She finally had to make the decision now. And she had to tell them.

Stormy Skies was trotting up and down in her quarters. Trotting did not make things easier.
She hopped onto her bed and lay down. Lying down also did not make this decision easier.
Stormy stood up again.

The problem was that she liked Moonlight and Blackwing about as much as she liked Antonius and Luna. Deciding between them was almost impossible.
Yet, it had to be done, so she choose...
Moonlight and Blackwing.

That way, Antonius would have more time for the ponies he trained... and this training was important, wasn't it? So, choosing Moonlight and Blackwing was right.
Right? Right.

Stormy sat down on the carpet.

If she was completely honest to herself, though, that was not the only reason to choose Moonlight and Blackwing: Antonius took very good care of her. So did Luna. Stormy felt safe and was happy around them.

Yet, living with the two batponies reminded her of past times, when her parents had still been alive. They were somehow... 'closer' to a normal family then Antonius and Luna, and Stormy was also happy around them.

Yes, she would choose Moonlight and Blackwing. She smiled.
It was hard to believe: After this 'thing' had destroyed her old town, she had not wanted to be separated from Antonius or Luna even for a minute. She had always clung to them. Now, things were a little different. She still liked both of them, she even loved them, but she had realized that she wasn't as dependent on them anymore.
Perhaps they found it weird that she ever was? She should ask them.

But now, she had to tell them her decision. It was high time. It was the day before Hearth's Warming Eve, after all. She had to tell them now.
She couldn't wait, take presents from Antonius and Luna, and then say 'sorry, I choose Moonlight and Blackwing'. No, she had to tell them now. That way, they had enough time to bring the presents back, if they wanted to. No, they would not want to. Probably.

Stormy left the room and went to Princess Luna's quarters. They were waiting in there. Stormy had asked them to leave her alone for a while, and they had agreed and told her that they would wait for her in there.
She knocked at the door, and it opened. Blackwing.

"Hello, Stormy," he said.

"Hello," she answered and entered the room.

They all greeted her. She greeted them back. Then, she took a breath and told them:

"I have made my decision."

Silence.
More silence.

"Yes?" Antonius asked carefully,
"how did you decide?"

Stormy took another breath. How would they react? Well, that did not matter. She had to tell them. Now.

"I really love all of you," Stormy finally said, closing her eyes,
"but I choose... Moonlight and Blackwing."

Stormy opened her eyes again and looked at Antonius and Luna. They were smiling kindly.

"Then, so it shall be," Luna declared.

Stormy turned to the batponies. They were overjoyed and hugged her. It was a nice feeling.

"Will we still celebrate Hearth's Warming together?" Stormy asked Antonius and Luna.

"Of course," Antonius assured her,
"and we will still share a room until you have found an apartment, house or whatever.
Even after that, neither I nor Luna will suddenly disappear from your life. Trust me, we will see each other quite often."

Stormy smiled. That was good news. In fact, everything was good now: Stormy had a family again, and Antonius and Luna would still be her friends. Really, everything... no, not everything.
Wouldn't Antonius feel lonely, now that she was gone? And what about Luna?
Loneliness was terrible. Well, they still had friends, but a family? Luna had her sister, of course, but they usually only saw each other at dawn and dusk.

Suddenly, Stormy had an idea: She would do her best to set Antonius up with Luna. That way, none of them would feel lonely.
They were a downright perfect match, after all! Both were nice, but could get quite frightening when they had or wanted to. Yes, that was a good idea.

Stormy smiled even wider. They would be a nice couple.

"That's it, ponies!" Antonius announced,
"your last training session before Hearth's Warming is over. Enjoy your holiday, and try not to forget everything you've learned. We'll see again in two weeks."

"I also would like to wish you happy holidays," Luna added,
"have a good trip and enjoy the time with your families and friends!"

She nodded, and she and Antonius added:

"Dismissed!"

The ponies wished them a merry Hearth's Warming and left. Most of them would travel back to their respective hometowns to spent the holiday with their families. Luna had insisted to make this possible, and Antonius had agreed. Similar to the weekends, holidays were an important part of pony culture, after all, in which the ponies could relax and recuperate, and those holidays seemed to be especially important.
Antonius was honestly curious about the pageant the next day to learn the reasons for this.

They left the room and went back to Antonius' quarters, where Stormy, Moonlight and Blackwing were playing games. Having nothing better to do, and also to prove that they did not mind Stormy choosing the batponies over them, they joined in.
Stormy and her new parents really were a nice family, they really got on exceptionally well together. Antonius was content. This was exactly what he had wanted to achieve, and he was sure it was the best for all of them.

After dinner with Celestia, they continued gaming, but this time, Stormy suggested that they should form teams; in accordance with her wish, Antonius and Luna were in the same team, Stormy and the batponies formed the other team. Antonius had the strange feeling that Stormy tried to make him and Luna work together in each and any situation, although he could not imagine why she should suddenly be so keen on that.

Then, the evening was about to turn into night, Moonlight suddenly started stirring nervously.

"Moonlight?" Luna asked,
"is something wrong?"

Moonlight pressed her eyes shut and clenched her teeth. Her fur bristled and she whimpered, obviously in great pain.
A seizure? Probably. Everyone was up and about to help her, but it only lasted a few seconds, then she took a deep breath and said:

"I'm okay. Don't worry."

"Don't worry? Moonlight, you are still not completely recovered!" Luna stated.

"I will probably never be," Moonlight admitted,
"Doctor Cure told me that I might have those seizures from time to time. They are much less painful than they once were, so you really don't need to worry."

"The doctor told you to go see him in the hospital should a seizure occur, though," Blackwing said.

"When Hearth's Warming is over. I don't want to ruin it for you."

"Nonsense," Antonius commanded,
"we'll go to the hospital. Now."

A short time later, they were at the Canterlot General and informed the mare at the admittance desk what had happened. She instantly called a nurse to show them to a room and sent a messenger to get Rapid Cure.
When the doctor arrived, he examined Moonlight and told them:

"Good news. There is no aggravation of Moonlight's condition. I'm afraid these seizures will probably keep happening from time to time, but they should not pose a threat to her anymore. I would still like to keep Moonlight here in the hospital for the night for observation, but I am sure she can leave again tomorrow morning."

"Well, at least I won't spend all of Hearth's Warming Eve in the hospital," Moonlight sighed.

"I'll stay here with you," Blackwing offered.

"No problem," Rapid Cure said.

"What about me?" Stormy asked,
"can I stay, too?"

"Of course you can," Moonlight smiled,
"but honestly, the time here will be nothing but boring and a hospital is also not the nicest place to spend the night, so if you would like to stay with Antonius and Luna, feel free to do so."

Suddenly, a smile crept onto Stormy's features and she said:

"Now that you say it, that might be a good idea. See you tomorrow!"

Antonius and Luna also said goodbye and returned with Stormy to the palace where they split up; Luna to do her duties and Antonius and Stormy to go to bed. The next day was Hearth's Warming Eve, after all, and especially little mares should better be well rested that day.

As Antonius woke up the next morning he took a look around:
Stormy was still peacefully sleeping on his chest, snow was lying on the small balcony and its railing, Luna was dangling from the ceiling of his room...
Wait, what?

No, his eyes had not deceived him: Luna was really dangling from the ceiling, completely tangled up in some sort of garland!

"Luna?" he asked in surprise.

"Good morning, Tony," she replied with an awkward smile,
"how do you feel on this wonderful Hearth's Warming Eve's morning?"

"Quite confused. Is this a Hearth's Warming tradition or are you just trying to startle me? Seriously, what the hell are you doing?"

"Well, I wanted to surprise you by putting up some decorations," Luna explained,
"unfortunately, my wings got tangled up in that stupid garland..."

Decorations? Well, there was an open box standing in the room. Its content certainly looked like some sort of decorations.

"Well, I am surprised. And what happened to the rest of you?" Antonius asked.

"Umm... let's just say my attempts at freeing myself were not that successful."

"Just a second, I'll help you."

Antonius gently nudged Stormy, and the little mare woke up.

"Morning," she yawned,
"time for breakfast already?"

"Almost," Antonius answered,
"but first, we've got to help a princess in distress!"

"Huh?"

Antonius pointed at Luna, and Stormy turned around to take a look.

"HUH???"

"A minor accident while decorating," Luna mumbled.

"Now, Stormy," Antonius smiled,
"please get off me so that I can help Luna."

The little mare jumped onto the ground and Antonius got up to help Luna.

"I'll quickly get my knife and..." he started.

"What?" Luna interjected,
"I could have rescued myself using brute force! But I did not want to destroy the Hearth's Warming decorations, since I found that to be inappropriate. So I would appreciate it if you could just untangle me without wrecking something."

"Whatever, but it will take some time."

Antonius grabbed Luna and removed the garland from the ceiling. Then, he put her on his bed and started untangling her.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Stormy grinning. Then, she rushed to the box with the decorations. Antonius paid not too much attention to that, as the garland offered quite some resistance.

Suddenly, he heard Stormy laughing - above him - and the little mare called while buzzing out of the room:

"I'll go to have breakfast. Have fun!"

Antonius looked after her.

"'Have fun'?" he repeated confusedly.

"Oh dear," Luna said.

Antonius turned to her. She was starring at the ceiling with wide eyes. He followed her gaze and found a small, green twig attached to the ceiling above them.

"Oh dear," Luna repeated.

"Why 'oh dear'? This twig does not look that threatening."

Luna turned crimson and started explaining:

"Well, Tony, this twig is no ordinary twig. It's a mistletoe. That's a traditional Hearth's Warming decoration."

"Then, your 'oh dear' makes even less sense," Antonius opined.

"You see, Tony, the case is this: There is a custom concerning mistletoes. If two ponies meet under a mistletoe, they are expected to... umm... kiss."

Antonius stared at her for a second, then he looked at the mistletoe.

"Oh dear," he mumbled, then he turned back to Luna:
"Hey, I'm not a pony. Is this custom still valid?"

"As far as I know, it is not actually limited to ponies..."

"Oh... well," Antonius said, scratching his head for a second,
"I promised to take part in your holiday and your traditions, so I think I'll participate. Now, what kind of kiss does this require? Is a short peck enough, or does it have to be one of those attempted tonsillectomies you used to wake me up back then?"

Luna opened her mouth to answer, but just closed it again. Then, she suddenly started looking extremely innocent and told him:

"Tradition demands a 'big kiss'."

Antonius looked down at her for a second, then he nodded. The ponies really had strange customs and traditions and he was not exactly a friend of kissing, but since he had resolved to participate in this holiday, he would do it nonetheless. That also had a bonus: he could check if his Omophagea still gave him weird results.

"Okay," he said curtly and participated in this strange mistletoe tradition.

Celestia was sitting at the breakfast table. She just had a croissant and a cup of coffee this morning, as there would be more than enough treats later this day. Okay, a little cake would certainly not hurt.
Celestia just wanted to get up and get some as Stormy entered the room with a big grin.

"Good morning, Stormy," she greeted.

"Good morning, Princess!" Stormy replied.

"You seem to be in a good mood today. Well, it's Hearth's Warming Eve, of course you are glad."

"Yes," Stormy snickered and sat down at the table.

"Do you know where my sister and Antonius are?" Celestia asked and took a sip of coffee.

"Yeah," Stormy answered,
"Princess Luna is lying in Antonius' bed, tied up."

Celestia spat her coffee across the table.

"WHAT???"

Oh... Oh... OH!
No, wait, there had to be a perfectly harmless and sensible explanation for this... even if Celestia could not think of one. She told herself to calm down and took a deep breath.

"Well, well," she said a little distraught and took another sip of coffee.

"Yes, and I put a mistletoe over them," Stormy continued.

A second mouthful of coffee splattered onto the table.

"You did what?" Celestia asked in total confusion.

Antonius ended the required kiss and his Omophagea processed Luna's saliva. The same result as the first time: a bit of inexplicable familiarity. So, either his implant was defective, or there really was something very weird about those ponies - next to the usual weirdness, that is.

"I guess that should suffice," he said.

Luna didn't respond. She didn't say anything at all. She was just lying there, her eyes closed.

Now, something got Antonius' attention:

"Hey," he started.

No reaction.

"Hey, Luna!"

He nudged her.

"Huh? What?" she mumbled, opening her eyes.

"Do you think Stormy knew about this custom?" Antonius asked.

"Certainly," Luna answered.

"That means she wanted us to kiss?"

"I think it was a little prank," she opined, and looking extremely innocent again, she added:
"some ponies really like pranks."

"Well, since she has decided to live with Moonlight and Blackwing, she seems anxious to get us to work together in one way or another. Remember the board game?"

"Hmm... you are not wrong... just a moment... do you think she wants to set us up?"

Antonius shrugged.

"I'm not sure, but it gives the impression," he opined.

Luna laughed awkwardly.

"And I get myself in such a situation. That must have been like a cue for her! Now, what should we do about that?"

"I think we should tell her the truth; that we are content with being friends."

"Would be more plausible if I weren't lying in your bed. Tied up."

"Huh? Oh... I'm trying not to think about any implications... or do you think it would help if I shoved you onto the floor?"

"Not really, no."

"Then just hold still while I free you."

It took him a while to untangle her without destroying the garland, but when she finally was free again, they went to the refectory to meet with Celestia for breakfast.

"Already here?" the white alicorn asked in surprise, then she quickly held a hoof over her mouth.

Luna groaned.

"What has Stormy told you?" she wanted to know.

"Nothing!" Celestia insisted,
"what you do is totally your private affair... I mean matter!"

Aha, Stormy really had been a little talkative.

"Sister! I just got tangled up in some decorations and Antonius helped me get free! And that's all!" Luna told her.

"Decorations? Well, to each their own, I guess..."

"SISTER!"

"Okay, okay, I believe you! Nothing has happened. Now, let's skip this topic."

"Actually, " Antonius said,
"we should talk about this general topic to Stormy."

"You want to give her 'the talk'? Now?" Celestia asked in confusion.

At that, Luna stuffed a croissant into her sister's mouth to shut her up.

"Stormy," Antonius continued,
"do you want to set me up with Luna?"

The little mare looked a little embarrassed and confessed:

"Umm... yes. I just don't want you to be alone."

"Oh, Stormy," Antonius sighed and scratched his brow.

Stormy's face fell.

"It didn't work? You are not a couple?" she asked and started to tear up.

Crap. Well, she had to accept the truth...

"It did work! We are a couple! Totally!" Luna suddenly shouted and walked over to Antonius.

"What..." he started, but Luna interrupted him and whispered into his ear:

"Don't you see how sad she is? Do you want to ruin Hearth's Warming for her? Just play along!"

Oh shit.

"Really?" Stormy asked hopefully,
"You are a couple now?"

Damnit, the things he did to make Stormy happy really hit new highs...

"Umm... yes... of course! We are... totally... a couple?" Antonius stammered with a forced grin.

To 'prove' this assertion, he flung his arm around Luna's body, lifted her from the ground and held her at his side, her hooves dangling in the air. Both of them gave Stormy plastic smiles.
Thankfully, the filly was too happy to realize how ridiculously staged the whole scene was. Celestia, however, was on the brink of bursting out laughing.
Well, this certainly was a Hearth's Warming Antonius would never forget.

After breakfast, Luna went to bed to be well rested for the pageant in the afternoon, while Antonius and Stormy went to the hospital to meet with Moonlight and Blackwing. Thankfully, the batpony mare felt fine and was allowed to leave. They spent some time together, then Antonius said goodbye and walked to the train station.

The streets of Canterlot were all richly decorated with conifers, wreaths and oversized candy canes. Now that he thought about it: Hadn't he once heard of an ancient holiday of mankind that allegedly had looked similar? Some religious celebration... Kmas?
Well, information of that kind was only sparse, since the old religions had been banned by the Emperor when he had seized power. Antonius wondered if the way the ponies celebrated Hearth's Warming might be influenced by this old human holiday. It was certainly possible.

He arrived at the station right on time for the train from Ponyville. A lot of ponies left the train, among them Twilight and her friends.

"Hello, my friends," Antonius greeted,
"how as the train ride?"

"Fine, thank you for asking," Twilight responded,
"and since the train was on time, we still have time for a little stroll through Canterlot before we have to get ready for the pageant. But first, we should get our luggage to the palace."

"I'll take care of that," Spike volunteered,
"then, I'll head straight to the theater. I'll need some time to get in the right mood for my big part in the pageant, after all."

"You do that, great narrator," Twilight smiled,
"and make sure that you don't get in the 'right mood' by overeating on the lunch they are going to prepare for the actors and staff."

Antonius joined the ponies for their stroll. They were downright mesmerized by the snow-covered city and started playing a game called 'I spy with my little eye', although Antonius would not call a pony eye 'little', especially not in relation to the size of their heads.

After the stroll, Twilight and her friends went to the theater, while Antonius met with the princesses, Stormy and her new parents for lunch.

Then, they went to the theater to watch the pageant.

"Antonius," Celestia said,
"it would be an honor if you would join us in the royal loge."

Then she turned to the batponies and Stormy:

"I also reserved a second loge for the three of you. Unfortunately, even the royal loge would be a little crammed if the six of us tried to be seated in there."

"I think Princess Celestia just called you fat," Moonlight grinned at Antonius.

"Just space-consuming," Celestia quickly rectified.

"I think I can live with that," Antonius deadpanned and they were seated in the loges, Celestia to the right, Antonius to the left, Luna in the middle.

Antonius took a look around the theater. It was crammed with ponies eager for the pageant. He could not spot a single empty spot.

"This pageant is an important event, I guess?" he asked Luna.

"Indeed," she answered,
"all over Equestria, ponies are preparing similar pageants to honor this day, but the Canterlot pageant is the biggest and most important production."

Now, the lights in the theater were dimmed, and a single spot illuminated the stage.

"It begins," Luna whispered as the curtains opened and revealed Spike, who served as the pageant's narrator.

Luna had seen such pageants before, but she had to admit that it never got dull to see this important moment in pony history reenacted. Another question was how interesting it would be for Antonius.

From time to time, she glanced over at him to see his reactions to the play. He was quietly sitting there, watching the actors perform.

When the whinnying of the windigos sounded, he leaned forward a little, but did not show another reaction.

Then, when the ponies decided to find a new land to live in, he leaned forward a little more, obviously concentrated on the story.
Wow, Luna had not thought this pageant to be that interesting for him. She should ask him later what exactly had caught his attention.

Later, as Twilight explained that windigos were responsible for the cold and that fed off fighting and hatred, Luna could see him narrow his eyes a little and clench his fist. He seemed angry, and perhaps also a little disgusted. Luna doubted that these emotions were directed at the pageant, but rather at the windigos.
Perhaps they reminded him of something he knew? And hated? She would ask that, too.

Then, when the ponies ignited the Fire of Friendship, he leaned back again. Was he amazed?
Another thing to ask him later.

Finally, the pageant was over.
The ponies had sung the Heart Carol and the actors had left the stage. While the audience started to leave the theatre, Luna turned to Antonius:

"And? How did you like it?"

"A nice pageant. Tell me, Luna, is this really based on actual events or just a folk myth?"

"It is based on actual events. As far as I know, it is even quite close to the truth; the key elements are correct in any case."

Antonius nodded:

"Well, then it was very informative."

"You seemed to somehow recognize the windigos, did you not?"

"Deamonic creatures which thrive on fighting and hatred - sounds like daemons of Khorne, Chaos god of hate and bloodshed. I have to admit, though, that they are usually not associated with ice and cold. The similarities are still to grave to be ignored; I guess those windigos are some kind of daemonic offspring."

"Sounds plausible," Celestia opined,
"I'm just thankful that the Fire of Friendship was able to repel them, otherwise ponykind might have gone extinct."

"Indeed," Antonius agreed,
"Seems you have found a way besides the Elements of Harmony to fight Chaos.
Really, it's nothing short of a miracle how effective your species is at dealing with the dark powers. Furthermore, the pageant explained why your culture is so peaceful: if you behaved otherwise, more like the rest of the galaxy, you would become pony-cicles. Really intriguing."

"So, we owe our peacefulness to Chaos in a way? That's a disturbing thought."

"You owe your peacefulness to yourselves. You were able to leave hate behind you and foiled the windigos' machinations. Your peacefulness is not a result of that encounter, but a countermeasure."

"That certainly is better," Luna smiled,
"now, anything else you have learned today?"

"Oh, yes," Antonius answered,
"if your environment got too cold for your people to live in, Luna, which direction would you move?"

"Well, since we are in the northern hemisphere, I would move south."

"Right. I guess your ancestors did the same, and that means they came..."

"From the north! And that means that the roots of ponykind are in the north... and perhaps that ancient base of yours is there, too!"

"That's exactly what I was thinking. So, we have a direction. There are mountains to the north, right?"

"Yes, the Crystal Mountains. They cross Equestria from east to west. Why do you ask for mountains?"

"I saw mountains in a drawing in one of Lyra's books about mankind. I guess the base is somewhere in those mountains. Once the training of the PDF is completed, I will set out as soon as the Land Speeder is operational."

"Hey, you certainly will not go alone," Luna told him,
"I will join you on this quest!"

"You should wait for spring," Celestia suggested,
"the Crystal Mountains will be too cold to travel in the winter.
And, Antonius: There is a watchtower, run by the Royal Guard, at the end of the main pass through the mountains. Please, don't go any further north than this watchtower."

Antonius raised an eyebrow:

"What is north of this tower that you want me to avoid?"

"This is neither the right place nor the right time to talk about such matters," Celestia said,
"but I promise I will tell you later, after the holidays."

"I concur," Luna added,
"this is nothing that should be told recklessly."

Hey, another mysterious secret.
Yay.

Now Antonius and the princesses met with the batponies, Stormy, the Element Bearers and Spike and returned to the palace. Above the wintry Canterlot, a giant pink flaming heart was pulsing.
The Fire of Friendship.
Possibly another weapon against Chaos.