Fallen Eagle

Chapter 31: Decisions

I know I promised the confessions and I hate doing this, but seeing as how it's been so long since I've updated and that the original chapter would be OVER 20,000 words, I've taken about half of what I have so far to make Part I. The confessions are still in the works and I'm almost done with them, so don't expect too long of a wait.

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(December 24th. 9:00 A.M. Sweet Apple Acres. Cougar's POV)

Needless to say, I took Celestia's advice from our heart to heart talk on my birthday and explained what Christmas was to everyone the next day. I chose to tell everyone the next day because they were all having too much fun partying the night away and I couldn't break their fun at the time. Just like the wise alicorn told me, no one in my group of friends protested my want to celebrate Christmas, instead they embraced the idea and wanted to celebrate both it and Hearth's Warming with me. Knowing Twilight, I didn't even bother to give them the time to ask what Christmas was about; I told them basically the exact same thing I told Celestia word for word. Pinkie Pie also asked if this was a holiday for 'hoofing' out presents, saying that those holidays are the best. Reluctantly, I told her that it was a present holiday and that the focus of Christmas was just spending time with friends and family, but I was sure everyone would jump at the opportunity to get everyone else a present.

Picking out a Christmas tree was fun though; Applejack took me out to some of the woods near Sweet Apple Acres and we cut down about a four foot tree to put inside my shack to help make it seem more like the holiday I remembered back on Earth. The ponies had also taught me a few of the Hearth's Warming carols that some citizens of Ponyville go out and sing on Hearth's Warming Eve, just like I remembered from Earth. Vinyl was excited to get my list of Christmas songs from my phone so she could create 'The Most Epic Holiday Playlist of All Time,' with her sound system. Hearing Jingle Bell Rocks or Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer every time I walked by her music shop brought a smile to my face. Lyra and Bon Bon's favorite part of my explanation for Christmas was, in a very weird way, the fact that if they were caught under mistletoe, they had to kiss. The couple brought me by Bon Bon's candy business a few times to help hang Hearth's Warming and Christmas decorations, offering me free candy and cocoa for assisting them. And believe me, they loved the excuse both holidays brought of snuggling in front of a fireplace with hot cocoa, leading to some awkward greetings when I would enter the shop. The Crusaders were pumped for their two week break from school, and they celebrated it by constantly asking me to watch Christmas films on my iPad which I gladly did for them. We all fell asleep together on more than one occasion on the couch in Applebloom's living room, but we kept each other warm by the wood stove and enjoyed the company of friendship.

Yes, the holiday spirit was in the air as every resident of Ponyville was on the verge of exploding with excitement as the days to Hearth's Warming Eve drew closer and closer. Right now, however, everyone was eating breakfast in the Apple family kitchen, enjoying each other's company before we all would depart for Canterlot for various reasons. One main reason was the Elements and Spike were going up for a dress rehearsal and the rest of us would be finding other activities to do during the dress rehearsal. Although Granny Smith, Big Mac and Cheerilee were watching the dress rehearsal since they had to come back to Ponyville early. There were several quiet conversations going at once while I had some Christmas music playing over my birthday speakers from Vinyl. The smell of Granny and Applejack's cooking helped to keep everyone calm while we all had many, many things going on today and a few of us were getting a little stressed.

There'll be parties for hosting Marshmallows for toasting And caroling out in the snow There'll be scary ghost stories And tales of the glories of the Christmases long, long ago

It's the most wonderful time of the year There'll be much mistltoeing And hearts will be glowing When love ones are near It's the most wonderful time of the year

"Ugh, Cougar, could you please turn your music down?" Rarity approached me from the other side of the kitchen. A script engulfed with her blue magic was levitating above her head that her eyes had been scanning all morning long. "It's louder than everypony else and I cannot concentrate on my lines for the play!" She reminded me. I reached for the volume knob, turning the volume down to almost a complete silence.

"You know you're going to a dress rehearsal right?" I asked, "the play's not until tonight. You have plenty of time to memorize your lines," I replied, scooping a fork full of scrambled eggs into my mouth. The unicorn sighed and rubbed her hooves over her eyes. "Besides," I added, "I'm just trying to help you get into the spirit of the holiday a little more."

"While I appreciate the thought Cougar, the sooner I memorize my lines means the sooner I can perfect everypony's costumes for the play," Rarity countered. "This play is important to everypony in attendance and I will not mess it up by flubbing a line or forgetting to make sure our costumes are fabulous!" She struck a dramatic pose in front of everyone. Everyone in the kitchen stopped their chatting for a quick second to see what Rarity was doing before turning back to their respective conversations. "Well, don't everypony feel assured at once," the seamstress huffed.

"Didn't you guys say you've done this play before?" I asked.

"Once," Twilight responded, "a few years back. Though I don't think anypony should have a problem with their lines, I know I won't," the alicorn bragged, grinning and mentally patting herself on the back. "Speaking of problems, Cougar," she levitated my fork of food away from my mouth, "are you sure you remember your speech about Christmas for the party tonight?" She questioned, cocking her head and eyebrow. Before I answered, I grabbed the fork out of her magic and stuffed the eggs in my mouth, chewing and swallowing quickly.

"I led a squadron of three other jets on deadly air-to-air combat missions for seven years, giving a speech about a holiday I've celebrated over twenty times is about as easy as pissing on a tree!" I exclaimed to the purple princess. Somepony grabbed my black cowboy hat from my head and smacked me across the back of my head with the hat in their mouth.

"You watch your mouth around fillies, Cougar," Cheerilee glared at me as I turned around. The maroon educator laid my hat back on my head and looked back at Big Mac whom had trouble keeping his smirk from growing. Twilight still had that sort of condescending look on her face as she awaited my answer.

"I just don't want you to skip any important details," she explained, "you do want us to respect your holiday as much as possible like we would want you to respect Hearth's Warming Eve, right?" She kept asking questions. I gave in and gave her a definitive answer so she'd finally shut up.

"Sorry. Yes Twilight," I grumbled, "I don't think any obstacles should arise. And I won't forget any important details, I promise," I sipped my morning coffee, watching Twilight for her response. All she did was sigh in relief and levitate a hash brown up to her muzzle. "So, does this play really chronicle what happened when Equestria was founded, or is this like a best guess?" I questioned Applejack when she finally sat down to eat some toast after cooking breakfast with Granny Smith.

"It's really how it was founded," she grinned with a mouthful of buttered toast, "Ah hope ya like it; it's more accurate than entertainin' accordin' ta some critics," she explained. The mare squirted some ketchup on her eggs before digging in as if she hadn't eaten food in three weeks.

"Come on, you guys are in it!" I pointed to the six ponies and one dragon that were scheduled to be the main characters and narrator, "how could it not be likable?" I asked rhetorically, refilling my coffee mug. "By the way, what's your character's name again, AJ?" I asked my friend.

"Smart Cookie," Applejack replied, "Ah know it's kinda funny, but not as funny as Pinkie Pie's character, Chancellor Puddinghead," the farm pony chuckled to the pink mare that was squirting an entire bottle of syrup on her pancakes.

"Hey, somepony's gotta be the Chancellor, well an Earth Pony anyways," Pinkie shrugged, slurping down a bottle of maple syrup, gross.

"Mom," I heard Spike speak up, "I'm kind of nervous about the play this time around," he admitted, nervously rubbing the back of his neck. "And it's not because of flubbing a line or stage fright like at the Equestria Games," he assured Twilight.

"What is it Spike?" Twilight asked with genuine concern.

"Well," the dragon gulped, "do you think the audience will like my new voice? I know the director liked it and everything, but if the audience doesn't like my voice, then how will they stay in tune with the play? I don't want to ruin it!" He shouted with great worry. Poor kid. While I've never been in a play, I know what he means by if a character as important as the narrator can't be bought or doesn't interest the audience, the play could be doomed to fail; I'd hate to have that weight on my shoulders.

"Son," Twilight wrapped a wing around the dragon, "I know for a fact the audience will love your new voice. Plus, you always love to show off for a crowd," she pointed out, "and ponies due tend to like deeper voices for these sort of roles instead of higher pitched voices," she explained.

"But, what if-?" Spike began to ask when Twilight hugged him tightly.

"The only way I can see the audience not liking you is if the pony who wrote your lines had no clue how to write a narrator's dialogue," the alicorn joked. While Twilight's constant list checking, corrections and doubts got on every one of my nerves, she didn't bother me at all when she was acting motherly to Spike whom I could tell wanted Twilight to act like his mother for some time instead of as a friend. If only the uptight alicorn could act like this all of the time; I wouldn't dislike her as much as I do.

"As long as you don't go off script and overly describe winter again," Sweetie Belle giggled at the dragon. Spike blushed and looked back towards Twilight who shrugged in agreement with the tiny unicorn.

"Celestia and Luna show up to the play too, right?" I asked Fluttershy as she was playing with Winona.

"They haven't missed a play as far as I know," she replied, taking a second to rub Winona's belly and look in my direction at the same time. The realization that Fluttershy was in the play just hit me, and I had to find out how she could perform in front of a large Canterlot audience.

"Forgive my asking Fluttershy, but doesn't your stage fright keep you from plays?" I questioned. The yellow pegasus shook her head with a proud smile on her face as she turned away from Winona.

"Nope, thanks to singing with the Ponytones, my stage fright has been going away slightly with each performance," she explained, "and it helps that the character I play was sort of like how I am anyway," she added.

"Well, alright then," I grinned and polished off my breakfast. "Anything else in particular we need for the party tonight?" I asked, "I don't want to mess up anything for your holiday," I explained to a barrage of confused faces.

"It's your holiday too you know," Bon Bon said with a bored expression on her face.

"How about a piece of mistletoe for the castle?" Lyra suggested, turning Bon Bon's face into a happy one.

"And have you guys sucking face all night? Couldn't you just use Twilight's room for that?" Rainbow Dash joked. A few of us immature guests snickered at the comment while a few more grown up ponies didn't. Instead, they shook their heads and continued to talk or eat their breakfast.

"Ignorin' that," Applejack rolled her emerald eyes, "just, ya know, think 'o what else made Christmas special 'n add it if ya want," she assured me with a warm smile. That could work, I guess. Maybe some red and green tinsel hanging from the ceiling could do some good. "But Ah think we all did a bang up job last night decoratin' yer castle Twilight," Applejack nodded her head towards Twilight.

"If I think of anything, I'll be sure to tell one of you guys," I replied to AJ. "So the plan is to go to the play and come straight back here for the party at the castle, right?" I wanted to make sure everything was planned ahead so we didn't miss anything. This was actually kind of exciting for me. I'm sure Canterlot looked beautiful with all of its Hearth's Warming decorations strewn about the streets. I had the same thought for Celestia and Luna's castle as I envisioned how it would look for the holiday.

"That sounds about right, given that nothing else happens after the play that makes us miss the train," Rarity remarked from her script. "And Twilight, you'll remember to get VIP seats for everypony from the Princess herself, correct?" She looked away from her packet of pages.

"Already taken care of," Twilight grinned, patting her saddlebags where the tickets were stored. "I'm also thinking of inviting Princess Celestia and Princess Luna to our party, especially since it's Cougar's first Hearth's Warming and our first Christmas," she pondered.

"Don't they have royal duties to attend to tonight after the play?" I set my coffee mug down with a raised eyebrow.

"Not that I'm aware of, but you're pretty good friends with them, Glock and Checkered Flag," Twilight added before magically opening her saddle bag and scribbling something on some parchment, "there, I'll be sure to remember to invite the princesses and their colt friends to our party after the play," the alicorn rolled the parchment back up and into her bag.

"And I'll remember to make your costume a little bigger Twilight," Rarity said, "I'm sure with your new wings that it might be a tight fit with no wing holes, that and your character didn't have wings," Rarity rubbed her chin.

"Ah'm sorry we can only stay fer the dress rehearsal little sis," Big Mac apologized to Applejack when she set her plate in the sink. "But Granny Smith needs my and Cheerilee's help cookin' the food fer tonight, 'n the dress rehearsal's the only way ta see yer play," he added.

"Tain't no trouble at all big brother," AJ threw her foreleg around her brother and hugged him, "Ah understand, 'n we're all glad that you'll at least get to see a sneak peek 'o the play, right girls?" She raised her voice so Fluttershy, Pinkie, Rarity, Rainbow and Twilight could hear. The five mares all nodded and replied with their own renditions of 'yes' to placate the red stallion's worry. In fact, he, Cheerilee and Granny Smith would be the only ones to see the dress rehearsal; the rest of us would just hang around the castle or cruise Canterlot until it was time for the play to start. I had planned on meeting with Celestia and Luna to give them a further explanation on Christmas in case they couldn't make it to the party tonight. What everyone else had planned, I didn't know, but hopefully the majority of us could find some way to spend time together before the play.

Suddenly, off in the distance, a train whistle bellowed out, alerting everyone in the dining room. Without warning, there was a mad rush erupting from within the dining room. Dozens of streaks of the rainbow raced all around me as everyone tossed their dirty dishes in the sink and double checked to make sure they had everything, their excitement levels hit over 9000. I just sat in my chair, nonchalantly cleaning my teeth with a toothpick until most everyone cleared the kitchen so I wouldn't get trampled. "Ya comin' Cougar?" Applejack asked me once about half the ponies had galloped out of the dining room.

"Yep, I just hate trying to beat traffic," I joked, flicking the toothpick into the garbage can. AJ and I waited next to each other while Granny Smith shut off all the lights in the kitchen and dining room and locked the door behind her before leaving. "We're not going to miss the train; it doesn't leave for another fifteen minutes," I checked the clock on my phone. The orange mare beside me took a quick glance at my phone screen and rolled her eyes.

"It's the holidays," she explained, "didn't everypony back on yer world get overexcited 'bout holidays?" She asked me.

"Let's just say, if there was an open seat on an airplane the day before Thanksgiving or Christmas, there'd be over a hundred people fighting for that one seat," I replied with a chuckle. Even Granny Smith was able to distance herself from us, leaving just Applejack and I to walk to the train station, not that I minded. "Looks like we'll be the last ones to pick a seat," I mentioned, clearing my throat a little. 'You can do a little better than that, come on,' my mind mocked me.

"Well, if that means we have ta share, Ah don't mind," Applejack looked up at me with a smile, making me sweat a little in the cool temperatures.

"And I don't mind either," I replied, cracking my knuckles. "Are you sure you won't mind that all of us will purposefully miss the dress rehearsal?"

"Pfft, Ah don't mind, personally it makes the play more specially, specifically yerself," she said, "ya know, havin' never seen the play 'n all," she laughed. "Sort 'o like yer Christmas speech fer tonight, Ah'd rather be surprised Sugarcube," she winked at me.

"I know what you mean, and I'm sure you'll knock the play out of the park," I said over the loud echo of another train whistle as we approached the train station, ready to begin our holiday adventure.

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(Canterlot Castle. Cougar's POV)

Canterlot City was not as beautiful and amazing as I had pictured in my mind during breakfast and our train ride. In fact, it was better than I could have ever imagined. Everything had a nice golden and blueish hue surrounding everything, no doubt it was Celestia and Luna's magic uniting everything for the holiday. Various decorations of the symbols for earth ponies, pegasi and unicorns were plastered all over the windows of shops, homes and apartments throughout the city. There were even minstrels playing carols on instruments or singing carols as we had hiked up to the castle. Several weather ponies in the sky were lightly kicking clouds above us to give the city a gentle and peaceful snowfall for all to enjoy.

"Good to see you all again!" Remington waived at us as we approached the gate. "Happy late birthday Cougar!" He added. Our large group stopped in front of the golden and blue gates to the castle as Remington and Flash Sentry opened them for us. With Applebloom on my shoulders, Vinyl to my left and Applejack to my right, we all entered through the gates to the castle, but not before Twilight had some time with her coltfriend. "The princesses should be pleasantly surprised to see you; they were only expecting Princess Twilight, Spike and their other five friends," the guard said.

"Hello Twilight," Flash greeted the alicorn, politely grabbing her hoof and kissing softly.

"Charmer," she blushed once Flash let go of her hoof and looked her right in the eye. "Did Princess Celestia allow you time off for the play and the Hearth's Warming Eve party tonight?" She questioned the pegasus guard. Thankfully, we didn't have to stop and wait for Twilight and Flash to catch up; they just walked behind the group to chat while we hiked up the rest of the way to the golden doors of the castle which looked more stunning with the light snowfall swirling around.

"Why doesn't Flash just get a guard position in Ponyville?" I asked Remington as he led us through the front doors. I almost lost all of my breath when my eyes fell upon the decor of the foyer. All of the Hearth's Warming decorations reflecting off the marble flooring and frosted windows, I felt as if I had stumbled into an old Christmas movie taking place in a fancy hotel or mansion. Nearly all of the columns in the foyer had reefs with ribbons attached in the center being adjusted by pegasus guards or servants. Even the guards were dressed for the holiday as they had their golden armor accented with dark blue streaks on the edges and their helmets were replaced with festive hats. I could literally feel Rarity's excitement levels burst through the ceiling

"Amazin' isn't it?" Applejack nudged my elbow. I could only nod in reply to her and pat her hair. "The castle staff sure know how ta show their expertise, even Rarity can't get enough of how great this place looks," she gestured to her unicorn friend whom was gawking at all the decorated objects within the foyer.

"That was actually Princess Twilight's proposal for fear of their relationship distracting them from their duties," Remington explained, "so Flash stays here in Canterlot and they still get to see each other fairly often," he concluded as the doors to the throne room opened to reveal Celestia and Luna discussing something. "Your highnesses," the pegasus guard next to me called, "Princess Twilight and friends of Ponyville and Cougar of Earth," Remington announced. Both alicorns looked up from their conversation and smiled brightly upon seeing our large group together.

"I was not expecting more than Twilight, her son and her friends! What are you and your friends doing here Cougar?" Celestia asked Luna while they walked our way. The blue alicorn nodded in agreement.

"What do we owe to the pleasure of this visit, Cougar?" I wrapped my arm around Luna's neck and gave her a quick hug. "And your friends as well?" The blue pony quickly glanced at the rest of the ponies surrounding us.

"Well, all of us thought it'd be nice to see more of Canterlot before the Hearth's Warming play and we wanted to say hi to you two first," I replied. Both sisters smiled at the statement and opened up a wing each, gesturing a welcome to all of us.

"How wonderful; the time before the play is rather dull," Celestia seemed to breathe a sigh of relief. "Twilight, the play director is expecting you, your son and your friends sooner than expected; you know how cranky he can get over the tiniest details," she cautioned Twilight.

"You're right Princess, thank you for keeping me on schedule," Twilight checked one of the clocks in the foyer as her tone raised to a slightly alarmed one.

"Not a problem," Celestia replied, "though I do wish we had more time converse," the white alicorn said sadly. "Perhaps we shall have time after the dress rehearsal or after the show, either way, break a leg Twilight," she smiled.

"That reminds me Celestia," I blurted out, "Twilight wanted me to remember to ask you if you and Luna would like to join all of us for our Hearth's Warming Eve and Christmas Eve party tonight at her castle," I informed the princesses. Twilight mouthed 'Thank you,' to me as the two leaders of Equestria took in the invitation and talked amongst themselves.

"Would Glock and Checkered Flag be allowed to join?" Luna questioned, "Tia and I both want to include our coltfriends in more activities," she explained. That didn't bother me at all; Glock and Checkered were really cool to hang around and I figured I should get used to them a little more since they were dating some of my friends.

"Of course Princess Luna," Twilight took over for me, "after all, isn't Hearth's Warming all about setting aside our differences and spending time with friends?" She asked rhetorically. Luna and Celestia both bowed their heads to myself and Twilight before smiling.

"We will be on the same train for Ponyville as all of you," Celestia said for both her and Luna, not needing to take much time to consider their answer. Though I was curious as to how Glock and Checkered Flag would answer, but I guess they couldn't say no to royalty, or their marefriends. Both alicorn sisters looked extremely puzzled when not only Fluttershy, AJ, Rarity, Rainbow, Pinkie and Spike joined Twilight's side, but Granny Smith, Big MacIntosh and Cheerilee as well.

"I thought you all were going to tour Canterlot while the Elements of Harmony and Spike were at dress rehearsal?" Luna questioned, scratching the side of her head with her silver plated hoof.

"Naw your highness," Big Mac replied, "my Granny Smith, my marefriend Cheerilee 'n Ah are just stayin' fer the dress rehearsal since we gotta hurry on back ta Ponyville ta make the food fer tonight's dinner," he explained. Cheerilee nodded in agreement, nuzzling closer to her red coltfriend.

"The dress rehearsal is really the only way we'd get to see the play," she added for Big Mac.

"What? Were we supposed ta dress up fer this?" Granny Smith blurted. "Ah don't think Ah packed a spare dress with me," the green, elderly mare dug around her saddlebags that she brought with us, for some reason.

"Uh no, it's time fer the dress rehearsal Granny," Applejack directed Granny's head back to the cast of the play.

"Oh, I understand Big MacIntosh," Luna nodded her head, "we wish you all could stay longer, but we hope you enjoy the rehearsal," I turned to see Glock, at least I think it was Glock, join up with Celestia.

"At least we shall see you tonight," Celestia's wing laced on top of Glock's golden armored back. "And I can't wait to taste your family's food for the party, Big MacIntosh and Granny Smith," she added. It surprised me when Glock quickly cocked his head up at Celestia and wiggled out from under her wing.

"What party Tia?" He asked curiously.

"We're joining my sister and Checkered Flag at the Element of Harmony's Hearth's Warming party tonight," Celestia replied, replacing her wing on Glock's back.

"Okay, why am I always the last to know of these things Celestia?" Glock questioned, "I thought we were supposed to tell each other everything," he stated, casting a serious look at the alicorn. Celestia sighed and removed her wing from her coltfriend.

"Can we please not have this conversation now Glock?" She requested, "Twilight, you shouldn't keep the director waiting," Celestia quickly changed the subject. Twilight looked at the clock in the foyer and cleared her throat.

"Alright ladies and Spike, to the theatre!" She announced proudly, "Big Mac, Granny Smith, Cheerilee, follow us!" The pony instructed. As we all said goodbye to the nine ponies and dragon, Applejack slowed to a stop before turning around back to the rest of us. I wanted to ask her what was up and that she shouldn't be late for the director, but she trotted back to us and wrapped her forelegs around me in a tight hug.

"Ah'll see ya at the play Sugarcube," she said sweetly after pulling away. "'N Applebloom, ya be on yer best behavior fer the Princesses, they have more important things ta do than babysit ya," the mare made me chuckle from her big sister mode.

"Oh, I'm sure your sister and her little friends will not cause any problems," Luna smiled and patted Applebloom's hair, "we enjoy having fillies visit the castle," she quickly added.

"Yeah, what she said Applejack," the yellow filly waved Applejack away. "Ya better hurry 'fore the play director comes lookin' fer ya," Applebloom advised her elder sister.

"Have fun, AJ," I said softly when she looked back at me, "I can't wait to see you on stage," I spoke again before she turned around and galloped to catch up to the the rest of her group. "So," I clicked my tongue off the roof of my mouth, "any plans?" I asked my friends. For the first time that day, we were met with some odd silence as everyone looked at each other, not knowing what to say or do. The eight ponies and I all moved closer together to try and formulate a plan to wait out the down time until the play was set to begin.

"How about some Lunch?" Glock suggested, "I'm due to clock off now anyways," he removed his golden helmet, setting it under his left foreleg. "Oh Tia, not now," Glock groaned as Celestia smoothed out his mane with her hoof.

"Uh we just all had a big breakfast," I replied after chuckling at the poor guard's embarrassment, "so we're not really hungry," I explained. Lyra, Bon Bon, Vinyl and the Crusaders all nodded in agreement. The clopping of hooves on the floor drowned the silence as numerous guards and servants strolled on by us. A few stopped to see if the princesses needed anything, but they had no important duties to attend to before the play.

"How about some hot cocoa from the kitchen?" Vinyl suggested.

"Ugh, I don't know about you Vinyl, but I'm getting pretty sick of cocoa," I replied, shuddering at how much of the drink I had consumed since winter had started.

"Perhaps we could go ice skating on the frozen lake behind the castle?" Luna tapped her hoof on the floor. Even the Crusaders shook their heads at that offer. "Oh alright, I'm not much of an ice skating fan myself," Luna added.

"It looks like we're all holidayed out," Scootaloo groaned.

"Yeah, we've built so many snowponies that we could have our own private army," Sweetie Belle agreed with her friend. I was trying my best to think of something we could all do since we didn't want to split off and go our own way. Then, I felt a tapping on my hip from behind. Turning around, I was met with Lyra who was looking anxious to tell us something.

"We have an idea," Lyra beamed. "We already saw pretty much all of Canterlot that we wanted to see. But, Bonnie and I were wondering if you could give us a sneak peek at your Christmas Speech?" She asked.

"Mainly so you can have some practice to be honest," Bon Bon nuzzled up to Lyra. "And you can make it even better for the party if you want," she added. "I mean, have you practiced it with somepony else?" She asked. This idea sparked a ton of curiosity within myself; I actually had only practiced in front of the bathroom mirror back at Sweet Apple Acres whenever I had the opportunity. This could give me a good chance to fine tune and tweak everything so I wouldn't bore anyone or skip over an important detail. Kneeling down onto my knees, (which hurt like hell from the hard flooring, but I ignored the pain) I patted Lyra and Bon Bon's manes before playfully giving them each their own noogie.

"If everypony else agrees to it, I'm fine with that idea," I looked behind me at everyone else.

"Not like we have much of a choice," Glock shrugged, "I'm up for pretty much anything right now since I'm off the clock," he double checked the time piece in the foyer once again. "Tia told me a little about, Christmas I think it was, but she wasn't told much either," he delineated.

"Look I'm all for that, but if there's gonna be a speech, how about some snacks? Snacks make everything better," Vinyl raised her hoof. "Does your kitchen have chips and soda?" She raised her shades to talk to Luna and Celestia.

"But, you just ate Vinyl," Lyra countered, "you can't possibly still be hungry," the mint colored unicorn pointed her hoof.

"Actually, I'm not hungry, snacks just go well when you're sitting watching something," the DJ explained, wrapping her foreleg around Lyra's neck. "I'm craving some potato chips and cola," she licked her lips and looked back at the two alicorns.

"Well, since we haven't had breakfast yet, a snack does sound pretty appetizing," Luna concurred. "Ahem, everypony, let us head for the kitchen. Cougar can give his speech in my private quarters where we can make delicious s'mores in my fire place," she announced. "But before we do, I shall fetch Checkered Flag from the gym so he may join us," she added.

"Mmmm, s'mores!" Applebloom drooled a bit and rubbed her hooves together.

"Checkered's here? What, is he visiting you for the holidays Luna?" I questioned once we all followed Celestia and Glock in the direction of the gym.

"You could say that," Luna blushed in reply, "he's been staying here since his racing series concluded in November," she added.

"No charity work or special appearances?" we passed another corridor and arrived in front of a pair of doors with large windows that showed us the inside of the guards' gymnasium.

"None so far. He does so much for charity already that I think he can take a small break," the blue pony explained as our mass of ponies and myself entered the gym. Immediately, the smell of determination, heart, intensity and sweat conquered my nostrils. Some loud rock music was playing over a record player in front of a megaphone in the corner near a water cooler. About a dozen and a half guards were lifting weights, running on treadmills, punching some punching bags or sparring with each other.

"Somepony could use some deodorant," Sweetie Belle held her nose shut as a pair of unicorn guards trotted past us in the direction of the locker room. In the middle of the huge gym was a running track designed to keep the guards' speeds up (even the pegasus guards) and was the best way to stay in top condition, I should know from basic training. Luna held us back on the front stretch of the track as a black and white blur rocketed off turn four and came to a halt at the finish line.

"Come on guys! You're royal guards, you shouldn't be lagging so far behind!" Checkered Flag taunted his 'competition' that was still on track. About four guards were slowing down to a pathetic trot entering the third turn as Checkered grabbed a bottle of water and poured it over his head. "These kids are half my age and I'm lapping the tartarus out of them," he took a swig of his water.

"Be nice Checkered," Luna teased, "my sister's guards are among the best when it comes to physical strength. Although, they aren't racing champions either," she tossed a towel over his back.

"I got a good workout at least," the earth pony popped his back muscles. "Good to see you again everypony, Cougar," he stuck his hoof out at me and I took it immediately. "What brings you all here?" He asked.

"We're here for the Hearth's Warming play," I replied. "And everyone wanted a sneak peek at my speech for a party we're throwing tonight for the holiday I explained. Checkered wiped the sweat from his mane and face before replying.

"I've never actually been to the Hearth's Warming play, so I've been looking forward to that," he smiled. "and what's this about a party tonight?" He looked to his marefriend that was waiting patiently next to me. Luna took over and told him that Twilight and her fellow Elements of Harmony were putting together a big Hearth's Warming party and had invited both princesses, including himself and Glock. She left out the part about Christmas, though I suspect she wanted to save it for my practice round coming up shortly. The light grey racing pony almost immediately accepted the invitation for the night's affair, but not before questioning what we were doing here.

"We wanted to see if you were willing to help Cougar by listening to his speech and critiquing it for him," Bon Bon explained, sitting on her haunches. A few of the guards that were working out stopped what they were doing, standing at attention for both Luna and Celestia, as they were instructed to do since they began basic training. It was far too easy to tell that the smell of working out and sweat was getting to a few of us, not counting me, so Celestia ordered them all at ease and to hit the showers.

"Speech?" The racing pony questioned, "sure, just let me hit the showers first; I don't want you guys passing out," he joked. "Lulu's letting me use her bathroom, so just give me a minu-" he began before Luna hushed him. Things began to get a little awkward between all of us.

"We were on the way to my private chambers Checkered; you can follow us there, but you don't have to shower," she nuzzled her chin atop his sweaty mane, "I like it when you're all sweaty," she whispered into his ear.

"Okay we're out," Scootaloo threw here forelegs in the air.

"You two can lag behind, but we're heading up to your room Luna," Vinyl agreed with the orange pegasus. While normally I didn't mind Luna and Checkered, or any couple for that matter, acting all loving to each other, Luna saying that to Checkered in a sultry tone was a little much. Although, seeing them so happy together did strike close to me a bit. For but a brief second, I saw a flash of myself and Applejack nuzzling each other under a tree at the farm before the site of Luna and Checkered returned. I shook my head to get it clear and put my hands on my waist.

"Fine, we'll cut back a little bit," Luna rolled her eyes. "Ahem, Wadsworth?" She asked the head butler for the castle once we exited the gym and entered the hallway. The brown unicorn immediately appeared in front of us, ready to listen to the princess' request.

"Yes your highness?"

"We are all making our way to my private chambers, would you please have some of the other servants bring graham crackers, chocolate bars and marshmallows in a few minutes?" She asked.

"Of course Princess Luna, it shall be ready soon," Wadsworth quickly bowed and trotted back to the kitchen.

"Cougar, are you prepared with your speech?" Celestia grabbed my attention, killing my train of thought.

"Huh? Oh, oh yeah, I've got it all memorized," I proudly tapped the side of my head, "though I've timed myself and it's only about a five minute speech."

"Don't worry Cougar," Applebloom hopped around me, "Ah'm sure it'll be perfect," she nuzzled against my leg. And with that, Luna led the way to her private chambers for me to practice what I wanted to say that night, but with each passing moment, I felt a tad emptier as the final words of my speech kept repeating themselves in my mind.

---

(Canterlot Castle Theatre. 3rd Person POV)

"Okay, brilliant ladies and Mr. The Dragon!" The play director clapped his hooves. "That's the halfway point and I believe you've all earned a ten minute break," he removed his sunglasses and beret. "But, Ms. Applejack, may I have a word with you please?" He requested. As the others congratulated each other and praised their performances, Applejack removed her hat and bit her bottom lip, having a good idea what the director wanted to speak to her about.

"Is there a problem Mr. Polish?" Applejack asked once she approached the director's chair. The pony in charge of the play sighed and leaned forward in his chair, keeping his hooves in front of his muzzle.

"There's really no problem Ms. Applejack, but I had noticed that you seemed, distracted," the pony had to pause to find the correct word for Applejack. "Your performance was okay, but again, I did notice that your mindset wasn't completely focused on your role."

"Y-yeah," Applejack sputtered and admitted, knowing she couldn't lie, "Ah guess you could say that," she looked straight at the director's eyes.

"Well then, is everything okay? Do you need somepony to talk to?" Oscar Polish asked in a concerned tone. To some, Oscar Polish might seem like an uptight play director who only cares enough for reviews and awards, but the truth is he knows that without the writers, actors, actresses, stage help and costume designers, there'd be no play to direct, and he treats everypony like family.

"Phew," AJ wiped her brow, "there's just a few things goin' on right now that Ah don't know how ta handle, 'n with the holidays here, it just makes things worse," she replied in a somewhat stressed tone. Before Oscar Polish could say something else, Applejack continued talking, "it's just, hangin' over my head 'n draggin' my heart down every time Ah think about my problem," she added.

"If you need a drink you can go get a glass of water, or if you need some advice, I'm here for you," the unicorn smiled, patting her hind leg like a father would. Applejack sighed again and smacked her lips as her emerald eyes drifted upwards to the pony offering some wisdom to her.

"No offense sir, but Ah'm not so sure ya can help with my certain situation," the mare apologized. Oscar Polish looked down and the floor and clicked his tongue before looking back up at Applejack.

"Well, I think you should find a friend to help talk to you Applejack," he patted her shoulder, "you've still got about eight minutes left," he winked and stood back up on four legs, stretched and went to grab a quick snack, leaving Applejack alone. The young mare's thoughts were indeed interrupted during her scenes for the play, not ruining anything per say, but it was noticeable that her heart just wasn't in the role. Because of the holidays, Applejack could really only think of a hoof-full of things, mainly the human whom she had grown so close to and dared to say loved. She felt as if she would go mad if she didn't tell him, but she had no clue how to do it; the only pony that could possibly help her was currently backstage talking with Fluttershy about a spa date.

With much hesitation, Applejack sat up from her seat and walked up the stairs of stage left and back behind the curtain where she spotted Rarity talking things over with Fluttershy. Normally, Applejack would be more polite and allow her friends to finish their conversation, but with only a few precious minutes on the clock, she had to set her manners aside, if only to keep her from going crazy. "Uh, 'scuse me Rarity?" The orange mare gulped, hoping to not upset either pony before her.

"Oh, yes Applejack?" The white unicorn stopped talking with Fluttershy. "Is there a problem with your costume that needs my attention?" She questioned politely. Applejack felt bad when Fluttershy backed away from Rarity, but felt better when the pegasus gave her a reassuring smile.

"No, not particularly Rarity," Applejack replied. "Ah've just, got a lot goin' on in my mind right now," she explained. Without warning, Rarity grasped Applejack's leg and yanked her further backstage to the vacant dressing room where they could have more of a private talk. "Could ya warn me next time ya wanna rip my leg outta its socket?" the orange earth pony grumbled.

"Apologies Applejack," Rarity locked the door and pulled out a pair of chairs, "but is this what I believe it is?" The fashionista unicorn cast a curious yet knowing gaze upon her friend sitting across from her. AJ opened her mouth to give a response, but Rarity had more to add. "I didn't know if I should tell you this, but you were a little late on the majority of your lines Applejack," Rarity pointed out.

"Yeah, Oscar Polish 'n Ah just had this conversation Rare," Applejack replied with a groan.

"Not only that, it seems as though you weren't paying attention that much or not all when Pinkie Pie was speaking to you," she added. Is everything okay? Between you and Cougar I mean," Applejack's heart fell when Rarity mentioned the name. Rarity expressed a little victory smile at easily guessing what was plaguing her friend's mind, but quickly put her hoof on Applejack's back. "I thought so. Applejack, would you mind telling me exactly what's wrong? Did you and Cougar get into a verbal spat or something?"

"What? No! Our friendship has never been stronger!" she smacked Rarity's hoof away from her back. Rarity rubbed her hoof where AJ had smacked it, although it didn't hurt; she was just afraid of chipping her hoof before the play.

"Well you don't have to resort to hostilities to answer my question, Applejack," the purple maned unicorn set her hoof back down onto the side of the chair. "However, I can tell by your sudden mood change at the mere mention of his name, this is about Cougar, is it not?" She eloquently questioned. Applejack's jaw slowly softened as she calmed down and blinked at her friend.

"Ah'm sorry Rarity, this is just tougher than Ah imagined," the farming pony apologized, still having a difficult time keeping focused on the unicorn in front of her. "'N Ah know it's obvious what this is about, but every day, the secret just eats away at me," she admitted, though didn't give Rarity enough time to respond. "Ah wanna tell him, but Ah don't wanna hurt him!" She exclaimed.

"Hurt him?" Rarity replied, quite flabbergasted at the statement. "Darling, how in Celesita's name could you possibly hurt Cougar?" She asked, replacing her hoof on Applejack's mane.

"If Ah tell him how Ah feel, Ah could humiliate him, scare him or with how fragile his psyche still is, Ah really could send him into another 'bout 'o depression like before the Grand Gallopin' Gala," Applejack said softly. "Ah, Ah just can't do that ta him, not after all he's done fer my family 'n savin' our lives," she finally looked back up at Rarity.

"Oh Applejack," the white seamstress cooed, "I don't believe for one measly second that you could hurt Cougar in any way for admitting your feelings," she assured the orange mare. "Why don't you just take a deep breath for me?" She requested.

"Rare, have you ever felt this way about a stallion before?" Applejack blurted. The question surprised Rarity as she had to take a moment the gather her thoughts together.

"Like how Applejack? I realize that it's more than a crush on your end, but how do you feel about Cougar?" She asked. Applejack gently moved Rarity's hoof off her mane and stood up from her chair, walking around the dressing room until she came face to face with her reflection in the large vanity mirror on the wall. "Applejack?" Rarity tried to get her attention.

"It's, indescribable Rarity," Applejack's orange hoof lightly grazed the glass of the mirror. "Every time Ah'm around Cougar, Ah feel so happy 'n complete. Every time Ah hug him, Ah never wanna let go, 'n Ah feel so empty 'n hollow when Ah have ta leave him or he has ta leave me," she explained. "'N no, Ah'm not obsessed with the man," she glared at Rarity's reflection in the mirror.

"Hey, I wasn't going to say a thing Applejack," she defended.

"Sorry, Ah'm just so frustrated right now," the farming pony growled, lowering her chin onto the counter below the mirror. Sighing, the unicorn quickly trotted to the water cooler in the corner of the dressing room and filled up a tiny cup of water for her mind boggled friend. Rarity really didn't have much to say, but if Applejack came to her for advice or just as a friend to listen, then she would do whatever she could to solve her friend's problem.

"Completely understandable," she hoofed Applejack the cup of water, sliding it atop the counter until it stopped in front of the other mare's muzzle. Looking down at the cup and then back up to Rarity, AJ smiled and took the water in her teeth and quickly downed all of it, breathing happily. "But I believe you, Applejack," Rarity continued her original thought, "if you were obsessed, you would be acting like Cheerilee and your brother a few Hearts and Hooves days ago," she let out a tiny giggle to lighten the mood.

"Heh," AJ managed to laugh a bit, "yeah, but Ah already knew that. This whole issue is just drivin' me crazy Rarity; Ah don't know what ta do," she said yet again, biting down on her lower lip and rubbing her hoof on her head. "'Specially with all this talk 'o the holiday 'n everypony bein' closer ta each other, it makes this all harder," AJ added with a sputter, blowing a piece of her blonde mane up out of her face. "Ah'm so pathetic."

"You are anything but, Applejack," Rarity reappeared next to her friend in front of the mirror. "While I've never experienced what it's like to have feelings for a human, I do know that when you have true feelings for somepony, you can hardly think straight, you find yourself short of breath from time to time, you do whatever you can to be around them and making that somepony happy is your top priority," Rarity instructed. "So tell me, do any of these describe yourself about our friend Cougar?" the white unicorn laced her foreleg around Applejack's neck.

The mare in question ran her leg over her eyes and rubbed them, trying to get an answer. "Y-yeah," she muttered.

"See Applejack? Pathetic would be you locking yourself in your room, building a shrine to Cougar and crying that he hasn't returned your feelings," Rarity explained. Applejack removed her foreleg from her eyes and braced herself against the counter.

"Okay, so Ah'm not pathetic," she replied, "but Ah still feel pathetic," she reiterated.

"Applejack, stop thinking like that this instant!" Rarity shrieked, making Applejack jump. "I understand completely how confusing and irritating this can be, but hiding your feelings behind closed doors and tearing yourself up inside is not the answer!" She grabbed Applejack's shoulders, shaking her.

"Then what do ya propose Ah do?!" Applejack demanded, shoving Rarity's hooves away. "Jump into his arms at the Hearth's Warmin' Eve party 'n declare loud enough fer Cerberus ta hear that Ah love him!?" She screamed into Rarity's face.

"Of course not, be realistic!" The unicorn shook her head. Rarity cleared her throat, preparing her final words to help her friend. She knew she had to pick her words carefully, lest Applejack get the wrong idea and make her situation even more difficult and confusing. "Applejack, you need closure," Rarity stated.

"C-closure? What in tarnation are ya talkin' about?" the orange mare asked, unsure of what Rarity meant.

"I mean, you need an answer. Even if Cougar does not return your feelings, having an answer will yank you out of this state and you will feel normal again, whatever your sort of normal may be," Rarity explained sweetly. Applejack grumbled, ignoring that last part of Rarity's explanation.

"So, yer sayin' Ah should tell Cougar how Ah feel? Like take him aside at the party 'n tell him in private?" She asked, hoping she was getting everything correct. Rarity shook her head, walking around to Applejack's other side.

"No, I am not saying that at all darling," she replied, "all I am saying is that you must do what is best for you. I can tell you that you'll eventually feel even more lost, confused and even sick if you continue this. If you feel you must tell Cougar how you feel, then that is your decision, not mine. I know it's difficult," Rarity added after a moment of silence, "but I have a feeling you'll make the right choice Applejack," she smiled sweetly.

"Thanks Rarity," Applejack sat up and wrapped her forelegs around Rarity. "Ah'm so glad Ah can count on ya fer this kind 'o advice," she hugged her friend tightly.

"Anytime Applejack, glad to be of service," Rarity easily returned the hug.

"Now then, about Spike," Applejack teased. Right before Rarity could do anything, Fluttershy's head peeked through the dressing room door, coughing slightly to get the to mares' attention.

"Uh, Oscar Polish said it's time to return to the stage girls," she announced meekly, "you know, if you're ready that is," she added, removing her head from the door and disappearing back onto stage.

"Later Applejack," Rarity quickly straightened out her purple mane, "we have a dress rehearsal to finish!" She trotted her way out of the room. Applejack looked behind at her reflection once again in the mirror, cocking her head from side to side. Without saying a word, Applejack nodded at the mirror and slowly walked out of the empty room, shutting off the lights and quietly shutting the door to rejoin her friends.

---

(Back in Luna's Chambers. Cougar's POV)

"Okay then, is everypony satisfied?" The butler pony known as Wadsworth asked all of us. We hadn't been in Luna's chambers for very long, but we had waited patiently for the butler to bring the eleven of us the graham crackers, marshmallows and chocolate bars necessary to make s'mores in Luna's silver fireplace. It didn't take very long for the magic users of the group to roast their own marshmallows and sandwich them in between the graham crackers and chocolate, leaving the rest of us to roast them on sticks with our hooves and hands.

"Mmm, that shall be all Wadsworth," Celestia licked her lips before taking another bite. Glock was sitting next to her, balancing his s'more in his hooves as he took larger bites than his regal marefriend.

"I concur, why don't you take the rest of the day and tomorrow off to be with your family?" Luna agreed, floating a s'more over to Checkered Flag who happily accepted the snack. I had just completed making my first s'more and was taking small, gradual bites to savor the flavor. Now I was using this small window of down time to think about my speech to see if I had wanted to add or take anything away before I gave everypony a sneak peek.

"Oh, why thank you, your highnesses," the butler pony bowed respectfully, "I shall see you in two days Princess Celestia and Luna," he bowed once again as he turned to leave the room. "And a happy Hearth's Warming to you all," he bid us farewell as the silver and dark blue door shut. For the next few moments, nopony said anything while the crackling of the fire and the crunching of the s'mores were the only noises in Luna's private chambers.

"What?" I asked Bon Bon when I noticed that she was staring at me for about ten seconds straight. Blushing at having been caught, the light brown earth pony patted her chest whilst swallowing her bite.

"We're just waiting for you to start," she replied, "whenever you're ready, up to you," she shrugged, nuzzling closer to Lyra in front of the fire. Looking down, I saw the Crusaders all munching away at their snack, eyes wide and muzzles smiling as they were prepared and ready to go for me to begin. I leaned my elbow up on top of the mantle above the fireplace, casting my gaze at the ponies before me waiting patiently. With but a small bite left, I shoved the rest of my snack into my mouth and practically swallowed it without chewing.

"Yes, please do tell us Cougar," Luna pleaded, "this is the whole reason we came to my chambers," she reminded me, wrapping a wing around Checkered Flag and hugging him closer. I did find it a bit creepy that after Luna's statement all of the residents watching me leaned in a little closer. 'Better give them what they want I suppose,' I thought whilst dusting off my hands free of crumbs and then propping my chin up with my fist.

"Just let me think," I stated, hoping to quell them until they stopped staring at me like a museum exhibit. "I haven't really thought up an introduction just yet," I explained, still attempting to conjure up a decent one for my small audience. The main theme of the speech was a history of why I celebrated Christmas, and I prayed that what I managed to scrape together out of memory wasn't too boring for a short speech, but I wouldn't know until it was initiated. "A little more than two thousand years ago, a carpenter named Joseph married a young woman named Mary," I had commenced. Nopony was yawning or looking around the room, so at least I had them hooked, for now. "And they loved each other very much, but unbeknownst to either of them, Mary was pregnant as back in those times, there were no pregnancy tests that my species had when I lived on Earth to tell couples when the wife or girlfriend was expecting."

"Okay, so she's expecting, aren't most married couples?" Glock politely interrupted. I was surprisingly glad that some questions were being asked. The closest thing I could guess was that I was happy that they were interested enough to ask questions.

"Don't interrupt sweetie," Celestia lovingly patted Glock's shoulder.

"No, it's fine Celestia," I assured the couple, "I'm happy to answer any questions to the best of my knowledge. Anyway, the reason that her pregnancy was a big deal was: Mary was still a virgin. She and Joseph had not yet even attempted to conceive a child. You see, according to the Bible, my religion's history book, our God sent his son to be born by this couple to be the Messiah to teach the word of God unto the people of that time," I explained. The air was almost sucked out of the room at the statement that a virgin was pregnant. I was hoping that the three fillies present knew how baby foals came about, or else I'd have some explaining to do to Big Mac, AJ, Rainbow Dash and Rarity. But I pushed that aside to continue my speech and history lesson. "God also sent an angel to explain why Mary was pregnant and that God had already chosen a name for the baby: Jesus Christ. The angel also explained that when the time would come for little baby Jesus to be brought into the world, they would have to go to Bethlehem," I explained further.

"Why Bethlehem exactly?" Luna questioned with a hoof raised in the air.

"That, I cannot remember. And I don't have a copy of the Bible with me, so I'll more than likely never remember, I apologize," I replied, saddened and disappointed with myself for letting my friends down.

"Don't feel bad," Sweetie Belle smiled.

"Yeah, we all forget details at some points," Scootaloo agreed.

"Well, it really doesn't affect the story, so I guess it's not too big a deal," I drummed my fingers atop the fireplace mantle. "Anyway, when it came time for Jesus to be born, Mary and Joseph made the trek over to Bethlehem, but when they arrived at a local Bethlehem Inn, things didn't turn out the way they thought. The Inn Keeper unfortunately had no more rooms available, and while he didn't force Mary and Joseph, they had to stay in the barn behind the Inn. And then, only a few hours later, Mary gave birth to baby Jesus in a manger. As he was born, God sent a special star into the sky to alert Three Wise Men that the Messiah had been born and they were to bring gifts unto him. And that's where Christmas was born," I concluded the first part of my speech. "Yes, Bon Bon?" I pointed to the mare that had her hoof in the air.

"So, is that all Christmas is? Celebrating the birth of a special baby?" She asked. "I mean it's a really cool story, but is there more to it?" She corrected herself.

"Bonnie! Don't be rude," Lyra lightly shoved Bon Bon's shoulder. "You could've just insulted Cougar," she growled under her breath.

"Hey, that's fine Lyra," I tried to smooth things out between the couple. "She didn't insult me, don't worry. I'll get to what I believe Christmas to be once I move on to another important part about the holiday," I explained, clearing my throat. "But yes Bon Bon, Christmas was born the instant Jesus was born. My religion uses Christmas as a holiday to not only spread hope, but the spirit of giving and good will towards everyone around you. Basically, you do what you can to help make everyone's lives around you better, like the Inn Keeper. He could've just sent Mary and Joseph away, but he did the best he could and offered them a barn to keep them warm overnight. Every little bit you do can make all the difference," I added.

"Sounds really similar to Hearth's Warming, wouldn't you say?" Luna whispered to Checkered Flag. The white Earth Pony nodded and scooted closer until the blue alicorn wrapped her wing around his body, cuddling up to him.

"M-moving on," I stammered after tearing my gaze away from the couple, "over the course of many, many, many many centuries, the same attitude about Christmas was upheld. However, later on in history, a new figure about Christmas would arise: Santa Claus. Now, I don't know how Santa got started; there are many different folklores about his origins, but the main one was a 4th century Greek Bishop named St. Nicholas who bestowed gifts to the poor until his death. And to honor him, followers of St. Nicholas continued his tradition of bestowing gifts to children in his honor to keep his memory alive. And then, about 1,300 years later, St. Nicholas evolved into Santa Claus," I explained. "And I use this term lightly because most facts about the man changed to being an overweight guy with a white beard, red suit, a sleigh full of gifts and lived in the North Pole of my planet with his wife, eight reindeer and an army of toy making elves," I added, chuckling at how I believed some of this when I was a kid.

"Huh, what's an elf?" Applebloom questioned.

"A miniature human about three feet tall with pointy ears," I replied, cracking my knuckles. "And the myth about Santa was he spent all year watching all the kids in the world to determine if they were naughty or nice. On Christmas Eve, he would take flight with his sleigh of gifts and reindeer and deliver presents to the good kids of the world and lumps of coal to all the naughty kids of the world."

"Uh, how could one fat human deliver presents and coal to every kid in one night?" Celestia questioned me. Lyra, Sweetie Belle and Checkered chuckled at Celestia's description of Santa, and I don't blame them.

"He didn't; he was made up, imaginary," I delineated, "remember, I said the 'myth' of Santa," I reminded the alicorn. "He's mainly for the kids, something else to look forward to during the holidays."

"Oh, right," Celestia blushed at her forgetfulness. I scratched the side of my head, trying to remember anything else about Santa Claus before I got into the real speech of why I really love Christmas.

"Let's see," I clicked my tongue of the roof of my mouth. "Santa also had a long list with the names of every kid in the world to keep track if they were naughty or nice, and he always checked it twice," I had to take a moment to laugh at the memory of the holiday song, "and kids would always leave out plates of cookies and glasses of milk for Santa to snack on while he unloaded their presents."

"Milk and cookies?! Now we're getting somewhere!" Scootaloo licked her lips, stuffing another s'more in her mouth. "Heh, sorry," she apologized for cutting me off and then let out a cute burp.

"Is that all the history of Christmas, Cougar?" Luna asked me, cocking her head to the side. I took a quick look at the crackling fire in the fireplace before looking back up at my group of friends and pushing myself away from the mantle.

"Yeah, besides you guys already know about he Christmas carols," I nodded towards Vinyl whom grinned and nodded in return. "But while most people always celebrated Christmas with both subjects in mind, myself included, there was and is one major reason I love the holiday season. You see, the people of my species wasn't always the kindest towards each other, yet that would change when December rolled around and Christmas was the next holiday to celebrate. I loved seeing the decorations, hearing the Christmas music, watching the Christmas movies and specials on TV, seeing kids laugh and play in the snow, building snowmen," a few tears began to form in my eyes at the few happy memories of my life back on Earth. Pausing for a brief second, I blinked the few tears out of my tear ducts and cast my gaze back to the ponies still waiting for me to finish my speech. I soon found that keeping my eyes free of tears to be more difficult; I couldn't keep my eyes off Celestia and Glock, Luna and Checkered Flag and Lyra and Bon Bon. All three couples were scooted as close as possible and nuzzling each other close as they all patently watched me.

I let out a short burst of breaths to keep my composure in check so I could finish, though I'm sure I worried a few of them. "What I love about Christmas more than anything, is that to me, Christmas is a holiday built on spending time with friends and family. Being close...to the ones you cherish...and...love," I managed to whisper the final word before shooting my hand up to my eyes to wipe them. The sound of whispering and shuffling soon drowned out the crackle of the fire beside me. I felt a tiny brush on my cheek and the outline of a golden aura from behind my hand.

"There, there," Celestia's motherly voice soothed me, "that was beautiful Cougar. I wholeheartedly agree about the same reasons for Hearth's Warming," she nuzzled my shoulder with her cheek. A small white cloth floated in front of my face while the alicorn continued to comfort me. I took the cloth and quickly dabbed my eyes and gently placed the cloth in her hoof just as the Crusaders appeared at my legs and hugged against me. These affections from friends did help me feel better, but deep down I knew there was something else missing.

"Cougar?" Lyra softly called my name.

"Y-yeah?" I asked, voice slightly cracking.

"With what you perceive Christmas to be, does this mean you'll finally tell Applejack?" She asked, never blinking once as she looked at me with such caring eyes. I gulped, not knowing what to say at first, and just stared at the mint colored unicorn that was holding hooves and snuggling with Bon Bon.

"I-I don't know," I stammered, "I just don't know." The next thing I knew, I looked up to see everypony (even Checkered Flag and Glock) all standing closer to me. The Crusaders still clung to my legs in a tight hug.

"We can help you, Cougar," Bon Bon assured me.

"Yes, we're behind you 100%," Luna agreed with the candy making earth pony. All the other ponies nodded their heads in agreement, all deciding to help me however they could with my problem.

"But, it's your decision dude," Vinyl cut in, taking off her sunglasses. "We won't force you and we won't tell you what to do," she explained. I couldn't say a word while my eyes scanned the ponies before me, still in shock at how eager they were to help me.

"If you need encouragement, we'll be here," Checkered grinned, looking over to Luna. There was a slight tapping just below my knee, snapping me out of my trance to look down at the pair of orange eyes that belonged to the filly that was practically my little sister.

"Ta be honest, there's nopony else Ah would be happier with bein' my sister's special somepony than yerself," she admitted, nuzzling my knee with the underside of her chin. I wanted to thank all of them for promising to be my support for that night at the party, but I couldn't come up with words good enough for how grateful I felt for their willingness to help me. However, I still had a lot to think about before the party, even the play that was set to start soon. A lot to think about, and the consequences for whatever choice I decided upon. The only thing I did know was that whatever choice I made had the potential to destroy the friendship between myself and the mare I had grown to love, and that's what I feared the most.

End Chapter 31