Two Hearths as One

Two Hearths as One

by Candy Apples

Prologue

As Spike placed one last gift, with a bright yellow bow, onto the pile below the snow-frosted window, Twilight Sparkle looked around at the decorations she’d hung throughout the large hall.  She had to admit, she’d had fun getting the castle ready for the first Hearth’s Warming she’d spend in it.  The large hall sometimes felt cold and cavernous, but now there were swaths of fabric draped from the ceilings and hung with bows, and pine garlands were hung on the walls.  Rarity had designed the decorations for her, but Twilight and Spike had hung them all themselves.  Once they lit the fire in the hearth, the room would feel just as cozy as the Golden Oak Library used to be.

A strange rustling sound came from the fireplace.  Both pony and baby dragon turned to look at it, and then they exchanged a worried glance.  Suddenly Pinkie Pie’s head burst down from the chimney and she yelled, “Happy Hearth’s Warming Eve!”

Twilight laughed as Pinkie tumbled out of the chimney, covered in soot. Of course Pinkie Pie would come in through the unconventional route, even as her fiancée, Applejack, trotted in through the door like a normal pony.  Well, Twilight had read plenty of books that said opposites attract, and that certainly seemed to be the case when it came to Applejack and Pinkie Pie's relationship.

“Shucks, Twilight!” Applejack said, looking around.  “Y’all done it up nice and purdy in here.”

“We’re about to hang our Hearth’s Warming dolls,” Twilight told both of her friends.  “Do you want to join us?”  With her magic, she lifted the two cute button-eyed dolls that her mom had sewn, back when she was just a filly and Spike was barely hatched.

“Oh, that’s mighty kind of ya, but we’re just droppin’ in to wish y’all a happy Hearth’s Warmin’ before we ride off into the sunset.”  Twilight noticed now that Applejack was already wearing saddlebags that she’d packed for their trip.

As loving and tolerant as all ponies could be, both of their Earth pony families--the Apples and the Pies--were fairly stubborn and set in their own ways and traditions, so Twilight hadn't expected them to embrace Applejack’s and Pinkie Pie’s engagement.  Applejack and Pinkie Pie were so different, and their families had very little in common, either, besides both living on farms.  And yet, the Pies had invited the Apple family to visit for the holiday, and even old Granny Smith had agreed to go.  “I think it’s great that your families are spending the holiday together,” Twilight told them.

Pinkie Pie was obviously excited to bring all of her loved ones together, and introduce her future in-laws to her own family.  “It’s gonna be AWESOME!,” she said, draping a soot-covered foreleg over Twilight’s shoulders.  “It'll be stupendificular, times infinity!”  Her eyes gleamed, and she crossed the hall to where Applejack stood in three bounces.  “I can't wait!”  She squeezed Applejack in a tight hug.  Applejack gave Twilight a look over Pinkie's shoulder, as if to say, 'Yeah, you try to get Pinkie to stop showing excessive amounts of affection to someone she loves!'

A faint whistle sound could be heard from outside, as a train pulled in to the station nearby.  “We better move 'em out!” Applejack said.  “See you later, Twilight!”

As Pinkie Pie bounded after Applejack towards the door, Spike turned to Twilight and asked pleadingly, “Now can I open my present?”

Applejack turned around at the door.  “But it's Hearth’s Warmin' Eve,” she said.  “Everypony knows you don’t open gifts ‘til sunrise.  It's traditional.”

There was that Earth pony predilection for stubbornly following traditions and rules to the letter, Twilight thought, smiling to herself.  “On Spike's first Hearth’s Warming Eve,” she explained, “he couldn’t wait 'til morning to open his presents!” She thought fondly of how tiny he'd been then, and how he wouldn't let her get any sleep that night, either.  “So we opened our gifts to each the night before, and ever since, we’ve always exchanged gifts on Hearth's Warming Eve.”

“It’s kinda like we invented our own tradition!” Spike chimed in.

Even still, Applejack frowned.  “That’s not how the Apple family does it, and I reckon it can’t be how the Pie family does it, either.  Is it, sugarcube?”

“No sirreebob!” Pinkie exclaimed.

Twilight shrugged.  “To each their own.”

The train whistle blew again, and Pinkie Pie leaped at the sound.  “Gotta go!  Toodles!”

As they bolted out the door, Twilight hoped that the couple’s first holiday as one big family would be full of joy.  Twilight had been so happy when they had announced their engagement, and couldn’t wait for the wedding.  She thought about the two large families all together, and briefly wondered how they’d get along.  Well, both families worked very hard on their respective farms, so there were probably some things they had in common.

Then she turned to Spike, happy to have a moment with just the two of them—their own little family—to experience their own traditions.  The next day, the castle would be opened and full of guests from all over Equestria—which she thought would become one of her new traditions, as the princess of Friendship.

Spike couldn’t wait any longer, and reached towards the present Twilight had set aside on the hearth earlier.  Twilight helped him get it down, and he tore at the paper.

Spike looked at the gift and sighed.  “A book… what a surprise.”

Twilight grinned, pleased at herself for finding the treatise on historical dragon migrations for Spike.  She was sure he would find it fascinating!