A Morning of Ice and Cocoa
Aurora trotted down the spacious crystalline corridors of her home, the time of year causing the passages to take on the likeness of ice. Despite this the halls radiated a pleasant warmth just higher than the average pony’s body temperature. The clattering of her hooves on the polished floor still made her slightly self conscious when she was alone. It felt like she was disturbing something precious when she broke the pregnant silence while walking through the kaleidoscope of refracted morning light. Bright golds and soft rainbows danced across her powder pink coat while her mind wandered. This would be her first Hearthswarming in this new home and she was anxious. She loved the majestic building and its enchanting gardens, the kindly servants and the stalwart guards; but most of all she loved the stallion who had hewn it from the rock of a small craggy peak in the Yaket Mountains and named it after her. It was rather audacious, presumptuous even, but it was hard to deny the way it made her feel. Despite it all she couldn’t help pining for her small hometown and her family that felt a world away. Mirth and mild sadness played across her muzzle as memories of holidays past skipped through her mind like so many carolers intent on making wholesome nuisances of themselves. She sighed through a lopsided smile while ruffling her wings a bit to try and coax the tension from her body as she rounded the corner to the kitchen.
Pushing the door inwards she peaked her head into the kitchen and spotted a cream colored rump speckled with brown spots rummaging around in the pantry on the far side of the room partially obscured by prep tables and small crates stacked around the room in preparation for the big feast coming up on the solstice. Winter Plums, sweet potatoes, normal potatoes, leafy greens imported from equestria proper, several varieties of apples sent as a gift from the Apple family and many more closed crates whose contents were a mystery to her sat wherever there was space. All of the food would be necessary to feed the guests and their families, a few ponies had compared the upcoming event to the gala in canterlot although it would be much smaller in scale. She recognized the little colt digging in the pantry as the young son of one of the maids. She crept up behind him silently before brushing her wing quickly across his back with a giggle. Startled, the rambunctious foal bonked his head against the shelf above him. He quickly scooted out backwards ending up underneath her he peared up at her from between her front legs with a sheepish smile. She smiled back down at him, “would you like to make some cocoa with me?”
The foal shook his head up and down quickly and scurried back out from under her. “Get the cocoa powder from the pantry please dear,” she asked as she turned and picked up a small saucepan and placed it on a small wood burning stove in the corner of the room. The bigger stoves were reserved for cooking meals but this small one was kept going throughout the day to keep the room warm and for making tea or other such small endeavors. Sauntering across the room with a sway in her step and a tune in her head she retrieved the milk from the icebox with a wing and pulled the stopper out of the top with her teeth. Soft glugs of milk pattered against the copper pan and steam started to rise. The young piebald earthpony plodded up to her with the cocoa powder in his mouth, he hopped up on a stool that Aurora scooted closer to the counter and he deposited the powder on the tabletop. “Here you go, miss Rose.” She ruffled his mane with a wing and started to shake the chocolate into the hot milk until it took on a deep brown color. She followed it up with some generous scoops of sugar from a nearby jar and took the saucepan off of the stove and continued stirring it as it cooled. Little Pepper Twist watched with rapt attention as she stirred the cooling liquid before pouring it into 3 cups before shaking some chili powder into one and passing it to him with a smile and watching him scurry off through another door to the dining room. With a chuckle she placed the other two cups onto a silver tray. Remembering that she was forgetting something she grabbed some small marshmallows out of the pantry and shook them over one of the cups until they were practically spilling over the lip of the mug. With a self affirming nod she picked the tray up in her mouth and stepped back out into the hall. She made her way down several more passages and up a small stairway to a room that overlooked the courtyard outside, the gardens and the valleys below. She stopped momentarily to stare, the view was her favorite part about their secluded home up here in the mountains. Sun kissed evergreens as it filtered through their needles, some small critters occasionally zipping through the branches on their way to their nests and hollows. Turning her head to look back into the room her eyes slid over the dark oak parlor, books lining shelves and oddities strewn about on tables or the writing desk on the other side of the room centered on a much smaller window that framed a lone peak higher up the range of mountains. She looked to the center of the room as she moved away from the large panoramic window. Laying on a large crimson pillow in front of an impressive fire was her pride and joy and the newest noble of the Crystal Empire, the former king of darkness Marquess Sombra. He was nose deep in a book while taking notes in a journal with his magic.
Aurora mumbled around the platter in her mouth, “Ello ove, wuld yew ike some cocu?” He looked up at her and a small smile graced his face as he took the sight of the cute mare carrying refreshments in, before a golden glow grabbed hold of the two mugs and lifted them over to the floor next to him. Aurora set the platter down on a small end table next to an armchair and laid down next to him, leaning into his neck as he picked up the mug with the marshmallows and took a cautious sip. She closed her eyes and focused on her other senses while enjoying his warmth next to the toasty fire. Their fur shifting and intermingling, her smile grew deeper and blush bloomed along her cheeks when she felt the weight of him resting his head atop hers and a murmur of contentment left his chest and reverberated along her back. He placed a chaste kiss on her cheek and thanked her before continuing his reading. She picked up her own mug between her hooves and sipped it, happy to quietly listen to his breaths and the scratch of his pen against his journal. After a while of blissful silence he spoke in a calm and measured manner with an undertone of endearing excitedness, “So many of the empire’s old relics have been lost, it’s a daunting task trying to track them down.”
His horn sparkled again as a parchment map of the northwest alighted down between their front hooves. “But I believe,” a pause came as his magic picked up his pen and circled a small glen on the other side of the map before he looked to her with a wide grin. Their eyes met as he finished his thought, “I have found our first one.” Her excitement matched his quickly as she set down the mug and threw her forelegs around his neck and she nuzzled him before pulling back, “does that mean?”
“Yes, the day after the solstice I plan to retrieve it. If I am correct this will be of great use to the princess.”
Her eyes overflowing with emotion and her breath bated, she waited expectantly as he gave her a knowing smile. “I take it you would like to accompany me?”
Her smile impossibly grew bigger and she pulled back and lunged at him pulling him into a deeper hug as she rubbed her face into his thick gray chest fluff, “Yes, yes a thousand times yes.”
She looked up at him as he held her while laying on his back and he placed a small kiss on her nose. A flurry of small hoofsteps leaving the door and taking off down the hall caught her attention as Aurora looked over her shoulder at the partially ajar door. A rich and deep chuckle danced off of Sombra’s lips, “It would appear someone else is excited as well.”
She looked up at him quizzically, “Pepper? But isn’t he a bit young?”
“Nonsense, adventures are often best appreciated by the young, we need only make sure we keep a watchful eye on him. I imagine his mother will be the biggest obstacle. We can keep it a surprise for now and try and convince her over dinner on the solstice.” His forelegs still wrapped around her barrel he brought his mug back to his lips and took a swallow with a warm sigh. When he brought the mug away from his mouth a row of marshmallows clung above his lips forming an impromptu mustache. Despite herself she found herself giggle at his expense before leaning forward and locking lips with the love of her life, his sweet mustache tickling her nose.