Over the next couple of weeks leading up to Christmas I was able to get my last two gifts sorted, Spitfire agreed to sign the pair of goggles I sent to her for Rainbow's gift but she sent a note back with it claiming that I 'owe her one'. Along the top of the frame is Spitfire's signature with a message to Rainbow, no doubt this will let out her inner fan girl. I was also able to collect Luna's necklace from the jewellers, looking at the end product it turned out to be exactly what they initially planned to make.

With all the gifts wrapped and ready to go I sent Luna's gift to her in the post. To try and avoid any suspicion I also sent a small gift to Celestia to make it look like I wasn't choosing favourites. Rather then getting a piece of jewellery custom made for her I was able to find a basic golden pendant of the sun which contained a small ruby in the centre, I saw it whilst I was collecting Luna's gift at the store and thought it would be best to get something similar for the both of them.

Since I was staying with Twilight and Spike I decided to 'borrow' some gems we had in storage after clearing out the Diamond Dog tunnels to give as a gift to Spike, seeing as he's a dragon I'd say it's a safe bet that he'd like some gems. As everyone else would be going to spend the holiday with their own families I gave them their gifts early to open on Hearth's Warming whilst they were away.

I also gave my team the holiday off to spend back home before we go away once again on deployment, they all said they'd come back for the New Years Eve party myself and Pinkie were preparing. I must admit despite generally liking Christmas back home I'm not exactly looking forward to it. No doubt it will reopen old wounds, it will inevitably make me think back to my family who are celebrating Christmas back home with the belief that I'm likely dead. I suppose despite my hesitation I'm gonna have to learn to get used to the holiday, I'm stuck here for the rest of my life so I may as well try and adapt.

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Tuesday 24th December 2013
Christmas Eve
Hearth's Warming Eve

With an overnight bag hooked over my shoulder and the two presents under my left arm I close the office door behind me and lock it. Strolling through the quiet halls I look through one of the open doors to find a small group of guards who either volunteered or were unlucky enough to remain here over the holiday, it's not fun working over Christmas but unfortunately someone's got to do it. Heading down the stairs and towards the main exit I reach for the main door and pull it open, as soon as the door opens inwards I hear something out of the ordinary before a cold substance is poured over my head.

Jumping back I shake my head causing snow from my hair to fall to the floor, when I look back up to the door I find a bucket hanging upside down on the end of a small rope. Who the fuck did that? Wiping the snow off of my jacket I get the niggling feeling that someone is watching me. Turning slowly on the spot I look to the main reception desk where I find Slicer leaning over the counter with a slight smirk, "Are you enjoying the weather, Captain?"

Shaking my head the last few flakes of snow fall to the floor as I step up to her, "You've got some balls to prank a Captain."

Raising a brow she steps back from the counter with a sly smirk, "I have no idea what you're talking about."

Chuckling I watch her as she jumps over the counter to land alongside me, "You ponies are really shit at lying."

She looks to me with a perplexed expression, "You're not annoyed about what I just did?"

"Not particularly, it wasn't exactly a very good prank."

"Well that takes the fun out of it, the reaction is what it's all about."

Opening the door I look outside to the heavy snow, "How come you're still here? I let you all go back home for the holiday," When I turn back to look for her she is nowhere to be seen. As I slowly back up to leave through the door I bump back into something causing me to jump as I pivot to find her standing again in the doorway, "You need a fucking bell or something, you're always sneaking around."

As Slicer steps back inside her hooves fail to make any sound against the wooden floor, "I've been trained in stealth for a reason by Princess Luna, I'm going to use it."

"Wait, Luna trained you?"

Slicer nods, "In a way, she has. However that's a tale for another day. To answer you're first question I have no reason to return home, although tomorrow may be a celebration it's just the same as any other day, there's no reason to treat it any differently."

I watch as the snow falls outside, "I suppose that's true. Try to stay out of trouble whilst you're here, don't go around scaring the guards who are working."

"Would it help if I wore that bell?" Pivoting on the spot I look to her in confusion as I find a small collar with a cats bell around her neck.

"Where the fuck did you get that? In fact I don't wanna know, it better not be some kind of weird kink of yours," Rolling her eyes she steps off to head down the hall however with every silent step the bell fails to ring, "Wait a minute," Stepping up to her I lean down and prod the bell causing it to ring. Letting out an annoyed groan I move back to the door, "You just seem to enjoy trying to piss me off."

Grinning Slicer shrugs as she removes the bell, "Princess Luna always taught me that 'frustration builds character.' I've held that lesson to heart."

Scoffing I move back to the door to leave, "What a load of bollocks. Try not to frustrate the guards who are still on duty."

Exiting the barracks I close the main door behind me and make my way through the snow filled streets towards Twilight's. As I walk through town I glance through the various windows of houses as I move past them, it's nice to catch small glimpses of family enjoying each others company on the holidays. I should definitely thank Twilight for inviting me to join her and Spike, I would have spent the whole holiday moping by myself or doing something stupid again like I did on Megan's birthday.

As I get to the doorstep of the library I start to get a weird sensation on the back of my neck, almost as if something is biting me. Resting my bag against the door I try to scratch my neck to relieve the itch. As my hand runs across my neck I feel small bumps against my skin which moves with my hand, pulling one away from my neck I look down at what appears to be some sort of plant which feels similar to a nettle plant. Fucking Slicer, putting snow in the bucket wasn't enough for her? Now I'm gonna be scratching my neck all day.

Taking my bag once again I open the door to the library and make my way inside. Inside I find the library to be fully decorated, a large Christmas tree sits alongside the staircase with numerous ornaments hanging from its branches and a selection of presents resting underneath, tinsel hangs along the walls of the circular room along with sets of holly wreaths. Kicking the door shut behind me I place the presents and my bag on the central table as I scratch my neck, "Twilight? Spike? You guys here?"

Looking around the room I hear the door to the kitchen open up. Pivoting to the door I look to Spike as he walks in, "Hey, John. Are you alright? You're scratching an awful lot."

"Slicer pulled some crappy prank on me, she must have put some sort of itching powder or plant in the snow. It's driving me crazy."

Spike just chuckles as he moves past me to the table to look at the two gift, "Are those for me and Twilight?"

Taking off my jacket I continue to scratch my neck, "Yeah, feel free to stick them under the tree."

Picking them up he moves under the tree and slides them underneath, "All of your gifts are here as well. Twilight made sure that everypony sent them here for you, the Princesses seemed quite relieved that you're spending Hearth's Warming with us."

"Yeah... I guess they thought it was better that I spent it with others, especially with how well I took my sisters birthday. Where's Twilight?"

"She's in the shower, she shouldn't be too long."

Moving to the sofa I rest back into the cushions as I look to Spike, "I've got a question."

Turning to me he joins me on the sofa, "What is it?"

"Don't take this the wrong way, but where are your parents? Twilight isn't exactly a dragon and I haven't seen any others around."

Spike looks to the floor for a moments before raising his gaze, "I never met them. Twilight hatched me as an egg and I've been with her ever since."

"She hatched you? Where did anyone even find the egg?"

Spike shrugs, "I don't know, I never really asked too much about it."

"I still haven't come across any other dragons the entire time I've been here."

"They kind of keep to themselves, the only time I've seen more is at the great dragon migration."

Arching a brow I sit up, "dragon migration? So you've met other dragons?"

"Yeah, let's just say there were some... differences between us."

"So if you're a dragon how come you don't eat meat? From all the tales I heard back home about dragons that's part of their diet."

Spikes face grimaces slightly, "I saw some of the larger dragons eating some sort of meat whilst I was around them. I've always been happy with all the food here so I don't really want to try it, besides... nothings better then gems."

I look to him in confusion, "You eat gems?" Nodding he jumps off the sofa and starts to move back towards the kitchen. At least he'll have some use out of my gift, he can either keep them or eat them. How would you even eat them? Surely they would fuck up your teeth and stomach. As he enters the kitchen I get up from the sofa as my neck continues to itch, removing my shirt I throw it onto my bag as I scratch my neck and upper back.

Hearing hoof steps on the stair I turn around to see Twilight, "John, why haven't you got your shirt on?"

"I've got a really bad itch, Slicer decided to prank me," Grabbing my bag I start to move upstairs past Twilight, "I need a shower."

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We spent most of the day talking with one another and playing a number of small board games to pass the time, it was nice to have a day where I didn't have to do anything and can actually relax. My neck still felt a bit sore after the shower but at least I was able to go ten seconds without having to scratch. I'm so going to get Slicer back for this, she wants a pranking war I'll give her one.

Twilight was obviously curious about Christmas traditions back home and had many questions to ask, so as you can imagine it involved Twilight taking lots of notes as I explained the holiday. Both Twilight and Spike seemed to find the idea of Santa rather fascinating, the fact that someone would come into your home on Christmas Eve to leave behind presents was an idea which particularly appealed to Spike. I tried my best to recite everything I know but I never really focused much on all the minor details, to me Christmas was spent with my family and enjoying each others company. I explained a bit of the religious beliefs for Christmas but I didn't want to go too much into it, I'm not one for religion so I shouldn't really go around reciting it.

It's now late evening and Twilight is reading a Hearth's Warming story which immediately seemed familiar. We were all sat on the sofa as myself and Spike listened to her, in the spirit of the holiday I now had a festive hat rested on my head as I held onto a bottle of ale I brought from my collection of booze back in the office. As I drunk the last of it's contents Twilight finished off her story, "...And from then on, it was always said of all the Hearth's Warming Eve celebrations, Snowfall's was the Hearth's Warmingest," Closing the book she looks to me, "So, what did you think?"

Smirking I rest the empty bottle by my feet, "We've pretty much got the exact same story."

Twilight's eyes widen in response, "You have?"

"Yeah, ours is called 'a Christmas carol'. Exactly the same plot line. A guy who's anti-Christmas but get visited by the ghosts of Christmas who show him the error of his ways, at the end he takes the spirit of Christmas to heart and betters himself as a person. I remember watching the film when I was a kid."

Twilight smiles softly as she gets up from the sofa, "It's strange that our worlds have a number of similarities."

"It certainly is, however there's still plenty of differences," Getting up I stretch my arms as I release a yawn.

Spike grins as he looks to Twilight, "Now can we open presents?" A hopeful expression is painted on his face.

When I look to Twilight she is able to recognise my confused expression, "When Spike and I spent our first Hearth's Warming Eve together he couldn't wait to open his presents. Ever since then we've always opened our presents the night before."

"It's kinda our tradition," Spike jumps off the sofa and moves quickly to the tree where he starts to pull out presents and arranging them in three piles.

Twilight smiles as she looks to me, "You don't mind, do you?"

Stepping past her I move to join Spike by the tree, "Not at all. It's your holiday, don't feel as though you need to change anything just because I'm here," I've personally got no issue with it, everyone has their own little traditions after all. My old childhood friend used to tell me how he'd open one present on Christmas Eve every year before the main day, my family had one where every boxing day we'd have a large selection of meats, crackers and cheeses to share with one another for dinner.

Twilight and myself join Spike over by the tree and all sit on the floor in a circle, to my surprise I find a fair few presents which seem to have been left for me. Rubbing my hands together I look between the two sat alongside me, "Do you both want to start with the gifts I got for you?"

They both glance to the presents I wrapped for them and take hold of them before beginning to open them, Spikes claws make quick work of the wrapping whereas Twilight uses her magic to methodically peel the paper away. When Spike opens up the pouch he give a small cheer as he begins to literally drool over the gemstones within. Picking one up he brings it to his mouth where he effortlessly bites it in half, as it crunches in his teeth my face scrunches slightly at the thought of what that would do to my teeth.

Once Twilight removes the wrapping from hers she examines the box as a small smile forms on her muzzle, "John, it's perfect. This will surely be an improvement on my current one, thank you."

Grinning I lean back and use my hands to support my weight, "I thought you'd appreciate something which would help in your studies."

Resting the box alongside her Twilight smiles softly to me, "Do you know much about astronomy and constellations?"

"Not really, I only know how to identify the north star," As I look to Twilight her horn glows lifting two presents from my pile. Holding the two gifts in front of me I take hold of them as Twilight's magic fades.

"Seeing as we opened yours it would probably be best if you opened ours first," Resting the smaller one by my feet I examine the larger one and immediately recognise the shape of what appears to be a book. Trust Twilight to get me a book, to be fair I have learnt quite a bit about Equestria from reading a number of books

Removing the wrapping I hold the book in front of me as I look over the cover, "'The human species?'" The cover shows an illustration of myself based on a photo which must have been taken whilst I was at the university, it shows myself standing at the front of the hall with the sketch of the globe behind me. Flicking through the pages It has a fair few sections, easily a few hundred pages. How the fuck did they manage to get this much information from me?

"I hope you don't mind, after conducting my research on your customs I thought it would act as a sufficient scientific journal. I thought you'd appreciate a little something on yourself to add to the collection Sunny told me about in your office," Smiling back to her I flick onto a random page to see a diagram displaying the skeleton of the human body based on x-rays taken of me when I regularly attended hospital. My eyes are drawn away as the other gift once again rises in front of me, "I also got you a little something else."

Taking hold of it I tilt it from side to side before tearing the wrapping to find a small cardboard box. Opening the box I reach in to pull out a wrist watch, the strap and main case are made of silver with a black dial which is numbered with roman numerals in gold along with golden hands. Examining it I open the strap and secure it around my left wrist before fastening it, rotating my wrist I can't help but smile as I turn to Twilight, "Thanks, Twilight," Getting up from the floor she steps over to me where we quickly hold one another in a hug.

"I thought you could do with a little something for telling the time, you can't rely on your phone constantly for it," Moving back to her position we continue to open presents as the evening goes on, I received a number of gifts from the girls in town. From Rainbow I was given a pair of tickets to the Wonderbolts derby which is due to be held in Canterlot later in the new year. Applejack was able to get me a fairly old bottle of premium whisky. Pinkie had given an assortment of chocolates and sweets for me to enjoy over the holiday period. Rarity provided me with a vintage wooden display case with a custom backing displaying the Union flag which would hold a selection of medals. Finally Fluttershy gave me a porcelain tea set with a black and white spiral pattern along with a golden rim, I'm not gonna complain, I may be following a stereotype here but I love a good cuppa every now and then.

With most of the presents now opened my eyes fall on one last one tucked underneath the tree. The long gift appears to have a wrapping which makes it appear the same as the night sky, however it doesn't look as thought it's been wrapped that well, "Who is that one for?"

Following my gaze Twilight tilts her head at the gift, "Spike, I thought you got all the gifts from underneath the tree?"

Crawling under the tree Spike reaches out for the box, "It wasn't their earlier," Myself and Twilight exchange a confused look as Spike crawls back out from underneath the tree with the box in his claws. Lifting the tag he has a quick read before passing the gift to me, "It's for you, John," Taking the gift I rest it on my lap to find it has a bit of weight to it. Flipping over the tag I read over the message.

John Davies,

Happy Hearth's Warming.
Hopefully you will get some use out of this, it should be an improvement on the one you currently lug around with you.
I shall see you for New Year's Eve.

Luna

I should have figured that the wrapping with the night sky would be Luna's, she doesn't seem to be that gifted in the art of wrapping though. Peeling the paper away I pause as I look over the oak case, running my hand along the side I find a set of locks which seem to pop open as my fingers run over them. Moving my hands back the lid opens on it's own accord revealing whats resting within, a sword. Reaching into the case I draw the blade and raise it to examine it more closely. The blade itself seems to resemble that of a WW1 sabre, the steel blade containing multiple inscriptions along its entire length, I'm unable to make any of them out though as they appear to be characters which I've never seen. The handle is made of wood with a spiral pattern wrapping around it with what appears to be a dark metal which I'm unable to identify. The hand guard has been specially designed to protect my entire hand and the wrist, I highly doubt that any ponies would be able to hold this sword.

Looking to the pommel I find some sort of red stone which seems to have an effect which makes it appear though their is an element moving within. Passing it to Twilight I allow her to look to the gem, "Any idea what it is?"

Twilight's eyes widen as she takes hold of it in her magic. Studying it closely she views it from multiple angles, "It's a guardian rune."

I look to her in confusion, "A what?"

"A guardian rune, these used to be fairly common with those within the military of the Unicorn tribe prior to the founding of Equestria, over time though the knowledge of these enchantments dwindled. The rune is linked to a specific individual who wields the weapon, it allows them to activate the enchantment within to aid them in battle."

Taking hold of the sword I stand up and keep it raised in front of me, "How does it aid you? It seems like any other sword, just with a fancy gemstone."

Twilight stands alongside me and levitates a book from one of the nearby shelves. Flicking though numerous pages she finds the one she's after and begins to read it, "According to this the runes can have a number of effects based on the one which is fitted to the weapon, some enchantments involved lighter weight or stronger materials where as others possessed elemental powers such as fire of frost."

I tilt the sword in my hand to look to the gem, "I'm gonna guess it's a fire one then, but how do I activate it?" As Twilight goes back to looking through the book I take hold of the handle in both hands and hold it directly in front of me as I look up and down the inscribed characters. As I look over them I get a weird feeling which seems unreal, almost as though something is trying to communicate with me. Closing my eyes I try to listen for a minute but I'm only able to make out incomprehensible whispers. Why didn't Luna send an instruction booklet or something? Taking in a deep breath I bring my left hand underneath the pommel and slowly run my thumb over the gemstone.

Immediately I can feel a heat being generated in front of my face, pushing my hands away I open my eyes to find that the blade has been encased in a colourless flame. The flames themselves only increase the length and width of the blade by about an inch but based on the initial heat I felt I'm sure if I stuck someone while it was like this I'd cause some serious damage. Twilight drops her book and steps alongside me to look at the blade, "How did you do that?"

"I just ran my thumb over the guardian rune," I repeat my earlier action and press my thumb on the stone which causes the flame to dissipate in front of our eyes. Reaching my free hand towards the blade I don't feel any heat being generated at all, cautiously I poke the blade to find that the flame didn't cause the sword to heat up leaving it safe to touch, "That's certainly a neat trick."

As I hold onto it Twilight cautiously presses her hoof against the stone, we both look to the blade expectantly but it fails to ignite. Rubbing her hoof Twilight lifts her book once again, "The rune is linked to you, only you can activate it. To everypony else it's just a normal sword."

Stepping back to the case I also find a jet black scabbard with the same characters written onto it. Pushing the blade into the scabbard I run my thumb over the rune which doesn't ignite the sword, drawing the sword I activate the rune before slowly inserting the blade into its scabbard, as I do so the flame immediately vanishes. At least it will stop me from accidentally burning my leg off. "It's definitely an improvement on my current sword, I had to take it from a Griffins body during the war."

Grimacing slightly at that thought Twilight places the back into its home with her magic, "Well it seems the Princess believed you needed your own sword," Releasing a small yawn Twilight uses her magic to raise my wrist where she looks to the time, "We should probably get some sleep, no doubt we'll be up early tomorrow," Nodding to her I watch as Twilight and Spike slowly make their way upstairs. Resting the sword and scabbard back into the case I look over my collection of gifts before picking up my whisky bottle and following the pair upstairs.

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I can't sleep... I've been lying in bed for hours now and no matter what I try I can't drift off to sleep, my mind keeps returning to my family back home. How will they be celebrating Christmas? Will they change things around since I'm gone? Will they even mention me or will they try to forget and move on? It's days like this where I find myself thinking more and more of home. It was like this when I spent Christmas in Afghanistan but at least I was able to talk to them through Skype and over the phone, now I have to face my whole life without so much as a letter from them.

Sitting up I look over to Twilight's and Spike's beds to find them both fast asleep. Rubbing my eyes I look to my new watch to see it's 03:20 in the morning. Kicking my legs over to the side I reach for my clothing and put everything on, as I get up from my bed I take the bottle of whisky Applejack gave me before sneaking out of the bedroom onto the balcony. Twilight had cast some sort of spell which prevented the snow from falling on the balcony surface leaving it clear.

Stepping outside I cautiously close the door behind me and look around over the balcony, finding a cushion on the floor I kick it against the wall before sitting down. With my back against the wall I tilt my head up to look towards the stars overhead, after a stressful day I always found the stars to be strangely soothing. As my eyes scan over the various constellations I remove the cork from the bottle of whisky and bring it to my lips, tilting my head back I immediately detect a small flavouring of apples which quickly warms my body up.

Resting the bottle by my feet I take out my phone and open up the gallery, cycling through the photos I finally come to a halt when I find the one I'm after. The photo shows myself, Megan and my parents all sat around a table at a restaurant we all visited before I left on my recent deployment, it's the most recent photo I have of them. Staring at the picture I try to recall that night with them as it was the last day I saw them in person as I left for Afghanistan two days later.

Closing my eyes I rest my head back against the wall as I think back to the conversations I had with my family. My dad as usual was droning on about his day at work, fifty years old yet he was still serving as a front line police officer rather then being stuck behind a desk. My mom would constantly go on about wanting me to be careful, she was with my dad when he deployed to the Falklands back in '82 and from what he told me she was exactly the same back then, she gave me this speech the last two times before I went away to Afghanistan. Megan spent the entire time talking about her studies at college and planning for her eighteenth birthday when I returned, dad tried talking her ear off at one point about joining the military just like I did.

Taking another sip from the bottle I keep my head rested back as I continue to reminisce about my family. As my thoughts keep locked on my family a set of beating wings break my concentration, keeping my eyes closed the sound of the wings get closer until finally I hear hooves coming into contact with the wooden balcony. Slowly I open my eyes and look up to find Luna looking down to me. As I look over her I notice the chain of the necklace around her neck and tucked underneath her chest piece, "I take it you like your gift?"

Smiling she glances down to it as her magic lifts it from underneath the breast plate to allow it to rest against the plate, "It is certainly a nice gesture, thank you. Did you receive my gift?"

"I did. You need to work on your wrapping skills."

Smirking Luna sits alongside me, "After one-thousand years away you're bound to forget a few skills, it seems that remembering how to wrap presents wasn't one of my priorities."

Tilting my head I look to her, "I would have asked one of the servants to do it, that's why they're there after all."

Luna raises a brow, "I believe the expression you use is 'Rupert'? Passing the job onto somepony else is just what a Rupert would do."

"It's called the chain of command, actually."

Luna rolls her eyes, "Of course it is."

We sit there in silence for a moment until I finally speak, "Thanks for the sword. I appreciate it, it's certainly better then the one I had."

"I thought you'd like it. I couldn't have a Captain of my guard carrying around a looted weapon. Were you able to figure out the guardian rune built into the sword?"

"Yeah I was, you should probably send an instruction booklet or at least a note next time so someone can figure it out."

Grinning Luna rest her head against the wall, "I was told that engineers don't need instruction manuals."

I remain silent for a moment as I look back up towards the stars. Letting out a sigh my eyes flick quickly to Luna, "Why are you here? Not that I mind... it's just the fact that it's now Christmas day and last time you came out you had a small guard unit with you."

Luna's eyes follow my gaze to look towards the stars, "I'm able to sneak out of the castle every now and then without my guards, what is a royal castle without a few secret passages? As to why I'm here I remember the state Applejack found you in on your sister's birthday, I thought you'd appreciate someone to talk with."

"And what if I was asleep? Not everyone is happy to stay up all night like you."

Luna shrugs as she peeks behind her to look inside through the door, "If you were asleep then it would mean that the holiday wasn't hitting you hard, since you're awake I'm guessing that your mind has once again wandered back to your family."

I lower my head as my head turns to Luna, "There isn't a day that goes by where I don't think of them at some point, some days are harder than others though."

"I know how you feel, John. I spent a millennia on the moon with nopony to talk to and nopony to keep me company, the only thing that kept me sane was the memories I had of my sister an my subjects back here in Equestria. It was a dark time in my life and I wish I had somepony to help me through it, that is why I don't want you to face this by yourself. Out of everypony here in Equestria you are probably the closest to understanding how I felt during my banishment."

I rest my hand on her hoof which causes her eyes to lock onto the gesture, "I appreciate it, Luna. In a way it nice to know that there's someone who understands what I'm going through."

As Luna looks to me her wing stretches out to drape over my shoulder, "You won't be going through this alone. You've got those who care for you here, they'll support you through this."

Relaxing I press my body against Luna's as her wing wraps tighter around me, it works wonders to help me de-stress as I rest against her. Her soft fur acts as a comfortable pillow as I rest my head against her chest listening to the soothing rhythm of her heartbeat. I can't help but feel content as I spend the night underneath the moonlight with her, the beautiful stars overhead adding to the atmosphere as the snow slowly falls all around the library. Lifting my head I look to Luna as her eyes remain focused on the stars, moving closer I place a light kiss on her cheek, "Thank you, Luna. Happy Hearth's Warming."

Initially she's taken by surprise from my action as her head quickly lowers to meet my gaze, a light blush is evident on her cheeks. With a grin she leans closer and places a single kiss on my lips, "Happy Christmas, John" Her body now relaxes as she leans back against me whilst I pull her wing over me to act as a makeshift blanket, "I trust you've got the New Years festivities all sorted?"

Slowly I nod my head as I release a long yawn, "I have, Pinkie has given me a helping hand in sorting everything out. Make sure you're here by 19:00, we start early and are likely gonna be up most of the night."

Luna chuckles softly as she watches me yawn, "Celestia will be attending as well, she's also interested to learn about your customs and traditions."

"This will be our opportunity to get her drunk."

"Since this is a private celebration we can certainly give it a try, though it won't be easy."

I release another yawn as I nuzzle closer to her, "I like a challenge."

"I know you do, it's one of your many traits. You don't seem to ever give up."

"Like I told you the other week, Brits don't surrender," We remain quiet as we both look up towards the stars. As the minutes pass I find my eye lids becoming more heavy as I release the odd yawn at regular intervals. I can't help but feel completely relaxed in this position, the warmth emanating from Luna's body along with the rhythm of her heartbeat was incredibly soothing. Despite trying to fight it I find myself in a losing battle as my eyelids finally close.

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"John, it's time to wake up," Reluctantly I open my eyes to find Twilight standing over me. Moving my head I observe my surroundings to find I'm back in the bed Twilight set up for me, however I was wrapped under the covers with my clothes still on. Rubbing my eyes I sit up and glance to my watch to find it's now early morning, "Breakfast will be ready shortly, come down when you're ready."

I watch Twilight as she makes her way downstairs, once she's out of view I quickly climb out of bed and move to the balcony. Opening the door I look against the wall to find the cushion is still there along with the bottle of whisky, picking up the bottle I move back inside and close the door behind me.

I would have expected Luna to try and wake me up if I fell asleep against her but I can only guess that she realised that I needed the sleep. Placing the bottle back by the bed I glance momentarily back to the balcony with a smile on my face before heading down the stairs to join Spike and Twilight for breakfast.

Maybe Christmas won't be as bad as I thought it would be.