Witching Hour decides to do something special for her friends this Hearth's Warming Eve... but with a party this big, it requires a lot of effort to keep things running smoothly, and the assistance of her landlords, Fancy Pants & Fleur dis Lee.
Monkey Wrench hasn't gone back to Cloudsdale in months, not seeing her parents and four older siblings since her accident more than 10 months ago...
Cinna's family only has four ponies to it, since her father's been disowned by his parents...
Squad Zero is new in town and they don't really have anyone to spend the holiday with beyond each other...
So Witching Hour takes it into her own hooves, with the help of Fancy Pants and Fleur, to make sure this year's holiday gives them something special, even if it's just somewhere to be with other Hearth's Warming Orphans like themselves.
Ropes of twinkling fairy lights along the banisters of the upper balcony illuminate the room, joined with the candles in the chandeliers, to much brighter levels than were usual for the place, and the soft cloth-of-gold bunting joined with holly and ivy vines gives the light a warm feeling. Fine china and silverware sit upon a crisp linen table cloth of deep green, and Fancy cannot help but grin at the sight of all twenty-six immaculate place settings. A smaller round table is set off to the side, set with six places for foals.
“Golden Ladle says dinner will be ready around nine-thirty, my dear,” Fancy says as he exits the kitchen, nimbly dodging the various household staff dashing around and through the dining hall to prepare for the rapidly approaching party.
Fleur gives her husband an absent-minded nod. “Good good…” she says before turning her attention to the butler as the stallion passes by with a long bough of holly. “No, Fresh Cut! That needs to be in the ballroom on the fireplace mantle!” Obediently, the stallion turns around and leaves the dining room as Fancy finally arrives at his wife’s side.
“Fleur, darling… I’m sure the staff have everything well in hoof. Why don’t you and I retreat to the sitting room with some eggnog and keep Monkey Wrench’s family company?” Fancy suggests with a fond smile.
“What?! They’re here already?! Oh no!!!” Fleur moans, and would have immediately run off to grab a tray of refreshments but for Fancy stopping her.
“Fleur, they’re fine… I saw them before I spoke to Ladle. Dust Bunny was taking them to their rooms and they should be in the sitting room soon,” Fancy states comfortingly, putting an arm around Fleur’s shoulders and guiding her at a more sedate pace from the dining hall.
The ballroom, decorated in much the same way as the room before, is dominated by a large pine tree, decorated with tinsel and baubles and hundreds of tea lights and brightly wrapped presents piled beneath it, in the center of the room. Spare couches and chairs set in conversation groups dot the room.
“I see Witch finished arranging the ballroom before she left for the play,” Fancy comments, looking around with an approving eye.
“For the fifth time…” Fleur retorts dryly, with a smirk. “It took the combined efforts of Lady Fine Brew and Monkey Wrench to pull her out the door in time.” The mare allows herself a slight chuckle. “Honestly, with how much she’s been fretting about this party, I wonder why she decided to make the guest list so large…”
“You can hardly blame her for having a large heart… Monkey Wrench hasn’t seen her family since she moved here, and -”
“And her coworkers having almost nopony else to spend it with, I know,” Fleur cuts off Fancy’s explanation with an addition of her own. Leaning against him slightly as they enter the sitting room, Fleur smiles. “I’m glad we offered our help as hosts.”
“As am I, my dear,” Fancy agrees, smiling fondly at his wife. “As am I.”
Pt. 2 - The Canterlot CMC presents The Hearth's Warming Tale
“Five minutes until curtain!” the voice of a young filly rings out into the backstage area of the Coltden Primary’s auditorium where a group of very energetic foals are collectively preparing for their big night. The declaration is followed by a storm blue pegasus filly, a clipboard under one wing. As she progresses in, she stops behind a pair of colts who are laughing as they look at themselves in mirrors used for dressing. “Gust, Spark, are you ready to go?”
“Yes Mom,” Gust sighs as he puts on his helmet before looking to Spark. “Ready, Private?”
“Yes, Commander,” Spark says, saluting the other colt.
“Wait… I thought Gust was Pansy?” the filly says slowly. “Please don’t tell me you two switched. Again.”
“Oh, calm down, Shadow!” Gust laughs. “It’s not a big deal, we know our parts inside and out!”
“Yeah, Shadow! It’s fine, we know all the lines for both the characters,” Spark shrugs with a wide smile.
“Why Tricks decided to let you two be his co-founders I’ll never know,” Shadow mutters, putting a hoof to her face before lowering it and glaring at the two colts. “And the point isn’t that you know the lines! The point is that the cast list is already printed. WITH THE OTHER PARTS!”
“She’s going to kill you two someday,” another filly comments from nearby. “Now, Shadow, can you please stop shouting? I’m having a hard enough time convincing Rose to come out as it is…”
Sighing, Shadow shoots one last glare at the colts before she turns and walks over towards the other filly. “She still hiding, Magenta?”
“We almost got her out,” Magenta replies with a weak smile as she looks over to the shivering box of spare costume parts. “But, then you shouted back how long until the curtain rises, and I think Rose just got scared again.”
“There’s too many ponies out there!” a small voice comes from inside the box. “What if they laugh at me!? What if I mess up!?”
“You’re not going to mess up, Rose,” Magenta says calmly, “You’ve been doing perfectly at rehearsal, so you’ll do awesome tonight!”
“It’s okay, Rose!” another filly speaks up, her voice enthusiastic but kind. “We’re all going to be out there with you!”
“I… I know, Lime, but there’s still so many ponies…” Rose says softly, peaking out of the box at the pink filly.
“Well, just imagine that it’s just us and the teacher!” Lime offers, her smile growing. “I mean, I’m Smart Cookie. What would I be without my Chancellor!?”
“O-okay,” Rose agrees hesitantly as she slowly climbs out of the box.
“Well, that’s one down. Now to deal with our Clover the Clever…” Magenta sighs as she looks around. “Come with me, Shadow.”
“What’s wrong with Tricks?” Shadow asks, raising an eyebrow.
“If you thought Rose’s stage fright was bad…” Magenta rolls her eyes as she stands up and walks towards the back of the dressing area. She stops in front of a rack of clothing for the extras and calmly parts it with her magic before pointing towards the shivering form of a cloaked colt.
“Tricks, it’s nearly time,” Shadow says slowly, worry creeping slightly into her voice. “You need to come out now.”
“NO!” Tricks shouts, scooting further back into his corner. “I… I can’t go out there!”
“Why?” Magenta asks softly. “Tricks, you need to. I need you out there with me.”
“I can’t fail them!” Tricks states, his eyes growing wide as tears start to form. “If I do poorly then Witch Doctor won’t want me to stay with her in her nice house, a-and I’ll have to go back to the Castle a-a-and I won’t have a family again!”
“Tricks, you’re going to do fine!” Shadow says a bit forcefully. “You were one of the first to fully memorize their lines, you’ll do fine!”
“How do you know!?” Tricks demands, pointing a hoof at Shadow. “You don’t know what it’s like! I have to do it perfectly or they won’t like me anymore!” He wraps his arms around himself and shivers. “I have to do it perfectly….”
“Witching Hour isn’t going to abandon you, Tricks,” Magenta offers with a warm smile. “She loves you.”
“But she won’t if I mess up,” Tricks retorts without looking up.
“Not true, what about…” Magenta starts, but trails off as she tries to think of an example of Tricks failing but not being abandoned by his caretaker.
“What about that time we tried to get our cutie marks in mail delivery?” Gust asks as he comes up behind Magenta.
“Or that time we tried to become master fencers in one afternoon!” Spark adds in with a laugh.
“My mother still hasn’t forgiven you for what you did to her practice blades…” Shadow mutters.
“Oh! What about the time we tried to bake that cake?” Magenta suggests with a shrug. “I think they’re still cleaning icing off the ceiling of the bakery’s kitchen.”
Sniffling, Tricks looks up at his friends a smile forming on his face. “T-that’s true… I guess she won’t leave me if I don’t do this perfectly.”
“I bet she’ll tell you she loved it, and that she can’t wait for next year,” Magenta suggests as she offers a hoof to Tricks. “Now, Clover the Clever, it’s time to listen to your Princess and come out. We’re going to be on soon!”
“Right, good…” Shadow says quickly. “If everypony is done freaking out… and finished switching costumes,” she adds, glaring at Gust and Spark who have the audacity to grin at her, “I have to go out and fix the cast list!”
At Fancy’s wink, Witch smiles broadly. “Monkey! I got a surprise for you before we get to the main hall…” she says, dragging her friend away from her family and their hosts.
“Bwah?” Monkey doesn’t resist though, not that she thought she could successfully what with Witch’s increased strength and recent growth spurt, but that doesn’t stop her from voicing her confusion. “Witchy, what the-”
The rest of Monkey’s confused question dies on her lips as Witch shoves her into the sitting room, bringing her face-to-face with over a dozen very familiar ponies.
“Auntie Wrench!!!” A veritable herd of excited pegasus foals charge towards her, tackling the stunned mare with hugs.
“Wha- buh… How?!” Monkey stammers, much to the amusement of the older ponies in the room.
“Doctor Hour sent us an invitation along with Mr. Fancy Pants’ assurance that travel and lodging would be taken care of,” responds the oldest mare present as she gently nudges the foals away from Monkey and back to their respective parents, a bright yellow mare with green eyes. Her mane is sensibly styled, a golden yellow with a streak of orange and red on the left side. Her tail differed only in that the streaks through it were green and blue.
“But… Everyone?!” Monkey’s eyes scan the room, falling first on a blue mare with a short dark blue mane next to a pale blue stallion and two older fillies. “Saph, Winter, Topaz, Pearl…” Her gaze travels to the right, snagging on a tall red stallion with a short-cropped orange and yellow mane and tail who sits on a couch with a orange-gold mare and another filly. “Red, Sunset, Dawn…” Sitting on the next couch over, trying to corral the two young colts, is a golden yellow mare with pink streaks in her red mane and a grey stallion with black mane. “Goldie, Sil, Hal, Foil…”
“And me!” calls the forest green stallion as he pops up beside Monkey and throws an arm around her.
“Of course, you’d be here too, Pine…” Monkey adds with a resigned sigh.
“I see your doctor’s got good taste in colors. Green looks good on you, Monks,” he continues, almost seeming to ignore his little sister’s glare as he prods at the crystalline edge of her wing.
“Actually -” Witch starts, but Monkey quickly extricates herself from her brother to throw herself at Witch, desperately covering the unicorn’s mouth with her hoof.
“It wasn’t on purpose… Leave it at that, Witchy… None of us can understand your magical mumbo-jumbo jargon once you get going,” Monkey says quickly before releasing her friend.
“Well now that you seem to be out of the stunned phase,” comments a brown stallion with a short, bright red mane, “how about a hug for your old dad, eh?”
“Sure, Dad,” Monkey laughs, almost tackling him in a hug.
“Honestly, Monkey… We haven’t seen you since… Well…” Golden Nimbus starts as Monkey finally lets go of Rapid Strike, hesitating even as Sunlit Silver manages to get their two sons under control.
“In several months,” Sapphire Cirrus continues diplomatically. “We know you’ve got a good life going here but…”
“We missed our baby sister,” Red Sky adds, finishing the general line of thought as he helps Sunset Haze up from the couch. “Besides, having all of us here means we can tell you all at once.”
“Tell us what?” Monkey asks, voicing the general confusion.
“That,” Sunset Haze starts, smiling with a knowing twinkle in her eyes, “Dawn’s gonna have a little brother or sister next year…”
While the rest of her family cheered, and the foals started arguing over who would get to play more with the new cousin, Monkey just shakes her head and turns to leave.
“Monkey? Where are you going?” Witch asks, quickly catching her friend before she left the sitting room.
“I’m gonna go start training Leaf… He’s gonna need all the help he can get…”
“You certainly didn’t slack off on the invitations, did you Witchy?” Fine Brew says teasingly, making her daughter squirm slightly beside her.
“Well… I was going to keep it small, just us and Monkey’s family…” Witch starts sheepishly, “But Monkey’s family is huge, and then Fancy and Fleur offered to help me by hosting because I couldn’t house them all, so space wasn’t a concern anymore, and then I told them about the new squad and Cinna’s family not having anywhere else and…”
“You know… Sometimes I wonder if my brother and I weren’t left on our parents’ doorstep. We and our families are far too nice to be related to them…” Fine comments dryly before her jaw drops at the sight of a rust-red unicorn stallion and two pegasus mares being lead into the ballroom by Cinna. “My god… Bitsy!? Is that you?!” she asks, leaving Witch to trot up to him.
“Bruises?!” the stallion, with brown eyes, mane and tail, exclaims in surprise, breaking away from the mares to meet Fine Brew half-way. “Why am I not surprised to see you slumming it away from the Kensington parties?”
“Because you know I’ll use any excuse to avoid seeing my uncle?” Fine retorts, smiling before giving the stallion a hug. “I had no idea you’d be here! Last I heard, you’d gotten the boot from polite society and happily gone trotting after your high-flying wife!”
The stallion shrugs, glancing over his shoulder at the pink-maned yellow pegasus next to Cinna with a fond smile. “Yeah… Pix didn’t care, and frankly, neither did I… Thankfully, we have enough to get by without me trying to get a job… Tried a few times while Cinna was growing up, but it seems my parents really hated me over it…”
Fine winces sympathetically as Witch comes up along side her mother. “I know that story. Thankfully, Earl Grey had to choose who he burned out of Canterlot… Me and my husband… Or my brother and his.”
“What’s this about Uncle Mug and Uncle Rain?” Witch asks curiously.
‘Bitsy’ looks confused for a moment before his eyes widen and his jaw drops. “Oh… Oh my…” he stammers.
“Speaking of them, I’m surprised you didn’t invite them, Witchy,” Fine teases, glancing at her daughter.
“Who says I didn’t?” Witch retorts, raising an eyebrow. “Uncle Rain said something about not being caught dead any closer to Canterlot than he already is…”
“Valid point,” Fine concedes, nodding. “After their exit, I’m not surprised.”
“Splashy exit, I assume?” ‘Bitsy’ queries as Cinna and the two pegasus mares finally join him.
“As only Purple Rain could make it…” Fine responds, laughing heartily. “He slung Mug over his shoulder and made tracks to the train station with Mug giving us all a rude gesture… Right in the middle of White Tie’s birthday.”
“Copper? Are you going to reminisce all night -” starts the pink-maned pegasus.
“Or are you going to introduce us?” finishes the other pegasus, her colors being those of the first but reversed - pink with yellow mane and tail.
“Pix, Fay… Can you go one evening in company without doing that?” Copper asks, though his exasperation is tempered by the fond amusement in his eyes.
“Now now, ‘Bitsy’…” ‘Fay’ chides, smirking as she pushes a lock of yellow mane back from her face as her twin mirrors the movement.
“Where’s the fun in that?” ‘Pix’ asks, continuing the thought her sister had started.
“Did I marry one of you or both?” Copper queries, asking no one in particular.
“We’re a -”
“- matched set.”
“Haven’t you -”
“- caught on,”
“Yet?” The pair finish in unison, both raising an eyebrow, though notably the opposite eyebrow of each other so their expressions are mirrored, at the put-upon unicorn.
“Do you want me to introduce you or not?” Copper demands, finally silencing the mares. Sighing heavily, he returns his attention to the bemused Fine and Witch. “These two are Pixie and Fairy… I married Pixie and got Fairy for free, apparently…” The comment earns him two wings to his face, making him sputter and spit out a couple yellow and pink feathers. “Pix, Fay, this is my old friend and classmate, Viscountess Fine Brew of House Grey. We called her ‘Bruises’ because she-”
“Whaaaaaaaaaaaaat?!” Cinna interrupts, grabbing Witch by her shoulders and trying to shake her. Giving up, Cinna presses her forehead against Witch’s, her brown eyes staring intensely into Witch’s. “Witchy!!! Your mother is Lady Grey and you didn’t tell me!?”
Witch sighs, pushing her excitable friend back to give her some breathing room. “This is why I didn’t tell you, Cinna…” she responds wearily. “Where’s Flash when I need her?”
Pacing back and forth, Leaf does his best not panic as his mind races. Ears pinned back against his head he does his best to try and steady his breathing like he had been taught at the Wonderbolts Academy, even if it barely does anything to calm his racing thoughts and rapid heartbeat.
Reaching a hoof up to brush against the pocket of his jacket, Leaf checks on the source of his distress; a small velvet box containing a ring.
Lowering his hoof, he continues pacing. Tonight is the night he is going to ask her. Tonight, he is going to ask Daring to marry him…. To take that one giant step forward with him and be his wife. The thought of being married to her makes his heart soar, but the thought of actually asking her scares him more than even facing down Silver Lining….
“Leaf, are you in here?” A voice comes from the entrance to the room he is pacing in, causing Leaf to freeze in his tracks. When he says nothing, the door opens and the pony who spoke comes on. “Still pacing?”
“I can’t help it, Witchy,” Leaf sighs, his shoulders slumping. “I… I just can’t do it. I’m a coward.”
Witch sighs as well, moving to sit near her brother. “Leaf… Do I need to have this conversation with you again?” she asks, raising an eyebrow at him.
“NO!” Leaf says loudly out of instinct before he shakes his head. “No… no I… Witch, I’m scared. What if she doesn’t want to be my wife? What if she says no?”
“She won’t. Everypony can see how much you mean to each other, Leaf… You’d have to be blind not to!” Witch insists. “Really, Leaf… How long have you been working with her? How much shit have you two gotten into and out of together? What is this beyond making that arrangement permanent… Like you two did four months ago?” she asks, giving him an arched and pointed look.
“She’s just a free spirit, Witch,” Leaf mutters. “I don’t want to tie her down or anything.” He pauses and looks at Witch, who has raised an eyebrow at him. “I sound like a broken record don’t I?”
“Yep,” Witch confirms firmly. “Look at it this way, Leaf… If you don’t ask, will you regret it?”
“Yes…” Leaf sighs, sitting down with a thump. “I just… This is the most important question I am ever going to ask her, and I don’t know how to even start.”
“Well, the usual form involves telling the mare you love all the wonderful things about her, and how your life is meaningless without her… But Dee doesn’t strike me as the type to really appreciate that… Then again, she might since I doubt anypony ever talks to her like that…” Witch muses. “Could always go the cheesy route and say that she’s the best treasure you’ve ever hunted,” she offers with a grin and a laugh.
“But she is the best treasure I’ve ever hunted!” Leaf moans, lowering his head and putting his hooves over his eyes. “I mean, for Celestia’s sake, her fur color is gold!”
Witch just shrugs, still smiling mirthfully at her brother. “So roll with it then. Honestly, Leaf… You’re acting like me right now!”
Sitting up quickly, Leaf’s eyes go wide. “Oh no, I’m turning into my sister!?” He gets up and starts pacing again. “I just need to calm down, then I can figure this out… but… what if I don’t?”
Making a noise of frustrated disgust, Witch moves quickly to face Leaf before pulling back and slapping him full-force across his face. “LEAF!” she snaps even as Leaf holds his jaw and pulls himself up from the floor. “Breathe, will you?! I’m getting sick of your emotional constipation! Just ask her before I lock you both in a closet, again, until you pull the stick out of your ass and ask her!”
“Fine! Yes… okay…” Leaf breaths, rubbing his jaw. “Let me just pick my jaw up off the floor! Honestly, when the hay did you get so strong…?” He takes a few deep, slow, breaths before standing. “I don’t want to be locked in a closet again… though truthfully it might be easier.”
“Leaf… I’ve had to start training with the elites because I kept beating the other auxiliaries into the mats… And that was a slap… Do you want to find out what a punch feels like?” Witch asks, a hint of warning promise in her question even as she raises her hoof again.
“No, thank you, Senior Chief Petty Officer,” Leaf groans, continuing to rub his jaw as he turns to walk from the room. He stops at the door, swallows heavily as he steels his resolve, and steps into the hallway beyond.
From there, he makes his way back to the larger room that is serving as the center of the party, nearly losing his resolve as he starts into the crowd. However, the sight of Daring standing in the middle of the large group of ponies, laughing and having a good time, draws him forward like a moth to the flame. By the time he is next to her his heart is beating rapidly, and he is smiling warmly even as he fights the urge to turn and run.
“Hey, Leaf, where’d you wander off to?” Daring asks with a smirk. “I was afraid you were going to leave me alone to weather this party on my own!”
“N-no, I’d never leave you, dear,” Leaf chuckles nervously before clearing his throat. “A-and actually, I wanted to talk to you about something related to that.”
“Oh? And what would that be?” Daring inquires, raising an eyebrow as her smile slips. “You seem nervous…” She narrows her eyes and reaches over with a hoof, gently turning his face to one side to look at the red spot on the side of his muzzle. “Did someone slap you?”
“Yeah, but it’s not important, I nee-” Leaf starts before Daring cuts him off.
“No, it’s important, who hit you!” Daring says loudly, the conversation in the room instantly stopping as all eyes go towards the two.
“It was Witch,” Leaf states quickly, waving a hoof. “I was being a coward, but… but I’m not going to be a coward anymore.” Daring opens her mouth to comment but Leaf holds a hoof up to silence her. “Daring… just let me say my piece, okay?”
“Alright,” Daring agrees, sitting down and raising an eyebrow.
“We’ve been on a lot of adventures, the two of us,” Leaf starts, his voice quivering as he feels all the eyes on him. “We’ve seen things a lot of ponies have, and likely never will see ever again. We’ve uncovered treasures that have been lost to the world for centuries, some really rare and valuable that they deserve nothing less than to be shared with everypony… others so dangerous and dark that we’ve sealed them away so nopony will ever find them again.” He takes a deep breath, letting it out slowly before he continues. “B-but, I’ve only really ever cared about one treasure I’ve found. Something that puts the rarest gems to shame, makes all the ancient cities and sunrises pale in comparison…” He trails off for a moment before looking up into Daring’s eyes, the world around him fading as he gets lost in them, a smile spreading over his face. “But… I find I’ve got a choice in front of me regarding this treasure, and… it’s not easy, but I think I’m ready to admit that I can’t live my life without that treasure.” He reaches into his jacket pocket and pulls the little box out as he kneels down. “So… I have a question for you, treasure I found.” He opens it to show off the beautiful ring inside. “A.K. Yearling… Daring, will you do me the tremendous honor of marrying me?”
For a long moment Daring looks between the ring and Leaf, her face neutral as she processes what just happened. Then, very slowly, her eyes grow wide and her mouth opens slightly in a silent ‘o’ before she raises a hoof to her mouth, her eyes tearing up as she launches herself at Leaf.
“Yes! I’ll marry you, you silly stallion!” Daring shouts as the ponies around them cheer, only to stop a few seconds later as the loudest excited squeal anypony there has ever heard echoes through the room.
“Oh… Sorry, everypony….” Cinna giggles as her squeal fades from the air and various ponies rub at their ears.
Witch couldn’t help but smile as Trick Step bounces from pony to pony, thanking and praising them for their presents, mostly toys but Fancy and Fleur had collaborated with her parents to arrange for piano lessons and for Fancy’s instrument to be moved to the guest house for him. Witch herself is presently not among those being thanked profusely as she currently holds his gift in her hooves. Though relatively simple, she knows her present would overshadow the others, and had thus promised the colt that she’d give hers once he had opened the others.
“Witch Doctor!” the young unicorn says as he bounds up to her place on one of the many sofas. “I’ve opened all my other presents!” he declares proudly, though obviously eager for another gift.
“Alright Tricks… As promised,” Witch responds, holding the simply wrapped box up for him. He makes to grasp it with his hooves, but she quickly holds it away from him, giving him a stern glance. “Tricks… You need the practice…” she states firmly. Smiling sheepishly, he squints his eyes and a pale honey glow wraps around his horn and then surrounds the present, lifting it from her hooves and towards his own.
As with the other presents, Tricks pulls the gold ribbon off, and soon the bright wrapping paper flies away in Tricks’ eager haste, revealing a simple black gift box. Ever curious, he opens it, tossing the lid aside to lay atop the shredded remains of the gift wrapping. Witch smiles slightly to herself at the slightly befuddled expression on her ward’s face as he pulls the suede-bound photo album out of the box.
Though it hadn’t been easy to explain without giving away her intentions to her grandmother, she’d managed to get a copy of the House Grey crest - black with a blue chevron and two gold epees crossed with the wings of the crossbar almost touching - for the craftspony to duplicate on the cover. It had taken little work to add the appropriate heraldic marks for Witch’s position in the family, a blue label with a gold heart in the center tab.
Fine Brew, sitting near enough to see Tricks’ gift, looks sharply with a raised eyebrow at her daughter, but Witch only responds by putting a hoof to her lips with knowing smile. Despite the silent exchange not giving her an answer, Fine Brew leans back in her seat.
At Tricks’ questioning glance, Witch makes a short shooing gesture to him. “Go on… Your present is inside. Make sure you look through it all,” she says encouragingly. Dutifully, the colt opens the book, turning the thick pages slowly as his eyes take in a veritable chronicle of the four years she had consulted on his case at the hospital and the five months he had been under Witch’s care; all the drawings he had made for her and pictures taken during outings or family gatherings carefully mounted on the pages with gold photo corners or stickers. Finally, about halfway through the album, he stops to read over a letter covering the entirety of the left page.
Incredulously with mouth agape and gold eyes wide, Tricks looks up at Witch, seeking a confirmation of the words written on the parchment. Unable to do more lest her emotions overwhelm her, Witch smiles broadly and nods. Unceremoniously dropping the album back into the box, Tricks abandons the present worth more than all the bits in Equestria and throws himself bodily into Witch’s waiting arms. “MOM!” he cries, burying his face against her shoulder, even as his shout draws the attention of everyone in the large room.
Only one pony doesn’t look confused or baffled at the display, and Fine Brew smirks over at her daughter. “Made it official, eh?” she queries, though already knowing the answer. Witch looks up from Tricks, blue eyes shining with unshed tears of happiness, and she can only nod to her mother, unable to speak around the lump in her throat. “Well… I can think of better ways to become a grandmother, but I won’t complain…” Fine Brew comments drily with a smile, triggering a wave of cheering and clapping.
As the other guests go back to their conversations, Leaf grouses, loud enough to be heard, “Horse feathers… Now that colt’ll never stop calling me ‘uncle’…”
"Look at it this way, dear... Now it's official and you can't complain!" Daring responds, looking up from the engagement band around her hoof.
"Ugh... You're just saying that because now he'll never stop calling you ‘auntie’!" Leaf retorts with a sigh.
Daring shrugs, smiling affectionately at her fiancé. "Misery loves company, and I love you. It all works out in the end."
Only mildly irritated with her brother’s complaining, Witch pulls Tricks away to smirk at him with a devious glint in her eyes. “Hey Tricks… You wanna go ask your uncle for a ride?” she asks, making sure that Leaf could hear her clearly.
“Oh no,” Leaf groans even as Tricks nods and goes running towards him.
He might’ve gotten away from Tricks too, if not for Daring ‘accidentally’ tripping him, followed by Monkey trapping him before he could recover.
“This is cold, Doc…” complains the dark blue stallion, holding up a bright blue collar with a gold bell on it.
“So stop practicing your stealth in the Training Room, and I won’t ask Treble and Vellum Trace to hide sound makers in your flight suit too,” Witch retorts with a smirk from her couch across from Squad Zero. Shine Struck grabs the collar and attempts to put it on Swift, abandoning her perusal of her new painting supplies, while Witch looks on in amusement. Bliss had already wrapped herself and PlayBitz in her new plush green blanket. Bitz has his new flight goggles perched atop his head, though they were knocked slightly askew from his wife’s antics to get him cocooned in her blanket with her.
From where he is sitting in front of the couch Witch is on, a light blue stallion is smiling at a generic holiday card with an added "To make your stay in Canterlot a little more bearable. Happy Hearth's Warming, Witching Hour" written in Witch’s looping scrawl. Included with the card, and gently placed to one side, is a punch card that states it’s redeemable for three free tea blends each month for the coming year.
“Thanks for the tea subscription,” the stallion says brightly, looking up at Witch, “you’re right, it will make my stay here in Canterlot a little more bearable.”
“I’m glad to hear it, Calm Wind,” Witch replies, smiling in return. “Most use it for a breakfast blend, a dessert blend and the monthly special, but that’s by no means a requirement.”
“Sounds like a good idea,” Calm agrees. “Would you be willing to recommend any, or do you want me to figure it out for myself?”
Witch’s smile turns into a lopsided smirk. “Well you know I love the house blend black tea… But really, if you want recommendations, I’d have to point you to my mother. I took more after my father when it comes to herbs…”
Smiling sheepishly, Calm nods. “Okay, I’ll have to ask her when I go in for my first three.” He then blinks and blushes a little, scooting slightly closer to where Witch is seated. “Oh! Um… Here,” he says, revealing that he’d had a present tucked under his wing that he passes to Witch, who smiles brightly.
“Thank you Calm Wind. You didn’t need to do this though,” she responds as she takes the gift in her magic and sets it beside her on the couch for the moment. “I’m just glad that all of you have had a good time here,” she adds, as she starts carefully removing the wrapping paper.
“Well,” he starts hesitantly, a blush tinting his cheeks bright pink, “you’ve been really nice to us… And I’m sure you went through a lot of trouble to get this party together so…”
“Oh my goodness!” Witch exclaims, pulling the softbound book out of the gift wrap. “I haven’t seen Twenty-six Istallion Arias for High Soprano in years!”
“Do you like it?” Calm asks hopefully. “Bliss suggested it…”
Witch nods, already eagerly paging through the sheet music within. “My grandparents enrolled me in voice lessons. I only stopped when I started working in the Bromley Clinic…” Despite herself, she cringes and pushes those memories away with a shake of her head. “Didn’t have time for it anymore,” she continues with a hasty smile. “Where’d you find this? My old voice teacher didn’t let me near her copy until I was thirteen!”
Calm scratches the back of his head, laughing sheepishly. “Well… It wasn’t easy…” he begins but his ear twitches at the sound of Bliss and Bitz snickering from their couch across from him and Witch.
“Hmm?” Witch queries, following his gaze to fall on her boss and his friend. Bliss pokes a hoof out and points to the area over their heads, drawing the pair’s gaze up to a small sprig dangling overhead, held by a honey golden aura. “Trick Step…” she sighs, looking over the back of the couch to spy her adopted son crouching down with a wide grin as he looks up at her.
“Hi Mom!” Tricks says brightly, his smile growing. “I was just practicing my magic, like Uncle Leaf and Auntie Yearling told me to!”
“Uh-huh… And they gave you that to practice with, didn’t they?” Witch retorts, casting her gaze beyond to spot Daring and Leaf ducking back around a pillar and chuckling.
“Yeah! They said it’d help you and your friend if I placed it over your head,” Tricks answers dutifully. “Not sure why, but Auntie Yearling is an adventurer and she says she knows lots of secrets!”
“Well, I won’t argue that it will help these two,” Bliss chimes in, a smile on her face as she gestures with the hoof she had been pointing with. “Well, you two got caught under it, might as well get it over with.”
Witch and Calm exchange a wide-eyed glance, and Calm blushes brightly.
“I fail to see how this helps two friends, Bliss…” Witch quips smartly at her fellow unicorn before turning back to Calm with a sheepish smile and an embarrassed blush. “Sorry about them. I really don’t know why everypony keeps seeing romance everywhere…” She sighs softly before placing a hoof on his shoulder and leaning up to place a quick kiss on his cheek. “Thank you very much for the present. I love it,” she says, quietly so only Calm could hear her.
Tricks’ foalish giggling draws Witch’s attention away from her friend.
“Give it!” Swift says loudly, jumping up and missing the sprig of mistletoe as it levitates away.
“No!” Tricks laughs, continuing to move the sprig around.
“Hey, Swift!” Shine shouts as she attempts to pounce her squadmate from behind. “Hold still!”
Witch just sighs and shakes her head, catching Calm’s eyes briefly to share a brief amused smile.
