“Oh man, that time o’ year again… The trees and decorations, the gifts, the eggnog an’ cookies an’ fresh baked goods… Man, I love Christmas…” I mumbled to myself as I finished decorating my very own Christmas tree in the living room of my home. It was mid-December and of course, that meant Christmas was RIGHT around the corner. I couldn’t wait to see my family for this wondrous time of year. Although I wasn’t a child, thereby never really getting excited about the present exchange like I had when I was younger, I still loved that… indescribably cozy, warm feeling of being around those you loved and watching them all have a magnificent time, which in turn made you equally as, if not more ecstatic to be a part of the lively holiday festivities.

This year was different, though. I had an extra person— or should I say PONY— to get something for this most wondrous holiday. Although I wasn’t very sure if she even had such a holiday in Equestria, I was sure that I’d still invite her in on the magnificent winter joy that was Christmas. In fact, I was just about to begin packaging her present when I heard a definitive *poof* sound happening upstairs. I was quick to stash the gift somewhere she wouldn’t see it (under the couch) before I went upstairs into my room to greet the cause of the boom. I was quite surprised to see that she came wearing a hat that was in the exact shape and design of… a Christmas tree!

“Twilight! Hey, how ya doin’?” I excitedly said, picking the unicorn up and hugging her firmly.

“Hello, Ty!” Twilight brightly greeted. We shared a quick little kiss before I set her down and sat down on the bed, where she made herself comfortable next to me.

“I honestly wasn’t expectin’ you t’ show up today. I’ss Tuesday. Also, wha’ss with the hat?”

“I know, but I wasn’t busy today and it’s a very special time of year in Equestria…” She instantly had my full attention.

“Really now? What time of year is it?”

“It’s Hearth’s Warming season!”

“Uh… Hearth’s Warming…?” Obviously, I was expecting her to say something different.

“Yeah! It’s a time of year where everypony gets together with friends and family and celebrate the anniversary of the founding of Equestria. We celebrate with decorated fir trees, cookies and warm baked goods, candy canes, little foals frolicking in the snow, and so much more! There’s even a yearly play in Canterlot wherein the founding of Equestria is reenacted; the girls and I even participated as the actors while Spike was the narrator one year!” I was shocked and amazed at the same time… Christmas DID exist in Equestria, but for an entirely different reason and under an entirely different name…

“Wow… That actually sounds A LOT like the holiday season going on here… Lemme show ya somethin’…” With that, I got up and led Twi downstairs and into the living room to show her the tree I’d finished decorating with a plethora of gifts neatly wrapped in decorative paper displaying all kinds of wintertime themes on them. I looked down at her to see that she’d been struck speechless.

“Incredible… There’s a human rendition of Hearth’s Warming???” she asked in total surprise.

“In a sense, yea! ‘Cept here’ i’ss called ‘Christmas’ or ‘X-Mas,’” I explained. “Here, we celebrate a time of year where families get together and have a good ol’ merry time an’ give each other gifts an’ treat ourselves to each other’s loving company… It truly is a beautiful time of year. From the sound of it though, it don’t seem like i’ss too far off from this Hearth’s Warming holiday you celebrate. I mean, even the stuff you mentioned about celebratory practices is EXACTLY the same!”

“…Wow… I’m… beyond words at such a revelation, to say the least… This has DEFINITELY got to be recorded into my notebook of factoids on the human world. I think it would also make a great addition to our friendship letters to Princess Celestia! However, that can wait. The real reason I’m visiting is because I’d like to invite you to a get-together in Ponyville.”

“A… get-together, you say?”

“Yes, indeed. Since most, if not ALL of us will be with our families on Hearth’s Warming, Pinkie Pie decided to throw a party celebrating the entire season today. She said it’d be great if I was able to bring you along, considering neither she or anypony knew if this world had such a holiday… which I guess we can tell her it does… but I digress. I cordially invite you to… be… my date…” she nervously turned her head away, but kept her gaze on me, blushing and rubbing the back of her head with a fore hoof as she did. She was just so ADORABLE!

“I would love to accompany you on a most wondrous occasion, my sweet…” I knelt down, gently took the hoof she was nervously scratching her head with, and planted a gentle kiss on it like one of those typical gentlemen I’d seen in cheesy romantic films. Even so, such an action made me feel a mixture of bashfulness in the form of butterflies forming in my stomach and silliness because of how flamboyantly I initiated the gesture. Nonetheless, I brought my gaze to Twilight’s magnificent deep purple eyes as she stared back at me, smiling sweetly. I was inclined— no, compelled— to give her a quick little smooch. But, I reserved myself and instead, chose to ask her something. “When does the party start?”

“It’s supposed to start at around 6:30 this evening, but knowing Pinkie, it’ll most likely have started yesterday.” I got a little chuckle out of Twilight’s quip.

“Heh, well in that case, should we go now or do you wanna hang around here for a bit?”

“As much as I’d love to stay here and bolster the bonds we’ve established with one another, I’m a pony of prominent, perpetual punctuality, so I’d say we should head there now. Besides, we’ll have time to talk on the way there.”

“Hm. Say THAT five times fast…” I jokingly mumbled.

“Say what?” she asked, lowering an eyebrow.

“Pony of prominent, perpetual punctuality.” At that, she giggled.

“I suppose you’re right. But let’s get going. Are you ready?”

“As I’ll ever be.” With that, I stood at attention. Twi backed away a few steps before channeling magic into her horn, causing it to make that familiar twinkling sound as aura soon began to engulf it. She focused for a few seconds, and then in an instant, hit me with a blast of her magic, causing me to glow in the same magenta light that her horn had previously been glowing. My entire body soon began to glow white, followed by it shifting and bending in various areas, as well as shrinking considerably. Within a moment or so, the spell she cast on me was completed and once again, I had taken on the form of an Equestrian stallion.

“Okay, now that that’s done… let’s go.”

“Right, but… when the party’s over an’ we come back here, I want you t’ stay for a li’l bit… I… have somethin’ for you…” her eyes brightened with pleasant shock.

“Really?? What is it?” she asked, smiling.

“Hmm, I think I’mma let it be a surprise…” I told her, winking.

“Alright, then. I’ll be sure to keep it in mind when we return. Here we go!” she announced as she lit up her horn again. I trotted towards her as she refocused her magic. Within an instant, followed by a *POOF*, we were off to Equestria…

*POOF*

“Welcome back to Equestria!” my equine companion announced as we found ourselves standing outside of the Golden Oaks library. I quickly took notice of the fact that mostly everything within our surroundings was largely covered in a thick blanket of snow. I also took note of various houses being decorated in very much the same manner as houses in my world would be decorated; wrapped from top to bottom with lights of various colors and even a few fir trees wrapped in very much the same way except with golden tinsel ropes added, as well as a golden star on top. There was even a wreath on the library’s door. Foals and adult ponies alike in wool hats, scarves, and boots (even though ponies didn’t have toes… go figure) playing in the snow, making snow angels (inexplicably, considering the normal range of movement of a pony) and even making snowmen snow ponies. Some were even rolling the snow into balls to throw at one another. The sight of such similarity between this world and mine no less than baffled me.

“Indeed. If I’d-a known it was THIS snowy here, I woulda brought a hat an’ some gloves myself…”

“I may have a hat and a pair of stockings lying around somewhere…” she pondered as we headed into the warm, inviting sanctuary that was Twilight’s library. “…but then, you probably won’t need a hat. You have enough wool on your head already,” she joked with a giggle at my mane.

“Ohhohoho, you got jokes now…”

“Maybe…” she winked at me.

“Hey, where’s all your decorations?” I asked, taking notice of the lack of ornaments and lights and such.

“Spike and I won’t be staying here for Hearth’s Warming. We're going to travel out to Canterlot to see my parents. In turn, I didn’t really find it a necessity to decorate this library with more than the wreath on the front door wishing everypony a Merry Hearth’s Warming.” She trotted towards the staircase immediately visible from the entranceway of the library. “Spike! Are you ready to go yet?”

“Yeah! I just gotta… and done!” I heard a young voice call back. About a minute or so later, I caught sight of the familiar purple-and-green dragon walking down the stairs, wearing a sapphire blue wool cap with a white puffball at the tip, accompanied by a pair of matching blue mittens and snow boots. He came down carrying two presents of some sort; a small rectangular shape wrapped in green paper and tied together with a red bow, and a prism-shaped object wrapped in glittery, shiny silver.

“Spike, you know Hearth’s Warming isn’t here quite yet, right? It's in a few days.” Twilight informed the dragon.

“Doesn’t mean I can’t celebrate a little early. In fact, this one’s for you…” he said as he handed Twi the red-and-green box-shaped object.

“Well thank you, Spike! Who’s the other one for?”

“Rarity, of course!” I shook my head, smirking at that. I supposed she still hadn’t let him know that she didn’t quite see him the way he saw her. But hey, I had to give him props for effort.

“…Rrrright,” Twilight responded. “Anyway, we should head out to Sugar Cube Corner now.”

“Why? Pinkie said the party wasn’t supposed to start for another two hours.”

“Yes, but…” she trailed off, for some reason opting to divulge the remainder of her statement to Spike in private as she leaned in and whispered something to her assistant. I couldn’t make out what she told him, she was so discreet.

“Ohh! Okay, then…” with that, Spike walked away from the staircase and towards me as Twilight went upstairs.

“Hey Ty!” greeted the young dragon.

“What up?” I answered. “I see you’re goin’ out there prepared. I coulda sworn you said dragons were immune to extreme temperatures…”

“Of course. But I figured I’d still dress for the occasion.”

“I see…” I pensively replied with a nod. As I pondered, Twi came back down the stairs sporting a blue saddle with fluff around the edges, a pink-and-white striped scarf, and yellow snow boots to go along with her tree hat. “I see you’re prepared as well… Shall we be off, then?”

“Don’t you want me to find a pair of stockings for you?” I thought for a second before I replied.

“Nah, Ah’ont need ‘em. Especially since, with me bein’ human an’ all, I wouldn’t be too comfortable wearin’ what you call ‘Stockings.’”

“Alright,” she responded with a nonchalant head tilt. “Suit yourself. Let’s be on our way, men!” Spike climbed onto Twilight’s back.

“Right behind ya,” I said. Soon, we were out of the library and making our way towards Sugar Cube Corner.

We were approaching our destination after a short stint of sightseeing around various parts of town, observing the all the Christmas-like Hearth’s Warming spirit spreading itself around Ponyville. It was uncanny how similar this all was to Christmas on Earth… I even saw a few ponies wearing Santa hats. I was inclined to ask about any stories of a morbidly obese pony who rode in a sleigh filled with gifts for all the ‘good little boys and girls’ and traveled all around the world at a rate possibly faster than Rainbow Dash, making sure to quietly break into everypony’s houses and leave things there rather than take them. So I did.

“Hey… is there such a thing as a certain kind o’ foal’s tale followin’ Hearth’s Warming?”

“Other than the story about Equestria’s foundation?”

“Yea. Like… how do I put this… In my world, kids are told about a fat man in a red suit and puffball hat named Santa Claus. He lives in the North Pole— which is freezin’ and covered in ice an’ snow, mind you— where there’s a workshop filled with elves who build toys for kids. He knows which children have been naughty or nice an’ delivers presents— or charcoal— accordingly. He makes an annual trip around the world on the night of Christmas Eve, personally deliverin’ his gifts to every single house in the entire world and I can tell I’ve already totally lost you, didn’t I…?” I asked, taking note of the bewildered looks on both the unicorn’s and the dragon’s faces.

“Yyyeah… I’m sorry to say I haven’t even the smallest clue on what you’re talking about.”

“Hmph. Guess our holidays AREN’T exactly the same…”

“It would appear that way. This ‘Santa Claus’ thing sounds totally improbable on so many aspects…”

“True. Tha’ss why i’ss a chidren’s tale, though. It mainly gets kids t’ behave an’ gets them all happy for the season.”

“Ohh. That’s pretty interesting," she noddingly replied, seeming none too interested as she turned ahead. "Looks like we’re here now,” she informed as Pinkie Pie’s bakery home came into view. As I should’ve expected, the place was even MORE overly decorated than usual… and that’s saying a lot. The building already looked like a gingerbread house, but now it had giant candy canes in front of it (one of which, it seemed someone had taken a huge bite out of), lights all over the roof that were blinking on and off rhythmically, and a miniature tree with decorations seemingly made of candy covering it. The three of us took a moment to admire the workmanship that went into decorating the place before we trotted towards the doorstep. Before any of us was able to even touch the doorknob, the door swung open, followed by a set of pink legs stretching themselves around us like a rubber band and dragging us all into the building effortlessly.

“Hi guys!! I’m soooo glad you could make it! This is gonna be such an awesome party that awesomeness is gonna need a new definition for how awesomely awesome this party’s going to be!” rambled the party’s overly enthusiastic host, none other than Pinkie Pie, who was wearing a Santa hat of her own, complemented by a green saddle that shared similarity with the design of Twilight’s.

“Hey, Pinkie!” Twilight greeted. “Just thought we’d stop by early.”

“Yea, an’ now I see why…” I quipped, shaking off the disorientation of being practically sucked into the building like it was a tornado. However, I wouldn’t be getting the break I needed as Pinkie took the initiative to grab me and pull me into one of her merciless death grips. “No no no no, Pinkie! Plea— AAAGH!!!”

“Oh my goodness am I glad to see you, Ty! I don’t know if she told you this, but I told Twilight to bring you here just in case there wasn’t such a thing as Hearth’s Warming in your world so that you wouldn’t miss out on all the fun and cheer and excitement and candy and snow and all the wonderful joys of Hearth’s Warming! It’s a super fun holiday season of everypony getting together and having fun! Usually it’s with family and Hearth’s Warming is about a week away from now but seeing as I won’t be seeing my friends then, I decided to throw this spectacular, exciting, amazing party so everypony cou—!”

“Pinkie… Can you please let me go…? Ack…” I strained, out of air and struggling hard to take any more in due to Pinkie choking me.

“Oopsie! My bad…” she apologized with a giggle as she FINALLY released me. I took a moment to take deep breaths to recover from such a horrid near-death experience. I wouldn’t wish a Pinkie Pie bear hug on my worst enemy… In any case, I noticed that the inside of the place, save for a table or two lined up with snack foods (mostly sweets like heart and tree-shaped cookies and snowflake-decorated cakes and puffball hat-shaped pastries) set on each of them, was largely plain as if she’d forgotten to decorate the inside of the bakery. I also took note of two punch bowls filled to the brim with a creamy white liquid and cups and plates aligned alongside them.

“Have any of the girls showed up yet?” Twilight inquired.

“Applejack was here a little while ago. She’ll be back with Granny Smith, Big Mac, and Apple Bloom when the party starts in about an hour. The others are getting ready.” Just then, there was a knock on the already-open door. Each of us turned around to see a yellow pegasus mare with pink hair standing in the doorway. She was wearing pretty much the same attire as Pinkie and Twi, but her boots, scarf, saddle and hat were all a shade of pink that matched her mane. She was carrying a decorative holiday-themed bag on her back.

“Hello everyone,” she greeted with a smile.

“Hi, Fluttershy!” Pinkie greeted. Fluttershy walked in, but not before making sure to wipe any dirt on her boots off on the welcome mat before carefully stepping in and gently shutting the door and undressing herself.

“I got you those decorations you asked for. It almost took me all d—!”

“That’s great!” Pinkie exclaimed, interrupting the pegasus as she dashed towards her and took the bag into her hoof. “Now we can really get this place looking cheery! And with five of us here, we can get it done in no time!”

“Yes, but… um, I don’t know if—!”

“Let’s get to work!” she interrupted again.

“Okay… but… I’m not certain of if I got enough decorations for—!”

“Sure thing, Pinkie!” Twilight interrupted while taking off her winter wear save for the tree hat as Pinkie opened the bag to reveal various decorative items such as lights, tinsel, wreaths, little red, green and gold balls with miniature hooks and the like. I was actually starting to feel bad for Fluttershy. She couldn’t seem to get a word in edgewise because she was talking so quietly that no one seemed to hear her.

“What was it you was tryna say?” I asked the meek yellow mare in curiosity.

“Oh, nothing… It wasn’t really important anyway…” At that, I frowned.

“C’mon now… if you got somethin’ t’ say, say it. Speak up.”

“Oh okay…” she submissively agreed. I sighed in pity, but I figured she’d still been having trouble really being able to speak to others.

“You an’ I are gonna have a chat regardin’ speakin’ up later,” I said, placing a hoof on her shoulder, prompting her to look up at me with those endearing, soft turquoise eyes of hers. “…but for now, why don’t we help the others?”

“Okay,” was all she responded with before I turned around and walked towards the bag Pinkie had opened. The five of us wasted no time sprucing up the room with some holiday cheer. After a stint of a few minutes, we transformed the room into a wonderland of jolly goodness. By the time we were done, there was another knock on the door. Pinkie Pie opened it to greet a few miscellaneous ponies whose names I didn’t have a record of. She warmly and excitedly invited them into the abode, making sure to tell them that they were going to have the times of their lives and that there were snacks on the table across the room.

Guests began trickling in at a steady rate, so far with no sign of the other girls. Things got humorous when a tall, skinny yellow stallion and a plump blue mare with pink cupcake frosting-looking hair carrying two foals; one a tan, brown-haired pegasus colt, the other a yellow, orange-haired Unicorn filly walked in, seemingly appalled at what they looked at.

“Pinkamena Diane Pie, what did we tell you about setting up parties in our bakery without letting us know?” scolded the stallion, looking none too pleased. I took it that he was the proprietor of this establishment, while the blue mare was his wife. I also guessed that the two foals were their kids… but that confused the hell out of me, since both of them were Earth ponies while the foals were different from each other… I’d ask Twi about that later. I also had to stifle a laugh at what they called Pinkie. I’d have never guessed that her full name was Pinkamena. Or that her middle name was Diane of all things… Diane! I was gonna have some fun with that…

“Sorry, Mr. and Mrs. Cake…” Pinkie apologized. “But… I couldn’t help it! I was just so full of cheer and joy that I wanted to spread it to as much of Ponyville as I possibly could!” she reasoned in her own defense.

“Hm… well, ‘tis the season…” the blue mare known as Mrs. Cake pondered. “Fine, you can have this little shindig of yours. But from now on, LET US KNOW IN ADVANCE! Please?”

“Yes sir… Er— I mean ma’am.”

*AHEM* the goldenrod stallion cleared his throat.

“Ooh! I mean… yes, Mr. and Mrs. Cake.” With that, the couple made their way towards a nearby stair case and went up the stairs. I decided to go and comfort Pinkie after that brush with trouble. She seemed a little distraught after being chewed out like that.

“You okay?”

“Yeah… Sometimes I forget to tell the Cakes whenever I throw a party in here. Maybe it’s because I hatched the idea for this party just this morning…” I shook my head.

“This mornin’? You sure are a fast organizer! Wow…”

“Yeah. Partying is like a part of me! It’s only natural that I plan and organize them as fast as I do. Have you seen my Cutie Mark?”

“I suppose you have a point there… Diane.” I chuckled.

“Please, don’t call me that. It’s not a very fun-tastic name…” At that confession, my smirk faded into a look of concern. So much for having fun with her name...

“Aw… Oh alright. Well in any case, at least they let you throw this party anyway, right? I mean sure, they wasn’t happy about comin’ in an’ findin’ out like this, but who knows? Maybe they’ll come down an’ enjoy it. That way, by the end of it, they’ll be THANKIN’ you for the party instead o’ scoldin’ you for it…” I explained as I patted her on the back. She looked up at me with an endearing smile, all signs of regret seemingly vanished.

“You’re right! Now I have more reason to make this party extra-spectacularly asbotively posilutely magnificent!” she exclaimed as she lifted up, standing on her back hooves and turning towards me. My face froze in horror.

“Oh sweet salty Christ on a cracker, no…” was all that was on my mind.

“DAAaaagh!!!” the party mare victimized me with another horrid bear hug. She wrapped her forelegs around my neck and buried my face in her chest as she nuzzled into my afro.

“You’re a good stallion, Ty…” she lauded as she squeezed.

“Thanks…” I replied in a strained voice that sounded like it was coming from a sentient, yet moronic talking meatball. “But do you hafta squeeze so tight…?” I asked, placing one of my fore hooves on her back. She took that as a cue to let go.

“Ooh! I’m really sorry, Ty,” she apologized again with a more sheepish giggle. “I get a little carried away with hugs sometimes…”

“Understandable… but seriously, you could break someone with those hugs…” I rubbed my neck as I stretched it, trying to work out the kinks that the pink pony caused. “Now we have a holiday party t’ celebrate. Le’ss get to it, shall we?”

“Okie Dokie Lokie!” she agreed before bouncing off into the ever-developing crowd like a bunny rabbit. I’d decided to take the time to start mingling and meeting some of the unfamiliar party guests as we waited for everyone to show up. Little by little, ponies of all sizes and colors were pouring into Sugar Cube Corner, each wearing their own celebratory article of clothing and wearing bright smiles on their faces and warmly greeting one another as they took in the toasty, joyful ambience that was Hearth’s Warming celebration. Eventually, one by one, the other three girls showed up. The first was Applejack, accompanied by a small yellow filly with red hair, a big red stallion with short brown hair and a yoke around his neck, and a bright green elderly mare with light gray hair and obvious signs of her age. Soon after came Rainbow Dash alongside a small, dark orange filly with spiky purple hair.

Eventually after the party had been under way and in full swing with music playing and ponies eating, drinking, dancing, and being merry, Rarity showed up in the most flamboyant outfit I’d seen on anypony. She came in wearing a really flashy red dress, her hair was done up in a fancy-looking bun that kind of reminded me of a beauty pageant winner, and she wore an amount of makeup I personally felt was unnecessary. She was followed by a white unicorn filly with swirly pink and purple hair who had very much been as dolled up as she was. The filly had a sour look on her face, instantly telling me she didn’t like the way she’d been dressed.

“Jeez, Rarity… don’t you think this is a bit overkill?” I heard the filly whiningly ask.

“Now now, Sweetie Belle. There’s no such thing as ‘overkill’ when it comes to looking simply marvelous. Especially at a time like this. Oh, there are Scootaloo and Apple Bloom.” Sweetie Belle took no time to dash off to meet her friends. I approached the fashionista as she strolled in as elegantly as possible.

“Hey Rarity!” I greeted.

“Ty! Why good evening, dear! How do you do?”

“I’m good. And yaself?”

“Wonderful! It truly warms my heart to be able to attend a get-together with my dearest friends on a time as special as Hearth’s Warming.”

“Tha’ss great! But uh… not t’ be rude or nothin’, but why dress up like you was goin’ to a royal ball?” She looked around, seeming to make sure nopony could hear her before she slung a hoof around my neck and pulled me close.

“Between you and I… I’m actually trying to procure a… date, if you will…” she whispered into my ear, much to my amusement.

“Rarity!” a familiar voice called.

“Looks like a date procured you…” I joked as I caught sight of Spike behind Rarity, no longer wearing his winter attire, making his way through the crowd to get to the object of his affections. Once he reached her, he almost fell back in love-struck awe as she turned around to look at him.

“You… you look gorgeous, Rarity…” he droned as his irises and pupils were replaced by bright pink hearts while he ogled the white unicorn mare in total astonishment.

“Why thank you, Spikey-Wikey.”

“Do… you want something to drink? There’s some eggnog over there on the table. W-we should… you know… go get some… together.” It seemed he was trying his best moves on her already.

“Oh my… A-as much as I’d love to Spike… I can’t simply leave Ty here all alo—!” she tried to make an excuse to not do that.

“Ty! There you are. Come here,” I heard a tomboyish voice call for me. I looked around to see Rainbow Dash. Before I could say anything, Rainbow grabbed my foreleg and dragged me away from Rarity, making it impossible for me to have saved her from her predicament. As I was getting lost in the crowd, I caught a glimpse at Rarity’s saddened face as she watched her only hope disappear with her chances of finding a date that wasn’t Spike.

“Slow ya roll, Dash!” I begged, wondering why she was so hurriedly pulling me across the room as she was. “Wha’ss the hurry?”

“Dude, I’ve GOT to show you something… It’s gonna be amazing!” I heard her quietly snickering as she pulled on me. I was already growing suspicious… Nevertheless, we arrived at the place in question. There, I saw Fluttershy standing there, looking just about as confused as I was. “Okay, stand here next to Fluttershy.”

“Ooookay…?” I warily obeyed her command as I stood next to the pink-maned pegasus. “Now what? What do you have to show me?” At that, she put on the most evil grin I'd ever seen her muster.

“Look…” she was snickering so hard that she could barely form a coherent statement. “L-look up…” she laughingly requested, pointing a hoof directly above me and Fluttershy. We looked up, only to be horrified at what we saw… a mistletoe. I was instantly so hot that I swore I could melt icebergs with a single touch. I slowly looked at Fluttershy to see her blush so hard that she would’ve made an apple jealous.

“Oh… my…!” she whispered, at a loss for words.

“Well… what’re you guys waiting for?” Rainbow joked, laughing at us. “Kiss.” I spent a moment contemplating what to do. I knew Rainbow was just doing this to get a reaction out of me and I’d deal with that momentarily. But the issue at hoof was what to do with Fluttershy. I didn’t want to hurt the girl’s feelings, but I had NO intention of kissing her. I thought about how Twi would feel if I did. Then I had an idea…

“I’m tellin’ on you!” I said in a mock-childish voice. “Twiiiiliiiight!” I called in a sing-songy voice.

“Yees?” I heard the unicorn mare answer from behind me, shocking me. I turned around to see her snickering.

“…you knew about this, didn’t you…?”

“You got me…” she laughed some more as she walked beside Rainbow, much to my chagrin. “I have to admit, I initially wasn’t going to participate in this prank, but then Rainbow came up with the idea of seeing what you would do if I wasn’t around. I'm happy to inform you that you pass!” she happily said. I was not amused. In fact, I found it outright annoying that they’d do that. My contempt for such a tactic didn’t go unnoticed as I gave her a stern look. “I’m sorry Ty…” she sincerely apolpgized as she looked at me with an irresistible pouty face. I couldn’t stay mad at a face like that, so I somehow found it in me to chuckle a little, however awkward it felt.

“Yea I suppose it was a pretty funny little trick, huh?” I chuckled some more. “But you hafta understand that Fluttershy might not have appreciated that…” I added, looking towards the reasonably-disheveled mare, still frozen and flustered. I took a deep breath. “So, with a thousand pardons, Twilight...” I leaned forward to give my fellow prank victim an obligatory kiss on the cheek, making her squeak in shock. I turned back to the unicorn mare, who seemed to be okay with the gesture.

“It’s okay. It’s tradition,” she assured with a smile that communicated a considerable level of discomfort. “Sorry about that, Fluttershy…”

“Um… it’s… it’s okay…” she stuttered, her face still red with embarrassment. However, she did manage to smile, which helped to ease the awkwardness of the situation.

“You both do know that none of us is gonna talk about this… EVER. Right?” I asked.

“Right.” “Right…” both Fluttershy and Twilight agreed.

“Good. Now if you’ll excuse me, Twi…” I requested as I took a few steps forward. She wordlessly stepped back. “So… Dashie… I heard you like prankin’…”

“Yeah? What about it?” she shot back, giving me a playfully challenging look as I approached.

“Y’see, I like pranks too… they can be really fun… in fact… lemme show you somethin’… see that table over there?” I asked, pointing to the snack table to my left and her right.

“Yeah…”

“I think you and it are gonna be good friends… when I throw you into it!” I said, taking the opportunity to pounce on her, starting another one of our wrestling matches. I started by wrapping a foreleg around her neck while I used the other to rub my hoof into her head. She instantly took the initiative to spread her wings and start flying to escape my grasp, which she managed to do after a few seconds.

“Oh, you’re on!” she shouted with a cocky smirk.

“No!” Twi shouted. “Ty! Rainbow! Wa—!” but she was much too late. My wrestling rival and I were already rolling around on the floor, trying to best each other. I lost all awareness of what was around me as I vehemently tried to catch the slippery mare in a position in which I had control. She proved to be no easy opponent, though. She had tons of athletic experience on me, which made her much harder to keep a steady grasp on than I could anticipate. The two of us scuffled, neither of us able to get a definitive edge on the other. During the battle, we’d bumped into quite a few of the other party guests, whatever drinks or food they were holding being dropped on us or on the floor. We eventually rolled into the center of the room as we fought, eliciting the attention of everypony there. Why no one seemed to bother trying to stop us is beyond me, but eventually, I managed to catch the mare in a position where I was sitting on top of her, disabling her wings.

“Yea! Now… hah… what?” I taunted before raising both of my forelegs. I moved one of them to poke at her side, making her flinch.

“No! Don’t do that! I-I’m ticklish!”

“Oh, well this is about t’ be a LOT more fun! Muhuhahahahaha!” I retorted as I began to give Rainbow the old tickle torture. She writhed, twitched, and squirmed violently under me, all the while laughing uncontrollably.

"Haha-St-stop! Hhahahhaha! St-ahaha! Stop t-tickling me!" she pleaded, at my mercy.

"Sure. All you gotta do is tell me you give up..."

"No! I-I'm... Hahaha! Not losing to... to you-hoohhahaha!" she sternly rebuked my suggestion through her fit of guffawing.

"Famous last words..." I smilingly stated, my tone sinister as I continued tickling her half to death.

“Hey! Get off of my sister!!” I heard a voice shout from nowhere. I turned to my right to see a blur of orange, purple, and red come bulleting towards me. Before I knew it, my vision was clouded in what tasted like cake residue. I moved a hoof to wipe it off before I felt a sudden jolt of pain in my abdomen, forcing me off of Rainbow Dash. I stumbled back, managing to gain balance as I wiped the cake off of my face to see a highly upset Scootaloo glaring at me as she helped Rainbow Dash up.

“It’s okay, Squirt… we were just playing,” Rainbow assured the filly, who looked back at her in surprise. “I did need the save though. Thanks.”

“O-oh, um… no problem, Rainbow Dash! That’s what sisters are for, right?”

“Definitely,” she agreed as she hugged the filly. I almost found it in me to ‘d’aww’ had it not been for the fact that Scootaloo had just assaulted me. “As a matter of fact… Hey Ty. Ready for round two?” she challenged as she readied herself, winking at Scootaloo. Scootaloo got the message and readied herself for battle as well.

“Wait, what? That ain’t fair! I call hacks!” My pleas fell on deaf ears and instantly, I found myself being ambushed by the two pegasi. We were rolling around on the ground again, but this time, I was at a severe disadvantage. I was more or less struggling to keep up as the filly and the mare proceeded to rip me apart like the ravenous wolves they were. A short while later, I found myself face down on the floor with Rainbow dominantly sitting atop my back, forcing my face into the floor with a hoof.

“Let’s see what happens when YOU get tickled against your will… Ready, Squirt?”

“Ready!”

“No! No wait ple-he-hease!” I tried to beg, but the two were already well into tickling me to death. All that annoying poking and prodding, and by four offending enemy appendages rather than two… it was such a miserable experience. Every jerk and flinch my body would get forced into doing only served to make this embarrassing situation that much more awful. “Okay oka-ha-ha-ha-hay! I give up! Please, stop!” I begged. The pegasi mercifully heard me and released me, allowing me to get up.

“Good job, Scootaloo!”

“Thanks, Rainbow!” the two of them hoof bumped in victory while I picked myself up in shame, although I wasn’t bummed about losing. "Oh, and um... Heh, sorry about losing my cool on you, Mr. Memoir, sir..." the rambunctious filly bashfully apologized, grinning with a slight sense of guilt and rubbing the back of her head as she looked at me.

"You good, Scootaloo... It was all in good fun."

“Well, that’s thirteen to four, Ty,” Rainbow said to me, offering me a hoof bump.

“You cheated this time..."

"I don't recall there being rules about outside interference," she mocked. "You still lose, tough guy."

"Eugh, I swear I’m gonna start winnin’… One o' these days Rainbow, One o' these days…!” I jokingly warned as I returned her hoof bump. I offered one to Scootaloo as well. “Nice sneak attack.”

“Heh heh, thanks…” she said, returning my hoof bump.

“That’s great that y’all are all made up an’ such, but y’all kinda got the crowd upset…” informed a country voice as its owner approached us. Applejack looked at us, smirking and shaking her head in amusement. I looked around to see the faces of some of the spectators. Some looked fearful, some looked angry, but the majority of them were laughing.

“I’d like t’ take a moment to apologize for the inconvenience,” I announced, my face still littered in cake. “There was no real fight goin’ on here. Everything that transpired in this last couple minutes was in all good fun. There are no hard feelings to go around and I am sorry if you wound up losin’ your snack on the floor and/or on our faces. That is all.” My announcement seemed to have done the trick in soothing the mood back to its original state of peaceful cheer, despite a few ponies getting caught in the ruckus and some of them losing their food to either the floor or to me and Rainbow. I went to clean myself off before rejoining the festivity of the party. I managed to run into the light green elderly mare who I could guess was Applejack’s grandmother, who took the time to commend me for my wrestling skills, mentioning something about stallions in her day doing the same thing. She also joked about how if she were younger, she’d have mopped the floor with me, Rainbow, AND Scootaloo at once. She went off on a tangent about her younger days before promptly falling asleep mid-story, which I took as the cue to migrate to other areas of the bakery, conversing with other guests…

The party went on into the night, where guests had been trickling out in the same manner as they’d come in. Little by little, ponies were out of the door and back into their homes. Eventually, the Hearth’s Warming celebration came to a close, where the only partygoers left were the ones who’d been here since the beginning; Twilight, Spike (who was back in his winter attire like everypony else and asleep at this point), Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and me.

“Thank you guys so much for coming!” said Pinkie. “I hope it was as great and fantastic for you as it was for me!”

“Oh, most definitely. I’m glad you invited me,” I responded.

“We all know by now that your parties are always top-notch, Pinkie. We wouldn’t have missed it for the world,” Twi commended. "Oh, and Fluttershy… I hope we’re in understanding over um… the… incident.”

“Y-yes,” Fluttershy replied, seeming to be okay. “It was um… nice. I mean, not Ty kissing me on the cheek, but what we talked about. Not to say that it wasn’t nice that you still went through with it, Ty. But the kiss was nice, too… I mean, I’m not saying I liked it or anything, but I—!” she was blushingly mixing up her thoughts, still seeming to be a bit rattled about Rainbow Dash’s little prank.

“Fluttershy,” I called, making her stop her rambling and turn her attention to me. “I’ss all okay. No hard feelin’s?” I asked, offering a hug.

“No. No hard feelings…” she concurred as she welcomed the embrace.

“Wait… what happened?” asked Pinkie, who was out of the loop.

“Some holiday-related stuff. Nothin’ too big,” I dismissed.

“But, what was that about ki—!”

“Well, we should get going now,” Twilight said, mercifully interrupting Pinkie. “G’night, girls! And Happy Hearth’s Warming!” With that, Twi and I were off into the frigid winter evening, trekking back to the library.

“Happy Hearth’s Warming!” The two called from behind. I could only assume Fluttershy was likely to be quizzed on that discussion by Pinkie. Nonetheless, after a quiet walk back to the Golden Oaks library, Twilight was quick to trot upstairs in order to take Spike’s outfit off and put the sleeping dragon in his bed. After a brief moment of waiting downstairs, she came back, devoid of any clothing. “You ready to go back now?” she quietly asked me.

“Yea, le’ss go…” I affirmed with a nod. She charged up her horn once again with me assuming a place beside her as she cast the spell that wound send us back to my house on Earth…

*POOF* We reappeared back in my room, which was pitch black due to it being dark outside. I trotted towards the light switch and flicked it, giving us sufficient light.

“Alright, you know the drill…” she said, her horn already glowing brightly.

“Yep… hit me.” With a nod, she hit me with a beam of her magic that instantly changed me back into my human form. I flexed and stretched to get comfortable after such a long day of being a pony. Plus, I was stretching out the bruises and strains I’d earned from Pinkie’s hugs and that bout with Rainbow and Scootaloo. “Y’know, we should prolly get on that whole ‘I’m a human,’ thing soon. Either that, or ask Celestia if she’s made any progress with the spell she said she’d help us with.”

“You’re right, but we still haven’t found a very good time to introduce you in your true form just yet. I know it’s been a good couple of months, but we have to be patient with these sorts of things. And I'm sure Princess Celestia works on that spell as often as she can. For now, we wait until the time is right…”

“I guess… in any case, I hafta ask… what was the deal with you agreein’ t’ that prank of Rainbow’s?”

“Oh, um… To be completely honest with you, Ty, I didn’t want to go through with it… Rainbow insisted that I do it, telling me that it would be a… test of trust, of sorts. She told me that she would find some mare close to us— which evidently, was Fluttershy— to stand in the spot where the mistletoe was. She then told me that she’d bring you over and place you under it alongside the mare and… well, the rest is history. While I didn’t agree at all with the method in which she conducted this little experiment, I… was kind of curious as to what you would do if placed in a compromising situation when I didn’t seem to be around. I’m relieved that your first action was to call for me…”

“Yea, but it don’t sit well with me how such a prank was set up. I mean, you got your answer, but Fluttershy didn’t know about it and neither did I. I told you about not lettin’ me know about your intentions when it came to experiments…”

“Yeah… I’m sorry… Please forgive me. I’m kind of new at this ‘dating’ thing…”

“I’ss fine now…” I calmly assured. “I mean… you DID want t’ know if you could trust me; a question I hope you got a satisfactory answer to.”

“I did… I did…” she replied with an uneasy smile.

“But how am I gonna trust you if you get roped int’ doin' stuff like that? Not to say I don’t have complete and utter faith in you, don't get me wrong. But it kinda hurt findin’ out you was part o’ that. Rainbow, I could— and should’ve expected to try somethin’ to prank me.”

“Yes… I completely understand.”

“Hm… if it makes you feel any better, I thought about you when I kissed Fluttershy on the cheek…” I smiled at her as I caressed her cheek with a hand. She returned the gesture by smiling warmly back at me as she nuzzled into my hand.

“Thank you for understanding… and I promise— no, I PINKIE Promise to never subject you to any… awkward experiments like that again. Cross my heart and hope to fly, Stick a cupcake in my eye,” she swore as she went through the motions of the Pinkie Promise.

“Thank you… Oh! Before I forget… follow me…” I led the unicorn downstairs into my living room, where the lights on the Christmas tree were the only thing keeping the area from being completely dark. Once we reached our destination, I knelt down and reached under the sofa to fetch her gift. When I pulled it out, her eyes widened in interest. “I know it ain’t much, but here ya go…” I pulled out the gift and handed it over to her. It was a simple Christmas-themed card with a picture of a lit fireplace and a decorated tree in the foreground.

“Despite it being a cold season, there are a lot of things to keep me warm…” she read. She opened the card to view its contents. “…but nothing has ever kept me as warm as the love you and I have shared and continue to share. Merry Christmas, honey. With an infinite reservoir of affection, Tyshawn…” She closed the card and looked up at me, tears welling up in those beautiful eyes of hers as she smiled at me.

“Happy Hearth’s Warming, Twilight…” I quietly said, smiling back at her. She practically tackled me, jumping onto my chest and giving me a huge, passionate smooch before hugging me. As she craned her head back to face me, she tearfully smiled at me once again.

“Merry Christmas…”

Author's Notes:

Merry Christmas/Happy Hearth's Warming!