“HAPPY HEARTH’S WARMING EVERYPONY!!” screamed one particular human as he descended the stairs. Thankfully, he had waited until everypony was already awake and downstairs. They were all surprised at the outburst, but smiled warmly as he reached the lower level, DJ smiling brightly. The other guests were set to arrive later on, but that didn’t mean the Sparkles could relax. Preparations were still in the finalization stages as they got everything ready for the guests. Several spells were placed throughout the house so that it could accommodate the influx of ponies. In a word, it was hectic.

DJ helped out any way he could, whether it was cooking, or setting the table, etc. He was just glad to help. Spike was assisting in the cooking as a spare oven; he didn’t seem to mind. Nyx just tried to stay out the way as the adults rushed around. After one last hectic hour, they all sat down and waited for their guests to arrive, enjoying the warmth of the fire. Nyx had curled up on DJ’s lap, enjoying his warmth. It wasn’t long after when their friends and the Princesses arrived.

“Good morning, my little ponies,” greeted Celestia as she, Berry, and Luna walked in. The others, save for Twilight, DJ, and Cadence, bowed before their ruler. Celestia giggled as the Sparkles gave him dirty looks. “Still no respect for my authority, DJ?” she asked with a laugh.

“Nnope,” DJ replied with a bright smile. This caused the others to burst into giggles, while Night Light, Velvet, and Shining stared in confusion.

Luna spoke to easy their worries. “Do not fret, Sparkles. DJ and my sister have an understanding of each other. DJ refuses to bow to a friend and Tia respects him for it. It is how their friendship works.” They made an ‘oh’ with their mouths and proceeded further inside. They all sat down to a delicious brunch. Everypony traded stories as they ate. Berry explained her first week in Canterlot and all the craziness that took place between the Elites. Stories all around until the meal had finished.

“Well, now that story time and brunch are over, it’s time for presents!” spoke DJ as they finished cleaning up their meal. He retreated out of the room and returned a minute later, carrying a large sack. “Ho ho ho! Merry Hearth’s Warming! Gather ‘round, I have gifts for everypony!” He took a seat in front of the fire and began to rummage through the sack. “Okay, who is first? Ah, it’s for Mr. and Mrs. Sparkle!” DJ pulled out a medium sized present and handed it to Night Light, who took it in his magic. “Well?” the human encouraged, “Open it.”

Velvet used her magic to tear the paper from the present to see a beautifully framed picture of Twilight, Nyx, and Spike smiling happily at them. “I personally took that picture,” said DJ. “I didn’t know if you had a picture of them together so I created one for you.” He smiled proudly at them and they returned it with an appreciative one.

“Thank you very much, DJ. We love it,” said Velvet wiping a tear from her eye. DJ nodded at them and returned to the sack.

“Next we have…Shining Armor and family,” he said reading the label. Shining took the present and unwrapped it for all to see. Inside the small box was a dog collar. Shining and Cadence looked at him confused. DJ pointed at Fluttershy in response. They turned to face the timid Pegasus and were shocked when she presented them with…a puppy! The little pup jumped at Guard Armor, instantly taking a liking to his new friend. Shining and Cadence smiled warmly at the sight. “I really needed to think on that one. What better way to complete a family than a pet? I hope you take good care of him.”

“This is very gracious, DJ. Thank you very much.” The pup licked her muzzle and she laughed. “Hahaha. I think he likes me.” They all shared a small laugh as the small dog gave his new owners plenty of love.

“Great. And who will be next? Aha! Rainbow Dash, front and center!” Rainbow glided over and grabbed her present from his outstretched hand and tore the wrapping to shreds in ten seconds flat! She held her present in her hooves like they were a gift from the great creator herself! Two VIP tickets to ANY Wonderbolts show. Rainbow Dash went into fangirl mode an instant later.

“Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh!!!!!!” She looked over at Scootaloo, who was in a trance staring at the tickets. “Looks like you and me are going to a show, squirt.” Scootaloo’s jaw dropped, but immediately nodded her head, smiling greater than anything! Rainbow gave DJ a quick hug and a 'thank you' and he ruffled through the bag again.

“Here we go,” he said as he pulled out two presents. “One for Applejack and Apple Bloom and another for Fluttershy!” He handed them off. The one he handed to AJ and AB was fairly large, while Flutters’ was relatively small. The Apple sisters ripped open the gift to find two identical boxes, one addressed to each sister. They opened up the boxes, to see two brand new, matching Stetsons. Apple Bloom eyes began to water at the sight, while Applejack smiled warmly at her big brother. AJ took off her hat and placed the new one on her head, and took her sisters and placed it upon the filly’s head as well. They looked at each other and smiled, then turned to face their smiling brother.

“Thank ya kindly, DJ. This is really special,” said Apple Jack.

“Yeah, it is! Thanks so much, big bro!” Apple Bloom began to bounce in place, smiling up at her new hat.

“I knew you’d like ‘em. Go ahead, Flutters, your turn.”

Fluttershy nodded and began to slowly unwrap her small gift. Once unwrapped, she opened up the white box inside and pulled out its contents. It was small, plush wolf that almost looked like it was smiling at her. “What is this?” she asked, her tone neutral.

“He is Snowball. I got him years ago from my first family vacation. Take good care of him Fluttershy; he belongs to you now.” Fluttershy beheld the small wolf pup for a moment with a blank look. DJ was afraid that she didn’t like her gift, that was, until he was nearly pushed to the ground by the pony. He couldn’t believe it, he just got glomped by Fluttershy! This is awesome! Woo!

“I promise to take good care of him, DJ. He is sooo cute! Aren’t you my little Snowball? Yes you are. Yes, you are!” She continued nuzzling with the stuffed animal as DJ went back to the bag of goodies.

“And this next one is for, Oh! To Princess Celestia and Princess Luna! Here you go!” He let them take the gifts in their magic and they opened them to find two rolls. One was white, the other a deep navy. They let the rolls unfurl and found that they were blankets. Celestia’s was a pure white with a large depiction of the Sun taking up the center. Luna’s was a navy color with white stars all over and a large crescent moon in the center. Perfect depictions of their respective cutie marks. Both of them smiled at their gifts.

“They are lovely, DJ. Thank you.”

“Quite lovely, human, quite lovely. We are very thankful for this gift.”

“Heh, heh. Don’t just thank me. It was Rarity who did most of the work, since I can’t sew to save my life,” DJ responded.

“Don’t be so modest, darling! You are the one who thought of the idea and were quite the helper,” Rarity stated back.

“Thanks, Rares. Oh! Speak of the devil, this next one is for you!” He handed her gift to her. Rarity opened it the proper way. Slowing undoing the tapes and unfolding the paper she look to see a large roll of fabric. She gasped in shock as she realized what the material was.

“Is…is this sapphire silk?!?! How on Equis did you get a hold of this DJ? This is the most expensive fabric in all of Equestria, it must have cost a fortune!”

“I have my ways,” he said cryptically. Rarity jumped on him and pelted his cheek with kisses.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you! This is one the most generous gifts I have received!” Twilight glared at her friend for her actions, but DJ scratched her head, easing her of her worries.

“Anything for my friends! I believe this next one is for my favorite teacher and resident party pony!”

“That’s me! Ooh, ooh! Whadya get me? Whadya get me?” DJ laughed lightly as he passed Pinkie her present, who unwrapped it in a shower of paper. It was a book…a book. “Oooh! ‘1000 and One Ways to Make Cupcakes That Are Better Than Any You Have Ever Had’. This is so amazing! I can make even better cupcakes. Thank you my faithful student!” She gave him a tight squeeze and bounced back to her seat.

“Ha ha ha ha! Pinkie will be Pinkie. Glad you like it. Now who is left? OH! One for my sister, of course! And for little Sweetie Belle, too. Hope you like ‘em.” He gave them their presents. Sweetie went first. Her present was a record. “It’s a little something Vinyl helped me whip up. It’s what’s known as a mix record. I noticed that you enjoyed a good number of songs on my computer, so I had a few transcribed into that record there. Now you can enjoy your favorite Earth music at home.” Sweetie trotted over to him and hugged his chest.

“I love it! Thanks, DJ! I can’t wait to find out what songs are on here.” She went back to ogling the record. Berry then opened hers and gasped.

“NO WAY! You’re really giving me this?” In her hand was small black pad. It was DJ’s tablet computer he had brought along as a spare. It wasn’t much, but he knew there was a few art programs installed on it. DJ figured that she would be able to continue drawing with it and he told her as such. Berry bounded to her brother and gave him a big hug. “Thank you SO much, DJ! This is s the nicest thing anyone has ever given me.”

“I’m just glad you like it, sis. Twilight cast an eternal battery spell on it, too. So it will never run out of power. Be careful with it, though. I don’t know if any repair spells will fix it if you drop it.” Berry promised she’s be careful. “Good. Now on to the last two presents. The first is for my loving marefriend, and the other is for my favorite filly!” He gave Twilight hers and handed Nyx’s over to her as well. Twilight went first and gasped at what she beheld. It was a golden necklace with a large charm as a pendant, a charm that exactly matched her cutie mark. Underneath it, however, is what caused her to squee loudly. After the initial shock and slight tears, Twi had looked down further into the box and saw books. Seven very large books, each one entitled Harry Potter.

“I knew you’d love it Twi. Those books are one of the most popular series ever on Earth. I’ve been saving them for this occasion and now they are yours. The necklace just happened to be an extra bonus,” he said with a grin. Twilight had tears of joy falling from her face and she gave DJ a quick hug and then a passionate kiss.

“This is a great gift DJ. I love you so much,” she said with a smile.

“I love you too, Twilight. Only somepony like you could deserve such a gift. However, I think it’s time for the last gift. Go on, Nyx. Open it.” Nyx opened up the small box hesitantly, wondering what he got her. What she saw was certainly not what she expected. It was a glass case filled with several figurines that were practically glowing in color. They were all there: Celestia, Luna, Shining Armor, Cadence, Scootaloo, Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Applejack, and Twilight. Nyx looked at him in awe and DJ gave her a soft smile in return.

“This is my gift to you Nyx, keep it safe. These are little figurines from back on Earth that I brought with me. I had them professionally cleaned, glassed, and protected. They will never fade with age and are unbreakable. I want you to always have it Nyx, so that one day, when we are gone…” DJ’s voice started to break a little as he spoke from his heart. “A long time from now, you will be able to see that all of your friends and family are still with you. We will always be in your heart and these will be there to always remind you of that. I am giving these to you so that I can repay the promise you made me when I was at my weakest. Never forget your friends, Nyx. They will always be with you, in your heart and in your memories.”

Nyx looked at him, tears streaming from her eyes, a big smile on her face. She jumped forward and embraced him. “Thank you, DJ,” she said in a whispered voice. “Thank you so much. I promise that I will never forget. Never ever!” DJ stroked her mane as she cried tears of happiness onto his shirt. It’s now or never, Nyx, she thought to herself. I need to ask him or I’ll never have another chance. “DJ? Can I ask you something?”

“Go ahead Nyx, ask me anything,” he answered back. The entire room was quiet as the others watched with tears in their own eyes. Nyx inhaled and spoke again.

“I love the gift, I really do and I will always keep it with me. But, it’s not exactly what I wanted,” she said sheepishly.

“Oh? Sorry, Nyx, I never got your wish list, so I had to come up with something. Sorry, you didn’t get what you wanted,” DJ said, a little rejection in his voice.

“It’s not something I could write down or be bought in a store. It’s something I need to ask you, but I don’t know what you’ll do or say when I do.”

DJ smiled warmly at her when Nyx looked into his eyes. Those eyes and that smile that were always there for her, never wavering. You can do it Nyx, you can do it, she told herself. “Don’t worry Nyx. You can ask me anything, and my feelings for you will never change.”

With all of her courage, even with a faltering voice, Nyx asked the greatest question she ever had. “DJ? W-will y-you b-be m-my…can…can I c-call you…” Come on Nyx! If you don’t ask now then you’ll always wonder. “C-can I c-call you….Daddy?”

The room fell deathly silent. Everypony’s eyes went wide and several jaws dropped, including DJ who stared wide-eyed and agape at his favorite filly. Nyx’s heart sank a little when he didn’t reply. Se hung her head low, fearing the worst. Until she heard a small sniffle and her head jerked back up. What she saw was unbelievable. DJ’s lips were quivering in a big smile, his eyes sending tears down his cheeks, those eyes so full of love and understanding. And he spoke, a soft, gentle voice.

“Nyx…You can call me anything you like and that is who I will be.” Nyx stared in shock at his answer, but her face soon mimicked him. She jumped forward and put her forelegs around his neck in a big hug.

“DADDY!!” She yelled. Nyx hadn’t been this happy since the day Twilight adopted her; it was the exact same feeling. And she loved it. Twilight trotted over, tears rolling down her eyes, a loving smile on her face and joined in the hug from behind, embracing the two of them with her legs and wings; Spike joining in a moment later. The other ponies were smiling and crying as well. Fluttershy and Pinkie were spilling buckets. Celestia wiped a single tear from her eye, Berry leaning against her doing the same. Luna smiled brightly at the family. Applejack, Rarity, and Rainbow all pulled their sisters closer, spreading the love. The Sparkle men were leaning into their spouses, smiling warmly and approvingly as their wives cried tears of joy.

As the four of them broke the hug, Nyx looked to her mother, a pleading look in her eyes. Twilight recognized it and nodded at her daughter, who smiled once again. Twilight was perfectly fine with DJ being called a father by Nyx, that’s basically how he acted anyway, so it’s not like anything would be different. If anything, it would strengthen their relationship as a whole.

“Okay, everypony,” said Berry, breaking the moment. “This has been a time of great feels an’ all, but Hearth’s Warming ain’t over, yet. So, let’s get to the caroling because I got a great one prepared!” DJ smiled at his sister’s enthusiasm.

“Is that right?” he asked, his voice obviously happier than ever. “What did you have in mind, little sister?”

“A brony Christmas favorite! Fluttershy’s 12 Days of Christmas!” Several heads swiveled over to the animal caregiver, who ‘eep’ed and hid behind the couch, Snowball still clutched against her chest. “Think you can work the piano, bro?”

“You know it! Don’t forget to sing along everypony, this is a classic!” As DJ took his seat at the Grand Piano, Nyx clambered up and sat against his side, smiling the whole time. He noticed and returned the smile and began to play the good ol’ tune, Berry starting up the song almost immediately.

On the first day of Christmas,

my little ponies gave

An evening with Angel Bunny.

On the second day of Christmas,

my little ponies gave

Two parasprites,

And an evening with Angel Bunny.

On the third day of Christmas,

my little ponies gave

Three butterflies,

Two parasprites,

And an evening with Angel Bunny.

On the fourth day of Christmas,

my little ponies gave

Four alicorns,

Three butterflies,

Two parasprites,

And an evening with Angel Bunny.

On the fifth day of Christmas,

my little ponies gave

Fiiiiive best friends,

Four alicorns,

Three butterflies,

Two parasprites,

And an evening with Angel Bunny.

On the sixth day of Christmas,

my little ponies gave

Six party cannons,

Fiiiiive best friends,

Four alicorns,

Three butterflies,

Two parasprites,

And an evening with Angel Bunny.

On the seventh day of Christmas,

my little ponies gave

Seven Flutter yays,

Six party cannons,

Fiiiiive best friends,

Four alicorns,

Three butterflies,

Two parasprites,

And an evening with Angel Bunny.

On the eighth day of Christmas,

my little ponies gave

Eight Milk Mare products,

Seven Flutter yays,

Six party cannons,

Fiiiiive best friends,

Four alicorns,

Three butterflies,

Two parasprites,

And an evening with Angel Bunny.

On the ninth day of Christmas,

my little ponies gave

Nine background ponies,

Eight Milk Mare products,

Seven Flutter yays,

Six party cannons,

Fiiiiive best friends,

Four alicorns,

Three butterflies,

Two parasprites,

And an evening with Angel Bunny.

On the tenth day of Christmas,

my little ponies gave

Tenth Lord’s galloping,

Nine background ponies,

Eight Milk Mare products,

Seven Flutter yays,

Six party cannons,

Fiiiiive best friends,

Four alicorns,

Three butterflies,

Two parasprites,

And an evening with Angel Bunny.

On the eleventh day of Christmas,

my little ponies gave

Eleven Pinkie Pie's,

Tenth Lord’s galloping,

Nine background ponies,

Eight Milk Mare products,

Seven Flutter yays,

Six party cannons,

Fiiiiive best friends,

Four alicorns,

Three butterflies,

Two parasprites,

And an evening with Angel Bunny.

On the twelfth day of Christmas,

my little ponies gave

Twelve blind bag figures,

Eleven Pinkies,

Tenth Lord’s galloping,

Nine background ponies,

Eight Milk Mare products,

Seven Flutter yays,

Six party cannons,

Fiiiiive best friends,

Four alicorns,

Three butterflies,

Two parasprites,

And an evening with Discord.

The rest of the day went smoothly afterwards, everypony enjoying the different carols of Earth and Equis alike. They all sat down later to an amazing dinner where everypony got a ton of food and continued to gawk about the gifts that they received, Spike getting his present from DJ for desert: a bushel of fine gems. Spike downed the entire thing in a matter of minutes. As the others returned to their rooms at the castle with the princesses, they all thanked DJ once more before retiring for the night. The Sparkles bid them all a ‘Good Night’. As they went to bed themselves, DJ heard this as Twilight and Nyx went to their rooms. “Good night Dad. I love you.” He looked down to see Nyx smiling, eyes closed and hugging his leg. He smiled at her and patted her head.

“I love you, too, kiddo. Now get some sleep, I’ll see ya in the morning.” She trotted off to her room. DJ looked back and saw Twilight giving him a loving smile. He grinned in return and got into bed. His thoughts began to wander and his task ahead. I can’t believe all that happened today. Not only did everypony enjoy their gifts, I think I just got myself a daughter in Nyx. This is probably the greatest holiday ever! He sighed and his grin turned to a grimace.

Too bad it can’t last. New Year’s is only a few days away now. The day I have feared for months. The day I promised myself I would tell Twilight, tell them all about my secret. But how will they react? Will I lose everything because of this? Will Nyx and Twilight reject me after I reveal the truth about that day? I don’t have those answers, but they need to know the truth. Then, I will deal with the consequences of my actions. With his mind made up and his will achieved, he began to drift off to sleep…but not before a sound from deep within the recesses of his mind made itself known.

It’s about time you finally let me out again!