose soothing music.

“That little pervert didn’t need to grab my ass to do this--” Twilight was stopped by Crimson's advance. Before she could even compute what he was doing, she found her whole body being twirled.

“We could enjoy this at least, right Twi?” It was at this moment she realized that Crimson's shyness had faded completely. He had been moving far bolder ever since he started calling her Twi.

Twilight followed his movement and kept a close motion. “Yeah…” Now her voice was slow in response, too distracted to notice the blush growing on her face. “I guess we could…”

Crimson gently pulled her in close until their bodies were right against each other. Twilight placed her free hand on his shoulder. The two turned a few times before thinning the embrace. Both were no longer speaking now. Instead, they were letting their movements do all the talking they would ever need.

Twilight found her flustering fading around her. She didn’t know why she was agreeing to such close movements. She didn’t know why she wasn’t disappearing over and slapping Silver Pear across the face. She didn’t know why, she was pushing this to go further, but something inside her was telling her the reverse. The only emotion she could glean from this was simple happiness, not love, certainly not lust, not even longing. Pure happiness was all that filled her.

Maybe it was because of Crimson, maybe it was because of this party, such a thing she had not had in a very long time. Maybe it was a simple ease of the mind. In the end, Twilight found herself no longer caring about any more possibilities. The only thing she wanted at this moment was for this joy to never, ever end.

******

Snowflakes poured over the altar and despite all the cold everyone had been having these last few days, they were all filled with joy. They cheered at the sight of them. Happiness seemed to be everywhere as many of them remarked at the fact that the snowflakes appeared to be moving on their own.

The snowflakes swarmed around the altar’s center and flowed right up beside the two dancers as they floated. Neither one noticed it, and really would they care to notice? Who would? Notice it during all of this happiness? Who dares question the snowflake’s actions, or even notice the strangest of all?

Indeed, in all of this happiness, who would notice when one snowflake opened to reveal an eye? An eye that had been watching them the whole time.

"Soon, my special guest, soon." An icy breath blew in Twilight's ear. She didn't even catch it as she leaned more into her dance with Crimson as the two started to finally descend. “The table is set and soon you will take your place."

******

Author's Note:

Yeah, new chapters like I said. This story will still keep going for a good while. Enjoy this latest chapter and be ready for the next.

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