Author's Note
This was a Hearth's Warming gift for my partner. I'd left it unpublished, gave them a password, they read it and enjoyed it... But now we're split up and my heart is cracked. I'm not sure why I'm posting it publicly now, not sure what I hope to gain, but I'm hoping for healing. It would be his birthday today, the 18th (sorry, this is a few hours early for you dear American readers) and I just want to take this chance and say wish them a happy birthday if by some chance you know them. Little Hope is a wonderful person, they deserve to be happy on their birthday. You all deserve to be happy. Enjoy,
Come home with me
Sanctuary. Warm and inviting, a beacon in the wastes and halfway house for many a weary traveler, the last stop on the long road to Lost Hope, a town so buried beneath snow and ancient ash, so tucked away in Northern Equestria it was a wonder anybody knew it existed at all. But Sanctuary stood, guarded by the generosity of wonderful ponies and by the muscle of the massive mare Steel Resolve. Rumors flew through the North that it was a trap, that Steel would exact a terrible toll on ponies at random, but for the dozens of traders, travelers, mercenaries and variously occupied ponies that passed through, the great effort that had gone into the construction of the Sanctuary had warmed them against frigid winter and countless cold nights quite safely, without any such 'toll' being taken by their gracious host.
Metalscrap had frequently visited the Sanctuary before, it was no surprise that he'd taken shelter there again that evening. What was surprising, however, was the odd, diminutive unicorn he'd brought with him; One that had only joined him several times before. Steel rolled her eyes as she left the pair inside to make her rounds on patrol. He may have taken advantage of her generosity, but his was not the worst company to be had and he often brought freshly baked breads and treats from town when he came knocking, cold as they became on his treacherously long march to the Sanctuary.
Icy wind battered the house, but inside those well built walls the occupants could scarcely hear the scratching of the cold fingers of a freezing death. The makeshift barracks in the home was full with a large trade caravan and its guards, the master bedroom taken up by adventurers, but one more room was open for those who might need it, ponies like Metalscrap and Little Hope. Metalscrap grinned a toothy, raider-ish grin as Steel Resolve left, turning it on his companion. He hadn't intended it to look menacing but then it wouldn't matter to the blind unicorn/cat hybrid he'd grown so fond of, "Come home with me," He singsonged, stepping cautiously and loudly towards Little Hope. The unicorn kitty reached out with a leg that ended in a paw instead of a hoof, feeling for the considerably larger earth pony.
"Who are you?" Asked the demure hybrid, a smile playing on his lips.
Metalscrap beamed, warmth and pride welled up in his heart and he wrapped a foreleg around Little Hope's neck, pulling him into a hug. "I'm the horse that's gonna marry you, I'm Orpheus."
The pair chuckled in unison, embracing one another as the last traces of fresh snow melted in their coats. "You do remember how that one ended, don't you?"
Metalscrap shifted uneasily and pulled away from the hug he was so comfortable in. He remembered all too well how Orpheus had failed his trial and lost his lover to Tartarustown, it had been a very emotional radio play as he recalled, though it was still the sweetest he'd ever heard. Of course, that was just because it was the only he'd ever heard, not many radio plays survived the war and fewer still were in the hooves of ponies who could play them. His resolve strengthened and he pulled Little Hope onto the astonishingly soft bed, the mattress gave way and pulled the stallions into its tempting warmth. "Of course I do, it's the same way most things end out here. Everything is doomed from the start, don't you know that?"
"Boy you're somber today, huh?"
"Not me, oh no. Just the way things are. I like to think that I can also see things as they could be in spite of how they are, like Orpheus," Metalscrap touched his nose to Little Hope's, the blind unicorn rubbed his nose against Metalscrap's and Metalscrap pressed their lips together in a gentle kiss. Lingering face to face, their warm breath washed over each other's lips, Metalscrap groaned happily. "But I'm not Orpheus. I've never had a voice for singing, nor a heart for sweet poetry. I am... I used to be a raider and you-"
"Chose you anyway." Little Hope interrupted. Metalscrap smiled in silence for a moment, feeling the little stallion's heartbeat against his own. Little Hope placed his paw against Metalscrap's chest, soft paw pads touched a nasty scar that would never heal, then drifted over his heart. Scrap's eyes darted down, a guilty feeling placed lead weights on his heart, strangled and choked him. "I don't care what you've done. You aren't a raider anymore and I like who you've become, I like who you are."
Metalscrap blinked, a tear stained his cheek and he released a shaky breath through upturned lips. "You do. I thought for a while that I was in limbo. When I first saw you I was in a bad place. I might've done unspeakable things to you, if you hadn't stopped me. I still worry sometimes that I'm not good enough for you, like I might go back to bashing skulls and raping what's left because deep down ponies never change. Despite my usual confidence and charm I feel like there's something nasty in me. You know what they say about the dog you should really dread, the one howling inside your head."
"You're not Orpheus," Little Hope said with a smile, guessing at where Metalscrap was going, "You're not Metalscrap anymore either. You're Onyx Gallantry."
"I'm Onyx Gallantry. And you're Little Hope, Hope is who you are and hope is what you are. I'm not Orpheus asking Eurydice to come home with me, I'm Onyx asking and hoping Hope will come home with me. To walk with me any way the wind blows." Little Hope listened silently, his paw rubbed at Onyx's damaged, scarred chest without pausing over his scars. There was damage, there was pain, there were insidious reminders that might even have taken Hope to places where he could find no light. That didn't matter. They were there and nothing could be done. But Onyx was there too, his heartbeat, steady and warm, was going nowhere, and that was what mattered. "The wasteland is a sad song, Orpheus and Eurydice had a sad tale, but I want to sing this song with you anyway. Being with you, knowing how things end these days, I'd still want to sing with you, because you make me feel brand new and that makes it feel like things might work out for us."
The wind outside picked up. Blizzard and storm raged beyond secure windows, screeching like demons and windigoes come to rip ponies from each other, it threatened to shatter the windows and reach bony fingers of ice inside and pull ponies to cold, dark abyss. Warm breath and the peaceful, loving union of pony hearts inside, however, stopped that. If the world was dead, ponies would bring it back. Tangled together in a mess of embracing limbs, Onyx and Little Hope disregarded the petulant howling of long dead ghosts outside and their symphony of warmth stopped the windows from cracking. Candles washed the pair in comforting, soft light, Onyx pulled the covers over the two of them and held Little Hope close.
"Mine is a song of hope I bring into the dark places," Little Hope whispered, kissing Onyx beneath the chin. The blankets had already made his eyelids heavy, he began to doze off.
"Mine is a song of steel, to bring courage to ponies who need it," Onyx returned. "But ours... Ours can be a song of love, to inspire and heal," Onyx kissed Hope's forehead and the little unicorn kitty stirred, blind eyes seemed to stare into Onyx's soft blue eyes, slowly blinking as sleep took him. "So, Little Hope, when can I call you mine? Truly mine, I mean. To hold, to love, to protect and shelter and to console when hope seems lost? Can I sing your name on top of buildings, out in fields of flowers or over the crash of waterfalls and say you're mine to love? Little Hope, maybe I'm coming on strong, but I have to ask when will we tie the knot and make Spring come again? Little Hope, when will you be my husband?" Onyx whispered hopefully with a smile.
He waited for Little Hope's response. Seconds passed, but the plum colored hybrid was still, only a vague, tired groan told Onyx that he'd fallen asleep. He shook his head and chuckled, then kissed the unicorn kitty's forehead one more time.
"Happy Hearthswarming, sweet kitten. And sweet dreams,"
