A Lovely Gift
By Alaborn
A Jinglemas gift for MOOSEWHISKER
Chapter 1: Making A List
Twilight Sparkle, Princess of Friendship and Magic, monarch of Equestria, could only look over the scene and sigh. It was still a week before the Running of the Leaves, yet the Room of Gifts was overflowing with Hearth’s Warming gifts.
The Room of Gifts had another name, the Frostfire Suite, one of many such rooms named after ancient noble ponies whose generous contributions had funded the construction of Canterlot Castle so many centuries ago. But only a few ponies used that name now. She thought back to that first day. She sat on the throne, her throne, awaiting her first petitioners. She had absolute power at her control, the energy of the sun and the moon contained within her magical core, and she did not know what to do. She panicked, but then remembered one of her lessons from Princess Celestia. Choose one task, one small task, and complete it. So she ordered a guard to move a pile of gifts left over from the coronation party to one room of the castle, and the Room of Gifts was born.
Nothing could stop the gifts from coming. As ruler of Equestria, her word was law, but nopony would listen to her when she said she neither needed nor wanted gifts. And Hearth’s Warming was the worst time of year. The season was full of parties and celebrations, each resulting in countless obsequious nobles casually mentioning the Hearth’s Warming gift they had sent to their princess, and when she could only respond to most of them by changing the subject, it convinced the nobles that the way to get their princess’s attention was to send their gifts earlier. And so, with the leaves still on the trees, she already had more gifts than anypony could ever use.
Each gift had been scanned for dark magic and dangerous substances, of course. The castle staff knew to separate any gifts from a list of friends, acquaintances, and former students that grew longer with each year. The diplomatic corps handled any gifts from foreign nationals. And her advisors had wide discretion to bring individual gifts to her attention. That still left a huge stack of packages.
Twilight Sparkle could see that many of the unopened gifts were books. One of the few benefits of being saddled with the moniker “Princess of Books” is that she received a lot of books. And as a result, even the smallest villages in Equestria found their libraries expanded by the anonymous donation of “gently used” books. Still, it was hard to mention to those same obsequious nobles that these gifted books she “surely hadn’t read” either were ones she had read, or ones where there was a clear reason why she hadn’t read them.
Yet despite the overwhelming nature of the task, Twilight Sparkle set to work reviewing the contents of the Room of Gifts. She knew the chance of finding something she needed was small, but there might be something that would interest her friends.
It was never the wrong time to think about gifts for her friends. She had learned years ago that the most important gift she could offer was her time, something beyond their monthly Council of Friendship meetings. But to share her time with a friend and bring a gift that fit her interests? That was even better. But she promised herself she wouldn’t be stressed if she couldn’t find the right gift. She remembered all too well the dangers of seeking one perfect gift.
Twilight Sparkle felt a familiar surge of magic as a scroll materialized before her. She read it, and then vanished the scroll. Speaking of gifts, one special gift for Fluttershy had arrived.
Princess Twilight Sparkle materialized in her throne room and took a seat. She adjusted her crown and shifted her wings until they were settled into place. She made a slight nod, and the two guards opened the door.
“Announcing Long Tusk, of the Hippopotamus Kingdom, and... friends.” The herald almost concealed his disapproval, but that pause at the end ruined it.
It was a testament to the construction of Canterlot Castle that Twilight Sparkle could not feel the vibrations as the humongous hippo bull walked into the throne room. He wore a pith helmet and khaki shirt, much like the attire Daring Do favored. His “friends” were several exotic animals, species that didn’t live anywhere near Equestria. Most were being transported in ornate wicker caged balanced on the bull’s massive back, but three birds with bright yellow beaks were instead perched on his head.
Long Tusk bowed deeply. “On behalf of Queen Adhela of the Hippopotamus Kingdom, I am greatly honored to accept your invitation to visit Equestria, Land of the Ponies.”
“In the name of friendship and harmony, the ponies and peoples of Equestria welcome you, Long Tusk. Please rise.”
Long Tusk rose, and the three birds on his head trilled excitedly. “Now be polite,” he whispered to them. “We are guests here.”
Twilight Sparkle smiled as she saw the hippo using his special talent. One of her goals as ruler of Equestria was to travel far beyond the borders of Equestria, beyond the lands of her allies and trading partners, and see the entire world. The things she saw when she and her friends escaped the Storm King’s invasion had shook her, and she was determined to spread friendship everywhere, and hopefully prevent the rise of another Storm King. And when she finally made it to the hippo lands, she happened to meet a hippo with a remarkable affinity towards animals, one that was very familiar to her.
“Long Tusk, I am proud to welcome you and your friends to see the flora and fauna of Equestria. Today, you will visit the Royal Gardens in the company of my dear friend, Fluttershy.”
A side door opened, and Fluttershy stepped out, accompanied by a few more animal friends than normal. Almost immediately, pony and hippo started chatting amiably, accompanied by animals chittering and chirping.
“Have fun, you too,” Twilight Sparkle said.
“Princess, if you would, we have approximately fifteen minutes to discuss today’s correspondence.”
Twilight Sparkle turned to her secretary, who had somehow approached her without being seen. Again. “I’m sorry, Miss Quill, but I have something to attend to before court opens.”
And before her secretary could protest, Twilight Sparkle teleported away.
Twilight Sparkle reappeared in the Room of Gifts. She summoned her special Hearth’s Warming checklist and made a mark next to Fluttershy’s name. She was proud of the gifts she had found for her dearest friends.
For Rainbow Dash, she had introduced her to a pair of parrot sisters who were remarkably acrobatic fliers. Even if she was no longer actively performing with the Wonderbolts, Rainbow Dash was involved in designing their routines. She expected the visitors would inspire her.
Across the ocean, Twilight Sparkle visited a duchy of dogs who insisted they were not related to Equestria’s diamond dogs, despite looking a whole lot like them. They were civilized and industrious and exceptional farmers, despite having no magic like that of the earth ponies. She brought a group of them, along with some new fruit cultivars, to Applejack, to talk shop. And if their ideas were good, Applejack’s extended family would quickly spread them around Equestria.
Pinkie Pie was always easy to please. Every year, she’d introduce her to a new kind of dessert, or a new kind of celebration, from the creatures she had met during her travels. This year, it was a celebration about a cake, which would make her doubly happy.
Similarly, her travels exposed her to different cultures with different attitudes towards clothing and fashion, and Rarity simply adored it when Twilight Sparkle brought her “inspiration”. This year, it was silk fabric and clothing from the Empire of the Qilin, who also claimed no relation to the kirin of Equestria despite looking similar.
These hinted at problems far deeper than friendship problems. But Twilight Sparkle was patient, and she had a long reign to bring the world into harmony.
Flurry Heart was at that age where no gift would please her. But Twilight Sparkle invited her on some of her royal trips, as a fellow princess, but more importantly treating her like an adult. It was a treatment she wasn’t getting from her parents, especially her overprotective father.
Speaking of Shining Armor, her gift to him was to participate in his game of Ogres & Oubliettes. She had even learned the magic Discord used to immerse them in the game, and made the spell a little less, well, Discord-y.
And that left one glaring gap on her Hearth’s Warming checklist.
Cadance.
It wasn’t like bringing an apple to Applejack or a pie to Pinkie Pie. Her domain was love. As an alicorn, she was both the avatar of love and innately understood love in all of its forms. She could suss out physical and emotional attraction, familial love, and relationships built around mutual respect and understanding.
She couldn’t even offer her the gift of her playing matchmaker. Being the ruling princess of Equestria brought with it certain duties, and that precluded a relationship like the one Cadance shared with her brother.
Which made it all the more important that she find something in the Room of Gifts.
Twilight Sparkle felt a pulse of magic. She turned her head and focused on a thick book, resting atop a crate. She looked closer, and blushed when she saw the title: The Pony Sutra. She thought back to one frazzled Hearth’s Warming season where, in a fit of desperation driven by a certain draconequus, she convinced herself that this book was the right gift for Cadance. Later, in private, her sister-in-law explained that she already knew the book, and explored it.
She probably had said something more detailed, but Twilight Sparkle had worked to strike those memories from her head.
The book was still sitting there. It was a quality book, thick, with a brown cloth cover that would make it blend in with the books on the bookshelf of some noblepony’s estate. There was even an ink smudge near the spine, just like the copy of the book she had....
Twilight Sparkle closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and focused on her magical core. And just to be safe, she placed a stasis spell on the Room of Gifts.
Then, she unleashed the full Royal Canterlot Voice™.
“DISCORD!!!!!!!”
With a pop, the offending book grew and morphed, taking the shape of a familiar draconequus. He was still colored like the old book. He looked at his arms, shrugged, and then shook himself, restoring his natural coloration. Or as natural as anything could be for a draconequus.
“It was the perfect gift, my dear Twilight,” Discord said. “She was the Princess of Love, you were the Princess of Books, what could be a better gift than a book about love?”
“She opened the book, pointed to one of the illustrations, and then she started talking about how she and Shining Armor....” Twilight Sparkle shuddered.
“Oh? Do go on,” Discord said, munching on a handful of tiny red-and-white-striped paper boxes being held in a giant, hollowed-out popcorn kernel.
“I’ve spent twenty years trying to erase that memory!” Twilight Sparkle shouted. “Look. Cadance made an unexpected visit, I didn’t have a gift, I was frazzled, and you TRICKED ME!”
“Just trying to build lasting memories,” Discord said. “Now, weren’t you looking for a gift for dear Princess Cadance?”
“I was, until SOMEPONY interrupted me.”
“Why don’t you share with her a love story? Two ponies, deeply in love, and you can even say ‘I learned something today’.”
“She already knows that, instinctively!” Twilight Sparkle retorted.
“Are you sure she knows the love that exists between every couple in Equestria?” Discord replied. A clock chimed, and Discord looked at his wrist, which now sported a miniature grandfather clock on a strap. “Would you look at the time? Gotta go!” And with that, Discord disappeared into an astral rift.
He did stick his arm back out, dropping off a tacky lamp with a tag reading “To the Princess of Books – Happy Hearth’s Warming”.
Twilight Sparkle would have to thank Discord later. Not for the lamp—that was going straight to the sun—but for helping her with her gift dilemma.
A Lovely Gift
By Alaborn
A Jinglemas gift for MOOSEWHISKER
Chapter 2: Checking It Twice
The day was over. Court was concluded, with some petitions addressed and others dismissed with varying levels of prejudice. She delivered a lecture to the eager students at her school. She had dined with a few nobles, listened to their bloviating, and maintained her Princess Smile™ the entire time. The sun was set and the moon raised. Her duties complete, Princess Twilight Sparkle could finally turn her attention to the one thing this day she was truly looking forward to experiencing.
She sat in her personal chambers with only a pot of herbal tea and one of her dearest friends. Fluttershy was humming happily as she sipped her tea.
“Did you have a good day, Fluttershy?” she asked.
“Oh, it was wonderful. We had a lovely time in the gardens, and tomorrow I’m showing him my animal sanctuary,” Fluttershy said. “I have to thank you for inviting Long Tusk to Equestria. You probably thought he looked terrifying, but he’s a gentle soul. You can see by how the animals react to him.”
“I found the hippos to be quite the gentle people,” Twilight Sparkle commented. “But it was hard getting used to being smaller than somepony else.”
“And those three oxpeckers are such cards. You should hear them carrying on.”
“I’ll have to take your word on that,” she replied. Twilight Sparkle still hadn’t found a spell that let her speak to animals the way Fluttershy could. “So he can communicate with animals like you can?”
“Yes. It’s so nice to see somepony, or somecreature, with the same gift.”
“And do you know he does it? Is it in the same manner as you?” Twilight Sparkle almost summoned a scroll and quill to take notes, by reflex, but stopped herself just in time.
“I don’t know. We both just, you know, talk.”
It was a fascinating subject. Twilight Sparkle knew only that hippos had nothing like pony magic, but Long Tusk showed they had special talents, and they could work just the same as ponies. But that was a topic for another day. Right now, another question was on her mind.
“Discord popped in for a visit today,” she commented.
“Oh. He did say something about needing to do his good deed for the month. Did he help you with something?”
“Discord never helps me with anything,” Twilight Sparkle said. “But in his own irritating way, he did make me think about something.”
She paused, prompting Fluttershy to ask “About what?”
“You’ve been Discord’s closest friend for more than twenty years. But would you call your relationship... love?”
Fluttershy took a long, slow sip from her teacup before responding. “If you live as long as Princess Celestia, you still will not hear Discord use the word ‘love’. But it is.”
“How do you know?”
“I see how Discord acts. And I just know. In a way, it is similar to my special talent,” Fluttershy stated.
“How so?”
“Do you remember our first long night together, when we encountered that manticore in the Everfree Forest?”
“I remember it clearly,” Twilight Sparkle said.
“My special talent doesn’t let me understand manticores. But I listen to the animals I do understand. My bear friends can only communicate with a roar, and when they can only roar, you have to listen to how they roar. A hurt roar sounds different from an angry roar. And when that manticore roared at us, I could hear the hurt hidden inside.”
“You were that certain, that you put yourself in danger?”
“It was a risk, but I’ve always believed we all need to be shown a little kindness.”
Twilight Sparkle paused. “I’m not sure what that has to do with Discord.”
“Discord is the spirit of chaos....”
“The better term is avatar of chaos,” Twilight Sparkle interrupted.
Fluttershy glared at her.
“Sorry. I had class today. It’s hard to get out of lecture mode,” she said sheepishly.
“Spirit, avatar, whatever you call him, Discord is a creature of chaos,” Fluttershy said. “And no matter what words he uses, he expresses himself through acts of chaos, big and small. Even just saying hello comes with an attempt to surprise you.”
“They’re a little too predictable, if you ask me,” Twilight Sparkle said.
“I know, and I’m proud of Discord for taking that step.”
“What?” Twilight Sparkle exclaimed.
“When Discord appears as if he were summoned from the shower, or when you see him eat the container instead of the food, it’s familiar. And don’t you appreciate familiar interactions with your friends?”
“I... I never thought of it like that.”
“The day we freed Discord, and I vowed to make him my friend, he treated us as he always did, with acts of chaos. But I could sense the hurt he was feeling inside. For Discord, not having a friend hurt as much as the thorn in that manticore’s paw, and I heard that loud and clear.”
“You heard that in the way he twisted reality around you?”
“It was a feeling, just like with the manticore,” Fluttershy admitted. “To prove I wanted to be his friend, I just had to show him that I was willing to accept that he is chaos. And there was only act that made me willing to give up.”
Twilight Sparkle thought back to that day; Fluttershy’s words put the events into an entirely new context. “The one thing you could not tolerate was separating you from your element. Kindness is a part of you, just like chaos is a part of him.”
“Exactly.”
“But when did you realize your friendship was love?”
“I was slow to realize it. It was the warm feeling I felt whenever Discord stopped by. For too long, I thought it similar to the feeling I get when caring for my animals, or the feeling I get when I see all my friends on the Council of Friendship.” Fluttershy paused to take another sip of tea. “I had to admit that of all kinds of kindness, this one was most special to me.”
“You needed to sense how this one feeling was different. Just like with the manticore and Discord,” Twilight Sparkle said. “Thank you, Fluttershy. This has been very helpful.”
“You’re welcome,” she replied. “Is there anything else you wanted to know? Like what we do on our special nights together?”
“No, no, no, that’s fine!” Twilight Sparkle quickly replied, waving her forelegs in the air. She saw enough of that while monitoring dreams, thank you very much.
“Okay,” Fluttershy replied, almost sounding disappointed.
“But... if you wanted to talk about that, I’m sure Cadance would love to talk to you. Perhaps a vacation next summer?”
“That sounds lovely.”
Twilight Sparkle smiled. She could check Cadance off on next year’s Hearth’s Warming list.
Twilight Sparkle returned to her quarters following her conversation with Fluttershy. It was late, but not too late, her favorite time for reading and catching up on correspondence. So she ignored the bed and went into her study. With a flare of magic, she lit the crystals in the chandelier overhead.
Her study was once a sitting room of some sort, when it was Celestia’s quarters, and she fondly remembered study sessions back when Celestia was Princess Celestia and she was just her faithful student. The old furnishings were gone now, replaced by a desk and bookshelf. She took a seat at the desk and looked it over. A trio of letters awaited her response, and five inkwells and five quills were lined up, waiting for her use.
Except one of the inkwells was slightly shifted, and one of the quills was askew.
She had noticed that happening most days, and had attributed it to the maids accidentally disturbing her desk. But when she thought about it, it was always just a tiny bit disturbed. It was far too consistent. One day, she arranged her desk perfectly, and then decided to order her room sealed for the day, with no visitors or staff entering it. That night, the familiar pattern of disturbed items returned, and Twilight Sparkle knew someone was messing with her.
This night, she didn’t return things to normal. She moved a second inkwell out of line. She replaced one of the phoenix feather quills with an ordinary goose quill. She then turned to the chandelier. She changed the colors of the crystals so that half shed red light and half green. The combination of colors was not an attractive one.
She got no response, so Twilight Sparkle knew she needed to up her game. She summoned a variety of crystal prisms, and arranged them around the chandelier. It took some trial and error, but she managed to cast a pattern of lines and rectangular patches of color on the wall. She grinned.
“Ugh. Plaid? You know, I do have standards,” Discord grumbled.
“And good evening to you, too,” she replied. She cancelled her spell, returning the room to its normal white light. “Fluttershy and I just had a wonderful conversation about life and love.”
“Mm-hmm,” Discord muttered.
“It was quite beautiful, the way she described your friendship, and how it bloomed into love.”
“Yes, yes, that four letter word.”
“In fact, her story touched me so much, I thought I’d make it a part of the standard friendship curriculum in schools across Equestria.”
“You wouldn’t dare,” Discord hissed.
“Well, I wanted to share this with Cadance, but it wouldn’t be fair to her without knowing the full story. But as a lesson....”
“Fine, I’ll talk,” Discord said grudgingly.
“Your relationship with your dear friend, Fluttershy—in your own words, how did it happen?”
“Oh, this is rich. The Princess of Friendship, at a loss for understanding friendship?” Discord chortled.
“You are a unique creature, Discord, and what I’ve learned about friendship just can’t be applied to you. So, I’ll need you to show me.”
“As a scholar of the art of friendship, surely you’d start by looking at my other friends?”
“You don’t have other friends,” Twilight Sparkle stated.
“Associates, acquaintances, you know, for a certain definition of friend. Think about Tirek, for example.”
Twilight Sparkle looked towards the palace gardens, where a certain statue rested. “Great choice,” she deadpanned.
“Or what about that sweetheart, the Smooze? Tell me, what do they have in common?”
“They’re troublemakers? That would explain why you like them, for sure.”
“No, my dear Twilight, you’re thinking about it wrong. I am a being of supreme power, in my own sphere, and whether associate or rival, I find myself drawn to others with great power. Tirek, Sunbutt, and even, dare I say it, you?”
“That doesn’t explain your relationship with Fluttershy,” Twilight Sparkle said.
“But don’t you see? She’s the most powerful of all!”
“Come again?”
“You see, during my long and glorious rules of Equestria, both of them, I could always get ponies to react to me. Words or deeds, tricks or treats, I could make anypony embrace chaos. And trust me, there is nothing sweeter than to make a pony choose chaos of their own free... free-ish will.”
“Except for Fluttershy.”
“Except for Fluttershy. Exactly!” Discord said. “Oh, how I tried to sow the seeds of discord in her, but she just kept agreeing with me! She ran me out of patience. I, Discord, who had been planning this for centuries, had to....” Discord leaned in close to Twilight Sparkle’s ear. “Fudge things!” he continued with a whisper.
She thought back to that day, how they had all been convinced to give up the elements they embodied, and remembered that Fluttershy never did give in.
“And then, to make it worse, when you freed me, nothing I could do would make Fluttershy abandon her attempt to befriend me. And this, after centuries plotting my revenge!”
“You were turned to stone for a year, tops,” Twilight Sparkle said.
“Minute, millennium, eon, what does it matter? She proved herself strong twice. And I realized, I would never learn the secret of her strength if I left her.”
Twilight Sparkle glared at him.
“Fine, I realized that I valued having her as a friend. Somepony who didn’t view me as a means to an end, somepony who could let me be me. Somepony who didn’t see me as a project to reform.” He looked directly at Twilight Sparkle.
“I think you’ve been reformed just fine. Love will do that to a creature.”
“Careful with the four-letter words, Princess,” Discord growled. “There could be foals listening.”
Twilight Sparkle smiled. “That’s okay. We won’t use the word if you don’t want to.”
“Well, this had been an illuminating conversation,” Discord said. “And speaking of illumination, you forgot your gift.” He plopped that same ugly lamp onto her desk. “Happy early Hearth’s Warming!”
“Thanks,” she deadpanned.
Discord snapped his talons, and the lamp illuminated, casting orange and purple light in a paisley pattern on the wall. “Ta ta for now!” he said, and vanished.
Twilight Sparkle turned off the lamp, only to find everything still colored orange and purple paisley—her desk, her quills, her letters... herself.
“DISCORD!!!!”
