Author's Note
I know it's not Christmas yet, but... I just wanted to write this because it's a fun thing to do. And, yes... it is a sequel to The Night of Truth.
P.S: Be gentle with this story. Before any of you dislike the story and its prequel, first read it, and then you may judge it. Besides, if there's anything you didn't like, write it down in the comment section.
The Gift.
"Merry Heart's Warming Eve, Luna..." Alfred whispered.
The Prince and co-ruler of Equestria watched the snowfall and the night rise over the city that was once inhabited by both Alicorn sisters. Admiring the night and witnessing how the snow coexists with the calming night darkness brought good memories to the Prince, which he loved to have while showing a small but visible smile on his face. Canterlot was, in his own words, a capital full of riches; however, he never referred to financial wealth, but to cultural and social wealth everywhere and in every corner of the city. And, although there were certain things that the human didn't like, he never showed any intention of leaving the place, since... he had a good reason to stay there... his beloved Luna.
In a thousand years, Canterlot had witnessed so many events and misfortunes over time, which caused the formation of a very particular city; being full of locations where the upper-class society lived, there were also quite notable spaces for many to realize that you could have a very good life here, not only financially, but culturally speaking.
Alfred observed the streets, stores, houses, and restaurants... he admired the beauty of the city and its social and cultural complexity in all its splendor, which reminded him of what Equestria was like... a remarkable cultural and economic division, but it didn't directly affect how the inhabitants of this country lived together, but it even went as far as promoting the friendships that many could have.
From the balcony, Alfred admired the entire landscape and enjoyed the detail that it possessed; he had never before been able to witness and notice it in the past, being so because of his concern and pain for his beloved Luna... Now, all he saw was a pure and irreplaceable beauty...
"Your majesty," A bat-pony guard said.
Alfred did not turn around, just stared around him, though at no time did he forget to answer...
"Yes, Captain Hook?" The Prince asked...
"Sir Spike and Mr. Gallus have arrived." The guard explained. "Do I let them in?"
"Yes please." Alfred replied…
The captain bowed, saluted and withdrew, leaving the Prince alone again, admiring all he could see; at some point, he chuckled and smiled. Tonight was a beautiful one and he knew what to do to make the most of it, not only enjoying it himself but helping others to enjoy it too...
Then, he turned around and entered the room, closing the door behind him. Although, not without first looking at the sky one last time, smiling again. After this, he turned around and walked towards another door, opened it, and saw Spike and Gallus sitting on the armchairs in front of the fireplace, talking among themselves; later, Alfred entered the room and closed the door.
Gallus and Spike turned to see Alfred and greeted him, he returned the gesture and proceeded to hug them both; the 3 had become great friends and were as close to each other as considering themselves family...
"I'm so glad you two were able to come," Alfred commented. "Though I'm sorry I asked you on this very day, I hope I didn't ruin any party or gathering any of you had."
"It's okay," Spike replied as he sat back down on the couch. "When Twilight knew about the invitation, she was more grateful than I thought that you wanted to spend some time with me."
"Well, I always enjoyed the gatherings and talks we usually have," Alfred replied, to which Gallus chuckled...
"Heh. Me too."
Alfred was glad to be able to spend Heart's Warming Eve with two of his closest friends. Since he and Spike met 12 years ago, the two of them were almost inseparable and lived together much of the day constantly, although when Spike went with Twilight to Ponyville, neither of them did have much time to talk and spend time together; fortunately, now that Spike became the Royal Ambassador, the two of them were able to enjoy that old friendship they once shared for so long.
As for Gallus, well... Alfred met him almost 3 years ago, only when the griffin had begun his studies on friendship at the School of Friendship; on one of those days when the courses had just begun, the Prince and the student met during a tour that the human was taking through the place. Gallus bumped into Alfred, who greeted him cordially, to which the griffin responded with a greeting, although with some nervousness and insecurity; almost immediately, the two became good friends after a chat between each other. This sparked a series of visits by the Prince to school, and not only because of Gallus, but he also used to come to the school to see Spike or to attend Twilight, who normally turned to him for advice.
There was even a short period of time, in which Gallus suffered from great stress and complications in the period before school exams; upon learning of this, Alfred set out to leave his duties as Prince and co-ruler of Equestria for a few weeks, in which he assisted Gallus and urged him to trust himself and remain calm. He did not help him for the exams, but rather gave inspiration and great will power to the griffin so that he would be able to focus on school and friends without having any kind of emotional complication; and, all this, thanks to the support that Gallus received from Alfred.
Since then, the two maintained a great friendship and considered themselves family; even Spike admired what Alfred had done and decided to give Gallus a chance to become friends, which turned out pretty well. The dragon and the griffin became friends in a matter of days, and gradually their relationship grew more and more until the two considered themselves brothers.
It had been a year since the 3 of them lived together for the first time and this was the mainstay for what later became an emotional bond so strong that no one was able to break it; and, after the incident of the "Legion of Doom", the 3 did not deny the fact of considering themselves a family and openly admitted it to their friends...
"Would you like some tea, coffee? Or do you prefer hot chocolate?" Alfred asked as he got up and walked to the mini kitchen in his room.
"Some tea, please." Spike answered.
"I would like some coffee," Gallus responded. "Thank you."
Alfred chuckled at their answers and said...
"Well, it seems like I'm the only one who'll take hot chocolate, then!" The Prince laughed...
"You like hot chocolate?" Gallus asked, clearly surprised for what the human had said...
"Well, yeah," Alfred replied, then turned to look at him and said...
"Why are you-? ...Oh, right." Alfred asked, though he stopped mid-question after remembering that chocolate was toxic to the griffins...
Alfred sighed. "I- ...I'm sorry, Gallus." He apologized. "I didn't remember that you-"
"It’s okay, I understand." Gallus reassured.
The Prince smiled softly in gratitude, relieved that his comment had not bothered Gallus; therefore, he went to the mini-kitchen and placed two saucepans on the stove, in which he put the chocolate and tea he was going to cook inside them, while he placed the coffee pot on the stove and prepared the coffee.
Several minutes passed, in which Gallus and Spike chatted with each other while Alfred made the drinks; however, there was something inside his mind that did not leave him be, he was not sure if both Spike and Gallus would agree with the gift the human had prepared for them. He was unsure how they would both react upon knowing about this… but he was confident and, even if they rejected it, he would be glad that he at least tried and did his best to give them a good life.
When the drinks were finally ready, Alfred poured them into the mugs next to the stove and put them on a tray; then, he grabbed the tray with his hands and carried it to where Spike and Gallus were. Upon arrival, both thanked the drinks to Alfred, who replied...
"Now, I look like your servant." The Prince joked, who put the tray on the table in front of them and picked up his cup, then sat on the couch and drank a little...
"Thank you, Alfred." Gallus thanked him...
"Yeah," Spike agreed. "Thanks, Alfred."
"You’re my guests, after all," Alfred replied with a smile. "It’s the least I could do."
The three shared a pleasant smile and savored their drinks; Spike enjoyed the coffee, despite preferring tea, although he was always grateful for a change from time to time. Gallus gave a smile as he savored the tea, for him it was delicious and it had been a while since the griffin had tasted a drink as delectable as this one. As for Alfred, the Prince drank some of the hot chocolate and vague memories of his childhood returned to his mind, in which he prepared hot chocolate and gave it to his sick parents, who always thanked him and his sister for the meals that both siblings cooked to them.
Without realizing it, Alfred shed a tear down his left eye while giving a sigh of sadness and nostalgia at having those memories inside his head; then, he looked at the fireplace fire while thinking for a long time until Gallus interrupted him...
"Alfred..." The griffin said. "Are you... crying?"
"Huh?" The human expressed after hearing Gallus' question, then put his hand on his cheek and confirmed that he was crying, so he quickly wiped away the tear and said...
"I'm sorry," He apologized. "It's just- ...I had a vague memory, that's all."
"About what?" Spike asked.
Alfred sighed at his question. "My- ...my parents." He finally answered with a sad tone in his voice...
"Oh," Gallus and Spike said in unison.
"I'm terribly sorry, Alfred." Spike apologized. "I-..."
"There's no need to apologize, Spike." Alfred interrupted, then turned to look at the purple dragon and slightly smiled at him...
"Also, I think it’s the right thing to have in my mind… since it helps me think about your gift." Alfred explained while giving a soft but faint smile.
Because of that, both Spike and Gallus were confused, neither of them understood the reason for his comment; Alfred noticed this and immediately went to pick up a couple of gifts that were under the tree, after this, he returned to the couch and sat down again. Then, he proceeded to give the gifts to both the dragon and the griffin...
"Merry Hearth's Warming Eve." Alfred said with a smile.
The dragon and the griffin observed the gifts for a moment, both were surprised by Alfred's gesture, but they were also confused, since his comment did not seem to make sense and had no apparent relation to the gifts, so they gave a moment of silence and reflection before proceeding to open the gifts. These ended up being a couple of boxes, which they opened and saw that there were some letters inside; they looked at each other for a moment and then looked at Alfred, who nodded, then grabbed the letters and opened them.
They read them for a few minutes until they realized what these were... adoption letters...
"Are these adoption requests?" Gallus asked, clearly confused and not knowing what else to say...
"Yes, they are," Alfred replied…
"Why are you giving them to us?" Spike asked, although Gallus replied...
"Because..." Gallus sighed. "...He wants to adopt us." He explained.
Then the dragon realized what was happening, looked at the letter, and looked at Alfred...
"You... want to adopt us?" Spike asked, to which Alfred nodded in response...
"But... why?"
Alfred sighed as he stared for a moment at the flames of the fireplace fire; he thought his answer for several seconds and then spoke...
"Because of two reasons..." He responded. "My parents... and you."
There was an abrupt silence. No one said anything at any time in the next 20 or 30 seconds. Spike and Gallus were thoughtful and did not know how to react on all that, honestly, neither of them had the slightest idea of what to express... they just stood silent for a moment and reflected.
"Why?" Spike asked. "I mean, which is the importance of your parents and us for you to take such a drastic decision?"
"Because... I wanted to." Alfred replied. "I wanted to give you a father, I wanted to give you a family... I- ...I really wanted you to have a good life."
A tear ran down Alfred's left cheek, he stood silent for a while until he let out a sigh and kept talking...
"...When I was a child, my parents got sick. My sister and I had to take care of them for 3 months before the doctors declared it impossible for them to survive..." He sniffed. "...I lost my family, I lost a part of my life and- ...the last thing I would ever want to happen is for anyone or anypony to have that same lack of parental guide and support…" Another sniff interrupted him. Alfred was barely able to contain the tears and the memories of his family passed by his mind once more...
"...When both of you demonstrated your wishes of having a family, I understood that… something had to be done! ...you both deserve it... you really do!... And the fact of you not having the most important part of your whole lives, it makes me feel so bad for you!"
Tears welled up in the eyes of both Spike and Gallus, who saw it impossible to hold them back any longer; Alfred shed another tear and saw them both with tears in their eyes, then slowly opened his arms, in a clear intention to offer a hug to both of them.
The two gave a smile and cried with joy, then they pounced on Alfred and hugged him between the two; Alfred reciprocated the gesture and the 3 hugged each other for a long time while they shed tears of joy and happiness...
"T-Thank you," Gallus whispered...
"Thank you-" Spike sniffed abruptly as more tears of joy run by his cheeks. "...Thank you so much!" He exclaimed slightly, to which Alfred replied with a smile...
"Merry Heart's Warming Eve..."
The End.
