Hearth’s Warming Cookies
“Jammer!” The young unicorn colt’s ears twitched as his name bounced up the stairs.
“Yeah?” he called back at his mom, his bright eyes not leaving the tableau spread in front of him. Ahuizotl was standing on the end of the coffee-table, his arms spread wide, a fierce grin on his muzzle as he faced down Wonderbolt members Soarin and Spitfire. Daring Do was nowhere to be seen, already captured and being held in Ahuizotl’s secret base beneath the ground.
“You’re not poking into your presents, are you?” his mother’s voice asked from the bottom of the stairs. Jammer’s eyes darted away from the battle on the coffee table, towards the large tree that had been set up in the middle of the room with its bright lights and decorations. And the colorfully wrapped boxes below it that had been taunting him for the last week.
“No, mom!” he called back, his eyes still fixed on the pile of gifts beneath the tree. Why was she asking him again? He’d never peeked before. Why would he start now? And he’d only hinted that he was thinking of doing it. It wasn’t like he’d actually done it. He stared at the large, red-wrapped gift that was sitting against the far wall near the fireplace, his eyes tracing the name written on the side.
To Jammer, it read, From Mom and Dad with Love. Mom and dad had never gotten him one big gift before, and it was the biggest gift under the tree, even bigger than he was. Whatever was in it, it had to be something good.
“Alright,” his mother’s voice came again. “Just checking. Remember, your uncle is coming over soon!”
“I know,” he called as he dragged his eyes away from the wondrous bounty of mysterious wealth that was sitting nearby. “Is he going to come soon?”
“He said three o’ clock, Jammer. What time is it now?”
Jammer looked away from the coffee table, his eyes moving to the large grandfather clock that was sitting near the end of the couch. “Two … two-fifty-five?”
“Yep,” his mother said again, a bit of satisfaction in her voice. “So whatever you’re doing up there, don’t get too caught up in it. We’re going to be making Hearth’s Warming cookies!”
Jammer grinned as he looked back down at Ahuizotl, his disappointment that he was going to have to wait until later to finish up the grand battle quickly vanishing at the thought of being able to dig through cookies with his uncle.
“Is your sister up there?”
“No, mom,” he said, shaking his head as he reached out with one hoof to grab Ahuizotl.
“Alright,” his mom replied. “Well, when your uncle gets here, come on down, alright?”
“Ok mom!” he said, his hoof coming to a stop inches away from Ahuizotl. His eyes darted back to the clock. Mom said uncle Steel would be here at three, right? He looked back down at the toys he’d spread across the table.
That’s enough time to finish this, right? Ahuizotl began to laugh again as one of his trained cats leapt forward, rushing at the Wonderbolts with a ferocious howl.
* * *
“I got it! I got it!’ Jammer yelled as he raced down the stairs, his hooves ringing against the wooden steps. He coiled his body as he reached one of the bottom steps and jumped, skipping the last few steps and landing on the floor with a loud bang.
“Jammer,” his mom called from the kitchen as he raced down the hall, “what have I told you about jumping down the stairs?”
“I know!” he said as he locked his hooves, sliding across the smooth, polished floor and slamming into the base of the front door with a loud crash.
“And running into the door?”
“I know!” he called back. He heard his sister giggle as he climbed to his hooves. For a moment, he stared at the door handle, his eyes narrowing as he tried to picture it wrapping itself in a bright-blue aura and then turning to one side. He squinted harder as he glanced at the tip of his horn, waiting for some sort of bright-blue glow to make itself known.
Nothing.
“Aww,” he said as his uncle tapped the door again, a little quieter this time. “I thought I was going to get it that time.”
“He-llo?” His uncle’s voice called through the door. “Somepony there?” There came another tap against the door. “Anypony? Am I going to have to let myself in?”
Jammer snickered as he reared up against the door. It only took him a second to find the door’s lock and turn it to one side. There was a faint click as the door locked, and Jammer dropped down the the ground, a wide grin spreading across his face.
“It’s op-en!” he sang, trying not to laugh as the door thumped against its frame.
“Huh,” he heard his Uncle say as the door thumped again. “Are you sure? It’s not opening.”
“Yeah,” Jammer said, nodding as he giggled. “I’m looking right at it!” The door rattled again as his uncle tried to push it open, and Jammer laughed.
“I don’t know…” The door rattled again. “I think it’s locked. Did you lock it by mistake?”
“What? No?” Jammer said, trying to make himself sound innocent. “Maybe it’s just stuck?” The door rattled again and he let out another laugh, bunching both his hooves over his mouth as he tried to hold his laughter back.
“Nope, nope, I’m pretty sure it’s locked,” his uncle said, just as his mom called from the kitchen.
“Jammer? Did you lock your Uncle out again?”
“No!” he called back, his words somewhat broken by a giggle. He heard Sparkle laugh as his mother let out an exasperated groan.
“Jammer—” she started to say, but then his attention was pulled away from whatever she was about to tell him to as a new voice came from behind the door.
“Here, let me try it,” the new voice said. Jammer frowned. It didn’t sound like anypony he knew. Had his uncle brought someone with him?
There was a clicking sound from the door, and Jammer’s eyes widened as the door unlocked itself, the small, flat switch flipping back with a sharp snap. Then the doorknob turned, and he stepped back as the door swung in, bits of light, fluffy snowfall drifting through the doorway.
A unicorn that he didn’t recognize was standing in front of the doorway, his hooves sunk deeply into the build-up of snow on the front steps. The unicorn was giving him a satisfied looking grin, sort of like the kind his dad made when he’d managed to trick mom. The unicorn winked at him and then stepped back from the door, coming to a stop next to Jammer’s uncle.
“Well,” the strange unicorn said as he shook his bright-reddish-orange mane, snow falling to either side. “He wasn’t lying, Steel. The door wasn’t locked.”
Jammer’s uncle let out a laugh of his own as he shook his own head. “Well, I guess I owe him an apology then,” he said, stepping forward and then bending down a little as he rubbed his hoof against Jammer’s mane. “Don’t I, Jammer?” he asked.
Jammer shook his head as he realized he was staring. “How’d … how’d you do that?” he asked, still looking at the new unicorn. The unicorn was muscled, a lot like his uncle although nowhere nearly as big. Jammer knew that Steel was one of the toughest and coolest ponies ever, except for his dad, and while the new unicorn standing in front of him wasn’t big, he looked pretty tough, with lots of muscle under his purple coat.
“Do what?” his uncle asked. Now it was his uncle’s turn to chuckle, and Jammer looked up at him in surprise. “You were right Jammer, the door was open. I guess I just wasn’t trying hard enough.” He grinned again, and Jammer had the distinct impression that for once, his uncle had gotten the better of him.
“So?” his uncle asked, leaning over. “Are you going to say hello? Or are you too surprised that I made it inside?”
“I—” Jammer shook his head as his uncle laughed again, and then he jumped up wrapping his legs around his uncle’s massive neck. “Hi, uncle Steel!” he said, pressing his face in against the cold fur of his uncle’s neck. Then he pulled his head back as he remember the stranger, pulling on his uncle’s leg as he gave the unusual unicorn a curious look. “Who’s that?” His uncle let out a chuckle as he turned back to the strange pony, who was looking at the outside of the house with what Jammer thought was more than an average amount of interest.
“Jammer,” his uncle said, stretching his hoof towards the unicorn, “this is Nova Beam. He’s a member of the Guard team that I work with.”
“He is?” Jammer asked, pulling away from his uncle. He took a few steps out past the doorframe, a short shiver rolling over his frame as heavy snowflakes landed on his shoulders, melting and soaking into his coat. The unicorn took a step back, a look on his face that Jammer recognized that said he wasn’t quite sure what to do. It made Jammer grin.
“So you’re on my uncle’s team?” Jammer asked, grinning and taking another step forward. “What do you do? What’s it like? Have you ever done anything cool?” His eyes darted to the dull-purple horn coming out of the unicorns forehead and his eyes widened. “What kind of magic can you do? Is that what you do for the team? Can you cast really big spells? Can you teach me? What about—”
“Alright, Jammer,” Uncle Steel said, wrapping one hoof around his chest and pulling him back into the house. “Why don’t you let him come inside before you start asking so many questions, alright?”
Jammer looked up at his uncle and then back at the unicorn, who was giving his his uncle an amused grin. Well, I guess I can ask him while we’re making cookies…
“Okay!” he said, shaking some of the snow from his hooves and turning towards the kitchen. “Come on, mom’s already in the kitchen!” He scampered down the hallway, his damp hooves slipping against the floor and almost sending him into the wall at one point.
“Wet hooves, Jammer,” his mom said as he rounded the corner to the kitchen, bouncing off of the door as his hooves slipped underneath him. The smell of baking cookies filled his nose, and he felt himself start to drool as the sweet, spicy scent of gingerbread rolled over him.
“I know!” he said, speaking around a suddenly heavy tongue as he scrambled back up. “I just slipped!”
“Uh-huh,” his mother said as she gave him a suspicious look, her wooden mixing spoon momentarily still. “Did you let your uncle in?”
“Yep!” Jammer said, nodding as he leapt up alongside the kitchen island, a stool rocking under his weight. He eyed the spread of flour covering the kitchen island, the large balls of cookie dough sitting and waiting to be rolled out and turned into cookies. Sparkle was sitting next to his mother, her hooves wrapped around the bowl his mother was stirring, a look of heavy concentration on her face as she strained to keep the bowl from moving.
“Jammer…” his mother warned, one eye narrowing on him. He pulled his hoof back and gave his mother an innocent grin. “Keep your hooves out of the cookie dough.”
“I am, mom,” he said, dropping his forehooves down on the stool next to him.
“Sure, now that I’m watching you,” his mom said with a smile. Sparkle giggled, and his mother turned her attention back to the bowl in front of her.
“Alright, Sparkle,” she said, her horn lighting, an answering light-blue glow wrapping around the cookie dough, “you can let go now.” Jammer watched as his mother separated the mixing bowl from the dough, a large blob of chocolate-chip cookie dough floating into the air and then dropping to the counter with a soft thump that made his mouth water. Satisfied that the dough was taken care of, his mother turned towards the sink, the bowl and spoon floating across the kitchen to drop into the sink.
I wish I could do that, Jammer thought as his mom flipped on the faucet with her magic, filling the bowl. Sparkle let out a giggle, and he looked back at her just in time to see a mouthful of cookie-dough vanishing into her mouth as his younger sister took full advantage of his mom’s distraction.
“Sparkle!” he said, leaning across the counter and feeling flour stain his coat. “Mom said stay out of it!”
“Listen to your mother,” his uncle said as he walked into the room, still shaking bits of melted snow from his mane. “Hey, Sparkle!”
“Uncle Steel!” Sparkle’s face lit up as she dove from the stool, clattering around the kitchen island and slamming into Steel’s side, burying her face against his dark green coat.
“Hey there!” Jammer’s uncle said, kneeling down and letting her wrap her hooves partway around his neck. “How is it that every time I visit, you’ve got a mouth full of something you can smear in my coat?” he asked, smiling as he looked at the traces of chocolate-chip dough that Sparkle had smeared across his barrel.
“If you didn’t want to get cookie dough in your coat,” Jammer heard his mother say as she turned, smiling, towards his uncle, “then you shouldn’t have come here to bake and decorate cookies with us. Hi, Steel.”
“Hey there, Sapphire.” The two exchanged a quick hug. “Thanks for inviting me.”
“Please, Steel,” Jammer’s mother said, rolling her eyes and pausing momentarily as the unicorn that had come with his uncle rounded the corner to the kitchen, “as if I’d let you spend the holidays sitting behind that ridiculous desk.” She turned towards the new unicorn, Sparkle ducking behind Steel’s leg as her own attention caught the new arrival, and Jammer took advantage of the distraction to grab a chunk of unrolled gingerbread in one hoof and stuff it into his mouth.
“Sapphire, this is Nova,” his uncle said as the warm dough quickly melted into a mash of goo on Jammer’s tongue, the spicy flavor rolling around his mouth and sending a shiver of delight down his back.
“Oh!” his mother said, stepping forward with a bright smile. “I’ve met you before, I think? A few months ago?”
“Oh yeah!” Nova said, smiling and raising a hoof to shake his mother’s, “I remember you! That was right before our first op! Nice to meet you.”
“Pleasure’s all mine,” his mother said, letting go of his hoof. “Glad you could join us! Come on in. This is our youngest, Sparkle,” she said, nodding at Jammer’s younger sister, who was still doing her best to hide her soft, yellow coat behind Steel’s leg, “and the one who’s stuffing his face with gingerbread behind me at the counter is Jammer.”
“Wha?” Jammer protested, the word coming out funny against the delicious mass of wet gingerbread in his mouth. His mother turned partially back to him, giving him a look that was half amusement and half threat, and he closed his mouth, switching his denial for what he hoped was an innocent grin.
“Anyway,” his mother said, turning back towards the purple unicorn as one corner of his mouth turned up in amusement, “welcome! I hope you’re ready to get a little dirty. Baking and decorating cookies with these two is a hooful.” The unicorn—Nova, Jammer reminded himself, questions bubbling up again in his mind—smiled and nodded.
“Sounds just fine,” he said, although there was a bit of something to his sentence that seemed to ring hollow to Jammer. Then it was gone, replaced by a more upbeat tone as the pony looked around the kitchen. “So…” he said, his eyes finally stopping on the large balls of dough. “When do we start?”
* * *
“So were you really there when the Crystal Empire came back?” Jammer asked as he pressed another cookie cutter down into the dough with his hoof. The cool unicorn his uncle had brought was standing next to him, six cookie-cutters held in his own yellow magic as he rolled out another lump of gingerbread with a rolling pin.
“Jammer…” his mother said for what had to be the millionth time, “your uncle already told you that they couldn’t talk about that, alright?”
“I know,” Jammer said, lifting up the cookie cutter and wishing that he had the same level of control over his magic that the purple unicorn did. “But he never said I couldn’t ask!”
“Alright, well then I’m telling you,” she said, shaking her head. “No more questions about the Crystal Empire or any of the other stuff they can’t talk about.”
“Well how will I know what I can’t ask?” Jammer said, pulling his cookie cutter free and then pressing it down again. “Can I ask what he’s now allowed to talk about?” His mother let out a groan and opened her mouth when the purple unicorn next to him let out a chuckle.
“Alright, kid, I’ll tell you what,” he said, all of his cookie cutters coming down at the same time. “You can’t ask about what I do for work, but since you seem to want to talk, I’ll cut you a deal.”
“A deal?”
“Right,” the purple unicorn said, winking at his mother and then bending down a little. “I’ll ask you a question, you answer it, and then you can ask me a question. If I can’t answer it. You get to ask me another question. If you can’t answer mine, I’ll ask you another question. Cool?”
“Yeah!” Jammer said, running is huge list of questions through his head and selecting the one that felt the most urgent. He barely noticed as his hoof slipped off the cookie cutter and squished into the dough. “What do you do on my uncle’s team?”
“Whatever he asks me to,” the purple unicorn replied, his eyes fixed on the cookie dough in front of him as six cookies lifted from the dough and floated over to the nearby cookie sheet. Between uncle Steel, his sister, the new unicorn and himself, his mother had been keeping both ovens full of cookies, and the smell of gingerbread, chocolate and sugar had permeated the kitchen to the point where Jammer was sure that if he hadn’t been able to sneak cookie dough from time to time, he would’ve already tried to eat his own hoof.
“What does he ask you to do?” Jammer said, but Nova shook his head.
“Sorry,” the stallion said, grinning, “but that’s two questions. My turn. How old are you?”
“I’m six!” Jammer said, his chest puffing with pride. “And I’ll be seven in another two months! What did you do before you were a Guard?”
“I thought you wanted to know what your uncle had me doing?”
“Too late,” Jammer said, pressing his cookie cutter down and making another star. “I changed it. So what did you do?”
“I…” Nova looked down at his spread of cookie dough, the cutters coming down once more in perfect unison. “I was an asset relocation engineer.” Jammer frowned at the unfamiliar words.
“A what?” he asked as his uncle let out a snort.
“That’s more than one question,” Nova said, shaking his head. “My turn. Can you do any magic with that horn yet?”
“No,” Jammer said, glaring up at the tip of his horn, “not yet. I can lift some stuff, but it’s really hard.” He narrowed his eyes at his cookie cutter, watching as the thin metal wrapped itself in a bright blue glow. It strained, lifting for a moment, and then it shot upwards, Jammer losing his concentration as it rocketed towards the ceiling.
“Whoa!” his mom said, her own horn lighting and catching the runaway cutter before it could bury itself in the ceiling. “Careful, Jammer,” she warned, floating the cutter back down to the island.
“I know,” he said, glaring at his horn. Stupid horn. Mom makes it so easy! Even Sparkle’s picking up stuff sometimes.
“Hey, don’t sweat it,” Nova said, shrugging. “It takes some time sometimes. You’ll get it.”
“Yeah, I know,” Jammer said, looking down at the spread of cookie dough in front of him. I just wish it’d happen faster.
“It just takes practice, kid,” Nova said. The unicorn’s hoof twisted, and suddenly there was a fresh chocolate-chip cookie sitting under Jammer’s nose, still warm and steaming from the oven. He stared up at the purple unicorn in surprise, who grinned and then gave a warning nod towards his mom, who was helping Sparkle spoon out dough for more of the chocolate-chip plates.
“How—” his question was cut off as Nova pushed the cookie into his hooves.
“Ask your mom what my old job means later, kid.” Jammer ducked the cookie beneath the counter as his mom turned and rolled her eyes at Nova.
“Ok,” he said, grinning as his mom turned back around and stuffing the cookie into his mouth.
“And keep practicing,” Nova said, his attention shifting back to the cookie dough he was rolling out. “You’ll get better at it.”
Jammer had his mouth open, ready to try and thank the Guard, when the front door rattled open, hooves stamping against the floor.
“Hello!” a familiar voice called out, and all thoughts of cookies and Nova jumped from Jammer’s mind as he spun on the stool, his attention focused on heavy tread of the pony who was kicking snow free from his flanks in the hall.
“Dad’s home!” Jammer yelled, bits of cookie spraying from his mouth as he jumped down from his perch, the stool rocking behind him, although he didn’t hear it hit the floor. He slid around the corner of the door to the hall, ignoring his mother’s brief shout and pumping his legs as he accelerated towards the brown pony standing by the door.
“Hey!” his dad yelled, stopping his hoof clearing to lean back and sweep Jammer up in a warm, wet hug. “How’s my boy!” He laughed and loosened his hug slightly as Sparkle came running down the hallway, her giggles echoing off the walls and turning into a shriek of joy as his dad picked her up as well. “Are you guys making Hearth’s Warming cookies?” he asked sliding Sparkle over his shoulder and ignoring the trail of flour she left across his brown coat.
“Yeah!” Jammer said, nodding and watching as his sister tried to pry open their dad’s saddlebags with small cries of “Presents! Presents!” “We’re almost done baking them too!”
“Oh good!” his dad said, grinning as he set Jammer down and resumed scraping snow from his coat. “I arrived just in time for my favorite part. No presents in there, baby. Sorry.”
“Aw…” Sparkle said, pouting a little.
“Sorry, sweetie. Just some stuff from work.” Jammer eyed the saddlebags for a moment, his eyes narrowing. They didn’t look big enough to hold his drums, but still…
“Hey, Click!” his mom called from the kitchen. “Come on in and say ‘hi’ to our guest!” Jammer followed his dad in, watching as he said hello to uncle Steel and then to Nova. Then, as the four adults settled down to talk, he took a moment to grab another cookie and slide it into his mouth before focusing his horn back on the metal cookie cutter.
Maybe I’m using too much magic? he thought, thinking back on how quickly the cookie cutter had launched itself at the ceiling. He looked over at the cutters that Nova had been using, sitting unattended on the counter near his. Maybe that’s why he’s using several cookie cutters!
He narrowed his eyes as he stared at the metal cutters, pushing his mind against his horn. A bright blue glow began to surround first cutter, than the second cutter, then a third! Jammer began to push the cutters up, watching in amazement as they lifted, and then—
There was a sharp bang as all three cutters slammed into the ceiling.
“Jammer!”
* * *
“Dad…” Jammer said as he turned back to his plate and spotted the gaping hole where there had been a cookie moments earlier.
“Wha?” his dad asked, his voice muffled by crumbs, “I di’n’t do anything.”
“Mom!” Jammer cried, “Dad’s eating my cookies again!”
“Click,” his mom said, her voice strained, ‘keep out of his cookies. Steal one from Steel’s plate or something.”
“Are you kidding?” his dad said, mock horror on his face. “I like my hooves where they are. Attached.”
“Well,” uncle Steel said, smiling, “there’s always Nova’s plate.” He nodded towards the purple unicorns small pile of carefully decorated cookies, one of which, Jammer noted, had what looked like his uncle’s cutie mark. “Grab one from him.”
“Sure,” Nova said, smiling as he pushed the plate across the table towards Jammer’s dad. “Help yourself.”
“Well, in that case…” Jammer watched as his dad’s hoof floated over the unicorn’s plate for a moment. “I think I’ll take … this one!” His hoof darted down and plucked a cookie featuring some sort of blue square crossed with grey. “This’ll go nicely with my … hey!” Jammer let out a laugh as his dad stared down at the empty plate sitting in front of him. “Where did all my cookies go?”
“These cookies?” Nova asked, and Jammer’s eyes widened. Somehow, without even lighting his horn, all of his dad’s cookies had somehow ended up on Nova’s plate. “I thought we were trading,” Nova said, grinning. “Unless you want to cancel that?” Jammer and the rest of his family laughed as his dad stared at the plate for a moment before shaking his head and joining in.
“Alright,” he said, setting the cookie he’d grabbed back down next to Nova’s side of the table. “Let’s switch that back.” Nova’s horn lit up, a yellow glow wrapping around the cookies and sliding them back over to their original place.
“So!” his dad said, looking around the table, his eyes stopping for just a moment on him and his sister. She was still sitting close to their mom, apparently still a little unsure of the strange, purple unicorn that their uncle had brought. “Who can tell me why we make Hearth’s Warming cookies?”
“Because they taste good?” Uncle Steel suggested, chuckling. Then he ducked as his sister made a friendly smack at the back of his head.
“No,” Jammer’s dad responded, chuckling, “although that is a pretty good reason. But can anyone tell me why we make the cookies we do and give them out?”
“I do!” Jammer said, raising his hoof. “Mrs. Sharp taught us in school!”
“Alright, Jammer,” his dad said, smiling. “So why do we make Hearth’s Warming cookies?”
“To give out as gifts,” he said, closing his eyes as he thought back to the history lesson’s he’d been ignoring right before school got out. “Because back when they first founded Equestria, everypony wasn’t happy with each other?”
“Close,” his dad said, smiling. “You got most of it. Even though they had a new land, a lot of ponies weren’t so quick to give up old grudges, even when they saw exactly what it was doing with the windigoes. But Smart Cookie came up with an idea to help everypony get along, and so she gathered together with her friends Clover the Clever and Private Pansy and made a bunch of gifts for everyone.”
“And since she was really good at cookies, she made cookies?” Jammer broke in.
“Sort of,” his dad said, nodding. “She wanted to do something to remind everypony of all the hardships they’d faced together, and so she made cookies that represented what they’d been through together.” He picked up one of the Hearth’s Warming Stars that he’d decorated. “She made stars to remind the ponies how they’d found their way to Equestria, following the stars in the night sky.” He picked up a sleigh, gleefully decorated in red and green. “The sleigh to remind ponies of the winter storms they’d walked through to get to Equestria.” He picked up a bell. “And the bells to remind ponies of what they’d lost … and what they still had.”
“Then they took the cookies out to everypony they could and started giving them away, singing songs and reminding them of everything they’d been through together. And it helped the ponies remember everything they’d been through together, and what they still had. And today,” he said, sitting back with a smile, “we make Hearth’s Warming cookies and give them out to everyone we see to remind each other what’s really important at Hearth’s Warming.”
“What about this one?” Sparkle asked, holding up a small, round, sugar cookie with two conga drums drawn on it in brightly colored icing. Jammer recognized it as his father’s cutie mark.
“The cutie mark cookie?” his dad said, leaning forward and picking it up. “These are the most special of all. Originally, they were a way to get the tribes to know one another. Smart Cookie made cookies with ponies cutie marks on them and then gave them to other ponies, asking them to find the pony that matched the cutie mark and give the cookie to them. Ponies did, because they respected Smart Cookie, and in the process, some of them got to know the ponies they were giving the cookies too, further helping bring Equestria together.” Jammer smiled. That part he remembered from his class, although since most of them didn’t have any cutie marks, they’d all made pretend cutie-mark cookies for each other.
“Oh,” Sparkle said, looking down at the cookie. “So I can’t give this to you?”
“Of course you can,” her mom said, shaking her head. “That’s the whole point. You give it to the pony who has that cutie mark, right?” Sparkle nodded.
“So then since dad has that cutie mark, you can give it to him,” she said, and Sparkle smiled. “It show’s that you care about him.”
“Then he can eat it!” Sparkle said, and Click laughed.
“Yeah, then I can eat it,” he said, smiling at her. “But I’ll know that you love me.” He leaned across the table and nuzzled her as Jammer rolled his eyes.
But then he noticed something. The purple unicorn, Nova, had looked away as well, staring out the window and away from Jammer’s sister. I bet he finds that gross too, Jammer thought as his Dad pulled back, smiling.
“You’d better make one of these for Ms. Cap, uncle Steel,” Sparkle said, and everyone laughed. Jammer turned his attention to his plate as the adults began chatting among themselves. There were still cookies to decorate. And if possible, eat.
* * *
“Well, thanks for coming, both of you.” Jammer watched his mom lean forward and give his uncle a hug, the bright-red of her legs standing out against her brother’s darker green.
“Hey, it was my pleasure,” his uncle said, returning the hug. The held on for a moment longer and then Steel pulled away.
“Thank you for coming,” his mom said, turning to Nova Beam. “It was wonderful to have you.”
“Hey, thank you for having me around,” Nova said, although he didn’t move forward for a hug, even when Jammer saw his mother take a step forward. Instead, Nova raised his hoof, and after a moment of slight embarrassment Jammer’s mom took it.
“Not much of a hugger, is he?” Jammer’s Dad was giving uncle Steel a firm hoofshake now, and his uncle was shaking his head.
“No, not really,” he said. “But if he says he’s glad he came, he is.”
“Alright,” Jammer heard his mom say as she stepped back from Nova. His uncle stepped towards the door, the dark purple unicorn falling in beside him. “Jammer, Sparkle, you two say goodnight, Uncle Steel and Nova Beam need to go now, and you two need to get to—”
“Wait!”
Jammer turned along with his mom and dad as Sparkle poked her head out from behind his mom, something held carefully in her teeth. It was a cookie.. A cutie mark cookie.
She took a few tentative steps forward, almost hiding behind her mane. She gave a little whimper as Nova turned to look at her, but then she took a breath and took another few steps towards him.
“Here,” she said, stretching her head out as she walked up to him. Nova held out his hoof, and she dropped the cookie into it. It was adorned with a crudely drawn pair of silver and yellow crescents, one inside the other in a rough approximation of the cutie mark on Nova’s flank.
“I noticed that you didn’t have one,” she said in a small voice as Nova pulled back, a shocked expression on his face. “And you didn’t have very many of them on your plate either.” Jammer saw the unicorn’s eyes dart back towards the saddlebags on his back, his eyebrows rising, and guessed that Sparkle had been right.
“So I wanted to give you one,” Sparkle said, her voice growing a little softer as Nova turned his eyes back to her. The it rose as she pulled herself up, confidence in her voice. “Would you like to come caroling with us tomorrow night?”
For a moment the entryway was silent, all eyes fixed on either his sister or Nova. Jammer watched as Nova’s eyes darted first to his mom, then to his dad, then to Steel, and then back down towards Sparkle, and then last towards the cookie he was still holding in his hoof.
“Well?” Sparkle asked again, twisting one hoof against the floor.
“Why?” Nova asked, bending down slightly. Jammer couldn’t identify any dislike or disinterest in his voice, not like the teachers did sometimes as school when they really didn’t want to listen. Just honest curiosity.
“Well, because dad said that we were supposed to give cutie mark cookies to ponies that we didn’t know,” Sparkle said, and Jammer saw the telltale marks of her realizing trying to be cute: wide eyes, pouting lip. It worked on his dad and his uncle. Would it work on Nova?
“So?” the stallion asked. “To be honest, you haven’t really said much to me all night.”
“Well, yeah,” she said, turning and looking at her parents. “But you’re strange—”
“Sparkle!” his mom said, but she kept on going.
“—and a little quiet, but if uncle Steel trusts you, then that means I should trust you, right? So I made you a cookie.” She stood up a little straighter as she finished, her brown mane bouncing around her face as she gave him a hopeful smile. Jammer had seen that smile before, seen it break the resolve of the strongest adults. His uncle’s friend didn’t stand a chance.
“So, you want me to come caroling with your family tomorrow night?” Nova asked, his eyes darting towards Jammer’s parents once more.
“Mm-hmm,” Sparkle said, her voice softer again. She hadn’t let up with the look yet.
“Because?” Nova asked, but Jammer could see the breaking already.
“Because it’s what ponies do at Hearth’s Warming,” Sparkle said. “They make friends and spend time with them. And you didn’t make many cookies, so I figured you probably don’t have that many friends—”
“Sparkle…” mom said again, this time a bit more urgently. “That was rude.”
“Fairly true though,” Nova said, kneeling a little further now. He let out a little chuckle and shook his head from one side to the other. “I’ve got to admit, I’ve actually never been caroling before—” Jammer’s ears perked up in surprise. Wasn’t Nova a Guard? How had he never been caroling before? “—but if your parents are okay with it … I’ll come.”
The look never fails, Jammer thought as Sparkle gave Nova a happy smile before retreating back to her mom’s side. The look wins every time.
“Well,” Nova said, rising and—carefully, Jammer noticed—adding his sister’s cookie to his saddlebags. “I guess I’m coming caroling with you guys then?”
“Actually,” his mom said, stepping forward and wrapping her front hooves around Nova’s neck, “that’d be wonderful. Steel knows when it is. He can give you the time.”
“Well, then I guess I’ll see you then,” the stallion said, extricating himself from her embrace and quickly backing towards the door. “See you then. Happy Hearth’s Warming!” He vanished out the door, and uncle Steel let out a laugh.
“Don’t mind him,” he said, shaking his head. “I’ll make sure he’s there. But…” he knelt down for a moment, looking at Sparkle first, and then Jammer, “thanks, you two. And come give me a goodbye hug.”
* * *
They were back upstairs again, back by the tree. Nova and Steel were gone, and Jammer’s mouth still tasted like toothpaste from the quick brushing he’d given it. Toothpaste mixed with gingerbread. Yuck.
The presents were still there. In fact, there were a few new ones, smaller gifts with his dad’s writing on the wrapping paper that looked small enough to have fit inside the saddlebags his dad had come home with. Which meant that they probably had.
Sometimes adults think they’re so sneaky, he thought, looking at the pile of packages, the bright green of the wrapping paper almost blending into the base of the trees branches. But they aren’t. Like Nova’s cutie mark cookies. Jammer had been watching each and every one of them—not to pry, but just in case there had been something that had to do with the Crystal Empire or some other question he wasn’t supposed to ask. But Nova had made seven cookies. One of them had had uncle Steel’s cutie mark on it, so the rest were probably for the rest of the Guards. But there were only six ponies on the team, counting his uncle. He’d counted. So who were the other two cookies for?
“Looking at the presents, Jammer?” his dad said as he trotted up behind him.
“Yeah, kind of,” he said back, not taking his eyes off of the tree. Nova had said he’d never gone caroling. And he hadn’t wanted to talk about what he’d done before he was a Guard either, past the answer of words that Jammer hadn’t known. Mom wouldn’t tell me what they meant, either, he thought. He said he’d never gone caroling. Maybe he’s never even had a Hearth’s Warming? Maybe he’s never even gotten presents before!
“Trying to guess what’s in them?” his dad asked, and Jammer shook his head.
“No, thinking about uncle Steel’s friend,” Jammer said. He looked back at his dad. “Do you think he’s ever had a Hearth’s Warming?”
“I’m sure he has, Jammer,” his dad said, dropping himself onto the couch.
“But do you think he ever got presents?”
"I’m sure he did.”
“Then why was he so surprised when Sparkle gave him that cookie?” For a moment his dad was silent, and Jammer turned away from the tree to find his dad smiling.
“I think he was surprised because she was giving him one of the best gifts he’d ever gotten,” his dad said, and Jammer frowned.
“A cookie?”
“No,” his dad said, shaking his head. “She didn’t just give him a cookie, Jammer. She gave him a friend.”
“With the cookie, right?” Jammer said, catching up.
“Yeah.” His dad patted the seat cushion next to him, and Jammer clambered up, sinking into the seat next to him. “Because when it comes right down to it, it’s just like it was back in Smart Cookie’s time. We’re not giving each other gifts and presents because we can, or because we like getting stuff so we give stuff away hoping for that, but because we’re showing our friends that we care.”
“Because that’s what Hearth’s Warming is all about?” Jammer asked, snuggling into his father’s side.
“Yeah,” his dad replied, grinning down at him. “That’s it. In the end, no matter the singing or the cookies or the presents, it’s all about us being there for each other. Friends … and family. And when you bring someone into that, well … That’s what it’s all about.”
“I love you, dad.”
“I love you too, son.”
There was a moment’s pause as they stared at the tree together, watching the faint light from downstairs shine off of the tinsel, sending brightly colored points of light sparkling around the room. Then Jammer thought of something.
“So…” he said, turning to look at his dad, “does that mean that I need to buy a present for Nova, now?”
Author's Note
First of all, apologies in advance for the errors, and for anyone who was annoyed by the constant use of "his dad" or "his mom" stemming from the viewpoint. I seem incapable of not experimenting when writing, and this is a direct result of that.
This is also a direct result of me deciding to write something for Christmas on Saturday, and then frantically typing then and today on a borrowed laptop between erecting a Christmas tree, going to dinners, making Christmas cookies of my own (the genesis of the idea) and everything else Christmas-related with my family. So yes, it's a little rough, and I know that. It's definitely not polished.
But sometimes, that's what you get. I wanted to give you guys something fun, quick, and a little meaningful for Christmas. Hopefully I succeeded.
Merry Christmas.
Oh, and for those who are curious, this little side story is canon with the rest of the Dusk Guard's adventures, but takes place near Hearth's Warming, which puts this little tale between books three and four. So ... spoilers, I guess? Probably balanced out by a lot more hints at what's coming. So fair is fair! 
