After Twilight's birthday, all that happened of interest was on Spike's birthday a few days later; the kirin underwent a drastic surging growth into a giant that nearly shadowed Ponyville. He was incredibly embarrassed by the fact that everyone could see his privates if he stood. It was triggered by his confused body trying to interpret his age, his hormones, and the magic involved around Greed Growth that would fully kick in for a dragon his age. But he was a kirin now, and that meant something went wrong.

In other words; since it was his birthday, Rarity planned something “special” for him, and the surge of emotions he experienced from her telling him what his gift was, was incorrectly interpreted as an enormous amount of greed. He destroyed the boutique from how fast he grew, and he felt so ashamed of destroying Rarity's home. But nopony was hurt, and overall; Rarity could not fully describe just how utterly turned on she was by the fact he outgrew her home, and towered over all like some titan of lore. It took all her willpower not to demand he pretend to try and crush her with a hoof.

It took hours, but eventually Twilight found a way to fix his confused magic matrix so he could control his size again. Rarity had to have her boutique rebuilt, but she spent the night in Spike's old room at the library. Kamina had to cast a silencing charm over the room from the sounds of rapture going on within. Go bro.

The Ponyville Construction Crew were veterans of emergency reconstruction by this point, so they had her boutique rebuilt within days, even added on another floor and a basement for her since Kamina decided to ante-up some extra bits from the treasury for Rarity being so understanding of his little bro's condition. Rarity was ecstatic over the extra storage and living space, and would promptly make use of them.

That was actually all that was interesting that happened until...Hearth's Warming Eve! A special time for friends and family to come together and share gifts, stories, and quality time. Last year was special because they all got together for the event. This year; apparently they'd all been scripted to be actors in the Hearth's Warming Eve play about the founding of Equestria, and the beginning of the tradition known as Hearth's Warming Eve.

Well, mostly everyone. “There weren't any MALE roles? Really?” Animak asked their mom and aunt in disappointment as they got seated in the royal box seat of the castle's theatre. This was the one night a year that this theatre was used consistently. Otherwise it was merely a special occasion that the theatre was used as more than storage space for the rest of the castle.

“Yes, I'm sorry my sons, but all the history books even we've read only reference mares, and I felt Spike was a more suitable narrator.” Celestia turned back to the curtained stage, the show was about to begin. “I'm surprised the Rainbow would turn back into a mare just for this. When she heard I hadn't cast her for Hurricane, I'm told she demanded Twilight change her back for tonight.”

“To be fair sister; we could have gone the cross-dressing route for Blitz if we had too. Nopony else can possibly pull of the perfect Hurricane aside from Rainbow.” Luna defended. She'd opted to give the role to Blitz anyway, but Celestia held it was tradition to keep the character's genders accurate to preserve historical accuracy.

“Well I'm glad things turned out in the end. Oh! It's starting!” Kamina grabbed a talonful of popcorn as the lights dimmed, the curtain raised, and the limelight shined onstage to reveal Spike already at center stage, wearing a traditional blue bard's garb. Several mares instantly wooped and cat-called, making Spike grin his predatory feral fang-filled smile.

“Hear-ye, hear-ye! Hark a moment, and hear the tale of Hearth's Warming!” Spike's voice was deeper, and smoother since his birthday. It was like his scratchy acoustic guitar voice was suddenly a fine-tuned bass guitar, and made mares swoon. “Tis the tale of the founding of Equestria, and the traditions that bind us all together to this day! Before Equestria, before our beautiful land was even discovered, the three pony tribes; unicorns, pegasi, and earth ponies were all at constant odds. Only working together begrudgingly! The unicorns moved the sun and the moon, the pegasi controlled the weather, and the earth ponies provided the food. They each only worked together when they had something to gain from it. There were even several wars!”

The crowd gasped at his words, as although they'd all heard the story countless times, from Spike's mouth; it seemed new, and interesting. The extras that moved about the revealed stage helped to give his words vision, and they pulled their parts perfectly, even including a few quick silent fight scenes with ponies quickly “putting their enemies down” from all sides. “Told you he'd be a great narrator.” Celestia rubbed in, getting chuckles from her family, but Nyx was already asleep despite her insistence of staying up to watch the play.

“I know, such sad times. This continued until things came to a head, and the tribes found themselves in dire straights in the form of a great blizzard that swept the lands. Not even the pegasi could rein it in. The earth ponies could not grow food. The pegasi were starving, and could do nothing about the storms. Not even the unicorns could do anything with their great magic. And thus, this is where our story begins....” Spike bowed as he backed into the shadows of the stage, and the curtains closed for the first act. “Chapter one; The Summit.”

“Duke Spike's voice is so...captivating.” Luna never felt so excited to hear the old story. Especially if the narrator had such a sexy voice that somehow added an element of wonder and wisdom to the tale.

“Yeah, but it doesn't change the fact that we've already heard this story.” The Twins both sighed as the show continued, and while each of their friends and lovers played their roles, both main and supporting perfectly thus far, they groaned. “We're sorry, but we can't take this.”

“Were are you going? Don't you want to see your friends perform?” Celestia asked her sons in confusion.

“Somewhere. Anywhere but here. We feel stifled. We've also seen this play before in Ponyville last year. Sure, it wasn't anywhere near this good, but we already know the story. We find it hard to watch something if we know what's going to happen next.” The Twins looked down on the stage to see Rarity, Dash, and Pinkie as their respective roles arguing uselessly over the storm and pointing hooves, as was the scene.

“Very well, nothing's keeping you here. But if you were planning to visit Keen or meeting Flash, I'm afraid they're off to visit Keen's father for Hearth's Warming.” Celestia informed them, and they sighed.

“We know. Vinyl told us a few days ago that they were having a get-together at her grandpa's place. We'll find something to do.” The Twins then left out the back of the royal balcony, and began to wander the castle.

===//////>

“It's oddly peaceful....” Kamina observed as they walked the empty halls. It was cold, and only the occasional guard was on patrol.

“It's irresponsible is what. We could be attacked and nopony would know until it was too late.” Animak grumbled.

Their ears perked up at the sound of a sad, nostalgic, and yet hopeful song. Drawn to it, they followed it to find a small recital room. And even more surprising was the fact that the pony playing this beautiful piece was Blueblood.

He was leaned over the keys, eying them carefully as his magic pulled such a melody from the grand piano. He was actually crying too. Tears dripped from his face onto the keys as he played. When he finished, he sniffed, and sighed. They both considered just leaving him alone, but. “Come to see my pitiful state cousins?”

“No...we're not.” They entered the room proper, and sat on either side of him. “What's wrong Blue?”

“What do you care? Nopony cares about me...and why should they?” Blueblood sniffed as he tried to compose himself, but was failing miserably.

“We do care.” They hugged him with an arm each, taking out a handkerchief to offer to him, and he accepted Kamina's red one to clean himself up a bit. “You might be a royal ass, but you're a pony all the same. Just another person in this world. And you're family. You can tell us.”

“...Mum's gone....” Blueblood whispered, and sniffed. “This is my first Hearth's Warming without mother. And suddenly...I realize just how lonely I am. I've pushed everypony away with my stuck-up attitude, and nopony will give me the time of day.” Blueblood looked down at his formal shirt, and took out a small framed photo from his breast pocket, revealing a snowy mare with golden hair, sternly yet lovingly holding an obvious colt-aged Blueblood for a small family photo. “She was always there for me. Always telling me I should hold myself high; proud of my heritage. Well...what good is that pride now? That I'm alone?”

“Ponies can change Blue, and I'm here if you need it.” Kamina offered.

“But to truly change, you have to determine that for yourself.” Animak intoned. “Only you are preventing yourself from being a better pony.”

Blueblood closed his eyes and sighed quietly. “...Thank you. I need some time alone to think on this.” Blue put the photo on the music sheet, and continued to play the sad melody. Feeling he indeed needed his space, the brothers let him be. They knew how he felt, what he was going through. They'd lost someone they loved so much as well.

'It's sad isn't it? That we haven't even thought of dad in so long?' Kamina mentally asked Animak as they sedately continued through the halls.

'We've moved on brother. It's what he would have wanted.' They paused as they heard the tail-end of the song instead turn into a crescendo as it extended, becoming more hopeful in tune, and they smiled softly, hoping Blueblood felt just a little better, knowing he still had someone.

===//////>

Their continued wandering of the castle let the brothers muse on how sad it was; that they weren't even informed of Lady Bluebelle's death. Just how estranged was the Blue family line from Celestia? She said she'd had a foal centuries ago, Blueblood the First, but when he started his family, he drifted away from her, and his family simply became a prominent line among the nobility. To simplify things; Celestia said she considered them all nieces and nephews, while they all called her aunt.

But that was it, that was the end of their familial ties apparently. Was Celestia not even informed? Their mother was too caring not to openly mourn anypony, so Blueblood must have kept it private as long as possible. The fact that he was now the head of House Blue was very important, and a huge boost in standing. Even further, the fact that he was not taking advantage of this was a definite sign of just how hard the loss struck him. That moment back there was clearly a breakdown, and they possibly just saved him from a long period of shutting himself in, and making things worse.

“We didn't know Lady Bluebelle very well, but what took her life? She was still in her prime.” Kamina asked his brother, who shrugged noncommittally in that he wouldn't know.

“Not a clue. We'll find out more later when Blueblood cheers up a little. Let's get out of here. I need to feel some cold air on my fur.” The feeling was mutual, so they opened the nearest window and leaped out to enjoy a cold flight.

They were enjoying the flight for a while, and were starting to get cold, they were about to head back when they heard a call of distress from the empty streets below. “Help!” The city was mostly empty, as the majority of the city was actually packed into the giant theatre in the castle for the play, as having national heroes play the leading roles was a huge lure. “H-help me!”

“We're coming!” They swooped down towards the streets. “Keep calling! We'll find you!”

“H-NG! H-here!” They followed the mare's voice, and then found her laying in an alley. She was a brick red unicorn with purple hair and eyes that were both a mess, and her cutie mark was a ringing silver bell. Also, she was without any warm clothes, the reason being the obvious gravid swell of her belly, and she grunted and panted. “I-I'm in labor! I can't get up to make it to the hospital!”

“Hold on!” They both helped her up, and Kamina got her onto his back while Animak got behind them to make sure she didn't fall. “We'll get you there in a jiff!”

“H-hurry-AGH!” She screamed as she clutched onto Kamina with painful force, but they ignored it as they took off for Canterlot General. “I-I can't keep them in much longer!”

“Hold on! We can't let that foal be reared out here! They'll die in minutes from this chill.” The brothers sped up, and the mare breathed fast through her nose. “What's your name?” They asked to try and keep her calm, and she grunted.

“Ch-Charity Bell. I-I wasn't supposed to be due-ooooooooooo! F-for another week! My husband's one of the stage hooves working the PLAY!” Charity added to explain why her love wasn't here instead of them. “W-we conceived in late January, so they shouldn't be coming for a few more DAYS!”

“They?” The Twins asked in surprise, and she smiled proudly as she grunted against the contractions.

“T-twins! Twin colts! Th-the irony-EEEEEE...isn't lost on me!” Charity screamed again in pain as they neared the front doors of the hospital, and they rushed her in.

“Pregnant mare in premature labor! Emergency!” They shouted as they burst into the lobby, startling the sleepy brown nurse, who quickly lit up her horn and a loud alarm rang for a second, before a duo of burly unicorn orderlies burst into the lobby, quickly and carefully moved Charity onto the gurney they brought with them, and sped her back through the doors.

“This way sirs!” The nurse called to them, and they followed without argument.

===//////>

The Twins were pacing about in the waiting room nervously, hoping Charity and her foals all came out of this safely. The brothers were also musing on the events that had occurred because they left the play.

If they'd stayed, they wouldn't have found Blueblood in his despairing state. If they'd stayed, not seen Blue like that, and decided to go for a flight; they would not have found Charity, and she and her foals would have likely died in the cold.

“Sirs. You may see them now.” A nurse informed them, and they promptly followed her out into a hall in the maternity ward, and were led to a broad window, where a view of several foal-sized beds was available, and they saw two little foals in beds right next to each other. They were the only ones in the room though, considering how out of the norm it was for mares to birth at this time.

The one on the left was gray with bronze hair, and the one the right was bronze with gray hair. The plaques under them read Iron Bell and Bronze Bell. “What about Charity? Is she okay?”

“The mother is fine. She's just resting after her ordeal. If I may say so sires; you should be very proud of yourselves. You've saved three lives today.” The nurse then left them be, beings they had the ability to come-and-go as they pleased, and they looked in at the new lives born into the world, feeling a connection with the little colts in the window.

“Life may end....” Animak stated.

“But it also begins.” Kamina ended.

They looked to each other, nodded, and sat down to keep an eye on the little ones for a while. Pondering just how profound this day was. On this day, of togetherness, of love, kindness, and good will to all, they experienced the sadness death brings, but the hope that new life does as well.

They looked to each other, smiled, and cast a seemingly pointless spell, before turning to leave. In the chamber with the foals, a purple light shimmered over them, and they cooed in their sleep.

===//////>

After they checked in with Charity to confirm that she was alright, the brothers returned to the castle to find the play was over, and the crowds were returning home. They approached the stage to see their lovers and friends all mingling and relaxing after their performance, and their mom and aunt were there as will with a sleeping Nyx on her back. “So you skipped out huh? I told them you don't like to do the same thing more than once unless it's really awesome.” Spike said as they approached, and he blinked as he pondered something. “What's up? You look...different somehow. And not in the usual way.”

The brothers smiled softly at their adopted little brother, and looked at their friends as they sat next to him. “You'll understand someday little brother...don't be in too much of a hurry to finish growing up, huh?” They asked gently, and Spike looked confused, before he nodded and decided to let it go. 'We hope you don't have to know the pain too soon little brother...but we also hope that when you do, you can do what's best.' They looked to their loves, and imagined their bellies swollen with child, and closed their eyes as they happily imagined having their own foals in the future. 'Life...is ugly...but it is also beautiful.'

Author's Notes:

Sorry it's late, blame work, and gratuitous amounts of videogames. Also sorry if I got a bit profound. I've been having existential thoughts recently. I'm anti-religious, but I still ponder the meaning of life. This time of year always reminds me of it, how faces I remember I'll never see again, and new faces I've never met before come into my life.

Life is beautiful, life is ugly. Life is fun, life is sad. Life can be hopeless, but there can always be hope.

Live.