The gift and the recipient
It was a cold day in Ponyville, though that wasn’t surprising to anypony given the time of year it was. Snow coated the ground and rooftops, a blanket of velvet white laid upon the land as red and green lights danced across the town. Streets crowded with busy ponies shopping for gifts, groups of carollers singing holiday tunes every few blocks and with smiles and goodwill all about town, it was easy to see why ponies held such great value to Hearth’s Warming.
Quite the sight for the Changeling walking down the street.
“Wow, it’s even nicer than I thought it would be,” Ocellus said.
She walked down the road with a red and white beanie and peppermint-striped socks. Next to her flew Smolder, who wore a purple scarf.
“Hrr, just wish they’d make some better clothes for dragons,” she said, shivering. “Seriously, if I knew this is what being cold felt like I would have taken up Professor Rarity’s offer for sewing classes.”
“You could buy a hat for your fins,” the changeling suggested.
“Pfft, no way am I paying for five whole hats and a ripped up sock! Seriously, I’d look ridiculous.”
“Like Spike?” Ocellus teased.
“Exactly!” Smolder said, her tail whipping the snow beneath her. “Remind me why we’re out here when we could be at Sandbar’s house with warm drinks and burned marshmallows?”
“Because we need to shop for presents. After all, Hearth’s Warming Eve is only a few days away and neither of us have gifts for our coltfriends.”
“Ah, right, gifts,” Smolder grumbled. “Gonna be honest, the idea of giving somecreature a free thing and not getting anything in return is the weirdest part of this holiday to me. I mean, candy canes? Sure. Red and green? Fine. But presents and stuff? I don’t get it.”
“Well, we didn’t exactly have a good grasp on it ourselves in the Hive,” Ocellus said, turning into a comic store. “I mean, we thought that we were supposed to just keep exchanging the same gifts for hours all day without opening them. I mean, we still had fun with it, but it’d be nice if ponies explained more than the broad concepts of their culture, you know?”
“You’d think they’d have taught something like that in class,” Smolder said, landing and walking alongside her.
The store was relatively calm for the season, given that there were nearly two dozen ponies inside. Walls stocked full of comics and boxed miniatures framed the inside, with three large tables covered in fake battle scenes, filled with posed miniatures of all kinds.
The two walked around the store, eyeing minis and books galore while some ponies were playing a tabletop game in the middle of the store, rolling dice and shouting commands.
“So, I’ve got no idea what it was Spike wanted so I’m going to check over with the cashier to see if they can find something that he might want,” Smolder said.
“Alright, you go ahead, they’re holding my order in the back.”
The changeling and dragon parted ways with one another as Ocellus made her way to the back where a wide and short yak stallion worked at a counter, hundreds of cardboard boxes behind him.
“Ah, hello, you are Ocellus, correct?” he asked.
“Yes, I’m here to pick up my order from a month ago. It’s in stock now, right?”
“Yes, the first one from the shipment! Mint condition, is very nice.”
“Great!”
She pulled out a bag of bits and exchanged her receipt to the retailer, who scooped them behind the desk and pulled out a large, fully wrapped box with a ladybug pattern ribbon on it.
“Custom wrapping is nice touch, yes?” the yak asked.
“It’s incredible! Thank you so much!”
“Have merry holiday!”
She said her thanks once more and, after saying farewell to her friend on the way out, flew off.
\\\\\\//////
On the other end of Ponyville stood the most significant landmarks in the town’s recent history. Twilight’s former Castle, a testament to the Princess’ ascension and triumph over Tirek, and the School of Friendship, an institute dedicated to the Princess’ methodology and teachings. And by the school stood a large buckball stadium, where one colt in particular was taking a seat.
Snails hummed as he set down a couple of pillows and blankets, setting aside his picnic basket on the seat next to him. He sat down and looked into the cloudy sky, a content smile on his face. Looking down at the field, he traced his hoof across his vision as he remembered the day his life changed.
“Hey Snails!” Ocellus said cheerfully as she descended from above.
Snails looked up and waved.
“Hi Ocellus!”
She landed next to him and put her present down on the seat before turning to Snails and kissing his cheeks.
“Happy Hearth’s Warming,” she said, nuzzling his cheek.
The slightly taller colt nuzzled her back, closing his eyes and basking in the warm radiating off of her chitin. They drifted apart, bopping their noses together before they took seats next to each other.
“So, how was your day?” Ocellus asked.
“It was good,” Snails said, taking plates out of the picnic basket. “Applejack helped me practice quicker reactions, and we managed to beat my old record of 19 catches in a row. I’m at 23 now.”
“That’s great! You’ve gotten even better these last few months.”
Snails smiled and brought out two bowls and thermoses of warm soup, pouring out the broth and noodles into both bowls before giving Ocellus her fork.
“Well, I’ve got a marefriend in the cheerleader squad that inspired me to be the best,” he said, blushing.
Ocellus’ cheeks flushed as well as she slurped up her meal. The two sat there in silence, the empty stadium filled with the sounds of the two eating alone. After they had drunk the soup, Snails packed up the bowls and gave Ocellus a hug.
“I’m really glad we met,” he said, tightening his hold on the cuddlebug.
She returned the gesture in kind.
“So am I. Speaking of which, I got you something!”
They broke apart and she presented him with a fully wrapped present. He took it in his hooves and looked between it and her.
“Oh, you didn’t have to spend a lot of money on something for me,” he said. “I didn’t really get you anything that special.”
He picked up the picnic basket and opened a compartment on the bottom, pulling out a much smaller box. Ocellus took it and held it up to her chest.
“Anything you would give me is special enough if you put your heart into it. Besides, that present’s not just for you.”
Now curious about the contents, he gently rattled it, pressing an ear to the side. Ocellus giggled at him, shaking her head.
“You can open it.”
“But it’s a day too early, isn’t it?”
“I insist, please.”
Snails nodded and shredded the wrapping. He gasped when he saw the box’s cover art, his jaw dropping.
It was a brand new miniature from the tabletop game that Ocellus had introduced him to, alongside the rest of her friends, Battlemace. The sizable statue consisted of a scene depicting an ancient Changeling Queen flying down into a warzone, a single Unicorn stallion standing before her, flying a banner with her crest on it. The two were locking their gazes upon one another, smiles on their faces in a rare moment of calm in the normally war-torn setting.
“Is… is this what I think it is?” he asked.
“Yep. Queen Morphiosa and Captain-General Slow March in the latest update in 5th edition, marrying one another for the fates of their empires. And I thought that, since I’ll be in Ponyville all week, we could spend Hearth’s Warming together and build it and paint them. Wouldn’t that be nice?”
Snails looked past the box to his marefriend and carefully set it down in his seat. He walked up to her and held her close, Ocellus burying her face into the fur of his neck as they shared a hug. She could feel the genuine love seeping out of him, smiling as she tasted the sheer emotion straight from his heart.
“I’d love to, thank you so much Ocellus.”
“Awe, you’re welcome. I knew you’d-”
“No, I mean, not just the toy. I mean, it’s really nice, but I mean, for everything. You know, I didn’t really like Buckball that much when Princess Twilight made us play it here. I wanted to quit, but then, at that game against Celestia’s school, I saw you. And, seeing you cheering for me, it meant something. It felt like I was actually doing something good, something that made ponies happy. And, I wanted to keep seeing you cheer for me. Keep seeing you smile. And I want you to stay with me so badly.”
A tear fell from his cheek, streaking down Ocellus’ head as she tightened her grip on him, the scent of genuine fear permeating the air.
“Everything I’m doing now,” he said, his voice quivering, “I’m doing for you. And, I don’t want to go back to being without you.”
He broke away and poked at the present he gave her, still close to her chest.
“Open it. Please.”
Ocellus didn’t need to be told twice as she ripped it open. Her eyes bugged out as she opened it, unfolding the papers and mouthing the words before gasping.
“Is this?”
He nodded.
“It’s my first real offer. A professional Buckball team. They already gave me 500 bits, and I wasn’t sure what to get you, so…”
Snails motioned for her to turn it over, so she flipped the paper around and found a receipt. She read it and blinked.
“You… you got the same statue I did?”
“Yeah. I was gonna pick it up after we ate, but I guess you beat me to it,” he said, scuffling his hooves on the ground. “I guess we kinda had the same idea.”
Ocellus smiled as she pulled out a book from her bag.
“Well, there is one more thing,” she said, waving it around. “The story of their first meeting and how they fell in love. We never got the chance to read it all the way through, so I thought we could read it together.”
Snails smiled as he picked up his stuff.
“I’d like that a lot. But, can we go home? It’s pretty cold out.”
“Yeah, it’s gonna get colder once the weather team moves the clouds in, so we better get inside.”
“Oh, one more thing, Ocellus.”
She stopped and turned, only to have her lips met with his as he leaned down to kiss her. The changeling was flooded with the sweet nectar of pure love, and practically melted as she pushed back on him, the two breaking away with a small breath.
“Happy Hearth’s Warming, cuddlebug.”
“Happy Hearth’s Warming, Snails.”
The two walked off, leaning against one another as they hummed a carol, content with their company and time well spent.