Burning apples, with a side of Brownies and Benches
Applejack was preparing a breakfast of apple pancakes when a loud knocking came from the door.
“Wonder who that could be...” she mused, heading towards the door and opened it.
“Hey look, AJ! It’s snowing! It’s snowing!” a head popped out of the snow that was accumulating at the base of the porch.Applejack smiled, both at his antics, and the white flakes that drifted to the ground, already layered in snow
“Well, hey there, sugarcube! Good ta see ya!” the head smiled back.
“Same here. Anyways, have you seen Vinyl? I want to show her something, but she wasn’t at her house.” Applejack blinked.
“You do realize ya’ll walked to Sweet Apple Acres to ask me, instead of, say, anypony out an’ about?”
The smile he wore faded, replaced by a mix of embarrassment and shyness, and he quickly looked away. Applejack guffawed.
“Yeah, yeah, laugh it up.” he looked back, the smile plastered back on his face. “I just have a problem of talking to ponies I don’t know, unless they talk to me first. Anyways, have you seen her?”
When the orange mare had settled down, she replied, “Nah, she doesn’t come up here much, especially during the winter, like now,” Applejack couldn’t resist the slight jab, but he laughed with her, “but my guess would be she’s at Sugarcube Corner. She loves the Brownies there, you know.”
The head blinked, then the body attached to the head appeared as he pulled himself out of a snowbank.
“Huh, I never knew that. And that’s coming from a guy stuck here for..... How long has it been?”
Applejack tapped her chin with a hoof, thinking.
“Ah don’t rightly remember, maybe because of all the trouble you caused when y’all first came here, like launchin’ me at a wall?”
He rubbed the back of his head.
“Heh, I’m still sorry about that. Still don’t know what got into me to do that....”
“S’all right, sugarcube, we’ve forgiven ya for it, especially after the changelings.”
“Mmmmm, they were delicious.....”
“What was that?”
“What was what?”
“What ya just said.”
“I said the changelings didn’t stand a chance.”
Applejack looked at him with narrowed eyes, but shrugged it off. He was hiding something, but she knew pushing him for answers wasn’t going to solve anything. He was too stubborn, even more than herself.
“Nothing. So, ya came here jus’ to ask me this? Or are ya gonna stay an’ have some apple pancakes, fresh and pipin’ hot?”
He shook his head.
“I already ate. You still had some apples on the trees, so I figured, why let them go to waste?”
She looked blankly at him.
“You ate apples that were, not only frozen solid from the weather, but also probably not ripe ta’ eat?”
He grinned.
“Yep! I’ve eaten worse though, and you probably don’t wanna know what! Anyways, nice talking to you, AJ, but I gotta go! Also, the pancakes and stove are on fire.”
With that he jumped into a snowbank, and, like a dolphin, dived under the snow and leaped from snowbank to snowbank, until he was lost in the distance. Applejack stood there a second, looking incredulously in the direction he went, until she realized what he had said, and smelt something burning. She yelped, running inside to save the pancakes and the house.
*
“One peppermint brownie, and one hot chocolate, please.”
Mrs. Cake gave the alabaster mare who’d ordered a smile.
“Coming right up!”
Vinyl looked around at the other customers while she waited for her order. There weren’t that many today, which surprised her a bit, considering the days near Hearth’s Warming Eve were always packed. Maybe it was the fact that ice had formed all along the street, and it was almost impossible to walk without looking like a deer skidding across a frozen pond. She’d made the mistake of trying to walk here regardless, and ending up falling and sliding across the street, only stopping when a house had gotten in her way. Vinyl had then decided to teleport all the way to Sugarcube Corner. She snapped back to reality, as a plate with a red and green iced white brownie and a cup of melted chocolate with whipped cream were set down in front of her. Thanking Mrs. Cake, and putting some bits on the counter, she walked over to a empty table that was near the window of Sugarcube Corner, taking her food in her magic, and setting it down on the table. She was about to dig into the brownie, when she heard a muttering and gasping from the sparse customers around her. Following the gaze of the customers, she saw they were watching a dot in the distance, which was quickly heading past the pastry shop. As it got closer, Vinyl could hear a noise that got louder as the dot got closer
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA”
A blur skidded like lightning past the shop, plowing a path through the layer of snow already on the ground, revealing the ice underneath. Vinyl had glimpsed a familiar pair of glasses adorning the blurs face. She chuckled lightly, looking at the continued path as it disappeared into the distance.
“Of course it was him. Wonder where he was headed in such a hurry,” she muttered to herself, turning back around, only to find the same pony who’d just past Sugarcube Corner at a speed that would’ve made Rainbow jealous, sitting opposite her at the table, helping himself to her hot chocolate. Vinyl nearly jumped out of her skin, while he just finished off her drink, smacking his lips.
“Ah! That was great! You gonna finish that?” He pointed a hoof at the brownie.
Ever quick to react, Vinyl snatched her brownie away from him with her magic.
“Yes, actually, I am!”
“Aww...”
“How did you get here anyway? I saw you fly right by here, the trail you left is still there!”
He looked surprised at this.
“I skipped the entrance? Great, now I gotta go fix that mistake.” He ducked under the table, and when Vinyl looked underneath, she saw that he’d disappeared. Looking around, she saw that no one had noticed him appear there, and that he was nowhere inside the shop. Shrugging, Vinyl picked up the brownie in her magic, and had it right in front of her mouth, when the same noise came from outside.
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-”
It suddenly cut off, as the same blur that had sped past Sugarcube Corner came from the direction it had went, and stopped in front of the store. Vinyl’s looked on with her jaw hanging open, as the blur revealed itself to be who she thought it was. He looked like a statue, mouth wide open in a silent scream, and legs locked in standing position. The ‘statue’ made a noise like stone rubbing against stone, as it turned towards the door of Sugarcube Corner, and, with more stone grating, moved towards the door. As the statue like pony passed through the door, he suddenly was able to walk again, and promptly walked over to Vinyl’s table, and plonked himself down across from her.
“You gonna finish that now?”
Vinyl’s jaw closed with an audible click, and her eyes narrowed behind her signature glasses.
“Still a no, buddy. Get your own.”
He sighed in defeat, and got up and ordered himself a brownie, while Vinyl finally had a chance to enjoy hers. He came back with the plate balanced on the tip of his horn, setting it down on the table by bending his head low, depositing it on the table with a clunk. They enjoyed their treats in relative silence, broken only by the sound of customers coming and going.
He finally broke the silence, still chewing on his brownie.
“So, When is Hearth’s Warming Eve? If it’s anything like what I hear, it should be better than Christmas back home.”
Vinyl swallowed the piece she had in her mouth, before responding.
“Well, its in two days, actually.”
“Oooh, I can’t wait!” he exclaimed, clapping his hooves together.
“My first Hearth’s Warming Eve, with a party that no doubt Pinkie will throw! Oh, of course, you’d supply the music!”
Vinyl titled her head in confusion.
“Wait, Don’t you want to supply music?”
He grinned.
“I’ve stolen your fire long enough, wouldn’t you say? Besides, most of my songs I’m storing now,” he held out his metallic blue leg, “isn’t really Christmas style. I got one playlist, and a mega-mix, and that’s all.”
“Shouldn’t that be enough?”
“I have a multi-story club to run, you think I can spare the music?”
“Point-taken.”
“Anyways, wanna go for a walk? The snows stopped, and I got something to show you.”
Vinyl checked outside, and saw that it had indeed stopped snowing.
“Sure, I got nothin’ to do today.”
Finishing their brownies and thanking Mrs. Cake, the two walked out into a winter paradise, the clouds covering the sun making it look like it was already evening, the lights that were pouring out of open windows making the snow glitter as the duo walked along the street, making small talk about friends and the upcoming holiday. He led them both to a small park, where a lonely bench was protected by a tree that stood firm behind it, protecting it from being suffocated by snow with its branches. Vinyl started a bit when he suddenly took off running for the bench.
“Come on slowpoke, we’re almost there!”
Vinyl wasn’t impressed, and kept a slow and steady pace, guffawing as he suddenly slipped, fell on his face, and slid into the tree, which promptly dumped all the snow that was on its bare branches on top of him.
“Need some help there?”
A snow door opened in the pile, and he walked out, panting slightly, without a single flake on him, as the snow pile collapsed in on the hole he’d come out of.
“I’m...good!” he wheezed, shakily walking over to the bench and sitting down, pulled a small glass flask out of nowhere, drinking the dark blue liquid inside, before throwing the bottle over his shoulder and sighing.
“Whew! I took a bit too much outta myself there.”
Vinyl giggled, as she sat down.
“ That’ll teach you to run on a icy path.”
“Yeah.....So!” he clapped his hooves together, “You wanna see what I have to show you?”
“Sure.”
“First, take off your glasses.”
Vinyl’s hoof instinctively flew up to her glasses, as if he were going to take them form her.
“What?! Why!?”
“So you can see it better. C’mon, humor me. You have nothing to hide.”
Vinyl grumbled, but removed her glasses, her magenta eyes regarding him with a bemused expression.
“Ok, so what is it?”
“Look up.”
She did, and saw, hanging off a low branch of the tree, was a small clump of plants with small white berries on them. She looked back at him, confused.
“What is that? Looks like you tried to graft a plant onto a tree.”
He smiled.
“That, dear Vinyl, is mistletoe. It’s part of a Christmas tradition.”
“Oh, and what’s that Christmas tradition?”
He leaned closer. Vinyl was getting a little uncomfortable.
“Well, the tradition dictates that when two people, or in this case, ponies, sit under the mistletoe....” he leaned even closer.
This time, the uncomfortable feeling stopped.
“They have to kiss.”
With that, he planted one on her lips, and held fast for a few seconds.
When he leaned back, wearing a maniacal grin, holding back a laugh as Vinyl froze, eyes wide at the unexpected kiss. A warm feeling was already entering her cheeks.
“What do you think of that tradition?”
Vinyl’s mouth moved, but no sound came out. He laughed.
“And I thought you were always quick on the-”
He was cut off as her lips pressed against his, surprising him. His eyes widened a second, before he pushed back. This one lasted much longer. Finally, they broke off. Vinyl was left breathless, as was he.
“Huh,” he panted, “Guess you still are quick on the draw.”
He put a hoof on her shoulder.
“So? What do you think of this tradition?”
A slow smile crept upon her face.
“I think it’s my favorite.”
They sat there, enjoying each others company, until they heard the bell tower clanging in the distance, when they decided to part ways, saying goodbye to each other before teleporting to their respective homes.
*
With a flash of light and a pop, he appeared in his house, looking at the back of a chair that was occupied by somepony, who was, in turn, reading a book as a fireplace crackled in front of the chair.
“Well? How’d it go?” a familiar voice from the chair asked.
“It went well, your relationship with Vinyl has never been better!”
The book was closed, as the pony stood form the chair.
“Great! Thanks for doing this. I’m too shy to actually kiss her.”
A exact copy of himself stepped from behind the chair.
He smirked.
“I wouldn’t expect any less from me.”
With that, he pulled a sleek white device from thin air, and pointing it at the wall, opened a oval hole, the edge tinged a almost black red, and he jumped through.
The copy, now the original of his world, chuckled.
“Merry Christmas to you, and to all a good night!”