Christmas Makes a Human Rather Moody

by Heartland Picker

Holiday Woes

The School of Friendship was abuzz with the anticipation of Hearth's Warming break. The holly hanging from every post and lintel, the smell of spiced hot apple cider, and all of the mares claiming to be cold just to have the excuse to cuddle with their stallion. Of course, there was always the one lazy slob who was going stir-crazy because he put off gift shopping until the last minute. Ponies would usually spend their time chuckling at this fellow while he or she would slip around on the snow that had been packed by others trotting through. There was enough snow on the ground for the foals to build a few snow forts in anticipation of a snowball fight to come.

While most ponies would be in pure bliss at this image, Starlight was only getting a sliver of it. She had only recently become reacquainted with the holiday spirit compared to most normal ponies. Granted, she couldn't deny that she kind of missed the fun of being a filly, but she still had a job to do. That job was to be a friendly ear for struggling students, especially with final exams wrapping up.

However, she knew that Twilight (along with the rest of the Mane Six) could be a bit soft due to the holiday affecting their spirits as well. This meant that she didn't have near the number of students coming in just to unload the stress of studying for exams. She wouldn't complain, but she was still pretty stressed from some of the ridiculous questions that would pop up on occasion. Seriously, if Sandbar had a shred of sense, he wouldn't be coming to me for dating advice. Good grief.

That colt would end up driving her to an early grave if she had to live with him. This made her all the more thankful that the semester would be over within the hour. She often wondered if Sandbar might have been better off if his parents were boozers instead of potheads.

Hold on! Now that I think about it, I haven't had a stiff drink in over a month! This perked her up, as it got her thinking about how she got to start enjoying alcohol in the first place. Her first experience with the sauce had been excessive due to the new friend who had taught her how to enjoy it. The result: a bad hangover with a side of amnesia. However, the main effect was what they were after. It was a much better means of stress relief than, in her experience, messing with mind-bending spells. Not to mention it made for some memories that would make her laugh every time she would reminisce about them.

This left her wondering about something else. Ever since Nightmare Night, she'd seen less and less of Benjamin William Murdoch. She couldn't say that she knew him as well as she would have liked, but they did become fast friends after that crazy/stupid coachgun game. Maybe he got a bunch of rush jobs that needed his full and undivided attention, or maybe he was just trying to work something out with his tonewood suppliers. Ben, being a luthier, had explained the importance of tonewoods to her before, though the most she was able to retain was that some materials were tougher to acquire than others, so this had the certainty of causing setbacks in contract fulfillment.

Even still, it didn't sit right with her to just let it be like this, especially considering it was Hearth's Warming season. Speaking of which, I don't know if anypony has ever even spoken to him about this holiday. If anything it might give him an excuse to get out of the woodshop. She was just starting to warm up to the idea of the holiday, so she'd be damned if she would let him struggle through the holiday alone. At this, she decided that it might be best to ask Twilight if anyone had talked to Ben about it yet. She was about to teleport to Twilight's office when she caught sight of the time.

Oh, right. Last class is still in session. Ugh, here's hoping a something pops up to distract me from this conundrum. It was then that her door exploded with confetti and purple smoke, which resulted in a coughing fit for not only herself, but also the new guest, who was none other than the unlikely duo of Pinkie Pie and her best friend, Trixie. Pinkie was fairly hyper/chipper (as usual), as she was talking with speed that was only barely perceptible to Starlight.

"HIYA STARLIGHT!!! You're probably wondering why I'm here with Trixie now! Well, since I don't have to teach during the last class period I figured I'd put together some Hearth's Warming fun! Figured it would make a good send-off for the students before they have to leave for home! But then I thought 'how much better would it be to get ALL of my friends in the spirit?' So I went to search for everyone when I ran into Trixie, who mentioned she was coming to see you, so I figured she might like to join us as well! Anyhoodies, care to help us? Huh, huh, HUH?!"

Trixie spoke up. "The Great and Powerful Trixie usually doesn't go for entertaining mere foals, but it's Hearth's Warming, so Trixie supposes that she can offer some of her greatness for the students."

Starlight, despite her current ponderings about Ben, figured it was futile to resist Pinkie's contagious attitude. "Um, sure. I'd be happy to help! I could use a bit of distraction at the moment anyway since Twilight's probably busy anyway. Besides, I wouldn't be doing my duty as a counselor if I weren't spreading some cheer."

Pinkie, perceptive as ever, picked up on the hesitation in Starlight's voice. She said, "oh Starlight, Hearth's Warming is a time for smiles, not worrying! Tell ya what, we'll get this party put together and you can tell your Auntie Pinkie all about what's got that frown going that you're hiding from everypony!"

Starlight rebutted this sentiment. "Erm, Pinkie, it's not that I'm feeling down, not even close. I wanted to talk to Twilight about it, but you might be able to help me with this."

---

The school foyer was crowded with students and staff alike. Hearth's Warming carols were being chanted on high (after someone finally clarified the whole thing to Ocellus). Holiday cheer was abundant between themed party games and ponies chasing each other with mistletoe. Pinkie Pie, Trixie, and Starlight, however, were discussing more serious matters off to the side of the room regarding Ben, who was nowhere to be seen.

Trixie had a pensive look on her face. "So you're worried that Ben might not know about holidays like Hearth's Warming, and you'd like to bring him around to it?"

Starlight nodded. "Yes. While I'm not fully on board with the holiday myself, maybe getting him to take a break to enjoy the festivities might be good for both of us to by stirring the holiday spirit."

Pinkie interjected at this. "Oh, believe me, he knows about it. Twilight and I went to see him three weeks ago with the exact same intent, only to find out that back in Human-world they have a similar holiday. But...…." Pinkie then had a concerned expression on her face.

It was Starlight's turn to look worried. "But what, Pinkie?"

Twilight happened to walk by while chatting with Rarity, and felt the need to chime in. "Oh, I should probably answer this. He's not exactly thrilled about the prospect of this holiday. Almost like there's something haunting him about it. Every time someone has tried to press the issue with him, he always says that he's either got some order to fill or that he needs to head back to the Everfree to go cragadile hunting again. He's obviously trying to keep himself occupied just to avoid the subject. We've already asked Princess Luna to stage a dream intervention, but apparently his dreams aren't usually lucid."

Starlight only became more worried. "Twilight, you know him better than I do. Is he in his workshop now?"

Rarity took to answering this. "Actually, he's been hiding out more at Berry Punch's tavern since Nightmare Night. Last night I spied Roseluck walking home crying her eyes out after her last attempt to seduce him. After I asked her about it, she wouldn't say more than 'what was I thinking? How could I expect an ape to behave like a gentlecolt?' It was terrible!"

Starlight, Twilight, and Pinkie then looked to each other in shock, followed y Twilight's alarmed tone. "RARITY! Why didn't you say anything sooner!? This can't go on any longer! He needs to be confronted NOW!" With that, all five took to leaving the school party to find the belligerent Neanderthal. Twilight and Starlight chose to teleport while Pinkie loaded herself, Rarity, and Trixie into her party cannon. "Pinkie, what do you think-"

"RARITY, THERE'S NO TIME! This is faster than running! FIRE IN THE HOLE!!!!" Pinkie shouted. BOOM!!!

After (somehow) launching clean through an open window, Trixie took to reassuring Rarity. "Oh don't worry. In Trixie's personal experience with being a pony cannon ball, it gets easier after the first time!"

Rarity obviously didn't hear her, as she could only scream. "AAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!"

Author's Note:

So, here's the sequel. Again, I'm writing this on the fly, completely unplanned.
May not be of the same quality as the first. I blame finals.

EDIT 25 Dec 2019: not so much finals anymore, but now more likely heartache.

Comments

[Hotel_Chicken]

'what was I thinking? How could I expect an ape to behave like a gentlecolt?'

Rasist bitch!

-Love the chapter, by the way.

[Heartland Picker]

10004324
How closely were you reading?
Also, to quote Silver Quill, it's speciesist.

[Hotel_Chicken]

10004334
I read enough to understand that Ben was being a little temperamental because of the holidays and that in turn upset Rose, but that doesn't mean it's okay for her to use the term ape. She doesn't get to use that word.

[TheHardie-Boy]

Great chapter! Glad to see you back up and writing, my friend

[PaintedPony]

This seems to be a good start for the sequel! I enjoyed it and consider it a nice Christmas/Hearths Warming present! And thanks for the heads up that it’s not going to be as light as the first one. that you posted this!

[LightningStrike34]

Great work as usual, nice job for a first chapter. Although there was one Sentence Starlight said that could've dropped an unnecessary word.