“It’s time to wake up!”

Anon is forced from his slumber as the feeling of something jumping on top of him registers. It takes him a few seconds to jog his memory, but he knows exactly why this is happening, yet that still doesn’t stop his body from wanting more rest.

“Twist, it’s too early, go back to sleep.” He mumbles still half asleep.

“No way! It’s Hearth's Warming and there’s no way I’ll go back to sleep!”

“Honey, please go back to bed.” Bonbon calls from next to him.

Anon opens his eyes and sees Twist looking down at him with glistening eyes. He knows what’s going to happen next. She does it whenever she wants to get her way.

“Please, Dad?”

He hates it when she pulls the dad card on him. Yet he’d be lying if he didn’t admit that her cute face still melts his heart whenever he looks at her. He knows it’s a weakness of his, but he’d never want to deny Twist anything.

“Alright, Twist.”

“Yeah!” She hops off the bed and out of the bedroom.

Anon looks over at Bonbon as she continues to lay there with her eyes closed.

“I’ll make breakfast.” He says as he leans over and kisses her on the head.

“Don’t let Twist open her presents until I’m up.”

“Alright.”

Anon gets out of bed and stretches a bit before he stumbles after Twist. With a yawn, he walks out of his bedroom and looks down the hall and sees Twist waiting for him.

“Well?!” She shouts.

Anon points to the bathroom.

“Give me a minute, Twist. Then I’ll make you your favorite pancakes.”

She smiles brightly at that.

“Really?!”

“Yup, so please be patient.”

Twist runs off towards the front room as Anon walks into the bathroom. He washes his face some and looks himself over in the mirror. It’s been two years since he asked Bonbon out on a date. It all seems so surreal now. Their date wasn’t anything special and nothing was said as they knew pretty much everything about one another. It was odd how they’ve gotten so close during that time, it was as if they were already together without either one knowing about it.

As far as the Lyra thing, she left town a few days after their altercation. Neither Bonbon nor Anon has heard from her since. They know she’s still around in the music scene, but it looks like she’s been living her own life as far as they can tell. After a few months, Anon asked Bonbon if she wanted to get a place together. Some place where they could relax and keep the store as a store. It took a bit of convincing, but Bonbon agreed. A year later and they were officially man and pony.

Twist couldn’t have been happier with the arrangement. Not only was Anon living with them but she now actually had a father figure. Anon never expected Twist to call him dad, but he will admit he got a little teary in the eye when she did. So it’s been a normal day today for the three of them. Another Hearth’s warming with his family.

“Dad, you have mail.” Twist’s voice says from behind the bathroom door.

“Come in.”

Twist walks into the bathroom and has a letter in her mouth. It carries Celestia’s seal on it. He takes it from her and opens it.

Hello, Anon. How are you on this fine Hearth’s warming? I know that you’re rather busy with your life in Ponyville, but I would like to invite you to a special dinner event that I’m holding. Don’t worry, only close friends will be coming. The elements and their family, my sister and, of course, you and your family, should you accept. I will understand if you wish to be alone with those you hold dear, but if you would like to join us, my doors will be open for you.

“What does it say?” Twist asks.

“Celestia wants us to visit.”

“Cool! Are we going?”

Anon scratches the back of his head.

“I’m not too sure. Twilight is going to be there. I know she’s a sweet mare, but she always gives me a dirty look when I talk to Celestia for a long time.”

Twist rolls her eyes. “Dad you need to be there for your friend. It doesn’t matter what other ponies think.”

He nods at that. “Yeah, I guess you’re right. We’ll talk to your mom about it. First, let’s make breakfast.”

Nothing else needs to be said as Twist runs out of the bathroom. Twist is right, they go to the castle every year, Anon owes it to Celestia to be there. After all, she did get Twist into that school.

“So, what do you think?” Anon asks as Bonbon, Twist and himself finish breakfast.

“You know I have no problem with going to the castle for Hearth’s Warming.” Bonbon says. “If you want to go, then we’ll go.”

“I know how you don’t like traveling in the carriage she sends.”

“It’s fine. I’ll be fine.”

“Do you want her to teleport us there?”

“No, no, she’s very busy. I’m fine with the carriage.”

“I’ll send her a letter and ask her if she can teleport us.”

“Seriously, Monkey man, it’s fine.”

“Well, I’ll still ask. I want us all to be comfortable.”

“Speaking of comfortable. How are you going to deal with Twilight this year?”

Anon scratches his chin at that. He has a few ideas, one being better than the others.

“Well, I know Luna is a collector of really old and ancient books. I was going to ask her if I could borrow one, then give it to Twilight.”

“Are you sure that’ll work?”

He nods. “Yeah, I know her a bit through Celestia. She tells me how much she loves to learn and read. I think there’s a high chance that Luna has stuff Twilight has never seen before.”

“Are you and Luna still on good terms?”

“After last time?” Bonbon nods. “She’s fine. She understood it was a joke.”

“I don’t know, she looked pretty mad when you and Celestia cast a magical dye in her mane.”

“As I said, she’s fine. From what I hear, she and Celestia have a bit of a nice competition that goes on between them to this day. It’s really brought Luna out of her shell.”

“That’s good to hear. So will it be held at the same time?”

“I’d guess so. Celestia is rather punctual.”

“Great, we can open gifts and relax before the party.”

“Alright. I’ll send Celestia a letter right now.”

“Don’t take too long.”

Anon gets up from his seat and heads to the front room. He walks over to the fireplace where the eternal flame still burns strong, moving it to this house was rather easy, as the flame is warm and not hot. He writes a letter to Celestia and tosses it inside. A few minutes pass and the flames begin to flicker rapidly before shooting out a letter.

I’m happy to hear that you’ll be joining us. I’d also be happy to teleport you here. How does twelve twenty-nine sound?

Anon writes a letter agreeing and tosses it inside. A few moments later and a letter comes flying out.

Perfect. I still have a few things to attend to before the party. Happy Hearth’s Warming, Anon.

Anon chuckles a bit as he grabs another piece of paper.

Happy Hearth’s Warming to you too, Tia.

He tosses that letter in and walks back into the kitchen where he finds Bonbon and Twist working together to wash the dishes. Bonbon looks over her withers towards Anon.

“What time?”

“Twelve twenty-nine.”

“Great, that leaves us plenty of time. Do you want to help us here so we can head to the living room?”

Anon nods. “No problem.”

The three of them stand ready for the party. It’s only a few minutes until the agreed upon time. There’s not much to say about what gifts Twist got. Mostly things for school and various other stuff she had her eyes on for awhile. Anon and Bonbon got hoof had gifts from Twist and they were happy to have them. They relaxed and just talked about everyday things. Once the time was near they made sure they were ready and standing in wait. Anon notices the flames of the fire flicker a bit and a letter flies out.

Are you ready?

Anon quickly write his letter and tosses it in. That’s all that’s needed as the three of them appear in Canterlot. Celestia is standing before them, Anon notices that they’re inside of the royal dining hall. It’s decorated for the season. A tree, lights and other various steamers to make everything festive.

“I’m glad you could come.” Celestia speaks aloud.

“Always great to see a friend.” Anon says as he walks up to Celestia and hugs her.

She returns the hug just as easily.

“That it is.” She pulls back and walks up to Bonbon. “Pleasure to see you again. How’s the store?”

“Better than ever, Princess.”

“That’s good news.” She then looks down at Twist. “How are you?”

“Great! I can’t wait to start school this year!”

Celestia faked a gasp. “Has it really been that long?”

Twist nods her head vigorously. “Yup!”

“Well, then I guess a present is in order?”

Celestia produces a gift from her wing and offers it to Twist.

“What is it?!” Twist quickly grabs it.

“Why don’t you open it and find out?”

Anon and Bonbon are both curious as they watch Twist open her gift. What Twist pulls out is a uniform.

“What’s this?” Twist asks confused.

Celestia chuckles a bit. “That’s the school uniform.”

“Uniform?” Anon asks.

Celestia nods. “Yes, it’s a recent change. I must say it does make the fillies and colts look adorable.”

“Well, Twist. What do you say?” Bonbon adds.

“Thank you, aunt Celestia.”

“My, my, she’s calling me aunt?” Celestia looks at Anon. “Are we that close?”

“You’ll always be family to me, Tia.”

She giggles at that and looks down at Bonbon.

“I’m sorry to ask this, but may I steal him away for a bit? It’s been so long since we’ve talked.”

Bonbon shakes her head.

“I don’t mind at all.”

Bonbon watches as Anon and Celestia walk over to a rather barren part of the room. Since she’s here, she might as well look around. So far the room is rather empty as Anon, Bonbon and Twist were the first to arrive. They aren’t the only ones here. Luna is talking to a few guards and the door to the dining room opens showing the elements and their family entering inside. Bonbon recognizes all of them, as living in Ponyville she tends to run into them a lot. Twilight is the first through the door and has a large smile on her face as she looks around the room.

Her smile fades some as her gaze falls onto Anon. A loud laugh echos in the room and Bonbon looks over to see Celestia laughing as Anon moves his hands around in an animated fashion. It seems that Anon is telling one of his jokes. Bonbon can’t understand how the princess can even find enjoyment from those jokes. She swears it’s only the princess and Anon that find his jokes funny. It’s not like the princess is faking it either, she looks like she’s genuinely enjoying the joke.

It’s still odd for Bonbon to see her ruler acting like this. For so long she’s seen the princess as a higher power, somepony that’s serious and strong. Yet whenever she’s around Anon she’s like a normal pony. Not to mention that she laughs so publically around him that it almost makes everypony around want to laugh as well. Seeing how close those two are, how it seems they have their own world. She can understand why Twilight might be jealous. Anon seems to have a true friendship with the princess. One that no pony before has ever accomplished.

Celestia rests a hoof on Anon’s shoulder as they start to calm a bit from their laughing fit. They’re too far away from Bonbon to hear what they’re talking about but the both of them have large smiles on their faces. An odd thought pops into her mind. Now that she looks at them from afar, they almost look like lovers. Of course, it could just be how motherly the princess is but there seems to be this odd thing between them. Bonbon isn’t jealous, of course, but it makes her wonder.

“Mom, do you mind if I go play with the others?”

Bonbon looks down at her daughter.

“Sure, Twist. If you need anything then find either me or Anon.”

“Ok.”

Bonbon watches Twist walk over to the other fillies. The crusaders if she remembers correctly. She knows that they play from time to time. It’s nice to know that her daughter plays well with others. Sure she’ll miss her friends when she comes to study in Canterlot, but she hopes that her bright attitude will help her make new friends quickly.

“I’m back.”

Bonbon flinches at Anon’s voice. She quickly looks up to see him standing there with a look of concern.

“Sorry to scare you like that.” Anon wasn’t expecting her to react like that.

“Oh! Sorry, was just thinking about something.” She looks past him before returning her gaze to him. “Where’s the princess?”

Anon nods his head to the side. Bonbon follows his direction and sees Celestia talking to Twilight.

“We both noticed Twilight. So Tia didn’t want to make her student wait to talk.”

“That makes sense.”

Anon nods. “So what were you thinking about?”

“Just a silly thought.”

“Hmm? A silly thought. That’s rare. What was it about?”

“I just noticed how close you and the princess are. If we weren’t together, I’d think you two were dating.”

“Well, it’s not like we didn’t try at one point. Remember?”

It takes a second for Bonbon to register that. “What?!”

Her shout catches the attention of the entire room. Anon chuckles nervously as he kneels down to whisper to Bonbon.

“Didn’t we talk about this?”

She shakes her head. “No!” She whispers.

“Well... We tried dating, before the Lyra thing.”

“Really? What happened? You two seem so great together!”

Anon shrugs. “I can’t tell you why, Bonny. We just kinda never got to that point. We tried, but it just never felt right. We’re a lot closer because of it but there's no romantic feelings shared between us.” Bonbon lets out a sigh of relief. “Were you worried?”

Bonbon shakes her head. “No. It just seemed odd when I thought about it.”

“I guess. We never told anyone about our relationship either. Behind closed doors, so please, keep this between us.”

“I get it. I’ll keep my muzzle shut.” Bonbon looks at the princess, then back at Anon. “What’s she like in private?”

“I’m fine with telling you, but not here.” Anon looks at the crowded room.

“Alright. I’ll hold you to that.”

Anon rises back up and looks around the room.

“I need to find Luna. If I can get that book then that’ll keep Twilight occupied.” He looks down at Bonbon. “Will you be fine by yourself?”

“You ask that every year. Yes, I’ll be fine. I have ponies I want to talk to as well.” Bonbon looks over at Pinkie. “Pinkie and I are planning some interesting crossover recipes. We just need to iron out a few details.”

“Sounds fun. I’ll be sure to stop by later.” Anon quickly walks off where Luna is talking to a small orange filly, Scootaloo if Bonbon remembers correctly. Bonbon even spots Twist already mingling with the other fillies as well. This is perfect. Now all she has to do is find Pinkie and she can get to work.

“Hmm... I’ll have to think about that Pinkie.”

“What’s to think about?! A lollipop cupcake would be great!”

“What if somepony breaks a tooth?”

“They’ll be fine. Zecora also has a pretty cool potion to solve that problem.”

“I just worry about fillies or colts choking. It’s a real danger, Pinkie.”

Pinkie rubs a hoof on her chin.

“I guess you’re right. What if we crushed the lollipops into a powder?”

Bonbon nods. “That could work.”

“Alright, so how about tomorrow you bring over some lollipops and we can make a few prototypes?”

“I think I can manage that.”

“Great! Now if you don't’ mind, I’d like to sample the punch.” Pinkie tosses her head forwards some and produces an alligator from her mane that’s attached to her spit curl. “It’s gummy’s favorite.”

Bonbon can only shake her head as Pinkie happily trots towards the punch. Now that’s all over, Bonbon looks around the room to see how everypony is doing. She notices that Twist is playing with her friends, thankfully not getting into too much trouble. Luna is handing Anon a book as he talks to her, obviously giving thanks for her lending him the book. Bonbon watches with interest as Anon walks over to Twilight with the book in hand.

He grabs her attention and Twilight looks hesitant until he shows her the book. Even from afar Bonbon can see Twilight’s eyes light up a bit as she moves closer to look at the book. She looks up at Anon and says something and he turns around and points over at Luna. He then looks back at Twilight and says something back. There’s a look of surprise and intrigue in her eyes as she takes the book from Anon and gives what Bonbon assumes is a thanks.

She’s quick to open the book and start reading as Anon walks over to Celestia who is talking to Shining Armor and Cadance. Anon pats her flanks briefly to grab her attention. He nods his head at Twilight and Celestia simply smiles at him as he gives her a wave and walks towards Bonbon. Once he’s close enough he calls out to her.

“Having fun?” Anon asks.

Bonbon nods. “I am. So how’d the book thing go?”

“I think Luna will be having more company over. It seems that Twilight didn’t know about Luna’s collection. I’m sure they’ll be close friends.”

“Aren’t you going to talk to Celestia some more now that Twilight is occupied?”

Anon shakes his head. “Nah. There are more than enough ponies she wants to talk to. I don’t want to take all of her time.”

“That’s sweet of you.”

“I can talk to Celestia whenever. Some of these ponies are rather busy. Especially Cadance. Running the crystal empire must be hard work.”

Bonbon can agree to that.

“Are you hungry?” She asks feeling a bit hungry.

Anon rubs his stomach. “I could eat.”

“Let’s grab something from the snack table.”

“Good idea.”

Bonbon and Anon head over to the snack table to mingle with all of the other ponies. It’s rare for them to be meeting and chatting with so many ponies from Ponyville, but it’s times like this that reminds them that they have more friends than they realize.

“Thanks again for coming.” Celestia hugs Anon.

“Anytime, Tia.” Anon breaks from the hug and pats Luna on the head. “Later, Loony.”

She smacks his hand from her head.

“Don’t you dare lay your claws on my mane.”

He chuckles as he moves over towards Bonbon.

“Are you ready?” Celestia asks.

“Yep. See you soon.”

“See you soon.”

In a flash Bonbon, Twist and Anon are returned home. It’s already seven at night and the three of them are exhausted.

“That was fun.” Anon says as he walks to the couch and falls onto it.

“Yes it was.” Bonbon does the same.

Twist gives a yawn as she blinks heavily. Anon notices this and grabs her attention.

“Get ready for bed, Twist. I’ll be up in a few minutes.”

“Ok.”

Twist walks to the bathroom to get ready for bed while Anon and Bonbon take a minute to relax.

“I guess we should get ready for bed as well.” Bonbon says with a yawn.

“Yeah. You take a shower and I’ll make sure Twist is all set for the night.”

Bonbon leans over and kisses Anon on the cheek.

“See you in bed.”

“I won’t take long.”

Anon is now alone in the living room as he sits and thinks about his entire life. His arrival, the friends he’s made and the love of his life. He still thinks about his past, it’s not just something he can forget but at least he knows that his family would be proud of what he has now. A loving partner and daughter to call his own. Speaking of which, he can’t leave the both of them waiting. Anon gets up from the couch and walks to Twist’s room. She’s already in bed waiting for him. He walks over and tucks her in properly just before he takes a seat at her bedside.

“Dad?”

“Yes, Sweetheart?”

“Can you tell me a story?”

“What do you want to hear?”

“Tell me something new.”

Anon feels a smile on his face.

“I guess there is one story that I have in mind.”

“Is it a happy story?”

“I’d like to think so.”

“Alright.”

Anon takes a few seconds to compose his thoughts.

“It all starts when a pony was walking down the street of Canterlot with his sister. Never in all of his years would he expect what was to happen next.”

“What happened?” Twist asks with interest.

“He woke up in another world.”

"Sugar and spice"

Author's Note

Short, sweet and to the point.

As you guys know, I'm not really known for short stories. So, I'm trying to get some practice with them. It creates some interesting challenges when you don't have all the time in the world to develop and build a sound world with a limited word count. Yeah, I still got some stuff to learn, but every story counts.