It’s so Hard to Keep this Smile from my Face
The road was barren, the two-track covered in a blanket of heavy snow which hadn’t seen traffic since before it began falling from the bucks of pegasi hooves. Not because it was a less traveled route, but because everypony knew better, and they were home in their warm beds or before a roaring hearth.
No such luck, for three ponies of varying sanity and magical peruse, traveling to visit family on Hearthswarming Eve.
Kicking at the fetlock deep snow, a orange unicorn, bundled up in blue winter clothes with stars covering the pattern, pushed through, doing his best to follow the barely visible indents of the trail. He pulled behind him a large cart of purples, blues, yellows and golds, done up in a pattern of magical symbols, fire works, and shooting stars.
This was not, however, his wagon, but it was his turn to pull so that, between the two current occupants, one could continue to rest, while the other warmed herself from the laughably small wood stove.
Thankfully, inside, a light purple mare cozied up to her blue friend, nuzzling her and sharing her body’s warmth.
“You should have traded a half hour ago,” said Starlight Glimmer with a slight frown, yet she didn’t relent in rubbing against her friend.
“Yes. Trixie knows this, but you two have the only clock, so one of you should have stopped me,” said the aforementioned Trixie Lulamoon.
“I know, and I’m sorry, but Sunburst was curled up beside me, sleeping still, and I just didn’t have the heart to wake him yet.”
“So you let Trixie suffer longer, because you love her far less than him.”
Starlight rolled her eyes, grabbing her friend with a foreleg and pulling her closer. “No, Trix, and you know that. I love you both, but well, you know what Sunburst is to me.”
Remaining silent, Trixie simply looked between them, and at the slightly large belly of her friend.
“Yes, the sire to your foal.”
“Not just that! We were childhood friends, and we both had feelings for so long that we kept quiet about that… well…”
Sighing, Trixie nuzzled up to Starlight, placing a hoof upon her friend’s belly. “Trixie knows, Starlight. She knows. It’s just… not always easy being the third wheel.”
“Third wheel? Trix, you know you’re not that, us three love each other equally! Nopony is lesser than the other in this relationship.”
Trixie gave Starlight’s belly a poke. “Clearly.”
Rolling her eyes, Starlight grabbed Trixie’s head, pulling her in close to kiss her forehead just below her horn. “You silly magician, you’re the one who said you weren’t ready for foals.”
“Yes, however Trixie thought you shared the same reservation.”
“Well, yes, I did… but then, after talking with my father, and Sunburst’s mother, things… changed.”
Trixie’s ears went flat, and with a shuffle to the side, she pulled away from Starlight's foreleg, instead pushing her chest against the sill to the forward window, closed to block out the wind, although a small draft was present. She pressed her right ear against the shutter, feeling the cold soaking through the wood and causing her still numb ear to burn.
Trixie was used to this kind of winter abuse, out between her shows. But Sunburst? He did live in the Crystal Empire for a number of years, and still traveled out there to teach Princess Flurry Heart magical lessons, so maybe he was hardened enough for this sort of thing?
“Aaaah!”
The wagon jolted, then stopped, and Trixie with her magic unclasped the locked shutter, opening it just far enough to peer outside.
Sunburst was in the process of picking himself up, having clearly fallen belly first into the snow.
Trixie sighed, and before she could close the window, Starlight stood overtop of her, resting her chin on top of Trixie’s head to also peer out.
“Oh dear, he’s not doing so well, is he?”
Trixie’s response was a simple hum.
“Do you think I should go out and change with him?”
“No, you heard Doctor Stable. After seven months, you need to keep off your hooves as much as possible. Hitching you to a harness is the opposite of that.”
“I know, but, well… look at him.”
Trixie hadn’t stopped, instead listening with one ear on Starlight while the other, and her eyes, focused on the struggling stallion.
He was on his hooves now, brushing as much of his underside off as he could with his hoof and magic. He only had winter gear on his forward half, his rear only sporting the saddle blanket draped to his dock.
“At least we have a nice view,” Trixie commented with a grin.
She could feel Starlight’s own grin on top of her head. “Yeah, he has a cute set of flanks for a bookworm.”
Both mares huffed a laugh, but when another large gust of wind, and big snowflakes, blew in at them they pulled back. The shutter was closed and latched by Starlight’s magic, however it continued to rattle from the outside winds.
They laid there, still, on the one large bed (in favor of the two small hammocks of past travels) as they counted down the seconds, and then a full minute. Starlight worked her jaw, preparing to say something, when the wagon lurched forward, and the steady rhythm of movement through deep snow picked up again.
“Well, I’ll be,” Trixie said, then turned to Starlight. “Trixie supposes he is made of sterner stuff.”
“Sunburst has a way of surprising you, that’s for sure,” Starlight said with a chuckle.
Starlight then returned to the bed, laying on her side and patting the thin mattress with a hoof. “Now, come here and lay down. You need to warm up and rest.”
Dragging her hooves, Trixie did as told, laying on her opposite side so the two mares faced each other. With her magic, Starlight draped over a blanket, covering them to hold in their heat, while Trixie nuzzled against her friend’s chest and neck.
Finally, with a deep breath, Trixie truly settled down, and Starlight gave her another gentle kiss before resting her own head atop her friend’s. The two then drifted off to slumber to the rocking of the wagon, allowing Luna to give them pleasant dreams.
----------
Both mares were woken by a sudden jolt, and with enough of a lean to cause Trixie to roll out of the bed with a thud.
“What happened?” Starlight asked, yawning and rubbing her eyes.
“Clearly we crashed,” Trixie grumbled from the cold floor.
“What? No, that can’t be it.”
There then came a rushed knock from the back door, to which Starlight answered with her magic.
Quickly, Sunburst darted inside, his back covered in a thick layer of snow.
“At least brush yourself off!” Trixie shouted.
Sunburst let out a sigh, then slowly trodded back outside, then mere moments later returned with far less snow covering him.
“So, what did you do?” Trixie, still laying on the floor, asked with a defeated tone.
“Trix, would you stop being so hard on Sunburst? He didn’t crash the wagon or anything, I’m sure he-”
Sunburst interrupted with a hoof tap. “Uh, yes, actually I did. We’re in a ditch.”
“Oh,” Starlight finished.
“It wasn’t so bad at first, I got it stuck in a rut or something, and I’ve been out there for I don’t know how long trying to get it unstuck, but then I slipped again but the wagon went with me, and next thing I knew we were half way into a ditch.”
Trixie grumbled, “And you can’t pull it out.”
“And I can’t pull it out. Right.”
Trixie sighed. “First Starlight, and now the wagon. Trixie shall be carrying protection around you from now on.”
“Trixie!”
“It was a joke!”
“In bad taste! Sunburst was working hard so that you could rest. Just because he doesn’t have the more toned muscle like you, or stamina like you, or even wagon hauling experience like you…”
“Is there a point to this?” Sunburst asked.
“Yes! Come here.”
Sunburst, on shaky hooves, did so, and Starlight used her magic to remove his cold soaked clothes, hung them on a hook beside the door, and then using her forelegs wrapped him up in a hug.
“I, and by definition we, both love you, and thank you for trying, and doing your best.”
Sunburst returned the hug. Trixie, finally sitting up, rolled her eyes.
“Trixie, if you don’t join in on this hug I swear…”
At Starlight’s words, Trixie wrapped her hooves around the two hugging ponies.
“You’re so cold!” Trixie blurted out.
“Yes, because it’s cold outside,” Sunburst said with a roll of his eyes.
“No, you are really cold. Your ears! They’re nearly frost bitten! How long were you out there?” Trixie quickly looked to the clock, then gasped. “Four hours! We are supposed to relieve each other every two!”
“I know, but when I checked in to do so, you two were so comfortable and sleeping together…”
Starlight cood, then pulled Sunburst into another tight hug, giving him a passionate kiss on his frozen lips. “You goof, that’s how you hurt yourself.”
“Yes, and Trixie is all too familiar with that. Come, lay in bed now while Trixie gets some warm water. She needs to check for any lingering damage.”
With no protest Sunburst jumped up into the warm bed beside Starlight, who took it upon herself to brush off the last traces of snow before covering him with the large blanket. The stallion was still shivering under the thick blanket, so Starlight joined him under the cover, wrapping her hooves around his barrel.
“Oh, that’s nice,” he said with a sigh.
Trixie, meanwhile, had placed a small pot of water on the wood stove, warming it to the point it steamed and no more, then taking a clean rag dipped it in with her magic. She approached her two friends, and then taking the rag in her hooves, she rang it out and began massaging Sunburst’s ears.
“You don’t have to do that, Trixie,” Sunburst said between chattering teeth.
“No, she does not, but she shall anyway,” Trixie said, slowly working her hooves around his ears, mixing the warm water with hoove massage to try and restore circulation to the appendages.
Silence took over between the three; Starlight resting her head along Sunburst’s neck and shoulder while Trixie stood beside the bed and warmed his ears.
Then, Starlight cleared her throat. “So, how stuck are we?”
Sunburst let out a sigh, and would have flicked an ear had it not been in Trixie’s hooves. “Bad. We might have to wait for somepony to come help us.”
“That’s no good. With it being Hearthswarming, that might not be until later in the evening.”
“Do we have enough wood?” Sunburst looked to Trixie.
“If not, Trixie is sure there is plenty around outside if we look.”
“Well, at least I think we’re only a couple hours trot from Sire’s Hollow,” Sunburst sighed, then laid his head down onto the bed while Trixie soaked and rang out the rag again.
“You think?” Trixie asked.
“It was hard to see much farther than a couple yards. My guess is these are some rouge clouds that some townsponies just let loose, but I did pass the crossroads a bit ago, so we’re not too far out.”
Starlight hummed, rubbing her muzzle against Sunburst’s neck. Trixie let out a huff, rubbing Sunburst’s ears for another round, then placed the damp rag back into the water. Starlight and Sunburst watched as she walked over to the door placing on her winter gear.
“Trixie, you don’t have to try to get us out,” Starlight said.
“Or at least wait until I’ve warmed up some, and so I can help.”
Trixie let out another defeated sigh. “No, Trixie is going out to assess, and will return momentarily.”
Instead of her full winter garb, the magician took only a hat, ear muffs, and scarf, then trotted out quickly, closing the door behind her.
“Well, she is certainly in a mood,” Sunburst huffed.
“Yeah, I’ve noticed that since we invited her to visit with our parents.”
“Really? I’ve noticed it since we told her you were pregnant. You don’t think she...”
Starlight hummed. “No, she’s not ready yet. But our parents maybe? I know she lost her’s when she was young, about the same age Applejack lost hers.”
“Oh. Were they connected?”
Starlight shook her head, then nuzzled Sunburst again. “I don’t think so. She lived in Manehattan then.”
“Hrm.”
Starlight pulled back. “What? What are you thinking?”
“Well, we are going to be stuck here for a while, and we did have a plan in mind for introducing her to our parents.”
“So?”
Sunburst shrugged. “Maybe we should ask her?”
“Now!?”
“Well, I don’t know, when she’s back in and settled down? We don’t have to pry or anything.”
“I’m… not sure. I honestly gave her several openings in the past for her to tell me about them, but she never did bite.”
“Well, for our Hearthswarming gift for her to really work out, maybe we should push a little more, and ask her.”
Starlight’s ears went flat, the mare looking around the wagon, trying to picture where her friend and fellow lover might be.
“Maybe, but should we-”
Starlight was cut off by the door opening and closing quickly, Trixie rushing inside.
“Brrr, that wind is getting worse.”
“I know, I could hardly see. My glasses were frosted over so I took them off, and then the wind was beating up my eyes so I struggled to keep them open while I walked.”
“Trixie has goggles, you know.”
“Oh.”
Starlight let slip a giggle, to which Trixie raised a brow at.
“Sorry, Trix, you know I know this isn’t funny, but well… look at us.”
“I fail to see any humor in this situation,” Trixie said, removing her snow covered clothes.
“We’re three close, intimate friends, stuck in the snow in a wagon, with minimal heat save for our own bodies.”
“Oh hey, I think I like where this is going,” Sunburst said, only to receive a playful slap from Starlight’s hoof.
“Not like that. We’re close friends, and this is really our first time together, out in the world. We are truly alone.”
Silence rang in everypony’s ears, until Sunburst let out a “huh.”
“So, instead of seeing this as a problem, let's embrace it!”
“And how, pray tell, should we do that?” Trixie asked.
“Easy. Turn off all but one lantern, and come snuggle up with us and warm up. The storms will hopefully subside by morning, and we’ll go from there.”
She huffed, she puffed, but eventually, Trixie’s shivering body told her this was the preferred option than trying to spend countless hours freeing the wagon during a raging blizzard.
“Fine,” she finally agreed.
Trixie went and snuffed two of the three lantern’s lights, leaving the last on a low flicker so at least she wasn’t tripping on anything. While she was up she also added another log to the wood stove. Sunburst, feeling much warmer, shifted so he was laying on his back, with Starlight laying to his left side and into the crook of his foreleg. Reaching a hoof over, Starlight patted the empty part of the bed on Sunburst’s right side.
“Come on in, it’s nice and warm.”
There was a brief bout of hesitation in Trixie’s eyes, the small flames from the lone lantern dancing in the large orbs, before finally she relented and got into the bed, laying on Sunburst’s right side. Starlight took Trixie’s hoof in her own and squeezed, while Sunburst used his magic to drape the blanket over all three of them. Starlight then rested her chin upon Sunburst’s chest, while Trixie rested hers on the stallion’s right foreleg.
“Trixie?” Starlight asked.
“Hm?”
“What… were your parents like?”
Had it not already been cold outside the blanket, the temperature would have dropped another couple degrees. As it was, Trixie shifted herself so she pulled away from Sunburst, but not totally out of his grasp.
“Why ask such a thing now?”
“Well, we know you lost your parents when you were young, but you’ve never… told us about them. My mother left not long after Sunburst went to Celestia’s School.”
“And I lost my father almost ten years ago now, not too long after I went to Canterlot,” Sunburst added in.
Starlight gave Sunburst another nuzzle. “And well, we’ve learned to live with just one parent for so long, but you’ve had neither. I just thought maybe you’d like to share, or talk about them. It is Hearthswarming, after all, a time for family and friends.”
“Trixie has gone so long without family, she…” the blue mare went silent, then with a gulp and a shiver under the blanket, “I... don’t really remember much.
“I do recall my father being a magician, much like I am now. Performing for little colts and fillies, bringing smiles to their faces, and sharing stories of whimsical adventures and terrifying beasts. Tr-my… my mother, she was an astrologist. Used Luna’s stars to predict ponies futures, and give them good advice on how to better themselves.”
Sunburst shifted his right arm, forcing Trixie to press into his side once more, but the mare didn’t fight it. “What happened?” he asked.
The winds outside provided the only sound for several long seconds. “My mother was murdered on the streets. My father… couldn’t handle the loss, and I know not of where he is, or if he’s even alive.”
The stallion pulled her in even closer, and Starlight wrapped her own foreleg around the two. “Trix…”
“It is okay, I… Trixie, has cried those tears, and moved on with her life. And it would be best that you two gave her the same courtesy and let it be. You wanted the truth, well there it is.”
It was hard to see in the dim light, but Starlight noticed the showmare was indeed shedding a few tears. Sunburst sensed it as well, and leaned his head down to nuzzle her.
“We’re sorry, if it means anything, and we do know the pain as well.”
A sniffle broke the pending silence, and Sunburst took the opportunity to wrap his forelegs around both mares, and push them against his sides for a tight, warm hug, and gave each of them a kiss on the cheek.
“I do love you, both of you, and I’ll be there for you.”
Starlight leaned up and gave Sunburst a kiss. “And I’ll be there for you both too.”
Then the two looked to Trixie, expecting something, but instead the mare was looking off in the distance, lost.
Starlight and Sunburst lay still. The two then looked to each other, and with a nod from Starlight, Sunburst cleared his throat.
“Trixie, uh, there was a special reason we invited you along with us.”
She wiggled herself away from Sunburst, and attempted to lay on her side so her back was to them. “Oh, yes she’s sure, so that the Miserable and Lonesome Trixie wouldn’t be alone.”
The blue mare was then caught off guard by the normally gentle forelegs of the timid stallion wrapping themselves around her tighter, and bringing her back up against his barrel and chest.
And then Starlight, draping over Sunburst, nuzzled the mare, and giving her a kiss on her damp cheek.
“We were going to wait until tomorrow morning to ask you this, but, well, since we’re stuck here and all.”
“Probably for most of Hearthswarming morning,” Sunburst added.
“Exactly. Trix, we didn’t get you anything for Hearthswarming, because we’ve already given it to you.”
Trixie was at an awkward angle, unable to look at Sunburst, and barely able to see Starlight. She shifted, and Sunburst allowed her to turn around so she was facing the two. She gave them a curious, reserved look, with one brow at the ready to rise if needed.
“We want you to be part of our family,” Starlight said.
Trixie blinked.
“You know, as in, us three. A herd, essentially,” Starlight continued.
“Yes, and while we have been… eheh, busy already between us, Starlight and I wanted to make it official.”
“Sunburst proposed to me. He was going to wait until Hearthswarming, but I had some mood swings a couple months ago and we got yelling at each other, and he blurted it out.”
“I still can’t believe I did that…”
Starlight gave the stallion a small peck on the cheek. “I know, but it was sweet, and helped the situation. Anyway, Trix, I told him yes, but on one condition.”
Now both ponies were staring at a perplexed Trixie.
“She said I had to ask you, too. And well, after all we’ve gone through, and what we’ve done together, I saw no reason not to ask.”
“So our Hearthswarming gift, Trixie, is would you join us? Be a part of this family?”
“We even thought, meeting our parents would help you decide, but since that won’t be happening until after the morning...”
“Providing we get unstuck,” Starlight playfully shoved her stallion.
“Or somepony finds us and helps,” Sunburst gave a shove back with his shoulder.
“Then maybe, while they’re our parents, they’d be in some way, also yours.”
“N-not that we’d want them to replace your parents or anything!” Sunburst quickly added.
“Oh, no, of course not! Just, well… be there for you, like they were there for us, before… you know.”
“My failure at Celestia’s School,” Sunburst sighed.
“And my crazy phase,” Starlight added with her own sigh.
Both ponies had lost focus on the third in their party, and now returned their attention to her to gauge her reaction.
She was laying on her back, still snuggled against Sunburst’s side, but looking straight up at the ceiling.
“Trix?” Starlight asked.
She continued to remain quiet.
Starlight and Sunburst shared a glance, and she shoved his chin with her muzzle. Sunburst leaned over, having to pull away partly from Starlight, and gave Trixie a passionate kiss, causing her eyes to widen.
Slowly, he drew back, and settled down to how he was before, which gave Starlight a chance to lay over his chest and at Trixie, and do the same, giving the mare another long kiss on the lips. She pulled back, and rested her chin upon her forehooves.
“Have you been rebooted?” Starlight asked.
“Or do we need to try again?” Sunburst added with a waggle to his brows only Starlight saw.
“N-no, it’s… Trixie… that is I… I mean…”
The two had expected some sort of reaction from the mare, but more crying was not one of them. Tears welled up, and ran down her cheeks, as she stared at the space between them, struggling to focus on only one of them.
Sunburst didn’t hesitate, removing his foreleg from Starlight so he could pull Trixie over himself. Starlight caught on quickly, and shifted aside so that her marefriend, hopefully future wife, could be swapped with her future husband.
Trixie, throughout all this, was as limp as a noodle, being hoofed about until she was pressed between Starlight and Sunburst, and hugged until she could barely breathe. Starlight placed her head under Trixie’s chin, while Sunburst placed his chin atop Trixie’s head, and both ponies hugged her for all they were worth.
While they wanted her answer, they also knew she was currently emotionally vulnerable, and therefore remained silent as all three laid together, under a thick wool blanket, stuck in the snow in a ditch on Hearthswarming Eve.
Before too long, all three’s breathing was even and gentle. Trixie let out a shuddered breath, but then gave each of them the best attempt at a nuzzle as she could from her sandwiched position, and placed a hoof on Starlight’s bulging belly.
Through one eye each, the two watched as Trixie pulled a hoof back, kissed it, and placed it lovingly once again on Starlight’s belly. Smiling, she swore she felt something return the touch. She closed her tear stained eyes, and whispered a single word to them:
“Yes.”