When Patch Balm and Dirt Nap lived in Copper Creek, the town’s ponies would gather for Hearth’s Warming Eve and rattle around inside the mine’s offices like peas in an almost-empty tin. Dirt Nap had enjoyed the get-togethers, despite being the only youngster in town. He’d loved the singing, dancing, food and simple company of other ponies in a place that was mostly abandoned and dissolving back into the desert.

Memories of those happy parties might be why he went to The Back Passage every week, without fail. He sorely wished he were there for the queer Hearth’s Warming party, but he’d be a rotten cur of a son if abandoned his pa. Nopony should be alone on Hearth’s Warming Eve.

His old sire had spent all of yesterday in the kitchen, baking sheet after sheet of cookies, cupcakes, pastries and such. The house filled with the scent of nutmeg, cinnamon and shugar and Patch Balm was still hard at work in the kitchen. Now he had several pots boiling at once and was keeping a close eye on the corn and pumpkin roast in the oven. Dirt Nap sat at the small kitchen table, watching and wondering if they could store some of the leftovers in the basement cold room where they normally kept ‘clients’.

Somepony knocking at the front door brought Dirt Nap to his hooves.

“I’ll get it, pa.”

Patch Balm nodded, then opened the stove to see how the roast was doing. Dirt Nap was half expecting somepony to show up, as there was no way he and pa could eat everything before it went off. That and, against all odds, his pa had met a mare during the Festival.

Honeysuckle was a big mare, like his ma, or so his pa told him. She was a widower, though her husband had not died recently. It might’ve been awkward if they’d been the ponies who buried her husband, not that it wasn’t awkward already. At least for Dirt Nap. Seeing his pa being all kissy-face with the honey coloured mare was weird and made the hollow space in his heart ever more hurtful.

Dirt Nap opened the door and a stallion, mare and three little foals—two colts and a filly—burst into song. This was not what Dirt Nap had expected at all. He’d figured that Honeysuckle would be stopping by, though there was even more food than three ponies could eat.

The family sang a lovely, traditional Hearth’s Warming song about friendship while the snow drifted gently down and Dirt Nap found himself tapping one of his hooves to the beat. He’d never had somepony come to the door and sing at him before, but it was nice.

When they finished, Dirt Nap politely stomped his applause and said, “That was jus’ swell. Thanks.”

He was wondering what to do next. Hadn’t somepony told him that carollers were supposed to be given drink and vittles or something? Maybe that’s why pa was cooking so much?

“You must be Dirt Nap! Hi! I’m Bespoke Boot, this is my wife Skiffle and our kids. Chukka, Valenki and the silly filly that just ran inside is Kitten.” The light brown unicorn held out his hoof and Dirt Nap politely bumped it as one of his ears turned back to hear the pale yellow filly gallop into the kitchen.

“Uh… Please t’meet y’all.” Dirt Nap had no idea who these ponies were, but they certainly seemed to expect to be expected.

There were greetings all around as the rest of the family made their way inside, dropping off their damp winter clothes and saddlebags in the hall before moving into the living room. Kitten was back from the kitchen and Dirt Nap couldn’t help smiling at the glee on the little filly’s muzzle when she found the plates of treats on the living room table.

As he settled down on the couch Bespoke Boot asked, “Are we the first to arrive?”

“Yes...?” Dirt Nap wondered how many more were supposed to be coming, so he excused himself and headed for the kitchen.

“Uh… Pa? Are we expectin’ company?”

Patch Balm was stirring a pot of sauce on the stove top and mumbled ‘uh-huh’ around the wooden spoon in his mouth.

There was another knocking from the front door.

“Oh! Luna, it…”

Celestia gazed down into the box where a black ball nestled within purple satin packing. A white circle and a black number ‘8' painted on its shiny surface.

“It is…”

Luna pouted and said, “You d-do despise it.”

"No! No, dear sister. I am merely puzzled that you would give me an over-sized Six-Pocket ball for a Hearth's Warming gift." She could have extended her magic into the curious object and instantly grasped its design and significance, as it was likely not a simple Six-Pocket ball. Was it? Celestia sometimes had difficulty understanding her sister's sense of humour, so it might be. But using magic on the gift would be as rude and inappropriate as it would have been to poke her mind into the beautifully wrapped gift box when her sister had given it to her.

And less fun.

Luna leant forward on her cushion, her pout turning into a grin as she nodded at the box. “Tis an augury sphere. Take it up in th… in your hooves, shake it while speaking any question, turn it over and it shall reveal the answer to thy query.”

Celestia eased her hooves into the box and gently grasped the slippery sphere. It was fortunate that she was not wearing her regalia, as those admittedly beautiful shoes would likely never have found grip. The augury ball was lighter than she anticipated and she felt liquid moving inside.

Giving the ball a gentle shake she said, “Mmm… Will there be lemon pudding after supper?”

She rotated the ball and saw that the bottom was a small flat circle set into the sphere. Something moved inside and after a moment a triangle with words extruded from it rose from the murky depths.

She read the message to Luna, “YES, DEFINITELY.”

“Fie! That was not a proper question. Thou… You knowest the menu already. Ask again!” Luna giggled, “Ask something tis embarrassing to know. It’s tradition to do so.”

"Ohhh… Well then, if it is traditional..." Celestia turned the ball right-side-up and gave it another shake. "Does my sister have a special somepony?"

“What?!”

Celestia smiled and read the ball’s answer, “MOST LIKELY.”

“Ponyfeathers! This augury is bent,” Luna grumped. “Trust it not, fair sister, for the magic ball doeth lie.”

The ball floated in Celestia’s gentle touch and settled on the fireplaces mantlepiece, propped against the side of a beautiful Quianlung vase. It’s mass manufactured, black plastic shell making an odd contrast next to the delicately decorated porcelain. While placing the ‘augury ball’, Celestia ran her mind through it and found that it was a simple dice rolling game. Nothing magical about it.

“Oh, Luna. It is just a foal’s toy, as I am sure you know. I am sorry if you feel embarrassed by my question. I just hope you will meet somepony special during your vacation. You were gone for so long and I think it would be good for you.”

Luna snorted and plainly stated, “Not likely or what I do desire.”

She knew from her sister's tone that Luna did not want to discuss it any further. Celestia almost felt bad for having disbanded the Royal Harem so many centuries ago, but it was necessary.

Equestria had been a shattered place, both the land and the ponies, after Nightmare had been… dealt with. Most of the ruling nobility had given their lives in the conflict, so Celestia had taken the reins of a bereft nation and led them away from the ruins. With the founding of Canterlot, she had worked very hard to foster a culture based on love, kindness and family. Replacing inherited feudal inequality with a meritocracy and deeper tribal integration. Promoting love and family while outlawing harems, herds and the ancient practice of treating stallions as property. She had set an example for the nation; marrying and raising a family of her own. Several times. The last few centuries she had remained single in order to prepare for Luna's return and out of guilt for enjoying life while her sibling was utterly alone.

She hoped that Luna would meet a handsome rogue, fall poll over pastern and start a family of her own. In her own experience, nothing was more joyous or drove away the darkness more surely than becoming a mother.

Deliberately setting aside her thoughts on Luna’s romantic prospects, Celestia gracefully rose up from her golden silk pillow.

“Come, dear Luna. I would like to give you your Hearth’s Warming gift.”

Luna set down her mug and licked a moustache of eggnog from her lips. “Oh? Can it not be brought here before me?”

“No,” Celestia shook her head and said, “It is far too large and is already in your chambers.”

“Oh ho? Hath the the harem been reestablished, dear sister?”

Celestia snorted a laugh and said, “It is not that kind of gift.”

“A pity.” Luna surged up to her hooves and gazed with longing at the extremely comfortable pillows set in front of the fireplace. “I hope it is a most princessly gift to tempt me away from such comfort.”

“While it can not compete with the augury ball, I think you will like it.”

The private ways through Canterlot palace were not as grandly decorated as the public areas. In place of glorious stained glass masterpieces, there were diamond-shaped leaded panes which cast grids of shadow over the plush red carpet. As they approached Luna's suites the white marble and gold, sun-themed decorations gave way to blue—almost black—marble with silver moons and stars. Thick window drapes blocked most of the sun's glorious rays, sinking the rooms into the dark gloom that Luna found more comfortable.

Her bed-chambers were completely dark aside from a few dim, bluish mage lights and a galaxy of stars scattered over the high, domed ceiling. It was painted black and echoed the night sky.

There was more than enough light for the two alicorn sisters to wend their way around the room’s plush, dark blue furnishings. But Celestia lit her horn, just a little, as they approached a side table. On it was a large package, covered in metallic looking blue gift wrapping paper.

Luna also lit her horn and inspected the gift, with her eyes only, politely not peeping underneath the wrapping paper with her magic.

“I… may hazard a guess at…”

“Do not guess, Luna! Just unwrap it.”

Celestia had carefully peeled away the tape on her sister’s gift, gently unfolding the box’s wrapping, but Luna lunged forward and began tearing the paper off of her gift. It was a tradition for them to use their own hooves for this, rather than magic. It was more satisfying. Shreds of paper fell to the floor. Ribbons were rent and cast aside. Tape was torn. But when Luna stepped back to look, there was a layer of warm purple paper beneath the first one. Celestia grinned and shrugged when Luna turned and raised a questioning eyebrow.

Luna assaulted the new layer of wrapping paper and then the final golden layer beneath that one. A knee-deep drift of torn, metallic paper littered the carpet as she finally stepped back to behold what Celestia had given her.

Made of blued steel, the clock's open framework exposed layers of simple, robustly made gears the largest of which was the size of a dinner plate. The ebony wood disk of the clock face was speckled with gemstones, many of them connected with gold wire inlays to form ancient constellations. It had two legs to show the time; one was a bar that had the fulcrum in its middle. A golden sun on one end and a silver moon on the other. There was also a minute leg with a silver star at its tip.

It was the clock which had kept the time in Luna’s suite in the Castle of the Two Sisters so many centuries ago. Only a few fragments of the original had survived to be incorporated in this recreation. Celestia herself had cast the enchantments which connected this timepiece to the rejuvenated day-themed one in her own chambers, ensuring that they were synchronised.

Luna’s voice was a little thick when she spoke. “Tis… beautiful, sister…”

Sensing an unvoiced ‘but’ in what Luna had said, Celestia gently prompted, “But?”

“Beautiful, yet the chimes were most… displeasing.”

Celestia nodded. She remembered her sister’s complaints about this when the clock was first made and how she still disliked the clock even after the bells had been damped. Nightmare Moon had bucked the beautiful thing into a wall at the start of the Long Eclipse, almost completely destroying it and the wall.

“I remembered.”

Celestia reached out with her glowing magic and depressed a small button on the side of the clock. It activated the alarm and quiet music came from the clock. In place of the original bells and strikers, a pair of music boxes had been built into the gear train, and they played a mellow tune. One of Luna's favourites. Written by a travelling minstrel it was a hymn of praise to the moon, the night sky and the alicorn responsible for their beauty.

Luna closed her eyes as she listened. After a few bars she was smiling and her head nodded in time to the music. Seeing this made Celestia smile and she continued to press the alarm button for two cycles through its shortened version of the tune.

Once the room was quiet again, Luna opened her eyes and with a grin, she quickly stepped closer and hugged Celestia. As best she could at any rate since Luna was still significantly smaller than her big sister.

“This truly is a princessly gift. Thank th… Thank you, I mean.” Luna sighed. “I wish my own gift had been as beautiful and thoughtful.”

Celestia wrapped a leg around her sister and hugged her a little closer. “Nonsense, Luna. You have given me the most precious gift of all; your joyful company.”

Grabbing a thick, insulating cloth in his mouth, Clickspring stuck his head into the oven and carefully bit the edge of the baking tray. The searing heat was painful, especially for his folded back ears, so he had to be quick!

He slid the tray and it's heavy pumpkin loaf onto the counter, spat out the cloth and kicked the oven's door shut with a hind hoof. Wielding a serrated knife in his magic, he cut a couple of slices and plopped them onto a plate. For sides, he'd made brussel sprouts with chestnuts and sage, roast potatoes, carrots and neeps, and spiced red cabbage.

Following his dam's recipes had produced enough food to stuff four ponies, so most of it would end up in the fridge. Leftovers for a leftover pony.

Clickspring shook his head and snorted, trying to clear the dismal thought out his mind.

No moping on Hearth’s Warming Eve.

He hummed an uplifting carol while using a large metal spoon to load up his plate. He’d spent the last two Hearth’s Warmings alone. The last dozen or so birthdays too. It wasn’t so bad. Except that this whole ‘coming out of his shell’ thing had left him wishing he had company or that he could have travelled to Manehatten to visit his folks.

Neither was an option. Everypony that he knew in Ponyville were spending time with their own families or friends. Rarity and her little sister were visiting their parents, though he’d caught them at the Boutique before they left and gave his ‘master’ her holiday gift. Clickspring had finished the diamond-themed clock just in time to shut down the water mill before everything iced up.

Noctilucent had gone out-of-town to visit her folks, so he’d left her gift with the hospital receptionist.

Dirt Nap was no doubt either spending the evening with his sire or at The Back Passage. Frostbite had dropped by to give him a Rump’s Warming party invite, but a crowded club was the last place Clickspring wanted to be.

Next year, once the damn Curse was broken, he’d catch the train to Manehattan. The card and excuse he’d mailed would have to do for this year, as there was no way in Tartarus he could deal with his mum’s touchy-feely affection right now.

Glitter on the card that they had sent him sparkled in the candlelight.

He’d propped it open on the other side of the kitchen table so he could feel a tiny bit closer to them while he ate. There were a few other letters underneath it; just bills, advertisements and one from the Canterlot General Hospital. He hadn’t opened it yet, but it was probably nothing important. It could wait.

His horn glowed for a few moments as he cast Lighten on a bottle of soda, another useful spell that Rarity had taught him. The normally too-heavy bottle only wobbled a little bit as he levitated it and filled his glass.

At least there was a feast to enjoy.

Dinner had been eaten, desserts demolished, gifts had been opened and now everypony was settled in the living room. Dirt Nap stood near the window and quietly looked out into the night, where street lamps made glowing cones in the still falling snow.

Being a desert-colt, he'd never gotten his hooves wet with snow before. He'd seen it or at least been told that the white caps on the mountains were made of snow. Sweet Celestia but it was cold! Nights in the desert sometimes got what he'd thought of as cold, but now he really understood what cold was. And he'd heard that some ponies lived even further north where it was even colder!

Tomorrow there would be a lot of work to do. He’d found a job working with the snow clearing crew and though it didn’t pay much he was grateful for the work. It got him out of the house, kept his idle muscles in shape and his mind off of things he didn’t want to think about. ‘Fix worry with work’, his pa had told him, and it really did work. Sort of.

The worry was always waiting for him when the work was done. He wished that Applejack was waiting for him instead.

Meeting Honeysuckle’s son and two daughters and all of their many foals was draining. Fun though, especially when he gave some of them a quick tour of the cold room. Some of the foals were eager but frightened of finding a pony’s last remains laid out, but the cold rooms were empty. In contrast, there were more ponies crammed into their small living room than had ever attended the Hearth’s Warming celebration in Copper Creek. The sad truth was that meeting Honeysuckle’s family, seeing their relationships and their warm happiness of being together was making him feel worse. On Hearth’s Warming. Dirt Nap felt just awful about it.

With Honeysuckle’s kin here to keep his pa company, may he could slip out and go to The Back Passage?

“Dirt Nap?” A delicate mare named… Dirt Nap couldn’t remember her name, but she was one of Honeysuckle’s fillies.

“Mum and your dad said they wanted to tell us all something.”

“Oh, ok.” He followed her over to where everypony was gathering in a half circle in front of the loveseat where his pa and Honeysuckle were sitting, holding hooves.

Once everypony was settled, Honeysuckle said, “Thank you all for coming. I’m sure changing Hearth’s Warming plans at the last moment like this must have been difficult.”

“Not as difficult for us as for Patch and Dirt Nap!” said Bespoke Boot.

“Let’s hear it for our hosts!” said Bespoke’s wife while holding a glass of wine up in her hoof.

There was a round of cheers and hoof stomping applause. Bespoke Boot gave Dirt Nap a friendly hug and left a leg draped companionably over his shoulders. After a few moments, the laughter at their own cheering died down.

Honeysuckle leant over to kiss Patch Balm on the top of his head and said, “Yes, thank you for preparing such a wonderful feast and opening your home to us, dear.”

Dirt Nap’s mouth hung open in surprise at the sight of his pa blushing. His pa was blushing!

“Now, the reason we wanted you all here isn’t just for Hearth’s Warming. Patch and I… well…”

“We’re gettin’ hitched.” Patch Balm slipped a skinny foreleg around Honeysuckle’s shoulders and stretched his head up to give her a kiss on the cheek.

Dirt Nap felt like he'd been pulled outside of himself. He felt his cheek muscles protesting at how wide his mouth was gawping open and his eyes felt like they might pop out. But it was all vague and distant. There was a terrible pressure in his chest, squeezing him like he was buried under a tonne of dirt. Something tore inside, like a muscle giving out and he was suddenly back inside of himself, gasping for breath and grinning like a fool.

Bespoke Boot was pounding him on the back and cheering. Once he had a lungful of air, Dirt Nap felt light, happy and he joined in.

Author's Note

It's not exactly the right season for this chapter... but I ain't waiting until December to post it. I think there are three or five chapters to go, so I'll try to avoid adding any more characters to the cast. Honest, I'll try.

I have momentous news so please check my blog here if you're at all curious. It's momentous to me anyway.

Please PM me if you see anything that you think needs tweaking. Thank you.